Formula 1 - 2017

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VILLENEUVE: STROLL TESTING BETWEEN RACES IS HARD TO SWALLOW

Jacques Villeneuve always calls it as he sees it, recently the 1997 Formula 1 World Champion claimed that Lance Stroll was the worst rookie of all time and despite the teenager’s good showing in Baku his fellow Canadian will not retract what he said and went further, questioning why the Williams rookie is allowed to test between races.

Since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where Stroll finished third, it has emerged that before Baku the Williams team set up camp at Circuit of the Americas for private testing with the teenager at the wheel of a 2014 Williams FW36.

Villeneuve said in an interview, “He’s the only driver who tests between races. That’s a little bit tough to swallow. Money has to have a limit, and that’s pushing it.”

Of Stroll’s early season struggles, he admitted, “I always said until Montreal that it was pathetic, and it was. But I always said he won in everything he did with work, and the same thing would probably happen here, as long as they look at reality in the face.”

“You have to admit when you are not good enough. That’s all.So I don’t know why people are getting so upset. You can’t go out and say: he’s amazing – when he’s a second off the pace of Massa.”

“You still have to be real. Montreal was helpful and [Baku] was good, but that won’t change what I said earlier in the season. Wake up. People have to pay attention to what’s being said. You have to be realistic and understand the truth, that’s all.”

“Look at last year: when [Max] Verstappen was to be criticised I would, and when it became good, I was positive with Lance. I won’t back down on what I said before, because he wasn’t at the level. This race he was, very simple.”

“The points in Montreal helped him. He wasn’t quick in Montreal, but everybody broke down, he kept his nose clean, he got points, and that took a weight off his shoulders.”

“You could see it [in Baku]. When everybody was banging into each other, he wasn’t. Yes he was lucky, but he was also quick, he didn’t do any stupid things, and he got on the podium. Nothing wrong with that.”

“But [Baku] was the first race where he was not hanging on for dear life behind the steering wheel. He was actually relaxed, he was driving normally. Why would I criticise that? But that doesn’t mean the beginning of the season was good, ” concluded Villeneuve.

Meanwhile responding to the criticism, 18 year old Stroll fired back, “Jacques is always negative, finding things to say. Even with Vettel and Hamilton now, with him thinking what happened in Baku was ok when everyone else thinks the opposite.”

“I prefer to concentrate on my business. He did not encourage me last year when I won the F3 championship, and it was the same in the first races this year when I was having difficulty.”

“So I was not surprised to hear his words. But the important thing is that I am happy, and the people around me are happy,” added Stroll who became the youngest rookie in F1 history to finish on a grand prix podium with his performance in Baku, which also earned him Driver of the Day as voted by fans.

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END OF AN ERA AS RON DENNIS TO SELL ALL MCLAREN STAKE

Ron Dennis, the man who led the McLaren team to numerous Formula 1 world titles, setting the standards by which teams in the sport today operate, is reported to have sold all of his shares in the organisation.

This development, confirmed today, ends a 37-year association between the two parties, which began when the team was struggling for success in Formula 1 back in 1980. Today, the McLaren Group is valued at an estimated €2.2-billion.

The split would become reality by Dennis transferring his remaining 25% stake in McLaren Technology Group and 11% shareholding of McLaren Automotive. He has reportedly received €312-million for his shares and will thus have no role at McLaren in future.

Dennis, who turned 70 this month, was awarded a CBE in 2000. He rose to prominence when – as owner of the Project 4 Formula 2 team – he was placed in charge of the then struggling McLaren team in 1980, leading it back to race victories and world championships.

Drivers who won world titles while he was at the helm of McLaren were Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen and Lewis Hamilton. Under his stewardship the Woking outfit became the second most successful team in the sport.

Dennis and his co-owners of the McLaren Group fell out in 2014 for a variety of reasons. That triggered a chain of events in which he attempted to buy McLaren back from them.

However, when he was unable to raise the funds to do so, they effectively sidelined him at the end of 2016 by marginalising him, removing him from any positions of control of the company.

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MCLAREN RESTRUCTURE IN THE WAKE OF DENNIS DEPARTURE

Press Release: McLaren Automotive and the McLaren Technology Group are being brought together under one corporate structure to be called the McLaren Group. The announcement unifies all activities under a single coordinated strategy and brand, allowing the exceptional reputation of each business for technological excellence to be used across the entire Group for the benefit of all its customers, partners and employees.

Summary:

• The formation of the new McLaren Group will underpin the continuing rapid growth of McLaren’s businesses and brand
• The new McLaren Group unites McLaren Automotive – a globally-renowned producer of luxury sports and supercars – with McLaren Technology Group which includes one of the world’s oldest and most successful race teams and a high growth technology IP and consulting business
• The Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company and the TAG Group will remain as the long-term majority shareholders of the new group and Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa will become its Executive Chairman
• Mike Flewitt, Jonathan Neale and Zak Brown continue in existing roles
• Ron Dennis marks his 70th birthday with decision to step down as Chairman and agrees to sell his shareholdings in both companies
• McLaren Group has secured finance in order to acquire Ron Dennis’s shareholdings, stimulate growth in its wider businesses and consolidate its financial arrangements

The Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company and TAG Group become the McLaren Group’s long-term majority shareholders. Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa will be McLaren Group’s Executive Chairman, Mansour Ojjeh its Executive Committee Principal. Mike Flewitt continues to lead McLaren Automotive as Chief Executive Officer while McLaren Technology Group Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Neale and McLaren Technology Group Executive Director Zak Brown also continue in their current roles.

The TAG Group first invested in McLaren in 1984 and is the longest standing of the McLaren Group’s shareholders. They were joined ten years ago by the Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company. Both remain committed to McLaren and excited for its next phase of growth.

Mansour Ojjeh said: “Since I became a major investor in the business 33 years ago, I am exceptionally proud of what each of our extraordinary McLaren businesses have achieved, growing independently and entrepreneurially. Now, as they have reached world-class scale and success, it is the right next step to unify the strategies and brands to create a stronger centre of Luxury Automotive, Racing and Technological excellence.

“In a matter of just seven short years, McLaren Automotive has established itself as one of the world’s leading creators of luxury sports and supercars. Its products are now routinely hailed as best-in-class. Mike Flewitt and his team have done, and are continuing to do a brilliant job, and the company’s recent announcement of a fourth consecutive year of profitability indicates a robust future. The new McLaren 720S, the first car to be launched under its Track22 business plan, is already sold out well into 2018 and there will be a lot more exciting cars where that came from.

“McLaren Racing, part of McLaren Technology Group, is not currently achieving the on-track success in Formula 1 that we know it is capable of, and that it has achieved in the past, but that will change. As motor racing is in our DNA, we exist to win in Formula 1 and be the best in everything we do. Jonathan Neale and Zak Brown, supported by Eric Boullier and the best engineers, mechanics and marketers in Formula 1, are fully engaged in the process of bringing about that turnaround, and it will be great to see McLaren back in the winners’ circle before too long.

“McLaren Applied Technologies continues to go from strength to strength. Partnering with companies that share our visionary determination to innovate, it is becoming profitable as well as pioneering ground-breaking technologies. And its scope for development is exciting. This is an area of our business in which we intend to invest, with a view to achieving consistent growth.”

Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa said: “McLaren is unique, due to its strong heritage and passion to be best in everything it does, but also because no other company in the world can claim a corporate structure that comprises automotive, motorsport and applied technologies. It’s clear that as one Group, each of those three pillars of our business will support and enhance the other two.

“Together they will embark on what I firmly believe to be a new and even more successful era in the McLaren brand’s dynamic and fascinating 54-year history.”

The McLaren Group employs 3,400 people located largely at its iconic McLaren Technology Centre headquarters in Woking, UK, and in 2016 had a combined turnover of £898 million. McLaren Automotive celebrated the production of its 10,000th car in December 2016 and now sells its family of Sports Series, Super Series and Ultimate Series products across 30 global markets. The entrepreneurial McLaren Technology Group encompasses McLaren Applied Technologies, McLaren Marketing and McLaren Racing which has won 182 Formula 1 Grands Prix and 20 Formula 1 World Championships.

The announcement follows the decision of Ron Dennis CBE to step down as the Chairman of McLaren Automotive and McLaren Technology Group reaching agreement with his fellow shareholders to sell his shareholdings in both companies. McLaren Group has secured long-term financing to acquire these plus stimulate growth in its wider businesses and consolidate its financial arrangements.

J.P. Morgan is acting as financial adviser to the McLaren Group and will be leading a debt capital markets financing for the transaction.

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WILLIAMS APPOINT DAVE REDDING AS TEAM MANAGER

Williams have announced the appointment of Dave Redding to the position of team manager; joining the team on 17 July, a day after the British Grand Prix.

Redding moves to Williams with more than 30 years of experience in Formula One, most recently at McLaren where he held the position of Team Manager. After originally joining McLaren in 2001 as a Systems Engineer, Dave worked in a number of engineering and operational roles before moving on to become Team Manager in 2009. His previous roles over the course of his Formula One career include positions at Jaguar, Stewart and Benetton.

In his new role at Williams, Dave will be responsible for the overall management of the operational and sporting aspects of the race team.

In addition to this appointment, the team confirmed that Sporting Manager, Steve Nielsen, will be departing the company on 31 July.

Speaking about his appointment, Redding said, “Having been involved in motorsport for 30 years, I know that Williams is a great racing team, and one that I am extremely excited and privileged to be joining. I already know and respect many of the team members, and I can’t wait to start work at Grove and to be an integral part of an exciting future for the team.”

Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer at Williams, added, “Firstly, I must thank Steve for his hard work and dedication since joining Williams in 2014. He has done a brilliant job in restructuring the race team and particularly in driving the impressive pitstop performances we have shown in the last eighteen months. From a personal perspective, it has been a great pleasure to work together since I started here in March. We all wish him the very best for the future.

“I am also delighted to welcome Dave to the Williams team. Dave brings an exceptional level of Formula One racing knowledge and experience. Since joining, I have seen first hand the talented individuals we have in the race team at Williams. I’m sure Dave will fit in well and be able to provide the operational and sporting leadership necessary to not only maintain our current high standards, but to build even further on all aspects of our race team performance in the future.”

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Lewis Hamilton says British GP is 'most important' as future remains uncertain

Lewis Hamilton has called the British Grand Prix "the most important race" on the Formula 1 calendar amid concerns over the future of the event, which could fall off the calendar after the 2019 race.

