FORMULA 1

[MIKA27]

FORMULA 1 TEAMS AGREE ON AERO CHANGES FOR 2019

Formula 1 has approved aerodynamic rule changes for 2019 aimed at promoting closer racing by making it easier for cars to overtake, the sport’s governing body said on Tuesday.

The measures include a simplified front wing with a larger span, front brake ducts without winglets and a wider and deeper rear wing.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said its Formula One commission, Strategy Group and World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) had approved the changes.

The changes should reduce turbulence for cars that are following each other, and come after criticism of the lack of overtaking in some races.

The FIA said the vote, on the last day before a unanimous agreement is required for any 2019 regulation changes, following research carried out by a majority of the teams and backed by commercial rights holders Liberty Media.

“These studies indicated the strong likelihood of a positive impact on racing and overtaking within F1 and as such have now been ratified for implementation in 2019,” the statement added.

“The approved changes are separate to the ongoing work being undertaken in regard to defining Formula One’s regulations for 2021 and beyond.”

The word from inside the paddock suggests several teams, including Ferrari and Red Bull, had been opposed to the proposals but were outvoted.

Formula 1’s current agreements with teams expire at the end of 2020 and all parties are discussing what kind of engine and rules should be introduced after that.

Liberty want to level the playing field, reduce the costs and introduce a more equal distribution of the revenues.

Only three of the 10 teams — Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull — have won races in the V6 turbo hybrid era that started in 2014 and Mercedes have so far won every championship.

The FIA said it was continuing to evaluate a range of other measures to encourage closer racing.

FIA Statement:

Following a presentation made to the F1 teams at the Bahrain Grand Prix regarding proposals aimed at promoting closer racing and more overtaking in the Formula 1 World Championship, the Strategy Group, the F1 Commission and the World Motor Sport Council today approved a number of regulation changes for the 2019 season.

The changes, approved by e-vote, are as follows:

• Simplified front wing, with a larger span, and low outwash potential
• Simplified front brake duct with no winglets
• Wider and deeper rear wing

Today’s vote follows an intense period of research into the FIA’s initial proposals, which were made with the support of the F1 Commercial Rights Holder, conducted by a majority of the F1 teams.

These studies indicated the strong likelihood of a positive impact on racing and overtaking within F1 and as such have now been ratified for implementation in 2019.

The approved changes are separate to the ongoing work being undertaken in regard to defining Formula 1’s regulations for 2021 and beyond.

In addition to the aerodynamic changes ratified today, the FIA is continuing to evaluate a range of other measures aimed at encouraging closer racing and boosting overtaking in F1.

[MIKA27]

Midfield drivers have to be more aggressive than title contenders - Kevin Magnussen

Kevin Magnussen believes midfield drivers need to take more risks in the car compared to front-running drivers because they're not guaranteed to score points and therefore every position counts.

The Danish driver is one of the most aggressive on the track and has been on the end of criticism from several drivers including Nico Hulkenberg, who described Magnussen as "the most unsporting driver" following a clash in Hungary last year, whilst most recently Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly called him "the most dangerous guy I have ever raced" following a coming together in Azerbaijan at the weekend.

Magnussen is happy to accept he's an aggressive racer though, insisting he has nothing to lose by making a risky overtake if he's outside the points and everything to gain by defending hard if he is.

"I race hard," he told Reuters. "In a situation like this with a midfield team, you’re not guaranteed to score points. And sometimes you have nothing to lose.

“You might get a penalty, you might lose your front-wing but there’s nothing to lose if you’re 11th. Go for it. Sometimes you have to be a lot more aggressive when you’re fighting out there."

He insists however that were he to find himself in a position where scoring at every race was common, his approach would change.

"If you are fighting for the championship, you have to play the long game," he added. "You have to change your approach. If I was fighting for the championship, you wouldn’t see me racing the same way [I do now]."

Asked about the danger involved in taking such risks, Magnussen says he doesn't think about anything but racing when he's in the car and therefore death is just something that could happen and he's happy to accept that.

"I don’t like compromises," he said. "I will give everything. I will die in the car. I won’t hold back. I would put my life on [the line]. Absolutely.

“When you put your helmet on and you’re in the race, I find that’s just everything there is in the world.

“I love my family, and there’s so many things in life I enjoy, but when I’m in the car there’s nothing else that means anything."

[MIKA27]

Mercedes takes conservative Spanish GP tyre approach

Mercedes has opted for the most conservative tyre compound choice for the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix, whilst Ferrari is the most aggressive of the front-running teams.

Pirelli elected to make available the Medium, Soft and Supersoft compounds for the race at Spain's Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Mercedes has chosen three sets of the white-walled medium, five of the yellow-walled soft and five of the red-walled supersoft, in comparison Ferrari has just two of the medium, four of the soft and seven of the supersoft for each of its drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

Red Bull has opted for a similar strategy to Ferrari, but with one less supersoft in favour of an additional set of the soft compound.

