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Formula 1’s decision to delay its new technical regulations to 2022 has had several implications for Pirelli.
The sport’s official tyre supplier was granted an extension on its F1 tyre supply contract in 2018. It was originally appointed to supply 13-inch tyres for 2020, then 18-inch rubber for 2021 to 2023.
However the rules change means F1 will continue to use 13-inch tyres for a further season in 2021 before switching to 18-inch rubber. This has a knock-on effect for Pirelli, as the cost of developing the new tyres can now only be spread over two seasons instead of three.
Nonetheless a Pirelli spokesperson confirmed to RaceFans it supports the decision to delay F1’s new rules. “We will work together with all the parties involved to identify the best approach from now on,” they said.
Another consequence of the change for Pirelli is its testing plan for the 18-inch tyres this year, which had already commenced, now has to be delayed.
The second test was due to take place at Ferrari’s Fiorano test track on March 5th. That was cancelled due to the spread of the pandemic, and subsequent tests will also be delayed to next year.
“Testing on 18-inch tyres will now happen during 2021,” the spokesperson confirmed to RaceFans, adding it was too early to plan when and where this would take place.
The 2019 season was one to forget for the U.S. based team, and Grosjean told Canal+ that Haas being open in saying that 2020 could be the final year for the team is more useful than saying nothing.
"At least he clears things up," Grosjean told French TV channel Canal+. "There is nothing worse than someone who says 'No, no, we'll stay in Formula 1, everything's fine, etc', only to stop the whole thing completely by surprise."
Grosjean continued by saying that Haas has achieved the immediate goals set when entering Formula 1, so the Frenchman could understand why the drasticly different technical regulations of 2021 - now being introduced for 2022 - may be a convinient jumping off point for the team.
"Gene was clear: he joined F1 to put the Haas Automation brand on the map. He now has this reputation and the brand is well known," said Grosjean.
"He came to Formula 1 also because he likes motorsport, he's a true petrol head. Now, is there a single person close to Haas who enjoyed watching Formula 1 races in 2019? I perfectly understand what he said, and I find it rather positive.
"Sure all the mechanics are thinking 'Really? But what's going to happen?', they have more doubts. But the management, drivers and engineers know we've got to work."
An inside story of Drive to Survive, the Netflix F1 series.
Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive To Survive series has beamed the sport of F1 into the homes of a whole new audience, with viewers watching enraptured as the show’s cameras delved deep into the inner sanctums of the paddock’s 10 teams.
In light of the challenges faced by the coronavirus pandemic, the World Motor Sport Council has approved, via e-vote, a series of changes to the 2020 and 2021 Formula 1 regulations.
Earlier this month, F1, the FIA and all 10 teams unanimously agreed to delay the introduction of the 2021 regulations by a year to 2022. The WMSC has now rubber stamped the move, allowing the relevant regulations to be adjusted.
There will be further measures introduced, such as approving the carry over of the 2020 cars’ survival cell - with no changes allowed - and “certain other components” to 2021 to keep costs down. Mercedes’ innovative dual axis steering system will be outlawed from next year.
The WMSC also approved a series of other changes, including the addition of Article 1.3 to the Sporting Regulations, which means the governing body can now change certain articles with 60% support of the teams – rather then requiring unanimity.
The FIA says this will enable greater flexibility to react to the challenges the world is currently facing. Among the articles which are impacted by this change are the rules dictating free practice, tyre, parc ferme and the starting procedure.
Meanwhile, the WMSC approved the decision to allow the FIA and F1 to change the calendar without a vote among teams. This will allow for a streamlined process to reshuffle the calendar when it becomes appropriate to go racing again.
There is also an additional shutdown of three weeks, during March and/or April, for power unit manufacturers (who were exempt from the existing teams' shutdown) – plus confirmation that the number of power unit elements each driver is allowed will be changed should the number of races be reduced.
