F1 Madness

Tag: haas f1

  • F1 2020: Austria Gp Preview – It’s A GO….Finally

    F1 2020: Austria Gp Preview – It’s A GO….Finally

    It is finally here. After months of no on-track action to speak off this weekend the 2020 Formula 1 season will finally kick-off.

    The season-opener will run around the picture-perfect Red Bull Ring situated at the foothills of the Styrian Mountains. It’s been more than half a year and an awfully long dry spell for all involved but the Austrian grand prix may make the wait more than worth it.

    At the outset every new season there are unknowns. Pre-season testing may have provided a rudimentary pecking order but the Red Bull Ring is a far different prospect than the traditional first race of the season around Australia’s Albert Park circuit. Instead of the unique semi-permanent street circuit F1 2020 will start on an Austrian circuit dominated by straights and heavy braking.

    Though the teams all observed a compulsory shutdown period work on improving their cars has been progressing. Mercedes and Ferrari are guaranteed to bring a raft of upgrades to their cars. The number of parts may vary in comparison to the bigger teams but all teams are likely to run updated packages this weekend. Ferrari are supposedly bringing only ‘minor’ upgrades to their car. But it is believed that a new smaller and narrower nose configuration will also be introduced. Reports also suggest that Ferrari are readying an engine upgrade that is rumoured to be worth 20 to 30 BHP which could prove valuable on a circuit dominated by straights.

    At Mercedes Technical chief James Allison confirmed that the team has made “significant progress” on the 2020 car and will bring a “chunk” of upgrades to Austria. It might mean that Mercedes will maintain the pre-season favourites tag. But Austria hasn’t been overly kind to Mercedes in the last few years. For one, the traditionally sky-high temperatures have severely affected the Merc on several occasions. However, as it stands the weather is forecast to be in the low twenties with 60% chances of showers on Sunday.

    2020 Barcelona February testing IThe more than three month delay to racing, caused by the coronavirus pandemic, ensures that the 2020 F1 season will long being remembered as one of the most unusual. In addition to the conjecture around Ferrari’s pace and Mercedes’s ability to preserve their dominance Red Bull too enter into the equation. It’s been seven years since they last won a title and the biggest question around the Austrian-owned team is whether or not a sustained challenge can be mounted for the championship. The opening rounds of this season, which include the double-header in Austria and a third round in Hungary, are circuit tailor-made to the characteristics of the Red Bull car. It is as good a chance as they’ve ever had to assert themselves in the championship fight.

    In the midfield too there is great sense of anticipation. Can McLaren maintain their position as best-of-the-rest? They have momentum on their side but team’s financial difficulties add an extra layer of pressure to maximise every point-scoring opportunity. Was the pace shown by Racing Point in pre-season testing legitimate and can they keep their eye on the ball despite the team’s imminent re-branding as Aston Martin? Dubbed the ‘pink Mercedes’ due to its overwhelming similarity to the 2019 Merc the Racing Point team made a big statement in testing. It’s now though that they’ll need to prove that their pace is legitimate. Will Renault, undoubtedly under pressure from France, move forward? For a works team Renault has been languishing further down the field than it should be and must begin to show progress up the grid if it is justify its participation in the sport. Has Williams produced a car capable of scoring points? There were signs early on that the 2020 Williams was at least better than its predecessor. However, the 2019 car didn’t exactly set a high bar. The team seemed cautiously optimistic that it is moving in the right direction.

    The 2019 Austrian grand prix, which culminated in a last gasp win for Max Verstappen, was easily one of the best races of the season. If the 2020 Austrian grand prix has even the slightest resemblance to it then we’re in for a cracker.

  • F1 2019: Monaco Gp Preview – Win or Bust for Ferrari

    F1 2019: Monaco Gp Preview – Win or Bust for Ferrari

    Formula 1 cars have raced through the sun-kissed streets of Monte Carlo every year since 1950. Decade after decade it the Monaco grand prix stood proud as the jewel in F1’s crown. All the legends have won here from Juan-Manuel Fangio to Sir Jackie Stewart to Ayrton Senna to the great Michael Schumacher. And it is unquestionably the grand prix victory that drivers want in their CV.

    More recently it hasn’t done must to endear itself to modern-day F1 fans. And it isn’t because these fans are a lot of whingers either. It isn’t even that in an over-saturated world that they are easily bored, as some would have you believe. Most, if not all, of these fans appreciate and laud the sport’s venerated history and speak in awe of decades gone by.

    The utter precision and bravery that it demands to fling these marvels of design and engineering through the barrier-lined streets is a feat so outrageous it shouldn’t be possible. But it is. And year after year Formula 1 shows up and proves it possible. As gloriously insane a spectacle as that is it simply isn’t conducive anymore to what modern F1 fans yearn for. There is a great hunger for wheel-to-wheel racing, for overtaking, for edge-of-the-seat racing that leaves you, simultaneously, stunned and exhilarated. And this is nothing something that the Monaco grand prix can deliver anymore.

    Monaco F1 Grand Prix - RaceSeveral decades ago the story was different but with modern F1 cars it just isn’t feasible. The width of the cars alone makes overtaking in Monaco, already at a premium, nearly impossible. This means that Saturday qualifying dictates Sunday’s race, barring unreliability. In the recent past, 2016 to be precise, leader Nico Rosberg drove deliberately slowly and still no one was able to overtake the then Mercedes driver. Off the track, for which the action starts on Thursday, it is the place to be seen. Here you can rub shoulders with the rich and famous provided you have the right invite or the ability to cough up an exorbitant amount of money to make it into the paddock or onto one of the luxury yachts.

    The reality is though that most F1 save for months, even years, to make it to a racetrack somewhere in the world and hardly entertain the thought of being able to attend a grand prix on the French Riviera. It seems nearly unthinkable to imagine an F1 calendar with the Monaco grand prix. But what it even more inconceivable is that those who tend to the sport do not take into account what the fans want and can afford.

    Monaco Grand Prix 2014 Safety CarFor the foreseeable future there is a Monaco grand prix and this weekend someone will again loft the famous first place trophy into the air as the winner. In recent years Mercedes have struggled with equal tyre warm-up across both axles of their car. However, recent form in Singapore, also a street-track, suggests that they have begun to get on top of the issue. Valtteri Bottas will be interesting to watch here, as Monaco has never been a strong circuit for the Finn. It’s a good place then to show that new-for-2019 Bottas is not only a force to be reckoned with but also a bonafide championship contender.

    Red Bull won here in 2018 with Daniel Ricciardo despite a loss of power. It could well be Max Verstappen’s chance to shine on the famous streets provided he can keep his Red Bull out of the barrier – a feat he didn’t accomplish in 2018.

    For Ferrari, as in Spain, it’s win or bust. Anything other than the top step of the podium will be devastating to their championship aspirations that are already hanging by a catastrophically thin thread.

  • 2019 Spanish Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    2019 Spanish Grand Prix: Friday Press Conference

    TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Mattia BINOTTO (Ferrari), Frédéric VASSEUR (Alfa Romeo Racing), Guenther STEINER (Haas), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Mario ISOLA (Pirelli)

     

    Q: Guenther, a promising start for the Haas team here in FP1 but it’s been another difficult start to the season for Romain Grosjean. Are we seeing a repeat of last year or is it a different set of problems for him?

    Guenther STEINER: I hope that he hasn’t got the same problems here as he had last year. I think a lot of people would not enjoy that. I think we’ve struggled as everyone has seen. In Australia we were performance-wise not too bad but we had the pit stop issue. In the races afterwards… I shouldn’t say it because I’ve got Mario beside me, but we had some issues, we couldn’t get the tyres to work, which he will disagree with heavily, I forewarn you. But here it seems to be working. But it’s too early to say, it’s FP1, you know. We at least have to go through FP2 to get to some conclusions. This morning was a good session; it was enjoyable again. Let’s hope we can repeat it for the rest of the weekend and we don’t do any damage in the race.

     

    Q: But from Romain’s point of view are you seeing more consistency from him this year than at the same stage last year?

    GS: Absolutely. He’s very calm. He cannot do anything about it. He stays very calm, he stays focused, and I’ve all the confidence that he doesn’t repeat what happened last year.

     

    Q: Now, you’ve already touched on tyres. You were quite outspoken about them after the race in Baku two weeks ago. Just tell us what the issues were?

    GS: Mario knows better than me. He’s the expert on tyres, not me you know. We have got issues, we cannot get them to work, we cannot get the heat into them on certain kinds of tracks and that is our problem. I said in Baku that we would be struggling, beforehand. Here I was more confident, not completely, be should get them to work here and we get them to work here. But we have an issue that we cannot get the tyres to work at each track, so that is our issue.

     

    Q: Thank you and good luck this weekend. Mario, perhaps we could get your reaction to some of the comments Guenther came out with in Baku?

    Mario ISOLA: Yeah, I believe that Baku is quite a unique circuit, where you have an asphalt that is very smooth and so is not going to generate energy into the tyre, you have a long straight, cold weather conditions, the tyres are losing a lot of temperature and we know from the past the characteristics of the circuit. Last year, when we developed the current product, we were require to have a product without blistering – you remember last year we had some race with blistering – and to reduce overheating. That was a clear request from the drivers. So basically, our tyres have been developed with this in mind. Also, the working ranges are probably a bit higher than last year. But we didn’t experience any issue here in Barcelona in the pre-season test. We had good weather, but it was February, March, and the same in Melbourne. In Bahrain, OK, I had a chat with Guenther, I know their situation, and I hope they find a solution to that but I cannot say that it is a common problem to everybody. In Baku, because of the circuit characteristics it was a bit more difficult to keep the front and rear tyres in the right operating window. The operating windows cannot be narrower than last year because don’t forget that we have two compounds, that we call C3 and C4, that are the same compounds as we had last year, so at least with these two compounds we have the same operating window, and this is the analysis I can do now.

