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250 doctors and nurses to attend Italian GP at Monza

250 doctors and nurses to attend Italian GP at Monza

It has been announced that there will be 250 guests present in the grandstands at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.

It will mark the first time this season amid the coronavirus pandemic that grandstands will feature spectators, with the attending people present at Monza being doctors and nurses.

Ferrari says they have been invited to the track as a “symbolic honour for their courage, sense of duty and altruism as front line workers in the fight against COVID-19”.

Italy is one of the worst-affected countries in the world by the coronavirus and was the first country in Europe to be hit badly and placed into lockdown.

Following the upcoming race weekend at Monza, F1 will travel to Mugello, which will be the first race this year to feature paying spectators, as 2880 fans per day will be permitted into the circuit.

All races following Mugello, bar the season finale in Abu Dhabi, are expected to have a limited number of spectators present.

Ferrari arrives at Monza one year on from Charles Leclerc’s victory at its home race – however, its struggles so far in 2020 suggest that it may endure a difficult home race.

Italy will also host a third F1 race later this year, with Imola returning to the calendar for the first time since 2006.

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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

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Pirelli: We do listen to drivers, we need compromise

Pirelli: We do listen to drivers, we need compromise

Pirelli has rejected suggestions that it does not listen to the requests of Formula 1 drivers when designing its tyres, explaining the process behind its compounds.

Pirelli’s 2020-specification tyres were rejected unanimously and thus 2019’s tyres are still in use this year – and will be once more in 2021 as part of the compromises agreed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

World Champion Lewis Hamilton recently called on Pirelli to change its approach for its 18-inch tyres in 2022, commenting that “when they made the target letter the drivers were not a part of this discussion.”

The target letter is the document agreed upon by Formula 1 stakeholders and to which Pirelli works.

“We had a lot of discussions about the target letter initially for 2021, for the 18-inch tyres, and is now for 2022,” said Pirelli’s Formula 1 boss Mario Isola.

“Drivers have been involved in the discussion, in the latest target letter we decided to review it again in order to list the targets, giving the priority to what the drivers feel are the priority, like reducing overheating and degradation.

“We have a lot of discussion on that, because if you reduce degradation there is no reason to have more than one stop basically, why you should lose time to stop once more and maybe lose position on track?”

Isola expanded on the difficulties Pirelli faces when designing its tyres.

“There are a lot of subjects in the target letter,” he said. “Some of them are difficult to achieve all together: having a tyre with much higher grip but also a lot of consistency is really difficult, when you have a lot of grip you usually have high degradation, it’s the qualifying tyre idea.

“I know drivers like the grip, I know they are asking for an ideal tyre, that is our thought and plan for 2022, for 2021 as we said already it’s difficult as we don’t have any option to upgrade the product, so we will focus that for 2022.

“We listen to the drivers, I don’t want to give the message or hear the message that we don’t listen to the drivers, as every time the drivers are available we are always available, I‘m talking for Pirelli but also for FIA and FOM.

“I’m very happy to follow what Lewis is asking for but then we need to put first on paper and the realities I think is there has to be a compromise.

“We cannot have 100 per cent grip and 100 per cent consistency and no degradation and all of that.”

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Could Ferrari be set for worst ever Monza display?

Could Ferrari be set for worst ever Monza display?

Remember 2019? Before coronavirus and private settlements? Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc raised aloft the victor’s trophy in front of a Monza main straight packed with passionate spectators.

Neither of those will happen this weekend.

The coronavirus pandemic means Monza will be run behind closed doors while barring a spectacular pile-up that afflicts six or seven teams Ferrari will not win.

The power-heavy Monza circuit places a reliance on engine supremacy and in that department Ferrari has lacked in comparison to Mercedes, Honda and Renault in 2020.

At Spa-Francorchamps it qualified and raced to 13th and 14th position respectively, seventh of the 10 teams, in a grand prix that had 17 classified finishers.

Working in Ferrari’s favour is that it struggled with tyres from the outset in Belgium, meaning it was playing catch-up in the midfield contingent, an element it should hopefully avoid this weekend.

But even so, it was unlikely to finish much higher up the field in the circumstances.

Could Ferrari really be set for its worst showing on home soil in 70 years?

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Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza has been won by Ferrari on 19 occasions while it has a total of 69 overall podiums.

