Racetrackmasters

The wife of the 34-year-old Haas driver was at home with her three children watching the harrowing drama unfold on the opening lap at Sakhir as it fortunately veered within minutes from a horrendous nightmare to profoundly relieving outcome. Marion, who met her husband when she worked as an F1 anchor for French broadcaster TF1, took to Instagram to express a heart-to-heart array of feelings after Romain Grosjean’s ordeal, a moment that also brought to her memory painful recollections of the tragic fate that befell Jules Bianchi at the Japanese GP in 2014. Here is her post from Instagram transcribed in full: “Of course, I didn’t sleep last night. To be honest, I don’t really know what to write. I just know that it’s good to do it. It always helps me.” “Anyway, this morning, I don’t want to lie, the words aren’t coming easily. That will make him laugh, he who knows how much I like to talk. He to whom I always write so much.” “And then I didn’t know what photo to post either. Which image to keep from yesterday? The flames? Him, held by the arms by his saviours? The wreckage of the car?” “I’ve chosen this one, a bit stupidly. Because we’re both wearing the same T-shirt of his GP2 title. The one I still sleep in sometimes. I would have preferred if it to have the word ‘superhero’ on it rather than ‘champion’ – but if we have to, we’ll have it custom-made. For the children, because that’s how we explained the inexplicable.” On Twitter, late [last night], I used useful words, urgent words, to protect them above all. I mentioned the ‘shield of love’ that protected him. Today, I have to find other expressions, come up with other rational phrases, to express the feelings. We will find them together. Expressions of gratitude, for the men of the Medical Car. Expressions of friendship, for Jean Todt and his unfailing humanity. Expressions of thanks for you all, who have shown your support, your affection, your kindness which is so precious to us. Thank you to the family of Jules Bianchi; to his father Philippe, who I think of constantly. To Jules himself. To Kevin Magnussen for his words. To the team at Canal+ for their sensitivity. I will forget some people, excuse me. Thank you to our children, who pushed him to pull himself out of the fire. Thank you to his courage, his determination, his strength, his love, his physical training that probably kept him alive (Kim, Dan, love you guys). It didn’t take one miracle but several yesterday. I embrace you all.

Valtteri Bottas’s final pitstop in the Bahrain Grand Prix featured a change of only three tyres because he returned to the set that picked up a puncture on the opening lap. Bottas ran fourth at the beginning of the restarted Sakhir race but dropped to the back of the field when his Mercedes Formula 1 team noticed a slow puncture under the safety car, caused by debris that Bottas had not even noticed hitting. Though the front-right tyre had not deflated the puncture meant he was forced to pit at the end of the second lap under the safety car and change from medium tyres to hards. That left Bottas only one other set of usable mediums, which he switched to on lap 25 before making his final pitstop on lap 38. Mercedes told him it would only be for three tyres and refitted the first set of mediums – as they were mostly unused – and left the old front-right on the car. The front-right gun operator did appear to engage the wheelnut, likely to be either a precaution or to satisfy the pitstop technology as teams employ software that does not let the light go green unless all four wheelnuts have been successfully re-tightened. It meant Bottas’s front-right tyre was 13 laps older than the others on his car for the final 19 laps of his race, but as Bahrain is a clockwise circuit the front-right is protected rather than the stressed tyre. A three-tyre change is extremely rare. But it is entirely within the regulations, which do not govern how many tyres may be changed during a pitstop. F1’s tyre rules require drivers to use at least two different specifications of dry compounds during the grand prix. Using a tyres of different specifications at the same time is not allowed. A driver who ends up with a mix of compounds, e.g. softs on the front and mediums on the rear, must pit to change them for a matching set within three laps. Mixing compounds is also not considered a valid satisfaction of the rules demanding two different specifications used during the race, either.

Outgoing Racing Point driver, Sergio Perez will be having a press conference tonight, but no one knows the content. It is unknown what the Mexican driver has to report to the journalists present, but in any case it is not an announcement about a switch to Red Bull Racing. If we are to believe Helmut Marko, nothing has yet been signed with Perez. In fact, not even a decision has been made internally at Red Bull. “We have already said it in many ways: we are waiting until the end of the season and then we will make a decision,” said the Austrian in conversation with the German branch of Sky. Marko says he is ‘not aware’ of the Perez press conference. Another option is that the Mexican driver is going to announce is that he is taking a one-year sabbatical. However, this seems illogical as Max Verstappen’s team has not yet made its choice for 2021. Another scenario is that Perez will just say that he is very happy with his form this season and that he will thank his sponsors. According to Motorsport-Total.com, the management of the 30-year-old has been inviting South American journalists for online media events more often since May. The informal e-mail announcement of today’s press event is therefore not considered unusual.