     

    Q: Apart from the two compounds that are the same as last year, have the new compounds become harder to work with for the teams?

    MI: I don’t think so, because the C1 and C2 are slightly softer than last year and with the C5, which is equivalent to what we called the hypersoft in 2018, the main issue was the graining and the new compound has a better mechanical stability with the same or wider operating window. Obviously we have to discover that in the next few races, where we are going to use this compound. They tested this compound in Abu Dhabi, they tested it in Barcelona, because it was a free choice of all the five compounds, and I believe that the new compounds are not more difficult to manage.

     

    Q: Looking a little bit further ahead, you announced yesterday that Formula 2 will use 18-inch tyres in 2020. What can you tell us about your testing programme ahead of Formula 1 making the same changes in 2021? Have you decided how that’s going to work yet?

    MI: Yeah, for Formula 2 we obviously have a very packed test programme because we have to develop the tyres in six or seven months. We already agreed a test schedule with the promoter and with the FIA. For Formula 1 the intention is to have three sessions – September, October and November – and three teams are going to supply the mule car, and they are Mercedes, McLaren and Renault. And we are going to offer the opportunity to provide a mule car for 2020 again to all the teams, it’s their choice if they want to do that or not. So it’s the same system and the same procedure that we have used in the last few years. We offer to everybody, teams can accept or not and then we make a plan according to the number of teams that accept it. We have 25 days of testing for next year, as it was in the last few years, so we have a short development plan for 2020 in the first half of the season and then we switch on 18-inch tyres from September onwards.

     

    Q: Thanks. Franz, perhaps we could move on to you. We heard from Guenther an overview of Haas’ start to the season, perhaps you could give us your thoughts after the opening four races from Toro Rosso’s point of view?

    Franz TOST: Toro Rosso has a competitive package. We have a car that works well, we have a powerful engine from Honda, and two drivers that are also competing quite good. We scored points in all the races apart from Baku but I think Daniil could have finished there in the ninth or tenth position but unfortunately he was involved in a collision with Ricciardo. I’m quite positive that we can also be here within the first ten. Generally speaking I think we are in the position to come with at least one car in qualifying three and to score points.

     

    Q: OK. A word about Alex Albon as well. He was something of an unknown quantity coming into this season. Has he surprised you with how quickly he has adapted to Formula 1?

    FT: Yes, it was a positive surprise, because as you know, if a young inexperienced driver is coming into Formula 1 there is always a questions mark, but I said already during the test sessions here in Barcelona in February that Alex could become the driver surprise of the year and so far he has done really a very good job, with good technical feedback on the mechanical side and the aero side, but also regarding the tyres he understands how to use the tyres in the best possible and we are really very happy to have him in the team.

     

    Q: Thank you, Franz. Fréd, coming to you, we saw some compliance issues with the front wing of Kimi Räikkönen’s car in Baku a couple of weeks ago. How have you resolved that for this race? Have you reverted to an older spec or have you updated the Baku wing?

    Frédéric VASSEUR: Just to clarify, that I think first we were out of the spec, we did a mistake, and perhaps you could consider that the decision was a bit harsh, but it’s like this, we have to clean in front of our door first and I think the mistake was on our side and for sure that we are not coming in Barcelona with the same wing.

     

    Q: It’s been a strong start for Alfa Romeo this year, particular on Kimi Räikkönen’s side of the garage. But we saw progress from, Antonio in Baku. How confident are you that he’s made a breakthrough and that he can progress and challenge Kimi for the rest of the season?

    FV: I think if you look at the first four races I think he was into the pace but I think we made on his side too many mistakes. He had some reliability issues. He got the penalty in China first, he didn’t do the quali and then in Baku… OK it’s far too much, we have to give him a clean sheet one week and to do a proper job, but I think he is improving. He was in front of Kimi in Baku, and he did a very strong quali also in Melbourne. No, I’m quite confident that he is very focused and motivate and the results will come and will help.

     

    Q: OK, thanks Fréd, good luck with that. Mattia, we’re back Barcelona, where two months ago Sebastian in particular was singing the praises of your car. The driveability then seemed to drop away when we went racing. After FP1 today can you tell us, are you back where you were in March?

    Mattia BINOTTO: I think we never dropped away. I think that certainly we had a strong winter testing, but I think that our main competitors were as strong as we were at the time, and on the last day of winter testing they scored the same lap time as us. As a matter of fact, I think we already mentioned that they would have been very strong as well. I think that since then we are both developing our car. The car developed, so coming here it’s certainly not any more the same car we had at the time, the weather conditions are completely different, the heat is certainly a different factor. So, are you exactly, let me say, on the same page? I don’t think you can compare. I think more important that it’s a relative competition so it’s more important that we are focusing on the weekend and trying to optimize the car and the package, and we are doing our best.

     

    Q: You’ve bought a host of upgrades to this race. A lot has been made of the power unit upgrade that is a couple of races early. Can you just tell us what’s been going on in Maranello to bring these updates forward? Are people working even harder than normal?

    MB: Obviously when you are planning such a change on your schedule you need to do it a few weeks ago. It’s not something we decided within that week. Having started the season in Melbourne we recognized that somehow we may have been late on our let me say performance compared with our competitors and we tried simply to push on all the main items where we were already planning developments. We were simply looking for opportunities in anticipating some of the programmes. We did it already with an aero package in Baku which was somehow introduced earlier compared to our initial programme. We did it here as well for the power unit. You simply achieve that by trying maybe sometime to shortcut or intensify the activity. I have to say that the people back at Maranello have worked very hard, we intensified our activities, and we are working still very hard, as it seems that’s what we need to do at the moment.

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to all of you: has the success of the Netflix series helped you to have an agreement with them for the Season Two?

     

    Franz, have you signed something with them for the second season?

    FT: No, not that I’m aware of.

    Will you sign with them?

    FT: We will see.

     

    Do any of you just want to give us your thoughts on the success of the Netflix series, and what you think it’s done?

     

    GS: I didn’t see it – but everyone tells me. I don’t know how successful it is because there were no ratings, so I’m told and Netflix never gives them, but I think everybody was positive about it, so I guess it helps. It should help to bring people in who don’t normally watch the races, who see this. There are more people watching Netflix than F1, I would say. If the people watch it and then get interested in F1, that should help us. That should help us all, and it’s a good thing in my opinion.

     

    And Guenther, to follow up on Fred’s question, would you be willing to help Netflix with a Series Two.

    GS: Yes!

     

    Mattia, will we see Ferrari involved?

    MB: I think that, as Guenther said, it’s certainly an interesting programme. We were not participating last season as Ferrari. We are considering it at the moment. We have not taken our final decision, so it’s something we will do in the next few weeks.

     

    Q: (Sam Collins – Racecar Engineering) Looking to the future, in 2021 to 2024, we’re going to have single make brakes and wheels. I’m a little bit interested to know how that’s going to affect your teams and, in terms of Pirelli, how it’s going to affect your company, both commercially and technically. That’s to everybody.

    MI: On our side, having a standard rim is obviously… you know that at the moment each team is designing his own rim and that could make things a bit complicated for us. Sometimes it’s difficult to fit a tyre. And heat exchange with the rim is also an item we are able to consider so, for sure, it’s a standardisation that could help on our side. The brakes as well.

    GS: Standardisation. First of all, I think it hasn’t been decided how much we do standardisation so I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves here to say that it’s been decided for ’21. I don’t know if anyone signed an agreement that it will be standardised. A lot of parties looked into it because the tenders went out – but it could go both ways, y’know? Sometimes you get some parts which just work, and sometimes you get parts that everybody’s got the same and some people get them to work with their car. The worst bit for me, we need to make sure that Formula One keeps its DNA. And the DNA of F1 for me, it’s developing… it’s the only motorsport that is free for technology. Once you start standardisation, it can be a slippery slope in my opinion. We need to be careful not going down that slope and all of a sudden ending up with all the same cars. A lot of people are interested in our technology and that is why they’re watching F1. I don’t know. First of all, we need to see what is happening with standardisation before I make a final comment how I think about it.

     

    Mattia, what’s your view?

    MB: Very much aligned with Guenther. So, first it’s not decided yet, yes, true there are some tenders and discussions are on-going. As Ferrari, we always relay that we are against the standardisation principle – but we know as well that we need to control the costs and expenses – and obviously there is a budget cap so we need to find the right balance. Standardisation only makes sense if you may save money, which has to be proved first. And as well we need to take care of the DNA of F1, as Guenther said. For example, if we take the rims, all the cars with exactly the same rims – I think that, in terms of aesthetics, is not good for F1 from the outside, because you’re not differentiating any more the cars from one car to the other, maybe just the paint. But it’s not something we should look at. We are going through an entire process, together with the FIA tenders. I think first we should look at the result of the tenders and then to a proper evaluation and make it carefully.

     

    Fred?

    FV: F1 was able to do it on the ECU 15 years ago. I think that we can manage a situation on the brakes or the rims. The only issue, for me, would be the timeline. We need to be aware quite soon, and we need to have more details quite soon about the technical aspects. If we are in a rush then everything is more and more expensive.

     

    And Franz?

    FT: First of all we have to wait, what the regulation at the end will say. Standardisation of parts, there are two reasons: first to come down with the costs; the second also to bring the performance together of the different teams. I don’t agree to say the DNA of Formula One is just to develop, we have to find a way to come down with the costs and no-one takes care which brakes we have in the car, or which rims they have. The people want to see some interesting races, some overtaking manoeuvres. They don’t care about the form of the rims or about the brakes. They just want to see interesting races. And we have to come down with the costs. Therefore I am in agreement with as many standardised parts as possible.

     

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Mattia, you talked about the upgrades and the earlier upgrades and rejigging the schedule. I just wanted to check what the longer-term consequences of that will be this season – because obviously it’s a long season. Does this, by bringing it at race five, does that lock you into probably a fourth engine at the end of the year – and could you introduce an additional spec at the end of the season?

