When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Simply put, Merc-Petronas has not figured out the issues with the car this year.
Lewis didn't trust the car enough either in the race to switch to slicks...so, combination of fighting the car, issues in performance, confidence and etc. has where he's at.
A tough fall from grace for LH, must've humbled his ass up pretty hard when he got lapped by Max yesterday. He's had his moments in the sun, move over and let someone else shine for a while. He will never, nor will Russell, ever win a WDC in the current car.
As someone who got all of their F1 knowledge through a netflix series, why does Lewis stink this year?
Because he's a poser that got lucky for years.
Seriously though. He got lucky due to a confluence of factors that gave him a huge advantage for years.
1. F1 is the ultimate engineering competition. Driver input is a minor secondary factor in the outcomes.
2. He joined Mercedes right when the sport entered into the ultra expensive hybrid era.
3. Mercedes got the design for the hybrid engine and car design perfectly at the start of the hybrid era. However, because the cars got so expensive, to save money, the sport decided to basically freeze large parts of development for years to contain costs. This meant that competitors to Mercedes had a very hard struggle to catch up for years.
4. Hamilton has proven to be a poor setup driver on race weekends. However, with the advent of advance computer simulations (at the factory), this meant that Mercedes could develop fixes to setup problems prior to the races to develop workarounds using essentially unlimited resources at the setup problem.
So now we enter 2022. The biggest rule changes in years have started a new era of car designs. Everyone has to start fresh, meaning the year-over-year advantage previously held by Mercedes was wiped away. The early races show that Mercedes got the design wrong, so Hamilton no longer has the dominant car that can hide his deficiencies. Couple that with a new cost cap, this means that Mercedes can no longer spend their way out of their hole. This includes their inability to throw resources on computer simulations at the factory to overcome Hamilton's poor car setup abilities.
To quote James Allison (MB former F1 Technical Director, now CTO)), F1 success is 40% chassis, 40% power unit, 20% driver.
There's luck at times in racing, but to presume "lucky" for 103 wins and 7 driver's championships is naïve at best.
We all have our opinions, to me Lewis will rank in the top 3-4 driver's of all time including Senna, Schumacher, and Fangio.
Originally Posted by F-C
Because he's a poser that got lucky for years.
Seriously though. He got lucky due to a confluence of factors that gave him a huge advantage for years.
1. F1 is the ultimate engineering competition. Driver input is a minor secondary factor in the outcomes.
2. He joined Mercedes right when the sport entered into the ultra expensive hybrid era.
3. Mercedes got the design for the hybrid engine and car design perfectly at the start of the hybrid era. However, because the cars got so expensive, to save money, the sport decided to basically freeze large parts of development for years to contain costs. This meant that competitors to Mercedes had a very hard struggle to catch up for years.
4. Hamilton has proven to be a poor setup driver on race weekends. However, with the advent of advance computer simulations (at the factory), this meant that Mercedes could develop fixes to setup problems prior to the races to develop workarounds using essentially unlimited resources at the setup problem.
So now we enter 2022. The biggest rule changes in years have started a new era of car designs. Everyone has to start fresh, meaning the year-over-year advantage previously held by Mercedes was wiped away. The early races show that Mercedes got the design wrong, so Hamilton no longer has the dominant car that can hide his deficiencies. Couple that with a new cost cap, this means that Mercedes can no longer spend their way out of their hole. This includes their inability to throw resources on computer simulations at the factory to overcome Hamilton's poor car setup abilities.
FWIW, Lewis started at MB in 2013, the last year of the V8 NA power.
The first year of the hybrid power units was 2014.
Originally Posted by F-C
Because he's a poser that got lucky for years.
Seriously though. He got lucky due to a confluence of factors that gave him a huge advantage for years.
1. F1 is the ultimate engineering competition. Driver input is a minor secondary factor in the outcomes. 2. He joined Mercedes right when the sport entered into the ultra expensive hybrid era.
3. Mercedes got the design for the hybrid engine and car design perfectly at the start of the hybrid era. However, because the cars got so expensive, to save money, the sport decided to basically freeze large parts of development for years to contain costs. This meant that competitors to Mercedes had a very hard struggle to catch up for years.
4. Hamilton has proven to be a poor setup driver on race weekends. However, with the advent of advance computer simulations (at the factory), this meant that Mercedes could develop fixes to setup problems prior to the races to develop workarounds using essentially unlimited resources at the setup problem.
