Racetrackmasters

Mick Schumacher says he’s excited to take to track at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix because it is 30 years on from his father Michael’s Formula 1 debut, but also a track he has performed well at in the junior series’. Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher made his F1 debut at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix for Jordan. Mick drove his father’s Jordan 191 earlier in the year at Silverstone. Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Belgian GP, he said: “Obviously it is [special], yeah. Not just because of the history of my dad but I’ve had a few good races here. I had my first pole position, my first race win in 2018 with F3 which became a streak with multiple race wins. “It’s a track that I enjoy a lot and I enjoy coming back here. It’s close to home, a lot of fans come here and people support me for numerous years now. It’s a great place.”

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are likely to face grid penalties before the end of the 2021 Formula 1 season with both Red Bull drivers losing a power unit due to crash damage. The pair lost the second of their three permitted engines for the season as a result of irreparable damage picked up in separate incidents at the British and Hungarian grands prix. Verstappen’s power unit was damaged in his massive 51G shunt following a controversial first-lap collision with title rival Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone, while Perez’s car took a big hit in the Turn 1 carnage triggered by the other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas in Hungary. A Honda spokesperson confirmed to Crash.net on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix that both engines were written off in the respective accidents. Speaking at the Hungarian GP, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted there was “very little” chance the power units could be salvaged. “That is hugely frustrating for Honda as it’s not due to reliability; it’s due to accidents that we haven’t caused so they are feeling the brunt of this as we are on the chassis-side and it’s not to be underestimated on the cost cap side,” Horner said. “It does need to be looked at because in a cost cap environment, it’s brutal the incidents we’ve had in the last couple of weeks.” Honda and Red Bull are yet to make a call on when Verstappen and Perez will move onto their fourth power units, a switch that will automatically result in a grid drop. Spa-Francorchamps and Monza are two venues teams have traditionally chosen to make tactical engine changes at in an attempt to limit the hit of a grid penalty due to the overtaking opportunities at both circuits. The news marks a blow to Red Bull, who enter the second half of the 2021 season 12 points behind Mercedes, while Verstappen trails Hamilton by eight points in the drivers’ championship.

Formula 1 has announced that Netflix’s acclaimed series ‘Drive to Survive’ will return for a fourth season next year. The popular ten-episode docuseries will cover the drama of the 2021 season by relying once again on its behind-the-scenes approach to storytelling. Netflix has yet to set a date for ‘Drive to Survive’ Season 4, but the timetable for past releases, with installments usually arriving in late February or early March. The series’ filming crews have been hard at work since the start of the 2021 season in Bahrain, and the drama surrounding this year’s campaign and the fierce title fight between Mercedes and Red Bull, and Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, promises an abundance of intrigue. While the show has made stars of figures such as Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, others have been less happy with the way that they have been depicted in the production’s final edits in the past. But earlier this year, McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown said that he was unbothered by how ‘Drive to Survive’ sometimes distorts the reality going on in F1, insisting the misrepresentation is just “entertainment”. In Brown’s view, the impact of ‘Drive to Survive’ on F1’s core audience is positive while the series’ ability to attract new fans to the sport is indisputable. “I think Netflix has been great for F1,” said the American. “I think it was number one in 25 countries. “So I think the primary goal of Netflix is to entertain and bring new viewers to F1. And I think it’s accomplished that tenfold, which is great.”

This weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix looks set to run in cool and generally damp conditions, with a risk of fog and rain showers. Temperatures will be consistently on the low side, climbing no higher than 17C at any point over the coming three days of track action.Although the race is still three days away, wet conditions are expected during the 12th round of the championship at Spa-Francorchamps. It could be a familiar sight by the time we get to Sunday. Heavy rain is forecast this evening which is likely to leave the circuit damp for the start of running on Friday morning. Cloud cover throughout Friday and the expected return of showers in the afternoon, may further reduce opportunities for the track to dry out. There is also a risk of fog in the morning. Slightly better conditions are expected on Saturday and we could see the sun out in the morning for final practice once the fog dissipates. However, the chance of rain increases into the afternoon, so F1’s qualifying session and the subsequent support races may well take place on a wet track. On Sunday, much as with the previous days, a fairly dry morning is expected to give way to damp conditions in the afternoon. F1 may escape a downpour during the race time but showers remain a threat and the increasingly traditional post-race cloudburst looks possible too. Friday and Sunday will see strong south-easterly winds, at 30-40 kilometres per hour. This is likely to be more of a challenge for drivers in the upper parts of the circuit, around Les Combes and Malmedy, where the track is relatively exposed. Saturday is set for slightly calmer conditions.

