Mercedes a “step behind” – Russell
George Russell has echoed his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton saying that Mercedes are a “step behind” Red Bull and Ferrari heading into the 2022 season with their new “bouncing” car.
The eight-time constructor’s champions have been the favourites every year since 2014, but the consensus appears to be they are on the back foot going into this weekends Bahrain Grand Prix because of the regulation change.
On Saturday, the team brought upgrades, while reliable on-track, they finished a full second down on Red Bull by the end of pre-season and also well behind Ferrari, leaving Hamilton to claim Mercedes won’t be competing for wins at the start of the campaign.
Mercedes also appears to be the worst affected by porpoising in testing. Russell told Sky Sports, “It’s definitely bouncing a lot – it’s not the comfiest! I don’t really care about comfort if performance is there but at the moment the performance isn’t there.”
“We do seem a step behind our rivals. We do have a lot of work to do between now and next week to understand because in every condition, the Red Bull and the Ferrari seem a step ahead of us.”
Red Bull showed plenty of consistency and appears to have a strong car, with Russell saying there was good reason for the team’s deficit to their rivals. He says that they are not exceptional its Mercedes not being as competitive as they would like, with Red Bull and Ferrari being in the natural position with Mercedes a bit behind.
Russell added, “I think the Ferrari and the Red Bull are in natural position, their delta from the midfield and the back is probably correct, we’re just a little bit further behind than we’d like.”
The Mercedes drivers agree that they have a race-winning car, he is confident that the team can get on top of it once they figure out how to unlock performance. Adding, “This is a long game, I do believe the performance is there somewhere… we just need to find it.”
Hamilton planning to change his name
Lewis Hamilton has revealed he is planning to change his name to incorporate his mother’s surname. On a trip to Dubai in between the test and opening race in Bahrain, the seven times champion appeared at Expo 2020.
Hamilton was asked about the possibility of winning an eighth world championship and what that would mean to him, pulling clear of the current record of seven that he shares with Michael Schumacher. The Englishman says it who be “mind-blowing” to reach that milestone.
He said, “It would mean the world to my family. I’m really proud of my family’s name, Hamilton. None of you might know that my mum’s name is Larbalestier, and I’m just about to put that in my name.”
“Because I don’t really fully understand the whole idea of when people get married that the woman loses her name. My mum, I really want her name to continue on with the Hamilton name.”
Hamilton, whose full title is Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton MBE Hon FREng, said the change would happen “hopefully soon” and that he was “working on it”.
His mother, Carmen Larbalestier, has appeared at a number of races throughout his career, and attended a ceremony at Windsor Castle in December when he was knighted.
Hamilton will now return to Bahrain for this weekends opening race, which he has already talked down Mercedes’ chances of fighting for victory. The team endured a difficult second test last week, prompting Hamilton to say on Saturday that “at the moment, I don’t think we’ll be competing for wins.”
Ferrari still outsiders – Binotto
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has played down the team’s 2022 prospects despite another successful test in Bahrain. The Italian manufacturer has look quick in all conditions across the six days of testing although Red Bull clearly made a significant step with the new aero package it introduced on Saturday.
Carlos Sainz topped the times on Friday while on Saturday teammate Charles Leclerc lead most of the running until Max Verstappen went fastest on the C5 tyre in the final hour.
In Spain, Binotto insisted that Ferrari were “outsiders” behind favourites Red Bull and Mercedes, and despite the ongoing strong form of the F1-75 and the obvious struggles of the W13 he maintained that line after the Bahrain test.
Binotto told F1 TV “I think focusing on ourselves, it has been six days positive because we’re running consistently, learning a lot from the car, getting a lot of data, cross-correlating with back at Maranello, wind tunnel and simulator. That was the first objective, and I think that we achieved it.”
“Then in terms of performance, it’s very difficult to judge. I still believe that both Red Bull and Mercedes are the main [favourites], I think they are the ones that won last year, both world champions, driver or constructor, they have proved to be very strong teams in the past, they had a second of advantage at the end of last year.”
The Italian says there was no reason not to think they are the favourites saying that Ferrari was trying to be as close as they can, hoping, in the end, they are close together. Despite his caution Binotto conceded that Ferrari has proved it has the potential to run at the front.
Before the agreement in 2020 to stop doing something with their engines, Ferrari had been challenging for titles and Binotto admitted that they struggled in 2020 as well as in 2021, despite a much stronger season.
Adding, “I’m pretty sure that this team is a great team, can be a strong team, and prove once again this year that we can be back to be competitive, and that’s where we are focused on.”
“There is much to do, I think a very long season. Bahrain is the first race, but there will be another 22 or 21 races after it. I think developments through the season will be a key element as well. So let’s see. It’s a matter of stay focused on ourselves and try to do the best.”
Asked about his driver line-up, he said: “Certainly I think they are very good and talented drivers, very fast, good racers, they’ve got an objective, which is a common objective.
No longer ”uncontrollable” over/understeer when Verstappen
Max Verstappen says the new generation of cars no longer has “uncontrollable” moments of understeer or oversteer when following another car. One of the aims of this years regulation changes is to reduce the dirty air allowing the cars to follow closer and create more track action.
The early feedback from the two tests gave been positive and in Sakhir some drivers did experiment with trying to follow closer, with there no longer suddenly became unbalanced when in the wake of another car. Verstappen said on Saturday in Bahrain, “I do think it is better. It’s at least better than last year, when if you got behind someone, you suddenly got understeer or a lot of oversteer. It was uncontrollable.”