So now we enter 2022. The biggest rule changes in years have started a new era of car designs. Everyone has to start fresh, meaning the year-over-year advantage previously held by Mercedes was wiped away. The early races show that Mercedes got the design wrong, so Hamilton no longer has the dominant car that can hide his deficiencies. Couple that with a new cost cap, this means that Mercedes can no longer spend their way out of their hole. This includes their inability to throw resources on computer simulations at the factory to overcome Hamilton's poor car setup abilities.
To quote James Allison (MB former F1 Technical Director, now CTO)), F1 success is 40% chassis, 40% power unit, 20% driver.
There's luck at times in racing, but to presume "lucky" for 103 wins and 7 driver's championships is naïve at best.
We all have our opinions, to me Lewis will rank in the top 3-4 driver's of all time including Senna, Schumacher, and Fangio.
1. My point is not that LH was "lucky" with the wins or racing, but he was "lucky" to join Mercedes when they became dominant, and events surrounding this current era made it very difficult to change the status quo of a dominant car.
2. 40%/40%/20% is a good reference, but not an exact mathematical formula. These days, or at least during the power unit era prior to the cost cap, I would amend this to be approximately 30% chassis, 40% power unit, 10% driver, 15% factory support, 5% luck. What the factory is (was?) able to do with running simulations over a race weekend is just crazy now, and was unheard of during and prior to the era of heavy simulation technologies.
3. It's pointless to compare number of race wins and number of championships of different eras. In the past, technical rules were much more open, and they changed more frequently, allowing "resets" of the status quo more often. That simply was not the case over the past 10 years, and that's just due to the sport being so crazy expensive. If they allowed a more open set of rules without a cost cap, the teams would all go out of business like sports cars. I was initially against the cost cap, but I now agree that's the best thing to do, because it brings the sport more in line with how it was historically, by eliminating a lot of the factory support, and it forces the driver and race team to figure out the problems on track. It also allows more dynamic car design changes (I hope).
4. All credit to Mercedes and LH for dominating during the previous years. But now we'll see what they can really do without a dominant car. LH has never won anything without a top car/team. He's never won being in an underdog position. That's not the case with some other legendary drivers. So no, I don't put him in my best of the best group. I even rate Damon Hill above LH, and I don't even like Damon Hill. But what Damon Hill did with the Arrows in Hungary is the real stuff of legends. LH does not have a drive like that on his resume.
I dunno...Merc-Petronas' dominance is a bit no different than Schumi's years with Ferrari that had their dominance. Ferrari basically outspent everyone by miles and had a dominant car that no one was close to. Broadbrush statementing
I do agree of the 40-40-20 "formula" as a general "rule" though.
That said, I will admit to being one of the Merc-Petronas fans here. I enjoy LH and Toto quite a bit.
Had to stop & see if I was on FChat with these takes.
He's never won being in an underdog position.
His very first championship could highlight otherwise. McLaren finished 20 points behind Ferrari with his teammate ending up 7th in the season. Yet, he managed to stay close enough to finish above both Ferrari drivers by a point with a little luck in Brazil to seal the deal.
Pirelli began testing their 2023 tyre compounds with two days of running at Imola, with several teams involved and helping the process.
Having already gone through extensive testing last season for the arrival of the new 18-inch wheels in Formula 1 this year, those tests were run with mule cars from nine of the 10 teams, with older chassis having to be modified to accommodate the different tyre profiles.
But now the new cars are here in the correct spec to run the new tyres, the Italian manufacturer has already set to work in planning their compounds for next season – and a few teams were on hand to help in representative machinery.
Alpine driver Esteban Ocon spoke of the benefits of having a testing day so early on in the season, having run 122 laps of Imola on the prototype tyres.
“124 laps, trouble-free day, a lot understood and more practice for us early in the season, which is quite important,” he said on an end-of-day video on Alpine’s social media accounts.
AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly ran an almost identical plan, with Alfa Romeo’s Robert Kubica and Zhou Guanyu and both Ferrari drivers also involved – albeit with an issue cutting Carlos Sainz’s running short, meaning he and his car had to be picked up and escorted back to the pits.
Yuki Tsunoda also had a day’s worth of running at AlphaTauri’s home circuit, and the news of a test was welcomed by Pirelli – having previously held concerns about the congestion of the 23-race calendar and how that would affect their testing plans.
The remaining teams will have the chance to run a tyre test later in the season, with Pirelli offering equal opportunities to gain track time on their 2023 designs.
Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola is unsure of the tyre manufacturer's future in F1 beyond 2024.
