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McLaren has escaped an unsafe release penalty in the aftermath of the Mexican Grand Prix as the FIA has ruled it was "not possible to determine" whether the team had broken the regulations.
Lando Norris was forced to bring his McLaren McL34 to a halt at pitlane exit during the race after making his sole pitstop, with the new front left tyre seeming not to have been fitted properly
He was pushed back towards the McLaren pit box and the issue was corrected, but his race was undone by then, and he eventually brought the car back in to retire.
McLaren was placed under investigation shortly after the pitstop, but ultimately escaped punishment.
The offence of releasing a car from the pitbox with a wheel improperly attached normally leads to a monetary penalty, and the Woking-based team itself had to pay a €5000 fine as recently as the Italian Grand Prix, when Carlos Sainz retired as a consequence of a botched pitstop
In their verdict for the latest case, the FIA stewards wrote: "The team representative stated that the front left mechanic was not sure if the tyre was secured properly therefore they decided to stop the car for caution.
"After reviewing video evidences, the FIA technical delegate could not establish if the car was in an unsafe condition after being released from the pit stop.
"The Stewards considered that with the available evidence it is not possible to determine if the car was released in an unsafe condition."
McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl said the Norris stoppage was a "different issue" to the Sainz situation in Monza.
"We had an issue with the wheelnut going on on one corner, which was cross-threaded, and that was the issue," Seidl said.
"We improved compared to Monza in terms of reaction, we managed to stop the car inside the pitlane and pull it back but obviously it is better to not get to this scenario.
"These pitstops are happening within 2.5 seconds and you try to go to the limit but these happen so quickly, especially when you have the issue of cross-threading, it is bad luck. But still we need to learn from it and see what we can do on the technical side and the operation side."
Haas Formula 1 drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen will be given their first taste of NASCAR over the US GP weekend.
Tony Stewart, co-owner of the sister Stewart-Haas Racing NASCAR outfit, is to drive them around COTA on the Thursday before the race in the number 14 Ford Mustang, equipped with a passenger seat. The F1 drivers will then both have a chance to take the wheel.
Stewart has previously given Magnussen a run in a sprint car, as captured in the Netflix Drive to Survive series.
Magnussen has never raced with a roof, but he has tested a Mercedes DTM machine
"A DTM car is very aerodynamic," Magnussen said. "They have a lot of downforce. A stock car hardly has any downforce. So, I don't have any idea how it'll be. I've never driven a NASCAR before. I'm pretty certain it's going to be very different to the other car I drive around COTA
"A NASCAR is such an iconic race car. I've always been eager to try one. Of course, it's usually in its element on an oval, but they do race on road courses, as well. It'll be interesting to have a go and have a bit of fun.
"I found my feet in that sprint car last October pretty quickly thanks to [Tony's] advice, and also thanks to him jumping in the car and showing how it's done before I got in.
"I had a great time with Tony. He's a great driving instructor and he knows his way around these things. His experience and knowledge when it comes to stock cars is probably just as impressive."
"I think we just need to slam the brakes a bit earlier than we do with a Formula 1 car," he said. "We'll see how the engine responds to throttle application. I can't wait. The sound of it's going to be great.
"I think it's going to be a good experience. I think having Tony Stewart helping us and giving us advice is going to be bloody amazing."
Austin will be Stewart's first NASCAR outing since he returned his focus to sprint cars three years ago.
"It's kind of hard to believe that it's been three years since I last drove a stock car," he said. "But seeing some of these road-course races – especially the Roval at Charlotte – have piqued my interest a bit, so this is a good way to sort of satisfy that hunger.
"I've never been to COTA. All I know about it is what I've seen on TV and on my iRacing simulator. I kind of like that. Even after two decades in NASCAR, there's still new stuff to experience. I haven't driven that racetrack and Kevin and Romain haven't ever driven a stock car. We'll figure it out together."
Saying that Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage is upset that Formula 1 and the NASCAR Cup Series are both running races in Texas on Nov. 3 may be the understatement of the racing season. Gossage says that Formula 1 officials are simply disrespecting racing fans this weekend by staging its U.S. Grand Prix in Austin on the same day at the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA Texas 500 in Fort Worth.
The two venues are just three hours apart.
