FORMULA 1

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Why 'absolutely worst' Haas needs to address 'very serious' problem

Haas secured fifth position in Formula 1’s Constructors’ Championship in only its third season last year, rattling more than a few cages, but this campaign has been a head-scratching one for the team.

Haas’ VF-19 caught the eye during pre-season testing and the car was rapid in Australia, taking 'best of the rest' in qualifying and the race, only denied a double points finish through a repeat of its 2018 pit stop dramas on Romain Grosjean’s side of the garage.

Kevin Magnussen delivered another strong display beneath the lights on Saturday in Bahrain – almost dislodging the Red Bull of Max Verstappen – ostensibly cementing the view that it was one of, if not the, strongest midfield team.

But since then its pace has largely evaporated.

Magnussen raced to a lacklustre 13th across the past three grands prix while Grosjean took 11th in China, sandwiched by retirements in Bahrain (due to a clash) and Azerbaijan (due to brakes).

It has left Haas only eighth in the Constructors’ Championship, courtesy of Magnussen’s Australia result, in spite of its drivers’ beliefs that the VF-19 is a fundamentally strong package.

The manner in which drivers and teams utilise Pirelli’s notoriously tricky tyres is becoming a primary talking point as the 2019 season continues to unfold.

Haas – across the past three grands prix at very different venues – has fallen behind in this department, with its predicament accentuated in race trim.

Magnussen described Haas’ Bahrain performance as “hopeless” and was despondent post-race in Azerbaijan, delivering short and terse answers in the wake of another dismal result.

Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner stressed that “we know the cause” – though was coy on precise details – before stressing that “we just need to find out how to fix it.”

“Other people can get it [the tyre window] to work so we need to get it to work,” said Steiner, who was reluctant to pin the blame on Pirelli's altered tread depths compared to what it brought to most 2018 events.

“There’s no point saying ‘Oh, it’s not working’. Nine teams can get it to work. Who’s better? Who’s worse? We are absolutely the worst one to get it to work. I’m very conscious about that one

“It’s very serious, it’s disappointing because you go slower. That’s what it is.

While unwilling to divulge in-depth details Steiner nonetheless provided an insight as to where and why Haas is struggling in race trim more than in qualifying.

“Everyone has got issues with the tyres, you can see it,” he said.

“You go into the graining phase, and then when we go into the graining phase we cannot get out of it anymore because our tyre then gets too cold and then we are done. Then we slide around.

“We’ve got four or five laps, we go fast, then the graining starts to go and then other people recover after the graining but we don’t, because our temperature is too low and we just cannot get it to work anymore once the graining clears.”

“When Kevin went out on the new Mediums [in Azerbaijan] he was pretty competitive for five, six or seven laps and then the graining happens and then we just keep on… But I can tell you our lap time on the temperature graph of the tyre! I don’t even need to look at the lap time, I can tell you where the tyre goes, that is we go slow.”

Tired of tyres? For some fans it can be a gripe that the rubber is so dominant, and it is a view shared by Steiner.

“It’s so disappointing because we’ve got a good car,” he commented. “We shouldn’t always be talking about whether a tyre works or not. It’s interesting but it’s not Formula 1 in my opinion. ‘Did you get the tyre to work?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Oh, then I’m fast.’ ‘My tyre didn’t work so then I’m slow…’ We spend millions and millions to develop these cars and then you’re out of the window and we cannot get going.”

Haas has so far been fortunate that so far none of its midfield rivals have yet stolen a march on the opposition, with fourth-placed McLaren only 10 points up the road. But if Formula 1’s newest team cannot get a grip on its tyre usage soon it can wave goodbye to its hopes of matching its stellar 2018 season.

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Horner: Bad on-paper results masked Gasly improvements

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner believes Pierre Gasly could take “a lot of positives” from the Azerbaijan GP weekend, in spite of his poor on-paper results.

Gasly has endured a difficult start to his Red Bull career after struggling to marry his driving style with the RB15.

Gasly failed to score in Australia – having been eliminated after a communication mix-up in Q1 – and followed it up with only eighth in Bahrain and an off-the-pace sixth in China.

Gasly was consigned to start from the pit lane in Azerbaijan after missing the weighbridge in FP2 and was notionally excluded from qualifying for exceeding the fuel flow limit to set the best overall time in Q1.

Gasly subsequently retired from the race due to a driveshaft issue – though had recovered from the pit lane to sixth.

“I think while he doesn’t have results on paper, I think he’s pretty happy with his weekend,” said Horner.

“On Friday was quick, in the race he drove a good race. It should’ve been an easy P6 from the pit lane which is a really strong drive.

“I think even more encouraging than this is his pace, you know certainly compared to Ferrari on the same strategy, he was definitely quicker than him [Charles Leclerc]. So I think a lot of positives for Pierre out of Azerbaijan. 

“He’s had a lot of support from the team, he’s working with a good engineer, he’s got a good engineering team around him and he knows that we know he can do it, so it’s just taking a bit of time.”

While Gasly retired in Azerbaijan, team-mate Max Verstappen went on to finish fourth for the third race in a row.

“It’s a long, long way to go in the championship,” said Horner.

“We just have to take it one race at a time, but three fourth positions in a row is getting a little bit boring now, we want to be fighting for the podium again.”

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Too early to dismiss Ferrari as title rival - Lewis Hamilton

Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton has stressed that it would be premature to rule Ferrari out of this year’s Formula 1 title battle, in spite of Mercedes’ imperious start.

Mercedes has enjoyed one of the strongest starts to any Formula 1 campaign, with four successive 1-2 finishes, fronted twice each by Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

Bottas leads Hamilton in the standings by a single point owing to setting the fastest lap in Australia, with the closest non-Mercedes driver – Sebastian Vettel – already 35 points adrift.

In the Constructors’ Championship Mercedes has amassed 173 out of a possible 176 points to hold a 74-point advantage over Ferrari.

When asked whether he regarded Bottas as his main title rival for 2019, Hamilton replied: “No. It’s far too early to say that one person is the title rival.

“Ferrari had good pace in practice and in qualifying. I think if both cars delivered as we delivered, and their drivers delivered as we delivered, I think it would have been a lot closer.

“But we still have to stay on our toes.

“We didn’t bring an upgrade [in Azerbaijan] and Ferrari did, so it’s a little bit of a surprise performance-wise, because at some stage we will bring an upgrade.”

When it was put to Hamilton that the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix will be a definitive indication of the respective cars’ pace, he replied: “Certainly we’ll go there and Ferrari were quick there in testing.

“I’m sure they’ll bring some extra upgrades and yeah, I don’t really know.

“It’ll take some races, but of course these first four have been stellar for us, and we just have to stay on our toes because you just never know when another team is going to take a step forward.

“I think Barcelona is usually an area where you do bring upgrades. Ferrari brought it forward maybe.

“But I think we still have to keep a close eye on them and continue to perform as we have, and not let that waver.”

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Sainz: McLaren still needs to improve in "every area"

Carlos Sainz thinks McLaren needs to improve in "every area" if it is to achieve its main target – which is to be as good as Mercedes, not to simply be quick in the midfield.
McLaren has shown solid progress this season, and is currently fourth in the constructors’ championship after a double points finish for Sainz and teammate Lando Norris in Azerbaijan.

But although the team is now a challenger for best-of-the-rest behind the top three teams, Sainz says McLaren's ambitions are much greater, which is why it needs to lift its game even more.

"Pretty much every area I think we still need to improve,” said the Spaniard. “Because we look at Mercedes, we see where they are, we look at Ferrari, and then you look at the data and you see that every area of the car needs to be improved."

Sainz says McLaren is clear about where it needs to get to; and being strong in the midfield is no reason to feel its job is done.

