F1 2023

[1%er]

Marta Garcia crowned first F1 Academy champion in Austin​

Marta Garcia has clinched the first ever F1 Academy championship after winning the opening race of the season finale weekend. She secured the title in the all-female series by increasing her advantage over second-placed Lena Buhler to 61 points, with 37 left available across the final two races at the Circuit of the Americas. Garcia claimed pole position for race one before overcoming an early Safety Car period and thwarting late pressure from runner-up Abbi Pulling to take the victory.

Buhler and Hamda Al Qubaisi, who both had slim chances of claiming the title heading into the final weekend, can no longer catch the championship leader in the season’s final two races after finishing third and ninth respectively in race one. Garcia started her campaign with a dominant weekend in Austria and never lost the championship lead from that point. The Prema driver won two of the opening three races at the Red Bull Ring, before taking another victory in the following round at Valencia. She was winless in the next round at Circuit de Catalunya, but stood on the podium in each race. The following round in Zandvoort also passed without another win.

However Garcia returned to winning ways in race one at Monza, then took two more wins in the penultimate weekend at Paul Ricard. That consistent run left Garcia with a 48-point advantage going into the final weekend with 67 available. She secured her maiden single seater championship, having previously achieved a best of fourth in the 2019 W Series. Having won this title, Garcia cannot return to F1 Academy in 2024 under the series’ rules.

 

[1%er]

Jordan shares 'worrying' Newey belief about 2024 Red Bull​

Former team boss Eddie Jordan has claimed Adrian Newey believes the evolution of Red Bull's RB19 into the 2024 will mean rivals cannot catch up. Red Bull has dominated the current campaign, taking 16 of 17 wins, only coming unstuck in Singapore, with Max Verstappen winning 14 times on his way to a third World Championship. The team wrapped up the Constructors' title in Japan in a season its nearest rivals have fluctuated from race to race with none of Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin or McLaren able to put together a sustained challenge over a number of Grands Prix.

As reigning champions, Red Bull will receive a lower CFD and wind-tunnel allocation than any other team - but the former Jordan Grand Prix boss has shared Newey's thinking as the RB20 is developed at its Milton Keynes base.

Jordan's Newey claim
"I was at a function the other night with Adrian Newey, we are cyclists who cycle a lot together in Cape Town," four-time Grand Prix winning boss Jordan explained. "Adrian feels that the evolution of what they've got at the moment is going to be so difficult for anyone to catch up with. So folks out there, please prepare yourself for a boring time or an exciting time depending on whether you are a Red Bull fan next year."

 

[1%er]

Brundle roasts Perez as F1 pundit admits Red Bull situation now 'critical'​

Top pundit Martin Brundle has warned Sergio Perez risks becoming a “passenger” for Red Bull unless he improves his performances in these five remaining races of 2023. It has been an unhappy time for Perez recently, as pressure has continued to grow making the Mexican driver’s F1 future uncertain. Despite starting the season with two victories from the opening four races, a run of poor results in comparison to his record-breaking champion team-mate Max Verstappen has left the 33-year-old with concern for his future at Red Bull.

Perez has publicly stated that he will remain a part of the team in 2024 but there are a number of potential contenders for his seat, including the returning Daniel Ricciardo and AlphaTauri star Yuki Tsunoda – as well as New Zealander Liam Lawson who looked so impressive when stepping in for Ricciardo after the Australian got injured. There can be no doubt, given his poor form in a car as dominant as the RB19, that Perez is potentially under threat.

Former F1 driver and Sky Sports veteran pundit Brundle underlined the “critical” nature of the final five races of the season for Perez to retain his seat. "Red Bull can't take a passenger into 2024 if he is not on form,” Brundle said. “And I can't imagine that Sergio would want to drive it either, to be honest (if that was the case). So, these next few races are critical for his head and for Red Bull to be satisfied that he's just not lost his way and he can do this."

