Last week Williams Formula 1 Racing team announced it was to be sold to US investment firm Dorilton Capital, this brings to an end not only the Williams family’s 43 years as a wholley family owned team but they end of an era of independent teams in Formula 1.
It was sad but not unexpected news, it made me reflect on my love of Formula 1 racing and the huge part Williams took in that.
As a young boy I was obsessed with cars, watching them on tv and listening to a certain Murray Walker commentate had a calming affect on my admittedly hyper active childhood.
I had watched many F1 races on the BBC, coverage wasn’t as full as we see today, less races and they didn’t cover them all. Remember this was a time of only terrestrial tv!
Williams had a British driver Nigel Mansell he was a unique individual with a wonderful fighting spirit (and Mustache) racing against what as a young lad I saw aa the enemy! The likes of Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and of course Nelson Piquet – Nigel’s team mate.
1986 hadn’t started well, Sir Frank had an accident whilst returning to the airport after a pre season test at Paul Ricard circuit left him confined to a wheelchair.
Despite this tragic events it would be a vintage year for the Grove based outfit. Nine wins seventeen podiums and two, first and second place finishes at Brands Hatch and Monza, but none of these races stands out as much as the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide.
26th October 1986 Adelaide the final race of the 16 event season, both Piquet and Mansell could become Champion!
If your old enough you may remember having to fiddle with the tv aerial to get that perfect picture! Obviously this was on at a stupid time of day for us in Europe none the less I was determined to stay up and watch our man Nigel in what I considered my team win the drivers title! he had pole position, surly this would be his day.
I had to be quiet it was past my bedtime luckily mum was asleep and dad worked nights.
Murray Screams Go, Go, Go and Nigel was slow of the line! Piquet, Senna and Keke Rosburg all past him; keke in his final race suffered a puncture elevating Mansell to third, all he needed to take his first World Drivers Championship! Sadly it wasn’t to be as his left rear tyre let go in spectacular fashion along the main straight.
Piquet needed to finish ahead of Prost but with the obvious tyre concerns Williams brought him in and in doing so left him to much to do in his chase of Prost who went onto take his second World Championship.
Williams did however secure the coveted constructors title with nine wins and seventeen podiums.
The following year the FW11B was even more successful delivering both drivers title for Piquet and constructors championships with nine wins and nineteen podiums.
We had to wait until 1992 for Nigel to finally bring the Championship home in the all conquering FW14B ten wins twenty podiums, and fifteen poles in a sixteen race season.
They would continue their dominance through the 90’s with titles for Prost, Damon Hill and Jaques Villeneuve, sadly its a decade that we all remember for all the wrong reasons, the tragic events at Imola in 1994 where we lost Ayrton Senna whilst driving his Williams and Roland Ratzanburger in his Simtek.
Its been a tough few years with just the odd glimpse of past glorys the 2000 season with BMW power seemed to be a turning point finishing third but with no wins, they bettered that in 2001 with another third place but with four wins and again in 2002 a second place in the constructors championship but just the one win. They repeated the feat in 2003 adding four wins to their tally.
The team moved onto Toyota engines in 2007 with the FW29 but failed to live up to expectations.
In 2012 and back once again with Renault power they secure an unlikely win with Pastor Maldonado the teams first win since 2004!
Pastor Maldonado the last winner for Williams in 2012. Image courtesy of Williams Racing
Its been a roller coaster ride for the Williams team, From their first win with Clay Regazzoni at Silverstone in 1979 to today’s FW43 and the sad news that Claire Williams is to step down after this weekends Italian Grand Prix.
Claire Williams. Image courtesy of Williams Racing.
We know the name and legacy will live on despite the family’s absence.
This article is dedicated to Sir Frank Williams and to my son Frankie who was named after him, and to all the contributors to ThePitCrewOnline past and present who fuel my love for racing with so much fun and passion.
Image courtesy of Mercedes AMG F1 Team Steve Etherington.
There has been, and continues to be much speculation over the future of Mercedes-AMG F1 team principle Toto Wolff, who is perhaps infamously out of contract at the end of the 2020 season.
Toto has confirmed that he is in talks with Mercedes’ parent company, Daimler, however it doesn’t appear that any formal decision has been made as yet.
Unfortunately, the fact that the decision hasn’t been made so quickly, given Mercedes’ sheer domination with Wolff at the helm has, inevitably, set tongues waggling through the paddock and the wider F1 community.
But is this speculation valid?
There’s absolutely no denying that, under Wolff’s management, Mercedes have gone from being a team filling up the middle/back positions on the grid (circa 2011/2012, while Schumacher still had a drive), to hoovering up championship after championship for 6 years running. Other teams’ inability to match Mercedes’ pace has inspired regulation changes, and has even endangered viewing figures as fans protest the sport has become too ‘predictable’ as a result.
For Toto, it seems the team’s success is one of the reasons behind him carefully considering his future at Mercedes. Speaking before the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, he admitted he was ‘in a moment of reflection where F1 is heading to’. Wolff continued, ‘I really enjoy the role and my plan is to continue but I never want to be in a situation where you are becoming from very good to good.’
It’s an interesting approach from Toto who, you would imagine given the vast success, would be quite happy to sign up for another few years. It is also interesting that Wolff’s decision to take time and reflect comes as we turn our attention to the Renault garage, who have famously signed Fernando Alonso for two more championship seasons.
