In the round-up: Stoffel Vandoorne is much happier with his McLaren after the team reverted back to an old chassis for the last race.
What they say
It’s been back to normal which was positive. Good to have a more normal weekend, let’s say, where I had a normal Friday working on the set-up again and not constantly chasing something else. That was good, so I’m happy.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
I spoke to Claire Williams in Hungary about the future of the team and what would happen if they didn’t have the Stroll millions coming in. She explained they have a plan for the future and didn’t seem worried. Here’s hoping 🤞 #F1
— Jennie Gow (@JennieGow) August 8, 2018
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmL5dwmBwVt/
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Sauber plans major staff expansion (Racer)
"Currently, in terms of size of the team and number of employees, we are over 400 and we the plan is to increase it by a third. We need to keep growing to increase and also with more manpower."
Lauda was days away from death, say doctors (Autosport)
"At this point, they said Lauda had a life expectancy of only a few days, which resulted in him being listed for a transplant and assigned a high LAS (Lung Allocation Score) that measures the urgency rating according to objective criteria."
IMSA and SRO strike it right (Motorsport magazine)
"The WEC’s 'hypercar' regulations, after all, are not as first advertised. It’s become clear that these will be prototypes with styling from the road-going cars on the cover of road car magazines, not the cars themselves. A lot like IMSA's DPi concept, but more expensive and more technical."
Dixon, Power turn test laps with 2019 Indy 500 in mind (IndyCar)
"I think you saw the worst-case scenario of the track condition at this last race. I think just that, weather, and development from teams will make the racing better."
Urinal: The Musical? Toilets and Lewis Hamilton inspire quirky Edinburgh shows (The Guardian)
"David Eaton and Fiona English’s show is powered by two jokes. First, there’s the curious mismatch of American revolution and high-speed motor racing, made weirder still by the addition of rap. Then there’s the limited dramatic potential of the life of Lewis Hamilton, presented here as a man whose greatest off-track achievement is learning to namecheck his sponsors."
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Comment of the day
Should Brendon Hartley get another Formula 1 season at Toro Rosso?
He’s been very unlucky at times with car failures and the like seeming to affect him more than Gasly, but all things being equal, he’s been some distance from his team-mate.
If only for lack of Red Bull backed alternatives for 2019, I could see him being retained for another year as a benchmark.
He reminds me a little of Sebastien Bourdais and his outing in the Toro Rosso. A little older, superstar in other series etc. He was some distance from young Vettel, but was also unlucky, consistent and a good benchmark for Buemi the following year before being replaced.
I hope he gets at least the rest of the season to give him a fair bite, but he’s clearly not top tier in this formula and wouldn’t be hugely missed if he was to be replaced.
Ben Needham (@Ben-n)
From the forum
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Vettel fan 17 (@)
9th August 2018, 0:09
It’s amazing, isn’t it? Not to long ago everything seemed fine now we’ve lost Marchionne and nearly Lauda. Life moves fast, enjoy it while you can
Taimur (@invictus)
9th August 2018, 7:32
Lauda moves onto his third life 😁
Hemingway (@)
9th August 2018, 0:16
I find it shocking how long it took McLaren to sort this issue out with Vandoorne’s chassis. Wasted races, wasted points. Management are a complete yoke
ob1 (@ob1)
9th August 2018, 8:32
They certainly have egg on their faces.
Sorry that was terrible but I could not resist
Moi
9th August 2018, 13:11
+99
The Vag Doc
9th August 2018, 9:02
Im in tears!
Joao (@johnmilk)
9th August 2018, 10:18
Karma!
Lee1
9th August 2018, 10:29
I have been reading a book about F1 engineering by a previous F1 engineer. It is fascinating stuff. However one paragraph refers to Ron Dennis. Despite working for another team the Engineer says how much pressure they would feel if Ron was watching them from across the pit lane. They were aware of his level of expertise and experience and would feel more pressure being watched by him than their own bosses! He commented on how Ron would stay well after all the other team bosses had gone home and would watch the various teams working on their cars. He was watching to find out if there was anything McLaren could learn from the way these other teams worked. He was constantly looking to improve every tiny aspect of what they did. Since he left I think they are now run by people that are better at talking than building race cars…
Garns (@)
9th August 2018, 15:09
What’s that book lee?
Lee1
10th August 2018, 9:20
The Chariot Makers by Steve Matchett. He was a Benetton Engineer. It is a brilliant insight into the side of F1 we do not always hear about.
Krommenaas (@krommenaas)
9th August 2018, 21:11
If it had been Alonso’s car, it would have been fixed much quicker :)
Louis
9th August 2018, 3:24
Claire Williams’ plan if no more Stroll money? get another pay driver who comes with more money than talent.
Lee1
9th August 2018, 10:31
Unfortuantely that is how F1 works. Ferrari gets all the money for doing nothing and the middle to bottom teams have to get money however they can. This is even more of an issue now that tv audiences have dropped so much due to pay walls as sponsorship on the cars is now worth much much less.
I hope Williams can get back on top again as they are a proper race team. However I think it is a tough ask for that to happen quickly.
Jere (@jerejj)
9th August 2018, 3:49
Well, I’m looking forward to getting to know more about Williams’ plan for the future now that the Stroll’s millions are going to be shifted to FI instead.
– I agree with the COTD.
– That long pit stop posted by F1 on Instagram, though. Reminiscent to Ricciardo’s pit stop blunder in Monaco as well as Vettel’s and Webber’s on the same venue five years earlier.
Nick (@notacop)
9th August 2018, 6:41
Williams knew Stroll was looking at something else since the time Lawrence said they want to do a “Haas” with Mercedes and they denied. Really eager to see that plan panning out.
ColdFly (@)
9th August 2018, 7:26
If only they could get the guy back who last won a race for them; all would be solved.
BasCB (@bascb)
9th August 2018, 10:33
Apart from his funds having been long dispersed in the morass that is Venezuelan public fincances @coldfly
Sundar Srinivas Harish (@sundark)
9th August 2018, 14:15
On the plus side, for just 10 quid, Williams could have a couple of million Bolivar to spend.
SteveR
9th August 2018, 19:25
Read a story the other day about Venezuelan inflation and their gas price. Turns out gasoline (petrol) price is controlled by the government at one Bolivar/liter. One US dollar is trading at 3,500,000 Bolivar, so $1 could buy about 924,000 US gallons of gas the tough part would be getting it out of the country. True story: http://www.thedrive.com/news/22696/thanks-to-crazy-inflation-1-u-s-will-get-you-925000-gallons-of-premium-gas-in-venezuela
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
9th August 2018, 8:43
Looking forward to Williams’ plan unfolding.
I’m really hoping they start to show some sign of turning their fortunes around get past the rather disastrous experiment with the Strolls.
ROB
9th August 2018, 10:38
Its NOT LS his seat didn’t fit right. Like we all get what he is on about. Esp when u take uer car in for repars and they move your seat.
Garns (@)
9th August 2018, 15:17
Billionaires buy Formula One teams then asking management “how do we run this thing?” LOL
Nothing has changed and before some jump up and down, Lawrence Stoll and his mates just saved an F1 team.
He may have bought his son a better seat up the grid, but Lance can drive, but without rich guys like Lawrence we don’t have F1- its always been a rich mans sport………….. there are a few exceptions ..
Sush meerkat
9th August 2018, 16:29
I agree, sometimes pay drivers are beneficial for the sport, yet money is not just beneficial its an absolute necessity in F1.
Pay drivers leaves a bitter taste in some peoples mouths due to nepotism, like they don’t deserve it simply because they got fast tracked or other excuses given.
Money and talent are not mutually exclusive