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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.”

Max Verstappen rarely criticises his Red Bull Racing team, which is hardly surprising given the success that they have enjoyed together.

However after his torrid race in Austria, which culminated in a fifth place after his clash with Lando Norris, the World Champion was not shy about referencing mistakes.

His point was that slow pit stops and what he perceived as strategy errors left him more vulnerable to attack from Lando Norris than would otherwise have been the case.

That their battle resulted on contact for which Verstappen was not the fault of the team, but he was adamant that it resulted from the circumstances.

To be fair he used the word “we” in reference to things being done wrong. Nevertheless it was a sign perhaps not just of the increased pressure being applied by Norris and McLaren but also the ongoing tensions in the RBR camp, amid Christian Horner’s feud with Jos Verstappen and the question marks over Max’s long-term commitment to the team.

“I think the first stint was quite good,” said Verstappen when I asked him about his race. “Then, of course, at the end of that first stint, I caught quite a bit of traffic. We should have just boxed, for me personally, because I just gave up free lap time. So we basically did a lot of things wrong today.

“I think for me personally, it started with the strategy. Then the pit stops were a disaster. The first one was already bad, the second one was even more of a disaster. And then, of course, you give free lap time. It’s seconds that you give away, six seconds over those two pit stops. And then, of course, it’s a race again.

“And that’s why, I think also, we put ourselves in a position for unfortunately an accident to happen between us, which you never want to happen. But yeah, we did everything wrong that we could have done wrong today.”

He added: “Today’s has just been off. Everything has been wrong. I mean, I’m complaining about the tyres. We didn’t pit, I was stuck in traffic. Bad execution with a pit stop. So everything just went wrong,”

Verstappen, which switched from intended new hards to a used set of mediums for his finals stint in an effort to find performance, even suspected that there was something wrong with the car.

“I honestly have no explanation why suddenly the car just transformed from an okay balance in the first stint into just undriveable behaviour afterwards, which normally indicates that something was also wrong,” he said.

“But even with that, we should have won today, if you didn’t make so many errors as well, with the pit stops.”

Regarding the medium/hard tyre choice he said: “They both felt bad. So I don’t even think that we did the wrong thing with the tyres.

“My balance in the first stint wasn’t even that bad. But then I don’t know why, but the car just started to become worse and worse throughout the race. So that is also something that we have to look into, maybe that something broke on the car.”

“Today’s has just been off. Everything has been wrong. I mean, I’m complaining about the tyres. We didn’t pit, I was stuck in traffic. Bad execution with a pit stop. So everything just went wrong.”

Gasly had a look at other options before deciding to stay put at Alpine

Pierre Gasly says that the “huge potential” he sees at the Alpine Formula 1 team convinced him to remain in the Enstone camp after he’d had a look at other options.

On Thursday the team announced that the Frenchman has signed a multi-year deal that takes him into the period of the new regulations that come into force in 2026.

Gasly had been linked with a Sauber/Audi seat should Carlos Sainz turn it down, and he admits that he had looked around before committing to staying with Alpine.

“Contractually, you always need to have a look quite a long time in advance,” he said when asked by this writer about his other options.

“And obviously, when Lewis [Hamilton] announced at the start of the year, it sort of started and triggered the whole market a lot earlier than what we would have anticipated.

“Since the Lewis news there was a lot of talks here and there, obviously always having in mind that I’ve signed with Alpine to be at the top with Alpine, and it definitely hasn’t been the result so far that I’ve dreamt of with the team.

“But I definitely believe there is huge potential. I repeat it, I’ve seen a lot of positive signs happening inside the team, not only at the track, but also back at the factory.

“I followed closely also the development for 2026 which to me, was the most important thing for my next contract, because we start into a new regulation.

“And then it was a constant conversation, very open. And the team obviously showed from day one a lot of interest and the desire to work with me, which is something very important to me – to work with people that are definitely pushing hard to get you, and want to get you on the project.”

The news of Gasly’s contract came shortly after Flavio Briatore was announced as an advisor to Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo, with drivers as part of his job description.

However Gasly says that the Italian wasn’t key to the timing of the deal.

“Flavio didn’t really influence, it was already long conversation over the last couple of months, and it was about time to commit for my future,” he said.

“And I’m very, very happy and very excited to commit to the team, because it’s good to have some stability.

“I think in my career I went through Toro Rosso to Red Bull back to Alpine, but not always with a strong dynamic, and from what I’m seeing from the team, and my relationship with the team, with Luca de Meo, with Bruno, is going extremely well, and we’ve got clear ambitions.

“I really like Luca’s vision and where he wants to bring the team over the next few years. And I trust as well in his management, and I’m just very excited to be part of the project.”

Regarding Briatore’s suggestion that it will take two years to turn the team around Gasly said: “I’m an optimistic person and a positive person. And I definitely welcome anyone who’s coming to contribute positively to the team.

“So he’s got very clear ideas and clear ambitions. He’s been there as well. He’s been working with the team, and he seems very excited to bring all these ingredients to Enstone. And if we can make it in two years, I’ll be more than happy.”

He added: “I don’t think there is a secret person or tool that can really trigger a big change. Obviously, we talk a lot about the main figures of a race team.