    MB: No, that’s not the plan. The early introduction doesn’t mean that we cannot still use PU1 in some races. Maybe that can be an option – but certainly we are not hoping to have four engines per season per driver plan.

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines / racefans.net) Mario, given all the talk about the tyres etc., obviously when you came into the season, you had some form of objective list, your target letter etcetera. Are you quite comfortable that you’ve achieved all of those in terms of compounds, of degradation etcetera – and at which stage do you phase-out of developing 13-inch tyres and concentrate purely on 18-inch?

    MI: I would say, as I’ve said before, one of the targets was to eliminate the blistering that we had last year. And the other one was to reduce the overheating to give the opportunity for drivers to push more. I believe we are in the right direction. Last year we started the development of the new produce with some other ideas – and we want to conclude this phase for 2020. That’s why we have decided to keep the development of 13-inch tyre in the first part of the season for next year, so the plan is also to find new compounds with a wider working range, that is what they are asking for. And to upgrade another step in the construction. Then obviously we will focus on 18-inches, that is a big challenge.

     

    Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) Question to all four team principals. Given your respective starts to the season, could you give us an idea as to whether it has been worse, or better than expected, and the reasons behind that. And what your expectations are for the rest of the season, now you have a decent idea as to where you are performance-wise.

    FT: From Toro Rosso’s side, I must say we had a reasonably good start into the season. As I mentioned beforehand, we scored points and we have a competitive package. From the different race tracks, I must say Australia was really a big success. Many people were there, it was also not so bad in Bahrain and Baku. From the race entertainment itself, I must say it was not so exciting because we have two cars in front which are winning race after race and that’s not, I think the best for Formula One because it starts to become boring as far as friends of mine say to me: don’t watch F1 any more because always the same are winning. This I think is not good.

     

    Alfa Romeo’s perspective?

    FV: For Alfa Romeo racing, probably a good start to the season that we score points on every single event and it’s so tight in the midfield that you can – as Franz said before – that from one session to another one, or one race to another one, you can move from P4 to P10 and it’s very difficult to make any prediction. But I think at least at this stage of the grid it’s exciting, and when you arrive in Barcelona, you never know if you will be P7 or P20. I think that the fun is there and everybody is pushing like hell to bring updates and to push and get results on the next one. I think I’m quite happy with the job done so far – and for Alfa Romeo Racing it was a good one.

     

    Mattia?

    MB: Difficult answer. Certainly we are not happy for the points we’ve scored so far. I think we have missed a great opportunity in Bahrain where we certainly could have done a fantastic result compared to the one we did. I think as well in Baku we could have done a better race and certainly a better quali – so if you make the sum at the end, we are missing points, we are missing points compared to where we believe is our potential. Our objective certainly is not to be where we are in terms of – again – points and classification, so we cannot be happy on the start of the season. But assessing that from the performance overall, it’s not a drama at all. I think we have got still a good car. The competition is very, very strong and that, I think, was known and it’s not a surprise but I think we are still in the battle and we could to every single racing with the willing to do well – and we can do it.

     

    GS: I think we clearly underperformed from Australia onwards, because of our issues which we cannot get a grip of, and we need to do a better job going forward on that one. I think, as Fred said, the competition in the midfield is very tight which makes it interesting for F1 but I think, if you ask, maybe we should have more points but we don’t. The good thing is, it’s very close together. Nobody in the midfield went away with 30 or 40 points so you can make up a lot in one race. As long as we don’t keep on doing what we did up until now, we should be OK – but I would say, I’m happy on one side – the car is very competitive – but we didn’t get the maximum out of it. We just need to do a better job as a team altogether.

     

    Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Mattia, you mentioned earlier about Netflix. Another area that Ferrari have not been involved and I’m sure it’s well down your list of priorities is e-sports. I just wondered if you’d made the decision whether you were going to be competing in it and what are the pros and cons for a team like Ferrari of getting involved?

    MB: I think e-sports and Netflix – both of them are certainly great programmes. E-sport is increasing in terms of interest and certainly as Ferrari we are looking seriously into it. We are not yet fully committed to the programme but it’s something where the discussions are ongoing and we will very soon make our own decision.

     

    Q: (Joe van Burik – Racing News 365) It seems very likely, a year from now, we will be racing in Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix. What are your personal experiences with that track and what do you expect of that event?

    MI: I don’t have a lot of experience in Zandvoort. We go there with GT racing but to be honest, I don’t know the circuit very well.

    GS: I have been once in Zandvoort with DTM, a long time ago and I think it’s a great place to go racing. It’s a race track near cities, for sure there will be a lot of Dutch fans there and I think it’s always exciting to go to new places. I know Zandvoort is not new but it’s new again for Formula One. I think it’s exciting because we reach out to more people who are sometimes in areas where they cannot go to other races and it’s interesting, new things to learn, new things to see and I actually look forward to it.

    MB: It’s new for me as well, I have never been in Zandvoort so it will be the very first time. Quite interested and exciting to be there. I think it’s good to have another race in Europe and the Netherlands, as Guenther said, a lot of Dutch fans so I’m pretty sure it will be a good race so I’m looking forward (to it).

    FV: Yeah, I went a couple of times to Zandvoort for the F3 and DTM and it was always a great and exciting event with a lot of fans. I think it’s a good place.

    FT: We did a lot of races in Zandvoort in Formula Ford, Formula Three. It was very positive, I must say I like it there, it’s close to the sea, it’s close to Amsterdam. They have, I think a fantastic infrastructure, interesting track and I expect many many spectators will come there and it will become a very exciting race for Formula One, therefore I hope that we go there.

     

    Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsportmagazin.com) First part of the question for you, Mario: can you talk us through the process, how you chose the three teams for the 18 inch tyre tests this year and how many teams offered the possibility? And for the team principals: what are your feelings about that, you were probably not chosen or you didn’t offer your cars? Do you think this could be a disadvantage, especially for Mattia? Your main competitor, Mercedes, is delivering a car. Could this be a disadvantage for you?

    MI: OK, the process is the one I described before. We offered the opportunity to test to all the teams and three teams replied in a positive way and obviously everybody knows that the development is not just in these three sessions in 2019, so as I said, all the team can decide to participate in 2020. The three teams that replied positively have been chosen and we are planning three sessions so it’s quite easy to give one session each.

    MB: Yeah. Obviously we have been offered. It has been our own choice not to participate. Been short on time and the resources for the programme so as Ferrari we decided simply not to take part in this test in ’19 but we are preparing ourselves to do it obviously in 2020. I’m pretty sure that we will have the opportunity to do it. Will that be a disadvantage? Certainly you cannot do everything and you need to make your own priorities as some stage and that again has been our own choice but there is still a process put in place where Pirelli anyway are sharing the data with all the teams, of the output and the results of the new tyre testing so we are certainly counting on that one for actually the very first test.

    FT: Everybody could decide. We from Toro Rosso can not afford to do this test because we simply don’t have the manpower and also not the financial resources and therefore three teams decided to do it and that’s fair.

    FV: If Mattia is short of resources to do the test, you can imagine that for us it’s not easy.

    GS: We are working hard to figure out the ’19 tyres so we have no time for the ’21 tyres.

     

    Q: (Sergio Rodriguez – Formula Rapida) Yesterday we saw that PIrelli will use F2 as a way to develop the 18 inch tyres. Do you think that F2 can be used as a development platform for the new revolutions coming in 2021? Not only that but in the future as well? Do you think F2 can be used as a platform test?

    FT: Of course. First tests with F2 makes sense. Pirelli can get a lot of information, data about it and in parallel to this, anyway test with the three Formula One teams and I think the way they are doing it is the right one.

    FV: Yeah, they will get live experience with Formula Two. I think it’s also good for young drivers in F2 to be used to drive with the 18 inch tyres and then I think each team will try to build up a collaboration with GP2(F2) teams and to have a look.

    MB: The question has been asked of the four team principals but for me Pirelli is the best person to reply, whether that is useful or not as a platform. The cars are quite different, the level of performance is certainly quite different. The level of downforce and loads on the tyres are different but those are things that Pirelli is obviously aware of but at least it’s a good starting point. They can get some experience on a different platform, a different formula and whatever they can do there will be of help for Formula One, but I’m pretty sure that they are pretty aware that on the F1, the exercise will be much more difficult.

    GS: I think there are no negatives to test them in F2 but the technicalities… I will leave that one to Mario to explain because as Mattia said, the loads and the forces, I think they are different, unless Mario disagrees with me!

    MI: No, no. I never disagree with you. He’s right. The forces, especially after 2017 when Formula One decided to move on to the wider size and the cars are faster and faster, it’s a good opportunity to get some experience from our side but we cannot compare the F2 tyre with a Formula One tyre. We will develop the Formula One tyre with the new cars, with a representative performance and otherwise we make a mistake for sure. We have to develop a bespoke tyre for Formula One but the effect we are anticipating with Formula Two is helpful because we can have some experience with single-seaters on 18 inches but don’t forget we are supplying a lot of other championships with 18 inch tyres, like GT and touring cars and so on, but the stress and the energy that is going into the tyre on a Formula One car is not comparable.

     

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, racefans.net) Mattia, the way that I understand it, the veto that Ferrari has is a contractual right, not a lifetime right. How important is it to Ferrari to retain this veto right after 2020, in other words from 2021 onwards? Is it a sticking point in your negotiations or are you happy to forfeit it?

    MB: No, certainly the veto right is something important for Ferrari but I believe it’s something important for F1 overall as well because somehow it’s not only protecting us but it’s protecting all the teams maybe against some decisions which could be against the spirit or the interest of the teams themselves, something that we are starting discussing with both the FIA and F1. I think we are doing well in that respect and hopefully we can keep the same rights.