Aerodynamic development for the 2022 regulations – which will feature a revolutionary new generation of cars – has been banned as of Saturday March 28 until the end of 2020.
Teams will also be able to hold a one-day test within 48 hours of the final race of the season to run young drivers. Up to two cars may be used for this test but it remains optional.
FIA President Jean Todt has also been granted the authority "to take any decisions in connection with the organisation of international competitions for the 2020 season, which may be required as a matter of urgency" in order to deal with requests for postponements and/or cancellations "without delay".
McLaren Formula One racers Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris have both agreed to take a voluntary pay cut as many team members have been furloughed. The McLaren factory is all but shut down in the wake of an F1 season delayed by the spread of coronavirus across the globe.
The team based in Woking, Surrey has become the first F1 team to confirm it has taken the UK Government’s job retention plan, which allows employers to put staff on leave while paying them £2,500 per month (around $3100). Sainz and Norris will allegedly be receiving the same 2,500 quid checks (cheques?) as the rest of the team. CEO Zak Brown and all of the other senior management of the team have agreed to pay cuts, but did not clarify how much would be cut.
“The McLaren Group is temporarily furloughing a number of employees as part of wider cost-cutting measures due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business,” a McLaren spokesperson said. “These measures are focused on protecting jobs in the short-term to ensure our employees return to full-time work as the economy recovers.”
According to GQ, Carlos Sainz was set to make $5,800,000 during the 2020 season, while Lando Norris was on track for just $370,000. Both numbers include the individual racers’ endorsement deals. Assuming these endorsement deals still stand, both drivers will still probably make a decent chunk of their income from those sponsor engagements, rather than paid out by the team.
As a long-time follower of Formula One, it is a little strange to see the team that paid a $100 million fine in 2007 working on austerity measures to make it through this temporary shut down. But, without any races running at the moment, the team is facing a lengthy period of great expense and no income.
Many measures have already been taken to reduce the expense teams are seeing, including moving the annual mandatory factory shut-down “summer break” from August to April. Especially in McLaren’s case, it is likely that shut-down will extend at least a couple of months. Further, the teams have already agreed to freeze development in 2020, extend the use of 2020 chassis through the end of 2021, and are discussing extending that through the end of 2022.
Formula One has been a rich guy sport for a long time, with budgets in the hundreds of millions, but it’s on the verge of crashing down around us. How long can these teams last without any income from the sport? I shudder at the thought.
Not F1 related but nice to see Ron Dennis contributing and supporting a great cause in the UK health system
Ex-McLaren Formula 1 chief Ron Dennis has announced a new initiative to help support NHS frontline workers during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Dennis, who was at the helm of McLaren from 1981 until 2017, is spearheading the new initiative called SalutetheNHS.org, that will provide high-quality meals to NHS workers for the next three months.
The meals will be made available free of charge to ICU teams, anaesthetic teams and A&E staff during their shifts when they are currently unable to leave their clinical areas under current protocol to combat COVID-19.
The Dennis family has donated £1million to the initiative, which also has support from companies including Tesco, Absolute Taste and Yodel.
"This is a time when all of us, individuals and businesses alike, need to stand up and be counted in the effort to combat COVID-19. We're all in this together," Dennis said.
"I am delighted to be leading this initiative to help ensure that vital NHS workers have nutritious meals while they work every hour in this fight.
"It means they have one less thing to worry about.
"This is a huge logistical effort to build a major, professional food delivery operation almost from scratch in a week.
"I have been so impressed by the fantastic things we have achieved together so far, but we need support from others, as well as ongoing donations to keep this whole operation going."
Tesco CEO Dave Lewis added: "Ensuring families have access to the shopping essentials they need, safely, has been our priority over the last few weeks, and so we're pleased to now be able to help front line NHS workers by donating food and ingredients to provide them with one million meals through SalutetheNHS.org.
"COVID-19 has reminded the country of the critical role of essential workers, and on behalf of Tesco colleagues, we would like to sincerely thank NHS staff for all they are doing."