The owners of the circuit, the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC), have come under increasing pressure to activate a break clause in their current deal which runs until 2026, because of the rising cost of hosting the event.

The circuit currently pays around £18-20 million annually, but that rises substantially each season and by 2026 is expected to hit £26m.

A clause in the deal does however allow the circuit to pull out after 2019, but must be activated before July 15 this year – giving the BRDC just two weeks to make a final decision.

Fearing the race could be dropped, local favourite and three-time champion Hamilton has come out in support of the race, insisting the British GP is the heart of motorsport and therefore deserves its place on the calendar.

"It’s the most important race of the year," Hamilton, who has won the British Grand Prix on four occasions, told BT Sport. 

"In terms of what the points represent it’s the same as every race, but just being in the beautiful countryside, and the support you get from the British fans, it’s an amazing event that people love to come to.

"It’s that important part of the British racing heritage and it’s the place where we really get to showcase it. The UK is the home of motorsport and we’ve got such great and incredible heritage."

Liberty Media has said it won't budge on the price it charges the BRDC, which was agreed under Bernie Ecclestone, but has said it would work with the circuit to find other sources of income besides ticket sales.

However it is known that F1 CEO Chase Carey is keen to see more street circuits and has a desire to see a race on the streets of London.

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Denmark exploring the possibility of 2020 Formula 1 street race

Denmark is looking to join the Formula 1 calendar in 2020 and has begun putting plans in place for a race around the streets of the country's capital city, Copenhagen.

The project is being led by Danish businessman Lars Seier Christensen, co-founder of former Lotus and Renault sponsor Saxo Bank.

The 54-year-old met with Liberty Media in London this week in what he described as a "very positive meeting" to discuss the proposal and to gain their support before moving ahead with the next steps, which is to now secure the financial investment.

"My task in the project is to initially assemble the private investment, and I will spend the next six months [doing so]. But before I started, it was important that we have the political will and support from Liberty Media," Christensen told Denmark's BT.

"It was the very positive meeting in London, and now I will spend the next six months to gather the necessary investors. It is an expensive project for us to both build the course and pay the license to Liberty. 

"I would not mention specific amounts, but there are hundreds of millions of Kroner [needed]."

Renowned circuit designer Hermann Tilke has already visited the city to map out a possible route which was also presented to Liberty Media during the meeting.

Former minister for science Helge Sander is also involved in the project and says it's never been closer to reality.

"It's three years of work that has now reached a point where we believe that it is possible," he added. "It has never been closer than it is now. The indications are good from all sides."

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Renault: Reliability fixes now in place for Austria

Renault engine chief Rémi Taffin says that the manufacturer has addressed a handful of reliability issues, which have affected results for its customer teams in recent events.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen failed to finish in Azerbaijan due to engine problems, his third race-ending mechanical issue of the year, having also encountered drama during practice at the Baku City Circuit.

Renault was the only team unable to score a point at Baku, with Jolyon Palmer suffering a fuel leak in practice, which triggered a fire, before his engine misfired early in the race, while an electrical issue stranded Nico Hülkenberg in Q2.

Taffin believes fixes are now in place in order to prevent the recent issues reoccurring.

“What is clear [from Baku] is that we did have reliability issues on track,” said Taffin.

“[These are] issues which we immediately addressed, but this should not detract from the clear progress which has been made.

“We have put in place new and better procedures to catch any issues before the cars take to the track and we’re working with great diligence in this area.

“For our customer teams, we saw coincidence of issues. The Energy Store issue we have seen has been addressed and the new Energy Stores are to a different specification without this concern.

“With the ICE, the latest specification addresses the problems we’ve seen to date. In Austria, we have the latest versions of components and we should not see any repeats of previous woes.”

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Williams F1 documentary set for release

A documentary charting the story of the Williams Formula 1 team is to be released this summer, coinciding with the squad’s 40th anniversary in the sport.

The film, from BAFTA-winning director Morgan Matthews, is based on the 1991 book by Lady Virginia Williams, the late wife of team co-founder Sir Frank.

Williams has dubbed the film an ‘honest, authentic and incredibly revealing portrait’ of the Grove-based operation, which will feature racing footage, never-before-seen accounts, and interviews with leading figures.

It will premiere on July 11, before being released to a wider audience the following month.

“This film is a tale of two great loves in my father’s life,” said Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams.

“Everyone knows of Frank’s pure passion for motor racing, but not everyone knows the remarkable story of my parents’ marriage and how those two things co-existed during the highs and lows of the team’s journey.

"I am pleased that it shines a light on exactly how instrumental my mother was in the team’s success while also capturing the setbacks and her bravery in holding the family, and ultimately the business together, as the team went on to make history.

"We are incredibly proud of the film and its enduring message of what the human spirit is capable of achieving in the face adversity. I hope that is inspires people as much as my parents’ story inspires me.

"As my dad would want it though, we are proud of our past but ready for the future. The most exciting part is our plan to build on Frank’s legacy and write a new chapter in the Williams story – something we are building momentum towards."

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Palmer: F1 weekends "can't get worse" than Baku

Jolyon Palmer says Formula 1 weekends “can’t get worse” than his disastrous Azerbaijan Grand Prix outing, which ended in an early retirement with an engine issue.

The Renault driver crashed in first practice and was forced to miss FP2, then did only a few laps in FP3 before a fuel leak and fire stopped him and caused him to miss qualifying.

He started 20th, and after experiencing a misfire on the way to the grid he had to stop after completing just seven laps.

"Obviously the pressure’s on, it’s not been a good start to the season," Palmer said. "When you miss a practice, you miss a qualifying, and you barely do the race, nothing I can do about it really. It can’t get worse than this.

“I only did about 30 laps in total over three days, probably the lowest I’ve ever done in a weekend. I had a good feeling in the car on Friday. Everything was feeling pretty reasonable.

"Even in the race, we had a misfire from the beginning, but it was feeling OK. I passed Wehrlein, I was catching a group ahead, and it was looking like a fun race.

“Then the misfire got worse, and I had to stop. We had it since the way to the grid. You cross your fingers that you can get to the end, but obviously we didn’t get very close to it.

  

“It’s a shame because I was feeling good in the car on Friday, and this is a race where if you drive around for 51 laps without any incident you’re probably going to end up in the points.”

Palmer conceded that Renault’s problems, which have also afflicted its other teams, reflect the company’s ongoing efforts to improve performance.

“I think everything’s marginal in F1, everyone’s pushing for performance, especially on the engine side, where we know we’ve got a bit of a deficit," he said. "I think the guys are pushing to make that up.

"This weekend it’s not gone our way at all. [Max] Verstappen had a problem as well – I don’t know what happened to [Daniil] Kvyat – it’s not strong, but you’ve got to make up the deficit in power as well.”

Asked if there were any positives from the Baku weekend, he replied: “My start was not so bad, I made a few places. 10 laps of reasonable positivity, but there were only 30 total, so there’s not a lot to say.

“Hopefully, and I’ve said this a few times this year, but I’m really confident and hopeful that this will be the end of our bad luck now, get to Austria, get some points, get some good results on the board.

“I know the track a bit better, I think it will suit our car a bit better. It’s just a fresh start, so I can go with a really positive Thursday vibe.”

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Wolff warns Jordan not to spread "fake news" about Mercedes

Toto Wolff wants Channel 4 Formula 1 pundit Eddie Jordan to stop repeating what he calls “fake news” about the future of Mercedes in the sport.

Jordan has consistently expressed doubts about Mercedes’ long-term commitment to owning a works F1 team, and has suggested that major sponsors will leave soon.

In Baku he speculated that the Chinese consortium that plans to enter F1 could end up buying the Brackley-based team, which had previous guises as BAR, Honda and Brawn before becoming Mercedes in 2010.

Wolff is upset because Jordan’s comments have planted doubts in the minds of employees of both the race team and the Mercedes engine facility in Brixworth.

“I told him I’m ready for any banter with Eddie,” said Wolff. “But for me I stop laughing when it’s about making jokes on the back of 1500 employees that care about their future.

"And I said it in an interview with him, that this is a too serious a topic for me. We are not leaving F1, none of our sponsors is leaving F1, we are pretty happy where we are.

"He should just stop putting these rumours – fake news – out in the world.”

Jordan however insists that Mercedes will withdraw as a works team from F1 if it is felt that it is not getting enough benefit from its investment in the sport.

“I’ve never said they will pull out,” he told Motorsport.com. “I’ve said Mercedes are in the business for marketing and technical reasons, they are not in the business of love. And they will go when it suits them.

"I don’t think I said what the right time is. What I said is 2018 is when the contracts with UBS and Petronas run out.

  

“I can understand why he’s angry with that, but that’s not my concern. That’s life. It’s going to come out sometime. If I say it, I’m convinced. Look at it the other way.

"He’s talking about 1500 people, I’m talking about thousands and thousands of [Daimler AG] shareholders.

“It will be a decision of the board. Having been on many boards, the board members are the people who will make that decision. In my opinion they will do what suits the company best.

"If they can find that the return for the investment is no longer justified, they’re gone – gone as a works team.

"Where do you think Mercedes came from? And where’s Toyota gone? They’ll keep the engine department, that’s for sure.”

A Mercedes spokesman said it was "simply wrong" of Jordan to claim that the contracts of Petronas and UBS expire in 2018.

"No one is going to shut me up"

Jordan however was adamant that he will never be afraid to speak his mind, adding: “There’s too many people too worried about whether they can go into someone’s motorhome or not.

"I’m in the job of reporting what I know, that’s what I’ll do, and no one is going to shut me up. If it’s complete crap and not one cent of it is true, then of course they should say that, they should answer.

“I don’t have a problem with anyone, and I will go into the motorhome of every person. If they once want to say to me we don’t think you should come in, that’s what they should say.”

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Stewart brands Vettel “irresponsible” for Baku swipe at Hamilton

Three-time Formula 1 World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart says Sebastian Vettel made “a large mistake” when he banged wheels under safety car conditions with Lewis Hamilton in Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Stewart believes that Vettel’s lack of mind management was to blame for him apparently taking revenge for what the German thought was a ‘brake test’.

He also thinks that Vettel was provoked by Hamilton’s actions, despite the fact that FIA stewards exonerated Lewis from any wrongdoing.

“There is no doubt in my opinion that Vettel was completely wrong, I mean, irresponsible in colliding with Lewis,” Stewart told Motorsport.tv’s The Flying Lap.

“Whether that was a moment of anger, or whatever it may have been, it was still not correct.

