Hamilton “done well” to avoid incidents with Verstappen
Sir Lewis Hamilton says he has “done well” to avoid incidents this season with his title rival Max Verstappen so far, believing there is “balanced” respect between them. The seven-time champion currently leads the Red Bull driver by fourteen points going into this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.
At the four Grands Prix held so far, Hamilton and Verstappen have gone wheel-to-wheel resulting in hard but fair racing. But, the feeling summed up by McLaren CEO on Monday is it’s a “matter of time” before Hamilton and Verstappen collided while fighting on track.
Verstappen made an aggressive move into the first corner at Imola and in Barcelona, with Hamilton saying after the latter race that he “made sure” to give enough space. The Mercedes driver says he wasn’t sure if it was an inevitability, believing he had done well to avoid any incidents, and that Verstappen perhaps had more to prove.
He told reporters ahead of this weekend “I don’t know, I think I’ve done well to avoid all of the incidents so far. We’ve got 19 more to go, and we could connect. Hopefully not. I think the good thing is, I think there is a nice, balanced amount of respect between us.”
“I think perhaps, as you know, he feels perhaps he has a lot to prove. I’m not necessarily in the same boat there. I’m more long-term, it’s a marathon, not a sprint, sort of mentality. Which is ultimately why I have the stats that I have. I’ll continue with that, and I’ll do everything to make sure that we avoid connecting.”
Hamilton has made his strongest start to a season in his career, but equally, Mercedes are facing their toughest challenge in the hybrid era from Verstappen and Red Bull. The team believed it was on the back foot against Red Bull following pre-season testing, but Hamilton said it had zero impact on his approach towards the season.
Hamilton said, “I think every year, your goal is to extract absolutely everything. There’s never a year where you arrive, whether you have two-tenths, half a second, negative or to [you], you’re never like, I’m going to give a little bit less.”
The world champion says every season you give it your everything, and sometimes, things don’t go as planned. But this year he feels he has started the way he wanted to despite having to adjust because of the pandemic.
Verstappen says he has “Nothing to prove”
Max Verstappen feels he has “nothing to prove” with his aggressive moves on Lewis Hamilton in the early part of the title battle in 2021. The Red Bull and Mercedes drivers have gone wheel-to-wheel in the first four races of the season, including two close battles heading into the opening corner at Imola and Barcelona.
Responding to the comments above where Hamilton said he believed they “have done well to avoid all the incidents. But we have 19 more [races] and we could connect. He feels he perhaps has a lot to prove. I’m not in the same boat.”
Verstappen responded, “I have nothing to prove and avoiding contact goes both ways. So we have done well. We race hard, we avoided the contact both sides. Let’s hope we can keep doing that and keep racing hard against each other.”
Hamilton currently leads Verstappen by fourteen points after four races, after they fought hard at each race this season. In the first race in Bahrain, Verstappen went off the track when passing Hamilton for the lead around the outside in the closing stages of the race and had to give the position back.
Hamilton bounced over kerbs and damaged his car while trying unsuccessfully to fend off Verstappen at the first corner of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. At the last race in Barcelona, Verstappen took the lead early on, before Hamilton hunted him down and passed him in the final part of the race.
He added “I am more long-term, it’s-a-marathon-not-a-sprint sort of mentality, which is ultimately why I have the stats I have. I will continue with that and do everything to make sure we avoid connecting.”
This season Hamilton like Verstappen has had his equal best start to a season, and says he believes that he had “raised the bar” in the face of the challenge from Red Bull this season. Saying, “Every year your goal is to extract everything. There is never a year you arrive and say: ‘I am going to give a little bit less.’”
“Every year you give absolutely everything and sometimes things don’t go as planned. You could be distracted by certain things, you don’t capitalise on opportunities, you might not be always as complete as you’d like.”
Hamilton admitted his preparation for this year has been adjusted to the disruption of the pandemic but says he has raised the bar again this season.
Russell wants a multi-year deal
George Russell says he wants his next contract to be a multi-year deal as he wants to have “consistency in order to grow and progress”. The Englishman’s contract with Williams is due to expire at the end of the season, but his future depends on whether Mercedes retain both Sir Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas beyond the end of 2021.
Mercedes has ruled out rushing into any decisions about its line-up for next year but is set to be a key part of the upcoming driver market silly season. One piece of the puzzle fell into place on Wednesday was Lando Norris, who signed a multi-year deal to remain with McLaren.