SalutetheNHS.org will begin to deliver free meals from tomorrow (April 6) at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford before expanding the scheme to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London one week later.
This will then be followed by a programme that rolls out the scheme to government-targeted locations across the country.
^ 48 minutes long but very informative history of Williams and how they got to where they are then and today.
Presents alot of personnel beyond the drivers and Williams/Head.
Good video. I definitely enjoy criticizing Williams. I think this is because they've always been the antagonist to whatever team/driver I'm supporting. But this video does show how shifting winds in F1 can easily sink a top independent team. Hindsight is also 20/20.
I think the big thing missing out of this video is how Williams shifted from Frank to Claire. We get some of that in the Williams documentary (currenlty available on Netflix), but a true analysis is missing. From an outsider looking in, was that the best decision Frank could have made? Did he stay in the captain's seat too long? Should an outsider have been brought in to manage the team a lot sooner? Maybe Wolf should have been put in charge?
Good video. I definitely enjoy criticizing Williams. I think this is because they've always been the antagonist to whatever team/driver I'm supporting. But this video does show how shifting winds in F1 can easily sink a top independent team. Hindsight is also 20/20.
I think the big thing missing out of this video is how Williams shifted from Frank to Claire. We get some of that in the Williams documentary (currenlty available on Netflix), but a true analysis is missing. From an outsider looking in, was that the best decision Frank could have made? Did he stay in the captain's seat too long? Should an outsider have been brought in to manage the team a lot sooner? Maybe Wolf should have been put in charge?
The creator on the video took it easy on Claire, who I thought was clearly wrong to fire Patrick Symonds and hire Patty Lowe in 2016. The 3 seasons Symonds was at Williams, his car designs got 3rd, 3rd, and 5th in WCC.
When Symonds was at Williams from 2013-2016, he spoke of trying to address their aero problems which caused considerable chassis imbalance over the race.
Then replacing Symonds with Lowe since there was legacy with Lowe, which proved to be a failure.
Also I think as the video showed, Frank was clearly not thinking clearly when he replaced Head with Michaels in 2004.
There's a F1 YouTube channel which had a very good interview with Ralf Schumacher who was surprisingly down to earth and not egotistical and called his F1 career a bit of a letdown despite winning 6 races and placing 4th in WDC twice.
Ralf spoke about how bad the aero was at Williams when he was there from 1999-2004. He though Jordan had better ideas and concepts despite a fraction of Williams capacity.
But overall I liked the video, one theme he does sorta dwell on is Williams has always prided itself on technical capabilities which brought the better F1 drivers and F1 engineers and designers to the team.
Frank was also not partial to any particular driver, since as Head said "they're like light bulbs, replaceable".
Williams and Racing Point are the second and third teams respectively to confirm they are putting some of their staff on furlough – an enforced absence from work – because of the coronavirus, with their drivers among those taking a pay cut.
At Williams, employees not placed on furlough will continue to work but on reduced pay as the British team – who finished last in the constructors’ championship last year – make moves to protect jobs and the team amid the challenging global situation.
Williams said in a statement: “Due to the ongoing situation involving Covid-19, ROKiT Williams Racing is temporarily furloughing a number of employees as part of a wider range of cost-cutting measures.
“The furlough period will last until the end of May whilst senior management, and our drivers, have taken a pay cut of 20% effective from 1st April.
“These decisions have not been taken lightly, however our aim is to protect the jobs of our staff at Grove and ensuring they can return to full-time work when the situation allows.”
A Racing Point spokesperson said: "Some staff have now been placed on temporary furlough. Our drivers will also take a voluntary pay cut."
The news comes a week after it emerged McLaren put some of their staff on furlough, while drivers Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris took a pay cut and employees who continue to work – including senior management – took a salary reduction.
Last month, the British government said they would pay 80% of salaries for staff who are kept on by their employer, covering wages up to £2,500 per month in a bid to help companies retain their workforce and prevent redundancies during the crisis.