“However, there’s another side to that which I think is more important. The reason that it happened was that Lewis either lifted off completely from the gas pedal or brushed the brakes at a time when no racing driver behind the leader would have expected anybody to do that it.

“Therefore, Vettel, even with the fast reaction of an F1 world champion of four times, still ran into the back of Lewis, not by any intention at all, but by the fact that it was such a severe retard[ation] while he, and every other driver for that matter, were ready to accelerate down the straight because the pace car had already kind of disappeared.

  

“That provoked, no doubt, Vettel’s frame of mind. And the mind management wasn’t working.

"As it developed, in my opinion, Sebastian Vettel was absolutely wrong to collide with Lewis Hamilton. I think that was a large mistake.”

Watch 'The Flying Lap'...

Echoes of Regazzoni?

The Flying Lap’s host, Peter Windsor, asked Stewart if what happened was similar to the incident between himself and Clay Regazzoni at the Nurburgring in 1972.

Sir Jackie replied: “Pretty close. What he did to me at the Nurburgring never occurred either before or after that incident in my entire career. He absolutely took me off the road and into a double Armco barrier.

“I went to the stewards in the tower, I spoke to Prince Metternich [the circuit’s owner], but there was no communication from the marshals, no formal way of them speaking to the tower.

"And they said ‘we’re sorry, we can’t take any action’, because there was no ability to communicate any observations.”   

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What F1 history tells us about the Vettel investigation

The FIA's decision to further investigate the Sebastian Vettel case from the Azerbaijan GP is one of huge significance, but it is not necessarily uncharted territory.FIA has opened an investigation into what went on with Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton behind the safety car in Azerbaijan has ramped up the debate on the matter.

Rarely has an incident and subsequent punishment generated such polarised views. 

It’s no surprise that many people side with the team and driver they support in such cases – you will hardly back the referee’s decision if your man is sent off in an FA Cup final, after all. But views from neutrals, including veterans of the F1 pitlane, also vary wildly.

Some folk think that Vettel has been punished enough with a 10-second stop-and-go penalty, while others believe that the FIA wasn’t strong enough on the day, and that an example needs to be made.

One of the problems is that there is no precedent for such a “road rage” incident, because we’ve not seen anything quite like it before, certainly at F1 level.

The example that many people have quoted this week comes from the lower ranks. At an MSA Formula (now British F4) race at Silverstone in 2015, Dan Ticktum overtook 10 cars under the safety car to catch and make contact with Ricky Collard, with whom he’d been involved in an incident early in the race.

The then 16-year-old was subsequently banned from racing for two years, with the second suspended. The MSA called it “a disturbing and dangerous episode,” and “totally irresponsible and reprehensible in the extreme.”

You could argue that the degree of premeditation was greater – it took Ticktum a while to pass all those cars, whereas Vettel was reacting almost on instinct – and that the youngster put marshals and other drivers at risk by charging through the field.

Equally, it’s clear that Vettel is at a very different stage of his career, and arguably should have known better.

So what can we learn from F1 history that might help us to predict the outcome in Monday’s hearing?

Safety car incidents

Given that we’ve had the safety car for over two decades, and that there has always been scope for misunderstandings as drivers zig and zag and stop and start, there have been relatively few instances of dramas in the safety car queue.

In 2000, Williams rookie Jenson Button crashed on the run to Monza’s Parabolica, caught out when Michael Schumacher backed up the field as the Ferrari ace prepared for the restart. There was no penalty, but Schumacher subsequently apologised to the youngster.

The same teams were involved in a more controversial incident in Monaco in 2004, when Juan Pablo Montoya ran into Schumacher in the tunnel while the German was weaving to warm his tyres.

Instantly out of the race, Schumacher was understandably furious – and even more so because Montoya survived to take fourth place. The stewards deemed it a racing incident.

In 2007, Vettel and Hamilton were both part of the story of an infamous collision at Fuji. Hamilton was leading the safety car queue in the rain, with Red Bull’s Mark Webber running second and Vettel in a stunning third for Toro Rosso.

When Webber backed up, Vettel ran into the back of the sister car, putting both men out of the race and costing their teams priceless points.

Webber subsequently expressed his frustration with leader Hamilton, claiming that the McLaren man was varying his pace while the safety car lights were on, as opposed to while preparing for a restart.

At the time the already-devastated Vettel received a 10-place grid penalty for the next race in China. Then video evidence from a spectator emerged that showed Hamilton, who went onto the race, slowing in an unusual way. Vettel appeared to be vindicated.

The FIA certainly thought there was a case to answer, and a further enquiry followed in Shanghai. There was a widespread feeling that Hamilton would be penalised in some way – which would have been disastrous for his title aspirations – and he was given a hard time by rivals in that weekend’s drivers’ briefing.

In the end the stewards took no action against him, but instead gave Vettel a break by cancelling his 10-place penalty.

Sebastian Vettel, Scuderia Toro Rosso, and Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing

Race bans

Given that Vettel was not excluded from the Baku race and earned a useful fourth place, it’s perhaps inevitable that many observers have suggested that he should now be banned from an upcoming event.

In fact, only five drivers have ever been forced to actually miss a race through an FIA sanction, and strangely, three of the penalties occurred during the turbulent season of 1994. Even stranger, in one later case a driver actually finished a race from which he was banned.

Some may recall that Riccardo Patrese was forced to sit out the 1978 United States GP in the aftermath of the tragic Monza accident, which had cost Ronnie Peterson his life. In fact, he was not banned by the authorities – he was excluded by his fellow drivers.

The young upstart had annoyed several rivals that season, including Peterson himself, who accused the Arrows man of blocking him at the Swedish GP. After Monza the drivers got together and came up with an ultimatum: "If Patrese races at Watkins Glen, we don't."

The organisers of the US event gave in and simply declined to accept Patrese's entry, taking only the second Arrows of Rolf Stommelen.

The first driver to suffer an official FIA ban was Nigel Mansell, who was involved in an infamous black-flag incident at the 1989 Portuguese GP. He was reported for reversing in the pitlane, and the stewards called him in with a flag. The Ferrari driver failed to respond to the signals, and subsequently took Ayrton Senna off the road when he tried to overtake.

Swift action followed, and the fact that Mansell was involved in an incident with a title contender when he should not have been on track was taken very seriously. He was thus not allowed to contest the next race in Spain.

Senna himself was never actually banned from a race, but at the start of 1994 he did have such a penalty hanging over him.

At the previous year’s Japanese GP he verbally and then physically assaulted Eddie Irvine after the race, upset that the Jordan rookie had had the audacity to unlap himself. Nothing happened on the day, but after evidence emerged – in the form of my tape of their heated debate – FIA President Max Mosley decided to take action.

There was no time to convene an enquiry before the last race in Adelaide, so it took place in Paris after the season. The outcome was a two-race ban – but because of the “high degree of provocation” by Irvine it was suspended for six months. It thus covered the first five races of the following season – and tragically, Senna was to lose his life in the third of those at Imola.

The next example of a ban came while Senna was still under threat, and Irvine was again involved. The Ulsterman tangled with Jos Verstappen in the 1994 Brazilian GP, sending the latter into a spectacular roll, and triggering an incident that also took out two other cars.

Despite inconclusive evidence, Irvine was found to be totally responsible, mainly because an unhelpful head-on slow motion TV replay did not show the true perspective. He was banned from the next race, and when his Jordan team appealed, the penalty was tripled to three races – in effect it was a warning to teams not to make “frivolous” appeals in the future.

A few weeks later at the British GP at Silverstone, Michael Schumacher passed Damon Hill on the warm-up lap, when the rules made it clear that drivers had to keep position, and the pole man set the pace. He later received a black flag for his troubles.

Having discussed the matter with the pitwall, Schumacher didn't obey it initially. He eventually took a stop-and-go penalty, and finished second on the road. The stewards discussed it after the race, and fined the team $25,000, but the result went unchanged. However, when the matter was taken further by the FIA he lost the race result, and was banned from both the Italian and Portuguese GPs.

At the same race Mika Hakkinen received a suspended ban following a late tangle with Rubens Barrichello. Two events later at Hockenheim, the McLaren driver was involved in a first-corner crash, the Silverstone penalty was triggered, and he was forced to miss the Hungarian GP.

Mika Hakkinen, McLaren Peugeot

Three years on, at the Italian GP, title contender Jacques Villeneuve was given a nine-race suspended ban for failing to slow sufficiently under yellow flags in the race day morning warm-up. Three races later at Suzuka he was reported for going too quickly under yellows past Jos Verstappen’s parked car. At both races several other drivers were also reported, but Jacques was the only repeat offender.

A lengthy meeting the stewards confirmed that he would indeed be banned from that weekend’s race – a huge penalty given that this was the penultimate round, and he was embroiled in a title fight with Schumacher.

He raced under an appeal submitted by Williams, and finished fifth. He then effectively took the ban retrospectively when the team withdrew its appeal after the race, thus giving up the points he had earned.

Remarkably, more than a decade passed before the next race ban, which was imposed on Romain Grosjean in 2012. The Frenchman had a disastrous time with Lotus that season, and matters came to a head when he triggered a multi-car accident at the start of the Belgian GP, which also eliminated Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

Taking into account previous incidents and the fact that he had impacted the title battle, stewards imposed a one-race ban, forcing Grosjean to sit out Monza.

It’s worth noting that when Felipe Massa missed the United States GP in 2002, it was due to a decision by his Sauber team. He had earned a 10-place grid penalty, and in those days the rules specified “the next” and not “his next” race.

Sauber negated the penalty by benching the young Brazilian and recalling Heinz-Harald Frentzen for the weekend.

On two occasions teams have been banned over technical matters. In 1984, Tyrrell was accused of using additives in its fuel, and after a protracted wrangle the team was kicked out of the championship after the 11th race in Holland.

Those 11 races were struck from the team's record, and Martin Brundle lost the seven starts he made before he was injured. The stats will tell you that he started 158 GPs, when he actually appeared in 165.

In 2005, BAR-Honda was banned from two races in the aftermath of the fuel tank saga that came to light at the San Marino GP, so the team missed the Spain and Monaco events.

Retrospective action

The 1997 Jerez controversy involving Schumacher and Villeneuve was just one of many examples where the FIA has looked into a race incident long after the result has been declared at the end of the weekend.

In that sense, there are many precedents that suggest Vettel could receive further sanctions, despite the German leaving Baku on Sunday night confident that he could put the controversy behind him.

