{"id":11492,"date":"2022-12-11T09:00:13","date_gmt":"2022-12-11T09:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/f1vault.co.uk\/?p=11492"},"modified":"2022-12-11T09:00:13","modified_gmt":"2022-12-11T09:00:13","slug":"this-week-11122022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/this-week-11122022\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week \u2013 11\/12\/2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Week, in the past few weeks, one words comes to mind, stability. \u201ca situation in which something such as an economy, company, or system can continue in a regular and successful way without unexpected changes,\u201d says the dictionary. While the economic picture is unstable, key to Red Bull and Mercedes’s domination over the last decade.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ferrari\u2019s long-established culture described once by Ross Brawn as \u2018fire if you get it wrong,\u2019 has taken a lot longer than it would have in the past but you had this feeling it was coming. Its been a quiet week for them, but their long-time rivals McLaren have had the most news.<\/p>\n

General News<\/h4>\n

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has revealed two major challenges he faced after taking over the job last year, a court case and a $20 million financial black hole. Ben Sulayem was elected as president admits the scandal around last years championship decider in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

The court case was over the patent of the Halo which had been brought about by its inventor Jens H. S. Nygaard.<\/p>\n

It was settled in the end, but he told Motorsport.com, \u201cImagine yourself being elected in the role after all these years of trying, everybody having a party on the night of the 17th (December), then you go to the office on the 18th and 10 o\u2019clock in the morning, the first thing you meet is your legal people and they say you have a big court case with the halo.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governing body also announced further relaxation of its coronavirus protocols for the 2023 season, including a requirement for those in the paddock to be vaccinated. These were relaxed throughout the second part of 2021 and this year saw the end of mandatory testing and wearing masks. Unless local restrictions require stricter measures<\/p>\n

Those who have COVID symptoms or have a positive test result will still not be allowed to enter the high-density areas, according to the FIA, meaning there is no shift that would allow drivers who had tested positive to still race.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Autosport awards<\/h4>\n

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell both picked up awards at this years Autosport Awards last Sunday. Hamilton was named British Competition Driver of the Year Award, ahead of Russell and Lando Norris following a public vote.<\/p>\n

Hamilton said: \u201cGood evening everyone, I am sorry I couldn\u2019t be there in person but a huge thank you to all the Autosport readers. I still remember by first time at the awards, many years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell\u2019s win in Sao Paulo was voted moment of the year beating Max Verstappen\u2019s record-breaking win in Mexico City. Guanyu Zhou won rookie of the year, and Sebastian Vettel picked up the Gregor Grant Award for lifetime achievement. Verstappen the international driver of the year, Luke Browing won the renamed Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver, giving him \u00a3200,000, a private test with the team.<\/p>\n

Mercedes<\/h4>\n

Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff says the sport cannot \u201chideaway\u201d from tackling social issues in some of the Middle Eastern countries where it races, believing sport can help bring positive change. Human rights have been placed back on the agenda as Qatar hosts the 2022 FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n

Of the four countries which host Grands Prix its only Bahrain where same-sex relationships are legal, but still the LGBT community faces huge amounts of discrimination. However, in all four countries woman\u2019s rights are restricted and are not equal to men, though the country is the \u2018most progressive\u2019 of the four.<\/p>\n

Pressure groups have criticised F1 for racing in these countries given their human rights records, while drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have spoken up about social issues when racing there.<\/p>\n

Wolff still believes that the sport can trigger change because they \u201ccan\u2019t be hidden any more. And that\u2019s the kind of positive that I think a sport can do. Things are being addressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it like we want it to be? No. Is it the kind of cultural standards that we have in Europe? Maybe not. Where we go, and the people I speak to, I see process and I see change. That\u2019s maybe because we are Formula 1, where we go may be different, but I see that we have an impact.<\/p>\n

George Russell insists he is \u201cready to win a world championship\u201d after impressing in his debut season at Mercedes and finishing ahead of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the driver’s championship.<\/p>\n

He told Sky Sports, \u201cfeel absolutely ready to win a world championship. I’ve felt ready for a couple of years now. I think having this season next to Lewis has been huge for me personally to learn some of the little details, how to get more out of my car, more out of my team, and extracting everything out of the package when it truly matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Red Bull<\/h4>\n

Max Verstappen says when his F1 career is finished his focus will be \u201cmainly on endurance\u201d racing, competing in something to \u201chave a bit more fun with less pressure.\u201d We already know from his previous statements that he doesn\u2019t intend to go for Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton\u2019s longevity, while that could change, he appears clear that he wants to explore other things.<\/p>\n

The team also announced they had signed Zane Maloney to their Junior Team, the \u00a0Barbadian, who finished runner-up in FIA F3 made the announcement on Instagram, he will also be part of the teams reserve driver line up.<\/p>\n