     

    Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Fred, just wanted to clarify what you said at the beginning about the front wing hereafter what happened in Baku. So is it correct to say you haven’t had to change the specification, it’s just that you’ve had to replace it with one of the other front wings that you had?

    FV: No, we changed the hook and the fixation.

  • 2019 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    2019 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

    PART ONE: DRIVERS – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Alfa Romeo), Alexander ALBON (Toro Rosso), Romain GROSJEAN (Haas), Sergio PÉREZ (Racing Point)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Gentlemen, I’d like to start with a moment of reflection, given that this is Formula 1’s 1000th race. Growing up and watching the sport, what made you want to become a Formula 1 driver? Romain, if we could start with you, please?

    Romain GROSJEAN: Good afternoon. I started watching with my dad, a long time ago. It was the time of the Ayrton Senna versus Alain Prost fights and that was pretty exciting to watch. My dad was always passionate about cars and one day he brought me to a race track – not a Formula 1 race – and I saw the cars going and I thought ‘you know what, that’s what I would like to do’. Then, eventually, I was lucky enough to go to the Monaco Grand Prix to watch the Thursday practice and I saw the car and heard the noise of the engine and it was just something very unique and special, a good memory of my life. I remember going to the toilet and DC was there and he said, ‘oh, you go first son’. He still called me son by then! And I said ‘no, no, you go’. Pretty amazing.

    Q: Thank you. Sergio?

    Sergio PÉREZ: Yeah, for me similar, a similar story. I remember the first race I watched with my dad was ’94 actually, when Aytron had his accident. That was the first race I ever saw. A shock moment, more for my dad than for me. At the time I didn’t understand well what was happening. Obviously from Mexico, Formula 1 is not very big so it always seemed too far, too difficult. It’s been a while since we had a driver, so the history back home wasn’t big. But as a family we always loved the sport and I always wanted to become a Formula 1 driver. At a very young I went to Europe to fight for it. I remember watching so many races, always waking up very early in the morning, because in Mexico the races are very early, six or seven o’clock in the morning. So always on a weekend, when you don’t want to wake up early, I had to, to watch Formula 1. I actually remember watching Kimi back then, at a very young age too.

    Q: Thank you Sergio. Kimi?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Yeah, I don’t know what year it was, but it was a long time ago, ‘80s, that’s for sure. I think the first memories were somewhere where Keke was racing when he blew up his tyre or something, maybe Adelaide or something, with the long straight, maybe the last races that he did. So anyhow, obviously I was cheering for the Finnish guys, but I didn’t think that I… maybe you dream when you’re a kid, but once you start doing go-karts and everything I didn’t really believe that it was going to happen, because obviously you need a certain amount of money to get from go-karts to racing. Maybe I believed a bit more when I got my managers helping and then actually got to race in Formula cars and then obviously it went very quickly. I guess it was a dream but not very realistic at that point, but it went fast once it started to go there.

    Q: Thank you Kimi. And Alex?

    Alexander ALBON: My hero was Michael Schumacher. That was the guy I always looked up to. I was Ferrari mad actually – even if I should say that or not, I don’t know. But I loved Schumacher. I think I was about six. I was a bit like Romain. I was at Silverstone and there was a competition. You had to fill out the top three drivers that you thought would win the race, or finish in that order, so I just put Michael, Rubens and Montoya. For some reason at that race that’s what happened. I think Barrichello was finishing last or something. So no one wrote what I wrote down. I think it was in hospitality at Ferrari. So I won the prize and got to meet Michael and got to meet Rubens. It stuck with me that. I was always a hardcore fan.

    Q: Thanks to all four of you. Alex, if we could stay with you. Going well so far, you’ve outqualified your team-mate in Australia and Bahrain. Can you describe the learning curve you’ve been on so far in Formula 1?

    AA: Yeah, it’s been steep. Getting in the car in Barcelona, getting up to speed. The speed bit… the cars are so refined now that you do feel quite comfortable with the cars straight away. It’s more the interaction with the team and kind of just extracting performance outside the car, which definitely is a lot about experience. So just being Dany, listening to him really, listening to his feedback, how he communicates with people, it really does help me. But yeah, it’s been going well. Simulator driving, that’s helped a lot as well. But it’s going well so far.

    Q: And are you doing anything different with your helmet this weekend?

    AA: Yeah, so I’ve got a Prince Bira tribute. I thought it would be cool to go back and bring out some of the Thai history in Formula 1. I have a couple of photos, I have his number, well, my number but in his style, because he had the blue and yellow racing scheme. So that’s about it.

    Q: Thanks. Romain, you’re a man in need of some good fortune this weekend in China. Just how was last week’s test session in Bahrain? Did you understand why the car’s pace dropped off in the race?

    RG: Well, it started with three wheels, which didn’t help, after the contact in the first corners. No, we had some good testing. It was a bit disrupted by the rain, which was a surprise to all us in Bahrain on Tuesday, but we did manage, on Wednesday afternoon, to get some good data and info, some interesting set-ups that we should have been running during the race. I think the car is fast and it’s good. You don’t qualify twice in the top 10 if you don’t have a fast car. I think we just missed something in Bahrain that we found at testing, which is good. I think what we need right now is a bit of luck on our side, and to make sure we go through the race with no incident or no issue and we should be able to have a good weekend.

    Q: And anything different with your helmet?

    RG: I’ve changed the design, using the F1 1000 logo – that looks really cool – just the full white helmet. Nothing really from the past of Formula 1 but I was not very… I used to throw all my equipment to the bins of the season, but luckily my wife pushed me to keep at least one thing from every year. I know I’ve got one overall per year, from all my racing career, from go-karts to 2019 season, and actually when I look at them now I think it’s pretty cool. I’ve got some helmets back home that mean more than others. My 100th grand prix helmet and obviously being part of race 1000 in Formula 1 is going to be something big, so that helmet is going to go on the shelf and I really like the design that we have produced. It looks pretty classy and really cool to be driven in China.

    Q: Sergio, it hasn’t been the easiest of starts for the team in 2019, though you did finish in the points last time out. Are there any underlying issues with the car and if there are, what are they?

    SP: I think the upgrade that we brought to the start of the season, given that we didn’t have enough to test or to work on it, I think that put us on the back foot at the moment in the midfield group. We scored points in Melbourne and now in Bahrain. At the moment we are not fast enough, we are not where we want to be, but I think we have proven in the past that it’s a very long season. It doesn’t matter where you are now, it’s where you get to by Abu Dhabi. We are understanding our issues, we have a lot of work to do and I’m pretty sure we will meet all of our targets for this season.

    Q: And your helmet design for this weekend?

    SP: My helmet design didn’t change much. I just wanted to put the 1000 race logo on my helmet just to… it’s obviously very special as a driver to race here, at such a special venue for Formula 1, it’s a very special weekend also. I want, as Romain said, to remember this weekend in many years, to look at this helmet and remember that I was part of the 1000th race in Formula 1.

    Q: Kimi, great start to the season for you and Alfa Romeo, points in both of the opening two races. Can you tell us, what are the strengths of this year’s car and has the performance so far changed your goals for the season?

    Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: No, it hasn’t. I didn’t really have any goals, so it’s pretty hard to change them. I can’t really talk about last year’s car. Obviously I did a test but it’s one track so from my side it’s hard to say what is better on this car than the one they had last year but for sure they did a good job over the winter from the car that I drove in Abu Dhabi in the tyre test to the one we have now. Obviously there’s a lot of things to improve still and it’s a never-ending story and an ongoing thing to try to make it better, holding more downforce and stuff like that – but yeah, I think in general it’s quite a good, solid package and we understand it pretty OK and they seem to have good guys on all areas to bring new stuff. It never comes fast enough but that’s a normal issue in any team you go to. Yeah, I think the basis there is to make it faster all the time, so keep it up and see what we’ve got when we get to the end of the year.

    Q: Anything different on the helmet design to celebrate 1000 races?

    KR: No. I wanted to have an open-face helmet but there were some regulation issues…!

     

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines / racefans.net) Checo, you say your helmet design hasn’t changed much but I’m hearing from an insider that your helmet has actually changed. Do you have a different brand for this race?

    SP: Yeah, in that regard yes. I’ve moved to Bell. I’ve been in a long term partnership with Schuberth which I’m very thankful for, I think it’s a fantastic helmet. Now I had the opportunity to change and I think Bell is also a fantastic helmet. I’ve tried it, and it’s my first race with them now. I started my career in Formula One with them and now I’m going back to Bell.

    Q: (Steven Wade – AP) Kimi, we see that this summer you’re going to break an F1 record for the most races contested, how do you stay motivated? You’ve had tremendous success already, how do you stay motivated and stay on top of your game?

    KR: I don’t know really. I don’t have any special things that I try to motivate myself. It’s become more of a hobby for me lately than anything else and probably that’s why it’s more fun again, so, yeah, I always try to do the best that I can. Some days it goes a bit better than others – but that’s how it goes when you do a lot of racing. Some days it’s a bit more tricky than others. It’s never really been an issue. A lot of people think so but, y’know, everybody has the right to say what they think. I just try to do what I can and hopefully… when I feel myself that it’s not what I expect from myself then obviously I try to find a new hobby after that.

    Q: (Michael Butterworth – Xinhua News Agency) To all four drivers, keen to know your thoughts on the Shanghai circuit and if there are any particular features or characteristics that make it especially challenging or unique?

    AA: Well, it’s my first time here, so a little bit hard to say but just coming from watching videos and being on the simulator it just seems like there’s about a thousand lines you can do here. A lot of corners leading onto other corners so it seems like there’s a lot of different styles, pushing entries or pushing exits. So yeah, it seems to be a really technical track. So, it’s interesting for the drivers, that’s for sure.

    KR: I think it’s a nice track. It’s been the same since I came here the first time but some good overtaking opportunities and quite good fun to drive.

