This Week – 05/02/2023
Hello again, This Week has seen the start of the countdown given a month today marks the opening race in Bahrain. The theme is looking ahead making it more important to cut through the spin, we know its only natural at this time of year to be setting out your hopes as a team but they and we are only a month away from the opening race.
General News
The FIA says sexist remarks attributed to its president “do not reflect his beliefs”. Mohammed Ben Sulayem is quoted on an archived version of his old website saying he does “not like women who think they are smarter than men”. The Emirati has previously blamed his upbringing and faith for his views.
Last week, The Times uncovered Ben Sulayem’s old website, and the fact it contained misogynistic views, had been discussed by senior figures within F1 since the 61-year-old Emirati became FIA president in December 2021.
The newspaper reported that on the site Ben Sulayem says his likes and dislikes are “basically simple”, adding: “I love the desert and I love meeting real people.” It goes onto say that he does not like talking “about money, nor do I like women who think they are smarter than men, for they are not in truth”.
The FIA spokesperson said: “The remarks in this archived website from 2001 do not reflect the president’s beliefs.”
Ben Sulayem’s first year as president has seen him embroiled in a number of controversies, including homophobia, racism and activism by drivers. F1’s owners of making “unacceptable” remarks about the value of the sport.
A series of tweets from Ben Sulayem in the wake of a report claiming Saudi Arabia had tried to buy the sport for $20bn said the amount was “an inflated price tag”. He also condemned the teams and Liberty for opposing Andretti’s attempts to enter. We have had previous controversies around FIA presidents but I think it is unlikely
The governing body has also opened the process for teams which are interested in entering the sport. In a statement the FIA said it would evaluate the potential of new teams based on “rigorous financial and technical analysis” as well as “sustainability and positive societal impact criteria.”
The FIA explained that each application would need to prove its technical capability and resources, including funding levels, as well as its relevant experience. Furthermore, candidates will have to address how they would manage sustainability factors in the push for F1 to become carbon neutral from 2030.
The earliest a new team would be able to join the grid would be 2025, with prospective entrants needing to pay non-refundable $20,000 admin fee when expressing interest.
Speaking about the launch of the new team process, Ben Sulayem, said: “The growth and appeal of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship is at unprecedented levels. The FIA believes the conditions are right for interested parties, which meet the selection criteria, to express a formal interest in entering the championship.”
We know this has become a bit of a political football over the last decade after the failure of the three teams which entered in 2010. Ben Sulayem’s statement earlier in the year, suggesting new team bids were to be considered, triggered the Andretti Global organisation to go public with its plans to tie up with Cadillac for a move into F1.
But while Andretti’s ambitions have excited the FIA, they have not yet completely won over potential rivals on the grid, nor F1 owners Liberty Media. Current entrants and FOM are eager to better understand the benefits that a new F1 team will bring. The timetable is for the viability is five months.
It’s important to note under the current regulations the number of teams is capped at twelve.
The governing body has also announced that six manufacturers, Red bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Ford, Audi, Honda and Renault have all signed up to enter or continue in the sport in 2026 when the engine regulations change. F1 is set to debut its next generation of power units in 2026, placing a heavy emphasis on the use of sustainable fuels and greater electric power in a bid for improved sustainability whilst not impacting the on-track spectacle.
The announcement follows months of negotiations over the regulations. Although Honda hasn’t announced who they will partner with or whether they will return as a works team in 2026 after withdrawing at the height of the 2008 financial crisis. They withdrew a visible presence in 2021 but continue to support Red Bull.
Mercedes
Technical director Mike Elliot is not convinced that the new regulations have delivered “significantly closer racing”. As we know the aim of the current regulations were to allow the cars to follow more closely, thus making overtaking easier. Speaking to Motorsport.com, Elliott said he felt that the new regulations had not delivered the kind of major step that some anticipated.
He said, “Personally, whether it’s because we’ve not had the greatest car, I’ve not been a huge fan of them. If you look at what they were intended to do with improving overtaking, they’ve definitely allowed the cars to get closer in the corners.”