You’re probably wondering how Alonso could have anything to do with Wolff’s decision to stay at Mercedes. The truth is it doesn’t, however, as there has been speculation about Toto’s future, there has been far more (for far longer) about whether Alonso should return to F1 or concentrate on other projects.
One could argue that it shows considerable level-headedness (essential for the role of team-principle, you’d imagine), and an absence of narcissism, to be aware that your track record doesn’t necessarily guarantee the same success going forward, and that it might even be a hindrance to those waiting in the wings to be given their opportunity to progress.
Depending on which side of the argument you’re on, it seems like Wolff is removing pride from the equation, something that doesn’t seem to have happened when Alonso signed with Renault. (Poor Hülkenberg!)
This is, of course, the first opportunity for Wolff to really consider his future in the team after the sad loss of his fellow team boss, Niki Lauda, whose absence is felt not just in the Mercedes garage, but in F1 as a whole.
Like Niki, Toto is quite the entrepreneur, with a keen eye for driver talent (he famously manages Esteban Ocon, who some of us expected would be filling Bottas’s seat last year), as well as having small stakes in Aston Martin and as of June this year, Williams F1. Perhaps he could give Dr Helmut Marko a run for his money, and turn his attention to making further investments, and manage new drivers coming up through the formulas.
Personally, I find this unlikely, however I would like to see Wolff move to another team, or even another formula that needs a little bit of development. An advisor for Williams F1 maybe? Or, working with the Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E team, and boosting its profile even further.
Whatever he decides, I’m certain the Wolff name will remain an enormous part of F1, and if all else fails, I’m sure Sky Sports F1 will be waiting in the wings with a decent contract for him, just in case.
Lewis Hamilton took his 5th win of the season and 89th win of his career on Sunday afternoon in Spa on a day that called for very high tyre management. The Englishman started on pole and had to fend off an early challenge on lap one from his teammate and Max Verstappen. Once he was out in front, it was rarely any challenge apart from managing the tyres which were falling off at the end.
Both him and his teammate Bottas pitted under the safety car around lap ten during a safety car brought on due to Giovinazzi losing his rear and ending up in the barriers while collecting George Russell in the process. The Mercedes duo put on hard tyres like pretty much the rest of the field and limped to the end to finish 1-2.
Max Verstappen of Redbull failed to mount a challenge to the Mercedes after he was put on the same hard compound tyres following the safety car and he had to go into management mode as well. The outright winners of the race apart from the top 3 has to be the Renault sport team after Daniel Ricciardo drove a mega race to finish P4 and take the fastest lap in the process while finishing only 3 seconds behind Verstappen.
His teammate Ocon pulled off a last lap overtake on Red bull’s Albon to finish 5th and the team will be very much looking forward to Monza given the similar characteristics of the Italian circuit. Albon has to be content with 6th after a different strategy call from his team saw him finish the race on mediums which put him at a disadvantage towards the end.
McLaren had a mixed raceday after Carlos Sainz’s bad luck followed him to Spa this weekend. The Spaniard failed to even make it to the grid following an exhaust failure while bringing the car on to the track and will be hoping for something to go his way during next week. The other McLaren of Lando Norris put on a decent show after he finished 7th towards the end passing Lance Stroll on the way and putting up a fight with Albon and Ocon for 5th.
Pierre Gasly certainly put in a driver of the day performance after starting the race on the hard tyres and choosing not to stop under the safety car which enabled him to be on fresher tyres towards the end of the race. The Frenchman definitely made most of this strategy and put in some brilliant moves, especially one up the Eau Rouge onto Radillon on the inside vs Sergio Perez. This saw him finish 8th despite starting outside the top 10 and earned him some well deserved points. His teammate Kvyat in the other Alpha Tauri finished 11th after a quiet race.
Racing Point had a very average race following a similar qualifying and they will be left pondering on the loss of the really good pace that they have been showing so far in the season. Sergio Perez finished in the final points spot at 10th despite trying a different strategy to his teammate Lance Stroll who finished 9th.
Ferrari had a similar, if not worse race compared to qualifying after both the drivers swapped their qualifying positions with Vettel finishing 13th and Leclerc finishing 14th. Leclerc got off to a great start and put himself in 9th place before eventually losing places lap after lap. His pitstop under the safety car did not go according to the plan as well and he had to spend more than 30 seconds in the pitlane. As if this wasnn’t enough, he was then called in for an unexplained pitstop which left him visibly disgruntled on the radio, akin to his teammate.
It was not a completely bad day for the ferrari powered cars after Kimi Raikkonen in the Alfa Romeo finished 12th ahead of both the works Ferraris while passing one of them on the track in a straight fight. Both the Haas cars finished with Grosjean at 15th and Magnussen at 17th after another very underwhelming weekend for the American team. Latifi finished 16th in the only remaining Williams after his teammate was taken out by a crashing Giovinazzi much earlier in the race.
With the promise of rain yet again not being fulfilled, Spa did not deliver the quite the race every F1 fan had hoped for. Mercedes and Hamilton would not be complaining to much after finishing 1-2 yet again and hamilton extending his lead at the top to 47 points over Verstappen. Renault will be the ones looking forward to another power hungry track in Monza while Ferrari might not be missing the Tifosi too much given how they have been performing so far this season.