    SP: It’s quite a long circuit: long straights, very long corners, like Turn One which is quite hard when you first get here. First lap it’s always very hard to reach the apex because it’s so late in the corner that it kind of gets you. Also, the wind is very difficult here. So it’s quite a unique place, I’d say. Normally good racing and a nice feeling on one lap – it’s definitely a circuit I enjoy.

    RG: It’s a good circuit. One of the challenges is to get here on time in the morning. Racing it quite fun, as Kimi said. Qualifying laps are always good and then in the race the challenge is to look after your tyres, especially the fronts with those long corners: Turn One, Turn Seven-Eight, 13. That can really make a huge difference if you’ve used your tyres too much or not. Then you can have some really good racing. It’s a pretty good place to come.

    Q: (Stuart Codling – Autosport) Question for Alex. The 2021  technical regulations are currently taking shape and are under discussion. The desired outcomes are for a more level playing field, for there to be more overtaking opportunities. Do you think that reducing the amount of data capture would provide that – or would it actively be a problem for drivers, such as you, who are just coming into the sport? Would it be a disadvantage?

    AA: To promote overtaking? I wouldn’t say reducing data would effect overtaking. On my side at least, data is just for getting lap-time, it wouldn’t be a tool to affect passes, no.

    Would if make your job harder if there were no data?

    AA: In general, yeah, I would say so. I think data now in Formula One is huge. Especially for me, it’s a fast-track to get getting up to speed and even just about getting performance. It’s definitely something I use a lot, I compare with Dany quite a lot. I think some drivers look at data more than others. I’m a driver that looks at data quite a lot. Just to get up to speed. I’m using it a lot right now. For passing or overtaking, no.

    Q: (Velimir Jukic Avto-Focus) Question for Kimi. They say you are slower for each kid by about one second. How are you compensating for this now that you have two seconds slower conditions to drive?

    KR: Maybe I somehow go faster at the same time to compensate it! I don’t think that kids make any difference. There are an awful lot of stories based on nothing in F1. I didn’t ever feel that there’s something happening on my driving when our family got bigger – but I don’t know. I guess it depends from people to people also. Sometimes it might have an effect but at least on our side, on my side, I don’t feel it. Obviously the life changes a lot outside of racing but yeah, pure driving they didn’t really effect on my side.

    I might just through that to Checo and Romain…

    SP: Similar to Kimi I think it doesn’t…. Formula One drivers are all normal, when we’re driving we don’t think we have family, we have kids, we just want to go as fast as we possibly can. I think outside of racing it changes, you sleep a lot less looking after your kids! All of a sudden a Formula One race weekend becomes a holiday, because you’re able to sleep longer, and so on – but it’s a lot of fun and it doesn’t really affect at all. If it takes one second it means in the past we were really quick! Because we have a couple of seconds in th pocket, it means a lot.

    Romain, anything to add?

    RG: No, no. I think what the boys said is the truth. It changes you as a man back home. It changes your whole life and perspective and probably helps you more than it slows you down. When you’ve had a tough weekend and you come back home, it doesn’t matter, they love you and you love them more than anything, so it puts things in perspective. But yeah, with three kids now, three seconds off the pace, my goodness… quite happy to be qualifying in the top ten!

    Alex, any children we don’t know about?

    AA: No!

    Q: (Julien Billiotte – AutoHebdo) How do you think Formula One will look for race number 2000 in forty or fifty years’ time? Will car racing still exist and what kind of cars could we see on track? Or would you like to see on track?

    RG: Actually I already answered that question. It’s a tough one. I’ve got no idea what the cars are going to be like in forty, fifty years. The only thing I would say is that I hope there is still going to be a driver driving the car because that’s where the emotion goes. If you hold a football game with just robots it’s not going to be much fun so I hope there are going to be drivers.  Technology will be very different, I’m sure, but the sense of racing has been here since 1950, the first F1 race where the guys driving at their best, trying to overtake the guy in front of them and going as fast as they could with what they had and oversteer was oversteer back then and understeer is back today so I think the feeling was the same so I hope the guys would have as much fun as we do have today.

    SP: Yeah, same. Technology these days is developing scarily so I really hope that in the future we still have the drivers and that they are able to have as much fun as we do or because I think things are going to change massively. I really hope that things change the same, at least. Obviously they were will be very different, I think, probably they might be electric in a couple of years –  I hope in many more years. For the drivers, they will still be important. I don’t know if it was in the past but these days the driver is less important, the driver can make less of a difference and it’s now all related to the team so I think for the future and for the time that I’m here I can see a different Formula One where the driver can make the difference instead of the team.

    KR: Yeah, it’s impossible to know what will happen. Probably there will be racing, some sort of racing, who knows what? It’s been 1000 races so I don’t think it’s going to disappear suddenly somehow but who knows? We’ll find out.

    AA: Yeah, same as them. As long as we have a job or the future racing drivers have a job then I’m happy.

    Q: (Zoran Zivkov – Top Speed Magazine) When you look at the past and history, if you’d had a time machine, in which period, in which era, would you like to come back?

    AA: I haven’t really thought about that. I’d say old school, 1950s. I want to see how the sport was back then. I know it’s dangerous so maybe I will bring my HANS device with me and we will see but I think that kind of racing is cool and I’d like to try it out.

    KR: I’ve gone back for the second one any more. I guess in the past, I would look at seventies, sixties, late sixties, seventies. For sure it would have been more fun, more relaxed, more pure racing but obviously much more dangerous but that’s normal at that time.

    Q: We saw you with a James Hunt helmet a few years ago, didn’t we?

    KR: Bit more than a few years but yeah.

    SP: Yeah, I think that 1960s, 70s, those times were good fun. The driving looked very dangerous of course; for the driver, it depended on the risk you took that maybe made the difference. I think it’s something that all my career I have missed. Always the difference is made by the cars and not so much by the drivers. I think back then it was good fun. It looked really good. Also the atmosphere was really relaxed. I think these days Formula One is too posed. I wish it was a bit more relaxed and people enjoying themselves more.

    RG: Yeah, not going that far (back). I’m really in love with ’93, ’94 and then 2005 and 2006. I wish that Kimi was back then: yeah, you were racing. I love the cars around that time and they looked amazing and there was a tyre war as well which was quite fun to watch from outside, I thought, and refuelling and the cars looked really really cool in mid-2000. I drove a 2007 car, it was quite good then.

    Q: (Duan Yiyi – Titan Sports) Kimi, no matter which team you are in you always seem to be the fans’ favourite here in China, so from your perspective what characteristics do you have to attract so many fans in China?

    KR: I have no idea. You should go and ask them. I think generally in Japan, China we Finnish people seem to have a lot of fans. It’s great, especially here. I cannot go anywhere but that’s a part of… the other side of the fans. I’ve always had a lot of fans here, since the first time we came here so I’m happy about it. I don’t know the reason. I guess you would probably get the answer if you go and ask some in front of our hotel, you can ask them there. Or at the airport.

    Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, RaceFans.net) You may have noticed that in Bahrain McLaren was sponsored by an e-cigarette brand, Vipe. Particularly the three fathers there, how do you feel about this? Do you feel it sets the right sort of example for your children?

    RG: Oh dear. I’m going to dig my own oar. Right. I think you want to watch on Netflix, because they are our friends now, whatever content you can. I am the first one to tell my friends to stop smoking and I’ve actually achieved that a few times and I’m quite proud of that. I think e-cigarettes are maybe less bad. I think if they want to sponsor Formula One why not. I’ve been with Total for many many years which is an oil company in France or worldwide and we’ve actually done some amazing experiences together and you could say that oil is actually not good for the environment and so on but I think companies like Total are trying to do a lot for the environment and just producing oil. So I think, in the end, I don’t know much about e-cigarettes to be fair, but if it’s better for health reasons, if it’s less smelly as well… You know, we just came up the stairs and it smelled of cigarettes like hell. Same when you leave an airport. First thing you do when you go out of an airport, everyone is smoking his first cigarette and it stinks.  If this year it can be better somehow then great. If it’s better then why not and if it helps our sport then great.

    SP: Yeah, Romain did a good job with that one.

    KR: No, I have no issue. I don’t see the connection that if my son sees advertising on any of the… doesn’t matter if it’s alcohol or cigarettes, something, I don’t believe that that affects his choices whatsoever. That’s my belief on that. Did it affect my choices when I have seen them in the past? Rules are rules, whether you can do it or not, that’s not my business but I have no worries.

    RG: … point that Kimi’s bringing in, because we watched Formula One when there was a lot of cigarette advertising on the cars: Williams, Jordan, Ferrari, McLaren. I’ve never smoked all my life but I’ve been watching a lot of races so I don’t think there’s any connection there.

  • F1 2018: Haas and Williams Launch New Challengers

    F1 2018: Haas and Williams Launch New Challengers

    As a new season of Formula 1 approaches the period just before testing commences is the most optimistic time of the year. Right now all new cars are aerodynamically flawless, more powerful than anything that’s ever been built, and lighter than a feather. But all too soon a modest stopwatch will humble them.

    The first team to launch their 2018 car was the Haas F1 team. The American team chose to forego a typical launch and opted instead for to release a handful of images online. The release of digital images was no doubt a ploy be Haas to keep their competitors, quite literally, in the dark as to the nitty-gritty of their 2018 design.

    Nevertheless, what was obvious from the images is that Haas has adopted a strikingly similar side-pod design to what Ferrari pioneered in 2017 and a considerably more intricate front-wing. Additionally, this early version of the Haas is sporting a scaled down version of 2017’s sharkfin and a significant focus on a predominantly white livery. As the technical regulations have remained largely stable and unchanged the changes from 2017 to 2018 cars won’t be as visually obvious. The most noticeable difference is the inclusion of the Halo head protection system. While it is certainly a big adjustment and change to the aesthetic of the car chances are it probably wont take as long as some might think to get used to.

    sirotkinWilliams was the second team to introduce its car with a traditional online launch. Chief technical officer Paddy Lowe and head of aerodynamics Dirk de Beer have designed the FW41. Lowe said the car “has many new features, most of which are not all that obvious, but externally the team has pursued a very different aerodynamic concept which has allowed us some significant progress in aerodynamic performance.”

