As mentioned in the first installment of our interview with Emily Linscott, which can be found here, she has recently returned from a visit to the Sepang circuit in Malaysia where she made her International F4 debut.
Speaking of the trip, Emily said, “It was a big decision for me as we all thought after the season I’d had I could do with another year in Ginetta Juniors to boost my confidence. But, I decided that F4 was the way I wanted to go and I was prepared to take the chance.”
She had by no means underestimated the challenges the Malaysian climate could potentially pose, with her father helping her to adapt her training to best prepare.
“My dad had told me about how difficult the conditions were to race in out there,” she said, “so we’d tried to prepare as much as possible by wearing four to five layers of thermal ski tops in the gym and on the bike, which made a big difference to me when I eventually got to Sepang. The heat and humidity didn’t affect me as much as I thought it might, so I’m pleased with my prep work.”
?Well, ALL deadlines to get the budget for F4 in Malaysia have gone ?♀️ But So many people to thank but most of all #GoBobbyuk, we fly out tomorrow ??? I’ll be racing the FIA F4SEA Championship race at Sepang F1 circuit. Officially an International F4 Racing Driver ???? pic.twitter.com/GkHFbxtxxo
Looking back at her experience at Sepang, Emily was upbeat. “The car, the track and the whole experience was fantastic,” she said. “Sepang is a big circuit: very fast, very technical, with every different type of challenge you could want as a driver. It didn’t take me long to get to know the car, slicks and everything really, but I’ve still got loads to learn.
“They’d set me a target lap time – [which] I didn’t know but my dad and the team did – to reach by the end of the second session on track which I reached and beat significantly, so everyone was happy with my performance. I’d also out-performed the other two new drivers to the F4 scene, which I was very pleased about. The racing was good, and I drove well.”
Emily is now turning her attention towards the 2019 season and is searching for the right opportunity, although she describes her situation as a “tough one”.
“I want to do the British F4 and F4 SEA Championships if possible but it’s all about budget. We aren’t a rich family and my parents have spent everything they have on getting me this far, so we’re working hard to get investors and sponsors to come on board for next season and for my longer-term career goals too.”
F1 and other racing series aren’t only about driving a car. Before getting behind a steering wheel the driver must have done a lot of activities. The physical training is one of the most important of them. Michael Italiano, Daniel Ricciardo’s performance coach, spoke to us by answering questions asked by Julia Paradowska about the physical preparation of the racing driver.
Julia Paradowska: Why is physical training so important for the drivers? Michael Italiano: Racing is a very demanding sport physically and mentally. The drivers need to be physically fit in order to withstand the G-forces during a race and the constant loading from the cars whether its braking, accelerating or turning. In saying this, it’s important the drivers include regimented cardio and strength training to keep their body in prime condition to race at their peak performance. If an athlete is not physically conditioned to drive they won’t be strong enough to withstand the G-forces the cars produce during a race. They will also fatigue, once fatigue sets in a driver won’t be able to control the car as efficiently as he’d like. These side effects make a big difference in a sport like Formula One where every tenth of a second counts.
JP: How does the training program vary during the season? – Ie. Training during race week and training during a non-race week. MI: Training varies quite a lot depending on the time of the year. During pre-season (January) training is fairly intense as your main goal is to get the driver into peek condition and prepared for the first race of the season. Training during race week again is dependent on whereabouts in the world we are. All factors play a part, time zone, weather, humidity, altitude to name a few. To give you a slight idea we would normally train up until the Wednesday of a race, nothing too intense. Mainly to switch everything on, get moving and loosen up feeling good before he (Daniel) jumps in the car on Friday. This routine would change slightly if we had back to back races, we would focus more on recovery with the short break and flight times in between.
JP: Which round of the 2018 season was the hardest for you and Daniel to train and prepare for and why? MI: Probably the triple header mid-year. It was a crazy 3 weeks, I’m glad F1 have decided on no triple headers in 2019. It’s asking a lot physically and mentally of the drivers. Not only are they driving the car for three days each week, they have media and team commitments outside the race track, then you add in all the flying and transport to and from hotels. There wasn’t much time for recovery and training, you have to be flexible in these situations and make do for what time you have to prepare your athlete.
