Racetrackmasters

Valtteri Bottas topped the afternoon practice session in the inaugural Tuscan Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes continues to show the superiority of their W11 car. After an intense 1st Practice session in the morning the drivers rolled out in the afternoon under clear skies and strong sun to gain experience on the Mugello circuit which is Ferrari owned. Haas’ Romain Grosjean was the first to register a timed lap recording a time of 1m 19.257s but was quickly subdued by Mclaren’s Lando Norris with 1m 18.658s on the C2 medium compound tyres, however the Mclaren racer had experienced technical issues with his car on lap 5 which forced him to pit. Ferrrari’s Charles Leclerc experinced a spin on his second lap which also forced him to pit although he had a chance to fight if he continued to race. His teammate Vettel on the other hand was complaining over the radio about tyre overheating and went further to say even a single cool-down lap was not enough between the timed laps as the tyres do not cool down enough. Mercedes’ drivers were the last to head to the track in the afternoon session and it did not take long for the Mercedes W11 car to prove its dominance on the track as Valtteri Bottas topped with 1m 18.019s on the medium compound tyre as Hamilton in the sister W11 came in second, six tenths of a second slower on the hard compound tyre. On their second timed laps, Bottas was able to achieve a time of 1m 17.997s which was an improvement as his teammate Hamilton was able to improve by four tenths of a second compared to his previous lap. Sebastian Vettel was the first to complete the qualifying simulation as he did 1m 18.498s on his last timed lap which was over half a second slower than Bottas’ time that he had recorded earlier running on medium compound tyres. His teammate Leclerc didn’t do much well either on the soft tyres as he was only able to beat Vettel by only a tenth of a second. Mclaren’s Lando Norris did not experience a good afternoon as he span and crashed into the wall on turn 3 after touching the gravel trap which saw him lose control of his car, the MCL 35 was on red walled soft compound tyres. The session ended up being red-flagged. When the timed racing resumed Bottas improved to 1m 19.989s beating Hamilton with 0.207s while Redbull’s Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon finished third and fourth respectively having a gap of only seven tenths of a second. Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen also span at the San Donato corner after he was tagged by Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, after the mexican left the pit and was unable to slow down driving into the back of the Alfa, this made the session to be halted as the front wing of the RP20 was left on the track.

The last few days has seen a turn of events in the Formula 1 teams as there are new signings and talks undergoing to change the drivers’ lineup for the 2021 Formula 1 Season. This comes as Sergio Perez leaves Racing point and Sebastian Vettel is set to replace him as the team will be rebranded as Aston Martin Racing in 2021. The new signings and reshuffles do not just end there as Sergio Perez may switch to Alfa Romeo as he announced he is not yet ready to leave Formula 1. Perez will be back to Alfa Romeo where he kick-started his Formula 1 career back when the team was named Sauber. He will be joined by Mick Schumacher who is the son to 7-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher, Mick was in support of Ferrari to make his transition from Formula 2 to Formula 1. This leaves Raikkonen and Giovinazzi out of the Alfa Romeo team. Haas F1 drivers, Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean have to fight for their seats for the 2021 season as Robert Shwartzman is eager to join the Formula 1 community and Ferrari are making sure that he gets his wishes soon, but Grosjean and Magnussen might be bidding farewell to their seats as Nico Hulkenberg is set to take a seat in the American team as its alleged that Shwartzman will be his teammate. AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat may be also set to leave the team as Yuki Tsinoda will be replacing him as Honda has been wishing to have a Japanese driver on the Formula 1 grid again. Carlos Sainz as mentioned in the last couple of weeks will be taking Sebastian Vettel’s seat in Ferrari as the current Ferrari driver goes to Racing Point, Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo will be switching to Sainz’s seat at Mclaren. This leaves Ricciardo’s seat open and there are speculations that Fernando Alonso might be making a return in Formula 1.