"If we compare ourselves against the midfield, then we only need to improve in little areas to come on top,” he said. “But we are not comparing ourselves against that. We are comparing ourselves to a car that is a second quicker at the moment than us. And that's the target, to improve in every area."

Sainz’s seventh-place finish in Azerbaijan was his first points of the year, and he admitted that it was an important milestone to tick off after frustrations earlier in the campaign.

“On a personal level, this one is a bit of a relief after three races where I just had exactly the [same] pace,” he said. “I had it [the speed] in the first three races but just for a reason that I still don't understand, three consecutive runs of bad luck happened to us.

“We finally didn't have any issues and we just demonstrated what we are capable of doing.”

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Red Bull plans "fairly subtle" upgrade package for Spain

Red Bull is planning a "fairly subtle" upgrade for the Spanish Grand Prix, having "closed the gap" to Formula 1 pacesetters Mercedes and Ferrari since the start of 2019.

The team scored a podium in the first race of the season on its debut with Honda engines but finished fourth in the three races that followed.

Last year Red Bull introduced a major upgrade package at Barcelona, including revised sidepods, bargeboards and floor, but team boss Christian Horner has suggested it will be smaller this time.

"It's fairly subtle and it's just evolution," he said. "It will be the usual front and rear wing upgrades. It's evolution rather than revolution."

Horner explained that the developments focused on "different aspects of balance, on degradation and all of those things".

Red Bull struggled with tyre warm-up in Azerbaijan, but its race pace was quicker than both Ferrari and Mercedes.

The team has made solid progress since identifying a problem with its set-up in Bahrain and was closer to Mercedes and Ferrari in China and Azerbaijan.

"I think we've closed the gap since the beginning of the year," said Horner. "In Melbourne we had a strong race and Max was pushing Lewis the majority of that grand prix.

"Bahrain was a tough race for us but it exposed some things that we've managed to improve on since then. China was a stronger race, and [Azerbaijan] even more so – and on a track that doesn't historically play to our strengths.

"We're looking forward to heading back to Europe now and we have a few circuits coming up now that should really suit us."

Red Bull has embarked upon a steady upgrade path through the beginning of the season, addressing several changes all around the car.

Firstly, the team consolidated its research from pre-season testing by running a new bargeboard package in Australia.

Testing had been limited by Pierre Gasly's week two crash at Campsa, but the team saw enough potential to persevere with the concept.

 

This was done by breaking a sidepod turning vane into two, redistributing the airflow around the shrunken sidepods.

The team also changed the front wing ahead of Bahrain, introducing a small cut in the third element and shortening the top element to satisfy the nuances of the maximum allowable wing profile regulations.

This offered a bit more control over the inboard rotation of air produced here, boosting its power.

Further changes were mandated by an FIA directive, and Red Bull had to close up a cutout which exposed the rear-most section of wing, which presented a puncture risk.

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Wolff: Past tyre knowledge "not so relevant" in 2019

Mercedes Formula 1 team boss Toto Wolff believes the thinner-gauge tyres introduced for this season have made what teams learned last year about the vital "science" involved less relevant.

In 2018, Pirelli introduced tyres with a slightly thinner tread for the races in Spain, France and Britain to prevent blistering, and decided to make that the standard specification for this season.

Ferrari, which has often been less aggressive on its tyres than Mercedes, is struggling with the new-spec rubber and Sebastian Vettel described it as the "more dominating factor" in the team's performances so far this year.

Wolff said: "I think there's actually a wider operating window [with the 2019 tyres] but I think it's the usual learning slope. When you've had a tyre for a long time, all your data and all your simulations are based around a certain compound and a certain structure.

"Then suddenly the tread changes from one year to the other, all your learning is basically not so relevant anymore. It's also about adaptability, the team that learns quickest to understand the new circumstances."

Mercedes has earned four one-two finishes in a row at the start of the 2019 season, but the Ferrari was the quickest car in Bahrain and had the edge in Azerbaijan until temperatures dropped in qualifying.

That transformed Mercedes from being much slower in final practice to locking out the front row and keeping Ferrari at arm's length in the race.

Asked what Mercedes was doing differently to be so effective with the tyres, Wolff said its 1.6s deficit in final practice in Baku was a good example that it still falls foul of the ideal operating temperatures.

"We didn't do anything different, we just didn't have the tyre in the window," said Wolff. "Then it was also about seeking the right compromise between qualifying and the race.

"[In the race], Max Verstappen was the quickest guy on track at the end, [then there was a] virtual safety car, the tyre doesn't come back and he's struggling to put heat in the tyre and generate grip. He came on the radio saying 'I have no grip'.

"That is the science where every team gradually progresses and tries to understand their performance better."

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Mercedes: We won't allow Hamilton-Bottas partnership to deteriorate

Mercedes are no strangers to friction between team mates. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg didn’t exactly see eye to eye during their time together as team mates between 2013 and 2016. Chief Toto Wolff admitted Hamilton’s 2019 battle with Valtteri Bottas reminds him a little of that, but he insists he’s not afraid to bring out the “yellow or red cards” as they bid to prevent a repeat…

The Silver Arrows have made a commanding start to 2019, with Bottas and Hamilton taking two wins apiece and ensuring Mercedes opened with four consecutive one-two finishes. Bottas is a fraction ahead in the championship, courtesy of the bonus point earned for the fastest lap in Australia.

In Baku, they raced side-by-side off the line through three corners before Bottas got his nose in front. The racing was tight but fair, with Bottas coming out on top, and their close proximity in the drivers’ championship opens up an intriguing prospect of another inter-team fight.

“It reminds me a little bit of the situation [in 2014-2016, when Hamilton and Rosberg fought almost exclusively for the title]," said Wolff. “You have two drivers that have the ambition and the ability to win a championship, and it’s up to us together with them to be very aware of that situation and remember that very quickly [Ferrari’s Sebastian] Vettel or [Charles] Leclerc could be back into the game and that definitely the relationship matters in order to avoid what we went through between Nico and Lewis.

“We are lucky that they have a very good relationship. They get on with each other. There is not a lot of games in the background, and I am very happy about that. But we have to be conscious as we have seen a relationship deteriorate.

“Both of the drivers have an ambition to win the championship. We want them to be lions in the car, so you can’t expect the behaviour of a sheep. But equally the respect needs to stay in there.

“We are very strong as a team and we wouldn’t allow a relationship between drivers to deteriorate to a point that it has a negative effect on the team. If that would ever be the case again, after Nico and Lewis, we will ensure we would issue yellow and red cards. But we are far, we are not there.”

Can Mercedes continue their dominance in Spain, at a circuit where Ferrari dominated during pre-season testing? And if so, can Bottas continue his fine form and stop Hamilton getting a third successive victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya? It’s just over a week until we find out!

MIKA: I don't see Bottas stepping aside as he did last season for Hamilton under team orders. 

I think Valtteri knows that this could be his last season in a silver arrows (I hope I'm wrong) so he will fight for his WDC.

Lewis will be Lewis, happy whilst he is winning in P1 but super prickly and bitchy when he's any lower than a win, as he was with Rosberg.