“Here’s how I look at it,” Gossage said on a recent episode of the “Autoweek Podcast.” “There’s very little competition between NASCAR and Formula 1, but there is some, and I think it’s an absolute insult, lack of respect, lack of professionalism on the part of Formula 1 to schedule a race on the very same day, three hours away from a NASCAR Cup race.
“There are 52 weekends in the year. They’re going to run NASCAR at Texas Motor Speedway two weekends a year. There’s 50 other weekends that Formula 1 could schedule a race. People say, ‘Well, (F1) travels all over the globe, you’ve got to run here in Texas, you’ve got to run in Mexico and have to run those two races close together because of travel. OK, then run Mexico on Nov. 3. Run the U.S. Grand Prix a couple weeks later or flip-flop them.”
The U.S. Grand Prix in Austin is making its eighth stop in Texas this weekend. This year’s race marks just the second time in the race’s history in Texas that it will be run on the same day as the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Both races were contested on the same date last in 2014
The other six years, the races were separated on the calendar by two weeks.
“To me, it’s an assault by Formula 1 on NASCAR,” Gossage said. “It’s not about Texas Motor Speedway. It’s about something bigger than that. It’s about the sport.
“It’s not good for either. The loser is the race fan, and they’re who I work for. I know that while there might not be a great deal of crossover, there is some. Some people are going to be forced to choose one over the other. Whether is 50-50 or 99-1, that’s not good for the sport."
If there is one saving grace, for fans watching on TV, it is that the F1 race is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. on ABC TV and should be just about wrapped up in time for the start of the NASCAR Cup race on NBCSN at 3 p.m.
“Formula 1 needs all the support it can get in the States," Gossage said. "They can talk all they want to about it being world-wide, blah, blah, blah, but the TV ratings are abysmal in the U.S. all year long. This isn’t doing them any good. This is the kind of thing that if done right, can help them a lot. There’s no reason for this kind of conflict to exist.”
Watching the 1hr announcement & they showed a few differing renders that try ti illustrate how different teams 'could' differentiate from these renders.
Chief, wonder if your brother told Prost he's the head of Watkins Glen?
Prost never raced there but was there in 1980 (last F1 race), he qualified but had a big shunt on Saturday practice due to a mechanical failure (suspension IIRC) in practice and had a concussion.
He quit McLaren that weekend for Renault.
Yeah, no kidding . . . . yesterday morning he was in the Ferrari press conference and had time to chat with Vettel and Leclerc. They gave him signed Ferrari shirts, then he went out with a factory driver in a race-ready 458 for hot laps on the track. Today and tomorrow he's in the Paddock Club courtesy of MBZ.
edit: Just heard from my brother, his hook-up from MBZ got him in their garage yesterday during FP2. He was provided a headset to listen to the commentary and the team talking to Bottas and Hamilton. He got to witness some pitstops too, said it was way cool.
Originally Posted by Legend2TL
Chief, wonder if your brother told Prost he's the head of Watkins Glen?
Prost never raced there but was there in 1980 (last F1 race), he qualified but had a big shunt on Saturday practice due to a mechanical failure (suspension IIRC) in practice and had a concussion.
He quit McLaren that weekend for Renault.
Yes, he did Legend, that's how they started chatting. Prost told him about his 1980 crash there in practice that put him out of contention for the weekend.
Originally Posted by F-C
Why didn't I know about this yesterday? I could have made a layover in Detroit!
Last edited by Chief F1 Fan; 11-02-2019 at 08:23 AM.
WTF happened? I don't remember the track being that bumpy before and wouldn't think frost-heave would be a factor there.
Apparently it's the way the texas "black soil" settles over time causing all the bumps... The track even shaved off some areas to reduce bumps! Might have to resurface it!
It'd be interesting to find out the reason for the Ferrari's suspension failure. It almost seems like it was broke before the race started based on Vettel's account of massive understeer. Maybe a hairline crack from damage in practice that was undetected?
Saw/heard that COTA will be closed over the winter for resurfacing. It was a bit shocking how bumpy it was. The drivers running just a bit wide a T9 was the straw that broke the horse's back for Seb, he hit that dusty bit/hole & snap.
Sebastian Vettel believes Formula 1’s rule restricting drivers from changing their crash helmet designs more than one is “major BS”, a sentiment shared by Max Verstappen.