Lewis Hamilton took pole position on Saturday afternoon after beating his teammate Valtteri Bottas by nearly half a second. The six time world champion put in one of the best laps of his career, just like he has been doing for all this season so far. The Englishman dedicated the pole position to actor Chadwick Boseman who passed away earlier today following a battle with cancer. Bottas will be looking to make up for a sub-par Saturday outing tomorrow by trying to get an early jump on his teammate on a track that very much is set up for it.
Max Verstappen missed out on the front row by one tenth of a second despite putting in a stellar lap in the second run of Q3. The Dutch driver looked to have been running with extra downforce given the chance of rain for the race tomorrow. Daniel Ricciardo is the surprise entrant in the second row after the Aussie driver put in a great lap during the first runs of Q3. His teammate Ocon managed a lap that put him at 6th place for tomorrow’s race alongside Alex Albon who would presumably be happy with a 5th place on the grid following his effort in Q3.
McLaren had a change of fortunes for Spa following the below average qualifying result in Catalunya last time around. The British team lines up with Carlos Sainz at 7th and Lando Norris in 10th and will be hoping for a strong double points finish tomorrow. Racing Point will be looking to go back to the drawing board after lining up with Perez at 8th and Stroll at 9th. They will certainly be wanting a better race tomorrow given the strong car they have had with them all season long.Image courtesy of Racing Point
Ferrari’s woes worsened following today’s qualifying after both the drivers barely scraping out of Q1 and ended up with Leclerc at 13th and Vettel at 14th on the grid. It will be yet another long day of thinking back at Mugello wondering what they can do to salvage the season and also what can be done to put on a better show in the coming few races in Italy.
Alpha Tauri are set to line up 11th and 12th with Danil Kvyat finally out-qualifying his teammate Pierre Gasly this season. With the tyre choice set to be in their favour, the team can hope to put up a challenge for a good points finish tomorrow. George Russell of Williams is slowly but surely establishing himself as a regular in Q2 after putting in yet another good lap in Q1 and maintaining his perfect record against his teammate which will see him start 15th tomorrow. His teammate Latifi is all set to line up at 19th on the last row of the grid.
The bad weekend for the Ferrari powered cars continued after Kimi Raikkonen and Giovinazzi failed to make it out of Q1 and will line up 16th and 18th on the grid. Both the Haas cars are set to line up with Grosjean at 17th and Magnussen at 20th after Magnussen’s error at the end of Q1 that put him on the gravel and dead last on the grid.
With the possibility of rain at 60% for tomorrow’s race, it could be a lot to play for in the midfield which could even mean Ferrari scoring points or Renault challenging for an unlikely podium. Mercedes will be wary of an ever present Verstappen threat from the 2nd row which could become much bigger given the rain forecast as Spa promises to be a cracker like it always is.
This year the Formula 2 grid is full of drivers from F1 junior academies, with the top spots in the standings locked out by proteges from Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault.
With plenty of 2021 F1 seats still up for grabs, we’re taking a look at the chances of these young hopefuls stepping up to the top tier next season.
Yuki Tsunoda, Carlin (Dan Istitene / Formula 1 via Getty Images)
1. Yuki Tsunoda
Of all the young academy drivers on the 2020 F2 grid, joint Red Bull/ Honda talent Yuki Tsunoda looks the most likely to join F1 next year. Not only is he already racking up wins, poles and podiums in an impressive debut season, but Alpha Tauri boss Franz Tost has said it’s only a matter of time before Tsunoda is promoted to the team.
At almost 40 points adrift of the championship leader Callum Ilott, Tsunoda is an outside contender for the F2 title at best. But given Red Bull’s comments, so long as he can remain within the top four of the standings to secure the necessary super licence points, it seems almost a sure bet that Tsunoda will be a 2021 Alpha Tauri driver.
Robert Shwartzman, Prema (Joe Portlock / Formula 1 via Getty Images)
2. Robert Shwartzman
If Tsunoda is the most likely F2 driver to get an F1 promotion for next year, then Ferrari protege Robert Shwartzman isn’t far behind. After a dominant run to last year’s F3 title, Shwartzman immediately staked his claim to this year’s F2 crown with two wins early in the campaign.
Shwartzman may have lost the F2 lead to fellow Ferrari junior Callum Ilott, but that doesn’t seem to have harmed the Russian’s status as the FDA’s golden boy. And as well as his formidable talent, Shwartzman comes with additional backing from SMP Racing, which would be an excellent sweetener for Alfa Romeo should he be lined up to replace Antonio Giovinazzi.
Mick Schumacher, Prema (Courtesy of Ferrari Media)
3. Mick Schumacher
Ahead of the season Mick Schumacher was touted as one of the favourites for the F2 title. But although he’s scored more points and podiums than he did in his 2019 debut, a mix of incidents and mistakes means Schumacher’s campaign is still without a win.
However, Schumacher’s chances of an F1 promotion still remain relatively high for two reasons. Firstly, because there’s still half the F2 season left to run, meaning he has another 12 races to break his winless run and move up from fifth in the standings. And secondly, because if he can get in a position to earn his super licence, there’s every chance Ferrari will want to take the opportunity at getting a Schumacher back into F1 as soon as possible.
