F1 2022
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1%er
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Domenicali clearly resisting Andretti's F1 entry
With the sport seemingly leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to attract new fans, thereby boosting its popularity, commercial appeal and profits, one would have thought that with an American media company at the wheel the one thing missing was a 'home grown' home team and driver.Despite McLaren's activity in the driver market an American driver still appears a way off, however in terms of a 'home' team the sport appears unusually ambivalent, almost hostile to the idea. Michael Andretti has made no secret of his desire to enter F1, indeed he claims to even have an engine deal in place for his joining the grid in 2024, yet the American is unable to get the green light.
While a number of teams, most notably Mercedes, have raised their objections, speaking to the media ahead of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, F1 boss, Stefano Domenicali appeared openly hostile to the Andretti bid. "It's a matter of understanding not only the ones that have a bigger or louder voice, there will be others," he said of prospective new entries to the sport. "Andretti was quite vocal about his request, but there are others that are saying in a different way. Mario, I know him very, very well, since a long time," the Italian continued, "he's trying to present his idea in a way that he thought is the right way to do, but I believe there is a governance in place, and the decision has to follow the protocol that is in place. Mario is very vocal, Michael too," he added, "and I spoke with them quite often, as you can imagine, and we need to respect that. We may have different opinions. The evaluation is not only with Andretti, the evaluation is with others that are respecting the silence or trying to be more productive on approving who they are, and respecting the protocol we have put in place. I do believe there are more teams that will give more value to the championship," he continued, "but there is a protocol that has to be fulfilled and everyone, Andretti included, is following that. Today we are talking about the new regulations 2026 and all the manufacturers involved in that, incumbent or maybe the new one, are saying that the time is running very quickly, four years to do another power unit, we need to be prudent. When we're talking about Formula 1, we need to have an entity or a team or a manufacturer that is really solid, that is really strong and has a full commitment for an incredibly long time. Today, I don't see honestly the need of that increase to have a big value for the sport of Formula 1."
While the sport awaits news on Porsche and Audi entering, a decision that rested entirely on whether they agreed with the 2026 rules, Honda, which only announced its withdrawal from F1 in October 2020 is already talking about returning. As Domenicali well knows, while Ferrari has only missed 16 races since the inception of the Formula One World Championship in 1950, manufacturers have come and gone willy-nilly, just think Renault, and despite the Drive to Survive boom the sport would do well to remember that bust usually follows.
Though F1 doesn't officially operate as a franchise-based sport, many now see it that way, and to that end, Domenicali believes that rather than entering as 'start ups' potential new teams should consider purchasing existing operations. "It's the same situation of the Grands Prix," he said, "there are more people that want to enter, by far, than people that want to leave. Formula 1 today requires an incredible level of professionality and investments," he added, "not only for one year but for long term. Because there is a lot of interest from a lot of manufacturers, but also a lot of teams, the actual one can discuss and commercialise and negotiate with them if they feel they are weak or if they feel they have no future. So I think it's another value for the ones who are here already, knowing that around them are manufacturers or other teams that want to be in the business. It's a fact that, in my opinion, will reinforce the value of Formula 1."
1%er
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Lewis Hamilton gets huge boost as Mercedes 'rumours' emerge that'll worry Max Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton is set for a “big upgrade” which could give Mercedes a chance of picking up race wins before the end of the season, according to F1 legend Juan Pablo Montoya. The former McLaren and Williams star claims Mercedes is still going to “get better against everybody else” as they will be able to “out-develop” other teams.It could be a threat to Red Bull star Max Verstappen’s chances of beating Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher’s record of 13 wins in an F1 season. The Dutchman has eight victories to his name so far this season in a dominant display from the Red Bull team, partly helped by Ferrari’s struggles.
