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Antonio Giovinazzi lauds Kimi Raikkonen's contribution to development

Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi

Antonio Giovinazzi has hailed Kimi Raikkonen’s contribution to his and Alfa Romeo’s progress in 2019, though suggested his own performance levels have been made to look worse due to the Finn’s presence.

Giovinazzi stepped up to Formula 1 full-time in 2019 off the back of spending two years undertaking test/reserve roles with Ferrari, Haas and Sauber.

Giovinazzi entered 2019 with two grand prix starts under his belt, compared to almost 300 amassed by 2007 World Champion Raikkonen, who has been in the sport since 2001.

Giovinazzi and Raikkonen have been closely matched in qualifying this year but in races the 39-year-old has shaded his team-mate, scoring all but one of Alfa Romeo’s 32 points.

“You have positive things and negative things,” said Giovinazzi on being alongside Raikkonen.

“The positive thing is you can learn from him, watch his data, watch what he’s doing in meetings or on the track or whatever.

“You can learn how much is possible compared to a normal driver – he’s a World Champion driver so he’s like a target for you.

“From the other side of course he’s a World Champion driver and also in terms of the result he will be always there, he will never make a mistake, he has a lot of experience, he knows what to do.

“So sometimes my race pace can be less compared to Kimi, but just because he knows what he wants, knows what to do, he’s been there 20 years already.

“From my side I’m really happy to have Kimi because he’s a really fast driver, still really fast, with a lot of experience, if you ask him something he will reply to me.

“From race one to now I grew up a lot and I think this is also because of Kimi, because I’m watching him and everything.”

Giovinazzi added that observing Raikkonen’s approach both behind-the-scenes and on-track has facilitated his progress.

“From when he comes from Thursday to Sunday, how he prepares the weekend, he knows already what he wants,” said Giovinazzi.

“Before FP1, he knows [at] this track I need this [set-up], or I need this thing, he knows what he wants.

“From my side I have no experience and I try to be focused but I miss that part that makes a lot of difference.

“I was watching his onboard after a few races and I saw something I was not doing and now I am doing – so experience is the main thing [lacking] but I think it will come with races.”

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I have said it many times over the years, the FIA need to appoint stewards that are the same people for EVERY race. I have always felt that some stewards are biased toward "some" drivers (Of cour

F1 needs a Friday program including testing or the race tracks are going to lose a lot of ticket sales.  As a TV viewer, I find the Friday practice sessions quite enjoyable.   On par with the rest of

WILLIAMS CONFIRM SIROTKIN TO RACE AND KUBICA RESERVE Russian rookie Sergey Sirotkin will race for Williams this season after being chosen ahead of Polish rival Robert Kubica on Tuesday in wh

Vasseur: "Optimistic" Alfa can target McLaren after summer break

Vasseur: "Optimistic" Alfa can target McLaren after summer break

Alfa Romeo Formula 1 boss Fred Vasseur is confident that the Swiss team can take the fight to McLaren in the second half of the season.

Following a disappointing run of non-scores in Spain, Monaco and Canada, Kimi Raikkonen has finished in the top 10 in the last five races, although along with teammate Antonio Giovinazzi he dropped out of the points in Germany due to a clutch infringement.

Those penalties are now under appeal, and will be reviewed in Paris on September 24. However Vasseur believes that even without recovering the lost points the team can climb up the order from its current seventh place.

“Consistency is important in the middle of the pack,” he told Motorsport.com. “I think McLaren is always there also, but I hope we are able to fight with McLaren in the second part of the season.

"We have to be consistent. We have to get the cars into the points every single weekend, and try to do it with two cars.

“I think we can be optimistic. If you compare with Barcelona, we were far away, and we’ve improved consistently from that stage of the season. We are pushing hard to bring updates, and we have to keep the same path for the last part of the season.”

Vasseur cited the Hungarian GP as an example of the team’s current strong form, as the track wasn’t expected to suit the car.

However, Raikkonen finished seventh and second to McLaren’s Carlos Sainz in the midfield battle, and even managed to hold off the Mercedes of countryman Valtteri Bottas in the closing laps.

“I was not very optimistic before Budapest, because I think it’s not our best layout,” said Vasseur. “But Kimi did a fantastic job in the race.

“The pace was there from the beginning. The key for us was to have a good start and be in front of Grosjean. We knew that the race pace would be difficult for Haas, and it was important for us to be in front of them.

“Kimi was even holding off a Mercedes at the end, it was quite a nice situation. At least were able to keep Bottas behind for five or six laps.

“I think it was a good step forward again for us. It’s a great feeling before the break for the whole team. We had a tough time in the last two weeks.”

Although Alfa Romeo will benefit from engine supplier Ferrari's superior straightline speed at Spa and Monza, Vasseur doesn’t expect those tracks to be particularly favourable: “It’s also an issue of aero package. I think we will come back around Singapore, at normal tracks.”

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Wolff: DTM experience shows F1 shouldn't scrap Friday practice

Wolff: DTM experience shows F1 shouldn't scrap Friday practice

Toto Wolff believes the DTM’s experiment with shorter race weekends is a warning against a “radical” change to Formula 1’s schedule like cutting out Friday practice.

One of F1’s proposals for future seasons is to shift Friday practice so it runs later, but it appears to have opted against a considerable reduction of track time or eliminating pre-weekend running entirely.

In recent years, grand prix weekends that have followed rain-hit Fridays have tended to produce more entertaining races, because teams have less data and are less prepared.

However, Mercedes F1 boss Wolff believes this is not necessarily an argument in favour of shortening race weekends, pointing to the DTM’s short-lived elimination of Friday practice in 2013-14.

"We did that in the DTM many years ago and it felt like the weekend was not spectacular and special anymore,” said Wolff.

“If it's cut short to two days it takes some value out of a race weekend and Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motor racing, and it’s the world championship among engineers, drivers and the best teams. Therefore, that is a thing I wouldn't change - I would leave it on Friday.”

Pascal Wehrlein, RSC Mücke Motorsport, DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupe

A high-profile recent example of a Friday washout aiding the quality of the grand prix is last year’s race in the United States, which ended with three cars from three different teams using different strategies and finishing just a couple of seconds apart.

Wolff admitted it was possible that the amount of running on Friday directly correlated with the spectacle on Sunday.

“When you're not able to tune your car that well, then you have more gaps,” he said.

“Whether that is the reason why some teams are falling away and others are doing better, I'm not entirely sure, but it could well be the case."

Though Wolff is in favour of retaining practice sessions on Friday, he is not against amending the format.

“What we can think about is cutting a session short on Friday or reducing the running time to 60 and 60 minutes rather than 90 minutes,” he added.

“These are things that are worth considering but I wouldn't go for a radical cancellation of the Friday."

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VERSTAPPEN: THERE ARE THREE OR FOUR DRIVERS AS GOOD AS HAMILTON

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Max Verstappen risks igniting a war of words with Lewis Hamilton after statements he made saying that there are at least three or four drivers on the current Formula 1 grid capable as good as the five-time World Champion.

The Red Bull driver has emerged as the heir apparent to the Mercedes driver’s reign and while highly respectful of Hamilton, the Dutchman cited good timing for the success that the Briton has achieved.