If Ferrari had not produced such a poor engine in 2020, Alfa Romeo may never have been “brave” enough to evolve. After a series of technical directives relating to engines in 2019 coincided with a drop in performance for Ferrari, their issues grew further as the Scuderia slumped to the lower reaches of the 2020 midfield. With an underperforming engine, Ferrari were not the only team impacted with their customers Alfa Romeo and Haas also significantly hampered. But this was in fact the wake-up call Alfa Romeo now know they needed, having grown comfortable in their points-scoring ways. That changed in 2020 with only eight scored across the season, compared to 57 in 2019, with that weak power unit a “big player” in that. But fortunes have not really improved in 2021 as Alfa Romeo undergo a large rebuild, placing full focus into the new 2022 regulations as they look to climb back up the grid. Credit goes to Ferrari then for triggering that overhaul at Alfa Romeo. “I think 2020 was a very painful season for us, but there are a lot of positives when I look back because it forces us to question everything and not just take the easy way and say ‘we are all aware of the situation with the power unit’,” Alfa Romeo technical director Jan Monchaux told The Race. “Yes, it was a big player but that was not in our control and we knew they [Ferrari] would come back to recover the performance. “We went through an extremely difficult inspection exercise, a 360-degree review questioning our methodology, wind tunnel, the simulation [tools], absolutely everything. And we also listed the things we should have in place that we didn’t have to make sure that when we develop in the wind tunnel, it translates to performance on the track. “I have seen a lot of very encouraging signs where we have made a step, which I am not sure we would have made if we did not have that blow on the power unit side that spoiled the entire season. “So things have changed internally in terms of methodology, which we were discussing for a few years but were not brave enough to do because in 2018 and 2019 we were scoring points regularly. Changing a system that seems to be progressing and generating positive results is a tough decision that the team was maybe not brave enough to do. “It was quite clear that once you had subtracted the power unit side, those teams who we were closer to the previous season had made a larger step on the car than we did and this forced us to question absolutely everything. “We have already seen a few things this year which are natural consequences of minor changes we have been doing internally and I hope we will see even more of that with the new car.”

Alpine has confirmed that Fernando Alonso will continue to partner Esteban Ocon in 2022. The extension of the Spaniard’s contract signals the continuation of an already strong collaboration, fresh off the back of its historic maiden victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, in which the two-time world champion played a pivotal role. In just six months following his two-year sabbatical from Formula 1, Alonso has shown equal measures of race craft, guile and speed. His season-best fourth place finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix was not only his best result in Formula 1 since 2014 but a display of resilience and skill, which contributed richly to ensuring the team took its first win in Formula 1 under Alpine colours. Further still, the Spaniard put in a stunning demonstration of overtaking acumen in the race restart to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with a similarly skilful performance repeated just a month later in Formula 1’s first ever Sprint Qualifying in Silverstone. With its confirmed driver line-up for 2022, the dynamic driver pairing offers a balance of youth and experience, with Alonso now ranking second on the sport’s all time race starts list with 322, featuring 32 wins, 97 podiums and two world championship titles with the team in 2005 and 2006. “We are very pleased to confirm Fernando for next season, partnering with Esteban,” said Laurent Rossi, CEO, Alpine. “For us it is a perfect driver line-up, amongst the strongest on the grid. It works in a hugely complementary way, with both offering raw talent and speed, yet impeccable team spirit that delivered our first win in Hungary. “Fernando has impressed us all since he returned to the sport at the beginning of this year. His dedication, teamwork and focus to extract the maximum from the team is incredible to be a part of and certainly special to witness. His performance in Hungary was another example of his racing pedigree and reminded everyone how skilled a driver he is. I am convinced we can benefit strongly from Fernando’s insight and experience as we enter the final development and optimization phase of the 2022 chassis and power unit. “He is just as hungry as we are for success and is putting in every effort to translate it to performance. For now, however, we need to focus on delivering a strong second half of the year, extract the maximum at every race and ensure we finish as high up in the constructors’ standings as possible. This will put us in a golden position for next year and the significant opportunity it brings.” “I’m very happy to confirm the contract extension with Alpine F1 Team into 2022,” said Alonso. “I felt at home the moment I returned to this team and have been welcomed back with open arms. It is a pleasure to work again with some of the brightest minds in our sport at Enstone and Viry-Chatillon. “It’s been a tricky season for everyone, but we’ve shown progress as a team and the result in Hungary serves as a good example of this progression. We’re targeting more positive memories for the rest of this season but also crucially from next year onwards with the new regulation changes coming into Formula 1. “I have been a big supporter of the need for a level playing field and change in the sport and the 2022 season will be a great opportunity for that. I am looking forward to the rest of this year and racing alongside Esteban in 2022 for Alpine.”