The last time Ferrari failed to score a podium at Monza was back in the first hybrid year in 2014, when a failure put Fernando Alonso out while Kimi Raikkonen was only ninth – however Alonso still qualified a semi-respectable seventh.

The 2008 wet race hurt both Felipe Massa and Raikkonen – though they still scored top 10 results – while three years previously was a particular low for Ferrari.

In a race with little drama and incident Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello mustered only 10th and 12th respectively – but did qualify sixth and seventh.  

Ferrari last failed to score a single top 10 finish at Monza back in 1995, when Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi both retired. But they had run 1-2 in that race from 3-5 on the grid; Berger retired when a TV camera detached from Alesi’s car and terminally hit his suspension while Alesi then copped a wheel bearing failure. As cruel as cruel could be – but neither slow nor embarrassing.

There was also a double retirement in 1992 – though Alesi still qualified a respectable third in the awful F92A.

The last time Ferrari finished lower than fifth in the Constructors’ Championship came in 1980 but on that occasion Monza was not used for the Italian Grand Prix – the sole time that Imola has held the honour.

The early 1970s were a lean time at home for Ferrari, with 1973 a particular nadir, as Jacky Ickx was a lapped eighth from 14th on the grid, and Arturo Merzario exited from seventh.

But never before at Monza has Ferrari not featured either in the top 10 of the grid or in race trim, at least with one car.

If its Belgian Grand Prix result is replicated at the high-speed Autodromo then that is exactly what will happen: no Ferraris in the top 10 on Saturday or Sunday.

Could a new unwanted statistic rear its head this weekend?

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Ferrari urges patience, warns revival may take ‘many years’

Ferrari urges patience, warns revival may take ‘many years’

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto says there are “no silver bullets” for the manufacturer and has warned it will take many years before it returns to challenging for titles.

Ferrari finished runner-up to Mercedes in the championship across 2017, 2018 and 2019, taking multiple wins each season, but has faltered in 2020.

Its recalcitrant SF1000 lacks aerodynamic prowess while its engine performance has also been subdued, in the wake of a private settlement with governing body the FIA.

It heads to the first of three home events, this weekend behind held at Monza, only fifth in the standings, a mere two points in front of Renault.

“The entire team is responsible [for the situation], myself as Team Principal first.

“Am I the right man or not [for the job], [it is] not myself to answer.

“How long it will take? I think if you look back in all the winning cycles that have been set, it’s always many years, there are no silver bullets in F1. Patience and stability is required.”

Binotto nonetheless added that he will be “curious” to see how Formula 1’s new Technical Directive on engine modes will play out at Monza.

“It’s a circuit where power performance is important, certainly where we are not the best,” said Binotto.

“It may affect some of the teams. I will be curious to see how much, which team, I think it will be interesting in that respect.

“It’s a circuit which has high power sensitivity, especially [if] it changes a bit the balance of competitiveness in the quali itself, and we know how important it is to start ahead, as when you are in traffic it is always more difficult as well to make the car work.”

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Verstappen bats away ‘stupid’ questions about motivation as Red Bull try to catch Mercedes

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Max Verstappen has branded questions over his motivation “stupid”, insisting that even if his Red Bull RB16 is not currently as quick as the Mercedes, driving Formula 1 cars is “one of the best jobs in the world”.

Red Bull sit 106 points behind Mercedes in the constructors’ championship and Verstappen is 47 behind Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings, with the Silver Arrows having taken victory in all but one race this season - the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix which Verstappen won. But the Dutchman says that Mercedes dominance has no effect on his hunger to race.

“I don’t understand why people think you wouldn’t be motivated!” he said. “You have one of the best jobs in the world, you’re driving super-fast cars, and I’m driving third or second and I have one win [in 2020], so I find it incredible that people think you wouldn’t be motivated.

“It’s really stupid. I love what I’m doing. Every weekend I come here, and I love driving the car. So I want to, of course, try to challenge [Mercedes]. But if it’s not possible I settle for the best result possible in the car I have – and then I’m still enjoying it.

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In the championship battle, Verstappen urged a “realistic” outlook on Red Bull’s chances after the Belgian Grand Prix and before this weekend's race on the low-downforce Monza circuit – at which Red Bull have not been classified as podium finishers since 2013.

