In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton says he is pleased by what he heard from new Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali on the sport’s plans to improve diversity in the sport.
What they say
Hamilton was asked what came out of the discussion Domenicali had with drivers ahead of the Bahrain test about their plans for the ‘WeRaceAsOne’ campaign following its launch last year.It was a really good meeting. I think it’s a really great first step that Stefano’s taking the time to sit with us all and be open in terms of having this discussion of how we can work together to improve the sport.
We didn’t necessarily have much of a discussion about it. They explained to us their sort of plans and we can go back to them. There wasn’t anything that had to be done there on the spot. They are making some adjustments which I think are positive.
I think last year we had the slogan, obviously, ‘WeRaceAsOne’. But action is needed this year. That was something that was expressed to us. And I think that’s really what we better make sure, that we continue to have that conversation, continue to make sure that action is taken this year as we continue to push for diversity and inclusion within this sport. And I think they’re aligned, I think they’re all aligned with that goal of achieving that together.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Charles Leclerc: "We have to be realistic: even if I hope so, I don't think we will fight for the 2021 world championship."
"I don't believe anything about Mercedes or what I see from the other teams. It is still too early."
W Series announces revised details for 2021 pre-season test (W Series)
"Revised details for 2021 pre-season test"
"Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) and Formula 1 have collaborated to give children under 13, who are residents of Bahrain, the opportunity to ask a question to an F1 driver during a global broadcast press conference!"
FIA pays tribute to ground-breaking World Touring Car racer Sabine Schmitz (FIA)
"The FIA has joined the World Touring Car community in paying tribute to Sabine Schmitz, who has passed away aged 51."
"Professor Sutton said he started daily coronavirus briefings in February last year as the virus raced across Italy, but cites the cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix as the first major decision he made, saying it provided a template to restrict mass gatherings as the pandemic worsened. He said it was the first of many unpopular decisions."
Fuelled And Ready For 2021 With ExxonMobil (Red Bull)
"The Synergy Race Fuel was developed in close collaboration with the team’s power unit supplier, Honda, together with Red Bull engineers, and it focuses on delivering improved power, performance and protection."
Jools and Jim's Joyride (Acast)
Damon Hill: "(I was on a) speed awareness course. So we were all naughty and we were all sitting in the room and we had explained to us the error of our ways and thinking. And I'm 100% in support of what they're doing. But we were told 'obviously some people here might not want anyone else to know that they've broken the law and are in trouble'. So we're going to put name tags, but you can put whatever name you like on the thing and we'll just call you that name. So I couldn't help, but I put 'The Champ', which was probably a bit cheeky... "
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Charaf was such an amazing person. You always had a huge smile on your face every time we spoke together. Always so positive and always using the right words whenever I was feeling down. I’ll miss you, and the whole paddock will miss you.
Rest In Peace my friend ❤️ pic.twitter.com/P1fAp7D7Qb— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) March 17, 2021
If only everything in life was as simple as the notes left behind for James Hunt by his mechanics back in the day. ✍️😅 pic.twitter.com/ExSpSmSMRO
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 17, 2021
25 years ago today Mark Blundell survived this terrifying crash at the Rio de Janeiro oval when his brakes failed. He tried to hit team mate Mauricio Gugelmin to lessen the impact, but missed, and struck the wall with a force of 120G, fracturing a heel and a vertebra.#IndyCar pic.twitter.com/JOMTJD4TFL
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Comment of the day
It’s a weird situation because if he’s on par with Verstappen it heavily devalues Verstappen’s stock and bargaining prowess in future negotiations. If he gets blown away by Verstappen in a similar fashion to Albon and Gasly then people who are Verstappen detractors will claim Perez was never all that to begin with. I don’t think he has anything to lose and unless he’s embarrassed by Verstappen it will not hurt his career to be beaten anyway.
I personally think he’ll be closer to Verstappen and faster in some races this year which will benefit the team but Verstappen will still have the legs on him overall by a comfortable margin for the most part. Perez always seems to have a race or two each year though where he’s untouchable not too dissimilar to Button to be fair. When everything is right for that sort of driver they’re almost unbeatable on their day. They just don’t have as many of those days as some of the very best drivers in history.
I think he’s also a great driver for Verstappen to have alongside as I genuinely think there might be some things he can learn from Perez to improve himself further. I think Hamilton was very lucky to have raced alongside Alonso, Button and Rosberg in his career as he learned some important lessons from each of those drivers. Verstappen has had nothing to learn from Gasly and Albon for 2 years.
Should be a great story for the year to watch how he gets on. I’d love a Perez win first time out ala Button in 2010 just to add some spice for the year.
@Slowmo
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On this day in F1
- 15 years ago today Giancarlo Fisichella put his Renault on pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix ahead of Jenson Button’s Honda
X1Znet (@x1znet)
18th March 2021, 0:27
Three truly infectious personalities gone… Murray, Sabine, and Charaf.
