Racetrackmasters

In Formula 1, a race is often won or lost in the pits. A botched stop can waste precious seconds that are difficult to gain back on the track, and even a few tenths could be the difference between maintaining track position or coming out behind a bitter rival. It’s therefore unsurprising that teams will do whatever they can to gain an advantage in this area. However, RaceFans reports that teams may have to cool it just a little, with the FIA introducing new directives that are expected to slow pitstops down in coming races. The new technical directive, TD22A, will come into force from the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards, which is scheduled for August 1. The aim of the new regulations is to help clamp down on unsafe releases where cars leave the pitbox too soon or without their wheels properly attached. This hasn’t happened yet in 2021, but similar incidents have led to serious injuries in the past. TD22A refers to Article 12.8.4 of the Formula 1 Technical Regulations, which states “Devices which are used to fit or remove wheel fasteners may only be powered by compressed air or nitrogen. Any sensor systems may only act passively.” The new directive is likely in response to suspicions that some teams may be automating parts of the pit stop procedure through the use of special equipment. It also aims to stop crew members anticipating the completion of tasks before they’re actually finished. To combat this, the directive has included provision for human reaction times in the pitstop process. Per the directive, mechanics must not respond quicker than 0.15 seconds to the completion of a task during the pitstop. For example, if a wheel nut is tightened, and a mechanic presses a button to carry out a further action within 0.15 seconds of this event, the pitstop system must register that input as invalid as it happened too quickly for it to be a legitimate human response to the event occurring. This would indicate either illegal automation rather than a human response, or that the mechanic anticipated the event rather then waiting for it to be properly completed. The button must thus be pressed again to complete the action. The directive also states that there must be a 0.2 second gap between the final all-clear signal being given to the mechanic in charge of releasing the vehicle, and the driver being given the signal to exit the pitbox. The news comes just a week after outlets like PlanetF1 reported Mercedes were making complaints about Red Bull’s pit equipment, in the face of the team’s devastatingly fast pit stops this season. Red Bull have executed the top six fastest stops this year, with the shortest being 1.93 seconds for Max Verstappen’s stop at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The team also hold the all-time pit stop record, which stands at just 1.82 seconds for Verstappen’s stop at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix. It’s estimated that the new regulations will slow pitstops by around 0.2-0.3 seconds, a significant amount when it comes to holding track position against a rival chasing down the main straight. It bears noting that the new directive adds yet another thing for stewards to investigate and measure, while doing little for the viewing audience at home. The FIA must be lauded for taking safety seriously, of course. It’s just a shame that it’s been done in a way that could potentially lead to more frustrating penalties for teams and drivers—certainly the last thing modern F1 needs. Maybe just bring back the lollipop guy? Seeing them running around was always cute as heck.

Max Verstappen believes the FIA should introduce front wing checks after clamping down on Formula 1 teams running so-called flexi-wings in recent weeks. After Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton noted Red Bull was running a “bendy wing” on the rear of the car at the Spanish Grand Prix last month, the FIA moved to clamp down on the rule loophole by introducing new rigidity tests from France onwards. Red Bull regularly hit back at Mercedes throughout the debate about flexi-wings, saying that if its rear wing was facing scrutiny then the front wing of the Mercedes W12 also had to be looked at. The rule clampdown did not appear to hinder Red Bull’s performance in France as Verstappen scored his third victory of the season, allowing him to extend his lead over Hamilton at the top of the drivers’ championship to 12 points. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner questioned in France why the FIA’s rigidity tests did not also apply to the front wing, saying the team would “assume at some point they will do the same to the front of the car”. Verstappen said ahead of this weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix that the win in France “showed that everything has been dealt with correctly” by Red Bull, but agreed that the tests should be extended to the front wing as well. “I do think when you are checking the rear wing, you should also be checking the front wing,” Verstappen said. “Because I think the front wing has a bigger effect on the car. It’s up to the FIA now of course to do these checks. “Clearly, they have done the checks on the rear wing, so it’s up to them.” Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez agreed that it was “up to the FIA to do all those check-ups”, and felt that the front wing had a bigger influence on the current generation of cars than the rear wings. “As Max says, I think the front is definitely much more powerful on a Formula 1 car these days than the rear wing,” Perez said. “It’s up to them really, and they have all of the information I guess.”