In an interview with Motorsport Magazine, Verstappen said, “I’m not purely focused on Lewis. There are other great drivers in the paddock who can achieve similar things. Looking at the current grid, I think there are three or four drivers with the same capabilities.”

“It’s car-dependent. I don’t think he’s had the pressure of a team-mate over the years. He should really have won it in 2016 as well if it wasn’t for engine failure…

“But after the summer break there were a few poor starts and stuff where he lost first place. But he never really had big pressure from his team-mates.”

While rumours bubbled in the background that Mercedes were considering a swoop on the Dutchman if certain performance clauses were not met by Red Bull, but tose were packed for later after two victories and a second-place in recent races with the Blues and their Honda power gamble that appears to be paying off.

Meanwhile young Verstappen’s father Jos Verstappen believes that his son has Hamilton rattled, which only adds powder to a keg they are inadvertently, or not, helping light during this summer break slumber.

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Why we shouldn't cry for Pierre Gasly or decry Red Bull

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The only surprise really was that anyone was surprised.

Unless you have been living in some sort of seclusion you’ll be aware that Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly has been demoted to ‘B team’ Toro Rosso forthwith, with Alex Albon making the reverse journey to replace him. And the news admittedly was something of a surprise, at least in the timing.

Yet it should not have surprised that Gasly’s tepid form since his step-up made him vulnerable. Nor should F1’s capacity for ruthlessness have been a surprise. Particularly not Red Bull’s.

Not that you’d know any of this though from the outpouring of mawkishness that has followed Red Bull’s decision. It’s almost as if F1’s very fundamentals have somehow, up until now, passed much of F1’s commentariat by completely unnoticed.

We’ve outlined a few of those fundamentals already, and it’s worth reiterating a few more. F1 drivers get their gig for one of two reasons. They are either a) the best driver for the job or b) bring money to help the team keep going. At Red Bull the latter scarcely applies, and Gasly this season has looked nothing like the former.

There is not – and in all probability never has been – a single F1 driver kept on out of sentiment. Success is key. The stakes in F1, financial and otherwise, are high.

Gasly’s team-mate Max Verstappen is a phenomenon. We know this. But it seems reasonable for Red Bull to seek a stablemate who is a bit closer to him on pace than Gasly has been. Perhaps within a tenth or so rather than the gaping half-second a lap that Gasly has on average (in qualifying) been trailing.

Gasly has barely a third of Verstappen’s points this season. He also is only five ahead of Carlos Sainz in a much less potent McLaren. And consider that if you remove fastest lap points – something Gasly is in perfect position to ‘game’ running well off the back of the leading group – and the gap shrinks to only three. Plus Sainz didn’t score in the first three races.

And as has been noted, in Hungary Gasly’s lack of punch really cost Red Bull, possibly for the first time. Would Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have gone for their strategy dice-roll of a second stop, which as it transpired won them the race ahead of Verstappen, had the second Red Bull been running third and within their pitstop loss time? Maybe, maybe not. But it would have put doubts into their heads. Even if they had still gone for it perhaps the time lost getting past Red Bull number two would have tilted the race Verstappen’s way.

One point we can credibly debate is whether Gasly’s 12 races in a Red Bull is sufficient time in which to establish yourself, especially in the age of testing restrictions. But still, it doesn’t strike as a ridiculously short period, particularly not for someone who had a year and a bit before that at Toro Rosso. Go back to 1972 and there were only 12 races in a season…

And the eternal flipside to the ‘give them time’ argument is the best evidence may be that giving them time is simply wasting time. We may recall the Einstein quote about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

There also is immediacy to Red Bull’s considerations. It’s in a close fight right now with Ferrari in the constructors’ table, with the many millions that ride on that, and it’s currently fighting with one hand tied behind its back. There also is its 2020 driver selection to consider. Had Gasly been retained at Red Bull for the rest of the year and didn’t improve the team would have been in rather an unenviable position. Does it keep Gasly and hope that he improves somehow? Does it throw Albon in rather on a wing and a prayer? Or throw Daniil Kvyat in and hope he’s better than he was last time?

It’s hard to point at signs of Gasly’s progress either. At Silverstone, he showed up well and the air was rich of him making set-up breakthroughs and the like. But it proved a false dawn, as in Germany he was nowhere near Verstappen in qualifying or the race, threw in a practice crash plus ended his race by driving into Albon’s Toro Rosso. In Hungary, he was lapped by his team-mate, was some eight tenths off him in qualifying, and raced among the midfield men. While Verstappen as noted fought for victory.

It led to Red Bull boss Christian Horner expressing frustrations in public. “The start wasn't great, the first lap wasn't great, and we shouldn't be racing Alfa Romeos and McLarens,” he said of Gasly’s effort.

“The problem is he is not in the mix at all...Not having two cars running at the front does hurt us, particularly in the constructors’ championship.”

Sean Kelly asked on Twitter if we would object to Pastor Maldonado being dropped with Gasly’s results. A good question. Hell, we can rewind back a couple of months to Dan Ticktum being unceremoniously discarded by Red Bull to what seemed like hardly anyone’s great sympathy. And in Ticktum’s case, it appeared that his being outspoken sealed his fate as much as any shortage of driving talent.

There has also been rather a rewriting of history about how much potential Gasly showed in the first place coming into his Red Bull drive. “A year ago Gasly was widely regarded as le comingman,” David Tremayne, for one, has written.

But was that really the case? Gasly had promise, was considered someone who might turn out to be good, but he was never a stick-on like Verstappen or even Charles Leclerc. He performed very well in certain races last year – Bahrain, Monaco and Hungary being standouts. But for much of the time, he didn’t put away his team-mate Brendon Hartley as convincingly as the topline numbers suggested. And Hartley was discarded as not good enough with barely a backward glance.

There is evidence that the Red Bull collective had doubts too. When Gasly was winning the 2016 GP2 title, putting him in a Toro Rosso F1 race seat right away looked a no brainer, particularly as incumbent Kvyat was struggling at the time. Yet Red Bull waited near enough a year before giving Gasly a go, only doing so in late 2017 and packing him off to Super Formula in Japan between times (with this there’s the auxiliary debate about how effective F2/GP2 has been at preparing young drivers for F1. Its record can generously be described as patchy).

We could also add that Red Bull is affording opportunities to young drivers that likely would never have been afforded otherwise, short of having a rich parent. Drivers join its scheme as a matter of choice and with their eyes open; one presumes there’s no shortage of drivers wanting to do so. And, once joined, they are well rewarded in more than one sense.

Jaime Alguersuari after his own abrupt dropping at the end of 2011 – while he was later critical of the abruptness itself – rather summed this up. “I will not judge the decision because since 15 years old Red Bull gave me everything,” he noted. “Second, I am not a victim because for seven years I have enjoyed the privilege because of them.”

“It might be seen as a harsh decision,” added Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost at the time, “but Formula 1 is a tough environment and Toro Rosso has always been very clear about the principles behind its driver choice.” He could just as easily be talking about Red Bull now.

And even were Gasly to reach the level of fairly good, we have seen repeatedly that for Red Bull fairly good is not good enough. “Grand prix drivers…for us that’s not enough,” said Red Bull kingpin Helmut Marko a few years back. “We want grand prix winners.”