The Italian tyre manufacturer entered F1 in 2011 to replace Bridgestone and was tasked with providing fragile rubber to recreate the effects of the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix in which drivers pitted three or four times across the course of the event.
Tyre failures in the first three seasons led to a restructuring of the rubber construction and over time the durability of the compounds has lengthened, even if overheating issues still dictated strategy and the amount drivers could push.
Pirelli has overseen the transition to 18-inch tyres for this season and has sought to introduce compounds less prone to overheating when one car follows another.
The tender process for the tyre manufacturer to be chosen has been delayed across the Covid-19 pandemic but with Pirelli's stay currently slated to end in 2024, Isola insisted the choice to continue was beyond his control.
"Obviously, the decision is not in our hands but, in general, we are happy with our experience in Formula 1 and we want to continue," said Isola.
"We had an extension for 2024, but you know that this contract is subject to a tender process and it's up to the FIA to decide how to manage the situation together with Formula 1."
The tender process in F1 allows tyre manufacturers to essentially bid for their spot on the grid.
The last time two tyre companies faced off against each other was when Bridgestone and Michelin engaged in F1's 'tyre-war' until the French manufacturer left in 2006.
Explaining the process, Isola detailed: "Usually the tender is released, not at the end of this year, but mid of next year, because it's the same process we had in the past.
"That means that the decision is for the end of next year, to give one year’s time to the winner of the tender to prepare for the season.
"We are hoping to discuss the future with Formula 1 There is a lot going on, and we have to discuss more in detail about that.
"But it is a tender, so in the end it is up to the offer and the characteristics and the elements that are included in the tender."
Volkswagen's premium brands Audi and Porsche have decided to join Formula One, Volkswagen Chief Executive Herbert Diess said on Monday.
There has been speculation for several months that the two brands were in negotiation over partnerships to enter the highest class of international motor racing.
Diess, speaking on YouTube, said that Porsche's preparations were a little more concrete.
The German carmaker, which has not previously been involved with Formula One but has worked with Red Bull in the world rally championship, did not announce how it planned on entering the sport.
The decision comes as Volkswagen prepares for a possible listing of Porsche planned for the fourth quarter of this year, though sources have said the entry into Formula One racing would only be likely to happen in a few years' time.
The German car company has been pushing on with its F1 plans, and said recently in an official statement that a final green light to make the move would come after F1's new engine regulations for 2026 were finalised.
But VW CEO Herbert Diess revealed in a YouTube video on Monday, answering questions from residents of the Wolfsburg city where the company is based, about just how advanced the company is with its preparations.
Speaking openly about F1, Diess said that the boom that grand prix racing was enjoying in key markets like the USA, plus the opportunities an all-new rules set offered in 2026, meant that an opportunity was there to make the move that would not repeat itself for a while.
"Formula 1 is developing extremely positively worldwide," he said. "The marketing that is happening there, plus Netflix, has led to Formula 1's following growing significantly in the U.S. as well. Asia is growing significantly, including among young customer groups. If you look at the major sporting events or events in the world, it's the case that in motorsport, it's really only Formula 1 that counts and is becoming increasingly differentiated.
"If you do motorsport, you should do Formula 1 as that's where the impact is greatest. What's more, you can't enter Formula 1 unless a technology window opens up which means, in order to get in there, a rule change: so that everyone starts again from the same place.
"As Markus Duesman [chairman of Audi and former BMW F1 head of powertrains] always tells me, you usually make up one second per season on a medium-sized race track simply by optimising details.
"But you can't catch up on that when you join a new team: you need five or 10 years to be among the front runners. In other words, you can only get onboard if you have a major rule change.
"That's coming now, and it will also come in the direction of 2026, when the engines will be electrified to a much greater extent, including with synthetic fuels. That means you need a new engine development and you need three or four years to develop a new engine.
"That means you can decide now to do Formula 1 - or then probably not again for 10 years. And our two premium brands think that's the right thing to do, and are prioritising it."
Diess confirmed that the VW name would not be a part of the company's F1 plans, with instead both Porsche and Audi were committed to enter F1 separately.
Porsche has been most strongly linked to a tie-up with Red Bull, as Diess confirmed the company's plans were more 'concrete' than Audi, which has not yet settled on a partner.
"VW will not be involved," he said. "It doesn't fit and the brand will not participate. "
Diess said that with the Porsche and Audi brands having big ambitions for an increase of sales in the long term, that a move to F1 was a no-brainer – especially with analysis showing that th F1 programmes could help deliver a profit for the two car companies.
