Formula 1

Pierre Gasly was at fault for clashing with Alonso on the first corner

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago07 mins

The Istanbul stewards explain why Pierre Gasly was handed a time penalty for his first corner clash with Fernando Alonso. Heading into Turn 1 left-hander at the start of Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix, Sergio Perez was on the inside, with Pierre Gasly to his right and Fernando Alonso on the outside. As they jostled for position, the AlphaTauri clipped the Alpine sending it into a spin and thereby dropping Alonso from 5th to 16th. “I was sandwiched,” Gasly immediately told his team. Usually, in the mad scramble for position at the start of a race, particularly in such conditions, such a clash would be viewed as a ‘racing incident’, but in this case the stewards felt Gasly was “predominantly” to blame. “Gasly tried to negotiate Turn 1 with Perez on the inside and Alonso on the outside,” they explained. Alonso was slightly in front of Gasly at the exit of the corner when both cars made contact, causing the Spaniard to spin. “The Stewards determine that Gasly was predominantly at fault for the collision, as he did not leave enough space for Alonso on the outside. “It should also be pointed out that the Stewards do not consider this incident as an unavoidable Lap 1 Turn 1 contact between two cars,” they added, “as Gasly was not sandwiched between two cars when he touched Alonso’s car.” “If we go back to the start of the year, if you recall, pre the first event was that following discussions with the drivers and the teams we had to sort of ratchet back a little bit, the let them race principles in general,” race director, Michael Masi subsequently explained. “And one of them was first-lap incidents, and that if a driver was wholly to blame for an incident, then it would likely result in a penalty. “And that one there was the stewards determined that Pierre was wholly to blame for the incident. And as a result, a five-second penalty was imposed.” Asked how that compared to the first lap clash at Imola involving Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, Masi said: “If you look at the Max and Lewis one, it’s one of those, the wholly or predominantly, under our regulations. “So we’ve said, and the way that for ease of interpretation, let’s call it, for everyone’s benefit, is that if someone is wholly to blame on lap one, it will result in a penalty. “If it takes two to tango, then it would be likely on lap one not result in anything, or if there’s more than the two cars involved. But if it’s quite clear, two cars, one has done it, then a penalty would happen.” Asked if Perez has played a part in Sunday’s incident, Masi said: “That was one of the things why it probably took a little bit longer at the start to have a closer look at, is that obviously Sergio was on the inside, but once it was quite clear from all of the footage and everything available, that’s why they determined that it was a five second penalty.” “There was contact and I haven’t really seen the footage” said Gasly. “For me it was tight with Sergio inside me and Fernando was on the outside, so honestly there wasn’t space, but yes there was contact. “I did the penalty,” he added, “I don’t know if it was the right thing or not. I need to look at the footage first. “I saw Fernando was there, I also saw Sergio was there, and I tried to go where I could. We know it is always usually not a good mix when there are that many cars. I don’t have any other similar situation that comes to mind. That is just the way it is.” Ironically, Alonso subsequently picked up his own penalty for clashing with Mick Schumacher. “Alonso tried to make a move on Schumacher at the inside at the approach to Turn 4, but never got in a position to complete the move and made contact with the inside rear wheel of the Haas, causing it to spin,” said the stewards, who deemed that Alonso – like Gasly moments earlier – was “predominantly to blame”. The Spaniard was also handed 2 penalty points, his first since his return to the sport.

Mercedes believes Hamilton would have gotten a better result if he pitted earlier