Perez still on for P2
Perez’s fight for the title fell to pieces fairly early on in the campaign but the Mexican is still capable of delivering what would be a unique achievement for Red Bull. Never before has the 2023 champion constructor finished a season with their drivers as number one and two in the standings and Perez remains 30 points ahead of Hamilton in the fight for second place. As a result, the opportunity to create history is still very much in the hands of Perez and Red Bull.

Brundle acknowledged, while he has not been able to match Verstappen, finishing as second-best has always been the expectation of Perez from the team. "Sergio Perez and Red Bull want exactly the same thing,” Brundle added. "They want him to re-find his form and, if he can't beat Max, at least deliver some second places and grab second in the world championship.”

 

[Limejuice]

Jordan shares 'worrying' Newey belief about 2024 Red Bull​

Former team boss Eddie Jordan has claimed Adrian Newey believes the evolution of Red Bull's RB19 into the 2024 will mean rivals cannot catch up. Red Bull has dominated the current campaign, taking 16 of 17 wins, only coming unstuck in Singapore, with Max Verstappen winning 14 times on his way to a third World Championship. The team wrapped up the Constructors' title in Japan in a season its nearest rivals have fluctuated from race to race with none of Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin or McLaren able to put together a sustained challenge over a number of Grands Prix.

As reigning champions, Red Bull will receive a lower CFD and wind-tunnel allocation than any other team - but the former Jordan Grand Prix boss has shared Newey's thinking as the RB20 is developed at its Milton Keynes base.

Jordan's Newey claim
"I was at a function the other night with Adrian Newey, we are cyclists who cycle a lot together in Cape Town," four-time Grand Prix winning boss Jordan explained. "Adrian feels that the evolution of what they've got at the moment is going to be so difficult for anyone to catch up with. So folks out there, please prepare yourself for a boring time or an exciting time depending on whether you are a Red Bull fan next year."

The Economist agrees with Eddie Jordan. (Sorry about the paywall thing.)

Max Verstappen’s brilliance is hurting Formula One

F1 has a boredom problem

www.economist.com

 

[1%er]

F1 sprint grid​

1. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] - 1:34.538s

2. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] - +0.055s

3. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] - +0.069s

4. Lando Norris [McLaren] - +0.101s

5. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] - +0.356s

6. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] - +0.401s

7. Sergio Perez [Red Bull] - +0.503s

8. George Russell [Mercedes] - +0.661s

9. Alex Albon [Williams] - +0.828s

10. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] - +1.359s

ELIMINATED IN SQ2
11. Daniel Ricciardo [AlphaTauri]

12. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin]

13. Esteban Ocon [Alpin]

14. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin]

15. Zhou Guanyu [Alfa Romeo]

ELIMINATED IN SQ1
16. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas]

17. Kevin Magnussen [Haas]

18. Valtteri Bottas [Alfa Romeo]

19. Yuki Tsunoda [AlphaTauri]

20. Logan Sargeant [Williams]

 

[1%er]

Russell hit with grid penalty for Sprint Shootout breach​

George Russell has been dropped three places on the grid for the United States Grand Prix Sprint after being found guilty of impeding Charles Leclerc in Sprint Shootout. The Mercedes driver continued his struggles so far this weekend to finish only eighth fastest in the shortened qualifying format having had no fresh Soft tyres available for his final effort. But his investigation was prompted by an incident in SQ1, where the Briton was found stuck on the racing line on the exit of Turn 19 in preparation for his final attempt of the segment.

Leclerc was approaching on a fast lap and had nowhere to go, having to take avoiding action before the final corner at the Circuit of the Americas. In making the decision, a stewards' report read: "Car 63 [Russell] entered the last two corners preparing for his flying lap at the end of SQ1 with Car 16 [Leclerc] closing in quickly. "Whilst the team did inform the driver about the closing car a few seconds in advance, there was no further information directly before Car 63 entered Turn 19 with Car 16 right behind. Car 63 did not move from the racing line in or after Turn 19 and therefore unnecessarily impeded Car 16. The Stewards note that irrespective of any information coming from the team, it is the driver’s responsibility to ensure that no other cars are unnecessarily impeded."