[Lotusguy]

Mercedes: We won't allow Hamilton-Bottas partnership to deteriorate

Mercedes are no strangers to friction between team mates. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg didn’t exactly see eye to eye during their time together as team mates between 2013 and 2016. Chief Toto Wolff admitted Hamilton’s 2019 battle with Valtteri Bottas reminds him a little of that, but he insists he’s not afraid to bring out the “yellow or red cards” as they bid to prevent a repeat…
The Silver Arrows have made a commanding start to 2019, with Bottas and Hamilton taking two wins apiece and ensuring Mercedes opened with four consecutive one-two finishes. Bottas is a fraction ahead in the championship, courtesy of the bonus point earned for the fastest lap in Australia.
In Baku, they raced side-by-side off the line through three corners before Bottas got his nose in front. The racing was tight but fair, with Bottas coming out on top, and their close proximity in the drivers’ championship opens up an intriguing prospect of another inter-team fight.
“It reminds me a little bit of the situation [in 2014-2016, when Hamilton and Rosberg fought almost exclusively for the title]," said Wolff. “You have two drivers that have the ambition and the ability to win a championship, and it’s up to us together with them to be very aware of that situation and remember that very quickly [Ferrari’s Sebastian] Vettel or [Charles] Leclerc could be back into the game and that definitely the relationship matters in order to avoid what we went through between Nico and Lewis.
“We are lucky that they have a very good relationship. They get on with each other. There is not a lot of games in the background, and I am very happy about that. But we have to be conscious as we have seen a relationship deteriorate.
“Both of the drivers have an ambition to win the championship. We want them to be lions in the car, so you can’t expect the behaviour of a sheep. But equally the respect needs to stay in there.
“We are very strong as a team and we wouldn’t allow a relationship between drivers to deteriorate to a point that it has a negative effect on the team. If that would ever be the case again, after Nico and Lewis, we will ensure we would issue yellow and red cards. But we are far, we are not there.”
Can Mercedes continue their dominance in Spain, at a circuit where Ferrari dominated during pre-season testing? And if so, can Bottas continue his fine form and stop Hamilton getting a third successive victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya? It’s just over a week until we find out!
MIKA: I don't see Bottas stepping aside as he did last season for Hamilton under team orders. 
I think Valtteri knows that this could be his last season in a silver arrows (I hope I'm wrong) so he will fight for his WDC.
Lewis will be Lewis, happy whilst he is winning in P1 but super prickly and bitchy when he's any lower than a win, as he was with Rosberg.

Praying for Bottas to win it this season - he deserves it!

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1 hour ago, Lotusguy said:

Praying for Bottas to win it this season - he deserves it!

Likewise mate!!

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SENNA-RATZENBERGER TRIBUTE AT SPANISH GRAND PRIX

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will hold the tribute that never happened, the one that Ayrton Senna had planned a few hours before the fatal accident that ended his life, and was never able to carry out. It will take place during the 2019 Spanish Grand Prix on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his passing.

During the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994, the Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger lost his life on the track, on Saturday 30 April, during the qualifying session.

One day later, on 1 May, Ayrton Senna had an accident on the same track and died. The track marshals, while they were providing assistance, discovered an Austrian flag in his race overall, which he had taken with him to pay tribute to Ratzenberger on the San Marino podium. Unfortunately, it was Senna’s last race and he was not able to pay that tribute.

25 years later, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, wants to make that tribute happen, the tribute that Senna had prepared for Ratzenberger. With this idea in mind, the Catalan racetrack has created an Austrian-Brazilian flag, merging the nationalities of both drivers, which the attending spectators shall show at the Circuit, and which the winner of the Grand Prix shall show on the highest step of the podium, in order to complete the tribute that never happened, on behalf of Ayrton Senna.

Thus, we will not only be paying tribute to the Brazilian driver, one of the world’s most important drivers in motorsport history, but also to Ratzenberger.

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will encourage all fans to participate in this tribute. An Austrian-Brazilian flag will be at half-staff at the entrance of the Circuit, and it will be raising as the interaction in social media with the hashtag #thetributethatneverhappened increases. Moreover, the attending public will be able to purchase an Austrian-Brazilian flag to show it during the whole weekend and wave it, together with the winner of the Grand Prix, actively participating in the tribute that never happened.

The events in memory of the Brazilian driver will start a few days before the Grand Prix, with an agenda of activities and experiences worth to be watched and lived first-hand.

On Wednesday 8 May, at Palau Robert in Barcelona, there will be a real-size sculpture of Ayrton Senna, created by the British sculpture and portrait painter Paul Oz. This piece of art, made in bronze and weighing 160 kilos, shows the Brazilian driver inside the cockpit of his single-seater.

Moreover, all attendants will also have the chance to enjoy a unique exhibition, consisting of an exclusive selection of 15 historic F1 single-seaters. The exhibition will be launched at noon and it will be open to everybody.

One day later, Senna’s sculpture will be taken to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where it will be exhibited during the 2019 Spanish Grand Prix, in the commercial area, behind the Main Grandstand. In this same area, the graffiti artist Axe Colours will be performing live, creating a work of art during the whole weekend. The artist will join the events for the commemoration of Senna, painting an image of the driver.

A few minutes before the start of the race, the main straight of the Circuit will be the venue of the Opening Ceremony, a show including the human towers built by Castellers de Vilafranca and the performance of a group of dancers who will be giving a wink to Ayrton Senna and the tribute.

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NO NEWS IS BAD NEWS… UNLESS YOU’RE MERCEDES

Despite being just four races into the 2019 season, the F1 news cycle seems to have slowed to an almost offseason pace, thanks in no small part to the dominance of Mercedes.

Compared to most sports, Formula One holds a unique spot in the constant battle of quality versus quantity. Even at the current count of 21 races, we get no where near as much of “it” as most other major sporting leagues, and yet it’s rare that there isn’t something substantial to talk about… this being one of those rare times, and rarer still because we’re just four races into the season.

Yep, short of whatever Jacques Villeneuve or Helmut Marko are spouting, the F1 news cycle appears to have hit a bit of a snag. Gone is the intrigue we were promised in the preseason, in its place a weariness over reliving the same story for four race-weekends in a row – namely Ferrari show up with big expectations, find a way to bugger it up, and Mercedes waltz home with a 1-2. That means the questions we had after Melbourne haven’t really changed, and all we can do is continue to wait for answers.

Making matters worse, even with the welcome surprise of Mercedes having two driver’s championship contenders, they’re far too amicable with each other for us to make anything of it. I mean, credit to the guy after their seats for trying, but this is about as much a “war” as Marvel vs DC is at the box office.

No, unfortunately instead they’ve shown up to each race and just gone about their business. Compared to everyone else, the W10 is both reliable and easier to manage, while their drivers are lacking in neither pace nor composure. Top-to-bottom, they could not have been more competent – which, as a writer for a 24/7/365 F1 news site craving stuff to over-analyse, I find very inconsiderate.

In all seriousness, the run Mercedes have been on is beyond remarkable, even if it doesn’t lend itself to continually fresh headlines. Truly I can’t think of a team in world sport that is as well-run as they are right now, and that’s not easy considering the amount of time, money and people that go into delivering the product we see on track.

The already looming sense of inevitability they’ve created may not be make make for much intrigue, but it is well deserved. Still, with 17 grands prix left, there’s plenty of time for a plot twist – it’s just going to have to be a big one to stop the Silver Arrows from keeping on rolling.

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MARKO: RICCIARDO BET ME THAT MERCEDES WOULD LET BOTTAS GO

Daniel Ricciardo ditching Red Bull for Renault was a huge Formula 1 story last year and, now, for the first time, Helmut Marko has revealed how negotiations proceeded and how they ultimately failed to keep the Australian in the bullpen.

With Max Verstappen ‘owning’ the higher ground at Red Bull, their once blue-eyed-boy Ricciardo decided it was worth the risk of moving to Renault as the energy drinks outfit gamble on Honda this year.

It was a big call for his career, moving from proven winners in Red Bull to Renault whose boss has talked the talk for years but delivered little relative to what the other works teams are achieving on track.

After four rounds in this year’s championship, it appears Ricciardo may have erred in his decision because Renault have slipped to the bottom of the power unit pecking order while Red Bull are making progress with the Japanese manufacturer.

The inside line to Ricciardo’s decision-making process was well documented in the recent Netflix documentary series “Drive to Survive” where viewers were treated to some telling ‘fly-on-the-wall’ moments regarding the subject.