“But when you see the amount of people working back at the factory and who are actually providing the performance, finding the gains in the wind tunnel, in the CFD, mechanically, I’ve been going quite deep in the team with all the different departments and giving my inputs and working quite closely with them, trying to lead them to where I want.

“And there is a very good communication, very transparent. Obviously, it will take some time before we were able to correct the slow start of the year we have.”

Gasly says that his faith in the technical structure was the key to his decision.

“I think personally I’ve seen enough in F1 to know that you can’t really rely on a single car concept,” he noted.

“McLaren has proved it in the last two years. Mercedes also has shown that sometimes you get it right, and sometimes you can get it wrong. And it takes some time to get back to the top.

“But it’s mainly in the structure, the facilities and the technical track you are bringing which was the most important to me.

“So that’s why I tried to pay attention over the last couple of months, and trying to see the dynamic going on at the factory, and how, regardless of the performance on track, which is obviously miles away from where we want to be, but trying to see what sort of solutions we’re trying to bring on board.

“Obviously Luca and Bruno [Famin] played a big part, because everyone’s trying to defend what they have, and 2026 is also going to be a big change of regulations. That’s why I took a bit of time before making my own decision.”

Suggestions that the team may use a customer Mercedes or Honda PU in 2026 and abandon the Viry project have added an intriguing twist to the situation at Alpine. However, Gasly sees plenty of commitment from Renault.

“I have constant conversations with Luca, pretty much almost weekly,” he said. “And it’s been very clear, and I think it’s been very clear in the media, that his goal in F1 is to bring the team, and he’s committed 100% with Alpine.

“So it’s never really been a question mark on my side. And I know how committed they are as a brand they are with Renault, with Alpine. no and I know also how much belief they’ve got in the team, and how much belief I have in the guys that that we have in Enstone and in Viry.”

Krack: says Aston still needs time to make steps with AMR24

Aston Martin Formula 1 team principal Mike Krack is confident that the Silverstone outfit can still make progress this year, but he admits that time is the biggest challenge.

Krack says that Aston knows what it has to improve, with Barcelona – where Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finished 12^th and 14^th – highlighting a weakness in long corners.

However, Krack concedes that the busy 2024 schedule means that races will continue to slip by before the issues that hamper the AMR24 can be improved.

“It is a reflection of where we are,” he said after the Spanish GP. “Barcelona as a track is unforgiving. You know after Barcelona where you are, and we have seen it today, and we have to work hard to fix it.

“You have now five races in six weeks, and we have had quite a lot of understanding after Monaco, Imola, Canada as well, where we scored 14 points by the way, with the same car. And it’s about fixing them.

“You have no time. That’s the main problem at the moment. So we have to hang on like this, get the best out of the car each weekend, and bring these parts as quick as possible.”

Alonso said in Spain that he expects the Austrian and British races to be “painful” ahead of updates that will improve the car before the summer break.

“I share his optimism, but also I have to share the optimism,” said Krack. “The results are encouraging, and it’s just about the time that until we have everything.

“This is a continuous process. It is not like from one day to the next, you say, ‘Oh, this is it.’ This is something that a lot of people are working on, and a lot of people are analysing.

“And you come to conclusions, and you go to another race. You adjust your conclusions, because you see, ‘Ah it’s maybe not like that.’ So, this is a continuous process.”

He added: “We have, clearly, a better understanding than we had before. That is also what makes us confident looking forward.”

Krack pointed out that just a few weeks ago Aston was at the same level as the currently resurgent Mercedes team.

“If you see Mercedes has been on our level at the start of the season for a couple of races, and now they are with the top guys,” he said. “So you can see it’s possible, but it is not automatic. You have to work hard, and bring the steps to make it happen.”

“They were in the same position at the start of the year. They were in our competitive level for the first three, four races, I think. And they made steps from there. So we have all the objective data where we can clearly see the difference that they have made in terms of lap time performance. So it is possible.”

However Krack did not want to put a timeline on when the AMR24 will improve.

“It’s easy to make a prediction,” he said. “It’s easy to say now it will be three races, it will be seven. Bringing new parts means also you have to understand them again. This is also stuff that takes time. You see, you have seen Mercedes when they brought the upgrades, it took them maybe one, two three races to be at the top, but they were on the podium today.

“So I think they have clearly made a big step forward. Now, this is a good team. We know that from the past. So it shows us, together with what McLaren has done last year and McLaren has done this year, that it is possible.”

He continued: “The development is not always a straight line. You develop your car in a certain direction, then on the track, you discover that there is going to be other issues, and that you have to understand.

“With the intensity of the calendar week-on-week, you have to perform, and week-on-week, you improve your understanding. And sometimes it takes you maybe a little bit longer.”

Krack also stressed that the team itself is still developing its processes.

“When we zoom out we see we are still a team in the build,” he said. “We have a nice facility, nice offices, but there is still a lot of building going on, and also the process of understanding how your development goes needs to improve.

“So all-in-all, I think you know what is important in such a situation is, keep calm, focus on your issues, and work on bringing them. And if there is a lot of races in between, the situation that we have now, you have to go through and make the best of the package you have.

“Which I think in Canada, you can see it is possible to do. If circumstances allow, you can still score a chunk of points with the same car.”