But Mercedes are said to have been working on something 'big' during the break to give Hamilton and George Russell a huge chance of beating their Red Bull and Ferrari rivals. Speaking to Vegas Insider, Montoya said: “The other big question mark is coming out of the break, the rumour is that Mercedes has a big, big upgrade coming for their cars. And, if that is the case, Mercedes really comes up with a car, which is really cool to see from Mercedes. I think everybody is going to come up with big upgrades. Mercedes is still gonna get better, against everybody else, but everybody else in the field is gonna stay very constant. Because they all keep developing and making the cars better to drive, easier to drive. Everybody is getting a little more comfortable with the new package, and understanding the new package. So I think the way everybody is developing the cars is going to be very similar, but I still think that Mercedes out-develops everybody else. That is my two cents.”
Mercedes have enjoyed a resurgence in form in recent races as they move closer to the frontrunners of Red Bull and Ferrari. Hamilton has picked up five consecutive podium finishes since the Canadian Grand Prix, including back-to-back P2 results in France and Hungary. The Silver Arrows have also appeared more competitive in qualifying with George Russell securing pole in Budapest. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff suggests the team had nine opportunities to “find improvements” and “make progress” in their challenge to the frontrunners.
Montoya stresses Mercedes are unlikely to challenge for the Constructors' Championship at this stage of the season but could secure race wins if their development is good.
[I hope Montoya is right, this season is getting expensive but in the great scheme of things I'm still well infront over the last few seasons
]
1%er
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Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc likely to start from the back in Belgium
Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc may both end up facing penalties for the Belgian Grand Prix as their Red Bull and Ferrari teams mull over putting new engines in the cars. Between them, Verstappen and Leclerc have suffered four reliability failures this season, with another four befalling their respective team-mates, Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz. Both of Verstappen’s came in the first three races of the season in Bahrain and Melbourne, either side of a victory in Saudi Arabia.The Monegasque won both of the races that Verstappen failed to finish, but he has taken just one victory since, while the reigning champion has added another seven to his tally. Verstappen won all three of those races, and has finished on the podium in every race bar one since Australia – that was the British Grand Prix when a piece of debris lodged itself in his floor while he was leading.
One of the most prominent power tracks on the calendar, Spa Francorchamps is a real test of engine durability and, with no one wanting to take any chances as the championship begins to reach the final stretch, this could be an opportunity for Leclerc and Verstappen to take new engines. Overtaking is possible into La Source, down the Kemmel Straight, and into the Bus Stop Chicane, so starting from the back is far from a disaster in Belgium.
The Red Bull driver enters this weekend with an 80-point lead after a mixture of mistakes, strategic blunders and reliability failures befell his title rival, but he is not resting on his laurels. “I will never be perfectly happy, you cannot be,” Verstappen. told Sky Sports. “We are not robots, everyone makes mistakes, and we can always do better, myself, the team, and that’s what we always try to look at – how can we be better? How can we perform better? And of course we had a little break, which I think is nice, especially with the upcoming triple header and of course we’re flying away a lot. It’s important to just have a little rest and spend time with your family and close ones to just get ready and gear up for the remainder of the season. The 80-point lead, I didn’t expect it of course, I think nobody expected it. I’ve been helped a little bit sometimes with misfortune of others and, yeah, when we look at ourselves, I think for most races, we maximised a lot, but again, we’ve had two retirements as well. We had that debris stuck in the floor in Silverstone which didn’t help, otherwise it could have looked even better, but then we also had a few races where we got a bit lucky because of others. So, I think at the end of the day it always evens out a little bit, and yeah we’ll see, for the remainder of the season a lot of things can still happen. After the first three race weekends, I was over 40 points behind, and now I’m 80 ahead, so you know that things can change really quickly if you have a bit of misfortune.”
The deficit has not deterred Leclerc, who will continue to fight until the very end. “I think the pace is there, and if we put everything together, we still have a chance,” he explained. “And I will believe in it until the very, very end, I think this is the mentality that I need to have, that we need to have as a team and that we need to keep until the end of the year. Because we need to keep the motivation as high as possible, and yeah, I really do believe that we can still make it if we do everything perfect. So, now it’s up to us.”
Verstappen won last year’s Belgian Grand Prix after it was rained off. The Dutchman had taken pole, before the Safety Car led the drivers round the track for three laps, enabling half points to be awarded.
