NASCAR Whelen Euro Series (NWES) is entering its seventh season in its current format, and a new rules package is set to bring the racing closer than ever while making the series more accessible to drivers, teams and fans alike. Announced in early January, the regulation change is promoting ‘pure racing’ with new tyres, suspension and aero, as well as more stringent technical inspections.
NWES has grown significantly since it first got sanctioned by NASCAR in 2012; the fan base has extended across Europe and the calibre of drivers continues to improve, making the series highly competitive.
Credit: Reuben Inganni
Only four drivers have been officially confirmed for 2019 so far, with all of them competing in the Elite 1 class. Francesco Sini and Alex Sedgwick are both returning to the series after making their debuts last season. They will be joined by Ellen Lohr, DTM’s only female race winner, and 1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, both of whom are returning to racing and making their debuts in NWES.
We spoke to Alex Sedgwick at Autosport International about the series and how it differs to its American counterpart.
“The main difference is that the Euro series is mainly road courses compared to ovals. In Europe, we have a lot less ovals than in America in the first place, so we go to places like Valencia, Brands Hatch, Hockenheim and Zolder. We still do one oval this year, Venray which is in Holland. That’s the main difference really, and also the backgrounds of the drivers. I came from Clios and Ginettas, Villeneuve has come from F1 and we’ve got guys who have done Le Mans whereas in America it’s sort of NASCAR, NASCAR, dirt racing, NASCAR! It’s NASCAR with a European input, that’s the way to look at it really.”
“The NWES cars are a little lighter than the American cars with fibreglass bodies instead of steel bodies, but they’re also a little less powerful. They only have about 400 horsepower, whereas in America they’ve got 600 to 650 horsepower. Other than that, because we mainly go to road courses, the cars aren’t set up to just turn left, we’ve got a Watt’s link in the rear rather than a track bar to help it turn both directions and make it a little bit more agile. It’s not the most agile thing in the world anyway but it helps. They’re the main differences really but the basics are all exactly the same – a big 5.7 litre V8, 4-speed manual, solid rear ends, no brakes, no grip and loads of drifts, so it’s good fun!”
Credit: Reuben Inganni
Having a name like Villeneuve in the series is significant for its popularity, but he is not the first big-name driver that the NWES has attracted.
“I started last year in the series and we had Bobby Labonte (2000 NASCAR Cup champion). My teammate’s Marc Goossens (Le Mans veteran), we’ve also got Christophe Bouchut (1993 Le Mans winner) and now Villeneuve; it’s certainly a cool time to be part of NWES. It brings more credibility and attention to the series from the European side and the fact that the names that we’ve had in the series so far haven’t run away with it, they’ve struggled to get into the top five or even top ten, shows the level the championship’s at – it’s a hard series to do well in.”
One of the main aims of the new rules package, aside from improving the on-track show, was to make the series more affordable for teams and drivers – an aim that Sedgwick believes has been achieved.
“It’s well cheap! Because it’s racing, it’s still expensive but you’re going to seven different countries across Europe, racing a proper stock car in front of an average of 40,000 spectators at each round and it’s less than you’d pay to race in Ginetta Juniors in the UK. In terms of that, and for what you get out of it, it’s a bargain!”
With NWES growing as a series, the opportunities it can provide for the drivers are also increasing with the series definitely a viable route for making a career in America.
“My aim is to use this as a stepping stone to hopefully go from this to something like K&N or Trucks in America and just see what happens really. With the way the series is, and the way that it works, there’s a lot of opportunities to make that happen – it’s not like Clios in the UK where you need a lot of money to race and at the end of the year, you’re left with nothing. We’ve got prize money and the chance to win drives in America. In terms of making a career out of it, it’s quite a good place to be.”
The NWES season kicks off on the 13th April at Valencia with the rest of the calendar as follows:
April 13th/14th – Valencia, Spain
May 11th/12th – Franciacorta, Italy
June 1st/2nd – Brands Hatch, UK
June 22nd/23rd – undisclosed street circuit, France*
June 29th/30th – Most, Czech Republic
July 13th/14th – Venray, Holland
September 21st/22nd – Hockenheim, Germany
October 5th/6th – Zolder, Belgium
Martin Brundle has said that Formula One needs to make a much bigger step than is planned in 2019 to improve the racing show.
