FORMULA 1

[MIKA27]

Ultrasoft tyres preferred for F1 German Grand Prix

Formula 1 drivers have preferred Pirelli’s Ultrasoft compound tyre for next weekend’s German Grand Prix.

Formula 1 will return to Hockenheim after a year’s absence for ostensibly for the final running of the event, with the contract expiring following the conclusion of this season.

Pirelli has nominated the Ultrasoft, Soft and Medium compounds – electing to make a non-linear selection by skipping the Supersoft tyre.

The top six drivers, bar Daniel Ricciardo, will have seven sets of Ultrasofts from their weekend allocation of 13, with the Australian opting for eight.

Most drivers will have just one or two sets of Medium tyres – Sauber’s Charles Leclerc is the exception on three.

Renault has made the most aggressive choice by selecting 10 sets of Ultrasoft tyres, meaning Carlos Sainz Jr. has just one set of Softs, compared to five for Valtteri Bottas, Kimi Raikkonen and Kevin Magnussen.

[LLC]

Is this some American/Canadian rivalry?  Glad no one mentioned Jacques Villeneuve. I would have quit posting.  

I was at Jacques Villeneuve’s first Indy car win at Road America many years ago and had a chance to talk to him for a minute after the race. I was a big fan but he changed after F1 and lost his credibility in my opinion. He was never in the league of the drivers mention in this post even though he won a world championship.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MIKA27]

Toro Rosso investigating "odd" Hartley suspension failure

Toro Rosso is still investigating the front suspension failure that triggered a huge accident for Brendon Hartley in the third Formula 1 free practice session at Silverstone.
Although the team was running a new specification of suspension part on the STR13 at Silverstone, it wasn’t directly associated with the component that failed, which was of original spec.

However, as a precaution, Pierre Gasly went back to the complete older spec for qualifying and race, and had no problems.

The spare chassis was built up for Hartley for Sunday, also with old-spec suspension, but a systems issue before the start meant that he ran only one lap before retiring.

“The component that we had the issue with was not a new spec,” technical director James Key told Motorsport.com. “As precaution we went back to a previous spec of one part, even though it wasn’t associated with the failure that we had.

“The only reason we went back was only as an absolute precaution, let’s take any unknowns away, even though it didn’t appear to be associated with the failure.”

Key said the failure had come as a complete surprise to the team.

“It is still being investigated and understood. We’ve never had any issues at all, certainly not of that nature. We did nine races without any problems.

"Yes, we had some trackrod damage in Austria, but most people damaged their cars, and we had a particularly horrible thump on one of those kerbs.

“We haven’t seen anything like that, all the loads that were going through the front left suspension were well within the loads that it was designed for. That corner had a history, it had been used the previous day, it had been used in Canada, a big braking track, it had been used in Bahrain.

“It had been serviced and quality control checked, proof-tested, and everything was fine. So it’s rather odd that we suddenly suffered an issue with a part that was perfectly normal, as far as we could see. What we need to establish whether there was some damage to it.”

The pieces of debris retrieved after the crash are now being examined.

“They’ve been sent back to the factory, they’ve all been quarantined, they will go through a forensic examination so that we can work out what is impact damage, what is potential failure, clues to how a failure could have occurred, etc. And we have various options to address any possible outcomes.

“We did a race with Pierre for 52 laps without any problems whatsoever, so it feels like a one-off, due to a set of circumstances that we need to understand, although you can never make assumptions like that.

“Brendon was extremely unfortunate, it was obviously nothing to do with him, but it very negatively affected his whole weekend. But he was fine, which is the most important thing, and the car did exactly what it was supposed to do in an impact of that nature.”

Key said Hartley's early retirement in the race was a consequence of the team having to build up his STR13 in so little time.

“The mechanics did a fantastic job of getting it back together from scratch, because it really was a complete car build overnight.

"We had other issues which were a knock-on effect of the fact that we had to rebuild the car – a systems issue that didn’t show itself in fire-ups, but did show up in proper reconnaissance laps.

"That caused us to delay going out of the pits. We got out half a lap down, but the problem was still there.”

[MIKA27]

3 minutes ago, LLC said:

 

I was at Jacques Villeneuve’s first Indy car win at Road America many years ago and had a chance to talk to him for a minute after the race. I was a big fan but he changed after F1 and lost his credibility in my opinion. He was never in the league of the drivers mention in this post even though he won a world championship.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I recall JV while he was driving for BAR. I spoke with him and Jock Clear in the paddock while grabbing an autograph at the Melbourne GP.

He wasn't a bad guy back then, quite calm and approachable. Perhaps he is this way as he is no longer in the limelight and needs to compensate for it?

[MIKA27]

The changes that put Ferrari on top at the British GP

The British Grand Prix was a major test for Ferrari's in-season development, and the Scuderia passed - running Mercedes closer than expected over one lap and winning the race.

Just a week after a major update at Mercedes helped the German car manufacturer deliver a pace change in Austria, Ferrari’s own developments appeared to make the difference at Silverstone.

Floor overhaul

Ferrari SF71H floor and brake duct comparison

The long gill-like holes in the SF71H’s floor have been updated, as an extra hole was introduced that reached right back and around to the angled holes ahead of the rear tyre (highlighted in yellow).

To compensate for the arrival of the extra long gill ahead of them the angled holes have also been adjusted too.

Meanwhile, the flap on the edge of the floor introduced earlier in the season (inset, red arrow) has been discarded and replaced by a simple upturn on the floors edge (red arrow).

The serrated winglet on the upper leading corner of the rear brake duct (inset, blue arrow) was also attended to as part of this update, as the serrations have become full blown slots (blue arrow), working the airflow over the surface harder.

Wing choice

Ferrari SF71H rear wing comparison

As part of its quest to deliver a strong all-round contender for Silverstone’s characteristics, Ferrari also decided to run its spoon-shaped rear wing, trading some downforce for drag reduction.

Eyeing the airflow interaction between the hot air exiting the engine cover below and the underside of the rear wing as a potential pitfall, the team opted to run an outlet with a valley in the central section (inset).

It’s a design decision that championship rival Mercedes has been doing too when it has run a spoon wing, as it too looks to improve flow consistency.

It is important to realise though that Ferrari’s success is not down to a single update, but the fact it has been able to constantly develop the car throughout 2018.