1%er
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Audi want German driver for 2026 F1 entry - could it be Mick Schumacher?
It was announced on Friday that the German car giant had officially registered as a power unit manufacturer in F1 and will join the world championship when the next-generation engine regulations come into effect in 2026. Audi did not reveal which team it will partner with, but it is expected to buy a majority stake in Sauber, who are currently competing as Alfa Romeo. Markus Duesmann, chairman of the Audi board, said such plans would be confirmed by the end of the year, ahead of the 2023 season. Duesmann also said Audi would like to have a German driver. Sebastian Vettel’s retirement at the end of the year will leave Mick Schumacher as the sole-remaining German on the F1 grid, while the German Grand Prix was last held in 2019.“Certainly we haven’t decided on a team so we haven’t decided on drivers. We hope we will have a German driver and we hope we will have a German race. That’s all I can say.” Duesmann, who stressed Audi is committed to F1 for the “long-term”, added: “The long lead is the powertrain so we had to decide on the power unit and that’s what we announced today. The decision on the team we will do within this year and depending on the team it will be a different way of engagement from our side, so we haven’t decided how the team will look like, but we will inform you as soon as possible.” Duesmann said Audi expect to be “very competitive” within three years of entering F1. Asked if Audi is targeting wins from the off, he replied: “I feel that’s not realistic. That would be ideal, but we certainly have a plan internally what we want to do. But ideally within the first three years we should be very competitive.”
Audi is expected to be joined on the F1 grid in 2026 by fellow Volkswagen brand Porsche, who are set to enter via an engine collaboration with Red Bull. The two operations would be entirely separate, with Audi’s PU project housed in Germany, and Porsche’s in the UK. “You can imagine that was a huge discussion, but we decided - both our brands have a lot of fans, and both our brands have their special character, and that’s why we decided to keep it completely separate and do two operations,” Duesmann explained. “Several reasons, several different teams. The power train has to be designed special for the chassis, and that’s why we decided to split it, as we will have completely different chassis, so completely different power trains.”
Oliver Hoffman, Audi member of the board of management for technical development, added: “To meet the timetable, the power train and the chassis, cost time to make it in two cars, so [it will be] completely different operations, and the integration work we will do by ourselves.”
1%er
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What upgrades have F1 teams brought to the Belgian GP?
The conclusion of the Formula 1 summer break gives us a first opportunity in four weeks to see new tech parts from the teams. Though a number of the changes on display in the Spa pitlane are track-specific, Mercedes and McLaren in particular have brought a wider array of new parts for the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.Mercedes
Mercedes has arrived with a mix of development tweaks and a Spa-specific rear wing. The front wing endplates are reprofiled as they transition into the flaps to give a more aero-efficient creation of downforce, reducing drag. The floor fences have been re-aligned to match the changes made to the floor further back. These concern a reduction in the exposed area of rear floor which reduces downforce directly created there but improves the flow to the diffuser for a net gain in downforce.Red Bull
Small tweaks for Red Bull with a modified sidepod profile to give the most aero-efficient cooling capacity for the demands of Spa. The lower rear suspension wishbone has been shrouded differently to reduce drag.
Ferrari
Spa-specific reduction in the area of the rear wing and the accompanying lower beam wing.McLaren
A significant range of upgrades on the McLaren here. There are circuit-specific changes to the rear wing (a choice of two), beam wing, rear brake duct bodywork and cooling louvres. These are appropriate to the low-drag opportunities afforded by the circuit’s layout and lower cooling demands. But there are development parts too. The diffuser’s ramp angle has been altered, giving what the team has found to be a better expansion of the airflow and therefore underbody performance. A winglet has been added to the rear corner bodywork, producing downforce directly on the wheel. The front suspension trackrod fairing has been altered to improve airflow.
Alpine
Alpine has a new floor with subtly altered fence geometry around the front. On the rear corners, the brake duct has been relocated to interfere less with the bodywork fence there to give an improvement to rear wing performance.