However Williams' Sergey Sirotkin has by far the most aggressive strategy with a ten sets of the supersoft, leaving just one set of softs and two of the medium tyre.

The race will be one of three to feature a lower tread depth of 0.4mm [Story below] after Pirelli highlighted concerns of overheating due to the newly resurfaced circuit. Along with the French GP and British GP – all of which have new surfaces this season.

[MIKA27]

Pirelli to reduce tread depth at three races to combat overheating

Pirelli has confirmed it will reduce the tread depth of its tyres by 0.4 millimetres at three races this season, starting with the Spanish Grand Prix, due to concerns about overheating.

Barcelona, Paul Ricard and Silverstone have all been resurfaced for the 2018 season, which is expected to produce quicker lap times. But the new surface also means more grip and therefore less wear, causing the tyres surface to heat up more quickly.

Pirelli says reducing the tread depth will resolve the problem and it has been given the green light by the FIA to do so at the three aforementioned races.

"In agreement with the FIA, Pirelli has decided to reduce the tread depth on its slick tyres by 0.4 millimetres at three races this year: Barcelona, Paul Ricard and Silverstone," the tyre supplier confirmed.

"These three tracks all feature brand new asphalt, which produces more grip and generates less tyre wear. As a result, more rubber stays on the tyre, which can lead to surface overheating. By reducing the tread depth slightly there is less rubber to heat up, and the potential problem is minimised."

Mario Isola, head of car racing at Pirelli, commented: “This was a recommendation that we ourselves brought to the FIA — as we have done in the past at some races — because it is less disruptive than nominating harder compounds, which was the alternative.

"Apart from making a set of tyres weigh around one kilogram less, there is no appreciable difference in performance; so in effect this is an ‘invisible’ change. It only applies to the three races in Spain, France and Britain: there is no alteration to the tyre specification planned for any other events."

[MIKA27]

Sergey Sirotkin: Nothing I could do to avoid first-lap Azerbaijan GP 'mess'

Williams driver Sergey Sirotkin says there was “nothing” he could have done to avoid the first lap “mess” that resulted in his retirement from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Sirotkin qualified in 12th position and moved up one place on the grid as a result of Nico Hulkenberg’s gearbox penalty, as Williams displayed stronger pace around the streets of Baku.

Sirotkin ran into the rear of Sergio Perez under braking for Turn 2 – for which stewards handed him a three-place grid penalty for the Spanish Grand Prix – but sustained terminal damage exiting the corner.

Sirotkin was squeezed between Hulkenberg’s Renault and the McLaren of Fernando Alonso, and the resultant contact left his Williams FW41 with front-left suspension damage.

“It was such a mess in the first few corners,” said Sirotkin.

“I was between two cars heading into Turn 3 and I was just slowly and progressively squeezed between the two cars, as I was in the middle.

“At a point I saw I was not going to avoid a crash so I just lifted, hoping they would squeeze me but not hit me that much, but then already there was nothing I could do.

“We touched, my car jumped and when I landed, I broke my front suspension and my wing.”

Sirotkin’s retirement, allied to results elsewhere, left the Russian as one of only two drivers yet to score a point in 2018.

“I am just really sorry for this, as it is such a long race, but I understand that we all want to gain positions at the start, which is important,” he said.

“It is a shame in a race in such conditions. Parking the car in Turn 3 is not the best feeling.

“This was the best weekend so far for us and I am sure we could have squeezed some points out of it.”

[MIKA27]

Stroll: ‘Baku should’ve been red-flagged’

Lance Stroll has said he was "expecting" the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to be red-flagged so a more thorough clean-up operation could be carried out.

A loose piece of debris proved to be Valtteri Bottas' ultimate downfall as he picked up a race-ending puncture with the checkered flag almost in sight.

Lewis Hamilton also mentioned on team radio how unsafe the conditions were on track, and Stroll has echoed those thoughts after he managed to claim Williams' first points of the season.

“Everywhere there was debris,” said Stroll. “Turn one, turn three, the whole track.”

“I expected a red flag. There was way too much debris, they didn’t get the red flag out, I don’t know why.

“I thought it would’ve been better for everyone because the tyres were getting so cold, also. The Safety Car was going so slow so it probably would have made more sense to do like last year.

“Get a red flag, everyone gets new tyres, clear all the debris and we can go racing. Last year we had a very similar situation, the amount of debris on the track, it was clearly a red flag, there was no hesitation.

"But this time I don’t know why they kept the race going.”

[MIKA27]

Leclerc: Fighting Alonso and top teams in Baku "crazy"

Charles Leclerc says it felt "crazy" to be battling Fernando Alonso and keeping pace with drivers from leading Formula 1 teams Red Bull and Ferrari en route to his sixth-place finish in Baku.
On the back of his maiden Q2 appearance, Sauber rookie Leclerc spent much of a chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix running within the top 10 and eventually brought the car home in sixth for what was his team's best result since 2015.

The Monegasque finished a place ahead of McLaren driver Alonso, having used fresher tyres to pass the two-time world champion down the inside of Turn 1 midway through the race.

