Sir Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes are “not the fastest” team heading into the first race of the new season in Bahrain. A fortnight ago in testing the world champions struggled with the handling of the car with the Englishman saying the title fight would “absolutely” be closer than 2020, which he and his team dominated.<\/p>\n
The seven-time champion said in the press conference, \u201cIt’s massively exciting for us as a team. We’re not the fastest. How are we going to work to get to where we want to be? That challenge is so exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamilton says that over the last week and a half since testing finish, they have been doing their best to understand the problems they were having, mainly problems with an unstable rear.<\/p>\n
He added \u201cI am fully confident they have done the absolute best. But it is going to be a continued battle to get the car to be where we want it to be.\u201d Through out last year there were many historic miles stones for Hamilton, this year he could win his eighth title passing Michael Schumacher and five more wins would see him reach a hundred wins.<\/p>\n
Drivers are free to show their backing for any cause that falls within that description but Hamilton said he would continue with what he did last year.<\/p>\n
He said: “We have an amazing platform here. It is great to see the steps F1 and Mercedes are taking in terms of making the sport more diverse. I plan to continue to take the knee because what is really important is when young people are watching and they see us taking the knee, they will ask their teachers or their parents, ‘Why are they doing that?’<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
British MPs, human rights and unions have written to Sir Lewis Hamilton, Liberty Media and the FIA calling for an inquiry into allegations of human rights abuses associated with the Bahrain Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Ten years since the start of the Arab Spring and the suppression by the regime the race has been controversial. The letter requests the establishment of a \u201ccommission of independent experts to investigate the human rights impact of F1\u2019s activities in Bahrain\u201d and cites among others the case of an 11-year-old boy who was arrested for joining protests against the November\u2019s.<\/p>\n
The Letter demands the sport lives up to its public commitment to a human rights policy it adopted in 2015 and notes that since 2011 when the race was cancelled amid protests at the suppression of Bahrain\u2019s Arab Spring movement. They say the situation has deteriorated over the last decade.<\/p>\n
They say \u201cThe situation in the country has only worsened,\u201d the letter reads. \u201cAny semblance of democracy has been abandoned as the government outlawed opposition political parties, forcibly closed Bahrain\u2019s only independent newspaper and severely curtailed freedom of assembly, forbidding unlicensed gatherings of more than five people.\u201d<\/p>\n
An F1 spokesman said in response to the call: \u201cWe fully believe that sport has always had a unique role in bringing different cultures together and crossing borders, being a force for good. We believe that shutting countries off from sport is not the right approach and engagement is far better than isolation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, The Guardian says it has learned that F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has rejected the calls for an investigation into the human rights abuses.<\/p>\n
Sir Lewis Hamilton who has been the sports moral compass over the last year was moved when at last year\u2019s race he received a letter from 11-year-old Ahmed Ramadhan, a Bahraini whose father Mohammed wrote to Hamilton telling him he had been arrested after supporting Bahrain\u2019s pro-democracy movement and then allegedly framed in a murder case and who is now facing execution. \u201cLewis, Please save my father,\u201d read his son\u2019s plea on the drawing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the saddest thing for me was that there\u2019s a young man on death row \u2026 and when his son writes me a letter it really hits home. All lives matter,\u201d Hamilton said at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year.<\/p>\n
Hamilton\u2019s meeting with the crown prince Salman bin Hamand al-Khalifa was cancelled last year after he caught coronavirus. The Bahraini government have always denied claims of mistreatment or human rights abuses, saying all cases are investigated independently.<\/p>\n
In the press conference, Hamilton said he was committed to address those issues in private, and educate himself on the human rights abuses in Bahrain. But he added it was not in his powers to decide where he races and say \u201chuman rights I don’t think should be a political issue. We all deserve equal rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
A government spokesperson said, \u201cBahrain has a zero-tolerance policy towards mistreatment of any kind and has put in place internationally recognised human rights safeguards.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA range of institutional and legal reforms have been implemented in close collaboration with international governments and independent experts, including the establishment of a wholly independent Ombudsman \u2013 the first of its kind in the region \u2013 which will fully and independently investigate any allegation of mistreatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Charles Leclerc says he has learned to \u201cchoose my fights better\u201d in 2021 after crashing out of two races on the first lap in 2020. The Monacan crashed with then-teammate Sebastian Vettel on the opening lap in Styria, and with Sergio Perez in the Sakhir race, which also took Max Verstappen out.<\/p>\n
