F1 Today – 01/03/2022
“Unfair” to ban Russian athletes – Kvyat
Former Alpha Tauri driver Daniil Kvyat thinks it is “unfair” that Russian athletes are facing bans from sporting competitions in the wake of his country’s invasion of Ukraine. On Monday the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued a statement recommending that all major sporting federations ban Russian athletes from international events.
The FIA, which is a recognised federation of the IOC, motor racing’s governing body is holding an emergency meeting of its World Motor Sport Council, to discuss how they will respond to Russia’s invasion of the country. It could mean that Russian drivers could be banned from FIA-sanctioned events.
Such a move could force Nikita Mazepin out of F1, and risks Kvyat, who is due to drive in WEC this season, also being barred from competition. While calling for a peaceful solution to the situation in Ukraine, he questioned the response of sporting bodies.
He wrote, “I really hope for a peaceful solution to this situation in Ukraine, and that we can all live in peace. Hopefully, all parties can find a solution by sitting together and through a respected dialogue. It horrifies me to see two brotherhood nations in a conflict.”
“I don’t want military actions and wars to influence the future of humanity. I want my daughter and all children to enjoy this beautiful world.
“I would also like to highlight and address all sports federations across the world, including IOC, that sport should remain outside politics, and disallowing Russian athletes and teams from participating in world competitions is an unfair solution and goes against what sport teaches us in principle: the unity and peace.”
If the FIA takes action by banning Russian drivers and teams from competition would follow moves from other major sporting federations in showing no tolerance to the events.
In recent days Mazepin’s future was placed in doubt, after Haas removed Uralkali had its branding removed from the American-owned team’s cars last week. Haas is expected to make a decision in the next few days about its plans for the season ahead, with the second pre-season test scheduled to take place in Bahrain next week.
The FIA will make an announcement tonight and we will bring that to you tomorrow morning
Sainz believes new tyres will allow drivers to push
Carlos Sainz believes that it will be possible that with the new eighteen-inch tyres it will be able to push has harder than the previous generation of tyres. In Barcelona the teams and drivers had their first proper outing with the cars the tyres are designed for, having only tested them on mule cars.
During last weeks test, tyres were not one of the major talking points suggesting that the change in tyres have not made a significant difference. However, Sainz, who ran more laps over the week than anyone else, believes that they will allow drivers to race harder, which is something that has been called for in recent seasons.
Sainz told Motorsport.com, “I did quite a bit of testing last year, I think I did three or four days in total with the compounds. They look like they are suiting well this new generation of cars, and they look to be at least allowing you to push a bit more on them.”
“Compared to other years, maybe a bit less overheating, a bit less deg, but there’s still deg, they’re still a tyre that degrades a tyre that overheats, but the scale of it for me personally, I feel like it’s a bit better. And the work done by Pirelli last year and the development seems to start to pay off a bit.”
The Spaniard also suggested that there was a potentially bigger delta time, which means more mixed up strategy, between the compounds which could mix things up in the race. Sainz explained that the tyres were a bigger step between compounds compared to last year.
Rival Valtteri Bottas said that the tyres appeared to work more effectively on the definitive Alfa Romeo compared to the mule car he ran at the end of last year. The Finn said compared to Abu Dhabi the graining was a minimal issue, but with limited running for Alfa Romeo that could be a factor.
The other unknown with these tyres could be the colder conditions which might have favoured the new tyres.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was less bullish than some of his colleagues, noting: “For me their behaviour has been very similar to in the past. From what I felt in the long run, they overheat, they degrade. These are things that the tyres have been doing in previous years.”
Russell believes active suspension could help with porpoising
George Russell thinks a return of active suspension could help deliver a long-term solution to the porpoising problem of the new ground effect cars. One of the surprises during testing, was the some extreme bouncing down the straights, or porpoising, thanks to the aero properties of the 2022 challengers.
This is triggered by the downforce pushing the car further and further down into the circuit at high speed before the airflow suddenly stalls and the car then rises up thanks to the sudden loss in load. This is a process that is repeated all the way along the straight, it’s called porpoising because it is similar to the way that porpoises rise in and out of the water when swimming.
Teams will be now working to try to get on top of the issue ahead of the start of the season, but the situation is not helped by F1 banning the sophisticated hydraulic suspension systems that were allowed before.
Mercedes had to fit a temporary floor to help limit flexing, Russell believes the easiest way to resolve this issue would be the return of active suspension Speaking about the porpoising situation, which was highlighted in a video of Charles Leclerc’s car posted by F1, Russell singled out active suspension as a good way forward.
Saying, “We just saw with the Charles video just how bad it was for them. So, I think we will need to find a solution. I guess if the active suspension was there, it could be solved with a click of your fingers. And the cars would naturally be a hell of a lot faster if we had that.
Andretti surprised by the negative response
Michael Andretti says he was surprised by the negative reaction from some teams about his plans to enter F1. Andretti Autosport has requested to enter the sport in 2024 with him hoping to get answers in the next month so he can start ramping up preparations.
But while some current F1 teams believe Andretti’s presence in the sport would be hugely positive, others are more sceptical. Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff and his Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner, have both made it clear that Andretti would need to prove the benefits for F1 as a whole if it was to be welcomed.
Speaking last week in Barcelona, Wolff told reporters “Andretti is a name, that’s for sure, and the American market is important. But every team that is joining needs to be accretive, that means needs to add value.
“It’s not only it’s not only by paying $200 million entry fee, but it needs to demonstrate in my opinion what it can do for the other teams, for F1 and FIA. Only then the sport will grow.” Responding to those comments, Andretti told Motorsport.com he was surprised by the stance that some had shown.
He said that they were bringing $200m, with the feeling they can add $100m to the sport in the US. Andretti has opted for a new team entry after talks with Alfa Romeo about a takeover collapsed at the 11th hour last year.
Reflecting on what happened there, Andretti said the situation was hard to accept. Saying “They basically still wanted to keep control. I was like, ‘No, they can’t keep control.’ They wanted veto rights on everything all of a sudden. It was horrible.”