Formula 1

Mercedes have announced that one of their team members tested positive for Covid-19. This announcement comes ahead of the Eifel Grand Prix which will be held this weekend at the Nurburgring. As a part of regular screening for Covid-19 through all the completed Formula 1 events, all the paddock personnel and team members are required to undergo a test after every five days. Through a statement issued on Thursday by the Mercedes Formula 1 team, it was revealed that a member had contracted the disease ahead of the race weekend in Germany. “We can confirm that a team member has tested positive,” a spokesperson from Mercedes said. “This has been handled and is being handled in line with FIA protocols, working closely with the FIA. “We ask for your understanding that we won’t be offering additional details.” This marks the first known positive case for a member of a Formula 1 team as the race weekend approaches since Sergio Perez’s diagnosis for Covid-19 ahead of the British Grand Prix held in Silverstone back in July. There have been 26 reported cases since Formula 1 began the testing program for all team members and personnel back in June as the majority have been limited to to ancillary personnel not belonging to any team, F1 or FIA in that matter. There are close to 50,000 tests that have been done on the Formula 1 personnel over the same period as the next full update from FIA and Formula 1 regarding test numbers and cases is due on Friday as a part of its weekly reports. F1 has been operating under very strict protocols through the 2020 F1 season to prevent the spread of Covid-19, restricting the number of people that can attend the ‘closed events’ and also restricting movements within the race paddock. There are also guidelines and restrictions on what paddock personnel should do away from the track on race weekends and the time inbetween the race weekends. The protocols have given the FIA confidence that it is able to race anywhere with these protocols in place in the future, albeit facing limitations with various countries’ travel restrictions. The member of the Mercedes team who tested positive will now be required to isolate to prevent a spread of the virus, with further tracing due to be conducted in line with the FIA’s protocols.

Kimi Raikonnen’s career in Formula 1 will be extending to 2021, this is after the finn received a contract extension to stay with Alfa Romeo, the official announcement will be made this weekend as sources say. Kimi Raikkonen will now be breaking Reuben Barrichello’s record of 322 race starts this weekend in the Eifel Grand Prix which will be held at the Nurburgring, sources say he took the option to remain with Alfa Romeo for the 2021 F1 season. The official confirmation of his extended tenure would come as early as Friday. Raikkonen joined the swiss-based outfit in 2019, as his previous team, Ferrari decided to replace him with Charles Leclerc. While Alfa Romeo has not been delivering the best of the car specs that Raikkonen would have hoped for, the 2007 World Champion is impressive enough to showcase his talent and motivation. His recent best was in the chaotic 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix when he finished in fourth place and helped Alfa Romeo to get the 8th position in the constructors championship. This season, however has been very difficult for Alfa Romeo as their cars driven by a Ferrari engine have not been performing quite as well. Raikkonen’s best performance in the 2020 season so far, was in the Tuscan Grand Prix held at Mugello last month, when he finished ninth. As Kimi Raikkonen is set to stay, Alfa Romeo has yet to make a decision on who will be his teammate for 2021 F1 season. Antonio Giovinazzi and Mick Schumacher are both in the run for the seat. The partnership of Alfa Romeo with Ferrari, the Maranello based team has the right to place one of its young drivers in an Alfa Romeo cockpit. Alfa Romeo is still evaluating whether to stick with Antonio Giovinazzi or promote Mick Schumacher from Formula 2. Schumacher will be having his first run with Alfa Romeo in Germany this weekend. Should Ferrari give a reprieve to Antonio Giovinazzi, Schumacher may also join the Haas team which has been also having very close ties with Ferrari. The Haas team is considering an all new driver line-up for 2021 and has been linked with one of the Ferrari junior drivers. It is giving Callum Illot, a Briton a run in the free practice at the Nurburgring this weekend. Another junior racer, Robert Shwartzman will also be running with either Haas or Alfa Romeo at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as an evaluation too

