FIA outlines Abu Dhabi inquiry
The FIA have outlined the process with its inquiry into last month’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton lost the championship to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after FIA race director Michael Masi did not apply the rules correctly in a late safety-car period.
The FIA is to hold separate meetings with the sporting directors from the teams and the drivers. It will then present its findings to F1 bosses next month. The outcome of the investigation will be announced in Bahrain on 17th March, ahead of the start of the start of the new season.
The stakes for the inquiry are high because it emerged this week that Hamilton will not decide whether to return to F1 this season until he sees the results of the FIA’s inquiry into the Abu Dhabi race. BBC News is reporting that they have been told by sources close to Hamilton, that the seven-time champion has lost trust in the governing body.
Last month, in the aftermath of the race, the FIA admitted the controversy was “tarnishing the image” of F1. The inquiry, led by FIA secretary-general for motorsport Peter Bayer, who was recently appointed the executive director of single-seaters, will have two key stages.
Next week, the sporting advisory committee, made up of the sporting directors and FIA representatives, will meet to discuss the use of the safety car. In the days after that, there will be a “shared discussion with all F1 drivers”.
An FIA statement added: “The outcome of the detailed analysis will be presented to the F1 Commission in February, and final decisions will be announced at the World Motor Sport Council in Bahrain on 18 March.”
In addition, new FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has asked Bayer “for proposals to review and optimise the organisation of the FIA F1 structure for the 2022 season”.
If the rumours are true about Hamilton deciding his future on the outcome of the inquiry it could leave very little time and that could leave Mercedes searching for a replacement if he decides to quit on the opening day of the first race in Bahrain.
A spokesman for the governing body added, “Hamilton will have an opportunity to discuss [the matter] with the people leading the process, because there will be a meeting with the drivers.”
The direction of travel will begin to emerge by the time of the meeting of the F1 Commission, which comprises the teams, and representatives of the FIA and F1. The date of that meeting has not been set, but if they were to replace Masi that will be needed to be done sooner rather than later.
2021 “very successful” for McLaren despite losing fourth
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has described last season as a “very successful year” for the Woking outfit despite falling to fourth in the constructors’ championship behind Ferrari.
The British team continued to make step forwards but despite claiming their first win in ten years, they still lost third to Ferrari in the constructor’s championship. Despite that Brown believes last season was a landmark season, not just because of Daniel Ricciardo’s shock win in Monza, McLaren’s first victory in nine long years.
In his end of the year-round table published by Motorsport.com on Friday, “This year we wanted to close the gap to the front, and we’ve done that. We’ve scored more points per race than we did last year, we had more podiums than last year, we got our great 1-2 at Monza, we had our pole in Russia.”
“Unfortunately, we slipped to fourth. I think that shows the nature of how competitive this sport is. Pitstops are much, much improved. Everything that we set out at the beginning of the season to continue to get towards the front, we’ve hit every single one of those KPIs that we set out other than the constructors’ championship.”
Brown described 2021 as a “very successful year” as the team continues to build towards competing for championships.
Off-track, the McLaren Group raised £550m in new investment as it continues its recovery from the financial woes during the pandemic.
The equity raise followed a sale and leaseback of its McLaren Technology Centre in Woking and, in late 2020, the sale of 15% of the race team to US sports investment group MSP Sport Capital.
Most of that money will allow the team to invest in upgrading its Woking base, as well as running to the maximum allowed under the budget cap. The team has already announced its investment in infrastructure, including a new wind tunnel, although the benefits will be long term.
Brown added “We’ve got all the people in place, they’re all very much committed and signed up for the long term, whether that’s racing car drivers or team principals or engineers or car designers. I’m really happy with our people, which is what is first and foremost important.”
He says everyone knows the team struggled financially, but now says the focus has shifted to deploying their full resources now the technical infrastructure as caught up and they are running at the budget cap. Brown says that they are financially very healthy.
But repeated the message, that the infrastructure will “unfortunately really won’t be until the ’24 season, because our wind tunnel will be online in another 18 months, and that’s when you start developing the ’24 car.”
Krack returns to F1 as Aston Martin team principal
Aston Martin has appointed Mike Krack as the new CEO and team principal of its F1 team following the departure of Otmar Szafnauer. Krack has followed a similar path to his McLaren counterpart Andreas Seidl having worked with BMW n his career before gaining experience in other categories.
