F1 terminates contract with Russian GP
Formula One has terminated its contract with the Russian Grand Prix, following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. This week, the sport had already cancelled this year’s race, after deciding it was not possible to race in the country following the invasion.
The race in Sochi scheduled for September this year has already been cancelled. There will now no longer be a race in St Petersburg, where it was due to move in 2023 Russian President Vladimir Putin was key in establishing the event in 2014.
Putin, who remains closely associated with the race, has a palace in Sochi, and St Petersburg is his home town. This seems to suggest that there will not be a race in Russia while Putin and his All-Russia People’s Front coalition remains in power.
Over the last week, the sport has reacted quickly, it decided on Monday holding a race in Russia was not tenable after what has happened. The race is one of the most lucrative on the calendar and had a long-term contract.
The action by F1’s commercial arm stands in stark contrast to the decision by governing body the FIA this week to allow Russian competitors to take part in global motorsport events.
It is a rare public split between F1 and the FIA, and an indication of F1’s dismay at the FIA’s stance on Russia. The governing body has already been criticised because of the decision not to ban Russian and Belarusian drivers, by the FIA justified its decision by saying it was in line with the policy of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
But the IOC, to which the FIA is affiliated, recommended on Tuesday that “event organisers not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions… in order to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all participants”.
It added a second clause allowing athletes and officials to participate on neutral terms “wherever this is not possible on short notice for organisational or legal reasons”. The FIA has not answered questions as to the grounds on which it decided this was the case for motorsport, in which most championships have not yet started in 2022.
Ahead of today’s opening ceremony for the Beijing Paralympic Games, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) reversed a previous decision and banned athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus from the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing, saying the “situation in the athlete villages” had become “untenable”.
Australia considers bans Russian drivers from racing
Australia’s national governing body is considering following Motorsport UK by imposing a ban on Russian drivers racing in the country, according to Motorsport.com.
Like in the UK, the move would follow the FIA’s decision to stop short on banning Russian competitors, instead insisting they compete in a neutral capacity and under the ‘FIA flag’. An Australian ban would have significantly less impact than the UK ban, based purely on geography and Australia’s largely standalone motorsport industry.
A Motorsport Australia spokesperson told Motorsport.com, “The matter is under review in consultation with federal authorities and the Australian Grand Prix Corporation,”.
However it would mean that Nikita Mazepin would likely be unable to compete at next month’s Australian Grand Prix, should he be retained by Haas.
FIA outlines terms Russian drivers must follow
The FIA has outlined the restrictions under which Russian drivers will be allowed to compete in events this year, and it covers logos, social media and comments they may make.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine the governing body decided while cancelling events in Russia and Belarus, it would allow the country’s drivers to continue if they did so in a neutral capacity.
In a document sent out on Friday, the FIA outlined exactly what drivers from those two countries would and would not be allowed to do.
The key points are:
- The display of Russian/Belarusian national symbols, colours or flags are banned in public and on social media platforms.
- Russian/Belarusian flags, emblems, symbols, and words linked to the country are banned from display on uniforms, clothing, accessories and other personal items.
- The singing or playing of the Russian/Belarusian national anthem at any event or area controlled by the FIA is outlawed.
- Comments, actions or conduct that is prejudicial to the interests of the FIA, an in particular any support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is banned.
In the note to teams, the FIA added, “The FIA continues to carefully monitor the events in Ukraine and reserves the right to take any further actions or implement further measures in the future, including any necessary actions required to comply with its obligations under any applicable sanctions regime and/or any contracts to which the FIA is a party.”
Drivers have been warned they could yet be refused entry to events if the FIA elects to adopt a tougher stance.
In the commitment document, drivers must sign, it states: “I acknowledge and accept that the FIA may implement further measures or issue further decisions in relation to my participation in Covered Events in light of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, including the right to refuse me entry into or prevent me from participating in and/or attending any Covered Event. I will comply with any such further measures and decisions.”
