F1 Today – United States Prixview – 20/10/2022
Cap breeches set scene for rising tensions in Texas
Tensions continue to rise, and allegations continue after Red Bull was found to have broken the cost cap. Three years ago in Austin, the regulations were announced and now the sport is set for another divisive press conference on the fallout following the 2021 accounts being pushed last week.
Red Bull’s Christian Horner, whose team breached the cap, will face the media alongside Zak Brown, whose leaked letter to the FIA claimed exceeding the cap constitutes “cheating”. The letter seen by both BBC News and Sky Sports however doesn’t mention Red Bull by name.
However, he explicitly references last week’s FIA announcement which confirmed Red Bull’s “minor” overspend and “procedural” cost cap breach as well as Aston Martin’s procedural breach. Williams was fined earlier this year for their own procedural breach.
The letter by Brown, reads, “The overspend breach, and possibly the procedural breaches, constitute cheating by offering a significant advantage across technical, sporting and financial regulations.”
“The FIA has run an extremely thorough, collaborative and open process. We have even been given a one-year dress rehearsal [in 2020], with ample opportunity to seek any clarification if details were unclear. So, there is no reason for any team to now say they are surprised.”
That last remark appeared to reference Red Bull’s “surprised and disappointed” reaction to have exceeded cost cap. Red Bull offered no comment when asked to respond to Brown’s letter. Since these allegations started to emerge in Singapore the team has vigorously rejected the claims and accused its rivals of libel.
The letter was sent to teams and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali. However, its principal addressee was FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, at the precise moment he has to oversee a verdict on Red Bull’s breach.
Several senior motorsport figures have told Sky Sports that how Ben Sulayem deals with this is “by far” the biggest test of his presidency. Might his decisions make or break the cost cap? Brown thinks so, and makes specific recommendations.
The feeling is that exceeding the cap gives a team an unfair advantage both in the current and following year’s car development. Brown called on the team’s cap for 2023 to be reduced by $4m, the amount they exceeded as well as the fine, that’s about 25-50% of a team’s development budget, which would have a significant positive and long-lasting benefit.
Saying “These should be enforced in the following year, to mitigate against the unfair advantage the team has and will continue to benefit from.”
Whether Ben Sulayem agrees, or what F1’s leadership and the other teams make of Brown’s recommendations, will emerge over the coming days.
One senior figure from another compliant team told Sky Sports: “We tend to agree that teams can gain a significant advantage by not adhering to the cap. The punishment must be such that the advantage gained is removed and then some in order to disincentivize future breaches.”
A cost cap announced in Texas faces its acid test in Texas three years on. Given teams made their submissions in the spring this whole process has been drawn out rather than quick on the draw.
Mercedes faces huge winter to close the gap – Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes faces a huge winter as they bid to get back into contention for championships, admitting the team has to “dig deeper” and “go in a different direction” to catch up to Red Bull and Ferrari.
After winning eight straight world constructors’ championships to falling well behind their rivals following the regulation changes, are planning for a significant re-design of their car for 2023 to try and reverse their slump. That decision is not one the team would have wanted to make but they haven’t yet won a race, while Max Verstappen has wrapped up the drivers’ title.
The seven-time world champion, speaking to Sky Sports F1’s Naomi Schiff in Singapore, said the team have “mixed feelings” about the change in approach.
Hamilton said, “From being here for such a long time, knowing how long it takes to change things, knowing how long the processes are, the decisions have to be actioned months in advance of the direction that you’re going. You’re continuously collating data and getting different bits of information that can alter those along the way.”
“One thing is that I have 1,000 per cent confidence in my team. I would say just with how the rules are, I know it can be tough for everybody. Everyone is going to have to dig even deeper during these next six months, and it’s not going to be easy, but I feel like everyone’s up to the challenge, up to the task.”
