F1 2023

[Limejuice]

Monza beckons.

UK telly times will be:

Fri 1 Sept
FP1 - 12:30
FP2 - 16:00

Sat 2 Sept
FP3 - 11:30
Qual - 15:00

Sun 3 Sept
Race - 14:00

 

[spitfire]

Mate just got me this.

 

[1%er]

Lewis Hamilton signs new Mercedes contract​

Lewis Hamilton has signed a new contract with Mercedes, extending his stay with the Silver Arrows until the end of 2025. The 38-year-old joined Mercedes from boyhood team McLaren in 2013 and has won six of his seven world titles under the guidance of boss Toto Wolff. George Russell, who joined as Hamilton’s team-mate in 2022, has also extended his deal to the end of 2025.

Hamilton has been linked with Ferrari this season but the Brit has finally put all the speculation to bed by putting pen-to-paper on a fresh deal, reported to be in the region of £50m-a-year - a rise of approximately £10m. “We have never been hungrier to win,” Hamilton said after the contract was confirmed. “We have learnt from every success but also every setback". Lewis Hamilton, an 18-month drought and an eighth world title further away than ever “We dream everyday of being the best and we have dedicated the past decade together to achieving that goal. Being at the top does not happen overnight or over a short period of time, it takes commitment, hard work and dedication and it’s been an honour to earn our way into the history books with this incredible team. We continue to chase our dreams, we continue to fight no matter the challenge and we will win again. I’m grateful to the team who have supported me both on and off the track. Our story isn’t finished, we are determined to achieve more together and we won’t stop until we do.”

Hamilton has not won a race since his contentious championship defeat to Max Verstappen at the 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi and is currently fourth in this season’s Drivers’ Standings. Hamilton won his first world title with McLaren in 2008, before claiming success again in 2014 and 2015. He missed out in a tight title battle with team-mate Nico Rosberg in 2016, before sealing four straight titles from 2017-2020. Hamilton has claimed 82 of his 103 race victories at Mercedes, while 2022 was the first season in his career when he failed to register a victory. He has not won a race since Saudi Arabia in December 2021.

 

[spitfire]

 

[1%er]

First Practice Results 2023 Italian Grand Prix​

Results (Classification):

1. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing -1:22.657
2. Carlos Sainz Scuderia Ferrari +0.046
3. Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +0.177
4. Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari +0.309
5. George Russell Mercedes +0.532
6. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.557
7. Lando Norris McLaren +0.584
8. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.612
9. Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +0.614
10. Alex Albon Williams Racing +0.787
11. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.789
12. Logan Sargeant Williams Racing +1.004
13. Liam Lawson AlphaTauri +1.176
14. Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.274
15. Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +1.295
16. Nico Hulkenberg Haas +1.410
17. Esteban Ocon Alpine +1.433
18. Felipe Drugovich Aston Martin +1.483
19. Kevin Magnussen Haas +1.560
20. Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +1.575

 

[1%er]

Massa Issues Deadline for F1 Legal Action Response​

Felipe Massa has set a tight deadline for Formula 1 and the governing body FIA to respond to his legal threats, citing their inaction in 2008 over the ‘crashgate’ scandal as costing him a world championship. The move comes in the wake of recent remarks by former F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone, although the 92-year-old British businessman says he can’t recall making those comments. Massa is also leveraging unreleased footage of the late former race director Charlie Whiting, who reportedly made similar remarks about being aware of the intentional crash before the end of the 2008 season. According to the Associated Press, F1 and the FIA requested additional time to respond to Massa’s initial legal correspondence, citing that many staff members were on summer vacation. However, lawyers representing the 42-year-old Brazilian have now rejected this reasoning, giving the sport’s governing bodies until the end of the week to provide a satisfactory response.

In their latest correspondence, Massa’s legal team accuses the FIA and F1 of “deliberately ignoring the misconduct at the 2008 Singapore GP which deprived him of his title.” When asked about the legal threats, Massa stated he is “100% ready” to take the issue to court. “I trust and I really believe that for justice, we will show that what happened is not right,” he said. Massa, insistent on his status, claimed, “I am the champion and I feel it. I feel like I have that title. I am the 16th Formula 1 champion for Ferrari.”