[MIKA27]

Strategy Report: Ferrari’s perfect execution at Silverstone

James Allen analyses the British Grand Prix, as Ferrari made all the right strategic decisions to deliver upon the promise of new car updates to beat Mercedes.
F1 is relentless: A week after making a very public mistake in not pitting Lewis Hamilton under a Virtual Safety Car, there was another big decision to be made in the closing stages of the British Grand Prix – whether to stop under a Safety Car or stay out on worn tyres and defend the track positions gained. 

For Ferrari and Red Bull, there was no discussion, they must stop. Mercedes decided to stay out. 

The race leader Sebastian Vettel fell behind Valtteri Bottas as a consequence, but passed him anyway on fresh tyres to win the race. Is it a similar scenario to Austria or something else?  

Battle royal between Mercedes and Ferrari 

This was one of the most memorable British Grands Prix for years, particularly because of the late race Safety Car that bunched the field up and put some of the players onto fresh tyres for an attacking finish.

Mercedes and Ferrari were closely matched on pace in both qualifying and race conditions. Ferrari had an aerodynamic upgrade on the floor and diffuser which really worked for them, especially on a track where last year they struggled. 

This year, with Britain enjoying a heatwave, the temperatures were much higher than anyone could have expected when Pirelli selected the tyre compounds. Track temperatures on race day were up above 50 degrees, which is more like Bahrain than Northampton.

This made race strategy planning quite a challenge. On paper after Friday’s practice sessions, the fastest way was to do a one-stop strategy, pitting around Lap 20 from soft to mediums. Without a Safety Car, that is what the majority would have done.

The outlier was Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull, who had been racing Kimi Raikkonen because the Finn lost track position at the start after colliding with Lewis Hamilton. Red Bull switched Ricciardo on to a two-stop strategy, when Raikkonen was behind him, believing that the Finn, who had stopped early on Lap 13, would have to stop again, which he probably would have had to do. They avoided the undercut by Ferrari. 

Raikkonen’s early stop, combined with the added 10-second time penalty for causing the collision, meant that he had dropped into traffic and taken some time to clear the Force India, Renault and Sauber midfield cars to close up to Ricciardo. 

Unfortunately for Ricciardo, a Safety Car was deployed soon after his stop, when Marcus Ericsson crashed heavily. So whereas he had taken his stop at full racing speeds, the others were able to get a cheap pitstop under the Safety Car (10 seconds of race time instead of 22).

It was clear immediately from pictures of Ericsson’s high speed accident that a Safety Car would be deployed. But it took a few seconds for the order to go out. 

At the point when the SC was finally deployed. Ferrari had Vettel in the lead and Raikkonen in fourth, Red Bull had Verstappen third and Ricciardo sixth. Mercedes had Bottas in second place and Hamilton fifth. 

For Ferrari, with Raikkonen on 20 lap old mediums, it was a no-brainer to stop. Likewise for Vettel on 13-lap-old mediums, he had too much to lose by staying out. In that scenario, Bottas and Hamilton would have stopped for new softs and at the restart Vettel would have struggled to hold them behind. 

Conversely for Mercedes by staying out, Bottas would get the lead and Hamilton would move up to second. Mercedes had stopped both cars late, clearly looking at a comfortable one stop. Bottas’ tyres were 12 laps old and Hamilton’s just eight laps old. There were 19 laps to the finish, of which probably only 15 or 16 would be at racing speeds. 

The lap times of both had been strong prior to the Safety Car, in fact Bottas had been gently reeling in Vettel, the Mercedes displaying its historic tendency to be faster on the harder compounds of rubber (although Ferrari has improved a lot in this area). 

By stopping Bottas, he would have come out behind Vettel, but on used softs rather than new ones. Unlike the Red Bull and Ferrari drivers, neither Mercedes driver had a new set of soft tyres available. 

It’s unusual for Mercedes to miss a detail like that, but in reality they would probably have done the same thing even if those tyres were available. Certainly with Hamilton; with Bottas in hindsight a switch to softs could have netted a podium rather than a fourth. 

So it was a long shot for Bottas to win the race, defending against Vettel on new soft tyres. 

How Hamilton’s gamble paid off

For Hamilton the gamble was more weighted in his favour. He had been at the back of the field after the Lap 1 collision with Raikkonen, and his recovery drive had brought him back up towards the front. By leaving him out until Lap 25, Mercedes put him back out on track into the large gap between Raikkonen and Hulkenberg so he was able to drive in clear air at his maximum pace. But he was still over 10 seconds adrift of Raikkonen. 

The Safety Car brought him back into contention and by staying out as others pitted, he jumped up to third place. Behind him were Verstappen and Raikkonen on fresh soft tyres. Hamilton questioned this decision, but Mercedes’ calculations had showed that 15 laps on relatively fresh mediums – with the Red Bull likely to hold Raikkonen for a while – Hamilton would not be passed. 

As it transpired, a second Safety Car was deployed soon after when Grosjean and Sainz collided, leaving just 10 laps of racing after the second restart. This played into Mercedes’ hands on one side, but on the other they still had the handicap of the medium tyres taking longer to warm up at the restart compared to the softs. 

But the gamble also accepted that Hamilton wasn’t going to win the race either. He would finish third, or second if Bottas had problems with his tyres. 

They were only four laps older than Hamilton’s, but once he was passed by Vettel with a brilliant move into Brooklands, Bottas dropped back and was passed by both Hamilton and Raikkonen. Verstappen retired.

It was a great win for Ferrari of the kind that they need to roll out consistently to take this championship. The execution was perfect on every front: effective chassis updates, perfect strategy and driver. The whole thing came together and Vettel leads the championship by eight points. 

They – and Vettel himself particularly – have left too many points on the table this season. But at Silverstone they looked like a team that can win the world championship. 

The question mark is repeatability.  

The UBS Race Strategy Report is written by James Allen with input and data from several F1 team strategists and from Pirelli.

Race History Chart

Kindly provided by Williams Martini Racing, click to enlarge

The number of laps is on the horizontal axis; the gap behind the leader is on the vertical axis. 

A positive sign is an upward curve as the fuel load burns off. A negative sign is the slope declining as the tyre degradation kicks in.

Look at the gap that Mercedes was able to put Hamilton back out into after his late stop, leaving him clear air. But he wouldn’t have caught the frontrunners without the Safety Car. 

Look also at the damage the early stop did to Raikkonen, coming out into traffic. 

Tyre Usage Chart

 

[MIKA27]

Renault won’t ‘encourage’ Alonso rumours but…

Renault may not want to “encourage” rumours Fernando Alonso could return to the team with whom he won two World titles but “could still reach” a deal with the Spaniard.

