Benito Guerra, Race of Champions, 2019

Guerra beats Duval, Gutierrez and Gasly for popular home ROC win

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In the round-up: Mexican rally ace Benito Guerra won the Race of Champions in Mexico City after beating Loic Duval 2-0 in the final. Guerra also saw off new Red Bull Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly in his quartyer final and Mercedes test driver Esteban Gutierrez in the semi-final.

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Comment of the day

Is joining Ferrari’s young driver programme the right move for Mick Schumacher?

I personally don’t think Mick Schumacher and his management team made a smart decision by joining the Ferrari Driver Academy, because the Schumachers have enough money to keep funding Mick’s career for three or four more years.

He can go to Force India, Williams or Haas (or maybe even Sauber independently) after maturing in F2, and then when the time possibly comes that he moves to a top team, he will be able to make that decision more freely, and not be as constrained by Ferrari. Mick will not be in a top team until well after the 2021 shake-up, and who knows, maybe Ferrari will be the fourth-best team by that point behind Mercedes, Red Bull and Renault.

It just restricts his progress a lot because he will pretty much only be able to get a seat at Sauber, meaning that if one isn’t available when he wants to move up, he’s going to have to do a stop-gap year like Gasly, which will slow his development.
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On this day in F1

  • 25 years ago today JJ Lehto suffered a huge crash testing his Benetton at Silverstone. He broke a vertebra in his neck after going off at Stowe in damp conditions and would miss the start of the 1994 F1 season

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11 comments on “Guerra beats Duval, Gutierrez and Gasly for popular home ROC win”

  1. On COTD: The buzz the Schumacher name would rise assures me that no measure will be spared in order to give Mick a seat – even if this mean seeing a rookie in a Ferrari car.
    It may be a bad decision if Ferrari can deliver winning cars. Or if one can imagine Hamilton in a red suit after the current contract with Mercedes – and this is anticipating a 2022 silly season.

    1. Mick Schumacher seems on the same path as Brunno Senna. Or he could end up like Damon Hill or jaques villeneuve, or max verstappen. Nobody knows, right now what he has over other drivers is money.

      1. right now what he has over other drivers is money

        No. As a second-generation anything, he also enjoys connections. There’s business literature that link ‘family capital’ to sustained competitive advantage for entrepreneurs.

  2. Hamilton and Mick Shumacher partnering up in red suits??

    Imagine it, by the then Lewis could be the new GOAT, taking the previous all-time record holder’s son under his wing to teach him what he knows and effectively “passing the torch” back.

    Get on it, Ferrari!

  3. I feel I have to disagree with the COTD.

    Ferrari can provide serveral high quality trainings, an excellent infrastructure, mentors etc. that a small team cannot provide. The Ferrari academy is more than just a reserveration for a potential F1 seat. Even money can´t buy that.

  4. Regarding the COTD: Being part of the Ferrari Academy hasn’t necessarily been as restrictive for future options for some of the other drivers who’ve been part of it compared to how it’s been with the RB and Mercedes-backed drivers.

    I guess Lucas Di Grassi hasn’t been driving combustion-engined racing cars for a little while.

    From the Sun-article: “Anyone who is a fan of the sport understands why the noise of the cars is so important. It’s a very emotive thing,” he said. “I used to live in Brackley, six miles from Silverstone, and I could hear the F1 tests and I would jump in my car to Silverstone to stand on the grass bank and watch the test because I am a fan of the sport. I think that’s missing a bit now.”
    – I see where he’s coming from, but don’t necessarily agree with him. I’ve never had a problem with the V6 Turbo Hybrid sounds as I’ve pointed out before. It’s been five years already, and yet still some try to find the need to bring up and complain about this specific topic.

    1. I guess Lucas Di Grassi hasn’t been driving combustion-engined racing cars for a little while.

      Except for him coming second in class at the 2018 Motul Petit Le Mans driving a Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0L Turbo in October last year?

  5. Jamie Chadwick: “It’s one of the only sports men and women can compete equally in and when we start seeing more women at that top level, it will encourage more girls to get into the sport.”
    I loved it (many years ago) when women were seen in F1 – and more recently in IndyCar also – but this same quote has been used since the 60s so I can’t help thinking the problem, and thus the solution (if there really is any), is rather more complex than stated.
    One might just as easily say: “It’s one of the only sports where men and women fail to compete equally but maybe when we encourage more girls to get into the sport we’ll see more women at the top level.”
    The words ‘chicken’ and ‘egg’ come to mind. Sorry if this sounds negative because I would love to see a female driver on a F1 podium.

  6. Disagree with COTD. If you want to get into a top team nowadays in F1 you really need to be a part of a driver academy. If you want to drive for Mercedes, Red Bull or Ferrari you need to be in their driver academy. It’s becoming a closed shop now.

  7. Benito Guerra is hands down the most underrated racing driver in the whole world.

  8. Disagree with the comment of the day.

    Doesn’t matter how much money Schumacher has, manufacturers, in my opinion, bring more weight with them then pay drivers, especially if they’re cutting the cost of engines and supplying a rapid driver to the team.

    Sure, Schumacher Jnr may end up in a Sauber or a Haas to tread water, but if the boy is quick and the manufacturer is providing more support, who’ll complain

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