"Porsche has to be the sportiest car brand in the world – so Porsche has to do motorsport," he said. "And you come to the conclusion: if Porsche does motorsport, the most efficient thing is to do Formula 1. You almost have to put a check mark on that."
He added: "Audi is a much weaker brand than Porsche. It can't demand such a high price premium. Audi actually has the better case for Formula 1 because it has much greater potential for the brand.
"They are moving into the higher segments, into competition with Daimler, and then Audi will also have a case where they say that makes sense. Audi also transfers four or five billion a year to Wolfsburg, and it will also transfer more with Formula 1 than without.
"Then you simply run out of arguments. You can say, 'But I don't believe in Formula 1,' but there are good arguments that say Formula 1 will grow, even in the future. Why should you restrict them, if they then deliver more money?"
While Diess says that an F1 entry for Porsche and Audi makes complete sense, he has revealed that not everyone on the VW Board is supportive at a time when the car industry is going through a transformation amid the shift to electric vehicles.
"The discussion on the Board was not unanimous," he said. "We certainly have other priorities strategically. It's not necessarily motorsport, but our cars have to be technically up to date, we have to be able to drive autonomously, we need the software capabilities, we need batteries for our cars. We have enough to do and we don't really need to do Formula 1.
"But our premium brands say that's the most important lever to increase the brand value and to be able to take a little bit more for the cars in terms of pricing. And also to demonstrate to the competition that you have superior technology, in the case of Audi.
"That's why the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board have all voted in favour of this. Audi still has to decide in which constellation and with which team. But both have started to develop engines."
With the FIA wanting to cut back on the number of tyres used on a GP weekend, F1 teams last week backed plans to reduce the number of sets available to drivers from 13 to 11 at two events in 2023.
A statement from the governing body stated that: "This will be done to evaluate the impact of the reduction in tyre allocation on track-running, with the overall intention to move to more sustainable use of tyres in the future."
It has now emerged that the experiments to reduce the number of tyre sets available will also be twinned with a new approach to qualifying for the two grands prix that are selected.
Whereas currently drivers are completely free to choose which tyres are used in the three segments of qualifying, for the trial next year, the tyre compound choice will be mandated for each section.
In revised regulations published by the FIA, it was confirmed that drivers will be forced to use the hard tyre in Q1, the medium tyre in Q2 and the soft tyre in Q3.
If any of the sessions are declared wet, then tyre choice will become free.
As well as forcing drivers to use a specific compound in each segment, the tyre usage shake-up will also shift the number of each set that is available over the chosen grand prix weekends.
Currently, out of the 13 sets that are available to drivers on a non sprint race weekend (including the 'extra' soft for Q3 runners), the rule dictate that drivers are given eight softs, three mediums and two hards.
For the two events where the qualifying experiment will take place, drivers will have access to four softs, four mediums and three hards.
The change of approach should ensure that drivers use a wider variety of tyres through the race weekend, so there is less waste at the end of a grand prix weekend.
Beyond the evaluation of new tyre allocation and qualifying for 2023, the FIA has also approved plans for tests to take place at two grands prix this year for development rubber.
The rules states that the extra specifications of dry-weather tyres can be run during P2 at non-sprint race weekends by any drivers, including rookies who have to run in some sessions this year as part of a new regulation to help younger drivers.
The Grove-based squad has been removing paint from its FW44 over the past few races, with the first stage happening in Australia and further tweaks being made for the recent Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The changes, which are aimed at helping reduce the car's weight, have resulted in some of the blue paint that featured on the nose, engine cover and sidepods being stripped back to leave only raw carbon fibre.
The request from engineering to reduce car weight by tweaking the livery had to be approved by Williams' marketing chiefs, to make sure it did not impact too much on the livery and sponsor exposure.
And the team's head of vehicle performance, Dave Robson, said his engineers did go as far as probing the chances of stripping all the car back to carbon.
"Of course. Absolutely," he smiled, when probed if that idea was discussed.
However, while a complete stripped back car did not get approval, Robson said he understood why the team needed to keep some form of identity.
"It's just the thing that engineering meets marketing, isn't it?" he said. "We all want the car to look stunning, which is part of the sport.
"And it's not just about the livery on the car; it sets the tone for the whole brand which is clearly really important."
He added: "For sure it's a compromise. The car needs to have some visible personality about it. But at the same time, it's in the sponsors' interests to make it as quick as possible."
Williams is not the only team to have resorted to stripping weight off its car in a bid to get near F1's raised weight limit for this year.
