FORMULA 1

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F1 2019 USA GP - Post-Race - Alex Albon

 

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F1 2021 Rules: Everything You Need To Know

 

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You get that when you stop cheating – Max Verstappen says of Ferrari's poor pace

Max Verstappen says Ferrari's sudden drop in performance is "not strange", instead suggesting it is a consequence of "cheating".

Ferrari have been on pole at the last six races after finding their form over the summer break, but were pipped to pole this weekend for the United States Grand Prix and then fell down the order during the race, seemingly unable to keep up with Mercedes and Red Bull.

Verstappen, speaking to Ziggo Sport after the race, accused Ferrari of cheating with recent claims they are using electrical interference to bypass the fuel flow limit.

"You get that when you stop cheating," said the Dutchman. "It’s [their engine] now being carefully watched, but we have to keep an eye on it."

Verstappen went on to add about Ferrari's performance: "Oh it's not strange", he then added: "well why do you think? You can fill it in yourself" after being asked to explain his comment.

He's not the only one to question their form, with Lewis Hamilton suggesting on Saturday that they'd suddenly lost some straight-line speed this weekend.

“What’s come out this week has been quite interesting to see," he added. "Obviously today I think they’ve lost a bit of power.

"I’m interested to see how that continues and how it reflects in the race."

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Ferrari rejects allegations as Charles Leclerc hits out at Max Verstappen

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has labelled comments made by rivals as “very disappointing” amid a technical directive issued by the FIA regarding fuel flow metre sensors.

Red Bull Racing requested three clarifications from the sport’s governing body, with the primary one being that it suspected rivals had found a loophole that permitted it to disrupt the sensor’s reading.

Ferrari missed out on pole position in Austin, the first time it did not take top spot on the grid since the summer break, and endured a troublesome race.

Charles Leclerc struggled to fourth position while Sebastian Vettel slumped to seventh spot prior to a suspension failure.

On Saturday Mercedes commented that Ferrari did not display as much straight-line speed, though did not refer to the directive, while post-race Max Verstappen made insinuations over Ferrari’s pace.

“I read and I heard a lot of comments this weekend about a technical directive and the impact on our cars,” said Binotto, who asserted that Ferrari made no changes to its power unit in response.

“I heard comments at the end of the race which I feel very disappointing.

“As a matter of fact I believe yesterday we have been very close to the pole position as it has been in the last races, I think that Seb could have scored the pole yesterday, maybe a bit too much cautions in one corner.

“Charles had a clear problem in the morning, losing completely FP3, [then there was] a downgrade on the engine we fitted in the car.

“Overall I think that looking at his performance in Q3 and what could have been done without the issue in the morning I’m pretty sure that as well he was potentially in the pole as well, so I don’t see where is the problem.

“If we look at the race today, we may comment later on, but certainly the speed on the straights was not our issue, while we’ve got clear problems on the grip on the car first stint both drivers.

“Again it’s type of comments I feel are completely wrong. It’s not good for the sport and I think everybody should be a bit more cautious.”

When Verstappen’s comments were put to Leclerc he replied: “I think it’s a joke to be completely honest.

“He has no clue. He’s not in the team. So we know exactly what we are doing and I don’t know why he’s speaking, he doesn’t know anything about us.”

Vettel declined to comment.

Binotto went on to explain that “it’s true that we were not gaining on the straight as much as in the past races, but true as well that I think we matched our competitors in cornering – at least in qualifying.

“The trade-off between grip-limited and power-limited has been moved this weekend.

“We were competitive in qualifying and now there is something in the race we need to understand and then see what’s best for the next races in terms of the trade-off.”

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Horner praises Albon after Driver Of The Day recovery from Turn 1 ‘pincer’

The sight of Alex Albon’s Red Bull careering sideways with all four wheels off the ground at Turn 1 was an alarming one - but somehow the Thai racer managed to recover to a brilliant P5 in the United States Grand Prix.

Albon found himself sandwiched between Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and McLaren's Carlos Sainz at Turn 1, with the resulting contact seeing him make a pit stop at the end of the opening tour.

He then came roaring back, his heroics earning him Driver Of The Day honours and the plaudits of Red Bull boss Christian Horner after what was a supremely measured drive.

“He’s done a great job today, Alex. He was unlucky at the first corner, he ended up on a pincer-move, his comeback on what turned out to be three-stop strategy for him today,” said Horner.

Albon, who’s vying for a seat alongside US GP podium finisher Max Verstappen in 2020, had a rather unusual race compared to the rest of the field, with pit stops on laps 1, 20 and 40.

“I think he passed Carlos Sainz about three times,” continued Horner.

“I think we counted something like 15, 16 overtakes today. It’s a strong recovery, I think you forget that he’s in his first year, even. We’ve been really encouraged with the development he’s been making – another positive day for him.”

Albon didn’t apportion blame for being “sandwiched”, but explained that he had to continue the race with floor damage and some front-wing damage.

“We had a good start, obviously we were on the softer tyres, always helps. Coming into Turn 1, on the exit, I saw Charles on the inside, basically I tried to put myself as close to Charles as I could because I knew I was going to get better drive coming out of the corner.

“I was expecting Charles to go – the [Valtteri] Bottas line – out-and-in, he didn’t.

“I think I got sandwiched. No one’s fault, really, one of those things, we took some front wing damage, some floor damage. I was like ‘here we go, it’s going to be a long day’.”

Albon managed to finish ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and leapfrog the Briton's team mate Sainz in the standings, now sitting six and four points ahead of the McLaren driver with two races remaining.

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Alfa Romeo still struggling for race pace - Antonio Giovinazzi

Antonio Giovinazzi says Alfa Romeo needs to “understand better” why its C38 has been unable to fight for the top 10 positions in recent grands prix.