Red Bull has won fourteen of the eighteen races this season and can seal the constructors if they outscore Ferrari by twenty-six points, meaning the best possibility is a one-two. Ferrari because of the mistakes they have made throughout the season have brought Mercedes into play for second in the constructors.
Hamilton praised Red Bull for doing an incredible job, saying that the whole team has been amazing. But warned that their car was likely to evolve into next year whereas Mercedes have needed to go in a different direction.
Hamilton also said his helping the team with their underperforming car is a factor in him trailing new team-mate George Russell in the drivers’ standings. Adding “I think we’ve learnt so much through the data. I’ve tested everything on the car, I’ve tested every setting that you can possibly test on the car 100 times, and I’ve paid the price for it through the first half of the season.”
Porsche entry ‘not dead’ says FIA
The FIA has suggested that Porsches’ hopes of entering F1 are not yet over yet, suggests the FIA, despite the collapse of the German car manufacturer’s original plan with Red Bull.
With its parent Volkswagen Group company eager to get two of its brands into F1 in 2026, Porsche had originally looked set to tie up with Red Bull while Audi partnered with Sauber. Talks with Red Bull were at an advanced stage before falling apart after the summer break because the team felt its independence would have been compromised if Porsche became a shareholder in the team.
Speaking in the wake of their discussions ending, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner made it clear about there being key differences in approach. he said “Porsche is a great brand, but the DNA is quite different. During the discussion process, it became clear that there was a strategic non-alignment.”
“Red Bull has demonstrated what it’s capable of in F1. And obviously, as an independent team and now engine manufacturer, we look forward to go to competing against the OEMs with the powertrain as well as the chassis.”
The collapse of the deal appeared to leave Porsche with very few options to find a way back in. Back in September, however, it indicated it was keeping the door open about an F1 future but offered little more.
It said in a statement “The premise was always that a partnership would be based on an equal footing, which would include not only an engine partnership but also the team.”
“This could not be achieved. With the finalised rule changes, the racing series nevertheless remains an attractive environment for Porsche, which will continue to be monitored.”
In a note that motor racing’s governing body sent out after a meeting of its World Motor Sport Council on Wednesday regarding the 2026 engine rules, it said: “At Spa-Francorchamps in August, Audi announced it was joining the FIA Formula 1 World Championship from 2026 as a power unit manufacturer.”
“This announcement was an endorsement of the hard work by all stakeholders to develop those regulations. We also note that Porsche are still in discussions with Formula 1 teams.”
Schumacher ‘costs a fortune’ but can stay if he turns it around
Mick Schumacher must score points over the final four races of the season to show he deserves a new Haas deal, says the team’s owner. The German has scored twelve points this season, however, has had several accidents which has cost the team a fortune.
Gene Haas also told reporters that Schumacher “costs a fortune” with his crashes and confirmed the team had spoken to other drivers about 2023 but that “Mick’s future is going to be decided by Mick.”
Haas told AP, “We’re just waiting. We need Mick to bring some points and we’re trying to give him as much time as possible to see what he can do. If he wants to stay with us, he’s got to show us that he can score some more points. That’s what we are waiting for.”
Schumacher is currently sixteenth, however, missed the race in Jeddah following a big crash in qualifying where he was taken to hospital for precautionary checks. Meanwhile, Kevin Magnussen who returned to the team following a year out, after Nikita Mazepin was dropped due to sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is fourteenth in the championship.
Haas added, “We started off the year with resounding success and I think the middle season wasn’t too good, and we just seem to fall back into our usual way of running We’ve just got to get out of that. And F1 is so tough. When I started there was six seconds between the leaders and the backend and you had a 107 per cent rule.”
Schumacher has tested the patience of Haas, but they still believe has potential, Haas say a turnaround would put them in a ‘grey area.’
The drivers being mentioned to replace Schumacher include Antonio Giovinazzi and, more recently, Nico Hulkenberg, who made two starts this season as a substitute driver for Aston Martin.
