F1 Today – 12/08/2022
Red Bull says recruits from Mercedes gives it “intent”
Red Bull says the latest recruits it has taken from Mercedes to help bolster its engine project are a clear “statement of intent” about its ambitions. As part of its plans to invest in its Milton Keynes base, the team has heavily invested in designing and manufacturing its own power units for the next set of F1 regulations from 2026.
It has already created a Powertrains division as well as signing several key personnel from Mercedes to help drive its plan forward ahead of a likely partnership with Porsche. his included its new technical director Ben Hodgkinson, who had been head of mechanical engineering at Mercedes’ High-Performance Powertrains since 2017 after two decades with the German manufacturer.
As Motorsport.com revealed recently, Red Bull also recently signed the highly respected Phil Prew, who is perhaps best known for being Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer for his first world title at McLaren in 2008. More recently Prew has been chief engineer at Mercedes power unit division.
The website says that Prew is not the only recent signing from Mercedes either, with its thermofluids simulation team leader Nigel McKinley also anticipated to move across to Red Bull. Speaking about Prew and other recent appointments, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said “I’m delighted that Phil is going to be joining the team. He has a phenomenal track record, and he has been a key component of Mercedes’ recent success.”
“It’s another statement of intent of where we want to be with the power unit. I think that we assembled great strength and depth within the business. It’s fantastic to see it really coming together and coming to life. Phil’s one of the few key signings recently that adds to the very talented group of people that we’ve already assembled.”
While it’s understood that Red Bull is close to a deal with Porsche, its believed that the partnership will not be finalised until the 2026 engine regulations until the autumn. Horner said that Red Bull’s direction with its powertrain division was simply focused on trying to deliver the best possible engine for whatever happens in 2026.
Russell hopes further floor clampdown brings Mercedes into mix
George Russell is hoping that the FIA’s further clampdown on flexi-floors introduced at the Belgian Grand Prix will bring Mercedes closer to fighting with Ferrari and Red Bull. In a move to restrict excessive car bouncing, the FIA will introduce measures aimed to halt the phenomenon by enforcing an Aerodynamic Oscillation Metric (AOM) that teams cannot exceed from Spa.
It is also understood that the FIA is installing measures to outlaw tricks some teams are believed to have made in flexing their floors and planks to gain performance. But these moves have been met with resistance from teams, who believe the governing body shouldn’t be involved in deciding how teams set up their cars.
While the full impact of the AOM will be realised at Spa, having been just an advisory measure in the races before the summer break, Russell believes it could prove beneficial to Mercedes against its frontrunning rivals. Russell told Sky Sports, “I think there is no doubt that Ferrari and Red Bull will have pushed the regulations in that regard and we’ve respected it as the regulation was intended.”
“But there is no guarantees that it would bring them closer to us. We know if it was on our car it would make us slower. There is no guarantees, every car is different but it is not going to help them that is for sure.”
Reflecting on the progress made this season, Russell said he believed that Mercedes can get in the pace range of Mercedes and Ferrari, possibly also fighting for podiums and victories. He has also been impressed by the rate of improvement the team has made with its car.
Speaking about the battle between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, he says he believes they are both on the same level. But says that Leclerc is doing a “superb job,” but, is on the receiving end of the bad luck at the moment. While Red Bull is doing a solid job at every race.
On Mercedes’s performance, he said, “As a team we finished almost a minute behind the race winner at the start of the season but now it is ten seconds in the last couple of races. So if we can continue on that path we will definitely be in the hunt.”
Looking ahead to Spa, Russell believes the regulation changes should bring Mercedes closer to the front. He says he thinks the team are doing a great job, and there was no reason why the team couldn’t be in the mix going forwards.
Hamilton says Alonso is his toughest rival
Lewis Hamilton believes that “on pure pace” Fernando Alonso is the toughest rival he’s ever had in his Formula One career, while the Spaniard has described his former team-mate as a “legend”. The two have nine titles, a hundred and thirty-five wins from six hundred and fifty starts between them.
Their relationship was so intense during 2007 it resulted in Alonso leaving McLaren at the end of the season and return to Renault, now Alpine. However over the last decade, the respect between the two has grown with every passing year and Hamilton picked out Alonso as his most talented competitor.
Hamilton recalled ahead of his three hundredth race last month, “I remember the task of being alongside Fernando when I was twenty-two. I was so young mentally and of course, OK in terms of skill but it’s a lot of pressure to go against a great like him. So I would say out of pure pace I think… I always say [my toughest opponent] is Fernando and his ability.”
“We had some good battles, I wish we could have more and hopefully he’s going to continue to race so hopefully we will have more in the future.”
Since these comments were made in late July, Alonso has secured his F1 future for multiple more seasons with a surprise switch for 2023 from Alpine to Aston Martin.
