Racetrackmasters

Formula 1 is suffering from the coronavirus pandemic. Last season, drivers with positive tests dropped out, spectators are no longer there and this year’s season opener in Australia also fell out of the calendar and had to be postponed to Bahrain. In the Arabian Gulf state, Sebastian Vettel would already have had the opportunity to be vaccinated against the virus. But the 33-year-old family man decided against it and gives a remarkable reason. The thoughtful German has already attracted attention with statements on social issues or environmental questions. The four-time Formula 1 world champion spoke out clearly to RTL when it came to vaccinations against the Corona pandemic. “Formula 1 had the offer to be vaccinated in Bahrain. I deliberately refrained from doing so because it’s not my turn yet,” Vettel told the broadcaster. It is questionable whether the vaccine he would use might not benefit someone “who should be on it sooner”, says the experienced driver. “But it’s a matter of principle. There are many people who want to be vaccinated. Many are waiting. Younger people are not as much at risk as older people. I will get vaccinated, but only when it’s my turn,” Vettel continues, making his position clear. Drivers like Sergio Perez or Vettel’s Ferrari successor Carlos Sainz accepted the vaccination offer. Some teams gave their employees the option of receiving the first dose. Only AlphaTauri made the vaccination compulsory for its employees, and tyre manufacturer Pirelli also vaccinated all its employees at the first race weekend of the season. The reason for Vettel’s clear statement was that at that time vaccinations had already been given at major events in Bahrain, while locals had not yet received a dose. Thus, for every vaccinated foreign visitor, theoretically one local would have to wait longer. Only 1.6 million people live in the kingdom.

The Imola Grand Prix is in full swing. The twenty drivers have finished the practice sessions. All in preparation for the start on Sunday. On Friday a remarkable incident happened between Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez. First of all there were communication problems during the free practice. Because of this the teams could not talk to the drivers on track. This also seems to be the cause of the crash between Ocon and Perez. Perez was busy with his fast lap. Ocon on the other hand was busy with his lap from the pit and thus drove a lot slower than Perez. Because of the lack of clarity both men hit each other. On the video below the crash is clearly visible. You can also see the speed at which Perez is gaining on Ocon.

The Spanish GP at Barcelona will once again take place without fans in the grandstands as Catalunya extends its COVID-19 restrictions. The event’s promoter had opened its box office to ticket sales for the fourth round of the 2021 F1 world championship that will take place on May 9, hoping to host a limited number of race fans. But Catalan health authorities, who recently extended a series of COVID-19 restrictions until April 26, including closing its borders, have informed the Circuit de Catalunya that it will not be able to open its gates to the public next month given the current uncertainty surrounding the area’s sanitary situation. “PROCICAT (the Catalan Civil Protection Office) has notified Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, that the Grand Prix cannot be staged under the conditions defined in the Spectator Access Protocol,” the circuit said in a statement published on Saturday. “Under these conditions, it is impossible to establish with absolute certainty whether or not the epidemic and welfare situation on 7, 8 and 9 May will allow for a further relaxation of the measures that do also restrict mobility at county level, which consequently would hinder fans from outside the Valles Oriental region from coming to the racetrack. “Moreover, following the communication of the Departments of the Interior and Health of the Catalan Government, neither the epidemiological situation, nor, especially, the situation in hospitals allow expecting right now a review of the current measures or a relevant liberalisation, considering that the dates of the Grand Prix are quite close. “Given this situation, the circuit management has proceeded to notify Formula One Management Limited that the Formula 1 Aramco Gran Premio De Espana 2021 will have to be staged without spectator attendance.” Spanish GP organisers have said that they will refund all tickets holders for the May 9 event. So far, there has been no indication that any upcoming venue will open its gates to spectators. Silverstone is pushing for a vaccine passport to be issued to fans to allow for a near full crowd for next summer’s British GP.

