In the round-up: Haas team principal Guenther Steiner doubts his team will be regularly as close to Ferrari as they were in the Australian Grand Prix.
What they say
Steiner was asked if Haas was closer to Ferrari in Melbourne than he expected them to be.
It looks like. But I think Ferrari had a particularly bad weekend here. I don’t think this will be the norm.
But that was the aim, to get closer to the top, not just move from the other ones away because then you do that one automatically for obvious reasons. So I think we are in a good way. We just need to keep it up.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
"Being compared to my father was never a problem for me. As it's pretty simple, for me being compared to the best driver in @F1 history is the goal you want to achieve" – @SchumacherMick on @schumacher#F1 #F2 pic.twitter.com/DSDcxmBz70
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) March 21, 2019
The great man also had great taste in motors… 👊 @ayrtonsenna pic.twitter.com/iN1AtKoht7
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 21, 2019
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Top six stats from the 2019 Australian Grand Prix (RaceFans via YouTube)
Rowland would be ‘silly’ to consider F1 over Formula E (Crash)
"Formula 1 is in a bit of a difficult patch with a lot of the teams in terms of budgets and things like that. I was at Williams last year and obviously if you look to where they are now, I’d much rather be doing Formula E than doing that."
"Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey, had a meeting today with Catalan President Quim Torra and Circuit President Vicenç Aguilera at the facilities of the Catalan Parliament, in order to start officially the negotiation process for the renewal of the agreement between Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and Formula 1. The meeting shows the will of Catalonia to continue hosting the Formula 1 World Championship, the premier class of car racing."
Speech by Jean Todt, FIA president (FIA)
"As a result of this great initiative, I am convinced that other sports disciplines, such as drifting or karting, which are also popular among young people, will receive the attention and public investment that they deserve."
Work begins on F1 racetrack in Hanoi (VNA via YouTube)
Sir Jackie Stewart: 'Finding a cure for dementia is my biggest ever battle' (CNN)
"'This is my biggest battle,' he told CNN Sport from the family home in Switzerland where he has relocated to ensure the best care for his wife - there is a private hospital just 300 yards down the road and she has round-the-clock care at home."
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it in via the contact form.
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Comment of the day
How much credit should Valtteri Bottas get for his victory last weekend, and how much of it was due to the damage Lewis Hamilton’s car suffered?
For sure the missing piece hurt the car a bit, but with Bottas saying it was his greatest ever race and how he could do whatever he wanted with the car, the gap was likely as much or more about Bottas’ race speed.
@Balue
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Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
22nd March 2019, 2:06
That Mick Schumacher quote doesn’t make sense. Mick isn’t compared to Michael because he is as good as his dad. He’s simply compared to his dad because… well, because he’s his dad!
Also, to say that Michael Schumacher is the best driver in F1 history is at the very least a debatable opinion.
stefano (@alfa145)
22nd March 2019, 2:31
oh come on man…
ColdFly (@)
22nd March 2019, 2:45
Mick did not say that he is being compared to his father BECAUSE he is as good as him.
Concluding otherwise is more debatable than Michael Schumacher’s ranking as the best F1 driver.
@jeffreyj
Stoney
22nd March 2019, 16:40
Compared to or compared with makes a difference, I would argue.
Sush Meerkat
23rd March 2019, 13:58
We should compare him to his uncle instead
Trido (@)
22nd March 2019, 2:17
What an idiot for saying that a Formula E seat is better than a Formula 1 seat. Yes, Williams are dogs this year, but still, it is an F1 seat. Former F1 drivers go to FE, not the other way around. If your aim is a competitive F1 seat, you get into F1, not FE. Stupid.
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd March 2019, 9:50
@trido I thought the same.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
22nd March 2019, 19:20
@trido It appears Oliver disagrees with you.
Understeer (@abdelilah)
22nd March 2019, 2:35
@balue I beg to differ with the COTD, yes Bottas was fantastic, but a 5 times world champion don’t forget to drive in the space of a week end, maybe the damage affected his car, maybe losing at the start affected his spirit but in no case it was 100% due to Bottas performance.
Balue (@balue)
22nd March 2019, 6:43
@abdelilah It doesn’t say it was 100% due to Bottas’ performance
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
22nd March 2019, 7:29
Yes, it said it the gap was as much likely or much more to do with Bottas’s speed. Not 100% because of it.
OOliver
22nd March 2019, 7:37
Pointless arguing over this. For Bottas, let’s hear him say this is my best season ever come the end of the year.
One race doesn’t make you the best.
Alain
22nd March 2019, 17:58
Ham has a habit of having peaks and troughs, so maybe this was an off day.
maia gus
22nd March 2019, 2:46
How about not renewing with Barcelona circuit. Lets try some other venue in Spain.
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
22nd March 2019, 8:33
+1, races there are rather dull
Gubstar
22nd March 2019, 9:32
They completely ruined Barcelona when they put the last chicane in, so for me they should scrap the Spanish race and move it to Portimao in Portugal. A much better track!
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
22nd March 2019, 11:56
I don’t think Portimao can actually hold an F1 race. I think it has the FIA grade 2 accreditation (correct if I’m wrong please)
anon
22nd March 2019, 21:36
@tifoso1989, you are correct about Portimao currently holding a Grade 2 accreditation, although I believe that the FIA indicated in the past that the circuit could probably be upgraded to a Grade 1 circuit reasonably easily. As it stands, the only Portuguese track which currently has a Grade 1 licence is Estoril.
Excluding Barcelona, in the most recent FIA Circuit Grade List, which was issued in December 2018, the other Spanish circuits which are classified as Grade 1 are Jerez and Valencia Ricardo Tormo. I suspect that Jerez and Valencia probably hold a Grade 1T licence rather than a full Grade 1 licence, which restricts them to testing (and I think that it is mainly just testing older F1 cars these days).
I believe that Motorland Aragón also held a Grade 1 licence, although I am not sure if they still hold that licence or if it has now expired.
Alain
22nd March 2019, 17:55
You’d think with these supersafe halo cars that some of the chicanes on circuits can now be removed…
thesud (@thesud)
22nd March 2019, 8:14
In the link to the Senna Mercedes race video, there’s something very weird going on in the photo just below the video… The appears to be catch fencing going across the track, just in front of the car chasing Senna. Any idea what on earth is going on there?!
ColdFly (@)
22nd March 2019, 9:01
That’s a support car outside the circuit teaching line. Or maybe the boss’ car park spot.
@thesud
AliceD (@aliced)
22nd March 2019, 9:30
The other car is just parked there, not chasing. That part of the track where the car is parked is not part of the circuit they were racing on, although if you look quickly it looks like it is.
thesud (@thesud)
22nd March 2019, 10:22
Ah, makes sense. Thanks!
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd March 2019, 9:56
I agree with both Steiner as well as the COTD. I also think Ferrari’s lack of pace in Australia was just a one-off and that similar to last year they will be more competitive on the permanent circuits of Bahrain and China. In response to the COTD: Yes indeed. The gap probably would’ve been similar even without the small floor damage. In the end, the damage had already been done on the start. Losing a position there is always going to make it challenging to regain that on a track that isn’t too overtaking-friendly.
pH
22nd March 2019, 13:07
“Now has as many poles as everyone else in this picture.”
I’m not trying to nitpick, just a funny (to me) observation: This says that LH was lagging behind the others when it comes to poles, but now he finally drew level :-).
And before you ask, yes, I am a mathematician :-).