2021 F1

Rosberg criticises: Bottas’ rubbish efforts, Hamilton’s soft defense at French GP

Published

2 years ago

June 21, 2021

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Rosberg criticises: Bottas' rubbish efforts, Hamilton's soft defense at French GP

2016 F1 world champion Nico Rosberg criticized the Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, who struggled to defend nearest rivals Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez at French Grand Prix.

The German, who is currenty working as a Commentator role for Sky Sports F1 – Bottas’ efforts as “rubbish”, and Hamilton’s defence of his position in the closing stages of the French Grand Prix as “soft”.

“Valtteri did a rubbish job, honestly, in defending because he blocked completely unnecessarily; he braked way too late and went straight on so Max had such an easy time getting past,” Rosberg told viewers.

“Maybe he would have got past anyway, but at least cost him a bit more lap time. It was not a very good way of defending and could have been done in a much more smart way.”

Verstappen started on pole, but he gives the leading position to Hamilton following an early mistake on the opening lap. Max regained the position after his first pit-stop when he marginally under-cut the race leader Lewis, who made the pit-stop after an extra lap.

Bottas maintained his P3 starting position throughout most of the race, but everything went haywire for Mercedes when they decided to go for a single stop against Red Bull’s two.

“Close the damn door, no?” said Rosberg as Hamilton appeared to yield the lead to Verstappen on the penultimate lap.

“Usually Lewis is the best one-to-one racer and I’m surprised he didn’t try,” he added. “At least try, brake late and try to keep him on the outside. A bit soft there from Lewis, somehow.”

“You can definitely see the pressure is there at Mercedes, because I’ve not seen them make so many mistakes in a long time. The German added

“They’re still an unbelievable force, a phenomenal team,” he added. “But Red Bull’s pace is such a boost, and they’re really coming the dominant force more and more, which is putting so much pressure on Mercedes and we are seeing that Mercedes are making mistake after mistake.

“They need to be careful, they need to keep it together from now on to have a chance.”

“I have to say Lewis was very fair with the pass,” said Christian Horner of the move that saw Verstappen take the lead, “he didn’t defend hard or aggressively and it was a very clean move.”

It was pointless to defend any harder – Hamilton

Asked in particular about Rosberg’s statement, Hamilton said: “Firstly, there’s marbles on the inside, so I didn’t want to make my tyres any worse than they already were.

“He had the DRS open, so if he didn’t pass me there, he would have passed me the straight afterwards, so it would have made zero difference and I just had no front end, so he would have got me either way.

“It was pointless to defend any harder. I think you saw what happened to Valtteri – just ended up going straight on. So, there was no point messing up the tyres any more.

“A two-stop, probably… two-stop would potentially have done the job but it was not on the cards at all for us, so we’ll do some analysis and try to figure out why.”

2021 F1

What penalty do Red Bull face for breaching F1 cost cap?

Published

6 months ago

October 10, 2022

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FIA recently confirmed that, Red Bull Racing have been found guilty of violating Formula 1 budget cap for 2021.

The Official confirmation by FIA said that a “minor” breaking of the budget cap. As resulted exceeding the budget by less than 5% or $7.25m – could have big consequences if the FIA decide to punish them.

Max Verstappen, who won a second F1 championship in weird conditions in Japan on Sunday, clinched the 2021 F1 title after late and controversial drama involving the safety car in Abu Dhabi.

The cost cap breaches penalty ranges from a public reprimand to a financial penalty or secondary level sporting penalties.

• Public reprimand
• Deduction of Constructors’ Championship points awarded for the Championship that took place within the Reporting Period of the breach;
• Deduction of Drivers’ Championship points awarded for the Championship that took place within the Reporting Period of the breach;
• Suspension from one or more stages of a Competition or Competitions, excluding for the avoidance of doubt the race itself;
• Limitations on ability to conduct aerodynamic or other Testing; and/or
• Reduction of the Cost Cap

Red Bull hint they will appeal FIA decision

The statement, released on their social meadi page read: “We note the findings with surprise and disappointment. Our 2021 submission was below the cost cap limit so we need to carefully review the FIA’s findings as our belief remains that the relevant costs are under the 2021 cost cap amount.

“Despite the conjecture and positioning of others, there is of course a process under the regulations with the FIA which we will respectfully follow while we consider all the options available to us.”

2022 F1

Verstappen won his second F1 World Championship

Published

6 months ago

October 9, 2022

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Max Verstappen won the rain hit Japanese Grand Prix and he secure his second world title as well. The Dutchman takes the full 19 points and his teammate Sergio Perez made second place, following the Charles Leclerc receives five seconds penalty, who crossed the line just ahead of Perez… but final corner cutting was given his time penalty.

Verstappen: It’s crazy

“It’s crazy. Very mixed emotions,” he said.

“Looking back, what a year we’ve had so far. It’s been incredible. It’s something I could never have imagined. After last year, fighting until the end, and then having such a good car again this year. I’m so thankful to everyone who has been contributing to this success.”

… More to follow

2023 F1

Nyck de Vries secures 2023 AlphaTauri F1 race seat

Published

6 months ago

October 8, 2022

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The Dutch racing driver Nyck de Vries sealed AlphaTauri F1 racing seat as replaced the Alpine-moved Pierre Gasly for 2023 F1 season.

27 years old, former F2 and Formula E world Champion’s demand has been raised, after he made an extraordinary performance at Monza for Williams racing team, who finished ninth on his F1 debut.

“I’m extremely excited to be joining Scuderia AlphaTauri for 2023 and I want to thank both Red Bull and the team for giving me the opportunity to drive in F1,” the Dutchman said.

“After Formula 2, I took a slightly different path with motorsport, but F1 has always been my dream and I’m grateful to be able to fulfil it.

“I’ve had a lot of chances to experience the 2022 car this year and I think that has put me in a great position for the upcoming season, I hope this has helped to prepare me for what is to come.”

“After Formula 2, I took a slightly different path with motorsport, but F1 has always been my dream and I’m grateful to be able to fulfil it.

“Having spent most of my teenage years in Italy for karting, I’ve always felt at home there, so for me, it’s great to be joining an Italian team, that already has a real family feel,” he added.

“I’m looking forward to meeting everyone and to start to build our relationship before the next season.”

AlphaTauri team head Franz Tost also gave his full care to De Vries, point out: “We are pleased to start a new chapter with Nyck, who’s very much welcome at Scuderia AlphaTauri.

“He is a very highly skilled driver, as he won in all the categories he competed in, with many races and championships under his belt.

“His last big success was winning the Formula E World Championship, and this is clear evidence that he is a very competitive driver, who deserves a seat in F1.

“I am looking forward to seeing him in our car and I’m confident that with Yuki and Nyck we will have a very strong driver lineup for 2023.”

The Austrian also paid praise to Gasly, who has spent at least part of every season at the team since his debut in 2017.

“AlphaTauri had a very successful time with Pierre,” he said.

“We will never forget his fantastic victory in Monza and his podium finishes in Brazil and Azerbaijan.

“I want to thank Pierre for all the effort he’s put into the team in the last years, and I wish him all the best for his future.”