Aston Martin has struck another major blow when it comes to its recruitment campaign. This time, the British team has recruited Heath Cade who will be Chief People Officer for the team. What makes it so special that Cade has been recruited by Aston Martin is the fact that he previously worked as the Human Resources Director at Red Bull Racing. It’s not the first time that Aston Martin has taken personnel away from the Austrian team. Dan Fallows and Andrew Alessi preceded him in doing so. Team principal Otmar Szafnauer is pleased with the appointment of Cade: “The arrival of Heath Cade is our latest significant appointment as we continue to put the structure in place to allow Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team to deliver at the very highest level in the months and years ahead”, he told the Website of the British team. Cade himself is happy with his move from Red Bull to Aston Martin: “There is a clear roadmap for success being laid out by the leadership and it is very motivating to see significant investment in both people and facilities.” Aston Martin’s goal is to win the world title one day, and with the recent acquisitions behind the scenes, the team seems keen to achieve that goal as soon as possible. At the moment the title still seems far away. The team is seventh in the Constructors’ standings with 48 points.

Valtteri Bottas’ five-place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix is “not a real punishment”, Red Bull have claimed. The Finn was given the sanction by the stewards after causing the multi-car collision at the start in Hungary, which left Max Verstappen’s car damaged and wiped out Sergio Perez. However, given the usual pace advantage between Mercedes, Red Bull and the rest, team boss Christian Horner sees little real impact on Bottas’ race this weekend. “Great strategy from Mercedes,” he told Auto Bild. “Valtteri did a great job for them by knocking out both of our cars. “He gets the penalty for the next race, but he makes up for that in two laps at Spa,” he added. “It’s not a real punishment.” Red Bull’s biggest point of anger after the incident was it added to the ever-increasing bill for crash damage this season, with Helmut Marko claiming Mercedes had already cost the team $3million. “It [the grid penalty] doesn’t repair the damage he did to us,” Horner continued, “especially when you look at the budget cap. The effects are immense, the costs are brutal. “The first impressions indicate that Perez’s engine is no longer operational either. “It’s very frustrating, also for Honda, because it doesn’t come from reliability, but from accidents that we did not cause.” The stewards later explained that the wet conditions meant they were more lenient towards Bottas and Lance Stroll, who made a similar mistake behind. Looking ahead to Spa, a key battle will be over wing levels and who can optimise Sector 1 and Sector 3 without losing out in the middle.

Schumacher documentary film is set to be released on Netflix on September 15, and will explore Schumacher’s success in F1 and life off-track with full support from his family. The film was announced in July, but Netflix has now released the first trailer for the documentary. The trailer features interviews with Schumacher’s father, his wife, and his two children, including current Haas F1 driver Mick Schumacher, who says: “When I look at him, I think, ‘I want to be like that.’” Current Aston Martin F1 driver and four-time world champion Vettel is also part of the trailer, having looked up to Schumacher throughout his racing career. Schumacher marks Netflix’s latest foray into F1 and motorsport after achieving considerable success with its Drive to Survive docu-series that is currently filming for its fourth season. The film was described by Schumacher’s long-serving manager, Sabine Kehm, as the “family’s gift to their beloved husband and father” at the time it was announced. “Michael Schumacher has redefined the professional image of a racing driver and has set new standards,” Kehm said. “In his quest for perfection, he spared neither himself nor his team, driving them to the greatest successes. He is admired all over the world for his leadership qualities. He found the strength for this task and the balance to recharge at home, with his family, whom he loves idolatrously. “In order to preserve his private sphere as a source of strength, he has always rigorously and consistently separated his private from his public life. This film tells of both worlds.” Schumacher director Vanessa Nocker said that Schumacher’s wife, Corinna, had been “our greatest support in this” in making the film. “She herself wanted to make an authentic film, to show Michael as he is, with all his ups and downs, without any sugarcoating,” Nocker said. “She was great and brave enough to let us do what we wanted, and so we respected and kept her boundaries. A very inspiring, warm woman who made a lasting impression on all of us.”