Tsunoda admits he needs to “reduce” mistakes
Yuki Tsunoda says he needs to “definitely reduce” mistakes like his crash in Singapore and number of penalties if he is to lead Alpha Tauri next season. The Japanese driver will be the longest severing driver at the team following Pierre Gasly’s departure to Alpine.
Gasly will be replaced by Nyck de Vries, who has won titles in Formula 2 and Formula E and made his F1 debut at Monza in September as a late stand-in for Alex Albon at Williams. While Tsunoda has shown flashes of brilliance during his time with AlphaTauri and made decent progress through his second season in 2022, but has also struggled for consistency at points.
He has been open about needing to learn from Gasly and said at Suzuka there was still “lots of things” he needed to pick up in their final races as teammates. Tsunoda said, “For sure the kind of mistakes I did in Singapore, I have to definitely reduce, and other things, for example, penalties. Those things are unnecessary.”
“So those things, definitely I have to improve but at the same time, the pace, especially one lap, I’m quite happy and having good progress so far. So, I’ll just keep like this momentum until the next year.”
Team principal Franz Tost has previously spoken about the need for Tsunoda to get his emotions under control, having seen his driver land a grid penalty at Monza for racking up too many reprimands – a first since the rule was introduced. He has also failed to score points since Barcelona, as Alpha Tauri slipped to ninth in the constructors.
Tsunoda said he was eager to regain a “good rhythm, like I had in the first half of the season” through the closing races in order to go into the winter on a high.
Adding, “This will be probably a good opportunity to back into the rhythm. But I think still learning, [there are] lots of things, lots of things to learn, but I seem to have quite good confidence to do that.”
Palou to make practice debut in Austin
IndyCar driver Alex Palou will make his practice debut for McLaren in Friday’s first practice session at the United States Grand Prix. The Spaniard will drive Daniel Ricciardo’s car at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
IndyCar driver, Mexican Pato O’Ward, will drive a McLaren at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, also in first practice, in Lando Norris’ car. Both have previously tested McLarens away from Grand Prix weekends.
Palou was at the heart of a contract controversy earlier this year when both McLaren and the rival Ganassi team said they had signed him for the 2023 IndyCar season. He will race for Ganassi next year before the expected move to McLaren in 2024.
The dispute echoed the one McLaren and Alpine had in the summer about the future of Oscar Piastri, which ruled only McLaren had a valid contract. The 21-year-old is joining McLaren next year as Norris’ team-mate, after the team paid off Ricciardo’s contract to terminate it a year early at the end of this season.
Palou said: “I’m so excited to be making my F1 weekend debut. It’s great to be driving in the United States in front of fans that may have seen me race in IndyCar. Having driven the 2021 McLaren MCL35M in a few tests now, I can’t wait to put the MCL36 through its paces.”
O’Ward said: “I can’t wait to get out on track in Abu Dhabi. I’ve developed as a driver and had a lot of fun testing last year’s car with the team, so it will be a great experience to drive the MCL36.”
Austin ten years on… F1 American home
Its been a decade since Austin made its debut in F1, as the United States prepares to host three races in 2023 it has won the battle to break into the country. Austin arrival in 2012 followed five years without a race in the country, a damaging scandal in 2005 by tyre failures at Indianapolis.
Last year’s carnival-like event at COTA was confirmation of the extent F1 has cracked America in recent years, with drivers and team bosses all commenting how big it felt compared to previous visits to the States.
Much has been written about the surge of interest F1 is enjoying right now, helped massively by Netflix’s Drive to Survive series. It’s showing no sign of easing off — Miami’s debut race in May generated huge fanfare and the Saturday night Las Vegas street race slated for next year already looks set to be one of the highlights of the 2023 season.
COTA was the first purpose-built circuit in the country and has evolved over the last decade into a European feeling race, record sales in the last three years, excluding the cancelled 2020 race. The promoter Bobby Epstein thinks COTA played a key role in making sure there was an established race in America when the boom period started.
