In the round-up: Haas team principal Guenther Steiner admits it was painful to watch his team’s uncompetitive showing in Bahrain.
What they say
I’m just more amazed than upset because we always got the car to work well here. And this year we were completely off the chart.
The only time we had pace was when we finished the race, when we parked. And that was a blessing that the race was finished because it is quite painful sitting, watching the car. It’s a long time.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
Snapshot
Mercedes will run one of its 2016 W07 cars, the ex-Lewis Hamilton 04 chassis, at the Sonoma Speed Festival in California from May 30th to June 2nd.
Among the other cars in action will be an ex-Niki Lauda 1976 Ferrari 312 and a Lotus 77 driven by mario Andretti in the same season.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
It's raining in Bahrain… Wasn't quite expecting those conditions here
— Romain Grosjean (@RGrosjean) April 2, 2019
Renault having a kickabout. Of course it ended up in the tree… pic.twitter.com/lHcWVBFlzl
— Phillip Horton (@PHortonF1) April 2, 2019
Lady Helen Stewart, the wife of F1 racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart, was diagnosed with dementia in 2014. Her son, Paul, wrote the song Praise You to celebrate all that he loves about Lady Helen & thank her for being a wonderful mum. #ThisIsMum #MothersDay @racingdementia pic.twitter.com/64bWJDPZNo
— AlzheimersResearchUK (@ARUKnews) March 31, 2019
Cool on the outside, screaming "When's it my go!" on the inside… @JaitkenRacer watching @danielricciardo#F1 pic.twitter.com/DodfzSLiai
— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) April 2, 2019
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
'I see Michael in him very strongly' (BBC)
Ross Brawn: "So many times I see Mick and I see Michael in him very strongly. It would be wonderful. But there is tremendous pressure on the lad, so I hope people can keep that in perspective and not put unrealistic expectations on him."
"I also appreciated how composed he was in dealing with what happened at the end of the race. That showed a great deal of maturity, a trait that will serve him well in the future."
New Russian luxury marque AURUS will enter motorsports with G-Drive Racing in 2019 (FIA WEC)
"A new luxury car manufacturer on the international market, AURUS, will enter the 2019 European Le Mans Series plus the WEC’s TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa and 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Russian G-Drive Racing team."
Daly using time until Indy integrating with Andretti team (IndyCar)
"Daly has spent much of his time on Alexander Rossi’s pit stand listening to radio conversations between the driver and team during practices and races, and he has attended many of the team’s meetings. It’s all aimed at getting himself up to speed with Andretti personnel, their tendencies and terminology."
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
The 2021 F1 cars may improve the racing, but will they also turn F1 into single-seater NASCAR?
While I wholeheartedly welcome the adoption of scientific approach, the moment they dumb down F1 to a stupid stock car racing I quit and never look back.
At the moment it looks like they will be achieving the goal of close racing, but essentially killing F1 along the way.
I will of course wait till we have a final decision, but I think all is almost clear now.
@Dallein
From the forum
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On this day in F1
- 15 years ago today Michael Schumacher took pole position for the first ever Bahrain Grand Prix
Phylyp (@phylyp)
3rd April 2019, 0:37
CotD – I disagree. Firstly, I presume that by “stock car”, the commenter is referring to a spec series like IndyCar, and not actually a stock car as used in stock car racing (which uses highly modified production cars, for which there is no F1 equivalent).
Assuming they meant a spec series, the “India” car is just a reference design being used by Brawn’s team, and shared with the teams. It’s not a standardized spec. I’m sure there’ll continue to be significant aero development that is team-specific, not to mention the PU side of things. The renewed focus on underfloor aero is probably going to be one of the largest aero changes in years, and will be a big reset.
My only worry is that such a change is once again going to reward the rich teams – those who can model a tonne of designs, those who can bring newly designed floors to every race Friday, etc. So, I’d say that this reset needs to be done in coordination with the budget cap changes, at the very least. It would be better if the budget changes can actually precede this technical change, so as to throttle teams’ spending.
However, the recent revelation that the budget cap might not kick in during 2021 is concerning, as it is likely to allow the big teams to capitalize on and lock in their advantage with these 2021 regs.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
3rd April 2019, 1:07
@phylyp I think there’s a suggestion that the underfloor may be a mandated spec part that is built independently and supplied for all teams.
That’s where it may end up being a negative or a least reduce the influence that teams aero designers can impact the downforce.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
3rd April 2019, 2:08
@dbradock – ah, thanks for pointing that out!
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
3rd April 2019, 3:13
I suspect that they may not go that far as too many teams (even Williams) would be likely to be massively opposed to it.
The other side of course is that it would fit in with cost reductions.
Interesting times ahead. Luckily we have a great site in Racefans providing us with as much (and clear) detail as they can discover.
@HoHum (@hohum)
3rd April 2019, 3:06
Aye, and there’s the rub, will it just be the floor or will it be the whole aero package, floor-wings-blades ? Alternately do they think they can write a rule that will allow the teams some variations on the theme without them further adversely affecting the following car ? @phylyp,@dbradcock, et al.
