September 12, 2024 · 3:47 pm

Verstappen: Monza helped Red Bull to understand weaknesses of “monster” RB20

Verstappen says that Red Bull understands the issues of the RB20

Max Verstappen says that Red Bull is starting to understand more about the weaknesses of the difficult RB20 – but he admits that solving its issues will take time.

Verstappen called the car a “monster” after a difficult Italian GP that saw him qualify seventh and finish sixth, allowing Lando Norris to put a dent in his championship lead.

The Dutchman says that the Monza weekend provided useful lessons to the team about the car.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” he said. “But I do think that in a way Monza was positive to learn more about the car, and now it just takes time to make the car better basically, and understand our weaknesses. 

“I think we did. Now it’s about just trying to find solutions for it. I also know that it’s not coming within one or two weeks, from when you understand your problems.

“But yeah, I hope that from now onwards we could just look ahead and try to be better, not like a monster.”

After the Italian race Verstappen said that the drivers’ championship was now unrealistic for him.

Asked by this writer if he stuck with that view he said: “If we perform like Monza, it’s not realistic. So we definitely need to be better than what we have been delivering lately. We know that.”

He added: “I also know that we can do a better job in general, and if we understand our problems, then, yeah, if we can find a better balance with the car, then actually we’ll be more competitive. And if more competitive is enough, I don’t know.”

Verstappen acknowledged that Baku might be more suited to the RB20 despite its problems.

“Yeah, it’s a completely different track. So for sure, you have different kind of limitations, potentially, but we’ll see throughout the weekend.”

Verstappen downplayed the impact of Adrian Newey stepping back from the frontline duty earlier this year on the car’s form.

“I wouldn’t say it’s just that,” he noted. “Of course, when it was announced, that’s where it started to go a little bit wrong for us. But I think it already started to go wrong for us a long time before, but we didn’t really see that at the time.

“So I personally don’t think it’s related. That is not to be of course negative towards Adrian or whatever, I definitely don’t see it as something that is related, but it’s something that crept in over time.”

Regarding Christian Horner’s suggestion that the problems began in 2023 he said: “The car last year was quite different to this year. This one was always difficult.

“But of course, there are things that you develop over a period of time that add up to it. To say a specific race, I don’t know, but it’s been a period of time that it’s been going on.”

Verstappen said he had no concerns about McLaren team orders potentially improving Norris’s chances of eating into his championship lead.

“I’m not disappointed,” he said. “At the end of the day of course, they do what they want. That’s not my problem. I have my own problems at the moment.

“So yeah, of course, from Oscar’s side, he’s closer to Lando than Lando is to me in the championship, but it’s something that they have to deal with.”

“They’ve never really been that far apart anyway in the championship as well. And also from Oscar’s side,  you come in as a number one driver, both of them. I don’t think Oscar is the type of driver that needs to be labelled as number two anyway.”

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September 12, 2024 · 3:15 pm

Norris “thankful” for McLaren call on team orders for Baku

Piastri has said he’ll help Norris if asked to do so

Lando Norris is “thankful” for a call by McLaren on team orders that will see Oscar Piastri support his title campaign if it is necessary to ask the Australian to help.

The decision was made after internal discussions at McLaren since the Italian GP, where Piastri passed Norris on the first lap and put him in a position where he then lost second place to Charles Leclerc.

Team boss Andrea Stella says that the Monza move was detrimental to the overall situation of the team, and he wants to avoid a repeat.

Piastri has also said he’s willing to mover over if he’s asked to do so, although Norris is coy about accepting such help.

“I mean, good, thankful,” said Norris when asked about the call. “How do I say it? I mean, he’s still fighting for his own racing.

“He’s still going out and doing the doing his stuff. And it could be that there’s no time this year that he needs to help me.

“It’s more that I’ve got Oscar’s help when needs be. But he’s still going out with the intent of every session of fighting for himself and going to do his job.”

Norris insisted that he doesn’t want Piastri to have to hand over a race victory: “No. Probably for lower positions. But if he’s fought for a win and he’s deserving of a win, then he deserves to win.”

