In the round-up: BRDC Young Driver award winner Johnathan Hoggard has completed a day of testing in a 2012 Red Bull Formula 1 car, as part of his prize.
Hoggard has first F1 test at Silverstone
Hoggard won the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver award last year, after competing against Enaam Ahmed, Jamie Chadwick and Ayrton Simmons in a two-day assessment at Silverstone in an Aston Martin GT car. His prize included the Red Bull test day, a further test in Aston Martin’s WEC GT car and £200,000.Hoggard, 19, competed in British F3 last season, finishing second to Clement Novalak. He said he had a “massive smile” on his face while driving the Red Bull car. “I tried to block out a lot of the emotion and I focused on the apexes and the braking zones,” said Hoggard. “In some ways it actually felt a lot like a normal test day in F3, but you are going a lot faster and you have a massive smile on your face while you are doing it.
“When you start karting, F1 is your dream, but you never know whether you’ll get the chance to drive one of these cars.”
Mixed conditions meant Hoggard drove 21 laps during the afternoon, after the track had dried.
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Social media
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We are delighted to confirm that Sean Gelael will return for the final two rounds of the 2020 @FIA_F2 season in Bahrain, having fully recovered from the injury he sustained in Barcelona.#F2 #AllezLesBleus pic.twitter.com/iXFPgtc3w7
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Oliver Askew will race in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, having been declared fit to compete by the INDYCAR Medical Team. #INDYCAR #FirestoneGP pic.twitter.com/2i0usy7Z3r
— Arrow McLaren SP (@ArrowMcLarenSP) October 20, 2020
The first Russian driver to race in Formula 1, @VitalyPetrov, will make his debut as a steward at this weekend's #PortugueseGP.https://t.co/W6R5dpDML3 #F1
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Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Ferrari will ensure Giovinazzi and Mick Schumacher have F1 seats next year at Alfa Romeo and Haas, though it remains to be seen who will drive for which team.
Statement on 2020/21 Formula E world championship calendar update (FIA)
"Rounds one and two of season seven will take place in Santiago on January 16 and 17. Our first double header in the Chilean capital, the back-to-back races in this iconic city centre will mark the start of Formula E’s inaugural season as an FIA world championship. For health and safety purposes, and working closely with the authorities in Santiago, the event will be held behind closed doors."
Public Health Alert - Bathurst (New South Wales government)
"NSW Health is tonight calling on anyone who attended the Bathurst 1000 motor race on the weekend as well as residents of Bathurst with any symptoms that could signal Covid-19 to get tested as soon as possible after remnants of the COVID-19 virus were detected in raw sewage in the area today."
"Three are from Europe: Charlie Wurz from Monaco, the Russian Nikita Bedrin and Sweden’s Viktor Gustavsson. The first two of these already came to Maranello a few days ago, as part of a camp organised with ACI Sport and Tony Kart. From the Latin American region, there’s Mexico’s Santiago Ramos Reynoso, with from Oceania, the Australians Marcos Flack and James Wharton."
"Last year they made a really big step forward and caught a few people by surprise. There were some management changes; Andreas Seidl joined (from Porsche), who has been fundamental in teams getting back to the front in the past. They’re in a good phase right now and there’s a lot to be excited about. I think I can have a really positive impact when I get there."
F1 GP to attract new investors to Algarve (Portugal Resident)
"'Our initial estimates, which I consider realistic, pointed towards an economic impact of around €30 million. In light of the current situation, the number will be lower, but we will only know at the end of the event,' the local mayor told us."
Goodwood eTrophy: pros take on Goodwood in GT3s (Goodwood)
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Comment of the day
Socksolid says F1’s downforce reduction measures are only dramatic because current cars have so much:
It really depends on the track. If it is a track that uses maximum downforce then it is a 10% reduction, maybe. But on a track that uses less than maximum downforce the effect might be near zero if adding downforce by other means can cancel out the loss elsewhere without significant drag penalty.
After all, it is all about adding as much downforce as possible until the drag starts cancelling any potential lap time benefit. Or maxing out the downforce more often than not. The lower the downforce level maximum, the more it is used.
If I remember correctly in 2016 the teams used maximum downforce setup everywhere. Which in theory I think is a great thing as it allows smaller teams to focus on single aero package that can be used everywhere with little changes.
But looking at the 2021 numbers a 10% reduction is not that much. Of course it is a lot of downforce in absolute numbers as these cars have more downforce than ever before. So 10% of the biggest number is still big cut but at the same time what you have left is 90% of the biggest number ever.
Sadly the financial practicalities limit a lot what can be done. What is scary is that they are still talking about 2021 season aero rules. Cutting it pretty close…
@Socksolid
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On this day in F1
- 25 years ago today Michael Schumacher won his world second championship in F1’s last race at the TI Aida circuit in Japan
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
22nd October 2020, 3:12
This sounds like a great prize package. I like the “you have a massive smile on your face while you are doing it” comment. Well done to Johnathan.
GeeMac (@geemac)
22nd October 2020, 6:22
The Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award (or the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award as it used to be) is a great thing for young drivers. The list of winners is pretty impressive, so Hoggard is in pretty good company.
Unicron (@unicron2002)
22nd October 2020, 6:38
I had caught the news that McLaren had pulled out of the scheme so presumed that was the end of it, but missed the news that Aston Martin had picked it up which is great to see.
I believe it’s been running since 1989,how time flies.
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd October 2020, 7:42
I wonder why hasn’t Petrov been a driver steward at any Russian GP held thus far.
As for the COTD: Yes, this could indeed be a track-dependent thing. I reckon the lap times are going to be similar to 2018 and or 2019, depending on the track.
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
22nd October 2020, 7:50
Will we see more and more partnership between F1 teams and other activities (such as America Cup here)? I guess the time they spend on the partner project is not included in their F1 activities but still allows them to tackle technical challenges and develop/refine simulation and models.
I also wonder how they will monitor the CFD runs as the tools get more advanced, surely they can have CFD preview with lighter runs that would give a first glimpse at air flow without the full computation to highlight some areas that could be problematic.
Napier Railton (@napierrailton)
22nd October 2020, 7:56
Does this make Petrov the youngest / most modern driver steward we’ve had?
Qeki (@qeki)
22nd October 2020, 14:00
@napierrailton I’m not sure if Paul di Resta has been there?
Zann (@zann)
22nd October 2020, 8:08
The Girls On Track thing is a great initiative, well done Ferrari and FIA. Socialisation is such a huge influence on what we grow up to be, getting girls doing motorsport really needs to be kickstarted with initiatives like this.
ColdFly (@)
22nd October 2020, 8:14
@socksolid, congratulations with the CotD.
I still have my questions about the impact though. The 10% downforce they take away is all from the floor; the no-drag no-penalty free kind of downforce.
To recoup that teams will have to focus on wings and upper bodywork to get that downforce. This downforce will come with a drag penalty; any gains in the corners will come with a loss on the straights.
ian dearing
22nd October 2020, 10:18
So Hamilton v Rosberg in 21. As team owners in Extreme E. Should be fun.
Qeki (@qeki)
22nd October 2020, 14:04
So if that is true that Gio and Sch will both get a seat there will be only one place left for Haas/Alfa. Haas needs money they will choose Mazepin but they need some experience driver next to him. Is Gio enough? I can’t see RAI driving for Haas. RAI/SCH to Alfa GIO/PER to Haas?