AlphaTauri
As well as a Spa-specific rear wing and beam wing, the AlphaTauri also features extra winglets on the rear brake ducts and the angle of the rear lower wishbone shroud has been altered for optimum flow to the Spa rear wing.
Aston Martin
A reduced chord front wing and shorter chord flap rear wing combine for Aston’s Spa-specific aero set up.
Williams
Circuit-specific trimming of the front and rear wings as well as the beam wing.
Alfa Romeo
Circuit-specific trimmed front and rear wings.
Haas
Trimmed rear brake duct winglets and a smaller beam wing for Spa.
1%er
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Alfa Romeo to end relationship with Sauber
Alfa Romeo and Sauber are set to end their relationship at the end of 2023 ahead of the new technical regulations. The Italian car manufacturer started their relationship with Sauber in 2018 when they came on board as a name partner, and they helped oversee a successful debut season for Charles Leclerc.The Monegasque moved up to Ferrari in 2019 as Marcus Ericsson departed Formula 1, and they were replaced by Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, who had raced with the Sauber team twice in 2017. Alfa Romeo also strengthened their relationship with the Sauber Group three years ago, purchasing the naming rights to the side. The operation still runs in Switzerland, and it is still run by Sauber; it simply operates under the Alfa Romeo name, which has improved the team’s cash flow.
Valtteri Bottas and Zhou replaced Raikkonen and Giovinazzi at the end of last year after both drivers left the sport. Recently, Audi and Porsche, subsidiaries of Volkswagen, have expressed their intention to enter the pinnacle of motorsport in 2026, with the latter set to provide power units for Red Bull and their junior team, AlphaTauri.
Audi, meanwhile, have been looking for a team to buy, and they have been linked with McLaren, Aston Martin and Williams in recent months. Those three teams are relatively settled financially though, whereas Sauber are slightly more susceptible to a takeover bid. On Friday morning, Audi confirmed that they will be entering Formula 1 in 2026, and the latest news all but confirms that Sauber will be bought out by the German car maker.
It has become one of the worst kept secrets in F1 that this deal will take place, along with Porsche’s deal with Red Bull after they filed paperwork to purchase shares in Red Bull Technology. They have also trademarked “F1nally,” while Audi are now poised to announce that they will be buying Sauber in four years’ time. The only other question to be answered is whether Audi’s operation will run out of Germany, or whether they will continue to use Sauber’s facilities in the outskirts of Zurich.
1%er
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Verstappen, Leclerc and four other drivers hit with grid penalties
New power unit elements mean Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc are set to line up at the back of the grid for the Belgian Grand Prix.Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas and Mick Schumacher are other drivers to take grid drops for engine-related changes.
Verstappen, Leclerc, Bottas and Schumacher will also be hit with penalties for running new gearbox components.
1%er
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If Alfa Romeo are leaving their relationship with Sauber at the end of 2023 and Audi are joining F1 in 2026, what will the Sauber team called between 2023 and 2026 I wonder? What power-unit will they use? (My guess is they will stay with Ferrari).
Clearly there is more to this story ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Clearly there is more to this story ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
1%er
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First Practice Belgian Grand Prix
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc topped the times in Spa just before a Red Flag and then rain stopped any faster times. While the rest of the weekend is forecasted to be dry, it was a damp, misty Spa-Francorchamps that greeted the drivers as they headed out for their first laps after the summer break. The track will also be slightly different than what the drivers remember as there have been some changes around the place with new gravel traps and a reprofiled track around Eau Rouge and Raidillon.As the track had been declared wet, all the cars headed out on intermediate tyres while there was damp in the air, the track seemed to be warm enough that the circuit itself was dry and so it was back to the pits at the end of the outlaps to swap over to dry tyres. Carlos Sainz was the first to put a time on the board, a 1:51.622 on the hard compound, and with the first fifteen minutes of the session past it was the Red Bulls holding the top of the timesheet with Max Verstappen setting a 1:47.456 on the softs.
