Russell ‘absolutely ready’ to win title
George Russell insists he is “ready to win a world championship” after impressing in his debut season at Mercedes and finishing ahead of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the driver’s championship.
After three seasons at Williams where he showed promise and potential, after stepping up to Mercedes he delivered scoring the teams only win and pole of the season and being the first teammate to beat Hamilton in the drivers, since Nico Rosberg in 2016. But the only downside to what was a breakthrough season, was that the car was not competitive.
However, it is widely expected that Mercedes will recover next season, and Russell believes he is ready to capitalise. He told Sky Sports, “feel absolutely ready to win a world championship. I’ve felt ready for a couple of years now.”
“I think having this season next to Lewis has been huge for me personally to learn some of the little details, how to get more out of my car, more out of my team, and extracting everything out of the package when it truly matters. I’m definitely going to have a really strong winter. I’m going to work really hard with my team.”
Russell says that everyone at Mercedes is pushing ‘like hell’ to deliver a car able to fight next season. Mercedes having admitted their concept was wrong this year, are set to change their concept for 2023.
Asked about beating Hamilton, Russell admitted, “I guess if you told me that at the start of the year, I would have been extraordinarily happy because if you beat Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes, most of the time that means you be a world champion.”
But he added: “Obviously, I would take the positives away from the season, but I’m not going to celebrate finishing P4 in the championship.”
He described his win in Sao Paulo as a huge achievement for him and the team, but they have not done a perfect job this year because they want to win championships. But with the car they have had they have had a clean and smooth season, despite falling short of the standards they set themselves.
Were Russell to clinch the title next year, he would be Britain’s eleventh world champion and second youngest, after Hamilton. Four-time title winner Sebastian Vettel believes he has the “talent and skill” to become a champion. Britain already holds the record for both drivers and number of different drivers who has won the title.
Russell will also the first driver other than Hamilton since 2014, to pick up the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy, awarded by the RAC to the highest finisher from the commonwealth nations.
FIA sets out 2023 Covid protocols relaxation
The FIA has announced that it will relax coronavirus protocols for the 2023 season, including a requirement for those in the paddock to be vaccinated. Following the aborted race in Melbourne in 2020, the governing introduced a strict set of protocols to reduce the risk of spreading the virus and keeping the paddock safe.
These were relaxed throughout the second part of 2021 and this year saw the end of mandatory testing and wearing masks. Unless local restrictions require stricter measures
In a statement issued following the latest meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Bologna on Wednesday, it was confirmed that further steps will be taken to relax the protocols for next year.
This will end of the requirement for those working in so-called ‘high-density areas’, such as the paddock, pit lane and race control, to be vaccinated against COVID or have a medical exemption. This year the vaccine requirement was at least two vaccines approved by World Health Organisation, or their medical exemption when collecting their passes at the start of the season.
But it follows moves by a number of countries through 2022 to relax their COVID protocols, with many no longer requesting proof of vaccination in order to enter the country.
The governing body also confirmed the FIA will no longer organise on-site testing facilities, something that has been present since the first race with the COVID protocols in place in July 2020.
Those who have COVID symptoms or have a positive test result will still not be allowed to enter the high-density areas, according to the FIA, meaning there is no shift that would allow drivers who had tested positive to still race.
Maloney joins Red Bull junior team
Zane Maloney has joined the Red Bull Junior Team ahead of his maiden F2 campaign next year. The Barbadian, who finished runner-up in FIA F3 made the announcement on Instagram, he will also be part of the teams reserve driver line up.
It is not yet known who he will drive for in 2023, but he took part in the Abu Dhabi post-season test with Carlin, alongside fellow Red Bull junior Enzo Fittipaldi. Maloney wrote “I am thrilled to announce that I will be a part of the Red Bull Racing Junior Team and F1 Reserve Driver in 2023. I am grateful for the opportunity and support, and look forward to getting the season started.”
In 2023, he will take part in F2 having made his debut at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. During that weekend, he finished fifteenth and sixteenth, but said he had been primarily hoping for a clean weekend.
He is the second new Red Bull junior to be announced in recent months after Fittipaldi’s place in the academy was confirmed in November. The Brazilian, whose older brother Pietro Fittipaldi is reserve driver for Haas, broke the news over the Interlagos weekend.
The pair will join Japanese driver Ayumu Iwasa, 2021 F3 champion Dennis Hauger and Jehan Daruvala in representing the F1 team in F2 as Liam Lawson moves to Super Formula.
Red Bull ‘Muhammad Ali’ approach was its strength
Red Bull’s ‘Muhammad Ali’ ability to hit back when it appeared to be on the ropes was key to its success this year, reckons rival Ferrari. Despite dominating this season, the opening races of the season were beset by reliability and struggling for pace against Ferrari.
A combination of weight reduction and aero improvements to the RB18 made it the dominant car after the summer break, and Ferrari had nothing in response, especially when it stopped car development because of cost cap limits. Reflecting on the season, Ferrari’s senior performance engineer Jock Clear felt that Red Bull got it right in ensuring it had the freedom with its spending to make steps forward when it needed to.