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago05 mins

Mercedes believe that they needed to pit Lewis Hamilton earlier than they did in order for him to finish higher than fifth in the Turkish Grand Prix. Hamilton ran as high as third at one point in the race after deciding not to fit a fresh set of intermediate tyres at the same time as Max Verstappen and his other rivals ahead. The team called him in at one stage, but he decided to stay out.Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said the team had to decide between coming in at that point or risking a run to the end of the race without pitting. They opted for the latter, but abandoned the strategy after they became concerned how much time Hamilton was losing to the cars behind him. “In the car it’s always very difficult to assess your position in the race,” said Wolff. “I think we could have either played it very conservative and pitted him when Verstappen, Perez at the time pitted, and then fight it out on-track, probably come out behind Perez and fight for P4, P3 on track.” “The other thing was to try to go long and either think whether it’s transitioning to a dry tyre or just not stopping any more. So there was two possible options that sounded quite good.” However Hamilton’s tyres began to fade, putting him at risk of losing a place to Pierre Gasly if he pitted, leading Mercedes to bring him in with eight laps to go. “Unfortunately the pace just dropped off much quicker than we would have needed in order to stay third or even fourth or even fifth,” said Wolff. “We almost lost the window against Gasly and then we decided okay, that’s not going to happen, and let’s pit and consolidate it.” “So in hindsight now, I would have pitted ten laps earlier and fought it out on track, probably finished third or fourth. It was much more to gain from the other more dynamic variant.” While Mercedes won the race with Valtteri Bottas Hamilton finished fifth. Wolff said that was the best they could have expected from 11th on the grid in a dry race, but the damp conditions meant a better result was possible. “I think in a normal dry race, this would have probably been the best case, finishing fifth. And today best case with every decision, with the hindsight of the end result or with the information we have at the end, probably third would have been the best we could have achieved. So it’s a five point swing. “But I think we need to walk away from here and say that was damage limitation for this weekend. And Valtteri, thank God Valtteri was up there and won the race and and scored an extra point for fastest lap.”

Bottas wins wet Turkish GP as Verstappen takes championship lead

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago06 mins

Valtteri Bottas won the Turkish Grand Prix, ending a year-long winless drought after leading most of the race from pole position. Max Verstappen finished second to take a six point lead in the championship, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who finished fifth following a late pit stop.Rainfall earlier in the morning soaked the course with water, and light showers persisted throughout the day. All twenty cars started the race on the intermediate tyres. To their credit, it was a mostly clean opening lap – though not entirely without incident. Pierre Gasly picked up a five second time penalty for avoidable contact with Fernando Alonso at the first corner. Alonso, who dropped to the back of the field after a spin, then picked up a five second penalty of his own when he hit Mick Schumacher and spun the Haas driver out. All of the leaders were content to run their single set of intermediates, potentially as long as to the end of the race. That changed on lap 37, when Verstappen made a stop to switch to a new set of intermediates. Bottas pitted from the lead on the next lap. Aston Martin even felt confident enough to send Sebastian Vettel out on a set of medium compound slick tyres, but the track was still far too wet for the gamble to pay off at all. Charles Leclerc took the lead after Bottas’ pit stop. Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, and Esteban Ocon were the last of the front runners running on their first set of tyres. At the front, Leclerc began to haemorrhage time to Bottas on his worn set of intermediates, setting Bottas up for a chance to re-take the lead with a lunge up the inside of turn one on lap 47. Leclerc finally pitted at the end of the lap, and much to the seven-time world champion’s reluctance, Hamilton made his stop on lap 51. Hamilton continued to protest the decision to pit with eight laps to go. He dropped into fifth place behind Leclerc, with Gasly gaining on him in sixth. Hamilton could not make any forward progress as he suffered with graining in his new set of intermediates. Bottas, at the front, stretched his lead out to over ten seconds – and after spinning off five times in last year’s Turkish Grand Prix, he drove to a commanding first win of the 2021 season by 14.5 seconds; Verstappen finished second to take the championship lead, and the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez finished in third, for his first podium since the French Grand Prix. Leclerc held on to fourth, ahead of Hamilton in fifth, Gasly sixth, and Lando Norris in seventh. Carlos Sainz Jnr was voted Driver of the Day are completing his drive from 19th on the grid after a pre-event power unit change, up into eighth place. Lance Stroll finished ninth and Esteban Ocon, the only driver to run the full distance without stopping, held off Antonio Giovinazzi for the final point in tenth. 2021 F1 TURKISH GRAND PRIX – RESULTS POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 58 Laps 2 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing + 14.584s 3 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing + 33.471s 4 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow + 37.471s 5 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team + 41.812s 6 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda + 44.292s 7 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team + 47.213s 8 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow + 51.526s 9 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team + 82.018s 10 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team + 1 Lap 11 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen + 1 Lap 12 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen + 1 Lap 13 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team + 1 Lap 14 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda + 1 Lap 15 George Russell GBR Williams Racing + 1 Lap 16 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team + 1 Lap 17 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing + 1 Lap 18 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team + 1 Lap 19 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team + 2 Laps 20 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team + 2 Laps

