Tag Archives: formula-1

April 28, 2024 · 11:24 am

Wolff: Mercedes F1 team must focus on low-speed performance

Toto Wolff says that his Mercedes Formula 1 team has addressed the high-speed issues with the W15, and now has to focus on low-speed performance.

The team is currently lying a distant fourth in the World Championship behind Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren, with drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell making clear their frustration at the poor form.

Wolff cited a solid performance over the Japanese GP weekend as evidence that the car is at least competitive at tracks with faster corners.

“I think we absolutely achieved that,” said Wolff. “In the high-speed we were super competitive also in Suzuka through the Esses, say and night to what we had before. The drivers were speaking about the best car they had so far in those last two and a half years. But then we really didn’t perform in the low-speed.

“So you’re gaining half a second in the high-speed, you’re losing half a second in the low-speed, and that the equation is back to zero. So that is something which we need to improve.

“We’re beyond the point of understanding, we just need to improve now, that is what it needs to come to. And we have all the facts on the table. We know what we tweaked in order to solve the high-speed, we know where the car was before, to be quick through the slow-speed.

“And now we just need to bolt the car together that does both of them. And as before, we’ve seen those moments of performance. But overall, we’re just not good enough at this stage.”

Wolff suggested that Mercedes was flattered last year by other teams underperforming, indicating that the competition is now consistently stronger.

“I think the cars were difficult all along these last two years,” he said. “The advantage that we had is that McLaren was not racing us for most of the, let’s say, first half of the season. So they weren’t that competitive.

“Ferrari wasn’t the as quick, and dropped the ball on several occasions. And that’s why we were a regular podium contender, and closest to Red Bull.

“Now that these teams have picked up the performance levels, this is a relative game, and suddenly what was good enough for third last year is just good enough for sixth. And that’s why it’s tough.

“The car is as difficult as it has been in the past, tricky for the drivers. When we discussed it George said it was the most tricky qualifying car that he’s had so far. So overall, in a way, same symptoms.”

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April 26, 2024 · 8:39 am

Hulkenberg leaves Haas F1 team to join Sauber and Audi

Hulkenberg is on his way to Audi. Photo: @tinnekephotography

Nico Hulkenberg is to join the Sauber Formula 1 team for 2025 and thus be a key part of the transition into full Audi identity the following year.

The German has long been linked with a future at Sauber/Audi, having previously driven for the team for a single season in 2013, when he scored points on 10 occasions and finished 10th in the World Championship.

Hulkenberg is well known to Sauber CEO Andres Seidl, the pair having worked together at Porsche in 2015, when he won the Le Mans 24 Hours.

“The signing of Nico is the next milestone for Audi’s F1 project,” said Seidl. “With his speed, his experience and his dedicated teamwork, he will make an important contribution to Audi’s entry in 2026 as early as next year.

“Right from the start, there was great mutual interest in tackling a project of this uniqueness together. Nico is a strong personality, his determination and desire on a professional and personal level will help us to make progress both in the development of the car and in building up the team.”

Hulkenberg said: “I’m returning to the team I worked with back in 2013 and have fond memories of the strong team spirit in Switzerland. The prospect of competing for Audi is something very special. When a German manufacturer enters F1 with such determination, it’s a unique opportunity. To represent the factory team of such a car brand with a power unit made in Germany is a great honour for me.”

He added: “It‘s a big project with high ambitions and a huge challenge, a challenge that I am very much looking forward to. The conversations with Andreas Seidl and Oliver Hoffmann were very trustful, characterised by a lot of appreciation and mutual understanding regarding the common goals.”

Shortly before the Sauber announcement Haas confirmed that Hulkenberg will leave at the end of the 2024 season.

“I’d like to extend my thanks to Nico for his contributions to the team in the time that he’s been here with us,” said team boss Ayao Komatsu. “He’s been a great team player and someone we very much enjoy working with.

“His experience and feedback have proved invaluable to us in terms of improving our overall performance – a fact that’s clearly evident in both his qualifying and race performances in the VF-24 this season.

“There’s lots more racing to go this year so we look forward to continuing to benefit from his inputs throughout the remainder of the 2024 season.”

