F1 News

McLaren and the Mind mental health charity have announced a fundraising challenge, with the aim of raising £59,000 in the build-up to the week of the British Grand Prix.

Red Bull junior driver Juri Vips will make his Formula 1 race weekend debut when he steps into the cockpit of the Red Bull Racing RB18 during the first practice session at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Aston Martin has revealed a major upgrade for its AMR22 ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, including reshaped sidepods.

But Maffei quickly downplayed the chances of adding a fourth American event alongside Austin, Miami and Las Vegas, saying that trying to put on a race in the Big Apple was a “fight we don’t need to have.”
Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone tried for years to get a race either in or close to New York. In 2011 a site at Port Imperial in New Jersey, with the city skyline as a backdrop, was ...Keep reading

New parts have appeared on McLaren, Ferrari and Aston Martin's car ahead of this weekend's race at the Circuit de Catalunya.

In a wholesome bit of news, Sir Lewis Hamilton has posted a picture of himself as a child in his karting days to symbolise that he is “still that same kid.”

Hamilton has endured a tough start to the 2022 season in an underperforming Mercedes, and he has managed a best finish of third after taking advantage of Red Bull’s reliability struggles.

However, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was the first time he had crossed the finish line outside the points since 2013 when he ended 13th, and he has not been on the rostrum since the opening round in Bahrain.

READ: Alonso: Hamilton struggles highlight Formula 1 is a ‘team sport’

The Briton has faced inevitable criticism while being out-performed in four consecutive races by new team-mate George Russell, and both Jacques Villeneuve have suggested that he might be thinking of quitting.

As always, Hamilton is determined to rise above that, and he posted a picture on Instagram of him as a kid wearing sunglasses outside a garage followed by a picture of him in the Mercedes garage this year, also donning some snazzy eyewear.

“At the end of the day, still that same kid,” was the caption.

Indeed, the Briton has time and again shown his unbelievable talent. His infamous performance in Turkey in GP2 16 years ago announced him into the big leagues, and he out-qualified Fernando Alonso nine times in his first year in 2007, missing out on the championship to Kimi Raikkonen by one point after winning four races that season.

His first title followed a year later and the rest, as they say, is history.

His inspirational post follows on from his comment that Mercedes’ predominantly midfield fight this year is still racing, just not quite as he is used to having won four of the last five titles.

“It’s still racing, just a different perspective, a different point of view,” he said, quoted by RacingNews365.com.

#Ferrari to present expenditure of each team to FIA https://t.co/YMvYZrYVUd

— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) May 19, 2022

“You always want to generally try and go forwards, but I will say it’s quite difficult when you’re not really going forwards. “

As for the comments linking him with retirement, he intends to use them to push even harder for results.

“That’s a part of life, naturally I’ve seen some of the things [from] people I’ve grown up admiring and even people in the sport that have come out with certain comments, some disrespectful, some just not particularly respectful of my name,” added the 37-year-old.

READ: ‘Our drivers flew off the track a lot’: Aston Martin aiming to ‘bring upgrades to every race’

“I think for me, I take that as fuel, I’m putting that into the pot and I’m turning that into a positive and I’m going to come back stronger.”

Hamilton’s Mercedes team sit third in the Constructors’ Standings, 62 points off leaders Ferrari as they arrive in Barcelona hoping that a new “high-load” setup can help them maximise the corners and get closer to the fight for victories.

The post Lewis Hamilton shares inspirational message amid question marks over his future appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

Max Verstappen goes into this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix on the back of his third win of the season, after a dominant display at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix.

The Dutchman recovered from reliability issues during free practice to put his car in third spot for the race.

Verstappen started behind both Ferrari drivers, however, he was past Carlos Sainz by the time they reached Turn 2 on the opening lap.

By lap 9 the 2021 World Champion was into the lead, after overtaking title rival Charles Leclerc with ease.

READ: Mercedes run ‘high-load’ package at Paul Ricard ahead of Barcelona upgrades

His victory in Miami means he has staggeringly won every race he’s finished so far this season, having retired from the Bahrain and Australian Grand Prix.

Both of the Red Bull Racing driver’s retirements were down to reliability issues, not driver error.

