Monthly Archives: July 2024

Leclerc has had two disastrous tyre calls in the past four races

Charles Leclerc says his recent run of misfortune has been “worse than a nightmare” after the Ferrari Formula 1 star finished out of the points at Silverstone.

Having qualified only 11^th Leclerc gained three places at the start. However, he was one of four drivers to make an early stop for intermediates only for the track to dry and his tyres to be worn out by the time the rain returned.

He tumbled down the order and eventually finished a frustrated 14th, his third non-score in the four races since his memorable Monaco win.

The Silverstone disaster followed an engine-related retirement in Canada after similarly disastrous call for slicks in the wet.

He earned a modest fifth place in Spain, and was then 11^th in Austria after first lap wing damage led to a first lap stop. Two points for seventh in the Spielberg sprint was little consolation.

“It was clearly the wrong one,” he said when I asked about the Silverstone strategy choice. “I’ll look back into it, obviously. With the decision, with the message I got and the information I had in the car, I felt like it was the right one.

“It was raining quite in Turn 15, I was told that in this lap the rain was going to be very heavy, so I stopped to try and anticipate. However, the rain came eight or nine laps later.

“So that was obviously the end of our race from that moment onwards. Very frustrating, another weekend to forget, and it starts to be a lot.”

Regarding his recent run of misfortune he said: “It’s very hard, it’s very hard. I mean, I don’t really have the words to explain it, but it’s been four races that it’s been worse than a nightmare. So I hope we can come back soon.”

“It’s very difficult to look at positives in days like this. I just want to go back with the team, and we will analyse the way we are making those decisions on my side, and why we were on the wrong side today.”

Ferrari’s Silverstone form was not helped by the choice to go back to the Imola aero spec after the newer floor promoted bouncing at high speed.

“It’s a tricky situation that we are in at the moment,” said Leclerc. “The upgrade brought us the numbers that we were expecting, but also brought us quite a lot of bouncing in the high-speed. And for a track like this we decided that it was probably better having a bit less performance, but having more the consistency.

“And I think that was the right choice. Going forward, we’ll analyse all the data we had until now with the two packages, and try to understand if there’s anything we didn’t understand yet with the new one.”

Leclerc conceded that the more recent update might work in Hungary, where there are few fast corners.

“Yeah, it’s a very different layout. That’s why I think we still have to assess all the information we’ve got on this new package and old package, and take the right decision, as it might not be the same as here. And yeah, we’ll look into it.”

Hulkenberg will start in an impressive sixth place at Silverstone

Nico Hulkenberg says that the updated floor package introduced for Silverstone was key to his impressive sixth place on the grid for Sunday’s British GP.

The German was late out in Q1 and after the red flag only just made it through in 15^th place.

Eighth in Q2 hinted at some potential and he went two places better when it mattered in Q3, noting that it was “quite amazing” that he had outqualified both works Ferraris.

The performance comes on the heels of his sixth place finish in Austria last weekend.

“Yesterday morning in P1 I drove the old car, and then for P2 we translated or transformed the car to the new spec with the updates,” he said.

“And immediately I felt a benefit and positive in some areas, just more downforce, more balanced, better characteristics. So that was very, very pleasant, very positive for us, and we managed to translate that into a good result today.”

Hulkenberg admitted that getting out of Q1 was a bit tight.

“In Q1 it was a little bit too close for comfort,” he said. “We were late because we thought that it will dry out, but it took longer than expected, and then the red flag obviously kind of put us a little bit up against it.

“I only had one lap, and just made it through, I think, in the last spot in P15. So that was a bit lucky, but afterwards, just good execution, good laps, and obviously happy.

“The red flag with Checo [Perez], and our timing, I think we got a little out of synch from everyone else, that was a bit sketchy, but otherwise a good, clean session.”

The German confident that he can finish inside the top 10 on Sunday: “I think in the points for sure,” he said. “Of course, there’s some fast cars behind us, like the Ferraris. Everyone else who is behind we can fight, apart from the top four teams. So that definitely the aim and target for tomorrow.

“We have two Ferraris starting behind us, which is quite amazing that we managed to beat them over one lap. But I think in a race, there’s no holding them back.

“But everyone else, the Astons, and Albon is there, and then all the other midfield teams, I think we can definitely fight. I think we’ve proven that now over several occasions, and that’s what we’re also going to do.”

