In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton says he’s improved his starts after poor getaways in the first two races of 2019.
What they say
Hamilton said his start in the Chinese Grand Prix was the best of anyone’s on the grid:
The last two starts have been the best of the whole grid. The last one was the best of the whole grid and I will check but the one from [Baku], probably is also in the top three best starts. I have been working on it.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Greetings from @Kyalami_Circuit , South Africa 🇿🇦, legendary place in the history of motor sport and @F1#F1 #AfricaMotorSport pic.twitter.com/6uc6mXv2XH
— Jean Todt (@JeanTodt) May 3, 2019
We're hear your requests for livetiming – we're looking into it and will try and make available 👍
— W Series (@WSeriesRacing) May 3, 2019
I do find it slightly curious that within 12 minutes of the W Series first going out on track in Hockenheim, the FIA puts out a press release about their female initiative. Is that complimentary or confrontational?
— Bob Constanduros (@BobConstanduros) May 3, 2019
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Power shifts gears to put 2018 Indy successes behind him (IndyCar)
"It certainly has not been the season I wanted to start with considering the pace. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said that the last few years. Once again, man, I just can’t believe it."
How many people attended F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix? (MENA FN)
"Baku City Circuit Operations Company (BCC) has confirmed that 85,000 Formula 1 fans attended the racing action and night concerts at the grand prix."
"Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway combine to set an average lap time of 1m53.747s to claim third pole of super season."
Hockenheim free practice report (W Series)
"Despite the mixed conditions, the leader board remained consistent across both sessions, Jamie Chadwick (GBR) clocking the fastest lap (1min 38.650sec in FP1), closely followed by Emma Kimilainen (FIN) and Fabienne Wohlwend (LIE)."
Xavier Suarez (Miami-Dade county commissioner): "Soon, it became evident that the (IndyCar) grand prix auto race was also hungering for the greener pastures of South Dade. I not only did not fight that; I welcomed it. I was tired of fighting with the grand prix to restore the damage caused to bayfront areas by its high-powered vehicles. And downtown residents were tired of the noise, fumes and disruption."
Take a look inside Michelle Yeoh and Jean Todt’s Geneva mansion (FT)
"Todt, who says he has not missed a day’s work since he began running Peugeot’s racing team in 1981, spends his Genevan days shuttling between the FIA and the UN headquarters. He is the UN’s special envoy for road safety. "
Behind the scenes with Sainz: Burgers, dogs and birthday brownie (F1)
"The whole Netflix crew were with me that weekend, which makes the races a bit different because it means you have a microphone on most of the time. You’re being watched, even in the garage and sometimes inside the engineers’ office or in your warm-up routines."
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Comment of the day
Are Codemasters heading in the right direction with the latest instalment of the official Formula 1 game series?
I’ve not always been a fan of the direction of the series but right now I love the way they’re going, the net code has needed an update for the longest time although thankfully the last couple years has ironed out all the really nasty bugs of previous years, random de-syncs and crashes etc… I love the idea of custom liveries and the F2 career and legends mode sound great. I hope they don’t go full TOCA on the series and end up trying to include every beginner formula, I always found those games lacking where it was needed most, in the title series.
Sounds like they’re focusing on all the right areas and I can’t wait to play for myself and then see where they add to in the years to come. Seems like there’s some renewed direction and focus compared to a few years ago, hopefully Liberty has had something to do with this as they have said they see the importance of keeping F1 relevant to the gaming audience.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
Happy birthday!
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NoName (@noname)
4th May 2019, 6:57
Let’s keep it that way Legend, let’s rank the wins now. You did good by winning on tracks you actually like less, i have faith in you Legend, let’s go for it.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th May 2019, 7:52
Sainz’s columns have thus far been interesting reading, nice insights.
Not directly related to the point of the COTD, but on the matter of F1 2019 as well: I hope the mirrors of the Red Bull RB6 would finally be placed where they should be.
stefano (@alfa145)
4th May 2019, 10:15
W Series, the world (?) is looking at them for their 1st time out, and they tweet something as illiterate as “We’re hear […]”; well that doesn’t sound…let’s say professional
Sush Meerkat
4th May 2019, 10:33
I come for the racing
Stay for the grammar
Foggy
5th May 2019, 0:48
And of course your English is perfect and you have never made a spelling mistake or typo, people should concentrate on the sport instead of a stupid misspelt word.
L (@lebz)
4th May 2019, 15:33
I’d still say Vettel has the best starts though… Probably The only consistent thing about him is the way he gets the car off the line. Historically, it has been Hamilton’s weak point especially during the Rosberg days. However, I’m glad he’s now fixed his starting performance.
erikje
4th May 2019, 16:35
Agreed, i used to think it was a Ferrari thing. But seeing Leclerc really f* up his start in Baku it looks the driver stlll makes the difference.
But looking at Ham versus Bottas there is only a very slight difference. So even his better starts are not enough to pass Bottas for now.
Niefer (@niefer)
4th May 2019, 17:51
In fairness, HAM hadn’t roughen the edges yet.
F1oSaurus (@)
4th May 2019, 18:10
erikje, Leclerc was on medium tyres against a field of softs.
Niefer (@niefer)
4th May 2019, 17:49
@lebz I agree. And it has been that way for a while now. I still remember his start at the AUS 2016. It was brilliant. Shame that Ferrari spoiled his win.
F1oSaurus (@)
4th May 2019, 18:12
@lebz That’s not really true though. Rosberg also had plenty issues with the poorly working Mercedes start system. It just wasn’t so visibly because he didn’t start from pole as much.
Ferrari has had the best start system for the last few years indeed. Raikkonen had great starts in his Ferrari too. For instance Singapore 2017. Until Vettel took him and Verstappen out.
Rui
4th May 2019, 22:01
Rosberg has 30 poles…
Foggy
5th May 2019, 1:10
Unless I have missed something here I fail to see the relevance of “30 poles”, what do they have to do with race starts??