According to Formula 1’s rumour mill, Renault has emerged as one of Alonso’s options for next season.

While it does seem as if a swap to IndyCar is more likely should he decide not to stay on at McLaren, there is speculation that he could yet return to Renault, albait briefly.

The team, though, is not particularly interested in talking on a new driver for just one season.

Then again, that driver is Alonso.

Team boss Cyril Abiteboul told Marca: “I don’t want to encourage that rumour.

“I think Fernando first has to decide what he wants to do for himself, whether he wants to continue driving in F1 or not.

“We have a lot of respect for Fernando, but we are more interested in drivers who want to be with us in the long term.”

But, he added, “we could still reach an agreement with Alonso, but doing it for a year would not make sense.”

Abiteboul hinted that Renault will most likely to retain their current line-up of Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz.

“We are not in a hurry and we also have to see what are the side effects of the [Red Bull] decision on the engine but we are improving and I think that is clear for everyone, for the press, for the fans and especially for the drivers.

“There is interest on the part of several drivers who want to race for us but in general the drivers we have work well and we would like to keep them.

“But I am also calm in the sense that, if we have a good car and progress as a team, we will have a selection of drivers who want to be with us.”

[Bartolomeo]

Alonso is best driver pound for pound since Schumi IMHO.....

[MIKA27]

18 hours ago, Bartolomeo said:

Alonso is best driver pound for pound since Schumi IMHO.....

I agree 100% - It's just such a shame he has made so many bad team choices and not achieve more WDC's which most know he would if he had a great car.

I'd love to see him win another WDC in F1.

[MIKA27]

KUBICA: YES I SIGNED A DEAL TO DRIVE FERRARI IN 2012

Robert Kubica has revealed that half a dozen years ago he could have been racing for Ferrari, but a freak accident at a minor rally in Italy changed his life’s path reminding us all how different things may have been and explained that he was not rallying merely for fun.

The Pole ended the final test session of the 2011 season fastest of all when driving for Renault and unknown to most had a Maranello contract in his pocket. But that crash on 6 February 2011 on the Ronde di Andora rally changed what could have been.

Speaking on the official F1 podcast, Kubica was asked if he had a deal to join Fernando Alonso in red for 2012 and beyond, he replied, “Yes.”

Revealing he had a signed contract with Ferrari under team leadership of Stefano Domenicali at the time, while admitting he would be banking less money than he was doing at Renault for the privilege of wearing the Prancing Horse badge on his overalls.

Kubica elaborated on the F1 dream,”First [goal] is to enter F1. Second is to become established in F1, so you have good value, a good reputation, which is more difficult than to enter. Third, you win a world championship or become a Ferrari driver.”

“I haven’t won a world championship, in the end I haven’t become a Ferrari driver but I was very close.”

Kubica’s horrific injuries were kept very private for the first year or so after the accident, with the Pole seldom seen in public. His recovery was slow and tough but consistent and by 2012 he was rallying again!

The remarkable journey since then is well documented and has led him back to Formula 1 as a well-respected reserve and test driver for Williams.

Looking back, Kubica said he had little time to think about Formula 1 while on the mend, “My recovery was so hard that for the first 16-18 months it did not hurt. I was fighting, I was concentrating on recovery, I was going through a difficult period.”

But as he rehabilitated reality sunk in, “The more time was going the more difficult it was becoming, because the hope that things can get sorted were disappearing. There were moments I was recovering extraordinarily good and there were then months when surgeries went wrong and I went back six months instead of improving.”

“It was painful [not racing in F1] but it was not more painful because I knew I was going to race for Ferrari.”

The one-time grand prix winner also revealed that doing rallying was not merely for fun, he was using it as a platform to gain an edge over his rivals and improve himself as a race driver, “It’s true that I paid a big price – and I’m still paying it. But it was not purely for fun.”

“There was something behind it. I was not talking about it, but probably what really happened is that the desire to become a better driver, a more complete driver, the desire of finding something which others they don’t have or that I can improve… I think at every moment we can learn something.”

Kubica recalled what motivated him at the time, “I was not happy to be as good as I was. I need more. I thought rallying would give me this. And it gave me [that]. The problem is I paid too high a price. I was searching for something away from Formula 1 which would make me become a better Formula 1 driver.”

“I was trying to learn things that the other drivers I was racing… they don’t have it. I still think, in some circumstances and conditions, thanks to rallying, which I was doing very little, I scored more points in 2010 than if I had not done it.”

Kubica pinpointed where he found improvements he could use in Formula 1 which he learnt while dabbling in rallying, “Sensitivity… Many times it happened that I didn’t stop to put intermediates on and kept going on slicks. Everyone else was [pitting] and I gained massive positions.”

“Those things you cannot see. The only one who can judge and can understand is yourself, because sensitively and sensibility on the steering wheel, only the driver can know what he needs.”

“The desire to become even better, I was not happy to be as good as I was. I needed more and I thought rallying would give me this. And it really gave me the problem, I paid too high a price…” added Kubica.

MIKA: I listened to the BEYOND THE GRID pod cast via Spotify just last night. So insightful. 

[MIKA27]

Red Bull, Haas, Williams complete Pirelli test at Silverstone

Three Formula 1 teams have completed running for Pirelli at Silverstone as part of the company’s ongoing tyre development.

Red Bull, Haas and Williams stayed on after the British Grand Prix to carry out testing, using Pirelli’s prototype 2019 tyres, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Fine weather prevailed throughout the two days of running, with slightly lower temperatures than experienced during the preceding Grand Prix weekend.

Tester Sebastien Buemi and regular driver Max Verstappen shared duties for Red Bull, while Williams handed track time to Robert Kubica, and Haas used Romain Grosjean.

The quartet racked up 509 laps of Silverstone across the two days.

As per usual, the running is completed ‘blind’, with Pirelli dictating the run plan and data gathered at the test shared between all teams, while teams are not permitted to run development parts.

Pirelli’s next test is scheduled to take place at French Grand Prix venue Paul Ricard in early September.

McLaren will be the sole team present, with the aim of carrying out running on Wet tyres.

[MIKA27]

Tyres biggest 'denominator' in F1 title fight - Toto Wolff

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes the use and understanding of Pirelli’s tyres is the most important factor in this year’s title fight between his squad and Ferrari.

Mercedes, World Champions for the last four years, trails Ferrari by 20 points in the Constructors’ Championship, having taken three wins to the four amassed by its Italian opponent.