Alfa Romeo are 111-years-old today and for the occasion, a special livery celebrating the milestone will be used for this weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix on the cars of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi.The iconic brand that spawned Ferrari, has had a golden history pockmarked with success in Formula 1 as well as periods as also-rans. The Italian team has ten victories in the top flight including Formula 1 world titles with Giuseppe Farina in 1950 and in 1951 with Juan Manuel Fangio. On the occasion this is what they had to say: Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen will pay tribute to the history and motorsport heritage of Alfa Romeo with a special revisiting of its livery, with the Italian marque’s logo morphing to celebrate the 111th birthday of the manufacturer, which takes place today. Over more than a century of history, Alfa Romeo has blazed a path made of prestigious vehicles, boasting an unmistakable style recognised the world over. The marque’s history is dotted with motorsport victories and built on technological know-how and the pursuit of mechanical excellence. Mainly, however, its history is built upon the men and women who devoted their lives to growing this brand to the one it is today, one that retains an almost mythical role in the hearts of motorsport lovers all over the world. The passion of the Italian Brand is embodied in the special logo that celebrates its 111th anniversary, a logo, designed by Centro Stile Alfa Romeo, which finds its inspiration in the iconic elements making up the Alfa Romeo crest: the “Biscione”, the snake symbolising the noble Visconti family from Milan, and the cross, the symbol of the city itself. The cross is warped in a sequence of number one figures, developing in a perspective as to represent the passing of time and giving a dynamic twist to the number 111. The logo will replace the traditional Alfa Romeo crest on the engine cover of the C41 cars of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Räikkönen at this weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix, while a further nod to Alfa Romeo’s history will be on the cars’ nosecones, with the marque’s logo being replaced by the brand’s iconic trilobe. The logos on the car are only an element of the whole programme of celebrations for Alfa Romeo’s 111th anniversary, with a full range of activities and initiatives taking place at the Alfa Romeo Museum in Arese, near Milan, until Sunday. Parades, special exhibitions and celebrations will tinge Arese red with four days of events in the name of passion, devoted to the Clubs and to the entire Alfisti fandom. Furthermore, the weekend will also see the first deliveries of the new Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA/GTAm, the new supercar produced in a limited run of 500 exclusive units: a model that links the brand’s glorious history to its future.

Lando Norris climbed from eighth to fifth place during the French Grand Prix. The overtaking of Pierre Gasly on the twenty-eighth lap was not without controversy. The Brit even called his French colleague an idiot. During the overtake at Le Beausset, Norris was cut off by Gasly with both drivers going off track for a moment. “He forced me off. What is this idiot doing? He went off himself”, Norris complained on the board radio. In the end Norris managed to overtake successfully one lap later. Speaking at the press conference in Austria, Norris revealed that the hatchet has now been buried. “Well, after the race I wasn’t too unhappy. I finished ahead of him, so I was actually quite happy,” the Official website of Formula 1. Although, of course, during the race it wasn’t like that. “My front wing was almost off. It was just not necessary, I thought, the level of aggression he had. But I have nothing against him.” Gasly also looks back on the incident, but he too sees no further problems with Norris. “In the heat of the moment you sometimes say things on the radio. It’s part of racing, hopefully we’ll have more fights this season and I enjoyed it. There was no harm in the action and I wouldn’t mind another fight with him this weekend.” Beyond that, the Frenchman doesn’t really want to mince words. “I think it was a nice, hard race. We always complain that we don’t have any overtakes in Formula 1, so I think you should be happy when there are and that’s about it.”

Sergio Perez is expecting talks with Red Bull over a new contract to happen during some F1 “downtime” and hopes any decision will be made quickly. Perez has impressed in his debut season with Red Bull after switching from Racing Point – now Aston Martin – over the winter, taking victory in Azerbaijan and following that result up with third in France last week. Questioned as to when he would ask Red Bull about a new contract, the Mexican replied: “I think right now we are so busy with the races, three in a row. “There will be some downtime where we can speak about it and hopefully it doesn’t take too long.” While at Racing Point, Perez appeared to have been safe as a driver heading into the Aston Martin era but was eventually ousted in favour of Sebastian Vettel. Recalling that, he added: “I don’t have a good experience when you take that long. “I see it as a natural thing when you are comfortable in the team, working with them and the team working with you, it is something that should happen very smoothly and we should just take it out of the season and focus on the right stuff.”

