F1 Today – 29/05/2018
Verstappen trying too hard – Horner
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says Max Verstappen is “trying too hard,” and needs to learn from his teammate Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian won the Monaco Grand Prix, while Verstappen failed to qualify and finished ninth.
In all six Grand Prix’s the Dutchman has made errors at all of the races so far this season. Speaking to BBC News, Horner said “Max has an abundance of talent and has had some harsh lessons this year,” Horner said.
“I think a modified approach will benefit him. He has a very good teacher in the car next door to him.”
Horner’s remarks echo those of Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko, after qualifying he said, Verstappen’s accident had been “unnecessary” and caused by “a lack of patience”. Marko said Verstappen “had to learn not always to drive flat out”.
Horner said he would “of course” talk to Verstappen but added: “The only person who can address it and deal with it is Max. This weekend was very painful for him. He’s very aware. We talk weekly. He’ll be in the factory this week.”
Horner says its frustrating because Verstappen was working harder at the moment and was learning in a very public arena what you can and can’t do, while others have done that in the lower formulae.
Verstappen is currently seventy-five points behind Lewis Hamilton, meaning unless he can start delivering points soon he is effectively out of the race for the title. Horner pointed out that Verstappen’s series of errors were also damaging Red Bull’s hopes in the constructors’ championship.
“We should be right there with Mercedes and Ferrari. We have given away 65 points or so. We need both drivers performing at their optimum to be able to fight with those two teams.” Added Horner
Hamilton says Ricciardo should stay at Red Bull
Lewis Hamilton believes that Daniel Ricciardo will say at Red Bull next season. Both Hamilton and Ricciardo don’t have contracts in place for next season, with the Australian being linked to both Mercedes and Ferrari.
The four times champion who doesn’t yet have a contract with Mercedes, has already indicated that he expects to stay with the team. He believes that Ricciardo will remain at Red Bull for at least 2019.
Hamilton told Sky Sports, “I would imagine his future is there. He is one of the top drivers and in the top areas there are only Ferrari and Mercedes that he could ever consider.”
“But that is unlikely here and l don’t think that is going to happen. And if you look at Ferrari, l imagine Kimi will want to continue – he is driving really well this year and doesn’t seem to be ageing.”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner has suggested that the wage demands of Hamilton could only be met by Mercedes, while Hamilton has suggested that Ricciardo should only be prepared to stay at Red Bull if he achieves pay parity with Max Verstappen.
The Dutchman signed a bumper new deal with Red Bull seven months ago, which is believed to make him one of the highest earners in the sport, but has been emphatically out-performed by Ricciardo so far this season. Hamilton added “From what l hear, he has a team-mate who is making a lot more money than him, and yet he is more consistent at keeping the car together and more often than not pulling it through.”
“It’s important in a team that you are valued at what you are worth.” Hamilton also says Ricciardo should stay because Red Bull is likely to get a better engine which will bring them closer into the mix.
Leclerc says Toro Rosso played “a bit off a game”
Charles Leclerc believes that Toro Rosso played “a bit off a game” by asking Brendon Hartley to slow down during the Monaco Grand Prix. Hartley’s teammate Pierre Gasly ran a very long first stint to rise from tenth to six, but it looked as if he would drop out of the points as others stopped earlier and eradicated his pitstop window.
Hartley was twelfth, heading a group of midfield contenders that moved into points contention by stopping earlier, and just 15 seconds behind Gasly on lap twenty, but had dropped to twenty-eight second behind when Gasly pitted ten laps later.
Leclerc told Motorsport.com “That was so frustrating. I think Toro Rosso has played a bit of a game. Brendon was clearly slowing down at one point.”
“We were like 2.8s slower than the laps we were doing at the end of the race. Before that, we were in a very good place to score points, theoretically. Gasly exceeded expectations with his management of the hypersofts, admitting that it was an improvisation from his team as it monitored the performance of the otherwise unpopular compound.
At the beginning of the phase, Hartley caught a five-car train led by Nico Hulkenberg, who was also running long. Gasly stopped before his teammate struggled with graining and Hartley had a damaged front wing.
Hartley picked up a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pitlane, which meant that even when it looked like his group would get ahead of the runners yet to stop he was poised to tumble down the order.
Leclerc added “If we were in their position, considering Brendon’s penalty, we probably would have done the same as a team. It’s not blaming anything on Toro Rosso, it was just frustrating to be the car behind.”
Teams go hyper for hypersofts
Pirelli has announced the driver’s tyre allocation for next weekends Canadian Grand Prix, for the race, they have chosen there softest compounds the hypersoft, ultrasoft and supersoft with most of the teams have gone for the hypersofts.
Both Mercedes have five sets of both the hypersofts and ultrasofts as well as three supersoft. While both Ferrari’s, Red Bull’s and Toro Rosso’s have eight hypersofts, three ultrasofts and two supersofts. Both Renault’s and Force India’s have eight hypersofts, two ultrasofts and three supersofts.
Williams has chosen seven sets of hypersofts for both drivers, but Lance Stroll has a single ultrasoft and five supersofts. His teammate Sergey Sirotkin has two ultrasofts and four supersofts.
Both McLaren’s have seven hypersofts, four ultrasofts and two supersofts. Both Haas’s also have seven sets, but Romain Grosjean has four ultras and two supersofts. Both Renaults have eight hypersofts, two ultras and three supersofts.
Both Sauber have seven hypersofts, but Marcus Ericsson has four ultrasofts and two supersofts with Charles Leclerc having three of both the ultrasofts and supersofts.
FIA considering dropping drivers briefing
The sports governing body the FIA is considering dropping the Friday drivers briefing and replacing it with a joint briefing with team managers on Thursday. Currently, the team managers meet on a Thursday ahead of the weekend, to discuss track changes and any issues from the previous race.
The drivers join the team managers for a separate Friday session after the first day of practice, ostensibly so that they can give the FIA feedback on the circuit, and so on.
However following the departure of the managers, sometimes the drivers only briefing becomes a trade union meeting of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) after the team managers leave. Speaking about the possibility of bringing an end to the drivers’ briefing, F1 race director Charlie Whiting said: “It’s a suggestion only at the moment. It certainly won’t happen this year, unless everyone wants it to happen.
“The main reason that I have suggested this is simply that we discuss things in the team managers’ meeting on the basis that they will pass them onto their drivers, and when we get to the drivers’ meeting, it’s quite evident that sometimes this hasn’t happened, and we have to go through it all again.”
However, he says one of the reasons for the Friday briefing was for drivers feedback, bit says that “really isn’t of any value, because whenever they see anything, they tell us anyway.”
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