Max Verstappen topped the final practice session for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, denying Mercedes a clean sweep of fastest practice times. Verstappen’s 1’14.958 on soft tyres – the fastest lap of the weekend so far – was enough to see him go fastest by almost half a second from Lando Norris in the McLaren.Lewis Hamilton set the third fastest time for Mercedes, just over half a second adrift from Verstappen’s ultimate pace, with Sergio Perez fourth-fastest in the sister Red Bull. Having set the pace in both Friday sessions, Valtteri Bottas could only manage the eighth fastest time on the soft tyres, eight tenths off from Verstappen’s benchmark. Pierre Gasly again demonstrated good pace in the AlphaTauri, going sixth quickest in the session while being the only driver in the top ten to set their best time on the medium compound tyres. Ferrari had both cars in the top seven, with Charles Leclerc recording the fifth fastest time and teammate Carlos Sainz Jnr just under two tenths slower in seventh, Aside from Verstappen’s advantage out front, it was another close session with just one second covering Hamilton in third and Nicholas Latifi in 17th. The session was briefly halted just before the half-hour mark when Latifi ran wide on the exit of the Villeneuve chicane and hit the barriers, damaging his front wing. The Williams driver was able to drive back to the pits for repairs before rejoining the session. Despite the relaxing of track limits at Acque Minerali overnight, there were a plethora of lap times deleted for track limit infringements, particularly at Piratella. Verstappen, Bottas, Norris and Fernando Alonso were among the many drivers who had times taken off the board for running too wide. Kimi Raikkonen had a brief excursion through the gravel at the Rivazzas but was able to safely rejoin the circuit and return to the pits. His Alfa Romeo team mate Antonio Giovinazzi had a bizarre spin at the Tamburello Chicane on an outlap, before complaining of excessively cold tyres. 2021 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix third practice result Pos. No. Driver Car Best lap Gap Laps 1 33 Max Verstappen Red-Bull Honda 1’14.958 18 2 4 Lando Norris Mclaren 1’15.414 0.456 17 3 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’15.515 0.557 18 4 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1’15.551 0.593 18 5 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’15.738 0.780 21 6 10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1’15.890 0.932 22 7 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1’15.908 0.950 21 8 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1’15.908 0.950 19 9 14 Fernando Alonso Alpine 1’16.186 1.228 20 10 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1’16.228 1.270 20 11 22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1’16.230 1.272 20 12 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1’16.245 1.287 19 13 3 Daniel Ricciardo Mclaren 1’16.253 1.295 17 14 5 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 1’16.389 1.431 19 15 63 George Russell Williams 1’16.427 1.469 20 16 47 Mick Schumacher Haas 1’16.448 1.490 22 17 6 Nicholas Latifi Williams 1’16.537 1.579 15 18 99 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1’16.612 1.654 22 19 7 Kimi Raikkonnen Alfa Romeo 1’16.803 1.845 23 20 9 Nikita Mazepin Haas 1’17.398 2.440 23

Mercedes topped the second practice at Imola as their close rival Verstappen experienced technical issues that saw him stop the session just ten minutes in leaving Bottas to be 0.010s faster than Hamilton. Red Bull’s progress was halted on Friday afternoon as Verstappen began lapping at competitive pace, but then crawled to a stop as he said “something broke” 10 minutes into the hour. A brief Virtual Safety Car period followed to recover his car and he ended up 14th fastest. That left FP1 leader Bottas out front again, his medium-tyred benchmark of 1m15.511s enough to beat soft-tyred Hamilton by 0.010s for FP2 supremacy. Behind them was Pierre Gasly for AlphaTauri, just 0.078s off Bottas’s pace. Ferrari initially enjoyed their return home as Carlos Sainz finished fourth and Charles Leclerc fifth quickest – until Leclerc crashed to bring out a red flag at the final corner to end the session early with three minutes remaining. Regardless, Leclerc still finished ahead of sixth-place Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, who shrugged off a collision with Esteban Ocon in FP1 for which there was no penalty from the stewards. AlphaTauri rookie Yuki Tsunoda received a new battery and control electronics in his Honda-powered car after FP1 as a precaution, and the rookie finished seventh overall – just 0.008s off Perez. McLaren’s Lando Norris finished eighth quickest, his team mate Daniel Ricciardo down in 18th as a flying lap of his was deleted for a Turn 9 track limits infringement. Behind Norris was Italian racer Antonio Giovinazzi for Alfa Romeo in P9, his team mate Kimi Raikkonen down in 17th. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll finished 10th in FP2 while Sebastian Vettel managed P15, the two split by under four-tenths. Midfield rivals Alpine have a crucial weekend ahead of them having brought new parts to the Grand Prix in order to try to claw back some performance. Fernando Alonso had a rough ride over the Turn 14 chicane late on, rattling his teeth and potentially damaging the floor of his A521. He finished 13th behind 11th-place team mate Ocon, and between them was Williams’ Nicholas Latifi. George Russell used hard tyres to finish 16th while his 12th-place team mate Latifi stuck to softs. Russell still managed to finish ahead of Raikkonen, Ricciardo and both Haas drivers in his Williams, after he vowed to make amends for his 2020 crash behind the Safety Car at this venue. Haas’s Nikita Mazepin spun twice in FP1, crashing out in the final seconds of that session – but returned in FP2 to finish 20th overall, half a second off his 19th-place team mate Mick Schumacher. Mazepin complained he was “absolutely on ice” as he struggled to get hold of his VF-21 throughout Friday’s sessions. Red Bull’s favourites tag may have been tarnished by Verstappen’s retirement in FP2, but they’ll be back on Saturday for FP3 and qualifying. Don’t miss a minute with F1’s live coverage on Saturday morning, before the fight for pole position in the afternoon.