He said “We’re really proud of what we’ve accomplished and how the fans have recognised the efforts here. The sport was in Indy for a bit, but realistically that’s for the Indy 500 and IndyCar, that’s their home stadium. We built this place for Formula One.”
“We gave it its first home in the States, certainly the first in this century or in the last 30, 40 years. I hope it led to a lot of the success that’s happened. I don’t think it would have been here… I don’t think anyone else would have built a purpose-built facility for F1. There was talk of maybe there wasn’t anyone else crazy enough to do it!”
There has been fears for Epstein when Mexico re-joined the calendar about damaging the race in the Texan capital. However, those fears as gone with the American popularity growing, while like many of its European counterpart the TV rights are largely on pay-to-view, this weekend will be free-to-air as the national Grand Prix.
Fans attending the Austin race can expect an event which mixes F1 race and support events with a festival. Ed Sheeran and Green Day are headlining the musical slate of events at COTA this week, while the circuit has added a new grandstand on the infield of the high-speed Turn Six. An American driver, Logan Sargeant, will take part on Friday’s practice for Williams.
When asked when or if the buzz around F1 will ease off, Epstein said: “I don’t think there’s a cap [on F1’s popularity]. I think there’s a trajectory of growth that will perhaps slow, but it’s still going to be growth. It’s got the momentum it needs to keep growing. It’s reaching a demographic a lot of sports would envy and that a lot of sponsors crave
Singapore track changes to see twenty seconds improvement
The layout of the Marina Bay Street Circuit will be temporarily for 2023 to help accommodate the construction of a new events venue. Work to redevelop The Float into a new entertainments and stage area means the previous section of the circuit from Turns 16 to 19 cannot be used next year.
The area is famously known for the Crashgate scandal in 2008, when Renault (Alpine) the then management conspired with Nelson Piquet Jr to cause a deliberate crash and allow teammate Fernando Alonso to win.
Work on what is to become ‘NS Square’ will begin in March next year and it means for next year’s Singapore GP, the track will miss the entire section in front of the famous grandstand.
the circuit will now feature a flat-out section from the right-hander at Turn 14, which will incorporate a new 379.3 metre-long straight from Turn 15 to the new tight Turn 16. The computer simulation suggests that lap times could be over twenty seconds faster compared to this year.
The conditions in qualifying were not ideal though, with the track having started out damp, and practice times in the dry had been more than five seconds per lap quicker. As the result of the revisions, which will reduce the track length to 4.928 kilometres, the number of laps for the race will be increased to 63 from its current 61.
The temporary changes however need the approval of the governing
The weekend ahead
This weekend is about whether Red Bull can wrap up the constructor championship, they need to outscore Ferrari by twenty-six points, though just a win plus fastest lap is enough they more likely need a one-two. Red Bull have won the last seven races and Austin is a high speed downforce circuit where the corners are similar to circuits where they have won this season.
The circuit is one which favours overtaking, it has been an outlier in recent years where we have seen plenty of drama on track. That should only increase because of this years regulation changes and we have seen this season in the midfield at least very close racing. We know Austin is potentially a challenging circuit as its based on some of the best circuits in the world and that will create overtaking.
This circuit could be more difficult although as we said last year the bumps were causing issues, they have appeared to be ironed out. But it will be interesting to see if porpoising along the straights will be an issue for Mercedes. I think however while their have been ‘issues’ in Friday practice by qualifying they have managed to resolve them and they have had a better race car all season.
Alpine you need to believe are in the best position to beat McLaren to fourth, we have been saying that for a while. But in my mind this is a circuit which should suit them well in the battle, they also have both drivers in the fight all year whereas we know Daniel Ricciardo hasn’t been performing.
Haas have their home race they started the weekend by announcing a new sponsorship deal with MoneyGram. The questions though might be around doing Mick Schumacher retain that seat, I think its looking likely providing there are no more mistakes and he needs to really deliver next year to have a long term future