“We won’t give up but I’m very realistic that we need luck to win races and actually gain some points back,” said Verstappen. “At the moment, it looks like we’re in the championship fight but every race I’m more or less losing seven points.

“At one point the gap will of course be very big but yeah, like I said, being realistic, I think it’s good. Every single weekend I try to get the best out of it. It’s not like I’m down or anything – but be realistic. In Spa again, we were half a second slower a lap compared to them so you can’t really fight them at the moment,” he concluded.

Verstappen has had mixed results at Monza, with a best finish of fifth in 2018 after a five-second time penalty denied him a podium after he crossed the line in third, and a P8 finish here last year, as he started 19th with an engine penalty.

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Ricciardo ‘keen to keep the ball rolling’ at Italian GP after finding Renault's sweet spot

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Renault are now just nine points off third in the constructors' championship after their stellar Belgian Grand Prix weekend, and Daniel Ricciardo wants them to keep up the momentum at Monza this weekend and give him another chance to battle fomer team mate Max Verstappen once again, as he did at Spa.

Although they’re still sixth in the championship going into the Italian Grand Prix, where they managed their best performance of 2019, Renault closed the gap in the midfield battle in Belgium as Ricciardo finished P4, just three seconds behind Red Bull's Verstappen, with the team's best performance of 2020.

“It was fun, it was cool, [Max and I] spoke a bit after and we said ‘it was fun to be able to do that for a sequence of corners’. We would have loved to have done that for 40 laps.

“Hopefully there’s a bit more of that going on. I think this track does lend itself to overtaking and side-by-side racing, for a little bit. We’ll try to make it happen again and I think we’re in a good place, so we’ll try and keep the ball rolling,” said Ricciardo on Thursday ahead of the Italian Grand Prix.

It seems that part of Renault’s resurgence has stemmed from a set-up change instigated at Silverstone and carried over to Belgium, where the yellow cars took 23 points from the race – as many as Red Bull – to give their constructors’ championship tally a boost.

Ricciardo explained: “When we did a change in practice in Silverstone and I went out that next session, I was like: ‘OK the car felt transformed a bit’. I felt so much more grip coming from it and confidence to push in the entries [of corners]. We played around with it a bit at Spa and it had the same effect.

“It’s just finding the sweet spot of where the car likes to be run and that’s been positive. A lot of the time throughout the weekend we’re always changing the car, whether it’s a bit of downforce or some suspension stuff. You normally find bits and pieces; it’s kind of a compromise [from corner to corner] whereas here we felt we gained some rear grip, overall load in the car, and it’s nice to feel that as a driver.

“A feeling like that gives you confidence to drive into the apex harder and not have the fear that the car maybe losing the rear, like I’ve already felt once this year.”

So with things looking much brighter for Renault, could third-place really be on the cards this year?

“If we keep having those weekends, yeah," Ricciardo said. "It can turn around quickly. One good weekend – I remember last year as well, one good weekend – and you’re back in the constructors’ fight. It’s really tight at the moment but absolutely, it’s there for grabs.”

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Vettel purchases Mansell’s iconic championship-winning Williams

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Sebastian Vettel loves his Formula 1 history, so perhaps it should be of no surprise that the German has chosen to spend some of his salary on a Williams FW14B, the machine that Nigel Mansell used to win the 1992 F1 world title…

Mansell enjoyed supreme success in that car, winning nine out of 16 Grands Prix during that campaign to win the drivers’ title, while Williams triumphed in the constructors’ championship, too.

Regarded as one of the most sophisticated F1 cars in history, it was penned by design guru Adrian Newey, who also designed Vettel's four title-winning cars. It featured active suspension, a semi-automatic gearbox, traction control and a class-leading Renault engine, and proved to be the dominant machine during the 1992 campaign, giving Mansell his only world title triumph.

Vettel now owns a FW14B, the price he paid unknown, with the famous red 5 on its nose. This is a number Vettel is known to have an affinity with, and was the one he chose to race with when drivers could choose their own digits.

It is understood his private collection of cars includes at least one of his four title-winning Red Bulls. He is also believed to have bought a Ferrari F40 previously owned by opera singer Luciano Pavarotti, alongside a collection of motorbikes.