Gasly would have known all of this.

Autosport's Scott Mitchell has noted too that it’s even hard to make a case that Red Bull’s young driver program is particularly more ruthless than that of other F1 teams. Pascal Wehrlein has many admirers but was dropped by Mercedes; Stoffel Vandoorne had a similar fate at McLaren; then there’s Raffaele Marciello in Ferrari’s scheme. The crucial difference perhaps, Mitchell notes, is that the presence in F1 of Red Bull’s ‘B team’ Toro Rosso means Red Bull’s discarding is done amid much more glare and scrutiny and having more drivers on its program means there are more to drop, almost by definition.

Also one way or another Red Bull’s good at providing soft landings for those discarded. Kvyat and Sainz remain in F1 (as do Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo of course). Jean-Eric Vergne has won the last two Formula E titles and is gainfully employed in LMP2. Sebastien Buemi has been kept on as a Red Bull tester plus has a brace of World Endurance Championships and Le Mans wins, plus an FE title of his own. Hartley also has two WEC titles and a Le Mans victory. Heck, next F1 weekend check out the Porsche Supercup and you’ll find Michael Ammermuller.

It’s something Marko has noticed. “We got a lot of criticism, which I would say is not fair because most of these drivers, 90% or more are in other categories,” he said. “Looking at the Spa 24 Hours or in DTM or LMP1 or Formula E. They all make [a living] out of it. What more can you expect from your life?”

And with this, it should not be forgotten that the Red Bull collective is not discarding Gasly altogether. He will finish the season in F1 at Toro Rosso, with an opportunity to re-establish himself at the top table, an opportunity it also gave to Kvyat (twice). On this measure, Red Bull can even be considered an outlier in its generosity.

There are of course things we can credibly criticise the Red Bull young driver program for. Not keeping Sainz on some kind of leash looks a clear error; he would have been perfect for the seat alongside Verstappen (assuming their respective fathers can coexist peaceably). One way or another Red Bull let Ricciardo slip through its fingers, which in turn rather forced its hand to accelerate Gasly into the big team. Ticktum’s ditching arguably was premature and certainly left its cupboard rather bare. There is a risk that Albon falls on his face in a similar way to Gasly, particularly as he’s being promoted mid-season.

Yet Red Bull also provides four of the 20 F1 cars, stumps up the cash for one of its most popular races, and has developed four of F1’s finest current drivers in addition to plenty of other handy drivers in F1 and elsewhere. And it pays telephone numbers to bankroll drivers’ careers and develop their talents.

If you do this then you have the right to set the standards. And to be ruthless.

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Sao Paulo governor underlines desire to retain Brazilian GP

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The governor of São Paulo has underlined his desire for the city to retain hosting duties of Formula 1’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

Brazil is currently Formula 1’s least lucrative flyaway event in terms of revenue but its television audience is the largest in the world.

The Brazilian Grand Prix has been held at São Paulo’s Interlagos Circuit since 1990 though its current contract with Formula 1 chiefs expires at the end of 2020.

Earlier this year plans were unveiled for a motorsport facility to be built in the Deodoro district on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, with the proposals backed by newly-elected President Jair Bolsonaro.

But São Paulo’s governor has emphasised that the city will not give up the fight to continue hosting the Brazilian Grand Prix beyond 2020.

“Formula 1 will not leave São Paulo,” governor João Doria is quoted by Terra.

“Rest assured that it will continue here. There was a lot of desire from Rio to take the F1, but from São Paulo it will not leave. We will not allow F1 to exit.

“Currently, we made arrangements with Liberty so that F1 will continue here in São Paulo.”

Formula 1 has yet to sign a contract with either city beyond 2020.

The championship is set to expand to a 22-race calendar next year with the addition of Vietnam and the Netherlands, while Germany is poised to drop from the schedule.

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Ricciardo losing engineer played a part in Red Bull exit

Ricciardo losing engineer played a part in Red Bull exit

Daniel Ricciardo says the prospect of losing Simon Rennie as his Formula 1 race engineer played a part in his decision to join Renault from Red Bull.
Ricciardo was anticipated to sign a new deal with the energy drink giant for 2019, but instead shocked the F1 paddock by putting pen to paper on a two-year deal with Renault.

The 2018 campaign would’ve either way marked Ricciardo’s last season of working with Rennie, as the race engineer, who had served alongside the Australian driver since the start of his Red Bull tenure, was keen to travel less and was thus being moved into a factory role.

Red Bull had made arrangements to reunite Ricciardo with his former British F3 race engineer Mike Lugg, but the Australian then surprised the team by selecting to join forces with Renault – which partnered him with Carlos Sainz’s former race engineer Karel Loos.

“There were a lot of reasons, but losing Simon - I knew he wasn't going to engineer this year, if I stayed at Red Bull, and I thought I had a good relationship with him, and there were some unknowns,” Ricciardo admitted during this year’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

“I was certainly comfortable with him. If I knew he stayed, I don't know if that would've been the deciding factor, but it was another [thing] - obviously when you've got the Honda concern and a few others, I guess that was another little thing.

“As I said, there were lots of these little things which probably added up - I don't want to say ‘concerns’ but unknowns, ‘concerns’ is probably a bit disrespectful.”

Ricciardo reiterated that there wasn’t any “one bullet” that made him leave Red Bull, and said the team’s alleged favouritism towards teammate Max Verstappen was not a major aspect, as “it was talked about more than [what] I saw”.

He also said Red Bull “did okay” in terms of the salary that was offered, adding: “That wasn't a big difference in the end, it wasn't a deciding factor.”

Ricciardo spoke with McLaren alongside Renault and Red Bull over a 2019 drive, but said only the latter two had been in contention by the time of the 2018 Hungarian GP.

Recalling that grand prix, he said: “I remember, coming into the weekend, I was still like a little bit probably oblivious of what was going to happen and where I would end up, but as the weekend progressed, Friday or Saturday, it was like, alright, some teams are really pushing me, they need to know answers - so it started to ramp up.

“And it was Sunday night we had to start to really decide what to do, and I was like 'I'm just going to go out tonight, have a few drinks, and maybe I'll find my answer with a few friends'. And then on the Monday it all kind of started to kick off a bit more.”

Ricciardo said he’d made up his mind the Wednesday after the race as he was flying to the United States: “When I landed, I was like 'alright, yellow and black'.”

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Symonds: Russell is world champion material

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George Russell has been impressing many in the world of Formula 1, and one of those people is none other than former Williams tech boss Pat Symonds, now Chief Technical Officer of F1's Motorsports Division.

While Williams couldn't be further away from producing a world championship-winning car this season - they are last in the standings with just a single point - Russell has somehow demonstrated that he is a cut above in the FW42.

The 21-year-old British rookie, who won the 2018 Formula 2 championship by a landslide, hasn’t been given the easiest first job in F1, stepping into an uncompetitive car after the team missed the start of pre-season testing. Not only that, the man who oversaw the FW42's design, Paddy Lowe, left his post earlier this year.

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But Russell's talent has shone through, lifting the team off the bottom by qualifying ahead of both Racing Points and a Renault in Hungary, where he said that the team had ‘turned a page’. He’s earned his plaudits, Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams calling him 'world championship material'.