Red Bull, which trails both teams in the standings, has also taken three Grands Prix this year.

Mercedes has also tasted defeat at historically strong venues, its three-, four-, and five-year winning streaks in Canada, Austria and Britain respectively coming to an end.

“I think what we’ve seen this season is a little bit of a different pattern,” said Wolff.

“Everybody brings updates to every race and there is never a silver bullet that provides you three tenths or four tenths, which was the difference between us and Ferrari last year.

“It is just a constant learning of the tyre which is the single most important denominator of performance.

“You get it right and you get it wrong.

“I believe that if we would have had 10 degrees less temperature [in qualifying], maybe we would have had a bigger gap and maybe the same [in the race].

“But it is what it is and we just need to learn, understand and just try to get in control of the tyres in the best possible way.

“I would have loved for us to build a gap in Austria, Montreal and Silverstone because we lose some in Hungary and we lose some in Singapore.

“But we will look at it now and try to fight and score as many points as possible.”

Wolff also identified the start procedure as an area for improvement in the wake of Lewis Hamilton’s slow getaway at Silverstone, which ultimately led to his contact with Kimi Raikkonen.

“I think the first thing we need to understand is where can we improve and where can we engineer,” said Wolff.

“We need to find some performance in the race starts to avoid incidents like we saw. This is something we can change.”

[MIKA27]

Max Verstappen open to IndyCar/Le Mans when he's 'old and slow'

Max Verstappen says he would be open to trying IndyCar and Le Mans when he's "old and slow" and lacking motivation.

The question of whether he would consider other motorsport activites outside of Formula 1 was put to Verstappen in light of Fernando Alonso's 2017 Indianapolis 500 bid and his full-time World Endurance Championship seat, which will see him compete at every round of the Super Season including both Le Mans – the first of which he won alongside his Toyota team-mates.

Nico Hulkenberg also competed in Le Mans in 2015 whilst racing in F1 with Force India.

Verstappen however dismissed the idea, insisting only drivers who aren't winning would consider splitting their focus between two or more series.

"Doing things outside F1 is something that happens mainly with drivers who are not winning," he told Auto Week.

"When you have the best car on the grid, everyone can win with that car. Any F1 driver could have won in the Mercedes for the last four years. Everyone knows that. That's why you don't see [Lewis] Hamilton leaving to do these things because he doesn't need to.

"My father had the same problem. He was in F1 but he didn't win, and there's a moment when the motivation simply disappears and it kills you inside."

Asked when he'd consider IndyCar or Le Mans, the Dutchman replied: "It's the same for me. I'm in a position to fight for victories, so my motivation is very high.

"I don't want to do Le Mans or IndyCar or whatever [now]. Maybe if I'm old and slow, I will do it."

[MIKA27]

Stoffel Vandoorne confident he has convinced McLaren for 2019 F1 seat

Stoffel Vandoorne believes he has sufficiently demonstrated to McLaren that he warrants another season in Formula 1 with the team in 2019.

Vandoorne was backed by McLaren through his junior career and stepped up to a full-time Formula 1 seat full-time in 2017, having made a one-off appearance the previous year.

Vandoorne’s rookie campaign coincided with the final tumultuous season of the McLaren-Honda partnership, but the Belgian has struggled compared to Fernando Alonso in 2018.

Vandoorne is the only driver yet to out-qualify his team-mate while he has amassed only eight points compared to the 40 gathered by Alonso.

“I think it’s the time of the year where everyone talks to everyone,” said Vandoorne when asked how confident he is of retaining his seat.

“Before the summer break is usually a moment everyone speaks about the driver market and yeah, that’s kind of normal.

“We’ve never really discussed that with the media so I’m not really going to go into that.”

When pressed further on whether he’d done enough to convince McLaren, Vandoorne replied: “I think so yeah, I’m pretty sure.”

Vandoorne emphasised that the setbacks he has encountered during his Formula 1 career has enhanced his ability, and asserted that he is feeling the benefits of a second season.

“For sure it’s not been a year and a half I was hoping to have in Formula 1,” he said.

“Ultimately we’ve been struggling a lot in terms of the results, we’ve had both years a car that struggled to fight for points let’s say.

“It’s not always easy to show the right things in those circumstances. But that’s the situation we’re in.

“I feel I’ve taken a lot of positive out of this as well, in going through difficult times, how to deal with certain issues, is something I didn’t really have when I was in junior series.

“So the approach has been quite different and it made me definitely a stronger driver.

“Just being in your second season is very different to your first season.

“You feel much more comfortable in the way you prepare your weekends, the way you build up in the practice sessions to the race, you feel that a year of experience helps a lot.”

[MIKA27]

F1 risks diluting US fans with Miami race, says COTA

Circuit of the Americas boss Bobby Epstein believes Formula 1’s new Miami race risks diluting the American fan base, even if a second US round could be beneficial in the long-term.
With Miami poised to join the 2019 calendar, Epstein is cautious about the impact of fans having to choose whether to go there or Austin next year – so potentially splitting the audience.

He cites the experience of ticket sales at COTA suffering when the Mexican Grand Prix arrived and fans clearly picked one or the other race.

Speaking to Motorsport.com about Liberty Media’s push to add more races in the United States, Epstein said: “I think in the long term it can be good. But there is a risk. There is clearly a risk to diluting the product before the fan base has increased.

“But when the long term goal is to increase the fan base, it is a chicken or egg scenario. Which comes first? In the early years it remains to be seen if that is a positive for us.

“The first year, you haven’t increased the fan base but you’ve increased the options, so it will be tough at first. We will see how it impacts us.”

Long-term optimism

Epstein thinks that if the Miami race happens, it will be important that Liberty pushes hard to capitalise on the possibilities to increase the USA audience.

Should that come off, then he believes Austin’s unique attraction of a road course venue, plus its festival experience, will pay off.

“There are hundreds of millions of people in North American so my mindset is to be optimistic,” he explained.

“I’m certainly a little apprehensive, but very optimistic that it is a race against time as to whether or not you can build the fan base before the pain of splitting up the fans takes it toll.

“We want it to happen and we want it to happen fast. And I think we share that with Liberty.

“There is a huge difference between a street race from the fan experience, from the TV side, and from the race competition. This track is designed for competition and we know that it has got a lot of overtaking opportunities.

“When you can get a seat here and see as many as eight or nine turns from one seat and then within the same ticket payline you are able to wander around three miles of entertainment, it is very different to the fan experience at a street race – where you see far less.

