FORMULA 1

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How Sauber turned their C37 into a mighty midfielder

The Alfa-Romeo Sauber C37 is comfortably the most improved car of the season. At Melbourne for race one, it was the slowest qualifying car of all, around 0.1s adrift of Williams. By Sochi, at 2s faster than the Williams, it was able to win the unofficial ‘best of the rest’ class behind the big three, with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen reckoning that the Sauber was ‘way too fast’ for him to compete with.

This was especially significant for two reasons:

1) The Haas has usually been the fastest of the second group of cars this season, qualifying directly behind the leading three teams of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull in nine of the 17 events to date.

2) The Haas and Sauber are identically powered, illustrating that the Swiss team have made very significant aerodynamic gains through the season.

It is a slightly unusual car aerodynamically, conceived under the direction of head of aero Nicolas Hennel and chief designer Eric Gandelin. In its radiator and sidepod configuration, it differs from every other car on the grid. It has the most extreme solution to the front suspension/radiator inlet layout of all the 2018 cars, with the highest upper wishbones and the lowest radiator inlets. The wishbones are on long hub extensions, clearing the best path possible for the airflow to reach the radiators. The inlets themselves are split into upper and lower openings.

The sidepods are narrow, not allowing for much of a hollowed-out undercut at the front, and in plan view the body does not have as dramatic a ‘coke bottle’ profile as other cars – but beneath the upper part of the rear body, the coke bottle section has a dramatic undercut of its own.

Conventionally, an undercut sidepod at the front in combination with a pronounced coke bottle profile further back will manipulate the air pressure to accelerate the airflow as it makes its way to the downforce-generating surfaces at the rear of the car. But the Sauber is introducing most of the undercut further back, within the coke bottle profile. It will do much the same job as the conventional arrangement but in a slightly different way. Consequently, much of Sauber’s aero development has been correspondingly unique.

The C37's unique bargeboard arrangement, designed to direct airflow to the lower flanks of the sidepods

In Sochi, the car received a new bargeboard arrangement and further refinements to its diffuser. The bargeboard’s leading vertical element is now joined to the side of the chassis and profiled in such a way that it takes the downwards-flowing airflow from that high upper wishbone and further conditions it to slip along the lower flanks of the sidepods. It should be introducing more energy to the airflow at that critical point where it needs to get around those sidepods that do not have much of an undercut to help.

At the back, the outer edge of the diffuser features unique U-shaped guide vanes that appear to join up the flow between the diffuser exit, the rear brake duct vanes and the slots in the rear wing endplate. An extra slot has been introduced here to further refine a flow that will likely be even more complex than most because of the unique undercut extent of the coke bottle section just ahead.

The rear elements of the Sauber have to work hard to refine a complex airflow

The unusual configuration of the car, as the re-financed Sauber squad essentially started again from scratch after several years existing on the margins, has probably played its part in the initially slow gestation of its development. But the longer the season goes on, the better the C37 is performing. Looking ahead to next year, that will be a very encouraging sign for the incoming Kimi Raikkonen and his legions of fans.

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Drivers load up on Hypersoft tyres for Mexican Grand Prix

The Hypersoft tyre is the compound of choice for Formula 1 drivers for next weekend's Mexican Grand Prix.

Sole supplier Pirelli has nominated the three softest compounds in their range, the Hypersoft (Pink), Ultrasoft (Purple), Supersoft (red) tyre compounds, in order to maximise the grip from the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit.

Each driver is permitted 13 sets of tyres for each weekend, from which they are permitted free choice of the three nominated compounds for 10 of the sets.

Mercedes and Ferrari drivers have all opted to take eight sets of the Hypersoft tyre, they will also load up on two sets of Supersoft and three Ultrasofts. Valtteri Bottas bucks the trend by only taking one set of Supersofts and four of the purple-marked Ultrasofts.

Red Bull will take nine sets of the pink-marked Hypersoft, while the majority of the midfield runners, such as Haas, Force India and Williams, have decided to run with nine sets of the softest compound and two each of the harder two compounds.

Renault and Sauber have opted to maximise their choices with the Hypersoft tyre by taking 10 sets and very little of the Ultrasofts and Supersofts.

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PEREZ AND FORCE INDIA AGREE EXTENSION FOR 2019

Sergio Perez will continue to race for Force India in 2019, the Formula 1 team said on Thursday ahead of the United States grand Prix weekend in an announcement confirming what was already an open secret in the paddock.

Force India did not say who the other driver would be, but that is assumed to be Canadian Lance Stroll whose billionaire father Lawrence heads a consortium that now controls the Silverstone-based outfit.

The Mexican’s contract extension also effectively means highly-rated French youngster Esteban Ocon, Perez’s teammate this season, will not be part of the racing line-up next year.

Perez, 28, played a major role in events leading to the takeover of the team in August and has said for some time that he had no concerns about his future and knew where he would be racing next year.

Force India, previously co-owned by financially-troubled Indian magnate Vijay Mallya, went into administration at the end of July after Perez made a claim for $4.01 million that was owed to him.

The action was supported by the team’s engine provider Mercedes and team sponsor BWT which were also owed significant sums.

The team, now known as Racing Point Force India to distinguish them from predecessors Sahara Force India, are expected to change name next year.

The Mexican, who joined Force India after a difficult year with McLaren after two seasons with Sauber, has had five podium finishes with the team including third in Azerbaijan last April.

The sport’s sole Mexican driver has also brought significant sponsorship. McLaren have meanwhile not had a top-three finish since the opening race of 2014.

Now, Ocon’s only remaining chance of racing in Formula 1 next season rests with Mercedes-powered Williams, Stroll’s current employers who have so far confirmed only Britain’s Formula Two leader George Russell.

Like Russell, Ocon also has a long-term Mercedes contract and is a talent the reigning champions are nurturing for the future.

Force India Press Release:

Racing Point Force India is delighted to announce that Sergio Perez has agreed an extension to his contract and will race for the team in 2019.