Wolfgang Wilhelm/Mercedes-AMG
Speaking about the 2019 season’s new aerodynamic regulations, the F1 veteran said he is unsure whether the changes will produce any real improvement in the number of on-track overtakes.
“A more simple front wing makes sense to me, [but] I think it needs a much bigger step. A massive step, actually. I can’t really see why we’ve done an interim 2019 because the cost is massive in terms of a brand new car for everybody.
“The big teams tell me they were going to do a new car anyway, but the small teams don’t. They have a lot of continuity of certain things like the chassis.
“It all looks like a lot of money spent, so if they’re not side-by-side and nose-to-tail more often, then it’s money wasted.”
Charles Coates, Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Brundle added that as well as its aerodynamic regulations, F1 needs to address the size of its grid to deliver a better show in the future:
“Back in the day, a Carlin, a DAMS, or an ART would have migrated into Formula One like Eddie Jordan did, for example, or Paul Stewart Racing with the Stewart team. Now we’ve got 20 [cars], and that’s more likely to become 18 than 22 from what I’ve seen at the moment. I see that as quite a peril.
“Ross Brawn used an expression, ‘We pulled up the drawbridge’. He’s absolutely right. We’re on a little Formula One island spending a lot of money to run 20 cars, and the drawbridge is up and I don’t see anybody waiting on the other side to come on. That’s a huge issue they need to address for the 2021 regulations.”
David Coulthard has said that McLaren needs to focus on getting the “right people” together if it is to return to winning in Formula One.
Zak Mauger/McLaren
Speaking about McLaren’s current form, Coulthard said: “Success doesn’t come from a name above the door, otherwise McLaren would still be winning Grands Prix. It’s about the people within, the culture and the investment within the company. That creates that winning culture.”
His comments followed McLaren announcing on Thursday that Andreas Seidl, the former Porsche WEC boss, will join the team during 2019 as their managing director. Seidl’s appointment marks the latest in a series of high-profile changes at McLaren, including the signing of Toro Rosso technical director James Key.
Coulthard also stressed that McLaren’s performance can’t be solved by simply increasing the team’s budget:
“Money isn’t always the answer to success. If you look at Toyota, what they invested in F1 and they didn’t actually win a Grand Prix.
“It’s about having the right amount of money and the right amount of people. The car doesn’t design itself, the car doesn’t drive itself.”
Zak Mauger/McLaren
Fellow F1 veteran Martin Brundle has echoed Coulthard’s belief. Speaking at Autosport International, Brundle said: “Andreas Seidl is obviously a very successful man in the Porsche world and his CV speaks for itself. Quite clearly they see him fitting in alongside Zak [Brown] and Gil [de Ferran].
“It seems a sensible appointment to me that’s got structure and some kind of plan around it.
“It takes time to rebuild momentum. A team is made up of a number of ingredients and it takes time for it to all come together.”
W Series ambassador David Coulthard wants the all-female championship to be a springboard into a professional racing career for more women.
The six-round series will support the DTM across Europe this season and will see 18-20 drivers, who will be selected based on their racing record, competing for a $1.5m prize fund, with the winner earning $500,000.
Coulthard, who won 13 Formula One Grands Prix, feels the championship can help women progress further up the motorsport ladder.
“If we create a platform that puts more professional women into motorsport, being paid to compete at whatever level that happens to be, then this will have played its part.
“Hopefully this will create more of that aspirational route where women can look at it and say “If I can get to W Series level, show my skills and win the championship, I’m not paying for this and getting a prize fund, a $500,000 cheque for the winner, and go on to the next level.”
The series launched in the autumn of last year and Coulthard hopes that the attention received from the media and the general public can change the perception that motorsports is not for women.
“Motorsport’s always been open to boys and girls at karting level to men and women so hopefully this series will with the help of media like yourself, put more of a spotlight on that. There will inevitably be a big interest in the six races in the championship, a big interest in the winner and hopefully that creates more of a focus and an opportunity for the general public to say “it isn’t largely about men, it’s largely about everyone.” If we can do that and have more professional female racing drivers, I think that’s great.”
The 47-year-old Scotsman says the series had in mind female drivers that had struggled to secure sponsorship and clearing the route to professional careers for women.
“Obviously there are questions over whether it’s segregation in as much that there’s only women in the championship, I can understand that question, but we see this as a platform and an opportunity on an aspirational level for families trying to make that decision where there has been a much clearer route from amateur to professional for boys and men compared to for girls and women.