 

[1%er]

Christian Horner aims crude dig at F1 reporter Ted Kravitz​

Red Bull chief Christian Horner has aimed a fresh dig at Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz at the United States Grand Prix. The pitlane reporter was at the centre of a huge bust-up with the world champion team a year ago when a throwaway comment saw Red Bull boycott interviews with Sky Sports. During his Notebook show after the 2022 Austin Grand Prix, Kravitz said Lewis Hamilton beating Max Verstappen would have been akin to a “movie script” having been “robbed” at the season finale in Abu Dhabi last December. Verstappen had just won the race after overtaking the Mercedes man with six laps to go. The "robbed" comment was the final straw for Red Bull, who reckoned Sky’s coverage of them had not been impartial, and from Kravitz in particular.

Red Bull refused to speak to Sky at the following Mexican Grand Prix before the boycott was lifted. Kravitz has since regularly conducted interviews with team personnel, including Horner and Verstappen. But it seems Horner hasn’t forgotten about that spat as he made a crude dig at Kravitz’s expense following the Sprint Shootout, which set the grid for tonight’s Sprint race in Austin. During the session, Kravitz reported that Verstappen was driving around a slight car issue. When that was put to Horner by Sky Sports, he replied: “Ted’s always talking… usually not out of his mouth.”

Presenter Simon Lazenby cut in, saying “unfair” as Horner continued: “There’s always things electrically you can tidy up. There’s some driverability stuff that Max wants us to tune before the race. [There are no issues] from a reliability point of view.” The comment didn’t go down well with some fans, with several demanding an apology from the Red Bull supremo. One said: “Horner needs to apologise to Ted Kravitz. That was a totally unacceptable comment to the world and Max defo said he had an electrical problem.” Another said: “So Christian Horner basically just said Ted Kravitz talks out of his a***.” A third, a Red Bull fan, added: “Christian Horner calling out Ted Kravitz for talking nonsense. That's my team principal!”

Verstapppen took pole position for the Sprint with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, the pole-sitter for the main race, joining him on the front row.

 

[Limejuice]

Ted's on Telly now. He seems not to give a crap. I think that's about the right response.

And Whinger still has Verstappen père and Helmut "Speer" Marko infecting the garage.

 

[1%er]

Red Bull of Max still half a second a lap faster than the Mercedes

 

[Limejuice]

Red Bull of Max still half a second a lap faster than the Mercedes

Has Adrian Newey got a knighthood yet?

 

[1%er]

Has Adrian Newey got a knighthood yet?

Soon soon you'd think

 

[Limejuice]

Soon soon you'd think

Unless he's been offered one and declined it...

 

[1%er]

Unless he's been offered one and declined it...

Or has a dark secret

 

[Limejuice]

Well, I must away to my crib.

My daughter is flying back from Cancun, and is currently 37,000 feet over Key West.

Someone needs to be at Gatwick to collect her early tomorrow, so it's goodnight all.

 

[1%er]

2023 United States Grand Prix sprint race result​

P.	#	Driver	Team	Car
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB19
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	W14
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	SF-23
4	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL60
5	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB19
6	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	SF-23
7	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	A523
8	63	George Russell	Mercedes	W14
9	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	FW45
10	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL60
11	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	A523
12	3	Daniel Ricciardo	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	AT04
13	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR23
14	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	AT04
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	VF-23
16	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	C43
17	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	C43
18	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	VF-23
19	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams-Mercedes	FW45
DNF	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR23

 

[1%er]

Austin Speed Trap​

 

[1%er]

Four F1 cars to start from United States GP pitlane​

Aston Martin and Haas have both taken the decision to start their two cars from the pitlane for the United States Grand Prix. In Aston Martin’s case, the team suffered its worst qualifying performance of the season on Friday evening at the Circuit of the Americas, compounded by a lack of track time during the sole practice session as it attempted to evaluate a new upgrade package. Stroll completed only five laps due to a brake system failure, which in turn compromised Alonso as the team checked over his car’s brakes systems to ensue there would be no repeat, resulting in the two-time F1 champion managing only 19 laps.