The most famous early example came during the dramatic season of 1976, a year that was embroiled in controversy. Thousands of fans had seen James Hunt win the British GP at Brands Hatch, a race stopped and restarted after a first-corner accident.

Weeks later in court it was deemed that Hunt should not have been allowed to take the restart, and he was disqualified.

As noted earlier, it happened to Irvine after Jordan appealed the ban imposed at the 1994 Brazilian GP, and again with Schumacher after Silverstone the same year, when his penalty was increased.

In the aftermath of his clash with Villeneuve at the 1997 finale in Jerez, Schumacher received the unprecedented penalty of having his position in the world championship removed, but the curious thing about this punishment was that Michael did not actually lose any of his results.

He was still the winner of five 1997 GPs, and he kept the 78 points he added to his official career tally that season. Even now, few people would acknowledge that Villeneuve's Williams teammate Frentzen officially finished second in the standings that year.

Often cases are re-opened when “new evidence” emerges, as happened after the 2009 Australian GP. At that race, Jarno Trulli was penalised for passing Hamilton under the safety car, and it was only after the race that the FIA learned the latter had initially told the media that he had waved the Italian past, before telling a different story later on to the stewards.

The matter was examined at the following weekend’s Malaysian GP, and the outcome was that Trulli got his third place back, and Hamilton was excluded from fourth.

There have also been occasions where technical matters have been pursued by the FIA, and the decision made on the Sunday night has subsequently changed.

One infamous example was Malaysia 1999 and the Ferrari bargeboard affair, when Irvine and Schumacher were at first excluded for an irregularity, and then later reinstated in the results, effectively keeping Irvine's title hopes alive to the final race at Suzuka.

Eddie Irvine, Ferrari F399 takes the win

The aforementioned BAR-Honda fuel tank saga at Imola in 2005 saw the opposite occur – cleared on the day, the Brackley team subsequently suffered the heavy punishment of exclusion from the results and the two-race ban.

Conclusion

So what can we learn from all this? Firstly, it’s been proven many time that decisions made by the race stewards on the day can be amended, and that sanctions can most definitely be increased.

There is no “new evidence” this time, other than the fact that Vettel will have a chance to state his case in person – he didn’t have contact with the stewards in Baku.

A ban - perhaps more likely a suspended one - is clearly on the menu of potential punishments. Vettel is already close to earning one through licence penalty points – he’s currently on nine points, accumulated through four incidents (including the three earned in Baku).

Three more points in Austria would trigger a ban – after that the two points he picked up at Silverstone last year are dropped, and he’ll be on a safe number for a while.

Remember too that the Mansell and Schumacher bans involved disregard for black flags – which should be regarded as sacrosanct by all racers – and the FIA may regard misbehaviour behind the safety car as being equally worthy of serious punishment.

The FIA can also hardly fail to take note of the furore that has followed the Baku incident, and perhaps key to the discussion will be the question of setting an example to young racers, something that Hamilton was keen to stress on Sunday evening.

The FIA also takes its road safety campaign very seriously, and road rage is a key part of the message.

The offence was different, but it’s worth recalling what Max Mosley said about Senna’s assault on Irvine back in 1993: “There had to be a penalty. When someone is hit, it takes the whole thing into another area. We have to stop that happening at all levels of the sport.”

 

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Lewis Hamilton's Azerbaijan Grand Prix headrest issue explained

Lewis Hamilton's victory hopes in last weekend's Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix were dashed when his Mercedes' headrest came loose, forcing an additional pitstop to have it changed.

But what caused this rare problem, which occurred after the race had been red flagged, and if the stoppage was part of the cause for Hamilton, why were no other cars affected?

In this clip from the latest episode of Motorsport.tv's weekly programme The Flying Lap, Craig Scarborough talks Peter Windsor around a race-used F1 headrest, explaining the factors that played a part in the Mercedes version coming loose.

 

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SHAKE-UP AT SAUBER – WHERE WILL IT LEAVE FORMULA 1’S PERENNIAL UNDERDOG?

The furore over the Vettel/Hamilton incident in Baku has overshadowed another story which is playing out and will have repercussions for one of F1’s ten teams.

Sauber dispensed with the services of team principal Monisha Kaltenborn just before the Baku weekend and, inevitably, in the wake of that move there will be further changes at the team as it rebalances around a new direction.

Kaltenborn, who had been made a shareholder in the Sauber team by Peter Sauber, supported a number of people within the team who now stand on shaky ground, from Mercedes backed driver Pascal Wehrlein to some of the back room and engineering staff.

As the team seeks a new direction – and there has been no word yet on who will replace Kaltenborn – things will change. Colin Kolles, a long time ally of Bernie Ecclestone’s, was tipped as a candidate but this appears to have been blocked. There were even rumours that Ecclestone might be shaping up to buy the team, but then there have been similar rumours around Force India, with no sign yet of anything moving, other than a name chance to “Force One”.

One dynamic which seems to be at play is the question of ‘favouritism’ within the team; Marcus Ericsson has the backing of the major shareholders, Longbow Finance, who have strong ties to his long time Swedish backers. Wehrlein was backed by Kalteborn and was placed at the team by Toto Wolff, the Mercedes motorsport boss, who also has Esteban Ocon at Force India and youngster George Russell making his way through the junior ranks.

The impression in recent weeks was that there was dispute internally about drivers getting preferential treatment, with Ericsson unhappy in Baku about being asked to move aside to let Wehrlein have a crack at passing cars ahead, but not being given the chance to retake the position and claim his first point of the season.

Wehrlein is clearly the faster of the two drivers, but he does not have the backing of the new bosses, as Ericsson does.

Sauber issued a statement last week denying that the team favoured Ericsson over Wehrlein, with Ericsson saying that it was wrong to suggest that. If anything there seemed to be an undercurrent that there was some unhappiness when things went the other way and Wehrlein was the one to go after a potential result if the chance arose.

For a team like Sauber that is scrapping for every point and seeking to do better than the inevitable 10th place, with McLaren-Honda struggling to score points also, any opportunity needs to be grasped with a certain ruthlessness.

The team did that last year in Brazil with an audacious strategy in trick conditions and a superb drive by Felipe Nasr. They did it again in Barcelona this year, taking four points on a one stop strategy that relied on Wehrlein doing half the race on a set of soft tyres and then taking advantage of a Virtual Safety Car which fell at just the right moment.

A further point in Baku on a day when many of the normal top ten runners hit trouble, helped to keep McLaren at bay for the moment.

This season is a particular challenge for the smaller teams who have less downforce on their cars due to lack of development budget. It means that on tracks where the new generation Pirelli tyres are hard to ‘switch on’, like Russia, Monaco and Baku, that problem is exacerbated for those teams.

So the question now will be whether Werhlein’s services are retained to the end of the year, let alone beyond that, what the circumstances around him will be once the new team management is put in place.

Sauber is switching from year old Ferrari engines, which is another handicap this season, to the Honda engine next season, so most of the focus in the decisions that are taken now will be about gearing up for that new partnership.

“Clearly she saved the team many times,” Wehrlein said of Kaltenborn. “I heard that last year was very difficult for the team and I think it’s especially thanks to her the team is still here and Sauber got the deal with the new investors.

“She saved many jobs of many people and, on a personal side, I always got along very well with her and I’m very thankful for what she did for me, especially in the situation when I had my injury (Race of Champions injury that meant he missed the opening two rounds of 2017).”

It will also be interesting to see what changes technical director Jorg Zander will now decide to make.

He was an surprising choice in many ways, one of the first appointments after Longbow Finance came in last year, as he has been out of F1 for a while, working with Audi Sport from 2010 until he joined Sauber at the end of 2016.

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ITALIAN MEDIA CALL FOR FERRARI BOYCOTT IF VETTEL GETS RACE BAN

Elements of the Italian media have called for Ferrari to boycott the Austrian Grand Prix if the FIA further penalise him for his antics during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Vettel swerved into Lewis Hamilton during a safety car period, he was slapped with a 10 seconds stop-and-go penalty, as well as three points on his super-license, for his actions on the day and as a result probably cost himself and his Ferrari team victory.

Today, on his 30th birthday, Vettel is in Paris on the request of FIA president Jean Todt. The incident in Baku is on the agenda and now the Formula 1 world awaits the outcome of the tête-à-tête between the pair.

Specualtion is that Todt wants to further penalise Vettel as his antics were in sharp contrast to the governing body’s road safety campaigns and it is feared that the German will be made an example of by the FIA.

Since there is no open process against Vettel, it is difficult to discern with certainty what may happen, and further punishment is in the hands of Todt.

He could leave everything as is it is apart from having a firm word with the four times F1 World Champion. But if Todt decides to impose greater punishment it opens a wide range of options, including anything from a hefty fine, disqualification from Baku race results or ban of Vettel from one or more races.

Should such additional penalties be applied, they will be done so under the official rule book of the FIA and thus the governing body would have to ratify the additional sanction/s to formalise them.

Any further official penalty would be open to appeal by Ferrari and thus the saga could drag on for months.

The main sentiment (outside Britain and one shared by this website) is that what Vettel did was out of line and unacceptable, however he was penalised and served his penalty on the day.

Further punishment would be counter productive and open a can of worms regarding the credibility of the FIA stewards present at each race.

Certain sectors of the Italian media are more militant about the prospect of further penalties, specifically a race ban, which if applied they in turn call for Ferrari to boycott the next race.

Umberto Zapelloni, deputy director of La Gazzetta dello Sport, has led the call for a boycott by Ferrari if Vettel is further castigated.

Spelloni wrote: “Jean Todt believes that the penalty of a stop-and-go plus three points on his license is not enough. Although he will never admit it publicly, he is working in the shadows to make an example of Vettel and Ferrari.”

“A public slap on the wrist, a symbolic penalty, suspended disqualification to be imposed if it happens again would be acceptable. But if the FIA disqualifies Vettel it would be outrageous and absurd. If this happens Ferrari should react by withdrawing the team.”

Vettel was wrong, there’s no doubt about that, but punishing him again would be a serious mistake,” added Zapelloni who feels that the intervention by Todt jeopardises the independence of race stewards.

Zapelloni is not alone among Italian scribes calling for a boycott by Ferrari should further peanlties be imposed on Vettel by the FIA.

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FIA TAKE NO FURTHER ACTION AGAINST APOLOGETIC VETTEL

Ferrari’s Formula 1 championship leader Sebastian Vettel will face no further sanction for his ‘road rage’ collision with Lewis Hamilton at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the governing FIA said on Monday.