Speaking to media after the race, Leclerc said it was "definitely" satisfying to have managed an overtake on Alonso this early in his F1 carer, adding: "I mean, Fernando was a driver I was watching when I was five years old in Monaco, so to race with him today is quite crazy.

"And yeah, to have been able to fight with him - okay, we had a tyre advantage, but even at the end of the race we were looking strong compared to McLaren.

"During the whole race we were looking strong compared to them. It's a great boost for the future."

Leclerc also admitted that the first part of the race, in which he was matching the pace of the Red Bull/Renault battles ahead and keeping the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen behind, had been something of a shock.

Asked whether he was surprised to run close to the Red Bulls, even accounting for the Austrian team's early-race battery woes, Leclerc said: "Yeah, exactly. Also actually with Renault, when I had some clear laps, I could really stay with them.

"I had a point of reference and we were not so, they weren't pulling away from us. It was quite a big surprise in the car, seeing that.

"I also had Kimi behind, I think he had some damage, but we could keep him behind, which was also very, very strange."

Ericsson: Magnussen shunt a "lap one thing"

Leclerc's teammate Ericsson was 11th out of 13 classified finishers in Baku, his race hobbled by an opening-lap Turn 2 collision with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and a subsequent 10-second penalty.

"I locked up and ran into the side of him," Ericsson explained. "It’s a lap one thing.

"He ran into me in a very similar way one year ago in Australia, then it was a racing incident because it was the start of the race. Now it’s a penalty.

"Maybe they [the stewards] changed the way they looked at it. It’s my mistake, I went to Kevin afterwards and said sorry, I didn’t mean to.

"I picked up a lot of damage on the floor of the car and the right corner and was sort of surviving after that point. It was very difficult to drive."

[MIKA27]

Best radio messages from Azerbaijan GP

Recap the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with selected radio messages from the Formula 1 race.
Hartley and Gasly after their near-miss in Q1

Hartley: “I have a problem with the frontwing or puncture. I don't know.” 
Gasly: “What the f***. Unacceptable. I cannot believe. I'm coming at 320 and he's f*** stopped.” 
Team: “He had a puncture. He had a puncture.” 
Hartley: “I got in the way of Gasly. I tried to get out of the way. I’m so sorry.”

Alonso vents his frustration after being hit by Sirotkin on lap 1

Alonso: “Okay need to box. What a stupid guy. He closed me the door.”
Team: “OK, Fernando. We see some damage to the floor.”
Alonso: “Unbelievable. You take care in corner 1,2 and they crash into you. *** They're stupid.”

Ocon and Raikkonen blame each for their lap 1 crash

Ocon: “OK, the Ferrari crash me totally in the wall.”
Raikkonen: “He just turned into me, the Force india.”

Hulkenberg echoes Raikkonen’s famous ‘leave me alone’ quote on lap 10

Team: “Suggest SOC 10, Nico and overtake.”
Hulkenberg: “Leave me alone.”

And a few moments later he crashed out of the race...

Hulkenberg: ”I hit the wall.”
Team: “Puncture. OK.”
Team: “Try and get it back if you can. This race isn't over yet”

Ricciardo is instructed to repass Verstappen after falling behind him in the pit stops

Team: “Alright mate. You're gonna have to do him again. Let's get him.”

Vettel is perplexed as to how the race slipped from his fingers

Vettel: ”How can he be ahead of us?”
Team: “He was in front. 12 seconds and he had the gap to pit.”

Grosjean after infamously crashing under safety car

Grosjean: “F***. Noooo! Noooo!”
Grosjean: “What happened?”
Team: “I think Ericsson hit us.”

Bottas was in despair after suffering a puncture while leading the race

Bottas: “Oh my god. It just blew up on its own. F***”.

Perez celebrates first podium in 2 years

Perez: “Unbelievable guys. We did it once again guys. Once again. Once again it's not a coincidence that we are always there. Thank you guys. Ooooh!”

[Bartolomeo]

On 4/30/2018 at 8:51 PM, MIKA27 said:

ALONSO: ANY OTHER DRIVER WOULD HAVE PARKED THE CAR

There were shades of Gilles Villeneuve in how Fernando Alonso refused to throw in the towel during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, despite suffering two punctures and damage as a result of a first lap melee.

Alonso defied physics as he drove the stricken McLaren back to the pits – as the late great Villeneuve did on more than one occasion – got his mechanics to bolt on fresh tyres and powered out back into the race and claimed seventh place for his team at the end of an incident-packed race in Baku.

The Spaniard told reporters after the race, “Very crazy. Another seventh place but I think it was the result of persistence and pride because I think no one would have reached the pitlane, first of all. They would have parked the car and if they could reach the pitlane they would have retired the car.”

“But we didn’t park or retire the car and fought for every tenth, every lap, close to the walls all race long and, I think it was the best race of my life. I reached the pitlane thanks to a miracle. I didn’t have two wheels or front wing or floor or anything.”

