Hello welcome to This Week, Monza continued to be the talking point we all will reflect on what could be the defining race of the season. Did the safety car play a role? But the feeling you sense that this championship is Max Verstappen’s to lose, as he can seal the title as soon as Singapore… Ferrari knows the need a miracle to stop the dutchman.
General News
The FIA appointed its first CEO Natalie Robyn in an attempt to boost the governing body’s management structure. Following his election as FIA president last December, Mohammed Ben Sulayem set out a plan to reform much of the management structure at the organisation, as well as pursue a new governance structure.
One plan Ben Sulayem had in place was to appoint a CEO for the first time in the FIA’s history, setting up a working group in the early months of the year. On Thursday, the FIA announced that Robyn would be joining “in the near future” to take up the role of CEO.
Robyn has more than 15 years of experience in the automotive industry, previously serving as the CEO of Volvo in Switzerland since 2017, as well as holding management positions at Nissan and DaimlerChrysler.
According to the FIA, Robyn “will be responsible for the successful operation and financial performance of an integrated and aligned FIA administration, as well as driving the overall strategy to deliver the leadership’s vision of reform the federation.”
The statement added: “Natalie will also develop new commercial growth plans to increase and diversify the FIA’s revenue streams, ensuring financial stability to provide more resources for our members.”
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton has admitted the ending to Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix brought back memories of his Abu Dhabi title decider against Max Verstappen, with the Mercedes driver on this occasion agreeing with the Safety Car application.
The safety car was brought out when the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo stopped on track with a few laps to go, and while the car was recovered by the final lap the rules were applied correctly and the race was not restarted. I think we all were having flashbacks to Abu Dhabi but I think the situation was too cautious and Race Director Niels Wittich, who is one of the replacements for Masi, correctly applied the rules.
Red Bull
Red Bull will be at no disadvantage to F1 rivals without Porsche as a partner, team boss Christian Horner said after talks with the German sportscar ended. At Monza, it was announced the deal had collapsed as the team wanted to retain independence.
Horner told reporters at the Italian Grand Prix that leaked details of a deal suggested Porsche maybe “were slightly getting a little bit ahead of themselves” and no binding commitment was ever signed.
He told Sky Sports, “Obviously as we’ve been on this journey there’s been some discussion with Porsche along the way – a phenomenal company, great brand. But it was felt that the fit just isn’t quite right for where we’re going and the journey we’re on.”
“We are a race team fundamentally and that enables us to make quick decisions and react very quickly. I think we’ve seen on so many occasions manufacturers have been less autonomous in their decision-making.” We know Red Bull are looking at plans to develop its own power units when new engine rules come in for 2026. I think the last twenty years have proved how serious Red Bull is, and this in someways could be seen as a natural progression.
Max Verstappen says it is important for him and Red Bull to enjoy the current wave of success as he nears a second world championship. His victory in Monza was his fifth in a row extending his lead to a hundred and sixteen points, meaning he could seal the title in Singapore.
Verstappen is also closing on the record for the most wins in a single season. He has scored 11 victories so far this year, putting him two shy of the record shared by Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher with six races remaining. It has been a really consistent season by Verstappen and we have seen that momentum build over the last three races.
He said, “We are having an amazing year, and it’s important to enjoy it as well. I think we’ve had a lot of different challenges on different kinds of tracks and now the car really seems to work at every track. And yeah, we are extremely pleased.”
Ferrari
Mattia Binotto has accepted the team needs to improve and make changes if they are to win titles again, admitting a “painful” finish behind Mercedes is only possible because of too many mistakes. In my mind has this history of being harsh and Binotto has survived longer than most.
chairman John Elkann gave a rare interview in which he said he had “great faith” in Binotto but also stressed he was not satisfied with their season after falling well behind Red Bull. Responding, Binotto said he was “fully aware” of the task ahead.
He said “Ferrari has done an enormous development from last season to this one. You need to look back many years to see such a big development. Overall the team did a fantastic job in developing the current car, but still there are situations [that need improving].”
In the past I’ve wondered if Ferrari needed to lose this season to regain that experience and learn lessons for a serious championship challenge next year. We know the culture of Ferrari has been difficult generally, but they will not give up. They need to improve their decision-making.
One of the criticisms labelled at Binotto and Ferrari this season is their unwillingness to change despite a catalogue of operational errors, which have made beating Red Bull Max Verstappen to the titles all but impossible to win this year. But they need to continue to build towards being serious contenders for the next three years under the current regulations
McLaren
Lando Norris thinks his Italian Grand Prix was one of his best F1 drives after recovering from a poor start and a slow pitstop. The various grid penalties saw Norris start third but he made a poor getaway put down to an incorrect setting beyond his control.
