2021

Daniel Ricciardo admits he’s open to the possibility of doing sim racing like his teammate Lando Norris. During the lockdown ahead of the delayed 2020 F1 season, several drivers including Norris, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and more took part in virtual races using their simulators at home. Ricciardo was not one of those to get involved as racing online has never appealed to him. However, the Australian is remaining open-minded about the possibility of trying it out. “I have thought about it,” Ricciardo told Auto Motor Und Sport when asked if his avoidance of sim racing could be a disadvantage. “At the beginning I always said: I don’t want to have a simulator at home because I have something better to do on the free weekends. These virtual races have never excited me. “But I don’t want to be narrow-minded here either. Maybe it really is a help. That’s something you’d have to find out. “It could be that you learn something from it, but also that you get into bad habits. But Max, Lando and Charles are very active there, and maybe it does help. “It’s still not my thing, but I’m not going to ignore it, I’m going to give it a try.” Ricciardo may perhaps be hoping that trying sim racing could be beneficial in terms of continuing to become more comfortable with his real-life McLaren car after some difficulties adjusting since joining the team this season. The 32-year-old has mostly been outperformed by Norris so far during 2021, with the Briton currently in fourth place in the Drivers’ World Championship on 101 points whilst Ricciardo is in eighth place with 40 points. However, the Australian has showed signs of improvement at times and, with 14 more races lined up on the calendar, there is still plenty of the season remaining in which to turn things around.

A capacity crowd of 140,000 could attend this year British Grand Prix. But is a second race at the track on the cards for later in the year? The crowd across the 3-day weekend coming up will be the largest sporting crowd in the UK since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Despite this positive news, there is much uncertainty as to how the second half of the calendar will look. So far whenever a race has dropped off a suitable replacement has been found, but is it only a matter of time until we are forced to visit the same circuit twice? Silverstone managing director, Stuart Pringle, has had his say on the possibility of a second race at Silverstone: “If we can help by having a race later in the season then we would be delighted to assist Formula 1 deserve remarkable credit that they completed 17 races last year – the only global sport to have achieved such a feat – and I hope they can complete the calendar again. “We haven’t been asked, and it’s not a conversation I’ve prompted, but if us hosting another race gets the championship to a sensible level, of course, we would help.” In 2020 Silverstone was one of a number of venues to hold two races. The first race being one of the most memorable of the season as Lewis Hamilton won on three wheels, just imagine the scenes if 140,000 people were there to witness it. Limbs everywhere. Some people have spoken out at how they’d like to see different layouts of the circuit used, but the most realistic option is Pirelli just switching the tyre compounds up, to try and force teams into a different strategy.

George Russell has heaped praise on Lewis Hamilton for remaining at the very top of his game despite having the best machinery in F1. Hamilton’s success has been called into question over recent years because no other manufacturer has been able to build as quick a car as Mercedes. The Silver Arrows gave Hamilton the tools to equal Michael Schumacher’s record seven world titles. Red Bull’s title challenge Max Verstappen has regularly put Hamilton’s achievements down to his car. But Russell, who is hoping to join Mercedes for the 2022 campaign, believes his fellow Brit’s success is down to more than just his vehicle. “The best drivers often find themselves in the best car,” Russell told Autocar. “There is no doubt that Lewis has probably had the best car over the last few years, but in tricky circumstances, he’s the one who doesn’t drop the ball.” “He’s the one who can sometimes pull something out of the bag. So it goes hand in hand. “If you’re a good driver, you can often pull more from the car, but if the car is good, that enhances the driver as well. The package between them has been pretty formidable.” Hamilton is contracted with Mercedes until the end of the 2023 season after penning a two-year extension earlier this month. Russell may get the chance to race alongside the 36-year-old if he replaces Valtteri Bottas at the end of the season. “Everyone wants to go up against the best driver,” Russell explained. “Everyone believes in themselves, but for me, I’d love that challenge because the pressure would be off and I’d find myself in a win-win scenario. “I’d go in with that mentality if I ever found myself up against one of the best drivers of all time. “You have got nothing to lose – which I think is great really. That is the sort of situation that Sergio Perez finds himself in at the moment. “He’s got no pressure because he’s got nothing to lose – and so you go out there and enjoy it, and show them what you can do.” He added: ” I believe in myself and I feel ready to fight for victories and world championships. “I had the massive challenge in Bahrain last year, being thrown in at the deep end with no preparation and no laps in the car. “I think it has been proven how difficult it is to jump between cars and get up to speed. I felt far from up to speed for that race but we still managed to do a pretty decent job so I think I feel ready. Obviously.”

