In the round-up: Sebastian Vettel’s retirement from the United States Grand Prix was caused by the bumps at the Circuit of the Americas, the Ferrari driver said.
What they say
Vettel suffered a right-rear suspension failure on the eighth lap of the race:
It looks like at the moment that it was just caused by the bumps or by the track. Obviously we’ve been racing around the track the whole weekend but I think in the race, it was just I think probably we got lucky before that we didn’t see any damage. So unlucky in the race that with that one lap or one spike, it looked like that was too much.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Snapshot
A selection of classic Ferraris, some in updated liveries, ran in the team’s annual Finali Mondiali event at Mugello.
Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Last time out @McLarenF1 produced their best qualifying performance for more than five years. Can they get even closer to the front runners in Brazil?#F1 pic.twitter.com/3LztbehjPg
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) November 14, 2019
This is the ‘ I love me’ room, my 1990 @IMS @IndyCar winning back up Lola-Chevrolet @IlmorEngines I guess it’s memorabilia too 😜👊 #DutchBoyPaints #DominosPizza #CocaCola pic.twitter.com/qlC73KLN64
— Arie Luyendyk (@ArieLuyendyk) November 14, 2019
It might just be me (it's probably just me), but doesn't the fact F1 has two (or any) dead rubber events at the end of the year just feel really… antiquated?
— Nate Saunders (@natesaundersF1) November 14, 2019
No 'spec four' power unit for Charles Leclerc this weekend – he confirms his replacement engine is the same specification as the previous one.#F1 #BrazilianGP pic.twitter.com/oioBlzSu9a
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) November 14, 2019
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Brazil’s major cities lock horns for F1 race after 2020 (The Middletown Press)
"Tamas Rohonyi, the Brazilian GP promoter for 38 years, including the decade in Rio, believes Sao Paulo is 'unbeatable' in the dispute. He admits any city has the right to bid to host the F1 race, but says there hasn’t been any decisive movements to build a viable track in Rio."
Daimler to slash more than €1bn in personnel costs (FT)
"The (Mercedes-owning) company has already been bleeding cash. It has burnt through more than €500m this year as it grapples with the cost of electrification. It has also agreed to pay an €870m fine over allegations that almost 700,000 of its diesel vehicles failed to comply with regulations."
Lot number 117: Ferrari F2002 (RM Sotherby's)
"The next race outing for 219 would be the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, where victory would secure Schumacher his fifth world title and a place amongst the sport’s greats."
Hughes lands first blow in hunt for Macau pole (F3)
"Jake Hughes raised the bar in the first Qualifying session, securing provisional pole at the FIA F3 World Cup, thanks to an impressive time of 2:06.793. The Briton was followed closely by David Beckmann and Jüri Vips, as the remainder of the field struggled to break the 2'07 barrier."
Thanks to @Fer-no65 for the tip.
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Comment of the day
How impressive was Alexander Albon over his first seven races at Red Bull?
Albon hasn’t been stellar, unlike what the headlines make out. But unlike Gasly, he hasn’t been a disaster either.
Whereas Gasly failed to get the RB15 into the top six (where it belongs) on multiple occasions, Albon has always reached the chequered flag there; despite being in his first season of Formula 1.
So in my mind he deserves this shot at Red Bull for next season, but he does need to up his pace more.
Craig Simons
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Paul Heppler (@paulheppler)
15th November 2019, 1:49
Same for every one, max had a rear wing crack too. Austin track sais they are going to address the problems.
Nikki (@nikkit)
15th November 2019, 5:57
No one else suffered a suspension failure, so it wasn’t ‘just’ the bumps that caused Vettel’s DNF, but they were one part of the equation.
The tyres were the other. He was sliding all over the place from the start, an indication that he either hadn’t gotten his tyres into the correct operatng range or had allowed them to cool to much on the grid. Leclerc seemed to have a similar lack of grip inititally, but he seemed to get a handle on that quicker.
The car sliding imparted lateral force on the suspension, then as it rode the harsher bumps, the suspension rod was subjected to additional forces and eventually gave up.
I know another theory someone mentioned was possible damage caused whilst the mechanics were working on the grid.
Nikki (@nikkit)
15th November 2019, 6:02
PS: Should have mentioned, this was my theory btw
Todfod (@todfod)
15th November 2019, 6:40
@paulheppler
Don’t think Austin track managers need to address the issue. The drivers need to race within the track limits.
Paul Duggan
15th November 2019, 7:11
Yeah, I wonder if Seb stormed into the garage screaming ‘Your suspension is a disaster!’
erikje
15th November 2019, 18:08
“GP2 suspension”
Chaitanya
16th November 2019, 4:48
MotoGP also uses this track and earlier this year MotoGP riders also had complained of dangerous bumps. It seems like just like Silverstone, people managing Austin track are also incompetent at best.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
15th November 2019, 3:39
Re the tweet about the two dead rubbers.