Since 2015, the FIA’s sporting regulations have required drivers to have their crash helmets “presented in substantially the same livery”, with the exception of one race, “in order for drivers to be easily distinguished from one another whilst they are on the track”
Last weekend in Mexico, five-time world champion Lewis Hamilton wrote to his fans on Instagram to ask “how many of you think it’s bs [bullshit]” and presented a poll to see “who thinks we should be free to express ourselves and have more changes”
More than 90% of the responses were in favour, and when asked by Motorsport.com for their thoughts, Vettel and Verstappen said they do not like the rule.
Vettel said: “Well, I change it [my helmet the design] anyway so… It’s our helmet and we should be free to do what we want, so I think the rule is major BS.
“We have very little room left to sort of express ourselves and the helmet is probably the only one and if people like it, that’s great, if they don’t like it well it’s not their helmet.
“So I think we should be in charge for designing which way and which colour our helmet has.”
Vettel used to regularly change his helmet designs when racing for Red Bull, a trend that Verstappen referenced in his own answer.
“I agree. I always loved when Seb was at Red Bull and changing his helmet every race, almost, more or less,” said Verstappen. “It was cool because you were just like ‘what is he coming up with now?’.
“I do a few but I’m not going to say I will do a different helmet every race because it’s just too much effort in designing the helmet but I think if you want to make it blue or red, the next race, why not? It’s your crash helmet and you should be able to do what you want.
“Of course in the past, there have been drivers who have always had the same helmet and then they say ‘yeah, but that’s how we can distinguish the drivers’.
“But at the end of the day we have massive numbers on the side, we have a halo on the top, so let us do what we want with the helmet now.
“It’s very nice to have a different design every year because it’s a bit boring always to keep the same helmet.”
Valtteri Bottas, who changed his helmet design for this year by adding more blue and a pattern, said he liked to keep the same scheme but acknowledged the importance of having freedom to choose.
“Everyone might have a special occasion, or a special connection to some certain country, where you want to do something special or pay a respect to someone you know,” he said.
“It would be nice to see a bit more freedom because it’s our personal thing. We should be in control of that, rather than anyone else.”
Meanwhile, Ricciardo ran his 3rd/4th(?) helmet design of the year in Austin.
He's got the patchwork looking one, the Brabham, and the UT Austin white, thought there was a 4th, but can't recall at the moment.
I'd think most viewers TV/or live, are looking for the number on the side, or at the black/yellow t-wing at the top for easy driver identification, not their helmet.
Nico Hulkenberg was ousted out of his Renault seat in favour of Esteban Ocon. Only two seats hold realistic options in Formula 1 and it doesn't look like it'll be Hulkenberg filling either. With Williams, Nicholas Latifi seems to be the lucky one, with Alfa Romeo Racing they will most likely continue with Antonio Giovinazzi. Hulkenberg is likely to leave for the DTM to work with the BMW team
The Italian branch of Motorsport knows that the German has accepted the offer from BMW and will come with an official confirmation on Tuesday. After the 2019 season in Formula 1, the cheerful Hulk disappears from F1.
Hulkenberg will be replaced next season by Esteban Ocon, who returns to Formula 1 after a year's absence.
IIRC, he holds the record for most F1 starts without a podium? Not the most prestigious record to hold.
Depends on how you look at it. He's been only with tier 2 teams, Force India, Sauber, Renault. Not teams that could challenge for podiums. So in that regard, his results were still valued enough that teams were willing to hire him without sponsorship.
I was also surprised that they left Magnussen's car in the runoff, given they're running 200+ MPH into T12. Replays showed that it was off the trajectory of a straight on run-off, but still a hazard.
Saw the recovery JCB heading that way & I guess someone made the decision to leave it there & let the fight run its course rather than throw a VSC/SC.
Really came down to the last few laps, whether Hamilton could hold off Bottas, and whether Verstappen would get within striking distance to Hamilton before the flag.
10-29-2019, 10:55 AM
I don't think there's a ton of fan crossover between the average F1 & NASCAR fanbases.
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Why didn't I know about this yesterday? I could have made a layover in Detroit!
WTF happened? I don't remember the track being that bumpy before and wouldn't think frost-heave would be a factor there. 