Everyone is anxiously waiting to see who will be Lewis Hamilton’s teammate in 2022. Rumours are strong that George Russell will take the place of Valtteri Bottas. This would be announced this weekend at Silverstone. To Motorsport-total.com Hamilton talks more about his relationship with teammate Bottas. “As for my relationship with Valtteri, he’s a great teammate. I’ve always said that. And if I’m honest, I feel like at the moment we have the combination that is the best in terms of balancing the team and knowing how to develop our car.” “At some point that will change. I won’t be here forever and neither will Valtteri. But for now I think we have performed well in the last few years and we can continue to do that,” the world champion continued. Bottas is not having his best season in Formula 1. He is currently fifth in the championship with 92 points and is not having the most consistent season. “People also need to leave him alone sometimes, so he can concentrate on his work,” Hamilton believes. “We will continue to work together as a team, as we have done well for many years,” said the seven-time world champion. “I’ve always said that Valtteri is generally the best teammate I’ve ever had. And when I say that, I don’t just mean the performance, but the morale in the team and how they work together in that environment.” This coming weekend we’re going to see if the rumours about Russell are indeed true. It seems that Bottas will at least have other options next to Mercedes by then.

Mercedes is poised to announce the signing of George Russell for 2022 and beyond, according to a growing number of authoritative sources. British commentators Martin Brundle and David Croft, as well as 1996 world champion Damon Hill, all admit they are expecting the news to be made official at the British GP this weekend. “Then it’s game over for Valtteri (Bottas),” racing driver and Finnish pundit Toni Vilander told the broadcaster MTV. “You could tell it was in his mind already,” the Finn added. “The most important thing for Mercedes was to confirm that Hamilton is staying part of the team. So now the main pillar is in place. “I don’t think Russell would be happy to sign another Williams agreement. You could say that Hamilton’s two-year contract will be his last, in which case the next champion will be raised next to him. “Unfortunately these are all things that Valtteri has little influence over.” If 23-year-old Briton Russell does get the call-up, Nico Hulkenberg or Daniil Kvyat – both F1 reserve drivers this year – are said to be in pole position to replace him at Williams. Bottas, 31, has also been linked with a return to Williams, and also Alfa Romeo. Russell said: “I am in constant touch with Mercedes. They have always taken care of me. “No matter what happens, I’ll have a Mercedes engine behind me next year. I’m a Mercedes driver – I’m loyal to them,” he insisted. “I’ve always said ‘if you do a good job, you will be rewarded’. It’s as simple as that.”