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April 25, 2024 · 7:46 am

Gasly “impatient” to get Alpine F1 upgrade in Miami

Pierre Gasly says he’s impatient to get the Alpine upgrade package that his team mate Esteban Ocon trialled at the Formula 1 Chinese GP.

Logistical constraints meant that only Ocon could use the new parts in Shanghai, with encouraging results.

Ocon finished just outside the points in 11th, while even with the standard package Gasly was 13th, despite having lost some time early on with a pit stop delay.

“It’s just a couple of kilos lighter, more aero, more points of downforce all around,” Gasly said of the new package. “Most important is that is working. We saw it from the first session. A bit impatient to get it, but I know from Miami onwards, I’ll be on that package.

“And we’ll keep working, because we still want more than what we are seeing. So we still need to find more performance.”

Expanding on the weight saving he added: “It was actually even more than we expected. So it was a nice surprise arriving here. The car was overweight at the start of the year. And now we’re getting definitely close to where is our target.”

Gasly said he was encouraged by how both cars performed in Shanghai, with even his unmodified A524 showing improved performance.

“I’m actually quite pleased, because from every race since the start of the year that’s probably one of the closest from the top 10 we finished,” he said.

“On my side I knew it was going be difficult, looking at the performance in the first four races. Without the upgrade this weekend, I knew it was going to be tough.

“But in the end, we still managed to make it to Q2, did a good sprint race, quali and race. And today we actually managed to overtake a couple of guys, and be in the mix. Obviously not everything was smooth, there were a couple of moments which we need to review, which didn’t go as good as they should have been.

“But I think all-in-all, I’m just looking forward to being in Miami, and get that upgrade. And looking at Esteban, he’s not that far from the top 10. So it’s definitely positive to see it’s bringing us closer to the points.

“But obviously, we’ve got to keep working. The gap still big, and we’ve got to close it, and keep bringing new parts on the car.”

Gasly is convinced that the team is now going in the right direction after its troubled start to the 2024 season.

“The first few races we felt so much on the backfoot, we can’t really attack, we can’t really defend our position,” he noted. “Whereas it [the upgrade] just brings us a couple of tenths, which means we can be slightly closer, we can be a bit more in the mix.

“And on days like today we can see that we’re actually not that far from the points. There is a big gap with the top five. So it seems like at least for the next couple of months, we’ll be fighting for small points.

“But yeah, it will be crucial, and definitely make a big difference at the end of the year. Definitely looking forward to be in Miami.”

Gasly also conceded that a mechanic changing the right rear tyre was lucky to escape injury in the pit stop drama.

“Quite scary, actually,” he said. “The light went green, so I dropped the clutch, but then it went red straight away. And then I saw in the mirror that the wheel wasn’t on. The mechanic is fine, which I was a bit scared of.

“Obviously we’ve had a couple of instances this year where I’ve lost some time in the box. So I’m sure we’ll review exactly what’s happened, and improve it for next time.”

He added: “I had a bit of a moment with Alex [Albon] at the start as well, kind of being pushed wide. So there are a couple of areas where we’ve lost time, and we’ll review. But with the car that we had today, honestly, I’m already glad we finished 13th.”

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April 24, 2024 · 6:14 pm

Allison: “No pleasure” for Mercedes F1 team in China

Mercedes Formula 1 technical director James Allison says that his team can take “no pleasure” from a Chinese GP weekend during which the tricky W15 simply wasn’t good enough.

George Russell finished sixth and Lewis Hamilton was ninth in Sunday’s main event as the Brackley outfit was outperformed by Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari, although second place for Hamilton in the Saturday sprint provided some encouragement.

Nevertheless overall it was a disappointing event for the Mercedes team, which is bringing an upgrade package to the upcoming Miami GP.

“It’s no pleasure at all to be taken from a weekend which even though competently executed and well driven by both guys, no pleasure at all when the hardware itself is not where it needs to be or should be,” said Allison in a team video.

“That’s of course the challenge that we face in the coming races, to try and move both the setup of the car and also the pieces that we bring to the car so that that’s improved.