Valtteri Bottas didn’t have the best re-start to his season, the Finn only completing a couple of laps but not setting a time, before he headed back to the garage where he initially remained in the car while the Alfa Romeo team worked on his car but then got out as the issue did not look like a quick fix. The team were later seen taking the floor off and mopping up underneath so it looks like a leak was at least part of the problem.
Bottas wasn’t the only one to have issues though, Esteban Ocon had managed a few more laps than the Alfa Romeo but then radioed in with what he thought was a gearbox or diff issue and he also returned to the pitlane. Halfway through the session Verstappen was still on top, though he had shaved his time down to a 1:46.755 while Alex Albon had put his Williams into P2, 1.357 seconds off the Dutchman’s effort and three tenths ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
The session was Red Flagged with just over twenty minutes on the clock as Kevin Magnussen stopped on track after turn 1. At that stage Sainz was back leading the times with a 1:46.538 while Charles Leclerc had just joined his teammate at the top, 0.069 seconds slower, before the session was paused.
The Haas recovery took some time as the red light on the roll hoop was flashing on the car, indicating that high voltage is running through the car and it could be very dangerous to touch. The team thought at that time that the High Voltage System was what caused the car to stop.
The session got back underway with nine minutes on the clock, and all but Magnussen, Ocon and Bottas took to the track again while drivers were warned that there might be rain on the way.
The rain did indeed make an appearance with about four minutes to go and that put pay to any faster laps being set. Sainz and Leclerc finished in P1 and P2 with their times set just before the Red Flag while Verstappen ended P3, 0.217 seconds behind.
George Russell was the best of the Mercedes with a 1:47.396 in P4 with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll a few hundredths behind in P5. Albon’s earlier P2 time saw him end the session in P6 while Daniel Ricciardo was the only McLaren in the top ten with a 1:48.081 in P7.
Yuki Tsunoda was P8 for AlphaTauri while Lewis Hamilton was P9, just ahead of Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull.
Results (Classification):
- Carlos Sainz Scuderia Ferrari -1:46.538
- Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari +0.069
- Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.217
- George Russell Mercedes +0.858
- Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.899
- Alexander Albon Williams Racing +1.297
- Daniel Ricciardo McLaren +1.543
- Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +1.772
- Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +1.882
- Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +1.936
- Nicholas Latifi Williams Racing +1.947
- Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +2.134
- Lando Norris McLaren +2.932
- Fernando Alonso Alpine +3.126
- Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin +3.275
- Esteban Ocon Alpine +3.777
- Kevin Magnussen Haas +4.444
- Mick Schumacher Haas +4.721
- Liam Lawson AlphaTauri +5.527
- Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo NC
Bingoman
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Sauber
1%er
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FORMULA 1 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX 2022 FP2 for anyone who needs a link
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1%er
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2022 Belgian Grand Prix - Free Practice 2 results
Max Verstappen streaked clear during second practice for Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Verstappen, who will drop towards the back of the grid due to an engine penalty, set a time of 1:45.507s in cool and overcast conditions on Friday afternoon. That effort left Verstappen 0.862s clear of nearest rival Charles Leclerc around the 7km track, the longest on the Formula 1 calendar. When informed of Verstappen’s time by his race engineer Leclerc replied: “Whoa, okay.”Leclerc is also due to drop down on the starting grid owing to component changes, as is McLaren’s Lando Norris, who placed third overall. Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll was a surprise fourth after the Soft tyre runs. Stroll has yet to finish higher than tenth this season amid Aston Martin’s struggles with its AMR22 but was the quickest of the drivers without a grid penalty. Carlos Sainz was fifth for Ferrari, with Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell sixth and eighth respectively, amid tyre warm-up difficulties.
Fernando Alonso split the Mercedes drivers in seventh spot, with Daniel Ricciardo ninth for McLaren, as he prepares for his final events at the team. Sergio Perez ran offset compared to other drivers, having remained in the garage for a prolonged period, and could muster only 10th when he appeared for his qualifying simulation. Conditions worsened during the final 10 minutes of the session, with rain falling, and while several drivers slid wide at Les Combes, along with a moment for Hamilton through Eau Rouge, no-one came to any serious grief.