Formula 2 driver Callum Ilott has revealed he will not be racing in Formula 1 next year, all but confirming Mick Schumacher’s move to Haas. The British driver is currently involved in a tense championship battle with his fellow Ferrari junior, with the pair separate by just 14 points in the German’s favour heading to this weekend’s F2 finale in Bahrain. However, while Ilott still has a chance of beating Schumacher to the title, something that would make him ineligible to stay in F2 next year, the 22-year-old won’t be stepping up to F1. “It is time I announce that I have been told I will not be racing F1 in 2021,” he said in a tweet on Monday. “Obviously I have known this for a couple of weeks now. “I am disappointed, but I will just work harder and do what it takes to make sure it happens in 2022. Anyway, I have a championship I want to win.” His announcement paves the way for Schumacher to be confirmed with Haas for next year, where he’s expected to be joined by another F2 driver in Nikita Mazepin. That news is rumoured to come later this week.

Haas reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi will replace Romain Grosjean at this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix, the American racing outfit has confirmed on Monday. “After it was decided that the best thing for Romain [Grosjean] was to skip at least one race, the choice to put Pietro [Fittipaldi] in the car was pretty easy,” Haas team principal Guenther Steiner said in a statement. “Pietro will drive the VF-20 and he’s familiar with us having been around the team for the past two seasons as a test and reserve driver. It’s the right thing to do and it’s obviously a good opportunity for him,” he added. Meanwhile, Fittipaldi said the most important thing is Romain Grosjean is safe. “We’re all very happy his injuries are relatively minor after such a huge incident. Obviously, it’s not an ideal set of circumstances to get my first opportunity to compete in Formula 1, but I’m extremely grateful to Gene Haas and Guenther Steiner for their faith in putting me behind the wheel this weekend,” Pietro Fittipaldi, the grandson of two-time F1 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi, said. “I’ve been with the team a lot this season, both trackside and working on simulator sessions, so I’m familiar with the team’s operating procedures on a grand prix weekend. “It’s going to be exciting to make my first career start in Formula 1 – I’ll be giving it my all and I look forward to starting in free practice on Friday in Bahrain,” the Brazilian racing driver added. Grosjean was fortunate to only suffer minor burns as a result of his horror crash on Sunday. It is believed he will be discharged from hospital on Tuesday, but it’s yet to be decided if he will compete in the season finale at Abu Dhabi which will take place in less than two weeks.

Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean is continuing his recovery from the injuries he sustained in his terrifying Bahrain GP crash and is expected to be released from hospital on Tuesday. Grosjean miraculously walked away from a sickening, 137mph head-on collision with the barriers on the opening lap of Sunday’s race in Bahrain. The Frenchman’s Haas car sliced through the barriers, tore in half and burst into flames. Grosjean was in his burning car for nearly 30 seconds before he managed to extricate himself from the wreckage with the aid of the on-site medical team. Grosjean was taken to hospital in Manama after sustaining burns to his hands and ankles. There were also fears he had suffered broken ribs in the accident, but X-rays showed there were no fractures. In an update issued by Haas on Monday, the team confirmed that treatment on the burns to the back of both Grosjean’s hands is “going well.” Haas team principal Guenther Steiner visited Grosjean in hospital on Monday morning and his injuries and recovery will continue to be assessed over the coming days and it is anticipated he will be discharged from hospital on Tuesday 1 December. In an update from his hospital bed on Sunday night, Grosjean confirmed he was OK and paid tribute to the Halo head protection device which he believes ultimately saved his life. Haas’ intention is to run Grosjean at next weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain providing he is fit and willing to drive. “We’ve always got a plan in place but at the moment my plan is if he’s OK to get back in there to race in Bahrain next week [he can]. But we have to wait,” Steiner told the media on Sunday evening. “I want to speak first to Romain before speculating whoever goes in there if he cannot drive,” he added. “So, it will be only in the next few days when we get from the doctors the verdict of how bad the injuries are then we decide what we’re doing. “At the moment for me Romain is driving.”