@HoHum (@hohum)
3rd April 2019, 3:08
Sorry, @dbradock
ColdFly (@)
3rd April 2019, 9:03
I thought it was just the revenue sharing part that might see a delay, not the budget cap.
@phylyp
Phylyp (@phylyp)
3rd April 2019, 9:10
@coldfly – man, is it just Wednesday? I seem to be getting the wrong end of facts in pretty much anything today! Thanks for clearing that up!
Joao (@johnmilk)
3rd April 2019, 16:28
I just don’t get one thing, it is very simple actually my question, I just don’t understand the answer to it.
What is the biggest motorsport event that ever existed and that gathers more fans/viewers etc? Formula 1! When was it a spec series? Never, it had customer teams in the past, even for chassis but never was a spec series, not even close. So why are they pushing for prescribed parts? Why go the route that other went but never reached as high as F1? I don’t get it.
The rule book should be simplified, from technical regulations up to tyre rules. It is stupidly complex and restrictive, once innovation ceases to exist, so will F1.
And for those that want to watch a spec series there is plenty around, what is the point of turning F1 into another? There is so much racing available nowadays
@HoHum (@hohum)
3rd April 2019, 21:27
@johnmilk, The answer, sadly, is money, money,money.
Jere (@jerejj)
3rd April 2019, 6:58
I don’t necessarily agree with the COTD. I don’t feel F1 would be moving towards that direction.
This is one of those rare once-in-ten-years type of occasions that the rain falls in the Persian Gulf.
tonyyeb (@tonyyeb)
3rd April 2019, 8:51
RE: COTD
When in 2021, if the regulations are successful in achieving their goal, will someone start saying “Overtaking is now TOO easy”?!?!
ColdFly (@)
3rd April 2019, 9:08
I’d say it’s too easy already with the 3 powerful DRS zones in Bahrain.
@tonyyeb.
As long as an overtaking car doesn’t have an advantage after it’s side by side would be acceptable to me. We saw in Bahrain not just the powerful DRS but also that a car which just overtook another car in turn 1 still had DRS on the next straight.
ColdFly (@)
3rd April 2019, 9:16
I saw 2 interesting stories yesterday about the BHP estimates of the various PU’s.
One estimated Mercedes and Ferrari to have some 990, with Honda and then Renault following with about 40 less.
In the other Hamilton was quoted that he believed Honda was just around 10 behind Mercedes.
The good news is that with the unchanged technical regulations PU’s are getting very competitive.
nase
3rd April 2019, 10:05
@coldfly
A source would be much appreciated!
ColdFly (@)
3rd April 2019, 11:07
Cuántos caballos tienen Ferrari, Mercedes, Honda y Renault (as.com) (in Spanish, data picked up from ‘motorsport’)
Hamilton: Honda “within 10bhp” of top F1 cars (motorsport.com)
nase
3rd April 2019, 12:31
Jamor ❤ ¡Gracias, hombre!
Joao (@johnmilk)
3rd April 2019, 16:30
@coldfly I’m a more reliable source than as.com
kpcart
3rd April 2019, 11:01
5 years too late, and don’t ever believe the numbers, no one ever knows the actual number of hp in any f1 car, except for some old ones run on dynos, but then they don’t usually run the same fuels and oils.
grat
3rd April 2019, 14:13
Yep. Don’t believe anything. Ever. All is chaos and conspiracy.
Real news is fake, fake news is real.
It’s all lies, statistics and photoshop.
Joao (@johnmilk)
3rd April 2019, 16:22
@coldfly, here enter…
Renault: Cough loudly…don’t mind my lack of power or reliability
kpcart
3rd April 2019, 10:58
For cotd, if you mean spec series, then good leave… Many more fans like me will stick around because it will produce better racing, and it can still remain the pinnacle of motorsport and fastest race series, just that it will be entertaining too and that would attract new fans. No time for conservatives in motorsport or the world, the world evolves, and so can f1, but conservatives prevent the world and f1 from progressing to something truly great.
ColdFly (@)
3rd April 2019, 11:16
You would be OK for F1 to become a spec series? @kpcart
Not for me! F1 is the pinnacle of motorsports, not some kind of 21 episode series to find the fastest driver.
F1 is all about chassis, engine, and driver; spec series would eliminate 2 crucial parts from that equation.
PS interestingly F1 is anything but conservative. The current format allows tremendous technical developments, whereas a spec series would kill any further technical innovation (thus much more ‘conservative’)
grat
3rd April 2019, 14:18
I’m pretty sure the snapshot is mis-labeled. That looks like the 2016 W07, and I don’t think Mercedes or Hamilton have visited CotA this year.
Martin
3rd April 2019, 15:38
Yep it is, wouldn’t be a proper racefans article without one mistake :)
https://www.racefans.net/2016/10/22/2016-united-states-grand-prix-qualifying-final-practice-pictures/motor-racing-formula-one-world-championship-united-states-grand-prix-qualifying-day-austin-usa-57/