Alexander Albon was 11th for Williams, ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu, while AlphaTauri pair Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly 13th and 14h respectively, with Sebastian Vettel 15th for Aston Martin. Gasly had a minor excursion through the gravel at Rivage but was able to recover his AT03 to the circuit. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, another driver facing a grid drop, was 16th overall, while Haas had a quiet display. Kevin Magnussen took 17th while the penalised Mick Schumacher ran through the gravel en route to finishing at the back of the girld. They were split by Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas – another driver who has a grid penalty – and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:45.507s | 19 | |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:46.369s | + 0.862s | 20 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:46.589s | + 1.082s | 15 |
| 4 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:46.635s | + 1.128s | 16 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:46.649s | + 1.142s | 19 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:46.893s | + 1.386s | 17 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 1:46.975s | + 1.468s | 18 |
| 8 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:47.042s | + 1.535s | 21 |
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 1:47.255s | + 1.748s | 17 |
| 10 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull | 1:47.346s | + 1.839s | 14 |
| 11 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 1:47.520s | + 2.013s | 15 |
| 12 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 1:47.617s | + 2.110s | 20 |
| 13 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1:47.658s | + 2.151s | 15 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 1:47.782s | + 2.275s | 18 |
| 15 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 1:47.867s | + 2.360s | 18 |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:47.944s | + 2.437s | 20 |
| 17 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:48.208s | + 2.701s | 18 |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 1:48.419s | + 2.912s | 20 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 1:48.612s | + 3.105s | 14 |
| 20 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 1:49.941s | + 4.434s | 22 |
1%er
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Martin Brundle blasts Daniel Ricciardo
Martin Brundle has claimed Daniel Ricciardo’s career has “played out badly” as he slammed his decision to leave Red Bull. Brundle said Ricciardo’s decision to switch Red Bull for Renault at the end of 2018 was the “wrong move for him”. Brundle suggested Ricciardo has “lost his mojo” after several seasons of battling in the midfield. The Australian picked up seven wins at Red Bull but has secured just one victory since leaving and driving for Renault and McLaren.Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Brundle said: “He shouldn’t have left Red Bull, that’s how it looks to me. The Renault move was the wrong move for him. He didn’t fancy staying around what he thought was Team Verstappen, which there was an element of truth in that. So it’s just played out badly all the way along, he has lost his mojo a little bit. When I see Daniel starting outside the top ten and running outside the top ten all afternoon, that’s not him. That’s not where he’s at, we know he’s better than that. I find that painful to watch, I can’t imagine how painful it has been for Daniel to be in that car falling backwards through the field so maybe it’s a blessed relief all around and he will come back and show his mettle.”
Ahead of the 2022 season Ricciardo said he did not regret leaving Red Bull despite the team going on to compete and win the world championship. He explained: “I was there for five years, but I felt like I did reach a little bit of a point where I really felt like I personally needed something fresh.” Ricciardo added: "I needed a bit of a change, and for sure there's been some struggles through that change. But honestly, I don't regret those changes I've been through, or the move I made at the time.”
Speaking after McLaren axed his contract, Ricciardo confirmed he did intend to stay in F1 if the right opportunity came along.
1%er
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Alpine confident for Piastri F1 hearing
Renault-owned Alpine have expressed confidence in their case ahead of a meeting on Monday of Formula One's Contract Recognition Board (CRB) to decide which team Australian Oscar Piastri should race for next season. Team boss Otmar Szafnauer told reporters at the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday that Alpine's contract with their 21-year-old reserve was solid. The youngster has ruled out racing for Alpine, however, and is believed to have signed a deal to race for rivals McLaren instead.McLaren have not commented but this week created a vacancy by terminating Australian Daniel Ricciardo's contract for 2023. "We are going to the CRB on Monday. I don't know when they will rule, it will be soon thereafter," Szafnauer said. "We'll have the CRB decide which contract that Oscar signed takes precedence, and once we have that ruling we'll look forward and see where we go. I've seen both sides of the argument and we're confident that Oscar signed with us back in November and there are certain things that need to be in the contract and I'm confident they are in there."