Aston Martin, Red Bull, McLaren and Red Bull have all removed paint from key areas of their car in a bid to save weight.
But with almost the entire grid struggling with car weight, there is an argument to suggest that F1 set its sights wrong in laying out the current limit.
Robson said: "I think we've known for quite a while that achieving the (minimum) weight limit was going to be incredibly tough. Plus, with the added complexity of the cost cap, particularly for the bigger teams, then how do you achieve it?
"To some extent it's a slightly arbitrary number because if the FIA set the weight limit at 500kg you'd never be able to achieve it, so it depends what we as a sport view the purpose of that number to be.
"If it's the vast majority of teams, or all but one, where we're at now, then you would say for the sport you're better off increasing that number. But I can absolutely understand that, if there is one team out there that doesn't need it increasing, then of course they wouldn't agree to that."
While Robson will not reveal exactly how much weight has been taken off the Williams with the livery tweaks, he is clear that the change is "meaningful".
And although all teams are working on other weight-saving solutions, he does not think that Williams will be in a position to want to put the paint back on later in the year.
"The paint scheme is a little bit more than purely an engineering decision, but I would imagine that it will stay because it will be expensive and time consuming to find the weight some other way," he explained.
"If we're happy with how the car looks now, you're better off spending that engineering budget on something else and making the car quicker. I hope it stays like this."
Bring on the raw exposed carbon cars!
I'm sure it's expensive, but wonder if they could incorporate colored CF to retain some of the livery color without needing actual paint
It's easy to take a dump on the stadium parking lot where the 2022 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix will be held on this weekend. After all, it's a makeshift track built on what's essentially tailgating territory in the shadow of a freaking NFL stadium—making it either the most American track ever or the most un-F1 track ever. You decide. Now, however, what organizers thought would be one of the venue's most glitzy features, has turned out to be a complete joke.
As Sky Sports F1 showed on a tweet early Tuesday morning, the lovely turquoise waters surrounding the fake marina are—drum roll, please—fake! I shouldn't be surprised considering it's a manmade feature on a track built miles away from the coastline, but somehow, I am. I really hope no one gets drunk enough over the weekend to dive off the dock, because that's going to hurt.
As you can see in the video below, it's nothing more than a huge graphic adhered to the ground that makes it look like there's actual water flowing around those strategically positioned boats on one end of the marina. At this point, I'm not even sure if the sand on the infield "beach" on the opposite end of the marina is real. Maybe the sand is also a graphic, or maybe it's sawdust. I don't know. But I can see some beach huts and lounge chairs in the background, so maybe they actually expect people to lounge fake-waterside? Again, it's unclear.
The response to these fake features from fans and reporters alike hasn't been kind. Fans are saying that it's downright "embarrassing" while some reporters who have actually seen this up close say it feels more like an "F1 trade show" than an actual grand prix. Frankly, I can't disagree. With the entertainment factor of F1 races getting turned up to 11 recently, it's evident that more of these situations will arise, especially with Vegas—the capital of showmanship—coming online next year. Personally, I can't wait until 2035 when F1 races on its own version of Mario Kart'sRainbow Road.
Not all is doom and gloom, of course. Several drivers have praised the track's layout—except Yuki Tsunoda—and expect the racing to be fairly good come Sunday. Hopefully, things will be so overwhelmingly positive this weekend that we'll all forget about this fake water and focus on what really matters: the racing.
Otmar quits for Alpine after clashing with Papa Stroll. Now the CEO also quits because of Papa Stroll. But it looks all rosy for Stroll if he can sell the F1 team to Audi?!?!
Ugh I don't want to see merged teams I want to see more teams on the grid. I was really hoping all this news would mean 11 or 12 teams on the grid eventually.
Ugh I don't want to see merged teams I want to see more teams on the grid. I was really hoping all this news would mean 11 or 12 teams on the grid eventually.
I want to see F1 back to 26 cars on the grid. Looks like the only person willing to do it from scratch right now is Andretti, but the existing teams are standing in the way.
The arrangement is a one-off at the moment but Ilott may be asked to attend further races when Kubica is not available – and if he can fit it around his IndyCar program with Juncos Hollinger Racing.
Ilott shared Alfa Romeo reserve duties with Kubica last year as a result of his membership of the Ferrari Driver Academy. He also took part in FP1 sessions in Portugal and Austria.
He is no longer connected to Ferrari and has thus maintained his Alfa role independently of any Maranello connections.
