Racetrackmasters

Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff believes the team is willing to take risks with Lewis Hamilton’s strategy in Monaco after he only qualified seventh on Saturday. Hamilton slumped to his worst qualifying performance in almost three years as he struggled to get his tyres in the right temperature window, leaving him low on grip. The seven-time world champion finished three-quarters of a second off pole-sitter Charles Leclerc’s time, and said after qualifying that his hopes of winning in Monaco were over. The lack of overtaking opportunities left Hamilton braced for a difficult race, but it could prompt some creativity from the Mercedes pit wall. Wolff said that while seventh was not a low enough result to prompt any risks on-track from Hamilton, given the close title fight against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, it could allow for some risky strategies to play out. “Driving-wise, no, because P7 still scores six points,” Wolff said when asked what risks Mercedes could afford to take with Hamilton. “But six points, you’d rather have six points than none. If Max wins the race or finishes second, that’s still a large enough gap. “So driving-wise no, but I think in terms of strategy, we can take risks. They are obviously limited, due to the reasons stated before, with traffic behind. But I think we have a car that is quicker than P7.” Mercedes failed to qualify with a car on the front row for the first time this season after Valtteri Bottas could only finish third, trailing Verstappen in P2. Wolff said that finishing third and seventh would be a result that Mercedes would have to “take on the chin” and learn lessons from its qualifying struggles. “If we can finish in better positions, then I would very much hope so,” Wolff said. “Monaco obviously isn’t the place where you have lots of overtaking opportunities.” Mercedes has struggled through the early part of the season with tyre warm-up on the W12 car, with the issue being exacerbated for Hamilton on Saturday in qualifying. It left the three-time Monaco winner braced for a race of damage limitation, with his 14-point lead in the drivers’ championship under threat. “We definitely struggle [with tyre warm-up], and I think this is magnified here being that is obviously a low energy circuit,” Hamilton said. “There are not really any high-speed areas, and then today, it was much, much cooler. So it’s sort of get worse over the day or so. I’m not really sure how Valtteri is able to get his tyres working. “I saw a glimpse of grip on that last lap, but it’s really short lived, so there’ll be a lot of analysis. “Of course P7 isn’t a great place to start here, but I will have to do the best I can to help the damage limitation tomorrow, and try and see if there’s a way to move forward somehow.”

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner estimates the damage to Mick Schumacher’s car sustained in his final practice crash will cost the team between $300,000 and $500,000. Schumacher crashed in the closing moments of final practice after losing control of his Haas into Casino Square. He caused significant damage to the left-side of his car after striking the barrier at the exit of the corner.Asked for an estimate of the costs involved in repairing the VF-21, Steiner said: “I don’t have the calculation, but between three and five hundred thousand.” “This is what these cars cost,” he explained. “It’s like I always said, the front wing alone is a hundred and fifty thousand.” Steiner admitted he was “disappointed” that Schumacher had missed out on qualifying for his first Monaco Grand Prix after he had stressed to both Haas drivers about the importance of a strong qualifying result around the tight street circuit. “It’s always disappointing because the most important thing in Monte Carlo is qualifying and there’s not many a year. It’s one time only every year. “It’s so different, qualifying here – short track, a lot of traffic. I think if he could have done it, it’s just to get this confidence, how to move out of the way and all these things. He missed out on that which is never good. So it’s never good to miss something.“But this for sure, next time, when he comes back he would’ve liked to have done it once before.” Schumacher will start this afternoon’s Monaco Grand Prix from 20th and last on the grid after being granted permission by the stewards to participate in the race, following his failure to set a lap time in qualifying as a result of his accident.