Alfa Romeo has amassed only three points since Formula 1’s summer break, all courtesy of Giovinazzi, and has not taken a top 10 result across the past four events.

It marks the team’s worst run of form since the 2017 season.

Giovinazzi classified 14th at the United States Grand Prix while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was 12th, before moving up to 11th post-race due to a penalty for Daniil Kvyat.

“I think we are still struggling on race pace,” said Giovinazzi.

“We are trying to do something, but it’s not enough. Trying to do something next week, and try to make it better for Brazil.

“[The car was] a bit too difficult to drive on the race. But, we don’t know, to be honest, how we can try to come out from this saga. We need to work on it and try to find a solution.”

Alfa Romeo’s form through 2019 has come as a contrast to its performance through 2018 – as Sauber – when it rose to lead the midfield through the final grands prix.

“Of course, it’s been a bit more difficult this year,” said Giovinazzi, who will continue to race for Alfa Romeo in 2020.

“The important thing I think is we try to understand better and hopefully we can improve the car for the last two races.

“And then, hopefully, also for the team to try to have a better car for next year.”

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Antonio Giovinazzi continues at Alfa Romeo for 2020 F1 season

Alfa Romeo Racing has confirmed that it will retain Antonio Giovinazzi for a second season to compete in the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship.

Under the current arrangement between Sauber Motorsport, which runs Alfa Romeo Racing, and Ferrari the Italian marque has an influence in one of the seats at the team.

Long-term Ferrari test driver Giovinazzi replaced Charles Leclerc for 2019, linking up with Kimi Raikkonen, who re-joined the team with which he made his debut on a two-year deal.

“I am very happy to be staying with the team for 2020,” said Giovinazzi. 

“I am grateful for the incredible level of support I received in my first full season in Formula One: everyone in the team has stuck by my side since I joined and I am really looking forward to continuing our journey together.

“We learned a lot this year and I am confident we can make a big step forward next season. I won’t be a rookie anymore so there won’t be any excuses for me: I want to be competitive right from the start of the championship and repay the confidence the team has shown in me.”

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal of Alfa Romeo Racing and CEO of Sauber Motorsport AG added: “Antonio has done really well this year and I am extremely pleased to be able to confirm he will stay with Alfa Romeo Racing for 2020.

“The way he has integrated into the team and has consistently improved throughout his first full season in the sport are very promising and we cannot wait to unlock his full potential as we continue to work together. Antonio has emerged as a very quick driver, even alongside as tough a benchmark as Kimi, and we expect him to develop even further as his experience grows.

“His technical feedback, work ethics and positive approach will help us continue to push our team forward, and so will the consistency of an unchanged line-up for next season.”

Giovinazzi's retention is likely to mean that Nico Hulkenberg will not race in Formula 1 next season, with the German having recognised Alfa Romeo as his last opportunity to stay on the 2020 grid.

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Ferrari CEO wants 2021 clarity, eventual cap on engine spending

Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri says Formula 1 is “not even at the end of the beginning” of the process regarding the definition of the 2021 regulations, and wants a budget cap on engine spending.

Formula 1 chiefs, in conjunction with the FIA, last Thursday published the long-awaited regulations regarding the sporting, technical and financial aspects of the championship for 2021.

All 10 teams voted in favour of the regulations but Camilleri has stressed that Formula 1 still has work to do, and believes that power unit development should be capped.

As it stands the costs incurred in engine development is not going to be included in the $175m per year cap.

“I think what was announced over the weekend is really [the] beginning, the beginning of the process,” Camilleri said in a conference call to discuss Ferrari’s Q3 earnings on Monday.

“It's not even the end of the beginning, so there's still quite a lot of work to do together with Formula 1 and the FIA as well as the teams. We've voted in favour of it. And we haven't exercise our veto, right.

“So all-in-all we’re sort of satisfied with the direction it's taking, and the principles that have been expounded.

“But clearly, a lot of details still need to be ironed out.

“The budget cap relates to only certain elements of the actual car [and] the best example is that the engine is not part of the budget cap.

“Our sense is that going forward... our hope is that there will eventually be a budget cap placed on the engine itself.”

Camilleri was nonetheless optimistic that the direction Formula 1 is taking is beneficial for both the championship and Ferrari.

“There have been limitations in terms of dyno usage which is a very expensive part,” he said.

“So post-2021, the budget cap that exists even including the exclusions to the budget cap, relative to the revenues and again, a big chunk of our revenues is sponsorship.

“So to the extent that Formula 1 becomes more entertaining and brings in more fans, then clearly, Formula 1 will generate more revenues, which ultimately benefits all the teams, including Ferrari.”

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Feature: Talking points from F1's United States Grand Prix

Mercedes claimed its ninth 1-2 result of the season as an exceptional Valtteri Bottas triumphed in a race that sealed a sixth world title for Lewis Hamilton. 

Going down fighting

Valtteri Bottas has sometimes been given flak for his flakiness when it matters – or in battle – but at the United States Grand Prix he was exceptional. Knowing that only victory could prolong his title hopes through to Brazil he delivered a masterclass in qualifying and the race, recovering from a tricky Friday that threatened to derail his weekend. “We actually found quite a few things in the car that weren’t quite right,” he revealed. “There was a little bit with the set-up, I think I started to go a little bit in the wrong direction on tyre pressures and temperatures. We found some reasons for that quite big straight-line speed difference, which made quiet an impact on the pace in S2, so when I started in FP3 it was like a different car.” Bottas executed a flawless start and ran his two-stop strategy to near-perfection, with his only blemish being his failed first attempt at overhauling team-mate Lewis Hamilton, but even that is pushing the boundaries to find a negative. Bottas did not lose the title on Sunday for his hopes were dented with his dire Germany/Hungary results and being on the wrong side of the margin elsewhere. But this has been comfortably his finest campaign in Formula 1 and there is no shame in being runner-up to an all-time great in Hamilton. “Winning it was the only thing I could do to try and maintain the title hopes,” he said. “Obviously I did my part, which feels good, but Lewis was strong this weekend, as he always is, so he got some solid points and got the championship. It’s my best season in Formula 1 so far, so that’s good, and looking at other positives, I’ve made huge gains in many areas, in terms of race pace and everything.”