“They changed the tyres and they told me the car was heavily damaged so I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish or that I would be very slow. But I started overtaking cars and then with the safety car I gained some positions in the end.”

Alonso admitted that he too thought his race was over as he made his way back to the pits in the wrecked car, “They told me significant damage and when they say that it’s usually bad news because if it’s little they’d say you only have a damaged wing, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“When they said significant damage I feared the worst,” revealed Alonso who along with teammate Stoffel Vandoorne in ninth the pair completed another double-points finish for McLaren.

MIKA: Call me harsh, but Stoffel Vandoorne isn't impressing me. Alonso with a double puncture still gets P7 over his team mate.

Alonso is pound for pound the best driver in F1 last 10-12 years, just always in a shit car outside his two title cars....

[MIKA27]

1 hour ago, Bartolomeo said:

Alonso is pound for pound the best driver in F1 last 10-12 years, just always in a shit car outside his two title cars....

Agree. I think his own decisions to move teams have been by pure bad luck, VERY BAD decisions. 

The next unluckiest driver IMO would be Hulkenberg. So consistent but still yet to get a podium.

But agree about Alonso, he is in a class of his own. I'd love to see him win another WDC before he leaves the sport. Would love to see him in Mercedes, Ferrari wouldn't take him back.

[MIKA27]

BOULLIER: ALONSO IS LIKE A SHARK WHEN IT SMELLS BLOOD

McLaren chief Eric Boullier is in awe Fernando Alonso who did not allow two punctures and shredding tyres suffered in the opening stages of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to stop his from returning into the pits bolting on new tyres and wrestle his way back to seventh place.

The Spaniard himself was impressed with the feat, and Boullier – with inside information – is mightily impressed.

The team chief reflected, “He has this facility to switch his driving style always to suit the car balance. He is one of the very rare ones. Depending on the balance, whether you have front [brake] locking, rear locking, straight away he adjusts his driving to not hurt the tyres. In that case, it helped him a lot.”

“I compare him sometimes to a shark when it smells blood in the sea. Then it starts to chase. Fernando is the same. In that mode, he decided: Change the tyres, let’s go back racing, just check the balance and tell me what I need to do if I need to change something.”

“The front tyre deflated straight away after turn three and then it takes some time before you lose the tyre from the rim. The rear right tyre deflated I think around Turn 15.”

“You can see that after entering the pit lane, the car is not driveable, and actually he hit the wall on the right-hand side. At that stage, he told us after, he did not know how to bring the car to the pit.”

“He didn’t know if the car would steer. He just tried to go straight on the fast lane and he thought he would leave it there and we would take it out…”

“At the last minute, he turned and the car steered into the pit-stop bay. We made a joke with him and said it was the best positioning of the weekend.”

“He said: Let’s change the tyres and front wing and go. From the pit wall, I saw these flames all around the floor. The car was on fire.”

“The car was still more or less balanced, strangely. The reason was there was this big hole in the front floor, so we lost downforce at the front and rear. So the car was not very well balanced, but it was still driveable. He didn’t complain about anything, not even driveability.”

Compare Alonso’s afternoon to teammate Stoffel Vandoorne who finished ninth, two positions behind his veteran teammate. Alonso, with a damaged car, was half a second a lap faster throughout the afternoon in Baku than the Belgian.

Boullier points to Alonso’s spirit as inspiration, “Maybe we got conditioned as well by him all weekend saying: We need to finish the race; this is the key.”

“We also are in a different place. Qualifying pace is not our best and so we have shifted our mindset to: We need to grab any points we can. And that means by any means we need to finish the race. This is our mindset since Australia. We want to capitalise on the first four races and grab as many points as possible,” added Boullier.

[MIKA27]

ZANDER DEPARTS SAUBER WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT

Sauber team have announced, in a short two-paragraph statement, that their technical chief Jor Zander has left the team with immediate effect.

Sauber Official Statement:

Jörg Zander, Technical Director of the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team, will stop working for the team with immediate effect. We would like to thank him for his dedication and we wish Jörg Zander all the best and success for the future.

Until a new organization will be announced, the various heads of departments and the current project leaders will continue to work on the development of the C37 and the 2019 car with the supervision of Frédéric Vasseur, CEO and Team Principal.

[MIKA27]

MIAMI GRAND PRIX SET FOR 2019 F1 CHAMPIONSHIP SLOT

The Miami Grand Prix for Formula 1 is reportedly set to make it onto the 2019 world championship calendar with the City Commission set to vote next week on a proposal to conclude a deal with FOM.

F1 commercial chief, Sean Bratches, said that the latest developments are “an important step” in the quest to hold a grand prix in the Florida city.

Official Statement from Sean Bratches, Managing Director Commercial Operations, Formula 1:

“Earlier today the City of Miami Commission took an important step by adding an item to their upcoming agenda, that if approved, will make way to bring Formula 1 to downtown Miami next season. We appreciate the community’s interest in hosting a Formula 1 race and look forward to working with local officials and stakeholders to bring this vision to life.”