Verstappen will be hoping for a “clean” weekend at the upcoming round; one that is incredibly special to the Dutchman.

The European leg of the season begins this weekend, with the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the circuit where back in 2016 Verstappen claimed his first-ever victory in Formula 1.

The 2016 race is remembered famously for a number of reasons.

It was the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix where Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed out of the race on the opening lap, after Hamilton spun into Rosberg having been forced off the circuit by the German driver.

This incident opened the door to Verstappen, who incredibly won his first race in Formula 1 in his first Grand Prix with Red Bull.

Verstappen was promoted to the team early in the season from Toro Rosso, after being swapped with Daniil Kvyat.

The Spanish Grand Prix therefore holds a very special place in the Dutchman’s heart, where he is hoping that the team can “keep the momentum going” from the previous rounds.

“We had an incredible week in Miami, I’ve had some time to rest with my family since and now I’m looking forward to driving in Barcelona again,” Verstappen said.

“I have a lot of good memories at the track, from my first win in Formula 1 back in 2016 when I was 18.

“Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a track that we all know very well as a team, due to the amount of testing we have done there over the years so, unlike Miami, we have a substantial amount of data to use ahead of the race.

“Hopefully we can keep the momentum going from the last few races with a clean start from Friday onwards,” concluded the reigning World Champion

The post Max Verstappen hoping for ‘clean start’ in Barcelona appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

The Spaniard says he can already feel the effects of stiffer suspensions along with the porpoising issue that many teams are suffering from in 2022.
The Ferrari driver says he wants to start a debate on the subject in order to see if there is any way to improve the situation.
Sainz brought up the issue when asked by Motorsport.com what the 2022 F1 cars will be like around the tight confines ...Keep reading

Carlos Sainz Jnr says his practice crash in Miami left him with a "knot" in his neck which he has been training to fix ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix

AlphaTauri's biggest weakness compared to their rivals is their lack of aerodynamic efficiency, Pierre Gasly says.

As revealed last month, Sicard has been recruited to take on a newly-created job as part of the response to last year's Abu Dhabi GP controversy.
The long-time DAMS managing director will leave his position with the French organisation on Monday, having served out his notice over the past six weeks.
The FIA's sporting director title was previously one of several held by Michael Masi ...Keep reading

Red Bull junior driver Juri Vips is set to receive his first official outing in a Formula 1 car this weekend when he gets behind the wheel of the RB18 during practice ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Vips is currently in the Formula 2 championship with Hitech, and has managed two podiums so far this season after claiming two wins in six podiums in 2021.

He finished on the rostrum once with the Dams team in 2020, and the year before that he took pole in the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix, ending the race at the tremendously tricky Chinese circuit in second while claiming three victories in the rest of the year.

READ: ‘Everyone had to start from zero’: Verstappen praises ‘happier’ Perez

The Estonian comes into his first championship practice session with some good momentum and plenty of promise behind him, and Red Bull will be looking on eagerly as he takes Perez’s place alongside Max Verstappen.

Vips recently affirmed that there are no specific expectations of him this year, only that he shows Red Bull that he is worth the investment.

“I don’t have a certain set goal from Red Bull that I have to win the title or anything. I just have to prove I am F1 worthy,” he said.

The 21-year-old is very aware that he is in a driver system led by Dr Helmut Marko that is notoriously ruthless, but Vips previously simplified the requisites for making it at Red Bull, stating that solid performances are all that they ask for.

“[Dr Marko] is simpler than people think,” he explained.

“He is going to put you under pressure but if you are doing well, then he is very nice and very straightforward. Perform, and everything is good.

“That is the thing with the Red Bull Junior Team. If you don’t do well, then you might get kicked out. But if you do well, you get to F1.

“They throw people out, yes. But why would you want to keep and pay drivers who are not going to be worthy of F1?

READ: ‘Nice’ to see Mick Schumacher in a more competitive car

“They want only the best talent and I think that’s the right approach. They keep the best and they give them the chance.”

Vips will ultimately be hoping to earn a place at AlphaTauri in the near future, and that chance could appear when Pierre Gasly’s contract expires at the end of 2023, with the Frenchman stating that he wants to move to Red Bull by 2024.