Callum Ilott, UNI-Virtuosi (Dan Istitene / Formula 1 via Getty Images)
4. Callum Ilott
It may seem odd or even unfair putting Callum Ilott behind his fellow FDA members Shwartzman and Schumacher, considering he is currently leading both in the F2 standings and should therefore be Ferrari’s F1 priority. But although Ilott’s every bit their match on track, Shwartzman and Schumacher both have a certain extra “superstar” quality that has left Ilott somewhat in their shade.
However, being F2 champion brings plenty of its own superstar quality. If Ilott can see off Shwartzman in the second half of the season and take the crown himself, he’ll give Ferrari no choice but to take notice of him instead.
Christian Lundgaard, ART (Joe Portlock / Formula 1 via Getty Images)
5. Christian Lundgaard
As F2 debuts go, Christian Lundgaard’s has been excellent so far. With a win and two further podiums to his name, the Renault junior has not just performed well on his step up from F3, but is currently third in the championship behind Ilott and Shwartzman.
However, even if Lundgaard were to march forward in the rest of the year and snatch the F2 title, the chances of it leading to an F1 seat are very slim at best. Renault have none available, having signed Fernando Alonso to partner Esteban Ocon for the next two years. And with no customer team to place him at either, Lundgaard’s F1 hopes probably depend on waiting for a gap at the works team to open up in 2022.
The 2020 F1 Esports Series is almost upon us, and with it the official confirmation of who will race for all ten of the teams. Here’s your guide to who’ll be competing and what’s new ahead of the fourth F1 Esports season.
While drivers will be competing for individual honours, the teams will all be competing for a bigger share of the now $750,000 prize pool. Each team will consist of three drivers who will all take varying parts in the twelve race season between October and December.
In the annual F1 Esports Pro Draft which took place on August 27th, each of the ten teams must pick at least one driver who had qualified through the game, and the teams went in reverse championship order from the previous season.
Haas: Floris Wijers (NED), Cedric Thomé (GER) and Simon Weigang (GER)
Haas have finished second-to-last and last in their first two seasons of competing, and will want to change that in 2020. Floris Wijers was their 2019 Pro Draft pick and Cedric Thomé raced last season for Renault which resulted in a victory on the Canadian GP circuit.
Simon Weigang is their Pro Draft pick for this year, he also raced last season for Renault. Wijers impressed in the first Pro Exhibition race earlier this year, and the two former Renault drivers are undoubtedly quick. Haas will want to lift themselves from the tail end of the virtual grid and finally now may be the time they do.
AlphaTauri: Joni Törmälä (FIN), Patrik Holzmann (GER) and Manuel Biancolilla (ITA)
After previously finishing runner-up in the team’s championship to Mercedes in 2018 primarily thanks to the efforts of Frederik Rasmussen, the cool-headed Dane’s move to Red Bull meant that the then-named Toro Rosso team didn’t fair brilliantly. They however have stuck to their guns with Patrik Holzmann and redrafting Manuel Biancolilla, and have also inherited Joni Törmälä from Red Bull.
Törmälä was part of the Red Bull team’s championship winning effort last season so he will be the one to watch in their B-Team now as he will be undoubtedly the one leading the charge for AlphaTauri. Whilst it may be seen as a demotion, they are all in equal cars so he will have every opportunity to prove Red Bull wrong for not having him in their main team.
After dominating in 2018, two-time champion Brendon Leigh failed to win a race and Mercedes struggled after losing Dani Bereznay to Alfa Romeo. This seemed to coincide also with Leigh making the transition to real-life racing in the BRSCC National Formula Ford 1600 championship, where he finished fourth in his first race. However he proved in the Pro Exhibition race on the Chinese GP circuit that he’s not lost any commitment to Esports, and this season he has some very strong teammates.
Former McLaren driver Bono Huis joined Mercedes this year after finishing a respectable 7th in last year’s F1 Esports season. Joining them is the highly-rated Bardia Boroumand who starred in his stint in the Pro Exhibition races for Alfa Romeo, notably when he took pole for the race in support of the Virtual Spanish Grand Prix. Mercedes have a strong bunch of drivers to help them get back to winning ways.
BWT Racing Point: Lucas Blakeley (GBR), Daniele Haddad (ITA) and Shanaka Clay (GBR)
Lucas Blakely (Formula 1 esports)
After being drafted in 2019, Scottish driver Lucas Blakeley’s star power has only risen as he went from doing four races last year where he got a best of second at Suzuka, to being able to hold off the reigning champion David Tonizza in the Monaco Pro Exhibition race for an incredible win. Blakeley and Racing Point scored the most points for driver and team across all those races and he could upset the established order this season.
Alongside Blakeley is the reliable Daniele Haddad (who you’ll recognise as being the voice in Jimmy Broadbent’s ears during the Virtual Grand Prix races) and also Shanaka Clay, who really impressed when he won the Canada Pro Exhibition race in very tricky conditions. Clay being a former karting rival of Lando Norris and George Russell, and being only his second race when he won, will have some spring in his step come the start of the season.
McLaren Shadow: James Baldwin (GBR), Dani Moreno (ESP) and Matthias Cologon (FRA)
With an all-new line-up, McLaren Shadow will be putting their faith in a relatively inexperienced set of drivers. First up is World’s Fastest Gamer James Baldwin, who raced a few times for Alfa Romeo in the Pro Exhibition races. He will be doubling up his efforts in the F1 Esports Series with competing in the British GT for Jenson Button’s team, of which he’s already won a race, taken a few pole positions and is in contention for the championship.
