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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says Valtteri Bottas told him he wants to "disappear" back home for the winter to help recover from his disappointing Formula 1 campaign.
Wolff sees no major problem, however, and reckons drawing a line under the campaign and being able to refocus this winter will be all Bottas needs.
Asked by Motorsport.com how Bottas could reset after the year, Wolff said: "He said to me that he just wants to disappear back home, recharge the battery.
"Forget, recover and recuperate, and then come back next year. I think it has just been very long. I can understand his frustrations."
Bottas thinks that spending time at home will help him get back some of the mental energy that was lost this season.
"I wish I could just disappear now and go, but the fact is in three weeks I will start my holiday, so it is still three weeks of different commitments," he said.
"So I need to go through that and then I will have four weeks to reflect on the season, and gather some mental energy which was lost this year."
Wolff believes that Bottas' season fell apart once it became clear that he was no longer in championship contention.
"Speaking with the drivers, once the championship opportunity has been taken away, there is a drop," he said. "And I think we've seen that this year."
Bottas has confessed that stages of this season were hard to deal with, when incidents and bad luck robbed him of good results.
"It was a pretty exhausting season, as I had big targets for the year in terms of result and goals," he said.
"Once those proved to be impossible at some point in the season there was many many failures for me, one after another, and it was just kind of building up. So it was difficult sometimes to deal with.
"I definitely feel a bit drained at the moment, and it is difficult to see many positives from the year.
"But in this you sport you definitely get to know yourself, and I know that once I have some time off, it's going to be fine. I'm going to be seeing the bright sides of this season, and I'm going to be full attack for next year."
After day sampling Pirelli's 2019 tyres yesterday in Abu Dhabi, Valtteri Bottas sees little difference between next year's rubber and the compounds used this season.
All ten teams had the opportunity to put F1's 2019 tyres through their paces at the two-day post-season test conducted by Pirelli at Yas Marina.
The Mercedes driver clocked in at the end of day 1 with the second fastest time, behind Sebastian Vettel, and 120 laps under his belt while he put in another 143 on Wednesday.
And Bottas was particularly interested in assessing the range of rubber given Mercedes' issues with tyre temperatures this season and the always dreaded problem of blistering.
"No, they didn't feel strange," said the Finn.
"The differences are really small. The inner structure is a bit thicker, which means the blistering should be less.
"But the surface of the tyre overheats just as it did before. It means we can do one lap flat out but then we have to manage them again.
"Today we worked on compound scans, trying all the 2019 compounds from the hardest to the softest rubber," he added, speaking about Wednesday's work day.
"We focused on medium and long runs, gathering plenty of data and learning about the tyres. This week we've got lots of data for the team to analyse over the winter and we can't wait to dig into it."
Vettel shared his rival's view, believing the tyres were indeed very similar despite the fact that several drivers had recently conveyed to Pirelli their hope that the compounds would evolve.
"We only had that conversation three weeks ago so it has no effect on these tyres. It's more of a long-term project," Vettel told Speed Week.
"The more interesting question is the tyre selection for next year -- what tyres Pirelli will take to what tracks. That can have more difference than the move from 2018 to 2019."
Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola confirmed that tyre selection at each race will indeed prove crucial next season.
"The design and the compounds are defined already, but we can change the choice of compounds for the particular grands prix," he said.
"I talked about this with the drivers and teams, and while there is no obvious direction in which everyone would like to move, I want to include the teams in the selection process."
After a frustrating season, according to his team boss Toto Wolff, Valtteri Bottas “just wants to disappear back home, recharge the battery, recover and recuperate, and then come back next year”. And Bottas will at least get some semblance of a fresh start in 2019, when he begins working with a new race engineer for what will be his third campaign with Mercedes.