Sergio Perez: “I am very happy to finally announce my future and I’m really motivated for 2019. Force India has been my home since 2014 and has allowed me to grow as a driver and show my skills on track. We have achieved so much success in the last five seasons but I think the best is yet to come. The new investment the team is enjoying fills me with confidence and I am really excited about the future.”

Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal & CEO of Racing Point Force India: “I’m pleased that Sergio will continue his journey with us in 2019. Over the last five years, Sergio has confirmed his position as one of the most talented and consistent drivers on the Formula One grid. He gives us valuable stability going forward and is a huge asset to the team. As we begin an exciting new chapter in the life of this team, we are delighted that Sergio will race with us going forward.”

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RICCIARDO HEADING THE WAY OF FITTIPALDI AND VILLENEUVE?

Daniel Ricciardo made a very bold move when he decided to quit a winning team, in Red Bull, and join the underperforming Renault outfit in 2019, only time will tell if this was an inspired call or a decision similar to what Emerson Fittipaldi and Jacques Villeneuve made during their careers with dire consequences.

Even with the best car on the grid in the RB14, Ricciardo, like his teammate Max Verstappen, lacks the horses to make it really count, their real chances coming only at tracks where the power deficit to Mercedes and Ferrari is not a big factor.

Further back than that are the Renault team, way off the benchmark pace and the reality that the big smiling Australian will walk into next year.

Fellow countryman Mark Webber pointed out in a recent interview, “We’ll all have to sit back and watch, but the move is under a little bit of heat. It has to work for him.”

“Is it a step back? He knows in the short term it’s going to be. He’ll be behind Red Bull next year. He’s banking on the long-term there.”

History has not been kind to Formula 1 drivers who ditched a winning team for start-up or midfield outfit.

In the early seventies, Brazilian legend Fittipaldi was one of the hot shots of Formula 1. In 1972 he won his first world title driving for Lotus, and a couple of years later won the 1974 championship in his first year as a McLaren driver.

At the end of 1975, the Brazilian decided to quit McLaren after finishing second in the championship behind Ferrari’s Niki Lauda. Teddy Mayer’s Marlboro backed team was at the height of its powers in Formula 1 at the time.

Nevertheless, Fittipaldi shocked the paddock to join his brother’s Copersucar team, a predominantly Brazilian F1 effort in the top flight. It proved to be a very bad call. In the five seasons thereafter he only visited the F1 podium on two occasions, for a second place at the 1978 Brazilian Grand Prix and third at Long Beach in 1980.

He did return to racing in 1984, in the USA, enjoying an impressive Indycar career where he won a title and two Indy 500 races.

Ironically, McLaren went on to win the F1 title with James Hunt in 1976, the year after Fittipaldi departed the team for Copersucar.

Another such tale is that of Jacques Villeneuve, in 1998, a year after winning his one and only F1 title, he departed Williams to join BAR – at the time the Grove outfit were a powerhouse in Formula 1 while the Lucky Strike backed outfit was a start-up headed by his manager and friend Craig Pollock.

After finishing fifth in the 1998 championship, Villeneuve’s decision to ditch Williams for BAR in 1999 was an immediate disaster with the Canadian retiring from 12 of the 16 races that year.

Consider that at the time Villeneuve could have had a McLaren drive and possibly even a Ferrari seat had he not been lured away to the Pollock led project.

Stats show that the call was a very bad one from which he never recovered. Two third-place podium finishes in five years with the team told the sad tale of bad decision making.

At least Fittipaldi and Villeneuve are F1 world champions, that accolade still eludes Ricciardo who may look back in history and hope that his career does not nose-dive because of bad judgement and ill-timed decision.

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MCLAREN AND COCA-COLA CONFIRM FORMULA 1 PARTNERSHIP

Press Release: McLaren Racing and Coca-Cola today announced a new partnership that will see the companies collaborate for the remainder of the 2018 Formula 1 season.

The partnership will see the iconic Coca-Cola brand carried on a Formula 1 car for the first time as part of the McLaren Racing livery, and continues its rich history of sports sponsorship, including motorsport.

Coca-Cola and its sub-brands will be represented on the two McLaren race cars as well as the team’s race drivers, Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne, and McLaren test driver Lando Norris.

Activation will focus on sub-brands Dasani Sparkling and SmartWater at the USA, Brazilian and season-ending Abu Dhabi Grands Prix.

Zak Brown, Chief Executive Officer, McLaren Racing, said: “Coca-Cola has a rich history of sponsorship and a record of innovative activations and we are honoured the company has chosen to partner with McLaren to explore opportunities in Formula 1. Formula 1 as a sport is changing, as are we as a team, and we’re looking forward to introducing Coca-Cola to the potential that our team and fantastic, global sport represents.”

Ricardo Fort, Vice President, Sports Partnerships, Coca-Cola, said: “We are looking forward to this activation with McLaren, both our companies are innovators, and we are both looking to further connect with youth. This partnership will guide us to what our customers, markets and consumers are craving from this high octane passion.”

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ABITEBOUL: PRETTY MUCH ALL OF THE ENGINE WILL BE NEW

Renault’s power unit is way off Ferrari and Mercedes, and by most accounts tied with Honda in terms of BHP which has prompted the French team to produce an all-new engine package for 2019.

Speaking ahead of the United States Grand Prix weekend, Abiteboul revealed in an interview with MN, “Given the ambition in terms of power improvement for next year, pretty much all of the engine will be new.”

“Not only on ERS side, because there is little power and little performance to extract there, but the rest of the ICE will be new.”

“That is why we need to be a little bit careful and that is why we need to be extremely drastic and have lots of discipline on planning and milestones to make sure that we are not putting ourselves in a difficult position at the start of the season.”

“We are well advanced on the dyno, we have covered lots of mileage on the dyno. We had two parts which were a problem this year, the turbocharger and the MGU-K. With the MGU-K, we are running, we have not had any problems so far and we haven’t seen any, either on the dyno or on the track.”