The German, a four times world champion, was given a 10 second stop-and-go penalty during the race for angrily banging wheels with his Mercedes rival while they were behind the safety car.

The International Automobile Federation said Vettel, who turned 30 on Monday, attended a meeting at its Paris headquarters.

He admitted full responsibility, apologised and also “committed to devote personal time over the next 12 months to educational activities across a variety of FIA championships and events.”

The governing body said that “in light of these developments, FIA President Jean Todt decided that on this occasion the matter should be closed.”

Ferrari said, “Following the meeting that was held today in Paris between FIA representatives and Scuderia Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel, with the purpose of clarifying positions on the incidents occurred at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix,

“Scuderia Ferrari notes the driver’s apologies and his personal commitments to help the image of the sport. Scuderia Ferrari confirms its support to FIA’s initiatives, sharing the governing’s body values and objectives.”

FIA Statement:

Following an incident at the recent Azerbaijan Grand Prix involving a collision between Car 5 (Sebastian Vettel) and Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton), Sebastian Vettel was today invited to attend a meeting at the FIA’s Paris headquarters. He was accompanied by his Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene. He reviewed the incident together with a panel comprised of FIA Deputy President for Sport Graham Stoker, FIA General Secretary for Sport Peter Bayer, FIA Formula One World Championship Race Director Charlie Whiting and FIA Formula One World Championship Deputy Race Director and FIA Safety Director Laurent Mekies.

During the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, stewards officiating at the event issued a 10-second stop-and-go penalty to Sebastian Vettel, the most severe penalty immediately applicable before displaying a black flag notice to the driver. Sebastian Vettel also had three penalty points applied to his FIA Superlicence, taking his current total to nine.

However, while respecting the Stewards’ decision, the FIA remained deeply concerned by the wider implications of the incident, firstly through the impact such behaviour may have on fans and young competitors worldwide and secondly due to the damage such behaviour may cause to the FIA’s image and reputation of the sport.

Following detailed discussion and further examination of video and data evidence related to the incident, Sebastian Vettel admitted full responsibility.

Sebastian Vettel extended his sincere apologies to the FIA and the wider motor sport family. He additionally committed to devote personal time over the next 12 months to educational activities across a variety of FIA championships and events, including in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, at an FIA Formula 4 Championship to be defined and at the FIA Stewards’ seminar. Due to this incident, President Jean Todt instructed that no road safety activities should be endorsed by Sebastian Vettel until the end of this year.

The FIA notes this commitment, the personal apology made by Sebastian Vettel and his pledge to make that apology public. The FIA also notes that Scuderia Ferrari is aligned with the values and objectives of the FIA.

In light of these developments, FIA President Jean Todt decided that on this occasion the matter should be closed.

Nevertheless, in noting the severity of the offence and its potential negative consequences, FIA President Todt made it clear that should there be any repetition of such behaviour, the matter would immediately be referred to the FIA International Tribunal for further investigation.

Commenting on the outcome of the meeting, FIA President Jean Todt said: “Top level sport is an intense environment in which tempers can flare. However, it is the role of top sportsmen to deal with that pressure calmly and to conduct themselves in a manner that not only respects the regulations of the sport but which befits the elevated status they enjoy.

“Sportsmen must be cognisant of the impact their behaviour can have on those who look up to them. They are heroes and role models and to millions of fans worldwide and must conduct themselves accordingly.”

Meanwhile at Maranello:

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HONDA CONFIRM SPEC THREE ENGINES FOR AUSTRIA

Honda have confirmed that both McLaren drivers, Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne will have updated Spec Three power units at their disposal for the Austrian Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso revealed in his preview of the weekend at Red Bull Ring, “We’ve got a couple of useful steps coming on the car, including – hopefully – Honda’s revised Spec Three power unit, which I tried during Friday practice in Azerbaijan.”

“Every step is important, so I’m looking forward to a positive weekend where we can once again get everything out of the car,” added the Spaniard who scored the team’s first points of the season in Baku

Honda F1 chief Yusuke Hasegawa confirmed that the Spec Three power unit was tested during practice in Baku, “We tested the updated PU, the Spec Three, with Fernando on Friday and we were able to confirm some progress in terms of the power output.”

“We have proceeded with the mapping back at the factory utilising the data we collected, and we are going to bring the Spec Three for both drivers this weekend,” added Hasegawa.

Honda are wiorking overtime to address the lack of power and poor reliability of their engines, which had resulted in McLaren’s worst ever season.

Alonso, who is looking to move away from McLaren, said in Baku, “Our speed is that slow that [other drivers] think we are on a slow lap. But no this is our speed.”

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FORCE INDIA: WE REMINDED OUR DRIVERS THE TEAM ALWAYS COMES FIRST

Force India co-owner Vijay Mallya has reminded drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon that the team must take priority after a collision at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix wrecked hopes of a first win in Formula One.

The Indian said they would be allowed to continue racing without the need to be reined in, however.

“It’s still frustrating to ponder what might have been had things played out differently,” Mallya said in a preview for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg, the race following on from Baku.

“Since Baku we’ve had some conversations internally and reminded our drivers that the team must always come first. It’s never acceptable for team mates to make contact with each other and it certainly cost us points in Baku,” added Mallya.

“However, the events of Azerbaijan won’t change our approach. Our drivers can race freely and I’m sure they have learnt some valuable lessons … I know they are mature enough to work together for the good of the team.”

Force India, currently fourth overall in the constructors’ championship, have yet to win a race since Mallya arrived in 2008 and renamed a team that had gone through various previous guises as Jordan, Midland and Spyker.

They have come close, with a pole position and second place in Belgium in 2009 with Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, and four third places for Mexican Perez since he joined in 2014.

In Azerbaijan, Perez and French rookie Ocon were fighting for a podium spot when they collided. Ocon suffered a puncture and significant car damage but continued to finish sixth.

Perez initially retired, before the race was stopped and then re-started due to debris on the track caused by the Force India collision.

Of the cars ahead of them at the time, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton lost the lead after pitting to fix a loose headrest while Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was handed a 10 second stop and go penalty and finished fourth.

“Vettel got his penalty due to that restart, so we would have beaten him. And (Red Bull’s eventual winner Daniel) Ricciardo we would have beaten,” said chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer after the race.

“But without us causing the red flag, Hamilton’s headrest wouldn’t have come up, so he would have won it. So, would have, could have, should have … we still would have been second or third.”

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PIRELLI PREVIEW THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX

The Red Bull Ring has some characteristics in common with the succession of low-grip circuits that have come immediately before it, with a slippery surface and relatively contained lateral forces.

As opposed to Azerbaijan, Canada and Monaco, it’s an entirely permanent venue: a chopped down version of the mythical Osterreichring. This gives the track an old-school feel, and a lot of it is visible from any vantage point; it’s one of the shortest laps of the year.

The three softest tyres in Pirelli’s Formula 1 range will be used in Austria: P Zero Yellow soft, P Zero Red supersoft and P Zero Purple ultrasoft. These should be well-suited to the rollercoaster Spielberg layout, providing the right compromise between warm-up, performance and durability.

The circuit from a tyre point of view:

• Track was entirely resurfaced in 2016: it’s one of the smoothest surfaces of the year.
• Tyre nominations are the same as last year: both one and two stops could be possible.
• The local geography means there’s a high risk of uncertain weather all weekend.
• Some graining was seen last year on ultrasoft but this is very unlikely with the new generation 2017 tyres, with almost zero graining so far this season.
• The first two sectors are fast and flowing, the final sector is slower and more technical.
• There’s plenty of elevation, including some tricky uphill braking that is easy to get wrong.

Mario Isola, Head Of Car Racing: “The natural selection for this type of circuit is the three softest compounds in the range. Having said that, we’ve seen in the past that Austria also has the capability to spring a few surprises. When we get there we’ll see if one stops or two are more likely, but it will be important for teams to build some flexibility into the strategies as well. Longitudinal forces – so traction and braking – are the key aspects in Austria, rather than cornering.

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MCLAREN PREVIEW THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX

Austria’s association with Formula 1 dates back to 1964, when the country staged its inaugural Austrian Grand Prix at the temporary Zeltweg Airfield circuit. A permanent home for the race was subsequently established at the Osterreichring (1970-’87), which was shortened and re-profiled by Hermann Tilke in the mid-’90s to create the current Red Bull Ring (nee A1 Ring)

Fernando Alonso: “I really enjoyed my race in Baku. Our performance in the race not only showed that the foundations of our car package are strong, but also that our operational team – our mechanics, engineers and strategists – are all racers, poised and waiting to take advantage of any situation. Two points may have been a small consolation after an extremely tough weekend, but, as I said at the time, we’ll take it and use it to drive us forwards.

“And there are reasons to feel more optimistic about our weekend in Austria. It’s a circuit that’s not as dependent on power as some of the recent races, and I think our car will be better suited to the twists and turns of the Spielberg circuit. I think we’ll be able to push hard.

“We’ve also got a couple of useful steps coming on the car, including – hopefully – Honda’s revised Spec Three power unit, which I tried during Friday practice in Azerbaijan. Every step is important, so I’m looking forward to a positive weekend where we can once again get everything out of the car.”

Stoffel Vandoorne: “I’m looking forward to Austria – it’s a great little circuit that usually produces good overtaking, close racing and unexpected results. It should also suit our package a little better than Canada and Baku, where the long straights really don’t play to our strengths.

“Scoring points in the last race was very good for the whole team’s motivation and morale, and I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to make further progress in Austria. We’ve been bringing upgrades to every race, so a problem-free weekend, at a circuit that doesn’t disadvantage us, would really allow us to gain some momentum.

“Of course, we’re still some way off where we want to be, but a respectable result in Austria would really give the team an added boost.”

Eric Boullier, McLaren-Honda Racing Director: “After a couple of flyaway races, it’ll be good to get back to Europe and push on with developing our 2017 package. After the excitement and incident of Azerbaijan, I hope that Austria will once again deliver a thrilling race for Formula 1. The circuit itself seems to produce good, close racing, and its configuration should certainly suit our car better than the high speeds and long straights of both Montreal, Baku and the forthcoming race at Silverstone.

“In fact, we had one of our strongest showings in Austria last year, when Jenson was third in a rain-affected qualifying session, and went on to finish a very competitive sixth. There’s been no let-up in our development push all season, and, while the result in Azerbaijan was nothing to truly celebrate, it was a sign that we are working well and able to capitalise whenever an opportunity presents itself.