“When I’m behind a car now, I do notice that I’m losing downforce, but that happens front and rear. So that makes it more predictable and controllable for drivers.”
The change in design philosophy has also resulted in a change in driving styles, the increased weight has made the cars less agile in slow-speed corners. The Dutchman doesn’t feel the cars are more difficult to drive.
He added, “It also depends on the balance of the car of course. If you had a lot of understeer or oversteer last year, it was difficult to drive that car as well. Driving any car on the limit is difficult, so I think it’s pretty much the same.”
Asked if he thought the cars would be nice to race in the coming years, Verstappen replied: “That depends a bit on the circuits we go to. These cars are a lot slower in the slow corners because they are a lot heavier. On a track with a lot of slow corners, it will be less fun for us to drive.
New cars still sensitive to wind – Norris
Lando Norris says gusty conditions in the Bahrain test indicated that 2022 cars are still sensitive to wind. The Englishman says a valuable lesson for his McLaren team after the issue wasn’t highlighted at the first test of the year in Barcelona.
During the test in Sakhir, sensitivity to the wind was an issue for all the teams continued as it was not clear as if the characteristics would carry over into the new aerodynamic package.
Norris completed only 50 laps on Thursday, the opening day of the Bahrain test, in part because of brake problems that prevented him from doing long runs. Despite the limited mileage the Englishman noted that the team learned a lot about the MCL36.
He told Motorsport.com “Definitely the cars are still sensitive to the wind. I think that’s a good thing we found it out, just because Barcelona was not windy. So it’s kind of good that we understood that it’s still there.”
“F1 cars are still sensitive to the wind, and how gusty it can be, and so on. And just the difference in the track – it’s a lot hotter today than what it was in Barcelona, so how the tyres are working, the car is working. It’s a lot bumpier, so how the car is riding the bumps and performing over the bumps.”
Norris says all these things were tricky and McLaren needed to figure out how to do that in the coming days they would be trying to understand the cars. Drivers have reported that the 2022 cars are tricky to drive in slow corners, and on Thursday Sakhir’s tight Turn 10 proved particularly difficult.
He says there were two reasons for this the wind commonly cited by most drivers and the larger tyres, which Norris said makes you set up the car stiffer, but that makes them bumpy.
Norris added, “these different tyres, the bigger tyres, how you have to set up these cars is stiffer, and then it’s quite a bumpy entry you have into that corner, and you’re also turning while braking.”
When you put all this together, cars aren’t designed to this making it extremely tricky and very easy to lock up causing flat spots. He added, early indications are that drivers will have to take a conservative approach in some corners with the new cars.
BIRD accuses F1 of ignoring human rights abuses
Bahrain’s Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird) has accused Formula One of ignoring the abuse of human rights in Bahrain on the eve of the new season starting in the country this weekend.
Bird accused the sport of “abandoned those who have been tortured and imprisoned” partly as a result of criticism of the race.
An F1 spokesperson said: “We take our responsibilities on rights very seriously and set high ethical standards for counter-parties and those in our supply chain.”
These were “enshrined in contracts, and we pay close attention to their adherence”.
Bird director of advocacy Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei wrote to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali following the decision to award the Bahrain race a new 15-year contract. The letter says that the contract “directly contradicts your claim from last year that F1 takes ‘violence, abuse of human rights and repression very seriously'”.
It adds that the Grand Prix “has contributed to the abuse and suffering of individuals, and F1 has failed to adequately use its platform to put an end to abuses or secure redress for these victims”.
It accused F1 of “double-standards” after cancelling the Russian Grand Prix following the invasion of Ukraine, citing the involvement of Saudi Arabia in Yemen. BIRD called for a review its policy on races in the Middle East and reconsider its position on an independent commission to investigate human rights violations linked to the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Bird has also written to some drivers asking them to “publicly stand up for human rights in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, including on social media platforms”.
A statement from F1 said, “For decades, Formula 1 has worked hard to be a positive force everywhere it races, including economic, social, and cultural benefits. Sports like Formula 1 are uniquely positioned to cross borders and cultures to bring countries and communities together to share the passion and excitement of incredible competition and achievement.”
‘No war’ helmet a strong sign – Vettel
Sebastian Vettel feels his ‘no war’ helmet worn at the Sakhir Test is a “strong sign” to show support for Ukraine, but wishes there was no need for it to be used. On the eve of testing the GPDA came together for an event on the grid, wearing t-shirts and holding a banner with the ‘No War’ message, following Russia’s invasion.
The German Vettel unveiled a helmet carrying the same message and the Ukrainian flag, as well as a dove holding an olive branch in its mouth and the lyrics to John Lennon’s song Imagine on the top. Vettel said on Saturday in Bahrain, “I wish I would have not come up with the design because there was no need. It’s a strong sign to just show the support.”
“All the drivers got together as well on Wednesday as we thought we’d use the opportunity to just show that we are united and take a stand. It’s horrible what’s happening. It’s like a nightmare and we don’t seem to wake up, so that’s the simple reason why my helmet design is quite simple and but effective I decided to go that way.”
Vettel was forced to amend the design after one of the flags included was from the unrecognised region of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. His helmet designed, Jens Munser Designs, issued a statement apologising and saying that stock images had been used for the flags.
Speaking about the error he said, “I didn’t check all the flags but apparently there was some issues. I took the little sticker off because some people got upset, which I think fails the message. The message is that obviously the whole world should be united and is united I think to fight war. We grew up in times of peace and I think we appreciate peace a lot.”
