F1 2020
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1%er
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Wolff in favour of an engine freeze from 2022
Mercedes boss Wolff said Mercedes would be in favour of an engine freeze if it ensured that it kept Red Bull and its sister team AlphaTauri on the F1 grid, adding he can understand where Red Bull is coming from. "I think Formula 1 is in a good state with three engine suppliers," Wolff said. "I totally understand where Red Bull is coming from. They don't want to go back to a customer status. They want to be a works team and they have the capability of tweaking it and maybe optimising it, and maybe there are a few things in the pipeline from Honda that are giving them confidence that there is more performance in the engine. But I think we should be doing everything to give Red Bull that opportunity. I think that for them going back to customers, that status is not something that they are very keen on, I truly believe that Honda has done a very good job and I think there is performance in the pipeline that gives Red Bull confidence. But equally I understand that they don’t want to go into a spending war with all the other OEMs developing an engine, so it’s a sensible proposal I’d like to support it. I think Red Bull is a tremendously important brand for Formula 1 and we should do and we should do everything to keep the two teams in Formula 1 and help them with the option of having basically works status.”
Asked if he was concerned Red Bull is simply trying to force F1 to get its preferred outcome, Wolff replied: “Yeah they could be. I think in Formula 1 everybody’s trying to get the best financial deal and performance deal and this is their current position. I can live with either outcome. I can live with them taking a customer engine, or help to fund the Honda development programme, or do it on their own. I’m easy with either decision.”
Speaking to Sky Sports, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner stressed that the team's 'Plan-A' is its only real option for 2022. "Obviously we’ve got a little bit of time,” he said. “We’ve got just under 18 months to get ourselves sorted. But the more we look, there really only is one option that works and that would be to agree something with Honda where we could take on the [intellectual property] for the Honda engine. But of course that would have to be dependent on the regulations. It would only make sense for an independent engine supplier, as Red Bull would effectively be, if there was a freeze because it would just be impossible to fund the kind of development spend that goes on with these engines.”
Vitaly Petrov father assassinated
Vitaly Petrov has abruptly vacated his post as a F1 steward this weekend following the apparent assassination of his father in Russia. The FIA announced on Saturday that Formula E safety car driver Bruno Correia has stepped up at Portimao to replace Petrov “due to a personal bereavement”. Multiple Russian reports claim that former F1 driver Petrov’s 61-year-old father Alexandr was shot to death at his home in Vyborg on Saturday evening. Petrov senior was a powerful businessman and politician in the region, with some reports suggesting the supposed de-facto “ruler” of Vyborg was gunned down by a sniper.
Earlier, six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton had questioned 36-year-old Vitaly Petrov’s nomination as F1 steward this weekend in light of his widely circulated anti-Black Lives Matter comments. When asked about Hamilton’s disapproval, Petrov’s Russian countryman Daniil Kvyat said in Portugal: “I haven’t read all the comments, but I don’t think anyone expects everyone to agree with them all of the time. It is only natural that people may have different opinions, and he (Petrov) just expressed his own. But I have not followed this story so I am not really ready to comment on it,” the Alpha Tauri driver added.
Mercedes boss Wolff said Mercedes would be in favour of an engine freeze if it ensured that it kept Red Bull and its sister team AlphaTauri on the F1 grid, adding he can understand where Red Bull is coming from. "I think Formula 1 is in a good state with three engine suppliers," Wolff said. "I totally understand where Red Bull is coming from. They don't want to go back to a customer status. They want to be a works team and they have the capability of tweaking it and maybe optimising it, and maybe there are a few things in the pipeline from Honda that are giving them confidence that there is more performance in the engine. But I think we should be doing everything to give Red Bull that opportunity. I think that for them going back to customers, that status is not something that they are very keen on, I truly believe that Honda has done a very good job and I think there is performance in the pipeline that gives Red Bull confidence. But equally I understand that they don’t want to go into a spending war with all the other OEMs developing an engine, so it’s a sensible proposal I’d like to support it. I think Red Bull is a tremendously important brand for Formula 1 and we should do and we should do everything to keep the two teams in Formula 1 and help them with the option of having basically works status.”
Asked if he was concerned Red Bull is simply trying to force F1 to get its preferred outcome, Wolff replied: “Yeah they could be. I think in Formula 1 everybody’s trying to get the best financial deal and performance deal and this is their current position. I can live with either outcome. I can live with them taking a customer engine, or help to fund the Honda development programme, or do it on their own. I’m easy with either decision.”
Speaking to Sky Sports, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner stressed that the team's 'Plan-A' is its only real option for 2022. "Obviously we’ve got a little bit of time,” he said. “We’ve got just under 18 months to get ourselves sorted. But the more we look, there really only is one option that works and that would be to agree something with Honda where we could take on the [intellectual property] for the Honda engine. But of course that would have to be dependent on the regulations. It would only make sense for an independent engine supplier, as Red Bull would effectively be, if there was a freeze because it would just be impossible to fund the kind of development spend that goes on with these engines.”
Vitaly Petrov father assassinated
Vitaly Petrov has abruptly vacated his post as a F1 steward this weekend following the apparent assassination of his father in Russia. The FIA announced on Saturday that Formula E safety car driver Bruno Correia has stepped up at Portimao to replace Petrov “due to a personal bereavement”. Multiple Russian reports claim that former F1 driver Petrov’s 61-year-old father Alexandr was shot to death at his home in Vyborg on Saturday evening. Petrov senior was a powerful businessman and politician in the region, with some reports suggesting the supposed de-facto “ruler” of Vyborg was gunned down by a sniper.
Earlier, six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton had questioned 36-year-old Vitaly Petrov’s nomination as F1 steward this weekend in light of his widely circulated anti-Black Lives Matter comments. When asked about Hamilton’s disapproval, Petrov’s Russian countryman Daniil Kvyat said in Portugal: “I haven’t read all the comments, but I don’t think anyone expects everyone to agree with them all of the time. It is only natural that people may have different opinions, and he (Petrov) just expressed his own. But I have not followed this story so I am not really ready to comment on it,” the Alpha Tauri driver added.
1%er
Well-Known Member
Good morning race fans, It looks like it will be a one stop race but there could be more if we have safety car issues, I have a feeling we could have a first corner incident and both the pit in and out look like they could be dangerous, I expect to see Max putting the pressure on for the first couple of laps with the soft tyres, but I don't really think he'll get Lewis, maybe Bottas but not Lewis
Still running second