Recently, providing insight to Motorsport-Total on Ricciardo’s move, Helmut Marko recalled, “The story should have been that he decides in the summer, whether he goes to Ferrari or remains Mercedes or Red Bull. That turned out to be very different from what he imagined, and very different from what the Netflix people wanted it to be.”

Of course, Ricciardo was waiting on Mercedes to decide on Valtteri Bottas’ future and firmly believed the Finn would get the boot as Marko explained, “I bet with him and, thankfully, Bottas stayed with Mercedes. Ricciardo did not believe that would happen.”

After receiving the €1000 in cash for winning the wager, Marko explained, “When I bet with him, I already knew what I’m talking about!”

But Ricciardo’s defection to Renault, with whom Red Bull had a nasty final couple of years as an engine customer, was a surprise and blow to their well laid out plans, which included the Australian until he decided otherwise.

Marko continued, “For me, it looked like everything was fine. We improved the offer and discussed everything he thought was in need of improvement, including personal sponsors he had from Australia. That was a relatively long conversation.”

“Then he had a meeting with Mateschitz over the weekend, where he also more or less suggested that he would be staying. But then there was never a signature, the contract was ready, but he kept coming up with excuses… always something else.”

The stalling became apparent after the Austrian Grand Prix, from which point Red Bull were waiting on Ricciardo’s signature. But the delays continued.

“Then he said Hungary, and then again not in Hungary,” recalled Marko. “After the test in Budapest, I already knew it was not going to work anymore and, from on Silverstone, all the information came through his lawyer.”

“At Ferrari and Mercedes, the doors were closed and with us, there has been some tension between the two drivers since Baku, but this was not exposed to the outside.”

“He was with us for ten years, always wanting a structure where he did not have to worry about anything, which we gave him, but then for some reason he wanted something different.”

Ricciardo himself confirmed that early last year Renault was not on his radar, “At the beginning of the season I thought that I would have many options, which I really believed at the time.”

“In the end, it was less then I thought. I do not want to get involved in a war of words with Helmut, I like Helmut.”

As for the thousand bucks bet, he lost to Marko, Ricciardo explained, “We bet again in Melbourne. It was about qualifying and he believed that they would put a car in the top three. I took it up, so I got my money back, but betting with Helmut is over now!

“The story is still okay, good for Formula 1, right?”

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Formula 1 reaching tipping point with calendar length - Christian Horner

Formula 1 is reaching a “tipping point” with the length of its calendar, according to Red Bull’s Christian Horner, reckoning compromises are needed if further events are to be added.

Formula 1’s schedule has expanded in recent years and 2019 matches the record of 2016 and 2018 in having a 21-race calendar, along with pre- and in-season tests, with the season running until December.

Next season Vietnam will join while the Netherlands is poised to return, though there remain question marks over several current grands prix, most prominently Spain, Germany and Mexico.

Formula 1 chiefs Liberty Media remain keen to take the sport to new territories but Horner is among those who have warned not to dilute the championship.

“I think what you have to appreciate is that a grand prix weekend, not for us but the people down in the garage, it’s a week-long event,” he said.

“For many other functions that are involved in going to grands prix 21 is already a big ask.

“Going beyond that is, I feel, we’re a tipping point.

“You then have to look at the construction of the grand prix weekend. Do we need to do as much testing as we do? The duration of the season. All those factors and what impact it has on cost and budget caps and so on and, is ultimately it going to make a better show?

“A book can only have so many chapters and we want to make sure as many of those chapters are as entertaining as possible and it crescendos to something.

“What you don’t want to have is saturation.

“And I think it’s finding that balance of what is the right number and what is the right construction of a race weekend.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says teams need to be conscious of the added revenue and potential brought into the sport by new events.

“The balance you need to strike is between understanding that Formula 1 is a very aspiration and glamorous sport and obviously less can be more,” he said.

“But equally, as a company, we want to grow our revenue and the obvious revenue trigger is doing more races.

“I think FOM is pretty clear that, if more races are being added to the calendar, they need to be creative and they need to make it all the way down to the bottom line or be very attractive races, tapping new markets.

“I think the mix at the moment and the discussions we are having is right.”

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Baku to reimburse Williams 'in full' for drain cover damage

The Baku City Circuit has confirmed it will offer Williams financial compensation for the loose drain cover which damaged George Russell's car during Friday practice.

Russell ran over the drain cover which lifted and caused severe damage to the bottom of his FW42, forcing it to shut-down whilst also cracking the chassis, forcing the team ready their third chassis.

At the time, deputy team principal Claire Williams estimated the damage to be around £500,000 and said she would be forced to seek some form of compensation given the team's financial difficulties.

Arif Rahimov, Azerbaijan Grand Prix promoter, says he met with Williams and would be offering the team compensation.

"Obviously this is our fault, we did admit it," he told Motorsport. "It's something that we as a circuit shouldn't have allowed. We have checked again our insurance policy and it is fully covered.

"Our legal department is talking to Williams' legal department and they will be reimbursed in full. Obviously there are no hard feelings, as we both understand that it was never meant to be and it was definitely not on purpose."

A similar issue hit the Haas team in 2017 when Romain Grosjean crashed out after he hit a loose drain in Malaysia and the team were only compensated a year later, but Rahimov is confident things will be settled far quicker for Williams.

"We spoke to the insurance company [that] we need to make sure this happens as soon as possible, not [in] a year, because they need this money so they can use it this season. We will push the insurance company to expedite the claim and pay Williams as soon as possible."

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The impressive outsider in the 2019 Formula 1 title fight

The Mercedes-Ferrari dynamic has been the centre of attention in Formula 1 this year but their usually headline-grabbing rival has had a quietly impressive start to the 2019 season.

At this point last year every step Max Verstappen took was a mis-step.

He departed the early flyaway races having been involved in a series of incidents, solidifying the impression that he was trying too much, too soon, and the criticism mounted. Stumbling, bumbling, clattering his way through 2018.

It reached a nadir with an unnecessary practice crash that wrecked his Monaco prospects and even the Red Bull management issued him with a public dressing down.

Verstappen insisted he saw no reason to change but since that setback he has been largely magnificent – and that form has carried through to 2019.

Verstappen has been a near-constant in the headlines since his arrival in Formula 1 in 2015. He was always going to be, due to the manner in which he was thrust into the championship aged just 17. And, when Red Bull promoted him to the senior team after only 23 races – winning on his first time out – that scrutiny naturally magnified. Verstappen courted and created controversy at nearly every race, re-defining the regulations and splitting opinion over his conduct. As with the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, being around the sharp end of the grid so soon meant every mistake was given more column inches.

And yet this year he has been almost anonymous (in comparison) – and propelled himself into the title reckoning in the process.

In the third-best package Verstappen has managed to collect a podium finish and three successive fourth-place finishes, beating a Ferrari driver on each occasion.

In Australia Verstappen used fresher tyres to out-fox Sebastian Vettel and grab third, having already been ahead of Charles Leclerc, delivering a podium first time out for Red Bull-Honda. It was a result that undoubtedly boosted morale on both sides of the nascent partnership, and a reward for the hard-working employees after three miserable years with McLaren and a learning season out of the spotlight at Toro Rosso.

Red Bull struggled in Bahrain but Verstappen maximised the performance by racing from fifth to fourth, even if he was a little fortunate to escape unharmed from a robust clash with ex-team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr. In China it was another fourth, having undercut Leclerc while Ferrari messed around with team instructions, and in Azerbaijan Verstappen was closing on Vettel after the pit stop phase until the Virtual Safety Car period. Red Bull struggled more with tyre temperatures at the restart while Verstappen also adhered to an instruction to avoid kerb usage in the wake of team-mate Pierre Gasly’s driveshaft failure. Team boss Christian Horner suspected Red Bull had stronger overall pace than Ferrari.