Four-time world champion, Sebastian Vettel says that he has failed to win another championship since leaving Redbull because ‘there are fights maybe he shouldn’t have picked during his tenure at Ferrari. Earlier this year, Ferrari announced that, the 33-year-old who had joined them back in 2015, will be leaving at the end of the 2020 Formula 1 season. Vettel said later that he didnt have any regrets on his side but also admitted that he failed because he set himself the mission and the target to win the world championship with Ferrari. “There’s things that I should have done better, things that maybe I should have seen earlier, fights that maybe I shouldn’t have picked. But then again, I think everything that happened brought me to where I am now,” he said in an interview for the official F1 website. “I’m generally not talking about the stuff that happens on the track. Losing the car in Hockenheim in sort of half-wet, half-dry conditions – many people point that one out as a low point. But I’m not talking about things like that, I’m more talking about what’s been going on.” “So if I’m fair and harsh, then I have failed. Were there reasons? Probably, yes. But I don’t accept them as excuses so whatever happened also, I guess, put me on the next step forward and next level to focus on.” Sebastian Vettel said that he had picked fights that when looking back, they weren’t worth fighting, “But then again part of it is probably my nature and it was natural to do so. And I think I had a point as well in some of these some of these little fights and battles, whatever. But I think ultimately that’s how you mature and how you learn.” he added. After leaving Ferrari, Vettel will join Racing Point, which is to be rebranded as Aston Martin for the 2021 F1 season. He said team owner Lawrence Stroll convinced him to make the move. “I think the fact is that the team is growing, there’s a lot of factors. So I think those boxes were quite easy to tick in terms of the performance, the racing side of things. Where the team is, where the team might be, the potential and so on.” Vettel continued. “But more so, I think it was the mindset and the will to really do something good, bring something good together. And it sounds like a fun project and something that ultimately I decided I want to be part of. So it is very different to Ferrari.” “Obviously Racing Point as it stands today and in the future Aston Martin will be growing, there will be a lot of things happening for the first time. I think it’s an incredible, challenging journey for the whole team and me joining I hope I can contribute a lot of things and do good in the car and outside the car.” Vettel has stayed for sometime without getting a victory, having won his last race in Singapore over an year ago making it his 53rd win in his career. This makes him one of the most successful Formula 1 drivers of all times in terms of grand prix victories ranking third behind Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton. However, Vettel said he is not sure if he is proud of the statistic. “It’s not fair if you compare to the past because they have way fewer races than us today,” Vettel explained. “So it’s a bit fake in my opinion. “They did a lot of races, probably in other categories. So you have to add those as well. But they’re not grands prix so I get the statistics.”

The 11th round of the 2020 Formula 1 Season, the Eifel Grand Prix will be held at the Nurburgring in the coming weekend. Temperatures in the high 40s, good chance of rain makes for interesting Formula 1 weekend in Germany. From a fan’s perspective, the colder the merrier might just be the theme of Sunday’s F1 Eifel Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in Germany. With weather forecast calls for the chilliest temperatures of the F1 season with a little (maybe a lot) of rain mixed in, it could be anybody’s race in Germany. Temperatures are expected to be below 50 degrees during the race. Rain or no rain, keeping heat and grip in the tires on a cold day could be a challenge as Formula 1 returns to the Nürburgring this weekend for the first time since 2013. This means that the teams have to be fully prepared for any weather by making the proper calls as the weather might also change in the process of the race. “The Nürburgring is a really cool track and I raced there in Formula Renault and F3,” said Red Bull’s Alex Albon. “It’s got its own unique character with some really cool, high speed cambered corners which are always fun for a driver. “I think it’s going to be very quick this year but the weather will also be bad, so I will be surprised if it’s dry at all,” the Redbull driver continued “I think we should expect some really cold wet weather running so it will be important to get the laps in when we can. It’s going to be an interesting weekend and we’ll have to get the waterproofs out.” Albon’s teammate Max Verstappen is also looking forward to a little spice with this weekend’s race. “I haven’t raced at the Nürburgring since Formula 3, so I’m excited to go back there to see what a Formula 1 car can do,” Verstappen said. “It’s a very technical track, I like it. “The weather looks like it’s going to be a lot colder than the races we’ve had so far this year, and there may be a little bit of rain so hopefully that will make it an even more interesting race weekend.”

