You might have seen that I went a bit viral this week, with my commentary of the England v Tunisia World Cup match. However, despite its players’ fine coiffures and fancy footwork, football is not my sport of choice. I much prefer motor racing. I’ve been a big fan of Formula 1 and other motorsport since I was a young child watching battles between Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen. So, what’s the appeal? After all, there’s no diving in F1 (apart from Piquet Jr that one time, perhaps); the largely sub-par haircuts are hidden under helmets (although Marcus Ericsson and Kevin Magnussen are putting in valiant footballer-esque efforts); and, sometimes, the races are undeniably boring (recent visits to Canada and Monaco don’t so much spring, but limp, to mind).
However, some races have more than their fair share of craziness. Two out of three visits thus far to Baku have resulted in bizarre crashes, last-minute drama and surprise podium appearances (Well Done Baku, indeed). Meanwhile, even in less exciting races there’s usually some drama to discuss, whether it’s a first lap clash or a teammate rivalry. Just like football then, not every race is exciting, but there’s usually still something to talk about.
In place of the referee and VAR we have the all-powerful stewards and their sometimes questionable decisions, and there’s just as much fruitless protesting – only we get to hear it. This has given us gems such as “When did I do dangerous driving?” from an aggrieved Sebastian Vettel, who surely must have known that driving alongside, and then into, Lewis Hamilton under a safety car just might be considered dangerous.
Instead of aerial duels we have, well, aerial duels, with more than a few cars being launched into the air over the years. Even when cars don’t make it off the ground there’s plenty of dramatic crashes and clashes. From Grosjean’s repeated trips into the wall this season to the numerous clashes between Force India teammates Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon last season, there’s always material for a heated discussion about who was at fault or how an incident could have been avoided.
From a personal standpoint, this season hasn’t been the most enjoyable for me, mainly because I’m a Williams fan, and, unfortunately, they’ve produced a car so terrible it’s often slower than last year’s model. My second-favourite team, Force India, are going through some testing times as well, with poor results on track and financial problems away from it. They have, however, enjoyed a podium this season, with Perez standing atop the third step at Baku, so that has buoyed my spirits somewhat. However, it’s another reminder that, just as in football, you have to take the lows and the highs with your team of choice, and supporting a team or driver adds another level of emotion and intrigue into the sport.
So, what else might we be missing in Formula 1? Football has their transfer season, and we have ours. Will Fernando Alonso stay or will he go? Will Daniel Ricciardo accept a cool 20 million to drive for McLaren? Will Robert Kubica ever return to an F1 race seat? These questions and more keep discussions interesting even when the racing is not.
So, while my forays into football commentary have seen my tweets go viral, and years of tweeting about motorsport have done nothing of the sort, Formula 1 remains the sport closest to my heart. And while I might watch a few more football matches than I used to, nothing will hold my attention like Formula 1 has done for so many years of my life.
The iconic appearance of James Hunt is recognisable to almost the entire motorsport world. Those who fail to recognise him fall into two categories: Millennials, or those with a visual impairment.
25 years ago to the day, Hunt passed away after a heart attack, leaving a hole in motorsport world which can never truly be filled.
A quarter of a century on The Pit Crew online has decided to task the one writer in their ranks with a tangible link to Hunt (I was named after him), to reflect on a man whose legacy perhaps amounts to more than his achievements on the track, but I’ll get to that.
Hunt has a soft spot in every British racing fan for obvious reasons: He won the Formula one world championship in 1976 and became the face of British motorsport, a face which could perhaps be described as ‘cool’ or ‘suave’. Hunt didn’t play by the rules and that’s one of the attributes that won him supporters. He was a playboy race driver who caused controversy wherever he went, Nothing screams rebel more than dining at a restaurant with your pet dog after all…
We all remember the flashy grin, the blonde hair, and the irresistible cheek of Hunt but this was only brought to our attention by his outstanding racing pedigree. After showing flashes of brilliance in his Formula three days, Hunt joined Hesketh racing: the stepping stone to world fame. He made his formula one debut at Monaco in 1973 and managed and impressive second place at the New York track of Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course. This early indication of Hunt’s talent won him the Campbell trophy classing him as the best British driver of the season.