Lewis Hamilton fears British Grand Prix fans will not enjoy too much excitement from sprint qualifying’s debut at Silverstone. The new format makes its bow on the Saturday afternoon with the intention of spicing up the race weekend and adding a different dimension to the action. The usual one-hour qualifying session has been moved to the Friday evening. That sets the grid for sprint qualifying, a 17-lap ‘race’, the result of which determines the starting order for Sunday’s main event which takes place as normal. With no scheduled pit-stops, it is hoped drivers will go for broke in sprint qualifying to try to put themselves as high up the grid for the grand prix as possible. However, there is also a theory that some may be advised to apply caution by their teams in order to preserve their tyres and potentially also avoid running out of fuel. On the other hand, there could be thrills and spills galore, especially with sprint qualifying never having taken place before, but Hamilton is sceptical. Asked if he had high hopes for the spectacle sprint qualifying could produce, Hamilton, quoted by Motorsport.com, said: “Not particularly. “It’s going to be a train, probably. Hopefully there will be some overtaking, but it most likely won’t be too exciting.” While qualifying has been scheduled for between 6pm and 7pm on the Friday evening, sprint qualifying also occupies a later-than-usual slot as it is due to begin at 4.30pm. Of the sprint qualifying concept in general, which has been pencilled in to happen on two other weekends this year, probably the Italian Grand Prix and a ‘flyaway’ race, Hamilton said: “I don’t really have an opinion about it. We’ll wait and see. There’s no point judging it before we even get into it. It doesn’t matter.” Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, has said he is “open-minded” about what is at this stage only a trial of the new format, although he admits to also being something of a traditionalist. “I think it’s fair to wait all three weekends and if there are any positives from it and people like it, then why not keep it in the future?” said the Frenchman. “But I think we have to review after all three weekends. What does it bring? Does it really make it more exciting? Because I think that’s the whole point of it. “If it does, then why not? But if it doesn’t, it’s important to keep the format we have, which I think is good. “I enjoy the qualifying on Saturday and having only one single race during the weekend.”

Daniel Ricciardo has switched teams twice in recent years. After 2018 he left Red Bull Racing to hunt for success at Renault, but after two seasons he left to take a seat at McLaren. He’s now driving his first season there and doesn’t seem entirely comfortable yet. In conversation with Auto, Motor und Sport the Australian explains why. “At Renault I immediately felt that I could keep my old driving style, but that I just had a bit less grip than with the Red Bull car. Compared to McLaren, the differences with the car are a bit bigger.” “It has its strengths and weaknesses, but somehow my normal driving style doesn’t quite match the car. It could be to the braking or acceleration, but the car doesn’t react like I’m used to”. Ricciardo has therefore had more trouble than usual getting up to speed, he himself acknowledges. “That’s why my move to McLaren has been a little more challenging than the move to Renault. The first step was to find out what made my driving style not work in all the corners and only then could I start working on new techniques to master,” Ricciardo concludes.