JP: In addition to physical training, you also work to enhance and develop the psychological ‘mental’ fitness. How important is this aspect of the training? MI: Personally, very important. How a driver can stay so immensely focused during a two hour race error free its extremely impressive. If their mind is distracted, fatigued or unfocused this will hinder their driving ability substantially. Sports psychology has really developed over the last five years and I’m a big believer in getting the mind in a positive and affirmative state before a race. How you do that is very dependent on the athlete’s character and your relationship with them. Mental training can be anything from working on a daily winners mindset, race day mindset, mindset out on the track during a race, what are you telling yourself, how you deal with particular actions or issues during a race emotionally, understanding mood profiling and what level should a drivers intensity be at during qualifying or race.
JP: How did you get interested in F1? MI: I got interested in Formula 1 through Daniel. Being a Perth kid, knowing a Perth boy coming through the ranks and eventually making it to the F1 level was very inspiring. I followed his journey at a young age and developed the love for the sport through my eagerness to see Daniel succeed.
Despite only taking up karting a couple of years ago, it’s safe to say 16-year-old Emily Linscott already has a lot of achievements under her belt. She recently returned from Malaysia where she made her International Formula 4 debut and has preparations for her mock GCSE exams to deal with, and yet she was still kind enough to speak to us here at The Pit Crew Online.
Her trip to Malaysia was a world removed from her initial experiences in karting and the Lakeside Karting track in Essex, which she frequented just a few short years ago. “My dad and I went to Lakeside Karting one Sunday in 2016 and I liked it,” Emily said. “So, we went again the next week and then again, which is when I beat him, so we thought it might be cool to try some competition. He’s an ex-professional British Superbike champion so he won’t let anyone beat him if he can help it!
“As soon as I knew I wanted to race and I learned about the Le Mans 24hrs, I’ve wanted to race and win that. I’ve started driving Formula 4 cars now, so my ideas have changed a little bit, but I still want to win Le Mans – it’s such an amazing race with so much history to it. My long-term career goals are to become a successful professional racing driver working directly for a manufacturer as their ambassador.”
It didn’t take long for Emily’s skill and speed in karting to begin to turn heads, and by the end of her first year she had been signed to Arden’s Young Racing Driver’s Academy. “My parents got a call asking if we’d be interested in coming to their HQ in Banbury to meet them, their teams, have a look around their premises and to try out their state-of-the-art simulator,” Emily explained. “I think at the time perhaps it was too early for me – I wasn’t really interested in Formula cars as I hadn’t even driven any car at that time.
“I’d not spent the whole of my childhood around race cars and tracks, I’d not watched cars on TV or anything like that, so it was alien to me. I actually thought F1 was pretty boring when we watched it, but now I know a lot more about what goes in to racing a car even before you get in one, I can appreciate it a lot more.”
Away from the track Emily’s career has also been gaining momentum. Earlier this month she won the Everyone Active South East Regional Young Athlete of the Year award, as well as being named Overall Young Athlete of the Year, which she described as a “total shock”.
“We were preparing for the F4 race in Malaysia when my dad got an email asking if I’d decided about racing abroad or if we were still able to make the Sporting Champions Mentoring Day and National Awards in London the following week. He told them that the deal was done and we couldn’t be there, which is when someone phoned him and asked if I could do an acceptance video. Well, two videos, as I’d won the South East Regional Young Athlete of the Year, and the judging panel had named me as their Overall National Young Athlete of the Year [too].
“My parents told me in their bedroom when I came back from school and we were finishing packing my kit bag. I laughed a bit as I was so shocked, and they also said they had no idea about these awards. Most awards you get to hear about have fans and followers [voting] for their favourite driver, but these were done by Everyone Active and their Sporting Champions programme. I was really shocked! I even said to my dad on the plane as we were flying to Malaysia, ‘As if I won those two awards!’ It’s crazy!”
Emily spoke to us more about her experience in Malaysia and the International F4 race, which you can read about in the upcoming second instalment of our interview.