The first season of promise was followed by two of stagnation and limited success. His first race win came in 1975 at the Dutch Grand Prix. This win paired with a 4th place finish in the overall standings provided the basis of Hunt’s team switch to Maclaren. This was where Hunt hit the heights.
McLaren was the golden chance for Hunt to prove his critics wrong. The myth surrounding his apparent inability to compete in a sustained title challenge was soon swept to the side. Hunt won 6 races over the course of the season and was in a two way title fight for the entirety of the season with Nicky Lauda. The title race itself suited Hunt’s lifestyle, it was unpredictable, exciting and controversial. There were disqualifications, bad blood and serious racing incidents such as Lauda’s horrific crash at the Nürburgring which has scarred him for life. The title switched back and forth all season going down to the final race in Japan. Hunt finished third and with Lauda retiring from the race due to an inability to blink resulting from his facial injuries he won the championship.
Hunt was an inspiration to millions of young aspiring racers across the globe. Kimi Raikonen was a huge fan of Hunt even entering a snowmobile race under the alias of James Hunt. His playboy, cavalier style of racing and love for the sport were perfect ingredients for the inspiration of a new generation of British racers.
As mentioned earlier, whilst Hunt was undoubtedly a talented professional, he only won one championship in a six year career. Some may question why there is so much reference and mention of Hunt as a legend of the sport when he only has one title to his name, but to me it seems obvious. Spectators love a showman. A supporter wants to watch exciting dynamic races as people dice it out in adrenalin fuelled overtakes and championship battles. They also want to root for a racer who has an interesting personality, this is true across all sports: The controversial characters have the largest fanbases, Hunt in F1, Ronaldo in football, Tyson in boxing, the list goes on. Hunt was an exciting racer, whose combination of skill and character marked him out as a legend of the sport.
25 years on the world remembers James Hunt: 1976 Formula one champion, hero to some, well known to all.
This year, the Canadian grand prix had no surprises. It was a quiet Sunday evening for most of the drivers and especially for the top three.
Vettel’s flying lap on Saturday’s qualification session, was enough to give him the pole position and on Sunday, the German, lead the race for 70 consecutive laps. Bottas, who started second, had to defend his place, on the first lap from Max Verstappen.
The Dutch had a very good Q3 session on the previous day and managed to finish third and get a place on the podium in the Canadian Grand Prix. The only moment where he battled Bottas was at lights out, but the Finn defended very well his place and remained second.
Valtteri Bottas, finished second for the fourth time in seven races this season, he is the driver with the most second place finishes. The Finn, shows his skills this season and it won’t be long till he celebrates his first victory in 20018.
I have to admit that the race didn’t meet my expectations, but still some interesting conclusions can be made.
Ferrari dominated in a circuit which suits Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton won six times in ten attempts in Canada. The Silver Arrows won the last three Grand Prix in Montreal, but this time the team was not able to challenge Ferrari and Hamilton was struggling to stay close to Ricciardo for the fourth place. The British champion complained about the low power that the Mercedes’ engine delivered this week and lost the 14-point lead which he had in the drivers’ championship.
‘’There were lots of hesitations, engine dropping in power, so I thought the engine was going to blow.’’ Hamilton said.
Mercedes had to pit, Lewis, earlier that it was planned to remove some bodywork panels and reduce the engine temperature.
A very productive weekend for Renault, the yellows had the pleasure to see both drivers in the top-10 and they collected some crucial points for the team. Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz finished seventh and eighth respectively. Renault, is currently fourth in the constructors’ championship with 56 points, 16 points ahead of McLaren. The team, looks confident and they have a comfortable lead from McLaren, which is currently struggling to follow the pack.
Charles Leclerc, a young and ambitious driver, which many fans wanting him in Ferrari as soon as possible, finished once again in the points. The rookie driver from Monaco, is keep impressing us with his results. The sixth place in Baku, was not a firework, the Monegasque had to fight with Alonso for the tenth place in Canada. Fernando’s retirement allowed him to finish in the top-10 and score another point for Sauber, which has 12 in total and is ahead of Williams. Charles has 10 points in the championship so far and he is fourteenth, ahead of Vandoorne.
Williams, had another bad weekend. Last season, Stroll scored his first points in his home race, but this time the Canadian retired on the first lap, due to a collision with Brendon Hartley. His team-mate, finished seventeenth.
