Racetrackmasters

Lewis Hamilton has been tipped to demand a clause in his new Mercedes contract that will allow him to choose the team’s second driver after 2021. The Brit is yet to sign a new deal with the Silver Arrows. However, they’re unconcerned and are still convinced he’ll sign on the dotted line. Hamilton was in outrageous form in 2020, with the Brit cruising his way to a seventh F1 Drivers’ Championship. That saw him draw level with the iconic Michael Schumacher, who dominated the sport during his time with Ferrari between 2000 and 2004. Mercedes told Express Sport earlier in the month that contract talks with Hamilton were going well, and that news of the 36-year-old had four demands was wide of the mark. But Italian journalist Alessandro Gargantini, writer for Autosprint, has claimed the Brit might demand a say over who races for the team after 2021. He thinks George Russell is a problem, saying: “It would not surprise us if Hamilton wants to play an active role in the choice of the second driver after 2021.” Hamilton enjoys his partnership with Valtteri Bottas. The Finn usually does the dirty work on the track to ensure the 36-year-old pick up the plaudits. But Russell is developing nicely and, having filled in for Hamilton at the Sakhir Grand Prix, has been tipped to join the Silver Arrows. This would supposedly suit Williams, who would be happy to let the 22-year-old jump ship. But what happens with Hamilton’s contract remains to be seen, with an agreement still appearing to be some way off. Meanwhile, Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle recently expressed a belief that Hamilton will call time on his F1 career at the right time – unlike Schumacher. “My gut feeling is he’ll stop a year early rather than a year late,” he said. “He’s not going to hang on until the bitter end for a few more dollars, or just to be a Formula 1 driver, and nor will he need to. “He’s obviously got other ambitions in his life, but I can’t imagine why he would stop in the next five years, or certainly three. Why would he?” Brundle can’t see any signs of deterioration in Hamilton, saying: “His eyesight, his reactions, nothing has fallen away. “If you’re going to start fading, you’re on a gentle slope. And he doesn’t appear to have started that slope yet. “Michael was in his 40s when he retired and he started making a lot of mistakes, and most of us did – you start having crashes at the end and you don’t know why that happened. That’s what it looks like Sebastian is to me, right now. “Lewis has not got to that point, and nothing has been his match.”

The updated calendar which was presented by the FIA this week has apparently not been to everyone’s liking. The updated schedule, which was made in light of the corona pandemic and the strict measures put in place in many countries, was not supported by McLaren, which believes that the more hectic schedule is detrimental to health and safety. After the cancellation of the season opener in Melbourne, the FIA presented an adjusted schedule for the 2021 season this week. The races will, like in 2020, come to follow each other more quickly, and the triple header also makes a comeback. If the revised schedule is to be followed, the coming season will see twelve Grands Prix organised in a span of sixteen weeks. McLaren is the only team that voted against the adjusted calendar, according to Motorsport.com. The team is said to be concerned about the health and safety of its staff in the midst of such a hectic schedule. The team has, however, declined to confirm its position to Motorsport.com, citing confidentiality. Not only the extensive travelling is reported to be a problem for McLaren, but the many different time zones also demand a lot from the people on the grid, especially during the triple headers.

Charles Leclerc is self-isolating at his home in Monaco after testing positive for Covid-19, saying he is feeling okay and is only experiencing mild symptoms. The Ferrari driver revealed on social media that he had come into contact with someone who had tested positive, and subsequently took a test that came back positive. “I hope you are all staying safe,” he wrote. “I want to let you know that I have tested positive for Covid-19. “I am regularly checked according to my team’s protocols. Unfortunately I learned that I have been in contact with a positive case and immediately went into self-isolation, notifying anyone I had contact with. “A subsequent test I took has come back positive. I am feeling OK and have mild symptoms. I will remain in isolation in my home in Monaco in compliance with the regulations set by the local health authorities. Stay safe and take care.” Leclerc will be partnered by new team mate Carlos Sainz this season, in what will be the Monegasque’s third campaign with the Prancing Horse. He becomes the fifth F1 driver to contract the virus. Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll and Lewis Hamilton all missed races in 2020 after testing positive, while Lando Norris is currently isolating in Dubai after his positive test.