Mercedes explain why Hamilton has only taken a ten-place grid penalty at the Turkish GP

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago05 mins

Lewis Hamilton will take a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix, after Mercedes fitted his W12 out with a fresh Internal Combustion Engine. Unlike the majority of engine changes, Mercedes didn’t introduce new ancillaries such as the MGU-H, MGU-K or Turbocharger, and the simple replacement of the ICE element of the power unit means that Hamilton only takes a 10-place grid drop, rather than starting from the very back. Speaking after the first practice session in Turkey, Mercedes’ Head of Trackside Engineering, Andrew Shovlin, explained why the team had made that call and why the decision was made for the Istanbul weekend. “We’re simulating all the races to the end of the year and there’s a balance of the risk of a reliability issue,” Shovlin told Sky Sports F1. “Obviously, the thing that you definitely don’t want to do is fail during a race, and then have to take a penalty anyway. “Then there’s also a performance element because the power units do lose a bit of horsepower over their life. “Now, the 10-place penalty is the bit that most contributes to that reliability element, and the performance is the ICE itself. It’s better to take 10 places than start from the back.” However qualifying goes, Shovlin said that it’s very unlikely Mercedes will change any additional power unit parts this weekend. “Unlikely, really, [because] it’s a lot of fairly intrusive work when you start changing some of those elements during the race weekend,” he explained. “So we’re pretty happy with the decision that we’ve taken so far, and they’ll be likely what we’ll stick with.” Istanbul Park is, in theory, one of the easier venues left on the calendar for overtaking, meaning that Hamilton shouldn’t find it too hard to exploit Mercedes’ outright pace. Shovlin said the extra challenge for this weekend adds a fresh layer of excitement. “Working out how easy it is to overtake, it’s actually quite hard, because you know in your own mind which are the tracks that are good for passing,” he commented. “Sochi has got very long straights but we were struggling a bit with understeer and that made it tricky. “This is a circuit, you remember Lewis and that GP2 race, where he felt there’s a lot of opportunity here, and it should make for an exciting Sunday!” Having topped the times in FP1, Shovlin was asked whether the team might be kicking themselves after qualifying if it turns out that Hamilton has a big pace advantage over title rival Max Verstappen. “That’s the thing, isn’t it? It’s a double-edged sword,” he said. “It does make it easier to recover. Could it be a race that Lewis could have won from pole? Obviously, that balance is one of the things, but it is what it is, so we just need to make the most of getting back and hopefully even have an opportunity to win.”

Hamilton handed a 10-place grid penalty after Internal Combustion Engine change

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago01 mins

Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes received a 10-place grid penalty on Friday over an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) change for the upcoming Turkish Grand Prix. “His Mercedes W12 has been fitted with a new internal combustion engine (ICE) and exhaust but the driver has only exceeded his allocation of new ICEs,” the F1 said in a statement. “Because he has exceeded his allocation of new engines, he’s set to receive a 10-place penalty however, Hamilton came from sixth to win the 2020 Turkish GP,” it added. The season’s 16th race will take place over 58 laps of the 5.4-kilometer (3.4 miles) Intercity Istanbul Park on Sunday, Oct. 10. Hamilton currently holds the top spot in the driver standings with 246.5 points, while Red Bull’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen ranks second with 244.5 points.