“We feel good about the advantage we have from the ticket sales side. From the iconic TV images that Miami offers, it is understandable why that could work.

"And we would much rather have F1 on a street like Miami or anywhere else, because we will stay unique in terms of being a true racing venue and an all-day festival experience.”

Epstein believes that having Miami become a huge success would actual help in contractual terms too, because it could open the door for Liberty to agree more profit-share type contracts with other races.

“We hope that the Miami model is very, very successful so they could implement it with other promoters,” added Epstein, whose current contract with F1 runs until 2021.

“It is a unique position in the sense that you really want them to do great. It is one where you are a bit envious but at the same time you want them to succeed wildly so they [Liberty] can point to it and say we are willing to risk share with others.”

Date clash

The concerns about the Miami race diluting the American audience are increased thanks to the likelihood of Miami, Austin and Mexico all running close to each other in the calendar.

Epstein is clear that he would prefer his race to be separated out – even to an early spring slot – but is mindful that from a logistics points of view such a move may not make sense for the sport.

“We would obviously like to see us separated as far away from other races that are competing for the same fans, so we don’t force them to make a choice,” he said.

“But logistically that has to make sense for everyone and it is tough to see a way around it. If you are in F1 management’s shoes from the standpoint of transportation and logistics, it is much easier if you put everyone back to back. But forcing the fan to choose is of no help to anyone.”

Asked if there was a preference to be twinned with either Mexico or Miami, Epstein said: “Let’s say no…not really. I just think Montreal in June is nice.

“The Fall is a very crowded time on the American sports scene when you have college and NFL football to go up against, versus the spring where there is a lot more opportunity to capture fans.

“The answer to what is best is an impossible task, certainly improbable. Which would be to somehow move the USA races to the Spring.”

Asked about twinning the race with Canada in June, Epstein said: “It’s too hot. It’s way too hot.

"We did X-Games in June in the past, but the beautiful time of the year here is March, April, May, September, or October.”

[MIKA27]

Silverstone DRS crashes were "driver choice" - FIA

FIA race director Charlie Whiting says the crashes in the new DRS zone during the British Grand Prix weekend were a consequence of "driver choice" and no different to other accidents.
The third DRS zone at Silverstone, running through the pit straight as well as Turn 1, Abbey, and Turn 2, Farm, was a factor in two major shunts during the weekend.

Romain Grosjean crashed at Turn 1 in practice, leading Lewis Hamilton to call the new DRS zone "a pointless exercise" and "just dangerous", before Marcus Ericsson went off in a similar incident in the race.

"I think the incidents where drivers lost control through Turn 1 because they had their DRS open through Turn 1 is a driver choice, just like any other choice you make on a car," Whiting said afterwards.

"It's like any car that is challenging to drivers, and sometimes they try to do it flat when it's not really flat, and they spin.

"It's the same thing, it's their choice. If they thought they could do it, they can try it. It's not a requirement to do it.

"It's like any other choice that teams and drivers make."

Whiting admitted, however, that the new DRS zone did not do much to aid overtaking.

"I don't think it actually helped," he said.

"The idea was that drivers might get a little bit closer than they would have done otherwise, and therefore be in a better position to attack on the straights between Turns 5 and 6."

Although he felt the Silverstone DRS layout added an extra challenge, Whiting said he was not in favour of returning to the past regulations that allowed drivers to use DRS wherever they wanted to on a lap.

"I don't think there's any point because all you're doing is creating faster laptimes.

"The whole principle of DRS was to help overtaking and to allow them to use it in the places you can use it in the race seems entirely logical to me. I wouldn't be in favour of going back."

Whiting confirmed that Hockenheim will have an extra DRS zone, and that the main one – on the run to the hairpin – will be extended.

"One extra, on the pit straight, with one detection for the pit straight and the run from Turn 1 to 2, and the main one going down into Turn 6 will be a bit longer."

MIKA: Whiting needs to be replaced. He is almost singlehandedly destroying F1 with all the stupid track changes such as this DRS zone that he chose and now states didn't do much for the racing. 

[MIKA27]

Haas must stop throwing away points – Steiner

Haas Formula 1 boss Gunther Steiner says the team must stop throwing away points after Romain Grosjean collided with Kevin Magnussen on the opening lap at Silverstone.
The two Haas drivers came to blows at the start of the British Grand Prix as Grosjean made contact with Magnussen at Abbey, dropping both well down the field and leaving the latter with floor damage that compromised the rest of his race. 

Helped by two safety car periods, Magnussen recovered to finish ninth, while Grosjean subsequently retired after making contact with the Renault of Carlos Sainz at Copse.

Steiner said Haas had the pace to finish best of the rest behind the top three teams – which would have meant sixth and seventh places – but instead was left with only two points as a result of the first-lap contact.

Renault, which Haas is chasing in the battle for fourth in the standings, managed to score eight points by virtue of Nico Hulkenberg’s sixth-place finish.

“I’m not happy,” said Steiner about his two drivers clashing. “[These things] can happen, but they shouldn’t happen. We need to be better than that, that’s the conclusion. We need to stop losing points.

“We are [often] in the points now, but we lose them. We do it ourselves. Last year we needed to get in the points, this year we need to stop falling out of the points.

“Today the guys behind us [in the constructors’ championship] closed up and the guys ahead got further away.

“It’s just always hard work, we should be putting our hard work into scoring points instead of getting up again.

“We should be up and trying to hit high but we are using a lot of energy just to get out of the dumps – always chasing, instead of trying to move ahead.”

The clash comes after Grosjean’s breakthrough fourth-place finish in the Austrian GP, which ended a long point-less run for the Frenchman. 

Steiner said he remains supportive of Grosjean but admitted the “tipping point” of patience with him may not be too far away.

“I need to be [supportive of Grosjean] because we want to succeed as a team,” he said.

“I don’t know where the tipping point is, I’m not there yet, but at some stage we need to stop losing points.

“We cannot keep on doing this, we are now through half of season and we’ve lost a lot of points because of our own mistakes and that is actually not acceptable.”

Steiner was more reserved about the incident that ended Grosjean’s race, apportioning some of the blame on Sainz – who attempted to go around the outside at Copse. 

“I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but I think it’s also Carlos’ fault,” he said. “He’s gone by already and he was closing [towards the inside line].

“I don’t know exactly who did what, I didn’t see the [overhead] view. I just saw the two in-car [cameras], I don’t want to jump to conclusions on that one.”