Alex Albon’s DTM appearances during 2021 are set to be at the wheel of a Ferrari 488 GT3 as Red Bull return to the series. The London-born Thai driver will gain further experience in the touring car category this year while he serves as the reserve to Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in F1, along with his testing and sim duties. Motorsport.com report that although it is so far unofficial which car Albon, along with Red Bull junior driver Liam Lawson, will drive in DTM, their understanding is that it will be the Ferrari 488 GT3. Lawson, the 18-year-old New Zealander who won the 2019 Toyota Racing Series, will contest the full DTM series as well as the Formula 2 Championship with Hitech. It has yet to be confirmed who will share the DTM drive with Albon but Motorsport.com report that a leading contender is Nick Cassidy, another New Zealander who is set to drive in Formula E this year. A decision regarding which team will run the two Ferrari GT3 cars has yet to be made, but AF Corse appears the obvious choice for Red Bull. The Italian outfit has strong links with Ferrari and also runs its factory programme in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Asked if a DTM programme with Red Bull funding is conceivable, AF Corse sports director Batti Pregliasco told Motorsport.com: “Never say never, but that would be very difficult for us because we are pretty much busy with our other programmes.” Motopark, Carlin and DAMS, all of which have a history of supporting Red Bull-backed drivers in junior formulae, have denied their interest in the project. Dr Helmut Marko, head of Red Bull’s driver development programme, previously said he thinks DTM is a good opportunity for Albon to reassert the talent that took him into F1 with Toro Rosso in 2019 and promotion to the senior team only halfway through that season. “The DTM, with a high-class field and GT3 sportscars, is an interesting platform and a real challenge, both for successful race drivers like Alex Albon and for our Red Bull junior driver Liam Lawson,” said Marko. “Formula 1 drivers like Alex Albon, DTM stars like three-time champion René Rast, GT professionals and young talents like Liam Lawson…that is a high-class driver mix the way I would like it for the 2021 DTM season.”

The Alpine Formula 1 team has revealed a first look at its rebrand with an interim livery on a 2020 Renault, ahead of the full launch of its new ‘A521’ car next month. For the sixth season of Renault’s works entry, it has opted to give its niche performance sub-brand Alpine the full F1 treatment as part of a major restructuring of the company and its assets. The so-called winter livery can not count on much support, however of course the drivers were very enthusiastic, but many Formula 1 followers do not like it. After all, it is the black Renault, with only the accents of a French flag. Fans of the team expected more, especially with the return of Fernando Alonso. The Mild Seven blue of 2005 and 2006 will not return, but Will Buxton for example let it be known that he hopes Alpine will come up with something better at the start of the season. Erik van Haren is also happy that the livery will change and Joe Saward calls the livery “rubbish”. Alpine will have to come up with something better to convince the crowd.

Renault has presented a new plan for the future and an important part of that plan is the Alpine Formula 1 project. The first images of the new livery now appear online. In 2021, Renault will no longer be at the start of the Formula 1 season, but it will be Alpine F1 that will have to uphold the honour of the French manufacturer. On Thursday morning, Renault already presented the new plan for the future, where Alpine will have to provide innovative sports cars for the highest segment. For those who hoped for a blue car that reminded of the time Fernando Alonso won with Renault, there is disappointing news. The 2021 car will remain predominantly black, but there are blue accents, in the French flag that is visible on the car. Whether the model shown by Formula 1 journalist, Thomas Maher, will actually become the livery or whether this is a first concept by Alpine, is not yet clear.

Reports that Formula 1 is considering postponing the introduction of a major overhaul in its technical regulations have been firmly denied by the F1 sport management. The far-reaching new rules were originally scheduled to be introduced in time for the start of the 2021 season, but teams agreed to delay them by a year as a result of the disruption to world motorsport caused by the coronavirus outbreak. There had been suggestions that with the pandemic continuing to impact the sport and the world in general, the change in regulations could be pushed back another year. However, F1 has responded to the speculation emphatically, stating that the idea of delaying the regulations for another year had “not been discussed”. A spokesman said: “Any suggestion the 2022 regulations will be delayed is wrong and has not been discussed. “The new regulations are designed to improve competition on track and give our fans closer racing. This combined with the new financial regulations will improve F1 and create a healthier and stronger business model for the whole sport.” In the past, F1 managing director Ross Brawn hinted that some teams were in favour of delaying the regulation change until 2023, but argued that the new regulations could actually make the sport more affordable. “I think some teams pushed to delay them a further year,” he said during the 2020 season. “I think there’s a justifiable need to carry these [current] cars over into next year because we’re in the middle of the [lockdown]. That’s completely justified. “The initiatives we’re bringing with these new regulations are to make the sport more economically viable in terms of the complexity, where the money is spent. “With the cars we have now, they’re so complex that with the more you spend the quicker you’ll go and we need to level off that slope and create a situation where money is not the only priority in how competitive you’ll be. Therefore, we need these new cars to even that slope.”