While the FIA is allowing Russian drivers to continue competing, some national motorsport authorities have banned competitors from their country completely.
Verstappen signs contract extension
Max Verstappen has signed a new contract with Red Bull which will see him commit to the team until the end of 2028. The reports of the Dutchman’s contract began on Wednesday and adds another five years to his contract.
It will also earn him just over £40m a year, putting him on par with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. The Dutchman who claimed after winning his maiden title last year that he wanted to stay with the team “for life”, his previous deal ran until 2023 and the new contract is the longest of any on the grid running into his thirties
Verstappen said, “Choosing to stay to the 2028 season was an easy decision. I love this team and last year was simply incredible, our goal since we came together in 2016 was to win the championship and we have done that, so now it’s about keeping the No 1 on the car long-term.”
Team principal Christian Horner, added, “To have Max signed with Oracle Red Bull Racing through to the end of 2028 is a real statement of intent. Our immediate focus is on retaining Max’s world championship title, but this deal also shows he is a part of the team’s long-term planning.”
Verstappen claimed his first championship after edging out Lewis Hamilton admit a controversial title decider in Abu Dhabi.
Ferrari expects Mercedes to bring a big upgrade
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto expects Mercedes to bring a “big upgrade” to the second pre-season test in Bahrain, making it “very difficult” to judge performance after Barcelona. The Italian manufacturer made a solid start to testing last week in Barcelona, completing more laps than any other team.
The team’s two drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both featured towards the top of the timesheets throughout the test, prompting Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to talk up Ferrari’s performance and potential this year. Hamilton asked whether Ferrari’s decision to suspend development early in 2021 to focus on its 2022 car could leave it “several months ahead” of the field.
Asked about Hamilton’s comments, Binotto said he was expecting that Mercedes would bring a raft of updates for its W13 car to the second test in Bahrain, giving Ferrari more reason to worry about its rivals than Hamilton.
when asked about Hamilton’s comments Binotto said, “I’m pretty sure that [Mercedes] will be two or three months ahead of us by the time we will be in Bahrain. So I think that it’s very difficult today to judge the performance and the relative competitiveness between the teams.”
“But what’s important for us was to collect data here, and I think we can be satisfied for the amount of laps we did, collecting data and again, and will be analysed back at Maranello. I heard that there will be rumours that our competitors will bring big updates and upgrades. So I’m more concerned myself, I think, than Hamilton on ourselves.”
Ferrari brought its last big update to Silverstone last year, deciding to focus on this years regulation change to try and return to the front with these regulation changes . Binotto added, “We believe that for us, it will be good to be back to being competitive in 2022. But it’s very early days today to judge..”
Wolff accuses Masi of being “turned” by Red Bull
Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff has told a Sky documentary which will air this weekend that Michael Masi was “turned” by Red Bull at the end of last season and that a “bromance” helped Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to the title. The two part documentary aims to tell the inside story of the 2021 season with interviews with those on the inside.
Wolff according to the preview is a frustrated and still deeply hurt figure still processing Hamilton’s contentious defeat to Verstappen, which he says was all because of the “wrong decisions” from race director Masi and that he was “turned” by Red Bull – pointing to both the Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix as examples.
He accused Masi, who was sacked as race director over the scandal, made a ‘deal’ with Red Bull’s sporting director Jonathan Wheatley over restart grid positions in Saudi Arabia, before appearing to change his mind over Safety Car rules amid Red Bull protestations in Abu Dhabi.
Wolff describes Masi and Wheatley’s relationship as a “bromance” and says: “Jonathan Wheatley has done his job. He’s turned Michael Masi the race director, not only in Abu Dhabi but before, and probably Max owes him a lot.”
The Austrian says he wants to move on from 2021, but says he has and will never speak to Masi again. But accepted that Masi is the victim in the scandal, and was sure there were decisions he regrets and the problem was with the structure of race control and There was a problem of personalities.
In the same documentary Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, has consistently stated they deserved the championship thanks to a superb season.
