In the round-up: Robert Kubica says his rookie team mate George Russell has everything he needs to succeed in Formula 1 except a capable car.
What they say
Kubica was asked about his impressions of team mate Russell after their first eight races alongside each other:
I think we will see in the future years if he gets a competitive car what he will be capable of doing. Definitely he showed great pace and a great talent and big knowledge about what he is doing for his age.
But I think this is a bit a trend of young drivers. The way they grow up is a bit different than 10 years ago and they have an opportunity to know things earlier from a technical point of view and they work with, in George’s case, with Mercedes, which definitely is a big advantage.
I think he has all the cards to deliver but the stronger card is missing: It’s the car.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Testing line-up news: @Ericsson_Marcus and @Anto_Giovinazzi will help develop @pirellisport's 2020 tyres in next week's test in Spielberg.
Marcus will be in the car on Tuesday, with Antonio taking over driving duties on Wednesday. 🤜🤛#AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/qgRH4oAoNN
— Alfa Romeo Racing (@alfaromeoracing) June 27, 2019
An ex-Niki Lauda Ferrari 312T on display in the paddock at the Red Bull Ring.
The three-times champion took pole position three years in a row at the venue (then called the Osterreichring) from 1974 to 1976, and finally won his home race in 1984.#F1 pic.twitter.com/vZeXuIjxA6
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) June 27, 2019
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Teams should have no say in F1 governance, says Agag (Reuters)
"Toto would be great, he would be my candidate. But I don’t know if Chase is going anywhere."
Ecclestone's blueprint for fixing modern Formula One (ESPN)
"I would be saying: We're going to have two championships. They're both world championships; one is the Constructors' World Championship and the other is the Teams' World Championship. The Drivers' World Championship would not be affected in any way."
Alonso rules out Bathurst 1000 start in short term (Speedcafe)
"He might have been anything but committed when quizzed about Bathurst, but did not slam the door completely on the idea of a run at Mount Panorama at some stage. 'Maybe in the future. Not short term,' added Alonso."
Watch to watch for in Austria (FIA F2)
"American driver Ryan Tveter will link up with Maini’s old team Trident in place of Ralph Boschung. The former GP3 man has previously spent two seasons with the Italian based side and it will be interesting to see how the 25-year-old steps up."
Red Bull's Ticktum set to lose Super Formula seat (Autosport)
"It has been suggested that IndyCar starlet and newly appointed Red Bull Junior Patricio O'Ward, who is making a one-off F2 debut with MP Motorsport at the Red Bull Ring this weekend, will take Ticktum's drive with Team Mugen for the remainder of the Super Formula season."
The 1990s F1 embarrassment behind 2019’s surprise F3 star (Formula Scout)
"I broke my cheekbone. It’s still painful. But on other side (of my face), no nerves. So you can slap me, no problem. This side. I feel nothing."
Wehrlein: Promise but Frustration in Bern (e-racing365)
"It was so tight to have the start immediately before that chicane it was almost certain something would happen."
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Comment of the day
Will Mercedes do to Formula E what they’ve done to Formula 1?
There are those who are saying F1 is boring, and Formula E is the future. Guess what will happen when Mercedes turn their attention fully to Formula E? In a couple of years they will be the dominant team in the series. And then what will everyone say?
NeverElectric
Happy birthday!
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On this day in F1
- 55 years ago today Brabham scored their first victory, courtesy of Dan Gurney at Rouen, who led home Graham Hill and team boss Jack Brabham
Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th June 2019, 0:27
CotD – I think the one difference between FE and F1 is the fanbase.
F1’s fanbase is much more passionate, rooted in history, and having very long memories.
FE – I can’t speak much for the fanbase, but I’d think they’re younger, and support drivers more than teams (at least at present).
If Mercedes defects to FE, I don’t think they’ll take many of their F1 fans with them (it’d need a Hamilton defection to achieve that). Most of F1’s fans will instead move on to moaning about the next new problem in F1, and moping over the lost glory days of decades past.
In FE, will the fans start moaning about dominance from the very outset? (Predicated on the assumption that Mercedes will dominate FE quickly)
I don’t think so. Maybe the newer and less-passionate fanbase in FE might be an asset in such a case. And Agag seems a sharp person, so learning from F1’s mistakes, they may take quick steps to fairly level the field there.
Also, if Mercedes dominate FE, maybe Mercedes’ big-name FE competitors (Audi/BMW/Nissan) might be made of sterner stuff than F1: they might step up to the challenge and deliver.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
28th June 2019, 2:48
Neverelectric
Mercedes isn’t in f1 either, their money is. Mercedes f1 is a British team with a British engine, and a German sponsor. If lauda and brawn hadn’t snatched Lewis, mercedes wouldn’t have considered f1 finantially viable as they had little success beforehand.