Jos Verstappen says he knew his son Max “had something special” about him as a driver when he was only seven years old. A decade later, of course, Verstappen junior was making his Formula 1 debut aged 17 years and 166 days for Toro Rosso at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix. Another six years on, the Dutchman is now driving for Red Bull and is 32 points clear in the Drivers’ World Championship, although he can no longer beat Sebastian Vettel’s record for being the youngest racer ever to secure the individual title. With Jos having raced in Formula 1 himself between 1994 and 2003, and twice finished on the podium while Michael Schumacher’s team-mate at Benetton, racing is very much in Max’s genes – and also because his mother, Sophie, competed in karting herself. It soon became apparent that Max was a prodigious talent. Jos, quoted by Speedweek, said: “When he was seven years old, I saw he had something special. “He was always incredibly fast on the first lap on cold tyres. And when overtaking. You can see where someone can overtake, how he prepares it – Max was always very good at that.” Therefore it was no surprise that Verstappen invested all the time he could into ensuring his son fulfilled his limitless potential. “For me, it was between 80,000 and 100,000 kilometres with the bus every year,” added the 49-year-old. “I also prepared the engines, was a mechanic and a stay-at-home dad. That cost me a lot of time and money and I wouldn’t have done that if I hadn’t seen his talent.” Verstappen admitted he had been a hard taskmaster. “I do think it was tough for Max,” he added. “We didn’t go to the track to chase the others. We went there to win, and that’s what I taught Max. I always just wanted to win, win, win. That’s what I asked him to do.” After becoming settled in at Toro Rosso, that was the time when Jos started taking a step back and allowing Red Bull to guide Max’s career. Of that first season, 2015, Jos said: “I was fully involved, also to show Max how to work with the team. “The nice thing is we still talk to each other every day Max drives. We call each other and talk about how things went and what’s going on. “I also tell him my thoughts on it. I’m just telling him, he doesn’t need to answer, but I know he’s thinking about it. That’s the only thing I want.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has revealed what he believes his driver Sergio Perez has which the previous drivers at the team didn’t, and how it has played a major part in the teams performance this year. The Mexican is currently third in the drivers standings, just three points clear of McLaren driver Lando Norris, and has helped the team gain a lead in the constructors championship over rivals Mercedes for the first time in the hybrid era, something that previous drivers such as Pierre Gasly, Daniil Kvyat and Alex Albon have failed to do. But there is one thing that Perez has that the others didn’t. “I think he just gives us that experience,” said Horner, speaking to the Beyond the Grid podcast. “He’s got 10 years worth of experience. He’s got an ability to manage the tyres within a race that is second to none. It just brings a different dynamic into the line-up,” The revolving door policy at Red Bull has been a frustrating one. They have a junior programme which has brought in many young drivers to the sport and to the team, but they have not been able to get the driver combination at the team right to challenge their rivals. When Daniel Ricciardo left the team at the end of the 2018 season in a move to Renault, he was replaced by Frenchman Pierre Gasly. But half way through the 2019 season, Gasly was dropped in favour of Alex Albon, with Gasly demoted back to Red Bull’s sister team Alpha Tauri. The team decided to monitor the performance of both drivers to assess who would be the better driver to partner star driver Max Verstappen and take the fight to Mercedes. It turns out Albon didn’t fair much better, despite him gaining the full time seat for the 2020 season. Albon was dropped after just one year, and Red Bull decided to look outside of their driver programme for the first time since 2007, when Mark Webber took a seat. “Both Pierre and Alex are tremendously gifted drivers, but timing just wasn’t right,” continued Horner. “Then the pressured environment that we have, and the expectation, it was very tough for them. It was a bold move to step out of the scheme this year with Sergio. For the first time since Mark Webber, we’ve taken a non-Red Bull junior driver.” Perez was signed from Racing Point, who have now re-branded to Aston Martin. The team sensationally dropped him at the end of 2020, despite finishing ahead of his team mate Lance Stroll in the driver standings, in favour of ex Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel. He was available, and it was clear that Red Bull needed a serious shake up in order to have a chance at winning the championship. “But the way he settled in and the way he’s delivering, particularly after that victory in Bahrain last year, it would have been very tough for him not to be in Formula 1. I think he brings the dynamic in the fight that we have with Mercedes. That’s starting to pay dividends. You saw that in the French Grand Prix, and also Azerbaijan getting his first victory. The way he fended off Lewis, Lewis probably would have won that race had it not been for Sergio so he’s absolutely delivering.”

Formula One’s single tyre manufacturer Pirelli has brought its latest 2022 18-inch tyre test to an end, racking up high mileage with AlphaTauri’s race drivers, Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda. Beside the revolutionary new aerodynamic configuration, Formula One is set to introduce a brand-new tyre specification next year with the 18-inch tyres due to make their debut in 2022. With the world still grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, the introduction of the new tyres was postponed to 2022. The postponement meant that Pirelli cancelled its preparation and on-track runs that were scheduled for 2020 and is instead working on the new tyres this year. After requesting a permission from the FIA to increase the number of test days, the Milan-based was granted a 30-day test programme that began on February 23 with Ferrari completing test runs at Jerez. Pirelli and AlphaTauri stayed for a two-day tyre test programme at the Red Bull Ring while the rest of the field left the track which hosted the Styrian and the Austrian Grands Prix over the last two weekends. Tuesday saw Pierre Gasly get behind the wheel of his modified AlphaTauri car that was fitted with the prototype 2022 18-inch slick tyres. The Frenchman completed 69 laps in the morning and performed a busy afternoon to rack up 164 laps in total. The second day of the tyre development programme continued with his team mate, Yuki Tsunoda, who tried out a number of different options on Wednesday. The Kanagawa-born driver completed 59 laps in the morning and a further 72 laps in the afternoon to finish Pirelli’s experiment with its all-new product for Formula One’s 73th season. Pirelli is set to continue its excessive tyre testing at Silverstone after next weekend’s British Grand Prix.