He said that he doesn’t want a win the championship based on help from Piastri, and that if a decision in his team mate’s favour means he loses at the final round, he will have to deal with it.

“I’m sure it will hurt,” he said. “But I’m also here to race, and if a driver is doing better than me, and outperforming, he’s just doing a better job. So I wouldn’t want to take that away from someone. And I also don’t want to be given a championship.

“Yes, it would be great to have a championship, and short term, you’d feel amazing, but I don’t think you’d be proud of that in the long run. And that’s not something I want.

“That’s not how I want to win a championship. I want to win it by fighting against Max, by beating Max, beating my competitors, and proving that I’m the best on track. And that’s how I want to win.”

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September 12, 2024 · 7:58 am

Krack: Aston has “plenty to time” to adjust structure for Newey arrival

Aston already has a lot of technical heavyweights – but Newey will be in charge

Aston Martin Formula 1 boss Mike Krack says that the team has “plenty of time” to adjust to the arrival of Adrian Newey and properly define what his role is.

Newey will start work on March 1 and owner Lawrence Stroll has made it clear that he will be the head of a technical structure that already features a lot of leading names, with others still coming, notably former Ferrari technical chief Enrique Cardile.

McLaren faced an awkward situation early this year when new recruit David Sanchez didn’t fit a revised technical structure and left not long after his arrival.

Krack is confident that Aston will be able to accommodate everyone in the right jobs.

“I think we will have plenty of time with him joining in March,” he said. “We will have a close look at it. Any team that can have someone like that will have to discuss its structure and how to adjust it, to make the best use of it.

“This is what we’re going to do. We’re not in a rush. We have plenty of time. We have some plans that we will need to discuss with him, but I think we will find a good solution.”

Asked by this writer if it might be difficult given the number of top technical people the team has he said: “I think at the end of the day, you have to look at which areas you want to cover, how much overlap do you want to have in a structure, and who is accountable for what? And that is an exercise that we have to go through.

“But you have to do that each time in each department with each new recruit, you need to define what are the roles and the responsibilities and what is this new employee accountable for?

“It’s the same with the senior leadership, the technical leadership. I think if you cover all the areas and you allocate them properly, there will be no such problems.”

He added: “The most important thing in F1 is to be flexible and open for change. If you’re stuck in the past, then you’ve seen some, some examples of the grid, how it can go.

“So I think you need to be open. You need to be dynamic at all times. And that is how we are approaching it.

Krack believes that Newey’s approach will be inspiring for the younger engineers in the Aston camp.

“The thinking differently, that is something that I think could add an extra, but then also the inspiration,” he said.

“I think a lot of engineers will be inspired by the approach, by the way of doing, because it’s a different approach.

“And I think with all the young engineers we are having, plus also the medium level, I think they will all benefit greatly from that, because you just see that things can be done differently, or that you just follow different ideas. I think it will be inspiring for all of us.”

Krack said that Newey’s arrival will make Aston appealing to everyone, including drivers.

“I think it would make a difference for everybody, starting with the staff. I think when you manage to appoint Adrian Newey, I think it’s, first of all, it’s a proof that the project is credible, that the whole vision of Lawrence is not only words, but it’s really action that we can take confidence of as a team.

“This is not anymore underdogs like it used to be in the past. It’s a team that should be confident that it can do it, but then also you have a completely different approach with partners, and same for race drivers. So I think it opens a lot of doors for the future.”

Asked if the door was now open to Max Verstappen he said: “The door for Max Verstappen is always open I think, for every team.”

Newey’s arrival will have an impact on the cost cap. He will now become of the top three highest paid team members whose salaries are outside the cap, and he will thus push someone else into the cap zone – thus absorbing several hundred thousand pounds that now can’t be spent elsewhere.

“It’s a challenge for everybody,” said Krack. “Not only for us, but it’s the same challenge for every team.

“You have a cost cap. In the cost cap, there is the all the relevant personnel that you have to incorporate, you have a top three exclusion, and you have to incorporate your development budget, and a lot of other things as they are described in the financial regulations.