It was Sebastian Vettel’s 50th victory, a great achievement for the German driver.
There are still many races in the 2018 calendar, it is clear that the drivers’ championship will be a battle between Vettel and Hamilton, but Red Bull is a very capable team and will affect the final outcome of the year.
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is one of the greats on the calendar. The last time Ferrari won in Canada was in 2004. Ferrari’s last pole in was 2001, but Vettel changed that.
Sebastian Vettel – 9.5
Faultless, the German had it covered all weekend. Pole position on Saturday and lights to flag victory on Sunday. Ferrari sand bagged like they do on Friday and just gathered information on the lower power settings. Vettel is a driver that likes his figures and stats, maybe a little annoyed he didn’t get the hat-trick of pole, win and the fastest lap though. Ricciardo set that on his final tour. He retakes the lead as we head back into Europe. 50 wins and counting.
Valtteri Bottas – 8
Not many would have expected for Bottas to come away with the bigger points haul for the Silver Arrows, let alone out qualify his team mate. A strong weekend for Bottas and retakes third in the driver’s championship. He showed a bit more resilience at the start keeping Verstappen behind something in previous races he lacked. Drove a great race, pretty boring for him though as wasn’t challenged throughout.
Max Verstappen. Image Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
Max Verstappen – 8
Proved some doubters wrong this weekend, so hopefully no headbutting happens. Under fire for a string of mistakes the Dutchman had something to prove, which he did. He put that anger into the wheel of his Red Bull with a superb third in qualifying and race. Got close at the start but no collision with anyone. Held the pressure in the early stages and placed it late on. Very much a confidence booster for himself, Red Bull and indeed his fans.
Daniel Ricciardo – 7
Was a tenth or so behind his team mate all weekend. He missed out on quite a bit of action on Friday with an engine problem not related to his failure in Monaco. He tends to not run well around Canada on Saturday and was out qualified again by his team mate. A better Sunday as he finished two places higher than he started thanks to some great tyre management. Still a great win in Monaco but must look forward nowas we re-enter Europe.
Lewis Hamilton – 6
For a track where Hamilton took his maiden win in 2007, and has 6 wins at he was very off colour. Could only manage P4 on Saturday and with problems in the race resulted him finishing P5. A poor race from a man who has such high standards of himself. Has the excuse of a 6 race old engine whilst others had upgrades but Bottas was in the same situation.
Kimi Raikkonen – 6
Another weekend where in qualifying he blew it, when he ran wide at turn 2, flashback to Baku earlier in the season. The car had the pace to win as it did in Vettels hands. The Finn with fresher tyres after making the stop later than the others around him looked strong for a podium, but he never challenged. He faded to finish a lonely P6.
Nico Hulkenburg – 8
144 races and counting for Nico and his quest for a podium. They should maybe create a space for the best of the rest after Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull as more often than not this has been the German. Qualified in P7 and finished P7. Not much else he can do really as his car restricts him to move higher up the field.
Carlos Sainz – 7
A solid haul of points for Carlos as Renault strengthen their claim as the best of the rest. Besides the collision at the restart with Perez he had a fairly quiet race. Did well to overcut Ocon at the pit stops.
Esteban Ocon – 7
Ocon had a great weekend considering his team made a mistake in the pits on raceday. The Frenchman battled back but it seems like most suffered from following a car.
Charles Leclerc – 9
This kid has talent, true talent. Charles bounced back from another disapointing home race where his brakes failed to score more points for Sauber. Had a great battle with Alonso and for a while kept him at bay. We are seeing a future Ferrari driver in him, it is only when now they decide, could it be next race, or 2019?
Pierre Gasly – 8
A good recovery drive from Pierre as Honda’s power looks strong albeit still a little bit worrying with reliability. The Frenchman has used the most components out of the entire field. Was hampered in qualifying with the old engine at a power based track. Due to penalties he started on the back row of the grid. Avoided first lap and restart collisions to finish P11.
Romain Grosjean – 8
The Groundhog’s revenge, Romain qualifying lasted seconds as his engine let go after exiting his pitbox. A poor groundhog was collected by the Frenchman on Friday. Romain started last but with a great stint on the ultrasoft tyre put him back amongst it all and finished ahead of his team mate. No points but did so well considering, good Sunday, needs a good weekend though, home Grand Prix up next.