Baldwin’s teammates are relatively unknown quantities. Moreno impressed in some Play-Off qualification races, and Cologon was in the Pro Draft in 2019 though he wasn’t picked, but McLaren see something beyond their inexperience in the F1 Esports Series. So while it may be a gamble, it could very well pay off.
Williams: Alvaro Carreton (ESP), Salih Saltunç (GBR) and Michael Romanidis (GRC)
Having been with Williams since the beginning, Alvaro Carreton has improved massively over the years to the point that he could challenge for the odd win or two so Williams were not wanting to let him go that easily. Michael Romanidis started racing for Williams this year in the Pro Exhibition races and also competed for them in the Le Mans 24 Virtual.
Saltunç joins from Alfa Romeo where was overshadowed by Dani Bereznay and will be looking to remind people why he was the only driver in 2018 other than Bereznay and Rasmussen to win a race over the dominant Brendon Leigh. A very highly rated driver, maybe a move to Williams was exactly what he needs.
Renault Vitality: Nicolas Longuet (FRA), Fabrizio Donoso Delgado (CHL) and Caspar Jansen (NED)
Having lost their star Jarno Opmeer, Renault quickly snapped up the services of former Red Bull driver Nicolas Longuet who only raced one time last season and got a podium finish out of it. He’s also joined by 2017 runner-up Fabrizio Donoso Delgado who sat out 2019 and will be hoping to remind everyone why he was the one who came close to denying Brendon Leigh the inaugural championship.
Renault’s final pick is Caspar Jansen, who has been performing very well in league racing and will undoubtedly benefit from Donoso’s experience to get him performing well in the Esports series too. A varied but balanced line-up at Renault that they think will help them hold onto or even improve on fourth in last year’s team championship standings.
Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen: Dani Bereznay (HUN), Jarno Opmeer (NED) and Dominik Hofmann (GER)
When it was announced in the run-up to the Virtual Azerbaijan Grand Prix that Opmeer had signed for Alfa Romeo, I immediately said that Alfa would be the favourite for the team championship and I stand by that. Opmeer was fourth and Bereznay third in last year’s F1 Esports series and are both utter machines, I was concerned that whoever would be Alfa’s Pro Draft pick may get the short end of the stick.
Nevertheless, the highly-rated Dominik Hofmann is also very rapid so it’s odd to think he’s only been picked up now. It’s going to be interesting to see the dynamic within the team, as both Opmeer and Bereznay are capable of fighting for the championship though Hofmann will also be racing at some point. But like team manager Jamie MacLaurin stated on the Pro Draft broadcast, it’s a good problem to have.
FDA Hublot: David Tonizza (ITA), Enzo Bonito (ITA) and Filip Prešnajder (SVK)
Enzo Bonito and David Tonizza, FDA (Scuderia Ferrari Media)
Now onto Ferrari’s Esports team, having joined the virtual racing party a year later than everyone else and drafting the eventual champion in David Tonizza. The teams championship however eluded them as Tonizza was the only one amongst the three Ferrari drivers to score points.
To fix that, Ferrari have now signed former McLaren driver Enzo Bonito, and together both Tonizza and Bonito have been doing the Pro Exhibition races, competing together in the SRO GT E-Sports Series and even shared a Ferrari GTE car with Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi in the Le Mans 24 Virtual.
As for their Pro Draft pick, Slovakian Filip Prešnajder was the one they went for after he impressed them with his speed in the play-off races on his gaming platform.
Red Bull: Frederik Rasmussen (DNK), Marcel Kiefer (GER) and Tino Naukarrinen (FIN)
The ever calm and cool character that is Frederik Rasmussen was third in 2018 and fell short of the championship last year, so it’s probably fair to say that the championship this year would be the most fitting result. He is joined by former Racing Point driver Marcel Kiefer, who won a race during the F1 Esports last year at Silverstone, and also won in the Pro Exhibition race around Interlagos.
Then we have Tino Naukarrinen, who was drafted after departing from Williams. All three drivers are proven quantities within the F1 Esports world and are very much capable of collecting very valuable points for Red Bull in their effort to retain the team’s championship.
What else is new?
After the outcry of the community to up the race length, the upcoming season will have races that are 35% distance of an F1 race (upwards of 25% from previous seasons) and will also have full knockout-style qualifying that will also be broadcast this year.
There will be four events with three races each so twelve races overall. Held on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the first event will take place on October 14-15 with races at the Bahrain, Vietnam and Chinese Grand Prix circuits.
The second batch of races will be on the Zandvoort, Montreal and Red Bull Ring circuits on November 4-5, followed by races at Silverstone, Spa and Monza on November 18-19. Then finally on December 9-10 will be Suzuka, Mexico City and São Paulo which will round off the fourth season.
You will be able to watch the F1 Esports drivers racing on F1’s official YouTube, Twitch and Facebook pages as well as your appropriate TV channels.
(Featured image courtesy of F1 2020 game by Codemasters)
There has always been a desire to see a woman join the ranks of Formula 1 and be competitive, at least from people who aren’t sexist. The push to see it happen has only exemplified with the introduction of the all-women F3-level championship W Series, so I decided I would compile a list of who I believe to be potentially realistic candidates of who could make it into F1 in the next few years.