Lewis Hamilton beat Max Verstappen in Formula 1’s 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, which featured a shocking, fiery crash for Haas driver Romain Grosjean.The race was also by disrupted by two safety cars in incidents that eliminated both Racing Point drivers, but will be forever remembered for the horrifying incident on the opening lap that involved Grosjean escaping his burning car after piercing one of the track’s barriers after making contact with Daniil Kvyat. At the initial start, Valtteri Bottas made a slow getaway from second when the lights went out, while Hamilton leapt clear in the lead, and the Finn was quickly passed by Verstappen and Sergio Perez on the run to Turn 1. Bottas was then swamped by Alex Albon and Daniel Ricciardo at the opening right-hander and as he lost momentum entering Turn 2, it appeared to set off a chain of reactions in the pack behind. Lando Norris had to check up, which brought him into a line with Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, which pinched at Turn 2 and caused Norris to slow again and left him with front wing damage. The following Ferrari pair and Lance Stroll had to go wide in avoidance as they came up to the rear of Norris’s car, which sent the Racing Point wide, and the pack bunched up again going through the Turn 3 right kink, which slowed the group at the back of the midfield again. The drivers at the rear of the field – including Grosjean – therefore quickly gained on those ahead, and in reaction the Haas driver moved right across the track, striking Kvyat’s AlphaTauri and sending him straight into the barriers. His car was torn in half by the impact, with its fuel igniting and the front half of the car piercing through the barrier. Grosjean was able to extricate himself from the burning wreckage, jumping back to the track-side of the fence and into the arms of FIA medical delegate Dr Ian Roberts, who had arrived on the seen with medical driver Alan van der Merwe a few seconds after the impact. The race was red-flagged after 36 seconds, just as the leaders were exiting Turn 6, and suspended for an hour and 20 minutes while Grosjean was taken first to the circuit’s medical centre by ambulance and then airlifted to the BDF Military Hospital for further evaluation. His Haas team initially explained he had suffered minor burns on his hands and ankles and then gave a further update that he had suffered suspected broken ribs. The pierced barrier was cut away and replaced with a series of concrete blocks, installed under the supervision of FIA race director Michael Masi. The cars restarted on lap three of 57, with Hamilton on pole again ahead of Verstappen and Perez, with Bottas back up to fourth as the order was taken by the positions at the second safety car line during the initial start. Hamilton again made a simple getaway from pole, with Bottas briefly able to challenge Perez and Verstappen ahead of him, but it was the Red Bull that had to defend against the Racing Point at the first corner. Perez was edged out on the outside line, which put him back under pressure from Bottas as the cars raced through the rest of the first sector. But the race was suspended again when Stroll and Kvyat came together at the Turn 8 hairpin, with the AlphaTauri on the inside and flipping Stroll’s car when it hit the Racing Point’s right rear, with Vettel forced to slam on the brakes and Kevin Magnussen breaking his front wing against the suddenly slowing Ferrari. As Stroll was stranded upside down, the safety car was called into action as he climbed out, during which Mercedes had to pit Bottas when he picked up a puncture, which dropped him from fourth to 16th as he rejoined on the hard tyres. The race restarted on lap nine, with Hamilton grabbing a 0.7s lead over the line by nailing the final corner better than Verstappen as they moved back to racing speed. The top two quickly romped clear of Perez, the only two drivers able to lap in the 1m34s, but after just a few laps at that pace Verstappen began to slip back. By lap 14, Hamilton had edged to a 2.0s lead, briefly dipping into the 1m33s as Verstappen circulated in the 1m35s, and he continued to edge away across the rest of the first stint. Hamilton pitted at the end of lap 19 to take new mediums with a lead of 4.6s, with Verstappen and Perez coming in at the end of the following tour – where they opted for hard tyres, of which they had both come into the race with two sets to Hamilton’s one. When the stops shook out Hamilton led by 5.5s at the start of lap 22, but Verstappen told Red Bull he would go “full send” and immediately brought the gap down by a second with a then fastest lap. Then pair then exchanged faster times in the high 1m33s and 1m34s before Hamilton was able to re-establish his five second advantage by the end of the race’s first 30 laps. Red Bull went aggressive to pit Verstappen for a second time at the end of lap 34, switching him back to the mediums, but the stop ran long by three seconds. Nevertheless, after Mercedes had pitted Hamilton for hards at the end of the following lap, Verstappen was just 3.7s behind after a rapid out lap and first flying effort, as Perez pitted from in between the two leaders. In a near copy of the second stint, Verstappen was initially able to exchange quicker laps with Hamilton before starting to slip back – hitting the 1m34s again after initially running in the 1m32s after his second stop on lap 46. Hamilton had edged his lead up to five seconds again by that tour, at the end of which…