“The last spec of turbos seem okay too, but they are not on all cars because of the situation where parts introduced mean a penalty. That is what is silly with the current regulations, even if you have a better part you cannot afford to introduce it because of all the penalties and all the sporting consequences. That is crazy.”

“You are spending money to improve your parts, you approve it on dyno, it is available it is built, it is there, and you cannot put it on the car. That is crazy. There is really something wrong here. But anyway, that is why – those two issues are addressed,” added Abiteboul.

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ABITEBOUL: I’M WORRIED HONDA ARE INVESTING MASSIVELY

Renault chief Cyril Abiteboul is worried that Honda have ramped up investment in their Formula 1 project to find a way to success with Red Bull next year but insists that his team will focus on their own plan and are prepared the play the long game.

Speaking to MN, Abiteboul admitted, “Frankly I’m worried about everything in life, but in particular about a situation on the engine side. As we’ve seen since last year, Honda is making big steps, big gains.”

“Red Bull has been very clear that they are investing massively, and apparently much more than us,” added the French team chief with reference to comments made recently by Helmut Marko and echoed by his colleague Christian Horner.

“We are happy for Red Bull and Honda but frankly we have our way to do things. We have a plan and we are executing that plan. It’s not just about an arms race.”

“We have all the aspects of the package to develop. No one is providing anything to us, either in the powertrain or on the chassis, so it has to be step by step. We are very confident in our upgrade for next year. We want to play the long game,” added Abiteboul.

MIKA: Cyril often states Renault have the biggest budget out of all F1 teams, so perhaps they should invest big also. 

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SCHUMACHER: I COULD DRIVE IN F1 BUT IT’S STILL VERY UNREALISTIC

Mick Schumacher’s shares at an all-time high, coming from nowhere in the first half of this season he delivered a remarkable string of victories that resulted in him winning the 2018 European Formula 3 Championship, inevitably the talk of Formula 1 has arisen.

Comfortable in the sudden limelight and handling the attention like a seasoned pro, Schumacher batted off suggestions he could be in the top flight next year.

“I could drive in F1, that’s clear,” insisted the 19-year-old. “It’s still my big goal but it’s still very unrealistic. In order to be 100 per cent prepared to be there as a full race driver, it’s necessary to go through all the different series of formulas.”

“I prefer to move forward gradually, step by step, preparing really well. So it’s important to always make the right decision. We will decide in the coming weeks.”

“Every driver has the goal of being in Formula 1, it’s the premier class and to stand up to the best there is the optimum. We are talking to some teams and putting together the best strategy for next year.”

Accolades have poured in for Schumacher junior since he wrapped up the title last weekend at Hockenheim, hile his Prema Theodore Team claimed the team prize.

The teenager has been likened to his legendary father by Gerhard Berger, while Mercedes chief Toto Wolff is predicting big things for the kid.

Toro Rosso chief Helmut Marko is adamant that there are no plans to lure Schumi III into the Red Bull pen at this point, while Ferrari chief Maurizio Arrivabene has offered the red carpet should Mick come calling in the future.

On the sidelines of the recent Trento Sports Festival, Arrivabene spoke about Mick to reporters, “I have said we must leave him to work and have fun. Winning the titles means he gets a great deal of attention, but the last thing the boy needs is pressure.”

“His name alone is big pressure on his young shoulders. As for the future, Michael is part of Ferrari history so it would be difficult to say no to Mick in the future. For now he has to progress in his career, make his choices and we must leave  him to do his work.”

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KUBICA: I HOPE TO SEE YOU ON THE F1 GRID NEXT YEAR

Reports since Suzuka have suggested that Robert Kubica has acquired $10-million which he can use to finance his way back on to the Formula 1 grid with Williams, but it appears that this may be the case in the future but nothing is signed or sealed.

According to the Polish website Super Express, Kubica met with executive chairman, Daniel Obajtek at the offices of PKN Orlen, the country’s major oil refiner and petrol retailer, which triggered speculation that the company would back his Williams seat bid for 2019.

The Pole is Williams test and reserve driver this year after losing out on a race seat when he could not match the funding brought in by Lance Stroll or Sergey Sirotkin, the latter securing a seat with a reported $15-million injection by his backers SMP Racing.

Kubica’s management team, which includes 2016 F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg, could not match the Russian money and thus the one-time grand prix winner was relegated to the sidelines, with occasional test outings and FP1 sessions to keep him busy.

With regards to the reports in Polish Media, PKN Orlen released a press release to play down the significance of the meeting:

“In connection with media stories regarding the involvement of PKN Orlen in sponsoring Robert Kubica, we would like to inform you that at this stage it is too early to talk about potential cooperation or provide any details. At the same time, we confirm that a meeting between PKN Orlen Management Board executive chairman, Daniel Obajtek, and the driver took place. It was aimed at discussing the potential of motorsport development from various perspectives, which for many years have remained in the circle of strict interests of PKN Orlen.”

The company, which was created through the merger of two state-run petrochemical firms, is a major sponsor of the Polish volleyball, both the national teams and the women’s national tournament.

In 2010, the PKN Orlen was behind the all-Polish, Verva Racing Porsche Supercup team and have also been involved with the Verva’s leading off-road endurance team for the past 18 or so years.

Kubica has yet to react to latest reports, but at Suzuka, he told media, “It is not an easy time for my fans and for me, but I am relaxed and smiling.”

“It does not mean that I already know what I will do next season. I thank my fans for their support and patience. I hope to see you on the F1 grid next year. I’m working on it.”

On Monday, the 33-year-old from Krakow also met with Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki who stated at the end of the session, “Poland always supports its own.”

A seat with Williams is Kubica’s most realistic option for next season, with only Toro Rosso an alternative, although the Red Bull junior team have expressed interest, they are likely to stick to their policy of promoting younger drivers.

