Mercedes thinks it has found \u2018several directions\u2019 in its wind tunnel work that could help it cure the porpoising problems they are having with the W11. The German manufacturer has had a challenging start to the season, with both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell being hampered by their car suffering from excessive bouncing.<\/p>\n
Trying to settle the problem the team has had to raise the ride high considerably, which cost them a lot in terms of lap times. But it now believes that if they can run the car lower to the ground that will dial out the porpoising, as well as unlocking a decent chunk of lap time, that could help it challenge Red Bull and Ferrari at the front of the grid.<\/p>\n
The team is planning to begin trials with some car updates from this weekend\u2019s Miami Grand Prix, which it hopes will allow it to start running the car closer to the ground. Speaking ahead of the weekend, CEO and team principal Toto Wolff revealed that its work following a difficult weekend at Imola had yielded answers as to where the team could focus its efforts.<\/p>\n
He explained, \u201cSince we returned from Italy, we’ve learned as much from the weekend as we can and, in parallel, our learning has continued in the wind tunnel and simulations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have found several directions for improving the car, and we will be conducting experiments in Miami to correlate those simulations, and hopefully confirm the development path for the coming race.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wolff has insisted despite the disappointing start to the season, Mercedes are not in a panic mode about its competitive situation. Instead, he says there is a calm and methodical approach being taken by the engineers and drivers to work out how to overcome the problems.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lewis Hamilton says it is \u201camazing\u201d to see that F1 has \u201ccracked\u201d America after years of lukewarm interest from American race fans. This weekend the sport makes its debut in Miami with a circuit designed around the Hard Rock Stadium.<\/p>\n
The much-anticipated event joins Austin’s United States Grand Prix on the calendar, with a third American race to follow next year when F1 visits the iconic Strip in downtown Las Vegas. The seven-time champion who has won the first races he has started in America, Indianapolis in 2007 and Austin in 2012, says it is great to see the F1 has finally taken off in the country.<\/p>\n
He told Motorsport.com, \u201cGrowing up knowing how amazing the sport is and seeing that there was still quite a disconnect between the US and the rest of the world in terms of the passion for this sport, it’s really amazing to see that we’ve cracked it and there’s a growing love in the States.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Englishman says that Miami is going to be an experience for us all, with there going to be fans who have never been to races before, saying America has a lot to offer in terms of space.<\/p>\n
The 3.361-mile anticlockwise circuit in Miami Gardens features a variety of low-speed sections, Esses and a mile, 250mkph straight that leads towards the hairpin at Turn 17, which is expected to be the track’s main overtaking opportunity.<\/p>\n
Hamilton’s former Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas was one of several drivers to give the track the thumbs up when he sampled it on the simulator. The Finn added, \u201cActually, it was nice to see that it seems to be a really good track for overtaking. I think the way the track has been planned; from my side, it looks positive. It should be good racing. Pretty long straights and a couple of ally good overtaking opportunities<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tony Brooks one of the defining drivers of the 1950s died aged ninety on Tuesday. The British driver won six Grand Prix and narrowly missed out on the world championship in 1959.<\/p>\n
After Juan Manuel Fangio, Alberto Ascari and Stirling Moss, Brooks was the most successful driver of his era. Brooks is regarded alongside Moss as the best British driver never to win the F1 title.<\/p>\n
Brooks had been the last living driver from the 1950s to have won races, between 1956 and 1959 he won 46% of races in an era when reliably was a major part of the sport.<\/p>\n
Moss before his death in 2020 said that his former teammate and friend, \u201cwas \u00a0a tremendous driver, the greatest – if he’ll forgive me saying this – ‘unknown’ racing driver there’s ever been. He was far better than several people who won the world championship.\u201d<\/p>\n
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali paid tribute to Brooks in a statement, saying: “I was saddened to hear the news that Tony Brooks has died. He was part of a special group of drivers who were pioneers and pushed the boundaries at a time of great risk. He will be missed and our thoughts are with his family at this time.”<\/p>\n
Brooks famously won his first-ever F1 race, the Syracuse Grand Prix of 1955, in which he competed as a last-minute entry for the Connaught team while studying for his dentistry finals at Manchester University<\/p>\n
After being called to Vespa in 1955 and despite missing practice he cause a sensational upset leading both Maserati\u2019s home to take the first win for a British car since 1924. He entered F1 in 1956 with BRM, but he raced only twice in a car that was not a success, escaping from serious injury following a crash at Silverstone in 1956.<\/p>\n