And Symonds – who has worked with talents such as Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso – has followed suit.

"I’ll give you a slightly off-the-wall answer," replied Symonds, when asked his pick for a future world champion by an F1 Fan Voice member. “Watching George Russell in Formula 2, I’ve been really impressed with him.

"I’ve seen him race really well in so many different circumstances, leading in the front, controlling the race, coming through traffic, wet weather, dry weather, when things have gone wrong he’s kept at it. I’ve got a feeling he might be a guy to watch.”

And with Williams recently lifted by upgrades brought in for Germany and Hungary, Russell could indeed be very much worth watching in the second half of the season.

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CONTENDERS AND PRETENDERS FOR RED BULL 2020

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Suffice to say, it’s an interesting time at Red Bull. They have a race-winning car, one of the two best drivers on the grid… and a big gaping hole next to him.

Pierre Gasly, for all his pedigree as a GP2 champion couldn’t fill it, and now it’s former Red Bull-reject Alex Albon’s turn to try. Will he fare better? Who knows, but with a car and engine that seems capable of competing for championships come 2020, the team needs someone who can at the very least, consistently deliver a good haul of points.

Below I’ve decided to take a look at the main candidates for that spot, giving each a “speed” grade (10 being a definite WDC contender) and a “team suitability” grade, which is basically how (un)likely they are to feud with Max (or Jos) Verstappen.

Let’s take a look at who’s in the running.

Alexander Albon

  • Speed: TBD
  • Team Suitability: 9/10
  • Likelihood: 45%

The now incumbent no. 2 at Red Bull, Albon still might have the most question marks of any driver on this list. Edging Daniil Kvyat in the quali head-to-head (6-5) but trailing in races (7-4), it’s hard to gauge exactly how quick the Thai is – and Verstappen is another level entirely – but there’s no denying he’s hit the ground running in his first F1 season, with the assumption being he’ll continue to improve. On the suitability side, it’s hard to see a guy that almost wasn’t even in F1 this year being anything less than grateful for the opportunity, so it’s unlikely he treads on any toes.

Daniil Kvyat

  • Speed: 8/10
  • Team Suitability: 7/10
  • Likelihood: 35%

A guy who probably feels a little hard done-by to not be back in the Red Bull right now, Kvyat might still get the last laugh. As I said on Monday, I think the team opted to promote Albon over the Russian because they already know what the latter provides, and they can afford to use the next nine races as an audition for the former that may or may not pay off. In any case, Kvyat is a driver that possesses very good, if not great pace – picking up two podiums in his previous Red Bull stint while being generally competitive with Daniel Ricciardo – but with discipline being an issue, you could make a case he’s not worth the occasional headache.

Nico Hulkenberg

  • Speed: 7.5/10
  • Team Suitability: 9/10
  • Likelihood: 10%

Despite a generally disappointing season for Nico Hulkenberg in 2019, the German could find himself in a very good place come 2020, should the rumours about his candidacy for Red Bull prove true. Often bandied about as one of the best drivers outside the big-three teams before this season, there’s no denying his reputation has taken a hit with new Renault teammate Daniel Ricciardo besting him, but he’s still a driver that over the course of a season, is a consistently solid performer, even if the podium continues to elude him. With that in mind he’s unlikely to ruffle any feathers should Red Bull hire him, providing the performance of Mark Webber without the associated drama.

Sebastien Buemi

  • Speed: 7/10
  • Team Suitability: 10/10
  • Likelihood: 7%

The driver among Red Bull rejects with by far the best post-F1 career, Buemi is a two-time Le Mans and WEC Champion, one-time Formula E Champion and three-time runner up. Just as importantly, he remains within the RBR family with his current role as the team’s reserve driver, making him an easy plug-in option for their current setup. Still, there’s a reason he was asked to make-way for Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo all those years ago at Toro Rosso, and while he would probably be an improvement on Gasly, if it was between him and all the other drivers at the big-three teams, he’s likely to still be the weakest.

Pierre Gasly

  • Speed: 5/10
  • Team Suitability: 10/10
  • Likelihood: 2%

Personally, I think there’s as much chance of this happening as Lance Stroll getting fired from Racing Point, but I suppose it can’t be entirely ruled out. Assuming Albon disappoints and Gasly beats Kvyat, his stock will see a decent rise, with the argument that the RB15 just didn’t suit his driving style given more credence. That said, it’s hard not to banish the memories of his being lapped while Verstappen was winning races, and Helmut Marko doesn’t seem like the type to forget easily.

Fernando Alonso

  • Speed: 10/10
  • Team Suitability: “McLaren 2007″/10 (i.e. 0)
  • Likelihood: 1%

A name that, ironically was given a boost by the one man who proved such a pairing to be a bad idea already in Lewis Hamilton, it’s hard to see Red Bull truly wanting any part of Fernando Alonso. As we saw in that fateful ’07 season, he simply doesn’t gel with another alpha dog in the team, not to mention his poor relationship with Honda. Yes, he’s faster than everyone else on this list, but he’s also liable to throw a tantrum when Max is the first to be given a new part, or get into a shouting match with Jos in a hotel lobby. Short of Netflix offering the team $20 million for all the content he’d provide, there’s just no way it’s happening.

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PEREZ: IF I AM NOT IN A PODIUM CAR BY 2021 I WILL QUIT F1

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Sergio Perez made his Formula 1 debut at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix, eight years later and the Mexican has notched up 167 starts in the top flight with eight podiums to show for his effort.

Like many of his peers, Perez is a gifted driver who simply never got a crack with a winning car and has toiled for nearly a decade in the relative obscurity of the midfield, his best rewards coming when the big three teams strike trouble.

Perez’s role in saving Force India from bankruptcy and helping it morph into Racing Point is well told, and a year on with his future uncertain – although indications are he will stay with the Pinks – the Mexican admits he will quit if he does not have a car with podium potential by 2021.

He told Racer in an interview, “You never know what can happen in Formula 1. I certainly know I will not stay here for many more years – certainly less than what I’ve done in Formula 1 already.

“I’ve been here a while. So you never know, but I say to myself that if by 2021 I’m not in contention for podiums and I don’t see it that I’m going to have that opportunity, then I will not be here beyond that. But we are really optimistic, and we really want to do well for the coming years.”

The tale of the saving of Racing Point is also well documented. But the harsh reality is that the Lawrence Stroll’s millions have not been an instant fix for the Silverstone outfit. They are eight in the championship standings with nine rounds remaining, fourth was their preseason target.

But Perez sees the positives, “It has been great. Amazing. On the track we haven’t had the results we hoped for – we knew that this year was going to be a transition – but I can see the big picture, and the future ahead looks very good and very strong.

“I knew it was going to be tough, but I thought, ‘not as tough as it is at the moment, and how it has been’. But I see how we are going to progress and how things are looking, and they are looking good.”

“I think this team has retained its strengths of being able to maximize its potential. Good things and good moments are coming. I look forward to it; we’re working very hard and I’m optimistic. And not just from that upgrade.

“I know exactly what’s going on around the team, what things are looking like for the coming years, so it’s not just based on that.”