“I think most important thing in these kinds of cases is proper planning and proper anticipation.

“What is going to happen, where are our expenses, and what is our development plan, and then you need contingencies for accidents, for crashes and stuff like that.

“Our finance team is very strong in planning this properly ahead in terms of cost monitoring. So I think, to be honest, I have full confidence that there will be no issue.”

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September 10, 2024 · 12:22 pm

Stroll: Newey “has the passion and desire to win”

Lawrence Stroll has total faith in Newey

Aston Martin Formula 1 owner says that Adrian Newey is “a winner” and is the key piece of the puzzle in improving the team’s fortunes.

Stroll said he first approached Newey two years ago, and his interest ramped up as soon as it became public that he was on the market.

Newey will start work at the team on March 1 after completing his Red Bull gardening leave.

“Adrian arguably is the greatest in the world at what he does,” said Stroll. “There’s nobody who’s come close to winning as many World Championships.

“He’s a gentleman, he’s a winner, he’s a competitor, and he has the passion and desire to win, as do I, and most of the people in this building.

“We started on a journey six years ago with this team, on similar ground, much smaller premises, a much smaller building, and that’s really when the journey had started.

“We’ve put together a fantastic management team. And building this premises was really showing our real intent. First was hiring the people, but to make this level of investment, to build a premises like this, that was non-existent before, in F1, the first of its sort. It’s so grand, but it’s so special, we can build 100% of the car here.

“We’re going to have the first, greatest, newest wind tunnel built in over 20 years. That’s a huge tool to make the car go faster, ultimately. So putting all that in place, the people, the premises, and then really looking for our technical leader.

“And I had been trying to speak to Adrian for a couple of years. And I believe when things are meant to be, they happen.

“I believe he shared my passion, intent and vision. And there really is no other F1 team that is poised for the future as we are. So I can’t be more excited to have Adrian on board.”

Expanding on Newey’s role he said: “As I mentioned, we have a strong team, some of which Adrian has already worked with.

“Adrian is going to be the managing technical partner of that team, so on a day-to-day basis, he’ll be here, full commitment, full time committed to F1, giving leadership and direction to his team.”

He added: “Adrian is key, key, key, and the biggest part of the puzzle, certainly from a technical point of view, from a technical leadership point of view. He will be leading the team, and I think that will have a trickle-down effect throughout the whole organisation.”

Stroll made it clear that the focus will be in 2026, with Newey joining in time to make a difference heading into the new rules set.

“We had a slight distraction moving into this building,” he said. “We had a very strong start to 2023 as you know, the first nine races were great. These ground effect cars are rather complex, and obviously we went in the different or clearly appears now a wrong direction. We’re trying to find our way back.

“We’re currently fifth in the championship, in all honesty, for a team like us, with just moving into this building, with not having all our tools in place, without having a true, big technical leader as Adrian – I would like to be in a better space, don’t get me wrong, but our focus really lies on doing a better car for ’25 but really, most importantly, we’ll be focusing most of our energy next year on ’26.

“Re-set, new rules, new power. unit building is up and running, wind tunnel is running. So that’s really going to be our focus.”

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September 10, 2024 · 11:10 am

Newey: Aston Martin became “a very natural choice”

Newey will officially start work at Silverstone on March 1

Adrian Newey says joining Aston Martin became “a very natural choice” after talking to owner Lawrence Stroll and seeing the team’s new facility at Silverstone.

Newey will officially start at the team on March 1 in the role of technical managing partner, with overall technical control of the organisation.

He is also a shareholder and partner of Stroll in the project.

“I think I felt as if I needed a new challenge,” Newey said of his departure from Red Bull. “And so kind of towards the end of April, I decided I needed to do something different.

“I spent lots of time with Mandy, my wife, kind of discussing, ‘Okay, what’s next? Do we go off and sail around the world? Do I do something different, America’s Cup, or whatever?’ So we took a bit of time out,

“And I felt I’ve been lucky enough to have achieved what I aspired to from the age of 10 or 12, which was simply to be a designer – I don’t think I knew the word engineer – in motor racing, I can honestly say, everything else has been a bonus, having sort of achieved that straight out of university.