Ferrari driver Charles will start today’s Monaco Grand Prix from pole position. Ferrari confirmed that Leclerc’s gearbox was not damaged in his qualifying crash on Saturday. As such, the Monegasque will not face a five-place grid penalty for taking on new parts and assumes his position at the front of the pack for his home grand prix. Leclerc’s pole was in doubt after his front-right tyre brushed the Armco on the entry to the swimming pool chicane, destabilising his Ferrari and sending him over the kerb and into the barrier on the opposing side of the track with just 16 seconds of qualifying remaining. A Ferrari statement read: “Following further in-depth checks this morning, no apparent defects were found on Charles Leclerc’s gearbox, therefore the Monegasque driver will start today’s race from pole position, as per the qualifying result.” Leclerc, who claimed both his and Ferrari’s first pole since the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix, will be joined on the front row by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton who leads Verstappen in the championship by 14 points, starts only seventh.

McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo will be driving cars with a different colour from their usual orange and blue during the F1 race at the Monaco Grand Prix. Why is McLaren racing in cars with a different pattern? McLaren will be hoping to push for a second podium of the season this weekend, when Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo head to Monaco. But McLaren fans will be treated to a special edition car for the upcoming Grand Prix. Both Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo are having impressive seasons for McLaren. After four races, Norris is fourth in the Drivers’ Championship – just six points behind Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas. Ricciardo, meanwhile, is sat in seventh place, ahead of Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. But, ahead of the highly-anticipated Monaco GP this weekend, McLaren has revealed their drivers will be using cars with a special edition livery. The cars will be decked in the legendary pale blue, with the iconic orange stripe down the middle of the chassis. The livery is one of the motorsport’s most well-loved looks, and was famously used by Ford and Porsche sportscars. It’ll be the first time it’s used in F1, however, and both drivers will be wearing accompanying helmets. Gulf Oil became a strategic partner of McLaren in July 2020, but they first worked together in the 1960s. Norris admitted it will be “really cool” to be decked out in the blue and orange in Monaco. “I’m very excited to go racing in Monaco again,” he said. “It’s an awesome track with a lot of history, and one of the most challenging circuits in Formula 1. “It’s also really cool to be racing there in Gulf colours and to be writing history with the team. The blue and the orange work really well together on a race car and I think the fans are going to love seeing it racing around the streets of Monaco. “I’ll also be running a special race helmet for the weekend, inspired by Gulf’s iconic colours, so keep your eyes peeled for that too.” Ricciardo revealed that Monaco is his favourite race of the calendar. The former Red Bull and Renault driver won in Monaco three years ago, and is hoping to earn his first podium of the season this weekend. “We’ve been making a lot of progress over the last few races, and I think that really showed in Spain,” he said. “I’m really starting to get to grips with the car and build my confidence. We know we’ll have our work cut out for us in Monaco, given how important qualifying is and how close we are to the competition, but we’ll give it our all and try to bring home some solid points for the team.” The Monaco Grand Prix was cut from the F1 calendar last season, following the prolonged break during the coronavirus crisis. Lewis Hamilton won the last race, two years ago, and the Brit will be hoping to win for the fourth time in the Principality on Sunday. But, McLaren hold to record for the most victories in Monaco with 15. The last time McLaren had a winner in Monaco, however, was back in 2008 with Hamilton.

