George Russell believes \u201cpretty brutal\u201d emotional moments over the past two years helped mould him into a stronger driver ahead of his Mercedes move. This season the Englishman will step up from his role as a young driver and after three years with its customer team Williams.<\/p>\n
Russell\u2019s performances, especially last season, has earned him widespread praise from across the sport and convinced Mercedes to partner him with Lewis Hamilton five years after joining its junior programme. The high points were Budapest and Sochi, as well as scoring his first podium at Spa, they came after two difficult seasons where he had several near misses.<\/p>\n
Discussing his development through his three-year stint at Williams, Russell spoke of the importance of moving on from setbacks quickly, saying there were a few moments that \u201cstuck out\u201d.<\/p>\n
Russell picked the 2020 race at Mugello as a race that \u201cprobably went under the radar to a lot of people\u201d after he dropped out of the points late on. It would have been his first F1 points finish, and Williams\u2019s first since Germany 2019.<\/p>\n
Russell said in a roundtable interview published over the weekend by Motorsport.com, \u201cWe made a really strong start, and then there was the incident, and I was actually running in the points for the majority of the race. I think I was in P10 for the majority of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen [Charles] Leclerc has to pit for some reason, he wasn\u2019t catching up, so I was in P9 during the red flag for [Lance] Stroll\u2019s incident. Then I made a bad start, and that felt like it was our one opportunity of the year, because we didn\u2019t really have opportunities up to that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell also picked Imola 2020 when he crashed behind the safety car while running tenth, for \u201cobvious reasons.\u201d He almost won the Sakhir race when his new teammate Hamilton tested positive for coronavirus, which he described as an \u201cemotional rollercoaster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Explaining he went into that weekend with the spotlight being shone on him, the constant scrutiny on how he was performing. While he had to adapt to the car which he described as draining, he says the race looked under control until it disappeared.<\/p>\n
Russell highlighted his second crash at Imola in the 2021 race – when he collided with Valtteri Bottas while fighting for ninth place – as another big moment he had to recover from. Adding \u201cThese are the four moments in my three years that stick out to me that were pretty brutal emotionally.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ferrari\u2019s sporting director Laurent Mekies says he is expecting that teams will have fewer in-season developments this season because of the constraints of the budget cap. Last season, most F1 teams halted any development push on their 2021 cars early in a bid to get ahead of the game for this year’s all-new technical regulations.<\/p>\n
While last season didn\u2019t see much in terms of upgrades due to emergency measures to restrict development because of the pandemic, this year\u2019s technical overhaul and financial restrictions. Mekies believes the financial restrictions designed to make the sport more stainable as well as creating closer racing, will reduce the number of updates teams can afford to pump out.<\/p>\n
He told Motorsport.com, \u201cNot compared to this year, because this year obviously was near zero, or at least for us was very little, but if you go back to 2019, 2018, we think you will see less.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2018, 2019, in the big teams, you had something every race on the car or every other race. It sounds difficult from our perspective to have a high number of updates with the constraints that we have.\u201d This year the cap, excluding wages, will be lowered to \u00a3103,024,180m, which means the teams need to be more disciplined about where and when to spend the budget they earmarked for developments.<\/p>\n
That problem is particularly going to affect Ferrari, as well as Mercedes and Red Bull, who have already needed to downsize to fit within the cap. Mekies described it as \u201cthe biggest challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Explain that once you defined budgets for aero or mechanical development they will only manage \u2018two or three\u2019 developments in each area.<\/p>\n
He also warned that if testing unearths several issues on the new cars that need to be addressed quickly, teams will be forced to dip into the development budget.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali hopes the “dream” of more drivers competing at the front of the field starts to be realised in the early years of the sport’s new era of regulations. This season sees the biggest technical overhaul is designed to allow closer racing and more unpredictability.<\/p>\n
The technical rules go hand-in-hand with the budget cap introduced for the first time last year, other regulations have also been introduced to make the racing closer on track.<\/p>\n
In an interview published today by Sky Sports \u201cI really hope that in the future with new regulations coming in place, this will allow other drivers to be in the fight to show who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will be really the dream of the next couple of years.\u201d Last year was the first time since 2012 that the championship went down to the wire with two drivers from different teams fighting for the title. Mercedes and Red Bull won 20 of the 22 races, with Alpine and McLaren taking one unexpected triumph apiece, the third time this century.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fernando Alonso says it was a \u201cluxury\u201d to be able to leave and return to Formula One on his own terms after enjoying his comeback season with Alpine in 2021. The two-time champion returned to the sport last year, after two seasons exploring other series.<\/p>\n