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F1 set to expand Fan Festival programme in 2019

Formula 1 is set to hold up to seven Fan Festivals in 2019 as part of Liberty Media’s ambition to expand the championship’s reach outside of Grands Prix.

Formula 1’s first official gathering outside of a Grand Prix weekend was held in London in 2017, and this year events have been held in Shanghai, Marseille and Milan.

A fourth and final 2018 gathering in Miami, at which Red Bull and Renault will be present, is to be held this weekend, alongside the United States Grand Prix in Austin.

Formula 1 commercial chief Sean Bratches has revealed that additional festivals are planned for 2019, with China, Japan and the US regarded as attractive markets.

“We’ve enjoyed great success with the Fan Festivals this year and we’re looking to create a broader programme next year,” said Bratches.

“At the present time we are looking at an expanded schedule of six to seven events.

“We’re targeting a second festival in Shanghai, as like the US, we see great potential for F1 in China. That will also dovetail with our 1000th race, which gives it even greater resonance. Together with the race, it should be an amazing experience.

“Beyond that we are looking to visit Tokyo and Milan, and we are aiming to put on events in Germany and the USA, though the locations there are yet to be confirmed. We are also exploring two other destination cities.

“We’re in the early phases of planning for 2019 but, as mentioned, even though we are still evolving the concept of the festivals, we’ve had great success with this first year’s programme and we’re looking forward to bigger and better in 2019.”

Bratches explained that Formula 1 is still optimising the format of the Fan Festivals, and that ensuring contemporary cars can undertake demonstration runs, is a chief target.

“I think the two-day event we had in Milan was a great success and so far that has proven to be the best balance in terms of audience engagement and the availability of Formula 1 personalities,” he said.

“It’s important to say that the key element for us is for people to see these incredible machines in action.

“They are a truly astounding marriage of art and engineering and seeing them fired up in anger on city streets is the thing that will truly engage them.

“However, realising that is not always easy. We work closely with the teams, who have a lot of competing demands on their time, as we want to ensure that wherever possible centrepiece of our Fan Festivals features cars being driven by elite race drivers.

“It’s why the festivals are mostly staged in cities close to a Grand Prix. We want to bring current F1 cars, current F1 stars to people.”

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F1 2019 pre-season testing to be held at Barcelona

Formula 1 pre-season testing will again be exclusively held at Spanish Grand Prix venue Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 2019.

The track, located to the north of Barcelona, has held all pre-season testing since 2016, when the number of days was reduced from 12 across three tests to eight across two gatherings.

Teams had been weighing up a move either to Bahrain or to southern Spanish venue Jerez, after much of this year’s first test was compromised by unseasonably cold and wintry weather.

But on Thursday the circuit confirmed that it will host all eight days, with the two tests to take place a week earlier than in 2018.

The tests will run from February 18 to 21 and from February 26 to March 1.

The season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the first of 21 scheduled events, will take place from March 15 to 17.

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Lewis Hamilton ranks inside top five all-time F1 greats - Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso has said his former team-mate Lewis Hamilton ranks inside the top five all-time greatest Formula 1 drivers, a list he believes is made up of the Mercedes driver, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.

Hamilton is on the brink of a fifth world title and could make that a reality this weekend in Austin, which would put him joint-second alongside Fangio and just two adrift of Schumacher's record seven titles.

Alonso, who partnered Hamilton at McLaren during the Briton's rookie season, believed "five or seven" title would be possible for Hamilton when he won the championship in only his second season, but then a dip in form for the British squad made Alonso question that.

"Probably in 2007 it was difficult to imagine what the future would bring to Lewis or to all the other guys on the grid. He showed his talent from day one, fighting for the championship in his rookie year and winning it in 2008.

"Probably at that time we could all agree that five or seven titles would be possible for him but then he had a couple of down years, due to the performance of the car, the switching to Mercedes, so maybe at that time we all thought it wouldn’t be possible, because at the time Mercedes was struggling.

"But I’m happy for him because he showed the talent from day one. He was able to win races when the car was there to win them, but he was also able to win races in seasons when his car was not on top form, like 2009. He was still winning a couple of grands prix per year, so it’s impressive."

When asked if Hamilton ranked in the top five greatest F1 drivers of all-time, the Spaniard said he did and that he deserved the success.

"It’s difficult to make a top five of all-time greats. Probably Michael, Fangio, Senna, Prost and Lewis – that would probably be the top five.

"That’s what comes to my mind but it’s difficult to compare different times different ways to win those championships. Lewis winning five now and equalling Fangio, as I said before, is a great achievement.

"If one had to do that in our generation I’m happy it’s Lewis, because he showed the talent and he showed the commitment. When the car was dominating and delivering he won the championships and when it was not god enough he still put in some performances to show his talent. That’s difficult to see in our days."

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Daniel Ricciardo unconcerned by Renault's dip in form

Daniel Ricciardo has dismissed suggestions that Renault’s recent dip in its Formula 1 results are of concern.

Ricciardo revealed during the summer break that he had opted to end his lengthy relationship with Red Bull in order to join Renault for 2019.

Since then Renault has come under renewed pressure from Haas in the battle for fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, scoring just 10 points in the five races since signing Ricciardo.

Ricciardo’s future team-mate Nico Hulkenberg conceded at Suzuka that Renault had lagged behind its rivals in the development battle through the season.

But Ricciardo played down the notion that Renault’s 2018 form should leave him worried of his 2019 prospects.

“When I signed I knew there was work ahead and I know they are putting a lot of effort into putting things better and expanding all departments to try to make 2019 stronger and then 2020,” he said.

“The way the last few races have been this year… obviously it would be nice to see them improve every race but I honestly don’t look too much into it yet.

“I think 2019 is a new car and is going to be a fresh start again so I am not spending too much energy on that at the moment.

“All I can do at the moment is once my year is done is try to be fully immersed in it all and try to help as much as I can to see how things go from there.”