The organisers of the 2020 Canadian Grand Prix – scheduled for June 12-14 – have announced the postponement of the race amid the ongoing global coronavirus outbreak.
In a statement, the Canadian promoters said they “would have been honoured to host the first race on the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship calendar” and that they were “saddened” to have to postpone the race.
“This postponement was not a decision that was taken lightly or easily,” the statement read. “Over the past month, we have been in constant communication with Formula 1 and representatives from the city of Montréal, Tourism Montreal and both provincial and federal governments.
“We have heard the directives issued by public health officials and as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic are following the expert guidance provided by the authorities.
“Our thoughts and most sincere thanks go to the men and women working tirelessly to keep us healthy, safe and fed during these uncertain times.”
Francois Dumontier, President and CEO Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix, added: "I am proud to see how such wonderful initiatives and technical advancements stemming from Formula 1 are being applied in a time of crisis. At the moment it is crucial that all of our energies be put together to overcome COVID-19. We will welcome you with open arms t Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve as soon as it is safe to do so."
Chase Carey, Chairman and CEO of Formula 1, said: “We have been working closely with our friends at the Canadian Grand Prix over the past few weeks and support them in taking this necessary decision to ensure the safety of fans and the F1 community. We always look forward to travelling to the incredible city of Montreal and while we will all have to wait a bit longer, we will put on a great show when we arrive later this year.”
All tickets for the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix 2020 will continue to be valid. As soon as the new date of the Grand Prix is confirmed, all spectators will be informed of the available options.
Formula 1’s rulemakers have approved a motion to extend the shutdown period by a further two weeks, as the world continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic.
On Monday, F1 teams, F1 and the FIA held a conference call to discuss a number of matters, including extending the shutdown period.
The FIA said the Strategy Group, F1 Commission and 10 teams gave unanimous approval to extend the shutdown period from 21 days to 35. The World Motor Sport Council subsequently ratified the decision.
The shutdown means departments such as design, research and development, production and build must down tools. A recent rule change extended the closure to power unit manufacturers, too, as rulemakers moved to cut costs.
Teams can enforce their shutdown in March, April and/or May. Ferrari’s initial three-week period was due to end tomorrow, Wednesday 8 April. Alfa Romeo’s first three weeks, for example, won’t end until April 13th.
The FIA added in their statement: “Further discussions regarding this topic remain open between the FIA, Formula 1 and all teams in light of the ongoing global impact of COVID-19.”
“We are obviously discussing with F1, the FIA and all the teams a budget cap reduction, but we should not forget when doing that exercise that we’ve got different structures, we’ve got different assets. There are teams that are constructors – as Ferrari and other top teams – where we are designing, developing, homologating and producing each single component of our cars. Other teams are customers, so buying some parts, so not having the same structure obviously because they are not designing, developing etcetera all those components.
“So I think when discussing a budget cap we should not forget that we’ve got different situations and it’s important that we find a common ground somehow that is fitting to the different situations. And maybe the answer is not a single budget cap equal for all the teams.
Binotto's opinion on budget caps. Basically, what he is saying is that budget caps should be based on how much of a car the team is designing/making. So a team like Haas which gets alot of stuff from Ferrari should have a smaller cap than Ferrari.
I guess it makes sense on one level, but I think that basically means the same status quo. Unless he is arguing that Ferrari should have a much bigger budget cap than Red Bull, because Red Bull doesn't build engines.
Unless the manufacturers can separate the design & development costs, and have the team' buy from the mfg? So Ferrari does the design work & 'sells' it to Ferrari F1?
Probably just moves the issue to a different level, because then what's to stop the mfg from running wild with costs & shielding it from the budget cap? Unless all customer teams are given parity on purchased parts?
Unless the manufacturers can separate the design & development costs, and have the team' buy from the mfg? So Ferrari does the design work & 'sells' it to Ferrari F1?
