Formula 1 - 2017

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Tech Bite: Force India's two-element monkey seat

It’s easy to forget that Force India started off the 2017 season on the back foot. The car was considerably overweight and generally outclassed in a tight midfield battle.

However both drivers kept their noses clean and the team managed to come away with more points than perhaps they truly deserved as others faulted around them.

Since then, the VJM10 has become a regular points scorer on merit. A recent upgrade package has further propelled them away from the midfield and they have firmly established themselves as the fourth best team.

The first raft of updates arrived in Singapore (featuring the ‘hedge trimmer’ engine cover spine) and across Malaysia and Japan more significant components have appeared.

Back-to-back races are a great time to introduce large changes as it provides little time for the opposition to react. Revised bargeboards and a new diffuser (the third iteration of the season) were jetted in for Malaysia to bolster rear downforce levels.

For Japan further revisions were made to the rear aerodynamics, the simplistic single element monkey seat winglet replaced by a leant back two-element design accompanied by a pair of small fins stemming from the rear crash structure.

The winglet entrains the plume exiting the central exhaust outlet and forces the overall direction of the air upwards to produce more downforce, which you can see quite clearly in the image below. The two fins produce parallel-running vortices that likely prevent the plume from deviating too far from the car centreline as it is influenced by the winglet.

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Force India looking to consolidate fourth place in Austin

Force India might not be able to mathemtically secure fourth place in the Constructors' Standings this weekend in Austin, but a good points haul should protect their position from rivals Williams and Toro Rosso, who sit 81 and 95 points behind respectively.

Should the Silverstone-based team outscore its nearest rivals in Austin, barring any miracles, fourth will likely be locked down with just four races remaining of the 2017 season.

Team boss Vijay Mallya is confident that will happen with the performance advantage they hold, having outscored Williams by 23 points in the last three races.

"The last few races have seen us take some significant steps forward with the performance of the VJM10," he said. "In Malaysia and Japan, we were the fourth fastest team and I’m confident we can remain there for the upcoming races.

"In Japan, for example, we finished over 20 seconds clear of the eighth-placed car, which is a big statement on such a technical track.

"It’s thanks to all the hard work in the wind tunnel, the factory, and trackside that we are sitting in a very strong fourth place in the championship with 81 points advantage to fifth place.

"The next race in Austin will be another opportunity to score well and consolidate our position."

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Di Resta completes 'busy' Williams F1 test in Hungary

Paul di Resta completed a “busy” day of testing in a 2014 Williams at the Hungaroring on Wednesday as the team continues to evaluate options for its 2018 Formula 1 line-up.

The ex-Force India driver, who is the current Williams reserve alongside racing for Mercedes in the DTM, took over from Robert Kubica in Hungary, after the pole completed his second day of running with the team on Tuesday following a run at Silverstone last week.

Di Resta and Kubica are in contention for the seat alongside Lance Stroll at the team next year, with Stroll’s current team-mate Felipe Massa and Sauber driver Pascal Wehrlein also in the mix.

Williams has been tight-lipped on the details of both Kubica’s and di Resta’s tests in the 2014 FW36 machine, and it described the Scot’s running as “a busy day”.

The team added: “These tests are part of the ongoing due diligence work regarding our 2018 driver line-up, but the team is in no rush to confirm plans ahead of 2018 whilst it completes its internal evaluations.”

Di Resta and Kubica both have experience of the 2017 breed of F1 cars around the Hungaroring from this summer.

Williams called up di Resta as a last-minute replacement for Felipe Massa on the Saturday of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, while Kubica returned to the cockpit of contemporary F1 machinery for the first time since his rally crash in 2011 when he tested for Renault following the event.

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Ferrari risks "chaos" with big technical overhaul

Ferrari risks opening the door to "chaos" if it shakes up its organisation too much in response to the reliability failures that have wrecked its Formula 1 championship ambitions, claims one of its rivals.

The last three races have been a disaster for Ferrari, with Sebastian Vettel falling 59 points behind Lewis Hamilton in the drivers' standings after a crash in Singapore and engine problems in Malaysia and Japan.

The recent troubles have already prompted Ferrari to reinforce its quality control department, with the Maranello outfit appointing Maria Mendoza, an expert in metals and chemicals, to help lift its efforts in that area.

For Force India's COO Otmar Szafnauer, who has also had experience of working at manufacturers during a previous spell with Honda, the key thing Ferrari needs to do now is commit to the systems and people it has in place right now.

"The thing that you have got to do is go through the procedures that you have and just follow them," said Szafnauer, when asked by Motorsport.com about how he would react in Ferrari's situation.

"If that happens here [at Force India], and we had an issue and didn't finish, you put it on the fault list, you reveal what happened.

"Then, the engineer responsible will tell you what the root cause was, how we are going to fix it and how we are going to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Then you focus on reliability for example.

"What you cannot do is start changing the processes that have always worked for you, because then it is chaos.

"If the process doesn't work, then you have to take a half step back, a retrospective view and say: right let's fix the process and follow that."

  

Having faith in your systems

Szafnauer suggests that having faith in your systems is even more important when teams are as big as Ferrari – because it is all too easy for the structure to fall apart.

"When the team is big, and their team [Ferrari] is a lot bigger than ours, that is when you need those procedural things in place," he said.

"So if everyone follows it and finds the root cause, then you can fix it, test it and make sure it doesn't happen again.

"If you do that over and over, then you get out at the other end. That is what I would do. Usually the bigger the team the more you need that."

Pushed on how hard it is for teams to maintain a level headed approach when they face situations like Ferrari has right now, Szafnauer said: "That is a bit cultural too. It all depends on who you are, and who you aren't.

"But if you have procedures in place that everyone knows they should be following, and you are happy that they have been established over time and they work, then even with emotion you can get through it."

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Red Bull brings 2018 car development forward

Red Bull brought forward the development of its 2018 Formula 1 car relative to last year as it bids to avoid another slow start to the season, says Daniel Ricciardo.

In recent years, Red Bull has left it as late as possible to complete the design of its new car each winter to allow for maximum development time.

But it failed to hit the ground running this year and though it now believes it has the best chassis in F1, it has come too late to challenge for either championship.

Max Verstappen has said a less ambitious approach by Red Bull in launching its new F1 car as late as possible could help it make a strong start to 2018.

"I always feel our starts to the season have been slow particularly since I've been with the team but it's not, as far as I'm aware, not planned," Ricciardo said.