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2 hours ago, MIKA27 said:

MIKA: Sebastian is 100% right - Even for myself, I find it difficult to get excited anymore

Agreed 100%.  This season has been a total disappointment for me.  Team Toto is so far ahead of the game this year it is unreal.  Tire strategy is the only way Red Bull can attempt to compete.  The rest of the field are also rans.  The FIA really needs an overhaul.  Inconsistent driver penalties, and the decision to allow Racing Point to continue using brake ducts deemed illegal is crazy.  Combine the FIA's inconsistencies with the lack of competitiveness during the turbo hybrid era and it has become a snooze fest.  I'm not brow beating Mercedes.  God bless them for fielding such superior cars.  However, when I tune in an almost every qualifying and they lock out front row, and then essentially win every race it gets tedious to watch.  F1 absolutely needs to reacquaint itself with truly competitive racing or I fear they will start losing fan base in droves.

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I don't watch anymore. I just can't. It's way too lame. The series is finished unless they come up with some way to level the playing field... Combine the boring racing(if you can even call it that) with all the political/racial BS and it's enough to make a man sick!

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Look at that beautiful machine from 1992 and compare it to the cars from today. I don't think formula one is a lost cause, but it has certainly gone in a strange direction in the last 20 years. I hope the FIA and Liberty recognize that gimmicks are not going to bring people to F1, it is the cars and the drivers. I like Lewis Hamilton, but it is way boring to watch him get pole and a win every weekend without challenge. It is already a lock that he wins this year and next.

As for Ferarri, they brought this on themselves. Investing too much effort in cheating rather than developing a competitive car and propulsion unit. Very disappointing.

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Certainly not great to see Mercedes with such a big advantage and some races are boring but in others there is great mid field or end of race passing and battles. I still enjoy it and also F2 as well.


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4 hours ago, LLC said:

Certainly not great to see Mercedes with such a big advantage and some races are boring but in others there is great mid field or end of race passing and battles. I still enjoy it and also F2 as well.


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To each his own, but if there is no chance of at least a battle for the podium, then it's a snooze fest for me... I find myself wishing they would make the cars narrow again and go back to the pre-2017 rules. I never thought I'd say that but at least it was exciting. I find it quite ironic that they "postponed" the "2021" rule changes to 2022 and allow Mercedes one more year of dominance, which is just what Lewis needs to "best" Schumacher's record... very interesting indeed!

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Now,lets have a race.By that I mean only 2 cars,one a Mercedes driven by Vettel ,the other a Ferrari driven by Hamilton.On a regular racetrack,full course and length and officals.With other words the whole works.I think that's the only way to determine where the problem is between man and machine

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On 9/3/2020 at 7:47 PM, MIKA27 said:

Could Ferrari be set for worst ever Monza display?

Could Ferrari be set for worst ever Monza display?

Remember 2019? Before coronavirus and private settlements? Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc raised aloft the victor’s trophy in front of a Monza main straight packed with passionate spectators.

Neither of those will happen this weekend.

The coronavirus pandemic means Monza will be run behind closed doors while barring a spectacular pile-up that afflicts six or seven teams Ferrari will not win.

The power-heavy Monza circuit places a reliance on engine supremacy and in that department Ferrari has lacked in comparison to Mercedes, Honda and Renault in 2020.

At Spa-Francorchamps it qualified and raced to 13th and 14th position respectively, seventh of the 10 teams, in a grand prix that had 17 classified finishers.

Working in Ferrari’s favour is that it struggled with tyres from the outset in Belgium, meaning it was playing catch-up in the midfield contingent, an element it should hopefully avoid this weekend.

But even so, it was unlikely to finish much higher up the field in the circumstances.

Could Ferrari really be set for its worst showing on home soil in 70 years?

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Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza has been won by Ferrari on 19 occasions while it has a total of 69 overall podiums.

The last time Ferrari failed to score a podium at Monza was back in the first hybrid year in 2014, when a failure put Fernando Alonso out while Kimi Raikkonen was only ninth – however Alonso still qualified a semi-respectable seventh.

The 2008 wet race hurt both Felipe Massa and Raikkonen – though they still scored top 10 results – while three years previously was a particular low for Ferrari.

In a race with little drama and incident Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello mustered only 10th and 12th respectively – but did qualify sixth and seventh.  