Asked if he was in touch with other teams should he not strike a deal with his current employers, to which he replied, “To be honest, yeah. During the last couple of years I’ve always done single-year contracts, and thankfully there have always been opportunities here and there.

“In the end, I always end up staying, and now I’m pleased that other teams have come and asked, and there has been some interest out there.

“But my main priority will be to stay. If I am able to succeed with that, I will be pleased. If not, then we will see what happens.”

Should Racing Point opt for an alternative to the 29-year-old Mexican, he would likely find a seat on the grid with the likes of Haas apparently feeling out his availability, while the beleaguered Williams could also do with his experience.

With the backing he has from loyal Mexican sponsors, Perez is likely to remain in the top flight for a few seasons more, but in his own words: if he is not in a podium capable package he will call it quits.

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WOLFF: FERRARI IS A MYTH AND SOMETIMES AN IRRATIONAL DREAM

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Even Ayrton Senna had the dream to drive for Ferrari, so it would not be unimaginable if one day Lewis Hamilton dons a red race suit to bring his illustrious Formula 1 career to an end with the sport’s most famous team.

Hamilton himself has more than once indicated that he is a big fan of the marque, and invariably speculation wafts around on occasions suggesting Maranello might just be what the Briton needs for his endgame at the highest level.

Toto Wolff was asked by Gazzetta dello Sport about such a scenario panning out in the future, to which the Mercedes team boss replied, “The priorities of a driver are to have a winning car in his hands, so to guarantee good engagement and integration in the team.

“Hamilton is comfortable at Mercedes: he trusts us and we trust him. Having said that, Ferrari is a myth and sometimes an irrational dream for drivers. It is a strong brand which is appeals not only to drivers.”

He then laughed off suggestions he might be enticed to head up Ferrari at some point, “No, no I am not the typical team principal who can manage different teams. I am a shareholder in this team and have a splendid relationship with Daimler’s management.”

Looking back on the first half of the season, in which they have scored ten wins in twelve races while Ferrari have yet to celebrate on the top step of the podium, Wolff said, “First of all, the numbers don’t tell the whole truth.

“Ferrari could have won in Bahrain and Baku with Leclerc, and they were ahead in Canada with Vettel. So our victories might have been seven. However, the secret is to always to understand the motivations and to refresh the objectives.”

But the Austrian would not be drawn into criticising Ferrari, “I don’t know their internal dynamics. But at Maranello men and women work really well and I respect Mattia Binotto who is a trained engineer and an intelligent person.”

As for Vettel, Wolff said, “You don’t become a four-time F1 world champion by chance. Sebastian is and remains a pillar of Ferrari, but what he will do in 2021 I don’t know.”

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ELKANN: MARCHIONNE’S EXAMPLE REMAINS STRONG AND ALIVE IN ALL OF US

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On the occasion of the first anniversary since Sergio Marchionne’s passing, Ferrari president John Elkann gave a touching remembrance in honour of the man he replaced at the helm of Maranello.

Elkann said: “A year after Sergio Marchionne’s passing, the example he left us is just as strong and alive in all of us. The human values of responsibility and openness, of which he was always the most ardent champion, continue to live in all our companies. The culture of excellence, both in results and in the way we reach them, is an integral part of each and every one of them.

“Sergio liked to describe FCA, CNH Industrial and Ferrari as companies filled with women and men of virtue. Individuals who feel a weight of responsibility for what they do, who react with decisiveness and courage, who don’t shrink from the opportunity to set an example. Individuals who understand that it is only by acting with integrity that we give the merit and dignity to the results we achieve.

“The fact that our companies are like this today, we also owe to him. We will be eternally grateful to him for showing us, by example, that the only thing that really matters is never settling for mediocrity and always striving to change things for the better, for the benefit of community and the future, never for oneself.

“Today some of us remember the enlightened leader, some the man, and some the friend. But, we all undoubtedly remember him with the deepest affection,” concluded Elkann.

Marchionne is said to be the architect of the new era at Ferrari which resulted in Kimi Raikkonen being shown the door last year as the team bucked tradition to sign up youngster Charles Leclerc.

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HORNER: PEOPLE WARM TO VERSTAPPEN’S PASSION

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Christian Horner believes the passion shown by Red Bull’s star driver Max Verstappen is what endears him to so many Formula 1 fans of all ages and of every demographic.

The Orange Army phenomenon is proof of the Dutchman’s constantly growing popularity, granted many are partisan fellow countrymen but, the truth is, even his detractors have to admit that the 21-year-old is now the real deal and set to star at the pinnacle of the sport for many years to come.

Needless to say Verstappen’s boss Christian Horner is impressed with the manner in which his charge has taken command in the team this year. The Englishman going as far as saying that, right now, Verstappen is better than Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton.

Following a run of three wins and a second place in the last four races before the summer break, the Red Bull boss said of their star driver, “If you look at his performances this year, he is giving everything, every single lap. In his fifth year of F1 he has become complete. In the last 12 months, he has got maturity as well.

“The way he handles pressure has been extremely impressive. He’s passionate. That’s part of the reason people warm to him. He’s not afraid to say it as it is.

“Is that a bad thing? I’d rather have a driver like that, that has that passion, has fire in his belly – you can channel that,” reckoned Horner.

Speaking to Motorsport Magazine, Verstappen believes he will continue to get better the longer he remains in the top flight, “Hopefully it’s just natural. I think you can always improve as a driver.

“But mainly nowadays in F1 when you’re in there for five years, it has to do with experience, what you experience through the whole year rather than purely driving. It’s more about just putting the pieces together by experience,” he added.

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WOLFF: WE ASKED HAMILTON’S OPINION ON 2020 TEAMMATE

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Lewis Hamilton arrived at Mercedes in 2013 to fill the huge shoes of Michael Schumacher, since then he has made the team his own, and thus no surprise that they are consulting with their man.

The Briton has won four Formula 1 titles for them since he signed on the dotted line and during that period he has had two teammates in the form of Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas.

The former retired after his one-off 2016 championship triumph while the latter has failed to match his illustrious teammate and finds himself contesting for the hottest seat in racing with Esteban Ocon.

Furthermore, Mercedes chief Toto  Wolff has indicated that Hamilton’s 2020 teammate is the option of Bottas the team player, a known quantity who keeps the team harmonious and effective, delivering exactly as a number two should.

Or, the other option, Ocon – who has been promised a seat on the grid in 2020 by Wolff – an unknown quantity in a big team where he will arrive to make a name for himself alongside the established superstar but, at the same time a potentially explosive partnership which may not be in the best interests of the team.

Nevertheless, time marches on and it’s almost decision time for the World Champions.

Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, Wolff explained the situation, “We make this type of choice solely on the basis of team interests. But Lewis has been with us for a long time, so, I submitted our narrow list to him, asking for his opinion and he thinks exactly like us, both of them deserve to be his teammate for him.”

While the smart money is on Bottas being retained, Wolff was not saying as much, “It is a difficult decision because I have known Valtteri since Formula Renault and Esteban since he made his name in Formula 3.

“It is great to give a young person a chance. In the recent history of the F1 only two drivers immediately shone with a top team: Lewis Hamilton with McLaren (2007) and Max Verstappen with Red Bull (2016).