Ricciardo has four Grands Prix left with Red Bull before he departs and is hopeful of picking up a top-three finish, with his sole 2018 podiums coming courtesy of wins in China and Monaco.

“I think we’ll have a decent car around here,” he said.

“It’s weird, I know, that I haven’t had any actual podiums. So yeah, we’ll try to make it happen.

“Last year I was going pretty strong in the race but then we had to stop with some mechanicals.

“It’s definitely a fun track to race on. I enjoy Austin alone, but the circuit as well is really good for racing.

“You can overtake and it’s pretty unique, so I’m happy if it’s kind of wet for Friday and Saturday but I kind of feel if the race is dry Sunday it will still be pretty exciting.”

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Max Verstappen: Overtaking benefit of 'uglier' 2019 cars will be 'limited'

Max Verstappen reckons the benefit provided by the "uglier" 2019 front-wings will be "limited", and therefore isn't expecting overtaking to become much easier as a result.

Formula 1 will adopt simpler front-wings next season as part of a plan to allow cars to follow more closely and therefore boost overtaking, but the Red Bull driver isn't buying into the claimed benefits and reckons they'll make the cars look worse.

"It might help a little bit, but what I'm already reading is that next year we'll have about the same downforce as this year, so I think that the benefit will be limited," he told his personal website.

"It only looks somewhat uglier, but maybe the design will be refined before the next season."

With downforce levels expected to stay the same in 2019, Verstappen suggested the new rules don't go far enough, admitting there needs to be a balance between having enough downforce so the cars are quick, but also the ability to run nose-to-tail to make the racing exciting.

"It's nice if a car corners very fast, but if you cannot catch one another, it's not really a nice race," he added. "I think you need a bit of a balance between the two.

"However, it is also not nice to drive a car that has no grip at all. If I compare this year’s car to the cars of 2015 and 2016 then of course, it’s a thousand times better now. It was always sliding and blocking, still fast, but not a nice feeling to drive."

Verstappen also waded into the team orders debate which has flared up again in light of Mercedes' recent tactics in Russia, where they asked leader Valtteri Bottas to move over for team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen said it was "normal" practice, but he would have done everything he could have to avoid being in such a situation.

"First of all, I would have made sure not to get into that situation simply by going faster, so Hamilton is not that close. Then you don’t have that problem and there's really no discussion. But once you are in that situation, to me, it seems very normal that it happens."

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Kerbs added to COTA Turns 16 and 17 after 2017 cutting controversy

Drivers will have to be aware of a new kerb which has been installed at the apex of the Turn 16 and Turn 17 long right-hander at the Circuit of the Americas in order to prevent corner cutting.

In the final laps of the 2017 event, Max Verstappen took to the inside apron to pass Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen as the pair battled for the final spot on the podium.

The stewards deemed the pass was completed off the track and handed a five-second penalty to the Dutchman on the cool-down lap. Verstappen was unaware of the penalty until he was told in the podium cool-down room.

The new kerb will be two metres long, one metre wide and will be 50 millimetres high to try and prevent drivers from taking too much kerb on the inside and cutting the corner.

The Austin circuit will retain two DRS zones, the first of which begins 250 metres after the exit of Turn 11, with its detection point 150m prior to Turn 10.

The second DRS zone will start 80 metres after the exit of the final corner, with the detection point 65 metres on the exit of Turn 18.

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Williams has plan to sign Ocon for 2019

Williams is working on signing Esteban Ocon for next season but it depends on the Formula 1 team raising the necessary budget.
Ocon is expected to leave the Racing Point Force India team at the end of the year, with Sergio Perez's stay confirmed and Lance Stroll expected to join from Williams given his father Lawrence is now a Force India investor.

Formula 2 championship leader George Russell was announced as a Williams driver last week, while fellow Mercedes protege Ocon has targeted the British team as his last chance to remain on the F1 grid.

Williams is known to be keen on Ocon, but the team must consider its financial situation given it is losing title sponsor Martini at the end of the year and has benefitted this year by fielding the well-backed duo of Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin.

Though that has helped secure its short-term financial health, Williams has struggled with an uncompetitive car and is last in the constructors' championship.

Signing Russell, a move which has not been done via any Mercedes commercial support, is considered a significant statement of intent from Williams that it wants to put its competitive prospects above its financial needs.

This is also why Ocon remains an attractive proposition despite not bringing any backing.

However, after signing Russell, the team cannot afford to bring in Ocon without securing the necessary funding.

Motorsport.com understands that Williams hopes to raise the budget to cover the second seat independently, which would give it freedom to choose the second driver purely on preference.

Ocon said on Thursday ahead of the United States Grand Prix that he was happy for Russell and does not think his chances of joining Williams are dead.

"It was good to see that George is promoted," he said.

"He's also part of the Mercedes junior programme, and he's signed for multiple years, and that was not our intention to sign for that many years.

"There's still a second seat at Williams, there's still talks, so we'll see where that goes. Congratulations to George. He's in a different way in his career than I am.

"He was not at all stealing my spot, that was not the way it happened."

Ocon is not the only driver in contention for the second Williams seat, with the shortlist believed to contain a couple of other drivers in the F1 paddock already and possibly one or two outside it.

Sirotkin is vying to remain in F1 but that depends on whether the team is happy to continue with the rookie and on his backer SMP Racing being willing to risk funding another year with a back-of-the-grid car.

Reserve driver Robert Kubica could also be a contender and has made a fresh push to secure a bigger budget for 2019.

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Leclerc wants "black and white" rule after Magnussen run-in

Charles Leclerc plans to ask F1 race director Charlie Whiting for "black and white" rules about how hard rivals can block each other, in the wake of his clash with Kevin Magnussen at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Sauber driver is still unhappy that Magnussen escaped penalty for an aggressive chop on him as they battled for position on the start-finish straight in the early stages of the Suzuka race.

While the FIA explained that Magnussen escaped sanction because it felt that the Dane had moved at exactly the same time his rival went for the inside, Leclerc is not as convinced.