“I never, of course, expected anything like what I’ve been lucky enough to be involved with. But you have to be honest with yourself, you have to keep yourself fresh. And so I felt I needed a new challenge. And so took a bit of time off.”

Newey says Stroll was quick to make his interest in his services clear.

“Lawrence and I have known each other off and on over the years,” he said. “We often bump into each other in the [hotel] gym, particularly at the Middle East and Far East races.

“As I announced to everybody that I would be departing the old team I was very flattered to have a lot of approaches from various teams, but really, Lawrence’s passion and commitment and enthusiasm is very endearing. It’s very persuasive.

“The reality is, if you go back 20 years what we now call team principals were actually the owners of the teams, Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Eddie Jordan, etc, etc.

“In this modern era Lawrence is actually unique in being the only properly active team owner. And I think that is a different feeling when you have somebody like Lawrence involved like that, it’s back to the old school model.

“And to have the chance to be a shareholder and a partner is something that hasn’t been offered to me before. So it’s a slightly different slant. It’s one I’m very much looking forward to. It became a very natural choice.”

Newey acknowledged that the new Aston Martin facility at Silverstone played a key role in persuading him to join the team.

“I think what Lawrence and Martin [Whitmarsh] have built here, these facilities are just stunning,” he said. “It’s not an easy thing to do, to build a brand new factory in a green field site and have a really nice, warm, creative feel to it.

“Because, after all, that’s what we’re here for, to try to be creative and to come up with good solutions, and particularly with good communication between everybody that works here. And I’ve seen some new buildings that haven’t quite fulfilled that, but this one is has a great feel.

“The proportions are right. It has all the facilities. I’m so looking forward to starting, to getting to know everybody here, to work with them, and go from there.”

Asked what his role will be he said: “Any F1 team is the same, we have three principal departments, which is aerodynamics, mechanical design and vehicle performance or vehicle dynamics.

“So it will be making sure that we try to have synergy between those departments and with Honda on the PU side, because there’ll be probably more than ever, a big interaction between the PU and the chassis. It’s about trying to come up with a holistic product.”

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September 10, 2024 · 10:01 am

Newey finally confirmed in Aston Martin F1 role and as shareholder

Finally it’s official – Adrian Newey is going to Aston Martin

After months of speculation the Aston Martin Formula 1 team has confirmed that Adrian Newey will join on March 1 2025, once his Red Bull gardening leave is over.

He will take on the job title of managing technical partner, and will become a shareholder in the organisation.

His hiring represents a major coup by owner Lawrence Stroll, who has been building up the team over recent seasons, with the offer of a shareholding one of the key appeals for Newey.

“I have been hugely inspired and impressed by the passion and commitment that Lawrence brings to everything he is involved with,” said Newey.

“Lawrence is determined to create a world-beating team. He is the only majority team owner who is actively engaged in the sport. His commitment is demonstrated in the development of the new AMR Technology Campus and wind tunnel at Silverstone, which are not only state of the art but have a layout that creates a great environment to work in.

“Together with great partners like Honda and Aramco, they have all the key pieces of infrastructure needed to make Aston Martin a world championship-winning team and I am very much looking forward to helping reach that goal.”

Stroll added: “This is huge news. Adrian is the best in the world at what he does – he is at the top of his game – and I am incredibly proud that he is joining the Aston Martin Aramco F1 team. It’s the biggest story since the Aston Martin name returned to the sport and another demonstration of our ambition to build a Formula One team capable of fighting for world championships. As soon as Adrian became available, we knew we had to make it happen.

“Our initial conversations confirmed that there was a shared desire to collaborate in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Adrian is a racer and one of the most competitive people I have ever met. When he saw what we have built at Silverstone – our incredible AMR Technology Campus, the talented group of people we have assembled and the latest wind tunnel in the sport – he quickly understood what we are trying to achieve.

“We mean business – and so does he. Adrian shares our hunger and ambition, he believes in this project, and he will help us write the next chapter in Aston Martin Aramco’s Formula One story.”