Jere (@jerejj)
18th March 2021, 7:44
@x1znet I, for sure, knew who Murray was and had some idea about Sabine ( I knew she had been on Top Gear), but Charaf not at all. RIP all, nevertheless.
David B
18th March 2021, 1:03
Can’t wait for more of this shoved in our faces at every moment.
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
18th March 2021, 1:26
“how dare you!”
CC
18th March 2021, 5:16
:)
Patrick (@paeschli)
18th March 2021, 6:48
Tu’e in at the tart, turn off when Hamilton crosses the line.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
18th March 2021, 1:33
End racism, but jail anyone who criticises the Bahrain government. Great strides!
Harsha
18th March 2021, 2:01
Nothing is going to happen with We Race As One
The demand for something needs to happen is itself racism
If you want to end racism just don’t talk about.
amrinder
18th March 2021, 5:18
I wish more people would understand this subtle point of view, we need to “stop talking about it!”
Don’t remember this much racial hatred (inequality yes,but not hate crimes) in the 90s or early 2000s.
Then we spent two decades “talking about it” .
Standup comedians seem to love racial jokes, and so did everyone.
schools children were taught about racial topics at very young age, when they’re too young to make proper
use of the information they’ve learned, but what they do end up learning is categories of different races.
Fast forward 2021, more racial shootings / hate crimes than ever, especially in developed economies
of the world, where most of the “talking” happened.
frood19 (@frood19)
18th March 2021, 7:38
I think this just shows a recency bias to your perception of racism in the world. The 90s were a terrible time for racism in America (eg. Rodney king) and the UK (eg. Stephen lawrence) to say nothing of backwards social policies in other countries (eg. Australian govt horrendous dealing with its indigenous peoples).
The idea that taking about a problem makes it worse is utterly delusional. Besides, people have been talking about racism for decades. It’s just that many have not been listening or acting.
cookie71 (@paulcook)
18th March 2021, 7:53
+1
BasCB (@bascb)
18th March 2021, 13:24
Indeed @frood19.
Duncan Idaho (@didaho)
18th March 2021, 8:10
Buddha, is that you?
Kacper
18th March 2021, 13:16
Stop shoving your moaning into our faces. Hamilton is doing the right thing, if you don’t like it, tough. That doesn’t mean that he has to stop his activism because some people can’t do any self reflection…
Duncan Idaho (@didaho)
19th March 2021, 1:50
Sorry if I was obtuse, Hamilton can and should say what he feels on this issue, I was responding to the concept of taking a three wise monkey approach to the issue.
AliceD (@aliced)
18th March 2021, 6:07
The problem is all the people like LH who are constantly going on about blacks and whites. To be honest I don’t know what they are on about. I don’t believe anyone is white or black, it is not something that is real. How do you prove someone is white or black? You cannot, which shows you how stupid the people are who use the terms black and white to shoehorn people into racist boxes. If you ever call me white or black to my face there will be violence as I find it absolutely disgusting.
Aiii (@)
18th March 2021, 7:42
It’s nice to have the luxury to be able to hide behind your white skin and not have to “see colour” while you happily ignore and outright deny the racism people that do not have that luxury face in their lifetimes.
But alas, calling black people “the real racists” as you are trying to do with Lewis here, is one of the great racist talking points. So you might want to stop doing that.
ColdFly (@)
18th March 2021, 8:47
@aiii, I don’t think attacking @aliced (rather than the content of his/her comment) is the right way to go about this.
I read the comment and saw it as a positive attitude to ‘see no colours’. Of course this might be easier to say for pale skinned people than bronze skinned ones (trying to find some alternative words here). But saying this, acting like this, and holding people accountable who don’t do it is the only real solution IMO.
PS @aliced might have to work on his/her anger management though ;)
Duncan Idaho (@didaho)
19th March 2021, 2:08
@aliced might also want to consider with some empathy that melatonin doesn’t define the problem, perhaps by looking at the experiences of people like the Houthi, Rohinga & Hutu (among a long list where racist political exploitation has overridden basic decency).
Duncan Idaho (@didaho)
19th March 2021, 6:08
sorry melanin – melatonin might indeed have a role (very weak joke).
MacLeod (@macleod)
18th March 2021, 8:30
As member of a mixed family i never saw any ‘colours’ in and outside my family. Maybe rare but with a grandpa from a indian village of the Amazone i felt welcomed where i went. So i agree with you!
Robbie (@robbie)
18th March 2021, 9:43
@aliced If your point is that people should not see skin colour, as in, should not factor that in to anything, that is indeed the ideal and what the world needs to head towards, and what the likes of LH are campaigning for, and the world still has a long way to go to get there. Meanwhile your comment is, I find, an awkwardly destructive, counterproductive way of getting there.