In qualifying, Alonso and Stroll were both knocked out of Q1 for the first time this season, and would have started 17th and 19th respectively. But the team has opted for pitlane starts as it allows them to make setup changes which will assist with data gathering as it looks to build on its updates. Deputy technical director Eric Blandin said: “So in FP1, because of a mistake on the simulation, we put too much blanking on the front brakes, so they effectively caught fire. So that’s the reason why we couldn’t run more than two (quick) laps with Lance in the morning, and that really put us on the backfoot for the whole weekend, and the car is far from its optimum setup with the new package.”

Stroll’s weekend suffered further when the team was forced to retire his car during Saturday’s sprint due to a water pressure issue. Given the team’s lack of understanding with its car so far, despite Blandin confirming the update package is “performing as we expected”, he added that in order to optimise the setup it feels it is necessary “to start both cars from the pitlane”. “We are effectively changing the setup because we think there is a lot more performance to come from the car,” he declared. “But we have taken the pragmatic approach to start one car with the Qatar spec, and the other with the new package.” Alonso will revert to the older spec of car, whilst Stroll will be handed the opportunity to further evaluate the new spec. The setups on both cars will be “something similar”. In terms of where the setup will be targeted, Blandin said: “Generally, our performance in high speed was pretty decent relative to our competitors. We just suffered more in the low speed.”

It is the same for Haas in terms of changing its setup and then being able to further evaluate its cars as the team has introduced its biggest in-season upgrade package in its eight-year history. Magnussen and Hulkenberg were due to start from 14th and 16th respectively.

 

[a_chap]

I'll be watching this GP (or at least as much of it as I can stand if He Who Must Not Be Named buggers off into the distance. Again) whilst digitising my old VHS tapes I recorded when the BBC used to broadcast Grands Prix live.

Currently it's the San Marino GP from 1988.

I have a couple of very large boxes of 3 hour VHS tapes still to go...

 

[1%er]

Looking good for McLaren to overtake Aston Martin in the constructors today with both Astons starting from the pitlane, Lando starting 2nd and Oscar 10th

 

[spitfire]

Will have to catch this on highlights as am at my parents house in Dublin and we'll be having dinner, I am leaving again tomorrow so understandable really. Also my dad's not a sports fan...

 

[Sasaferrato]

It becomes obvious why boxers don't tend to write philosophical texts.

 

[spitfire]

It becomes obvious why boxers don't tend to write philosophical texts.

"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face."

M. Tyson.



I don't have any other examples but that's one I can never forget.

* awaits debunking *

 

[Limejuice]

Anthem watch:

Sorry, I was distracted by the stationary, hovering chopper.

Was it any good?

 

[Buddy Bradley]

Not bad actually - country and western version.

 

[Buddy Bradley]

Are there any other sports where the competitors are still being interviewed only a few minutes before they start? You don't see footballers or tennis players being asked questions right before they step onto the pitch/court.

 

[Limejuice]

Not bad actually - country and western version.

Yes, I saw a chap strumming a guitar. But my mind was replaying that scene in Apocalypse Now.

 

[Ax^]

Ben solo talking about family

 

[Ax^]

Spoiler: linkage

Formula 1 2023 - USA GP Live Streams - SportSurge

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[Ax^]

hmm hope no problems at the start

if they have to abort

someone is getting arrested

 

[Ax^]

hmm interesting little start

slight flattering to the merc and Maclaren atm