Month: November 2019

Jolyon Palmer is warning that any driver lacking an optimal level of fitness at the start of the season will be ‘found out’ by the big physical demands of F1’s 2017 cars.

The regulation changes ushered in this season will thoroughly put the emphasis on downforce and increased cornering speeds, and they will take their toll on anyone who starts the year unprepared, says the Renault driver.

“I can see it making a difference,” Palmer said.

“We don’t really know exactly the performance: we know the numbers, but we don’t know what the tyres are going to do.

“If it is what we think, then I think it will show early on who has been in the gym over the winter and who hasn’t. If drivers aren’t in the gym this winter they will be found out.

“It is clearly much quicker than we are racing now, it will be a challenge to drive, physical as well. I think it will be really exciting.”

• Is the BRDC about to drop the British Grand Prix ?

The jury is still out as to whether the huge changes will have any impact on overtaking and the quality of racing in general. According to Palmer, we won’t find out the exact outcome until the lights turn green in Melbourne at the end of March.

“We won’t know until we hit the track,” he said.

“You can look back and see when cars had a lot of aero it was quite difficult to follow, thinking 2007/2008, they didn’t have DRS and they were still overtaking.

“Some of the slipstreams were massive and at the moment we are not getting much, so there will be a double effect. We will only properly know in Melbourne I think.

“I think the cars going quicker will generally be a bigger challenge, but there will be some corners that will be less of a challenge because they will be flat.”

GALLERY: F1 drivers’ wives and girlfriends

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Marcus Ericsson believes Sauber is closer to scoring points now than it was earlier this season, even though races are running out to jump Manor in the constructors’ standings.

Sauber has yet to score a point this season, with development limited early on due to financial concerns. As a result, the team is currently 11th in the constructors’ championship, one place behind Manor due to Pascal Wehrlein’s tenth place in the Austrian Grand Prix.

Following the takeover of Sauber by Longbow Finance and subsequent development of the car later in the season, Ericsson believes the team is getting closer to the top ten even thought it only has four races left to try and score a point.

“Yeah, it’s getting less and less races but I feel we are getting closer and closer,” Ericsson said. “In Kuala Lumpur we were only about ten seconds from P10 and [at Suzuka] I don’t know how close we were but there were no retirements. I think we’re getting closer because a couple of months back we were like a minute off the points.

“So we definitely got closer but it wouldn’t hurt if a couple of guys retired or touched or something! That would be welcome in some of the races that’s left! Then if it happens we need to be there and pick the points up.

“I still think it’s possible, I really do. If you would have asked me around July I would have said it will be more difficult and we really need a lucky race, but now I think just a bit of fortune on our side in the race and we can be there and actually score a point.”

And Ericsson says Sauber has to be patient with new recruits as it chases a top ten result, having added key personnel over the past few months.

“We are in a bit of a transition as well with new people coming in and doing their thing. It’s not going to work perfectly overnight, so we need to give all these new people some time to do their thing with the team and their influence and it’s getting there.

“It’s definitely moving in the right direction and I think Kuala Lumpur was a bit of a better weekend competition-wise for us than Suzuka but still I think we went from being quite far off on Friday to being a lot better on race day. So we sort of had to work a bit harder but we were in the midfield fight [in Japan].

“Nobody retired but if we were a couple of places higher up the road and a couple of retirements and we would have been there to pick up a point. So we are not as far off as we were in the middle of the season, let’s put it that way. We are getting closer to the points and we just need a clean race and a bit better pace and then we can be there to pick it up.”

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Silbermann investigates the potential EU threat to F1’s Liberty Media deal

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Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone says the sport would need “half a dozen” drivers like Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, while also singing the praise of Red Bull ace Max Verstappen.

The 86-year-old has often hailed Hamilton’s “100% box-office” aura and appeal, saying the Briton has fully embraced his role as a triple world champion to support and promote F1.

While the sport’s new owners Liberty Media continue to assess their recent acquisition, Ecclestone feels the series would benefit from having more figures like Hamilton.

“Lewis is a little bit special – as a person and as a driver,” the Formula One group CEO told the official F1 website. “He is doing a super job. We would need half a dozen Lewis’s.”

Verstappen has also come into the good graces of Ecclestone, who leapt to his defence when the Dutchman came under fire for his swashbuckling driving style and robust defending.

“Max’s position is he’s wanting to get there, he wants to win,” added the supremo. “And he has got the quality and the talent to do it. He is racing – and that is what he is supposed to do! The drivers in F1 are supposed to race each other.”

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS – Mexico

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Scene at the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix

Mexican Grand Prix – Quotes of the week

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Riccardo Adami, who engineers Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari, says “sharp” race and tyre strategies are needed at Spa-Francorchamps given the length and unpredictable nature of the Belgian Grand Prix venue.

Even if the local weather forecast for this weekend’s event is dry and warm, weather conditions have often played havoc in the Ardennes.

The Scuderia’s strategy calls have come under scrutiny this year after Vettel missed out on potential wins in Australia, Spain, and Canada. The four-time world champion also overruled his own team in Germany, though he later claimed he was wrong to do so.