1957 marked his breakthrough as he joined Moss at Vanwall, finishing second in Monaco and winning the British Grand Prix. His win from third at Silverstone came despite injuries in a crash at Le Mans, after Moss retired from the race while leading, a fatigued Brooks handed over his car and Moss went on to a famous win.<\/p>\n
1958 underlined his talent came through at the demanding circuit going to win at Spa and the Nurburgring Nordschleife. The following season with wins in France and Germany, plus a podium in Monaco, he went into the final race in Florida still with a chance of the championship.<\/p>\n
Brooks was a devout Catholic and did not believe in taking unnecessary risks with his life, despite his profession. In that race, the approach probably cost him the title when he was hit by team-mate Wolfgang Von Trips.<\/p>\n
On reflection, he said years later, \u201cMy natural inclination was to carry on. Believe me, that would have been the easiest thing to do, but I made myself come in to have the car checked over.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brooks left Ferrari after that and although he continued in F1 in 1960 and ’61, he was already thinking of moving on. And after an unsatisfactory year back with BRM, he retired, with little fanfare.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Alpine has announced that W Series driver Alice Powell will join the team in a development role. She will work in talent identification and development mentor for Alpine’s driver academy.<\/p>\n
She will act as a mentor to up-and-coming drivers, especially female racers, with racing and career advice. Powell will work closely with fellow Briton Abbi Pulling, who joined Alpine last year.<\/p>\n
She told BBC News, \u201cMore and more opportunities for women within motorsport are emerging now, but budding drivers often lack guidance and experience in the early days of their career.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Alpine Academy provides a sense of credibility and has a defined place on the motorsport ladder. Mentoring is very important. We need to change the mindset of young women that these opportunities do exist, but to also give them the resilience to reach out and grab these opportunities with both hands.”<\/p>\n
While Pulling says her time in the Alpine Academy so far had been “very beneficial”<\/p>\n
Adding, \u201cIt’s a really supportive environment which is also really useful for me to hopefully show other young women that the opportunities in motorsport are there, you just need the drive and motivation to seize them.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yuki Tsunoda believes he has made a \u201cmassive step\u201d in his second season in F1, as he admits he \u201cdidn\u2019t know\u201d what he was doing in his debut season. The Japanese driver entered F1 with Alpha Tauri amid plenty of expectations but struggled to adapt to F1 in the first half of 2021 which was marred by plenty of mistakes.<\/p>\n
But following a move from the UK to Italy mid season Tsunoda started to improve slowly taking fourth place in Abu Dhabi. The step forwards has continued in the first four races of the year, where he has performed closer to the level of his more experienced teammate Pierre Gasly.<\/p>\n
In the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Tsunoda took his second points haul of the season with a tidy seventh place. His performance drew praise from team boss Franz Tost, who said, \u201cYuki made a big step forward in comparison to last year but also looking to this year, I must say that he is really developing himself and his performance in a really good way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tsunoda acknowledged he has made steps forwards and admitted he was in a bad loop, which helped him to make the next step.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack admits that the team has to provide a car that gives its drivers a better feel. In Melbourne, both Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll had big crashes, with the four-time champion crashing out in both practice and the race.<\/p>\n
The team subsequently made it through Imola with no major dramas, with both drivers finishing in the points, helped by efforts to improve feedback from the AMR22’s steering wheel. However, it continues to be an issue that the team are trying to resolve, its identified three areas, aero which it says is the most important, the weight of the car and better feedback.<\/p>\n
Krack explained to Motorsport.com, \u201cWe have three main points that we are working on. One is aero, the most important one, the second one is car weight, very important as well. And the third one is how can we provide better feedback to our drivers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat goes into the suspension, it goes into steering, and these kinds of things, the whole set-up of the car. We need to try and give the drivers a better feel for the car, so that they can extract more from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also believes that the various incidents they have had were not normal, which he says that drivers of this quality don\u2019t go off all the time. Krack says at Imola they made a small steps with upgrades and were looking to bring more.<\/p>\n
Vettel acknowledged that there was an improvement in Imola, but stressed that more progress was required. He said after finishing eighth, \u201cWe didn’t put anything on for performance. We suffered an issue with the steering feeling. And we were able to improve it slightly for this race. But it’s still a handful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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