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Hunter McElrea was the driver to rise above the rest at the Road to Indy Scholarship Shootout, taking the victory and with it a $200,000 prize to see him onto the 2019 USF2000 grid. It was a very closely fought competition between first the nineteen assembled drivers and then the six finalists, but McElrea just about edged out all the other drivers.
Photos @ Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography
After Saturday’s two sessions, each of the nineteen drivers was given feedback from the judges on their runs before they had one more session to impress on Sunday morning. With the first round done, the eighteen remaining drivers (one had travel issues and one dropped out after Saturday) were called to the pit straight to learn their fate in the shootout. The judges praised all of them for their ability to adapt to the unfamiliar Formula Mazda car and said that the decision to pick out six had been a very tough one.
The six finalists who progressed were: Braden Eves (USA)
Jake Craig (USA)
Ross Martin (GBR)
Hunter McElrea (AUS)
Michael Eastwell (GBR)
Flinn Lazier (USA)
Photos @ Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography
These six then had to do two qualifying sessions before a mock race and then a nervous wait to find out who the judges had selected with the winner announced at 4 pm local time – over an hour after the race had finished. It was another tough decision for the judges who had to consider both on-track and off-track performances from the finalists, but ultimately it was McElrea who won it.
US-born but Australian raised, McElrea will return to racing in the US after spending all his single-seater career to date in Australia. His ticket to the shootout was gained by winning the Australian Formula Ford Series, a championship which he won by a margin of fifteen points over his closest rival. He took thirteen wins in the season as well as sixteen podiums and three pole positions, making him a more than worthy champion and now the winner of the shootout.
There are still plenty of opportunities for the rest of the shootout drivers to make it onto the Road to Indy, one of which is next year’s shootout. The full entry lists for USF2000, Pro Mazda and Indy Lights are due to be published in the coming weeks with all the series kicking off at St Petersburg in March 2019.
Featured Image: Photos @ Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography
This weekend, twenty young drivers from across the world will fight it out for a $200,000 scholarship which will see them onto the 2019 USF2000 grid. The youngest contestant, Colin Mullan, is just sixteen years old with the other drivers ranging from seventeen to twenty-five. The event is taking place at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park with the track action spanning over today and tomorrow on the 1.6-mile circuit.
The scholarship competition has been running since 2016 and this year there were twenty-five eligible feeder series with around four hundred drivers in contention for a place in the shootout.
The weekend kicked off out of the cars with a welcome gala last night where all the drivers could get acquainted with their fellow competitors and the judges.
Drivers will be in Formula Mazda cars, taking part in three sessions across the weekend – two on Saturday and one on Sunday morning. After the Sunday session, judges will cut the field down and the remaining drivers will take part in two qualifying rounds, setting up for a mock race at the end of the day. From this, the winner of the scholarship will be announced at around 4:00 pm local time (11 pm GMT).
The judging panel is a talented list of representatives from both Mazda and the Road to Indy programme. Mazda has sent long-serving factory representatives Andrew Carbonell and Tom Long and from the Road to Indy we’ve got Indy Lights race winner Tom Long, last year’s Pro Mazda champion Victor Franzoni and the very first shootout winner, Oliver Askew, who won the USF2000 championship the following year.
Coverage of the event will be provided by Road to Indy TV (http://roadtoindy.tv/) and it’ll certainly be something to check out if you get the chance.
The twenty hopeful drivers’ names, ages and nationalities are listed below:
Guillaume Archambault, 24, Canada
Dario Cangialosi, 18, USA
Bryce Cornet, 25, USA
Jake Craig, 21, USA
Allan Croce, 21, Brazil
Courtney Crone, 17, USA
Michael Eastwell, 22, UK (England)
Braden Eves, 19, USA
Flinn Lazier, 19, USA
Ross Martin, 19, UK (Scotland)
Hunter McElrea, 19, Australia
Matt Round-Garrido, 18, UK (England)
Colin Mullan, 16, USA
Tyler O’Connor, 21, USA
Ryan Norberg, 20, USA
Raghul Rangasamy, 25, India
Jason Reichert, 19, USA
Kellen Ritter, 17, Canada
James Roe Jr, 20, Ireland
Stuart White, 17, South Africa
Featured Image: Photos @ Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography
In my second season review for 2018, it’s time to look at M-Sport. It was a successful year, with victories that allowed the French duo to win the Drivers crown for the sixth time, whilst Elfyn Evans/Dan Barritt and Teemu Suninen played their part for the team. They scored some good results as well.