Lewis Hamilton tops Turkish GP FP1

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago04 mins

Lewis Hamilton led the field in the first practice session for the Turkish Grand Prix, the Mercedes driver edging Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by a comfortable margin of 0.425s. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc concluded his morning in third position, very close to the Dutchman while Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz completed the top five in the incident-free session. Local weather forecasts are predicting a wet weekend, but the opening practice session kicked off under a cloudy but sunny sky, and 20°C air temperatures. To help cope with Istanbul Park’s water-blasted higher grip surface, Pirelli is supplying its softest three compounds. The novelty at the outset on Friday was Red Bull’s revamped RB16B livery that pays tribute to its engine partner Honda that will depart F1 at the end of the season. With the usual installation laps and rake experiences out of the way, Hamilton was quick to charge to the top, but the Briton was overhauled in short order by Verstappen. But Alpine’s Esteban Ocon briefly settled the matter between the two title contenders by leap-frogging both, with McLaren’s Lando Norris following right behind. However, Hamilton pumped in a lap in the 1m24s on the soft tyre to reassert his authority over the young guns. As the session unfolded, the 100-time Grand Prix winner continued to lower the benchmark, with Verstappen in tow, 0.425s behind. The soft rubber was the tyre of choice for the entire field during the session. Behind the two inseparable front-runners, Leclerc attempted a flyer on the red-walled compound that nearly allowed the Scuderia charger to pip Verstappen for second. In the end however, the Monegasque’s best effort came up just 0.051s short. Behind the leading trio, Bottas worked diligently to conclude his morning fourth, just edging the second Ferrari of Sainz. Thereafter followed Ocon, the faster of the two Alpine drivers, Norris, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez who rounded off the top ten, a fair distance once again from his Red Bull teammate. The second half of the field lined up also enjoyed an incident-free session, with Williams’ George Russell clocking in P11, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. Bringing up the rear, Mick Schumacher comfortably edged his Haas teammate Nikita Mazepin.

Dramatic Albon almost lost his passport the day he was set to sign contract with Williams

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago05 mins

Red Bull reserve driver Alex Albon will be driving for Williams in the 2022 Formula 1 season after signing the contract with the team a few weeks ago. However, The 25-year-old Thai-British driver gives an account of how he would have missed the contract signage after misplacing his passport. Red Bull dropped Alex Albon after the 2020 season, but the outfit decided to still retain him as test and reserve driver this year. This means Albon travels to race tracks and events under Red Bull. In one of the events Alex Albon was able to meet Red Bull senior management at a dinner and things turned hectic when he thought he had lost his passport there. “I actually have a funny story about losing my passport,” Albon revealed. “This year, I was doing an interview for Austrian TV. First time meeting a lot of the big guys at Red Bull Austria, who I’ve never actually met before.” “For the first time I visited the main factory, and I went to one of the people’s houses to his apartment, took off my jacket, that kind of thing,” Albon continued. “We had dinner, and I had to leave my hotel at 3am to catch this flight. I left my passport in my jacket, which I left at his house. I called him, called him, called him… Obviously I don’t really want to call someone that senior…” The biggest trouble was that Albon was flying to sign the contract with Williams. However, he did not find the passport where he thought he left it but in the end he was fortunate enough to trace where it actually was. “What makes this even funnier is this was the day I was signing my contract with Williams. I was like, ‘I have to be there’, like I can’t wait, or go to an embassy or anything like that, I really need to fly that day,” Albon added. “But I called him and he didn’t pick up, obviously he was sleeping. So I was like, ‘What do I do?’. I remembered where his address was, got a taxi to go to his place, got to this apartment building and was buzzing the door, but he was still sleeping. “Luckily, there was someone from the apartment walking into his building complex at like 3:30 in the morning at that point. So I go in behind them, and I’m just knocking on his door. His name’s Max , ‘Hey, Max, sorry I think I left my passport in your apartment’. And he’s like, ‘No, you didn’t leave your jacket here. You left it at the TV studio.” “Then I had to go to the TV studio, and I was so lucky that there was a security guard there. He had all the keys to all the places and I could get my jacket, and I was on my way!”

F1 Medical Car team replaced ahead of Turkish GP after testing positive for COVID-19

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago02 mins

F1 Medical Car team has been changed prior to this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix after testing positive for COVID-19, FIA has confirmed. Alan Van der Merwe who is the medical car driver and Dr Ian Roberts, the F1 medical rescue co-ordinator and deputy medical delegate tested positive for COVID-19 before travelling to Turkey according to FIA. They will be under self-isolation and will not be participating in the Turkish Grand Prix this weekend at Istanbul park. The duo will be replaced by Formula E Safety Car driver Bruno Correia who will be driving the F1 Safety Car this weekend and Formula E medical delegate Dr Bruno Franceschini who will replace Dr Ian Roberts. 43-year-old Bruno Correia has been driving the Formula E safety car since the series started in 2014, driving the BMW i8 and later the Mini Electric Pacesetter which replaced it this year. Before that, Correia was the Safety Car driver for the World Touring Car Championship and European Touring Car Cup. He has competed in the Portuguese Formula Ford series and Spanish Formula Renault during his racing career Bernd Maylander will continue to drive the Safety Car as usual at the Turkish Grand Prix.