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September 6, 2024 · 9:12 am

Haas confirms Bearman as Baku sub for banned Magnussen

Bearman has a great opportunity in Baku

The Haas Formula 1 team has finally confirmed that Oliver Bearman will race in the Azerbaijan GP as replacement for Kevin Magnussen, who has been banned for a race after accumulating 12 penalty points.

The choice of Bearman was never really in doubt given that he has a race seat with the team next year, but as in Jeddah – when he stepped into Ferrari – he will have to give up his Prema F2 seat.

Last year he took F2 pole in Baku and won both the sprint and the feature race.

“It’s definitely more of a challenge stepping in to race as a reserve driver, with limited prep-time and so on,” said Bearman. “But I’m in the fortunate position of having done it earlier in the year with Scuderia Ferrari, so I can at least call on that experience.

“I’ve also had four FP1 sessions with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team in the VF-24 already this season, so undoubtedly that will also prove to be valuable in tackling the full race weekend in Baku. The team is in good form at the moment and I’ll do my best to be prepared with the time we have available. The aim is to get out there and have a solid weekend in Azerbaijan.”

Team boss Ayao Komatsu added: “I’m excited that Ollie will be driving the VF-24 alongside Nico in Baku. He’s already shown great promise in his FP1 outings and post-season test, and he performed very well when he drove for Scuderia Ferrari in Saudi Arabia, picking up points in the process.

“This is another excellent opportunity for both Ollie and the team to work together, this time throughout an entire race weekend, and he couldn’t ask for better teammate than Nico to provide him with a reference.”

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September 5, 2024 · 4:10 pm

Hulkenberg: Monza fight with RB pair was “just normal racing”

Hulkenberg had a frustrating time in Italy

Nico Hulkenberg insists that his incidents with RB drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda in the early laps at Monza were “just normal racing”.

The German says that he’s not battling the Italian cars harder than anyone else, despite Haas and RB being in a close fight for sixth place in the World Championship.

Haas currently lags behind its rival by just six points, with Kevin Magnussen having logged a valuable 10th place at Monza.

Hulkenberg lost ground on the first lap after a clash with Ricciardo, and while trying to recover he had contact at Turn 1 with Tsunoda, putting the Japanese driver out of the race and damaging his own front wing.

The German received a 10-second penalty and two points on his licence for causing a collision, and eventually finished 17th.

“I feel like we lost everything already on lap one,” said Hulkenberg when asked about his difficult race by this writer.

“First chicane was somehow boxed in, but in the wrong spot, and then lost out. And then I got a good strong tow off Danny. So I went next to him on the outside, but he swept across quite a lot, and just didn’t leave quite enough room.

“So we made contact, it put me in the dirt, anti-stall kicked in in fourth gear. So until I had that sorted out, I lost another three or four positions. And I must have been P16/17 after lap one, obviously pretty poor and bad.

“It was always going to be difficult. And the Yuki incident and front wing change and all the rest of it did the rest.”

Hulkenberg denied that there was any red mist involved in the Tsunoda contact: “No, he probably was on the radio, knowing him!

“Of course, I didn’t stop it how I wanted to. But I think he saw me coming as well with quite some speed, and still he decided to turn in. I think he could have saved himself, but he chose not to.”

Asked if he races the RB cars harder than others given the points situation Hulkenberg was adamant that that isn’t the case.

“No, I think that’s not it,” he said. “Just normal racing. We were five or six cars in a row there, bunched up, and obviously I lost out a lot, I wanted to just make ground up again, and just made contact there. But nothing to do with the championship.”

He added: “The high-speed bouncing was pretty bad in the race. Maybe there was some further damage on the car from that contact with Yuki, on the floor. We need to look into it.”

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September 5, 2024 · 1:34 pm

Colapinto admits Monza F1 race debut was a “question mark”

Colapinto finished a solid 12th on his first outing

Williams Formula 1 rookie Franco Colapinto admits that his debut race in Italy was a “question mark” as he had never previously run more than eight laps in the FW46.