Mattia Binotto thinks Red Bull are making too much of a song and dance about recruiting engine staff from Mercedes. The new Red Bull Powertrains operation, which is taking over Honda’s intellectual property to become an in-house engine shop at Milton Keynes from next season, has attracted at least 15 staff from the Mercedes base 30 miles away in Brixworth. Red Bull have announced the names and titles for some of their new employees, headed by Ben Hodgkinson who will become the technical director of the Powertrains project. However, Ferrari team principal Binotto says it is no big deal to be attracting staff from rival manufacturers, citing how the Scuderia have been doing similar and keeping it on the downlow. “Over the last three years, more than 30 engineers have been hired from other teams,” said Binotto, quoted by Corriere della Sera. “Red Bull is announcing it like a purchasing campaign – we are doing it without making it known.” Binotto also gave an update about how Ferrari’s progress on their 2022 car is developing – but fears the new regulations will not achieve what is intended by bunching up the field and making overtaking easier . “They won’t all be close,” said Binotto. “At the beginning, this objective won’t be reached, then with time we will see how close they will be. “The second objective of the 2022 regulations was to make overtaking easier. I’m not convinced we will get there. From the data, we can see there are very high-performance cars that are able to create problems for those in the slipstream.” The 51-year-old Swiss-born engineer said the first Ferrari chassis for 2022 will be ready by the end of this summer. “It’s a key moment because there are only a few weeks left before we have to freeze the project,” he said. “From next year, there is a regulation that will last for several years and you can’t be unprepared or careless because it’s not just 2022 but everything that comes after. “It’s inevitable that this is the priority – right now, the new car is developing in line with our forecasts. “We are at a point where important choices are being made on the aerodynamic concepts. In a month’s time, they will be defined and then we will start with the production of the first parts. Then we will work on the details, on the aerodynamic geometries. “This means the time to update the current car is running out, if not already over, and that all efforts are being projected into next season. “Because the car is so different, you can’t afford to lose time or slow down. We see every week how much progress we make.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has confirmed the team will not participate in a wet weather Pirelli tyre test scheduled to take place at Paul Ricard following the Monaco Grand Prix. Pirelli has enlisted teams to aid in the development of its new 18-inch tyres for F1’s radical rule changes being introduced in 2022, with Mercedes slated to participate at the home of the French Grand Prix. However, that is now not the case and Ferrari will step into the gap left by the world champions. Explaining the decision ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, Wolff said: “We are trying to make the budget cap, which is not trivial and we couldn’t take the costs related to the tyre test and we wouldn’t have been able to send our mechanics on such a long journey.” Mercedes has already confirmed it is running close to the $145million budget cap introduced to F1 this year and was affected by the heavy incident suffered by Valtteri Bottas at Imola with George Russell. Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto suggested that was the reason Ferrari is in a position to fill in for Mercedes. “As Ferrari, we always said that 2022 is our priority over 2021 and testing Pirelli tyres, helping Pirelli develop the new tyres we believe is important for us. “Luckily enough we didn’t have a crash in Imola so eventually we have some more contingency to Mercedes today, so somehow we are happy to accept and support.”

Pramac rookie Jorge Martin’s injury-forced absence will continue into next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, with Ducati MotoGP test rider Michele Pirro deputising. Martin suffered several fractures in a heavy crash during practice for last month’s Portuguese Grand Prix at Portimao, which required surgery. The MotoGP rookie was forced to miss his home round at Jerez and last weekend’s French GP at Le Mans as a result, with 2014 Moto2 world champion and former Avintia Ducati rider Tito Rabat taking his place. Rabat’s World Superbike commitments with Barni Racing next weekend at Estoril prevent him from riding the Pramac Ducati at Mugello, with the team calling up Ducati test rider Pirro to fill in. Pramac expects Martin to make his return in the follow week’s Catalan Grand Prix in Barcelona. A brief statement from Pramac read: “After listening to the opinions and the reflections made by the doctors, Jorge Martin will return in time for the Catalunya Grand Prix. “The conditions of the Spanish rider are without a doubt improving, but for him to return in time for Mugello does not seem to be the best choice due to how tough and demanding that circuit is. “Therefore, Michele Pirro (Ducati test rider) will be carrying the Pramac Racing colours with Johann Zarco in the Italian Grand Prix.” Rabat finished 18th in his first race on the factory Ducati at Jerez, before scoring a point in the flag-to-flag French GP last weekend. Martin made a stellar start to his MotoGP career at the start of the season in Qatar, where he qualified on pole for the second round of the campaign in the Doha GP. The young Spaniard went on to lead the race for the first 17 laps and ultimately crossed the line third for his first podium in just his second race. Pirro often makes a wildcard appearance for Ducati at Mugello and has recently conducted some private test days for the marque at the Italian GP venue. The Italian was unable to make any wildcard starts in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions, but was drafted in for the Austrian double-header in place of the injured Francesco Bagnaia at Pramac – taking a best result of 12th in the red-flagged Austrian GP. Pirro was seventh on his last visit to Mugello in 2019 as a Ducati wildcard.

Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi has confirmed the team is already in discussions with Esteban Ocon to extend his current contract into next season and potentially beyond. Ocon has excelled so far this year, more than matching his new two-time world champion team-mate Fernando Alonso and stepping up a gear now he is in his second year with the French outfit. The French driver, who is managed by Toto Wolff, is part of the Mercedes driver development programme but Wolff said recently that his future will be decided by Alpine rather than Mercedes making any claim. Asked about Alpine’s current plans, Rossi said: “It was very graceful of Toto to say that. It is indeed something we are considering. Esteban is doing everything to make me consider keeping him in the team. “I would be remiss if I didn’t think about it, so obviously at the moment we are already engaged in some conversations with his agent, his management team, Mercedes at large. “I’m not surprised by Esteban. We knew he is extremely talented, he has been racing against most of the drivers when he was younger and he is always beating them, most of the time, so I knew he had a lot of talent. “He starts having good references in the team [and] we made some modifications to his own team and to the way we build up the race weekends. The guy has talent, it shows, and I think he is where he should be.” Having made his F1 debut in 2016 for the now-defunct Manor Racing team, Ocon has since raced for Force India and spent a year as Mercedes reserve driver before finding his place at Renault, now re-named Alpine. The 24-year-old has one podium in 71 starts so far, but the other high-flying French driver, Pierre Gasly, won a race for Toro Rosso and is potentially seeking a move as promotion to the Red Bull senior squad appears unlikely. Asked if Gasly was on Alpine’s radar, Rossi said: “We are not looking at any drivers for next year because at the moment I am considering, obviously, Esteban. “Fernando is here next year with us so if we want to carry on the momentum we have we will do that. Pierre is obviously a great driver, of value, but at the moment this is not in our cars, I would say.”

Although he’s become one of the biggest names in F1 history, Lewis Hamilton doesn’t believe he would be able to make it into the sport if he tried to do so now. The Brit has become synonymous with success, having won a joint-record seven drivers’ titles, along with the most wins and podium finishes. However Hamilton has never been shy about his humble beginnings, as father Anthony had to work several jobs to fund his career before being signed by McLaren and Mercedes at 13. Hamilton made his way through the junior ranks thanks to the funding received by both parties, but the Brit doesn’t think F1 would be accessible to him if he chose to pursue a career at this time. “Growing up in a normal working class family, there is no way I could be here – the guys you are fighting against have that much more money,” Hamilton told Spain’s AS newspaper. “We have to work to change that to make it more accessible, for the rich and for people with more humble origins.” The likes of Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latifi and Nikita Mazepin all have billionaire fathers, while Max Verstappen and Mick Schumacher are the sons of former F1 drivers.

Formula 1 talent spotter Helmut Marko says he is angry with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda after his latest protege hit the barriers around the Monaco street circuit, forcing the Japanese driver to miss a large part of the second free practice session. Tsunoda who started the season brightly, securing points on his Formula 1 debut in Bahrain has had a torrid few races off late. The Japanese driver missed out on Q2 in Barcelona before ultimately retiring, and failed to add to the two points secured at the opening round in either Imola or Portimao. Marko, the man largely responsible for bringing Tsunoda into the sport, has now shown his first outward sign of displeasure towards the Japanese rookie. “We told him a thousand times, it’s all about one thing in Monaco: making metres, making metres, making metres, he should really learn to show some discipline,” Marko told members of the media including RacingNews365.com. Tsunoda though was quick to point out that a crash in FP2 was not the worst thing that could have happened explaining that the changing track conditions played a role in his crash. “So I think I didn’t push too much hard in entry, I think just lost the grip in the end,” Tsunoda explained. “A lot of degradation there I think and a couple of gusts of wind (and) I lost completely the rear between Turns 15 and 16, and I just had to finish the session. “I had two [sets of] softs for Saturday so I think it’s not the worst-case or the end of the world. Just, I have to prepare more for Saturday and try to put it all together.” With his teammate Pierre Gasly performing so strongly, Tsunoda will have to improve his performances if he wants to remains with the notoriously competitive Red Bull program.