Ferrari last failed to score a single top 10 finish at Monza back in 1995, when Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi both retired. But they had run 1-2 in that race from 3-5 on the grid; Berger retired when a TV camera detached from Alesi’s car and terminally hit his suspension while Alesi then copped a wheel bearing failure. As cruel as cruel could be – but neither slow nor embarrassing.

There was also a double retirement in 1992 – though Alesi still qualified a respectable third in the awful F92A.

The last time Ferrari finished lower than fifth in the Constructors’ Championship came in 1980 but on that occasion Monza was not used for the Italian Grand Prix – the sole time that Imola has held the honour.

The early 1970s were a lean time at home for Ferrari, with 1973 a particular nadir, as Jacky Ickx was a lapped eighth from 14th on the grid, and Arturo Merzario exited from seventh.

But never before at Monza has Ferrari not featured either in the top 10 of the grid or in race trim, at least with one car.

If its Belgian Grand Prix result is replicated at the high-speed Autodromo then that is exactly what will happen: no Ferraris in the top 10 on Saturday or Sunday.

Could a new unwanted statistic rear its head this weekend?

Wow!  That was some awesome foreshadowing.  Ferrari has been terrible this season but today's race was the icing on the cake. They need to make some drastic changes if they want to be competitive with Mercedes.

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On 9/5/2020 at 9:46 AM, Squarehead said:

Now,lets have a race.By that I mean only 2 cars,one a Mercedes driven by Vettel ,the other a Ferrari driven by Hamilton.On a regular racetrack,full course and length and officals.With other words the whole works.I think that's the only way to determine where the problem is between man and machine

That would be very interesting. If Lewis won, i'd give him full props. My guess is Vettel would mop the floor with him. Just my .02

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  • 1 year later...

With five races left in this thrilling season, I want to revive this thread a bit.  Just saw my first live race in Austin, and it was amazing!  Huge fan base for Checo in Texas.  Verstappen, Hamilton, and Norris the other favs.

My sports friends in America don't give two hoots about F1, so I'm happy to see this here.

We also got to watch the W series qualifying and both races.  Jamie Chadwick seems like a machine.  I'm curious if she'll get a sniff in F1 at some point.  It was cool to watch those ladies drive because all the cars are essentially the same.  I'd love to see more parity between the cars on the F1 grid.

Has anybody been to races this year?  How were they?  What are your favorite circuits? 

What about this season is getting you fired up so far this year?  Any hot takes?  Insider info??

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Haven't been to an F1 race in at about 6-7 years.  Been to about 5-6 of them, all in Montreal.  Been to MotoGP at COTA.  Use to work in front of the Singapore track and been to Yas Marina a couple of times.

I'd love to see the race in Mexico and Baku.  I hope the rumors are true and Saudi's buy F1 off of Liberty Media.  Bring back the pit girls and drop the woke rainbows.

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1 hour ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Haven't been to an F1 race in at about 6-7 years.  Been to about 5-6 of them, all in Montreal.  Been to MotoGP at COTA.  Use to work in front of the Singapore track and been to Yas Marina a couple of times.

I'd love to see the race in Mexico and Baku.  I hope the rumors are true and Saudi's buy F1 off of Liberty Media.  Bring back the pit girls and drop the woke rainbows.

The current way it has been presented of late is deplorable.

Bring back pit stops (Won't ever happen), bring back grid girls to start.

I can't wait for Albert Park Grand prix again, it's my local.

Oh... and also stop having all these posers at the races who don't have any interest in Formula 1 but just want to be seen on the grid walk and snub great people like Martin Brundle. F**l you Serena Williams and who the hell is Winnie!? (I don't care who she is).

F1 is a shadow of it's former self and I am interested in seeing how next season will fare but won't hold my hopes up.

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Why Verstappen’s Austin win was such a seminal race for Red Bull's title contender

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The US Grand Prix weekend was a display of near perfection from both of the championship protagonists throughout qualifying and the race, but with Red Bull managing to unlock a little more pace in Austin, it was Max Verstappen who edged out Lewis Hamilton to take a crucial victory.

Verstappen has been mightily impressive for a few seasons now, but unlike before, this season he has had to deal with the monumental pressure of a championship challenge, and not just any title fight, one against a driver as successful as Lewis Hamilton and a team as proven as Mercedes.