Bottas inherited Nico Rosberg’s race engineer Tony Ross when he joined the Silver Arrows for 2017. However, with Ross being transferred over to Mercedes’ HWA Racelab Formula E team for the 2018-19 season – where McLaren refugee Stoffel Vandoorne will form part of the driver line-up – Bottas will be buddied up with a new race engineer for next year. Exactly who, though, remains a mystery…
“Tony Ross is going to be the chief race engineer of our Formula E programme,” said Wolff after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. “He’s going to dash off into a funny environment with only one race day and funky cities.
“Who replaces him? We’re discussing that. That was a bit of a lie but… give me a few weeks.”
In a press release issued after last weekend's season finale, Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin paid tribute to Ross, who helped guide Rosberg to his 2016 title, having joined Mercedes from Williams in 2011.
“I'd… like to thank Tony Ross for all his hard work over the last eight years,” said Shovlin. “He has contributed so much to the past five constructors’ championships, and Nico's driver's championship, so we will all be sad to see him go, but happy we've had the chance to enjoy so much success together.”
After a season in which Bottas finished fifth in the drivers’ standings, the lowest placing of any Mercedes driver since 2013, whoever the Silver Arrows choose will have an important job on their hands to pick him up, dust him off and get him back to race-winning ways.
Holding people up all year, so frustrating for non-Merc fans....
Bottas was a huge disappointment. With the car he has, there is no way he should have finished 5th in the standings. That's why Hamilton declared him the best teammate ever.
^
^^
Yeah count me in as well, Bottas has been disappointing even considering he had to play support and had bad luck (nothing compared to Riccairdo) in a race or two.
He's #2 in the team in so many way, doesn't bother Hamilton so Lewis is more at ease throughout the weekend. I doubt Bottas will be at MB in 2020.
This is a great article about Alonso's accomplishments and is cool to see how he could've had 5 WC's if things had been slightly different in points-haul
As much as Earth would want it - it won't be Alonso.
Ol Hammy wouldn't want to get da beat down....
+1, Ocon looks like the best current choice.
Depending on the RedBull/Honda success or lack there of, I could see Wolff picking up Verstappen for 2021 depending on Hamilton's future then.
When Formula 1 announced the new W Series exclusively for female drivers, opinions were understandably split.
Some felt it was simply continuing the gender gap in the sport, but for one Playboy model it was the break she craved.
Doreen Seidel is one of 55 drivers on the provisional list for the inaugural season but it is quite different to what she was doing a decade ago.
Seidel, now 33, made her Playboy debut in 2008 and settled into the role with ease. She quickly rose through the ranks at the magazine to become a prominent Playmate, travelling across the world with her fellow models.
She was named “Playmate of the Year” for Germany in 2009 and was taken to the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles to meet Hugh Hefner and experience the famous lifestyle.
Seidel then went on tour in Mexico, Spain, Russia, Poland, Greece, Argentina, Romania and Hungary.
In 2009, she also was the “lucky charm” Playboy Bunny in front of a Playboy-branded car but then wanted to get behind the wheel rather than sit on top of the hood.
From there, her passion for racing cars grew and she now has her sights set on a world championship.
The Munich-based racer participated in her first season of races in 2011 — with the Playboy logo proudly on display — and achieved her first podium finish that year.
As the years progressed, she rose through the ranks and switched between endurance racing and sprints while also taking up instructing in 2014 to help others get a grip of the sport.
The German raced for Mercedes-Benz in 2018 but is desperate to show what she can do in the W Series next year.
Away from the track, Seidel has a diploma in business administration, loves snowboarding and is a self-confessed poor surfer but still enjoys at least attempting to catch a wave or two.
The new W series is due to get underway in May with free entry for the selected racers — chosen via a simple qualification early next year — and a $1.46 million prize fund with $485,000 going to the winner.
With six 30-minute races at former European F1 circuits and the women driving 1.8l Formula Three cars, it promises to be an exciting spectacle albeit surrounded by controversy.
Spanish racer Carmen Jorda created a backlash when she backed a female-only series, suggesting women were at a physical disadvantage and therefore could not compete with men at the very top level.