Aston Martin plans to appoint a new Formula 1 technical director as part of its ongoing process to create what it calls “a more focussed technical management structure with greater strength in depth”. As reported last week, Alfa Romeo chief designer Luca Furbatto will join at the start of next year as engineering director, with Andrew Green promoted from technical director to chief technical officer. This leaves the space for the appointment of a technical director, who is yet to be announced but likely to have been lined up by the team already, who will be announced in due course. The new technical director will be responsible for overseeing the aerodynamics department, overall car design and what Aston Martin calls “the short to mid-term technical strategy”. This is part of the expansion of the team, which now numbers just under 550 people and could expand to as many as 800 and will move into a new purpose-built Silverstone factory next year. They will be one of three senior technical leaders who report to Green, the others being Furbatto, who is responsible for factory engineering support and projects, including structures, reliability and R&D, and Tom McCullough. McCullough, who joined Force India from Sauber ahead of the 2014 season, will continue to be responsible for trackside engineering and performance, but under the new title of performance director. Aston Martin has explained this extends to “all the performance areas within the factory”, defined as aero and vehicle performance, as well as performance simulation and software. “As Andrew Green takes on this important strategic technical role, I am pleased to outline our new structure that will add real strength in depth to our technical operations,” said team principal Otmar Szafnauer. “In Tom, we have an experienced and talented engineer, who will continue to be responsible for trackside performance as well as the many factory-based performance functions. He is a strong leader, who has contributed a huge amount to the team’s success over the last eight years. “With Luca Furbatto adding expertise to factory operations, focussed on the technical support areas, we have brought in another excellent people manager with great expertise in his areas of responsibility. Both men will report to Andrew Green, as will the soon to be appointed new technical director. “Everybody at Aston Martin Cognizant Formula 1 Team aims to win grands prix and world championships, and this new and improved structure we have created mirrors that of the most successful teams in Formula 1 today.”

Max Verstappen is hopeful that his partnership with Sergio Perez will continue, as the Mexican driver is only on a one year contract. After a slow start to his Red Bull career, Perez has found form in recent races and has provided more than adequate backup to Verstappen, and was there to take the victory in Baku when the Dutch driver had a tyre failure towards the end of the race. “Everything is going really well!” Verstappen told members of the media, including RacingNews365 ahead of the Styrian Grand Prix. “Of course, I knew Checo [Perez] before, but not as a teammate so, of course, always a little bit different. But, I think so far, it’s been great. And to be able to now work together upfront, you know, to get the best results for the team is what you want. “So, for sure, I would want that to continue. And yeah, he is a great teammate. And we can have a lot of fun as well. You know, we don’t need to always talk about cars and setups and stuff.” Sitting beside his teammate at the press conference, a smiling Perez replied to Verstappen saying, “It’s probably the wrong question when I’m sitting next to you. Maybe you ask the question when I’m not here!” Perez has recently publicly praised Verstappen for his abilities on-track, as well as his off-track openness, and the mutual respect between the pair appears to be growing. With Red Bull being something of a ‘one car team’ ever since the departure of Daniel Ricciardo at the end of 2018, due to the struggles of Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon, Verstappen said it’s important to be firing on all cylinders. “Before we didn’t have the car to fight them, so you could do what you want,” Verstappen said of Mercedes. “I mean, make a three stop, put the rear tyres on the front, nothing is really gonna change. “So now, we have the car to really fight them. And, of course, then it’s super important to be up there with two cars. And that’s exactly what we have been doing now in Baku and Paul Ricard. So it’s going to be crucial for the constructors as well to keep this up until the end of the year.”

Williams chief executive Jost Capito justified the decision to part ways with ex-team principal Simon Roberts, saying that the former’s “capabilities” didn’t fit within the outfit’s new organizational structure. Roberts took over last year from former deputy-team principal Claire Williams in the wake of Williams’ takeover by US investment firm Dorilton Capital. But earlier this month, Capito announced Robert’s departure as part of an internal restructure that “further streamlines operations as part of the long-term objectives to return Williams to the front of the grid”. The British outfit’s organization now relies more heavily on its new technical director, François-Xavier Demaison, who will supervise all engineering work at Grove and on site on race weekends. “During the first 100 days, I took a huge effort to understand how the teams work,” Capito said. “I talked to more than 80 managers in one-to-one meetings, and I asked them all the same questions. So I got a good overview what we should change, what we should keep. “It became clear that engineering should be all in one hand: track engineering, design, aero, should all be in one hand. “That should be under the technical director, and that should be a technical director who has done all jobs in racing, who has been at a drawing board, who has been a race engineer, who has done R+D, and FX is exactly that person. “You have the technical director in charge of everything that is related to the car, and you have a sporting director who is relating to everything not with the car in the race team, and makes the race team work and function,” added the former VW Motorsport boss. “So the technical people don’t have to bother, they can fully focus on the car and on the performance. “With that, the capabilities that Simon offers didn’t fit in that system. Simon did a fantastic job through the change of ownership, to keep the team together. “I think that’s always a very critical situation for a team, and the team can’t fall apart and get in a dip. He did a fantastic job keeping the team together, and we’re very thankful for that.” Williams has yet to nominate its new sporting director, but Capito said the team has received some “very good applications”, including from individuals with no prior F1 experience. “I think that it’s not necessarily needed,” Capito said. “Sometimes it’s good to have a view from outside. “I think I saw [McLaren team principal] Andreas Seidl’s interview from last week, where he said the reason he can do this job is because he’s been outside of Formula 1!”