[MIKA27]

Renault F1 team makes first profit since 2009

The Renault Sport F1 team says it is on course with its five-year financial plan after making a modest profit in 2017 – the first time it has been in the black since 2009, when it was last under full Renault ownership.
Newly-released accounts from the company show that it enjoyed significantly increased income last year, turning the loss made by the Enstone team in its first year under renewed Renault ownership in 2016 into a profit.

The team had a turnover of £136.3m in 2017, up from £119.7m. It duly turned a loss of £3.3m in 2016 into a profit of £1.1m.

Prize money income was actually down after the team finished only ninth in the 2016 World Championship, having been sixth – as Lotus-Mercedes – in 2015. However, sponsorship revenues were up, contributing to the increased turnover.

The wage bill was up significantly after the average head count rose from 511 in 2016 to 606 last year.

The team makes it clear that it has invested heavily in improving the factory facilities, and that the process is ongoing: "Renault's long-term investment is further evidenced on the balance sheet where fixed assets have increased by £12m, on top of the £11.8m growth in 2016.

"Major capital investment will remain during 2018 to complete the ongoing Enstone site improvement as well as various other key projects to drive development and reinforce Renault's long-term plans to win the constructors' championship."

The accounts also reveal that the team has net current liabilities of £96.4m "due to intercompany loans from Renault Group. This facility was extended to £125m on October 18th 2016."

Renault stresses that it is still on target with the five-year performance and business plan which it set out after it took over the team in December 2015, and which runs to the end of the 2020 season.

It notes: "The actual income and expenditure and business performance during the year ending December 31st 2017 has not resulted in a significant revision being required to the Performance and Business Plan."

[MIKA27]

Toro Rosso not happy with "rollercoaster" form

Toro Rosso technical director James Key has admitted his team is not happy with its "rollercoaster" first half of the Formula 1 season.
High points like Bahrain, where Pierre Gasly earned Honda's best result since it returned to F1 in 2015, have been matched by struggles understanding a new aerodynamic package introduced in Austria and complaints about straightline speed in Britain.

Toro Rosso's work with Honda has convinced Red Bull to switch to the Japanese manufacturer's engine next season, but the junior team's campaign has been frustrating at times.

"This season has been just a rollercoaster, really," Key said in an interview on Honda's F1 website.

"We're not happy at the moment, I have to say, with where we are. But there's lots of different reasons for that.

"When we've shown a ton of pace, we've used it well, particularly with Pierre in Monaco and Bahrain, but we haven't quite had the consistency that we've wanted.

"Definitely, some of that is down to chassis. We've got upgrades coming to try and improve that consistency.

"The frustration is that you kind of know you can do it, you've just got to get all the things right. And when they do fall into place, it works really well."

Key said Toro Rosso's topsy-turvy form is being exacerbated by F1's ultra-tight midfield battle.

At Silverstone, half a second covered sixth to 16th in the opening part of qualifying.

"This year, inconsistency is a swing of just 0.3s of lap time," said Key. "That could be the difference of being in the top 10 and being P14 or even out in Q1.

"So actually, it looks kind of very up and down, but when you look at the lap times, it's very, very compressed.

"You've got to be on top of your game, and I don't think at some events, for various reasons, we've been 100% on top of our game. That's something we'll try to turn around."

At Silverstone, Gasly complained about Honda's straightline deficit, although Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo said his team was losing about the same with Renault.

Gasly thought he had earned a point in Britain but lost 10th place to a post-race penalty for hitting Sergio Perez.

He said he was unsure what to expect for the next race in Germany but hoped Hungary, one week after Hockenheim and the final GP before the summer break, would offer another opportunity to break the top 10.

"[Hockenheim] is quite a lot of straightline as well, but the last section is quite technical, with a lot of corners, so maybe there is something to play there for us," he said.

"At the moment I think the best chance we have will be in Budapest - but Hockenheim I don't really know how it's going to be."

[MIKA27]

Ferrari is now F1's engine benchmark - Horner

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner believes Ferrari's 2018 Formula 1 engine is now the best on the grid.
Mercedes has set the standard for F1's V6 hybrid engine manufacturers since 2014, but Lewis Hamilton suggested earlier this season that Ferrari had eliminated the deficit with winter updates.

Ferrari introduced its first in-season update for June's Canadian Grand Prix, while Mercedes delayed its own upgrade until the French GP after discovering reliability problems on its dyno.

Hamilton and the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen qualified within a tenth of each other at the recent British Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen was seven tenths off the pace on what Horner feels is one of the most engine-sensitive circuits on the calendar under the current aerodynamic regulations, which have turned previously challenging corners such as Copse into flat-out blasts.

But Horner said the improved pace of Ferrari customer teams Haas and Sauber, which qualified best of the midfield runners at Silverstone, suggested Ferrari has now pulled ahead of Mercedes in the engine stakes.

"I think it's setting the benchmark now," said Horner, when asked by Motorsport.com whether he thought the Ferrari engine was now the best in F1.

"You can see with Haas and Sauber as well having made good gains."

After struggling to fight Raikkonen's Ferrari during the race at Silverstone, Verstappen described the power deficit of the Renault engine as "tragic" and "like driving in a different series".

He reckons Renault is about 70-80bhp down on the top manufacturers, equating to roughly a second per lap of Silverstone.

Red Bull will switch to Honda engines for 2019, but Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly feels the Japanese manufacturer is also about a second behind the leading opposition.

Asked if swapping one deficit for a roughly equitable one was a concern for his team, Horner said Honda's plan for future development would be key.

"You can see the situation between the engines is very similar at the moment, and it's all about the potential development," Horner said.

"This weekend has been a very tough weekend for Renault, and it just very clearly defines where the level is at - you can't hide behind the statistics of what we've seen.

"There is a gap to fill and hopefully in Honda - we have a lot of belief in what they have coming in the pipeline."

[MIKA27]

BUTTON: ALONSO HAS GOT TO DO SOMETHING ELSE

Jenson Button believes that McLaren driver Fernando Alonso is enjoying racing in Formula 1 despite his team’s lack of competitiveness this season, but his former teammate advises the Spaniard, whose frustration is mounting, to move on to other projects.

Reviewing the British Grand Prix weekend for Sky, the former McLaren driver said, “He’s clearly still enjoying it, but as a double world champion, finishing ninth and being happy is not really something you want to get used to.”

Alonso qualified 13th at Silverstone, two seconds slower than the top time in Q2 which is pretty much the gap between the orange cars and the pacesetters. He toiled hard all day to finish eighth.