“With a number of improvements planned for the Austrian weekend, not least the proposed new Spec Three power unit upgrade from Honda, I’m hopeful that we’ll be in a position to get amid the other midfield runners and take a useful step forwards.”

Yusuke Hasegawa, Honda R&D Co. Ltd Head of F1 Project & Executive Chief Engineer: “The Red Bull Ring is a beautiful, unique circuit surrounded by the Styrian mountains.”

“It is the track with the shortest lap time on the Formula 1 calendar, and with only nine corners. However, contrary to appearances, it is a demanding track for the drivers with high speed corners and you have to be very careful not to make a single mistake for 71 laps.

“One of the biggest challenges for us is the high altitude. The circuit is around 700m (2,297 ft) above sea level, and the turbo will therefore have to spin at a much higher rate to produce the same amount of power. The efficiency of deployment will also be affected. Our strategy for the energy management will be key for the race.

“At the previous round in Azerbaijan, we were able to bank our first points of the year and I think it brought some brightness into our team. We also tested the updated PU, the Spec Three, with Fernando on Friday and we were able to confirm some progress in terms of the power output. We have proceeded with the mapping back at the factory utilising the data we collected, and we are going to bring the Spec Three for both drivers this weekend.

“I think we have some improvements in our competitiveness and I am looking forward to seeing our performance in Austria.

“We will not stop our preparation until the last minutes, and I hope we have a good race to reflect our progress.”

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RED BULL DRIVERS PREVIEW THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX

Red Bull drivers preview the Austrian Grand Prix, Round 9 of the 2017 Formula 1 World Championship, at Red Bull Ring.

Max Verstappen: “I had a really good result in Austria last year coming second. Before the race it was a bit unknown how the tires would play out so I just tried to feel my way in and keep life in them. This allowed me to complete a one stop strategy, which was always going to be a gamble, but in the end worked out really well. This year we have to make sure the car is working well in the corners in order to be up with the front runners and then just try and be as competitive as possible on the straights, it’s always a bit of a compromise.

“The fans at the Red Bull Ring are always extremely passionate and of course there was a big Dutch turn out last year which is always special for me to see, plenty of caravans and orange around the area. I already tried my hand at caravanning at the track earlier this year, that was such good fun to be able to tow a caravan in an Aston Martin, and drift it.”

Daniel Ricciardo: We get the full Red Bull hospitality when we’re at the Austrian Grand Prix and you definitely feel part of a big family as a Red Bull athlete. We have done some pretty crazy things at the track, wearing the lederhosen race suit is something different and a few weeks ago Max and I raced caravans there. To be honest I’m not sure they would have let us do that anywhere else as the caravans were destroyed, but we loved it!

“At any kind of power circuit like Austria you want to be smooth and get good exits in order to give yourself the best chance on the long straights. The compromise is always the aero package. In the middle to the end of the lap you want more downforce because the corners are quite fast but more downforce means you are slower on the straights, so the key is to find a good balance throughout the lap. I really enjoy the track and the only downside is that I wish it was a bit longer. I wish it had a few more corners, but the corners that do exist are great fun.

“I know we always get on to food (laughs) but I really do look forward to a good Schnitzel, ooh, I love schnitzel with fresh lemon and cranberry jam, it’s so good.”

Christian Horner Video Preview:

 

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HAAS PREVIEW THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX

With the Austrian Grand Prix July 9 at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship starts its European tour. A five-race slate kicks off in Austria before moving to England and then Hungary, Belgium and Italy.

Haas F1 Team comes into this summer stretch having scored four straight point-paying finishes and six on the year to place it seventh in the constructors standings. It has a three-point margin over eighth-place Renault while sixth-place Toro Rosso is 12 points ahead.

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal

Four straight point-paying finishes and six total this season – one more than you had all of last year. Consistency and sustainability were goals at the start of this year. How are you realizing these goals?
GS: “The game has become more difficult. The midfield is much more compact this year. Therefore, it’s difficult to get in the points. We’ve got more points-scoring races, but less points. It is tough, but I think we’ve shown we’ve made progress as a team and that we are more consistent. Look at our pit stops, for example. They’re normally pretty good. It takes time and you cannot buy time. You just need to give yourself time to fix problems and keep on growing. As long as we’re showing improvement, I think we’re doing well.

“The teams that are there – they’ve been around for decades. The only thing we can compare ourselves with are the teams that are no longer there – the new startups from around 2010. All of those teams together, they scored a lot less points than we have in not even one-and-a-half seasons. I think we can show what we promised. We want to be a player, we want to be successful, but we also know our limitations. All in all, we’ve done a good job.”

One driver had a very good Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Magnussen finished a season-best seventh – and the other, Grosjean, had a very frustrating weekend. How do two drivers in the same equipment have such different fortunes in a race weekend?
GS: “We can go straight there to our issue, which is braking. It’s not that Kevin didn’t have the problems with the brakes. With his driving style – for him it’s easier to drive around it, or make it less evident. He was not happy with the brakes in FP2. For the race, he had to lift and coast, as well, because we had some issues. With Romain’s driving style, the brakes need to be perfect, or as close to perfect as can be. At the moment, we are not there.”

The cars are the same, but the drivers are indeed different. How do you tailor a car’s setup to best match a driver’s preferences and feel?
GS: “The cars as a setup – suspension-wise and aero-wise – are pretty similar all the time. But their driving styles – how they go into a corner – that’s a little bit different. In the end the cars are not far apart. The drivers work with their race engineer, but the cars, in principle, are very similar.”

In your role as team principal, how much of your job is spent analyzing the racecar and how much of your job is spent managing people?
GS: “I would say analyzing the racecar is very little. I know what’s going on, but I’ve got qualified people to do that. The group around Ayao Komatsu (principal race engineer) is doing all that work. They don’t need me. Managing people is my main job. That takes a lot of my time. I’m also trying to help them so that they can get what they need. I need to make it possible. They need to explain to me things that are missing, and then I need to find ways to make the team work better. That’s my job. Analyzing racecars – they don’t want me there.”

The Red Bull Ring in Spielberg is relatively close to your hometown of Merano, Italy. Do you view it as a home race of sorts?
GS: “Yes, of sorts, but I’ve got many home races in my life. I have one in Austria, one in Italy, which is Monza, and one in the United States. Red Bull Ring is relatively close to where I come from and is only about a five-hour drive from my hometown.”

Austria marks the beginning of a five-race stretch of European races where teams can take all of their transporters and hospitality units to each race. How much easier is this from a logistical standpoint?
GS: “I wouldn’t say it’s easier, but just more convenient because you have the equipment right there. Back-to-back races are always very difficult for the guys, even if it is in Europe and you have all your transporters. To go from one place to the other by truck, it sometimes takes us as long, if not longer, than the flight would since we have a lot of going back and forth. It is nice to be in Europe with one time zone, though. There is a lot less jetlag. I know the mechanics enjoy being in Europe since it is no more than a two-hour flight home for them. All in all, it is a little bit more convenient, but it is not easy.”

Romain Grosjean

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was obviously a frustrating experience, but the silver lining in motorsports is that there is always another race weekend. How important is it to hit a reset button in Austria and have a productive, systematic weekend beginning with FP1 and continuing right through the race?
RG: “I think it’s important that we sort out our problems and get back to a decent level. I think there were some positives from Baku, as there always are. There were some negatives, of course, but I’m very much looking forward to going back to Austria. We’ll work on the things we can improve and I’m hoping for a better result. We had a good race there last year. I’m hoping the car works well and it should be a fun track to drive.”

When drivers talk about finding the balance of the car, is it aero balance, mechanical balance, brake balance or a combination of all three?
RG: “It’s a combination of all three. You cannot take one apart. Aero and mechanical balance go together, and the brake balance fine-tunes the car. It’s very difficult to remove one. You work with your philosophy and you set up from there.”

If one of those areas of balance is off, does it have a snowball effect with the rest of the car’s handling? How do you attempt to overcome it?
RG: “Yes, it’s definitely a snowball effect. When you lose, let’s say the aero balance, then you try to compensate with the brake balance going rearward, then the mechanical balance going rearward. Nothing is then putting load on the front tires and, therefore, you’ve got front-locking. It’s about finding the right balance, not putting too much on things, but finding the right compromise because you’re never going to get a full, perfect lap with the car balance.”

Most drivers are creatures of habit, where a similar routine is followed no matter the venue. With Austria marking the beginning of a five-race European stretch that takes us all the way through August, how helpful is it to have some uniformity in that your changing room is the same, your hospitality unit is the same, your debriefing room is the same, etc., because all of our trucks will be at all of these races?
RG: “It’s good that we’ve got all of our own stuff with these races. We have very good equipment. Everything we have is nearly brand new. Not too much really changes on a race weekend though, even on the fly-aways.”

You’re a family man and Geneva is home. How valuable is this stretch of races because the travel time to each venue is so much less intense, allowing you more days at home?
RG: “We’ve been traveling a lot. It’s good to be able to come to the European races. You can arrive at the track on Thursday morning and be home by dinner time on Sunday, which is good for my kids. It also allows us a bit more time to prepare our fitness. You don’t have to get used to jetlag and you know more of the food you’re going to be eating. It really helps us reach our peak performance.”

Because the travel is less intense, does this summer stretch of European races allow you to ratchet up your physical training, or does it simply allow you to get into more of a routine?
RG: “We’ll look to step it up now. When we’re traveling and dealing with time-zone changes and so on, it’s definitely important to keep a routine and still focus on training. We have a bit more time now that we’re on the European circuit. The three-week summer break will also allow us to work hard on fitness. You start with a good level and then you have to work to maintain it. Summer’s great because it’s a bit easier. You can do a lot more outside, which I enjoy.”

What is your favorite form of exercise? Is it running, cycling, weightlifting, or is it more about what you feel like doing on a particular day?
RG: “A lot of it depends on the day and the weather. For example, if it’s 30 degrees (Celsius) then I’m cycling, for sure, not running. It also depends on what time I have available. I like playing tennis as well. Sometimes it’s good to challenge yourself and do something quite hard. It can give you a boost for the next race.”

Much was made about the fitness level drivers needed to have this year to handle the heightened g-forces and faster speeds of this new-generation car. Was the strain on the body as much as you expected and after eight races does everything seem pretty normal, despite all the talk of needing to be stronger to drive these cars?
RG: “Personally, I prepared too much for 2017, but it’s better being too prepared than not enough. The cars are much harder, physically, than they were before. They’re great fun to drive. It brings greater challenges. A lot is related to how the tires are working. You can push on the tires, but not as much as you would like. Everything now feels normal. The speed we’re doing in the car feels normal. I guess if we went back to the previous generation of cars, we’d out-brake ourselves every single corner.”