Probably just moves the issue to a different level, because then what's to stop the mfg from running wild with costs & shielding it from the budget cap? Unless all customer teams are given parity on purchased parts?
Yeah, it gets really complicated. The more complicated it gets, the less likely it can be enforced.
Formula 1 motorsports boss Ross Brawn says the 2020 season will likely begin in Europe – and potentially behind closed doors – when it eventually gets under way, after the delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
On Tuesday, the Canadian Grand Prix became the latest race to be postponed because of the virus, the ninth race to be postponed or cancelled, with F1 bosses working with promoters to create a revised calendar for a time when it is possible to once again go racing.
Brawn said it was Formula 1’s desire to go racing as soon as possible – if anything to give fans some entertainment in difficult times – even if that means holding some of the initial events without fans.
“Travel for the teams and travel for everyone involved is going to be one of the big issues,” said Brawn, who was speaking to Sky Sports. “You could argue once we get there we could become fairly self-contained.
“Our view is probably a European start will be favourable and that could even be a closed event. We could have a very enclosed environment, where teams come in on charters, we channel them into the circuit, we make sure everyone is tested, cleared and that there is no risk to anyone.
“We have a race with no spectators. That’s not great, but it’s better than no racing at all. We have to remember there are millions of people who follow the sport sat at home. A lot of them are isolating and to be able to keep the sport alive and put on a sport and entertain people would be a huge bonus in this crisis we have. But we can’t put anyone at risk.
“We’re looking at the organisational structure which would give us the earliest start. But also the ability to maintain that start. There’s no point having a start and then stopping again for a while. It’s most likely to be in Europe. It’s conceivable that it could be a closed event.”
Brawn said it would be credible to have a 18-19 race calendar, if it was possible to start racing in July – with a series of triple headers followed by a weekend off.
“Eight races is the minimum we can have a world championship, [according to] the FIA Statutes,” says Brawn. “We could achieve eight races by starting in October. So if you wanted a drop dead point it would be October.
“But then there is always the possibility we could run into next year. That’s being explored. Can we stray into January to finish the season? There are all sorts of complications, as you can imagine, with that.
“If we were able to start at the beginning of July we could do a 19-race season. [It would be] tough - three races on, one weekend off, three races on, one weekend off. We have looked at all the logistics, and we think we can hold an 18-19 race season if we can get started at the beginning of July. The choice is between those two numbers.”
F1 bosses and promoters are also looking at a number of two-day Grand Prix events to ease the pressure in a compressed calendar.
“We may have some two-day races in order to meet the logistical needs,” says Brawn. “For instance China looks like it will probably be a two-day race if we go ahead with it because to get there and get away to the next event we are planning, it could easily be a two-day race."
The 2020 season may be on hold, but our passion for racing lives on. So, we’re offering F1 TV Access FREE for 30 days. That’s right, 1,400 hours of unrestricted, on-demand F1 content available to stream right now.
We’ve got hundreds of full-length races from our incredible archive, hours of highlights, season reviews, exclusive F1 documentaries and more.
I haven't looked into it yet, do you have to provide a CC for the trial?
Yes, I just signed up to try it out. You need to enter a CC number. They will auto renew you at the end of the month. According to the sign up email, they will send a reminder email when it gets close.
So with the free offer for a month. Can anyone that has signed up tell me if you can watch like full seasons of races from the past?
Their race archive goes back to 1981. It's a mixed bag. I think the majority consists of race highlights or condensed races. There are some full race coverage. Somewhat disappointing if you ask me.
Their race archive goes back to 1981. It's a mixed bag. I think the majority consists of race highlights or condensed races. There are some full race coverage. Somewhat disappointing if you ask me.
That is definitely disappointing. I had hoped with no season possibly that I could just pick a year and watch an entire season through and through.
03-26-2020 | 08:54 AM
, pretty detailed explanation of current F1 brake technology