Whilst Hamilton and Mercedes threw everything they had at Verstappen in Texas, Verstappen just held his nerve in all the critical phases and showed a maturity and mental capacity that will surely make him a champion, whether this year or in the future.

Hamilton himself had done a great job in qualifying to get himself into provisional pole on his final Q3 attempt, in a session where Mercedes didn’t have the faster car, he did all he could and set himself up for a victory chance on Sunday.

But while Hamilton delivered at the death on Saturday, so did Verstappen, hooking up a supreme lap to take pole position by two tenths, under immense pressure – he was also trailing Sergio Perez at the halfway point of Q3.

The next focal point came at the start. There were many question marks about the two rivals going wheel to wheel at the start, given their previous collisions at Silverstone and Monza, but Hamilton made sure that Verstappen had no option but to yield at Turn 1.

Hamilton got a better start – enough so that he was able to get completely alongside Verstappen on the run up the hill to the braking zone, and while Verstappen put a massive squeeze on the Mercedes, there was little else he could do to defend the lead, as he desperately ran wide on the exit, hoping in vain that there might be space for him to cling on.

From here though, rather than getting flustered at the undoing of all of the hard work he had put in from the day before, Verstappen was immediately refocused on winning the race, acknowledging that this was going to be about strategy and tyre wear.

From the cockpit the Dutchman was able to read the race very well, initially reporting to the team that Hamilton was sliding a lot, and struggling for performance. This, combined with the Red Bull pace in the first stint, gave them a fairly open goal of an undercut, which they took.

Despite passing Daniel Ricciardo, the Red Bull man managed to pump in a fast-enough out-lap to ensure Hamilton couldn’t cover him the following lap, meaning he had taken the net lead. Realising what was then going to unfold he suggested to the team that they pit Sergio Perez to make sure Hamilton couldn’t keep going too long in order to gain a larger tyre offset, as he’d need to protect from the undercut.

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A driver trying to dictate the strategy of his team mate is pretty much unheard of during the race, but Red Bull duly brought Perez in, and Hamilton was forced to cover him.

We know that Red Bull are sacrificing Perez from time to time, purely to aim for the drivers' title. Even as early as Silverstone they pitted Perez out of the points, just so he could get fastest lap and stop Hamilton picking up the extra point.

It’s a slightly bizarre dynamic when the lead driver starts to suggest it as well though over the team radio, but it just shows how single-minded Verstappen is right now. He’s acting like a driver who has been here before and has the experience to read the race and make the right calls, even in these high-pressure scenarios.

The entire team, including his team mate, are all pulling in the same direction. That was also clear by the way Perez offered no fight to Verstappen on the opening lap after Turn 1.

He managed to seal the win in the end with a well-measured final stint on the hard tyres to hold off a charging Hamilton, who had eight-lap fresher tyres.

Maybe this was a race that Hamilton simply couldn’t win, given Red Bull had the faster car, but with Hamilton driving the wheels off the Mercedes as usual, it still needed a perfectly-executed race from Red Bull to stop him and that’s what they provided.

Once Hamilton was undercut at the first stop, Red Bull took the race out of Mercedes’ hands, by pre-empting their second stop and pitting early.

Even then it was exceptionally close, but the management of the race by Verstappen was sublime and meant that he had enough tyres left, so that Hamilton couldn’t quite get close enough to launch a proper offensive.

I thought Austin might favour Mercedes, especially given Hamilton’s previous form at the circuit, and Mercedes’ strong pace since the summer break, but the fact that Red Bull could still win, even when Hamilton was driving at his very best, will give them an enormous boost heading to a circuit they’ve always been strong at.

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Verstappen was downbeat after Turkey, thinking that Mercedes might be picking up momentum. In one fell swoop he has turned it on its head. He has a 12-point lead – the most either driver has had since Silverstone, and the next race is Mexico, which has usually been an Achilles' heel for Mercedes, and on top of all of that Hamilton has the probability of another engine penalty hanging over him.

With a perfect drive, Verstappen has just cemented himself as favourite once more, and if he were to go on and win the title this year, a race like Austin might be looked back on as a champion's drive.

Even with the momentum though there is no let-up. With the championship as it has been this year, I’m sure there will be even more twists and turns before Abu Dhabi.