Renault’s boss Cyril Abiteboul says that they are ready to be Redbull’s engine supplier if need be, but on the other hand he is not expecting to be the team’s ‘plan A’. Both Redbull teams(Redbull Racing and AlphaTauri) are currently without an engine supplier from 2022 onwards after Honda made a shocking announcement last week that they will be leavin Formula 1 at the end of 2021. The situation currently is not very pleasant with the Redbull teams who have now to worry about finding an engine supplier that will supply power units that will help them to compete strongly as the Concorde Agreement will be seeking implementation from 2022, hence the start of a new regulation cycle. The timeframe is too narrow to opt for an external engine manufacturer, if there is even any interested to jump in and assist the team. This means that the engine supply might be done by one of the manufacturer in Formula 1, and the most probable candidate is Renault. The two entities(Renault and Redbull) had a relationship previously that broke up back in 2018, but now according to Redbull’s situation there are signs from both sides that they are willing to forget the sour period and focus into the future. Redbull’s team boss, Christian Horner said, “We already have to start thinking about the incorporation of the engine into the 2022 cars. Really, by the end of this year we need that clarity, we need that clarification so we have to consider all options, all possibilities, and ultimately it will be Mr Mateschitz’s decision what he wants to do.” “For us, it is important that we have the right power unit so that we can challenge Mercedes in the future years.” he added. Christian Horner had strongly criticised Renault during the hybrid era, but recently developed a soft spot for the team when asked about Renault as he pointed out the new leader of Renault, Luca de Meo has made changes since he took over. “Renault is different now to the Renault we left, with a new chairman, with the few changes he would bring moving forward,” Horner said. Renault team principal, Cyril Abiteboul has said that they will step out and supply Redbull with power units if needed as they are aware of the Sporting Regulation that binds them to do so. Renault do not have any customer teams from 2021, so the FIA can force them to do so and the Renault boss said they would have no problem in fulfilling that. “I can confirm there was absolutely no conversation to this point,” Abiteboul told Motorsport.com. “Being in the sport we are well aware of the regulation, and we have every intent to comply with the regulation and with our obligations.” “Obviously it’s a bit more detailed – we need to be requested, and we have not been requested yet, and secondly there are very specific circumstances, including timing, for this to happen. And we are still quite far from that window, which is not before the spring of next year. We know that in F1 lots of things can happen in a very limited amount of time, and spring 2021 is still very far. All sorts of things can happen. As I say we will comply with any obligation which may arise from this circumstance.” The Renault boss was also asked on whether their reunion with Redbull would be awkward given their shared history that did not end quite well, he said, “I think so, but we need obviously to look at the sport. And I think we are still very far away from having to possibly cross that bridge. I can’t imagine that Red Bull would not have some plan in the background.” “Clearly they must have been aware of this, and Helmut and Christian are full of moves and solutions. I don’t expect that we will be their Plan A.” Its very possible that Horner is currently working on the plan A, the reason he is rumoured to be in Austria this week is that he is securing a fund from Dietrich Mateschitz to turn Redbull to a power unit manufacturer and have its own rights, buying intellectual property from Honda to get started. The initial cost of all this would be offset in the medium term by the budget cap introduction next season. Honda’s managing director Masashi Yamamoto confirmed that Honda are amenable to helping Red Bull out with a continuation plan. “Honda is happy to talk to them if they need us in any way, not only about the power unit but about other things as well. To support AlphaTauri and Red Bull for their programme after 2021 in any way, we’re happy to cooperate.” Yamamoto said. “As Honda we had so many things from the teams, so we want to give it back somehow in a nice way for the future.” Asked specifically about whether Honda would help out with a continuation plan with their intellectual property to allow Red Bull to run rebadged engines from 2022, Yamamoto said: “If that kind of request is made from the team, I am ready to speak to Japan.” “I personally want to support [what Red Bull and AlphaTauri do] as much as possible.”