    “All Formula One cars are an evolution of what has gone before to some extent, but the FW41 does involve a number of departures from the directions that have been pursued in the past. Overall, the philosophy we are starting to see emerge is a new approach to the collaboration between aerodynamics and design to achieve the optimum working result.”

    While only lap times will tell if Williams have built a quick racecar the 2018 challenger undoubtedly looks more aggressive than its predecessor. In addition, the car has been designed with a longer wheelbase, which suggests that Williams have foregone the low-drag design philosophy of the last few years.

    Similar to Haas the Williams also sports the Ferrari-style side pods, which you’re likely to see on more of the mid-field cars this season. Naturally, and so as to avoid giving away any design secrets, some areas of the car has been shrouded in black paint.

    Haas1a_0Beyond the car that has been designed by Williams this season the other big unknown for the team is its driver line up. Nonetheless, de facto team principal Claire Williams has described the driver pairing for Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll as “exciting” while highlighting Sirotkin’s impressive work with the technical team. Paddy Lowe echoed this sentiment by saying that the choice to sign Sirotkin was based purely on his ability.

    The Sauber and Renault teams are the next to launch their respective cars on the 20th of February followed by Ferrari and Mercedes on the 22nd, McLaren on the 23rd, and Toro Rosso on the first day of testing, the 26th of February.

  • F1 2017: United States GP – Friday Practice Round-up

    F1 2017: United States GP – Friday Practice Round-up

    Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton topped both of Friday’s free practice sessions ahead of the United States grand prix.

    The first session proved a rather difficult one to read as most of the running was done on the intermediate tyre. While conditions remained slippery, and tricky, several cars spun out but, thankfully, didn’t incur any damage.

    Brendon Hartley made his debut for the Toro Rosso team alongside Sean Geleal in the morning session while Daniel Kvyat returned to the fold for the afternoon session and the remainder of the weekend. Carlos Sainz impressed in his first outing as a Renault driver by immediately out-pacing his new teammate Nico Hulkenberg.

    While championship leader Hamilton topped both 90 minute sessions the Ferrari’s of Vettel and Raikkonen and Red Bull’s of Verstappen and Ricciardo were ever present. With regard to long run pace there appeared to be little to choose between the top three teams. However, Vettel and Ferrari endured some suspension issues late on the afternoon session which were seemingly sorted.

    With a raft of penalties to be served on Sunday’s grid the verdict is still out on whether Verstappen will incur his own penalty for a new Internal combustion engine. As it stands Red Bull have not yet revealed whether this will be the case.

    The organizers of the Texas Gp along with the FIA and F1 teams have all done their bit to highlight Breast Cancer Awareness month with everything from racing gloves to shoes to the ultra soft tyre being accented in pink for the weekend. In conjunction with the Susan G. Komen foundation F1 is hoping to shine a light on finding a cure for and spreading awareness of breast cancer.

    The weekend is  an ultra important one for Vettel and Ferrari who must win in Texas to keep the championship fight going. In contrast, Hamilton, sure to be the more relaxed of the two championship contenders, is sitting pretty with a 59 point lead.

  • 2017 British GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

    2017 British GP: Thursday Press Conference – Part 1

    PART ONE: DRIVERS – Valtteri BOTTAS (Mercedes), Romain GROSJEAN (Haas), Lance STROLL (Williams), Jolyon PALMER (Renault)

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Q: Valtteri, we’ll begin with you. Second win and, more importantly, in the last four races Hamilton 53 points, Vettel 67, Ricciardo 70, Bottas 73. You must feel you’ve got some real momentum now in your campaign to be World Champion.

    Valtteri BOTTAS: Definitely got some good momentum now. We’ve been having strong races – as a team – and the car seems to be getting better and better and I feel the same, the same for me really. It’s still my first year with the team and always getting to know the team better. It always helps with everything and, of course, every single lap you get more comfortable with the new cars etcetera. So just try to continue the good run with a good weekend here.

    Q: Jolyon, F1 Live London yesterday, you were there in your Renault retro getup celebrating the 40th anniversary of the company’s F1 debut. What did you think of the event and what it says about Formula One and its place in this country?

    Jolyon PALMER: It was awesome. So many people there, in my home city as well so it was really cool. I think it was the first time anything like that has been done. It was great to see almost all the drivers there. So many people, different cars through the eras as well, it was great fun for me to drive up there. So, it was great. I’m sure it was such a success that, from my point of view, there’ll be a lot more of it in the future.

    And the retro look?

    JP: I liked it. It was 1977 car and wearing the retro overalls. It was nice to try something different as well, try different cars.

    Q: Lance, three straight points finishes including, of course, the podium in Baku. How much did the afterglow from that podium help you to feel really settled here in Formula One?

    Lance STROLL: It was a great result, yeah the last few races have been good. Just getting more experience in the car, feeling more comfortable every time I get in the car. I think it’s really just been a good three races. The podium was the highlight of the season, that’s for sure. Crazy race, we just stayed in it all the way until to the end and took home a great podium. It’s given me a lot of confidence for sure, knowing that I can be there and fight. It was a great day – but got to keep going.

    Q: Romain, another great result in Austria, built on strong qualifying and a fantastic start. So the car – and you – are capable of the results but what will it take to find consistency.

    Romain GROSJEAN: Afternoon. I don’t really know. I think a lot of people don’t know, when things happen in a bit of a strange way – like Williams in qualifying in Austria, where they were in Q1 when they are normally always in Q3. We went well. We got everything to work. Tyres, we know we’ve got a good platform. I guess experience is the key and we’re only 28 grands prix in our life for Haas F1 Team. There are things we need to improve and understand but when everything is working well we’ve got a very strong package.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) A question for Lance, Romain and Jolyon after Valtteri’s brilliant start in Austria seven days ago – how many of you think he anticipated the lights and got away with it and how many think it was an absolutely brilliant reaction from him and could you do any better?

    Romain?

    RG: He didn’t jump the start. Did he anticipate the start? For sure. 100 per cent.

    Jolyon?

    JP: It sure looks like a jump but I’m sure he anticipated it perfectly.

    And Lance?

    LS: For sure it was on the limit – but he got away with it. So, it’s all good.

    Valtteri, your right to respond.

    VB: Waiting for the lights to go out. I don’t know. With starts, doing starts and starts you just kind of know always, more or less, when they’re going to go off and, you know, sometimes you can try and be a bit more risky and this was definitely a risky one but it paid off because it’s an absolutely perfect start. Nothing more to say.

    Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Valtteri, how did it feel to be the only Mercedes driver yesterday at the London event. Were you disappointed that Lewis wasn’t there with you?

    VB: I think everyone has the right to decide which kind of events you attend to and, you know, I’m not really the one to answer that – I don’t really know his schedule. So, for me, it’s absolutely fine. And although I was the only team member there it was still all good. I did enjoy the event myself, it was a great event in general, especially for the fans to get so close to F1 and see, in a different way, Formula One. And also a great experience for me, y’know? Never drove a Formula One car before in Central London so that was really cool. So yeah, even though I was alone it was really good for me.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Valtteri, I’m amazed to hear you say there’s a risk element to the start. Are you saying that there’s a little bit of a gamble, that you might actually jump it, you do try to anticipate it? Or do you actually… are you talking about a risk of how quickly you can react to the lights going out? What do you actually mean by that?

    VB: Well, having a start like that definitely you need to gamble a little bit. If you’re moving exactly at the same point the lights go off you definitely need to be a bit on the risky side rather than safe side. Everyone is obviously free to try and kind of guess when the lights go off.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Question for Romain. You’re into your second year with Haas, last year we talked about the possibility of you perhaps trying a NASCAR. Now that you’re cemented in the team and you’ve got a month’s break coming up and there’s Watkins Glen road course coming, any chances of you going on holiday in the States…

    RG: No. The schedule’s getting tight. I wish we’d had a NASCAR yesterday in London. We didn’t have a car so it would have been fun to drive a NASCAR around London – but to be fair, if we do it, we need to do it properly and I need to get a test before, get used to the brake, for example, and see how it goes.

    Q: (Rob Harris – AP) Question to Valtteri. You said on the London event that everyone has their own right to decide whether to attend or not. First of all, why did you decide to attend when obviously Lewis Hamilton didn’t. And do you think that drivers have an obligation to go to these events, particularly at a time when the sport says it’s trying to reach out to new fans, and one of the biggest names in the sport in this country thought he’d go on holiday instead?

    VB: Well, basically, when I first heard about this event and that it was most-likely going to happen, they asked all the drivers to attend and I immediately said yeah, I could attend – and also my team was asking me to attend, so I knew it was just before Silverstone, in the same country, so for me it was all OK.

    Q: (Rachel Brookes – Sky Sports F1) To all four of you really. I know you get a lot of call on your time anyway as it is – but an event like that, the day before Silverstone, has that given you guys a lift? Are you glad you went to it? The looks on your faces look like you really enjoyed it – so has it given you a boost coming into the weekend?

    Lance?

    LS: I think it was a great event for everyone. For the fans, for us drivers something different. I don’t think it gives us a boost but I think it was a good day and I’m fully on board with more of those days to hopefully come in the future.

    JP: I think it’s nice. It’s my home crowd as well so it’s probably especially nice for me. It’s a bit like Goodwood really. You see fans up close to the cars, they’re all very happy and it kind of makes you happy as well. It was fun.

    VB: Like I said before I thought it was great. Great event and I was happy. Happy that I could make it. It was good fun.

    Romain?

    RG: Same thing. I was very happy that I was there. We didn’t have a car but I enjoyed the show, seeing others cars, seeing the McLaren, the Renault, the old V12, the old V6 and then some of the Red Bulls, and donuts in London! Then I was pretty amazed when we went on stage, to see so many people. It was just a great show. Good to see that most of us went.

    Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Question to anyone who wants to answer really. Back-to-back races, it’s quite important, I thought, to get momentum. Any of you taken a holiday in between back-to-back races – and do you think it’s a good idea.

    Jolyon?

    JP: No and no.

    RG: My kids are on holiday – so it’s no holiday for me at all.

    Lance, obviously it’s a fairly new experience for you. How does it feel to have consecutive weekends?

    LS: Yeah, sure, it’s a busy week. The London Live on Wednesday – but I took a few days to myself, Monday, Tuesday.

    Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) To all of you, to the previous question about Wednesday. What other places would you like to see the F1 Live events held?

    Lance? I guess you’re going to say Montreal…

    LS: Yeah, that would be great. I think the big cities. Wherever we go where there’s a good crowd and people can turn up. I think it’s good for everyone.

    Paris?

    RG: Paris would be good – especially with the French Grand Prix coming back next year – but I guess New York, L.A. Could be some pretty amazing cities to have an event.

    Valtteri? Helsinki?

    VB: Nastola, Finland! My home town. If I could choose.

    JP: Drive down to Clapham! Just shift it down.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) To the other three drivers, whether or not you think in terms of taking a gamble, trying to anticipate the start, or whether you rely on your reflexes for the lights to go out – bearing in mind the penalty of jumping a start?

    Romain, you took off like a rocket on Sunday. What’s your answer?

    RG: No, I normally don’t gamble. I think about it but I just normally react to the lights.

    JP: I think if you gamble nine times out of ten you will get it wrong, to be honest. I think everyone’s normally waiting for the lights to go out.

    LS: I’m no different. I just go when the lights go off.

    Out of interest, do you practice this? Do you have lights that go out? A digital thing that you can practice it on?

    JP: My engineer’s been practising on a little clicky computer now, I think ever since Valtteri last weekend.

    And what’s the fastest you can do it?

    JP: 0.03, wasn’t it?

    LS: I’m not sure, I don’t really look at my numbers.

    And you Romain?

    RG: I’m normally within two and three tenths but I wouldn’t play much.

    Q: (Rifa Uddin – Renaissance Foundation) My question is to all of you. What advice would you give to a younger generation that are interested in Formula One?

    Lance?

    LS: Make sure that you think about it because it’s an interesting world. It’s a very unique business. I think y’know, obviously, you need to work hard at whatever you’re doing in Formula One. You need to follow your dreams and always believe you can get there. At the end of the day that’s what’s important.

    Jolyon?

    JP: To be a Formula One driver’s extremely tough. If someone’s very interested the only way is to have a go. But also, I think it’s worth bearing in mind most people in Formula One are not drivers. They are also mechanics, and engineers, and catering and marketing. If you’re interested in Formula One, then there’s a lot of avenues to go for.

    Valtteri?

    VB: I always think that definitely having goals in your career, whether it is to be a driver or in general, or a mechanic in Formula One, always to have a goal. It really makes you work harder every day for it. Anything’s always possible in life so always good to set a goal.

    Romain?

    RG: It’s a good summary by the guys. Don’t give up on the dream. I lost Formula One once and I dreamt of coming back and I managed to come back, so that’s the key.

    Q: (Stephen Camp – Paddock Magazine) You all looked to enjoy yourselves yesterday at the show but has Liberty Media come to all four of you and the rest of the paddock about any other events that you would like to put on or any ideas that you have for the sport in general.

    Valtteri?

    VB: Not yet, haven’t heard anything more.

    Q: (Iolande Skinner – Motorsport Monday) Question for Romain, after such a great result in Austria, how’s this affected your confidence in yourself and also in the car?

    RG: I think, y’know, confidence, the key’s not to lose it at any time. We’ve all had good races, bad races but I believe in your career you need to believe in yourself. If not, there’s almost no point turning in. The car… well the car, it’s a girl and she’s a bit up and down, y’know? Decides which mood she wants to come in. Hopefully she’s still in a good mood and we’ll have a good weekend here.

    Q: (Tony Dodgins – Channel 4) What with the London Live event and talk about a possible, potential street race in the future in London, obviously Silverstone has talked about exercising a break clause after 2019. How sad would you all be to see Silverstone not part of the F1 schedule? How important is it to you guys?

    Jolyon?

    JP: Well, for me it’s very important. This is where I probably grew my passion for Formula One, so it’s been my local track, my home track for my home life. I first came here in the ’90s and got a real passion for it and now the history and tradition here are pretty big. A London race would also be very cool – but I think Silverstone is also quite important for Formula One.

    Q: Valtteri?

    VB: I agree really. I would be also really sad not to race here. It is a track everyone loves and I personally think it’s one of the best venues for the fans. The atmosphere here is really special. Formula One definitely needs the British Grand Prix, because of all the history and most of the teams are based here. But if not here then hopefully for example central London but, yeah…

    Q: Lance?

    LS: I think it would be a shame not to be racing at Silverstone anymore. I think there is so much history here. It’s great for the fans, it’s one of the best races, although I’ve never participated in it before, but the crowd really gets into it and it’s probably one of the best races of the year so it would definitely be a shame to lose it.

    Q: And Romain?

    RG: Yeah, pretty similar. It’s a great place to race. Most of the teams are around the track as well, so it’s very important as every team around looks forward to racing here. Driving wise it’s one of the most enjoyable track on the calendar, so hopefully we get more years here.

    Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Valtteri, I’m interested to know when you win a race do you get any feedback from Nico Rosberg – email, text, anything at all – winning in his car, as you are?

    VB: No. I saw him last time I think Monaco Grand Prix. We had a bit of a chat and he told me that he thinks I’m doing a good job and obviously that was nice to hear from him. Otherwise, no messages or anything. I’m getting quite a lot of feedback from the team about everything, so it’s all good.

    Q: (Alex Cheale – Renaissance Foundation) I just wanted to know who are your inspirations for driving?

    RG: Good question. I started watching rallies to be fair. So it was Carlos Sainz and Didier Auriol and then in racing, Formula One, I started watching in ’93, ’94, same time as rallies, Prost and Senna and that was a great fight.

    VB: For me, definitely when I was a kid it was Häkkinen, when he won his first race, his first title, second title I was watching him closely so he was massive motivation for me.

    JP: No one particularly for me but I think when I was young Damon Hill was the British champion and fighting so him.

    LS: For me when I was growing up it was Schumacher. He was the guy I looked up to.

    Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) A question for Jolyon. You’ve had a string of 11th places and a lot of bad luck this year and you’re still chasing the magical point on the board. How much pressure do you feel at the moment to put points on the board? Do you feel that your drive under threat? Has the team been vocal about it? Have they put you under any kind of targets to meet?

    JP: No. I’m trying my best all the time. The pressure? I put a lot on myself. Of course I wanted to score points by now but it’s not been possible. But I have also had a lot of bad luck. I think most of the reliability problems have been on my side of the garage. We missed some races where I think there were some good chances to score, like Baku, where I had a lot of problems. And then of course all these 11th places. It’s frustrating. Every time I have been 11th there has been a car, last time it was Lance, that is right in front of me but it’s not possible to overtake, actually it was Romain before as well. It’s frustrating like that, but it’s pretty close and we’re not even half way through the year. Things are starting to click a bit better now, so hopefully I can carry the momentum into this weekend and then the rest of the year, I’m sure it will get much stronger.

    Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) You were talking about the younger generation earlier. In terms of encouraging a new generation to get into Formula One, do you think attending events such as the demo is absolutely key to bringing a new generation of fans to the sport?

    RG: It definitely helps. It’s not easy to afford to come to a grand prix, when you’re a dad with two kids for example. So yeah, events like this, where you get to see the cars… I fell in love with motorsport when I was going to see my dad racing in Formula 3. When I saw those cars going around I said: “I want to do that when I’m big”. That’s a key element. I think there are more, clearly getting the passion when you are a kid, you dream about things and it’s just make the kids dream that they can do it and they get the feel of what is Formula One and they will join as big fans.

    VB: I think definitely events like this will motivate a lot of young kids. I think it is important for many kids to have opportunities to see F1 live at least once in their childhood. I don’t think it is the only way to get people excited. Personally for me it was enough that I was just doing go-karts. I was watching all the races on TV and I was playing Formula One games. Actually the first time I saw a Formula One car live was 2010 I think. But I was obviously quite keen much, much before that.

    JP: I don’t think it is the only way but I think it is a big contributor. It’s great for people to be up close and see the cars in action. I think for a lot of people in London they hadn’t had that experience before especially to be three metres from the track and then of course to see the stars as well. It’s all about the cars going quick and making some noise and then the stars driving them as well. When I was young, seeing the cars in action – OK it was at Silverstone and not in London – but I was like “wow, this is pretty cool”, so for most people it’s a great incentive.

    LS: Yeah, I think every opportunity to get close to some Formula One cars is great – races, hopefully more F1 Lives to come, it’s always great to see some cars.

    Q: How old were you when you first saw a Formula One car?

    LS: I was young. I was probably four or five when I went to the Montreal grand prix for the first time.

    Q: (Steven Camp – Paddock Magazine) With Silverstone being one of the fastest tracks on the calendar and the upped pace in performance from the 2017 cars, do any of you think you can take Copse flat out?

    VB: Well, it’s always from simulations and driving the simulator and stuff it’s difficult to say for sure, but it could well be, at least with the low fuel. We will see on Saturday at the latest. But it is going to be a lot of fun with these new cars. It’s been anyway in the past years a great circuit, being in the car, driving a Formula One car around here. But I’m really looking forward to this one, it’s going to be really cool.

    Q: If it was, what speed and what gear would it be?

    VB: It could be eighth or seventh gear. I don’t know about the speed.

    RG: That could be the limitation, because if we go in in eighth, the exit might be a bit tricky.