Six

When Lewis Hamilton eventually retires, with who knows how many titles, wins and poles to his name, there will be a realisation that we – the sport, the media, spectators – were fortunate to witness a master at work. The greats do not just deliver, they accomplish extraordinary achievements week in, week out, demand perfection from those around them, while in the process raising the stature of said individuals. Hamilton is relentless on- and off-track, and a sign of his consistency and craving for perfection was that he was anguished at qualifying as low as…fifth. It was his worst one-lap performance in two years. He still aimed for the victory and did all he could, out-gunned on the day by the exemplary Bottas. Off-track Hamilton has reached corners of the world that no Formula 1 driver has ever managed, courtesy of his extracurricular affiliations and the fanbase he has amassed. How many can he go on and reach? Seven? Eight? Nine? You would be a fool to suggest he has yet reached his peak. “I remember watching this sport when I was younger, waking up, come downstairs, my step mum, Linda, she would make me a bacon sandwich and me and my dad would sit there together and watch the Grands Prix,” said Hamilton. “It’s odd to watch it and see someone in the TV set and now to be the person that’s in the TV set, you know, and be doing something like the great that I saw in Ayrton and the great that I saw in Michael. It’s beyond surreal to think that this journey, my life journey has brought me to this point in winning a sixth title.” Would he now sit back and take in his achievement? Hardly. He was already out training in New York early on Monday morning. “In my mind, I’m just too competitive, so I’m thinking OK, we’ve got two more races to go, how am I going to do a better job, how am I going to improve in qualifying,” he said. “There’s two more qualifyings to try and get pole, how am I going to see if I can potentially pull out a lap like I did in Singapore last year. How am I going to work it that I can be at the front of both of those. I’m always just looking to improve and I really love being in this sport. I’m so grateful to this sport for giving me a life and giving my life purpose.” Is Hamilton the greatest of all time? It is a subjective question that provokes widespread arguments. But with each passing year he is staking his claim to the honour in increasingly convincing fashion.

What went wrong for Ferrari?

Ferrari’s challenge wilted at the Circuit of the Americas as Charles Leclerc finished 52 seconds behind Bottas – and was a non-factor all race – while Sebastian Vettel slumped from second to seventh prior to his spectacular suspension failure. Some – for that read Max Verstappen – were quick to point fingers, believing Ferrari’s drop-in performance was due to the technical directive issued by the FIA, clarifying a point raised by Honda regarding fuel flow metre readings and the potential misuse via electrical interference. Mercedes’ data trace showed that Ferrari did not have as much straight-line speed compared to past events but did not link it to the directive. Ferrari categorically and robustly rejected the allegations that were thrown in its face. Therefore what went wrong? In qualifying Ferrari was still there or thereabouts. Vettel was a mere 0.012s behind Bottas and conceded that a cautious final sector, having wanted to get a lap on the board, cost him pole position, as the anticipated improvements on the second run never materialised. Leclerc, meanwhile, has been Ferrari’s greater prospect over a single lap in 2019 but he was thwarted by an oil leak that robbed him of critical running in FP3. Leclerc reverted to Ferrari’s Spec 2, meaning he was slightly down on power, but still clocked a lap that put him just 0.108s away from pole position. In race trim the lack of pace left Ferrari’s senior figures bewildered, with Vettel commenting that they were “significantly slower” while Leclerc pointed to a lack of – and inconsistent levels of – overall grip. Only the next two events will determine whether Ferrari simply blundered into an incorrect and costly set-up direction or if there is something deeper impacting its prospects.

Four-tenths

After 56 laps of racing and divergent strategies just 0.398s decided the ‘winner’ of Formula 1’s midfield battle, as the one-stopping Daniel Ricciardo fended off two-stopper and meme lord Lando Norris. The McLaren young gun profited from Vettel’s malaise to sneak past Ricciardo early on but the Renault driver fought back, in effect forcing McLaren to two-stop their protégé in a bid to try something different. It almost worked. Norris carved his way through the lower reaches of the top 10 and was just a few corners away from picking off Ricciardo. It again highlighted the minor details upon which the midfield battle is being decided. Carlos Sainz Jr. would surely have been in that mix but lost out at the start, got stuck behind a Toro Rosso, and then had to preserve his tyres via an aggressive one-stop strategy.

Stroll costing Racing Point

It may sound facetious to suggest that a member of the Stroll family is costing Racing Point money – given the ownership – but that is what has happened since the summer break. The RP19 is a far more formidable force since the three-part upgrade was introduced but while Sergio Perez has been largely superb, Lance Stroll has had a spate of underwhelming performances. There are mitigating circumstances: Perez is vastly more experienced, Stroll is still in year one with a team – and the assimilation process cannot be overlooked – while at COTA he suffered a scruffy first lap and sustained some damage. But since the summer break Perez has out-scored Stroll by a mammoth 31 points to three. It is quite the thumping. Racing Point could be in the mix with Renault – or even ahead – but instead it is just a solitary point clear of Toro Rosso.