We know the Englishman is one of the best performers of the next generation of drivers, he can maximise results. He had a poor launch and stop which probably cost them the opportunity to fight Hamilton. He believes without that slow stop he would have had the chance to hold off Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez
Alpine
Alpine continues to search for its replacement for Fernando Alonso continues, while the team wants an experienced replacement Jack Doohan has emerged as a contender. Alpine has set its sights on a deal to take Pierre Gasly from AlphaTauri, but Red Bull, which owns the Frenchman’s contract, says it will only release him if it gets hold of IndyCar driver Colton Herta.
The chances of a Herta deal getting put in place are looking increasingly slim though, with the American needing a superlicence and hopes of him being given an exemption from the FIA appearing to be fading. The team CEO Laurent Rossi suggested that the team wanted a driver who could score points.
He said, “We need to find a driver that’s capable of scoring big points right away. This basically leads us towards a more senior driver if you will, but at the same, that is capable to grow with us. So those are the criteria we use at the moment.”
“Otmar [Szafnauer] is leading the process: seeing all of the drivers discussing with them, assessing options, assessing them here, potentially assessing them in tests. So I guess it’s going to be a process that is going to last a little bit.” We know how tight the midfield group is and I expect that in the coming years drivers will put teams like Alpine closer to the top three.
Alpha Tauri
Colton Herta’s hopes of getting a seat next year have been dashed, with Red Bull abandoning its efforts to secure him an AlphaTauri seat. The IndyCar driver’s hopes of getting into the sport has stalled over the issue of him securing the mandatory superlicence.
Herta only had 32 of the 40 points that were necessary for him to get an automatic licence, and a push by Red Bull for the FIA to give him special exemption looked like it was going to fail. I think this was a test of the system which was introduced in 2016 following Max Verstappen’s debuting at seventeen, their has to be safeguards.
Helmut Marko said that the collapse of the Herta plan meant F1 had missed an opportunity to build extra interest in the US market. Marko said, “It’s a shame that people don’t realize what value an American driver, especially a guy like Colton Herta, would have for the booming American market, especially with three F1 races.”
Red Bull tried everything it could to ease Herta’s path, and was even involved in helping arrange a run for him in Alpine’s private test next week. However, with the FIA indicating it will not budge on the superlicence matter, Red Bull had now decided there is little point in pursuing its original plan.
I feel the governing body are not going to budge as this is to stop inexperienced drivers and anyone without the necessary experience, ‘the Verstappen Rule’ as it was called, coming in straight from below F2 and F3, It is understood that Herta’s run with Alpine has duly been cancelled now that the F1 seat is off the table.
Marko said it was “incomprehensible” that a winner of seven IndyCar races had to prove his qualification to safely drive a Formula 1 car due to a bureaucratic points system, especially since he could easily have run in a number of free practice sessions to further prepare himself for his first race.
Williams
Nyck de Vries made his debut last weekend at Monza and says the “interview” played into the teams hands. He qualified thirteenth and with the various gride penalties started eighth, before going on to finish the race ninth despite receiving a reprimand for erratic driving under the late safety car.
The performance of the Dutchman has further fuelled speculation about de Vries possibly replacing Nicolas Latifi. Asked if he felt the Italian GP was something of an audition for him in regards to earning a full-time seat in 2023, the Mercedes reserve said: “I mean, any time you’re in the car you’re expected to do a good job. And any time you get a chance to drive a Formula 1 car it is a kind of job interview and an audition.
The Week Ahead
Next week is going to be quieter as we have a longer break between races given the cancellation of Sochi. Its going to give the teams a chance for a reset and the focus has to be starting the final month and a half of the season, but the question is can Ferrari fight back?
The pressure I think is starting to build on Mattia Binotto, and does that start to add to these errors we have seen the team make. Ferrari need I think continue with the expectation management we have seen, we know that Singapore is a street circuit could that in two weeks time play into their hands.
The story of the driver’s market is I think settling down, but the focus I think will be on Mick Schumacher while a new name as himself he needs to continue to prove he is in the sport on merit not on names sake. What does being dropped by Ferrari do for his career now he is effectively a free agent and can Sabine Kelm use her experience.
This is the longest gap in season, apart from the summer break since 2018, I wonder when we at this point next week what the mood will be in Singapore. The other thing we are waiting for is the 2023 calendar and there has been difficulties slotting all together with the various races not wanting to move.