After leaving F1 at the end of 2018 following a four-season stint with McLaren, Alonso raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Indianapolis 500 and the Dakar Rally. When he returned to Enstone for the third time last year, he scored a podium as well as a crucial role in helping teammate Esteban Ocon take his maiden win.<\/p>\n
Alonso said earlier in the year that he had enjoyed his F1 comeback more than he expected, and reflected on the season as a whole as being \u201ca good year for me\u201d.<\/p>\n
He told Motorsport.com, \u201cOn-track and off-track, I did enjoy the time with the team, and in this comeback, I was super happy. I had the luxury to come back to the sport when I decided. When I decided, I stopped. When I decided, I came back. This is a very high luxury.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNormally it is a very small group of drivers that can drive in Formula 1, and it\u2019s not easy to have these kind of possibilities. I felt thankful for this. And also the way that the season has been for me, from improving every time and finishing very strong, it was the best way to prepare for 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alonso struggled to readjust to the sport, saying the biggest challenge was the front tyres as every team has a different philosophy when it comes to front suspension, front power steering, feedback that you get on the steering wheel.<\/p>\n
The front tyre’s construction was changed last season, Alonso believes that was a big change for everyone last season. He says the most rewarding moment was when the team performed a little better, citing Ocon\u2019s win in Budapest and his podium in Doha as the best moments.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mick Schumacher says initial feedback about the design of the 2022 Haas car is \u201cvery positive\u201d, leaving him with \u201cgreat expectations\u201d for his second season. The Ferrari back son of seven-time champion Michael made his debut last season but was fighting at the back as the team decided not to develop the car.<\/p>\n
The team made that decision so they could focus all their resources on this year technical regulations, which means they spent most of last year at the back of the grid failing to score points. However, Schumacher was able to show decent signs of progress through his first F1 season, particularly towards the end of the year.<\/p>\n
The German beat his fellow rookie teammate Nikita Mazepin in all but three races that both cars finished and outqualified Mazepin twenty out of twenty-two times. Last week, team principal Gunther Steiner admitted he found the team’s late-season progress “very odd,\u201d but Schumacher feels it a \u201chuge boost\u201d going into a season where the team are looking to make a big step forwards.<\/p>\n
He told Motorsport.com, \u201cThe car looks to be very positive, from what I see and hear. So I have great expectations. Hopefully, they’ll meet my expectations next year on track.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2022 car will be the first car in his career that Schumacher has had an influence in designing, a challenge that he says he was enjoying as he and Mazepin look to build a car around their requirements.<\/p>\n
Adding \u201cIt’s always something that has interested me for so many years, just how things work in general, and especially how a Formula One car works. I’m quite heavily involved in what next year’s (2022) car is doing, and just want to understand it and see all the CAD models and stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schumacher says it’s been great working with the team and having input on how he would like the car to be.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Alfa Romeo team principal Fred Vasseur says he has missed feelings about 2021, describing it as \u201cgood on performance\u201d but \u201cbad on results\u201d. Following a difficult 2020 caused partly by Ferrari\u2019s power difficult, last year the team appeared to take a step forwards towards the midfield.<\/p>\n
However, the good results by Williams scoring a podium at Spa saw the team drop to ninth as well as the British team capitalising on a crazy race in Budapest. Reflecting on the season, Vasseur conceded that he was left with a “very strange feeling” as the step in performance had not been rewarded with improved results.<\/p>\n
He told Motorsport.com, \u201cWe had some missed opportunities on our side. In Bahrain I think, we had the issue during the pit stop, or at Imola when Kimi spun on the formation lap, that cost us – [it’s] two points there, four points there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s a strange feeling, because at the end, your only KPI that makes sense is the points. It doesn’t matter to be faster if you’re not scoring points.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vasseur says that scenario was frustrating when looking back on the season, but rebounded later in the autumn following a tough summer. He explained that one-tenth can change the picture.<\/p>\n
Adding \u201cOverall if I have to rate this season, I would say good on performance and bad on results.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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