Maloney wrote \u201cI am thrilled to announce that I will be a part of the Red Bull Racing Junior Team and F1 Reserve Driver in 2023. I am grateful for the opportunity and support, and look forward to getting the season started.\u201d<\/p>\n

McLaren<\/h4>\n

McLaren says the difficulties it faces in making progress up the order before its new wind tunnel arrives are no excuse for it not seeking gains in the short-term. The British team has accepted that while it redevelops its infrastructure, it will be on the back foot against the top three, Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari.<\/p>\n

We know that they went backwards following this years regulation changes and they are still very much in the rebuilding phase of their long-term investments. team principal Andreas Seidl says that does not mean the team is ready to simply sit back and wait until it can make a bigger step. Instead, he believes McLaren has the scope to lift its game and put itself in the best place possible to capitalise on opportunities that come its way.<\/p>\n

Seidl told Motorsport.com, \u201cThe objective is clear also next year, we want to make another step again in all areas of the team. That\u2019s not just with the car itself, including some of the weaknesses we’ve seen this year, but also with just simply making another step as a team in all aspects.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lando Norris says scoring just a single podium finish this year \u201cisn\u2019t enough\u201d despite being the only driver outside the leading three teams. Norris only got that podium at Imola thanks to a penalty for Charles Leclerc, with the rest shared by Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari.<\/p>\n

Asked if it meant anything to be the only driver outside these teams to score a podium, Norris replied: \u201cA little bit. A podium always means something. It means something to me, means something to the team. But one isn’t enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norris proved once again to be a consistent driver finishing best of the rest in the drivers championship in seventh. I think that underlines the potential of Norris to be a champion, and his chance of having a long career.<\/p>\n

But he said throughout the season, despite him appearing to get the best out of the car thanks to his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, he had still struggled to get to grips with the car and the regulations and says team knew it had endured a \u201cvery tough season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alpha Tauri<\/h4>\n

Pierre Gasly, who is leaving the team, says he is unsure how Alpha Tauri will perform next year following the change of concept. Gasly heads to Alpine in 2023 after a difficult final year with the Faenza team, which struggled to find form for much of the season.<\/p>\n

The Frenchman says that his former team are confident that the new AT04 will be the best car they have built to date. He admits that with all teams developing their cars for the second season of the current rules it\u2019s hard to predict the form book, and thus where his new team will stand against rivals.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cIn this sport it’s so difficult to know what’s going to happen from one year to another. We were top of the midfield last season, this year we were back of the midfield and next season, who knows what’s going to happen? Maybe AlphaTauri, and I know they’re changing completely the concept of the car, will be back in the fight. It’s difficult to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

We know Alpha Tauri are bullish about making progress next year, I feel that this season they haven\u2019t performed as I thought they would. But we know these regulations were designed to shake the order up, Gasly says the feeling in the paddock is that every team is making progress and the switch season has seen several people move teams.<\/p>\n

Aston Martin<\/h4>\n

The teams technical director Dan Fallows says that next years AMR20 will have \u00a0\u201csignificant differences\u201d relative to this year\u2019s car. Next years car will be the first to be developed by Fallows after he joined from Red Bull in April, and head of aero Eric Baldwin who joined from Mercedes.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s AMR22 was designed to allow for a change of concept, and it was developed substantially over the season. Fallows suggests that the next year\u2019s car will represent a further step. He said, \u201cI know that new cars always have to pass my test of my children. So if I put them in front of my children and they say they look different, then they look different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Its not surprising to see a change of direction following a new technical leadership, and they obviously want to close the gap and we know that owner Lawrence Stroll has set the team the target of challenging for titles in the medium to long term. I feel they could potentially be on the Red Bull trajectory as they appear to have the cash and investment, as well as the progress in the second half of the season.<\/p>\n

Williams<\/h4>\n

Williams’s former title sponsor ROKIT has been ordered to pay the te \u00a326m by a US court. They joined Williams as a title sponsor in 2019, before featuring heavily on the team\u2019s 2020 challenger during pre-season testing.<\/p>\n

Once the season got underway in July following the pandemic, ROKiT no longer appeared on the Williams car. The sponsorship deal was meant to last for three years, with the possibility of five year extension, but the company withheld the money owed and ended the deal. Williams believing their contract with ROKiT had been breached, the case was taken to court.<\/p>\n

Haas<\/h4>\n

Gunther Steiner says that the so-called \u2018super-sub\u2019 Nico Hulkenberg cameos over the past three seasons show that he “will be straight on it” when he returns to the sport next season. He made five outings for Racing Point\/Aston Martin over the last three years as reserve drivers, when three of its regular drivers had Covid.<\/p>\n

when asked by Motorsport.com about whether he has any concerns over a lack of race sharpness, Steiner replied, \u201cWe looked at that one as well, but when he came in, when he replaced drivers in the last years, he was pretty on the ball straight away.\u201d<\/p>\n

I think those outings could make it easier for him given he has had some milage in the last few years, but it is not like has much running in the current generation of cars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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