The post Sergio Perez to miss FP1 at Spanish Grand Prix appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

Haas is planning to bring a significant upgrade for the French Grand Prix, team principal Guenther Steiner has confirmed.

While most teams have new parts for Barcelona, Haas has decided to wait and introduce one bigger package which is currently scheduled for the French GP in late July.
Although other midfield teams look to set to make steps in performance in Spain and beyond, Steiner says he doesn't expect any "pain" to result from the team's strategy of waiting a few more races.
Steiner added that Haas had a ...Keep reading

Alpine’s Fernando Alonso believes that the difficult season that Sir Lewis Hamilton is enduring in 2022 is emphasising the fact that no matter how good a driver is, it may count for little if the car does not have the pace. 

Having narrowly missed out on his eighth world champion last season, Hamilton and Mercedes came into 2022 galvanised in their hunt to turn the tables on Red Bull and re-claim the Drivers’ Championship, but it looks as though their eight years of constructors’ dominance is about to come to an end this year.

The Silver Arrows have suffered with a woefully underperforming car this season, and both Hamilton and team-mate George Russell have managed a best finish of third after capitalising on poor reliability for Red Bull and mistakes from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

READ: ‘Everyone had to start from zero’: Verstappen praises ‘happier’ Perez

These results have done little to cover over the cracks though, and the German outfit find themselves 62 points behind leaders Ferrari, whose Charles Leclerc has won two of the five races so far in 2022 and leads the Drivers’ Standings.

Max Verstappen, who beat Hamilton to glory on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last season, has claimed the other three, but finds himself 19 points adrift of the Monegasque after retiring from the races in Bahrain and Australia through engine troubles.

Alonso knows what it is like to be a world champion driver in an underperforming car.

The Spaniard managed 23 points finishes with McLaren between 2015 and 2018 as the Woking side failed to integrate themselves with Honda or Renault power, and that move came right after he had left Ferrari, who returned to race winning form with Sebastian Vettel following the Scuderia’s horrible 2014 – the first season in the Turbo-Hybrid era.

Alonso did not take any race wins that year after winning 11 races with the Maranello side before that, missing out on the title amid the dominance of Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel.

His time with the Italian giants was preceded by two titles at Renault, while his four wins with McLaren in 2007 nearly took him to glory, but for in-team fighting with Hamilton perhaps costing them both as Kimi Raikkonen sealed his sole championship that year by one point.

It is fair to say then that Alonso has not had the best of luck in the pinnacle of motorsport since 2006, and he has endured more misfortune in 2022 as well, with reliability failures as well as accidents in his Renault-powered Alpine keeping him on two points in 16th in the championship.

The 40-year-old has become accustomed to putting his all into a lap and finding that it is only good enough to scrape into the top 10, but he affirms that it is simply the nature of the beast.

“This is the nature of the sport. Sometimes you have a better car, sometimes you have not such a good car and you still need to fight and make some progress,” he told BBC Sport.

“This year we see that the driver is very important in F1 but not crucial.

“Lewis is driving as good as he has been the last eight years. He was dominating the sport and breaking all the records and [103] pole positions.

“And now he is doing a mega lap – as he said in Australia or somewhere like that – and he is one second behind. So, yeah – welcome.”

Hamilton has out-qualified Russell three times in 2022, but has found himself beaten in the race in all of the last four events due to a combination of blinding pace from the 24-year-old and misfortune under the Safety Car.

More than that though, he just does not have the car at the moment to add to his seven championships, and it is at times like these, according to Alonso, that we see just how important the rest of the team is to the driver’s success.

“This is F1. It is not going to be a fair sport in terms of numbers,” he explained.

“This is a team sport more than anything and we tend to forget this, especially when we have success. We are so happy for what we are achieving that even if we try to share with the team, all the headlines are for the driver.

“It happened to me when I won the two championships. I was beating Michael Schumacher. This was a big topic.

“But my car was more reliable at that time and had very good performance and you cannot praise enough that package because the headlines will still be the driver. And with Lewis, it’s the same.