Formula 1 has agreed on a deal with FIA for organisation of the Brazilian Grand Prix which will happen in Rio, however the event faces fierce opposition from an environmental group. The agreement to hold the Brazilian GP in Rio comes at a perfect time that the F1 boss, Chase Carey can be keen to include the race in the provisional 2021 F1 calendar. Carey has been holding talks with a group in Rio for some time to alternate the race to Deodoro, at a military base that was utilised for some lowkey 2016 Olympic events including hockey, rugby sevens, shooting, BMX, mountain bikes, show jumps and modern pentathlon. The suggested circuit is located in Camboata forest and the commencement of its construction would involve felling of many trees. The circuit still remains in the planning stages and has to be approved as it faces opposition from environmental groups. Carey confirmed a deal to run the race has been signed with the promoter, in a letter sent to the acting governor of Rio Claudio Castro dated 14th September. Now the construction of the venue is only pending the grant of permission. “I am writing to update you that we have now finalised race agreements with Rio Motorsports LLC to host, stage and promote Formula 1 events in Rio de Janeiro.” Carey wrote. “These agreements are ready for execution and announcement by Formula 1 as soon as all necessary licences have been issued by the relevant authorities, INEA/CECA, in Brazil/Rio de Janeiro.” The State Institute of the Environment (INEA) is on the process of making preparations on the technical opinions in regard to the environmental impact of the circuit construction project. Once this step is complete, the opinion will be first submitted to the Attorney General’s office and later to the State Environmental Control Commission(CECA). The loss of the city’s last forested area has generated a lot of opposition in the form of petitions that the government should put in consideration. One of the environmental groups is using a hashtag #BrazilSaysNoToDeforestation which gained alot of momentum and popularity after Chase Carey’s letter became known to the public. However, Carey’s letter does not specify thst the race has to be held at Deodoro, so they may decide to move the race to yet another venue. The current deal to run the Brazilian Formula 1 race at Interlagos came to an end this year amidst a strained relationship between the Sao Paulo promoter and the current Formula 1 management. This comes after Liberty Media buys Formula 1 and later discovered that Brazil was not due to pay a fee for the last few years of the contract as a legacy of a deal agreed with former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone.

Current Mclaren driver Carlos Sainz says fans ‘can laugh as much as they want’ as they are making jokes about his Ferrari move for 2021 F1 season. He also adds that he is finding their ideas ‘pretty funny’. Carlos Sainz agreed to join Ferrari in 2021 on a two-year-deal back in May as he will be replacing four-time championship winner Sebastian Vettel. Ferrari is currently going through a very difficult season as they currently lie sixth in the constructor’s championship which is behind the leading mid-field teams. This is unlike for the team as it was the biggest rival to Mercedes back in 2019 and has always been at the top in the previous years. One of the midfield teams that have beaten Ferrari, is Mclaren which is Sainz’s current team and it seats third in the championship, 32 points ahead of Ferrari. This has lead to questions on Sainz’s transfer to Ferrari and a lot of memes have been circulating in the media ridiculing his move. But a defensive Sainz says he is laughing off the jokes that are put in his way and he always enjoys the humorous creations fans make about F1 drivers on social media. “Honestly, they can laugh as much as they want,” Sainz told Motorsport.com. “I think they are actually pretty funny, some of [the jokes]. “People have a lot of free time and they come up with these very funny ideas. And I actually laugh also. “When the jokes are about me or the jokes are about the drivers, I’m the first one to laugh and I actually enjoy them. “It doesn’t mean that they are right or wrong, it’s just they’re funny. I guess that’s what they pretend to be, so good on them.” Sainz has always expressed that he has no fear moving to Ferrari where he will be driving next to Charles Leclerc who is the two-time grand prix winner. Until the final race of the 2020 Formula 1 season, Carlos Sainz says that he is very commited to help Mclaren to win the midfield title at the third position in the constructors championship ahead of Racing Point and Renault teams. He has put his full focus on the team despite that he is yet to find a place to live in Italy when he moves to Ferrari. “My team mainly, more than me, is trying to find a place,” Sainz said. “As you know I’m still focused on my season this year. “But as soon as the season is over and I’m thinking to next year, I will move to Italy when I find it convenient.”

