In the round-up: Charles Leclerc says he was disappointed with his qualifying run which left him seventh on the grid for today’s race.
What they say
Leclerc was only a tenth of a second away from beating Pierre Gasly to fourth place:
We probably expected something more but P7 is what we could do today. I mean, everything is very, very close.
Looking at my lap, I’m not very satisfied with my lap and the way I drove in Q3. But it’s life.
Looking at the gaps between me and Pierre it’s a bit disappointing. But he did an amazing job and an amazing lap and I didn’t today. So that’s it and hopefully tomorrow we’ll have a better day.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Previous @autodromoimola @f1 posters in media room – can’t help notice how many race sponsors come & gone: Pop84 jeans, Agip, CocaCola, Kronenbourg, Iceberg, Marlboro. One poster – FOCA… pic.twitter.com/iYC4FQnxzI
— Fritz-Dieter Rencken (@RacingLines) October 31, 2020
Congratulations @F1 on turning what should be a great qualifying session at a fantastic circuit into a succession of mind-numbing arguments over the inconsistent and illogical enforcement of track limits. #F1 #ImolaGP
— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) October 31, 2020
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Miami Gardens residents sue Gimenez, Dolphins and Formula 1 over Hard Rock race (Miami Herald)
"More than a dozen Miami Gardens residents accused Miami-Dade County and Mayor Carlos Gimenez of racial discrimination in a federal lawsuit that seeks to prevent Formula 1 races from being held at Hard Rock Stadium."
Damon Hill recalls weekend of Ayrton Senna’s death as F1 returns to Imola (BT)
"Every time I think of how that weekend unfolded, it is almost unbelievable. Everything seemed out of control. It was honestly horrific and a real test of your nerve and one’s philosophy about what is sane and what is not."
- 1994 San Marino Grand Prix – Friday: Barrichello survives horror crash as F1’s darkest weekend begins
- 1994 San Marino Grand Prix – Saturday: How Ratzenberger’s death stunned F1
- 1994 San Marino Grand Prix – Sunday: The crash seen around the world
Venturi welcome Jerome D'Ambrosio (Venturi)
"Venturi is pleased to announce the addition of Jerome D'Ambrosio to the team, as he takes on the role of deputy team principal based at the team’s headquarters in Monaco."
Insider: Why Rosenqvist left Ganassi to take a chance on McLaren SP (Indianapolis Star)
"The perfect team doesn’t have a leader. There’s a perfect trade of information and equal technology in the cars, and everyone gets the same opportunity to do well."
Motorsport UK prepares for second national lockdown in England (Motorsport UK)
"In light of the prohibition on movement during this period, Motorsport UK will now refer to the Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for guidance in relation to organised and elite sport. It will then take the necessary steps to ensure that motorsport in England fully complies with DCMS protocols."
Formula Renault Eurocup Imola race one (Formula Renault Eurocup via YouTube)
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Comment of the day
Roger isn’t convinced two-day race weekends are the way for F1 to go:
If two-day weekends do start to become the norm then it’s just going to give the advantage to those who have the best simulation tools which will be the top teams.
Smaller teams and especially any new teams and new drivers will just end up at a greater disadvantage.
As a fan who actually enjoys attending race weekends them cutting to two days with maybe under four hours of track running immediately makes it significantly less value on top of taking away what is by far the best part of the weekend.
With three hours practice on Fridays you can walk the circuit and get to watch cars from different parts of the track and that experience is for me by far the best part of the weekend. You don’t have time to do that with a single session on Saturday on top of tending to want to get a seat and settling in ready for qualifying where you want to sit and pay attention to times and stuff.
@Roger-ayles
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HUHHII (@huhhii)
1st November 2020, 2:06
@keithcollantine So what is your solution to track limit problem?
I thought that for the first time in 5 or so years the track limits were spot on and I truly hope this trend will continue.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
1st November 2020, 2:56
Surely you use the white line or you don’t. I don’t know why it needs to be any more complicated than that. Failing that, make sure there’s a penalty (gravel or equivalent) that discourages drivers exceeding track limits.
Jere (@jerejj)
1st November 2020, 6:35
@huhhii @tommy-c
Use the curbing as the reference wherever possible as has been the standard before, or put a speed bump at the exits of slow(er)-speed corners.
The Skeptic (@)
1st November 2020, 6:59
To answer your question to Keith…. (not on his behalf!):
– Track limits are defined by the white line marking the track boundary. For a lap-time to count, a part of the car must be in contact with the track.
The way things were done at Imola… sometimes it’s the white line, sometimes its the paint on the kerb…. sometimes its “meh… who cares?”. No wonder Kimi was so angry….
HUHHII (@huhhii)
1st November 2020, 9:38
@jerejj White line makes much more sense as a track limit than curb. It’s been like that for years in all of motorsports. Curbs are unique in nearly every track whereas white line is same in every circuit.
@theskeptic I don’t think there’s need to penalize for going off everywhere. There are places were by going wide driver doesn’t gain but instead loses time. Penalizing from that is kinda meaningless. If you ran wide, lose time yet still take pole position or FLAP or whatever I don’t think driver should lose his time.
Just make white line as a decisive limit on every track and make it clear for drivers where you can’t go off. That’s how it was done in Imola and I loved it.
Kribana (@krichelle)
1st November 2020, 4:46
Response to COTD: I agree with the viewing part. I pay for General Admission tickets to get videos and pictures of the cars at different parts of the circuit. One practice session is merely enough to get coverage of the entire track. I felt gutted when I went to Suzuka last year, and I only had the chance to capture shots of the first sector, as FP2 was not enough for me to go around the whole track. In qualifying and in the race, free roaming was no longer permitted, unlike on Friday. I must thank the organizers at Suzuka though, for allowing those who purchased tickets, to free roam on Friday.
What I do wish, is that they have more tyres or a free practice allocation of power units to get the teams to run more in practice. I think Hamilton said that he does not like to do many laps in practice due to conservation of the power unit components.
Jere (@jerejj)
1st November 2020, 6:34
@krichelle No point in giving more tyre sets because there’s only a risk of more sets ending up unused, so fewer is the way.
anon
1st November 2020, 9:51
@krichelle there is also the disadvantage that giving the teams that equipment only works if they do also have the time to use it. Giving teams extra engines that are meant to be used only in free practice, for example, then means the teams need enough time to replace those engines for qualifying – something which the condensed weekend format might work against, given that the practice and qualifying sessions are so close together.
GeeMac (@geemac)
1st November 2020, 6:31
The link to the Damon Hill article on BT is incorrect @keithcollantine, it is a link to an old forum post.
frood19 (@frood19)
1st November 2020, 9:43
Agree with COTD, removing the Friday running really devalues the event for attendees (obviously less of an issue this year) but it also diminishes the sport’s reach in terms of media coverage. In the wider sports headlines you generally see a line about who has headed each of the Friday sessions. I reckon that’s invaluable exposure in keeping F1 in the mind’s eye of the non-fanatics.
Balue (@balue)
1st November 2020, 10:11
As much I like it, Leclerc is too humble and polite. For typical F1 fans, that’s just weakness and will respond much better to drivers talking themselves up and even bragging, as they want people to admire and even semi-worship.
Just look at how Leclerc is not rated compared to some others, even if he’s undoubtedly one of the best talents having done some amazing performances. Here people’s takeaway will just think he messes up qualifying, when in reality he normally nails them, and this was probably just a slight error away from perfection.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
1st November 2020, 11:01
2 day f1 weekend is like having the whole of christmas on a couple days, months of preparations for a couple of meals and for kids to shred their gifts.