The championship started well, with victory for Seb and Julien in Monte Carlo. Elfyn suffered a puncture on day one, but fought back with some very quick times including two stage victories on Saturday to finish in sixth overall. Former winner Bryan Bouffier made his Fiesta WRC debut as well, and drove to an excellent eighth place for the team.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 -WRC Monte Carlo (FRA) – WRC 24/01/2018 to 28/01/2018 – PHOTO : @World
Sweden followed, and it was a much tougher event for the team. There had been massive snowfall in the weeks before. Seb and Julien would be leading the cars on day one, and they would be doing their best to stay on the road, but keep the time loss down as well. Teemu was the top placed driver in sixth place at the end of day one, after Elfyn got a puncture and completed day down the field, but it was Seb who struggled the most, sweeping the stages clear like a snow plough. After Saturday, Teemu had dropped a couple of places to more experienced drivers, and was in eighth place and Seb had moved into tenth place. The positions were pretty much the same at the end, with Elfyn climbing into fourteenth position at the end.
Mexico was next up. Seb would use his better road position to complete day one in fifth overall, which by the end of day two, he had taken the lead by over 30 seconds. His lead at the end was a full minute. Meanwhile, Elfyn went well, just 15 seconds from the lead at the end of stage three, before a high-speed roll that didn’t damage the car as much as you’d think in stage four put him and Dan out of the event. The reason- concussion. Teemu would also go well, before damaging his suspension, leading to loss of control of the car and retirement for the day. He would come through, gaining more experience, finishing in twelfth. Seb had retaken the lead of the championship from Thierry as well, with a four-point lead over the Belgian.
The iconic Tour de Corse followed, and with Dan Barritt still ruled out over safety, with his concussion, Phil Mills, stepped into the number two Fiesta alongside Elfyn, whilst Bryan Bouffier was driving a third Fiesta. Seb and Julien showed their class, leading the whole event and winning, whilst Elfyn and Phil drove brilliantly having had just the six runs in shakedown, to perfect their partnership for this event, clinching fifth overall. Bryan had an engine issue, causing him to retire from the event on the Saturday.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 -WRC Tour de Corse (FRA) – WRC 04/04/2018 to 08/04/2018 – PHOTO : @World
Argentina followed, and Dan was back alongside Elfyn, whilst Teemu returned to the third Fiesta, making his first start in this event. After day one, Seb was in fifth place, whilst Elfyn and Teemu rounded out the top ten. After Saturday’s stages, all had moved up a few places. Elfyn in particular went particularly well, finishing in sixth overall, whilst Teemu gained one place. That’s how they finished as well at the end of the rally, and despite doing well, Elfyn was not that happy. The gap between Seb and Thierry ten points and Ott was just twenty-eight points.
Portugal was next up, and with Seb making a mistake on day one, the team looked to their younger drivers. They drove brilliantly, Elfyn finishing day one in second place and Teemu in fourth. Elfyn continued to drive well on Saturday, winning two stages and consolidating his second position. In the other Fiesta, Teemu continued a strong drive and was just a few seconds behind third place. On the final day, both Elfyn and Teemu drove well, clinching a double podium. With Seb retiring from the event on the Sunday, after the team decided to retire the car, given that they were not likely to score any points, he fell behind Thierry in their battle for the world championship.
Elfyn and Dan drove to a first podium of 2018 in Portugal. Photo credit, M-Sport.