Friday’s FP1 in Portugal marked the first time in 265 days six-time world champion Marc Marquez started an official MotoGP session, having suffered a serious arm break in the 2020 season-opener at Jerez. Overnight rain left the Algarve circuit damp in places, which meant lap times started at around 15 seconds slower than the benchmark laps from last year. As conditions continued to improve, so did the session-best laps, with a number of riders taking turns leading the timesheets. Yamaha’s Vinales took over from reigning world champion Joan Mir with 16 minutes to go with a 1m44.777s, which he improved on his following tour to a 1m44.334s. Francesco Bagnaia moved his factory Ducati ahead of the Qatar GP race winner with a 1m44.239s moments later, before Vinales dipped under the 1m44s bracket with a 1m43.544s. The timing screen continued to light up as the opening 45-minute session of the weekend drew to a close, the returning Marquez serving a brief stint at the top of the pile with a 1m43.544s. The Honda rider remained fastest for all of 10 seconds, before Bagnaia blasted his effort away with a 1m42.934s. Amidst the flurry of laps at the end of the session, Marquez looked set to steal all the headlines when he shot back to the top of the order with a 1m42.378s on his final effort. But faster laps for both Suzuki’s Alex Rins and Vinales denied this, the Yamaha rider setting the pace at 1m42.127s to lead Rins by 0.151s. Marquez held onto third, 0.251s off Vinales’ pace ahead of Honda teammate Pol Espargaro, while championship leader Johann Zarco was fifth on his Pramac Ducati. Bagnaia was shuffled back to sixth at the end ahead of Fabio Quartararo on the sister works Yamaha and Jack Miller on second factory team Ducati – the Australian fresh from arm pump surgery last week. Alex Marquez was ninth on the LCR Honda ahead of Tech 3 KTM’s Danilo Petrucci, who revealed on Thursday he suffered a dislocated shoulder last month in Qatar. Valentino Rossi was 11th on the Petronas SRT Yamaha, while champion Mir was 13th ahead of the other SRT bike of Franco Morbidelli. Last year’s Portugal race winner Miguel Oliveira made a low-key start to his home weekend in the iffy conditions down in 17th on the factory team KTM, while teammate Brad Binder rounded out the 22-strong field. Cla # Rider Bike Time Gap 1 12 Maverick Vinales Yamaha 1’42.127   2 42 Alex Rins Suzuki 1’42.278 0.151 3 93 Marc Marquez Honda 1’42.378 0.251 4 44 Pol Espargaro Honda 1’42.382 0.255 5 5 Johann Zarco Ducati 1’42.443 0.316 6 63 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati 1’42.464 0.337 7 20 Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 1’42.528 0.401 8 43 Jack Miller Ducati 1’42.536 0.409 9 73 Alex Marquez Honda 1’42.781 0.654 10 9 Danilo Petrucci KTM 1’42.957 0.830 11 46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1’43.013 0.886 12 30 Takaaki Nakagami Honda 1’43.036 0.909 13 36 Joan Mir Suzuki 1’43.060 0.933 14 21 Franco Morbidelli Yamaha 1’43.243 1.116 15 32 Lorenzo Salvadori Aprilia 1’43.539 1.412 16 89 Jorge Martin Ducati 1’43.702 1.575 17 88 Miguel Oliveira KTM 1’44.000 1.873 18 10 Luca Marini Ducati 1’44.602 2.475 19 27 Iker Lecuona KTM 1’44.967 2.840 20 23 Enea Bastianini Ducati 1’45.325 3.198 21 41 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1’45.335 3.208 22 33 Brad Binder KTM 1’47.774 5.647