“The latter was very good at giving Max the necessary time to grow, first at Toro Rosso and then for two years at Red Bull. At Ferrari or Mercedes, the pressure was very high pressure… Having said that, they both deserve the place.”

As for when the F1 world can expect an announcement, Wolff said, “We have already talked too much about this subject with the media, I do not want to set dates. Let’s say we will decide within a few weeks.”

Inevitably the “Fernando Alonso” question was asked, to which the Mercedes team boss replied, “Fernando is undoubtedly one of the strongest drivers and after his adventure at Ferrari he no longer had the opportunity to drive a competitive car. Due to a series of circumstances, the top teams already have their ‘alpha’ driver.”

“Sometimes it’s not enough to be good at driving, you also need to have the right circumstances and because we don’t want to repeat of what happened when two were together at McLaren,” added Wolff.

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Christian Horner: 22 races on the same number of engines 'a tall ask'

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Red Bull's Christian Horner says he would be open to agreeing to 22 races next season, so long as changes are made to the power unit allocation.

With the Spanish Grand Prix set to retain its place on the calendar following a last-minute financial package and the addition of the Vietnam GP, the calendar is set to expand to a record 22 races, taking into account the loss of the German GP which hasn't agreed a deal for 2020.

Liberty Media has put the proposal to the teams and whilst most are open to it, pending financial details, Horner raised concerns over the number of power unit components allowed under the regulations, which are already stretched thin.

"[We] would we support it," said Horner. "I think in principle, yes, is the answer.

"I think if we are to introduce a 22nd race the majority of teams are taking penalties and using four engines [already], so one would assume that it would make sense to increase the allocation on power units and components."

Teams are currently allowed to use four power units per season or face penalties for exceeding that tally. There have been suggestions of increasing this in recent seasons as drivers have faced penalties later in the season, but the FIA has argued against it for cost reasons.

Horner however says cutting testing – where teams can use as many engines as they wish – would save sufficient money to allow for extra in-season engines.

"Perhaps if we look at the ratio and say ‘well, OK, rather than using engines for going testing and if we reduce the in-season testing and pre-season testing slightly, if that frees up an engine that the majority of teams they’re going to use anyway," added the team boss.

"From the next race there is going to be a whole raft of penalties coming through, and we’re only just halfway through the season, so introducing another race on top of that and expecting teams to get through on three engines and three sets of components is a bit of a tall ask."

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Zak Brown suggests greater fan input needed on 2021 F1 regulations

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown

McLaren boss Zak Brown has suggested that Formula 1 should carry out further consultations with fans over the direction of the sport post-2020.

Formula 1, the FIA, teams, Pirelli and – increasingly – drivers have been involved in determining the ruleset for the next cycle of sporting and technical regulations from 2021.

The sign-off on the regulations was postponed from June until October, but Brown believes Formula 1’s fans should also be consulted.

“I’d like to see fans involved,” he said. “One of the things that Formula 1 has done is they’ve done a lot more consumer research, and I think we need to pay more attention to that consumer research.

“You end up having in these meetings 10, 20 people that have a long history in the sport, so we all have our views, but I’m not sure we’re the target customer for the future of Formula 1.

“So any consumer products company would go out to the market place and find out what their customer wants, and would design that new product around what the consumer wants.

“You wouldn’t have 10 guys sitting back tasting their own food saying ‘this is what I like’, but the consumer research says something different.

“I think we need to listen to the fans and react to the fans more, so when you get into things like qualifying, and we talk about the purity of qualifying… well says who? If the new fans want to see qualifying in a different format, isn’t it the new fans who we’re trying to attract?

“So maybe we should try something new. I think we need to pay more attention. I think it’s great that the drivers are more involved, and I’d like to see more fan counsel.”

Brown also doubts that Formula 1 teams will reach a post-2020 agreement that suits all parties, and reckons the sport’s governing body has to just “get the show on the road".

“It seems like we revisit the same issues that the various teams have, and so I think at this point, Formula 1 and the FIA just need to make the decision and get on with it,” he said.

“Because I don’t think they’re going to hear anything new from the teams at the next Strategy Group meeting or the following Strategy Group meeting that they haven’t heard for the last 12 months.

“So the idea - and you guys all know this as well as anyone - that the 10 teams are somehow going to converge for the first time in the history of Formula 1 in the next three months is just not going to happen.

“So I think it’s just time to get the show on the road.”

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Honda facing "very complicated" Red Bull penalty call

Honda facing "very complicated" Red Bull penalty call

The decision on when Honda’s next upgraded Formula 1 engine will be introduced, which will trigger grid penalties for Red Bull, is “very complicated”, according to the manufacturer's technical chief.
Honda has already brought two engine upgrades during the 2019 season, which its aggressive development programme presenting the opportunity to introduce a third update the next time it gives Red Bull and Toro Rosso fresh engines.

The Japanese manufacturer’s Spec 3 engine made its debut in the French Grand Prix and has completed five races.

With power-sensitive races coming up at the Belgian and Italian GPs, followed by one of Red Bull’s strongest races in Singapore, either of the two races immediately after the summer break represents a logical time to introduce a new engine.

These are traditionally favoured venues for changes that trigger grid drops as it is easier to recover ground at Spa or Monza without compromising a strong race in Singapore.

However, Honda’s F1 technical director Toyoharu Tanabe said a decision had not been made prior to F1’s summer break.

“We are discussing all the time with the teams and we will decide when we apply a new engine or updated spec,” he told Motorsport.com.

“At the moment no decision has been made yet. It depends on the situation and timing and the result of the discussions with the teams. It’s very complicated.”

Singapore will almost certainly be prioritised given it represents a significant opportunity for Red Bull to take another win this season, but Honda’s home race in Japan is only the fifth race after the summer break.

That is firmly in Honda’s sights as the best opportunity for a strong result at Suzuka since it returned to F1 in 2015.

If Red Bull’s leading driver Max Verstappen takes a grid penalty at Spa or Monza and does not take another fresh engine before Suzuka, he will have to contest Honda’s home grand prix with a unit that is several races old.

Honda believes its engines are now reliable enough to complete six full weekends without problem or significant degradation in performance.

However, it may not be willing to chance that at Suzuka, and a potential solution to that could be an engine change at the preceding race in Russia.

By sacrificing that grand prix, Honda could have a fresh engine ready for Suzuka, and likely have enough engines in the pool to complete the season without further changes or penalties.

Tanabe added: “We have two types of plan, long-term and short-term.

“After the race we review the situation, the condition of the PU, maybe two or three races is the short-term. And the long-term means until the end of the season.”

“It is very complicated.”

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New McLaren wind tunnel 'critical' to future performance, says Tech Director Key

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McLaren’s “aging” wind tunnel – used for the last decade in a partnership with Toyota in Cologne, Germany – will soon be replaced by a bespoke facility in McLaren’s Woking headquarters. Technical Director James Key explained why McLaren are taking the step to build a new facility, and why it’s more important now than ever to have their own.

If they cement their fourth-place standing, this will be McLaren's highest constructors’ championship finish since 2012. But to build on that and replicate their championship-contending years – think 2008, 2010, or most notably 2005 when McLaren lost out on the constructors’ title to Renault in the final race – they need to upgrade their own tools.