“We just need a bit more grip and a bit more power,” quipped Verstappen after his 13th straight race in the top five. It is, therefore, difficult to envisage how Verstappen could have enjoyed a stronger start to the season under the circumstances. Considering the infancy of the Red Bull-Honda relationship the early results are promising. Red Bull’s chassis remains a work-in-progress, with its Bahrain dip identifying weaknesses, while Honda has managed to marry reliability with eye-catching performance at four different circuits. It is not quite there in qualifying, and remains behind its opponents in race trim, but this is the best Honda F1 has seen so far. That Honda has already accelerated development and brought Spec 2 to just the fourth race – a minor performance update allied to reliability fixes post-China – is a sign of its intent.

“We could run the engine a little bit harder in the race as well,” said Horner. “So yeah it’s all part of that evolution. There were no issues with the previous engine that we have, so they’ll be used on Fridays.”

There will be grid penalties at some stage, but Verstappen proved at last year’s US Grand Prix that a Saturday demotion is no restriction to a Sunday podium, given the advantage of the top teams. He will – and surely already is – benefitting from being Red Bull’s de facto number one driver now that Daniel Ricciardo has sought a fresh start at Renault. In 2018 Verstappen and Ricciardo famously clashed in Azerbaijan. Last weekend Gasly, albeit on an alternative strategy, moved aside for the Dutchman.

Winning the title in Red Bull-Honda’s first year may be beyond Verstappen but the longer the Dutchman maximises results the longer he remains realistically in the hunt as and when the partnership can take the fight to Mercedes and Ferrari. He is ‘only’ 36 points behind the lead drivers in a season in which 1-2s have been on the menu for the Mercs. Verstappen has been unusually – and beneficially – quiet so far in 2019 but the outsider in the title fight is doing everything right. He is no longer the upstart cage-rattler in the top six in terms of experience now that Leclerc and Gasly have joined the party, even if, age wise, he is but two weeks older than Ferrari’s protégé and actually 18 months younger than his own team-mate. He is still brash, still rapid, but has added a maturity that was previously absent. “We have to keep on trying to collect points when we are still not quite quick enough in qualifying for example, as we started behind them, and at the moment that’s what we’re doing,” he said post-Azerbaijan. The long game is now in view. You can't win a title early doors but you can certainly lose it. Monaco – if he can keep it out of the wall – is surely a prime opportunity to deliver a win.

His rivals would be remiss to discount him. And if he leaves the Principality within eye-shot of the title lead, and with Red Bull-Honda chipping away at the leading teams, the current outsider will remain a factor for a long time.

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Mercedes not playing mind games over pace - Toto Wolff

Toto Wolff has insisted that Mercedes is not playing mind games by repeatedly playing down its pace, despite taking four straight 1-2s in 2019, pointing to the performance displayed by opponents.

Mercedes believed pre-season that it was on par with, or slightly behind, rivals Ferrari based on pre-season data, but has gone on to record four 1-2 finishes.

It has also locked out the front-row of the grid at three of the first four events, missing out only in Bahrain, where Charles Leclerc dominated until suffering an engine glitch.

“I’m sitting here [in Azerbaijan] and looking like appearing to be — what can I say? We are not talking ourselves down,” said Wolff.

“It is that we see a strong Ferrari on Friday and on Saturday, and I still believe that Charles was probably the fastest man on track [in Azerbaijan], but like in Bahrain, it didn’t come together.

“You can say now, ‘Yeah, stop saying these things — it’s the fourth one-two in a row’, but it is still very much our mindset.

“We still believe that there are so many things we need to understand better and improve.”

Wolff stressed that Mercedes owes its results not just due to pure pace but also the slick nature of the team.  

“Even in the race [in Azerbaijan] at times [Pierre] Gasly and [Max] Verstappen were the quickest and then it was us again,” he said.

“Then in the beginning it was Charles who was flying on the Mediums. So I think that what we did in the first races was put all the things together.

“The team didn’t do any mistakes, the strategy calls were right, the drivers didn’t put a foot wrong, and that made us win the first four races.

“Then when you look at the other side, they had more problems.”

Mercedes holds a 74-point advantage in the Constructors’ Championship.

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George Russell: Spanish GP will determine if Williams can save 2019

George Russell believes Williams’ performance level at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix will determine whether the team has any “hope” for the remainder of the 2019 Formula 1 season.

Williams has so far endured a lacklustre campaign amid a chronic lack of performance with its FW42, which has come in the wake of the team slumping to the foot of the grid in 2018.

Russell and team-mate Robert Kubica have regularly qualified a second adrift of the slowest midfield drivers, and have been the final two finishers at each race.

The FW42 is yet to complete a single race lap inside the top 10.

As with most other Formula 1 teams Williams is set to bring several updates to the first European event in Barcelona this weekend, as it chases closing the gap to the midfield teams.

“From the moment we put this car down in Barcelona [during pre-season testing] we knew we’d be having this car for the next four races or so,” he said.

“We’ve got a few little updates coming for Barcelona and I think that will give us a good indication of how the rest of the season will pan out.

“[They are] a number of different things, varying from aerodynamics to brakes and so on.

“Like I said it’s not a full update but it will give us a clear direction of where we need to focus and based on those results it will help us understand if we’ve got any hope for the remainder of the season or not.”

Russell has spent the last few seasons of his career competing at the front of respective championships, picking up titles in GP3 and Formula 2, as well as testing for reigning champions Mercedes.

Russell is now arriving at grand prix weekends braced for a Q1 elimination and a race spent adhering to blue flags while running several seconds off the pace.

When asked by Motorsport Week how he retains motivation in such circumstances, Russell replied: “I’m enjoying the challenge. It’s a very different role for me.

“My task at the moment is to direct the team and point them in the right areas where we need to focus.

“I feel quite a lot of responsibility to help turn this team around and get us back to where Williams belongs to be.

“I’m enjoying that aspect of it but it’s a shame it’s not quick process, these things always take time.”

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Tyres influence "not the right thing" for F1 - Steiner

Haas team principal Gunther Steiner believes the large impact that Pirelli's 2019 tyres are having on the Formula 1 pecking order is "not the right thing" for grand prix racing.

The American outfit has been affected badly by tyre warm-up issues at the start of the campaign, scoring just one top-10 finish in the first four races despite its VF-19 appearing to have plenty of underlying pace.

Haas hasn't been alone in struggling to get the Pirelli rubber working, in particular last time out at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Steiner insisting that "everybody's got issues with the tyres".

"It's just who is [struggling] more or less. And we are more," he said. "And it's so disappointing because we've got a good car.

"We shouldn't be talking always about if the tyre works or not. It's interesting but, no, that's not Formula 1. 'Did you get the tyre to work? Yes - then I'm fast. Oh, my tyre didn't work, then I'm slow'.

"We spend millions and millions to develop these cars and then they are out of the [tyre] window and really cannot get going.

"I'm not blaming it purely on Pirelli. I'm blaming it on us as well because some [teams] get [the tyres] to work. But in general, this is not the right thing. We shouldn't be talking after the race, 'did your tyre work or not?' "

Pirelli's 2019 compounds are all thinner-tread, after the Italian manufacturer brought tyres with a reduced tread gauge to Barcelona, Paul Ricard and Silverstone last year to combat blistering.

Haas bagged top-six finishes at two of the three aforementioned races last year, but driver Romain Grosjean has recently suggested that the uniform move to a thinner tread for 2019 has contributed to the VF-19's tyre warm-up dramas.

In Baku, Steiner echoed this claim, and suggested the revised tyre blanket regulations – with rear blanket temperatures dropped from 100°C to 80°C – have also been a factor.