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F1 racer Kevin Magnussen also supported the series, as did former British racer David Coulthard, who is on the advisory board.
“When I was karting as a boy, I raced a few girls who were talented and quick. But there weren’t many of them; a lot more boys than girls go karting and that’s a fact,” Magnussen said. “So I welcome W Series and hope it’ll help female racers progress their careers.”
But former IndyCar driver Pippa Mann felt let down by the W Series, which is introduced just a year after grid girls were axed from pit-lanes and starting grids at Grand Prix.
“What a sad day for motorsport,” Mann tweeted. “Those with funding to help female racers are choosing to segregate them as opposed to supporting them.
“I am deeply disappointed to see such a historic step backwards take place in my lifetime.”
Despite the mixed reaction, Seidel is definitely excited at the possibility of competing and taking her racing to the next level.
She took to social media and said: “So excited to be part of the W Series and meet all the other qualifiers end of January for the final selection. Let’s do this.”
And after creating quite the storm as a Playmate and model, the German will be looking to do the same from the cockpit next year.
This article originally appeared in The Sun and has been reproduced with permission
Originally published as Playboy model living her F1 dream
I don't know what's more impressive: Johnson getting to within .2 of Alonso's time in an F1 car (first time) or Alonso being 4 seconds quicker than Johnson in the Cup car.
The Force India name will be replaced by Racing Point on next season’s F1 grid, following official confirmation of the team’s rebranding for 2019.
It comes after their takeover earlier this year by a consortium led by Lawrence Stroll, whose son Lance will partner Sergio Perez in the squad’s new driver line-up.
Following that takeover, from August’s Belgian Grand Prix the team became a new entity, forfeiting their previous 2018 constructors’ championship points and competing as Racing Point Force India.
Now, Formula 1’s governing body, the FIA, has confirmed in its official 2019 entry list that the team will be known simply as Racing Point next year.
The Force India name had been a fixture on the F1 grid since former boss Vijay Mallya took over the Spyker team – formerly Jordan and MF1 - at the end of 2007.
Other changes confirmed in the FIA’s 2019 entry list are new title sponsors for the Ferrari and Haas teams – Mission Winnow and Rich Energy respectively – as well as race numbers for most of next year’s new drivers.
No love lost between him and the Scuderia that's for sure and actually given his lack of mental lapses, Lewis probably would've won the WC for the Prancing Horse.
Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle has warned Formula 1's bosses that the venue won't remain the home of the British Grand Prix at any cost as the circuit works in priority to diversify its revenue stream.
Last year, the BRDC, which owns and operates the historic track, triggered a break clause in its current burdensome contract with F1 that could see Silverstone host the British GP for the last time in 2019 unless a new, more favourable agreement is signed sealed with Liberty Media.
Pringle addressed the issue on Monday at the BRDC Awards, in the presence of F1 CEO Chase Carey.
"We got ourselves into a pickle because we had a business that was solely financed by the grand prix," Pringle said.
"So we had to diversify, and we’re doing that. We’re going to build a hotel, we’ve got Silverstone Experience opening, and we have some additional short-stay luxury accommodation. Aston Martin are now tenants on-site.
"Things are very much heading in the right direction, and it gives us the confidence to say Lord knows we want to keep the grand prix, but not at any price.
"We’re going to have a broader, more diverse business that can survive without it. But we’d much rather have one with it."
Carey wouldn't give anything away with regard to F1's ongoing negotiations with Silverstone, but the American executive reiterated his belief that the sport must retain its historical roots, even as it extends its calendar to include new venues.
"We’ve been very clear: you always build a sport on its foundation, and the foundation of this sport is here in Europe," Carey said.
"The fans that have been followers for the longest period of time are here in Europe, and you have to build a sport on top of its foundations.
“We are committed to making sure the sport is strong here. We think we can engage fans, new fans around the world.