Key, who joined the team this season from Toro Rosso, explained that a wind tunnel is a ‘little secret’ that helps teams extract the most from their design. As a result, a new wind tunnel was at the top of his and recently appointed Team Principal Andreas Seidl’s list.

“It was very important, explained Key. "I think when Andreas and I joined, it was one of the big projects, which was kind of on the table but needed to be rationalised and discussed, and that’s exactly what we did…

“We’ve had a great relationship with Toyota over the last 10 years the team’s been with them, still providing us with a very good service, but the fact is that tunnel is ageing now compared to the state-of-the-art ones in many Formula 1 teams and the technology that is in a modern F1 wind tunnel is outstanding – it’s one of those little secrets that gets hidden away. But if you ever get to see one and see what’s going on, there’s a huge amount of technology and interesting techniques and methodologies surrounding the way you now wind tunnel test in a wind tunnel.”

Modern F1 wind tunnels, in particular, harness new technology that enhances what teams can achieve when it comes to modelling aerodynamics and airflow – using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). CFD has its limitations, in terms of accuracy and efficiency, which is why a new wind tunnel is essential, as Key goes on to explain.

“CFD and wind tunnels complement each other very well, particularly in motor racing when you’ve got a very chaotic situation surrounding our very transient thing,” he said.

“The car’s moving around all over the place, it’s got rotating tyres and an airstream, there’s a lot of complexity there. So CFD does an increasingly great job of understanding how those flows are working and demonstrating to us as engineers what’s going on. But they can’t do that live in multiple conditions in the space of 10 minutes – and a wind tunnel can with this molecular resolution.

“So they complement each other and, although CFD will get there eventually, beginning to recreate exactly what a tunnel can do is still some way off. I guess we’re looking at new generations of technology and techniques coming now that helps facilitate new wind tunnels being built.”

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McLaren have a wind tunnel at their headquarters in Woking, but used for testing aerodynamic parts and set-ups

Other teams, such as Mercedes, have powerful wind tunnels that help them stay ahead of the competition. Their facility has a 2.2-megawatt motor – using as much power as a wind turbine generates – powering a carbon fibre fan that can produce wind up to 80 metres per second, more than a category five hurricane.

“So, to try and take the team forth we had to try and match the competition in that respect,” continued Key. “And to do that there were options, but the most logical option was to have a new facility in our premises in Woking. We had a very positive and proactive, supportive response from our shareholders to go ahead.”

Although F1’s regulations are bound to change in the future, those changes won’t make the wind tunnel obsolete. It's quite the contrary, as the Team Principal said.

“And even though the regulations are changing, and will become more restrictive in the future – it’s kind of counterintuitive – it’s more important to have a state of the art facility in your control. So regardless of any of that, to try and make genuine progress in the future, we needed something so critical to our performance closer to home.”

With Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris leading the charge, McLaren are currently at the top of the midfield. It seems that this new driver line-up and the appointment of Seidl and Key are working wonders, but with a new wind tunnel, can the Woking-based team blow the competition away?

 

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MARKO: I THINK ALBON IS BETTER THAN KVYAT

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It was a decision that caught just about everyone in the Formula 1 paddock by surprise namely, Alex Albon getting the nod to replace hapless Pierre Gasly at Red Bull ahead of Daniil Kvyat.

Red Bull’s driver boss Helmut Marko explained the decision-making process which resulted in Albon, with only 12 F1 races on his CV, being chosen ahead of Kvyat who returned to the top flight as a changed driver and the one most likely to step up, until he was not.

Marko explained in a recent interview, “I think Albon is better. We know how fast Kvyat is, we can say that he has become a more complete driver. However, based on all factors, we chose Alex.”

The Thai driver will be thrust in the limelight as he makes he debut for the Blues at the Belgian Grand Prix, at the end of this month, and alongside the formidable Max Verstappen, there will be nowhere to hide. A seat with the team next year is very much his to secure… or lose and he has nine races to make his case.

Marko revealed, “Alex’s contract only covers the remaining nine races of this year. No one has yet decided who will be Max’s teammate next year, so Alex should be able to grow and race without feeling any extra pressure.

“I am optimistic. To be honest it was unexpected that he showed such a good performance in his first year. Moreover, he has made steady progress from race to race,” added the Austrian former F1 driver.

Famously Marko promoted Verstappen at the expense of Kvyat for the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, which the Dutchman promptly won on his debut for the ‘big team’ and the rest, of course, is well-documented history.

Albon will don the dark blue overalls of the Red Bull team when he steps into the cockpit of the RB15 at Spa-Francorchamps for FP1 on Friday, 30 August.

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SCHUMACHER: I WILL GO TO F1 WHEN I’M READY AND COMFORTABLE

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It is almost inevitable that the son of Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher became a racing driver, that he is proving handy at the craft is a bonus as the paddock prepares for the arrival of Schumi III on the big stage.

However, 20-year-old Mick Schumacher is in no rush to break into the top flight and suggested he might be on the fringes for a couple of years before the timing is right for a full F1 campaign.

Meanwhile, he is part of the Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) and is doing a full Formula 2 campaign with Prema Powerteam.

Reflecting in the wake of his reverse grid Sprint Race victory in Hungary last time out, Schumacher junior told reporters of his journey to F1, “I think only time can tell. Obviously having the first victory in F2 is a great thing.

“I still need to work a lot on myself. Whether I go to F1 next year or in two years or three years, I don’t know. Only time can tell that. I will do my best possible to try to learn as much as possible so that when I do make the step, I am ready and comfortable.”

It would be fair to say that young Schumacher has not taken Formula 2 by storm nevertheless, the young German gets better race-by-race with max-points in Hungary perhaps a catalyst to ramp up his campaign in the second half of the season, much like he did in Formula 3 last year.

Of his maiden F2 victory, Schumacher acknowledged, “The first one is the hardest, but obviously it’s also once you get that win, it gives you a lot of confidence. It gives you a lot of confidence to go into the next round, especially getting towards the end of the season now.

“It’s good that we have done it in a way that is also I think not easy, because we had a lot of pressure, not only from Nobu (Matsushita) but throughout the whole season. We had some very strong performances, but not enough points for what we had.

“I refer back to Red Bull Ring or Silverstone where the pace was great, but in many ways, we didn’t manage to really exploit it. In general, I’m really happy that we managed to get that win, but mostly also getting those points in.”

Schumacher has already tested for Ferrari and Alfa Romeo this year as the Reds groom the son of their favourite son for the top flight.

His career path is following in the FDA footsteps, of Jules Bianchi (until it was cruelly cut short) and currently, Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi – Schumi III may well be the next in line.

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Haas unlikely to chance a rookie after 2019 struggles, says Steiner

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The futures of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean at Haas beyond 2019 may not have been decided yet, but the team are unlikely to be taking a chance on a rookie driver next year, according to boss Guenther Steiner. After 12 races of the season, their focus is on improving the car, not cultivating young drivers.

Steiner has a puzzle to solve, having watched Haas go from regular points contenders in 2018 to midfield strugglers this year, as they continue to try and get to grips with Pirelli's tyre compounds and intra-team rivalries. With that in mind, there’s little room for the US squad to take on a rookie. It would be too much of a risk, as he explained.

