In the round-up: With four other teams already involved in efforts to develop technologies to fight the pandemic, Ferrari has confirmed it will work to increase production of ventilators.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Renault will close its Enstone chassis base from 30th March to April 19th in line with the revised shutdown, and will make working from home mandatory as of Monday. Its Viry-Chatillon engine factory will close from March 20th- April 5th. #F1 pic.twitter.com/8eiIEuBOlJ
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) March 19, 2020
Hope we can get back to racing soon, but until then we’ll have to settle for sim racing at home 👌 pic.twitter.com/A239Lwdz0u
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) March 18, 2020
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Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Ferrari, Fiat look at helping Italy make ventilators in coronavirus crisis (Reuters)
"Italian carmakers Ferrari and Fiat Chrysler are in talks with the nation’s biggest ventilator manufacturer to help it boost production of the life-saving machines which are urgently needed in the coronavirus crisis, company officials said on Thursday."
Envision Group reveals ambitious face mask project (Formula E)
"All of the masks being produced will be donated to businesses, schools and communities in the worse affected areas across China, with the hope that they will aid in the prevention of the epidemic and help bring normality. Masks are also being donated to Japan, South Korea and other locations to help fight against the outbreak."
Formula 2 and Formula 3 championships May races and tests postponed (Formula 2)
"For the time being, all F2 and F3 track activities are on hold. This of course includes our April testing in Barcelona (F2) and in Budapest (F3), along with a two-day test in Barcelona at the end of May (also for F3)."
Coronavirus Worries Slash Fortunes Of The World’s Richest Sports Owners By $72 Billion (Forbes)
The pandemic is estimated to have wiped $4.7 billion off Dietrich Mateschitz's fortune and cut Roger Penske's wealth by 30%.
The Grandstand CS55 goes ahead despite three races being postponed (Carlos Sainz)
"The Grandstand CS55 will be postponed together with the event, but today’s news doesn’t imply any changes in the program beyond the date itself."
Sweden’s Felix Rosenqvist stokes his IndyCar competitive fire in eSports (NBC)
"I was a little bit surprised at how good the pro sim drivers are. These guys are seriously good. I’ve been playing a lot of sim racing this winter, so I know how good they are."
With St. Pete Grand Prix postponed, IndyCar series makes unprecedented food donation (Indy Star)
"Several thousands of pounds of fresh meats, seafood, vegetables and fruit needed to find a new refrigerator, in hopes of being used to assist the homeless, hungry and others in need throughout the greater St. Petersburg area."
Best Car, Worst Car, Dream Car: Jan Magnussen (Daily Sportscar)
"My Formula One cars weren’t great! But in sportscars, the biggest disappointment was when I was with Panoz and they brought out the LMP07, with the four-litre V8."
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Comment of the day
Extending the current rules for another year is good news for Lewis Hamilton, says Doug:
Hamilton’s chances of breaking Schumacher’s title record just went way up.
Who knows what 2021 was going to bring. Mercedes may have been way off the pace with the new rules -not unlike McLaren and Ferrari were under the 2009 changes. I have a feeling Mercedes stopped development on the 2019 car very early last summer due to their massive early season advantage. 2020 car was/is going to be very, very fast and 2021 sounds like it will be an evolution.
Doug Webster
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Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
20th March 2020, 3:05
I had never consider the scenario posed by CoTD.
Merc to win for another 2 years..sighhhhh…was really hoping for a shake up next year…guess we’d just have to continue waiting.
However, I was convinced that Lewis will break Schumacher’s wins records this year, slightly slimmer now that we’re only going to get half a season. He will equal the 7 times this year, and break the record next year. Once again, I’d be surprised if Ferrari and Red Bull can sustain a challenge through the season, they may knock off a few wins here and there, but Merc and Lewis will win. The only person who can beat him is his “wingman”, and we know thats not happening anytime soon.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
20th March 2020, 3:46
@jaymenon10 Maybe I’m being highly negative here, but I simply don’t see when Mercedes being the top dogs in F1 will end. It’s been going on for six years, and I can easily see it going on for six more. They are a team that has fewer flaws and is a better oiled machine than any team potentially in the history of F1, and even if Hamilton leaves/retires, they have drivers coming up who look like they could be the next superstars, or, they could poach other teams’ superstars.