As soon as mercedes loses they will leave and that’s why f1 keeps feeding rbr and mercedes because they are sponsors not f1 teams, their employees want to be in f1. Ferrari mclaren williams and so forth will always be faithful to f1. Agag is no sherlock, teams and bad fans have taken the sport out of f1, it has become procedurely worse, there are no variables and so little point to actually race, all pre-determined, not even the wet races are fun. No refuelling and one obligatory pitstop so just put on wets and be reliable, too wet? Red flag. Restart and win.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
28th June 2019, 1:03
I don’t think Formula E would ever let anybody get the sort of advantage that would allow them to dominate.
Look at the recent decision to ban Nissan’s dual motor setup. The sort of innovative thinking & interesting technology with the sort of challenges to be figured out which that series should surely be pushing yet they preemptively banned it just in case it gave Nissan an advantage once they had all the quirks figured out because ‘the show’ & all.
How very sad :(
anon
28th June 2019, 7:54
@roger-ayles, the indication is that the ban wasn’t “for the show”, but because evidence was produced showing that the way that the Nissan team were using that second motor was breaking the rules (it has been suggested that Nissan are using the second motor as an energy store that can be used separately to the batteries).
Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th June 2019, 1:05
I’d previously sworn never to read an article about Bernie, but that headline was too tantalizing to pass up.
His premise starts off intriguingly enough – separate championships for PU manufacturer teams and standalone teams. But the detail then devolves into a complicated mish-mash that’ll end up making – or should I say keeping? – F1 a multi-tier sport.
bosyber (@bosyber)
28th June 2019, 9:33
Thanks for the summary @phylyp, now I can safely maintain my own no-Bernie-attention regime ;-)
Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th June 2019, 10:16
@bosyber – happy to take one for the team ;-)
Only Facts!
28th June 2019, 1:22
Bernie knows business, but we all age and he missed the digital media potencial, that’s the only thing Liberty is trying to improve, actually.
This Idea of having PU manufacturers separated from chassis builders would work, I think, specially If PU manufacturers were NOT allowed to build the chassis.
Back to the 70’s and 80’s way of doing It, I Guess.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th June 2019, 1:38
The visibility and media exposure of being only a PU manufacturer is far lesser than running a team. That’s the key drawback to your suggestion, and is the reason why we’ve seen teams like Mercedes and Renault re-enter as constructors instead of just supplying engines to a favoured team (McLaren, RBR).
If Honda decide to stay on in F1, I believe they will also be looking to acquire a team (and I’ve had a long-held belief that RBR might check out to Honda in the coming years, instead of VAG as I previously expected).
bosyber (@bosyber)
28th June 2019, 9:35
Thanks for the summary @phylyp, now I can safely maintain my own no-Bernie-attention regime ;-)
bosyber (@bosyber)
28th June 2019, 9:39
Hm, Google decided my connection is too weak (true, as German non-city areas often are digital deserts) so need their ‘lite’ version of racefans.net messed up – seems it makes responding not work (or oddly). This meant for where the comment also appeared.
Neil (@neilosjames)
28th June 2019, 1:34
Bernie’s trolling us again…
joac21 (@joac21)
28th June 2019, 4:49
Really looking forward to Oward Debut!
Johnny Five
28th June 2019, 13:36
Frankie Oward?
(apologies to all non anglophone readers, who won’t have a clue what I’m on about!)
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
28th June 2019, 7:10
So glad that Ticktum is being dumped by Red Bull. All for redemption, but he didn’t deserve it. His attitude in F3 and over the winter in the Asia series was truly disgusting. He’s just a bit of a ‘not very nice person’. And it was very unsavoury seeing some (British) journalists absolutely fawning over him and his redemption story. Something clearly happened, but it’s all for the good.
Lee H (@stopitrawr)
28th June 2019, 7:57
To back up Kubica regarding Russell:
Another young driver spent the 2001 season in a car nearly 4 seconds a lap slower than the best car. He managed to outshine his teammate though and had a decent career after that I think.
DAllein (@)
28th June 2019, 8:03
About Russell – Kubica’words are of course nice, but… did anyone have doubts that he is a talented kid?!
Looks to me like a bit of a wordplay from Robert to show that he himself is still good…
DAllein (@)
28th June 2019, 8:06
Bernie… Dear Bernie… please, enjoy your deserved retirement!
I suggest some remote and secluded island without any means of modern communication…
Sounds fantastic, right!?
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
28th June 2019, 8:56
So the question then is, is Kubica bad or Russell that good. Only thing Kubica can say at this point, to salvage his career is how god Russell is, and hope they move him up to a faster team.
What do you guys think, should they take him to Mercedes? What team should then snatch up Bottas?
Those are some hard questions, if Russell was in midfield, doing this well against an average teammate, that would be a no brainier. But if he does any magical 0.5s above teammate with a -4s car, who would even notice?
But if you do a 0.5s on Bottas in a Mercedes you are fast a candidate for all time greatness.