In the round-up: McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown says the team will be patient with Lando Norris is he makes “rookie mistakes” during his debut Formula 1 season.
What they say
Brown said McLaren is going through a period of transition which could make Norris’s debut this year more challenging:
We are going to give Lando time. In our expectations, I think it’s a high-pressure environment and the first thing that everyone does in Formula 1 is compare to their team mate. We know Carlos [Sainz Jnr] is an extremely quick, experienced race car driver. Your first measure is ultimately against your team mate so we expect them to race each other hard, race each other cleanly and for sure they need to get the measure of each other from time to time. That will be the first test and then we want to make sure we see them develop.
We recognise he’s going to make some rookie mistakes, we recognise he’s going to be at race tracks he’s never been to before and we’re in a rebuilding process. It’s one thing to jump into a team that’s rebuilding versus maybe jumping into a championship calibre car so we know he’s got a difficult task ahead and we’re going to be patient, work with him, as I think we did with Stoffel. Stoffel raced two years with us so I think McLaren has a pretty good history of sticking with their drivers. Obviously some have done one-year terms but that’s not our expectations on an outcome with Lando.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
The daily gym looks while training to be a Formula 1 driver 😂 pic.twitter.com/62aMyJjxNW
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) January 10, 2019
Getting ready for the year ahead so wanted a photo with @TheBishF1 We shall have fun @WSeriesRacing pic.twitter.com/wBt1vJUVn4
— Ann Bradshaw (@AnnieBWansford) January 10, 2019
Archive trawl pt 39: May 31 1982, @Oulton_Park. Greatness beckons as @ayrtonsenna balances his Van Diemen RF82 through Lodge Corner. This was one of very few FF2000 races he didn't win that season; can't recall what failed, but it wasn't him. #Senna @BSenna pic.twitter.com/lHnYFZNhos
— Simon Arron (@SimonArron) January 10, 2019
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Pirelli showed trust in Liberty with new contract (Racer)
"I don’t think — and I hope it doesn’t happen — that in two years’ time Formula 1 is going to disappear. I believe nobody in this room is hoping that something like that."
F1 using 'first overtaking sim' for track design (Autosport)
"Vietnam, which is the first circuit we've really been involved with, I think that we have really been able to understand what it will take to make good racing there."
F1 Racing Champ Hamilton Buys Manhattan Penthouse for $40.7 Million (Wall Street Journal)
"Less than two years after snapping up a $43.991 million apartment in a celebrity-studded condo project in Manhattan’s Tribeca district, British Formula One star Lewis Hamilton has struck again, this time buying a $40.7 million trophy penthouse in another big-name building a block away."
Will Mattia Binotto reinvigorate unruly Ferrari’s F1 fortunes? (The Guardian)
"He brought a bunker mentality to the team, seen most clearly in a reluctance to deal with the media and an often combative and aggressive or incommunicative (sic) style when forced to do so by FIA requirements to attend press conferences."
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Comment of the day
Pat is unsure about McLaren’s leadership overhaul:
This seems like a great acquisition on the face of it, but much like when Jost Capito and Eric Boullier were both in place as COO and Sporting Director (I think) respectively, the whole thing seems a bit top heavy again….
Zak Brown – CEO
Gil De Ferran – Sporting Director
Andreas Seidl – Managing Director (F1)
Bob Fernley – Managing Director (IndyCar)
James Key – Technical Director
Peter Prodromou – Chief Engineer
Paul James – Team Manager
Simon Roberts – Operation DirectorThe article does a good job of explaining who sits where, but surely this is two many cooks? here’s bound to be stepping on toes somewhere here.
Who will hand out the Freddos?
Pat Ruadh (@Fullcoursecaution)
From the forum
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On this day in F1
- On this day in 1994 Jordan launched its 194 chassis. Rubens Barrichello was first to drive it – his team mate had not been announced yet.
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
11th January 2019, 0:06
There’s a typo in the Headline! I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to say “Norris accepts McLaren may make rookie mistakes”
Montréalais (@)
11th January 2019, 4:48
@mrboerns +1
ColdFly (@)
11th January 2019, 8:59
And I hope Zak was misquoted as well.
Probably should be: “Our first measure is ultimately against other same engined teams. That will be the first test.
Also great point in the CotD. I’m really disappointed with management (especially Zak Brown) at McLaren.
Even teams with less issues have bitten the bullet and replaced the person at the top. Please McLaren, wake up and give us what you’re capable of; I’m sure there’s still loads of talent in the team.
Jere (@jerejj)
11th January 2019, 9:10
@mrboerns @coldfly LOL.
Joao (@johnmilk)
11th January 2019, 9:19
Well but they are in a transition period…since 2008, but still
MaliceCooper
11th January 2019, 9:36
It’s McLaren’s lost decade. At least they are getting the excuses in early: Blame the new guy.
They could name the new car the MP16-20, after the grid positions they’ll be targeting
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
11th January 2019, 10:10
pretty much the third lost decade in a row
Joao (@johnmilk)
11th January 2019, 10:16
Maybe this year will be their year…wait…I’m mixing teams again, must be the colour scheme
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
11th January 2019, 10:18
Actually, how weird is it to think that Mercedes used to synonymous with unreliability?
Well, at least they still excell at demotivating the finns
Selbbin (@selbbin)
12th January 2019, 1:37
I’d say more from 2013. They were still competitive and winning races between 08 and 12.
rpiian (@rpiian)
11th January 2019, 21:05
Burn baby burn! Username checks out :P
Phylyp (@phylyp)
11th January 2019, 1:43
Seriously? The McLaren of this decade? Since Hamilton left, it’s been a bit of a merry-go-round.
@mrboerns – LOL, indeed.
