Teams prepare for 2021 regulations summit
Formula One teams head to Paris for a key summit ahead of the October 31st deadline to agree the 2021 regulations. On Wednesday, teams, the FIA, Liberty Media and the GPDA to get the deal done before next months council meeting.
Two preparatory meetings were held in Suzuka, one saw team managers discuss details of sporting regulations, such as the revised curfew. The other was specifically for strategists, where the results of recent simulations of the impact of potential changes, like the format of the race weekends.
However, some of the manufacturer teams and bigger teams have been against the proposals for standard parts and cost controls. McLaren CEO Zak Brown, told Motorsport.com, “We’ll have the balance of what the future of F1 is going to look like in our hands next week, and then it should be finalised by the end of October.”
“I think F1 does need some radical change. The amount of money we are spending is unnecessary relative to putting on a great show for the fans, which is what motor racing should first and foremost be about.” Brown believes that the sport needs closer racing and the costs need to be reduced to create closer racing and more unpredictability.
Adding that he is confident that the sport is heading in the right direction to make the drastic changes, which will come in 2021.
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto agreed that the Paris meeting would be “very important, because that’s the last one, all together, before the end of the month when there will be a new vote”.
Binotto says that there is still a lot which needs to be discussed and that Ferrari is an important voice in the negotiations because of what it means to the sport.
Binotto reiterated that Ferrari was not keen to use its power of veto in 2021 discussions. “That will really be a shame. I don’t think that should be the case at all. I think we’ve got a good and open discussion with the stakeholders at the moment and I’m as well somehow hopeful that we can find the right compromise at the end.”
F1 sticking to three-day format – Brawn
Formula One’s motorsport director Ross Brawn says that the sport will stick to a three-day format, but with changes to the format to the weekend because of the expanding calendar.
Schedule changes have been debated by teams and stakeholders as part of measures to improve the show and cut costs while reducing the burden on staff who face travelling to an unprecedented 22 races from 2020.
The sport has also talked of experimenting at three rounds next year with plans for sprint races to be held on Saturday afternoon to decide Sunday’s starting grid instead of traditional qualifying.
On Saturday unplanned in-formal discussions were held in a hotel following the postponement of qualifying because of Typhoon Hagibis. Ahead of a key summit on Wednesday, teams, the FIA, GPDA and Liberty Media meet in Paris to agree to the regulations ahead of the deadline on 31st October.
In his post-race debrief, Brawn wrote, “It was a Super Sunday in Suzuka and that naturally reopened the debate about the shape of an F1 weekend,” Brawn said in a Formula One review.”
“This is an aspect of the sport we have focused on in some detail as we work towards the rules that will govern Formula One over the coming years.”
Brawn says there is a strong consensus between teams, drivers and promoters to maintaining the three-day format of track activity, although with a different timetable.
Thursday has traditionally been the media day, with no track running but drivers attending news conferences and available for briefings with reporters while mechanics prepare the cars for Friday practice.
Brawn says more details will emerge when an agreement is reached.
Hamilton decades constructors to Lauda
Lewis Hamilton has decided Mercedes sixth world title to the team’s former non-executive chairman Niki Lauda saying they owe the three-times champion a “huge amount” for their historic success.
The German manufacturer is guaranteed to seal a sixth consecutive drivers’ and constructors’ double, their standing in the sport was much different in 2012 when Lauda joined a raw outfit which had just one win in the previous three seasons.
The three-time champion played a key role in convincing Hamilton to leave McLaren and formed a powerful partnership with the Englishman and CEO Toto Wolff.
That partnership has seen them dominate the turbo-hybrid era winning five consecutive drivers and constructors, although the 2019 drivers title isn’t sealed it’s going to go to Hamilton or teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Hamilton told reporters, “It definitely feels a little bit different. I wouldn’t want to say I’m as happy as previously because we lost Niki this year and it doesn’t feel the same without him.”
“Naturally I’m very, very proud of the team, very proud of everyone back at the factory and I know Niki would be taking off his hat for today’s result.”
“We owe him a huge amount and this win is really for him. I think the whole team, the whole of Mercedes would probably dedicate this win to Niki – I definitely do.”
Since Monaco, Mercedes has displayed a red star on the car with a red cap still hanging in the garage where his headset would be. During celebrations of the win and sealing the constructors, a red cap was placed on the winner’s trophy.
Reflecting on the season, Hamilton added “It has been a difficult, tough year for us. Every time I walk into the garage we see Niki’s headphones and his cap – I sat and looked at it before I got in the car.”
Renault cars impounded the following protest
Renault has had parts from their cars impounded following the Japanese Grand Prix after Racing Point lodged a protest about its brake bias system, one which has been upheld by the FIA and will carry on into next week.
Racing Point’s protests centres on a “pre-set lap distance-dependent brake bias adjustment system” and representatives from both teams visited the stewards after the race in Suzuka. Following that meeting, the stewards said the claims were admissible.
The ECU and steering wheel of both Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg’s cars have been impounded pending further investigation.
In a statement, the FIA said, “Having received a protest from Racing Point against Renault concerning an alleged pre-set lap distance-dependent brake bias adjustment system on cars 3 and 27, the stewards summoned and heard from the team representatives of both teams and a representative of the FIA Technical Department.”