French driver Romain Grosjean revealed his injured hands free of bandages on Tuesday, six weeks after he clambered from the fiery wreckage of his car following an horrific accident at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The 34-year-old, who has now left Formula One, suffered burns to both hands when his Haas car split in two and erupted in flames after piercing a metal crash barrier. Grosjean, a veteran of 179 Grand Prix starts, was engulfed in the flames for 28 seconds before he clambered out, with the assistance of FAI doctor Ian Roberts and medical car driver Alan van der Merwe. He has been recovering at home in Switzerland since leaving hospital three days after the accident, missing the last two races of 2020. “Dressing fully off and Petrus happy,” he said on Twitter above a picture of him cradling the family pet cat and another close up of his hands, the left looking purple and raw.” Grosjean had the dressings on his right hand removed last month. The father of three said he could “clearly” feel his hands burning on the chassis of his stricken car when he pulled himself from the vehicle. “For the sake of my children, I told myself I had to get out. I put my hands in the fire and I could clearly feel my hands burning on the chassis,” Grosjean said after the accident. “There’s going to be some psychological work to be done, because I really saw death coming. When you see images, not even Hollywood is capable of doing that,” Grosjean told French broadcaster TF1 from his hospital bed in Bahrain. “To come out of the flames that day is something that will mark my life forever.”

A judge in Sao Paulo has thrown a spanner in the works of the new five-year deal between Formula 1 and the Interlagos circuit. According to Folha de S.Paulo, judge Emilio Migliano Neto “suspended” the contract between the city and the new promoter MC Brazil Motorsport Holding. The judge claims there was not a sufficient bidding process for the contract. Formula 1’s previous deal to race at Interlagos expired after 2020 – though last year’s event never took place due to the Covid-19 pandemic. There had been proposals for Formula 1 to move its Brazilian round to a new venue, supported by the President, for 2021. But the planned circuit, set to be located in the Deodoro suburb of Rio de Janeiro, faced opposition owing to environmental concerns. A new five-year contract was instead agreed for Formula 1 to remain at Sao Paulo from 2021 through 2025, with the event renamed in lieu of the city rather than the country. The deal was made possible through the event securing a new promotor in the form of Brasil Motorsport, a company owned by the Abu Dhabi-backed Mubadala investment entity. The previous contract, which had been agreed under Bernie Ecclestone’s stewardship of Formula 1, was not financially lucrative for the championship. But the new contract has been suspended in order for the city judiciary to assess the use of the prefecture’s public funds as well as the levels of transparency involved in the deal, owing to the alleged absence of an invitation to tender. Documents revealed by the court show that R$100,000,000 ($18.5m) of public funding will be used to subsidise the event across the course of the five-year contract. Court documents explain that “the hiring of a private company without the opening of a bidding process, at the high value mentioned, in the midst of a global health crisis, constitutes a true aberration and will bring enormous losses to the treasury.” Judge Emilio Migliano Neto has outlined that organisers have five days to submit the relevant documents for assessment. “These facts reveal without a doubt that, at least in this summary cognitive phase, the principles of advertising and transparency are being violated explicitly,” he said. “There is a need to suspend the execution of the contract in question, in order to assess whether there were effectively resources to cover expenses.” This year’s renamed Sao Paulo Grand Prix is due to take place on the rescheduled date of November 7 as part of a triple header with Austin and Mexico City.