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
11th January 2019, 3:09
@phylyp exactly. Lewis apart, their record with young drivers over the last decade has been rubbish.
Heikki Kovalainen probably wasn’t good enough, but you got the sense that he never really got a fair whack. They could have destroyed Sergio Perez’s career, but luckily he has rebounded to become a solid driver. There is very little that can be said about how things played out with Stoff.
tonyyeb (@tonyyeb)
11th January 2019, 8:26
@jaymenon10 Kovalainen never got a fair chance, sometimes his car was two upgrades behind Hamilton’s as they pushed for the title and then the following year trying to correct a shocking car.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
11th January 2019, 2:34
“The evidence is actually that in a wet race, where you’ve got less grip, you get much better racing.” Pat Symonds. I love it that this guy makes money doing this.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
11th January 2019, 3:47
Might as well race on dirt or bring out the sprinklers. Makes me wonder what he thinks good racing is…
Selbbin (@selbbin)
12th January 2019, 1:39
Seems like he’d be a rally fan.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
16th January 2019, 23:14
In fairness, the statement was not necessarily true when Pat started in F1, in the early 1980s – improved technology on wet tyres since that era makes consistent racing in wet weather realistic, if chancy… …and “realistic, if chancy” is the best sort of racing. Before that, it was throwing dice whether a wet race would produce an epic, or merely epic amounts of crashing.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
11th January 2019, 3:43
An overtaking simulator is so cringe-worthy… Lots of high speeds straights and lots of hairpins.
It’s not the way to go about things. If anything tracks should be designed to be the most challenging in terms of top speeds and G-force and mechanical stress. Put the cars on the limit. Safety is ever increasing, so take advantage of that by making the most spectacular tracks.
Overtaking will happen, good racing will happen by closing the gap in overall lap time. As long as the human element remains and they can race closely without car performance degrading. Not this design by numbers “overtakes per lap” metric focused rubbish.
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
11th January 2019, 7:24
Do a loop! Carrera has been doing it for decades
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
11th January 2019, 17:51
@skipgamer With neuronal networks and AI I’m pretty sure they can have a very decent simulation software with all the data they have.
Nowadays computer science has really stepped up and as a developer I’m confident that with a full access to their data an interesting software could be developed.
How to use it however is another thing but you could have various scenarios, from validation to creation or optimization.
Johns
11th January 2019, 5:42
The 1994 Jordon was a beautiful car. One of my favorites.
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
11th January 2019, 8:40
funny, i think it is One of the worst. that Paintjob is just atrocious
erikje
13th January 2019, 15:43
This one:
https://www.conceptcarz.com/images/Jordan/1994-Jordan-F1-01.jpg
Jere (@jerejj)
11th January 2019, 9:14
Hopefully, the car would also be more competitive than it was last season.
An overtaking simulator. That’s interesting although the reality can still be quite a bit different on that front than what the sim shows.
”Who will hand out the Freddos?” – LOL.
I wish I had a garage like that.
Broke84 (@broke84)
11th January 2019, 9:58
“We have history of sticking with our drivers”.
2 years is not “sticking with our drivers. Didn’t Vandoorne have problems with his chassis and not get the upgrades Alonso got? Even if they think 2 years for Stoffel was fine I reckon Magnussen, Magnussen, Kovalainen, Perez, Blundell, Brundle and others would disagree.
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
11th January 2019, 10:12
maybe montoya? Was it ever cleared up who actually rage-quit whom?
tony mansell
11th January 2019, 10:47
woah! too easy. First rookie error Lando, joining Mclaren
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
11th January 2019, 15:33
The problem with designing circuits based on simulations or based on the need for overtaking is that were going to end up (Well continue I guess) with circuits all looking/feeling the same due to them incorporating the same characteristics that it’s felt make for the best racing.
Since the whole ‘need more overtaking’ craze started what 15-20 years ago the only thing that’s come of it are a bunch of circuits which are fairly dull & very similar as well as a bunch of existing circuits & corners been ruined.
Corners like the Bus Stop at Spa, Turn 10 at Barcelona, 1st few corners at Nurburging, Varianta-Alta at Imola among others may now be better overtaking places but none of them are as good or as challenging as they were before they were changed.
Circuits should be designed to be challenging for car & driver like the classic circuits which drivers love driving & fans love watching were. If they end up producing some good racing great but that should not be the primary factor when designing them.
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
11th January 2019, 22:54
@stefmeister i agree completely but it will never change because it only took a single race with little overtaking (Aus 17) after years of ‘Hurr Durr DRS highway passes’ to get people moaning about the terrible processions of the new regs. and that is on here, not with the infamous ‘Casual fans’.
And after it proved more about the track than the cars everybody learnt their lesson until a Year later and then history repeated itself and now we get even bigger front wings and kneejerk regchanges as a Thank you
BlackJackFan
12th January 2019, 5:53
These superficial and infantile comments from Zak (and Co. ?) are just tweets – why not leave them where they belong…? ;-)
erikje
13th January 2019, 15:45
The next thing to do is to build a wall to keep the competition out.. oh.. wait..
Todfod (@todfod)
14th January 2019, 10:24
It’s usually the time of the year when Mclaren talks about how they’ve built the greatest chassis, and how they’ve got the best drivers in the world in maximising their results. Now… it’s a transitional year with a rookie who will probably make mistakes.
I thought 2017 was a major transitional year, with Ron out / Zak in , Button out / Stoff in and an awesome Honda power unit for the new regulation changes. The transitional year status was then moved to 2018 with Honda out / Renault in, Boullier out / De Ferran in. Apparently now it’s moved to 2019 with Alonso out / Sainz in, Stoff out / Lando in and James Key who might or might not arrive this year. I’m actually wondering how many more transitional years can Mclaren manage??
I’m scared for Mclaren…