Kimi Raikkonen is hoping to provide Alfa Romeo with points as a birthday gift in Austria. The Italian manufacturer celebrates its 111th birthday today [Thursday, June 24] ahead of this weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix, with the F1 team entering the event after failing to score for the first time in three races in France last time out. Hoping for a return to form at the Red Bull Ring, 2007 world champion Raikkonen said: “Our focus is fully on Austria and not on what happened in France. “We have learnt our lessons and we are now determined to do better. Austria is one of those tracks that looks easy but is not. “It’s short and there are only a few corners where time can be gained or lost, which means each of them is crucial for the lap time. “Managing the traffic, both in qualifying and in the race, will also be a key factor but, in the end, that will be the same for everyone. “I hope we get to score points on this weekend, it’d be a nice birthday present for Alfa Romeo. In the end, we need to do a better job than our rivals and then we will have the chance to score points.” Antonio Giovinazzi returns to the circuit that has given him two points finishes in three visits in his F1 career so far. Aiming to add to the solitary point he has scored this season, he added: “Austria is a track I like, one where I have some good memories. “I scored my first point there, in 2019, and in 2020 I brought home ninth place after a quite exciting race. “I am keen to add to these moments and I am looking forward to racing there twice in two weeks. “I find you can really get into a rhythm and build on each session and I feel you can really extract the most from yourself and the car. “We have been doing better in most of the recent races and I can’t wait to get back in the fight for the top 10 on Sunday. “Alfa Romeo’s 111th birthday is the extra bit of motivation we need to do well and we can’t wait to celebrate in style.”

Aston Martin is suing a Swiss car dealer that it says is withholding customer deposits on the upcoming Valkyrie hypercar. In 2016, Switzerland’s Nebula Project agreed to help finance the Aston Martin Valkyrie as well as other mid-engine projects the brand was taking on in return for future royalties from the company which was experiencing financial hardships at the time. Now, though, Aston Martin claims that it is ending its relationship with Nebula due to the withheld payments and will take customer deposits directly without involving a third party. Moreover, it expects to take a £15 million ($20.9 million USD) hit on its profits due to the situation with Nebula, per the BBC. Aston Martin also says that it will no longer have to pay future royalties to the Swiss company, though Reuters reports that Nebula disputes that. “We consider Aston Martin’s alleged unilateral termination of the contractual relationship with Nebula Project AG as illegitimate and unjustified and are prepared to pursue the necessary steps to preserve our rights,” Nebula said in a statement. Regardless, Aston Martin says that the suit will not affect customers’ orders and it will work to ensure that they receive their cars on schedule. Powered by a mid-mounted 6.5-liter V12 engine, the hybrid Valkyrie will have 1,160 hp on tap and will be able to reach an ear-piercing 10,500 rpm. With Formula 1 technology to keep it all under control, the hypercar will also be able to generate more than 1,814 kg (4,000 lbs) of downforce. Production will be limited to just 200 examples, all of which have reportedly been sold.

Christian Horner says he was astounded by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff’s claim that Red Bull owed its straight-line speed advantage in France to “a huge step forward” achieved by Honda’s power unit. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was indeed the fastest car down Paul Ricard’s Mistral straight last weekend, the Dutchman blasting through the speed trap in qualifying at 328.7 mph. However, Red Bull’s superior velocity was in large part due to the low-drag rear wing configuration used last weekend on RB16B. But because Honda had supplied new units all-round to Red Bull and AlphaTauri in France, moving both teams on to their second engines for 2021, Wolff had jumped to a rather surprising conclusion. “They have made a huge step forward with their power unit, the introduction of the second power unit,” said Wolff. “And their race car is good, no doubt about that.” Baffled by the comment, Horner remined Wolff that F1’s regulations prohibit this year the in-season introduction by a manufacturer of a new engine specification. “We’re not allowed to make progress,” Horner said, responding to Mercedes’ claim. “I don’t know what he’s referencing there. “I think that it’s the same specification as the first unit. We’ve run a much smaller rear wing, so that’s why the straight line performance was strong. “I think Honda are doing a great job, but we don’t see a sudden significant increase in power.” Honda F1 technical director Toyoharu Tanabe naturally confirmed the engine specification freeze, insisting that any power unit gains were the result of better energy management. “On the team side we are introducing new parts so that we can evolve every race,” he said. “The power unit is the same [specification] all the time, but we are learning better how to use energy management etc. for every race. “We are looking at the characteristics of each circuit, and I think that such daily developments are connected to the current improvement.”