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Vettel relishes battle with Russell at COTA as he fights his way up from P18 to the points

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Sebastian Vettel’s climb through the field to score points in Austin was due to the tough conditions playing into Aston Martin’s hands, but also featured a fight against one of his favourite rivals…

Aston Martin took a new power unit on Vettel's car for the race at Circuit of the Americas, ensuring he knew he would start at the back of the grid. Another driver doing the same was George Russell, and as the pair attempted to fight back into the points, Vettel went round the outside of the Williams at the high-speed Turn 16-18 complex.

“I like racing George – it’s not the first time this year – because he seems to be aware of where his car is,” Vettel said. “He’s always fair. Obviously sometimes he had the upper hand; this time I had the upper hand, so that was good fun, I enjoyed that.”

Vettel’s move came as he made a two-stop strategy work by running the medium tyre for the first two stints, something he believes was more productive because others struggled with tyre wear more than Aston Martin.

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“We obviously stayed out a lot longer on the first stint and wanted to have the tyre advantage at the end and it seemed to work. I think with a couple of laps more we could maybe have attacked Yuki [Tsunoda], but it was a good recovery from where we started.

“We did a little bit more race prep on Friday but I don’t think that made the difference. It was a tough race for everyone in terms of managing tyres, and I think that helped us a little bit in terms of relative performance.”

While Vettel climbed up to 10th place from 18th on the grid, team mate Lance Stroll’s race was severely hampered by Turn 1 contact with Nicholas Latifi that tapped him into a spin (below), compounding an unlucky weekend.

“I got hit by someone in corner one and fell to last, and then it was just difficult to recover there,” Stroll said. “We had a lot of damage as well so it wasn’t ideal.

“The damage was just holding us back all race. There was some front wing damage, so we did what we could but it just wasn't enough. We would have lost a lot of time [pitting]. It was still drivable but we were maybe hoping maybe for something to happen in front. One of those races.

“I think [in qualifying] we were just very unfortunate with the double yellow flags, and [in the race] we were unfortunate with the contact. In hindsight, I think we could have got a good result with a normal weekend.”

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Norris explains 'scary' start in Austin as he battled with Ricciardo and Ferrari pair on Lap 1

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Lando Norris got his frights in well before Halloween as the McLaren driver said he was “so scared” at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix while battling his team mate Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

Down the long back straight towards the sharp Turn 12, there was a pack of midfielders threatening to get caught in a melee: Norris, Sainz, and Ricciardo – with Charles Leclerc leading them. And it was Norris who made a break for it in an attempt to jump up to P5 on the opening lap.

“I was so scared,” said Norris. “Because, the thing is, it’s such a wide track, I know it was three-abreast, I knew Daniel was on the outside, so I had to be careful. But then I couldn’t brake too late because I knew Charles was just ahead and … I was going to T-bone him if I went in any harder.

“It was a little bit sketchy; I obviously didn’t pull the move off, so a bit of a shame,” he added.

Norris ended up finishing eighth from seventh on the grid as he lost out to Valtteri Bottas – the Mercedes driver having started P9 thanks to grid penalties – and the Briton explained that he could not have done much more on the day.

“A long race, tough one, not a lot we could do really, following,” he said. “At times I thought we had better pace, but I think altogether, considering Charles was 25, 20 seconds ahead or something ahead of Daniel, it shows that they [Ferrari] were again the quicker car today. Disappointing, and we couldn’t do anything more but it’s the way it is sometimes.

“I also think there were some areas I could've done better, including defending on some moves. The start was pretty exciting but we just weren't able to stay ahead of the Ferraris in front.”

Mexico, where Norris started on the fourth row in 2019 and ended up retiring with a loose wheel – while his then-team mate Sainz finished 13th – hasn’t been a happy hunting ground so far but with McLaren only 3.5 points ahead of Ferrari, the Briton is hoping for more in his second Grand Prix at Mexico City.

“So, not a great day today, but we'll pick ourselves up and look forward to Mexico. I just want to get back in the car already and keep working hard to make some progress in our championship battle,” he concluded.