"I think the construction of the tyre is different [to 2018], the tread depth - is not different, it's just last year they had the four [three] races the low tread, which doesn't store heat, that doesn't help our case," Steiner explained.

"And we are not allowed to heat them the same amount as last year. It's all things which don't help you to get the tyre to work."

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Kvyat: F1 needs to do away with Friday running

Daniil Kvyat has suggested that Formula 1 should do away with Friday running altogether on grand prix weekends because teams already know too much.

With the Azerbaijan Grand Prix having shown that there was little downside to having opening practice cut short in the wake of George Russell's drain incident, the debate about moving F1 events down to two days has again resurfaced.

And Kvyat has suggested that teams would not be hurt from having just one practice session on a Saturday – with the only requirement for an extra day being at all-new venues.

"Maybe we need to just come on the track on Saturday," said the Russian. "That's it. Honestly we are so up [to knowledge] on all the tracks we know.

"I think we need to allow extra time on new tracks, like its going to be Vietnam or something, maybe, but I don't know.

"It's up to F1 people to decide, what is best and what is not. Every driver is different. Someone needs maybe five hours. But not me."

Red Bull boss Christian Horner thinks that moving to two-day weekends would make sense if the F1 calendar adds more events in the future.

"I think it depends on how many races we end up with," he said. "If we end up with more races, we arguably do need to condense the time.

"We saw that one session worked well enough on Friday [in Baku], so maybe just one good session is the way to go. Then parts and people can turn up a little bit later and one session is enough for the weekend."

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Red Bull "totally confident" Verstappen will stay on

Christian Horner is "totally confident" Max Verstappen will remain at Red Bull team beyond this season, following recent speculation Mercedes is interested in Formula 1's youngest race winner.
Last month Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff laughed off rumours he had been calling Verstappen and the young Dutchman's father Jos in a bid to lure him from Red Bull.

Verstappen, whose contract with Red Bull runs to the end of 2020, has also dismissed the speculation.

"Max has a contract and it's very clear what that position is," said Horner. "I'm totally confident that he'll be here next year."

It has been suggested that Verstappen's contract contains a performance clause that would allow him to leave Red Bull if it cannot fight for the world title with Honda.

He finished third in the season-opening race in Australia, banking Honda's first podium since returning to F1 on its debut with Red Bull.

Verstappen has only finished fourth in the three races since then, but is ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in the points and only just behind Sebastian Vettel.

"We're at race four and he's 36 points behind [championship leader Valtteri Bottas]," said Horner. "There's a long way to go in this championship and you just have to take things one race at a time.

"Three fourth positions in a row is getting a little it boring now and I think we want to be fighting for the podium again."

Verstappen has been very supportive of Red Bull's new engine partner, which introduced an early upgrade at the most recent race in Azerbaijan.

The frustration Verstappen had whenever Red Bull's previous engine supplier Renault encountered a reliability problem has been replaced by patience.

Verstappen has said he accepts that Honda will need to trigger grid penalties this year in its bid to catch Ferrari and Mercedes.

However, in a recent Q&A with team partner ExxonMobil, Horner said Verstappen's form meant the onus is on the team to produce a better package.

"Max selected another gear since last year's Canadian Grand Prix," said Horner. "The way he drove from that point onwards has been hugely impressive.

"He had a run that came to end in Bahrain of six straight podiums. He also scored the second highest amount of points behind Lewis Hamilton in the second half of last season and he's carried that form through the winter to the start of this year.

"We want to give him the tools that he can take the fight to the Ferraris and Mercedes."

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ANALYSIS: What has gone wrong at Renault?

Renault fended off a resilient charge to beat Haas to fourth place – aka best of the rest - in the constructors’ championship last year, raising hopes they could take the fight to the big three in 2019. Testing looked promising, but when the racing starts, the yellow and black cars have struggled…

At Renault’s pre-season launch in February, senior management exuded an air of confidence. It had been, they said, a strong winter – their best in years on the engine side. Year three as a works manufacturer had been another step forward and the team was starting to settle after a huge rebuild, not only of staff and processes but also of infrastructure in the form of redeveloping their Enstone base.

In Australia, they looked OK, with Nico Hulkenberg taking what has become a customary seventh place (third in four years) at Albert Park. A decent effort for an opening gambit. But only one more points finish has followed. Two from eight opportunities frankly isn’t good enough for a manufacturer that is pumping in as much money as Renault. Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul accepts that. “It’s fair to say that it’s not exactly the start of the season we were willing to have, that we’ve been working for,” he said. “[But] it is important to also take a bit of distance of the emotions and of the constant drama we are living in F1.”

Frustratingly, one of the key problems is one they are all too familiar with – the power unit. Ever since F1 introduced V6 turbo hybrid engines for the 2014 season, Renault have been on the back foot, trying to chase pace-setters Mercedes and Ferrari. Six years later and the French manufacturer are not really much better off. While the performance gap is slightly smaller, it’s the reliability that is the real concern.

The weakest point this year has been the MGU-K, a part that must give those at their engine base at Viry nightmares, so problematic has it proved over the years. In Bahrain, both Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo encountered failures, on the same lap, that put them out of the race. More points squandered. Why are Renault struggling so much with the power unit this year? Well, according to Abiteboul, in order to meet their ambitions in terms of engine gains, they had to push the boundaries and that has had consequences.

“We had to on a number of occasions to fast-track some of the internal processes because it’s a Catch-22,” admits Abiteboul. “You’re running against time, and sometimes also running against limitations in resources, and clearly every single time we could, we biased our internal processes towards performance. So we are paying a little bit for that, but I hope that it’s short-term pain for long-term gain.”

Renault introduced a MGU-K fix quickly, but any further changes from now on will incur grid penalties. That’s not ideal given there are still 17 Grands Prix – more than four-fifths of the season – still to go. Hulkenberg and Ricciardo will hope the short-term pain is worth the long-term gain…

When it comes to chassis, Abiteboul says he is “extremely positive about the rate of development, which is stronger than it’s ever been, which is saying something about also the new Renault that we are starting to see in action”.

It’s definitely encouraging that Renault have been able to consistently develop so far this season and there are signs that the French manufacturer has a car that has real pace potential. But so far, that pace has been hard to unlock and the speed has been fleeting. Both drivers are struggling to get comfortable with the RS19. In Baku, Hulkenberg had a tough time behind the wheel, and while Ricciardo showed better pace, driver error ended his pursuit of points.

So have Renault improved from last year, have they got worse or have their rivals got stronger? Currently, they sit seventh in the constructors’ championship on 12 points, 161 behind leaders Mercedes. Last term, they were two places and 23 points better off, only 79 points behind then leaders Ferrari. Had they had better reliability, it’s realistic they could have come close to matching that tally.

In races where at least one car has finished, Renault had an average of sixth place after four races last year, finishing on average 40 seconds down on the leader. This year, they have never finished on the lead lap, being lapped once in all the races they have finished, with an average finish of ninth, three places worse. So this would suggest that they have lost ground to the big three and been sucked back into the midfield.

It’s a better outlook when you take qualifying. Renault’s best qualifier has been on average 1.325s down on the pace-setter based on the first four races of this season. That’s four-tenths of a second better off than last year. However, they are on average qualifying two places further back this year, suggesting that their midfield rivals are stronger – and that has been evidenced so far in qualifying this year

Given the resource Renault have at their disposal, it’s likely they will come on strong in the development arms race and emerge as the fourth-best overall. It will be a fine comeback if they manage it, but what they really want to be doing is closing the gap to the top three. Their update in Spain will provide our next indication as to whether they have any hope of hitting that target this year…

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FERRARI NEW POWER UNIT AND AERO PACKAGE FOR SPAIN

The 49th Spanish GP takes place this Sunday at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit, well known to all the drivers who rack up big mileage here during pre-season testing.