He joined Sauber in 2001 and rose to the position of chief engineer in the works BMW era, and thus spent some time working with Sebastian Vettel. He left Sauber in 2009 and had spells in F3 and the DTM before joining the Porsche WEC team as head of track engineering in 2012, working alongside Seidl.
He then returned to the German manufacture in an engineering role in 2014, before moving to his current position of head of race and test engineering, operations and organisation in 2018. Krack will work under the direction of team owner Lawrence Stroll and Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh, who was appointed late last year.
Marcin Budkowski, whose departure from Alpine was announced yesterday, had earlier been linked with an Aston role.
Krack “Aston Martin is one of the greatest automotive brands in the world, and to have been asked to play a leading role in delivering the on-track success that such an illustrious name so richly deserves is a challenge that I plan to embrace with energy and enthusiasm.”
“Team Silverstone has always impressed me. It is full of talented people and real racers. That racer’s culture and values are what is required to succeed in motorsport – I know that and my new colleagues at Aston Martin know it, too. We will work incredibly hard. We want to win. Together, we will.”
Whitmarsh said: “Mike Krack is exactly the right kind of dynamic and modern Team Principal who, working with our other senior leaders under Lawrence’s and my overall direction, as well as with our ever-growing staff of skilled and committed employees, will deliver the F1 world championship success that we at Aston Martin are so determined to achieve.”
He says that Krack blends a mixture of experience and expertise making him perfect for the role. Whitmarsh says that he also has the ‘engineer language.’
Lawrence Stroll added: “We are hiring brilliant new people every week. Our new factory build is coming along very well. We have a fantastic roster of superb sponsor partners. We are about to embark on year two of our five-year plan, the objective of which is to win F1 world championships.
Aston Martin announces launch plans
Aston Martin has become the first team to announce the plans for how they will launch their 2022 car. In an email sent to fans on Friday morning, Aston Martin revealed that the AMR22 car will be unveiled on 10 February from the manufacturer’s headquarters in Gaydon.
The announcement is the first in launch season ahead of the first pre-season test in Barcelona, between 23 – 25 February. The launch will give the first look at the new-look cars given the huge overhaul of the technical regulations. Its also understood Ferrari plan to launch their car around 16 – 18 February.
In its first season racing under the Aston Martin following it rebrand from Racing Point, the team was hit hard by the downforce cuts that caused it to lose performance compared to its midfield rivals.
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel scored one podium finish in his first season with Aston Martin, taking second place at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Teammate Lance Stroll recorded a best finish of sixth place in Qatar and ended the year nine points shy of Vettel’s total in the standings.
Following the rebrand from Racing Point, Aston Martin lost a lot of performance compared to its midfield rivals dropping to seventh in the constructor’s championship, after being hit the most by the changes in the technical regulations.
Sebastian Vettel scored one podium finish in his first season with Aston Martin, taking second place at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Lance Stroll recorded a best finish of sixth place in Qatar and ended the year nine points shy of Vettel’s total in the standings.
Budkowski leaves Alpine
Alpine executive director Marcin Budkowski has left the team with immediate effect. The Frenchman has left the team following a reshuffle in the team’s management following the first season under the Alpine brand.
Alpine has given no further details. But former Aston Martin team boss Otmar Szafnauer has been linked with a move to the team. A team statement said Rossi would “temporarily ensure the team’s management to allow everyone to focus on the next season’s preparation”.
A spokesperson added: “Laurent is already very involved in the day-to-day affairs of the team and will do what is needed to make sure the team hits the ground running in 2022.”
CEO Laurent Rossi thanked Budkowski for his “commitment and contribution”, adding: “The team is fully focused on getting the car ready for the first race in Bahrain and delivering a step beyond in performance”.
The team won their first race under the ownership of Renault since Fuji in 2008 last season with Esteban Ocon in Budapest, with Fernando Alonso also finishing on the podium in Lusail. Despite those strong results, the team slipped to fifth in the constructor’s championship.
When the team returned to the sport five years ago, they set themselves the target of challenging for championships, which co-insides with the changes to the technical regulations to close the field creating closer racing.