Tell that to the midfield where there’s a bunch of teams fighting for 4th thru 8th. The championship may be decided but there’s still a hell of a lot to play for (and quite a few millions) for the rest.
Even the fight for 3rd in the Driver rankings is still tight.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
15th November 2019, 5:48
Yeah. What dead rubber?
Now is the time to lay down fundations for the next season. Bottas needs two wins, Ferrari some speed, Max Verstappen needs to clinch P3 position, all kinds of dead rubber fun.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
15th November 2019, 7:34
I totally agree with you there @dbradock
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
15th November 2019, 5:50
I liked that video of Alonso testing the STC2000 Toyota because you can see his face while driving. He makes some weird gestures with his mouth 😋
LosD (@losd)
15th November 2019, 6:43
@fer-no65 Heh, that’s basically me: can’t do anything that requires deep concentration without my mouth going full retard.
Maybe it’s a sign of greatness, is early 40s too late to start a racing career? ;-)
Jere (@jerejj)
15th November 2019, 7:36
@losd He isn’t in the 40s yet. In 2021 he will enter them.
LosD (@losd)
15th November 2019, 7:47
@jerej Nope, but I am
LosD (@losd)
15th November 2019, 7:47
@jerejj
Jere (@jerejj)
15th November 2019, 11:14
@losd @ho3n3r
I must’ve misinterpreted the specific intention behind the wording then.
LosD (@losd)
15th November 2019, 12:27
@jerejj I just joked that if I have the same trait as Alonso (doing odd things with the mouth when concentrating), maybe I could also become a great racer… Though my age might be a problem.
… But since I had to explain it, it was probably a terrible joke anyway :)
Dewald Nel (@ho3n3r)
15th November 2019, 8:08
He meant himself, not Alonso.
Jere (@jerejj)
15th November 2019, 7:41
I don’t agree with Nate Saunders. I don’t find it like that.
Based on the info in the RM Sotherby’s article, a monocoque-change didn’t use to lead to a pit lane-start at least back in 2002 as it has for a while now.
I agree with the COTD. Yes, he needs to pick up the pace more, but at the very least, keep the current level of consistency to guarantee a stay in the team for the entirety of the season.
Dewald Nel (@ho3n3r)
15th November 2019, 8:00
How is that Nate Saunders tweet even mentioned, it doesn’t deserve any justification. Just because the main titles are decided, it doesn’t mean that all the positions are settled.
And who would say no to watching the final 2 races except non-F1 fans.
Neil (@neilosjames)
15th November 2019, 9:12
Not feeling the Nate Saunders tweet… what could possibly be ‘antiquated’ about having so-called dead rubbers at the end of a championship? Disappointing, perhaps, or something along those lines, but ‘antiquated’ would suggested old-fashioned and not in keeping with the ways of the modern world… and there’s nothing particularly modern about last race/game deciders.
Anyway, I’ve often found myself looking forward to post-title races a lot more simply because there’s no longer the big picture to think about, at least at the sharp end. I can just watch a race, and the drivers and teams can just go at it without having to think about the championship.
frood19 (@frood19)
15th November 2019, 11:19
I enjoyed looking through the pictures of the 2002 ferrari on the sotheby’s link – there’s something quite satisfying about the way that car was proportioned. it’s not perfect by any means, but the lines flow really nicely and there aren’t many bizarre aerodynamic appendages. the front wing is also strikingly simple – we should remember this was an extremely fast car – MSC set a time at monza that is within about 1 second of leclerc’s pole time this year…this was 17 years ago.
it really makes me think that radically simplifying the aerodynamics would have a great benefit in terms of cost and perhaps the ability to follow easily. i realise these things do not necessarily follow (i.e. it could cost more to make a really effective and simple front wing). similarly, turbulent wakes were a problem back then too (i have been following the sport since 1995 and it has basically always been a talking point. the big difference now is the crappiness of the tyres, which was less of an issue in the past). another thing that is rarely mentioned is that there is an theoretical option to design front wings that deal better with turbulence, and therefore would be even more complicated (i expect this is an engineering dead end and a huge cash black hole).
I doubt the 2021 regs go far enough but hopefully there is a measurable difference and it is indeed a step in the right direction.
F1oSaurus (@)
15th November 2019, 16:36
During the race there was a replay of Vettel hitting the sleeper. Just before his suspension broke. He simply went to wide and was “punished” by the track.
Rockie (@rockie)
16th November 2019, 13:34
@f1osaurus
F1oSaurus (@)
17th November 2019, 19:10
@rockie Well perhaps you didn’t see it, but it did happen . It showed a bang with sparks flying inside the car.