“Callum is part of the team and he was with us last year,” Alfa team principal Fred Vasseur told Motorsport.com. “He knows perfectly the team. The car not, for sure, but he knows the team. And we are all close to him. He did a good job with us in the past.
“He's here race-by-race. He has his own commitments, and I don't want to disturb him. But the fact that he was here in the U.S. it also made sense for him.
“We'll see in the future, but if sometimes Robert is not available, it absolutely makes sense to go with Callum. We don’t need to have a contract – he’s part of the family.”
Ilott said he welcomed the chance to rejoin the team in Miami and in effect keep a foot in the F1 door.
"I wanted to come down here anyway,” Ilott told Motorsport.com. “They called me two weeks ago, so it worked out quite well to be able to help out and be here.
“The last time I drove this car in the sim was probably in the early stages of development. A lot of the systems are very similar to previous years, but obviously the fundamentals are very different.
“It's just nice to be back and see some people I haven't seen for many months. I was in this environment for a while, in F3 or F2, and I know a lot of people here.
“So to come back and enjoy some good times with people and be able to kind of be properly involved is great. It's a bit very refreshing.”
Asked if he still harbors hopes of one day landing an F1 race seat he said: "I quote Nyck de Vries on this, because he was like, ‘I'm not actively searching for it’. I think that's the way I look at it.
“Now I've got a good career path in Indy, this is more, 'if something comes up, it happens'. You can spend so much energy searching for it, and the last two years haven't been that rewarding for it. So I'm here just to enjoy it.”
The main area of concern is Turn 17, the left-hand hairpin before the final corners that lead on to the start/finish straight. There was also an issue with Turn 7, the tightening left hander located adjacent to the now infamous fake marina.
Small patches of damage became evident at Turn 17 on Thursday evening, a couple of metres outside the apex and more or less on the line taken by the loaded outside wheels of racing cars.
The patches of damage emerged before any racing cars had run on the circuit, which thus far has only seen action from the safety and medical cars, demo runs by supercars, as well as truck and crane activity associated with the building up of the circuit and bus tours of the track.
The problematic areas are believed to be localised, and there are no concerns about the rest of the track.
Repair work was completed on Friday morning.
Overseen by circuit designers Apex, the paving of the track required 24,000 tons of asphalt, which was laid out over 85,000 yards in echelon over three lanes for an average track of 50-feet width.
Asphalt specialists R3 – which has worked on many F1 tracks around the world – devised a mix of 60% US-mined granite from Georgia and the remainder being locally-sourced limerock from Southern Florida. Bitumen, which is a viscous mixture of hydrocarbons, is then used to bind the aggregate together.
After being laid, the surface bitumen is stripped to texturize the surface, opening it up to give the kind of grip levels required by F1’s Pirelli tyres.
The FIA required that the asphalt was laid down at least 60 days ahead of the race weekend, and that deadline was met despite working around the stadium’s multiple other events including the end of the NFL football season, a jazz music festival and the Miami Open tennis tournament.
According to a report, Fernando Alonso is on Aston Martin’s radar again to potentially replace Sebastian Vettel for 2023.
Alonso is into his second season since returning to Formula 1 with Alpine, enjoying a strong start to the 2022 campaign, even if the points tally does not reflect that.
While the Spaniard has only two points to show for the opening four rounds, bad luck has undoubtedly played its part, such as retiring in Saudi Arabia, while a hit from Mick Schumacher at Imola later forced Alonso to retire when a large chunk of his sidepod made a break for freedom.
At the Australian Grand Prix meanwhile, Alonso was looking like a possible pole contender before a hydraulic problem caused him to crash in Q3.
Over at Aston Martin, while Vettel has double the points of Alonso so far, Alpine has been clearly the stronger team in terms of pace.
Aston Martin have ambitions to become title contenders within the next five years, but early in 2022, they find themselves as one of the slowest outfits on the grid, Vettel and team-mate Lance Stroll opening theirs and Aston Martin’s accounts at Imola with a P8 and P10 finish respectfully.
But, with Aston Martin looking far from a contender to challenge the top teams right now, it has led to renewed speculation that Vettel could leave the team.
And in such a situation, F1-Insider.com report that Alonso is on Aston Martin’s radar, having first been linked with a move to the team ahead of the 2022 campaign when Vettel’s future also was not clear.
The report adds that Alonso, who is yet to extend his Alpine contract beyond 2022, is team owner Lawrence’s Stroll ‘desired driver’ should the need arise to find a Vettel replacement.
