F1 Today – Belgian Prixview – 25/08/2022
Ricciardo & McLaren agree to part company
Daniel Ricciardo will leave McLaren by ‘mutual consent’ at the end of the season. The team announced on Wednesday the team and the Australian had “mutually agreed” to the split, but McLaren admitted they had precipitated the move.
The announcement is expected to be followed by confirmation that McLaren has signed Oscar Piastri 2021 F2 champion and Alpine reserve. McLaren said they would confirm their 2023 driver line-up “in due course”. The team already have Lando Norris under contract until the end of 2025.
McLaren decided to terminate Ricciardo’s contract a year early after what they considered unsatisfactory performances from the eight-time winner. On average the Australian has been around three and a half seconds slower than teammate Lando Norris, who is five places higher in the championship and fifty-seven more points than his teammate is best of the rest behind the top three teams drivers in seventh.
Ricciardo did win a race for McLaren, at last year’s Italian Grand Prix, but on balance, he lagged behind Norris in 2021 as well.
McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl said: “There was a contract and it needed mutual agreement to terminate it early, but after discussion with Daniel we felt it was the right thing for both sides to split ways for next year. If you look back at our journey together, Daniel and McLaren, it’s clear we haven’t achieved the result we wanted, despite highlights like the great win in Monza last year.”
“That’s why we had a lot of discussions but in the end, we had to acknowledge we did not make it work together despite the commitment that was there from Daniel’s side and all the effort the team has put in and that’s why we came to the agreement we would terminate the contract at the end of this year.”
Ricciardo said in a McLaren statement that he would announce his plans in due course. McLaren Racing chief executive officer Zak Brown said the 33-year-old wanted to continue in F1. Adding “Regardless of what this next chapter brings, I have no regrets and am proud of the effort and work I gave McLaren, especially the win in Monza, last season.”
“I’ve enjoyed working with everyone at McLaren both trackside and back in Woking [at the factory] and will be giving my all on and off track as we enjoy the remainder of the season together.”
McLaren’s bosses Seidl and Brown both admitted they were “surprised” they had not been able to make it work with Ricciardo, and Seidl said it was “unfortunate we have ended up in this position”.
McLaren shares responsibility for Ricciardo’s exit
McLaren says it needs to share responsibility for things not having worked out with Daniel Ricciardo after the Australian’s split from the team was announced on Wednesday. Yesterday it was announced the team and Ricciardo had reached a deal for them to part ways at the end of this season in the wake of disappointing results.
Over the last eighteen months, Ricciardo was rarely able to show his true potential at McLaren, having struggled to get on top of its car concept, the team is clear that it cannot blame him entirely for the situation. Team principal Andreas Seidl says that responsibility for how things played out needs to be shared between both the team and driver, despite the effort put in.
He told Motorsport.com, “It’s clearly not the outcome that we were not looking for, but at the same time it’s important now to switch our focus towards the nine races left together and giving it all again as a team.”
“Daniel will do the same and try to finish our relationship on a high, which would be important because we are in a close battle with the Alpine cars. Definitely we want to get back into P4 in the constructors’ championship.”
While Ricciardo did show occasional signs of promise during the 18 months he has had with the team, especially his win at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, he still remains slightly adrift of teammate Lando Norris in pace terms. Although the team could have given Ricciardo more time to see what he could do, Seidl says the outfit tried everything it could to help him.
Seidl added, “The most important thing for me is we always work together with our colleagues but also race drivers. We have an open and honest and transparent dialogue internally between each other, which we always had. I think that is what happened there.”
CEO Zak Brown admitted that McLaren didn’t r anticipated such difficulties with Ricciardo, having lured him away from Renault at the end of the 2020 season.
He said, “I think it is fair to say that we’re all surprised it didn’t deliver more results and more Monza-like performances. Clearly, he’s got a fantastic CV and came into us as a seven-time Grand Prix winner, and leaves us as an eight-time Grand Prix winner with nine races to go.
“Strange feeling” in talks with Alpine – Alonso
Fernando Alonso says there was “always a strange feeling” in his contract talks with Alpine for 2023 before Aston Martin’s approach made him feel more wanted. The announcement on the first day of the summer break, kickstarted the dominoes, and the shockwaves are still playing out with the latest twist being Daniel Ricciardo parting with McLaren.
It came as a shock to Alpine, who had expected to retain Alonso for next year, and blew the driver market wide open with repercussions for several other teams still playing out. Alpine now finds itself in a contract dispute with McLaren over Oscar Piastri, who it intends to field next year alongside Esteban Ocon.
In his first comments since the story started in early august, the two-time champion revealed he was contacted by Aston Martin shortly after Vettel’s retirement plan was announced. The contract was signed on the Monday after the race before the team “decided to announce quite quickly before any leak.”
Alonso reiterated that his intention was to stay at Alpine before Aston Martin’s approach, but that talks were “not moving forward for a couple of months already.”
Alonso said, “It was a logical move to me because Aston was very willing to have me and trust on my abilities on the track and off track as well to develop the project. In my case also, it felt that after all the negotiations and the months, having the seat available for a younger driver and talented driver like Oscar, it was the right thing to do and a win-win situation it seems for everybody.”