Balue (@balue)
18th March 2021, 6:41
Hamilton should lead by example and insist some of his crew be changed for the right sort of people, and not just want others to do it. If not, he will in reality just be saying that only privileged whites are good enough for him when it comes down to it, and then why should others follow his call.
F1oSaurus (@)
18th March 2021, 7:20
@balue He did
Balue (@balue)
18th March 2021, 10:39
@f1osaurus Who? The only one I believe he changed out was his black trainer for a white one.
F1oSaurus (@)
20th March 2021, 9:58
@balue Well that’s what he and Mercedes are working on. It doesn’t happen overnight. You want to pretend that they just grab a crew of colored F1 mechanics from the street?
Balue (@balue)
20th March 2021, 12:48
@f1osaurus You mean ‘working in the background’ like Hamilton said he did when those Bahraini wrote to him in desperation for help, meaning diddly-squat? Not forcefully and demanding like the time he wanted police officers arrested because what they did to a random person by wearing a t-shirt with that message on the F1 podium for all to see? No of course not.
Saying there are no capable colored people to be in Hamilton’s garage is as racist as anything, but then when it comes down to it, I’m 100% sure Hamilton wants skill and not skin color to matter the most for his campaign, but this hypocrisy is typical of him. He insinuates they are being discriminated against and insist they must come, but somewhere else or after he has left. Even his trainer whom he employs himself he didn’t change out for diversity’s sake. It’s of course all for show and likes.
F1oSaurus (@)
22nd March 2021, 10:43
@balue Now they quite clearly said they would be working on this
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
18th March 2021, 16:44
@balue He’s made the request and it is being worked on (so we are told).
Alex
18th March 2021, 23:24
Good. I want to see less white people please.
ColdFly (@)
18th March 2021, 7:06
That’s an impressive ‘push for inclusion and diversity’.
Mark (@muzza)
18th March 2021, 7:15
Surprised not see even a passing mention of the Queen of the Nürburgring, Sabine Schmitz, who has sadly left us.
Mark (@muzza)
18th March 2021, 7:17
Oops way too early and no caffeine yet – just seen it nestled in the middle of the round up! Sorry Team Racefans!
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
18th March 2021, 8:36
Yep I spotted it.
Really sad day – her attempt at breaking 10 minutes in a transit van was absolutely insane and I had so much admiration for her as a driver. Sabine was truly a great driver who will be remembered by many fans for a long time to come.
Jere (@jerejj)
18th March 2021, 7:45
I share the same sentiments as the COTD in principle.
A terrifying crash indeed for Mark Blundell.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
18th March 2021, 8:07
@jerejj It makes for a fascinating comparison with the FIA Safety barrier test videos I thought.
Dave
18th March 2021, 9:41
We Still Can’t Race As One.
PMP
18th March 2021, 9:48
I missed how and when we established that there is racism in F1 in 2021 that we need to solve.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
18th March 2021, 16:46
Probably because it was established at least 15 years ago (it was a talking point, albeit a minor one, back in 2006 when Lewis was in GP2). That virtually no progress has been made in the 15 years since should be a clue as to why the kindling was there for the fire that got ignited last year and continues to burn.
Aapje (@aapje)
18th March 2021, 18:43
@alianora-la-canta
Please give a list of all racist events in F1 in those 15 years.
I eagerly await your lack of an answer.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
24th March 2021, 11:34
@aapje Either you already know/should already know that there have been many such incidents in that timeframe, or you are a total novice to F1 and thus aren’t qualified to make your previous comment.
(Also, “many” is what I know from what cameras have shown and the press have reported. Not all incidents get into the public eye, so as you knew before you wrote that, nobody anywhere could record a list of “all racist events in F1 in the last 15 years” since inevitable some will be missed!)
Your repeated pretences regarding racism are dangerously close to being an act of racism in itself.
Aapje (@aapje)
24th March 2021, 22:23
@alianora-la-canta
You don’t actually give an example, which is typical of comments here. People like you only know to accuse others and refuse to assume good faith, as is obvious by your last sentence.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
26th March 2021, 15:52
@aapje If only you’d read my response (in which case you’d understand why I didn’t bother citing specific examples).
Also, I notice you deliberately changed the question between your last two messages. You come across, at best, as exactly the person you accuse me of being.
Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
18th March 2021, 11:43
Rip Sabine, horrific news.
Regarding Perez vs Verstappen. I can’t see there being much competition for Max, Perez will be the perfect number 2 for pulling in reliable points but nowhere near Max in qualifying. Ocon out qualified Perez in their time together and I can only see this going one way.
Broke1984 (@broke1984)
18th March 2021, 19:22
Blundells video mentions that he “tried to hit his team mate to soften the impact”. Is that true? As that could have killed his team mate.