“To have more than 100 pole positions in F1 is something unthinkable. You need to have the best car and package for many, many years.

“We were doing magic laps sometimes and we were P15, and how do you explain that to people? It will be impossible.

“He deserves everything he’s achieved in the past but this year is a good reminder that in all those records and numbers there is a big part on what you have in your hands as a package in the car.”

Russell’s performances have left him 23 points ahead of his compatriot in the standings, and Alonso was asked if he is surprised to see him doing so well against the 37-year-old.

#Ferrari to present expenditure of each team to FIA https://t.co/YMvYZrYVUd

— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) May 19, 2022

“Yes and no. George has been very fast in the last few years,” said the 32-time race winner.

“I think everyone was expecting him to be a tough competitor for Lewis but I still believe Lewis will eventually finish the championship in front.

“This is just a five-race championship, but eventually when things are more tricky or [there are] difficult situations, Lewis will still have more experience and maybe more talent.”

All told, Alonso has not scored points since his P9 in Bahrain after a reliability failure in Saudi Arabia preceded further anguish.

READ: Mercedes ‘still don’t understand’ W13 ahead of major upgrades

He might well have found himself on pole in Australia had it not been for an oil seal failure before his race was unravelled by a Safety Car, and contact with Mick Schumacher cost him another shot at points in Imola.

Contact with both Hamilton and Pierre Gasly in Miami was symptomatic of a difficult year so far for Alonso, who will be aiming for better fortunes with an upgraded Alpine at his home race in Spain this weekend.

The post Alonso: Hamilton struggles highlight Formula 1 is a ‘team sport’ appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

The Spanish Grand Prix will be the second successive hot race weekend for Formula 1's drivers to contend with after the Miami Grand Prix.

Mercedes have conducted a filming day at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France after placing the upgrades they will use for the Spanish Grand Prix on the car.

George Russell was sent out onto the circuit to complete some running in the car that features a higher exhaust, wing beam, a more exaggerated fin on the back of the engine cover, and a revised wing with a slightly larger surface area.

They appeared to be testing out the new floor that they hope will limit their “pospoising,” and the “high-load” setup, as journalist Giuliano Duchessa put it, is aimed at maximising the fast corners in Barcelona this weekend as opposed to the long straights and slow corners in Miami at the last race.

READ: Ferrari to present expenditure of each team to FIA

Mercedes’ day out follows on from Ferrari’s filming day in Monza, and the same rules apply to the “promotional event.”

They have now used one of their allocated two filming days, and no more than 100km of running can be completed during one of those days, as per article 10.4 of the sporting regulations.

The danger of exceeding that distance was the reason Charles Leclerc was forced to grind to a halt on track in Italy.

After the test, Mercedes packed up and made the six-hour journey south to Barcelona.

“Filming day [done], straight on the [plane] to Barcelona,” they tweeted.

The car the Silver Arrows used did not appear to sport any alterations to the sidepods, and this is because team principal Toto Wolff is determined to discover how they make can make the current iteration work, and returning to the scene of the first pre-season test will be a good opportunity to compare the skinny sidepods to the orthodox setup they initially used.

“I think we can find chunks and chunks of lap time if we can just find that killer key to get it in that perfect spot,” he said, quoted by the Express.

“I’m not sure if that will be the next race but the guys are working day and night back at the factory and we all believe we can.

Horner indicates $200 million entry fee is not enough https://t.co/bkUzgvHAzl

— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) May 18, 2022

“We have to stick to our guns, keep pushing down this direction. It will be a number of races before we say we have to go a different way, but I believe in them.”

Wolff has recently described the W13 as a “diva,” but Russell recently affirmed that this is an “understatement.”

“[The performance is] there; we just need to try and unlock it. Toto’s throwing the word diva around a lot, but I think that’s a bit of an understatement because it’s so unpredictable,” he said.

READ: Verstappen claims rule changes helped Perez get closer to him

“When the thing just starts bouncing in the corners, it’s a killer to drive. [In the race] it wasn’t as bad; when you’re not in your full quali mode, you’re not going quite as quick, but it certainly wasn’t great.”

The majority of the teams are confirmed to be bringing upgrades to the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend as the development race heats up amid F1’s return to Europe.