Home horrors

Kevin Magnussen provided some perspective for Haas on Thursday – and he was right to do so. Magnussen reiterated how incredible an achievement it was for a small team to finish fifth overall in just its third year of competition, as Haas did in 2018. This season has been a desperately disappointing reality check, and hopefully the tough lessons learned through 2019 will be applied for a stronger 2020. Haas put a brave face on the situation but entered its home round in full expectation of a struggle. It duly materialised. Romain Grosjean crashed in FP2 and was perplexed as to why, with the data showing a sudden loss of downforce from the rear, while in reverting to an old-spec rear wing he was giving away 15kph on the straights. “I told the engineers ‘look I’ll make you a statue if you can understand what happened’” said Grosjean. “If I try and go flat out in Turn 4 and I crashed it, fair enough, I tried, shit happens, that’s what I’m paid: to go to the limit. When I do the same, or less than the same [as the previous lap], and you spin… it’s hard to understand.” The race was little better as a Medium/Soft tyre strategy failed to pay off, accentuated by the lack of downforce and absence of top speed available from the VF-19. Magnussen fared slightly better early on but the usual race woes kicked in and he plummeted down the order like the proverbial stone. A brake failure three laps from home truncated Magnussen’s misery. The sight of the stranded VF-19 alone in the vast sea of gravel, albeit not far away from the Stars ‘n’ Stripes painted run-off, aptly symbolised Haas’ season.

Tor-oh no

Toro Rosso occupied fifth place during the summer break, undoubtedly aided by its shock podium in Germany, but it has now reverted to its seemingly-perennial position of seventh. That it departed Austin without a point owed much to misfortune, for the pace of the STR14 was sufficient for the team to stand a strong chance of getting both cars inside the top 10. Pierre Gasly was superb for much of the weekend but in being passed by the recovering Perez he sustained terminal suspension damage. “I was running in the points for 53 laps out of 56,” said a downbeat Gasly. “I think it was a really good race until that point. We were matching the McLaren in front and keeping the pace with Carlos, which was quite a surprise and, yeah, three laps at the end we started to fight with Sergio and then, yeah, we came together in Turn 13.” There was still a point on offer for Toro Rosso as Kvyat forcefully flicked Perez out of the way on the final lap… only for stewards to deem his move overly aggressive. “Ah fuck, that's bullshit,” said Kvyat when he was told of the sanction. “It's unbelievable. I don't know, the stewards are completely...I have no words. It's stupid, so stupid.”

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Daniel Ricciardo suspects narrower window hurting Renault's one-lap pace

Daniel Ricciardo believes a narrow operating window is partially to blame for the difference in qualifying and race pace between his Renault team and closest opponent McLaren.

McLaren has held an advantage over Renault this season and looks poised to secure fourth spot in the Constructors’ Championship, with the teams split by 32 points ahead of the final two events.

Carlos Sainz Jr. was six-tenths clear of Ricciardo during qualifying for Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix, but in race trim Ricciardo moved ahead of the McLarens.

The sole-stopping Ricciardo edged two-stopping Lando Norris by three-tenths of a second to secure sixth spot, with Sainz Jr. – compromised after first-lap contact – taking eighth.

“Splitting it between qualifying and the race, I do feel like if I look at McLaren, they seem to be able to get the lap time out of the car a bit easier,” explained Ricciardo.

“That window we talk of seems slightly wider for them.

“That is why in qualifying we are not always able to extract the most out of it because it is easier for us to make a mistake or [not] to get the set-up spot on.

“But then in the race, once the pace comes off and you are not on the limit of the tyre, really the whole race, that is where we are able to … our window expands naturally for the pace.

“That is why we are able to come back a little bit towards them.”

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Ferrari assessing extent of damage to Charles Leclerc's engine

Ferrari says it must undertake a thorough assessment of Charles Leclerc’s power unit before deciding whether it can be used again across the final two events of 2019.

Leclerc’s car suffered an oil leak during his out-lap in Saturday’s third practice session at the United States Grand Prix, and Ferrari reverted to an older engine – already in his pool – thereafter.

Leclerc went on to qualify and finish fourth at the Circuit of the Americas as Ferrari struggled for overall performance, finishing off the podium for the first time since May’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Leclerc, as with the other front-runners, has reached his allocation of permitted 2019 power unit components, and will face a penalty if a fresh engine is required.

“It was not down [on power] by quite a lot, it was slightly down,” said Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto of the engine Leclerc used for qualifying and the race.

“It is what we are expecting between an upgrade of engines, it was power unit two and not the third [specification] we introduced in Monza.

“It [the damaged component] will be shipped back to Maranello, we had an extended oil leakage, not clear where it was coming from.

“We need to analyse it and understand where it’s coming from and eventually decide whether it is still to be used or not.”

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Mercedes conservative with Brazil GP tyre choice

Formula 1’s leading two teams have adopted different approaches regarding their tyre compound choices for next weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

Pirelli has nominated the hardest three compounds from its range – the C1s, C2s and C3s – for the upcoming round of the campaign at Interlagos.

Ferrari and Red Bull have chosen 10 sets of Softs, two Mediums and one batch of the Hards.

Mercedes, meanwhile, will take only eight sets of Softs, with four sets of Mediums and one Hard for Lewis Hamilton, and three sets of Mediums and two Hards for Valtteri Bottas.

Only McLaren has taken a similarly conservative approach, with the remainder of teams having either nine or 10 batches of the Soft tyre compound available.

As per usual each driver will have 13 sets of tyres available through the weekend, of which one set of Softs must be cast aside for use only in Q3, while either the Mediums or Hards must be used for one stint of the race.