“[Spa] is very challenging from a meteorological point of view” said Adami. “The weather is challenging: in the past, I remember having found a part of the circuit with the sun shining and the other part with rain. So, it’s important to be sharp in the strategy and tyres.”

Besides its fickle weather, Adami explains what makes the longest circuit of the season such a challenge for the teams.

“In this track we have the second sector with its high-speed corners, while the first and the last sectors are more for top-speed and long straights. Therefore, it’s always difficult to find the right wing level and to have the right aero efficiency in the first and last sector, not compromising too much the second sector where corners are.

“The braking system, even if it’s not too much stressed, is very important in this track, especially the last chicane in qualifying, because the drivers normally arrive there and it’s like without breathing and trying to take the last braking and the last few tenths, not destroying the whole qualifying lap.

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“Spa is also very important regarding the Power Unit settings, because there’s lot of time in full throttle and also for the ERS: we need to find the right compromise for the energy through the lap.”

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Jonathan Palmer has said that he would be interested in making a bid to buy the Silverstone Circuit from current owners the British Racing Drivers Club.

The BRDC says that it needs to sell the circuit because of mounting losses and a lack of capital reserves, despite the British Grand Prix proving to be one of the year’s best-attended race with 139,000 fans turning out for July’s race.

A deal valuing Silverstone at £33 million was reached with Jaguar Land Rover in April, but rival manufacturer Porsche has reportedly used an existing contract with Silverstone to block the planned sale.

With the situation apparently stalled, the BRDC is understood to have reopened negotiations with another possible purchaser, businessman Lawrence Tomlinson whose LNT Group owns sports car manufacturer Ginetta.

Now Palmer has also indicated an interest in buying the facility. A former Formula One driver and father of current Renault star Jolyon, Palmer is also majority shareholder and chief executive of MotorSport Vision which owns Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Cadwell Park and Snetterton.

“We are definitely interested in making an offer and have a lot of confidence in our ability to bring a great deal of stability to it and a vision for the future,” Palmer told the Daily Telegraph this weekend.

“On a number of occasions I have said that MSV would be interested in running Silverstone,” he said. “The BRDC hasn’t approached me, but I’ve told them that I certainly want the opportunity to be invited to put a deal forward.

“Apparently a teaser document has been sent out but nothing has been received by MSV,” he added. “My view has always been that an open tender process is needed to ensure the BRDC is achieving the best result for members.”

DRIVER RATINGS – 2016 Italian Grand Prix

RACE REPORT: Rosberg wins at Monza to cut Hamilton gap to two points

COMMENT: McLaren’s 2017 driver line-up: A stroke of genius?

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Jenson Button says problems during practice for the Japanese Grand Prix was a major reason in his failure to get out of Q1 during qualifying at Suzuka.

The two McLarens were clearly struggling in the first part of qualifying and Button was eventually eliminated in 17th pace, with team-mate Fernando Alonso going through to Q2 just 0.032s ahead of him in 16th. Button had stated his belief there was something wrong with his car during Friday practice but and then said further disruption to his running in FP3 put him on the back foot.

• AS IT HAPPENED: Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying

“On Friday we had a different balance with the car, a different set-up and it wasn’t good, so we went to the other car’s set-up this morning and I had an engine issue all morning so it was massively down on power,” Button said.

“But they pretty much put it right for qualifying and that was it really. I was 0.03s slower than Fernando and to be fair to be that close to him after the weekend we’ve had isn’t horrific. That’s just where the car is round here.”

When it was put to him he must be disappointed with such an uncompetitive performance from McLaren at Honda’s home race in Japan, the 2009 world champion said the circuit doesn’t suit the car.

“Yeah but every corner, the mid-speed corners round here, the change of direction and the long Turn 7 is all very negative for us in terms of what our car is good at. So it’s never going to be the easiest but you always hope that it is [going to be better] at Honda’s home grand prix.”

FEATURE: Silbermann says… Snapchat and soap in Suzuka

Chris Medland’s 2016 Japanese Grand Prix preview

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Romain Grosjean says the brakes issues that have been hampering his and Haas F1 Team’s progress across recent races are “too much” and “could be dangerous”, after he endured another frustrating day of practice ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Frenchman had a big moment in FP1 when he went off at the second of the Degner Curves on the daunting Suzuka layout. Despite vowing to tone his feedback down following previous radio outbursts, Grosjean could not refrain from labelling his brakes as “sh*t” later in the afternoon.

The 31-year-old, who retired with a brake disc failure in Malaysia last weekend, explains that his anger is not aimed at the team but rather at its brake provider Brembo.

“You drive at 320km/h and the brake doesn’t work, how would you react?,” Grosjean said. “It could be dangerous. Yes, there are things I don’t accept. It’s not against the team, it’s against the suppliers.

“I crashed because the brakes didn’t work, so I think it’s normal to be a bit annoyed. Everywhere it is dangerous but here especially because of the very high speeds.