"The reality is most of our events are reasonably long-term, so there is a lot of stability to what we do," he added.
"But we do think you want to bring some freshness to it. We think it’s important to go to some places that can capture people’s imagination that are new.
"That being said, we want to be sure we continue to cherish what has made this sport so precious for so long."
I agree with this. I think it's a misconception that Ferrari has the more superior car. And Vettel is rather unlucky this year. He's made some mistakes, but the mistakes from the second half of the season, I don't really know if they are mistakes. I think he just had to take more risk since he was behind, and that Mercedes has gotten more pace at that point, if not more pace than Ferrari.
Mercedes was all over Ferrari in the opening race in Australia, especially the qualifying pace, a massive 0,7s gap. Mercedes made a mistake with the pit stop calculation, and Hamilton made a mistake in a attempt to pass Vettel, handed Vettel the win. But Hamilton during the race was all over Vettel.
Bahrain was close with Vettel somehow managing to win despite using super old tires and Bottas being all over him.
China is the start of his rotten luck of this season. Vettel was doing decently in the race until Hartley and Gasly came together causing a safety car. Both Ferrari and Mercedes did not take this opportunity to pit their cars, unlike RB. And after the restart, Verstappen ran into Vettel, and he finished 8th.
Vettel was doing pretty well in Baku and enjoyed a decent gap from Hamilton. But again his rotten luck continued with both RB taking each other out, causing a safety car. He made a mistake of trying to outbrake bottas but gotta admit it wasn't his day with that crash. Hamilton also got extremely lucky that Bottas got a puncture in the final lap, earning an extra 7 points for doing nothing.
Ferrari's strategy at Spain is questionable, and with Kimi's retirement, it meant Vettel didn't have much of a chance. And here, MB was clearly faster.
Monaco is Monaco and it's a RB track. Ferrari nor MB is dominant here.
Ferrari showed its dominance in Canada.
...and MB showed how good they are in France in qualifying. Vettel made the mistake of getting to close to Bottas and so he got no downforce to help with braking, but realistically this mistake only costed him 5 points (3rd to 5th).
MB was dominant in Austria but both cars DNF. There's not much to separate Ferrari and RB though. Vettel got a grid penalty because he blocked Sainz in quali, but I think that's more of Ferrari's mistake for not providing him with enough info. He could've won the race.
MB again was dominant in Silverstone. Kimi made Ham spin around and he still recovered two second place thanks to a safety car. Hamilton got a bit lucky there.
Germany was the pivotal point in the championship race IMO. It wasn't the worst mistake but it's a very costly one. But I do have to question Ferrari, why didn't they let Vettel pass Kimi earlier when Vettel was on a different pit strategy with way fresher tires? Vettel was stuck behind Kimi for 8 laps, costing him many seconds. And being stuck behind someone also means worse tire degradation. It created extra, unnecessary pressure for Vettel since Hamilton was catching up fast with fresher tires. The funny thing is, Mercedes implemented its team order in this race and asked Bottas not to pass Hamilton because Bottas had better tires after the restart. So, on the surface it's a Vettel's mistake, but look deeper, I think it was Ferrari's mistake.
In Belgium, again, the weather costed Ferrari in qualifying. Vettel was able to pass Hamilton in the first lap, and was able to hold onto his position.
At this point, people started saying the Ferrari is the faster car. Well, even if it was, the weather certain didn't help them. In Hungary, Ferrari was leading FP2 and FP3, but in the rain the Ferrari wasn't as fast. End result? MB used Bottas to help Ham win the race.
I was baffled by Ferrari's decision to use Vettel to help Kimi with getting pole. By this time, it should be clear that Vettel was the only one close to challenging for the title. And also at this time, there are off-track issues with Ferrari, such as the death of Marchionni, and Kimi's contract situation. It was clear after this race that Kimi was not going to be with Ferrari in 2019. That's probably why Ferrari didn't want to screw with Kimi for qualifying and the race. It's also weird how Vettel would keep spinning out despite being the inside car. This was the first time, then Japan, then US. He wasn't even going fast. I have a feeling Vettel might have been over driving the car the whole time, and making it seems like the Ferrari is the faster car when it's not.