The track is a mix of fast and slow corners and Turn 3 is especially demanding, requiring a well-balanced car. The final part used to be very quick, but for several years now it features a slow chicane which leads onto the start-finish straight.

Win number 50 with Niki. The Spanish GP has had several homes since it was first held in 1951. Ferrari has won this race 12 times, the first victory dating back to 1954 at Pedralbes courtesy of Mike Hawthorn.

The race was back on the calendar in 1968 at Jarama, on the outskirts of Madrid and it was here in 1974 that Ferrari won, with Niki Lauda at the wheel of a 312 B3-74, making it a hat-trick, with the victory, pole position and fastest race lap.

Gilles’ train set. The last time the Spanish GP was held in Jarama was 1981, when Gilles Villeneuve produced one of the most special drives of his career. In the 126 CK, the Canadian drove an incredible race, keeping a train of cars behind him that were quicker in the corners, but down the straights when the Ferrari engine was able to keep the 27 car out of reach.

Jacques Laffite and his Ligier managed to pull alongside Villeneuve coming out of the corners, but the Canadian kept ahead of the Frenchman down the straight. The time sheet at the end told the story of the race, with the top five all crossing the line within 1”240 seconds.

Jerez. The race was back on the calendar in 1986 when it was first held at Jerez de la Frontera. Ferrari got its name on the winner’s trophy in 1990 when Alain Prost won to reignite the title fight with Ayrton Senna, who had to retire his McLaren.

The Schumacher era. The race’s current home, the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit, at Montmelo, on the outskirts of the Catalan capital, has seen many wins for Ferrari and Michael Schumacher. It was here in 1996 that the German took his first win with the Scuderia with a masterly performance in torrential rain. The Schumacher-Ferrari combo did it again in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Recent history. Massa won here in 2007 after Fernando Alonso had got off the line well in his McLaren and had tried to pass the Brazilian at the first corner. But Felipe was having none of it, so that the F2007 and the McLaren touched, with Alonso taking to the escape road.

The following year, Kimi Raikkonen was victorious, in a one-two finish with Massa. The last Ferrari win to date was in 2013, thanks to the aforementioned Fernando Alonso.

Ferrari Stats:

GP contested 974
F1 seasons 70
Wins 235 (24,12%)
Pole positions 220 (22,58%)
Fastest laps 250 (25,66%)
Overall podium finishes 754 (77,41%)

Ferrari Stats at the Spanish Grand Prix:

GP contested 48
First edition 1951
Wins 12 (25%)
Pole positions 13 (27,08%)
Fastest laps 14 (29,16%)
Overall podium finishes 38 (79,16%)

Sebastian Vettel:  “I know the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit perfectly and the uphill turn 3 and turn 9 are definitely the most fun. I think the way the final sector is now, means it’s not as interesting as it used to be, but it is probably even more crucial when it comes to setting a time.”

“In fact, you have to be careful not to make any mistakes, because it’s all too easy to ruin the tyres in this sector and lose precious tenths. I’ve always had very positive weekends in Barcelona with Ferrari, even if we’ve never won. I hope this might be the moment to put that right.”

Charles Leclerc: “This is probably the track where it’s hardest for the driver to make a difference. The reason is simple: each one of us knows it by heart, right down to the smallest detail, as it’s home to the majority of tests. I have good memories from February’s testing, even if the conditions were very different back then, with very low air and track temperatures.”

“All the same, the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit is a benchmark, because if you go well here, you know you have a car that will be very competitive for the rest of the season. I can’t wait to get into the cockpit of my SF90, but then, that’s not exactly news!”

Mattia Binotto, Team Principal: “It’s time for the Spanish GP, traditionally a race where most of the teams bring some updates, therefore we can expect to see a step up in performance from our competitors.”

“We are currently behind in the championship and we have to catch up, which we know means that our development work will be the key to this season. Having brought a new aerodynamic package to Baku, we will also bring some developments in this area to Barcelona.”

“On top of that, we will have a new power unit that we are introducing ahead of schedule, as the second specification was due to be brought to Canada. Shell, in close collaboration with our team, has developed a different formulation of race lubricant that will also be introduced with the new power unit, delivering increased performance.”

“It’s only down to a big team effort with everyone pushing hard to make up ground that we have been able to bring these developments forward.”

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WILLIAMS: WE HAVE A RANGE OF TEST ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION

With the first four races of the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship in the book, we return to familiar ground this weekend as the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya plays host to the Spanish Grand Prix.

The fifth round of the year kick starts the traditional European leg of the season and presents a track that is very familiar to both Robert and George, given its status as the venue of pre-season testing.

After the race weekend, the second in-season test of 2019 is scheduled to take place with the team’s Official Reserve Driver, Nicholas Latifi, driving the FW42 on both days.

Dave Robson, Senior Race Engineer: “For the fifth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship we return to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Conditions will be quite different to those we experienced during winter testing. Barcelona remains a popular event for testing new components and introducing upgrades.”

“With our Friday running in Baku being heavily curtailed, we have a range of test items for consideration on Friday. However, as the race is immediately followed by a two-day test, we can concentrate on the short-term items on Friday before switching focus to the longer-term learning during the test.”

“Tyre compounds for the race event are taken from the stiff end of the Pirelli range and could prove challenging for everyone depending on the track conditions.”

“Since returning from Baku, the team in Grove have done an excellent job to recover the damaged components whilst also ensuring that all the test items arrive in Barcelona on time.”

Robert Kubica: “The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a track that everybody knows very well, not only from Formula One testing, but also from previous categories. Since winter testing in Barcelona, a lot has changed, with the main difference being the weather and track conditions. I think everybody is looking forward to returning to Spain; it is the first typical European race and event where upgrades are brought. Let’s see what we can achieve.

George Russell: I am excited to go back to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as I won there last year in Formula 2. We have got some exciting items to test in Barcelona that we hope will guide us in the right direction for the remainder of the season. We hope they will be positive steps, to try and turn our season around.

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SEIDL: I’M DELIGHTED TO HAVE NOW STARTED AT MCLAREN

Highly pedigreed Andreas Seidl announced his arrival at McLaren with a quote in the team’s preview of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix where he takes up the role as team principal of the sport’s second most successful team.

Seidl wrote in the team’s pre-Barcelona weekend press release, “I’m delighted to have now started at McLaren and I’ve had a really warm welcome from everyone in the team. During my first few days, I’ve been speaking to as many people around the factory as possible and this will continue over coming weeks as I get to know the team.”

The former Porsche WEC team manager, is no stranger to Formula 1, having been responsible for Formula 1 testing and racing with BMW Sauber up until 2009.

When BMW withdrew from F1 he became Director of Race Operations for the BMW DTM comeback. Seidl played a major role in finding the set-up for winning his company of the time the title at its first attempt in 2012.

Afterwards, the LMP1 project at Porsche was a new and massive challenge for the father of two. The early days proved tough at times, but the World Endurance Championship title and Le Mans victory in 2015 were impressive successes.

Seidl comes into McLaren at its lowest ebb since the seventies, tasked to return the team back to the top of the F1 pecking order where they have been absent for far too long.

Gil de Ferran moves aside for Seidl to take the helm of the F1 operation, with the Brazilian taking on an all-encompassing role as sporting director of McLaren Racing. The pair will report to CEO Zak Brown.

Also recently joining the line-up of heavy-hitters at Woking was James Key.

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HAAS: WE ARE TAKING A SIGNIFICANT UPGRADE TO BARCELONA

A little more than two months ago, Rich Energy Haas F1 Team departed Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya with confidence after eight days of winter testing spread out over two weeks between 18 February and 1 March.

Its Haas VF-19s were quick and the fourth-year American team promptly carried that speed from testing into the season-opening Australian Grand Prix where drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen qualified a strong sixth and seventh, respectively.