“For sure the existing route has only allowed a few women to come through and make professional careers, and some of them have come from quite fortunate backgrounds. Money in motorsport has often spoken. We want to neutralize the need for families to be wealthy because you don’t pay to enter W, you enter on the basis of incredible talent and being selected.”
Coulthard, who drove for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull in a 14-year Formula One career, was prepared for a mixed reaction but feels critics should accept the series provides an opportunity for others.
“In life people have opinions, I’m prepared for that every day of my life. I take a view that I don’t agree with everyone does in life but as long as they’re not breaking the law, I admire people who have the courage of their convictions and a goal and they work towards that goal. What I always find a little disappointing, with the reaction to W Series and everything else in life, where someone says “That’s not how I would have done it, therefore I don’t believe in that way of doing it and I don’t think anyone should do that,” because they haven’t done it that way, they think that nobody should do it that way.
“When you take that into other areas of the world we live in, that becomes quite dangerous in some ways. The reality is, for those who have come up a different route and don’t see this as an aspirational route, I respect their point of view, but please allow others the opportunity that they may not have been afforded before, to explore this route into professional racing. Time will tell whether this is a credible and sustainable route to bringing more women into motorsport.”
W Series Communications Director says the absence of female drivers at international level is “sad” and the controversial female only series is required to try to address this.
The series launches this year and will see 20 drivers compete for a total of $1.5m US Dollars.
Former McLaren Communications Chief Bishop, who leads the venture alongside 13-time F1 race-winner David Coulthard and former Williams driver Alexander Wurz, feels the top of motorsport needs to change.
“We feel it’s required because there has been a sad absence of women drivers at high levels of motorsport, particularly high levels of international motorsport. There is no good reason for that, F1 has been going for 68 years with almost 900 drivers, it has always been open to women but of those 900, only two have been women that have started races. It’s culturally broken in that sense.”
The venture has attracted praise from figures such as Carmen Jorda, but has also drawn criticism from other women in the motorsport world such as Katherine Legge. Bishop was not surprised at the mixed reaction, but is undeterred in the effort to bring in more females.
“We were (expecting a mixed reaction). Motorsport is almost the last, final male bastion. It’s a very male world, I’ve worked in Formula One for a quarter of a century and most of the women who are working in the sport are cooks and waitresses and that really isn’t right.”
Bishop hopes that females aren’t just drawn to the driving aspect of motorsports, and Frmula One itself has seen Claire Williams and Monisha Kaltenborn leading Williams and Sauber respectively.
“We hope that not only will we be able to drive more women into racing careers as racing drivers but also if people look behind just the racing, that behind every race car that you have ever seen in your life, there are dozens if not hundreds of mechanics, engineers, technicians, aerodynamicists and so on. Women including young women at school who could be studying in science and technology at school and mathematics, hopefully realise there are exciting jobs in motorsport that they had never considered and could have thought would only be for their brothers and men.”
W Series has been described by Bishop as “positively disruptive” in their efforts to change the motorsport landscape.
“If you are positively disruptive you are always going to make a few waves. We understand that not every female racing driver has to race in the W series , we only have room for 20 and we have had 60 who have applied to take part in the series. We are excited to whittle that down to 20 drivers to take part in the inaugural season this year and those who have gone a different route or aren’t selected by us, we wish them all the best.
“We’re all aiming for more women succeeding in motorsport and progressing to higher levels.The timing of the W series is absolutely right, if it had have been done a few years ago maybe the world would not have been ready for it, and a few years later someone would perhaps have beaten us to it. I think it’s right, the world is ready for it and more women are ready to go racing. ”
2018 was a torrid year for Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas. A season plagued with bad luck and inconsistent performances left him without a win and fifth in the championship, while team-mate Lewis Hamilton dominated to take the title for a fifth time. Bottas was out-qualified by an average of 0.3 seconds over the course of the season, a fairly substantial margin in pace that is something of a cause for concern.
2018 was at times a humiliating season for Bottas, much like 2017, as he was constantly out-performed by his team-mate and made to play second fiddle. However, there may yet be hope of him keeping his seat for 2020.
Despite being out-qualified 28 times in 41 races by Hamilton and out-raced 26 times in races they have both finished, Bottas has taken seven poles and three wins from his first two seasons with Mercedes, and has helped them to two victories in the Constructors’ Championship. Most drivers will be made to look average when partnered with Lewis Hamilton, but Bottas has in fact done a fairly solid job – he has at times made himself look world-class.