"I'm not sure why exactly. We definitely get stronger but yeah, it's a nice trend to get better and better but we'd like to start better. I still don't really know the answer why that is.

"We always feel like we start on next year's car early enough but maybe what we think is early isn't early enough.

"I know for next year it's been brought forward more than it was for this year."

Ricciardo said he had confidence Red Bull could provide a sterner challenge next season, particularly given the relative stability of the regulations.

"The idea is we learn as there are not many changes next year and what we learn hopefully from this year, hopefully we take to next year and we start stronger," he said.

"That's obviously the plan, that's everyone's wish and I guess we go from there. If next year's not a very competitive season at all then, of course, that will be addressed.

"Where we are now this year, you'd think next year we should be competitive. Mercedes has been winning for too long. We'll try to change that."

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Analysis: Why Williams has again struggled with development

Williams is a favourite to salvage fifth place in the Formula 1 constructors' standings - but it is also clear the team has not had the season it wanted. Adam Cooper looks into the reasons behind a difficult campaign.

With four races to go in 2017, Williams is sat in fifth place in the F1 world championship, which is where the team finished last season.

On the face of it, that's not such a bad outcome, given that this has been the rookie season for teenager Lance Stroll, and that the Grove outfit had to deal with the inevitable disruption caused by the last-minute exit of Valtteri Bottas.

But a closer look reveals that perhaps it's not been such a solid year after all. Whereas in 2016 Williams pushed Force India hard all the way to the end of the season, ultimately losing out by 173 to 138, the Silverstone-based team is currently ahead by a rather huge margin, with 147 points to Williams' 66.

In addition, Toro Rosso is only 14 points behind Williams, and Haas and Renault trail by 23 and 24 points respectively. Fifth place should still be attainable, but it's far from secure as yet.

This is, of course, a transitional year for Williams, in that it's the first season for technical boss Paddy Lowe.

Naturally, the former Mercedes man had to find out how everything worked at the Grove-based team before he could make changes, and those should be paying off next season. Key among them is a new direction for the concept of the car, a bold step for any team to make.

Same car until Monza

That doesn't make 2017 any less frustrating for Felipe Massa in particular, who says that since he's been with the team in 2014, only once has it kept up the development rate that he wanted to see.

"The first year," he says. "Then all of the other years it was the same as now, so no improvement through the year, the way we expected to have. This year the same.

"Now we understand the problems, because last year we didn't understand anything, we just couldn't improve the car through the year like other teams were doing. 2015 was the same.

"This year we started in a good way, and we didn't improve the car like other teams. Now we are catching the other teams, but it's too late.

"I mean, we're still fifth in the championship, we started in front of some other teams that we are fighting… Not too late, but it looks too late, because it looks maybe that we are getting to the end of the season."

Massa is adamant that the new parts that have been coming through the system and making it to the track haven't always done what they were supposed to do.

"We had bits, but they didn't work. We had many bits. The team had to understand why it was not working, change some stuff.

"We still have the same parts, but now things are working much better. From Barcelona to maybe the race before Monza, we had a car that was maybe the same as the beginning of the season.

"We had no improvement in the middle of the season. We had a new rear wing here [Suzuka], new stuff on the brake ducts, new stuff on the floor, and also some ideas that we changed that were better on the car. More related to downforce, for sure."

Lost opportunities

Massa says the situation has improved in the last few races as the team has extracted more performance out of what it has.

"I think we are understanding how to develop the car we have. The job we're doing with the car, in the last maybe month, is definitely what we were supposed to be doing since the beginning of the year.

"It's a little bit late, because we lost many opportunities. Definitely we are making the car more competitive, race by race, in the last month.

"It's a positive sign because you know that you can fight with the teams that you are fighting for the fifth position in the championship. Definitely it's what we want, and we know that we need to make some effort to keep improving the car."

Intriguingly, Lowe contradicts Massa's assertion that new parts haven't always worked - although he acknowledges that perhaps there have not been enough of them coming through.

"We haven't had anything that didn't really work," says Lowe. "We had a bit of a struggle in Austria, if you remember, when we brought in an upgrade there.

"It was fundamentally delivering what was expected in the tunnel, but I think we've had to learn a few lessons around making the best use of that performance, so more set-up and balance and so on.

"So there's no upgrade that we've brought this year that we haven't carried forward. The car is running the latest that we've delivered from the tunnel, and that's been the case all through the year.

"You will observe that we have slipped back in terms of our in-season development relative to some of our competitors, principally Force India, McLaren and Renault, sometimes.

"We have lost ground, but that's not because things didn't work, I think it's because we haven't developed at the rate we should have done, or that they've done."

Sights on 2018

Lowe admits that the change of direction for next year has compromised this season because of the necessity to focus on what can carry over.

Fortunately some items are still relevant, so there is still an opportunity to find some performance before Abu Dhabi.

"Mostly we what we're doing now is directed at 2018, so I don't think we're going to see any substantial shift from that. We've still got a few things coming to races ahead of us, but not substantial stuff.

"We've got into a mode, going back a month or more, that we're only bringing to the car things that are relevant to next year.

"The rear wing being a good example, it's quite a generic type of component. It doesn't mean we'll literally bring this rear wing, but the learning we have from this rear wing feeds straight into the next one.

"All the upgrades we've brought since September have had that characteristic, but I don't think that balance is very different to how it would be normally as a function of the design we intend for next year."

On the driver line-up front, Massa still doesn't know if he will be on board in 2018 – although as time goes by, his chances appear to be receding. However, he's seen enough to be confident that Williams will have the potential to get back on equal terms with its main benchmark, namely Force India.

"For next year, I think so," says the Brazilian. "For this year, forget it. But I think for next year the Williams can be fighting Force India, maybe Renault.

"For sure Renault is a big team, you expect them to grow, McLaren, you expect them to be better. But I think what they're trying to do for next year is a big change in the car. This change would maybe be nice to have two or three years before...

"Anyway, I need to concentrate for this year! Definitely I think maybe the mentality of things that are happening now can be good for the future."

Lowe acknowledges that even if Williams improves, the goalposts are moving. As Massa notes, McLaren will clearly make a step forward next year, and Renault will be in the third season of its rebuilding programme. It won't be any easier to break into the top 10.