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McLaren and Petrobras terminate sponsorship deal

McLaren has confirmed that its sponsorship deal with Brazilian fuel and oil company Petrobras has been terminated with immediate effect.
As reported by Motorsport.com last month, discussions about ending the partnership had been ongoing since the Brazilian president announced earlier this year he wanted the partnership to be concluded.

Now, just two weeks ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix, both parties have agreed to end what was originally a five-year partnership.

The logos will be removed from the car for the Interlagos race.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown said: "We would like to thank Petrobras for their partnership and support.

"We have great respect for their technical and scientific capabilities, and there is no doubt the company's technicians have made substantial progress in the time we have been working together. We wish everyone at Petrobras every success and hope to see them back in the sport again in the future."

Petrobras, which is 64% owned by the Brazilian government, made clear that the decision to end the deal had nothing to do with results on track.

"We recognise the importance of McLaren in global motorsport and we are very satisfied with the results delivered during the two years of our partnership," said its CEO Roberto Castello Branco.

"The project allowed Petrobras to develop high-technology gasoline and lubricants through research with new raw materials and tests performed in extreme conditions.

"The technological development will be used in lubricant and fuel products. We see in McLaren a commitment to innovation and also the possibility of future partnerships."

Brown said over the United States Grand Prix weekend that McLaren would be adding further sponsors for 2020.

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Magnussen's brake disc "exploded" during US GP

Kevin Magnussen's late-race retirement in the United States Grand Prix was caused by an "exploded" brake disc on his Haas Formula 1 car.
The Dane slid into the gravel on the penultimate lap of the race at the Circuit of the Americas after suffering a brake failure at the end of the back straight.

As his car came to a rest in the gravel Magnussen radioed his team to say "yep, told ya", having been told to adjust his brake balance seconds before the failure.

"I had a long pedal the whole race and I was asking them to have a look but they couldn't see anything and the temperatures were alright so I just yeah continued, and then the disc exploded," said Magnussen.

"The disc exploded, so no brake disc!"

Magnussen was only running 16th at the time of the failure, despite moving up to 10th on the opening lap and briefly holding ninth when Sebastian Vettel retired.

"I even overtook a Red Bull which was good," he laughed. "I just was massively out of position, then fell back."

Magnussen had slipped out of the points by lap nine, as Haas's race-pace problems continued.

The team has tried different aerodynamic packages in its bid to understand its car's problem but has been unable to rectify its form this year.

Magnussen scored Haas's only points since the summer break in Russia and has fallen to 16th in the drivers' championship, one place ahead of teammate Romain Grosjean.

"I kind of knew after a few laps that this isn't going to last," said Magnussen of his early top-10 run.

"Plus the tyres just cook in my attempt to stay in position, the tyres just die.

"You really need to manage the tyres and for it to kind of settle, and I can't do that, they will overtake me anyway.

"It's hopeless. Not in terms of our situation, but it's a hopeless job to try and hang on to my position."

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Formula 1 could abandon Pirelli's 2020 tyres

Pirelli's new 2020 Formula 1 tyres could be abandoned after drivers were critical of them following tests in United States Grand Prix practice.
All drivers were given two sets of the 2020 tyres on Friday in Austin, with most reporting an unexpected lack of grip, albeit in cold conditions and on a green track.

Concerns about whether or not the tyres would be an improvement was discussed by the team bosses in their regular Saturday morning meeting with F1 chief Chase Carey.

The consensus was that data from the Friday running should be studied further – and if the results are not positive then an early decision should be made to stick with the proven 2019 tyres.

The call could potentially be made even before the teams try the new tyres again at the two-day test in Abu Dhabi on December 3-4.

In Austin, leading team bosses agreed that if it is found that the 2020 rubber has not delivered gains in the areas that were focused on then it would be better to stick with the 2019 versions.

"I think the behaviour of Friday was quite different to the one we had in Barcelona when we tested them," Ferrari's Mattia Binotto said when asked about it by Motorsport.com.

"The new tyres we tested were not due to be faster, we were not due to have better degradation, but in terms of working range and overheating, have a better behaviour. So we need to go through it.

"What we will not be in favour is them not matching what should be the targets, certainly. The feeling and the feedback of the drivers so far was not positive."

Red Bull's Christian Horner added: "We've agreed to take the time to analyse what happened here.

"The tyres weren't a positive step here this weekend, and I think that was unanimous up and down the pitlane, but we have agreed to take a couple of days to study data and try to understand why. I think we will stick with what we have if what is proposed isn't better."

Otmar Szafnauer of Racing Point believes that it's inevitable that the 2020 tyres will be abandoned.

"I think that's the most likely outcome." he told Motorsport.com. "The 2020 construction really didn't deliver what they said they were going to deliver, and it's more risky that the value that it could deliver, so I think we've got no choice but to go back. Ask the drivers – it didn't do what they said it was going to do."

Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola insisted that Austin was not a representative test, and that more would be learned in Abu Dhabi in December.

"The track was very cold, the cars are designed to fit the current tyres, we had no long runs, and the new tyre has been designed mainly to reduce the overheating, and that means being more consistent on a long run, and this is something you cannot check in five laps," Isola told Motorsport.com.

"I'm sure that with the two days that we have in Abu Dhabi we will have a more representative test, we will have the time to set up the car, to check the new profile, are they losing some points of downforce, all this kind of stuff."

Regarding the possibility of reverting to this year's tyres, Isola said: "Nothing is impossible. It's a bit strange, because the 2019 tyres have been criticised at the beginning of the season, and we put a lot of effort into developing something new.

"And during the development, we had positive results. If we go back to the 2019, and if the new tyre is evaluated in a negative way, we need to understand why.

