Nyck de Vries’ exit from Formula 1 was watched by those around him with anguish. His childhood dream, which he spent his career working towards, ended far more quickly than he must have expected after starting what was supposed to be his first full season. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Red Bull made the tough decision to replace him after less than half a season, placing Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri before the Hungarian Grand Prix. On paper it made sense: Despite his team mate Yuki Tsunoda having just two points on the board at the time, De Vries was yet to get off the mark and had made some costly errors on-track. The axe fell after three tough races finishing near the back in Canada, Austria and Great Britain. Losing his seat before the halfway mark in the championship, shortly before his home race, seemed particularly tough even for the cutthroat world of Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton , Charles Leclerc, Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon all spoke out … [Read more...] about De Vries ready to fight for Formula E titles again after “hurt” of losing F1 drive
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Perez says “rough patch” began when he “lost trust” in car after Monaco crash
Sergio Perez has admitted he is going through a “rough patch” on track after he lost “trust” in his car after his Monaco qualifying shunt. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The Red Bull driver continues to hold second place in the drivers’ championship, but is 99 points behind his team mate Max Verstappen . Perez has failed to reach Q3 in grand prix qualifying for the last five consecutive race weekends, a run which started when he crashed out of Q1 during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend. However speaking to media ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, Perez said his poor run of qualifying results are “not a concern” for him. “I think when you look at those bad qualifyings, there’s always been different situations that we haven’t dealt with as good as we should have dealt with them,” Perez said in response to a question from RaceFans. “But there has always been some external factors. It hasn’t been pure pace, let’s put it that way. “Certainly when … [Read more...] about Perez says “rough patch” began when he “lost trust” in car after Monaco crash
Mercedes must halve deficit to Red Bull before 2024 season starts – Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton is concerned Mercedes are still so far behind Red Bull in the second year of Formula 1’s current technical regulations. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The seven-times world champion said his team must focus on closing the gap to their rivals after he qualified over a second off Max Verstappen’s pace at Suzuka last weekend. Red Bull have won all bar one of the 16 races so far this year. They clinched the constructors title in Japan and Verstappen is likely to claim the drivers’ championship for the third year in a row in the Sprint race ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix next week. Hamilton said in Suzuka that Mercedes need to “realise that a second gap is huge and it’s real.” “To be two years in and still be a second down compared to the Red Bulls, it’s showing that we need to make sure that we really do a good job over the winter to get back at least half that gap before next year,” he added. Red Bull’s return to winning ways in Japan … [Read more...] about Mercedes must halve deficit to Red Bull before 2024 season starts – Hamilton
‘Cutthroat.’ ‘Brutal.’ ‘That’s how Red Bull works’: F1 drivers on de Vries’ sacking
Nyck de Vries’ sacking just 10 races into his first full season as a grand prix driver is typical of Formula 1 in general and Red Bull in particular, according to several drivers. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free “That’s how Red Bull do it,” said Lewis Hamilton when asked about the team’s decision to cut de Vries from its junior team AlphaTauri before the halfway mark in the season. Asked whether the decision reflected how F1 works, Hamilton replied: “I’d say that’s how Red Bull works.” The team has some form in making dramatic driver announcements, such as when it promoted Max Verstappen to Red Bull in place of Daniil Kvyat four races into the 2016 season. De Vries’ place has been taken by Daniel Ricciardo, who hopes to use the opportunity to gain a return to Red Bull. Valtteri Bottas . “They obviously follow their view what is the best. “Obviously it’s really a shame for Nyck it was quite a short rookie season unfortunately. But also then it’s … [Read more...] about ‘Cutthroat.’ ‘Brutal.’ ‘That’s how Red Bull works’: F1 drivers on de Vries’ sacking
Norris warns McLaren’s Silverstone pace ‘won’t happen that often at all’