"Everyone wants to get into Q3," says Lowe. "That's seen as a mark of some level of respectability on the grid. But I see that space being quite a small box with quite a lot of people trying to compete for it next year.

"Obviously we've got Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull who are not going to lose their way, and but then among the rest of us I think Renault, McLaren, Force India and ourselves will probably all be fighting for those places as well.

"And theory there are three others, it's a very competitive sport, but those would be the teams that we would worry about most."

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Withstand the force – Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo & Max Verstappen on F1 race preparation

From the days leading up to the start of a race to the chequered flag on a Sunday afternoon, elite performance is crucial at every stage of a Formula One season. As part of Mobil 1 & Esso’s Energy to Perform campaign, Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen spoke to Mobil 1 The Grid to provide an insight on driver fitness, training and the work that goes on both in the gym and back at the factory to ensure that the team extracts the very maximum from the car during the course of a Grand Prix. Esso’s David Tsurusaki also features.

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The importance of Max – and hopes for a Dutch GP

Max Verstappen is the key figure in the future of Formula 1. The next megastar. The man who everyone hopes will bring a new generation of fans to the sport.

Already, at the age of just 20, he has an army of tens of thousands of fans, who travel around Europe to watch him in action. There is orange is every grandstand and the numbers of Verstappen in places like Austria, Belgium, Italy and Britain are impressive. These are fans of all ages, few of them being his own generation, but Formula 1 hopes that Max’s precocious success will lead to younger fans. The problem is that the Verstappen generation is, according to sociologists, rather different from the generations that have gone before, which makes them more difficult to attract to a sport like Formula 1. They do want heroes, as can be seen from the cult of celebrity that exists today. They want to know about people living interesting lives, but they are not a very sociable bunch. They do not remember a time when there was no internet and so their lifestyles and social interactions are radically different to previous generations. Their social life is their phone and they are supposed to be more comfortable online than out partying. They appear to like phones more than they like people. Statistics show that meeting up with friends on a daily basis is down more than 40 percent compared to 15 years ago and when they do get together, some cannot stop using social media. They sleep with their phones on their beds and researchers say that it is a lonely and dislocated generation, sleep-deprived and more prone to depression. The number of them who are dating is significantly down compared to the previous generation, fewer teens are having sex, the teen birth rate is at an all-time low, down a whopping 67 percent compared to 25 years ago. Kids no longer get driving licences because it offers them freedom, nowadays they do it to stop their parents nagging. All of this is troubling, but at the same time, it shows that opportunities exist to engage with them and get excited about Formula 1. The sport has been slow to adopt social media, but things are changing and Verstappen’s generation is interested in him. They may not sit through a Grand Prix, but they want to know how he is doing. Perhaps they will pick up on others of the same generation as a result, but one must understand just how ahead of his peers Max actually is. Verstappen is 20 and the next youngest winner in F1 at the moment is Valtteri Bottas, eight years his senior. The Vettels, Hamiltons and Alonsos are in their thirties. There is hope that the Vandoornes, Sainzs, Ocons, Wehrleins, Strolls, Leclercs and Norrises will add to the appeal of F1, but right now Max is the locomotive of his generation.

And while it is good to see his army driving around Europe, it is entirely logical that the Formula One group is keen to cash in on Max’s success and hold a race in the Netherlands. It would be a sellout, no question. The country has a population of only 17 million, but it seems as though most of them are Verstappen fans.

Ask a Dutchman about reviving the Grand Prix (which has not happened since 1985) and most will laugh and say it is impossible and yet for a decade Rotterdam hosted a major street demonstration event every summer in the Cool district (really), which attracted up to 500,000 spectators and many of the F1 teams took part. Rotterdam currently say that nothing is possible because of roadworks going on in the area for a couple of years. Amsterdam’s bureaucrats say that racing should take place on race track, not on roads.  Amsterdam attracts around six million international visitors a year and ranks seventh of the European cities, behind London, Paris, Rome, Prague, Milan and Barcelona. It is ahead of Vienna and Venice. Rotterdam is a long way behind in terms of numbers but has now overtaken The Hague as a tourist destination. In other words, Rotterdam would benefit more from a race

The Netherlands has a reputation for being  eco-conscious, a paradise of windmills, cycling and recycling, and this certianly caused some problems for Zandvoort, the country’s primary racing circuit, back in the 1980s. It is true that there are hopes that by 2018 the country’s trains will be powered by wind-generated electricity and the nation is the only one in Europe where there are more bicycles than people. But, at the same time, Dutch carbon emissions per capita are amongst the highest in Europe, almost double the figure of the French and 50 percent more than Britain. And the share of energy coming from renewable sources is below the figures in Germany and Denmark. So it is not that green a place.

Zandvoort could be rebuilt if money but could be found, but that would be a major project and access would remain a problem, unless spectators arrived only by train, which is quite possible and happens in other places, such a Melbourne, Montreal, Singapore and Monaco. There is another circuit at Assen, famous for motorcycles, but it is a bit out in the wilds and would require modification. Building a circuit might be possible, but the Netherlands is not a big country. It’s a maximum of 194 miles long and 164 miles wide, so empty land is in short supply. However, there are areas which have been reclaimed from the sea where big new facilities could be built, if someone wanted to fund them. There is an opportunity here, let’s see if anyone will grab it.

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ALONSO: IT’S FANTASTIC TO CONTINUE WITH MCLAREN

After months of speculation surrounding his future in Formula 1 Fernando Alonso has agreed terms to remain with McLaren for next season, the Spaniard is said to have signed a $26-million one year deal-with the team.

The double F1 world champion has endured a miserable three years with the British-based former world champions and had refused to commit to staying until he felt they could provide him with a competitive car.

McLaren have gone some way towards answering those doubts by ending a troubled partnership with Honda and switching to Renault engines in 2018.

Alonso has not been on the podium since 2014, when he was with Ferrari. His last win was in Spain in 2013, again with the Italian team.

McLaren are currently ninth overall, out of 10 teams, and the season ranks as the worst of Alonso’s career with the exception of his debut year with now-defunct tail-enders Minardi.

He has six retirements in 16 races so far in 2017, and failed to start in Russia while also missing Monaco to compete at the Indianapolis 500 in May. The Spaniard has scored points only twice.

Team statement:

McLaren is delighted to announce that Fernando Alonso has extended his relationship with the team.
The news underlines Fernando’s commitment to McLaren, his long-term ties to the organisation, and his belief in the exciting potential and promise that exists within McLaren.