“The last race we were lucky to escape with nothing bad to happen and then here the brakes don’t work again so it is a bit too much.”

Grosjean also admits the repeated problems have made him slightly more tentative under braking.

“It is not ideal let us put it that way but of course then you don’t go for the last five metres of braking zone. Qualifying is a different story but in free practice we have to take it carefully.

“It could be wet too so it may be hard to find the right solution. Hopefully we can change it for tomorrow and make it better.”

Haas’ practice mishaps did not limit to Grosjean’s car, as team-mate Esteban Gutierrez triggered a Virtual Safety Car in FP2 after stopping his VF-16 ahead of the Degner bends with a turbo issue.

REPORT: Rosberg edges out Hamilton as Ferrari shows pace in FP2

FEATURE: Silbermann says… Snapchat and soap in Suzuka

Chris Medland’s 2016 Japanese Grand Prix preview

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Guenther Steiner has described Haas’ Japanese Grand Prix weekend as “bittersweet” after narrowly missing out on points, but the team principal is pleased to see the US newcomers “getting better and not stagnating”.

After enduring challenging practice sessions at Suzuka, Haas managed to bounce back in qualifying as it placed its two cars in Q3 for the first time in its nascent F1 career.

However, both Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez slipped down the order during the race, with the Frenchman ultimately recording a seventh 11th-place finish for the American outfit this year.

“I’m not happy to finish 11th but I’m not unhappy with the performance of the team,” Steiner said. “The five good teams in front of us, with nobody dropping out, it’s logical.

“We took the fight to the Williams but we couldn’t pull it off because they had an advantage in their strategy with the tyres. I’m not complaining, it worked out for them but we were there, we were quicker than them but couldn’t overtake, very difficult to overtake here, so it’s bittersweet.”

Although Haas has yet to score since Austria, its team principal also took satisfaction from the squad’s recovery from a tough race in Sepang, where both cars had retired with issues.

“Our plate was full after Malaysia to sort out the problems we had and also try to make the car quicker and get a better set-up. I think everyone worked hard and we achieved a lot in a very short time. So, again, that shows for me how the team is getting better.

“The encouraging thing is that if we keep on doing this we’re getting better and not stagnating,” Steiner added. “Already staying the same for us would be a good point, but we’re getting better.

“We know what the car can do, finishing seven times 11th is not that great. It’s not a great feeling, but the good thing is we know that we can do it and we keep on doing what we’re doing.”

DRIVER RATINGS: Japanese Grand Prix

REPORT: Rosberg wins in Japan as Hamilton fights back to third

Breakfast with … Tetsuo Tsugawa

FEATURE: Silbermann says… Snapchat and soap in Suzuka

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Manor racing director Dave Ryan says running development driver Jordan King in FP1 at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix will give the team “further opportunity to appraise his performance”.

The Briton will make his Formula One race weekend debut this Friday, driving the MRT05 in the opening 90 minutes of practice at the Circuit of the Americas.

Although King has already tested several times with Manor, the Banbury-based outfit will now be able to evaluate how the GP2 Series frontrunner fares on a bigger stage.

“It will be good to give Jordan his first FP1 session,” Ryan said. “He’s done a really great job in his Development Driver role and this opportunity was a planned part of his programme with us.

“We look forward to getting his feedback and this further opportunity to appraise his performance in the MRT05.”

Manor has yet to announce his 2017 line-up and with current drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon both linked to a move elsewhere next year, either to Force India or Renault, there might one or two seats opening at the British team.

FEATURE: Where and Why has Williams been caught out

F1i Classic – Masten Gregory – The ‘Kansas City flash’

Silbermann investigates the potential EU threat to F1’s Liberty Media deal

2017 F1 driver line-ups so far

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Following rumors of Ron Dennis being forced out of his chairman and CEO roles at McLaren, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has come out in defense of the 69-year-old executive.

Dennis’  future at McLaren appears bleak with the famous F1 manager unable to secure the proper financial backing to buy out his fellow McLaren shareholders, who own 75% of the company while Dennis retains 25%.

Consequently, Dennis may no longer hold an active role with the company when his contract as chairman and CEO expires at the end of this year, and with his partners unwilling to keep him on.

Ron Dennis took control of McLaren in 1981 and diversified the company beyond its core racing roots. He remains an emblematic figure in Formula 1 and while Dennis and Ecclestone have often been at odds which each other with regard to the sport’s management, the latter defended the former in Austin last weekend.

“If I was going to run a team I’d like to have Ron with me,” Ecclestone said to Reuters.

“I think he does a good job. Anyone that chucks him out is stupid. He’s dedicated.

“I think we ought to try and support him so they don’t get rid of him.”

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Should Dennis’ contract with McLaren not be renewed, he would obviously  no longer be involved in the day-to-day running of the group, but would remain a prominent shareholder, unless his McLaren partners pony up on offer to buy him out.

An unlikely prospect for anyone familiar with Dennis competitive spirit.

2016 USGP – Quotes of the week

DRIVER RATINGS: United States Grand Prix

2017 driver line-ups so far

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