Tifosi will be delighted at the end of the first day of free practice for the Monaco Grand Prix, as Charles Leclerc headed teammate Carlos Sainz for a Ferrari 0ne-two.The Reds were the only two to dip into the 71-seconds zone, with Leclerc’s FP2 timesheet topping effort of 1.11.684s was a tenth faster than Sainz in the one-hour afternoon session. It was good news for homeboy Leclerc who in FP1 did one lap around his neighbourhood circuit before a gearbox problem ended his morning shift prematurely. It was a good recovery from the team and their driver. Sainz kept his teammate honest and is increasingly looking comfortable in the SF21. Lewis Hamilton who was quickest during the first half of the session ended third quickest in the Mercedes, four-tenths shy of the top time, with title rival Max Verstappen fractionally slower in fourth. His Red Bull teammate, who was quickest in FP1 earlier, was eighth and a second down on the top time. Valtteri Bottas was fifth in the Mercedes; half a second separating the top five on the time sheets. Lando Norris continued to excel and outshine his more experienced Daniel Ricciardo. The young Englishman snaking the beautifully liveried Gulf McLaren to sixth place, six tenths adrift of the top time but nearly full second up on his teammate. The Aussie was visibly ill at ease in his car around Monte Carlo on Thursday. Next up, in seventh was Alpha Tauri driver Pierre Gasly doing the heavy lifting for the team as rookie Yuki Tsunoda, after an impressive first session at a venue he has only driven on the simulator and in the F1 video game. But in the afternoon he made contact with the barriers and limited his run to 11 laps, denying himself valuable track time. He was slowest of all. The Alfa Romeo pair of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen seemed good out of the box, with the Italian ninth and the veteran Finn three tenths slower in 11th. Splitting the Alfas on the timesheets, in tenth, was the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel, the four times F1 posting a time faster than teammate Lance Stroll who was only good for 13th. It’s Monaco, so inevitably there were car-meets-Armco moments on Thursday. Sainz’s Ferrari gave the metal a good clout; as did Haas rookie Mick Schumacher, as did teammate Nikita Mazepin of course; Williams driver Nicholas Latifi; other ‘scrapers’ included veterans Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. What to make of day one at the Principality? Red Bull appear to have the better car, its aero strength suited to the tight twists with Verstappen always in it and Perez showing good pace at a venue where he tends to do well. Mercedes on the other hand have held the cards for the are, when it really matters hence they lead 3-1 in wins after four rounds and will obviously factor. However. a string Ferrari in the mix sets the stage for one hell of a Grand Prix, where starting in top spot will be paramount for race-winning ambitions hence expect an extraordinary qualifying on Saturday. For now, its a day break so that the locals can go about their pre-weekend shopping ahead of Saturday when things really get serious in Monaco.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has suggested the impact of changing the rear wing of an F1 car to comply with new tests brought in by the FIA to prevent flexi-wings could cost up to $500,000. Red Bull’s rear wing was scrutinised by Lewis Hamilton at the Spanish Grand Prix after onboard footage showed visible flexing under high aerodynamic loads, leading to the FIA swiftly notifying teams tests would be changed to prevent such oscillations. Asked what the implications of any changes to comply with the new tests would be in the budget cap era of F1, Horner said: “I think for a team like us that is obviously running up against the cap then of course, strategically, you have to make choices. “The impact of something like this is probably half a million dollars so that will prevent something else from happening but that is the juggling act we are now having to make with the budget cap and financial regulations.” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and McLaren counterpart Andreas Seidl have both declared their frustration at the FIA that the tests will not start until the French Grand Prix. Horner, however, has insisted time must be given for teams to implement new parts on the car. “I think there has to be a lead time,” he added. “You cannot just magic up components. “If they changed the tests on front wings this weekend, and we have seen far more performance from front-wing flexibility, shall we say, then that would affect every single team and some much greater than others. “There has to be a lead time. You cannot expect parts to be magicked up overnight without costs being incurred. “The car complies to regulations that have been there for the last 18 months with these load tests and then the regulation has been changed, the tests have been changed, and there has to be a notice period for that.”