"We cannot test for one year, with a certain result that is correlated from test to another, and then suddenly we have a result that is completely different. Otherwise it's a never-ending story, and we never progress."

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Raikkonen: I might as well be last if I’m 11th

Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen says he "might as well have finished last" in the United States Grand Prix after just missing out on scoring a point in 11th place.
The 2007 world champion has not finished in the top 10 since the Hungarian Grand Prix before the summer break, and although he was able to briefly appear in the lower reaches of the top 10 at Austin he again came away without scoring.

Raikkonen said: “If you take many previous races for sure I was strongest for a long time, but obviously when you finish 11th you get absolutely nothing, so you might as well be last. It makes no difference, so that’s why it’s disappointing.

"Sure, there were a lot of positives, but the end result is still the same.

“I had quite an ok first lap but didn’t have the speed to stay in the position. I managed to pass [Kevin] Magnussen but it just feels like we’re lacking general speed a bit so we have to use the tyres more than others to hold onto them.

“And then obviously we run out of tyres a bit earlier. And then it multiplies during the race and it costs us a bit. But we’re just lacking a little speed generally.

"We were at least in a fight today, but it’s still a bit disappointing to finish 11th.”

Raikkonen’s teammate Antonio Giovinazzi, who finished 14th after starting 16th at Austin, said the Alfa is “just missing grip”, adding “after that it is really difficult to drive”.

“We were on different strategies with Kimi trying to finalise something,” said Giovinazzi. “But I think from my side, on mediums it was really difficult, on hards as well on the second stint. It was a little bit better on soft, but still too slow to be honest.

“We are still struggling on race pace. We tried to do something, but it's still not enough. [We will] try to do something next, and try to make it better for Brazil.”

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‘We have nothing’ – Steiner admits Haas can’t wait for 2020 after difficult home race

Ongoing struggles in race trim mean Haas are looking forward to the end of the season, according to their Team Principal Guenther Steiner.

Kevin Magnussen’s retirement from P16 in Austin on Sunday, coupled with Romain Grosjean finishing 15th, means Haas have picked up just two points in the last eight races – earned from Magnussen’s ninth place in Russia.

And even though Steiner has been keeping his expectations low due to his team’s lack of competitiveness on race day this season, he admitted that he was counting down the races until he could turn his full attention to 2020.

“Thank God!” said Steiner, when it was put to him after the United States Grand Prix that there were only two races remaining in 2019.

“I would be happy with one to go, but I think we have two more to go. It’s tough at the moment, as you can see we have nothing… We’re just working defence and that’s difficult. It’s like having a football team with 11 defenders and nobody in attack and everybody attacks you and you cannot do anything.

“We just try to do damage limitation and if everybody else does a good job then that doesn’t work because we cannot do anything. Obviously every strategy you do is wrong because you still fall back, so it’s just a lack of speed.”

Magnussen ran as high as ninth early on in Austin, but after more tyre overheating issues saw him fall through the field, he then went straight on at Turn 12 on Lap 52 of 56 with a brake problem.

“We couldn’t see overheating or anything,” said Steiner. “We don’t know exactly what happened with the brake disc, or if it was the calliper, I don’t know yet. Something broke on the brakes. He complained on the radio that it was long, but it didn’t show any overheating so we tried to manage it and then I guess something broke.

“You can see on the camera that some dust came out, but I don’t know exactly what happened.”

The Dane enjoyed some early battles before his race faded, and he was unable to keep his car out of the gravel when his brake issue struck.

“It was a tough day at the office,” Magnussen said. “I wouldn’t say it was awful, we’re just not fast enough, lacking grip and lacking pace. We have some problems, it’s pretty clear, and I tried to do my best anyway.

"I got up to the top 10, was ninth I think in the first laps, but it was so clear we didn’t have the pace, dropping down the order and eventually getting a brake failure.”

Although Grosjean finished, he was well adrift of the battle for points. But he said there were positives to take from the second half of the race, even if he was too far down to challenge the rest of the midfield.

“It was tricky,” Grosjean said. “We knew going into the race that it was always going to be a little bit complicated. We didn’t have any top speed so at the beginning of the race we couldn’t really pass the guys. Plan A was medium-soft, so we tried to stay long on the medium but unfortunately they just died when everyone pitted and then everyone was passing me so I lost an awful lot of lap time there.

“Then we went on the hard and the hard was actually pretty good. I was happy with the balance and happy with my lap times at the end. But we were just far too far back and had no chance to fight.”

Haas’s largely nightmarish 2019 means that, unless they can have a strong final two races of the season, the American squad appear set to finish ninth of 10 teams in the constructors’ standings, having challenged Renault for fourth place in 2018.

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‘Worse than bad’ – Williams drivers lament poor performance at COTA

Even though Williams have endured a tough season, George Russell was still disappointed to finish last of the classified runners in Austin, having had higher expectations – while team mate Robert Kubica admitted that his own mid-race retirement had come as something of a relief.

Qualifying saw Russell a second off the pace of the rest of the midfield, although he did out-qualify Racing Point's Sergio Perez, who only took part in Q1 with an eye on the race due to a pit-lane start.

Russell then looked like being a threat to Haas's Romain Grosjean for long spells of the race at Circuit of The Americas, but faded to finish 17th – behind Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly, who failed to see the flag – after a pit stop problem.

“That was a bit of a struggle, probably worse than expected,” Russell said. “I was really struggling with the tyres to be honest. Came out of the pits and the car was feeling good, and then after about four laps was just sliding both axles and tyres overheating and dropped off massively.