He will contest the 2018 FIA Formula 1 World Championship alongside Belgium’s Stoffel Vandoorne.

Fernando Alonso said: “It’s fantastic to be able to continue my relationship with everybody at McLaren. It was always where my heart was telling me to stay, and I really feel at home here. This is a fantastic team, full of incredible people, with a warmth and friendliness that I’ve never experienced elsewhere in Formula 1. I’m incredibly happy to be racing here.

“Just as important, McLaren has the technical resource and financial strength to be able to very quickly win races and world championships in F1. Although the last few years have not been easy, we have never forgotten how to win, and I believe we can achieve that again soon.

“The last three years have given us the momentum to plan and build for the future, and I’m looking forward to that journey. I’m excited for our future together – and I’m already working hard to make it a success.”

Zak Brown, Executive Director, McLaren Technology Group, said: “I’m delighted to be able to confirm that Fernando will remain at McLaren. He has been a fantastic asset to the whole organisation for the past three years, is an incredible individual and is one of the most accomplished and talented racing drivers of the modern era.

“It always made sense for us to continue our journey together. His commitment will allow us to further improve the attractiveness and potential of the wider Group, and will ensure we head into 2018 feeling increasingly confident that we’ll be able to take a meaningful step forward. Fernando fully understands and buys in to the direction we are taking.

“Our shareholders have ambitious plans for the whole Group, and success within Formula 1 is a central pillar of that strategy. With Fernando, there is no doubt that we have a driver who can help us achieve our goal of winning again in F1 – and, believe me, we are all keen to do that.”

Eric Boullier, McLaren Racing Director, said: “With Fernando, you really can’t ask for a better driver to deliver a result for you on a Sunday afternoon – and I think everybody in Formula 1 would acknowledge that sentiment.

“He’s always been clear to me that this is a team he loves, and that his heart has always been set on staying. Today’s announcement shows that he’s fully committed to racing and winning as a McLaren driver, and, while we’ve often shared his frustrations over the past few years, we now feel that we can deliver on our promise to give him a competitive car next season.

“Consistency of driver line-up is one of those small but essential elements that really helps a team to maintain momentum, and, with Fernando and Stoffel, we’re lucky to be writing a fresh chapter with what we believe to be the best driver line-up in Formula 1.”

 

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HAMILTON: I DON’T HAVE ANY PLANS TO ‘TAKE A KNEE’

Formula 1 title favourite Lewis Hamilton said he sympathised with athletes protesting racism in the United States, but he had no plans to kneel during the national anthem before Sunday’s United States Grand Prix.

The Briton, whose paternal grandparents came from the Caribbean island of Grenada and whose mother is white, told reporters that winning the race was his priority.

“I don’t really have a position and I don’t have any plans,” said the Mercedes driver, who can secure his fourth world title at the weekend if results go his way, when asked whether he might ‘take a knee’.

“I know a lot of people in America so I get to speak a lot of black and white people who live here. I get quite a good view of what is happening here in the States and opinions from the Americans and about the movement which I think is pretty huge,” he added.

“I have posted about it because I respect it highly and I find the movement that started awesome. I am very much in support of it.”

Hamilton, who has a home in Colorado, has been active on social media in support of protests in the United States, posting on Instagram with the hashtag #takeaknee.

The practice of kneeling for the anthem was started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick last year as a means of protesting perceived racial injustice and police brutality in the country.

Since then a growing number of National Football League (NFL) players have taken to kneeling during the anthem before games in protest at the killing by police of unarmed black men and boys across the United States, as well as racial disparities in the criminal justice system. More than half of all NFL players are black.

President Donald Trump has denounced those who kneel as unpatriotic and called for fans to boycott games if players persist.

Hamilton – who has said previously that the issue is a global one even if the anthem is not his – said his focus was standing on top of the podium.

“Winning here is the most important thing for me in the midst that all is going on in the country. That is a priority. You know what I am talking about,” he said.

Asked to clarify that, he said he was referring to an African-American reporter in the front row rather than all those in the room.

“I am here to win and that is my focus. I don’t really plan on allowing all the BS that is surrounding the topic to pull me down in my stride to win this world title,” added the 32-year-old.

“I have worked hard to be where I am today, and whilst I do have opinions and feelings towards the whole situation, at the moment I have no plans on doing anything.”

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MAX AND DANIEL VISIT NASA’S JOHNSON SPACE CENTER

It’s often said that Formula One really is a bit like rocket science – an endeavour in which elite pilots are backed by some fairly intricate science and simulation in pursuit of a complex target.

It’s not a comparison we’ve had the chance to put to the test before now but this week’s trip to Texas provided the ideal opportunity in the shape of a pre-race journey to see some actual space tech – at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

Yes indeed, after five years of racing in Austin, a quick look at a map of Texas revealed that it’s a short three-hour drive from COTA to Houston’s incredible space facility. So, after a few phone calls to gain access and then a few more to assure the people at NASA that “really, the boys do stuff similar to this all the time, we promise they won’t break anything – well, not anything important,” we were on our way.

The Johnson Space Center is one of the original homes of space flight in the US and has been training astronauts for work off-world for more than 50 years. It’s also the home of Mission Control, the command centre responsible for all manned space missions since the Gemini projects of the mid-1960s. It was from here that the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle missions were run.

It’s also the place where astronauts from all over the world get trained and, with the idea in mind that F1 drivers are not far removed from elite fighter pilots, we wanted to see if our drivers saw any parallels between the worlds of racing and of space flight.

First up was the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) system, designed to simulate reduced gravity environments using a system similar to an overhead bridge crane. The basic function is to harness a pilot or payload to an overhead crane, which via a range of sensors, tracks motion and simulates weightlessness. What’s the goal of the system for astronauts? To support testing, development, and training for future missions to the Moon, Mars, asteroids, or any other celestial destination.

“I really enjoyed the feeling of being in space, the micro-gravity ARGOS area, trying to manage your way and dictate your manoeuvres without flying into space and never coming back… that was fun,” said Daniel.

While the ARGOS was fun, it was nothing compared to the boys’ next stop, with machinery they could definitely feel qualified to review – Space Vehicles!

NASA is currently testing concepts for a new generation of surface exploration vehicles for use on the Moon and Mars and our drivers were given a chance to get behind the wheel of one such vehicle.