“But I’m not sure that we’ve not then lost out on the straights in terms of the wake and the drag reduction you get as a result of it. So, it doesn’t feel to me like we’ve seen significantly closer racing, we’ve just seen a different set of rules to work with.”
Elliott said from a pure engineering perspective, teams dealt with the new cars like any other year, where it was all about making the most of the limits imposed. Reflecting on last year I believe the feeling is that the regulations didn’t deliver the shake-up we expected, but I think over time the regulations will close up the field.
Mercedes took part in the first tyre test of the year with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell driving last year’s car at Paul Ricard on Wednesday and Thursday. It will be the penultimate time that Hamilton has to drive the W13, with Mercedes revealing a February 15 launch date for the car they hope will propel them back to title-winning ways.
Red Bull
Ford is returning to F1 after more than twenty-two years out of the sport, the US car giant has confirmed. The team will be back in the paddock for the 2026 season following their departure in 2004.
Ford’s return comes two decades after selling the team to Red Bull in 2004, Red Bull is still based at the site where Jaguar was based in Milton Keynes. Ford will join forces with Red Bull Powertrains, which has been set up afresh for the 2026 regulations, in which F1 will continue with turbo hybrid engines but with increased hybrid performance and the use of sustainable synthetic fuels.
Ford finally confirmed its partnership with Red Bull Powertrains during a press conference in New York on Friday, the American car giant made clear its deal would be with the energy drink giant’s two F1 squads. The is to be partner in Red Bull Ford Powertrains, to supply its two teams from 2026 until at least 2030.
Christian Horner said, “It’s fantastic to be welcoming Ford back into Formula One through this partnership. As an independent engine manufacturer to have the ability to benefit from an OEM’s experience like Ford puts us in good stead against the competition.”
Ford are one of the most successful manufacturers in the sports history, fourth on the all-time wins list for manufacturers behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault. The move comes as Ford’s historic US market rival General Motors is attempting also to enter F1 with the American Andretti Global organisation.
Andretti has struck a deal to carry the logos of GM’s Cadillac brand but is planning to use a Renault engine in its car. This we all know has been driven by the popularity of the sport in America which will have three races this season as Las Vegas returns following a forty-year hiatus.
Ford says one of the key reasons behind their return is their “commitment to sustainability” which aligns with F1’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2030 and to introduce sustainable fuels in F1 cars from 2026.
Bill Ford, the car manufacturer’s executive chair, added: “Ford is returning to the pinnacle of the sport, bringing Ford’s long tradition of innovation, sustainability and electrification to one of the world’s most visible stages.”
I think this is a smart move and shows that the sport is moving in the right direction given there is more interest from manufacturers. Ford is one of the biggest global brands and this move makes sense as we know the popularity of the sport has grown in particularly in the US in recent years.
Ferrari
At the end of last week Fred Vasseur spoke to the media for the first time as team principal. After a fortnight of getting to know better the inner-workings of the team, this week Vasseur spoke to the media for the first time in his new role.
He was clear that if he is going to improve things, then he needs to fully understand the reasons for why things happened the way they did. It would be a mistake, he argued, to believe he had all the answers to Ferrari’s woes on day one. Vassuer wants to look at the bigger picture rather than changing heads of departments. He says he doesn’t yet have the answers for making progress on track, suggesting its not all about infrastructure.
He has opened up some important lines of communication – both with personnel who work below him, as well as those he reports to. he said about what had been his first tasks, The first goal was to meet as many people as possible to understand many aspects. I think there is a lot of potential but I know that every team is mainly based on human relationships. I’ve already talked face-to-face with 30 or 35 people. I want to get to know them, and this was the job that took me the most in my first two weeks.”
Ferrari historically has gone for a number one and number two driver approach, his previous relationship with Leclerc has prompted suggestions that he could be the teams number one. Such an idea has been quickly ruled out by Vasseur, though, who said several times that Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will start the season on equal footing.
“There will be no number one or number two,” explained Vasseur, who also revealed that he had tried to sign Sainz several times during his F1 career.