“We’ve got upgrade packages coming to the car, but also components that we hope will rectify the underlying balance that is causing us difficulty.

“Much as it’s painful to talk in this way after a weekend like this, I just have to remember that there’ll be races in the future when we’ve executed those things, when we’re back more on the front foot, and when we’re progressing where the pleasure of talking about it will be massive. And that day can’t come soon enough.”

Allison said that the team continued to learn lessons about the difficult W15 in China.

“Every weekend you go to you learn things,” he said. “It’s one of the truisms of F1, it is a learning race, and although you have a factory full of tools, you have a load of computational power, a load of people who are thinking about it, there is no place to learn about the car better than with the car at the track, doing what it’s designed to do.

“We head from China, one of the most famously front-limited circuits, to Miami, a track that is more in the rear-limited end of the spectrum.

“And our challenge will be to make sure we don’t try and replay China at a Miami that is a very, very different beast, and wants different things from the car than China will.”

Intriguingly Allison says that the team has realised that the best way to make use of the new sprint weekend parc ferme rules is to take setup risks for the shorter event, and potentially then rein things in for qualifying and the main race.

 “We face the enjoyment of another sprint weekend with this second go of having two bites of the cherry,” he said. “And we definitely learned during this weekend that if you’re going to be ambitious, be ambitious in the sprint race, and then tune it down for the main race rather than the opposite way around.

“And hopefully we’ll land a car in a better place, that the upgrades that we’re going to bring to Miami serve us well in a grid that in qualifying at least is really close.

“Around the part of the battle we’re fighting a few hundredths can make a difference sometimes, and a couple of tenths would make all the difference in the world. So looking forward to seeing how that all plays out.”

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April 24, 2024 · 3:25 pm

Hulkenberg: “Good reaction” from Haas after F1 sprint frustration

Nico Hulkenberg says that his Haas Formula 1 team had a “good reaction” in Shanghai following a disappointing sprint event.

Hulkenberg qualified for the Saturday morning sprint in 13th and slipped back to 19th after struggling with tyre degradation.

The team took advantage of the new parc ferme rules to make changes for the afternoon’s main qualifying session, in which the German earned ninth place.

In Sunday’s Grand Prix he finished 10th and the best of the rest behind the cars from the top five teams.

It was his third score in five starts in 2024, following a 10th place in Jeddah and a ninth in Melbourne.

Asked by this writer if he was satisfied with his Shanghai weekend Hulkenberg said: “Definitely, especially after how it went yesterday morning [in the sprint], and also Friday in the sprint quali. A very good reaction, and recovery.

“It just shows that everything has to be perfect for us to put ourselves in that position, and we did that, two close-to-perfect sessions.

“And one point is all that’s available obviously, with one of the top five teams’ cars not being where it should be. And that’s all there is at the moment.”

Hulkenberg admitted that while the post-sprint setup changes worked the car could have been even better.

“I think always with more time you would still continue working and try to improve it,” he said. “But with the limited time and running, that’s what you have.

“Just the race felt very, very static from where I was sitting, and these cars it gets incredibly difficult to follow.

“I think the FIA should look into that again, because the dirty air effect is close to what it was again in 2019- 2020. And obviously that’s not great for racing and for dynamic action.”

Regarding the next event he said: “Miami is a super nice venue, a very special one for sure, one of our three home races. So we go there with good vibes, and expect a hot weekend, and see what we get.”

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April 24, 2024 · 1:19 pm

Ferrari confirms HP title sponsorship deal

Ferrari has confirmed a lucrative title sponsorship deal with HP Inc as yet another US tech giant takes advantage of the sport’s growing profile.

Henceforth the Italian team will be known as Scuderia Ferrari HP, with the cars and drivers carrying the logos.

The team had already revealed that it will be using a special blue-focussed livery over the Miami GP weekend, where the new partnership will be formally launched.

The HP deal also encompasses the Ferrari Esports team, and the Driver Academy, including the F1 Academy car driven by Maya Weug.

HP or its subsidiaries have been involved with F1 on and off for decades, including recent deals with Red Bull Racing, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo/Sauber and Renault. It also had a long connection with Jordan.