Despite Lewis Hamilton currently being out of contract with the Mercedes F1 Team, both sides have said it is almost certain they will still be racing together this year. Recently, reports suggested that their contract extension negotiations were faltering due to Hamilton demanding a pay rise which Daimler, in particular, wasn’t willing to meet. Mercedes later slammed these reports as “pure fiction”, but more recently, it has been reported that this isn’t the only thing holding up a new Hamilton-Mercedes deal. Specifically, the De Telegraaf newspaper has cited a source as saying that “the negotiations between the two parties are anything but smooth.” It added that Mercedes is only willing to offer the seven-time World Champion a one-year extension, while he is insistent on securing a fresh multi-year deal. If true, this would suggest that Mercedes want to keep their options open for 2022, so they could potentially sign George Russell as a low-cost replacement for Hamilton. Last month, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said he believes a new deal with Lewis Hamilton will be agreed “sooner or later”, adding that it could take until pre-season testing in March for a contract extension to be finalised. “He [Hamilton] is on the top of his game and he will be for a while. And that’s why continuing together is a no-brainer,” Wolff said. “If you refer to why haven’t we got a signed contract? The reason is simple. We always prioritised getting this Championship done, and not being distracted by sometimes difficult discussions, as is the nature of negotiation. But then COVID struck. “So it has delayed us a little bit, but we are not worried in eventually getting it done. “We are putting no special date to it, because we don’t want to be put under pressure from you guys [the media] while it’s not signed yet. So sooner or later, it needs to be done. At the latest before we go testing,” Wolff specified.

Formula 1 has denied claims the sport is working on a secret plan to vaccinate every member of the travelling circus in 2021. With the published 2021 calendar already at risk amid reports Melbourne, Shanghai and other races will be postponed, the Swiss newspaper Blick claimed F1 was working on a plan to minimise the disruptions with a widespread covid-19 vaccination program. “I can confirm that the report is wrong and there is no such plan from the FIA or from Formula 1,” a spokesman told the n-tv broadcaster in Germany. Another race at risk early in 2021 is Monaco, where a spectator-free event is not viable. But even bigger question marks hang over whether UK-based teams can travel at all amid the surging outbreak of the reportedly more contagious covid-19 strain.

When Lewis Hamilton cruised to a seventh F1 Drivers’ Championship last year, a new Mercedes contract appeared a formality. However, the Brit is still yet to sign a new deal – and is currently a free agent. But those worried about his future in the sport shouldn’t be, if comments made by his father are anything to go by. Hamilton was unparalleled in 2020, cruising to another F1 crown to draw level with the legendary Michael Schumacher on seven titles. But, in the aftermath of that triumph, his Formula One future has become muddled. Hamilton has indicated he wants to stay with the Silver Arrows but no agreement has been thrashed out yet. He’s previously held talks with Ferrari about a sensational move across the divide but that won’t be happening, with their drivers for 2021 already confirmed. So what now? Some have suggested Hamilton could retire, with the Brit keen to pursue other avenues such as Electric E racing. But his father has already suggested his son doesn’t want that to happen, claiming in November the 36-year-old was still hungry to achieve more success. “As far as I’m aware, he carries on racing,” he said. “He loves racing, he loves what he does. He has a voice now in the sport, which is also fantastic, but as far as I’m aware he’s carrying on racing.” “It’s a definite, as far as I know, the last time I spoke to him yesterday, he’s definitely carrying on racing.” Hamilton’s father also claimed the Brit was committed to chasing down his dreams, rather than pursuing targets he’s set for himself. “It’s nothing to do with targets,” he added. “He’s not racing for trophies, he races because he loves what he does and also he loves to inspire others.” “At the moment his achievements, we hope, are inspiring young kids who have a dreams they want to achieve.” “As far as Lewis is concerned, and we as a family as well, it really is about hope, opportunity, dreams, achievements, and not so much targets [on the track].” Meanwhile, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has claimed the Silver Arrows must be ready for ‘curveballs’ amid uncertainty over Hamilton’s future. “It doesn’t worry me at all, because I will always respect Lewis’s decisions,” he told Autosport.com. “Whether this is staying with us for a long time, or whether that means leaving the sport and pursuing different interests. I think we need to be ready for all kinds of curveballs being thrown at us. “But at the same time, we talk a lot, and we are very transparent with each other. I think there is more to achieve together.” Wolff also hailed Hamilton, admitting his skills go beyond merely being the fastest driver. “It’s not one dimensional,” the 48-year-old added.