Lando Norris was not happy after the Austrian Grand Prix. He finished third, but saw his second place disappear because of a penalty. To make matters worse he also got penalty points on his license. Norris received a five second penalty in Austria for pushing Sergio Perez into the gravel. There are already questions marks over this penalty, but after the race Norris also received penalty points on his license. The Briton was not happy with this, as he took aim at Formula 1’s ‘stupid system’. ‘Why should I deserve penalty points today for someone going into the gravel? Yes, nothing I’ve done is dangerous and… maybe in some cases you deserve an on-track penalty, because you’ve done something bad in terms of racing and you just made a mistake, but then you have things that people do every now and then which are purely dangerous,” Norris said according to Formula1.com. ‘If you do genuinely overtake under a yellow-flag and do something else that’s clearly a rule that will put people in danger then I understand penalty points for a driver, and if that adds up you get a driver ban or race ban, but for little things like this, it’s stupid in my opinion. It’s not what Formula 1 should be,”, the Briton concludes.

F1 legend Carlos Reutemann has died at 79 has announced the great Argentine driver’s family. The twelve-time Grand Prix winner and former Governor of Santa Fe passed away “in peace and dignity” according to his daughter Cora who announced her father’s passing on Twitter. “Dad left in peace and dignity after fighting like a champion with a strong and noble heart that accompanied him to the end,” wrote Cora Reutemann. “I am proud and blessed for the father I had. I know that he will accompany me every day of my life until we meet again in the house of the Lord.” In May, Reutemann was admitted to a hospital in Sante Fe after suffering from anemia and internal bleeding. He was later transferred to a clinic in Rosario where his condition improved and allowed for a discharge on May 21. But complications due to dehydration forced a new hospitalization on the former driver and his transfer once again into intensive care on June 21. Unfortunately, Reutemann suffered another case of gastrointestinal bleeding this week, and his condition worsened over the last 24 hours until his passing on Wednesday. In 2017, the former governor of Santa Fe underwent surgery in New York due to liver cancer, and it is believed that Reutemann’s health affliction may have had its origins in that past illness. Reutemann’s distinguished career in F1 saw the popular Argentinian take part in 146 Grands Prix from 1972 to 1982, winning races with Brabham, Ferrari and Williams and scoring a total of 12 wins and 46 podiums. He burst onto the scene with a sensational pole-taking F1 debut with Brabham at his home race in Buenos Aires in 1972, and never looked back thereafter. A tremendously gifted and superb stylist, ‘Lole’ – as he was affectionately named by his countrymen – often exuded sheer brilliance on one day only to appear uninspired or daunted by pressure on another as mood swings set in. But Reutemann’s efforts at the highest level also suffered from poor career decisions or unfortunate timing. In 1981, Reutemann head into the final round of the F1 world championship at Las Vegas with a one-point lead over Brabham’s Nelson Piquet. But the chips fell the wrong way for the Williams driver undermined by the pressure around the Caesar’s Palace parking lot makeshift street circuit where he failed to score, handing the laurels to Piquet and allowing the Brazilian to secure the first of his three world crowns in F1. After retiring from motorsport, Reutemann embarked on a political career in his home country, becoming the governor of his native province of Santa Fe, and later a federal senator. As a popular politician, Reutemann was considered by many to be a worthy candidate for President of Argentina, and although he considered running in his country’s 2011 general election, he ultimately declined to do so. Racetrackmasters extends to the Reutemann family, to Carlos’ wife Veronica and to daughters Cora and Mariana our heartfelt condolences.