F1 RACING WORLD

by Igor Ozimec Mick Schumacher’s inevitable Formula 1 debut will not trigger a new wave of ‘Schumi mania’. That is the view of former racing driver turned German language commentator Christian Danner. Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto says 2020 will be a “decisive year” for 20-year-old Schumacher as he looks set to tackle a second season in Formula 2. Danner thinks the son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher will certainly make his Formula 1 debut sooner or later. “But it cannot be compared to the ‘Schumi mania’ phenomenon. Mick will certainly be warmly received in Formula 1, but it won’t have the impact on the German public that his father did,” he told t-online. However, Danner does hope Schumacher’s future on the grid will help Germany to resurrect its grand prix. He also thinks Liberty Media needs to change tack in order to bring an important market back to the calendar. “The fact that Hockenheim can’t sign on the same terms as Azerbaijan or Abu Dhabi should be obvious to e...

by Igor Ozimec Lando Norris, arguably one of the friendliest lads in the paddock, says he’s won’t be Mr Nice Guy any longer, instead taking on a more assertive role at McLaren. Norris has proven to be a hit both on and off the track. While the McLaren rookie has scored 35 points in his debut campaign, helping McLaren to fourth in the Constructors’ Championship. However, it hasn’t always gone right for Norris. The Brit was let down by his McLaren team in Mexico as a cross-threaded wheelnut botched his pit stop and ultimately led to his retirement. But while mistakes happen, he’s also made a few, Norris says now that he’s found his feet in Formula 1, he must become more assertive about what he needs. “At the beginning of the season I didn’t know how I was going to do,” Norris told Sky Sports F1. “If I was going to be amazing or if I was going to struggle.” Asked if he was happy with his rookie season, he said: “Kind of. “I’ve done well and had times in qualifying an...

By Igor Ozimec Lewis Hamilton has won the Mexican Grand Prix, but the wait for his sixth Formula 1 world championship title is on hold for at least another week as Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas finished on the podium to delay the celebrations. Sebastian Vettel, who led for the majority of the race, finished second as his younger hard tyres couldn't help him catch Hamilton. Max Verstappen's frustrations from his grid penalty only grew bigger as a tangle with Hamilton on the opening corner of the race pushed him onto the grass. When the Dutchman returned to the track, he touched with Bottas which caused a puncture for the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver. Charles Leclerc had a quiet race and finished fourth. Alex Albon rounded out the top five as Verstappen's Red Bull was strong enough to climb through the field to finish sixth. Home favourite Sergio Perez had a positive race as he fought off a charging Daniel Ricciardo in the final 10 laps to pick up the best...

by Igor Ozimec Jenson Button has questioned Ferrari's decision to tell Sebastian Vettel to let Charles Leclerc retake the lead of the Russian Grand Prix. The former World Champion believes it is now a strange situation at the Scuderia. Vettel overtook Charles Leclerc in the opening stages of the race in Sochi but was expected to let his teammate back in front, as the team gave the Monegasque the preferred strategy. Vettel ignored the order telling his team that Leclerc must catch up if he wanted to pass. The team eventually did the move in the pit stop phase before the German retired with an engine failure. Button has questioned Ferrari's decision to call for Vettel to let his teammate pass him and believes the team are now in a strange position. "I don't understand what they do at Ferrari why keep that deal intact if Vettel was much faster and didn't need any advantage from it?" Button told Speedweek. "He had to fight for that [position, ed]an...

Author: Igor Ozimec The 2020 race schedule has been officially confirmed following a World Motor Sport Council meeting in Cologne on Friday. The calendar remains unchanged from the provisional schedule that was published in August, meaning there will be a record-breaking 22 races next year. Vietnam, who will host its first ever F1 Grand Prix next season, has the third round slot of the year before the Chinese Grand Prix. The Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort will return to F1, and will take place following the round in Shanghai on a back-to-back weekend with Barcelona.  Australia once again holds the opening round of the season, while the year will conclude in Abu Dhabi, as it has done every year since 2014

Author: Igor Ozimec Former Formula 1 driver Jean Alesi has called for penalties to be given to drivers running too fast on asphalt run-off areas to prevent incidents occurring with cars on/off the track. At Sochi in the F2 sprint race Jack Aitken and Nikita Mazepin collided on the run-off area at turn 2 which in turn led Nobuharu Matsushita to make contact with the barriers with Mazepin receiving a 15-place grid penalty for the next race. It was only a few weeks ago that Anthoine Hubert lost his life at Spa after a collision with Juan Manuel Correa off-track at the top of the Raidillon corner after trying to avoid Alesi’s son Guilano. "Destiny sometimes sends a warning," Alesi told Motorsport.com. "Unfortunately it cost the life of Anthoine. "This is the only thing I can say. I hate the people who blame when the things are done, so I don't want to blame anybody. But we had a warning, and now we have to react about that. "At the moment the evo...

Author: Igor Ozimec In Nick Fry's new book, 'Survive. Drive. Win.', the former Brawn GP boss revealed how McLaren's Ron Dennis asked him for secret information about his winning car, as McLaren were struggling following their title-winning season in 2008. Dennis also famously got a hand of Ferrari's specifications and designs in 2007 during the Spygate controversy, which ended with McLaren getting a $100 million fine by the FIA. Two years later, the team principal picked up the phone to ask Fry about the performance of the Brawn car, which had made an incredible start to the 2009 season. "I wanted to ask a favour," Dennis asked Fry to the latter's recollection. "[The McLaren chassis] is totally under-performing, as you have no doubt noticed, but my engineers say our aerodynamic package is on the money. The thing is I just don’t believe them.” "[I] wanted to know just how good our aero package was and exactly what numbers we were se...