Asked whether Alpine could force Piastri to race for them, Szafnauer said that would have to wait for a decision on Monday or Tuesday. The dispute arose after Alpine's double world champion Fernando Alonso announced he would be leaving the team for Aston Martin at the end of the year. Alpine had been prepared to give the 41-year-old Spaniard a year's extension, and park Piastri at Williams, but Alonso wanted a longer deal and, a free agent, jumped at the Aston opportunity. Alpine then announced Piastri as Alonso's replacement only for the Australian, last year's Formula Two winner, to reject the seat.
Asked whether Alpine might take back Ricciardo, who joined McLaren from Renault at the end of 2020, Szafnauer sidestepped the question. "Can I tell you after Monday because I might not even have to think about that?," he said, adding that Piastri remained active in the team. "He's back in Enstone, he's driving our simulator and helping with car setup," he said. "We continue to prepare Oscar in no different a manner than we have in the past. The relationship hasn't wavered and we continue."
1%er
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Perez tops third Belgian GP practice, crash for Leclerc
The two Ferraris sat out the first third of the session in its entirety, but once they headed out Carlos Sainz and Leclerc established themselves out in front. However, they were soon usurped by Perez – and they were on course to be surpassed by the other Red Bull of Max Verstappen, too, only for him to be advised to abort his lap in the final sector due to an apparent Pierre Gasly off. “There was no [yellow] flag,” Verstappen insisted to his team – but was told in response that “there was no flag in Qatar either”, referencing the situation last year that left him with a grid penalty for the Losail race. The Dutchman bailed out of the lap before going half a second quicker than Perez the next time around.And he was still out ahead when Leclerc, pushing on a fresh set of softs, botched his entry into Pif-Paf and spun through the gravel, the right side of his Ferrari F1-75 tapping the barriers at reduced but not insignificant speed. The session was red-flagged for clean-up as Leclerc’s Ferrari returned to the pits under its own steam but with damage – yet it managed to rejoin the track soon after the session resumed with five minutes left on the clock. Neither Ferrari improved, however, while both Red Bulls did – with Perez eclipsing Verstappen, who is facing a back-of-the-grid penalty, in their final attempts by a tenth, his best lap a 1m45.047s.
Sainz completed the top three, eight tenths off the pace, while McLaren’s Lando Norris continued his strong weekend in fourth – but will likewise start towards the back of the grid due to penalties. Alpine duo Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon both lifted themselves well up the order in the final minutes to finish fifth and ninth, albeit with Ocon annoyed at Sainz for getting in his way at the Bus Stop chicane. George Russell was the lead Mercedes in sixth, followed by Leclerc, who like Verstappen will move to the back of the grid regardless of where he qualifies. Every driver but Mick Schumacher completed double-digit laps in the session. The Haas man was called into the pits early on with a “small issue”, and this ultimately limited him to just six laps.
FP3 Official Results
1%er
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F1 stewards clarify grid drop rules
The Belgian Grand Prix stewards have issued a clarification explaining why Charles Leclerc will be made to start from the back of the grid following a series of accumulated grid penalties. A total of six drivers – Leclerc plus Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Mick Schumacher and Zhou Guanyu – have been sent to the back of the grid for tomorrow’s race after collecting more than 15 places of grid penalties due to exceeding their power unit component or gearbox allowance for the 2022 season.Under Article 28.3 of the Sporting Regulations, any driver who incurs “a penalty exceeding 15 grid places.. will be required to start the race from the back of the starting grid.” All five drivers exceeded enough allocated components in the same single action, ensuring that they breached the 15 place drop threshold that condemned them to the back of the grid.
Leclerc was not among those originally issued a ‘back of the grid’ penalty yesterday, despite collecting a total grid drop of 20 places on Friday. He received a 15 place penalty after Ferrari installed a fifth MGU-K and a third energy store of the season on his car for first practice. Following that penalty, Ferrari then changed his control electronics to a new third unit, which once again breached his allocation and earned another five-place grid penalty.