Sergio Perez – 6
A great effort from Sergio to make Q3 on a track that suits the Force India better than Monaco. Overall though was off the pace on his team mate by 0.6 in the final session. An erratic restart caused him to collide with a Renault. Damage was never made clear but never recovered from it.
Kevin Magnussen – 6
Started in one of the best places on the grid P11, one up on his team mate due to his troubles but Sunday was a shocker. He was never at it, and finished a woeful P14.
Marcus Ericcson – 5
Leclerc is making Ericsson look a little bit silly now. Ericsson scored points in Bahrain but hasn’t seen any yet. He exited FP3 early after a collision with the wall, and never recovered from that.
Stoffel Vandoorne – 4
Wheres Stoffel? A quiet weekend once more for the Belgian. He was out qualified by his team mate and was nowhere on Sunday. The pressure continues to rise. I feel his future is dependant on Alonso’s decision.
Sergey Sirotkin – 5
Another lacklustre display as he finishes last of the cars to take the flag. A mistake in practice, he never got to grips with a track he’d never raced at. Kubica continues to look on in the background.
Fernando Alonso – 7
His 300th Grand Prix weekend and one in his collection to forget. A man who is in a fork on the in his career. He out qualified his team mate and was running well in the race to be best of the rest before the exhaust failure mid-race. Le Mans is next on the agenda which he hopes to win for the second stage of ‘The Triple Crown.’ Think the result there will give us a bigger idea of where the F1 great will be next year.
Lance Stroll – 5
The Canadian had a weekend in his home country to forget. The Williams is a bit of a dog this year. He hit the wall in practice and then exited again in Q1. Sunday didn’t last long after losing the rear and hitting Hartley. Claire Williams pinned the sole blame on Hartley. Looking at various camera angles and public opinion the blame swings back to Stroll. 91% of people blamed Stroll on our twitter poll. (@PitCrew_Online)
Brendan Hartley – 6
One of his best Saturday’s in the car, the Kiwi qualified ahead of both Mclaren drivers and wasn’t far away from the Q3. It was a shame that Sunday ended so early, going into the end of sector 1 he was outwide on the marbles alongside Stroll. He collected the Williams and lost control of his car. Poor placement you could say from Hartley, but unlucky at the same time.
Final Thoughts
Mercedes have an excuse with their engine not being ready but certainly did not expect Hamilton to finish as low as fifth at one of his favourite tracks and lose the lead. Vettel takes the smallest of leads to the next race.
F1 returns to Europe next time as we have a triple header! We return to France for the first time since 2008 at a track that hasn’t seen competitive action since 1990. The Paul Ricard circuit is a favourite for some to test at. It followed by Austria and then Britain the following week.
Will Mercedes have their engine ready for France? Do Ferrari have the better car again with their new bargeboard improvement?
Young Singapore driver Pavan Ravishankar took his first win in his debut F3 season on Sunday morning at Silverstone.
After coming to grief in Race One, Ravishankar started pole in the reverse grid race and didn’t look back as Sun Yue Yang fought to hang on to second with Tom Gamble an impressive third.
And Ravishankar was delighted to see his improvement this season laid bare.
“I love this circuit, it is a bit of a shame with the race yesterday because we had front wing damage and I had to drop back. We showed that we have the pace now.”
Ravishankar built a lead over Yang in the opening stages of the 10-lap race and controlled the race from there, something that was a deliberate tactic.
“I really pushed a lot in the first few laps because I knew that they would be fighting behind and that if I got a gap I’d be fine. Once I saw the fighting behind me I just realised that I had to just manage the gap.”
And the 18-year-old paid tribute to his Double R team for helping him settle during his first season in Europe.
“The tests were positive and I’m still new to Europe so I’m going to work as hard as possible between now and Spa.
“It’s been very difficult, with the weather and the cold conditions being something that I’m not used to so that was very difficult. The team has helped me settle in so much so a big thanks to them for supporting me through the tougher times.”
Meanwhile, Gamble has targeted more consistency after a run of bad luck since his first pole and win at Rockingham six weeks ago.
“After Rockingham on that Saturday we were top of the championship but since then we’ve had a lot of bad luck, I just need to get back on track, get some better qualifying and get closer to the front.”