“We decided just to do a second stop for the sake of it, had a slow stop and came out into all the blue flags, so I spent the last 15 laps sat behind them and having to let others past. Not the most fun race I’ve ever driven…”

Russell’s sentiments were echoed by team mate Kubica, who was forced to retire after 31 laps and admitted he wasn’t overly disappointed given how tough the car had been to drive in Austin.

“We had to retire the car, I’m 99 percent sure it’s a hydraulic issue but we have to investigate deeper,” Kubica said. “Let’s put it this way, unfortunately it’s always not nice to retire but I think we are not missing a lot.

“I would say it was pretty bad, or even worse than bad. I just struggled with grip. The Friday long run was not bad, but in the race it was terrible. It was a bit more difficult with the bumps with a bit more fuel load in the car and especially the opening laps when the tyre pressures are quite low, you get some kicks. Especially Turn 2 was pretty bad. I think with better cars they were not affected so much, but we were really affected in the first few laps.”

With just two races remaining at Williams, Kubica was already turning his attentions to the next round at Interlagos and a return to another iconic venue.

“As always we’ll try and do our best and we need to try and finish this difficult year as best we can. I’m looking forward to driving in Brazil, which is a nice track, and hopefully the car will be better there.”

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Say What? The best team radio from the United States

 

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Robert Kubica: New 2020 F1 opportunities have opened

Robert Kubica says he hopes to have a “relaxed December” but that new opportunities have arisen that has delayed the finalisation of his 2020 plans.

Kubica will leave Williams at the end of the campaign and will be without a seat on the 2020 Formula 1 grid, though is understood to be lining up a test/reserve role, alongside a race deal elsewhere.

Haas has sounded out Kubica over a simulator and test position but the Pole revealed that potential chances elsewhere mean he is still evaluating his opportunities.

“Things are reasonably well I would say,” he said last weekend at the United States Grand Prix.

“There are some probably new opportunities, or different opportunities, which turn out lately, so we’ll have to see if we can make it work and if this happens I can have a good and relaxed December, that something good would happen, but until there is no final decision and have to look realistically.

“And until there is no signatures on the papers it’s better to be realistic.

“But for some reason it’s maybe more complicated than I would like but if it’s more complicated it means there are some good opportunities.

“It would be more of a problem if things were easy as it would mean nothing is happening, so we’ll have to wait a bit.”

Kubica added that interest in his services were encouraging given his and Williams’ difficult 2019 campaign, which has been spent at the back of the grid.

“Although this season is very disappointing, and we haven’t done a big progress during the year, people still know a value which I can give,” he said.

“Then there is a chance of how big an opportunity I will have to contribute to different teams, definitely I think this is a positive thing, still some people believe I can do a good job and this is something very positive to see, especially after such a disappointing year this year.”

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Ferrari: No explanation for Austin slump yet

Ferrari says it is at a loss to explain why its pace was so bad in the United States Grand Prix race, as the outfit proved no match for Mercedes or Red Bull.
Although Sebastian Vettel missed out on pole position to Valtteri Bottas by just 0.012 seconds, in the race Ferrari hit trouble from the start.

First Vettel fell down the order complaining of tremendous understeer, while Charles Leclerc could not keep up with the cars ahead as he struggled for grip.

Speaking about what happened, neither the team nor the drivers had a clear understanding of what went wrong.

"Not yet," explained team boss Mattia Binotto on whether he understood the performance swing from Saturday to Sunday. "It is as simple as that. Not yet."

Leclerc said: "On the first stint especially, I have got no explanation for that. Something really felt wrong, and we need to analyse and understand what was wrong with that.

"On the second and third stints, it was not as bad as the first one. We were still slower than the leaders but not as much as the first stint. So I think we need to analyse what happened on the first stint."

He added: "I had a lot of problems with the front in some of the corners, and it was pretty inconsistent all throughout the first run. But to be completely honest I have no answers to tell you what was wrong. It just felt like really, really poor grip."

Ferrari also says there was no obvious explanation as to what caused the huge understeer Sebastian Vettel suffered in the opening laps – although it could be linked to the suspension failure that eventually put him out.

Binotto said: "It is not clear even if the suspension was broken from the very start – it could be. He [Vettel] got the initial feeling immediately that something was wrong with the car, so we may believe the suspension was broken.

"But from the data, and where eventually it has been broken, is not clear yet."

Vettel thinks that the Austin race issues were not representative of the team's true performance, and is hopeful there will not be a repeat in the final races.

"I think it was clear that something didn't work," said the German. "Obviously we have been not just a little bit behind but significantly slower, so I hope it is not an issue for the last two races. The mindset is clear. We want to win."

Leclerc added: "There are no reasons why it should continue so we will keep pushing."

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McLaren admits F1 pitstops 'not at top teams level'

The McLaren Formula 1 will work on its pitstop procedures and equipment over the winter in order to speed up the process and eliminate the risk of errors.

Lando Norris was badly delayed by a glitch in the recent Mexican GP, and ultimately retired because he was so far behind, while his teammate Carlos Sainz was forced to stop at Monza after leaving a stop with an unsecured wheel.

Some teams have systems that detect cross-threaded wheel nuts and prevent the car from leaving, and team boss Andreas Seidl concedes that McLaren has to catch up.

"It's an area we have to work on where we are not at the level of the top teams," he said. "We know where we have to work.

"First of all we have to provide our guys with better and more robust equipment, because we are simply behind. Also in terms of the safety mechanism you can include in the equipment so that it's simply not possible that the car goes when the wheel is not fully on.

"That's something we'll work on now in the winter, that takes time, it's not something you can do within a week or a month, so that's one main area to focus on. Once we have that in place we can also take more risks again when doing the tyre changes.

"I think we have shown in the human side at the beginning of the season that we can do quick pitstops – we made a huge step forward, the guys did great stuff for the first half of the season.