Of course, “solid” is not quite going to be enough when trying to keep a long-term place at a team at the very top of Formula One, and Bottas is a smart man so he will be under no illusions about this, but there is certainly a talent that, if exploited in the right way, can take him into potential title contention.
2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Friday – Steve Etherington
Furthermore, if you look at contract situations, Bottas may yet be reasonably unchallenged in terms of that second Mercedes seat. Max Verstappen is signed by Red Bull until 2022, Daniel Ricciardo has just signed for Renault, and Sergio Perez would be a very distant candidate for the seat after his contract with Racing Point F1 runs out. It is highly possible, however, that the Mexican will extend this contract anyway.
Lance Stroll is yet to show the racecraft and pace necessary to drive for a top team, but Mercedes protégé George Russell may be a threat provided he has a positive season with Williams up against the returning Robert Kubica.
And let’s not forget Esteban Ocon, the Frenchman unceremoniously dumped out of F1 for 2019 by a dastardly combination of money and politics. He is a Mercedes test and reserve driver for next season, and will undoubtedly be vying for Bottas’ seat for next year – an in-house battle if you will.
Bottas’ seat beyond this year is far from safe and his performances will need to be better, but Mercedes team principalToto Wolff will be fully aware of the prodigious talent that the Finn has, as we watch the intense battle for Mercedes’ second seat in 2020 unfold this year.
Featured image – 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix, Sunday – Paul Ripke
This was the year that this team came closest to winning both the drivers and manufacturers. It didn’t work out in the end though. The team led both championships at certain points, but ultimately fell short. Here’s how the season went for this team in their fifth season.
Monte Carlo day one saw Thierry slide wide and lose a lot of time, finishing seventeen overall after Thursday. Andreas and Dani went well though and were second and third, less than 30 seconds from the leader. After Friday’s stages, Dani was still in third, whilst Thierry had improved to ninth. Andreas had retired after a problem with his car after the first stage of the morning loop. On Saturday, Dani’s good work came undone in stage nine when he slid wide into a ditch and had to retire from the event. Thierry had now climbed into seventh overall. Onto Sunday then and Thierry climbed a further two places by the end of the day’s action, into fifth place. The team could count that as a good result, after their troubles earlier in the weekend, and I think it’s fair to say that without his problems and subsequent pace, that Thierry would have made it onto the podium.
Moving onto Rally Sweden and with Thierry, Andreas and Hayden driving, the team had gone for its strongest line up. Boy, did it work! Thierry led a one-two-three, with Andreas in second and Hayden third at the end of day one. Thierry maintained a good lead at the end of Saturday’s stages, with Andreas and Hayden having fallen to third and fourth. Sunday saw Thierry take victory for the team, their first victory in this event, whilst Andreas picked up third place and a spin for Hayden saw the Kiwi fall to fifth place. Thierry’s victory moved him into the championship lead as well, eleven points ahead of Seb.
2018 FIA World Rally Championship Round 02, Rally Sweden 15-18 February 2018 Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
The following event, Rally Mexico, would be a completely different challenge of course! Joining Thierry and Andreas for this round would be Dani Sordo. He would be the early leader as well at the end of the Friday’s stages, with Andreas and Thierry in sixth and seventh respectively. The Belgian crew suffered with some technical problems, restricting their ultimate pace as well as being the first car on the road because of the championship positions. At the end of Saturday, Dani had fallen to third place after getting a puncture, whilst Andreas had moved up to fourth and Thierry was sixth after a stall and two punctures. Sunday saw Dani complete a good drive to second overall, whilst Andreas and Thierry finished in fourth and sixth. Seb moved back into the championship lead, with Thierry now four points behind.
Next up was the twists and turns of Tour de Corse! Dani started his third event of the year, lining up with Thierry and Andreas. At the end of day one, Thierry held second overall, thirty seconds behind Seb. Dani held seventh, after struggling with the handling of the car, whilst Andreas suffered an off and a spin and held ninth. At the end of day two, Thierry had fallen behind a fast charging Ott, but remained in the hunt for second place. After making some changes to their cars, Dani and Andreas both improved their positions to fifth and eighth. On the final day Thierry couldn’t catch Ott, and this meant he’d finish in third, whilst Dani was fourth and Andreas seventh. It was a troubling event for the Norwegian, where he was not on the pace.