An engine problem halted his progress on sAturday where he could only finish tenth, but an engine change brought about better luck on Sunday morning.
“We had issues yesterday with the engine and it was lacking power and costing us time, the guys at British F3 checked the engine and allowed us to change it so we swapped it last night.
“Everyone at Fortec did a great job changing it over, thankfully there were no problems today and we had great pace today.”
Daniel McKay says Equipe Verschuur have given him an easy car to drive after his #10 McLaren shared with Finlay Hutchison claimed GT4 pole by almost a second at Silverstone
The Scot was third fastest in the Gt4Pro qualifying after teammate Hutchison built a huge gap in Am qualifying.
“Finlay did a great job in qualifying in the first session and I did my best not to mess it up in the second session and we came from there with a really good gap.”
And he was full of praise for his one-car team, and hopes that the pole coupled with impressive pace at Snetterton is a sign of things to come.
“Equipe Verschuur are doing a really good job with the car, this year, I know everyone says that’s motorsport, we’ve been very unlucky for us. We got pole at the first one and had that taken away so it’s nice to keep this one and hopefully it’s converted into a win.
“The car’s been great all year if I’m honest, the McLaren they’ve presented us with is absolutely fantastic. It’s consistently quick, consistently a nice car to drive and Finlay and I are doing a good job too.”
McKay was keen to further make his point about his team, with the Belgian outfit considerably faster than their GT4 McLaren counterparts, but was keen not to put too much pressure ahead of the race tomorrow.
“I think we were the quickest McLaren at Snetterton by around half a second which is huge in any championship, I think today it was 0.6 seconds. You can only go as fast as the car and our team are doing a really good job with the car.
“I think you have to put expectations out of your mind otherwise you overthink it, start hearing noises that aren’t there. Ultimately it’s about taking it lap-by-lap and see where we are at the end.”
Meanwhile, RJN Motorsport took an unexpected pole position with Struan Moore and Ricardo Sanchez, who was a late call to replace Devon Modell for this weekend.
Sanchez revealed that he only received the call to step in last week to partner Moore, and was pleased with the early result.
“I’m quite happy, especially as it was a last minute invitation, I wasn’t supposed to be here.
“It was a good job, my lap wasn’t the best because we struggled with the cold tyres but I’m happy. I think it will be a hard day tomorrow for us, the car is hard on tyres so we want to keep it clean, nice and steady, no dramas or penalties or contact and after 3 hours we’ll see where we end up.”
As with McKay, Sanchez is confident of taking top honours for the British GT’s longest race.
“I would like to win the race, to be in the podium but it’s a tough race. There’s a lot of GT4 cars, traffic and you have to be really careful with track limits. There’s a lot of warnings and penalties. Expectation will be to win but if we don’t, get on the podium. It’s a strong line-up.
“Our average lap-times together are strong and if everything goes well, we have a chance. As I said to Struan and the team boss, we have to take it stint by stint.”
There are a few difference for Sanchez to get used to, especially as the team try and base a strategy around three pit-stops tomorrow afternoon.
“The biggest challenge is that each driver has to do two stints, and the tyres and fuel tank last an hour each so it’s a bit of a grey area there how we’re going to make the strategy. Everything has to line up.”
Max Verstappen. Image courtesy of Marcel van Hoorn / Red Bull Content Pool
Currently standing in sixth position on the drivers’ standings with just 35 points after six races, Max Verstappen can’t possibly be happy about how his season has gone so far. He is just three points ahead of Alonso, not something you’d be hoping for with a Red Bull car. It’s not only Max that is disappointed in the results, his team isn’t quite happy as well. With Daniel Ricciardo standing in third position on the drivers’ standings with 72 points and having won two of the six races so far, the other side of the Red Bull garage is probably way happier. It looks like the hopes of a possible fight for the championship for Max are gone, and he now needs to focus on driving in the points for some races. He has already received a lot of criticism for his driving style and his incidents this season, and it doesn’t look like that will end very soon. And it didn’t.