Noteworthy mentions: Jamie Chadwick and Sophia Flörsch
image courtesy of W series. Inaugural W Series champion Jamie Chadwick and current FIA F3 driver Sophia Flörsch are probably the most prominent women in formulae racing right now, and both are undoubtedly talented. Chadwick, as well as being the W Series champion, is a champion in British GT, has won races in British F3 and Asian F3, and is part of Williams F1 as a development driver.
However, with the cancellation of the W Series this year, Chadwick found an opportunity in the Formula Regional European Championship with the dominant Prema team. The team have just had their first round at Misano but Chadwick wasn’t on the pace of her less experienced teammates, hopefully she will bounce back but if not, then I do not think F1 will be where Jamie ends up, no matter how much I want her to get there.
As for Flörsch, she hasn’t been hugely successful in her junior racing career and hasn’t won a race since she competed in the BTCC-supporting Ginetta Juniors back in 2014. She looks set to be making her home in sportscars and is part of an all-women effort to tackle the 24 hours of Le Mans.
Irina Sidorkova
image courtesy of SMP Racing
When the 2020 W Series was cancelled, the drivers who were due to compete instead took on an Esports League series that ran every Thursday between June 11th and August 13th. It was 2019 runner-up Beitske Visser who ended up dominating the championship, but it was Russian teenager, Irina ‘Ira’ Sidorkova, who had entered into 2020 evaluations and qualified, that really drew a lot of attention.
Irina ‘Ira’ Sidorkova’s track record includes 6th in the 2019 Russian F4 championship and was doubling up her efforts in the W Series Esports League with racing in a Russian-based touring car series. Early on, Sidorkova was the one to start making inroads on the dominant Visser before her real-world racing efforts limited the practice time and ultimately limited her chances of overhauling the 2019 runner-up.
It could all be a red herring perhaps, but since the second W Series has been postponed and Sidorkova will be competing in 2021, I believe that she is worth watching to see if she can transfer her pace to the real thing. When you consider she had the pace to run with known quantities like Visser and 2019 fourth place finisher Marta García, it could bode well for the 17-year old.
Abbi Pulling
image courtesy of Abi Pulling website.
For those British Touring Car enthusiasts who are watching the ITV4 coverage for over six hours, you’ll have been watching the British F4 of which the likes of Lando Norris won his first car racing championship. This season has a driver who I have been aware of for some time now, Abbi Pulling.
Pulling is a two-time Super 1 British Junior TKM Karting Champion, the first of which she won in 2017 in an incredibly exciting race that you can find on YouTube. She came very close to winning the year before but lost out on the smallest of margins.
Initially, Pulling spoke of having no intentions to make it to F1 and was aiming to compete at Le Mans, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear that she had joined JHR Developments to compete in British F4 this year, and in initial testing she was very much on the pace of the front-runners. There has only been two rounds of British F4 so far but Pulling has been fighting for consistent top five finishes and even scored a podium in the second race at Brands Hatch!
I thoroughly believe that Pulling could set herself up for a championship charge in 2021 and hey, who knows, maybe she could hopefully find the backing to continue a climb up the junior formulae ladder. We can only hope on that last bit as there are no guarantees.
Juju Noda
image courtesy of Juju Noda website
This is a driver who you may or may not be aware of, but she has got to be the most hyped up driver since Max Verstappen. Juju Noda is the daughter of former F1 driver Hideki Noda, and was making headlines in her native Japan for setting lap records at the Okayama circuit in both F4 and F3 machinery. She even drove an F4 car for the first time aged only nine!
Well this year she turned 14, which is the minimum age to compete in FIA-certified F4 championships in Denmark and France, and she opted to compete in the Danish championship. Its first round was held in mid-June and Noda immediately made an impression, she qualified second but inherited pole when the person who clocked the fastest time had that lap removed as they had done so under yellow flag conditions.
Noda went on to take full advantage and win her first race. She then got a third place in the second race of that meeting but would be excluded due to a tyre issue, but charged from the back of the field in race three to finish third in her class and fourth overall. The second round of the championship takes place next month and I, for one, strongly believe she can win the championship!
Ultimately, there’s still not enough women out there who could be that one shining light that will be the equivalent of Lewis Hamilton for girls. It all starts at grassroots, and I have no doubt that one of these three, or maybe someone we haven’t yet discovered, will be just that.
Lewis Hamilton absolutely demolished the competition on Sunday afternoon in Spain to take his 88th grand prix victory in what was a very straightforward race for him. The Englishman got off to a brilliant start off the line and never looked back after and now has the most f1 podiums to his name at 156. His teammate Bottas however would be ruing his fortunes after failing to make a decent start which left him on a recovery mode for the rest of the race. The Finnish driver managed to make his way on to the podium which happens to be the 50th of his career.
Max Verstappen had yet another amazing race weekend considering this is the best result that Redbull could have hoped for given the pace of the Mercedes but the Dutchman got off to a good start jumping the Mercedes of Bottas into 2nd place and then managed to hold on to it to the end of the race. His teammate Albon finished 8th after stopping twice and the Thai driver would not be overly pleased with his raceday considering he started 6th but unfortunately found himself in the thick of the midfield battle.