The stewards decided that the case met all required criteria under Article 13 of the International Sporting Code, and as such has sealed the ECU and steering wheel.
“The FIA Technical Department representative was directed to seal and impound the FIA standard electronic control units and steering wheels of cars 3 and 27 in preparation for conducting a detailed analysis of those pieces.”
“The representative is further directed to conduct a detailed analysis of the hardware, software, and data associated with them and, when complete, provide a written report to the stewards with their findings, to include an assessment that matches those findings against the potential technical infringements detailed in the protest.”
A statement from Renault said, “Team representatives have met with the stewards of the event at Suzuka, but due to the complexity of the 12-page dossier prepared by SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team, a further meeting will take place at a future date, to be defined.”
“Renault intends to use this recess to prepare an equally detailed case to rigorously defend its position.”
Ferrari lost out by “small things” – Vettel
Sebastian Vettel says that Ferrari has a “lot of small things” if they are going to beat Mercedes over a course of a season, claiming the world champions are operating at a level which is “very close to perfection”.
A strong weekend at Suzuka allowed Mercedes to wrap up a sixth consecutive driver and constructor’s championship, the drivers’ championship is still to be decided between its drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
Historically, it’s been Ferrari who has set the standard. While the Italian manufacturer has been the closest challengers to Mercedes they have failed to find the consistency over the course of the season to fight for the championship.
Sunday was another example of that, despite locking up the front row, Ferrari had a far slower race car than Mercedes, while Vettel made a critical error at the start and Charles Leclerc collided with Max Verstappen.
the four-time world champion, when asked about competing against Mercedes, told Sky Sports, “It’s very difficult”
He added, “Obviously you can’t see what they are doing but I think from the outside they are very close to perfection every time they go out on track so very consistent, very little mistakes.”
“That’s certainly also part of what makes them so strong but yeah, if you clinch the constructors’ title with four races to go there’s a lot of things you do better than all the others.”
Vettel believes that the reason Ferrari failed to challenge for the title was lots of small things, saying that everyone at Ferrari needs to step up.
Arguably Ferrari went into 2019 as the team to beat in straight-line speed, but Mercedes was still operating at a high level. Although they have proved they have a faster car.
Reflexing on 2019, Vettel said, “Well, obviously not happy with the fact that we didn’t have the year that we were looking for but it’s not today that made the difference, not yesterday, and not last week.”
“I think we just need to work better. I think we are very committed, working very hard but it’s not yet on the level that can be achieved.”
McLaren accuse Ferrari of wrecking race
McLaren’s team Principal Andreas Seidl has criticised Ferrari for wrecking Lando Norris’s Japanese Grand Prix. The Italian team and Charles Leclerc were given penalties for staying out on track with a damaged car for two laps beyond the Monegasque’s first-lap collision with Max Verstappen.
Leclerc was awarded a ten-second penalty, five for the collision and five for the failure to stop for damage, with the team earning a €25,000 fine as well.
On lap two, parts of the flailing wing twice broke off Leclerc’s car – with the flying debris breaking the wing mirror of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and also lodging in the brake duct of Norris’ McLaren, who was two cars further back.
Seidl told Sky Sport, “We obviously strongly disagree with competitors leaving cars on track with entire front wing endplates hanging off and putting everyone else at risk.”
“After Leclerc’s endplate finally exploded, Lando, unfortunately, caught some of the debris in his right front brake duct. This meant he had to box early, and his race was pretty much done. Even then, he gave it everything and put in a great performance.”
The pit stop dropped the Bristolian out of the points, although he recovered to thirteenth. While the incident between Norris and Leclerc, also gave Max Verstappen race-ending damage.
Leclerc, running just ahead of Hamilton in third place, continued on into the second lap with his wing now sparking against the ground on Suzuka’s pit straight.
But Leclerc’s wing deposited debris at the hairpin and then, more dramatically, on the approach to 130R, breaking the right-hand wing mirror on Hamilton’s Mercedes and scattering more carbon-fibre on the track for oncoming cars, including the McLarens.
The stewards ruled that Ferrari’s actions “created an unsafe condition on the circuit which only narrowly avoided being a major incident and also increased the likelihood of additional incidents after the one noted”.
Unfortunate system error behind the early chequered flag
Formula One race director Michael Masi says a “very unfortunate” system error was the reason that the chequered flag light panel being displayed too early at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Race winner Valtteri Bottas was shown the light panel displaying the chequered flag on lap fifty two rather than three. That meant under the regulations the last lap was declared void, even though drivers did go on to complete the full distance at racing speed.
The use of the light panel to declare the race finished was introduced at the start of this year as a means of avoiding situations that had happened at other races where the chequered flag was waved at the wrong moment.
Masi says an investigation into what happened concluded that o a system error, but the exact detail of how that came about had not yet been pinpointed.
He told Motorsport.com, “From what we have seen it is a system error,” he said. “It is something that we have to investigate. I am not going to pre-empt what it is, was, or wasn’t. It was a system error.”
Masi explained that there are both automatic and human systems, so it is not clear if it was triggered by human or computer error.
Adding “We pride ourselves on doing things perfectly but it is one of those that hasn’t happened before with the chequered flag board, and we have just got to investigate why.”