The version driven by Max and Daniel features a cabin mounted on a chassis with wheels that can pivot 360 degrees and drive about 10kph in any direction. It’s about the size of a pickup truck (with 12 wheels) and can house two astronauts for up to 14 days with sleeping and sanitary facilities.

The frame was developed in conjunction with an off-road race truck team and was field-tested in the desert with 140km of driving on rough lava. Essentially it’s the ultimate monster truck.

“Driving that thing was really cool,” enthused Max. “There was a lot of travel of the suspension, so it was a lot of fun, you could really hit a lot of rocks. I really enjoyed it today.”

The final stop on the tour was the heart of Space Center operations, Mission Control, where Max and Daniel were given an insight into how NASA prepares, analyses data, builds strategies and executes its flight missions. In essence, it’s not a million miles away from how a Formula One prepares for each race weekend. Not a million miles, just about 250,000km give or take!

“There really are a lot of similarities between this and F1, just the technology alone,” said Daniel. “I had a guest come to a race last year, when they got into the garage they were like: this is like a space station. We went to mission control here and it’s really like what we have in the Ops Room in Milton Keynes. Even the safety technology is similar. The astronauts go through the same measurements, a similar kind of HANS device etc. It’s really cool.”

Max too was quick to point out the similarities between the two. “There are quite a lot of comparisons, if you really want to talk about it we could go on for an hour! The control centre looks pretty similar to ours. We share a lot of the same technology. It was really interesting for us to see that and I bet it would be the same if they could see ours.”

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SZAFNAUER: OCON HAS EXCEEDED OUR EXPECTATIONS

Esteban Ocon has been one of the revelations of the 2017 Formula 1 season, the Frenchman has won over the paddock, media and fans with his friendly demeanour as well as his speed and tenacity on track, but most important of all he has impressed his Force India team.

It would not be fair to call Ocon a rookie as he did nine races last season with the now defunct Manor team. Granted he was a back-marker for most of those races, but undoubtedly gained valuable experience of how Formula 1 works for a driver which has prepared and served him well this year.

Ocon has finishes all 16 races this season and only once was he out of the points. He is eighth in the drivers’ standings, only 17 points adrift of his vastly more experienced teammate Sergio Perez.

Force India’s chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer is one of those who is impressed, “[The run of finishes] is amazing to me. He’s smart, he finishes, scores good points, he’s young and still learning a lot. This was our hope, that he would be this good. And maybe it was our expectation otherwise we wouldn’t have hired him, but I believe he has exceeded our expectations.”

The clashes between Ocon and Perez are well documented. After playing second fiddle to the Mexican in the early races, Ocon started challenging him by the time the championship got to Europe. There is little to separate the pair, which is impressive considering the gulf in experience between the two and the fact that Perez is no slouch

It is fair to say that Ocon’s progress graph is moving steeply upwards, but how much better can he get?

“The really, really difficult thing is to predict a future learning curve. That’s hard to predict, but what you can say is that he’s improved a lot this year already and he’s still really young and inexperienced. Checo has got 130 race starts under his belt and Esteban has got 25. So I still think he’s learning,” mused Szafnauer.

“You plateau. I don’t know how steep the learning curve will be and where the plateau is, however I don’t think he’s at his plateau, so he will get better next year. How quickly and how much more is hard to know.”

Mercedes believe in Ocon and have funded his career from his junior years, including his half season with Manor last year. Silver Arrows boss Toto Wolff rates him highly and it is clear they are grooming him for the next generation, perhaps for a time when Lewis Hamilton moves on.

Szafnauer acknowledged that they may not be able to hang on to Ocon for too long, “Mercedes won’t control where he goes next year or the year after, but beyond that [they will]. It’s a bit frustrating, you would like to be in control of your own destiny but when needs must with other relationships and other financial dealings, that’s what you have to do.

“I think we’re a good team with nurturing young talent and if we can do that with Esteban then I think there will be others coming up of equal potential and maybe we’ll nurture them,” added Szafnauer.

[MIKA27]

Formula 1 signs US radio broadcast deal with SiriusXM

Formula 1 and SiriusXM have entered into an agreement that will see every single race of the Formula 1 world championship aired live through the online radio service in North America.

The broadcasts begin this weekend with the United States Grand Prix and will cover every race next season and beyond following the signing of a "multi-year deal".

The commentary will be provided by the BBC's 5 Live radio, which broadcasts Formula 1 commentary in the United Kingdom.

"Formula 1 races are sensational, world-class events, which showcase the most advanced automotive technology in the hands of exceptional drivers competing on very challenging circuits,” said Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM’s President and Chief Content Officer.  

"We are very excited to deliver the excitement of these races to SiriusXM listeners across the country.  As Formula 1 makes its way around the globe, we will bring its fans in North America to each international venue and enable them to follow the action live."

F1 managing director of commercial operations, Sean Bratches, added: "We are delighted to have Formula 1 back on SiriusXM. Their ability to offer live coverage of all races throughout the Championship to their numerous fans and listeners provides tremendous additional exposure for F1 in the North American market."

Programming is available on Sirius channel 132, XM channel 203 and channel 963 on the SiriusXM app.

[MIKA27]

Sebastian Vettel: 'There is still a chance and we are going for it'

Sebastian Vettel insists he and Ferrari won't be giving up on winning the title this season, despite the odds looking very much in the favour of his rival, Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel currently sits 59 points adrift of championship leader Hamilton, but just three races ago, the German was a mere three points behind. Rotten reliability and a Singapore start crash have seen Vettel score just 12 points in the same period when Hamilton has scored 68.

Vettel however isn't giving up on his fifth title until it's mathematically impossible.

"We are still in there," he told the official Formula 1 website. "Our chances are slimmer now than they were a couple of races ago, but there is still the chance – and we are going for it.

"It would be completely wrong to drift off in your thoughts. You have to stay focused.

"We have a great car and we had the package to win the last couple of races. It did not happen, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t win the next races. We look forward to what is next – and this is the race this weekend."

Regardless of the outcome, Vettel says Ferrari should be proud of what they have achieved this season, despite the poor run of form recently.

"So far we had a very good season. Obviously you are always judged by the last couple of races – and they weren’t super! But overall we are the team that has progressed the most. Everybody had expected Red Bull to be very strong this season, but as a fact they were not – at least not at the beginning.

"It was a given that Mercedes would be strong – and they are – but nobody expected us to be as strong as we are. So there are plenty of positives.