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel is set to join Aston Martin Racing which is currently Racing point as it announced on Thursday. The 33-year old will be replacing Sergio Perez who announced that he will be leaving the team at the end of the 2020 Formula 1 season on wednesday night. Vettel will be driving alongside Lance Stroll who is the son of the team’s major investor Lawrence Stroll. Although it has not been yet specified on how long the contract with the current Ferrari driver will last but the team said that Vettel will be joining the team for 2021 and even beyond. Sebastian Vettel had been informed by the Ferrari in May that his contract will not be renewed beyond the 2020 season and the racer had announced that he was considering his options to stay in the sport or not. “It’s a new adventure for me with a truly legendary car company,” Vettel said in a statement. “I have been impressed with the results the team has achieved this year and I believe the future looks even brighter. “The energy and commitment of Lawrence [Stroll] to the sport is inspiring and I believe we can build something very special together…I still have so much love for Formula 1 and my only motivation is to race at the front of the grid. To do so with Aston Martin will be a huge privilege.” Racing point has been highly collaborating with Mercedes Formula 1 as its power unit and other components of the Mercedes 2019 F1 car are evident in Racing Point’s RP20 and the team was even penalised a few weeks back in August with a fine amounting to 400,000 euros and 15 point penalty for copying Mercedes’ 2019 car’s brake ducts. The collaboration with the Mercedes F1 team have certainly helped Racing Point as it boasts current rankings being position 4 in the Constructors’ Championship being above big teams such as as Ferrari and Renault. The team has also been improving over the previous years and well, we will be expecting more.

Ferrari has revealed its 1000th celebratory livery for its 1000th Grand Prix which will be at Mugello this weekend. Both Ferrari SF1000 cars driven by Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel will have a burgundy shade that was used by Ferrari 125 F1 cars which raced for the team in its debut in 1950 at the Monaco Grand Prix which is some seventy years ago. Both Ferrari racers(Leclerc and Vettel) will also have special suits for this race weekend matching in with the classic livery which will have a retro numbering and a logo written ‘1000 GP’ written on the engine cover. Ferrari also plans to mark the 1000th race with celebrations in nearby Florence on Saturday night which will also feature a demonstration run of Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari F2004 which won the 2004 Formula 1 Championship on Sunday, the race day with Schumacher’s son, Mick Schumacher at the wheel. Ferrari is the only team that has participated in all the 71 Formula 1 seasons managing to win 238 of the overall events making it the team with the highest number of victories than any other team in the history. Ferrari owns the Mugello circuit and the Tuscan Grand Prix with be the first race 2020 that the fans will be allowed to attend as close to 3,000 tickets will be available for the event. “Scuderia Ferrari’s 1000th Grand Prix is a very important milestone, therefore it had to be marked in a special way,” said Piero Ferrari, the vice-chairman of Ferrari. “That’s why we decided to run a unique livery on the cars for this event, with the SF1000s taking to the track at the Mugello Circuit in the Burgundy colour first seen on the 125, the first racing car to carry the Ferrari name.” “Even the look of the race numbers on Charles’ and Sebastian’s cars will reflect the tradition of the past, giving the impression of being hand painted onto the bodywork, while the drivers’ race suits will also match the car colour.” Pierro Ferrari added. “It’s a tribute to our origins, to our starting point for the amazing Ferrari story, characterised by an endless desire to compete, alongside the will to build road cars that are exceptional in terms of technology and design.” “Ferrari is unique in the world, because the company has the soul of a car manufacturer and of a racing team, an inseparable link that is never questioned. Only a few months ago, no one could have imagined that our thousandth race could take place at our own Mugello circuit. I am pleased that in the Grand Prix official name, Formula 1 chose to pay tribute to Ferrari, the only team that has always been present in the sport’s seventy one year history.” As an honour to Ferrari 100th Grand Prix ,Mercedes has decided to paint The Formula 1 Safety Car which is a Mercedes AMG GTR road car from silver to red.