While agreeing that Masi needed more support, he says that “He didn’t break the rules. He perhaps applied the rules slightly differently in that circumstance but there was nothing he did that actually contravened the rules.”
Alpine encouraged by engine performance
Alpine says although it hasn’t run Renault’s new power unit in its top mode it is encouraged by the performance shown. Ahead of this years engine freeze, the French manufacturer has developed a new power unit, including the split turbo concept Mercedes have been using through out the hybrid era.
As well as delivering progress on the power front, Alpine is hoping that the improved packaging will hand it benefits in terms of aerodynamics and centre of gravity. While the signs look good how it performs against Mercedes and Honda will not be known until qualifying in Bahrain.
Sporting director Alan Permane says that the team had begun to experiment with different engine modes, and the fact that the power unit had done everything expected without drama was a positive sign.
When asked by Motorsport.com about the initial impressions of the engine. he said, “We haven’t been running that on full power. “I don’t think we’ve done a lap on what they call ‘single ICE mode’, which is the qualifying and the race mode. We’ve come close to it, but not full whack.
“Honestly, we haven’t spoken about the power unit – and that’s a great thing. It’s so different. It’s completely different to anything that Viry has produced before. It’s more complex, it certainly looks a lot nicer and neater. But it just goes in the car and we’ve just gone with it, which is great.”
Permane says only the normal comments about driveability were made, but they soon resolved that concern by playing around with engine modes and mapping.
This season the sport moves to a more sustainable fuel, with engines needing to use petrol that contains 10% ethanol, means that comparing power from last year is very difficult. However, Permane says the fact that drivers have not singled out the engine as any area of concern is encouraging for the team.
Adding, the engine “hasn’t even been a talking point really, which is great. I think it’s very difficult for them to talk about power compared to last year because of the fuel differences and the big power differences.”
Aston Martin on target with 2025 plan
Aston Martin’s new team principal Mike Krack believes the team are on target with team owners Lawrence Stroll’s ambition of challenging for titles by 2025. The German has widespread experience in motorsport engineering and management, having been a race engineer with BWM Sauber.
He left F1 in 2008 when BWM withdrew from the sport going on to have senior management roles with BMW and Porsche. Aston Martin is the second team in recent years to set themselves that target, Krack believes they can succeed where Alpine, formerly Renault, have failed to progress.
Krack told BBC News, “We have everything we need but we need to make the right decisions. It doesn’t come by itself. It is hard work over many days, weeks and months. I agree that five-year plans do not always come to success.”
“There can only be one winner. And very often you have a disruption – like this year with a new set of regulations – where you have to readjust. But on the other hand, what is a little bit different to the team you have mentioned [Alpine] is we aren’t an OEM [major car manufacturer].”
He says that Aston Martin has a lean management structure, meaning they can decide things quickly and creating possibilities. The appeal of the team for Krack in returning to F1 was because he saw similarities with his time at Sauber – and equally had learned lessons as to what to avoid.
In 2008, Krack famously gave up the chance of going for the title with Robert Kubica to focus on the following year’s regulation changes and challenge for the title. But, BMW’s 2009 car was uncompetitive, and the company pulled out of F1 at the end of the season.
The team Krack now leads under Stroll and group chief executive officer Martin Whitmarsh became Aston Martin last year. It was renamed by Stroll after he took over the historic road-car business in 2020 following his acquisition of the former Force India F1 team in 2018 after its collapse into administration.
He added “I sense a little bit the situation I had with Sauber. We were in a similar situation where at times we were clearly over-performing to our capabilities and then we had a big partner coming in where you all of a sudden had possibilities you never had before. We have something similar here.”
Aston Martin are due to open a new factory early next year at Silverstone, which are being described as ‘state of the art,’ Krack says then they will have the possibility of being successful.
He will be looking to copy the success of his McLaren counter-part Andreas Sidel, who has seen the team make conspicuous progress under his leadership.
Krack, a former colleague of the German, characterised his management style as “bringing people together to give them trust to enable them, and I can manage to form teams that work well together”.