"Sure you are always looking at what you are facing at this very moment and that might be a bit tricky, but there are still four races ahead of us – and we have a great car. There is still a massive potential that is not unleashed completely. This is up to us."

[MIKA27]

Vettel says Suzuka reprimand "a bit of a joke"

Sebastian Vettel has labelled the reprimand he was given for missing the national anthem ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix "a bit of a joke".

Vettel remained in his car during the ceremony as Ferrari's mechanics worked at full speed to solve the spark plug issue that later put him out of the race.

Since it was already the Ferrari driver's second reprimand of the 2017 Formula 1 season - after he'd crossed the pit exit line at Monaco earlier this year - the Suzuka decision by the FIA stewards means that he is edging closer to a 10-place grid penalty.

Vettel would be handed a penalty for three reprimands, two of which must be for driving offences.

The German thinks the stewards could have been more sympathetic.

"I didn't understand it," Vettel said when asked about the incident on Thursday in Austin.

"Of course I was a bit late, but for half of the anthem I was there. I was surprised when I heard that I was reprimanded for it.

"The rule is clear, but well... Maybe I should have pushed aside the guy ahead of me and not wait until he was done on the toilet!

"A bit of a joke, but okay."

[MIKA27]

Vandoorne to take grid penalty for Austin F1 race

McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne will take a five-place grid penalty for the United States Grand Prix after Honda chose to fit a new Formula 1 internal combustion engine.

McLaren-Honda had hoped to avoid penalties for this weekend’s race at Austin, as the outfit feels the US GP represents its best chance of a strong result in the remaining races.

But because of high mileage on Vandoorne’s ICE, Honda has elected to change the unit, which will be his eighth of the season, triggering a five-place penalty.

Honda has been pushing on with development and Motorsport.com understands the internal combustion engine has small modifications to improve performance.

The Japanese manufacturer has decided not to change any of the other components to minimise the penalty for the Belgian.

Vandoorne will have the new unit from first practice on Friday at Austin, with teammate Fernando Alonso running the same engine he used at the last race at Japan.

[MIKA27]

Kvyat feels he "deserves clarifications" from Red Bull

Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat feels he “deserves clarifications" from his employer Red Bull over his future in grand prix racing.

Amid a frustrating 2017 campaign with Toro Rosso, Kvyat was benched mid-season for two races, but will be making his return at this weekend's United States Grand Prix.

And while his long-term teammate Carlos Sainz has already departed Toro Rosso, Kvyat is not assured of staying at the team next year – or even seeing out this season.

Asked by Motorsport.com whether he was angered by his demotion, which came after he crashed out from the Singapore GP, Kvyat said: "I don't think I was meant to be happy.

"Other than that, I think it wasn't actually a bad thing - looking back at it, looking at how the races were for the team, I wasn't even too sorry to miss these two races, because they were quite bad for the team's performance – but, to be honest, you always want to race, no?

"We will discuss these things behind closed doors, we will decide what's the next move for the future. I think I deserve this, to have clarifications, and we will get them together, one from another."

With both his two-race replacement Pierre Gasly and newcomer Brendon Hartley, his US GP teammate, available for the three final races of the F1 season, Kvyat has admitted he does not know whether he features in the team's post-Austin plans.

The Russian said he is contracted with Red Bull for "a further two years", although it is understood such a deal does not ensure he will continue to represent the firm in F1 and could be terminated early.

"I just do my job, I have a contract with Red Bull for further two years, I think. As far as I have this contract, I have to do [my job] as well as I can, and then if there are any other opportunities, things, we discuss it together and decide what is the best thing to move forward."

Kvyat said the news of his post-Singapore demotion came "slightly out of the blue, because there was a lot of confusion regarding everything".

On whether he had been treated fairly by Red Bull, he said: "I don't want to discuss this now. Talking about this will not help me to focus my mind on the weekend.

"That's all that matters, I want to put away all these thoughts about 'fair' or 'not fair', whatever.

"I just have my work here, my car, I have plenty of new stimulations, motivations, and I want to use them to my best, to try to maximise my performance.

"I feel like there was a very big potential all the time, which has not been used this year very well, and I want to correct this, because there is still a chance to correct this."

[MIKA27]

Fernando Alonso could enter Daytona 24 Hours to prepare for Le Mans

Fernando Alonso is considering racing in next year's Daytona 24 Hours to help prepare him for a future assault on victory at Le Mans.

The Spaniard has made no secret of the fact that he wants to win motor racing's famed Triple Crown of the Monaco GP, the Indianapolis 500 and the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Speaking at the United States Grand Prix on Thursday after confirming his new deal with McLaren, Alonso said that competing at Daytona was now being weighed up to help him prepare for Le Mans.

"The first priority was to finalise the F1 deal and now that is done, I will look at the other options," he said when asked about the prospect of racing at Daytona next January.

"The Triple Crown is the main thing, I know that for the Indy 500 it was a nice experience, I felt very competitive but it was a big challenge that I took from zero.

"There was no testing with any similar race before the Indy 500, or for me any other oval race before the Indy 500. So it was a big challenge.

"I was competitive and I felt good, but if I want to prepare for Le Mans maybe there are other possibilities to prepare a little bit better than I prepared for the Indy 500."

McLaren executive director Zak Brown said that he planned to speak to Alonso about the idea of doing Daytona, with the American already having an entry through his United Autosports team.

"If Fernando wants to do Daytona and we have a seat available, we will put his name on it happily," said Brown.

"We've started joking around about it, and we saw where jokes got us last time [when the Indy 500 bid started in jest].

"We have been focused on F1 and now that we have that done, we will have conversations with Fernando about any other racing activities."

Alonso added that even though Daytona was being considered, he had not yet spoken to anyone regarding racing at Le Mans next year.

"It is definitely something that if it comes, the opportunity, I will try to exploit that opportunity and I will try to talk to whatever possibility is there," he said.

"Together with McLaren, if that is something that makes sense as we did with the Indy 500 this year, we will try to do it, but at the moment there is nothing in plan."

Speaking about returning to Indy in the future, he added: "Obviously now with the new McLaren deal for next year I can confirm that I will not be in the Indy 500 next year, because it is the Monaco GP the same weekend and the priority next year is to perform well in F1.

"But I will be in the Indy 500 in the future. Whether it will be 2019 or 2020, whenever, it is a race that I definitely will experience again."