Massa also revealed that he was asked by F1’s authorities not to attend the upcoming Italian GP at Monza. “We decided not to go there, but it doesn’t change anything in our battle,” he remarked. “F1 today is different from F1 then, and the FIA is different today than it was then,” Massa added. “I really hope they understand that what happened is not fair and that they will settle the matter.”

 

[Limejuice]

Uh-oh.

Perez goes off and reverses into the barrier.

Red flag.

Plummets down Helmut Marko's list of favourite number-two drivers.

 

[1%er]

FP2 timings

1 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari 1:21.355
2 Lando NORRIS McLaren +0.019
3 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing +0.185
4 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +0.190
5 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing +0.276
6 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +0.361
7 Alexander ALBON Williams +0.624
8 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +0.716
9 George RUSSELL Mercedes +0.821
10 Nico HULKENBERG Haas F1 Team +0.936
11 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team +1.219
12 Valtteri BOTTAS Alfa Romeo +1.240
13 Pierre GASLY Alpine +1.296
14 Yuki TSUNODA AlphaTauri +1.341
15 Esteban OCON Alpine +1.361
16 Logan SARGEANT Williams +1.400
17 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +1.428
18 Liam LAWSON AlphaTauri +1.812
19 Guanyu ZHOU Alfa Romeo + 1.991
20 Lance STROLL Aston Martin

 

[1%er]

Lewis Hamilton makes Helmut Marko eat his words with $126 million contract​

Lewis Hamilton has made Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko eat his words, following a recent comment made by the 80-year-old. It was announced by Mercedes on Thursday that Hamilton and George Russell would be remaining with the Silver Arrows until the end of 2025, with the seven-time World Champion having finally agreed to a two-year contract extension. According to report's, Hamilton’s new deal is believed to be worth £50 million a year, starting from 2024.

Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen reportedly earns a similar amount or slightly less than the 38-year-old, meaning Hamilton might have regained the spot as the sport’s highest-earner. This isn’t confirmed though, yet it does make Marko look slightly silly. Marko previously insisted that earning less than Verstappen annoyed Hamilton, something which appears to no longer be the case. “There are two things that really annoy Hamilton,” Marko told F1-Insider. “Firstly, that he is no longer world champion and will have a hard time becoming one again in the future. Apart from the sporting perspective, Lewis is anything but happy about the fact that he is no longer the best-earning driver in Formula 1. That is now Max Verstappen. At least he could change that with Ferrari’s help.”

As Hamilton is going to be around until at least the end of 2025, the 103-time race winner will also have two more opportunities to dethrone Verstappen and claim an unprecedented eighth world title. There is nothing the Mercedes driver wants more than to claim another title, although he recognises that it’s going to take a lot to defeat Red Bull and Verstappen. Despite this, he knows that himself and the Silver Arrows have “never been hungrier to win”. “Being at the top does not happen overnight or over a short period of time,” said Hamilton, as reported. “It takes commitment, hard work and dedication and it’s been an honour to earn our way into the history books with this incredible team. We have never been hungrier to win. We have learnt from every success but also every setback. We continue to chase our dreams, we continue to fight no matter the challenge and we will win again.”

 

[Limejuice]

Ah, Nico Who? is on Sky,

He's mainly talking about Nico Who?

He appears to have styled himself on Miami Vice. He looks like he reeks of aftershave. Poor Naomi is trying to stand up-wind.

 

[1%er]

Free Practice 3 results​

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1:20.912s		22
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:20.998s	+ 0.086s	23
3	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:21.453s	+ 0.541s	22
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:21.486s	+ 0.574s	22
5	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	1:21.711s	+ 0.799s	24
6	George Russell	Mercedes	1:21.730s	+ 0.818s	24
7	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:21.884s	+ 0.972s	21
8	Nico Hülkenberg	Haas	1:21.985s	+ 1.073s	27
9	Alexander Albon	Williams	1:22.054s	+ 1.142s	17
10	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull	1:22.192s	+ 1.280s	16
11	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:22.245s	+ 1.333s	31
12	Liam Lawson	AlphaTauri	1:22.296s	+ 1.384s	28
13	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1:22.297s	+ 1.385s	27
14	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1:22.302s	+ 1.390s	17
15	Logan Sargeant	Williams	1:22.380s	+ 1.468s	22
16	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	1:22.511s	+ 1.599s	29
17	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:22.515s	+ 1.603s	23
18	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1:22.739s	+ 1.827s	19
19	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	1:22.742s	+ 1.830s	29
20	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1:22.852s	+ 1.940s	21

 

[Bingoman]

I may be tempting faint here but could we see a non Red Bull on pole?