Although Leclerc backtracked on an aggressive radio message where he said Magnussen was "stupid", he said that incident has prompted him to make sure he raises the matter in Friday's drivers' briefing at Austin.

"Obviously in the heat of the moment probably I regret a little bit saying what I said on the radio, because that was probably a bit too extreme," said Leclerc ahead of the United States Grand Prix.

"But I stay on what I have said out of the car – for me this is a wrong move, and I don't really get why he has not been penalised.

"I will speak about this in the briefing tomorrow to just understand what is the position of Charlie, on how to defend, because if we can do that then I can also do that.

"But for me, it is a bit on the limit. I will ask tomorrow to know more."

Leclerc said he wanted clearer guidelines from the FIA on what is and is not allowed, because if it is accepted that moves like Magnussen are okay then he too needs to change his approach to defending.

Asked by Motorsport.com how he would have to approach racing if Magnussen-type defences are allowed, Leclerc said: "Obviously with the DRS, and the amount of speed we are arriving behind another driver, we are quite a lot quicker.

"So when we are making a move, we need to know what the car in front is going to do otherwise it can be tricky.

"But if it is fine for Charlie to do that, then I am fine. I just want to know – I want it to be black or white on if we can do that or not, because then a driver expects it or not."

Leclerc also did not agree with the FIA viewpoint that video evidence suggested Magnussen had moved at the same time as him, rather than reacting.

"If the reason why he didn't get penalised is because they truly feel that it was not a reaction of my move, then I completely disagree," added Leclerc. "If it is something else then I need the explanation.

"But I completely disagree that he did not move reacting to what I was doing, because it was quite clear that he was looking in the mirrors at that time, and that he reacted.

"When I moved he moved then. But I will ask to Charlie what he thinks about it."

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NASCAR's Bowyer "blown away" by F1 visit

NASCAR star Clint Bowyer says he was blown away by his first sight of Formula 1 technology in Austin on Thursday.
Bowyer, who was at COTA as a guest of Haas F1 and mutual sponsor Peak, has been driving for Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series since the start of 2017 - and remains in the hunt for this year's championship.

Although his other commitments meant that he is not able top stick around and see the cars actually running, a Thursday visit to the Haas garage and time spent with drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen proved an eye-opener for the 39-year-old.

“I’m just completely blown away,” he told Motorsport.com. “You always have in your mind what you think you’re going to see in anything in life.

"I always knew that F1 was held to a higher standard than all of motorsports. And when I got it here, it is, man!

“It’s incredible to see the depth of what it takes to put on the show. The circus that comes to town and sets up is just phenomenal. As a gearhead you want to get in there where the nuts and bolts are, and it’s just amazing – the engineering staff, the support, the equipment.

“Of course I’m a racer and I like people, and they’re two really cool drivers that Gene has. I’ve spent a lot of time with them and they showed me the ropes of what they do in the cockpit, and the things that they’re focussed on.

“As an American and a race fan I’m happy that they’re here, and I’m delighted to see it. To get my first feel for it, I’m very impressed.

"And the facility is unbelievable, with the elevation changes and things like that. It just tripped my trigger right off the bat.”

Bowyer says that Haas’s involvement has encouraged him to follow F1 on a regular basis.

“I watch them a lot, racers watch racers, that’s what we do. We don’t watch soap operas, if we’re going to watch TV, we’re going to be watching some form of motorsports. Certainly with my son we’re usually up in time to maybe see the end of the race!

“Nonetheless I always follow it, and I definitely know where our Haas cars are. You gotta know that – if Gene shows up at the track you’d better be on your game and know how he’s done.

"You don’t want to be the guy when they’ve had a bad day to say, ‘How did your race go today?’ His eyes light up when you talk about the F1 stuff, and for me that’s pretty neat to see.”

Unlike some of his NASCAR rivals, Bowyer insists that he has never had any interest in driving an open-wheeler, or asking Haas if he could sample an F1 car.

“I have a lot of Indy[Car] friends, and I always kid them 'if it’s got a wing on it’s meant to be in the air, not on the ground!'

"I like fenders. I don’t have any business in anything like that. I don’t think I can fit in the damn thing!

“But I appreciate what they do, and have a lot of respect for this whole industry and the drivers, and all the effort that goes into it.”

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F1 to begin work on new fan experience technology

Formula 1 is to start work on developing a new interactive fan experience app based on the winning entry from this year's Tata Communications F1 Innovation Prize.
World championship leader Lewis Hamilton and F1 managing director of motorsports Ross Brawn announced at the Austin circuit on Thursday that an entry from Briton James Gough had triumphed in this year's competition.

As well as Gough scooping a $50,000 prize, his winning entry will now be taken to the next step by F1, with the plan being to become an official product in the future.

This year's challenge was based around the theme of 'MyF1', and asked entrants to come up with a way for fans to get a more immersive experience from the huge amount of data that F1 produces over a weekend.

Gough's idea is for the an official F1 application to run on a variety of devices, such as phones and smart watches, to help deliver a personalised experience based on what data they were interested in.

Speaking after winning the prize, Gough said: "My idea was to engage fans more with the technology that is out there – like smart watches, and we have smart homes now.

"At home, my washing machine is smart. So, if I can get various details on my washing machine, then a fan at the track should be able to get the data that they want from an F1 race as and when they want it – and not have to rely on external sources to get that information."

Gough was also especially eager for it to be integrated heavily in Virtual Smart Assistants like Amazon's Alexa.

With F1 already having a close relationship with Amazon, the prospect of a deeper F1 partnership through the Alexa device would seem logical.

Brawn says that the next step will be for F1 chiefs to work with Gough and develop his ideas at the sport's Media and Technology Centre at Biggin Hill.

"It is great that we have such wonderful ideas but the important thing is we are going to take it further, so it is not just going to rest on a prize," explained Brawn.

"It is actually going to become part of what we do for the future. That is a really exciting step.