With a starting line-up the same as the previous round, there was some consistency for the team for Rally Argentina, and after the first day Thierry, Dani and Andreas were in third, fourth and seventh. Andreas had led early on, but unfortunately a puncture put him out of the battle for the lead. After Saturday’s stages, each driver had moved up the standings, with Thierry and Dani holding second and third, whilst Andreas had moved into fifth overall after making some changes to the car which helped give him confidence. On the final day, the team secured a double podium, the second in a row whilst Andreas finished in fifth after a battle with Ogier who finished a few seconds ahead. The team had increased it’s lead in the manufacturer’s championship, whilst Thierry had reduced Ogier’s championship lead to just ten points.
2018 FIA World Rally Championship Round 04 Rallye de France 05-08 April 2018 Action Day 2 Dani Sordo, Carlos Del Barrio, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Fabien Dufour Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Three weeks later, it was time for Rally de Portugal! Alongside Thierry and Andreas and Dani, Hayden Paddon would return to the team for this event. After day one, when the team took six stage victories Thierry held an almost twenty second lead over Elfyn, and Dani was also doing well, holding third. Sadly, Hayden and Andreas they would not finish the day. Andreas suffered some technical problems firstly with his powersteering and then oil pressure problems. Hayden went off the road unfortunately, after avoiding a rock that was hidden. The Kiwi wouldn’t restart as a precaution, after he and Seb were taken to hospital. Following Saturday’s stages, Thierry was holding a thirty-nine second lead over Elfyn, with Dani holding third after another good day for the Spaniard. Thierry continued his consistent pace through Sunday’s stages to take his second victory of the season and thus took the championship lead from Seb Ogier. Dani lost his third place due to a time penalty, which was gained after the final stage of Saturday, but fought back to within 13 seconds of third place, ultimately finishing in fifth. Andreas’ problems on Friday kept him in the lower parts of the standings, finishing in sixteenth place.
2018 FIA World Rally Championship Round 06, Rally de Portugal 17-20 May 2018 Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
The following event, Rally Italia Sardegna saw Hayden, Thierry and Andreas line up, whilst Dani would sit this one out. Rain on day one helped championship leader Thierry, finish day one 18 seconds from Seb Ogier who led this event. Kiwi, Hayden tried lots of things to get on the pace, but just struggled, whilst Andreas saw his hopes for a good result disappear (he was the early leader), after his car developed a transmission issue, leaving it stuck in reverse. Day two saw Thierry close on the Frenchman for the lead after he took three stage victories, closing to just 3.9 seconds of the M-Sport driver, whilst Hayden improved to fourth overall. Andreas re-joined the action and set some good times, but was rueing the problems on Friday. The final day saw Thierry snatch victory from Seb in the final stage, winning by just seven tenths of a second and he also took the maximum power stage points too! Hayden completed the event in fourth place, having increased his lead over Mads throughout the day and Andreas took fourth in the power stage and two points.
2018 FIA World Rally Championship Round 07, Rally Italia Sardegna 7-10 June 2018 Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
After the summer break, the team came to Rally Finland and were leading both championships for drivers/co-drivers and team by a big margin. The drivers lining up were Thierry, Andreas and Hayden. This event had not been kind to Hyundai in the past. It would prove to be the same again, after Thierry, who was opening the road, was struggling for grip and then went off into a ditch during stage five finishing the day in tenth. Andreas made a mistake too, after a misheard note sent him into a small low speed roll and also a penalty after checking in late after lunchtime service. Best placed driver was Hayden, who finished day one in fourth. After Saturday’s stages, Hayden, who had driven consistently well, finished in fifth place, having been passed by 2017 winner Lappi. The Kiwi was just nine seconds from the Finn. Sadly, Thierry was still in tenth overall, after being second on the road, rueing the troubles from Friday and thus a poor starting position on Saturday. Andreas moved closer to the top ten, finishing in eleventh. The final day saw Hayden move into fourth, after Lappi went off the road. This also saw Thierry and Andreas move up a place, with the Belgian completing the event in ninth and Andreas getting tenth.
Next up was the all tarmac event of Rally Germany. Dani re-joined Thierry and Andreas. A good day one saw Thierry hold third overall behind his championship rivals, whilst Dani was sixth and Andreas ninth. The Norwegian was trying to change his driving style, but was struggling. Day two saw Dani take three stage victories and moved up into second, with Thierry now fourth after struggling with car handling and a better day for Andreas saw him move up into sixth. The last day saw Thierry finish in second, despite a mistake in the power stage. Dani’s hopes of a good result ended when he went and crashed his car into the vineyards that line the stages. Meanwhile, Andreas finished in sixth.