Russell said on Wednesday that he was eager to join his peers in getting a multi-year deal agreed from 2022 to ensure he had the right platform to develop on. He said on Wednesday, “Definitely the position I’m in currently, being a free agent as such going into next year, is a good position to be in.”
“I think stability and longevity is important. I think it’s so clear with people moving around recently how difficult it is to jump in and adapt to a new team. So I think wherever I find myself next year, I’d like it to be at least for a couple of years, because I think that’s so important to have that consistency in order to grow and progress.”
Russell is currently in the final year of his Williams deal, but despite the teams struggles at the back of the grid, he has managed to show his potential with a few results. The Englishman was given an opportunity to show his potential in a front-running car came at last year’s Sakhir Grand Prix.
When Russell was drafted in by Mercedes after Sir Lewis Hamilton was ruled out of the race when he had coronavirus. Russell qualified second and almost won the race before a late puncture.
Russell said that he was “really happy” for Norris, saying that his fellow F2 2019 graduate “deserves it” after his performance this year.
Norris signs multi-year McLaren deal
Lando Norris has signed a new multi-year deal to continue with McLaren, the Englishman made his debut with the team in 2019 and this year has made his best start to a season in his career. Going into this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, he is currently fourth in the championship.
Norris joined McLaren in 2017 and last month scored his second career podium and has in the opening four races ‘made the next step,’ according to CEO Zak Brown. He is confident greater success can be achieved in the future as the former champions plot their way back to the front.
He said, “I’m really pleased to have extended my relationship with McLaren from 2022. Having been with the team for almost five years, I feel very much part of the family here and I couldn’t imagine starting the next phase of my career anywhere else.”
“McLaren has been a huge support since my days in junior series and I’ve really enjoyed learning and developing as a driver since. My commitment to McLaren is clear: my goal is to win races and become world champion and I want to do that with this team.”
Norris says the progression since joining the team in 2017 has been consistent as they have clear ambitions together for the future. He says there have been incredible moments together which he’ll never forget.
This season he has appeared to get the better of his more experienced teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who is also on a multi-year contract. It means the team’s driver line up is secured for the foreseeable future, as McLaren set about closing the gap to Mercedes and Red Bull.
CEO Zak Brown said, “He’s been instrumental in our return of form here at McLaren and we’re proud of the growth he’s shown since he first started with us back in 2017. Lando is one of the brightest talents on the Formula 1 grid and we look forward to seeing him continue to go from strength to strength both on and off track.”
Andreas Seidl, McLaren team principal, “Our decision to confirm Lando’s long-term future at McLaren was very straightforward. Lando has impressed us since his rookie year with his performances, and his evolution as a driver since then has been clear to see.”
Norris says he is looking forward to working with Ricciardo to push the team forward for even more success in the years to come.
Welcome back to Monaco
Formula One returns to Monte Carlo for the most prestigious races of the season as the season reaches the quarter mark. After being cancelled last year due to the pandemic, this year’s race is set to feature Sir Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen going head to head once again.
However, things aren’t normal, like many of the races this year, limited fan attendance of 7,500 people per day for the track action which, as is a tradition in Monaco, takes place on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday for F1. Many drivers take the race as their home Grand Prix because they live in the principality.
McLaren this weekend are running a one-off livery this weekend, the return after a year away is particularly special. The McLaren driver told Sky Sports after the last race in Spain, “I’m just excited to go there. It has been two years. When our careers are said and done, we can bring a road car here and keep doing some laps of Barcelona, for example, but you can’t do that in Monaco.”
Monte Carlo also marks the first street race since Singapore 2019, and will be followed in a fortnight by the second street race in Baku. These races mean there is a higher probability of accidents, but Monaco is a place full of history and the race all the drivers want to win.
Sir Lewis Hamilton has only won three of the thirteen races he has started in Monaco, while his main rival Max Verstappen has had a ‘love-hate relationship’ with his home race. The Dutchman’s weekends in Monaco has seen him crash at some point, although he was second on the road in 2019, with a collision with Valtteri Bottas dropped him to fourth.
The two championships have had wheel-to-wheel scraps in all four races this season, with six overtakes between the two cars. Hamilton’s back-to-back wins in Portugal and Spain mean he has opened a 14-point gap over his Dutch rival, but that is the equivalent of a single third-place finish.
In addition to Hamilton and Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel are also former winners of the race on this year’s grid.
FIA Circuit Changes
The FIA say they will be monitoring track limits at one corner the Nouvelle (Harbour) Chicane for this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. Any time achieved after failing to negotiate the chicane will be deleted.