He also denied being involved in a “conspiracy” to sabotage Alpine and insists he has nothing to do with Oscar Piastri’s refusal to drive for the team next season. There had been speculation Alonso and his manager, former team principal of Alpine’s predecessors Benetton and Renault until resigning after the Crashgate scandal in 2009, Flavio Briatore had been aware of the Australian’s intentions.
Asked about the conspiracy theories and whether Briatore had been involved, Alonso said: “No not at all. I read that in the first days and honestly it was quite sad and annoying to read that conspiracy, because I made this decision, I explained why.
One of Alpine’s reservations in negotiations with Alonso was offering him a long-term contract, preferring a deal that had yearly options. The Spaniard said it was not about the length of the deal but the trust he suggested wasn’t there, making him feel as if he was not wanted.
Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer revealed after Alonso’s exit was announced that he only found out the Spaniard would be leaving when the press release was issued by Aston Martin. While Alonso confirmed Szafnauer “probably didn’t know”, he did tell everyone who had been involved in talks that he was leaving prior to the announcement.
Adding “All the people that were involved in the negotiations, they’d been informed before any announcement on Aston Martin. Otmar was not involved in the negotiations, and yes probably, Laurent or Luca didn’t call him before the announcement and he was surprised by that.
“But yeah, all the people that I’d been negotiating with, they’d been informed before any announcement of my move to Aston, and even my mechanics or my engineers, I took my time to inform them before any announcement.”
Spa could keep place on calendar – Domenicali
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has hinted that the Belgian Grand Prix could yet retain its place on the calendar in 2023. The circuit currently doesn’t have a place on the calendar for next year with three races in Doha, Las Vegas and Shanghai, as well as possibly Kyalami, expected to return to the calendar taking it to the maximum of twenty-four races.
China is supposed to be returning in 2023 after an absence of three seasons, but COVID measures remain a major issue in the country, especially in the Shanghai area where the race is held, making it hard for F1 to fully commit to staging the event. While a deal has not been reached with South Africa, for it to return following a three-decade hiatus.
The uncertainty over both has opened the door for Spa, but the Belgian promoter will still have to come up with a package that suits F1, even if it doesn’t match the fees paid by events outside Europe. Effectively the race is the first reserve if any of these races fail to materialise. That has been eased with a slot becoming vacant with the cancellation of St Peterburg following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Domenicali said that he couldn’t give too many details of the 2023 schedule, as it has yet to be finalised, but he insisted that Spa still had a chance. He said, “As you can imagine I cannot comment too much on that, because there is respect of discussing and formalising through the World Motor Sport Council with the FIA.
“You never saw something [from] me saying that Belgium will be the last year. I would be prudent on that comment, I would say, I would be very prudent. It’s true that we are working and discussing with other promoters to see if they’re ready for a full commitment already.”
“There has been always a point that we have discussed to find the mix of the races where we’re going to have at least one-third in Europe, one-third in the Far East area, and the other one in the Americas and the Middle East. So we want to be balanced.”
Since Liberty Media took over the sport, they wanted to find a balance between the historical races in Europe and the Americas, as well as emerging markets in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Especially Africa the only inhabited continent without a race.
Domenicali accepted that the business model of European and traditional races isn’t as profitable for the promoters often without state funding.
He added: “There is a lot of respect for these places. But if you recall, Belgium, there were some periods where it was not in the calendar, and they came back again. The memory sometimes is short. It’s a great place, no doubt about it. And that’s why we are discussing.”
Spa is not the only race under threat France and Monaco currently don’t have a contract for 2023, while Germany hasn’t had a deal since 2019, with 2020 being a one-off because of the pandemic.
Speaking about the imminent announcements of Audi and Porsche F1 programmes commencing in 2026 has also stoked interest in a return of the German Grand Prix, but Domenicali stressed that the commercial terms have to be right.
2007 means Ferrari should “never say never”
F1 CEO and former Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali believes Kimi Raikkonen’s championship comeback in 2007 acts as proof Ferrari should “never say never” in this year’s title fight.
The second half of the season begins this weekend a Spa, with Max Verstappen eighty points clear of Charles Leclerc with the Red Bull driver winning eight of the thirteen races before the summer break. Meanwhile Leclerc has lost ground on Verstappen due to reliability issues that caused him to retire while leading in both Spain and Azerbaijan, as well as spinning out from the lead in France.
The large gap at the top of the championship offers a different proposition to 2021, when Verstappen clinched the title by overtaking Lewis Hamilton on the last lap of the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi. While he said it would be “fantastic” from a commercial standpoint for F1 to “arrive at the last lap of the last race” again with the title up for grabs, its needs to be without the controversy and confrontation which dragged on for months following last year’s title decider.
While he admitted that the eight point gap was “a lot” for Leclerc and Ferrari to make up, Domenicali reflected on Raikkonen’s title win in 2007, where a seventeen-point deficit was overturned with 20 available to beat McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to the title.