On Monday reports surfaced that Toto Wolff and Lawrence Stroll had been investigated for insider trading. Both men don’t seem to have to fear a penalty, as it seems that there is not enough evidence. For Wolff and Stroll Sr. it’s all good. Wolff invested 30 million in Aston Martin shares and by coincidence, Tobias Meurs, then CEO of Mercedes-AMG, suddenly became the most senior man at Aston Martin. Another six months later, Mercedes also invested around 200 million. Aston Martin’s share price skyrocketed and one share is now worth 60 percent more than it was before Wolff stepped in. The Financial Times writes: “Financial regulators have looked into suspicions of insider trading in shares of Daimler and Aston Martin, including the purchase of a stake in the British luxury car maker by Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ Formula One boss.” There has indeed been an investigation, because of course it is a coincidence, but the British International Business Journal states that reports of asymmetric information have proved unfounded. “BaFin, the German market regulator, said it had investigated trading at Daimler and had also passed information to its colleagues at the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) about trading in Aston Martin shares. BaFin said it had found no evidence to proceed with an investigation. A person familiar with the matter said the FCA had not launched an investigation.” Wolff not only has a stake of just over one percent in Aston Martin. The Austrian is also a major shareholder in Mercedes’ Formula One team. He holds 33 percent of the shares, alongside Daimler and British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Earlier on Wednesday it was announced that Valtteri Bottas and George Russell will ‘fight each other’ in Thursday’s press conference. It has now also been announced that Max Verstappen will be competing with Charles Leclerc. The Dutchman has not sat alongside his Ferrari rival at a Thursday press event before this season. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez will speak to the media at the same time as Lewis Hamilton. Perez, like Bottas and Russell, will also be asked which team he thinks he will drive for in 2022. Lando Norris, as current number three in the world championship, will be asked about his expectations of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend. He will see generation rival Nicholas Latifi alongside him. The press conference starts at 12:30hrs. Belgian GP press conference line up

Toto Wolff says his Mercedes squad is eager to resume at Spa its title battle with rival Red Bull, which he insists is “far from over”. Mercedes regained the upper hand in the Constructors’ championship before F1’s summer break, having outscored Red Bull at Silverstone and at the Hungaroring, albeit with circumstances and luck lending a helping hand. Lewis Hamilton leads Max Verstappen by just 8 points in the Driver’s standings, while Mercedes’ advantage over Red Bull stands at 12 points, despite the Milton Keynes-based outfit scoring more wins this season than its opponent, or six victories versus four for Mercedes. “This has definitely been one of the most intense F1 seasons that I can remember, so far,” said Wolff in the Brackley team’s Belgian Grand Prix preview. “The battle is far from over and after a few weeks away from the track, we’re all really excited to get back to work. “The shutdown is such an important time for the entire team. The chance to relax and recharge is invaluable, especially with such a busy second half of the season coming up, and the fight we have ahead of us. “We’re all racers at heart though, so while we enjoyed the well-deserved time off, we’re also eager to get back to doing what we love: racing!” Since the start of the hybrid era in F1, Mercedes has won four times at Spa, while Red Bull’s last win on the Ardennes track dates back to Daniel Ricciardo’s triumph in 2014. Regardless of which team or driver prevails next weekend at Spa, Wolff insists its still a long road to Abu Dhabi. “We head to Spa-Francorchamps in a good position,” said the Austrian. “We lead both Championships and the W12 feels in a better place, after the upgrades introduced at Silverstone and an encouraging showing in Hungary. “But we know there is a long road ahead and so much can still happen in this season of ups and downs. “Spa is a track that we all know and love, one of the true F1 classics with its iconic corners, long-flat out sections and beautiful scenery. “It’s a hugely challenging track for both the drivers and the cars, with the longest lap of the season, lots of elevation change and some very high g-forces. “The weather is also notoriously unpredictable at Spa and always throws a curveball our way. With the Belgian Grand Prix always producing exciting and fun racing, it’s the perfect place to start the second half of the season. Bring it on!”

Formula One announced a new sponsored award on Tuesday for the driver who completes the most overtakes during the course of a season. The award, carrying the name of cryptocurrency partner crypto.com, lines up alongside those offered for the fastest lap and fastest pitstop. Formula One said in a statement that it was “designed to celebrate the bravery exhibited by drivers who make bold moves in pursuit of success.” Some social media critics suggested it could also be a reward for poor qualifying, with top drivers who started out of position more likely to make a significant number of overtakes during the race. Formula One said Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel had completed the most overtakes so far, as the championship comes out of its August break in Belgium this weekend, but gave no figures. New broadcast graphics will appear live during races to highlight overtaking possibilities and to keep fans up to date with the standings. The winner will be presented with a trophy at the end of the year.