The Formula 1 2020 season is taking place as a global pandemic, Covid-19 is affecting the world, this means that very strict mearsures are being put in place to prevent the key players in Formula 1 from contracting the deadly disease. This includes the drivers and each team member who are tested multiple times on each race weekend. If anyone, including the drivers may turn out to be positive for Covid-19, they have to leave the race immediately and self isolate as they are getting proper medical care for quick recovery. This had happened to Racing Point driver, Sergio Perez who had to miss the two races in the Silverstone after testing positive for the disease. Helmut Marko, particularly was not impressed with the number of people who were not wearing masks during the Russian Grand Prix held at Sochi as he revealed that his two Redbull drivers were very lucky not to suffer the same fate as Sergio Perez. “There was great life there [in Sochi], good-humoured fans, great weather, just a good atmosphere in the city, [but] outside of the paddock there were very few walking around wearing masks,” he told speedweek.com. “It will not be able to continue like this with the restrictive measures. We had a driver whose girlfriend was infected and he wasn’t infected. Another was at a party where three infected people were present, and he was also negative.” Marko did not specify the names but he was obviously talking about Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon, this comes as there is a lot of speculation on how it will play out for Alexander’s seat as his struggles and unstable performance would see him off the Redbull team. Pierre Gasly, Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg have all been linked to the seat. Marko still insists that they prefer to be keeping Albon, he refused to rule anything out showing that all their options are still open. “If Alex Albon performs well, he stays. If not, there will be deliberation,” Marko added. “We would then see which drivers that are good are on the market. But that’s not an issue at the moment.” The 2021 driver options is not the only the only worry for the Redbull team, as Honda recently announced that they will be leaving Formula 1 at the end of 2021 season. They are the current engine suppliers for the Redbull team and they will have to look for another engine supplier. However Marko is not panicking as he and Dietrich Mateschitz had known long ago that Honda will be leaving even before Christian Horner, the Redbull boss. “We are working in all directions because we knew about Honda’s decision for a long time,” he said. “Mr Horner is a team principal, but not involved in strategic matters. Mr Mateschitz and I have known for a long time.” “There is an option to exit at the end of each year. This is not our priority. When we have the facts together, Mr Mateschitz will decide.”

Turkish grand prix event organisers have been forced to ditch their plans to hold their Formula 1 return this year with attendance of the fans due to rising Covid-19 fears. The race which will be held at the Istanbul park from November 13th to 15th will still progress without the fans, behind closed doors following a statement issued by the the local Istanbul government. This comes after a recommendation was made by the pandemic committee which was in the approval of the sanitation committee. “Within the scope of the efforts to combat the coronavirus epidemic, and in accordance with the recommendation of the Istanbul Provincial Pandemic Committee, it has been decided by the Provincial Hygiene Committee, the Formula 1 DHL Turkish Grand Prix 2020 will be held without spectators.” the statement read. The event organisers were previously very ambitious as they had planned to host a crowd of over 100,000 fans over the three race days, as early tickets sales were rising to over 40,000 due to the low price they had stipulated at £3 per day. The overturned decision is very understandable given the circumstances but it will be a major blow to the organisers as they are welcoming back Formula 1 in their country for the first time in nine years. “Our season has been guided by a safety-first approach and that will continue to be our priority.” “In Turkey, we had hoped to welcome fans but the situation in the country means this is no longer possible and we fully understand and respect the decision.” an F1 spokesperson said in regards to the announcement. Looking back at the fan attendance in the previous races, Mugello was able to invite a limited number of fans as they were staging the Tuscan Grand Prix, while the Russian GP organisers had a plan to host 30,000 fans per day although the final numbers failed to reach their target. In the upcoming races, like this weekend’s Eifel Grand Prix which will be held at the Nurburgring , followed by the races in Portimao and Imola will be held with a limited number of fans in attendance.