[skalls]

Was at COTA yesterday.  Will get a post up here on Monday when I get back home.  Someone (might be this dumb monkey) forgot a USB cord and I am way too lazy to try and type out a post on my phone lol.

Practice was pretty cool, the hill up to the first turn is immense in person.  Walking that hill after FP1 to get to the food trucks was a workout lol.

[Baldy]

Awesome @skalls.

Go Mercedes and go Lewis.  As for my McLaren team.....in the garage you go.

[MIKA27]

UNITED STATES GP: UNTOUCHABLE HAMILTON HAS ONE HAND ON THE TITLE

Lewis Hamilton has one hand on the 2017 Formula 1 World Championship after he powered to a comfortable victory at the United States Grand Prix, with title rival Sebastian Vettel finishing ten seconds behind in second place.

The result saw Mercedes clinching their fourth constructors’ championship title in four years, while Hamilton (with three rounds remaining) needs only nine points or fifth place at the next race – the Mexican Grand Prix in a week – to wrap-up his fourth F1 world title.

Starting from pole Hamilton was beaten in the drag up the hill into and out of Turn 1 by Vettel who took the lead and pulled away in the early laps, but soon Hamilton was hunting the Ferrari down and on lap five he pounced to take the command of proceedings.

He only lost the lead briefly during the first pitstop window, but thereafter he remained untouchable until the chequered flag waved, a one stop strategy working for him on the day.

It was another flawless performance by the team and their star driver, his ninth victory of the season and his fifth triumph at Circuit of the Americas in six years.

Apart from getting by Vettel with clinical ease, after his pitstop he cheekily muscled his way past Max Verstappen while the Red Bull driver led, having yet to stop, thus reclaiming the lead and making an obvious point at the same time.

Hamilton told, the podium MC, sprint legend Usain Bolt, “I feel amazing. I love this track, I think it’s now my favourite track. A big congratulations to the team, they’ve worked so hard, the guys back in the factory. They’ve been the best team this year. It’s a really humbling experience.”

“It’s been an incredible year so far. I was not expecting to have the pace on Sebastian we had today but the car felt fantastic. Still three to go and three more to win. Let’s go guys,” added the Mercedes driver.

Vettel was feisty early on and seemed to have the pace to make a fight of it, but once Hamilton got by the German simply ran out of firepower to challenge for victory. Instead he had to fight hard for second place.

Opting for a two stop strategy, the Ferrari driver dropped down to fifth at one stage but mounted a strong fight back to claim second, albeit assisted by an easy overtake on teammate Kimi Raikkonen who settled for third place.

Vettel summed up his aftrnoon, “At the start it was looking good, we got past Lewis, but we had to realise we couldn’t go at his pace. We were then in no-man’s land and were not quite sure (what to do). We decided to pit again, with a fresh set of tyres and it was a bit more exciting but overall it was not the result we needed. They were quicker than us and we have to admit that.”

Raikkonen said on the podium, “I was pretty disappointed when I thought I finished fourth but there was some issue with Max. My car was really good all the way but I had to fuel save a bit at the end.”

Driver of the Day was deservedly Max Verstappen, the Red Bull driver powering into podium contention after starting 16th on the grid. The Dutchman was in his trademark attack mode, battling his way up to third place when the chequered flag waved to end the race.

Indeed he even reported to the pre-podium room only to be led out again after he was handed a five seconds penalty by the FIA race stewards for exceeding track limits during his battle for third with Raikkonen. A storming drive of the highest order by the 20 year old.

It was a harsh call by the officials considering that track limits were abused by just about everyone throughout the race. Nevertheless the penalty demoted him to fourth and denied fans a pumped up Verstappen celebrating, instead it was a typically glum faced Raikkonen on the third step clearly pained by the chore of being on the podium.

Verstappen was not happy with the decision, “Everybody is running wide, including myself, everywhere. At Turn 9 and Turn 19 you can go wide an nobody will say anything. It was the same with Bottas, I went for a move and he continued outside the track and came back so I really had to pass him and nothing has been done against that when he has gained an advantage. It’s not good for the sport and they have to be really clear on the rules that it’s not allowed anywhere.” He said more here>>>

It was even worse for his teammate Daniel Ricciardo who was in fourth during the early stages. His jaw-dropping battle with Valtteri Bottas was one of the highlights of the race. The Australian was one of the first to pit, but shortly after he rejoined he slowed to a halt with an engine issue and race over.

Bottas, on the other hand, tried to make a one stop strategy work and at one stage was running in second place. But late on in the race he ran out of rubber, dropping down to fifth with a few of laps to go. There he stayed despite a precautionary pitstop for new tyres on the penultimate lap. But in the end it was another race in which the Finn was totally outclassed by his Mercedes teammate.

Esteban Ocon continued his extraordinary run of grand prix finishes, this time taking sixth place at the end of an action packed race for the Frenchman. He made a good start, making his way to fourth early on in the race and then fended off Felipe Massa’s Williams, later on his own Force India teammate Sergio Perez and right at the end managed to keep Renault’s Carlos Sainz at bay.

The Spaniard had a dream debut with his new team, finishing seventh after a weekend in which he did not put a foot wrong and outshone the team’s regular driver Nico Hulkenberg. The German retired on lap three.

Perez tried to get his Force India team to order Ocon to move aside when the pair were nose-to-tail during their scuffle with Massa, but in the end the Mexican simply did not have the pace of his teammate to challenge him or prevent Sainz from getting past.

Massa was ninth, ahead of Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat who claimed the final point in tenth. The Russian staying out of trouble during the race in which he made his return to the team after a two race lay-off.

Report in progress…

[MIKA27]

LAUDA: THANK YOU TO EVERYONE AT BRACKLEY AND BRIXWORTH

Mercedes bosses Niki Lauda and  Toto Wolff were ecstatic as their team wrapped up the 2017 Formula 1 World Championship for constructors, after Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finished first and fifth at the United States Grand Prix.

With three races remaining in the championship Mercedes have amassed 575, which is 147 more than their closest rivals Ferrari, and with it did enough to secure the title for a fourth consecutive year.

Formula 1 legend Lauda declared after the race at Circuit of the Americas: “Thank you to everyone at Brackley and Brixworth. Together we made it. An unbelievable result and I’m really happy. It was touch and go two stop or one stop. Lewis had everything under control, maybe Bottas could have used another strategy but it doesn’t matter. For us a fantastic result.”