Haas’ Nikita Mazepin endured a troublesome debut in Bahrain with two spins in qualifying before he crashed out just three corners into the race. His woes continued in the hour-long opening practice session at Imola. Mazepin spun into the gravel exiting Rivazza 2 early on in the session and then came to grief at the same corner just as the chequered flag was flown. Mazepin made contact with the outside wall, causing damage to the Haas VF-21, which came to a halt just shy of the pit lane entry. Williams’ Nicholas Latifi slid off the Imola track and into the gravel during first practice for the 2021 Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The first practice session at Imola has been red flagged with twenty minutes to go, as a result of a bizarre incident between Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. The exact circumstances are yet to emerge, due to technical issues with Formula 1’s world feed for broadcasters. Footage of the incident hasn’t been released, but Perez and Ocon appear to have made contact entering the Villeneuve chicane. Perez was left facing the wrong way with a blown left rear tyre, while there was minor right front damage to Ocon’s Alpine. Both clambered free under the red flag, while the cars were recovered.

Lewis Hamilton thoroughly enjoyed watching Sergio Perez being put through his paces judging by his latest Instagram story. In the three-week break between Bahrain and Imola (which was painful enough), Perez showed it was far from a relaxing time off as he posted a video of one of his workout routines at the Athlete Performance Centre used by both Red Bull drivers. Catching up on events ahead of the Imola GP weekend, Hamilton was very amused when he saw poor Perez going through what looked like a brutal session. Hamilton also had a great plan for the cold weather expected at Imola throughout the weekend, donning one of the tyre covers in between his media duties on Thursday.

There is a way for Formula 1 to revive its iconic normally-aspirated engines whilst ramping up its green credentials. That is the view of former F1 driver Lucas di Grassi, who now races for Audi in Formula E. The Brazilian thinks Formula 1 should abandon its hybrid engines and instead focus exclusively on the “development and use of e-fuels”. “Then you can bring back V10, V8 and still be relevant into the zero net carbon industry without (the sport) losing its identity,” di Grassi said. “This is proper sustainability for F1, not the green-washing we see today with planting trees and other good PR to look sustainable. Spend the money and ingenuity into getting cheap, clean e-fuels.”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has called for a second DRS zone to be introduced at Imola to encourage overtaking at the track which is holding the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix this weekend. Drivers can only use their Drag Reduction System once per lap along the pit straight. This zone, which has been extended for F1’s return, leads from the high-speed final corner of track down to the first braking zone at the second corner, Tamburello.But Verstappen, who spent much of last year’s race trying to overtake Valtteri Bottas, expects it will still be “super hard” to overtake even when the longer DRS zone is used. The activation zone lasts almost a kilometre on a track which is 4.9km long. The detection point is positioned at the end of another straight which leads to the Rivazza left-handers towards the end of the lap, another favoured overtaking place. Verstappen believes this would be a good spot for another DRS zone. “We can easily have one out of the [Alta] chicane,” he said. “That would help a lot because then you get a bit closer for the last two corners. Because you lose so much time in the last two corners that even when you put the DRS a bit earlier, you will not arrive in time for turn one.“Turn one is super narrow and it’s a fast corner, so it’s difficult to really out-brake someone. So I don’t think [the longer zone is] going to help a lot.” Last year Imola made its first appearance on the F1 calendar since 2006 when it was drafted in at late notice. It was a substitute addition to the 2021 calendar too, its place on the schedule only having been announced three months ago. Just six overtaking moves were recorded during the inaugural Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. The next-lowest of 2020 was the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone, with 19 passes.