Asked how Hamilton had evolved over the years, Alonso said he “hadn’t changed much” but that he had added experience to his talent – while also picking the right team in Mercedes – to become F1’s most successful star.
Saying, “He had the talent, already in 2007 and he still have the talent now with experience and he has been a tremendous driver, and a legend of our sport,” said Alonso. So it has been always a pleasure to share all this time with him and back then probably no one thought that someone will be able to win seven titles as Michael [Schumacher].”
Shwartzman excited for practice debut
Robert Shwartzman says he is “a bit excited” for his F1 race weekend debut with Ferrari later this season when he takes part in two practice sessions. The Russian-born driver who switched to Israel following the ban on Russian drivers following the countries invasion of Ukraine is set to fulfil Ferrari’s young driver requirement for two practice sessions in 2022.
Shwartzman took part in last year’s end-of-season F1 rookie test in Abu Dhabi, driving for both Ferrari and the customer Haas team, but is yet to make his F1 race weekend debut. Speaking to Motorsport.com, he said, “I’m a bit excited about the idea. I still don’t know exactly at which events I will be on track, but it will undoubtedly be a good moment.”
“I am proud to be able to drive a Ferrari on a race weekend, and also very interested in verifying the correlation work done with the engineers in the simulator. We have spent so many hours improving the virtual car and bringing it as close to reality as possible. Now I can’t wait to see the results of this work first-hand.”
This season the Israeli hasn’t raced full time, instead focusing on support work for Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz after leaving F2 at the end of last season. The team has over the past few years invested heavily in a new simulator which became operational at the start of the year.
Shwartzman said the lack of a racing programme this year has given him “full immersion” in Ferrari’s race team, with his simulator duties being complemented by private testing in recent F1 machinery. However his goal remains the same to get a seat in F1, but he accepts that its “a bit early” for Ferrari to make a decision about 2023.
He says “I’ll do the best I can to get a chance. Obviously I hope that the work I am doing this season will be of help to me. Honestly, I don’t have a real Plan B, the kind that if I don’t go to Formula 1, there will already be an alternative project. Sometimes I think about what I could do, but today, I’m totally focused on Formula One.”
He and Ferrari decided to apply for an Israeli licence as the situation and scansions on Russia stepped up in April, that was to ensure he remained on hand for potential F1 opportunities, including the planned practice outings. Shwartzman qualifies as he was born in Tel Aviv and spent the first three years of his life living in Israel.
Adding “I obviously always had an Israeli passport, and for this reason, when the situation between Russia and Ukraine worsened, I decided to apply for a license in Israel.”
“I want to be a driver, reaching Formula 1 is my only goal and, waiting for the motorsport authorities to make the decisions that they then made, the need immediately arose in me to make sure I was available again if Ferrari needed to put me in the car.”
Bottas’s most enjoyable season in F1
Valtteri Bottas believes 2022 is “probably the most enjoyable” season he has experienced to date thanks to stability over his future with Alfa Romeo. The Finn joined Alfa Romeo at the start of the season following a five-year stint at Mercedes, he took wins and finished runner-up in the championship twice behind teammate Lewis Hamilton.
While the Finn has taken a step back from the regular front-running form he enjoyed at Mercedes, he has spearheaded Alfa Romeo’s efforts in the midfield this season, scoring forty-one of the team’s forty-six points so far.
Bottas signed a multi-year agreement with Alfa Romeo for this year, providing certainty over his future that he never previously enjoyed with either Williams or Mercedes, who opted for yearly contract renewals. Bottas told Motorsport.com, “This is actually the first time for me, because even with Williams, it was always one year. It’s the first time I haven’t had to stress and answer the questions, because now for the drivers who don’t know, for sure it’s not going to be nice.”
Bottas admitted that he felt more relaxed and better able to “just fully focus on the job”, giving him more freedom to enjoy racing in F1. He described his season as the most enjoyable so far, saying “it really feels like I’m enjoying F1 more than ever.”
He added, “When it gets to the racing, it’s a lot of good fun, especially like in the midfield and how different it is strategy-wise in the races. It’s more like one decision can jump you many places. It’s a different game”
Speaking about the environment at Alfa Romeo he said it felt “quite young” and “like a new race team”, as well as being “a bit more relaxed” than Mercedes which was regularly fighting for wins and championships.
Bottas is a prolific user of social media, speaking about the famous Buttass or Bottass picture of him skinning dipping in Colorado, which raised £42,000 for charity after being turned into a print.
Asked if he could have posted the picture when he was at Mercedes, Bottas said: “I doubt I would have done it. It’s also like, out of the track, I’m so relaxed and even like people’s opinion, I just care much less than I used to. And it was a nice photo!”