Racetrackmasters

Albon is set to share the AF Corse-prepared AlphaTauri car with New Zealander Nick Cassidy for the 2021 DTM season, dovetailing outings with his Formula 1 commitments with Red Bull – while alongside the pair, another New Zealander, former F3 competitor Liam Lawson, will drive a second 488, in Red Bull colours, as the Austrian company returns to DTM after two years out of the series. Having spent his whole career racing karts and single-seaters, meanwhile, Albon said he was looking forward to the challenge of getting up to speed with ‘tin tops’ – having only experienced closed cockpit machinery once before, when he drove Mercedes DTM and McLaren GT cars while competing for the 2014 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award. “DTM is a great series with highly talented drivers in the field and exciting racing,” said Albon. “I’ve only driven a ‘tin top’ once… and they’re really different to single seaters. There’s a lot less downforce and the tyres are very different, so it requires a different kind of driving style. “It will take a bit of time to get used to, but I’m looking forward to a new racing challenge when I’m available outside of my existing F1 commitments.” The eight-weekend DTM season will be kicking off on Monza on June 18-20 – although it’s yet to be confirmed which rounds Albon will contest.

Haas is currently unable to fire up its Formula 1 engines in preparation for the 2021 season that begins with testing and the opening race in Bahrain next month. Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that the small American team, which will field rookie Mick Schumacher this year, has received its customer engines for the new season from supplier and partner Ferrari. “The engine is allowed into Britain, but not the engineers you need to start it,” revealed correspondent Michael Schmidt. “As things stand at the moment, the earliest possible moment to bring the engine to life is the test in Bahrain.” Normally, Haas’ cars are assembled at the Dallara facility, which like Ferrari’s Maranello factory is based in Italy. But for the first time, Haas is assembling the 2021 car at its own Banbury (UK) base. “This year, that is easier in terms of logistics than to send our parts to Italy for assembly,” confirmed team boss Gunther Steiner. The problem is that Britain is requiring all Italian travellers to quarantine for 14 days, meaning that even Steiner himself is unable to travel to the Haas factory from the US at present. “If I wanted to fly to England, I would have to be in quarantine for two weeks,” Steiner said. “There are only exceptions for athletes.” Haas has made aerodynamic tweaks to its 2020 car in preparation for this season, but the team has decided against using any of the development ‘tokens’.

Sebastian Vettel should be back to his “usual longer hair” by the start of the season in Bahrain. That is the news from the German newspaper Bild, referring to the F1 world’s shock and amusement at recent footage of the quadruple world champion’s newly half-bald head. Correspondents Jens Nagler and Silja Rulle claim that when Aston Martin filmed footage of him getting a seat fitting at Silverstone, 33-year-old Vettel “did not know that a camera was being pointed at him”. “During the winter break, Vettel decided to have a short cut because he normally makes no public appearances during this time,” they explained. “The plan was for the German to be seen with his usual longer hair at the first test and the start of the season in Bahrain.”

Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali has revealed the sport is in talks with a new manufacturer interested in joining the grid. Former Ferrari team principal Domenicali took over at the helm of F1 from Chase Carey at the turn of the year after the American stepped aside following four years in charge. With Honda leaving at the end of the upcoming season, F1 will be left with just three manufacturers from 2022 in Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault, although there is hope another could join at some point in the near future. “What I can say is that we are in discussion with other manufacturers,” he told Sky Sports F1. “For the moment, they prefer to stay quiet still. But the good news is that there are other companies who are really keen to understand what the value is they can bring home in using the F1 platform.” “Not only in terms of technology, but the value F1 can bring to automotive manufacturing. I think one of the biggest challenges automotive manufacturing has today is to feel younger.” With sustainability and a push for carbon-neutrality a hot topic in the automotive industry as of late, F1 has turned to search for a new form of propulsion for the future. But with manufacturers setting their own goals – which was one of the factors leading Honda to withdraw – Domenicali has reiterated the sport will keep sight of its own objectives before bending to meet the prospective needs of an OEM [Original Equipment Manufacturer]. “There is this kind of fight between the old school of OEM and the new OEMs that are coming in on the mobility side,” he explained. “We are not part of the mobility side in terms of what we want to achieve as a sport, but I think the OEM can use that platform to change the fresh image they maybe need for the future for them.” “For the moment, they prefer to stay quiet still. But the good news is that there are other companies who are really keen to understand what the value is they can bring home in using the F1 platform.

Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly has confirmed he has tested positive for COVID-19, after being on a training camp in Dubai. Pierre Gasly has confirmed he has contracted COVID-19. The French driver has recently returned home from a training camp in Dubai, where pictures posted on social media showed Gasly meeting guests and hotel staff while not wearing a mask.