At the press conference on Thursday of the Canadian Grand Prix, Max got himself again in the spotlight of another controversy. A journalist from the Daily Mail asked him: ‘’Why do you have so many crashes?’’ , to which Max responded: ‘’Like I said at the start of this press conference I get really tired of the questions, I think if I get a few more I will headbutt someone’’, obviously not being serious about that as he smiled to make clear that was a joke. After being asked about a possibility of changing his driving style, he said: ‘’I get really tired of all the comments that I should change my approach. I will never do that, because it has brought me to where I am right now. I do not listen to it. I do my own thing.’’ He does have a point there. After all, he did win his first ever F1 Grand Prix for Red Bull in Spain in 2016 by defending aggressively – as we know from Max – against Kimi Räikkönen.
Backing up his comments is no other than his teammate Daniel. He said that he ‘’can understand his reaction’’, as Max is now being watched very carefully after all those incidents. ‘’His crash in the third Free Practice [of Monaco] obviously wasn’t a small mistake’’ he added, but he feels like ‘’every mistake he makes now gets more attention than if it happened to any other driver.’’
However, this all does not mean that he can keep doing this, as we have seen that his driving style has cost him more points than it did earn him this season. This therefore might be the appropriate time to analyse his season so far, and how much better it could have been if he didn’t have his incidents.
It was a mediocre start to the season for him at Australia. Qualifying in P4, things looked promising for the Dutchman. Losing P4 to Kevin Magnussen at the start made things tough though. Pushing to the limit lap after lap behind the Haas driver, he over committed in the first corner and spun –keeping has car under control when he came back on track- meaning he had to fight his way up from P8. He eventually ended up in P6, which was not a bad result after such a spin, but he started fourth after all so he lost some points there.
At Bahrain, the weekend already started horrible as he had engine problems in the first Free Practice. He pushed the car into the pit lane and didn’t set a time after that. Free Practice 3 went much better as he put in the second fastest time on the board. Having put in a time to go through to Q2, he didn’t have to take any risks. However, he crashed the car in the closing minutes of Q1 which meant he had to start the race from P15. He fought his way through the grid, even touching Hamilton’s car in the first corner as Lewis ran him a bit wide. This incident meant the race was over for Max, and his first DNF of the season was a fact.
Not looking back at the horrendous Bahrain GP, Max could now fully focus on the Chinese GP. Starting fifth from the grid ahead of his teammate, he could make up some points he lost in the first two GP weekends. In another fight with Lewis he went off track after trying to overtake him. Up to P4 he could score some good amount of points and even a victory as he had the best strategy, until he crashed into Vettel in lap 43 after braking way too late into corner 14 after the long straight. Vettel afterwards said that Max shouldn’t bother that much about him, but about himself as Max threw away a possible victory. He did end up in P5 though, even after a 10-second time penalty for the incident.
After three races then he could not look back at a big success. Thus you’d think it couldn’t go any worse. It did, however. Maybe the ‘highlight’ of the poor season so far came at the Azerbaijan GP. Max qualified in a reasonable fifth place, just behind his teammate. After already battling heavy with each other in the race, the two Red Bull drivers collided together on the long run to turn 1 after Ricciardo defended his place whilst Max tried to attack. A crash with your teammate is never good for your reputation, especially when you have missed out on very important points earlier in the season. Both drivers were partially blamed for the incident, and warned that if they continue like this team orders would be enforced to secure some points.
Eventually after the darkness comes the light, and so it did for Max. He achieved another fifth place on the starting grid, which gave him the opportunity to try and go for a podium in Spain he really needed. And going for the podium he did. An impressive drive – defending his third position from Vettel after damaging his front wing after a crash with Stroll when the Virtual Safety Car ended – saw him taking the podium in P3 with just less than a second separating him and Vettel in P4.
At the Monaco Grand Prix the Red Bulls were the favourite for a victory. They showed real potential by dominating all Free Practices, with Daniel taking P1 and Max taking P2 in all of them. That domination ended when Max crashed in the closing minutes of Free Practice 3. The damage as such wasn’t that big as the mechanics could fix that on time, but during those repairs they found issues with the gearbox which meant Max couldn’t even set a time in Q1. He had to start the race from last place, and in Monaco that means you’re in for a tough race. Max did impress, however, by finishing in ninth place after some impressive overtakes on Sainz and Leclerc. This still was a disappointment as his teammate Ricciardo won one of the most prestigious races.