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Vasseur says Alfa Romeo ‘not in a rush’ to name Bottas team mate for 2022

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With nine-time Grand Prix winner Bottas joining Alfa Romeo next season, the question still remains as to who they will choose to pair him with – whether that be current driver Antonio Giovinazzi, or hotly-tipped outsiders such as Alpine-backed youngsters Guanyu Zhou and Oscar Piastri.

Veteran racer Kimi Raikkonen’s departure from the sport at the end of the season paved the way for a re-jig at Alfa Romeo, with Bottas signed on a multi-year deal from Mercedes.

But asked ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix when Alfa will confirm their full 2022 roster, Team Principal Fred Vasseur replied: “We are not in a rush to take a decision but we have a couple of options on the table and we have to take time to decide. But... the situation won’t change over the next couple of days and we will make a decision soon.”

Pressed on why the decision hasn’t been made yet, he explained: “Because we are discussing with all the parties involved and it’s not an easy choice, because we are at the beginning of the new regulation, it’s a new journey for F1, and we have to consider all the points… and we will take a decision in the next couple of weeks.”

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Piastri, who leads the F2 championship with two rounds remaining over Zhou, is highly rated and Vasseur did not shy away from complimenting the 20-year-old Alpine-backed Australian.

“He won, in a row, the Formula Renault [Eurocup], the Formula 3 [Championship] in the first year and now F2 – it’s not done, but if you compare to the past he’s doing a very, very a strong job; it’s crystal clear to me that he is one of the best on the field today in the junior series.”

But the Alfa boss said that the youngster’s Alpine backing may present a problem if he does emerge a prime contender.

“Oscar is doing a very good job, he was very [fast] and consistent over the past few weekends, but as far as I know and I understand, he’s linked with... Alpine,” he said.

“If you invest in a driver for all the junior series and to have a long-term programme with him, I don’t see the point to let him go to another team in F1. It would be strange,” added Vasseur.

“For sure, a one-year deal is a good option… When you are taking a young driver with a new car and you are starting a new journey in F1 and for the team, I think it would make much more sense to extend the possibility of the contract – but at least [we must be] sure that you don’t lose the driver after year one,” he added.

The second Alfa Romeo seat remains the only remaining berth on the 2022 F1 grid yet to be confirmed, with the nine other squads having all confirmed their line-ups.

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Binotto says Ferrari’s US Grand Prix showing proved they've made ‘big step forwards’ with power unit

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After implementing a significant engine upgrade for Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc earlier this season, Ferrari clinched a double points-finish at the Circuit of The Americas – which team boss Mattia Binotto says is proof the Scuderia’s new powerplant is paying dividends.

Ferrari produced a midfield-topping display on Sunday as Leclerc finished fourth – more than 20 seconds ahead of McLaren’s fifth-place Daniel Ricciardo – and Sainz settled for seventh after a slow second pit stop cost him a chance at finishing behind Leclerc and saw him lose out to Valtteri Bottas and Ricciardo at the end. Regardless, Binotto saw this result as a huge positive for the engine department.

“If you look generally-speaking this season McLaren has been always very competitive in medium, high speed corners and again it is the case here in Austin. But I think if I look at the overall performance this weekend we have been ahead of them,” said Binotto after the race in Austin.

“This was [evident] in quali and Charles… finished 25 seconds ahead of Ricciardo. Generally speaking in the overall balance of the lap we have been clearly fastest this weekend. That’s is why I think it’s a shame with Carlos not having been ahead of the end of the race with Charles.”

Asked to quantify the difference Ferrari’s power unit made in the United States, Binotto added: “The power is always available with the straight line so you get the benefit at the start of the straight line and as well at the end. I think the way we can quantify, if we look at this weekend, we are running max downforce but we are somehow matching the speed of others – or almost matching the speed of the others.

“If you consider last year, it’s a really big step forwards. We still know there is a gap to the best engine today, but we believe that that gap is not so dramatic... ”

With Mexico up next, another circuit that demands high-downforce and a strong, reliable power unit at high altitude, Binotto said the US GP field test of the Ferrari PU will bode well for Mexico City – especially as they sit just 3.5 points behind McLaren with five races remaining.

“On paper it [COTA] was not a circuit that was suiting obviously our car so that’s why I am pleased with progress we have seen in the last races, certainly helped by the power unit in the quali and the race and that gives me confidence as well for the next races,” he added.

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