On both occasions, Leclerc was forced to retire as a result of the contact while trying to make up for Ferrari\u2019s lack of performance in qualifying. In the press conference for the Bahrain Grand Prix, he was again going to have to be willing to take risks to improve Ferrari’s chances in races in 2021 in the pre-event press conference, Leclerc said: “Let’s wait and see where we are again because I think there are positive signs from the test.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then we will see for sure from Saturday onwards. But I think I’ll probably choose my fights a little bit better. Last year, if you take here [in the Sakhir GP] for example, I was fighting with a Red Bull, which wouldn’t have been possible to keep behind for the rest of the race.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that was a bit silly to have a crash at that point of the race for these type of positions that we wouldn’t have been able to keep anyway. But, on many other occasions it helped us to achieve better results. So, I will choose my fights better, but if I have to be aggressive at one point to get better results I will do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leclerc explained that the crashes were the results of \u201ca difficult moment for the team” and said that he was “just extremely motivated to do something special and that motivation translated in crashes on the track \u2013 which was not great”.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says Max Verstappen ending Sir Lewis Hamilton\u2019s run of four and Mercedes run of seven back to back titles. Hopes of a much closer battle between the rivals are rising as the sport prepares to start a new season in Bahrain on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Mercedes have won every title since 2014 while Britain\u2019s Hamilton, who can become the first driver to win 100 races, is bidding for an unprecedented eighth championship double. Following testing, Red Bull are expected to be the favourites after Mercedes struggled in testing, with Verstappen setting his sights on Hamilton.<\/p>\n
Horner says \u201cArguably winning with Max would be our biggest single achievement in Formula One for the size of the challenge. They (Hamilton and Mercedes) are absolute titans of the sport at the moment. I think that it would be our biggest achievement if we were able to beat them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLewis is the most successful driver of all time and he\u2019s only just achieved those records so he\u2019s still at his peak and what he\u2019s achieved in the sport is unsurpassed. He\u2019s going to be a huge adversary this year and he goes into the season absolutely the favourite to defend his multiple championship-winning run. We are still very much the underdogs but we are a challenger and will never give up.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says that Sergio Perez\u2019s future at Red Bull beyond this season rests in his own hands. The Mexican has joined the team alongside Max Verstappen, which the team hope will allow them to mount a serious title challenge to Mercedes.<\/p>\n
Speaking about Perez\u2019s contract, Horner said, \u201cThere\u2019s nothing pre-written that it\u2019s only a single-year deal. It depends how he fits in the team, how he delivers. It’s very much in his own hands. It\u2019s all about what they do in the car at the end of the day… it\u2019s now down to him to make good use of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perez won the Sakhir Grand Prix in December having lost his seat with Aston Martin after the team decided to replace him with four-time champion Sebastian Vettel. Horner added \u201cIt was only a unique set of circumstances… that allowed us to wait until after the season to make a decision. And the back end of the year that Sergio had was so compelling that you couldn\u2019t ignore a talent like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Horner has worked with the Mexican before, having signed him for his Arden Formula Two team following Red Bull\u2019s decision not to take him into their young driver programme. Perez then graduated to F1 with Sauber in 2011.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Another round of talks will take place this weekend in Bahrain in an attempt to try and iron out the financial details around the plans to trial qualifying sprint races at three Grands Prix this season.<\/p>\n
As reported earlier this month there are a lot of issues surrounding the idea for three Saturday sprint races have been agreed upon amongst teams. However, one factor that continues to divide them is over the compensation that teams will be offered for the potential extra costs that could come as the result of Saturday sprint races.<\/p>\n
One of the biggest concerns is for extra damage that is associated with racing, including the likelihood of more broken front wings due to first-lap incidents. The latest report by Motorsport.com, says one factor that continues to divide them is over the compensation that teams will be offered for the potential extra costs that could come as the result of Saturday sprint races.<\/p>\n
One of the biggest concerns is for extra damage that is associated with racing, including the likelihood of more broken front wings due to first-lap incidents. It has been reported that teams will be paid around \u00a31m to cover extra costs on top of the budget cap, however, some teams are pushing for more.<\/p>\n
The website says they want as much as three times the amount on offer, up to around an extra $1 million, with the new cost cap limit also being increased by such an amount. The plan doesn\u2019t have universal support as the smaller teams fear the bigger teams will use the payment to get around the budget cap and spend on performance.<\/p>\n