Next up, was the very tricky Rally Italia Sardegna and the team comprised of Seb, Elfyn and Teemu. Seb would be looking to use the advantage of not opening the road on Friday as the title fight continued between him and Thierry. Elfyn and Teemu would also be hoping for a good result after their podium. After day one, Seb incredibly held the lead, but sadly there was disappointments elsewhere in the team. Teemu finished the day way down after a spin, whilst Elfyn broke a part in his steering, and after fixing it in the stage, was fifteen minutes from the lead. Day two saw the battle between Thierry and Seb intensify, with the Hyundai driver closing the gap. Meanwhile, Teemu and Elfyn continued their climb up the leaderboard. The final day saw Seb and Thierry complete their fight over the win, with the Frenchman just missing out on the victory by just seven tenths of a second. Teemu scored a point for tenth, whilst Elfyn was fourteenth.
Super-fast Finland followed the summer break, and with just six rallies left, would be an important event. The team had brought some aero updates to their car, but only enough for one, which were fitted to Seb’s car. Despite this, the best placed car was piloted by Teemu ending day one in fifth place and making the most of his road position, whilst Seb was sixth and Elfyn seventh. On day two, team orders came into play, with Elfyn giving up his position to Seb, whilst Teemu continued to be the top placed car in sixth with his teammates seventh and eighth. When the event finished on Sunday, there had been further team orders, which meant that Seb was the top placed of the three drivers in fifth after Teemu took a 20 second penalty. Teemu ultimately finished in sixth, with Elfyn in seventh.
Onto Germany next, an event of three different types of tarmac. Teemu would be making his top-level debut as well. After day one, the team were well placed with Seb in second overall, Elfyn driving really well in fourth, just 10 seconds from third and Teemu in tenth. It was all change on Saturday, when Elfyn ran wide and hit a concrete block hidden in undergrowth, damaging his suspension and putting him out for the day. Meantime, Seb also suffered a blow in his fight for the win, getting a puncture, which they changed mid stage. Teemu came through unscathed, finishing the day in eighth, with Seb now just one place ahead in seventh. The final day saw the true pace of Seb and Julien, who climbed back up into fourth place pretty quickly, limiting the number of points that they conceded to their rivals, Ott and Thierry who finished were first and second respectively. Teemu finished his first tarmac rally in a top spec car, fifth overall, whilst Elfyn came home in twenty-fifth after re-joining under Rally2 regs.
Seb and Julien drove to fifth in Finland after Elfyn and Teemu took time penalties for the team leader. Photo credit, M-Sport.
The next event was Rally Turkey, a completely new event. On day one, Seb come through after some tough stages, to be second overall, with Teemu in ninth. Elfyn continued to suffer some terrible luck, with intercom problems, followed by problems with his differential, which was replaced in service and then a puncture. However, that wasn’t the worst of it, when he suffered broken suspension, putting him out in the days penultimate stage. After day two, when Seb set some great times, but also suffered massive disappointment, he won two stages, but also damaged his suspension which needed changing in service. He then slid off the road in the first afternoon stage. Meantime, Teemu was going really well, finishing the day in fourth overall, whilst Elfyn showed what could have been possible, climbing up the leaderboard, into seventh, after a string of quick times, including three second fastest times in the afternoon stages. The final day, saw Teemu come through in fourth, whilst Elfyn clocked in five minutes early in the penultimate stage, thus getting a five-minute penalty and dropping to twelfth, giving Seb tenth place and the final point.
Teemu and Mikko drove to a deserved fourth place in the incredibly tough Turkish round. Photo credit, M-Sport.
Wales Rally was next, as we came down to the final three events of the year. Sadly, last years winner would suffer some unreliability from the normally bullet-proof engine, getting a misfire on the road section, whilst just a few seconds from the lead. Teemu also retired from the days action after going off the road. Seb meantime was sitting in fifth place, with both his championship rivals ahead. By the end of Saturday, Seb had taken the lead after a string of quick times. Meanwhile, Elfyn, having re-joined under Rally2 regs, climbed up the field and completed the day in twenty fourth place. Teemu didn’t restart, as his car was too damaged to fix. Seb completed Sunday and took victory, his first since Tour de Corse. There was no fairy-tale result for Elfyn, one year on from his victory, and he finished in twentieth place.