The post Mercedes run ‘high-load’ package at Paul Ricard ahead of Barcelona upgrades appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

Kris Nissen suffered burns to 35% of his body in a fiery 1988 sportscar crash. He told RaceFans F1 drivers should obey the FIA's rules on underwear and jewellery.

Furthermore, with the German car manufacturer having data from pre-season testing when it ran with its launch spec sidepods, the event will also be critical to understanding if it needs to change car concept.
Following a filming day run at Paul Ricard on Wednesday where the team revealed little about its Barcelona plans, the scope of what it is changing for this weekend was revealed on Thursday ...Keep reading

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has outlined his team’s development plan for the 2022 season, and wants to maintain a continued flow of evolution this year.

Aston Martin started the season horribly in Bahrain as Sebastian Vettel missed the race having contracted COVID-19, and Nico Hulkenberg managed to out-qualify Lance Stroll, before falling back in the race.

Neither driver scored points in the first two rounds of the season, but there were hopes for improved fortunes upon Vettel’s return in Australia.

READ: Russell reacts to Wolff’s assessment of 2022 Mercedes: ‘That’s a bit of an understatement’

However, there were four crashes between himself and Stroll over the weekend in a car that appeared to be handling horribly, but they finally grabbed points in the rain-affected Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The four-time world champion was set for another top 10 finish but for a crash with Mick Schumacher in Miami, leaving the door open for Stroll to finish 10th himself.

There have been gradual but perennial improvements for the Silverstone side but they are still ninth in the Constructors’ Championship having struggled to find consistency.

Further, an erratic car that handles poorly is not a good one to bring to a bumpy, twisty circuit with fast corners and plenty of undulation like the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain, so a B-spec car will be introduced this weekend, although there is ambiguity as to whether both drivers will receive the upgrade.

Krack is aware that the team need to prioritise their aerodynamic package, as poor handling only leads to more accidents, which takes more out of their $140 million budget and subsequently puts a blocker on development.

“The biggest and most important point is aero,” said the German.

“The second is the weight of the car and the third is ‘How can we give the drivers better feedback on the steering?’ That’s why there were so many incidents in the last few races.

“Our drivers flew off the track a lot which is not normal.”

Krack confirmed that, despite the added financial stringency and the damage already incurred this year, he wants to come to every grand prix with some fresh parts on the car that will help with stability, weight and pace.

“We want to bring updates to every race, sometimes smaller, sometimes larger. It is important for us to continuously make progress,” he explained.

“I think we’ll be in better shape in a few races, but it would be silly to say ‘this happens in race X and this happens in race Y.

“Even if you bring new parts, you have to understand them first.”

With Vettel, according to some reports, potentially not receiving the upgrade this weekend, former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher predicts a difficult race head for his compatriot unless rain has a role to play in proceedings.

“It will be a disastrous weekend for Sebastian Vettel – I’m sure of it,” he said, quoted by the Kolner Express Newspaper.

#Latifi axe rumours discussed amid Mercedes driver’s appearance https://t.co/2Siuv2kyPM

— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) May 17, 2022

“All of the car’s weaknesses will be exposed in Barcelona, unless he does a rain dance.”

Vettel’s contract with the British side is up at the end of the 2022 season, at such time Schumacher predicts the four-time champion will retire as more and more young, hungry drivers begin to appear.

“I don’t think Sebastian will be at Aston Martin beyond the year. The project went in the wrong direction,” he added.

“My prognosis is that he will retire at the end of the year and devote himself to all of the environmental issues that are so important to him.

“I doubt he’ll get the chance[to move to another team]. Formula 1 moves so fast and so many guys are coming up.

READ: Important to avoid ‘verbal abuse’ between Hamilton and the FIA

“Sebastian is still at a decent level, but he’s just not the future. If a team does decide to reorient itself, it wouldn’t do that with Sebastian.”

Vettel and Stroll have managed three points finished between them in 2022, and sit only above Williams, for whom Alex Albon has scored three points.

The post ‘Our drivers flew off the track a lot’: Aston Martin aiming to ‘bring upgrades to every race’ appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.