Toto Wolff’s most recent comments on Mercedes’ ongoing discussions with Hamilton claim that a deal could be agreed “soon”, however, said deal is unlikely to be for multiple years. Negotiations have been going for a while, with pre-season testing just over a month away in Bahrain. It is believed that the delays are most likely being caused by financial related issues. Speaking recently, Lammers outlined that Mercedes are in the stronger position due to the current global financial climate. “It could be that Hamilton is overestimating his market value and underestimating the situation in the world,” Lammers claimed in an interview with RacingNews365. “Meanwhile, I think Mercedes are limited in what they can offer Hamilton morally. How can you justify it to the staff and the management that he continues to receive his multi-million salary while people elsewhere in the company have to lay off people? “With these kinds of things, you have to be careful not to go too far. What Hamilton does not seem to fully realise is that there is, of course, a great opportunity for Mercedes as well. “The company just wants to sell cars and then the question is ‘what do you get more from? Is that with the next world title?’ “That would be great, of course, but many people don’t care about that. Or would a statement against Hamilton’s multi-million dollar salary do more for loyalty?” “I personally think Mercedes have the chance to make a very powerful statement by stating that the loyalty lies with the Mercedes customers and employees and not with one sportsman. I think that has been a little under-exposed.” Ultimately, Lammers thinks Hamilton will be the party forced to back down first in the negotiations. “Personally, I think the chance that Mercedes will yield to Hamilton is many times smaller than the other way around,” he added. “You never know what forces are at play, but I don’t think Mercedes will give in. If there is a deal on the table, it will be because an external party has come up with the solution.”

Mercedes could be morally holding Sir Lewis Hamilton to ransom over his contract negotiations, according to Dutch Grand Prix chief Jan Lammers. Toto Wolff’s latest words this week on Mercedes’ protracted discussions with the seven-time World Champion driver were that a deal could be signed “soon” but that it will probably not extend to three years. It is certainly dragging on, for pre-season testing in Bahrain is now less than six weeks away – closer than the final race of last year, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Various explanations have been suggested externally for the delay, most of which are based on the financial side. Lammers thinks Mercedes could be taking the moral high ground in regard to constraints caused by the global health pandemic and also the new Formula 1 budget cap, which means the team are having to streamline their staff and redeploy resources. Hamilton did, however, cite the effects of the pandemic as a reason why he had not rushed into contract talks last year. “It could be that Hamilton is overestimating his market value and underestimating the situation in the world,” said ex-F1 driver Lammers in an interview with RacingNews365. “Meanwhile, I think Mercedes are limited in what they can offer Hamilton morally. How can you justify it to the staff and the management that he continues to receive his multi-million salary while people elsewhere in the company have to lay off people? “With these kinds of things, you have to be careful not to go too far. What Hamilton does not seem to fully realise is that there is, of course, a great opportunity for Mercedes as well. “The company just wants to sell cars and then the question is ‘what do you get more from? Is that with the next world title?’ “That would be great, of course, but many people don’t care about that. Or would a statement against Hamilton’s multi-million dollar salary do more for loyalty? “I personally think Mercedes have the chance to make a very powerful statement by stating that the loyalty lies with the Mercedes customers and employees and not with one sportsman. I think that has been a little under-exposed.” Ultimately, Lammers thinks Hamilton will be the party that has to back down more than Mercedes in the negotiations. “Personally, I think the chance that Mercedes will yield to Hamilton is many times smaller than the other way around,” he added. “You never know what forces are at play, but I don’t think Mercedes will give in. If there is a deal on the table, it will be because an external party has come up with a solution.”

Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll rubbished an unsubstantiated rumour published elsewhere which claimed he was considering selling the team. Stroll purchased the luxury car manufacturer last year and has rebranded his Formula 1 team, previously known as Racing Point, as Aston Martin this year. He described a rumour claiming he might sell it to a Chinese consortium as “absolute bullshit and totally untrue”, according to an Aston Martin spokesperson, who added he “couldn’t be more excited about, and sincerely believes in, the team’s long-term future success.”

Former Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams has spoken out about some of the abuse she received online prior to her departure from the Grove outfit in September last year.The Williams family left Formula 1 after the 2020 Italian Grand Prix following the takeover of US-based investment firm Dorilton Capital. The historic team had experienced a rapid decline over the past few seasons, culminating with three consecutive last-place finishes in the constructors’ championship. Financial worries and poor aerodynamic performance played a part and Williams admitted that given their spending power compared to the rest of the grid, they were in a “difficult” position. “The top end of the grid [was] spending half a billion versus our budget of 120 [million],” she told The Spectator’s Women With Balls podcast. “And that’s just not a level playing field from the outset and therefore it’s very difficult to try and compete. When you’re in that situation it’s difficult to claw your way back. “We also had some other difficulties internally with personnel. We were all fighting these very technical, very complex technical regulations that just kept becoming ever more complex season upon season that we were wrestling with and not getting to grips with at Williams.” Claire took over day to day operations from her father Frank in March 2013 and oversaw an upturn in the team’s fortunes following the regulation changes in 2014. However, their performances began to decline and Williams admitted that she faced plenty of abuse as a result. “We got a lot of support and we retained that support through the early years of our demise,” she added. “But then I think people started to turn a little bit and particularly, I think, against me. Quite rightly so: I was the leader, I was the boss and the buck stops with me. “[But] you make decisions at the time because you think that they’re the right decisions and sometimes those decisions don’t go your way and that’s what happened in my case. But of course, I got a lot of a lot of flak for it. I got a lot of scrutiny for it. I’ve got a whole load of abuse, apparently, on social media. But, for me, I couldn’t listen to that noise. That for me would have taken up a huge amount of negative energy and I needed to focus my attention on the team and to prove everybody that I could do it. “I think I could have done it if I’d have been given some more time and I had the money. But we didn’t have the luxury of a huge title sponsor or a car manufacturer plugging 100 million into the team year on year.”