Clear told Motorsport.com, “I think that’s probably Red Bull’s strength this year, as they look to have been flexible There were times when it was a bit of a Muhammad Ali approach. It looked like you’ve got them on the ropes and they just squirm a bit and come out and ‘bang’. And you are like: ‘Oh, my God, where did they find that?’
“I think that’s just the experience they’ve had as world champions. And that’s what we have to get used to doing. This year has been a great help. We’ve been at the front, we’ve been fighting at the front. We’ve learned a huge amount this year and we’re on a steep learning curve, as are all the teams.”
Clear says one of the key things Ferrari needs to understand better next year, is how to deploy its resources over the campaign to maximise car performance and return under the cost cap. Saying that the team may have paid the price for committing its resources early while Red Bull wer more consistent throughout.
Saying “The difficulty is to know where you’re going to be spending your money most efficiently and most effectively. And that has to take a little bit of planning. Of course, as that planning plays out, you learn that maybe you took some wrong decisions earlier on for a path you’re now on.”
Clear says that says that Red Bull has obviously done a good job of reaching where they are. But from the Ferrari point of view, they did everything they had planned to do this year. Accepting they did under compared to Red Bull in the second half of the seasons.
However, while they were big steps forwards, saying they had come away from some races thinking ‘what could have been.’ Adding “if you had offered this 12 months ago, we would have ripped your arm off. We’re very proud of what we’ve managed to do this year.”
Clear says now they need to maintain where they are, and they stopped developing the car early on to make sure they stay competitive next year.
2023 Sprints locations announced
F1 has announced the locations for its six sprint races in 2023 as Baku, Spa, Austin and Lusail will be part of the doubling of the format. In September the Commission agreed that next season the sport will have six hundred kilometre sprints.
Today the sport confirmed the six races
- Azerbaijan – Baku City Circuit (28 – 30 April)
- Austria – Red Bull Ring (30 June – 02 July)
- Belgium – Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (28 – 30 July)
- Qatar – Losail International Circuit (06 – 08 October)
- United States (Austin) – Circuit of The Americas (20 – 22 October)
- Sao Paulo – Interlagos (03 – 05 November)
The Red Bull Ring hosted its maiden sprint this year, while Interlagos has been one of the most successful sprint tracks through its events in 2021 and 2022. Imola has been dropped after hosting the sprint this year, and Doha will get a sprint as it returns to the calendar marking the first race of a ten-year deal, after a year’s hiatus due to the FIFA Men’s World Cup.
The sport is considering changes in 2024, including making it a stand-alone championship without setting the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix. But for next year, the format will be the same as 2022, awarding points to the top eight and the result setting the final starting grid for the Grand Prix.
F1 CEO and president Stefano Domenicali, said “We have seen a hugely positive reaction to the F1 Sprint events during the first two years of its running, and we can’t wait to bring even more action to fans with six events next year, including our first US F1 Sprint in Austin.”
“The introduction of the F1 Sprint has created a race weekend that includes three days of competitive racing action and brings more entertainment to fans of the sport as well as additional value for key stakeholders including teams, broadcasters, partners, and host venues.”
Despite the tweaks, including the designation of pole position to whoever topped Friday’s qualifying session after fan backlash, and an increase in the points on offer to encourage drivers to push more.
It has not stopped some criticism of the sprints from drivers, including world champion Max Verstappen, who felt most were unwilling to take risks for fear of dropping down the order and ruining their starting position for the Sunday race.
Hulkenberg “will be straight on it – Steiner
Haas team principal Gunther Steiner thinks Nico Hulkenberg’s cameos over the past three seasons show that he “will be straight on it” when he returns to the sport next season.
The German will return to the sport full time next year replacing Mick Schumacher after losing his full-time seat with Renault, now Alpine, at the end of 2019. Since then he has been nick named ‘the super-sub’ having filled in at Racing point/Aston Martin when three of its regular drivers had Covid.
Although he failed to make the start in the 2020 British Grand Prix, he impressed by finishing in the top eight in both the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone and the Nürburgring’s Eifel Grand Prix.
This year he contested the first two rounds at Bahrain and Saudi Arabia instead of Sebastian Vettel. Steiner says the cameo apperances helped convince him that Hulkenberg will not be too rusty when he slots into the team.
when asked by Motorsport.com about whether he has any concerns over a lack of race sharpness, Steiner replied, “We looked at that one as well, but when he came in, when he replaced drivers in the last years, he was pretty on the ball straight away.”
Hulkenberg took part in the post-season test for Haas on the Tuesday, which helped him get up to speed with the team and with the physical demands of racing in F1. Steiner believes following the Sakhir test “he will be straight on it.”
Adding, “Physically, these F1 cars are quite demanding, and it will take him some time to get used to it because the only way you train your muscles is driving the cars. We cross that bridge next year, but he’s pretty fit.”