2017 FIA World Rally Championship, Round 10, Rallye Deutschland 17 – 20 August 2017, Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, Photographer: RaceEMotion, Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
The return of Rally Turkey to the championship saw a completely new event for all the drivers. Hayden joined Thierry and Andreas. Day one saw Thierry hold an unexpected lead over Seb, despite opening the road. Andreas also had a good day too, holding third, just 2.6 from the lead, whilst Hayden was further back in sixth place. The stages got rougher, not smoother after each car. A dramatic Saturday saw Thierry retire from the lead, after his suspension broke and came through his bonnet! Then Andreas took the lead, only then the suffer from driveshaft failure, leaving him with only rear-wheel drive and struggling for pace therefore, but he was still in fifth place. Through all of this came Hayden finishing the day in third place after a considered drive in the exceptionally rough stages. The final day saw Hayden finish in third, taking his first podium of the year after a very good drive. Andreas finished in fifth, whilst Thierry struck back, taking the power stage win and was now holding a lead of 13 points from Ott who had passed Ogier in the championship.
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 10, Rally Turkey 13-16 september 2018 Hayden Paddon, Seb Marshall, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Fabien Dufour Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Wales Rally GB followed, and was much earlier in the championship. Hayden once again was in the line-up with Thierry and Andreas. After Friday, Thierry held second place, from Ott. The Belgian had found the morning stages tricky, what with opening the road and his car not giving him that much confidence, but things improved in the afternoon. Hayden held seventh place, after sliding off briefly in one of the morning stages, whilst Andreas was all at sea, struggling with his car, and unable to set any good times. Saturday, saw a big twist in the championship! Second placed Thierry lost control of his car in the second stage of the day, and lost loads of time and places, falling to ninth, whilst Andreas found some improvements and moved up to sixth after winning three stages. Hayden drove well too, and was seventh. Thierry did improve by the end of the day, finishing in eighth, but was rueing his mistake, as without it, he would have been leading the event. The final day saw the drivers secure fifth, sixth and seventh, with Thierry leading home Andreas and Hayden.
2018 FIA World Rally Championship Round 11, Wales Rally GB 04-07 october 2018 Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Fabien Dufour Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Rally Spain followed and Dani re-joined the team for his last event of the year. At the end of Friday, Dani held a very strong second overall, whilst Andreas was sixth. As championship leader, Thierry opened the road and struggled with the gravel stages, completing the day in ninth. After day two, Thierry moved up into fifth, courtesy of two fastest stage times. Dani took the lead briefly, before falling behind in trickier conditions in the afternoon, ultimately completing the day in sixth, but still in touch. Andreas had an even worse day though, dropping down the order to tenth. Rain on the final morning stages changed things a bit, but ultimately when the stages dried out in time for the rerun, the finishing positions were Thierry in fourth, Dani sixth and Andreas tenth. Thierry was only half a second behind finishing on the podium, and was now three points behind Ogier in their championship battle.
It was the last round and both championships were up for grabs. The gap between Seb and Thierry was very small, whilst the gap between Hyundai and Toyota was twelve points. Hayden would start as well, looking to support Thierry with his championship bid in this title decider! After day one, Hayden was the best placed of the three crews, despite tyre coming off the rim on a jump, completing the day in fourth, just a few seconds behind third. Thierry had a mixed day, winning stage five and then also after a tyre came off having landed heavily from a jump in stage six and dropping to tenth. Andreas had another bad day, after having to avoid a tractor which was repositioning some bales for the chicane in stage six, he then went off and had to retire for the day. Hayden’s weekend got better on Saturday, as he took two stage victories and moved up into third overall. With Thierry second on the road, he’d struggle to set the stages on fire, and completed the day in eighth, whilst Andreas who was opening the road continued to struggle, and was way down the order, after having to re-join under Rally2. The last day saw Hayden take the teams eleventh podium and his second of the year. Sadly, there was no championship success for either the team or Thierry, who retired from the event after clipping a tree, thus breaking his suspension. Andreas finished in eleventh place.