"We are going to devote some resource to develop it further and give them the backing they need to develop their idea and see where it takes us."

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F1 should ban bargeboards, says Toro Rosso boss

Formula 1 should impose an outright ban on bargeboards as part of its push to make cars look better in the future, reckons Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost.
As F1 owners Liberty Media continue to look at ways of improving the appearance of grand prix cars from 2021, Tost thinks that making the designs much simpler would be a positive move.

The current generation of cars feature hugely intricate bargeboards, as F1's 2017 aero revamp allowed huge bodywork freedom in the area in front of the sidepods.

Tost is adamant that if F1 is serious about making cars looks good in the future, then this is something that Liberty needs to clamp down on.

"With Ross Brawn, Pat Symonds and the specialists on the aerodynamic side, they know what to do just to get rid of all these additional aerodynamic devices - and then you have a clean car," Tost said in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com.

"For example if I would write a regulation, and it would be totally easy, to get rid of all these bargeboard things and all these additional wings.

"These all make the car maybe a few tenths faster, but the picture of the car is not any more so clean, and that is not any more so tidy. Therefore I would simply, from the regulation side, forbid all those things, and it's possible to do this. They just must do it."

Liberty recently revealed some concept images of how F1 cars could look from 2021 in a bid to make the sport more attractive to a wider audience.

Tost said he liked the initial idea to tidy up the bodywork and be more aggressive with styling.

"I hope that they go in this direction," he said. "The cars should look aggressive, a little bit more tiny and also from the aero side a little bit more in the direction of future. The cars now really look nice, but for me they are a little bit too big: they should be smaller.

"When I remember back in the 70s, the Lotus for example, when I saw this car for the first time, I was electrified, and then Jochen Rindt won with this car. It was something special.

"You could see it from the very beginning onwards, that this car is something special.

"If you compared it to other cars in those days, there was such a big difference, and I hope that the new generation of the Formula 1 cars will go in this direction."

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I need to take risks to stay in championship fight, says Vettel

Should Sebastian Vettel have attempted the move on Max Verstappen at Suzuka that left him having to claw his way back to sixth place rather than fighting Lewis Hamilton for the win? It was an issue that was still buzzing around Vettel like an annoying fly in the run up to the United States Grand Prix. But as the German driver pointed out, with a 67-point deficit to Hamilton in the drivers’ standings, and only 100 left on the table, it’s risks he needs to be taking if he’s to stay in the hunt for the 2018 title.

Vettel tried the move on Verstappen on lap eight of the Japanese Grand Prix, attempting to squeeze down the inside of the Dutchman’s Red Bull into Spoon corner. But Verstappen refused to budge, and when the pair collided, Vettel was spun into the run-off area, and forced to spend the afternoon climbing back up the order. 

Vettel later revealed that he’d known that Verstappen had still to serve a five-second penalty for an earlier incident with Kimi Raikkonen. So why had he felt the need to be so aggressive and go for the move?

“Generally, I always try to win,” said Vettel, when asked about his approach to recent races in the face of his ever-shrinking title chances. “I think you have to be aggressive to win, and of course you need to find the right balance. Obviously you never try to do something silly or not to finish, because that way you can’t win. I think that’s normal.

“The approach, I know what it takes, I know what to do, so in that regard it’s fairly similar, but we know that we need to take probably here or there a bit more risk because we are not in a position to manage the gap in the championship, because we don’t have a gap.”

As to why he doesn’t have a gap, did Vettel accept that Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton had done a better job than him and Ferrari this year?

“So far, yes,” he replied. “It’s pretty obvious, you just have to look at the points.

“I think some [of the races] I should’ve done better. If you want to name one, then Hockenheim… But overall I think we just didn’t have enough races where we had the speed to dominate the weekend, put the car on pole and finish first. Unfortunately it didn’t happen too often – or not often enough.

“Unfortunately some of the races didn’t go our way at all, and [Mercedes] were able to benefit from that, but they were very strong benefitting from that. It’s not just we step aside and they were there. I think they had to do their job and they did it to get the points. Obviously it hurt us, but well played to them.

“From our side, obviously it wasn’t ideal, but that’s done now, that’s in the past. We can’t change it. So I think we focus and look forward to the next four races. We will still try to do everything we can, and then we see what happens.”

With Hamilton needing to outscore Vettel by just eight points at the United States Grand Prix to claim his fifth world title, Vettel knows that he and Ferrari need to be firing on all cylinders in Austin to keep his championship hopes alive. And ahead of the weekend, the German was still holding out hope that he and his team might re-find the form that, at times in 2018, succeeded in dumbfounding Mercedes – even if, on recent evidence, they might struggle…

“I think the weekend [in Suzuka] helped us to understand some things,” said Vettel. “Obviously the last couple of weeks we didn’t have the speed, so let’s see what the next four races bring. In terms of our speed… obviously we hope to be back to the form we showed earlier this year.”

 

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FESTIVAL FEVER: Red Bull put a new spin on Miami

Ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix and the Formula 1 Fan Festival in Miami, Red Bull took on one of their famous high-rise challenges this week, as former driver David Coulthard and the team's RB7 car performed a series of smoking donuts on top of one of Miami’s most iconic new towers – the 700 foot-high 1000 Museum building.

The amazing stunt gave Miami residents an early taste of what they can expect at the final F1 Festival of 2018, which takes place in the Florida city this Saturday and Sunday alongside the Grand Prix at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin.

Unleashing the spectacle of Formula 1, Red Bull will be joined by fellow F1 team Renault, as well as former world champion Emerson Fittipaldi, to lead the adrenaline-fuelled event along the streets of Miami, supported by a range of other iconic cars, past and present.

Silk City, the new project between multi-platinum, Grammy-winning producers Mark Ronson and Diplo, will headline a free evening concert as they play in Miami together for the first time.