The Red Bull Ring is a relatively short circuit, but its layout covers a wide range of conditions. Is it akin to some other tracks in Formula One or is it unique?
RG: “It’s a funny place to race being in the middle of the mountains. The circuit is very short. The lap time is almost like Monaco. There are some overtaking opportunities. I like going there, and the surrounding area looks a lot like Switzerland.”

Do you have any milestones or moments from your junior career that you enjoyed at the Red Bull Ring?
RG: “The first time I raced the Red Bull Ring was in Formula One in 2014. I have no moments there from my time in the junior categories. It’s a track I quite like and I’m very much looking forward to it.”

What is your favorite part of the Red Bull Ring?
RG: “I quite like the middle sector. There are medium- to high-speed corners. The track, in general, has two very different parts. You’ve got turn one and turn two, which are very similar. Both are 90-degree turns with big braking and long, straight lines. You’ve then got the second part, which is more flowing.”

Describe a lap around the Red Bull Ring.
RG: “You start with big braking into turn one, a 90-degree corner. It’s very important to go early on the power. There’s then a long straight line going up to turn two where you brake very late into the corner, and there’s a change of camber. You go flat again after that to turn three. Again, tricky braking there as you’re going downhill. Then you’ve got a double-left corner, medium- to high-speed turns. The last couple of turns are the same as you go up the hill and then down again. It can be pretty tricky, but if you get the grip under the car and a good balance, it can be a lot of fun to drive.”

Kevin Magnussen

You and the team are scoring points on a regular basis. Do you feel like you’re finding your groove with the team and that points in each race are possible?
KM: “I definitely feel that at each race points are possible, which is a really cool feeling. It’s good going into every race knowing that you can fight for something. It’s cool.”

How satisfying is it to be a part of Haas F1 Team and contributing to its growth?
KM: “It’s really cool. The team had performed extremely well in its first season. Now, in its second season, it looks like we’ve made improvements and have already taken small steps forward, and that’s not easy in the second year of a Formula One team.”

Most drivers are creatures of habit, where a similar routine is followed no matter the venue. With Austria marking the beginning of a five-race European stretch that takes us all the way through August, how helpful is it to have some uniformity in that your changing room is the same, your hospitality unit is the same, your debriefing room is the same, etc., because all of our trucks will be at all of these races?
KM: “No matter where we are, it’s always quite nice in terms of things like our hospitality. We have our own chefs at the track cooking for us. It’s always quite luxurious. It’s still nice having the European season because it feels a bit more like home.”

How valuable is this stretch of races because the travel time to each venue is so much less intense, allowing you more days at home?
KM: “It’s nice not having those long trips. It’s a bit better for stress levels as we don’t have to deal with things like jetlag and all that.”

Because the travel is less intense, does this summer stretch of European races allow you to ratchet up your physical training, or does it simply allow you to get into more of a routine?
KM: “Both. You get into a little bit better of a routine, and also you have more time on your hands, so you get more training in as well. It’s quite nice.”

What is your favorite form of exercise? Is it running, cycling, weightlifting, or is it more about what you feel like doing on a particular day?
KM: “I wouldn’t say I don’t really have a favorite form of exercise. I just enjoy my training because I feel like I’m improving myself and doing the best for my career.”

Much was made about the fitness level drivers needed to have this year to handle the heightened g-forces and faster speeds of this new-generation car. Was the strain on the body as much as you expected and after eight races does everything seem pretty normal, despite all the talk of needing to be stronger to drive these cars?
KM: “It’s getting normal now and we’re getting used to it. It’s tough driving these cars physically, but it feels a lot more normal now. There aren’t any surprises.”

The Red Bull Ring is a relatively short circuit, but its layout covers a wide range of conditions. Is it akin to some other tracks in Formula One or is it unique?
KM: “It’s a little bit unique. It’s a very small area. It kind of reminds me of a go-kart track in that you can basically see the whole track from the grandstands. It’s quite nice and compact, but still with some fast corners and long straights, giving some opportunities to overtake. When I’ve raced there it’s been entertaining.”

What is your favorite part of the Red Bull Ring and why?
KM: “The last corner is pretty cool. There’s short, hard braking just after a fast corner. You’re kind of on the edge there. There’s a bit of a dip in the middle of the apex, so it feels cool going through it.”

Describe a lap around the Red Bull Ring.
KM: “It’s like a short rollercoaster ride.”

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RENAULT PREVIEW THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX

Foreword from Renault Sport Racing Managing Director, Cyril Abiteboul: “The Austrian Grand Prix comes at a critical point of our season and it’s important that we go there in determined fashion. We need to be resolute to put aside the disappointment of Baku, be in a position to strive for a points haul in Spielberg and eager to meet our targets for the season by getting back on the right track.

“Azerbaijan left us with a bittersweet feeling. Results and reliability were disappointing, even more so it doesn’t correlate with the amount of work accomplished from the engine perspective, although Daniel Ricciardo’s win does show the progress. For Renault Sport Formula One Team, there is frustration since Montréal. We feel the car is much more competitive and that was experienced right from the start of the weekend in Baku. Unfortunately this didn’t translate into points.

“In Baku Nico did a fine job in the race, staying out of trouble before and after the red flag, but the slightest of misjudgements put an end to his charge. Jolyon, meanwhile, was up against it after missing out on qualifying and had to retire seven laps in. The team in Baku did a great job on both cars, especially Jolyon’s, by giving him a chance to be in the race, but ultimately we fell short.

“Looking to Austria, we are confident. We will start to see further improvements on the car and we aim to make a fresh and positive turnaround in Spielberg. We are fully committed to ensuring we get to the right milestones and to catch-up on lost points from Baku.

“Austria and Silverstone are the first European back to back races of the season. They are exciting circuits with passionate and energetic supporters to match. The fans witnessed a great show in Baku and we hope it will be the same in Spielberg and that Renault Sport Formula One Team gets back in the points.

“I would also like to extend my congratulations to Academy member Christian Lundgaard who took a hat-trick of wins in the Spanish F4 Championship.. Our Test Driver Nicholas Latifi also had a positive weekend as he took two third place finishes in the Formula 2 support races in Baku.

“It’s important now that we add to this success. Our season goals are unchanged. We want to be sixth by the mid-season break and fifth come Abu Dhabi in November. Therefore, it is vital we pick ourselves up and push on for some points in Austria from both cars. It is about regrouping, working hard together, concentrating, putting our issues behind and ensuring we stay positive both in the build-up and during the race weekend.”

Game Plan: After a weekend of highs and lows in Baku, Engine Technical Director Rémi Taffin looks at the state of play in the Power Unit world.

What can we expect from the Red Bull Ring?
RT: It is quite a power sensitive track and it probably will be in line with Baku in terms of performance expectations. We will consolidate the power improvement made for Baku and aim to deliver more. There is no big plan with brand new upgrades, just continual improvement of the entire package. The altitude of the track will be a challenge as the turbo will spin faster to generate the required induction, so that’s something we’ll monitor. Experiencing a trouble-free weekend will bring points.

What’s the post Baku debrief?
RT: In terms of performance we were able to demonstrate on a very power-sensitive circuit that we have made another step forward. This was not through new components, but rather through our continual quest for more power and improvement, concentrating on the details and optimising every element of the package. Nico was fighting to be in the top five when he made contact with the wall, and this was on a circuit with a tremendously long straight and a great appetite for horsepower. It was also good for us to be able to cheer the race winner.

What is also clear is that we did have reliability issues on track; issues which we immediately addressed, but this should not detract from the clear progress which has been made. We have put in place new and better procedures to catch any issues before the cars take to the track and we’re working with great diligence in this area.

For our customer teams, we saw coincidence of issues. The Energy Store issue we have seen has been addressed and the new Energy Stores are to a different specification without this concern. With the ICE, the latest specification addresses the problems we’ve seen to date. In Austria, we have the latest versions of components and we should not see any repeats of previous woes.

Schnitzels and strudels: A minor error proved costly for Nico Hülkenberg in Baku, but the German has set his sights on brushing that aside and going for glory in Austria…

Is Austria almost a second home race for you?
NH: These days, Monaco is a home race for me as that’s the one where I stay at home for the race weekend but Austria definitely has a familiarity about it and it’s a very welcoming event. The atmosphere is very relaxed and lots of German fans make the short trip over the border so yes, it almost feels like a home race for me. I love racing in Spielberg especially with the backdrop to the track, with the Alps; it’s spectacular, and there is an old-school vibe to the circuit which I enjoy.

Do you enjoy the Austrian culture?
NH: It’s mandatory to eat a schnitzel that is for sure! They come from Austria and I absolutely love schnitzels. I also recommend kaiserschmarrn; it’s a fantastic, Austrian dessert, I love it! Spielberg is in the middle of nowhere, there isn’t much around, just lots of fields and cows but also a lot of green which is very pretty and picturesque to see.

How’s the track to drive?
NH: It’s a short track with not too many corners. It’s important not to get a false impression as it’s still very challenging and technical. It has a lot of elevation – up and down – and some tricky corners to match. On paper, it looks easy but actually to get a good lap time it isn’t so simple. It’s about balance, there are some medium speed corners so it will be important to find that and get a decent lap time. Last year was fantastic to be on the front row – I managed to string a good lap together in Q3. It was just a shame not to follow that up in the race!

How do you sum up Baku?
NH: It was a difficult weekend. It was a crazy race; one of those you get every five years. During the red flag we were sixth, things were going well and we were making up places with people crashing, I was just trying to stay alive and out of trouble. Unfortunately, lap two after the red flag, I misjudged the turning into turn seven and hit the inside wall and broke the steering arm. That was the end of my race which was disappointing, we surely would have had a couple of points. That is racing, however, and we will regroup and go again in Austria.

The Hills are Alive: A strong run up the order in Austria last year gives Jolyon Palmer cause for optimism heading to the hills of Spielberg.

What’s the challenge of Spielberg?
JP: The Red Bull Ring is quite a simple track with just nine corners. Putting a good lap together is very important as the lap times are very close and any mistake can really hurt. I like that, though, as the driver can make more of a difference. There are some bumpy zones and some overtaking possibilities, such as turn one and turn two and the long straight joining them. There are some fast corners as well, including the penultimate corner which is pretty quick. Then the last corner has a bit of camber and you need to carry the speed through. It’s a fun circuit in an F1 car as there are some good straights and the tyre deg is very low so we can be flat out the whole race.