So far Max has lost an incredible amount of points due to these incidents he has had in every single race so far. He has been criticised for his aggressive style which cost him many points, but fans and Max himself praise that style as it brought him the victories he already has achieved. If he didn’t take so many risks this season he might have been third in the drivers’ championship right now. If that doesn’t make him think about his driving style, what will? He makes some interesting comments which may be found controversial, which is refreshing from some other drivers that give same answers all the time, but are these comments smart when you’re under performing? Max doesn’t need to be controversial for the things he says, but for the things he shows us in a GP weekend. One thing for sure is that the questions about his crashes from journalists will keep on coming until he finally does the talking on, not off, the track.
The British GT series rolls into Silverstone for the longest race of the season just two weeks after the two sprint races at Snetterton.
Aston Martin dominated in the GT3 class with two victories including the #11 TF Sport crew of Mark Farmer and Nicki Thiim in Race One, while Derek Johnston and Marco Sorensen in the #17 Aston held off a late charge from the #99 Beechdean crew of Darren Turner and Andrew Howard in Race Two.
There are fourteen GT3 crews at Silverstone this weekend, with Balfe Motorsport’s McLaren returning this weekend and one-off appearances from Ultimate Speed’s Aston Martin team and another Mercedes in Team ABBA Racing.
Points-and-a-half are on offer in the British GT’s Big One, where five different crews have won five races in 2018, with the #116 Mercedes of Lee Mowle and Yelmer Buurman leading the overall GT3 class by just 4.5 points after a tough weekend in Norfolk.
Like the ERC Sport Mercedes, the second in the championship #33 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini crew of Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen do not have to serve a success penalty in the first mandatory pitstop.
Such is the closeness of the GT3 category that the top seven crews are separated by less than the 37.5 points available this weekend.
The #99 Beechdean Aston Martin is 12 points behind in third, with the #17 of Johnston and Sorensen and the #11 of Farmer and Thiim following close behind.
The Optimum Aston crew of Flick Haigh and Jonny Adam are still in touch in sixth, while technical issues meant that Iain Loggie and Callum Macleod slipped to seventh in #7 Bentley.
Meanwhile, the GT4 championship race is as closely fought as the GT3 counterparts after Tolman Motorsport’s #56 crew of Joe Osbourne and David Pattison took the spoils in Race One and a dramatic Race Two win for the #42 Century Motorsport BMW of Ben Tuck and Ben Green.
Five different crews have won five races this season, and half a point separates the leading #55 Ginetta crew of Callum Pointon and Patrik Matthiesen leading the #4 McLaren duo of Michael O’Brien and Charlie Fagg.
Academy Motorsport’s Will Moore and Matt Nicoll-Jones are next after three straight podiums and the #42 Century BMW of Tuck and Green.
The Jaguar Invictus’ second batch of wounded, injured and sick armed forces veterans make their British GT debuts this weekend when Basil Rawlinson (2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment) joins Jason Wolfe in the #22 F-TYPE SVR and Paul Vice (42 Commando Royal Marines) teams up with Matthew George aboard #44.
It’ll be a busy weekend for George, who is also registered to race as James Holder’s co-driver in the Generation AMR Super Racing Aston Martin.
George and Holder last contested a full-season British GT programme together in 2016, which ultimately led to David Appleby Engineering – which runs the V8 Vantage – overseeing 2018’s Jaguar project. George will therefore split his weekend between both cars and swap between them during the race, before a lie down after the race.
Nicolai Kjaergaard is looking to build on his early-season reputation as the great overtaker in British F3 after winning race one on Saturday to go top of the standings on countback.
Kjaergaard beat Kush Maini of Lanan Motorsports after the Indian driver profited from a late error from Championship leader Linus Lundqvist, with the Swede relegated to third in the dying embers.
The result means that Kjaergaard, who has 22 points from overtaking in race two, will start from the back, but with extra points on offer the great Dane is relishing the challenge.
“It is definitely (all to play for) I am going to try and make up as many places as possible tomorrow. It’s a big point race and that is where you can make a real difference if you’re good in that race throughout the season.
“It will be very difficult having a podium in the race two tomorrow having a podium because it is difficult to overtake and we are starting plum last.”
Kjaergaard considered himself pleased with his day’s work after converting his pole position from the morning qualifying, and says he wasn’t under undue pressure from Linus Lundqvist despite the Swede spending most of the race just one second behind.