Racing Point managed to convert their good qualifying result into the race result as well after Lance Stroll finished 4th after he got off to a good start and drove a good race from that point. Sergio Perez put in a great show after returning from illness and finished 5th behind his teammate despite finishing 4th on the track. The Mexican driver was penalized by the stewards for ignoring blue flags which meant that 5 seconds were added to his time.
Ferrari’s mixed fortunes continued long into this raceday as well after an electrical failure saw Leclerc retire around lap 40 after the Monegasque driver was just beginning to put on a charge and head for a points finish. A disgruntled Vettel on the radio showed up with a few laps to go after the German driver was asked to push his dying soft tyres to the end of the race. He managed to get on with it however and finished 7th by making the one stop strategy work, which would be a welcome result after a dismal last couple of weekends at Silverstone.
Carlos Sainz finally had an incident free race at his home grandprix after the Spanish driver finished a decent 6th following an aggressive McLaren strategy which saw him put on soft tyres twice followed by mediums to the end. His teammate Norris however could not make the most of the strategy and got caught in traffic and ended up at 10th.
Pierre Gasly continued his impressive form this season after he finished 9th today. The French driver had to fend off early pressure from the Ferrari of Leclerc during his first stint which he did well and managed to achieve a points finish. His teammate Kvyat finished exactly where he started at 12th and also picked up the same 5-second penalty as the likes of Perez for ignoring blue flags.
Renault would like to quickly put this weekend past them after Ricciardo and Ocon managed to finish 11th and 13th out of points despite starting off aggressively. The team would be looking to get things into order quickly with them losing ground in the constructors championship to the other midfield teams. Kimi Raikkonen had a great weekend after the Finnish driver managed P14 where he drove a pretty quiet race apart from an early battle with Ocon.
Both the Haas drivers finished their races with Magnussen at 15th and Grosjean at 19th with the latter having to make quite a save at turn 4 after he lost the back end and risked ending up in gravel. He somehow managed to keep the car on track and finish the race. Both the Williams finished with Russell at 17th and Latifi at 18th after a quiet showing for both the drivers. Giovinazzi of Alfa Romeo just finished above both the Williams at 16th. The Italian would be somewhat happy with that after starting dead last on the grid.
Hamilton is now perfectly poised to take his 7th world driver’s championship after extending his lead over Max Verstappen to 37 points by the end of this race with his teammate Valtteri Bottas sitting a further 6 points behind the Dutch driver. The midfield battle seems to be heating up as we progress further into the season with Racing Point at 63 points, followed by McLaren at 62 and Ferrari at 61.
Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes on pole by 0.059 seconds on a hot Saturday afternoon in Barcelona. Valtteri Bottas seemed to be on a mega lap during his second Q3 run but fell short in the final sector and has to be content with second. This pole means Hamilton now has 92 pole positions and 150 front row starts in Formula 1, and the Englishman will be looking to sign it off with a win tomorrow.
Last weekend’s race winner Max Verstappen put his Red Bull in third and will be hoping for a repeat of the last race. However the Dutchman does not have the luxury of a different strategy this time around with both him and the Mercedes cars set to start on the soft tyres. His teammate Albon will have to be content with starting on the 3rd row after he managed to put a lap together to be placed 6th on the grid.
Racing Point will be happy with the qualifying this afternoon as Sergio Perez is set to start on the second row alongside Verstappen in fourth after missing out the last two races and Lance Stroll starting at fifth alongside Albon on the third row. The team would have definitely liked to be closer to Verstappen but will have to be content with fourth and fifth despite showing promising pace throughout the weekend.
Ferrari’s dismal year looks set to continue after Leclerc only managed 9th place after some complaints with the car in the second run of Q3 and with Sebastian Vettel crashing out in Q2 yet again but this time by just two milliseconds. The Italian team will only be looking for a points finish tomorrow with anything more than that looking like a distant possibility.
GP SPAGNA F1/2020 – SABATO 15/08/2020 credit: @Scuderia Ferrari Press Office
McLaren look set to have a better weekend than last time around as they have locked out the fourth row with Carlos Sainz in 7th and Lando Norris in 8th. The team will be aiming for a double points finish tomorrow and with this being Sainz’s home Grand Prix, the Spaniard will be hoping for a change in fortunes this time around.
Another team that will be happy with qualifying is Alpha Tauri with Gasly managing 10th after a decent qualifying and Danil Kvyat managing 12th place. Gasly will definitely be eyeing another strong points finish given the French driver has been having a much better year compared to the last one.
Renault would be looking to salvage something out of Sunday after a poor showing today with Ricciardo in 13th and Ocon in 15th as the French team just seemed to have been lost for pace. Ocon would hope his situation changes tomorrow after the Frenchman crashed into the wall during FP3 after a poor judgement call followed by a poor qualifying.
A surprise name in Q2 today was Kimi Raikkonen who finally managed to end his streak of exiting in Q1 this season. His teammate Giovinazzi is set to start 20th on the grid after a poor showing in Q1 and damaging his floor during the first run in Q1.
Both Haas cars are set to line up with Magnussen in 16th and Grosjean in 17th with both the drivers admitting they could’ve put together the better laps. George Russell might be bemoaning about him not being to able to score points on social media but his qualifying game seemed on point as he managed to keep his perfect record over teammate Latifi with both the Williams cars set to start in 18th and 19th respectively.