His benchmark is teammate Stoffel Vandoorne with whom he is wiping the floor, the Belgian youngster has yet to out-qualify the Spaniard this year and is nowhere near the veteran in race mode.

Button doubts that Alonso’s frustration can be contained unless McLaren show a huge improvement, “I don’t know what he’s going to do next year but I think they need a big turnaround and he has to have great belief in them to succeed next year, or he’s going to go. I know how frustrated he is, I can hear it on the radio.”

“He’s got ambitions to win the Indy 500 and do the Triple Crown and for me, I feel that’s a good option for him next year. From a drivers’ point of view who’s got experience of this, he’s got to do something else,” added Button who admitted he remained in Formula 1 a year too long.

The 2009 F1 World Champion is currently contesting the Japanese Super GT Series with Honda in tandem with a WEC campaign racing for SMP Racing.

[MIKA27]

HORNER: RENAULT CAN’T HIDE BEHIND THE STATISTICS

In the past Red Bull’s frustration with their soon to be ex-engine partner Renault has bubbled over on occasions and made headlines, in the wake of a dismal British Grand Prix weekend for the engine supplier criticism is free-flowing with team chief Christian Horner taking a fresh swipe at the French manufacturer.

Renault powered drivers were comprehensively outpaced at the high-speed venue. In qualifying, Carlos Sainz and Stoffel Vandoorne were early Q1 casualties the latter over two seconds off the pace.

Q2 victims Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso were 11th and 13th respectively, while the Red Bulls were fifth and sixth, with Max Verstappen seven tenths shy of the top time and Daniel Ricciardo a further four-tenths adrift.

Horner has no doubts where the problem lies, “You can see the situation between the engines is very similar at the moment, and it is all about the potential development. This weekend has been a very tough weekend for Renault. It just very clearly defines where the level is at.”

“You can’t hide behind the statistics we saw this weekend. There is a gap to fill and, hopefully, in Honda we have a lot of belief what they have coming in the pipeline.”

On Sunday at Silverstone, Red Bull simply did not have the power on tap for their drivers to mount an attack on the top two teams let alone think of a podium on a day that their rivals were simply in another horsepower league.

Horner explained, “We were just hugely exposed in both defence and attack. You could see at the restart with Kimi, it was a bit like Mexico 2015 that the amount of additional power, and then at the second restart he had a moment at Stowe, and was still all over Max in turns two, three.”

“Unfortunately for Daniel, he just couldn’t attack Valtteri whilst having a superior tire and grip and performance, he just couldn’t… even with the DRS open, we were still dropping back. You look at the percentage that we’re off, it relates to about a seven percent delta in power around this circuit, and on our vision that is about what we saw.”

“The problem with Silverstone now is that it’s such a wide-open throttle circuit, You’re talking 82 percent in qualifying full throttle, so corners like Copse, Becketts, Stowe, they’re not quite the challenge that they were in these cars because everybody’s flat through Copse now. So it’s just top speed.”

“So it’s made it much more power-centric, because where you really need the power is where you put the steering lock onto the car and you start scrubbing from the car – that’s when power really kicks in,” added Horner.

[MIKA27]

VERSTAPPEN: WITH MERCEDES OR FERRARI THEY’D NEVER SEE US AGAIN

Although they still ‘live’ together, the Renault divorce from Red Bull is final allowing Max Verstappen to vent his frustration at having the best car on the grid plagued by an engine that does not do it justice.

Speaking to Dutch reporters after the British Grand Prix, from which he spun out after a brake failure, Verstappen said, “We have the strongest chassis of all. If we had Mercedes or Ferrari they would never see us again.”

“We have too little speed on the straight. It’s really a problem and since Ferrari and Mercedes made their engine upgrade, the gap has really increased,” he added.

At power-hungry Silverstone the TAG-Heuer badged Renault power units bolted to the back of the Red Bulls were well off the pole-winning pace, Verstappen three-quarters of a second adrift with everything maxed-up for Q3.

Looking ahead, next up at Hockenheim will be much of the same predicts the Dutchman, “It’s eight corners and long straights in between. You never know, we could have good results thanks to incidents and safety cars. It won’t be easy.”

“I think after that we can really compete strongly in Hungary, Singapore and Mexico. I think on average we lose six, seven-tenths because of the engine, but there are about four-tenths we can compensate for at some tracks.”

“I see opportunities at these places where our car will be stronger,” added Verstappen in the hope that at aero-friendly venues the RB14 has the chance to challenge their two main adversaries for victory as they have done this season in China, Monaco and Austria.

[MIKA27]

MERCEDES ANNOUNCE BIG CHANGES TO TECHNICAL TEAM

Formula 1 world champions Mercedes announced top-level technical changes on Thursday with engineering director Aldo Costa moving into an advisory role from next season.

The team said in a statement that performance director Mark Ellis would leave his current role and take a sabbatical from mid-2019, with Loic Serra replacing him.

Costa joined Mercedes in 2011 from Ferrari, where he had been technical director, and the Italian has played a key role in the team winning the last four drivers and constructors’ world championships.

Mercedes said he now wanted to spend more time with his family in Italy.

Chief Designer John Owen becomes the senior member of the engineering group, under the leadership of technical director James Allison.

“This is a significant moment for our team and a great opportunity,” said principal and shareholder Toto Wolff in a statement.

“We have said many times that you cannot freeze a successful organisation; it is a dynamic structure and I am proud that we are able to hand the baton smoothly to the next generation of leaders inside the team.”

Mercedes are fighting Ferrari for both titles this season, with the Italian team 20 points clear in the constructors’ standings while Sebastian Vettel leads Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by eight in their battle.

Press Release:

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport today announced a planned transition of its senior technical leadership which will see the baton handed on to the next generation of leaders within the Team for 2019 and beyond.

Aldo Costa (57) has chosen to move into the role of Technical Advisor to the Team from the beginning of 2019, in order to spend more time with his family in Italy. Aldo joined Mercedes in 2011, following a highly successful Formula 1 career with Ferrari and Minardi, and played a central role in structuring the Team’s technical organisation and leading it to championship success.

As part of the transition to the future, the Engineering Group led by Aldo has evolved in recent months. In the months to come it will take an even sharper focus on car design activities. Chief Designer John Owen (45) will become the senior member of this group, under the leadership of Technical Director James Allison. John has been with the team since 2007.