“With over half a billion fans worldwide, Formula 1 is the greatest racing spectacle on the planet, and Miami’s status as one of the world’s most iconic and glamourous cities, combined with its robust tourism infrastructure, makes Miami the perfect destination for Formula 1 and its fans.”

Stephen Ross, US entrepreneur and supporter of the proposed race added: “Miami is a first-class global city and Formula 1 is a first-class global brand. In cooperation with the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County, I am confident we can deliver yet another global event that will be a destination for people from around the world and drive economic value to South Florida.”

“From football and soccer to tennis and motorsports, Miami deserves only the best in music, food, art, fashion, and sports and entertainment, and that is exactly what we plan on delivering with a Formula 1 race.”

The exact timing of a Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix would be a matter for further discussion between F1, the FIA and the Miami authorities, but if approved we hope at this stage that the inaugural race would take place in October 2019.

[MIKA27]

FIA ‘happy’ with Vettel’s Safety Car restart

The FIA have declared themselves “happy” with Sebastian Vettel’s restart after the first Safety Car period in Baku.

Lewis Hamilton accused his rival of being “dangerous” after faking when he was going to restart the race again.

But the FIA will not be looking any further into the incident after reviewing the footage.

“I think he [Vettel] controlled it very well but it’s up to the leading driver to say when we go,” FIA race director Charlie Whiting said.

“Unlike some other series, they have an acceleration zone, a place where you can accelerate. 

“You can’t do it before or after that. Once it goes green, the Safety Car comes into the pits, it’s up to the leader to decide when he is going to go.

“This is a tricky place, they catch the Safety Car too early if they go too quickly. I think Seb controlled it well. 

“There was a bit of a complaint from Lewis that he wasn’t going at a constant rate, but if you look down the field, there’s a few places where that happens. 

“To expect them to go at one speed doesn’t happen. So long as no one does anything dangerous, we’re happy.”

Hamilton is still planning to bring up Vettel’s restart at the next drivers’ briefing ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix next weekend.

[MIKA27]

Red Bull and Honda plan further talks for Spanish GP

Red Bull and Honda have scheduled further talks for the Spanish Grand Prix, amid growing indications they could join up in Formula 1 in 2019.
As Motorsport.com revealed earlier this week, the Milton Keynes-based team and the Japanese car manufacturer held their first formal discussions about a potential future engine partnership in Baku last weekend. 

There, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko sat down with Honda motorsport boss Masashi Yamamoto to map out initial ideas about what could be possible from next year.

It has since emerged that the talks were encouraging enough for a second round of negotiations to be firmed up for the next race in Barcelona, which Yamamoto will attend.

Sources have suggested that both sides are pushing hard for a Red Bull-Honda deal to be sorted, with the Canadian Grand Prix in June being viewed as perhaps key to a final decision.

In Montreal, both Honda and Red Bull's current engine supplier Renault are set to introduce performance upgrades. How each of the power units performs may well frame the team's decision about which offers the best chance of progress next year.

Red Bull is keeping tight-lipped on the state of negotiations, but has suggested that it is waiting for Honda's latest upgrade so it can judge its full potential.

"We are very satisfied with the way the partnership with Toro Rosso is going," Marko told Motorsport.com. "The reliability has already improved considerably. And as far as performance goes, we'll wait for the next update."

Red Bull's desire to wait until Canada before making a decision would put it beyond the preferred May 15 date for a decision that Renault has favoured, so it is unclear how the French car manufacturer would respond if there was no commitment by that date.

  

Driver push

Although it is understood that any Red Bull-Honda alliance will not result in the kind of financial injection to the team that McLaren enjoyed, there is scope for a stronger alliance than just being engine partners.

One area where Honda is eager to do something different is to get one of its junior drivers in to an F1 seat, which would most likely be with Toro Rosso.

The obvious candidate for this is Nirei Fukuzumi, who is running a joint campaign in Formula 2 and Super Formula this year to help boost his superlicence points potential. 

A Fukuzumi promotion to Toro Rosso would mean that one of the team's current drivers Pierre Gasly or Brendon Hartley would have to move aside.

[MIKA27]

Mercedes saw debris 0.5s before Bottas hit it

The Mercedes pit wall saw the debris that Valtteri Bottas struck in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix half a second before the impact.
Bottas looked set for victory in the Baku race before he suffered a puncture to his right rear tyre after he hit debris following the final restart.

The FIA said it had not seen the debris Bottas hit, and while Mercedes revealed it did spot it, the team admitted it was too late to do anything about it.

Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said that the team had constantly been telling its drivers to look out for debris after earlier incidents.

"We didn't give him warning, because we didn't see it," Shovlin explained in a Mercedes video. "The first time we saw it was just as he came over those bumps.

"That was why he was also blind-sighted. You could see him heading towards it, but it was half a second or a second or so, and it was not enough time for us to get on the radio and tell him that there was debris on the track.

"If we had seen it we would have warned him, as we were doing a lot of the other laps with the other accidents. We were trying to guide them as to the best bit of track to avoid it. Unfortunately on this occasion it was all too late.