Singapore, Russia, Japan, Ferrari simply didn't have the pace. Their upgrades made the car slower. It also didn't help with Ferrari's strategies in Singapore and Japan. The tire choice for the qualifying in Japan was especially stupid.
After these races, the Championship was pretty much wrapped up.
The only mistakes that are purely on Vettel was the France GP one, but that would only cost him 5 points. He also had to take a fair share of blame for the lock up in Baku but man was he unlucky with the timing of the safety car.
Ferrari could've prevented Vettel's mistakes in Monza (20pts), Germany (at least 32 pts) , and Japan (7 pts).
In Spain and Singapore, I feel like Vettel could've gained a few more points if the strategies were better.
I also think Bottas has done a brilliant wing man job for Hamilton this season, namely in Hungary, Russia, and Monza where he successfully take away points from Vettel. I can't say the same for Kimi.
It's easy to place the blame on Vettel for Ferrari's failure this season. But I think that's a bit unfair to the man when looking at the whole picture.
As typical for iforyou, excellent writeup. I agree with this except for
Monaco is Monaco and it's a RB track. Ferrari nor MB is dominant here.
where MB has won 4 of the last 6 Monaco GP's.
I'll throw in my on the current F1 competition situation and focus on the cars, teams, and personnel.
MB
Pretty amazing to look at where MB is today considering it's been mostly circumstance that brought MB together into the best F1 team for the past 5 seasons. It was slow culmination for a technical solution since there was loss of staff at Brawn in 2009, and more left after the buyout since more staff left being disillusioned with Brawn and the senior staff getting the vast bulk of the buyout money. It was not until 2013 that Aldo Costa (former Ferrari designer Rory Bryne assistant, later Ferrari TD) and Toto Wolff came to MB, that seemed like a perfect pairing along with a very innovative MB powerplant (with Andy Cowell's engine team) with the split turbo/MGU-H design in 2014.
Signing Nico (down to Ross Brawn) in 2010 was brilliant as he was quicker and scored better than Schumacher, then signing Hamilton in 2012 (Lauda move). That started the perfect team from 2014-2018. Adding to that was Bob Bell (former Benneton/Renault) and Geoff Willis (former Williams aerodynamics), it brought together an amazing chassis/powertrain package. Going for a very long wheelbase package has worked very well for them, despite the extra mass MB has managed to built a very balanced chassis.
They've come up with some very creative innovated tricks, the FRIS (front read interlinked suspension which was banned) and carbon fibre cassette style gearbox (which allows MB to change rear suspension pickup points from race to race to suite the track/drivers style). Despite the 150" wheelbase MB have worked it very well, the only drawback has been the car can be narrow tire temp window and setup sensitive. Recently (2018?) MB started to use the RBR high floor rack spacing which helps accelerate the under floor air increasing rear downforce. MB also hired James Allison from Ferrari for 2017, which IMO was a brilliant move since he understood Ferrari's strengths and weaknesses. Despite being a RBR innovation, MB are using it now but not as much angle as RBR. Add to that MB has been very good in strategy, they've executed very well the majority of the time. Far better than Ferrari the past few years. IMO, Alonso, Vettel, and Hamilton could have won the WDC with MB (both team and car). Once thing changing for 2019 is Aldo Costa, the chief designer of the past 6 years is now taking a step back and only working part-time at MB.
Ferrari
Marchionne and Arrivabene replacing di Montezemolo and Mattiacci in 2015 made a huge change at Ferrari which resulted in alot of technical changes. Many senior F1 technical staff were demoted or fired, Mattia Binotto was promoted to technical director. Being the former engine chief Binotto sought to correct the awful 2014 engine with newer design to rectify the power deficit to MB. One area that I'll get into later was apparent vast increase in aerodynamic innovations that were radical in the front floorpan and bargeboards/sidepods which even upstaged MB in 2017.