Redbull has the capacity to build their own engines for 2021 and even beyond, this is according to former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher. At Sochi, prior to Honda’s shock decision last Friday to quit Formula 1 at the end of 2021, Schumacher had declared: “I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Porsche in F1.” But amid speculation Red Bull could now buy Honda’s F1 operations, he tells Sky Deutschland that a better option for Red Bull might be to run its own engine program. “They certainly have the strength and the means for that,” Schumacher, who once worked very closely with Alpha Tauri boss Franz Tost, said. “Financially it wouldn’t be a problem. In Honda, they also have a partner who can help them during the transition phase.” “Perhaps Red Bull can take over the development department in Milton Keynes afterwards. Then they can finance it themselves,” the German added. However, Russian F1 commentator Alexey Popov thinks becoming an engine supplier would be a mammoth task for Red Bull. “It is unclear what they should do after Honda leaves,” he told Match TV. “If Mercedes stays in F1, it won’t give its engines to them. Ferrari too. That leaves Renault, who are obliged by the rules, but they parted with Red Bull so badly that it would be a very unpleasant collaboration.” “The last opportunity is to buy out what Honda leaves behind. But even then there is a problem with the production base, which is not in Europe like the other teams. So this would be very difficult too,” Popov added. Yet another major consideration for Red Bull is that Honda’s departure is sure to trigger a potential exit clause in Max Verstappen’s contract. “This could provoke an attempt for Verstappen to negotiate with Mercedes,” Popov said. “For Russia, it (Honda quitting) wouldn’t be bad because if Honda had stayed, they probably would have tried to put Tsunoda in Kvyat’s place and now this will most likely not happen. In any case, the coming days will be eventful.”

Christian Horner, the team boss Redbull, is very hopeful that the team can close the gap with Mercedes despite the stable regulations put across by the FIA in the concorde agreement. The major regulations change was put to a hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but will be taking effect in 2022 hopefully if everything goes back to normal. There’s an overview that the pecking order at the Formula 1 grid might remain the same in 2021, if much won’t have changed meaning that Mercedes will remain at the top as the quickest, with Redbull taking the second position but way off behind Mercedes. Horner has some hope that this won’t be the case, and believes that his team will develop the RB16 properly enough to close the gap with Mercedes. “There is a carryover of parts but that doesn’t mean to say if we can unlock more potential in the car and develop the car effectively then, of course, I think we can close that gap,” the team principal, Horner said. “This car is the basis of next year’s car. There is probably 60% of the car that is carried over so obviously, we are working very hard to understand and unlock further performance from the car between now and the end of the year. There are now three months left of hard development and the whole team is very focused on that.” Looking back at the pace of the F1 cars, Racing Point has been very close to Redbull this season as they often had a quicker car on the track. Sebastian Vettel will be joining the team as it will be rebranded Aston Martin in 2021, as the regulations will be allowing them to use this year’s Mercedes parts token free. This will make the outfit even stronger. Christian Horner agrees that with Vettel joining Racing Point, he could have a positive impact on the team. However, he continues to stress that the team’s main objective is ahead of them rather than behind. “I think they have a car that is very competitive,” he added. “The basis for their car for next year – the rules should have further clarifications in terms of what is and isn’t permitted, but [it is] a team with high aspirations and good budget behind them now and a potentially rejuvenated Sebastian in that car could be a factor. “We have got to focus on ourselves. The gap we measure ourselves to is Mercedes and that is what we have to work hard to reduce and ultimately get ahead of.”

Renault’s driver Daniel Ricciardo says that staying quiet on his anti-racism stand, is far much worse than facing any trolls on the social media as a consequence of his actions. The 31-year-old Australian is fully in support of anti-racism push in Formula 1 and he had shown this by wearing a mask branded ‘equality’ during the Russian grand prix to show his desire to publicize his message. However, as he is openly campaigning against racism, there are a minority who feel that they do not share their views with him, and this leaves the Renault driver in the firing line. Ricciardo makes it clear that he is not expecting everyone to be behind him. “With the social media stuff, I think in general I try not to read too much because you might get 95 percent of the positive stuff, but it all it takes is that five percent to kind of piss you off,” Ricciardo said. “They’ll always be there. You’re never going to have a 100 percent majority you know. It just doesn’t quite exist unfortunately.” Daniel Ricciardo also says that his inspiration on the ‘equality’ mask comes from Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka, who has displayed many messages in the promotion of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement. He is also feeling happy that the world now can openly discuss something that he also felt difficult to talk about, in the recent months. “Even just talking about Black Lives Matter, and even referencing a black person as a black person, saying these things now out loud, for sure we didn’t really have that much comfort talking about it,” he explained. “I didn’t have much comfort talking about it at the start of this year. So to start talking about things that you’ve never spoken about before, whether it’s on racism, whether it’s on mental health or any of these subjects, it is a little bit daunting. So you have to be prepared to probably open yourself up for a little bit of criticism, or maybe not 100% positive feedback. “But again, I think if it’s something that you feel strongly about and you believe in, I don’t see why not. “I think especially with the racism stuff. A big problem is the silence, and it’s the people that you know are too comfortable in their shell in not speaking up. I think that’s the thing: just encouraging you, if you do have a voice and a positive one, then let it be heard.”