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U.S. GRAND PRIX: RAIKKONEN WINS, TITLE FIGHT STAYS ALIVE

Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen ended the longest win drought in the history of Formula 1 when he powered to a thrilling victory in the United States Grand Prix, on a day Lewis Hamilton could have won the title, and nearly did, but had to settle for third behind second-placed Max Verstappen.

Sebastian Vettel lived to fight another day despite spinning again after making a mistake during a duel with Daniel Ricciardo, the German recovered well and fought back tenaciously to claim fourth place.

With the title undecided for at least another race, the day belonged to Raikkonen and a popular victory it was for the veteran who last won a grand prix in Australia back in March 2013 – 2044 days ago!

The triumph ended Mercedes’ long run of victories at Circuit of the Americas and was Ferrari’s first in the United States since Michael Schumacher won in 2006.

The veteran Finn made a superb start leading out of Turn 1 where he remained for much of the race (apart from the pitstops) which also included a Virtual Safety Car period.

He also did a great job keeping Hamilton at bay before the pitstops when the Mercedes was on a charge. The Ferrari became substantially wider during that crucial period and then, for the final ten laps he was relentlessly stalked by Verstappen and Hamilton, but the driver in the #7 car made no mistakes to claim his 21st F1 career win.

Afterwards, the Iceman cracked a rare public smile when he said, “We had enough speed and kept it consistent. It’s been a long time but here we are again. I’m much happier than finishing second… I’m happy.”

“Maybe they (the fans) are happier, it’s been a great weekend, the car has been good all the time. I got a good start and I ended to push hard and the tyres were not in their best shape towards the end. Max had the same problem and Lewis but we had enough speed and kept it consistent,” added Raikkonen.

Verstappen delivered a solid and mature performance, blitzing from 18th on the grid to take second place, harassing the Ferrari all the way to the finish line and keeping a feisty Mercedes at bay in the process and inadvertently keeping the title chase alive.

Verstappen said after the race, “A bit unexpected, a good start, good first lap very quickly we were into P5 then we could follow the leaders. We made the right call to undercut Valtteri on the last three laps I ran out of tyres. I destroyed my shoe, pushing it hard but all good.”

“We were really struggling with the rear tyres, it was a good fight. I was pushing as much as I could, but clearly Lewis was on the edge too,” added the Dutchman.

Hamilton came desperately close to wrapping up the title, had a jaw-dropping go at the Red Bull driver for second but came off second best with the chequered flag in sight.

For the Mercedes driver third place was simply not enough on the day but he heads to Mexico with a 70 points lead over Vettel, with three rounds remaining and a maximum of 75 points on offer.

Five points will do it for Hamilton next weekend, he summed up his afternoon in Texas, “A big congratulations to Kimi, he did a great job with no mistakes. He had a great start and managed to go all the way.”

“Max did a great job too, he was on a better tyre than us at the end, so naturally a bit of a struggle for us but it was the best we could do in the end. At least we could have a good race. But we’ll leave it until next weekend.”

“I came out ahead in the pit, but the window was closed and it was way too far to come back from. I don’t know how our strategy ended up like that, and you only have a short time to do a fast lap on new tyres and I missed it. Ferrari picked up their pace this weekend, so I look forward to the next race,” added the World Champion.

His title rival made another glaring error in the heat of battle, coming from fifth on the grid he went wheel-to-wheel with Daniel Ricciardo on the second lap as they tussled fo r fourth place, the Ferrari driver again coming off second best as he spun out and tagged the side of the Red Bull.

Thereafter the German drove a gritty comeback race, hauling in Valtteri Bottas on the final few laps to claim fourth and keep his slender title hopes alive for at least another week.

Renault had their best result of the season with Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz, finishing sixth and seventh respectively, winning the tight contest for Best of the Rest status.

Force India also had a double points score with Esteban Ocon eighth and Sergio Perez tenth, the Pinks split by Haas driver Kevin Magnussen in ninth. After the race Ocon’s car was under investugation for an apparent breach of fuel flow rules.

Fernando Alonso’s final United States Grand Prix was a sad one, his McLaren punted by the Williams of Lance Stroll during a first lap melee which ended the Spaniard’s race on the spot.

Stroll recovered to finish last of the cars still running, slapped with a penalty for causing the collision with Alonso.

Report in progress…

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HORNER: DANIEL PUT HIS FIST THROUGH THE WALL

Daniel Ricciardo is struggling to catch a break in recent races, this time at the United States Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver forced to park his car after eight laps on a day in which his teammate Max Verstappen finished second after starting 18th on the grid.

Clearly distraught when he alighted his stricken car, later he was raging when he vented his anger as revealed by team chief Christian Horner, “It’s just a crying shame for Daniel, I feel so sorry for him.”

“He’s just taken his frustration out in his room by putting his fist through the wall, which you can totally relate to. He doesn’t blame the team in any way. He knows we’re doing everything we can, it’s just one of those things.”

“It’s an identical power unit issue that he had in Bahrain where it’s just gone to a compete shut down and you can see it mid-corner. He was driving a strong Grand Prix and would have been right there too, so really just so frustrating for him.”

“Hopefully we’ve got enough components in the pool for him not to have to take a penalty so I’m sure he’ll be having a word with his future employers about it because it’s just so frustrating to keep losing him from races at the moment.

“He would have been equally strong in the second half of the race, so I just feel very, very sorry for him,” added Horner on a bittersweet day for his team.

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OCON AND MAGNUSSEN DISQUALIFIED FOR FUEL FLOW BREACH

Force India driver Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen have been disqualified from  Sunday’s United States Grand Prix after it was found that their cars had breached fuel flow regulations.

Stewards reviewed telemetry data from the car and interviewed team representatives as well as Ocon and ruled: “the fuel mass flow exceeded 100 kg/hr during lap one of the race.”

Magnussen’s car was found to have “consumed more than 105kg of fuel during the race.

As a result of the disqualifications, Sergio Perez (Force India) is promoted to eighth, Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso) to ninth and Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) to tenth.