"It was a real shame for Valtteri, he'd driven brilliantly all weekend, a super composed race."

Shovlin said that the team had been banking on a late safety car when it left Bottas out after leader Sebastian Vettel pitted, knowing that there was a chance that he would be able to stop and stay in front.

"Absolutely, that was what we were hoping for. It's Baku, and there's a pretty good chance of getting a safety car. When Sebastian came in he leaves this window so that he's sufficiently far behind us so that if we stop under a safety car or a VSC, and you get the shorter pit loss, we could actually take the lead of the race.

"They're hoping that there isn't one, but it's one of those strategies that you play for. It's actually quite difficult to leave the race and control it, because you are protecting against people undercutting you, but also this issue with the safety car, and you can't do both. So that's where it does create opportunities for whoever's in P2."

The alternative plan was to give Bottas a late stop under green for the quicker ultra soft tyre, which would have allowed him to sprint to the flag – and catch up with leader Vettel in a repeat of Bahrain.

"If there hadn't been a safety car, we would have come in with Valtteri, we would have taken the ultrasoft, about 10 laps from the end of the race. The super wasn't degrading, it was going really well, and we could run it as long as we liked.

"Those 10 laps would have given him just enough time to catch up with Seb, and battle him for the win. And he would have done that with a couple of laps remaining."

 

[MIKA27]

2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Race Highlights

 

[MIKA27]

BOTTAS RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS BANDINI TROPHY

Valtteri Bottas was awarded the prestigious Bandini Trophy in recognition of his breakthrough performance: securing both his first Formula 1 race wins and pole positions in 2017, while his current campaign has seen a very consistent performance by the Finn, who came home second in both Bahrain and China and missed the win in Azerbaijan when his tyre punctured with only three laps to go.

Valtteri is the 25th recipient of the trophy, which both Lewis Hamilton (2010) and Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (2015) received in previous years.

Established in 1992, the Bandini Trophy is given out by Associazione Trofeo Lorenzo Bandini. It is awarded in memory of the Italian racing driver Lorenzo Bandini, a race winner in both Formula One and the 24 Hours of Le Mans who tragically lost his life at the age of 31 in the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix.

The recipient of the prize is chosen by a jury of 12, including Giancarlo Minardi, founder and former Managing Director of the Minardi Formula One team, Italian motorsport journalist Pino Allievi and Cesare Fiorio, former sporting director for Ferrari, Ligier and Minardi.

The awards ceremony commenced on Saturday afternoon with Valtteri taking the team’s 2016 Championship-winning car, the F1 W07 Hybrid, on a 12-kilometre drive through the Northern Italian countryside. Starting in the city of Faenza, home of the historic Minardi F1 team, Valtteri headed south towards Lorenzo Bandini’s home town of Brisighella – safely escorted by the police, who made sure the Finn didn’t show the full performance of the Silver Arrow.

The W07 was raced in 2016, winning 19 out of the 21 Formula One races that season and resulting in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport.

As Valtteri left the Piazza del Popolo in Faenza in the W07, the picturesque village of Brisighella was already buzzing as a large crowd gathered for the parade of historic racing cars. The highlight of the day was the awards ceremony in the evening, where Lorenzo Bandini’s wife Margherita Freddi handed Valtteri the prestigious trophy in Brisighella.

She was accompanied on stage by Francesco Asirelli, president of the Associazione Trofeo Lorenzo Bandini, Italian senator Stefano Collina, the president of the Emilia-Romagna region Stefano Bonaccini as well as Janne Taalas, Finnish ambassador to Italy.

Upon receiving the trophy, Valtteri said: “This is a big honour. I saw the list of drivers who received the Bandini Trophy before. There are some really impressive names on that list – just think of the total amount of championships these people have won!”

“So I feel very honoured to now be a Bandini winner myself. I had some good moments last year and it’s nice to be recognised for those. Driving the 2016 car on the roads just added to the excitement of this great day.”

Valtteri was not the only member of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport to be awarded a trophy as Aldo Costa, Engineering Director of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, and Riccardo Musconi, Senior Race Engineer on car #44, received the European Community Award at the event in Brisighella.

After the ceremony, the honourees attended the awards gala with around 500 guests.

[MIKA27]

SPA 6-HOURS: ALONSO WINS ON WEC DEBUT WITH BUEMI AND NAKAJIMA

The Toyota Gazoo Racing #8 of Fernando Alonso, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima powered to victory at the Spa 6 Hours, the opening round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Belgium, the Spaniard triumphing on his LMP1 debut.

The McLaren driver shared the Toyota TS050 hybrid with former F1 drivers Buemi and Nakajima. The trio covered 163 laps around the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit which will also host a round of the F1 world championship later this year.

Alonso, in the cockpit for the final stint, survived a riveting pursuit by Mike Conway in the sister Toyota #7 which he shared with Kamui Kobayashi and José María López. Conway tried hard,  but ‘rookie’ Alonso kept his composure in traffic and despite the pressure crossed the line to win by just over one second.