No agreement has been made and the next round of talks set to take place over the weekend. If enough progress is made, and the consensus is reached among the vast majority of teams, then F1 could choose to put the sprint race proposal to a vote over the next few days.<\/p>\n
Should the sprint race plan go ahead, then the idea is for them to be trialled at three races this year, the British, Italian and Sao Paulo Grands Prix. Under the plans, the normal qualifying format would take place on Friday for the roughly half-distance sprint race on Saturday, the results of that race will then set the grid for the race.<\/p>\n
The shorter sprint is set to offer a small number of points too, with three on offer for the winner, two for second place and one for third.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Renault CEO Luca de Meo says that the Alpine team cannot afford to have a \u201cs***** season\u201d this year despite its focus on the new regulations in 2022. The rebranded team will make its on-track debut at this weekends Bahrain Grand Prix, with Fernando Alonso making his return to F1 after two years away alongside Esteban Ocon.<\/p>\n
The Renault team finish fifth in last year\u2019s constructors\u2019 championship amid a close battle in the midfield with McLaren, Racing Point, Ferrari and AlphaTauri that looks set to continue into 2021.<\/p>\n
De Meo says he wants the team to build on its performance last year, while a great deal of focus is being placed on next year\u2019s rule change, it could not afford to write this year off.<\/p>\n
He told Autosport, \u201cFor a successful season, I think we are in competition with ourselves. I think my expectation is that we get better and better every race. We\u2019ll try not to go back from the previous position of last year, but it will be complicated because you have teams that improved a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very much focusing also on 2022. For us, the real big challenge will start in 2022. But of course, we don’t want to make 2021, let’s say, a shitty season.\u201d De Meo says that Alonso wants to win all the time, with Ocon wanting to prove himself and cannot waste time after years at the end of the grid.<\/p>\n
Adding, \u201cSo they have a motivation. And we need to give them a good service as a team, to the drivers. So we are there to work and we will see how we can improve race after race. Let’s see what happens. Because also the others are getting stronger and stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n
When de Meo became Renault CEO last summer he set out plans for a \u2018Renaulution\u2019 within the French manufacturer. He explained how he wanted Alpine\u2019s F1 efforts to be better integrated into the wider Renault group than the team has been in recent years.<\/p>\n
Saying they wanted to integrate the F1 story into a wider story of the mainstream Renault group and Alpine story.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mick Schumacher says he “super excited” to begin his Formula One career at this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. The German\u2019s debut is one of the most anticipated debuts in the sport’s history, thirty years after his father Michael started his record-breaking career, Mick makes his debut with Haas after winning last year\u2019s F2 titles.<\/p>\n
This week he has given a series of interviews, but realistically 2021 is set to be a difficult season for the twenty-two-year-old because Haas has decided to focus its efforts on next year\u2019s regulation changes. Despite this Schumacher is naturally eager to get started at the top level.<\/p>\n
He told Sky Sports, \u201cObviously, I’m super excited about the first race in Bahrain. I’m so happy that I’m finally there, finally able to race with everybody and to show my potential working with a great team. I will learn and improve as a driver and as a human.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schumacher in the last three years has won both the F2 and F3 Europe series, six of the current drivers he will be on the grid with also raced against his father,\u00a0 including Lewis Hamilton who matched Michael’s record haul of seven titles last year.<\/p>\n
Schumacher said \u201cI have a lot of respect for all of them both as drivers and as people. It’s going to be nice starting on the same grid as them and being amongst the top 20 drivers in the world. I’m really happy about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kimi Raikkonen who is the most experienced driver in F1 history and replaced Michael when he retired for the first time in 2006 has spoken warmly about Mick. Asked about the widespread goodwill shown towards the younger Schumacher, Raikkonen said: “For sure part of it’s that [because he’s Michael’s son], but he’s not in F1 because of his second name. It will be exciting to see [his progress], hopefully, he has a decent car.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael has not been seen in public since suffering severe head injuries in a skiing accident on a family holiday in the French Alps in December 2013. Mick was fourteen years old at the time of his father’s accident.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fernando Alonso says he feels like he’s “back home” in Formula One and is “very confident” ahead of his race return at this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. The two times champion is making his return to the sport after two years away with his third stint with Alpine, formerly Renault where he won both his championships in 2005 and 2006.<\/p>\n