Initially, despite Leclerc accumulating a total penalty of 20 places, the stewards did not rule that he would be made to start from the back of the grid. The consequences of this were potentially significant for the championship, as it meant Leclerc stood to start the race in front of Verstappen.
However, the stewards today ruled that Leclerc has earned the full penalty to see him start from the back of the grid as with Verstappen, Norris, Ocon, Schumacher and Zhou. They clarified their interpretation that the regulation should consider the total value of grid places penalised across multiple actions over a race weekend.
“As car 16 [Leclerc] has accumulated 20 grid place penalties (documents 14 and 31) for this competition under article 28.3 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations, this is in excess of the 15 permitted under the regulation and therefore the car will be required to start the race from the back of the starting grid,” explained the stewards.
“The stewards consider this to be the logical conclusion reading article 28.3. However, it is possible to interpret it differently. The third paragraph of article 28.3 states that ‘if a driver incurs a penalty exceeding 15 grid places, [they] will be required to start the race from the back of the starting grid’. The stewards published a decision (document 14) which imposed a fifteen grid penalty. The competitor subsequently changed the control electronics and the stewards published a separate decision (document 31) imposing a five grid place penalty. This exact situation has not happened since this rule was put in place in 2018. The wording of the sentence is singular ‘a penalty’ and neither document imposed more than 15 grid places. So it could be interpreted that this does not trigger a ‘back of grid’ penalty. However, the first paragraph of the regulation states that ‘penalties will be applied according the following table and will be cumulative’ (in each competition).”
Using this logic, the stewards argue that exceeding 15 places over multiple actions in a weekend should be considered as triggering the back of the grid penalty and drew comparisons to super licence penalty points collected over multiple rounds of a season. “There are other instances in the regulations where penalties accumulate over time (such as penalty points) which accumulate until they trigger a separate decision provided for in the regulations. This is similar,” the stewards argued. “It is important to note that the ‘start the race from the back of the starting grid’ penalty is fully embedded in article 28 (power unit usage), was specifically introduced in response to nonsensically high grid penalties from PU [power unit] changes, and has never been used to accumulate grid penalties imposed from other articles of the regulations. It should be read holistically as part of Article 28.3 and does not refer to other articles. This explanation is provided as this is first time this situation has occurred and this is a precedent.”
Ferrari subsequently fitted further fresh parts to Leclerc’s power unit on Sunday, which were sufficient to trigger a second ‘back of the grid’ penalty. Valtteri Bottas will also be penalised 20 places on the grid following this afternoon’s qualifying session: 15 places for exceeding power unit components and a further five places for exceeding gearbox allocations. However, as he has not exceeded the 15 place threshold for power unit penalties, he will start ahead of the six drivers moved to the back of the grid for tomorrow’s race.
Belgian Grand Prix grid penalties so far
Bottas: 15-place grid drop for exceeding maximum number of power unit components and five-place grid drop for exceeding limit on restricted-number components (the stewards originally announced a 10-place grid drop but later reduced it to five) Zhou: Start at the back of the grid due to exceeding maximum number of power unit components and 10-place grid drop for exceeding limit on restricted-number components Schumacher: Start at the back of the grid due to exceeding maximum number of power unit components and 10-place grid drop for exceeding limit on restricted-number components Leclerc: Start at the back of the grid due to exceeding maximum number of power unit components (issued twice for two separate infringements) and 10-place grid drop for exceeding limit on restricted-number components Ocon: Start at the back of the grid due to exceeding maximum number of power unit componentsNorris: Start at the back of the grid due to exceeding maximum number of power unit components (issued twice for two separate infringements) Verstappen: Start at the back of the grid due to exceeding maximum number of power unit components (issued twice for two separate infringements) and five-place grid drop for exceeding limit on restricted-number components
1%er
Well-Known Member
Looks like they are still around 1 second behind Red Bull and Ferrari