In addition, the report states that CEO of the luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin Lagonda, Tobias Moers, has left following disagreements with the board and Stroll, with former Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa coming in as his replacement.
Vettel has stated that he is yet to decide his future at Aston Martin and in Formula 1 in general beyond 2022, though physically feels like he has many more years to give to racing.
The question of Sebastian Vettel’s Formula 1 future isn’t going to be resolved imminently and we can take him at his word that he doesn’t yet know himself what his plans are. But listening to him speak ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend, he had the air of someone who is potentially inching towards the exit door.
That’s a vague statement, and with good reason. As Vettel said nothing either explicit or that strongly hinted that was what he was thinking, this is simply an impression drawn from his tone and the way his framing of the topic has drifted from when he’s discussed it before – nothing more, nothing less.
And there’s plenty to compare it to as he has faced plenty of questions over the past couple of years, first when it was known Ferrari had decided not to give him a new deal and then when he wasn’t definitively confirmed as remaining at Aston Martin for this year. There was no ‘smoking gun’ in what Vettel said, but listening to him it was difficult to escape the feeling he’s leaning towards 2022 being the end of the road.
This is therefore an opinion column rather than a news story based on clear revelations of where Vettel’s head is at. But sometimes such impressions can be informative, even if they are based on intangibles.
We can insert some certainty into this. As Vettel has confirmed, “my contract ends at the end of this season” and he’s yet to make a decision.
“The focus is the now”, as he put it.
That “now” is all about trying to make Aston Martin more competitive. What followed at Imola was an improvement for the Silverstone-based team, with Vettel taking eighth place and Lance Stroll 10th to open its points account for the season, but that was based on excellent execution rather than any transformation in the competitiveness of the Aston Martin AMR22.
It’s still a car that is massively limited by the need to run a high ride height to mitigate the porpoising and prevent floor damage.
We also know Vettel is 34 and that, as he has always said, he’s driven by the desire for results. He’s at Aston Martin not to celebrate an eighth place “like a victory” but in the hope of being able to add to his phenomenal tally of 53 grand prix victories.
That leads us into our final certainty – Vettel’s most successful days are surely behind him.
He’s still capable of strong performances, as Imola and events like Azerbaijan and Monaco showed last year, but even if Aston Martin’s improvement curve is near-vertical from here, he’s not going to have another chance to rack up four consecutive world championships.
So it all comes down to the question of motivation. Vettel says he’s motivated by winning, so his prospects of signing on the dotted line for another year at Aston Martin will depend on how confident he is in its ability to make rapid progress. Assuming, of course, that Aston Martin wants to keep him and doesn’t insist on a longer-term deal for stability.
It’s less a question of desire, as most likely Vettel would stay on for a few more years if he could be certain there was a chance to win more races. He was asked about the prospects of him staying on to reap the rewards at Imola, answering that “the next weeks and months will be very important to set the direction for this year, but also for learning and knowing what to do in the next three, four years”.
We can therefore conclude Vettel needs to see definitive signs of improvement on track, on top of the ongoing investment in facilities and personnel that should make Aston Martin an F1 frontrunner. The key question is, how long a timeline does that require?
Aston’s poor start to F1’s second ground effect era means that it’s difficult to see the team getting there as quickly as owner Lawrence Stroll wants. So the question for Vettel is whether he’s willing to stick it out for that long.
The only alternative is if another team with better prospects were to offer him a drive which, given the state of the driver market, appears unlikely – even though you can never say never.
Vettel likely doesn’t know for sure what he’s going to do. He’s someone who has plenty of interests away from F1 and can walk away with his head held high given his astonishing achievements. During that Imola press conference, there was a point when he almost sounded like he was slipping into a final reflection on his career.
“I had an amazing 15 years or so looking back, and I was in a position to win championships, win a lot of races, fight for positions, get a lot of podiums and obviously the taste was great,” said Vettel.
“It’s not a secret that if you’re not in a position to be there, it’s a different taste. You need to find a different sort of motivation.
“But ultimately, I’m willing to be tasting the same again. That’s the nature of the sport. For some of the guys in the [press conference] room it’s a little bit different because they’re still very early in their careers and they didn’t have a team or car yet where they were able to show what they can do. It’s clearly a different position but that is one of the big deciders.
“The team is growing, there’s a lot of things, it looks very promising. The answer is time will tell. But those will be the key things that I will be looking at to see how promising is it looking in the future and how soon – because obviously I’m not really old, I think physically I have a lot of years left, it’s not a problem at all.