Alfa Romeo is a very strong team besides lagging at the back in the Formula 1 championship, but they remain a very attractive option to drivers in the market who are looking for a drive in the 2021 F1 season and even beyond. There are very many viable driver options for the team’s only two cockpits. Who are the most likely drivers to get the seats? One of the seats depends on Kimi Raikkonen’s plans to extend his tenure at Alfa Romeo to 2021, when his deal will be expiring. The finn has being going back and forth on whether to call it quits at the end of the 2020 season or decide to stick around. If Kimi would decide to call it quits then Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg would be very suited for the Alfa Romeo seat. They have been highly linked to the team over the recent weeks as Perez is believed to have gotten in touch with the team after Racing Point let him go. Fred Vasseur, the Alfa Romeo team principal on the other hand is known to rate Hulkenberg highly. Kimi Raikkonen will most probably remain with Alfa Romeo as the sources say, and it is something that the team is understood to want as the finn is proving time to time as he proves to be very critical to car development as the Red and white cars are showing a good form in the recent races with successful updates. It appears that Kimi Raikkonen’s teammate will be a Ferrari backed driver, as Antonio Giovinazzi’s seat is up for grabs as Mick Schumacher who is the current Formula 2 championship leader and his Fellow Ferrari juniors Callum Illot and Robert Shwartzman who rank 2nd and 5th respectively in the F2 championship, being the potential drivers for the 2021 Alfa Romeo ride. Vasseur says that he is very interested in the young drivers and so as Antonio Giovinazzi. “also Antonio is on the list. We have to discuss with Antonio to see what we want to do, what also Ferrari wants to do on their side.” Vasseur said. “We are not in a rush to make a decision, I think it’s important for the young kids also to perhaps finish the season, even if the last two races are quite late this season, but it’s important to have the final picture and not start the discussion in the middle of the season. “[Ferrari] have three very good ones. Shwartzman as a rookie is doing a very strong job. Schumacher and Illot are performing. It’s much better feeling to be in this situation to have the choice between good ones than no choice.” Alfa Romeo will have another opportunity to evaluate Schumacher, having already run him in the Bahrain in-season test in 2019, when he runs in a Grand Prix weekend session for the first time, taking the wheel of Giovinazzi’s car in FP1 at the upcoming Eifel Grand Prix. Sources say Schumacher is the favourite to get the second seat, however, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari are keeping their options open with two races still to go in the F2 championship. Shwartzman is set for a test in FP1 in Abu Dhabi, with Alfa Romeo expected to run him. It may be we won’t get a final decision, then, until just before Christmas at the earliest. What of Callum Illot? Well he is running for Romain Grosjean in FP1 in Germany for Haas, with the Briton in strong contention to get a race seat at the American team next season.