 

[1%er]

Links for anyone who needs them

 

[1%er]

They are testing the tyre qualifying system this race, Q1 hard, Q2 medium and Q3 soft tyres mandatory

 

[1%er]

Toto saying that the contract with Lewis was done and dusted back in May, they just didn't make it public to keep the media and others guessing

 

[a_chap]

I know it's only Q1, but .... Williams!!!!



and

 

[1%er]

Williams are fastest in a straight line, if they can get their aero right they'll be running up the front in the race but still have a lot of work to do with their aero

 

[1%er]

Could both Ferraris get a grid penalty for breaching the race directors rules by going to slow in the warm up lap in Q1. Breaching a race directors ruling is usually a sporting penalty not just a fine?

Edit, no further action so no penalty

 

[1%er]

I may be tempting faint here but could we see a non Red Bull on pole?

Yes

 

[Ax^]

Carlos "vamos"

 

[Limejuice]

I'm not a huge fan of extra rules, but the race director's instruction to follow a minimum speed on the track was pretty effective.

It stopped the cars all falling over each other trying to get room for a final racing lap.

Tonight I shall toast the memory of Charlie Whiting.

 

[1%er]

Qualifying Results​

Q3

1. Carlos Sainz Scuderia Ferrari -1:20.294
2. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.013
3. Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari +0.067
4. George Russell Mercedes +0.377
5. Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +0.394
6. Alex Albon Williams Racing +0.466
7. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.491
8. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.526
9. Lando Norris McLaren +0.685
10. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +1.123

Q2

1. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing -1:20.937
2. Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari +0.040
3. Carlos Sainz Scuderia Ferrari +0.054
4. Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +0.303
5. Alex Albon Williams Racing +0.335
6. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.432
7. George Russell Mercedes +0.445
8. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.590
9. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.606
10. Lando Norris McLaren +0.644
11. Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +0.657
12. Liam Lawson AlphaTauri +0.821
13. Nico Hulkenberg Haas +0.839
14. Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +1.003
15. Logan Sargeant Williams Racing +1.007

Q1

1. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing -1:21.573
2. Alex Albon Williams Racing +0.088
3. Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari +0.215
4. Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +0.279
5. Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +0.338
6. Logan Sargeant Williams Racing +0.357
7. Carlos Sainz Scuderia Ferrari +0.392
8. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.404
9. Lando Norris McLaren +0.422
10. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.470
11. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.533
12. Liam Lawson AlphaTauri +0.539
13. George Russell Mercedes +0.575
14. Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +0.676
15. Nico Hulkenberg Haas +0.770
16. Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +0.817
17. Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.972
18. Esteban Ocon Alpine +0.975
19. Kevin Magnussen Haas +1.019
20. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.287

 

[1%er]

Monza Speed Trap​

 

[1%er]

OFFICIAL GRID​

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Time
1	55	Sainz	Ferrari	1:20.294
2	1	Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:20.307
3	16	Leclerc	Ferrari	1:20.361
4	63	Russell	Mercedes	1:20.671
5	11	Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:20.688
6	23	Albon	Williams Mercedes	1:20.760
7	81	Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	1:20.785
8	44	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:20.820
9	4	Norris	McLaren Mercedes	1:20.979
10	14	Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:21.417
11	22	Tsunoda	AlphaTauri Honda RBPT	1:21.594
12	40	Lawson	AlphaTauri Honda RBPT	1:21.758
13	27	Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	1:21.776
14	77	Bottas	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	1:21.940
15	2	Sargeant	Williams Mercedes	1:21.944
16	24	Zhou	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	1:22.390
17	10	Gasly	Alpine Renault	1:22.545
18	31	Ocon	Alpine Renault	1:22.548
19	20	Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	1:22.592
20	18	Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:22.860

 

[1%er]

Strategy guide for the Italian Grand Prix​

Despite Pirelli’s special Alternative Tyre Allocation for this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, things are relatively clear as far as the strategy is concerned with all indications pointing toward a single-stop strategy at today’s Monza F1 race. F1Technical’s senior writer Balázs Szabó analyses the possible race strategies for the Italian Grand Prix. For the high-speed circuit that is often referred to as the Temple of Speed, Pirelli brought the softest end of its range: the C3 is being used as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow medium and C5 as P Zero Red soft. These are the softest compounds in the Pirelli Formula 1 range, already nominated for five other race weekends so far this season, albeit mainly on street circuits or slow tracks like the Hungaroring.

