Seidl will never allow McLaren to criticise stewards harshly
McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl says that he would never allow his team to unleash the same criticisms that earned Red Bull’s Christian Horner an FIA warning at last weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.
Horner was summoned to the stewards following the race in Losail, after hitting out at a ‘rogue marshal’ who he blamed for putting out the yellow flags in qualifying that earned Max Verstappen a grid penalty.
The Red Bull team principal later admitted that his comments were made under the pressure of competition, with his team locked in a tight fight for the F1 title with Mercedes. The FIA made it clear that it would not accept its officials being criticised in such a manner.
The comments follow an outbreak of a war of words between Horner and his Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff, as the championship rivals remain locked in a tight battle with two races to go. While Seidl accepts that the soap opera that takes place off track is part of the attraction of F1, he thinks there is a line that his team would not cross when it came to speaking out.
Asked for his view on the title race, Seidl told Motorsport.com, “If you watch everything which is ongoing at the moment, it is clear, obviously, there’s a lot at stake. It’s different to the battles we are in further back, and is obviously great to a certain degree for the fans, and for the show.”
“In the end it should be entertainment as well. But I definitely, think that some of the comments we’ve seen in recent weeks, it’s definitely not something I could imagine would come from us in such a situation.
“I think it’s very important, and it doesn’t matter if you fight for wins, or if you are last, that you always keep respect for the competitors, for the FIA, for F1.” Seidl says that everyone is in this together, and it was important to respect the volunteers.
Race director Michael Masi revealed after Qatar that he had alerted the stewards to Horner’s marshal comments, which had been said to Sky before the race. Masi explained that there was no way he could accept any criticism of safety marshals, who do their job to protect the drivers.
Adding, “I think you should not attack any person, and particularly when we have thousands of volunteer marshals around the world that give up a huge amount of time globally.”
Wheel to wheel racing rules are clear – Masi
FIA race director Michael Masi has insisted that the rules on wheel to wheel racing have been made clear, despite some drivers suggesting they don’t know where the limits are.
The subject was discussed following the controversy around the Max Verstappen-Lewis Hamilton incident at Interlagos. After the briefing, several drivers admitted that still didn’t know exactly when penalties would be applied.
Speaking to Motorsport.com, Masi was adamant that the drivers have been kept properly informed. He said, “I think it’s been made clear to them, what is expected. I think the other parties, some of them agree, some of them disagree.”
“That’s always with each and every one of them, they have agreed and disagreed all the way through. So we’ve given them some overall guidance, but also been very clear on the fact that each and every case will be judged on its merits.”
Masi denied that the lack of a penalty for Verstappen in Brazil suggested that the rules have been relaxed of late. Adding “I wouldn’t call it more relaxed, it’s looking at each and every incident on its merits.”
He says with every race there was an independent panel of stewards, and reminded people that he wasn’t the ‘judge and jury.’ If they decided an incident needs investigating then they will investigate.
Asked if Verstappen’s move in Brazil would have been treated differently had there been a different run-off – gravel instead of asphalt for example – he admitted it might have been. Saying, “Quite possibly, yes. But you need to look at the whole situation and scenario, weather, run-off, et cetera, et cetera.”
Regarding the specific reason why Verstappen escaped sanction after Mercedes requested a review, he said: “I don’t know, I can’t give you the exact consideration, obviously I wasn’t sitting in there when they made that decision. I was sitting in the first part of the right of review as an observer, but nothing more.”
Barcelona extends contract until 2026
The Spanish Grand Prix will remain at the Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya until at least 2026, after a new deal was signed on Friday between F1, the promoter and local government. At the same time, it was announced that MotoGP would also remain at the circuit until 2026, as well.
Barcelona has one of the longest unbroken runs of any current circuit, having been on the calendar continuously since its first race in 1991. The long-term future of the race has been in doubt for a few years because of financial difficulties which have not been helped by the pandemic.
The circuit built in the run-up to the 1992 Olympic and Paralympic Games, will undergo upgrades to bring it into line with more modern venues on the schedule.
A statement said, “We want to thank the promoter and the authorities for their engagement and support and look forward to continuing to build our relationship in the years ahead.”
“As part of the new agreement, improvements to the track and facilities will be made ahead of the race on May 22 2022, including upgrades and improvements towards the circuit’s ambitious sustainability plans.”
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said, “We are delighted to announce this deal with Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. I want to thank the promoter and the authorities for their enthusiasm and commitment to keeping Formula 1 in Barcelona, with improvements that will be made to the track and facilities, and continuing our long history together.”
He said that the teams and drivers look forwards to Barcelona, and the Spanish fans will continue to see their national heroes, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, up close.
Roger Torrent, the Catalan minister of business and labour and also president of the circuit organisation, made it clear that the sustainability aspect was a key part of getting the deal done.
“We welcome the renewal of this contract, which includes a mutual commitment clause to help us turn Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya into a model and world benchmark of sustainability applied to this type of facility,” said Torrent.