Rally Spain saw the team field three cars again. After day one, Elfyn was the top runner in third after a string of top times, whilst Seb was doing what he could, and guided his Fiesta to seventh. Further back, Teemu was learning, and held eleventh. A string of quick times through Saturday, saw Seb climb up to second overall, with Elfyn also doing well, completing the day in fourth. Teemu remained in eleventh, as he continued to learn the stages, particularly given the rain that fell so heavily! On Sunday, everything came together, and after some great driving the team scored a brilliant double podium, with Seb taking second place and Elfyn third, his first podium since Portugal. Teemu finished in eleventh, as he continued to learn. Seb was now back in the lead of the championship.
Elfyn and Dan drove to third in Rally Spain, their second podium of the year. Photo credit, M-Sport
A few weeks later, it was time for the title decider, down under. Three drivers went to Australia, determined to take the championship. After day one, which had seen Seb’s main rival, Thierry run wide and lose time, there was a bit of shuffling around with Elfyn and Teemu dropping behind Seb as they completed the day in seventh, eighth and ninth. After a number of very fast times throughout Saturday, Seb and Elfyn both moved up to sixth and seventh, whilst Teemu was learning still, he set some good times in the afternoon. On the final day, both of Seb’s rivals crashed out of the rally, leaving him to bring his car home in fifth place, one place ahead of Elfyn who had played the long game.
Seb and Julien on their way to their sixth World Championship in Rally Australia. Photo credit, M-Sport
Seb and Julien had won their sixth world championship in a row and the second ever for M-Sport, in their final drive for the team. Teemu had learnt loads this year and Elfyn had secured some great results and also done his part, with helping Seb win the championship. The team had taken third place in the Manufacturers championship as well.
For next year, we don’t know who will be driving, or even if the team will compete at the top level, which would be a massive shame. Possible drivers could be;
Elfyn Evans who would make a good team leader now I believe, Teemu Suninen, who is one of the young hot shots and perhaps we’ll see someone else coming up from WRC2, like Gus Greensmith who tested a Fiesta WRC in Poland recently.
Kimi Raikkonen is back at Sauber, in a move that many did not see it coming, although it could prove the best choice for him and the Swiss team.
Back in June, Charles Leclerc was heavily rumoured with a move to Ferrari, asa replacement for Kimi Raikkonen, whose future was still uncertain. The ‘Iceman’ had been in good form up until that point, with three podiums to his name. But, he was at the exit door in Maranello.
Kimi Raikkonen at Abu Dhabi. Image Courtesy of Ferrari Media
The late chairman of Ferrari, Sergio Marchionne, had made his mind since the Canadian Grand Prix, and his sudden death did not change the plan he had put forward: Leclerc in, Raikkonen out.
The fact that the young Monegasque will join forces with Sebastian Vettel in 2019 is very fortunate for him, a boyhood dream come true. He has all the potential to make this move work, to achieve his and his team’s goals. However, the Raikkonen-Sauber collaboration seems to have an advantage.
No, Alfa Romeo-Sauber will not be on its ‘big sister’s’ level, but the Finn is an experienced driver and Hinwil has done an excellent job on getting back in the hunt at the midfield group of the grid.
As far as Raikkonen is concerned, the 39 year old driver is highly motivated, as everyone has seen from this year’s campaign, in which the stood on the podium 12 times, and won once. This was -probably- his best season since the 2007 one, and that came from a man who many criticised for his lack of commitment and motive. This new challenge can regenerate him, since he will be able to be the no.1 driver in a team he knows like the back of his hand (from his 2001 tenure with it).
Apart from that, Raikkonen has been proven exceptional on giving feedback and setting the car to better suit his driving style, and Sauber needs that ability from its headline driver, in order to up its game on the midfield battle. He is in fine form and he can help his old team get back on the top 5.
Since Sauber was mentioned, the Swiss team has a very big advantage over any other team on the middle pack of the grid: the support from Ferrari. The Alfa Romeo rebranding acted as a salvation for them, after a horrendous 2017 season, and this was just the beginning. Ferrari made everything it could to make sure its ‘little sister’ had a fresh start: new team principal (Fred Vasseur), new technical director (Simone Resta), and a higher budget meant that Hinwil could go for a big push again, and remind to every competitor that it is a force to be reckoned. Add to that a driver like Raikkonen, and you’ve got yourself a perfect combination of experience and know-how.