Vasseuer says sees no downside to the good relationship he has with Mercedes rival Toto Wolff. They have been close since the Frenchman was Renault’s (now Alpine) team principal in 2016. But with Vasseur having taken over the helm at one of Mercedes’ chief F1 rivals, there has been much intrigue about how much they will be able to remain friends if they get locked in an intense battle for victory.
As the deep German Italian rivalry on track an the ‘Piranha Club’ rivalry between bosses, means success is sometimes dependent on being willing to pull a fast one over the opposition, both on track and politically.
Asked by Autosport/Motorsport.com about his willingness to throw Wolff under a bus if he needed to, Vasseur joked that ‘we are not speaking any more’, before explaining that he did not think it a negative they get on so well. Vasseur explained, “I think globally, it’s an advantage, but we have to be clever. I know that we will fight on track, we will fight with the stewards, we will fight in the FIA, and we will fight for the Concorde Agreement. This is life.”
“the common interest of the teams or F1 will be to have discussions and to find an agreement, I think it will be a huge advantage to have a good relationship.”
McLaren
Zak Brown has likened McLaren driver Lando Norris to the type of talent NFL teams build their organisation around. Norris is set to start his fifth season with McLaren, where he is contracted to race until 2025, and will have a new teammate in Oscar Piastri.
However, Norris is rated to be one of the best drivers of his generation although he hasn’t yet won a race, but has scored six podiums and a pole position. Brown told ESPN, “Lando’s a franchise driver. Lando’s one of those guys if we put everyone in a dirt buggy and we put all the F1 drivers in a race, he’d be at the front because he’s got that kind of natural talent. He’s a total star. And he’s pushing us.”
That view I think is widely shared, for years we have spoken about this generation of British drivers Norris, Russell and Alex Albon, being really good and solid drivers. What Brown said about “He wants to be winning races, I’m sure he knows he can beat George,” is true of any driver and given the opportunity, but we have seen in Austria 2020 and Sochi 2021 how good he is.
Looking at his performances there has been stand out performances he has gotten better at being a hard but clean driver as well as managing the tyres an changeable conditions.
McLaren has reached a deal with Mercedes to share Mick Schumacher as reserve driver this season. After being dropped by Ferrari and Haas, the German was signed by Mercedes as reserve driver, but the British team has had similar arrangements last year.
McLaren confirmed the news on Wednesday and added that new McLaren boss Andrea Stella “worked closely with Mick’s father, the legendary Michael Schumacher, as his performance engineer”.
Meanwhile, Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff says the team are likely to be open to allowing newly-recruited reserve driver Schumacher to leave if an opportunity for a permanent F1 seat arises elsewhere.
This move doesn’t surprise me as we have seen in recent years much bigger collaboration beyond technical into drivers, and we know the regulations mean that each driver must miss one FP1 session for a reserve driver. I think having a year out could help reset Schumacher and bring him back more determined to get back into F1
Asked about his decision to sign Schumacher, Wolff said: “The most important factor is his personality. He’s a well-educated, intelligent and talented young man. You can see his junior career track record was very good and I believe that if we can give him a safe environment to further develop
Alpine
Pierre Gasly says he has a “completely different” mindset thanks to the lessons from his failed half a season with Red Bull in 2019. Gasly joined Alpine for 2023 after spending the bulk of his career with Red Bull’s sister team, AlphaTauri, and its predecessor, Toro Rosso but was dropped mid-season in 2019
Since re-joining what became Alpha Tauri he has managed to rebuild his career before returning to a works team this year. He told Motorsport.com, “It feels like it was an eternity ago that I was with Red Bull, and since then, so much has happened, professionally and personally. I really feel like I’ve developed in all areas. I remember when I came in Red Bull, the feeling that I had going there, and now the feeling, my approach and mindset that I have going into Alpine, is completely different.”
I think how Gasly has response to that and rebuilt his career after being demoted by Red Bull and that win at Monza in 2020, proved both the step up might have been too early. He became the teams leader, but how does that dynamic work with Esteban Ocon in the battle to be top of the midfield?
Jean-Pierre Jabouille who took Renault’s first win in 1979 has died age eighty. The Parisian, who took the European Formula 2 title in 1976, made 49 F1 starts between 1975 and 1981, getting his full debut at the 1975 French Grand Prix for Tyrrell.