"We are just not robust enough to be covered when it goes wrong, and that's what we have to work on."

Seidl says McLaren has to make an effort for next year despite the possibility that some pit equipment could become standard by 2021.

"It's still open what happens in 2021. That's still a discussion that's ongoing at the moment to finalise the specification which will be in place from 2021. Fact is also that we lost too many points already this year with pitstop issues.

"Whatever we have to do for next year we have to do, because it's well invested resources. I don't want to go into next year's races having the same risk."

Seidl admitted that the team undertook conservative stops in Austin, where one stop for Lando Norris was briefly delayed by a wheel issue.

"In terms of pitstops after the issues we had we went safe, because for us it was important after Mexico to simply have a solid race with a solid pitstops."

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No F1, but McLaren open-minded on Fernando Alonso 2020 role

McLaren chief Zak Brown has ruled Fernando Alonso out of a direct Formula 1 role with the team in 2020 but says he is “open-minded” about maintaining their partnership.

Alonso raced for McLaren in Formula 1 for five years across two stints but departed a race seat at the end of 2018, though remained affiliated this year through an ambassadorial role.

Alonso sampled McLaren’s MCL34 during in-season testing in Bahrain earlier this year and drove its IndyCar operation’s one-car entry for its disastrous Indianapolis 500 attempt.

Alonso has yet to define full 2020 plans beyond his Dakar Rally entry with Toyota, having departed the Japanese marque’s World Endurance Championship team.

He will not compete for McLaren full-time in IndyCar after the team recruited youngsters Pato O’Ward and Oliver Askew.

“We’ll have a conversation about what the future may or may not look like,” said Brown.

“We’ve got an IndyCar team now, we continue to look at WEC. We’ve got Mika Hakkinen on a long-term contract as an ambassador.

“I think we’ll sit down with Fernando at the end of the year and just talk about what does he want to do moving forward, what do we want to do moving forward, and is there something there working together that makes sense.

“I think he’s an immense talent. I’ve got a really good relationship with him, and I think with the different racing activities that we’re doing, if there’s something that we have that makes sense to put Fernando in a car, I still think he’s one of the fastest drivers in the world.

“We’re set with our direction in Formula 1 with our current drivers, but depending on what other activities are, very open minded continuing a relationship with Fernando.”

McLaren has Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris under contract for its 2020 race seats.

It can call upon Sergey Sirotkin as reserve – who also occupies the same position at McLaren – while Formula 2 front-runner Sergio Sette Camara acts as test and development driver.

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Daniel Ricciardo 'doesn't care' if 2021 F1 cars are slower

Daniel Ricciardo says he “doesn’t care” if Formula 1 cars are several seconds per lap slower in 2021, if it helps improve the quality of racing.

Formula 1 will introduce revised sporting and technical regulations – along with financial regulations for the first time – in 2021, aimed at reducing the impact of dirty air and its effect on racing.

One trade-off of the new regulations is that lap times are expected to slow by around 3-3.5 seconds compared to the current cars.

Ricciardo, though, stressed it is worth having slower cars if the spectacle of the sport improves.

“I don’t care, I don’t mind, one of the most fun years I had in F1 was 2014, and the cars then were eight seconds slower than now,” he said.

“As long as we are racing close and hard. During our meeting [in Austin] the FOM coverage was filming the go-karters at the kart track, and there was some battling and I was just getting excited watching them, going 30 mph, but anything that is going to be close is exiting.

“I’d rather have good racing than single file lap records. Then we might as well do time trials for the rest of our careers. So I’m ok with three seconds slower.

“Ideally, we’d keep going the same pace or even faster but have overtalking, we do want to go fast, don’t get me wrong, but if we do have to choose then I’d take slower lap times with good racing than faster times with no race. 2016 was all right, it was not as slow as 2014.”

Ricciardo added that the current cars “look sexy, wide, awesome” and “better than in 2016” but conceded that “the tracks were not made wider but the cars were, so there is less overtaking.

“Not even overtaking, but in F1 you look for the tiniest but of clear air following a car. If he is on the apex curb, you try and take a bit more apex curb just to get some clear air on your front wing.

“Having wider cars it is harder to find that clear air, so that alone for me, taking the downforce out of it, taking more track, means it is harder to follow.

“That was…maybe not the best thing to do. But I don’t want to say learn from our mistakes but we will learn moving forward.”

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Vettel: Hamilton deserves all his F1 success

Sebastian Vettel says Lewis Hamilton fully deserves all his success in Formula 1 – and that is exactly what he told the six-time champion after the United States Grand Prix.
Although Vettel has known for some time that he no longer had the chance to win the title this year, and endured a disappointing retirement from the Austin race, he still took time to seek out Hamilton in the pre-podium green room and offer his congratulations.

Reflecting on their chat, Vettel later told the media that he was happy for Hamilton even though he was disappointed about Ferrari's failure to deliver in 2019.

"I think now is the time to write as many good things as you can," said Vettel, when asked for his thoughts on Hamilton's success.

"I think if somebody wins the title six times then he deserves all of it. That is what I told him as well.

"I am happy for him. I am not happy that we are not in contention this year and we are so far back.

"We need to respect what he achieved the last years and also this year, plus together with his team how strong they have been. I am happy for him. But less happy for us."

Vettel's praise of Hamilton's success was echoed by his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, who has battled the Mercedes driver at times this year.

"On my side I didn't even win one world title," said the Monegasque driver. "Only one world title is already a huge achievement, so to win six is just incredible.

"I think he deserves it. He has done an incredible season. I grew up watching him on TV and yeah, just a huge congratulations to him."