The victory, from pole, was Alonso’s first in any motorsport championship since he won his home Spanish Grand Prix for Ferrari in 2013, indeed his lack of success at the pinnacle of the sport is what has resulted in the double world champion competing in the WEC. His well-known objective: the Triple Crown of Motorsports.

The Spaniard entered the Indy 500 last year, leading the race for a while before retiring.

Victory in his WEC debut sets him up well for the challenge of his first Le Mans 24 Hours race in June, where victory will further add to his stature as one of the great drivers of the current era.

In LMGTE Pro, the #66 Ford Chip Ganassi Team of Olivier Pla, Stefan Mücke and Billy Johnson claimed their first WEC victory after a race-long battle with the #91 Porsche 911 RSR of Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre. The race came down to the final 45-minutes after a Safety Car gave Pla an opportunity to overtake the #91 Porsche of Richard Lietz which eventually came third in class.

The sister Ford GT, #67, driven by Harry Tincknell, crashed spectacularly in the second hour. The British driver thankfully emerged from the Ford GT uninjured.

LMP2 honours went to G-Drive Racing of ex-Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne, Andrea Pizzitola and Roman Rusinov. It was the team’s second success in as many years at Spa and its third in the last five events held at the Belgian venue.

Reigning LMGTE Am champions Aston Martin Racing took a fourth consecutive Spa win with former F1 driver Pedro Lamy, Paul Dalla and Mathias Lauda.

 

[MIKA27]

WOLFF: WE ARE NOT LOOKING AT DRIVERS OUTSIDE OF MERCEDES

Amid speculation that Daniel Ricciardo has had a chat to Mercedes regarding a berth with the team for 2019 and beyond, but Silver Arrows chief Toto Wolff has poured cold water on any suggestion that the Red Bull driver is on their radar.

In an interview with F1i, Wolff said, “We are not looking at drivers outside of Mercedes at the moment because, first of all, we need to give our support to our two guys, that’s the priority.”

Apart from their star driver Lewis Hamilton, they also have Valtteri Bottas, Pascal Wehrlein, Esteban Ocon and George Russell on their books.

Wolff explained, “It’s like if you’re happy with your wife, you don’t look elsewhere! We are with our two wives – or three [including Esteban Ocon] – and we are not looking at that.”

“Give us a few more races, [let us] start the European season properly, go to Canada, and then the intense July, and I will have a better view,” added Wolff.

In the past Ricciardo has been  to Mercedes, more by media speculation than anything else, while the Aussie has not been shy to express his ambition to race against Hamilton with similar equipment.

If Ricciardo does not extend with Red Bull, the smart money is that he will be  to replace veteran Kimi raikkonen and reunite with hshis former Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel, although a move to Renault is also a theory that surfaced recently in the paddock.

[MIKA27]

RENAULT EXPECT BOOST FROM NEW FUEL AND AERO TWEAKS

Renault are expecting a performance boost for the Spanish Grand Prix from aero tweaks and updated fuel from their suppliers BP Castrol as the French outfit continue to make inroads into the gap enjoyed by the top three teams.

Speaking ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, team chief Cyril Abiteboul revealed, “The start of the European season now needs to see a consolidation of that performance [in Baku].”

“We will be helped in Spain by a step on the engine side with new fuel and some aero tweaks to reflect the characteristics of the track.”

“We hope this to be a move forward, but we also recognise that many other teams will bring upgrade packages too and Barcelona is well known to everyone,” added Abiteboul.

Sources close to Renault believe the fuel alone could be worth a couple of tenths around Barcelona, but only time will tell if this indeed will be the additional performance they find and if their rivals stand still between now and the race weekend in Barcelona.

Renault are enjoying a strong start to their season and can lay claim to being the next best team behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull – the latter team also using Renault engines, albeit badged TAG Heuer.

Red Bull use Mobil-Esso as a fuel supplier and the other Renault powered team, McLaren utilise Petrobras.

[MIKA27]

VETTEL: KIMI AND I ARE A GOOD PAIR, A GOOD MATCH

Amid reports of Daniel Ricciardo being ‘romanced’ by Ferrari to take over from Kimi Raikkonen at the end of 2019 and reunite the Aussie with Sebastian Vettel – teammates at Red Bull in 2014 – the German insists he is happy with his current teammate.

Vettel said in a recent interview of Raikkonen, “We’re a good pair, a good match. There’s no problem at all between us, ever. I think that’s a really big bonus for the team and for us to just enjoy our job.”

The four times F1 world champion added, “It’s been incredibly close this year so far. To be honest, most of the Fridays I think he had the upper hand so far.”

“Here and there I was struggling to understand the car and feel the car so I think knowing him, knowing his strength, he’s incredibly talented and able to drive around problems.”

“If you look at the previous years the image is a bit distorting. It wasn’t as one-sided as you might think if you look at the results…”

We did, and it’s not pleasant reading for The Iceman and his fans.