In parallel, Performance Director Mark Ellis (54) has decided to retire from his current position and to take a sabbatical beginning mid-2019. Mark returned to Brackley in 2014 following six years with Red Bull Racing that included multiple world championship wins, and continued that run of success with Mercedes. He previously worked with BAR and Jaguar Racing in Formula One.

Chief Vehicle Dynamicist Loic Serra (46) will be appointed Performance Director by the end of 2018 and Mark will support this transition until the middle of next year. Loic has worked for Mercedes since 2010.

This pro-active implementation of the organisation’s succession planning draws on the internal capability that has been built in recent years by identifying and developing future leaders within the Team. The changes are being made with the full buy-in of all involved.

Team Principal Toto Wolff commented: “This is a significant moment for our team and a great opportunity. We have said many times that you cannot freeze a successful organisation; it is a dynamic structure and I am proud that we are able to hand the baton smoothly to the next generation of leaders inside the team.”

“We have been in discussion for many months with both Mark and Aldo about how best to implement this transition and to empower their successors. They could not be more different personalities but they have both respected that difference and their legacy with Mercedes will stand test of time.”

“Since the early days of 2013, Aldo and I have shared many dinners in Oxford as fellow European exiles, as well as some amazing days in the car at the Mille Miglia last year. I have got to know not just an outstanding individual but also somebody who has taught me so much about Formula One and the humility it takes in order to be successful.”

“With Mark, when we first met we could never have imagined the success we would achieve together. He has been a sparring partner in the truest sense of the word – and I will miss our ‘tough love’ discussions with their shared passion for our Team and driven by the ultimate will to win.”

“Mark and Aldo have both helped to shape the timing and manner of these changes, and the Team’s future is very bright with John, Loic and our entire technical leadership working under James’ direction.”

Performance Director Mark Ellis commented: “After 30 flat-out seasons in motorsport, 19 of them in Formula One, I have decided it is time for me to take a sabbatical from the sport. On a personal level, it will allow me to take a (hopefully well-earned) break to consider my next steps while remaining part of the Mercedes family, whilst on a professional level, it has enabled us jointly to plan the succession in a structured way and create and develop the space for the next generation to step up.”

“I would especially like to thank Toto for allowing me the space to bring my best to this incredible team and the opportunity to share the incredible journey over the last few years as well as the support from all my fellow engineers. This is without a doubt the best team I have ever worked with, at every level of the organisation; it is packed full of awesome people with a shared determination to deliver excellence in a humble, open and collaborative manner, a truly cohesive organisation which I shall miss.”

“Our championships in recent years have been underpinned by the approach of developing our people along with our long-term capability; this transition is proof of that philosophy in action.”

Engineering Director Aldo Costa commented: “The last seven years with Mercedes have been an amazing experience – not just successful professionally but also a life experience that has enriched me and my family, and given us a more open and international mind-set. Back in 2011, it took just a few weeks to settle in the team and dedicate myself to this new challenge.”

“The reason for the easy fit was the attitude of my colleagues, with their warm welcome, respect and collaborative approach all the way through the team. This has been especially true with Toto: we share a professional challenge and also a personal passion for racing, and I have been grateful for his trust and full support in what I have tried to achieve.”

“We have seen the team progress and achieve success, and now our next challenge is to create an even stronger group to meet the challenges of the next decade. Over the past year, I have worked with Toto and James to develop a long-term succession plan to help the next generation do the job in the best possible way. I am happy to leave the baton in the capable hands of John and James – and to continue to support the new organisation as a Technical Advisor to ensure it prospers in the future.”

Technical Director James Allison concluded: “Our drivers, anyone who is a fan of our Team and, most of all, those of us lucky enough to work at Brackley and Brixworth, owe both Mark and Aldo a huge debt of gratitude.”

“As a Johnny-come-lately to this Team my own sense of gratitude is larger than most: not just for the fun and challenge of working alongside them over two seasons, nor only for the huge power of the engineering groups that they have created and lead, but above all for the unique manner and grace of their intended departure.”

“Aldo and Mark signalled their intention to step down over a year ago and have continued to give heart and soul to the company. Every day they take the fight to our competition with undiminished vigour and yet both men have reached deeper still in order to help me and others in the planning and implementation of their succession.”

“Mark and Aldo pass on an unrivalled technical legacy to worthy and well-prepared successors to whom they have set a magnificent example of top-drawer technical leadership.”

[MIKA27]

RICCIARDO: HARD TO SEE A BETTER OPTION THAN RED BULL

Daniel Ricciardo looks set to extend his contract with Red Bull before the summer break, all but admitting that his options with Ferrari and Mercedes are now closed and revealing that he believes the energy drinks outfit have done their homework with the well-calculated risk of changing engine suppliers.

Amid reports of a big bucks bid from beleaguered McLaren, Ricciardo acknowledged in an interview, “Not every door is closed, but it’s looking more and more likely that the other top teams will probably remain with their lineups.”

“I don’t have the facts on that but you can just kind of read between the lines and you feel that that is probably going to remain.”

As for Ferrari and Mercedes, he reasoned, “Obviously if it wasn’t Red Bull then they are the other two most attractive options, so if they are not possible, then for me now it is hard to be convinced that another option is better than Red Bull. So I’m just making sure that I’m right with my judgments.”

Teammate Max Verstappen last year inked a lucrative deal to remain with Red Bull until the end of 2020, many of the belief that the team are intent on throwing their weight behind the Dutchman as they did with Sebastian Vettel with so much success.

Asked if team status between himself and Max was a problem – for example, the matter of number one or number two in the team – Ricciardo insisted, “I don’t want that. Not that I don’t want that, I don’t need that.”

“Obviously, Max is driving well, but I genuinely think, there have been things every weekend since Monaco, which have just been a bit of a disruption or a bit of bad luck – like the front wing and all that with Paul Ricard, and the DRS at Silverstone.”

The seismic shift within the team, triggered by the decision to ditch race-winning Renault customer engines for yet to be proven Honda power, was closely monitored by Ricciardo and it appears that the Aussie likes what he sees.

The 29-year-old explained his thought process regarding the Honda decision, “I’ve obviously heard the team out more than once and they’ve given me the reasons.”

“The important thing to understand for me why they’ve done it, it can’t just be purely on emotions. Like: It’s gone to shit with Renault, whatever, and we’re doing it because we want to change.”

“They’ve obviously done their homework and they strongly believe that it is a good thing, not just on an emotional decision. They’ve done what they can to try and encourage me to make it happen,” added Ricciardo.