You had a positive race in Spielberg last season…
JP: We started on the penultimate row last year but I managed to work my way up to twelfth, beating my team-mate. I was quite happy with the race, we just needed a little bit of extra luck and I think we could have been in the points. It is a circuit I enjoy having raced there in GP2 in 2014 and then a Free Practice session in 2015. It was definitely one of my strongest races of last season, so it is important to build on the knowledge we have and my confidence at the track and work towards a positive result. We need to change our luck. I hope we can make it all stick heading into the final few rounds before the summer break – beginning here.

How do you reflect on Baku?
JP: There isn’t a lot to say from my weekend, but it was a crazy race to watch! I enjoyed watching it, but I wish I was in it, I think there were some points up for grabs for us. We will make sure we have a better one in Austria, the target is always the same; to bring home some points.

Track Notes:

The fast Red Bull Ring places high demands on the brakes and power unit. The 4.318km lap is comprised of high speed and flowing turns interspersed with slow speed corners that require good traction. The track produces the shortest overall lap time of the year, with drivers negotiating it in just under 70secs.

• T1 – Long straight uphill will make big demands on the power unit, with T1 a reasonably quick and challenging right hander at the end. The uphill helps the braking but it is a short apex and drivers have to focus not to run too wide.
• T2 – Undulating longest straight on the track with heavy braking into T2 of Remus. Slow right hander which will give the brakes quite a workout despite being uphill.
• T3 – Another decent straight with the downhill, relatively fast T3 of Schlossgold at the end, featuring an interesting camber to challenge the drivers. Braking is a challenge due to being downhill; out-braking easy here.
• T5 – Good exit of T3 opens up the quick right-hand kink (T4) leading into T5 a long and fairly fast left opening up a mini straight.
• T6 – Fast left as the driver clings on for grip using the run off kerb to open up the fast right curve which leads into another straight.
• T8 – Blind entrance with the brow of the hill at Rindt, a fast right-hander, down two gears, creating momentum for the final corner, using wide exit to widen the corner.
• T9 – Vital to carry as much momentum as possible to carry the speed onto the straight across the start-finish line and then uphill to T1.

Power Unit Notes:

• The circuit consists of four long straights, meaning the ICE runs at full throttle for over 66% of the lap. This figure is comparable with Spa and Monza.
• The longest straight is the 790m uphill drag from Turn 1 through to Turn 2. The long straights mean the MGU-H has plenty of opportunity to recover energy to store in the battery. With a lap time of around 70secs, 46secs (or 66% of the lap) is spent at full throttle.
• There are only nine corners at the Red Bull Ring, which will not give the MGU-K many opportunities to recover significant energy under braking. Engineers will configure the MGU-K to feed the ICE with extra power, thus making efficient use of the little energy recovered.
• One other challenge of Austria is the altitude. The circuit is around 700m above sea level, similar to Interlagos, and oxygen content will be around 7% less. The turbo will therefore have to spin at a much higher rate to produce the same amount of power to compensate for the low ambient pressure. For the majority of the lap, the turbo will be spinning at close to 100,000rpm, or 1,700 times per second.

Tyres:

• Soft (yellow) – Sachertorte – A robust and trusty chocolate cake. Packs a few surprises with its apricot layer and dark chocolate outsides combining for an everlasting taste.
• Supersoft (red) – Apfelstrudel – An Austrian classic; delicate pastry coating and has that soothing crunch of the apple in the middle. Reliable and popular.
• Ultrasoft (purple) – Kaiserschmarrn – Nico’s favourite; extremely soft throughout and sweet to eat. Known as the shredded pancake, it will go down and disappear out of sight very quickly!

In Numbers:

• 2860 (carat) – the world’s largest emerald is displayed in the Imperial Treasury of the Hofburg (Imperial Palace) in Vienna.
• 62 – 62% of Austria’s total land area is covered by Austrian Alps.
• 34 – Austria has 34 peaks above 2,000 metres.
• 8 – Austria is bordered by 8 countries. Germany and Czech Republic to the north, Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west, Slovenia and Italy to the south and Hungary and Slovakia to the east.
• 3798 (metres) – Grossglockner is Austria’s highest point.

 

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F1 fans get chance to wave chequered flag in Austria

Formula 1 fans will have the chance to win passenger rides in the official safety car, as well as one getting to wave the chequered flag, at this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.

Red Bull Ring chiefs have been active in recent years in doing as much as they can to boost the fan experience, and they will take things a step further for this weekend's next F1 race.

A raffle draw will be held for three fans to be given laps of the track by F1 safety car driver Bernd Maylander over the weekend, while one competition winner be get the chance to wave the chequered flag after Sunday's race.

Beyond the return of air displays, concerts and the F1 red carpet, where fans get the chance to meet and greet drivers and team chiefs as they arrive at the track, Austria will also open up the pitlane on Thursday for ticket holders.

Plus race organisers are on the lookout for 22 young fans to become mascots for drivers ahead of the parade on Sunday morning. All children under 14 get in free over the Austrian GP weekend if they are accompanied by a paying adult.

This year's special demonstration parade will feature nine Le Mans car, including the BMW V12 LMR which triumphed in 1999 and a latest-generation Audi R18 V6

Ex-F1 drivers Jean Alesi, Gerhard Berger and Mark Webber will be among the drivers for Sunday's parade.

Red Bull Motorsport adviser Helmut Marko will also be taking part. And although his Le Mans winning Porsche from 1971 is not currently in condition to be driven, but will be on display in the F1 Fan Zone throughout the weekend, he will instead drive a 1970 Porsche 917K

Hans-Joachim Stuck will drive his 1987-winning Porsche 962c, while Alesi will be take the 1969 Ferrari 512S out and Berger the BMW V12 LMR.

[MIKA27]

Analysis: The Mexican GP's 'third album' challenge

After two award-winning events, the organisers of Formula 1's Mexican Grand Prix are relishing the challenge of making it three for three with the 2017 race.

Using a historic rally to get people talking about F1 is hardly normal practice. But the organisers of the Mexican Grand Prix have never been interested in following convention.

It is a philosophy that has proved successful. Not only was the reborn Mexican Grand Prix immediately popular with the local fanbase - who can forget the Mexican waves in the stadium section when Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez hit the track for free practice in 2015? - but the race became a firm favourite with the F1 travelling circus.

Ahead of this year’s Canadian Grand Prix, Mexican race organisers CIE worked with the Carrera Panamericana to put together a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the local and international press.

For the first time in the history of the Panamericana, journalists were invited along for passenger rides in cars from the ‘50s and ‘60s, Studebakers, Mustangs, and Fords that had competed in the deadliest race of all time.  

Chapa de Mota, a small pueblo two hours’ drive from Mexico City, was home to the special stage. The town’s main square roared with engine noise, and the air was heavily perfumed with engine oil, frying churros, and the smoke of a dozen competing barbacoas. Schoolchildren in their uniforms crowded round, jumping at the sound of the cars powering off the stage start.

  

Strapped into the passenger seat of a ‘64 Mustang, pace notes on my lap and a five-point harness keeping me in place, it was time for the world’s worst map reader to attempt to navigate a mountain-top rally stage, sheer drops and all.

The 15 kilometres that followed were some of the most exhilarating of my life. Flashes of greenery flew past the window as we raced up the narrow highway, trusting that the roads had been closed not only to local traffic, but also to local wildlife.

It was one hell of a way to promote a grand prix.

“We’ve definitely seen an increase in support from local governments and local communities in how we can promote the race,” Rodrigo Sanchez, director of marketing and communications for CIE told Motorsport.com in Mexico.

“We saw that today: closing a highway for us is no small ask! But when they see the power of Formula One, local governments become very friendly and they’re willing to do things with us that maybe they wouldn’t have done in the past.”

Sanchez has been a driving force behind the innovative promotions for which the Mexican Grand Prix has become known in the two years since its return to the F1 calendar.

The race has twice won the Best Promoter award at the FIA’s annual prize-giving gala, and while it’s not unusual for an incoming event to claim the award in its first year, Mexico’s second win prevented 2016 debutant Baku from collecting the traditional ‘thanks for joining us’ silver.

Few who have attended the Mexico City race would deny that the event is impressive. The size of the crowds during practice sessions is testimony enough to the continuing interest from the local market, but the magic of the Mexican experience comes from a concerted effort to make the Mexican Grand Prix feel, well, Mexican.

“A lot of thought and work goes into making sure the Mexican Grand Prix feels like a Mexican event,” Sanchez acknowledged. “We’re just trying to change the game a little bit, like we did last year with the lucha libre at the bullpen. We do things differently, and we tend to break the rules a little bit.

  

“We’re always trying to find new ways to incorporate Mexican culture into everything that we do. Even from a publicity standpoint: the way we design and create our show is fully focused on showcasing Mexico.

"It really goes into everything we do; how to highlight Mexico in a positive manner, because F1 for us is obviously a global platform to showcase our country. That’s our biggest focus from a strategic standpoint.”

Part of CIE’s approach involves carpeting the country with publicity in an aim to amp up the excitement even among those unlikely to attend the race.

“When everyone flies into the race, we’ve put publicity all over the city even though we don’t have any tickets to sell a few weeks before the event,” Sanchez said. “But the publicity creates a vibe, this energy, this expectation around the race.

“For people who are flying in, they come to the airport and they start seeing all the publicity everywhere: the hotels, the restaurants, the airport, and it brings excitement.

"For us it’s not just an event that is happening at a racetrack, it’s an event that’s happening in Mexico, and we try to get the entire country to live and breathe the race with us.”

CIE are experienced events organisers, and Sanchez - although young - has years of experience in international motorsports.

But despite he and his colleagues being the driving forces behind Mexico’s F1esta, the communications director points to the Mexican public as being the secret ingredient in Mexico’s magic.

“Our success? I think it’s a mix of things: the Mexican public, which is very unique; their energy, their passion - it really comes into play; and us focusing on doing our jobs.

"Proper planning, proper execution, and adding that little bit of Mexican flavour. It becomes this fiesta, and we’re very proud to be showcasing it.

“I think that’s what we need to keep doing: keep doing, keep working, keep using the local resources that we have, because at the end of the day they’re going to be the best tools we can use to showcase Mexico. We have to use Mexico to sell Mexico.”