  • Red Bull, Haas, and Toro Rosso Launch 2017 Challengers

    Red Bull, Haas, and Toro Rosso Launch 2017 Challengers

    No less than three Formula 1 teams launched their 2017 challengers on the 26th of February.

    On the eve of the commencement of official testing in Barcelona, Spain Red Bull Racing, Haas F1, and Scuderia Toro Rosso took the opportunity to launch their new-for-2017 F1 cars.

    Red Bull Racing’s RB13

    Red Bull was first out of the gate with a short and sweet pre-recorded clip released on several social media sites. The premise of Red Bull’s launch video centered on superstition as 2017 car is the 13th built by the Austrian team. The RB13 retains, mostly, the same livery as in 2016 with subtle changes including a bit more red than is normally present. Nevertheless, the matte finish, introduced, in 2016 has been maintained for the new season. Along with the launch of the RB13 the team touted a new hashtag playing up the connotations of the number 13.

    “We are like a swan on the surface and paddling furiously underneath but that is the same as every preseason so generally we are on target,” said Team Principal Christian Horner.

    Chief Engineering Officer Rob Marshall said: “The car is expected to be between three and five seconds a lap faster and most of that gain will come through cornering speeds where the increased downforce on the car will mean the car will go around the corners quicker.”

     

    Haas F1 Launches the VF-17

    VF17_RIGHT_FRONT_TQA day after filming day pictures were leaked on Twitter, the Haas Formula One team launched their 2017 contender the VF-17.

    In their second year in Formula 1 and their first rule change, the Haas F1 team had a monumental task ahead of them in developing their 2017 car.

    After starting very well in 2016 their season tapered off and although picking up some points they did not finish the 2016 season as strongly as they started.

    The 2017 car with some major changes seems promising for the Kanapolis based team in their mid field fight.

    “I think the pedal box is the same, but all the rest is very different from last year’s car,” said Guenther Steiner, Team Principal of Haas F1.

    “You always try to make a faster car, which is normally a lighter car. Now we can put on more ballast and get better weight distribution.

    “The aero is completely new, as are the tires, so we needed to have some built-in adjustability.

    “Aesthetically, the car has a more aggressive look. It’s lighter and more aerodynamically efficient. Everything we learned from our first car has been applied to our new car.”

     


    Scuderia Toro Rosso’s STR12

    Toro Rosso was the last team to launch their car for the 2017 season. The launch took place at the Circuit de Catalunya a day before the first day of the pre-season test.

    Toro Rosso unveiled their new car the STR12 with a striking new blue and chrome livery. We at F1Madness think that this is the best livery from all the teams.

    Speaking about the new car, Technical Director James Key says that the 2017 rule changes are the biggest changes he’s seen on a car that he can remember.

    “In my 20 years in F1 it’s the biggest chassis change I can remember,” said James Key.

    “In ’98 the narrow track had just arrived and there were various tweaks up to 2009, when a larger change occurred, but other than the front wing it was still based around principles that we knew. These rules however, include a track change, significantly different tyres and a new aero regulation as well.

    “From a chassis point of view it’s all encompassing with a lot of new things to learn.”

    Key believes that teams now have more aerodynamic freedom with car development this season.

    “It’s nice to have a bit more freedom. We probably haven’t had as many aerodynamic tools to play with since 2008, But then the rules tightened up in 2009 and even further in 2014. Now, some freedom has returned and that’s a great challenge for the aero department.”

    Toro Rosso are expecting more this year after switching to Renault Power Units and feel that after last years turn around they can finish higher in the points this season.

     

  • F1 2017: F1 2017: Team-by-team Guide, Part 2

    F1 2017: F1 2017: Team-by-team Guide, Part 2

    McLaren – Fernando Alonso & Stoffel Vandoorne

    Given the results it’s produced over the last two seasons it’s safe to say that McLaren’s renewed partnership with Honda has been miserable. As proud and prominent a company Honda may be there is no doubt that they underestimated the task of re-entering the sport.

    Fernando Alonso and 24-year-old Stoffel Vandoorne will drive for the team in 2017. In the 2016 Bahrain grand prix Vandoorne made his debut as Alonso sat out with fractured ribs from a crash in Australia. The Belgian driver not only out-qualified teammate Jenson Button but when on to finish in tenth, scoring one point for the team. What was most impressive about Vandoorne’s grand prix debut was the ease with which he slipped into the role of race driver. There were no wild off-track moments and hardly any mistakes. Regardless of the car’s performance in 2017 he’s unlikely to rattle Alonso’s cage but he has already revealed himself as a driver to watch.

    For a driver of Fernando Alonso’s caliber 2017 will be catalyst for his future in the sport. It’s unlikely, if McLaren were to underperform again, that he would stick around for much longer. It’s unlikely that he’ll slip into retirement either given his hunger for success. Come 2018 there is likely to be a plethora of options and all of them would welcome Alonso with open arms.

    Carlos Sainz_Russia 2015Toro Rosso – Carlos Sainz JR & Daniil Kvyat

    The sister Red Bull team should have had a much better 2016 season. But running a year-old Ferrari engine encumbered it. This season they revert back to Renault power and with a good chassis they could, potentially, threaten a team like Force India.

    For one of its drivers, Russian Daniil Kvyat, it’s likely the last chance to make a real impression. His very public demotion from the Red Bull team last year was a spirit breaker and he took months to show some sort of recovery from it. But he did so as he fiercely held off her replacement Max Verstappen at the 2016 Singapore grand prix. On the other side of the garage Carlos Sainz Jr. must underline the enormous talent shown in the previous season. If he does, a better drive at a bigger team is definitely in his future.

    Sauber_RearWing ComparisonSauber – Marcus Ericsson & Pascal Wehrlein

    In the nick of time the Swiss-based team was given a new lease on life from Swedish investment firm, Longbow Finance. Though an independent team Sauber has rich history in the sport. Much credit must go to Monisha Kaltenborn and her team for continuing to fight for a team in a near financial death spiral. Sauber has already stressed the importance of chassis design and development in the new season. Thanks to relatively comfortable financial position the team will be able to maintain a program of development in 2017 unlike in 2016.

    Marcus Ericsson remains as driver and while his performances have been solid an uncompetitive car has dwarfed them. Pascal Wehrlein slots in alongside and has a lot to prove to the paddock and himself. He will feel hard done by for not getting the Force India or Merc drive. But there’s a reason he didn’t get – the powers that be didn’t think him ready to step up. 2017 is his chance of changing that opinion not just on the track but in the garage too.

    Motor Racing - Formula One World Championship - Bahrain Grand Prix - Practice Day - Sakhir, BahrainRenault – Nico Hulkenberg & Jolyon Palmer

    The French team is very much in a re-building phase and wouldn’t expect to make a massive splash in the new season. But their expectation will be to see a steady improvement throughout the season.

    With several crashes and lackluster showings Jolyon Palmer has not impressed in the Renault. And now he’ll be matched up against one of the most highly rated drivers on the grid in Nico Hulkenberg. German-driver Hulkenberg is the sort that fits well into any team but is running short on time to make it into one of the top teams in the sport.

    kevin-magnussen_haas

    Haas F1 – Romain Grosjean & Keven Magnussen

    The American-owned team started the 2016 season like a house on fire. That fire has dampened slightly but it is still a team of immense potential that is run, by Gene Haas, in the best way possible.

    There is a sense of unfulfilled potential when you think about Romain Grosjean. His stint in the Lotus a few seasons ago looked like it would be the springboard to greater things but it hasn’t worked out for the Frenchman. But he’s a quality driver who should easily have the measure of teammate Kevin Magnussen if he can learn how to drive around the issues that may be present in the 2017 Haas car.

     

  • Haas F1 Confirm Kevin Magnussen from 2017

    Haas F1 Confirm Kevin Magnussen from 2017

    The Haas F1 Team confirmed that Kevin Magnussen will drive for the Kannapolis based team from 2017.

    This announcement follows the announcement that current Haas driver, Esteban Gutierrez will not be driving for the team from next year. Rumors and reports have been circulating for a few weeks that Kevin Magnussen will make the move to Haas while Jolyon Palmer will remain at Renault for 2017. The latest announcement finalises the driver line up for Haas for 2017 which leaves Manor (2 seats), and Sauber(2 seats) to confirm their driver line up for 2017.

    “This is a fantastic opportunity and I’m very happy to be a part of Haas F1 Team,” Magnussen said.

    “Obviously, I’m confident in my abilities as a Formula One driver, but I’m also very confident of what Haas F1 Team can do in its second season and every season thereafter.

    “Gene Haas has come into Formula One with a strong vision and a different way of doing things. He’s making it work and work well. I’ve had a good vantage point all season long, and I’m looking forward to getting behind the wheel of next year’s Haas VF-17.”

    Founder and Chairman of Haas F1, Gene Haas had this to say about Magnussen’s appointment:

    “From the time we began looking at drivers, Kevin Magnussen was always on our short list,”

    “He’s accomplished a lot in a very short period of time, and we feel like he can accomplish a lot with us. Our second season will bring a new set of challenges, and we feel that pairing Kevin with Romain will help us develop our new car and continue our growth.

    “I want to thank Esteban Gutiérrez for all of his efforts. He’s been an instrumental part of our first year in Formula One and we’re looking forward to finishing the season strong with him and Romain.”

    “As a brand new team with a new car and new personnel, it was incredibly important to have detailed, authoritative feedback of our race car and our methods so that we could improve. Romain brought a lot of experience to our team and has been instrumental in getting us to where we are today,” added Guenther Steiner, team principal, Haas F1 Team.

    “Credit also goes to Esteban Gutiérrez for all of his work. His time with Ferrari was very beneficial as it helped get us acquainted with its methodologies and make the most of our partnership with them.

    “He and Romain pushed each other on the track and together they’re responsible for the success we’ve had in our first season.”