Newly-crowned seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton continued to lead the way in 2020 by topping the opening practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Following up on his record-equalling title triumph last time out in Turkey, Hamilton set the fastest time with a 1m29.033 to outpace Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas by 0.449 seconds in the first 90-minute practice at the Bahrain International Circuit. FP1 in Sakhir is considered to be one of the most unrepresentative Friday practice sessions of the season due to it being held during the day in conditions that differ from both qualifying and the race which take place at night. The drivers did get their first proper taste of Pirelli’s 2021 specification tyres with the latest test being run across both practice sessions in Bahrain following a ‘blind’ 30-minute programme which was conducted in Portugal last month, providing the teams with an important data-gathering exercise ahead of next season. Now that both teams’ and drivers’ titles have already been settled, attention has turned to an intense midfield battle to secure third place in the constructors’ championship with four teams in contention to land the coveted spot inside F1’s top three. Racing Point had the upper hand in the opening session at the first of two races to be staged in Bahrain as Sergio Perez, fresh from his first podium finish of 2020 at the Turkish Grand Prix, ended FP1 third-quickest – nearly a full second behind the dominant Mercedes duo. Carlos Sainz was just 0.018s adrift of Perez’s time in his McLaren, while Pierre Gasly completed the top five for AlphaTauri. The Red Bulls were next up with Max Verstappen marginally faster than Alex Albon in sixth and seventh respectively, with the Dutchman complaining of “understeer city” in his RB16 in the cooler conditions as he ended practice in the garage with floor damage. Renault duo Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo were split by the second Racing Point of Lance Stroll as they rounded out the top-10 positions, ahead of Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel. In his fourth FP1 outing of 2020, Robert Kubica – deputising for Alfa Romeo regular Kimi Raikkonen – finished 13th fastest ahead of Romain Grosjean, who was fortunate to escape a high-speed spin at Turn 7 with only flat-spotted tyres on his Haas. Roy Nissany was also in action marking his third FP1 appearance of the season for Williams, as he ended up slowest of all and three-tenths behind Nicholas Latifi in George Russell’s FW43.

Haas Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean has allleged that the previous Formula 1 bosses that he has raced for in the previous years were better managing him than Haas. Grosjean will be walking away from Formula 1 after Haas said they won’t be renewing his contract beyond 2020, and this will end his five-year relationship with the American outfit. Haas Formula 1 team principal, Guenther Steiner said Grosjean, who joined the team ahead of its debut in 2016 was ‘tough to manage’. Steiner said this ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix which will be taking place this weekend. Grosjean was asked on his thoughts about Steiner’s remarks and he said, “I don’t want to go into too much detail. I think I’ve brought a fair bit to the team and I’ve had moments, yes, I’ve made mistakes – but who doesn’t?” “Also, when you have a poor car, you need to be able to drive to 105% to get anything good and when you drive to that level there is high chances you’re going to make mistakes.” “When you have a top car, you can drive at 99.8% and that means you’re more consistent. I’ve known both situations and that’s why I can say that.” “Am I difficult to manage? I don’t know. [But] some people did that very well with me in the past, so I guess it’s possible.” Grosjean has just one points finish to his name in 2020 with a ninth place finish at the Nurburgring, ending a run of 20 races without scoring that stretched back to last year’s German Grand Prix. Despite the VF-20 lacking raw speed throughout most of the season, Grosjean is still satisfied with his performances this year. “Apart from Turkey in the wet, where I was absolutely nowhere,” Grosjean said. “Generally I’ve got the maximum of the car, whenever possible – Germany is a good example, and the race in Monza was pretty good, as well as Mugello. “So yeah, I’m happy with the season. It’s difficult to say how good the season is because of the car we have – but I think it’s a really good season.”

Robert Kubica and Roy Nissany will take part in the opening practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix as they get behind the wheel of the 2020 car of the Alfa Romeo and Williams team respectively. One-time Grand Prix winner Robert Kubica will return to the Formula One paddock this weekend as he prepares himself for an outing in one of the two Alfa Romeo Orlen C39s. The Polish driver will take over the car of Kimi Räikkönen for the first 90-minute session in Manama. “I am very pleased to be back in the driving seat for the first time since August,” said the Pole. „It may sound like a long time, but my season has been really busy with my simulator work at the factory and my DTM programme, so it actually felt like it went quite quickly. Kubica competed in the German Tourenwagen Masters this year, driving a BMW for the ART team. Beside his role in DTM, he also worked for Alfa Romeo as development driver. His outing in Bahrain will mark his fourth appearance at a race weekend this year after driving at Silverstone, in Styria and Hungary. “Now that my DTM season is over, I am keen to get back into my Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN role full time: there is still a lot to fight for and I am confident my work will make a positive contribution to the team’s efforts.” Team Principal Frederic Vasseur added: “We are all pleased to see Robert get back in the car for FP1. His contribution to the team has been important so far this season and to be able to get the most of his experience and skills here in Bahrain is going to help the team continue its current path of progression. Sakhir is a circuit he knows really well and this will really help our work this weekend.” Kubica will not only be the only third driver to get behind the wheel of a Formula One car this weekend as he will be joined by Roy Nissany. The Israeli driver will perform driving duties for Williams in FP1 which will mark his third appearance in 2020 after completing runs in Spain and Italy.“Bahrain is a very special track for me, driving a Formula One car around it for the first time means a lot. It is always a great opportunity to develop on such a technical and demanding track,” said Nissany.