Racing point’s driver Sergio Perez has announceds that he will be leaving the team at the end of 2020 Formula 1 season. The mexican joined the team in 2014 when it was under the name Force India and also remained as a key factor for the survival of the team after it was taken over by a company headed by Lawrence Stroll naming it Racing Point up to date. Sergio Perez exit clears the way for Sebastian Vettel to join the team as he has been heavily linked with the team which will be rebranded Aston Martin Racing after the owner(Lawrence Stroll) invested in the British car company. Perez had signed a three year contract with Racing Point last year and it seems it was in the best of his interests to terminate the contract after 2020. It is not yet known what the 30-year-old plans after 2020 but he wishes to remain in Formula 1 for the 2021 season. It is believed that Alfa Romeo might be seeking for his sevices as the Haas Formula 1 team yet to determine its driver line-up for 2021. “Everything in life always has a beginning and an end, and after seven years together, my time with the team will come to an end after this season,” said Sergio Perez in a statement released on Wednesday. “It hurts a bit as I bet on the team during very rough times; we managed to overcome obstacles and I am very proud of saving the jobs of several of my team-mates…I’ll keep the memories of the great moments lived together, the friendships and the satisfaction of always giving my all.” “I will always be grateful for the opportunity given to me by Vijay Mallya, who believed in me in 2014 and allowed me to continue my F1 career with Force India. To the current administration led by Lawrence Stroll, I wish nothing but the best in the future, specially with the upcoming Aston Martin project.” Added perez. “I don’t have a plan B. My intention is to continue racing here, but that would depend on finding a project that motivates me to continue giving my 100 percent in each lap…I want to thank each one of you who have been with me throughout these 10 years. To my family, who has always been there to support me despite anything.” “To all the sponsors who believed in my project, to my staff, and mainly God, who blessed me with the opportunity to live this incredible adventure called F1…I hope I can give you some good news real soon, but for now, let’s enjoy together the next races. I carry you in my heart” The 30-year-old has scored eight podiums so far, five of them being with Racing Point.

Lewis Hamilton announced that he will launch his own Extreme Racing team that will be participating Extreme E off-road series. The Formula 1 champion’s team will be branded x44, containing the number 44 which is currently his race number for the Mercedes Formula 1 team. The new team is set to make its debut early next year for the next Extreme E off-road season but however the superstar will not be directly participating in the series due to his current Formula 1 racing career. Extreme E is a race series featuring electric monster trucks racing through regions at risk from climate change. These massive vehicles will be driving around glaziers, through rainforests and over deserts, helping preserve their fragile ecosystems for future generations. The vehicle itself is built by Spark Racing Technology, the French company that built Formula E’s first and second-generation cars. “Extreme E really appealed to me because of its environmental focus,” said Hamilton, and it means so much to me that I can use my love of racing, together with my love for our planet, to have a positive impact.” Hamilton said.The 35-year-old also announced that X44 would be built around the values of “sustainability and equality,” and will commit to Formula E’s existing plan to have one woman and one man driver tackling half of each race.

Mike O’Driscoll who was the CEO Williams racing announced his intentions to departure from the team following its sale to the Dorilton Capital company. Mike O’Driscoll joined the Formula 1 team in 2011 and later in 2013 he was handed the role of CEO for the Williams team, since then he has been the CEO but the role was coming to an end with the team announcing the 64 year old is bound to retire. His biggest role was to oversee the team’s long term strategy and also supporting sir Frank Williams and Claire Williams. O’Driscoll had also been among the board of directors for the team but it announced on Tuesday the new composition of directors who include Matthew Savage and Darren Fultz who are the co-founders of the Dorilton capital. James Matthews who is a former racing driver was also mentioned among the new board of directors. “It has been and remains a huge privilege to be part of this great team. I am proud to have played my part in securing the long-term future of Williams and look forward to working closely with Matthew and his team, to ensure a smooth transition and the best possible trajectory for the team’s future success,” the former CEO commented on his retirement from the Williams team. Williams new chairman Matthew Savage also went ahead to commend and congratulate O’Driscoll on his departure from the team. “Mike has made a huge contribution as CEO, working alongside theWilliams family since the IPO in 2011, he has steered the corporate side of the group admirably through challenging timesand has been invaluable in preparing Williams for the next exciting phase.” Matthew Savage said. This marks a major development in the Williams team following the exit of Sir Frank Williams who was the team founder and his deputy Claire Williams. It appears a major reorganisation in the team is underway.