Summing up the year for this team, they took three victories and led both championships for long periods as well but fell short in the end. Looking at the season, I’d say their bid for the titles started to unravel at Rally Finland, where they just were not on the pace. Thierry made his best bid to be champion though, and for him, the bid ended in Wales, when he slid off the road, losing 40 seconds. As we know, Seb Ogier came through to win there and put him in a good position in the end.
Andreas Mikkelsen’s season peaked in Rally Sweden and from there, what with reliability problems and lack of pace elsewhere he didn’t really shine. He will be under pressure to deliver in 2019.
Dani Sordo and Hayden Paddon did well with their part-seasons. The Spaniard showed good pace even leading some events, and that is why he has a deal for 2019.
However, despite Hayden picking up two podiums, after good drives in Turkey and Australia, he was only offered a single event. Very odd, considering Thierry and him are the only drivers to have won for the team
In the off season, we’ve found out that Seb Loeb will be driving for the team, signed to do six rounds per year in the next two years. The other news is that Andrea Adamo has become Team Director, after Michel Nandan stepped down from the team and company.
Reports from Italy have suggested that Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene is soon to be replaced by technical director Mattia Binotto ahead of the 2019 F1 season.
The news was announced in Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, and has since been reported on the official F1 website. This comes after Ferrari suffered yet another defeat from the German powerhouse Mercedes AMG, losing both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles in the 2018 season.
It is thought that tensions had begun to rise between Arrivabene and Binotto in the last season, however this was denied in true Ferrari fashion, with the team declaring that, “The rumours about Mattia are fake news”. Arrivabene said in a previous interview, “It is an attempt to try to create problems where there are no problems”.
2018 Italian Grand Prix – Maurizio Arrivabene
Binotto has worked his way up through the ranks, joining the Ferrari test team in 1995 as a Test Engine Engineer, before being appointed Chief Technical Officer in 2016. He has also held the positions of chief engineer, head of engine and KERS within the team.
Some racing critics have argued that Ferrari lost the championship due to poor strategy and technical errors, and so perhaps Maranello have decided a change in leadership is the answer.
At the moment, these reports are merely speculation, however, confirmation is expected to come as early as Monday 7th January.
The 2018 season featured one of the most competive midfield battles we have seen the past five years, with many drivers taking advantage of this ‘chaos’ to show off their skills. This is how they rank, from place 1 to 14, based on their total performance.
1. Charles Leclerc
The Sauber rookie was a phenomenal addition to the 2018 grid, as he proved numerous times his immense talent. He is by far the best midfield driver of last year, because he managed to take points and progress in the Q3 session with a car which in most cases underperformed.Photo:Ferrari media
2. Nico Hulkenberg
Over the years, Nico Hulkenberg has shown his ability in the midfield, and in 2018, he didn’t disappoint, being the ‘best of the rest’ in the drivers’ standings. His performances propelled Renault into 4th place in the Constructors’ Championship, but he lost his chance of a podium (his maiden) at Baku.
3. Kevin Magnussen
Beating Romain Grosjean by a mile on his own ‘turf’ is something a few of us expected from K-Mag. He is a remarkable talent, but sometimes a bit of a loose cannon. Nevertheless, he made his mark last season and he was one of the stars of the midfield battle.
Photo: Haas F1 Team
4. Carlos Sainz
The young Spaniard raised his game in 2018, with some solid performances, with a best result of 5th at the Azerbaijan GP. He lost out to his teammate, but he did manage to leave almost every major player of the midfield battle behind him and that’s what’s important.Photo: Relault Sport Media
5. Sergio Perez
Sergio Perez is considered a master of the midfield battle over the last 5-6 years, but in 2018, Force India (or Racing Point after Belgium) was sub-par in the better part of the season, and he lost some ground to his rivals. But, even at the end of the season, when he had a car capable of scoring good points, he was behind any major competitor.
Photo: Racing Point Force India
6. Pierre Gasly
The young Frenchman did a remarkable job with a really difficult and uncompetitive car, prevailing over his teammate and getting some valuable points – on and off track. He fully deserves his promotion to Red Bull.
7. Fernando Alonso
The legendary Fernando Alonso wasn’t really his best self this past year. When McLaren was slightly competitive, he reminded everyone his immense talent. But, when the MCL33 was merely undriveable, he lost every bit of his motivation and acted a bit like a spoiled kid. He could have done better.