Author: Igor Ozimec Two-time Formula 1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen has said that the returning partnership between McLaren and Mercedes is “very significant” for the Woking based team. Hakkinen won his two World titles with McLaren in 1998 and 1999 when they were powered by Mercedes up until the end of 2014. They have since used Honda and Renault engines the past few seasons but have failed to replicate the success they once had before, opting to return to being supplied by the Silver Arrows. "It is very satisfying to see McLaren return to a position of relative competitiveness, and this week's news that they use Mercedes engines from 2021 onwards is very significant," Hakkinen wrote in his Unibet column. "I won both my World Championships for McLaren-Mercedes, and this week is the 18th anniversary of my 20th and final victory for McLaren. "It is a partnership that worked very well in the past, and team boss Andreas Seidl has identified this as bei...

Author: Igor Ozimec Toto Wolff has said that Mercedes have switched their attention to the 2020 season and has admitted that Ferrari now have the faster car. The Silver Arrows haven't had any updates recently but Ferrari have continued to try and improve their package. "Ferrari is certainly taking some steps forward while we have been without updates for a while. We may have left something out there, but some of our results were also disappointing because of our strategy," Wolff told Motorsport.com. Wolff has said that switching focus to next year was always the plan and that it should enable the German team to be competitive next year. "This was indeed the plan, because we have to allocate all resources as well as possible," Wolff concludes. Although Mercedes have switched their focus to 2020, they should not be written off for race wins during the rest of the 2019 F1 season. They still have a very fast car and Lewis Hamilton will be looking to win a...

Author: Igor Ozimec Max Verstappen has opened up about his relationship with his team principal at Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner, as the Dutchman thinks the Brit is the "perfect boss" at a team like Red Bull. Verstappen was promoted to Red Bull from Toro Rosso between the Russian and the Spanish Grand Prix in 2016, as the then 18-year-old replaced the struggling Daniil Kvyat. The Dutchman famously won his first race for Red Bull, making him the youngest driver ever to win a Grand Prix, as well as the first Dutch race winner in F1 history. Three years down the line, Verstappen is now the undisputed number one within the team and naturally, relationships within the team have developed. Speaking to a scrum of journalists, including GPToday.net, the 22-year-old Verstappen elaborated on his relationship with his team principal Christian Horner. "I talk with Christian quite often and I have a good relationship with him," Verstappen said. "...

Author: Igor Ozimec The Max Verstappen camp is understandably unhappy that Red Racing Racing have been Red Bull Missing since the summer break. Could Mclaren-Mercedes make themselves a worthy team for the young Dutchman to consider racing for if Red Bull-Honda don’t deliver a championship winning car in 2020? It must be strange being Max Verstappen. To be regarded as one of the most natural talents in recent times, but to consistently struggle to secure the fastest cockpit on the grid. But that’s how Formula 1 can sometimes be, ask Fernando Alonso. Red Bull Racing are proven race winners, but in the hybrid-turbo era of Formula 1, they are far from being considered as championship contenders. Yes, the team is working hard to ensure that the 2020 Formula 1 season isn’t another where all they target are race wins. After all, the end of the 2019 Formula 1 season will mark the 6th season since Red Bull Racing last won their World Championship titles. While Red Bull Racing know that in...

Author: Igor Ozimec Hamilton was responding to reporters' questions after Sunday's race Lewis Hamilton paid tribute on Monday to the respect and teamwork that enabled Mercedes to secure him victory in an unexpected one-two for the Silver Arrows in the Russian Grand Prix. In stark contrast to the radio feuds, claims of a broken drivers' agreement and reliability problems that undid rivals Ferrari's bid for a fourth consecutive victory in Sunday's race, the champions rediscovered their unity and sense of purpose to take full advantage. Referring to his relationship with teammate Valtteri Bottas, the defending five-time champion said: "We work together so it's all about respect, having respect and, I think that respect has been there since day one. "We talk about scenarios very openly. Valtteri has always been respectful in those scenarios and I think it's vital that we are both acting accordingly, which we do, I think." Hamilton was ...

Author: Igor Ozimec Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko says the team want to capatalise when the balance between Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc breaks. Tension is building over at Ferrari – on one hand they have the young and hungry Charles Leclerc who is exceeding their expectations but proving impatient, on the other is four-time World Champion Vettel who is desperately trying to maintain his grip on the team against their shiny new toy. The latest incident between the two came at the Russian Grand Prix as the team’s strategy fell to pieces with Vettel refusing to yield his lead to Leclerc and, while their relationship for now is “still very respectful”, Marko wants to be there when the balance finally breaks. “It will be interesting to see what happens. There is a damn fast and reluctant kid standing in line,” Marko told Austrian newspaper Osterreich. “Both Vettel and Leclerc are still very respectful to each other at the moment, but in the end this balance will break...

Author: Igor Ozimec first man the Mercedes team, Toto Wolff, dismissed the speculation and speculation that due to the contract with McLaren, Mercedes leave Formula 1. In fact, as is well known, during last week published the official information on McLaren transition / return to the Mercedes drive units from 2021, which is why many of the agreement interpreted as a possible announcement of the withdrawal of Mercedes team from the world of Formula 1 is due to previous connections of the British team and the German engine manufacturer who successfully cooperated in the period from 1995 to 2014 provided that, until 2008, McLaren had the status of the factory team. It is worth mentioning that in the mentioned period achieved three driving and one constructors' and even 78 out of 182 McLaren victory, followed by a dry season for the team from Woking where cooperation with Honda so is Renault still has not brought the expected results. About the story sounded Toto Wolff, who re...