Each time any car fails to negotiate Turn 10 by using the track as described above, teams will be informed via the official messaging system. On the second occasion of a driver failing to negotiate Turn 10 by using the track during the race, he will be shown a black and white flag, any further cutting will then be reported to the stewards.
“The driver then must only re-join the track when it is safe to do so and without gaining a lasting advantage. If a car uses the escape road at Turn 10-11 (Chicane) the driver may re-join the track only when the lights, operated by the marshal on the spot, are turned green.”
Aston Martin signs W Series driver Hawkins
Aston Martin has signed W Series driver Jessica Hawkins to the team as their driver ambassador. The newly created role will see the twenty-six-year-old work with the team “in a variety of disciplines, both at Grands Prix and in between them”.
She finished eleventh in 2019 with several points finishes and will race in the series when it begins its eight-round season at the Styrian Grand Prix in Austria next month. Hawkins has also raced in Formula Four, Formula Ford and the British Touring Car Championship among other series, and her talents have seen her work as a stunt driver for the James Bond movie franchise.
She said, “I am incredibly excited to be joining Aston Martin as its new Driver Ambassador, and I am really looking forward to working with Lance Stroll, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Hulkenberg and the rest of the team. In fact, although it will surely be a hell of a lot of hard work, it is a dream come true for me.”
“I also want to pay tribute and say thank you to W Series, which is a brilliant championship without which I would simply never have got this unbelievable chance to work within such a great Formula One team.”
CEO and team principal Otmar Szafnauer commented: “She has not had it easy in her racing career so far, always having to fight for drives as all young drivers do, especially young women, and her determination to beat the odds is as obvious as it is admirable.”
Hamilton race winner for sale
A McLaren driven by Sir Lewis Hamilton in 2010 will be put up for auction at the British Grand Prix in July as it does laps of the Silverstone circuit. The MP4-25A raced in 2010 has an estimate of £4-6 million according to F1 auctioneer
Seven-times world champion Hamilton, now at Mercedes, is Formula One’s most successful driver of all time with a record 100 pole positions and 98 wins.
Felix Archer, a car specialist for auctioneers and Formula One partner’s RM Sotheby’s, told Reuters, “It’s an amazing opportunity to have a piece of his story. It’s the first time a Lewis Hamilton race winner has ever been publicly offered.”
The car and chassis number was the won that took victory in Istanbul, famously where Red Bull drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel collided while leading one-two. Hamilton drove it in four races that year, 2009 world champion teammate Jenson Button in five and it achieved three podium finishes and a fastest lap.
Archer added, “This is from an era where the engines were still screaming V8s and it will be driven around the track in anger. It will appeal to someone who either wants it as a collector’s item or literally wants to drive and sit where Lewis and Jenson sat and thrash it around the track.”
“If someone was willing to pay over a million quid (pounds) for Kanye West’s trainers, I think there’s someone out there for a Lewis Hamilton Formula One car. It’s a true piece of art, a piece of history.”
The car will be operated for the buyer by McLaren Heritage, with around eight people and several days’ preparation needed to operate it. The original Bridgestone tyres have been replaced with Avon rubber.
The valuation is similar to that given to Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna, multiple world champions cars can fetch a higher price at auction, in Abu Dhabi 2019 A 2002 Ferrari F1 car raced by Schumacher was sold for $6.65 million
Thursday Practice Prixview
Tomorrow is practice day for the Monaco Grand Prix, so we will preview the race weekend in Friday’s edition. This year we have seen the two-practice session’s on Friday be very busy, I expect that to remain the case in Monte Carlo if not busier. We know that this kind of circuit that drivers need to build into.
We said in Barcelona to watch the final sector, you need to say this weekend and tomorrow we will know who the favourites are, this is a slow speed high downforce circuit. We know the midfield group have been closely packed and Monaco tends to produce the closest gaps of the season, we will analyse this tomorrow and Friday.
Mercedes you must remember don’t show everything on practice day, but we will find out hopefully how close it is. We have only two hours of practice on a short circuit where accidents are common, it means being on track and not being caught in traffic, not only tomorrow but all weekend, is going to be very important.
For drivers it’s a weekend you need to build into and that through the rest of the weekend, any mistakes are not just financially costly for the teams but mentally costly as they can make drivers not push as hard too early leading to mistakes. The teams know damage is higher this weekend, meaning more caution early on.