Red Bull announces a longer partnership with Honda from 2022

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago04 mins

Red Bull and Honda have announced that they will be continuing to work together from 2022. This comes after Red Bull revealed a special white livery for the Turkish Grand Prix as a tribute to Honda, who will be leaving Formula 1 at the end of 2021 season. In 2020 Honda made a decision that their engine project in Formula 1 will be coming to an end and wats to put its focus on other projects and will be quiting Formula 1 entirely. The Japanese manufacture who were supplying power units to Red Bull, handed over the duty to the team to develop and make the engines themselves. However, in a press release Honda has announced that it will continue to work together with Red Bull. The partnership will revolve around three factors. Red Bull powertrains will own Honda engine and all information about it but Honda will still assinst in the engine production and development in 2022 and 2023. Red Bull will also be taking all the personnel from Honda. Honda and Red Bull will also partner in the area of talent development with Honda continuing with Formula Dream Project in which AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda is a part of. ”I’m glad that we have reached an agreement with Red Bull Group covering all the details of the IP rights for the F1 Power Unit and in this way, Honda can still contribute to the motor racing world,” said Koji Watanabe the Executive Officer Honda Motors. “We are now working hard to strengthen HRC’s structure, so that it can ensure our fans will be able to continue to enjoy Honda’s role in all types of motorsport,” he added. “Red Bull’s collaboration with Honda has been enormously successful and while our relationship in Formula 1 is changing, neither of us wish for that to be the end of the story,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said. “We are very pleased that our ambitious and exciting Red Bull Powertrains project will be strongly supported by Honda, technically and operationally, in 2022 and this will help ensure that Red Bull’s transition to the status of chassis and power unit manufacturer is seamless.” ”Equally as exciting is the news that our collaboration with Honda will extend to a variety of motorsport activities, from driver development to other racing disciplines and even across the wider sporting world. This stretch of Honda’s Formula 1 voyage is coming to an end but together we are embarking on a new and fascinating journey,” concludes the Red Bull Racing team principal.

Red Bull reveals special white livery ahead of Turkish GP inspired by Honda

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago02 mins

Red Bull has revealed a special white livery that it will be using this weekend at The Turkish Grand Prix. The RB16B is bearing white and red theme colours acting as a tribute to power unit partner Honda who will be leaving Formula 1 at the end of the year. In 1965 Honda made its maiden win with the Honda RA272 whose livery has a striking resemblance to the special white livery on the RB16B. Red Bull decided to run the livery this weekend at Istanbul park since the Japanese Grand Prix was set for this weekend before the F1 calendar was rescheduled after Japan imposed travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Red Bull will rebrand their new power units under Red Bull Powertrains after Honda leaves officially at the end of the year. Red Bull Powertrains will supply Both Red Bull and its junior team AlphaTauri with power units for the next three years.

Title fight is taking a toll on Mercedes – Marko

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago03 mins

Red Bull’s advisor Dr Helmut Marko claims Mercedes is suffering from engine problems as a direct result of the fight for the 2021 championship title with Red Bull. There are reports that Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will be starting the Turkish GP at the back of the grid this weekend because of an unscheduled engine change. However, according to reliable resources from a Mercedes insider, the engine change for Hamilton this weekend at Istanbul will not be happening. It is likely to happen during United States or Mexican Grand Prix. “It probably won’t happen in Turkey unless Lewis has a problem there, we expect a close race against Red Bull,” the source said. “But then it (the engine change) has to be done. We’re trying to do it on a track where we are either particularly strong or weak or when it rains.” “Mexico will be a Red Bull circuit because of the altitude, and maybe also Interlagos.” According to Marko, Mercedes has been plagued by the engine issues as a result of the close and intense battle for the championship with Red Bull. “Mercedes used to have an easy time,” the 78-year-old said. “They accelerated in the first few laps and then turned the engines down. That is no longer possible.” “Now they have to drive more often and for longer in a higher mode. And then the problems come,” he added. Through Red Bull sources, Mercedes’ engine problem comes from the crankshaft and the valve seats which affect the horsepower when the engine mileage continues counting. Mercedes boss Toto Wolf said there is a high possibility that Hamilton’s engine will be changed. “It’s small things but unfortunately they’re always different. There is no clearly recognisable pattern.”