The 21-year-old started only 18th at Monza after a mistake in Q1 cost him his quick lap.

However, he acquitted himself well in the race by finishing in 12th place, just 13.8 seconds behind team mate Alex Albon, despite some issues with his seat.

On his in-lap he received an encouraging radio message from team boss James Vowles, who said that he had driven a “fantastic” first race.

“Very positive,” Colapinto said of his first outing. “I’m happy of course with the result, I’m happy with the pace.

“It was a question mark. I have never done more than eight laps in a row before this, and I had to do 53. And I never tried the hard compound as well.

“So a lot of new things, but very happy, a very positive weekend overall. Of course, a bit frustrating, the little mistake I’ve done yesterday, but today I paid it back to the team with a really strong pace.

“My engineers stayed with me during all the session, and they helped me with the tools to keep the tyres under control. It was very positive. I’m happy, of course, with the performance.

“I need to keep working. We have now a lot of information to take home to the factory, take home to the simulator, and understand better on what do I need to work.”

He added: “It’s always tough, your first race, many unknown things. But I think we managed it well, and finishing a couple of seconds from the points was decent, so happy, and I think we have a good chance in the next races to do a good job.”

Colapinto believes that having gone to Monza with just at such short notice he will be much better prepared for the next race in Azerbaijan, although the venue is new to him.

“It’s a track that I don’t know, and it will be tough, and it will be a challenge,” he said. “I know that. But now at least it’s only one thing to learn. I already know the car from this weekend.

“[Monza] was a good weekend to do your debut. I knew the track quite well, so it was only one thing to learn this weekend, and in Baku also one thing to learn, but it’s the track.

“It’s a tough one, but now I have, I think, time enough to do a good job in the simulator, to spend time with engineers.

“Of course, the time was very limited coming into this race. The call was very, very late, and I couldn’t do all the prep. In the next few races I’m going to be able nail it on that, and arrive more prepared with the car, with the settings.”

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September 5, 2024 · 9:20 am

Wolff: McLaren “between a rock and a hard place” on team orders

Wolff knows how hard it is to keep two quick drivers happy…

Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff says that rival McLaren is” between a rock and a hard place” as it juggles the possibility of team orders.

Thus far the team has not asked Oscar Piastri to help the title campaign of Lando Norris, who is ahead on points and the closest challenger to championship leader Max Verstappen.

At Monza last weekend Piastri not only passed Norris on the first lap but also put his team mate in a position where Charles Leclerc got between them in second place.

Radio conversations referenced McLaren’s “Papaya Rules” that the drivers have to follow when battling each other.

Wolff has experienced costly team mate rivalries in the past, notably that between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

“I think as a racing team that is batting at the front suddenly I think you’re between a rock and a hard place,” he said when asked about the McLaren situation.

“Because on one side they are racers, like we are racers, and we want to make sure that the best man wins.

“On the other side, when it starts to become dysfunctional and impacting your team’s performance, how do you react to that?

“The team is always on the losing end. Because if you freeze positions and you start to have team orders, then that’s maybe not what our racing soul wants to do. But the rational side, I think, needs to prevail at the end.

“You don’t want to lose out on the championship by three or five points that you could have easily made. So walking that tight rope is so difficult, and there is no universal truth of how to handle it.”

Wolff indicated that McLaren team boss Andrea Stella will be able to handle the situation.

“Andrea has seen that all pan out in front of his eyes multiple times at Ferrari,” he said. “What I see with him, he has that racer’s soul that doesn’t want to do it, and he wants to let them race.

“But I think they are going to come to some conclusion after this race on how we handle it. This is where we started to introduce the rules of engagement. We changed the wording and made it racing intent, because rules was too harsh as a word for the drivers.”

Red Bull’s Christian Horner agreed that it isn’t an easy situation.

“I don’t know what the Papaya Rules are, but they nearly took themselves out of the race at the second chicane,” he said. “From a drivers’ championship point of view, it helped us out.

“It’s always a difficult position as a team. But it’s inevitable that some point you’ve got to pick, and put your best foot forward.”

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