The Maranello outfit says that “HP and Ferrari are committed to accelerate sustainable innovation whether through technology or sport. The companies will also work together to expand educational initiatives within their teams and communities, and create a lasting impact for generations to come.”

The deal is the latest of several to be put together on the watch of team principal Fred Vasseur, who worked with HP at Sauber.

“Our founder passed on to us his continuous will to progress,” said Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna.

“From this stems our drive to innovate on the road and on the track, as well as our commitment to a sustainable future, from carbon neutrality to the education of the younger generation.

“In HP we have found the same values, which make it an ideal partner. We look forward to starting our collaboration and facing new opportunities and challenges together.”

HP CEO Enrique Lores said: “With technology, performance and exceptional craftsmanship fuelling the future, the partnership between HP and Ferrari is a natural fit.

“Both brands are built on rich histories that have endured the test of time. Through this unique collaboration, we also have an opportunity to reach new audiences, drive business growth, and create lasting impact for our shared clients and communities.

“Together we will leverage the global stage of racing to accelerate sustainable innovation.”

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April 22, 2024 · 12:28 am

Fernando Alonso: “The best thing is not to do the sprint race…”

Fernando Alonso joked that “the best thing is not to do the sprint race” after a weekend of mixed fortunes for the Aston Martin in the Formula 1 Chinese GP.

Alonso picked up three penalty points on his licence after contact with Carlos Sainz in Saturday’s sprint, and then found his strategy for the main race on Sunday compromised by the tyre sets he had left over.

He thus found himself running the soft compound in the middle of the race and then losing track position when he pitted for mediums for a short final stint that saw him bag the fastest lap and seventh place.

“Well, we didn’t have any more hard tyres,” he said when I asked him about the strategy call.

“So we had one soft, one medium left, and 35 laps in front of us, which in our calculation was not possible to make it until the end. Obviously, there were a lot of safety car laps, removing the Sauber [of Bottas] out.

“And then as soon as the safety car came in, more safety car laps, because of the crash. So that was I think the luck that the hard cars had to finish the race. Yeah, the best thing is not to do the sprint race, probably on Saturdays, to keep more sets of tyres for Sunday.

“There are few points in the table for us, if you’re not winning the race, and you risk penalty points and things like that on the licence, so it’s better not maybe to race…”

Alonso believes that greater flexibility with tyres will benefit sprint weekends: “I think more tyres will be good, because also in FP1 it’s a game of who runs less, and who uses less sets of tyres, so it’s a shame for the fans.

“And then in the sprint race, if they want the sprint race for the show and for overtaking and ‘let them race,’ and then you don’t let them race… It’s better not to race.”

Alonso did at least enjoy himself in China, especially on the first lap, when after passing Sergio Perez he looked set to have a go at leader Max Verstappen.

“Yesterday, the same with Lewis [Hamilton]. I was P2 after Lando [Norris] went off. And I said, ‘Okay, I may try and lead the race, at least one lap,’ and today I passed Checo, and I said, ‘Okay, if I can, I will do it again…’ But I had no choice, and no opportunity. Hopefully one day soon.

He added: “The wind direction changed this morning, so in Turn 1/2, it was headwind. I knew that if I was parallel to someone in Turn 1/2, I had the opportunity to attack. So I was very aggressive.

“Then eventually you fall back to your natural position, which is ninth and 10th. We keep repeating the same thing, it’s repetitive, but we see every Sunday that we are the fifth fastest team. But for whatever reason they don’t put together the lap on Saturday. We qualify in front of them, and then there is this fight every Sunday. So let’s see if we improve the car.”

Regarding the charge after his late pit stop he said: “I felt fast, but the positions were not looking that good when I was P10. It was difficult, and it was our only strategy to do. It’s good to have the fastest lap, good to feel the car fast.

“We have a good DRS this year. so it was very easy to overtake. I nearly crashed in the last corner, so I was pushing maximum. Let’s see if we can improve. So far, the first five races show the same trend, we are still missing a good half a second in race pace. And this is something that we need to start focusing on now.”

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