“These decisions are actually very difficult to make," he said. "It’s an opportunity but it comes at a high risk rate, so it’s more like as a team we could do it, but do we want to do it? Because I think again this year if we had two rookies or a rookie, it wouldn’t help us, because we are a little bit lost where we are with the tyres and a rookie doesn’t help you.”

The rookie in the running would be Ferrari Driver Academy member Pietro Fittipaldi, Haas’s 2019 test driver and grandson of two-time Formula 1 world champion Emerson Fittipaldi. But the Brazilian hasn’t taken part in a Free Practice Session this season, as Steiner and the team have more pressing priorities.

“For us it’s difficult, otherwise we’d do it for him… ” said Steiner of getting Fittipaldi more track time. “We need both drivers [Grosjean and Magnussen] to be testing the car as much as possible. Our focus is still not to be ninth in the championship, we need to be better, so I cannot promise anything to Pietro."

Furthermore, Fittipaldi doesn’t have a superlicence, which holds him back from racing an F1 car, although Free Practice participations will count towards a driver’s superlicence in 2020.

“That’s one of the problems of all young drivers at the moment,” added Steiner. "There’s not many people with a superlicence around and to get one is pretty difficult at the moment. There is now a superlicence that a team can get points for by putting a driver into FP1, and he’s missing four points. We’ll see what we can do.”

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Steiner did, however, concede that ‘risking’ a rookie can work, McLaren being the prime example of that as they sit fourth in the standings with Lando Norris having taken 24 points so far in his debut season.

“This year I would say McLaren took the risk and did it very good," he continued. "Lando is doing a good job, I think he’s very fast - but it can go wrong as well, and then it’s difficult to get out of that mess.”

After Haas’s tough opening half of the season - Grosjean has retired six times and reverted back to an Australian Grand Prix-spec car while Magnussen has continued to take on upgrades - it’s fair to say that Haas could do with avoiding a “mess”. Nine races left, and they trail eighth-place constructors Racing Point by five points.

 

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Hamilton and Brundle drive the Mercedes W196

Reigning five-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton and former F1 driver turned commentator Martin Brundle take the legendary Mercedes W196 for a spin around Silverstone.

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Head to head: How 2019's F1 team mates compare at the summer break

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Twelve races down, and we have all the numbers to compare how 2019's team mates are faring against each other so far - in qualifying, races, points, DNFs and much more. 

Mercedes
As you can see above, there’s a clear gulf between Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton in the table, the 62-point gap showing Hamilton’s head-to-head domination this season. Bottas, however, has held his ground in qualifying, taking as many poles as Hamilton, and only narrowly losing the qualifying battle 7-5. Furthermore, both Mercedes drivers have two fastest laps each and Hamilton has just edged ahead on podiums with 10 to Bottas’s nine. But the points don’t lie, and Hamilton has out-raced Bottas 9-3 this season. Under pressure with Esteban Ocon watching on from the sidelines, Bottas will be eager to claw his way back after the summer break.

Ferrari

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There’s little to separate Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari, the young Monegasque leading the experienced German 2-1 in fastest laps and pole positions. Vettel, however, has six podiums to Leclerc’s five, scoring points in all but one race – the British Grand Prix – while Leclerc retired from Germany and his home race, Monaco. Expect this battle to continue in similarly close fashion over the next nine races.

Red Bull

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Max Verstappen is having a superlative season, striving to make it five wins for Red Bull in 2019, having already taken two, plus his first career pole in Hungary. The step up to Red Bull hasn’t been easy for Pierre Gasly, however, and it coincides with Verstappen’s strongest season yet in terms of points; the pair have the biggest points gap out of any two drivers on the grid. Gasly has now been demoted to Toro Rosso, giving Alexander Albon nine races to find his feet at Red Bull.

McLaren

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It’s no wonder McLaren were so quick to retain Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris for 2020, the pair having contributed 82 points up until the summer break – more than McLaren scored for the whole of last season. But it’s Sainz who’s out-raced his rookie team mate with eight points finishes compared to Norris’s five, his haul of 58 points the Spaniard’s highest season total to date. Sainz has made himself a hot property at McLaren, and Norris has followed suit.

Toro Rosso

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On his way to Red Bull to contest the next nine races, rookie Alexander Albon has been a match for seasoned team mate Daniil Kvyat in qualifying, but the points standings are leaning in Kvyat's favour 27-16 thanks to his podium in Germany. Kvyat's return to F1 after a turbulent couple of years at Toro Rosso in 2016 and '17 has produced much more assured performances. It's worth noting that while he hasn't been recalled to Red Bull just yet, Kvyat isn't out of the running. The team are merely evaluating how Albon performs in the second half of 2019.

Renault

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While Daniel Ricciardo hasn’t had the spectacular move to Renault that he might have hoped for, he has quietly bested his ever-reliable new team mate Nico Hulkenberg. With nine races remaining, Ricciardo has almost sealed the qualifying battle as he leads it 8-4, the Australian also 11th in the standings while Hulkenberg is 14th, behind Lance Stroll and Kevin Magnussen. However, the team mate battle is far from settled here when it comes to the racing: Hulkenberg has every chance of making up the numbers in the next nine races.

Alfa Romeo

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It’s been a rude introduction to a full-time race seat for Antonio Giovinazzi, up against the Iceman in his first season. Former champion Kimi Raikkonen is dominating here against the Italian rookie, showing just how much experience counts in this sport. And then, of course, there’s the small matter of Raikkonen’s undeniable talent, as he’s out-qualified Giovinazzi 8-4, out-raced him 11-1 and claimed 31 of the team’s 32 points so far.

Racing Point

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A lack of Q3 appearances underlines just how far behind Sergio Perez team mate Lance Stroll is, the Canadian losing the qualifying battle 11-1. While Perez has out-raced him 8-4 so far, Stroll is ahead on points thanks to a bumper haul in Germany, his fourth-place finish adding 12 to his total and evening out the head-to-head numbers a bit. It may seem that Stroll is a less consistent points scorer, but he's done so in four races this season while Perez has scored points on just three occasions, the last in Azerbaijan.

Haas

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A glaring six DNFs for Romain Grosjean, compared to his team mate’s single failure to finish, explains how the Frenchman is 10 points behind the Dane at this stage. He’s been narrowly out-qualified by Magnussen and out-raced by him, but Grosjean is making a significant contribution to the team, using the Melbourne-spec car for the past few races in an effort to find out where Haas are struggling in the upgrade department.

Williams

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Robert Kubica’s inspiring comeback to Formula 1 hasn’t lived up to the expectations of many, while rookie George Russell has made an immediate impact at the team, out-racing and out-qualifying the Polish driver 11-1 and 12-0 respectively. That means the qualifying head-to-head is Russell’s already. The only anomaly here is that Kubica has scored more than Russell, his P10 finish in Germany yielding the team’s only point. It’s clear that this season hasn’t reflected Kubica’s past form, nor is it a continuation of his blistering pace from 2006-10. Russell, on the other hand, couldn’t have made a better first impression in F1, given the machinery at his disposal.

 

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