Hulkenberg says he’s personally on good form after the solid result in Austria.

“To be honest, I feel a lot and good confidence. So that allows me to produce the laps, even if I just have one, they come, they come out pretty well, which is obviously good.

“I enjoy that feeling. I always try to hold on to it for as long as possible. I know it’s not always like that, so you have to use it while it lasts!”

He’s confident that he can finish in the top 10 on Sunday: “I think in the points for sure,” he said. “Of course, there’s some fast cars behind us, like the Ferraris. Everyone else who is behind we can fight, apart from the top four teams. So that definitely the aim and target for tomorrow.

“We have two Ferraris starting behind us, which is quite amazing that we managed to beat them over one lap. But I think in a race, there’s no holding them back.

“But everyone else, the Astons, and Albon is there, and then all the other midfield teams, I think we can definitely fight. I think we’ve proven that now over several occasions, and that’s what we’re also going to do.”

Hulkenberg’s team mate Kevin Magnussen had to switch back to the older floor on Saturday, and will start 17th.

Alonso believes that Cowell will be a valuable addition to the Aston team

Fernando Alonso has welcomed the impeding arrival of former Mercedes HPP boss in the role of CEO at what he calls a “crucial time” for the Aston Martin F1 team.

Cowell will join in October and replace Martin Whitmarsh, the man who originally hired him for Mercedes in 2004. Cowell remained with Mercedes until his departure in early 2022, winning seven championships with the factory team.

Alonso used Mercedes engines overseen by Cowell at McLaren for a single season in 2007, when he came close to winning the World Championship.

“Very happy,” said the Spaniard when asked about the news. “I don’t know him personally, and I only respect him as an opponent in the past.

“I’m looking forward to meeting Andy and to chat about his view on the team. Obviously, Lawrence [Stroll] has a lot of trust on him, also Martin.

“By the way, I want to say thanks for a great contribution to Aston Martin. When Martin arrived in the team, it was just the transition from its previous name to Aston Martin, and he did a lot for the team and for the organisation. So hopefully before Martin leaves we can deliver something on track to make him happy.”

Alonso acknowledged that given his powertrain background Cowell could play a role in helping to integrate Aston Martin with Honda and fuel supplier Aramco in the build-up to 2026.

“With his background and experience, it’s a crucial time for the team, being with Honda, and having our own gearbox, our own fuel with Aramco, that we are not sharing with other team or any other Honda-powered teams,” said Alonso.

“Definitely, there are a couple of big challenges ahead for our team and this kind of people and great you know, engineers and designers will help us for sure.”

Alonso says that Aston Martin still has appeal to potential recruits despite the difficult 2024 season with the AMR24.

“Aston Martin is very exciting project,” he said. “We are aware of our results on the weekends that are not good enough. We need to get better. We need to get to a position first, to be in the top 10 every race and be in the points, and then fighting for podiums and for victories, as we did last year.

“We are not in that position yet. So everything is a little bit more difficult to express how motivated and how excited everyone is in the team.

“We are still very appealing for talent. And as we see with Andy and some of the big names that are linked to the team, new facilities, every time that I come here for the simulator, it’s getting bigger and bigger, building two and three, are nearly finished wind tunnel at the end of the year coming.

“So this is for sure, very attractive for many people in the paddock and for many great engineers. Hopefully the team is in good shape. We just need to deliver on track on Sunday, which is the most difficult thing.

Alonso’s team mate Lance Stroll agreed that Cowell will have a big impact.

“It’s very exciting,” said the Canadian. “And I think it’s uplifting for the whole team, the while factory to see Andy, come on board and be a part of the project – a legend of the sport, and so much success over the years on the power unit side in Mercedes. Nothing but exciting and positive news.

“He’s going to be I think involved in every department, and overlook and oversee and support everyone’s needs in the entire factory. He’s got a huge ambition to win. And I think he’s very motivated to come back into F1 and has all the same ambitions that we as a team all have. So it’s very exciting.”

Stroll also paid tribute to the departing Whitmarsh: “I think Martin’s been an extremely important part of this team over the last few years, he came in and constructed this incredible factory.

“We saw our performance last year, the uplift, we were the sixth or seventh team in 2022 and then we hit the track the beginning of last year with the second quickest car. And a huge part of that was a big push from Martin.

“And some of the goals that we set as a team were really, really high. And I think a lot of that was Martin.”