Daniel Ricciardo has now accepted that his move to Mclaren is ‘bittersweet’ in the view of his current very impressive performance with Renault, but he is very resolute that he has no regrets. Ricciardo has been able to finish in the midfield, garnering very strong points adding up to 43 points in the last 4 races leaving him just 2 points shy to catch up with Mclaren’s Lando Norris who will be his teammate for the 2021 F1 season and is currently in the fourth place in the championship rankings. The Aussie is feeling the strength and the peak performance of his Renault R.S.20 as the 2020 season is progressing, and it apppears that he might have switched teams very soon, signing the Mclaren deal even before the 2020 Formula 1 season had started. But a confident Ricciardo stated that,”It’s obviously no disrespect to Renault and where I currently am, but no, I don’t regret it…am I happy to see us progress? Absolutely. All well and good, if it means we’ve got Renault as a competitor next year to push McLaren further then I think it’s good for everyone.” “So I’m not regretting it, but I’m also not unhappy with the progress. I want to be racing at the front.” “Every race in F1 is so important. Every chance I get to do it, the sooner the better. I am glad we’re making progress, and I feel a part of it, which is important as well to me and I guess my growth as a driver.” On the other hand, Fernando Alonso is set to join Renault in 2021, which has seen him trying to integrate with the team over the last couple of weeks but Ricciardo maintains that the team is is holding him firmly in a bid to take the third position in the constructors championship, as the team lies just seven points behind Mclaren team which is in the third position. “The team haven’t shut me out on anything. I’ve been doing simulator and all of it. It’s been really good to work with them. I know, for sure, bittersweet, especially for some guys in this team to know I can’t continue after this year, but I’m going to give it a red hot crack until the last day,” said Ricciardo.

Race promoters for the Emilia Romagna Formula 1 Grand Prix announced on Thursday that they will be allowing more than 13,000 spectators a day at the Italy’s Imola circuit for the Formula 1 race that will be held from 31st October to 1st November. The race will be missing the Friday practice and all the events will be squeezed into two days. This race will also be the third race to take place in Italy for the 2020 F1 season. The circuit last hosted a Formula 1 race back in 2006, as it was designated the San Marino Grand Prix, but it will be making a comeback this year after being included in the revised Formula 1 calender, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “Thanks to the precise and meticulous anti-Covid health security protocol presented to the Emilia-Romagna Region, it was possible to obtain a significant public presence, more than 13,000 people for each race day,” the Imola race organisers said in a statement. The organisers also added that the tickets had been on sale for a week and some of the outlets had already sold out. The eight rounds of the 2020 Formula 1 season have taken place without spectators but during the Tuscan Grand Prix held last month, some 2,800 spectators were allowed a day at the Italy’s Mugello circuit. On the other hand, last weekend’s Russian Grand Prix had the biggest crowd of spectators, having around 30,000 fans visit the Russian’s Sochi Olympic Park every day.

Redbull Racing team and its junior team AlphaTauri are now in search for a new engine supplier after Honda made a shocking announcement that they will be pulling out of Formula 1 at the end of 2021 F1 season. The Japanese motor manufacturer had returned to Formula 1 back in 2015 producing engine units for Mclaren, after getting their inspiration from the new breeds of power units that depended on the hybrid and energy recorvery technologies. Later on they suffered a difficult and very unsuccessful partnership and eventually parted ways with Mclaren. Honda later joined forces with Toro Rosso which is curently the Redbull junior team, AlphaTauri. Much later in 2019 they went ahead to join the Redbull senior team as a works team. Honda’s collaboration with the two Redbull teams have seen them achieve five race victories in their two and a half year partnership. However, now Honda have decided not to continue their partnership with the Redbull family, which will exist up to the end of 2021 season. They said that their decisison to leave Formula 1 because the automobile industry was going through one in a hundred years period of great transformations and they will be leaving F1 having attained their goal of earning victories. “Honda will work together with Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri to continue competing with its utmost effort and strive for more victories all the way to the end of the 2021 season,” the Japanese company, Honda revealed in a statement. The company’s retirement from Formula 1 racing will narrow down the engine suppliers to three, Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari. However, looking back at the current FIA rules, Renault are the most suitable to provide Redbull with power units as they have the fewest customers at the moment. On the other hand, they can also convince Ferrari or Mercedes to supply their power units. All options are very open. Redbull, on behalf of their works team, Honda and its junior team AlphaTauri are very commited to the new Concorde Agreement, which binds them to the Formula 1 championship upto 2025. “We look forward to embarking on a new era of innovation, development and success,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who also added that he understood and respected Honda’s decision. “As a group, we will now take the time afforded to us to further evaluate and find the most competitive power unit solution for 2022 and beyond.”