8. Esteban Ocon
After a really solid rookie season, Esteban Ocon didn’t fulfill his ambitions for last year’s campaign, failing to prevail over his teammate, even though he managed to get on top of other midfield competitors, such as Leclerc, Grosjean or even Alonso and Gasly.Photo: Force India Formula One Team
9. Romain Grosjean
The Frenchman did manage to come back from a sluggish first half of the season, but he couldn’t make the best of the potential of his car something that Magnussen did in a resounding way.
10. Marcus Ericsson
The Swede did have his best season in his tenure with Sauber, but he was far behind his rookie teammate. Nevertheless, he took some solid results, taking advantage of the competitiveness of his car.
11. Stoffel Vandoorne
Having Fernando Alonso as teammate is one of the most difficult challenges in a driver’s career, but Stoffel Vandoorne was subpar even when the Spaniard lost some ground.
12. Brendon Hartley
Realiabilty problemps hampered Hartley’s effort, but his performance compared (first and foremost) to his teammate was anything but good. He really didn’t deserve a second chance.Photographer Credit: Samo Vidic/Red Bull Content Pool
13. Sergey Sirotkin
On the other hand, Sergey Sirotkin did deserve a second season in F1, as he was really trying to prove himself on the grid, with a horrible car in his hands. He was better than Lance Stroll in almost every aspect, but he was unlucky on some occasions and lost his chances for a better overall perfomance.
14. Lance Stroll
The Canadian must feel lucky he has the money to continue racing in F1, after the 2018 campaign he had. A rookie, someone with nowhere near his experience, almost outdid him. That’s something that should bother him.
World Copyright: Glenn Dunbar/Williams F1
The 2019 season starts in Australia, on 15 March, and hopefully, the midfield battle will stay strong.
Twenty-Eighteen has been an incredible year in JWRC and WRC3, with a few R5 and AP4 outings too.
I passed a few milestones as well; I completed my travels to 6 continents (just Antarctica to go!), I made my 20th WRC start, and I earned my first WRC category win.
The year started off very cold, with Sigdal Rally in Norway as a warm-up for WRC Sweden. I really enjoy snow and ice rallying, the atmosphere is always incredible and the challenge of competing in such a harsh environment pushes my adventure buttons.
In stark contrast, the next stop was WRC Mexico – hot, high, and very dry. An extreme physical challenge, with stages lined by huge numbers of truly passionate fans. The atmosphere at the start of the rally was unlike anything I’ve experienced.
Next was one of my favourite rallies in the world – Tour de Corse, the twisting tarmac roads are a big test of co-driver skill and I relish the challenge – reading flat out for 50km (or 90 pages of pacenotes) and delivering it all exactly right is a great feeling.
After Tour de Corse, we headed to WRC Portugal, more heat and dust. A tricky event for us, but we learnt a lot and found good pace.
Continuing on the loose, in July we undertook the gravel grand prix itself; Rally Finland. I spent a lot of time in Finland during my time with Toyota Gazoo Racing, so I always feel quite at home in Jyvaskyla. This year the high-speed stages incorporated more narrow roads, which brought a whole new dynamic to the event.
News: Junior World Rally Championship co-driver Phil Hall secured his best ever result in the series last week, guiding fellow Briton @williamsrally to sixth #JWRC at the legendary @RallyFinland.
The final round of the JWRC, though not our final WRC event of the year, was Rally Turkey. There is only one way to describe this event – Brutal! A test of resilience and skilled, measured driving. Getting to the end was an achievement in itself, and managing to do so without going into Rally 2 is something I’m quite proud of. We worked hard; battling punctures, broken suspension, and the heat and dust, to return a solid result – and demonstrate just how tough the little Fiesta R2T really is.
One of the highlights of my year was us winning WRC3 on my home event, Wales Rally GB. We had a really good rally, and set a nice pace from the start. Everything came together in the rain and fog of Friday and we managed to pull out a good lead which we maintained to the end of the event, despite a puncture.
Phil Hall enjoyed a dream result at the weekend, by winning the WRC3 category and securing a top 30 position at Britain’s round of the WRC, Wales Rally GB.
The finale of our WRC season was Rally Spain, the mixed surface challenge was treacherous with heavy rainfall on the tarmac mixed with dust on the gravel. The heavily muddied tarmac roads offered a particularly tough challenge, but we were extremely happy with our pace.
Overall, an exciting and rewarding 3rd year in the WRC for me, 20 WRC starts on the board and hopefully many more to come.
Photo: Racing Point Force India