Domenicali’s Moto GP counterpart Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpezleta, added, “The spectacular Catalan track has been linked to MotoGP since the first beginnings of Dorna and has been a key fixture on the calendar each season.”
“This important agreement extending the collaboration until 2026 demonstrates, once again, the commitment shown to our Championship by the promoter.”
Haas announce Shwartzman for Abu Dhabi test
Haas has announced that Ferrari junior driver Robert Shwartzman will drive for the team at the upcoming Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test. The Russian driver was Mick Schumacher’s teammate in F2 last year finishing fourth, with two race weekends to go in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi he is currently third in the championship.
The 2019 FIA F3 champion will take the wheel of the current Haas VF-21 at the rookie test, which will take place the week after the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December. Shwartzman previously has driven a Ferrari both at a private test at Fiorano an the Abu Dhabi test last year.
Shwartzman said, “First of all, I would like to thank Haas F1 Team, Scuderia Ferrari and the Ferrari Driver Academy for this great opportunity. This will be my first test with Haas and I’m really looking forward to getting to know a new team, environment and also to learn as much as possible from them.”
“Having the chance to drive for another F1 team is just incredible and I can’t wait to work with everyone,” he added.
Team principal Gunther Steiner says the team were looking forward to the test with the highly-rated driver, who has been part of the Ferrari Academy since the end of 2017. He added, “His ability is clearly in evidence when you look at his performances over the last few seasons, most notably his rookie campaign in Formula Two last year, competing against the likes of our own two drivers Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.”
“We are pleased to be able to give Robert an outing in a Formula One car and we look forward to working with him in Abu Dhabi.”
This year’s young driver test has been combined with the Pirelli tyre test, meaning that teams will be allowed to run two cars as well as regular drivers.
Mazepin Sr proposes incentives to help Haas
The father of Nikita Mazepin and owner of the team’s title sponsor Uralkali Dmitry Mazepin, has proposed a staff incentive scheme for next year in a bid to help the team move up the grid.
A difficult 2021 which the team had expected as well as the demands of next years planned twenty-three race season, has left Haas and all of the teams with the challenge of keeping staff motivated. But Mazepin Sr remains determined to do all he can to help, he has put forward a plan to encourage staff to remain on board and stay fully motivated.
While Uralkali will not be changing the terms of its sponsorship deal to increase funding for the team’s overall budget, Mazepin thinks the new scheme is a good way to help the situation.
Speaking to Russian channel Match TV on Thursday, he said: “The existing contract is what we have, but for next year we are proposing an additional agreement, voluntarily, to incentivise staff members to stay, to be involved more and to understand that it is difficult to service the cars during 23 races and fly to 23 different countries.
“The human factor is very important here, and that’s why we want to increase staff motivation together with the team. We as sponsors want to be part of the team.” Uralkali has a long-term contract in place with Haas, which has been secured on the back of the arrival of Nikita Mazepin.
Since this time last year, Haas has admitted they were not going to be developing this year’s car in order to focus on 2022, Dmitry is not disheartened by the year.
Saying “Firstly, we are grateful to the team that we found a mutual interest in entering into this kind of agreement. The team has been working hard, but we see big opportunities, which we can realise through joint efforts, to achieve a higher result next year.”
Uralkali has been closely associated with Nikita Mazepin’s career, his father is clear that the company’s ambitions in F1 are not locked into the youngster. He was interested in purchasing the Force India back in 2018, Dmitry is clear that he remains open to the idea of buying a team. He says while not related to his son’s career, it was still a possibility in the future.
Asked if its F1 ownership plans revolved around Haas or were not specific to one team at the moment, Mazepin said, “Currently we are not in any negotiations because everyone is taking a time out to see how things unfold in 2022 in terms of which team is successful and which is not. If suddenly a small team becomes successful in 2022, then, of course, their value and attractiveness will be greater.”
The week ahead
Next week F1 heads to Jeddah for the first Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the build-up to that race has been dominated by the fears that the circuit may not be ready. However, what I have seen from the images on the race promoters social media as well as the language around those fears the circuit will be ready even if the circuit isn’t polished around the edges.
The other topic likely to return to the agenda is human rights in Saudi Arabia, we heard criticism ahead of Doha and you need to believe that those who want to highlight those issues will try to do that. But we are likely to see a similar message from Stefano Domenicali about F1 trying to be a force for change in the countries we race in.
The other thing is Max Verstappen having the chance of his maiden title, of course we will unpack that in the Prixview and through out the next week. But I think we could possibly see a different side of Verstappen a driver who doesn’t normally change anything and has almost a ‘I don’t care’ attitude.
Not that I think Mercedes are going to go down without a fight, we normally see at this point in the year Mercedes talk up their title rivals, but we know the championship is out of there hands. But this war of words isn’t between the drivers but the team principals, the championship isn’t over.