With Mercedes locking out the front row yet again at the Spanish GP, Hamilton is in with a great chance to edge closer to Schumacher’s win record unless his teammate takes the fight to him on Sunday. Max Verstappen might also be in with a chance if Redbull have a strategy masterstroke up their sleeves yet again. Racing Point would not rule themselves out from an unlikely podium but they will have to work for it.
*The Grid:
Hamilton Bottas
Verstappen Perez
Stroll Albon
Sainz Norris
Leclerc Gasly
Vettel Kvyat
Ricciardo Raikkonen
Ocon Magnussen
Grosjean Russell
Latifi Giovinazzi
*Subject to change after investigation of a turn 2 incident between Kvyat and Magnussen
Under the scorching hot Barcelona weather, it was Lewis Hamilton who topped the time sheets with a 1:16:883. His teammate Valtteri Bottas finished in P2 (+0.287) behind. It seems like normal service is resumed for the Mercedes team after locking out the top two earlier in the day.
The temperature at the Circuit de Catalunya increased by three degrees celsius by the time FP2 came around which made tyre degradation key to every teams’ running plans. The track temperature was so high that running through sector three would put a much more significant level of load through the rear tyres and push the soft compounds out of their optimum operating window. It was likely we would see slower times than earlier in the day.
Thus, teams took this time to work out the delta between the medium and hard compounds. The question on everybody’s lips will be whether the top teams will risk running the hard compound tyres in Q2. This session was critical to figuring these questions out.
Red Bull had a bitter-sweet session in which Max Verstappen finished P3 (+0.821) ahead of both Mercedes drivers. However, Alexander Albon continued to struggle, only good enough for P13. Verstappen was able to reduce the deficit to Mercedes by a tenth however it seems a little farfetched to think that the Red Bull will be able to challenge the Mercedes going into Saturday.
Daniel Ricciardo finished another impressive P4 as the Australian continues to impress in that ever-improving Renault. If they can make it through to Q3 on the harder compound tyres, do not count out the Honey Badger to make a massive impression in this race. Esteban Ocon finished in P9 (+1.420) but given the young Frenchman’s ability to make the one stop work at Silverstone, expect him to be a factor in a race that is expecting high temperatures and high degradation.
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) Renault F1 Team RS20. Spanish Grand Prix, Friday 14th August 2020. Barcelona, Spain.
Haas will be extremely pleased with their performance this weekend with a surprising time set by Romain Grosjean in P5 (+ 1.250). We saw earlier in FP1, the Frenchman setting a similar time good enough for P6. His session ended ten minutes before the end with a mechanical issue. Whether P5 is representative of their true pace or a sign of their nearest rivals sandbagging before qualifying, it remains to be seen. But it will be a positive sign for the American team who have regularly missed out on Q2 this season. Kevin Magnussen struggled down in P16 (+1.878) but will be eager to replicate his teammates impressive pace.
McLaren began the session testing some parts on the bargeboard of Lando Norris’s car. However, they will be worried about the sudden drop in pace over the past few races. Perhaps the new bargeboard will help in the high-speed corners later in the weekend but a P7 (+1.331) for Sainz and a P14 (+1.623) for Norris leaves a lot of room for improvement.
Likewise, Racing Point had a difficult day with Sergio Perez in P8 (+1.410) while Lance Stroll was down in P11 (+1.474). However, Perez will be happy to outperform his teammate in both sessions the weekend he returns after suffering mild symptoms of COVID-19. As the controversy of the Racing Point break-ducts consume the discourse off-track they may be pleased that it will distract from their on-track plateau in performance. However, I expect Racing Point to be up there with Renault vying for a Q3 slot.
Alpha Tauri had a decent day in which Pierre Gasly finished P10 (+1.429) ahead of Danil Kvyat in P15 (+1.759). The Russian once again struggled to find pace in the car and had further frustrations when the Williams of Nicholas Latifi blocked him going into turn 2. The team have shown signs of improvement in the races and so may choose to run the harder compound in Q2 to start on an alternate strategy.
Alfa Romeo finished with Raikkonen in P17 (+2.017) and Giovinazzi in P18 (+2.081). Though they were a few tenths faster than their nearest rivals Williams.
Rounding out the final two places were the Williams drivers, Nicholas Latifi in P19 (+2.272) and George Russell P20 (+2.508). The Canadian will be happy to outperform his highly rated teammate going into Saturday. However, it seems to be the young British driver’s tendency to deliver a lap time out of nowhere when it comes to qualifying and so will be ready to achieve his fifth Q2 appearance in a row.
While the Mercedes lock out the top two positions the fight for best of the rest will be captivating to watch. Ricciardo and Grosjean are showing glimpses of brilliance. Leclerc is still outperforming that Ferrari and Carlos Sainz will be eager to put on a good performance at his home race in order to reverse his run of bad luck.
image courtesy of Pirelli Motorsports
image courtesy of Pirelli Motorsports 
Image courtesy of Racing Point 
image courtesy of W series. Inaugural W Series champion Jamie Chadwick and current FIA F3 driver Sophia Flörsch are probably the most prominent women in formulae racing right now, and both are undoubtedly talented. Chadwick, as well as being the W Series champion, is a champion in British GT, has won races in British F3 and Asian F3, and is part of Williams F1 as a development driver.
image courtesy of SMP Racing 
image courtesy of Abi Pulling website. 
image courtesy of Juju Noda website 
📸 Pirelli Motorsports