Jabouille raced for most of his career for Renault taking the manufacturer first ever win at the 1979 French Grand Prix. That victory was not just a major milestone for Renault but also a first win for a turbocharged engine, with him winning the race by fourteen seconds ahead of teammate Rene Arnoux.
Full obituary
Alfa Romeo
Audi has completed their purchase of its minor stake in the Sauber-owned team ahead of their entry into F1 in 2026. After announcing their entry in August that the German manufacturer would enter, a further announcement followed in October when they brought a sake in Sauber.
Now, Sauber has confirmed that the German manufacturer has gone ahead and bought an unspecified stake in the Swiss-based team, as per the plans previously outlined. Sauber described it as an “important milestone” for Audi’s much-anticipated debut in F1.
it said in a statement, “The Sauber Group is pleased to announce that, as per the plans outlined in October last year, Audi acquired a minority stake in the Sauber Group in January 2023.”
Sauber will operate in F1 under its own name in 2024 and 2025, with its agreement with Alfa Romeo coming to an end after the end of the forthcoming season. It will continue to use Ferrari engines until 2025, before morphing into the works Audi F1 squad the following year.
Managing director Alessandro Alunni Bravi has been appointed as team representative for the team, a role similar to team principal. Former CEO and team principal Fred Vasseur left Alfa Romeo at the end of last year to join Ferrari, with McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl joining the team as Sauber Group CEO.
Alunni Bravi will work below Seidl in the new structure and alongside the heads of the technical and operational departments of the team. Bravi, who is Seidl’s first appointment since joining as CEO, will act as the team’s official representative at race weekends and away from the track. He has been in the team at board level since 2017 and was named managing director of Sauber last March.
Seidl said, “His vast experience in motorsport has equipped him with all the tools he needs to succeed, and his intimate knowledge of the team, of which he has been part for more than five years, will ensure stability and continuity in our progression.”
Valtteri Bottas says he is impressed by Seidl’s “clear direction”. The German’s main role is to oversee the transition to the full Audi identity in 2026, and as such he won’t attend all the races. Managing director Alessandro Alunni Bravi has taken on the job of team representative on race weekends.
When asked about Seidl joining the team, Bottas said: “It was two weeks ago I met him for the first time. First of all, a nice guy, but I can see that he’s really motivated. He seems to have a pretty clear direction, what to do with the team and how to motivate people. He seems to have the vision.”
Bottas’s teammate Guanyu Zhou indicated that he’s been impressed by Seidl so far. He added “I was here quite often the last few weeks, and spent a lot of time together with Andreas. I really felt how much he is really trying to push the team, but still these few weeks, he’s just taking his time to understand the whole company, to make sure everything is settled.”
Haas
Haas was the first team to launch their 2023 car, the VF-23 online this week featuring an updated red, white and largely black livery which features new title sponsor MoneyGram, the US team revealed pictures of their new VF-23 car online on Tuesday ahead of a shakedown at Silverstone on February 11.
The US-owned team are hoping that their experienced line up with Nico Hulkenberg to partner Kevin Magnussen, replacing Mick Schumacher. Team principal Guenther Steiner said “It’s an exciting time of year for Formula 1 and it’s great that we’re first out the gate to showcase our livery but our attention is firmly on getting the VF-23 on-track and preparing for the season ahead.
“We really have something to build on following last year’s performances. The whole organisation has been working hard to reach this point and obviously in Kevin (Magnussen) and Nico (Hülkenberg) we have two proven points-scoring talents locked in behind the wheel. I can’t wait to get started.”
During the launch, Steiner says there is no plan for Haas to change the model of its team despite nearing the budget cap with a new title sponsor. In October when the deal with MoneyGram was announced, it said the injection of cash would allow the team to reach the budget cap, putting it on a more level playing field with the other teams.
But Haas is not looking to move away from the team model it has operated under since joining the grid in 2016, enjoying close technical ties to Ferrari and maximising the permissible transfer of technology as a customer team.