Ferrari even got into used the mirrors for airflow/vortex management, Ferrari also finally got to close if not on par with MB power, the battery saga this season was interesting in terms of finding ways around the FIA rulebook for the MGU-H. The big issue I see at Ferrari is race strategy which apparently according to Italian press has prompted Binotto rumors to quitting if Arrivabene is not removed.
Although no team is perfect Ferrari seems to mess up more than typical for a front running team, love to know if the race engineers suffer from Italian politics. It's been a fairly continuous stream of poor tire choices, pit stops, heck even giving Kimi a qualifying tow at Monza 2018 made absolutely no sense, I feel Vettel can win WDC's at Ferrari with the chassis/powertrain package but there needs to be some change in strategy leadership.
One area is driver support, Vettel never looks like the carefree easy going Vettel at RBR from 2009-2013 until he was upstage by Riccairdo in 2014. Vettel is pretty upfront with admitting mistakes but most of the time when the team messes up there are no apologies.
RBR
Only woe at RBR is they need ~80 more HP. The latest Renault turbo/MGU-H did not work well so they 2017 version as integrated into the 2018 ICE. Newey has worked his chassis magic at RBR, the high rack concept works well, and RBR seem to have flexibility in their tire management compared to MB and Ferrari (could also be because of less power). RBR also get their race strategy working very well as shown to good results the few years,
Give alot of credit to Horner and Newey for creating a great environment at RBR where they've achieved alot in their short time.
Big problem with F1 in 2018
Aero, alot of reasons to why it's gotten so much difficult. A few years ago FIA imposed track testing limits to reduce the advantage teams could have with the amount of money and time to run extensive testing. Many teams in the 90's started CFD (computational flow dynamics) S/W simulations of the aero on the cars. It's come a long way, the leading teams all have extensive in house teams running complex simulations that are very difficult to model in a wind tunnel or race track.
Running behind a car, winds, floor height, suspension movement....and try them in a few minutes by running some modeling sims. Adding to that is the lead teams have found ways to harness new downforce techniques, remember in the 80's and 90's teams ran their exhaust out the BOTTOM of the diffuser to create more downforce with hot low pressure air? IN the early 2010's it was the opposite where the high velocity exhaust gasses were used more efficiently from a airflow management around the TOP of the diffuser. RBR used that extensively in the early 2010's.
The teams with the advanced CFD programs can also create extremely complex aero packages that exploit and use the air flow and vortex's as completely integrated approach which is why wings from MB, RBR, and Ferrari have very different approaches. The front wing is the most critical component of the aero package since it started the process of shaping and moving the air of the boundary surfaces and creating downforce and trying to reduce drag. It's hard for the 2nd tier teams to even catch up since it's extremely complicated now only in the design but also accurately representing the environment in the CDF simulation.
Curious how MB, Ferrari, and RBR got so good at their aero capability. I'm hoping the 2019 big aero changes result in more parity of the field.
The FIA's official investigation in to the first corner crash at this year's Belgian Grand Prix has concluded that the halo saved Charles Leclerc from being hit on his visor by the front wing endplate of Fernando Alonso's car, Motorsport.com can reveal.
Well put.
IIRC, some of the teams are already claiming 2018 downforce with the '19 aero regs, based on CFD models. We'll see come winter testing.
Yeah, I'm still expecting MB, Ferrari, and Red Bull to be at the front but hopeful that the 2019 aero rule changes will reduce the tier 1 to 2 gap.
Quite a few typo's in my writeup, I meant to say rake angle vs rack angle
11-28-2018, 03:09 PM
on the current F1 competition situation and focus on the cars, teams, and personnel.
We'll see come winter testing.