Essentially, Kimi Raikkonen and Sauber had to be together for next year’s campaign, because both of them will be able to gain so much more than any other team-driver collaboration on the 2019 grid – or so we hope.
Motorsports After coming perilously close to drinking the milk at the end of the 2017 Indianapolis 500 race, speculation over whether Fernando Alonso would take the leap from Formula 1 to the Verizon IndyCar Series began to spread across the paddocks on both sides of the pond.
It was confirmed in November of this year that Alonso would throw his hat into the ring once again driving for McLaren, working with Andretti Racing, in the hopes of obtaining the unofficial ‘Triple Crown’. There is much speculation as to whether Alonso would be interested in becoming a more permanent fixture in what some motorsport fans consider the ‘American Version’ of F1, however, nothing has been set in stone.
Talking with journalists following his last race in Formula 1 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Alonso is in no hurry to make plans: “I needed a break and I need to find motivation again.
“For 2020, I don’t know exactly what I will do or what will be the plan. I am open to different things – maybe a full season in IndyCar, maybe a full season in F1 again.”
Alonso wouldn’t be the first Formula 1 driver to make the transition. He would be following iconic drivers such as Rubens Barrichello, Jacques Villeneuve and Juan Pablo Montoya, and with the interesting mix of street and oval circuits, the series offers a new challenge for Alonso after 18 years in F1.
In the run up to the end of the Formula 1 season, Alonso signed himself up to a mixture of endurance races. He is scheduled to complete the remaining 3 races in the World Endurance Championship, finishing in Le Mans, before heading to Indianapolis for the second time to hopefully take the win.
Not long after reaching the chequered flag in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Alonso was back in the driving seat, this time having swapped cars with NASCAR Champion Jimmie Johnson. It was thought that Alonso’s interest was in testing Johnson’s car in preparation for the Daytona 500, which he has since confirmed he will be a part of.
Interestingly enough, Johnson’s contract with NASCAR team, Hendrick Motorsports is set to end in 2020 and having already expressed an interest in IndyCar. Though it is highly unlikely Johnson would ever drive in F1 (apart from the one-off car swap), taking an open-wheel car out for a spin has given him a new outlook on his abilities:
“What I take away from that F1 experience is I climbed in an unfamiliar car and environment and did really well. My natural instincts, my ability to drive, my ability to scare myself and challenge myself hasn’t gone anywhere.” Perhaps the pair are beginning to lay the foundation for a standalone McLaren team in the Verizon IndyCar Series?
It’s probably best not to get carried away just yet, as Alonso has also confessed his departure from F1 might be short lived: “I’ve been doing this my whole life. Maybe next year by April or May I am desperate on the sofa, so maybe I find a way somehow to come back.” Perhaps he will follow in ex- Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa’s footsteps in announcing retirement, before returning unexpectedly to race another season.
Only time will tell, but for now keep an eye on Alonso, his career certainly isn’t over yet!
Force India have today confirmed the signing of 20-year-old Canadian racer Lance Stroll from Williams.
After two years with the British team, Stroll has joined the Indian Constructor to replace Frenchman Esteban Ocon, who will be Mercedes’ reserve driver next year following his ousting from the team.
Force India was taken over by Lance Stroll’s father, Lawrence, in the summer after previous owner and founder Vijay Mallya was forced to sell the team following legal and financial troubles surrounding him.
As a result, Stroll has been handed a drive by his father to partner Sergio Perez, who is also a pay driver bringing a lot of money into the team, which has officially left Ocon without a drive for 2019, as he does not bring any sponsorship money into the team.
Stroll’s previous team Williams had already announced their driver line-up in the knowledge that Stroll was going to depart; young British driver George Russell and Polish driver Robert Kubica, who is returning to the sport 8 years after a horrific rally crash that severed his hand, will be racing for them next year.
When it was announced that Lawrence Stroll would take control of Force India, it was already generally known that Lance would be joining the team for 2019, and having completed the Pirelli tyre test in Abu Dhabi during the week, Stroll has today officially been announced.
Image courtesy of Pirelli
Image courtesy of Racing Point F1 team.