Vettel vs Raikkonen at Ferrari: 2015-2018

Wins: Vettel: 10 Kimi: 0   
Podiums: Vettel 35, Kimi: 17    
Poles: Vettel 8, Kimi: 1   
Laps led: Vettel 691, Kimi: 63
Points: Vettel 873, Kimi: 589

MIKA: The above stats are not accurate IMO as Ferrari are clearly asking Kimi on many occasion to pull aside so to speak in favor of Sebastian. I dare say those numbers would be alot higher for Kimi if Ferrari let them race each other and not take special favor with Vettel.

[MIKA27]

STEINER: GROSJEAN MISTAKE NOT EXPECTED FROM A ROOKIE

Haas team chief Guenther Steiner believes that his drivers have a good car this year, perhaps even the best of the rest behind the top three, but laments the fact that the American team and their drivers are not maximising the results they could receive with the car.

At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Grosjean had worked his way up from the back of the grid to sixth place with ten laps to go in the race, but during the safety car period he appeared too aggressive while trying to keep his tyres warm and lost control of the car, ending his race in the barrier.

It was an unbelievable error by a Formula 1 drivers and Steiner was not impressed, “You don’t expect from a rookie or anybody. I think we are not using the potential of the car to get in the points. We should be quite well up there because the car is performing very well.”

“In the race, we saw we started last and were P8 with Romain behind Perez. That was on speed because everybody had one stop so there was nothing. Sure the Safety Car comes out and we are in P6 all of a sudden but then we go home with nothing.”

Haas have shown how strong their car can be in all four races, but pitstop gaffes and now driver ‘brain fade’ have conspired against them, they only have 11 points to their credit when they could easily have tripled that had they not botched the chances that have come their way.

Steiner gave insight into what it takes to motivate his team amid the slip-ups, “You’ve just got to tell people that you haven’t done anything wrong. It’s not your fault that Romain went in the wall, we did a good job, we did good pit stops, we prepared the car well.

“The whole weekend, until qualifying started, was very well executed, we had no downtime with the car and we did a lot of good things. The guys know themselves if they are good or not.”

“Until you get the momentum going assure them they are doing good. They keep on coming back because they are convinced that we can get it done. They are not lacking.”

“In the position like we are in we have got a good team, everything is good, we just need to get it together for one weekend, execute it well over the whole weekend and we will be fine.”

“Just at the moment, it feels like we always let it slip. Then you always feel like you are running out of time but then again it’s only race four. I’m not saying its fantastic, we should have done better,” added Steiner.

MIKA: Romain Grosjean started off as an absolute maldonado clone with his crashing. Then he became better. Now... It seems as if he's heading South again!

Expecting Romain Grosjean to give up crashing is like expecting Stormy Daniels to give up 'dating'.

The last video is yet another "Wasn't really my fault excuse", this is where Romain loses me. If only he just admitted he needs to work harder. HAAS need to replace this guy IMO.

[MIKA27]

Renault poses a greater threat than McLaren - Force India

Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley believes Renault poses a greater threat to his outfit finishing higher in the standings than McLaren, despite the latter currently having a higher points tally.

McLaren are fourth in the standings with 36 points, whilst Renault, following a strong finish in Azerbaijan, are just one point adrift in fifth. Force India meanwhile have just 16 points following a difficult start to the season, though the team outscored both Renault and McLaren in Baku with Sergio Perez's podium finish.

Speaking to Racer, Fernley is confident his outfit is quicker than both of those ahead, particularly McLaren, but reckons Renault could pose a greater threat to their target of securing fourth in the standings for a third consecutive year.

“I think we were generally fourth-quickest across the board, both in race and in qualifying," said Fernley. "But I also think it’s very circuit-specific.

"I don’t think we’ve completely resolved the aero correlation issues that we’ve had following Melbourne, but I think we were stronger in Bahrain, we were pretty strong in China and we should have had points in both of those races.

"I think it [the podium in Baku] just gives us the opportunity to have a look again [at fourth]. That’s moved us up into sixth place now behind Renault and McLaren.

"I think we could have outraced McLaren on both recent occasions in Bahrain and China, it’s just first-lap incidents. Renault are looking very consistent and that’s probably going to be the harder one.”

[MIKA27]

Ericsson: Sauber ‘struggling over one lap’

Marcus Ericsson believes that Sauber could fight in the midfield, if they performed better on Saturday afternoons.

The Swedish driver is into his fourth season with the team, but has only picked up points on six occasions. Five of those came in his first year with Sauber, back in 2015.

This season, though, he says that Sauber have not managed to work out the softest tyres, and have struggled in qualifying because of it.

He said: “It’s clear we are struggling more over one lap than on race pace. We are still struggling with the softer compounds.”

His team-mate, Charles Leclerc, came through to finish in sixth in Baku, their best result since Russia 2015, when Felipe Nasr also finished in the top six in Sochi.

Ericsson said: “I really feel confident that if we have good track position for the race, starting in the mix, we can have strong races.”

He continued: “Obviously these days you need good starting position. We need to work hard and analyse how we can take a step on Saturdays.”