Albon defends Marko, says he’s not a ‘villain’

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago04 mins

Former Red Bull driver Alex Albon says Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko is not a ‘villain’ as everyone brands him because of the team’s driver story. Max Verstappen, who has displayed a very impressive performance with Red Bull has only had one long lasting teammate since he joined the team in 2016. This was Daniel Ricciardo who currently drives for McLaren, the two were together up to the end 2018 when the Australian chose to depart. since Ricciardo’s departure, Verstappen has had three teammates up to date. The first was Pierre Gasly who was promoted from AlphaTauri but only lasted 12 races after Red Bull ousted him as the season was in progress and opted for Alexander Albon who went ahead to finish a challenging 2020 season with the team. Albon only did 25 races. Red Bull announced late last year that former Racing Point driver Sergio Perez will be replacing Albon for the 2021 season. The teams decisions to change the drivers are spearheaded by Helmut Marko and team boss Christian Horner, with Marko even criticising his drivers in the media. Perhaps that is the reason he is branded as the bad guy in the Red Bull story. Alex Albon says it is not fair how the 78-year-old Red Bull adviser is potrayed. “I think there’s a misconception about it, truthfully speaking,” the Thai-British driver told the F1 Nation podcast. “I think there’s that ‘villain’ role played within the media about it all, but it’s definitely nowhere near like that, basically.” “You guys know more than I do. I think Helmut probably gets the worst role on the global side of it, but I think it’s just Red Bull in general.” “Firstly, you have to realise they are a winning team, they expect good results. “That leads to a culture within the team of ‘we’re not winning, we’re not happy’ and that’s how it should be really, especially the top three teams, generally being Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, that’s what they expect. “Of course it’s tough, especially when you don’t have much experience to be in a top team. But yeah, that is what it is. I think more than anything it’s just trying to get confident with the car.” Albon will be making a return to the Formula 1 grid with Williams next year.

Red Bull and AlphaTauri to reveal special white livery for Turkish GP

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago04 mins

Red Bull and its junior team AlphaTauri are set to reveal a special one-off white livery for the Turkish GP this weekend. The 2021 Formula 1 season will be Honda’s last season in F1, this weekend was set for the Japanese Grand Prix but due to the COVID-19 pandemic the 2021 Formula 1 calendar was rescheduled and the Suzuka race was cancelled. Therefore, Red Bull decided to commemorate Honda this weekend in Istanbul park. The unique liveries used by both teams will be a mark of celebrating their partnership with Honda which proved to be very successfull. The liveries will be also used to give the engine manufacturer’s fans in Japan a chance to wave goodbye to the company in F1. Both Verstappen’s and Perez’s Red Bull RB16B cars will be donning a predominantly white livery, whereas Gasly’s and Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri AT02s will display a special one-word Japanese message saying ‘arigato’ which means ‘thank you’. The main reason that the teams chose the white livery is because the first time Honda won a Formula 1 race with both chassis and engine, was in a white car back in 1965 at the Mexican Grand Prix. The car was driven by American driver Richie Ginther. AlphaTauri was the first team to link up with Honda back in 2018 when they were named Toro Rosso. Despite having three unsuccessful years with engine supplier McLaren, Honda’s partnership proved to be a success as Gasly won the Italian Grand Prix in 2020. Red Bull Formula 1 team partnered with Honda in 2019. The partnership has been fruitful as the team has enjoyed 13 race wins whith 8 of them being in the current season. “We had all been looking forward to giving Honda’s Japanese fans a chance to celebrate our extremely successful relationship in Formula 1 on home soil at Suzuka,” Red Bull boss Christian Horner said. “With the race falling victim to the pandemic, we just couldn’t let the weekend pass without paying tribute to Honda and their amazing home fans by bringing a little bit of their heritage to Istanbul. “The livery chosen for our cars pays homage to Honda’s remarkable F1 journey and hopefully we can give fans another victory in those legendary colours this weekend.” From 2022, Red Bull Powertrains, a new enterprise set up at the team’s Milton Keynes base, will be taking over the engine supply to Red Bull and AlphaTauri.