“Today has been really good, I saw that they had new tyres on but managed to keep them back in the first few laps. After that they didn’t seem to have a lot of pace difference to me, it was a little bit close towards the end with Linus but then he made a mistake which helped me cruise to the end.
It was a really good win and the perfect start to the weekend. He was close enough that I couldn’t make a mistake but he was never close enough to attack me. I could manage the race at around a second for the whole thing.”
Maini was upbeat after moving up the order from third in qualifying, and is looking to convert a solid day today into more points tomorrow.
“Definitely I’m pleased with second, it’s five more points at the end of the day. Starting third and finishing second still isn’t the win but they’re going to have bad races and it’s up to us to take advantage. It’s still good points and we’re still in the fight for the Championship and that is all that matters.
“It’s tough to follow here, passing is not the issue it is trying to stay near them, which I found pretty difficult.
“The further back you start the more points you can get, so we’ll try and pass as many as possible while making sure we finish. I won’t take too many risks, but calculated risks and then from race three we want to build again and get a podium. I’m confident we can get a lot more points tomorrow.”
And the 17-year-old believes it will be a season-long battle between himself, Kjaergaard and Lundqvist for the British F3 championship.
“The tracks coming up seem to suit us three and I honestly think it’s between us three, it’s Tom’s first year in single seaters. It’s going to be a fun year and you guys are in for a treat.
Lundqvist remained philosophical after an oversteer moment on the infield section saw the 19-year-old cede second place late on.
“As I said after qualifying, it could have been a lot worse. In the end I can’t be too down about this result. It’s still a podium, we had the pace for second. When you’re the one that made the mistake and cost yourself a position you are always a little upset with yourself.”
Nicki Thiim has targeted victories for the #11 TF Sport Aston Martin that he shares with Mark Farmer during tomorrow’s two hour-long sprint British GT races.
Thiim was almost half a second clear of Phil Keen’s #33 Lamborghini in GT3 qualifying, and says it was an important step to right the wrongs of a disappointing Rockingham weekend last time out.
“This was important because we had to make up for Rockingham, which was a terrible weekend for us and this was perfect. We’ve kept it inside the top two all day and hopefully we can do the same tomorrow, keep the guys with a smile on their face.
“We want to keep improving, we have to start making up points now otherwise it will be too late, tomorrow’s the best opportunity to do that.
According to Thiim the tight and twisty layout of the Norfolk circuit will impact tomorrow’s action despite the shorter format in play this weekend.
“In practice we saw a massive tyre degradation and that’s going to be a big thing to watch for in the race, so tomorrow we must watch for that even in the short races.”
This is the first time the experienced Dane has ever been to Snetterton in a racing capacity, but he played down the achievement of taking pole first time out, and instead praised his Amatuer category teammate Mark Farmer for his pole position in GT3 Am qualifying.
“I’ve been here once before for one test four years ago so it’s been some time! I’m no local. I’m just trying to get the job done. You have to be on the pace as quickly as you can because you’re sharing a car with one guy so you are limited with time.
“You have to make every lap count in every session, keep improving. As a Pro driver you have a double duty to help the amateur driver, try to learn him and watch the lines he does to improve his lines as he might not know what the right line is. Mark did a stunning job today though.
With the level of driver in that category it can be hard for him to put everything into practice, I can sit there and yell at him and punch him in the shoulder but for him to go out there and do it is hard. He’s a really good listener and the lap he did shows that, so it’s a tap on the shoulder for me too. The respect goes both ways and it’s really good.”
Meanwhile, Keen had an unusual issue to say the least as he battled to second in GT3 Pro qualifying.
“The car caught fire on the first lap, I did as much as I could and had to pull over. I was a bit distracted by the smoke in the car, it did quite a lot of damage. I probably should have stopped really.
“We’ll keep pushing and see what we can do, at the moment this is what we have and the most we can get out of the car in the race.”
Meanwhile, Ben Tuck took GT4 AM pole position in his Century Motorsport #42 BMW and believes he and Ben Green can challenge for top honours tomorrow.
“That lap felt really good, we struggled a little in practice but we were on old tyres and once we put new ones on it would work.
Matt Nicoll-Jones took GT4 Pro pole for the second race tomorrow afternoon in his Academy Motorsport #62 Aston Martin.
? courtesy of Gilfoto