McLaren are unlikely to replicate their strong performance from the previous race says Lando Norris , who scored their best result of the season so far two weeks ago at Silverstone. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Norris, who qualified and finished second at the British Grand Prix, said “we know it’s not going to happen that often at all” over the rest of the season. A combination of the circuit’s characteristics suiting their car, plus the upgrade the team began to introduce two races ago, contributed to their result. His team mate Oscar Piastri finished fourth, and lost one position due to the timing of a Safety Car period. “We enjoyed the moment, for sure, but we know we’re not competing for wins or even podiums, we weren’t close to that very often,” said Norris. “A lot of things went right for this to happen, even though we should have had a P2 and a P3. “I think the confidence came from knowing that we took a good step in the right direction. I … [Read more...] about Norris warns McLaren’s Silverstone pace ‘won’t happen that often at all’
Rossi replaced after two-and-a-half years as Alpine CEO
Renault has replaced the CEO of its sports car division Alpine for the first time since the brand’s entry into F1. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Laurent Rossi became CEO of Alpine in January 2021 ahead of its first season in F1, following the rebranding of its F1 team. Renault announced today Philippe Krief has taken over as Alpine CEO while Rossi will “focus on special projects linked to the transformation of the Group.” As CEO, Rossi’s responsibilities for the Alpine brand extended far beyond its F1 team. However he had a significant bearing on the operation and strongly criticised the team following the shaky start to its latest season. Alpine claimed a surprise victory in 2021, its first season in F1, and went on to finish fifth in the championship. It moved up a place to fourth the following year, but also lost the services of both Fernando Alonso and junior driver Oscar Piastri to rival teams. Its progress has stalled this year as Aston … [Read more...] about Rossi replaced after two-and-a-half years as Alpine CEO
F1 will be spared European heatwave but may get more rain in Hungary
Dangerous heatwaves are blasting large areas of Europe this week bringing temperatures in the high 40s. But the Hungarian Grand Prix will be spared those brutal highs. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free F1 could instead see another rain-affected event. If so, that may complicate F1’s planned test of its new ‘Alternative Tyre Allocation’ rules. The strongest chance of drivers facing a wet track is on Friday, with thundery showers expected at the Hungaroring in the afternoon and at the end of the day. With an 80% chance of rain in the afternoon, both first and second practice could be affected. On Saturday the threat of rain will drop to just 20%, which may come as a relief to drivers after a string of rain-affected qualifying sessions. Qualifying in Spain began on a wet track and Canada saw another soggy session. More rain complicated matters in Austria and qualifying started wet and finished dry last time out at Silverstone . That means the F1 has had … [Read more...] about F1 will be spared European heatwave but may get more rain in Hungary
Honda’s problems “still the same” with new aero – Marquez
Honda introduced a new aero fairing onto Takaaki Nakagami 's LCR-run bike at the British Grand Prix two weeks ago, with the package resembling KTM and Ducati's design philosophy. For this weekend's Austrian GP, both Marquez and team-mate Joan Mir have the new kit, with the former spending Friday's practice sessions running the old package back-to-back with the updated one. Though feeling like he was getting "better and better" throughout the day on the new aero, Marquez said it has forced him to ride the RC213V in a different way – but one in which its key issues, mainly the bike's poor acceleration, remains. "Today was a very demanding day mentally, because with this new aero, the way to ride the bike is completely different," Marquez, who ended Friday in 13th after getting blocked by Pol Espargaro on a late flying lap in FP2, said. "I've gotten used to the Honda for many years, and especially last year and the first half of this season, and now this aero was … [Read more...] about Honda’s problems “still the same” with new aero – Marquez
Aston Martin posts £53m loss for 2022 F1 season
The team made a bigger loss despite upping its turnover from sponsorship and prize money by over £ 32m, with the numbers reflecting an overall increase in costs in the first year of the new regulations. Following a reorganisation, the team now operates under the banner of AMR GP Limited, which is a subsidiary of AMR GP Holdings Limited, although the headline numbers across the two entities are in effect the same. Figures released to the public domain this week show that AMR GP generated turnover in 2022 of £ 188,728,000, up from £ 150,438,000 in 2021. The overall cost of sales, a measure of what the team actually spent to go racing, rose to £ 152,046,00 from £ 107,735,000. With administrative expenses and other income such as government grants taken into account, that resulted in a loss for 2022 of £ 52,915,000, compared with £ 43,332,000 in 2021. Overall staff costs for the group were listed as £ 54,983,000, an increase of around 10% on the previous year. … [Read more...] about Aston Martin posts £53m loss for 2022 F1 season