The minimum starting pressures will be relatively high once again as teams need to adhere to a minimum of 24.5 psi for the front tyre and 22.5 psi for the rear tyres. The camber limits are set at -3.00° at the front and -2.00° at the rear. The Alternative Tyre Allocation first came into force at the Hungarian Grand Prix where it massively complicated things for teams and drivers. The reduction from 13 to just 11 sets meant that everyone needed to consider carefully how they used the different sets across the weekend.

This weekend saw the special allocation return for the second time this year. Therefore, it was expected that drivers will have another difficult weekend with limited running and some surprises were also expected to happen in qualifying. However, teams appeared to have learned from the Hungarian Grand Prix, and they managed to get used to the new format for the second time it came into effect. Commenting on the lessons from this weekend, Pirelli's Motorsport Director Mario Isola said: "On the tyre front, these two days have seen us trial the ATA format once again, this time in stable weather. The teams and drivers have shown that they have adapted quickly to the different challenges this has created in terms of tyre usage, without affecting the on track activity"

One-stop strategy once again?
As for the race strategy, tyre degradation is usually quite low around the 5.8km Autodromo Nazionale Monza. Last year, there were no fewer than eight different strategies deployed by the top 10 finishers. Max Verstappen and George Russell (first and third respectively) opted for a single stop, while Charles Leclerc – who finished second – had already made two stops before a safety car towards the end of the race allowed all three drivers to stop again.

Pirelli thinks that there will be no surprises today when it comes to strategy. The one-stop strategy is expected to turn out as the preferred one. There are different factors that drive teams towards the least number of stops. The main reason is the aforementioned low degradation that is aided by the lack of high-speed corners. Furthermore, the relatively long pit lane leads to a significant time loss. Moreover, overtaking is very much possible at Monza, but possible DRS trains – a group of drivers get stuck behind another – can occur that can heavily affect the outcome of the race.

Considering all the facts and the tyre analyses gained over the practice sessions, Pirelli thinks that the best approach to the 74th Italian Grand Prix is to start on the medium compound, complete a stint of around 20-26 laps before switching to the C3 Hard compound. A similar, but more aggressive strategy is to chose the soft compound as the starting tyre for a stint of 14-20 laps before swapping them for the white-walled hards.

A two-stop is also possible for drivers with very good top speed that can help them work their way through the field on fresher tyres. It would prompt drivers to start on the red-walled C5 compound before completing two stints on the yellow-banded medium tyres. Speaking about the strategies, Isola added: "Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race and possible strategies, we can confirm that a single stop is the quickest option, with the Hard compound being the main protagonist. It remains to be seen if some will decide to start on the Medium to have more flexibility, with a good level of grip at the start, or risk starting on the Soft to try and make up places in the early stages. The two-stop strategy is conditioned by the fact the pit lane is very long and therefore time is lost at each pit stop, but it could be a valid choice if the race is neutralised at any point."

 

[1%er]

A number of links for anyone who needs them

 

[Buddy Bradley]

Lovely day for sitting in an air-conditioned office to watch the race.

 

[Limejuice]

Lovely day for sitting in a living room with a ton of snacks to watch the race.

 

[1%er]

F1 talking about ethanol and changing to green fuel makes me laugh, here in Brazil all cars sold since 2003 have had to be flex fuel, so must be able to run on ethanol.

 

[spitfire]

I didn't know Zak Brown was McLaren through and through.

From dirt floor to state of the art: McLaren celebrate 60 years in F1

Bruce McLaren died in 1970, seven years after founding the team, but his spirit lives on, as the former mechanic Howden Ganley, 81, can testify

www.theguardian.com

The current team principal, Zak Brown, grew up as a fan of McLaren and is an enthusiastic historian of the sport. Indeed he owns and races the M8D sportscar that Dan Gurney raced and won with in the first round of the 1970 Can-Am series just days after McLaren was killed. It is the same model McLaren had been driving that would go on to win nine of the 10 Can-Am races that season.