“That’s ultimately the goal, to win and fight for podiums and victories, which currently we’re far away from. But there’s plenty of work, so that’s also very exciting, to know where we are now and to take the little steps and define the path for the future.”
Most likely, there is no definitive answer to the question of “will Vettel retire?”. He’s at an age where thoughts of that will be weighed up in his mind and it will ultimately come down to a combination of the opportunity presented to him, his own motivation and how confident he is that the team can give him more than minor points finishes and very occasional big results to shoot for.
The impression from that Imola press conference was that he is genuinely weighing up all of these factors – and plenty more that will relate to his private life and ambitions outside F1 – knowing that a decision will need to be made sooner rather than later.
F1 would be better off for Vettel continuing to race. He’s a driver who is still capable of great things, albeit with far less regularity than he once was, and a wonderful ambassador for F1 and someone who has thankfully shown the world far more of the sincere, genuine character he has always been that has now displaced the unfair caricature that emerged of him during his pomp.
As for the question of whether he will retire? I can’t answer that. But the impression at Imola was that the possibility was looming larger for Vettel than it has before.
Then again, after the race he had the air of someone who clearly enjoyed the weekend given he was able to reward the team with some valuable points. It would be understandable if ahead of the event he was a little down after the dismal Australian Grand Prix weekend, then much happier once it had gone well – that is, after all, the human reaction.
But perhaps what it shows is that, even for someone who has achieved so much, it really is about what the prospects are for more good results. There’s plenty of talk of motivation, and there’s nothing that motivates an F1 driver more than the prospect of racking up the results.
How F1 would find the space to house the paddock and other infrastructure such as hospitality in the centre of the city has been one of the main question marks surrounding the race.
The city authorities agreed that the streets can be used, but most of the land adjacent to the track belongs to casinos and other businesses.
Teams were told recently that the paddock may be over a mile from the actual pit area.
However, Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei revealed on Friday that F1 has now addressed the challenge of creating a paddock area by buying its own site in the city, with the deal expected to be formally concluded in the coming weeks.
That would potentially allow F1 to build a permanent pit structure, which is what the Miami organisers have already done.
Maffei also revealed that as co-promoter of the Las Vegas race Liberty and F1 will be making a substantial investment in the project, with extra capital and operating expenditure require to get the event up and running.
"The momentum in the United States continues with this weekend's inaugural Miami GP," Maffei said in a call with Wall Street analysts.
"And of course, you can't have not heard about the announcement of our Las Vegas GP for November 2023. As we've noted before, that'll be a night race down the strip.
"And notably and differently than most places, F1 and Liberty Media are self-promoting the race in partnership with local stakeholders and Live Nation.
"The build out for this track will require increased Cap-Ex and Op-X to develop. It's too early to provide you with numbers, but we intend to update you later this year.
"I would note that Liberty Media did enter an agreement to acquire 39 acres east of the strip to lock in circuit design and create capacity for the pit and paddock, among other hospitality and race support venues.
"I expect that transaction will close in the second quarter, and the purchase price was $240 million, which will be funded by cash on hand at the F1 group level."
Lewis Hamilton revealed he would rather sit out the Miami Grand Prix than comply with the FIA’s jewelry crackdown.
“If they stop me, so be it,” the seven-time world champion told reporters ahead of the inaugural Miami Grand Prix on Friday.
Drivers have been prohibited from wearing body piercings or metal neck-chains since 2004 but the rule has never been properly enforced.
“We’ve got a spare driver so we’re ready and prepped,” Hamilton added, suggesting he would rather see the team’s reserve drivers Stoffel Vandoorne or Nyck de Vries take his place on the grid.
“There’s lots to do in the city anyway,” he quipped, while wearing three watches, eight rings, four necklaces, earrings, and a nose stud during the press conference.
“I’ve been in the sport for 16 years … it seems unnecessary for us to get into this spat.”
Hamilton went so far as to say he would be “willing to sign a waiver” to “take responsibility away” from the sport’s governing body should there be any safety issues pertaining to his jewelry.
I have to say this looks more like an official track than a parking lot circuit from what I expected. Still unsure if it will actually create good racing though.
04-24-2022, 07:44 PM
So you're a Lewis fan 
which to me translates to 2014, not 2013. He may have only won one race in 2013 but he also outscored his teammate Rosberg who'd be at MB since 2010.
I want to see F1 back to 26 cars on the grid. Looks like the only person willing to do it from scratch right now is Andretti, but the existing teams are standing in the way.