ColdFly (@)
20th March 2020, 9:39
It’s just a scenario; one of many.
Lewis doesn’t even have a Mercedes contract for 2021 yet.
I’m more intrigued if Raikkonen can beat Barichello in most ‘race entries’ and ‘race starts’ statistics.
And when does a race count as ‘entered’? Did the Melbourne 2020 GP pass that point?
PS a super season – of which my support is widely ridiculed – could get even more interesting if a dominant Mercedes would change its line-up for 2021; finally we’d have 4 drivers in the running.
hobo (@hobo)
20th March 2020, 13:18
I completely forgot about the impact on the Raikkonen stat, @coldfly
Hope he gets it.
F1oSaurus (@)
20th March 2020, 11:26
@jaymenon10 Let’s be honest though. Ferrari had the better car for 2017 and 2018. The only thing that will change is the cars and apparently having the better car was mot enough for Vettel (and Ferrari). Leclerc doesn’t seem that much better for now.
That leaves Red Bull/Verstappen and they should have the car to match Mercedes for this season already. If not then Verstappen just doesn’t have it in him to direct development properly either and why would they ever get it right?
Doug Webster
20th March 2020, 3:55
Thanks Keith!
jamt
20th March 2020, 4:13
I am interested to know how you define what it is a “2020’s F1 chassis”. We have had no formal F1 race yet, so it would mean that there is no “2020’s F1 chassis” presented by the teams yet. Which chassis will be ‘freeze’ for the 2021’s season? The ones that arrived at Melbourne or the ones presented at the first 2020’s race (if there is any)?. I am just afraid that I may know who will win the 2021’s WCC and WDC championships on 2020.
Ryan B.
20th March 2020, 7:36
I’m assuming that by chassis they mean the main monocoque. This is the part that must pass the mandatory crash tests before it’s allowed on track. And so to use a different chassis a team would then have to re-certify the car with a new crash test.
That should make it very easy for the FIA to police. If a team brings in a new car to crash test the FIA could simply compare to their previous test and quickly determine if it was altered or changed. Or simply ask why do you need a new test performed if this car already passed?
This would mean the only way the teams could build and use a new “car” would be to forgo the crash test and just hope nobody notices. That would be a quick way to be heavily sanctioned and multiple people within the team would likely receive lengthy/lifetime bans for the pure disregard to the safety of the drivers and track staff, let alone the fact it would break sporting regulations.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
20th March 2020, 7:24
This is great news. The more companies with expertise in “quick turn around” manufacturing that get involved the better.
BasCB (@bascb)
20th March 2020, 8:23
Exactly @drycrust. These engineers are perfectly prepared to quickly make something ingenious that can be brought into action ASAP.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
20th March 2020, 7:30
I’m not sure how feasible it would be, but maybe as an interim measure Liberty Media could organise to have the drivers “sim race” a Grand prix until such time as they are able to hold real races.
mirko710
20th March 2020, 9:13
I like the idea of virtual GP, but Lewis is Grand Turismo ambassador, I doubt they would let him do EA F1 2019
OOliver
20th March 2020, 11:15
Extending the current rules for another year is good news for Lewis Hamilton, says Doug:
Hamilton’s chances of breaking Schumacher’s title record just went way up. (Okay sounds good)
Who knows what 2021 was going to bring. ( Oh we are back to the unknown)
Conclusion: Extending the rules for another year is no guarantee it will be good for Hamilton or that we will even have F1 or any racing in 2021
Craig Simons
20th March 2020, 12:27
Although many are in denial about this, our chances of actually having a championship this year are slim. So Lewis could well end up having to wait until at least 2021 for his seventh world title – never mind his eighth.
Jere (@jerejj)
20th March 2020, 13:11
@Craig Simons I’m not in denial in being positive about getting some racing this year.