Stroll, Villeneuve and Ecclestone among F1 personalities linked with Pandora papers

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago03 mins

After the release of a report implicating famous world leaders and personalities to money laundering and suspicious tax arrangements, the Formula 1 world was not left aside as some of the prominent figures in the sport were involved. The report known as the Pandora papers, it was a leak of the offshore financial data of some of the world’s wealthiest elites. The report which comprises of almost 12 million documents, tagged some F1 personality such as Lawrence Stroll, Jacques Villeneuve, Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore. Canadian billionaire and Aston Martin F1 team owner Lawrence stroll is believed to be connected to Superwit Profits Limited, which has a complex offshore structure. The Canadian tycoon is reported to have acquired 15% of the aforementioned company through the Polo Trust family fund, registered in Liechtenstein. His son Lance Stroll is currently one of the drivers in his F1 team. 1997 Formula 1 champion and currently a commentator for French television Jacques Villeneuve is said to have received F1 salaries and sponsorships through tax havens to incur minimal taxes. According to the chain CBC from Canada, “Villeneuve lived a life of luxury in Monaco and Switzerland for most of his career as a pilot, but lived in Quebec for a period in the 1990s and from 2007 to 2013. The Pandora Papers show that there were offshore companies established in jurisdictions. without taxes since the beginning of their career, back in 1992. They were created to receive income from races and sponsorships ”. Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone bought the British football team Queen’s Park Rangers by exploiting Sarita Capital Investment, an offshore company based in the Virgin Islands.

Giovinazzi is hoping Bottas will take over Raikkonen’s legacy at Alfa Romeo

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago02 mins

Antonio Giovinazzi is hoping Valtteri Bottas will be of much resourcefulness to the team as Kimi Raikkonen. Bottas who is currently driving for Mercedes, will be replacing Kimi Raikkonen in 2022 as he retires. The 32-year old has been driving for Mercedes for the past five years. Despite not having not won any championship, he has helped Mercedes win five constructors championships with Hamilton as a duo. Alfa Romeo currently ranks ninth in the constructors championship after Williams overtook it in the last five races. This means that Bottas has huge task on his hands with also the new F1 regulations taking effect in 2022. Giovinazzi was asked on his expectations on arrival of Valtteri Bottas in 2022, “For sure it is a different team from my first experience in 2017. With Kimi coming in 2019, he brought some good things from Ferrari and from his experience.” “This is what Valtteri will find and what Valtteri will bring, he is another experienced driver and comes from a team like Mercedes so I am sure he can bring good things to the team and can still improve year after year.” The Italian’s future with Alfa Romeo remains uncertain as a couple of drivers are in line to replace him. “It is not a question for me, you need to ask this to Fred [Vasseur, Alfa Romeo team principal]. “The only thing I can do is try to get more points and I hope that will be enough.”

F1 introduces new sustainable fuel to be used in 2025

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago03 mins

F1 has released the details of new sustainable fuel that is earmarked for production and use in 2025 as the new regulations and new hybrid power units will be introduced to the sport. F1 is aiming to achieve a zero carbon footprint by 2030, and by producing sustainable fuel is just a step forward in achieving the goal. F1 is shifting to E10 fuel from 2022 which will be 90% fossil fuel and 10% ethanol. However, in 2025 F1 is aiming to produce 100% sustainable fuel by using a lab drop in fuel meaning the fuel can be used in the internal combustion engine without being changed al altered at any point. The fuel companies are well underway about the development of the fuel for Formula 1. “Crucially, the new fuel will also pack a punch worthy of the pinnacle of motorsport, matching the energy density of Formula 1’s current fossil fuel petrols – meaning the cars will be every bit as fast as they are today,” said a statement from F1. “It’s estimated that there will be 1.8 billion cars on the road by 2030, with only 8% of those pure Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) – while internal combustion engines will continue to be essential to air and sea travel, as well as to the haulage industry. “By spearheading the development of 100% advanced sustainable drop-in fuels, Formula 1 can play its part in making an enormous impact on the global transport sectors’ greenhouse gas emissions.” The intent is to create a fuel using components from a carbon capture scheme, muncipal waste or non-food biomass, all while achieving greenhouse gas emissions savings relative to fossil-derived petrol of at least 65%.