Domenicali said, “from my previous experience, you have to never say never, because remember in 2007, two races to go, we were behind by 17 points, and Kimi was able to win the championship in Brazil. No one was expecting that. I know it’s a big number, but I don’t see why Ferrari shouldn’t be getting back again in the fight with Red Bull.”
Looking ahead to the second half of the season, he believes that Mercedes will grow calling on them not to give up.
Eau Rouge still flat out
The iconic Eau Rouge/Raidillon corner will remain flat out for drivers this year in the wake of resurfacing and safety work that has made Spa-Francorchamps faster. As part of an €80m upgrade and safety improvements, major changes have been made at Eau Rouge and a selection of other corners to improve safety.
The famous turn being so well-known in F1, the track was determined that its character should not be altered through the works. Jarno Zaffelli, founder of the Dromo Circuit design company that was in charge of the Spa changes, said the high-speed challenge of Eau Rouge had not been taken away despite the reprofiling of the barriers.
He believes that by resurfacing parts of the circuit, especially through the Eau Rouge/Raidillon complex, means the track is quicker than before so F1’s slower 2022 generation of machinery may not be far off last year’s pace. Zaffelli said: “It will be a flat-out corner and it will provide opportunities. The cars will feel the difference between the new asphalt and the old one.”
“If we look at the GT cars during the 24 Hours of Spa, the pole was 1.7s faster than the previous year. We know that this year the F1 cars are generally slower than 2021, so here there won’t to be a big gap.”
The increase in speed is a result of modern asphalt being laid, coupled with the evolution in the performance of both vehicles and the materials used to make asphalt. The technology used along with experience of Dromo allows them to make a specific mix for each circuit. Having set out to ensure that the character of Eau Rouge was not ruined, Zaffelli said that Dromo worked through more than twenty different concepts before settling on the final version.
Speaking about Eau Rouge, he says over twenty different mixes were thought of taking into account this years regulations changes and new tyres. They then spent then two full days with professional drivers in Vi-Grade sim centre, supervised by Thierry Boutsen and Emanuele Pirro. Between October and November 2021 the work was then fine-tuned in the simulators for F1 and GT cars with Marco Bonanomi, to get their feedback.
Talking points Belgium
Round fourteen of the season sees the resumption of the season at one of the highlights the Belgian Grand Prix. The 4.3mi circuit winds its way around the Arden Forest, the longest circuit of the season often proves drama, mixed conditions and overtaking.
Max Verstappen holds a mighty eighty point lead over Charles Leclerc after a woeful run into the summer break for the fancied Ferrari, with the Dutchman well on his way to a title defence. A points haul in the modern era which has never been overhauled, but after a shaky period can Ferrari bounce back and take the fight to Red Bull.
Mercedes are coming back, the eight-time constructors champions have maximised the results when the top two have had difficult weekends. After struggling with bouncing and porpoising all season the upgrade package yielded results giving both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell confidence they could even be fighting for wins though they look safe in third.
Spa is often described as the driver’s favourite, anything can happen as it’s a circuit which rewards drivers attacking it but punishes mistakes. It doesn’t have these large tarmac run off areas, instead the grass and gravel means there can be drivers who get trapped in the run-off and that puts them out of the race.
It also can be demanding on cars with its hard braking zones and accidents can happen… meaning strategy and reacting to events not just this weekend but the next three weekends is going to be key. This will be important for the midfield teams, their fight has been closer than ever as McLaren, Alpine, and Alpha Tauri all fight for fourth in the constructors.
No reason why Tsunoda can’t stay at Alpha Tauri
Yuki. Tsunoda sees no reason why he cannot stay with AlphaTauri in next year, but says his future depends on “things that are happening in the background.” The driver market has moved quickly since Fernando Alonso announce the day after Budapest he would join Aston Martin replacing Sebastian Vettel, McLaren confirming yesterday it parted with Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon extending his deal with Williams.
AlphaTauri is one of the few teams with a free seat for next year, but team principal Franz Tost previously indicated Tsunoda had a “good chance” for keeping his drive. Nut Tsunoda hinted there were matters behind the scenes that needed to be cleared up before any final decision could be taken on his future with AlphaTauri.
when asked by Motorsport.com for an update on his future at Spa on Thursday. Tsunoda said, “We both of course want to stay in next year, but things that are happening in the background, it depends on that. I still don’t know how it’s going. But from my side, I would like to stay in AlphaTauri. For me, there’s not much reason why I cannot stay here.”
The Japanese driver joined AlphaTauri at the start of the 2021 season and was retained for this year despite some rookie struggles, including a spate of incidents and crashes. This season Tsunoda has only scored three times but he trails teammate Pierre Gasly by just five points in the standings, and believes he would be ahead on points had it not been for reliability issues and bad luck.
Honda played a big role in supporting Tsunoda’s rise through the junior ranks prior to its F1 exit at the end of 2021, although it retains a technical partnership with both Red Bull and its sister AlphaTauri team.
Asked if there were complications on the commercial side or relating to the Honda affiliation, Tsunoda replied: “Well I cannot say anything about that. I know what kind of will trigger that for next year, the contract. At the moment, I cannot say much. For myself, the thing that I can do now is focus on myself and make the results. That’s what I can do.”