Wolff had this to say: “I’m so happy. The gang in Brackley and Brixworth have done a fantastic job, 24/7 and so much sacrifice.  It’s just a new reality. We had a few good years with a power unit advantage and now everybody has closed up. You can see that Red Bull is very much there at the end. This is the new reality and how it will go for the rest and probably next season.”

“Lewis is really on top of his game at the moment. Since the summer he has made no mistakes, been quick on the Saturdays and today his tyre management was great.”

“But it’s been the whole group that has made the car quick, made it reliable and Lewis has been perfect in the execution. It is the first time in many seasons that strategy was not obvious. Ferrari could have caught up much more and we didn’t have much data if the soft would last to the end.”

“I think there is no silver bullet. In years where you are competitive, everything just needs to come together – the right work ethic, the right resource and also the right mindset. You need to stick by your values and stick by your word and maybe Hungary helped.”

“So many people have contributed, Paddy in the past and Ross before as technical directors. James Allison is like my total opposite twin brother. He is so different, comes from the different spectrum. But we have the same thinking and values and is just fantastic to work with.”

“It’s normal development that people will poach from the good teams. But we enjoy coming to work and this is what we do, we stick to our values and have clear objectives, a passion for what we do and accountability. It all comes together and what makes this place so special at the moment.”

“We can see the fat lady backstage preparing,” concluded Wolff.

[MIKA27]

HORNER: IT’S WRONG, IT’S WRONG

Red Bull chief Christian Horner was livid after his team’s driver Max Verstappen was handed a five seconds penalty by race stewards, after crossing the finish line in third place at the United States Grand Prix, demoting the young Dutchman to fourth.

Horner told reporters after the race, “There’s been cars going off track all day today and no action at all so I think it’s unbelievably harsh to give Max a penalty for that. It’s wrong, it’s wrong.”

“For me, it was fair, hard racing and I think that’s a bad judgement by the stewards to have made that call. We’ve seen cars off track all weekend so to penalise him at this stage is not right.”

Fans voted Verstappen Driver of the Day for his efforts, whereby he battled his way through the field from 16th on the grid. providing the bulk of the afternoon’s entertainment with his antics.

In the final laps he relentlessly reeled in the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen and on the final lap muscled his way past the Finn, but in the end to no avail as the stewards deemed he had transgressed track limits in his quest for third place.

MIKA: The Stewards make their own rules IMO - Vettel does this same thing so often year in year out and hardly ever gets reprimanded.

F1 looks at engines, sound killing the sport, but as a fan of Formula 1, I actually feel from my perspective, the stewards have the greatest negative impaact for my liking. This really needs to change.

[MIKA27]

VERSTAPPEN: ONE IDIOT STEWARD MAKES THE DECISIONS AGAINST ME

Max Verstappen, and just about everyone who watched the United States Grand Prix, thought he did enough to finish third and celebrate on the podium, but it was not to be as the FIA race stewards slapped him with a five seconds penalty which turned that third place into fourth.

The young Dutchman was voted Driver of the Day by F1 fans for his superb drive through the field form 16th on the grid. The Red Bull driver providing a large chunk of the entertainment on the day at Circuit of the Americas.

His pursuit of Kimi Raikkonen and battle for third was highly entertaining as he relentlessly attacked every inch of the track in his trademark all-or-nothing style. It was riveting stuff both live and on the telly.

His final lap was extraordinary, prompting huge cheers as he muscled past Raikkonen to take third place, as he crossed the line Verstappen had no doubt he would be celebrating on the podium, he was even ushered into the pre-podium room.

But when Raikkonen arrived in the same room shortly afterwards, the penny dropped and he got the message, departing with a wry smile and rather miffed.

Later, when facing the media, Verstappen let rip, “It’s just one idiot steward up there who makes the decisions against me. Also in Mexico. Now I get a five-second penalty and a penalty point, for what?”

Although Verstappen didn’t mention him by name, the “idiot” he was referring to was the FIA appointed race steward Garry Connelly.

“At the end of the day, everybody’s running wide everywhere, there are no track limits, and then the crowd is loving it and you do something like that in front of world TV.”

“You pick someone out from the podium again and tell them to go away. At the end of the day, I still had a great race. I’m happy with fourth. Just the way they did it is unbelievable.”

“We had a great race but with these stupid decisions you really kill the sport. I really hope the fans didn’t like this decision and hopefully next year they won’t come.”

“You can’t protest, it’s in the rules. They know how to make therules. At the moment it’s in their favour. They decide and you can’t do anything against them which is of course really weird. But what can you do? It’s not good for the crowd. I really hope next year nobody is coming, because like this, the sport doesn’t make sense.

“Everyone is loving it, great action. You go five or 10 centimetres in the inside of the kerb, everyone is running wide everywhere, nobody’s saying anything, like in qualifying at Turn 19 you could just run wide wherever you liked. And they killed the race basically like that,” added Verstappen.

Red Bull team chief Christian Horner was appaulled by the decision and told reporters, “It’s unbelievably harsh to give Max a penalty for that. It’s wrong.”

Verstappen’s father Jos also made his feelings clear on Twitter:

Jos Verstappen

@MaVic009

 

[MIKA27]

Niki Lauda calls Max Verstappen penalty 'worst I've ever seen'

Niki Lauda has spoken out against the penalty handed to Red Bull's Max Verstappen, echoing the Dutchman's concerns that such decisions are "killing the sport", something Verstappen himself said after the race.

Verstappen was penalised for a last lap overtake on Kimi Raikkonen because he crossed the 'track limit' with all four wheels, dropping him off the podium down to fourth, whilst also incurring a penalty point on his licence.

Three-time champion Lauda blasted the race stewards in his assessment of the penalty: "This decision is the worst I’ve ever seen," he said. 

"He did nothing wrong. We’re racing drivers, we’re not on a normal road. It’s ridiculous to destroy the sport with this kind of decision."

Lauda says the matter of meddling stewards needs addressing at the next Strategy Group meeting, despite recent assurances that they would back off in such situations unless it poses a danger.

"Very simple. If they drive over [each other] and go upside down, only then they [the stewards] will come in. It was the beginning of last year [we agreed this].

"Next Strategy meeting we need to bring it up to the agenda and start it all over again. Because we cannot do that, it’s going too far.

"There was nothing to interfere with, it was a normal overtaking.”