Magnussen delivered a sixth-place result and Grosjean was slated to finish right behind his teammate in seventh before a loose left-front wheel ended his race after 29 laps. The effort placed Rich Energy Haas F1 Team fourth in the constructors’ standings.

In the three subsequent races in Bahrain, China and Azerbaijan, however, the outcomes have left Rich Energy Haas F1 Team unsatisfied. Despite making it into the final round of qualifying in Bahrain and China, points have proven elusive, with Grosjean’s 11th-place drive in the Chinese Grand Prix the outfit’s best result since Australia. The team sits eighth in the constructors’ ranks, four points behind seventh-place Renault and four points ahead of ninth-place Toro Rosso.

But the Spanish Grand Prix May 10-12 means a return to Barcelona, where after competing on four very different racetracks to begin this 70th Formula One season, Barcelona allows teams to come back to a track where they have reams of data and, more importantly, data with this year’s car.

The track isn’t exactly the same as it was in late February and early March when Formula One descended upon the 4.655-kilometer (2.892-mile), 16-turn circuit for testing. Now, temperatures are much warmer and the track’s evolution since a full repave just prior to the 2018 season continues.

But the venue still provides a solid baseline for teams to determine where they are in relation to their counterparts and what they can improve to either advance or bolster their championship standing.

The Spanish Grand Prix marks just the fifth round of the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship, and while the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Dec. 1 seems incredibly distant when looking at the Formula One calendar, a year’s worth of fortune can be gleaned in Barcelona.

Rich Energy Haas F1 Team is intent on harnessing the promise of its preseason performance and converting it to tangible points in the Spanish Grand Prix.

Q&A with Guenther Steiner, Team Principal

How important is it for Rich Energy Haas F1 Team to put a complete race weekend together at Barcelona, where the speed its shown since testing is carried through practice, qualifying and the race so that you achieve your ultimate goal of scoring points?
GS: “It’s very important. We’ve had four races and only one was almost completely executed – in Australia – and I say almost as we only had one car at the finish. We know we can qualify well. Barcelona in preseason testing was a very good track for us. We looked very competitive, but we need to show it in a race weekend. We want to show everyone how good we should be if we get the tires to work.”

Barcelona seems to be the first race of the year where teams begin its technological arms race amongst one another, with updates being brought to numerous cars. Does Rich Energy Haas F1 Team plan any updates to it racecars for Barcelona? If so, what aspects of the car are getting the majority of your focus?
GS: “We’re bringing our first upgrades of the year. A lot of parts on the car will change – the front wing, the floor and a lot of the smaller parts, like mirrors. It’s a quite significant upgrade.”

How helpful is it to go back to Barcelona where Rich Energy Haas F1 Team has the most data of any track in Formula One simply because you spent two weeks testing there before the season even started?
GS: “It’s very important for that very reason. We have a lot of data. We need to make sure that everything still correlates after four races and that our upgrade works, as well. We’re looking forward to it, to see where we compare from our time there in preseason testing.”

Does Barcelona allow teams to reassess where they stand because of what they learned in preseason testing and how it’s translated to the first four races?
GS: “It isn’t really that you can go back and compare the first four races, but Barcelona always affords a good point to regroup after the early long-haul races. We’re back in Europe, we’ve got upgrades coming, but you’ve got more to look at with Barcelona because we ran our preseason testing there.”

Barcelona was repaved prior to last year’s preseason test. How has the new surface evolved and what are your expectations for your return to the track in much warmer conditions, specifically in regard to tire management?
GS: “The hope is that it all works as it did in preseason testing. We’ve obviously lost a little bit of confidence after the last three race weekends, but we haven’t lost it completely. We’re just careful to make predictions. We are cautiously optimistic.”

Q&A with Romain Grosjean

How important is it for Rich Energy Haas F1 Team to put a complete race weekend together at Barcelona, where the speed its shown since testing is carried through practice, qualifying and the race so that you achieve your ultimate goal of scoring points?
RG: “Well, it’s always very important, but at the minute the most important thing for us is to get the race pace back. We need to get the car where it should be. The last three weekends haven’t been good for us. The car’s got a lot more potential than we’ve been able to extract. The most important element is not the result. It’s to understand how to make the car go faster.”

How helpful is it to go back to Barcelona where Rich Energy Haas F1 Team has the most data of any track in Formula One simply because you spent two weeks testing there before the season even started?
RG: “It’s important to go back to Barcelona because it’s our first European race and we’re bringing big updates on the car. It’s a track with high energy, so I’m not too worried about getting the tires to work, in theory. It’s interesting, as we definitely got them to work in winter testing, going back there and seeing if we can still get them to work will be a good test, because we know the car should be fast there.”

Does Barcelona allow teams to reassess where they stand because of what they learned in preseason testing and how it’s translated to the first four races?
RG: “Yes, but you also know everyone’s going to bring big updates, so it’s almost like everyone’s going to have a B-car, therefore the standings could be a bit different. I think it’s important that our updates go in the right direction. It’s important, as we know what we can do there. We’ll see if we can repeat that and understand where our race pace has gone.”

Barcelona was repaved prior to last year’s preseason test. How has the new surface evolved and what are your expectations for your return to the track in much warmer conditions, specifically in regard to tire management?
RG: “I have no expectations. We’ll see what’s coming. Normally, the first feedback is quite accurate, so I’m hoping it’s a good one, but I go with no expectation.”

What are you feeling inside the racecar when you’re unable to get the tires into their proper working range? Is it a combination of an actual lack of grip and also a lack of confidence in what you can expect from the tires?
RG: “It’s a lack of grip and a lack of consistency. The latter makes it so that you can’t have any confidence because you can’t push the tire to its limit. If you do go above the limit, which is very low, it’s a big lock-up or you go off the track. If the tires don’t work, the car can be as good as you want, but it’s just not going to work. Confidence is key in Formula One, but when your tires don’t work, there’s no chance you’ll have some.”

Q&A with Kevin Magnussen

How important is it for Rich Energy Haas F1 Team to put a complete race weekend together at Barcelona, where the speed its shown since testing is carried through practice, qualifying and the race so that you achieve your ultimate goal of scoring points?
KM: “The last few weekends have been pretty disappointing. We’re looking forward to, hopefully, a strong result in Barcelona. We know the car is good, as a baseline, but we’re struggling with tires. I trust, and have faith in the team, that we’ll soon sort out these issues. I’m hopeful that in Barcelona we can have a strong weekend.”

How helpful is it to go back to Barcelona where Rich Energy Haas F1 Team has the most data of any track in Formula One simply because you spent two weeks testing there before the season even started?
KM: “We’ve obviously got some data to look at in Barcelona from testing. We saw earlier in the year the car was competitive in testing there. Hopefully, we can convert some of the data into performance on the race weekend.”

Does Barcelona allow teams to reassess where they stand because of what they learned in preseason testing and how it’s translated to the first four races?
KM: “Yes. I think it’s a good chance to compare the car from testing to now. The temperatures are still going to be very different, also the track will have been used by other race series since we tested, so it’ll inevitably be different. That said, I think it will be good to reassess where we stand.”

Barcelona was repaved prior to last year’s preseason test. How has the new surface evolved and what are your expectations for your return to the track in much warmer conditions, specifically in regard to tire management?
KM: “The weakness that we’ve seen this year is our ability to have good performance from the tires in race condition. We struggle a lot less over one lap. It’s in race condition we see the biggest problems. Hopefully, we can work through this issue and see a better performance in Barcelona.”

What are you feeling inside the racecar when you’re unable to get the tires into their proper working range? Is it a combination of an actual lack of grip and also a lack of confidence in what you can expect from the tires?
KM: “It’s mainly the lack of grip once we’re in race conditions.”