Despite spending the last two years experiencing different motorsports, Alonso admitted there was always an urge to come back to F1. He told Sky Sports, \u201cI’ve always been considered the F1 guy in different paddocks. When I was in Le Mans, I was the F1 guy, when I was in Dakar I was the F1 guy, and now that I’m back in F1 it’s like coming back home in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last two years I challenged myself in completely different environments and I think coming back now and trying to be successful again in Formula One was the biggest challenge that I had last year when I decided to come back and when I was thinking what to do next.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the build-up to this season, Alonso has insisted that he is a better driver than he was before but the performance of his Alpine team is a bit of an unknown. Renault were fifth last year following a very competitive midfield fight, while the newly-rebranded Alpine had a rather quiet pre-season test at Sakhir two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
He added. \u201cI think we have a good team, we have good potential, we saw some progress last year in Renault and I’m very confident that it’s going to be a good 2021 for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Williams have played down the reports and speculation that they could become Renault\u2019s B team with the team determined to maintain its independence for the long term.<\/p>\n
The team was brought last September by the US investment fund Dorilton Capital, who have set themselves the target of moving themselves up the grid. Part of this has been building a closer technical partnership with Mercedes. There has been speculation that it could return to Renault power, as its CEO Luca de Meo says the manufacturer is open to closer ties with customers.<\/p>\n
Williams CEO Jost Capito says that while the team is open to the idea of technical alliances, and indeed will always need an engine supply from a manufacturer, he does not want it to give up any of its independence.<\/p>\n
Speaking about the potential for a future manufacturer to enter F1 with Williams, Capito told Motorsport.com, \u201cIf we would improve and can improve the results, we will be more attractive for OEMs coming in, but our clear objective is to stay an independent team and not being bought by any other team or by an OEM.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWilliams has always been independent and not what you see with these A and B teams. For us, a B team is a team that doesn’t have the independent ownership, or has some ownership from an OEM or from another Formula One team. And on that definition, we don’t want to be a B team.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says that the team wants to be a \u2018A Team\u2019 because racing was the teams core business and should stay as the core business. Despite the reports of a tie up, Capito is clear that his outfit will respect the contract it has with Mercedes and has no intention of changing partner yet.<\/p>\n
Adding, \u201cWe have a good relationship with Mercedes, and we have a contract that goes still a couple of years, and we respect this contract, because we are very happy with the relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This weekend as we said after testing Red Bull are expected to be the team to beat, but no one is writing off Mercedes. The fact is we don\u2019t know for sure if we saw the true performance of Mercedes and they are going to be close, but the question remains how much of a smoke screen was put up by Mercedes. We cannot conclude one race we need a couple of races to get the true picture of the grid.<\/p>\n
Bahrain for me is about learning where we are, and which teams are in which position. Testing was limited and sometimes trickier when it came to conditions with the weather and wind direction. Mercedes was disadvantaged by this as well as technical issues with the car.<\/p>\n
Red Bull I think need to come out the box strong in these opening few races if they are going to have a serious possibility of challenging Mercedes. Sergio Perez will need time to settle in, but when he does Red Bull will be a force.<\/p>\n
This circuit requires high speed and downforce, we have seen the circuit the past the circuit have mixed results when it comes to racing. Ferrari are one team to watch as we want a bit of recovery from the team. We have a very tight midfield as these cars are very much a carry over from last year, but patience remains my main word this weekend.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The latest news and analysis behind the headlines from Formula One ahead of this weekend\u2019s Bahrain Grand Prix, exploring the day’s events from a global perspective.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[47,125,173,242,243,248,322,390,412,647,664,667,675,707,754,882,885,927,1082,1153,1154,1182,1283,1298,1637,1638,1642,1656,1755,1808,1843,1885,1987,2149,2152],"class_list":["post-8756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-analysis","tag-47","tag-alpine","tag-arab-spring","tag-bahrain-gp","tag-bahrain-grand-prix","tag-bahraini-government","tag-british-parliament","tag-charles-leclerc","tag-christian-horner","tag-esteban-ocon","tag-f1","tag-f1-commission","tag-f1-today","tag-fernando-alonso","tag-formula-one","tag-haas","tag-haas-ferrari","tag-human-rights","tag-jost-capito","tag-liberty","tag-liberty-media","tag-luca-de-meo","tag-max-verstappen","tag-mercedes","tag-red-bull","tag-red-bull-honda","tag-red-bull-racing","tag-renault","tag-salman-bin-hamand-al-khalifa","tag-sergio-perez","tag-lewis-hamilton","tag-sprint-races","tag-the-weekend-ahead","tag-williams","tag-williams-mercedes"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}