In the round-up: Mick Schumacher aims to learn from his team mate’s tyre management technique.
In brief
Schumacher will “have to analayse” Mazepin’s tyre management
Mick Schumacher is looking to learn from his Haas team mate Nikita Mazepin after observing his tyre management early in the British Grand Prix.“We were unfortunately struggling a bit with both [compounds of] tyres,” said Schumacher. “And I think the approach that we had, we will probably just have to learn from it and try and get back stronger and better person.
“We as a team were trying to not overheat the tyres in the first three laps. And it seems like Nikita was pushing a bit harder in the first few laps and still managed to to keep his tyres in the window. So that’s something I’ll have to analyse why and how, because there was a lot of margin for me to go faster.”
It wasn’t just the early laps where Mazepin had the upper hand, as after jumping him for position when they pitted he was able to finish the race ahead of his team mate by 1.57 seconds while having his mirrors full for over 20 laps.
Alonso says Alpine had pace in hand
“Today was a little bit more boring in terms of fights because we were too slow to compete with the top six, but we were a little bit faster than the guys that we have behind,” Fernando Alonso said after finishing seventh in the British GP.
“We just controlled the pace and the tyre management, but I think we had more pace in hand. We didn’t use it, but it was not needed. So happy for this and looking forward to Budapest now. Two weeks with no racing would feel bad, but let’s see.”
Nine paddock personnel at British GP test positive for COVID-19
The FIA has released the combined stats of the COVID-19 tests it conducted at Formula 1’s British GP, revealing among 5,496 tests there were nine individuals among drivers, teams and event personnel who produced a positive result for the virus. It’s a slight increase on previous events, and came as the paddock raced in front of full grandstands at Silverstone which were permitted as part of the British government’s Events Research Programme.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
A statement from Christian. 📝 pic.twitter.com/DOezZvXAQ5
— Red Bull Racing Honda (@redbullracing) July 19, 2021
Nice touch from @alo_oficial as he congratulates @LewisHamilton on his win at Silverstone 👋 👊#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/OFhpltY3Er
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 19, 2021
Nice start to the week! Working flat out with the team… Will come back stronger than ever 💪@redbullracing #nevergiveup pic.twitter.com/12fEIzJ71j
— Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) July 19, 2021
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali on the future of the sport (GQ)
Stefano Domenicali is running a little late for our meeting but he has a bullet-proof excuse. 'I just got off the phone with Roberto Mancini,' he says. 'Everyone is very happy.'
F1® 2021 - patch 1.04 notes (EA)
"Addressed an issue where users would experience a corrupt save if they edited their vehicle's livery from within the MyTeam HQ. Saves that were previously corrupted as a result of this bug will be able to be resumed after applying the patch."
Iron Lynx gives Ilott Le Mans debut (Iron Lynx)
"Iron Lynx announced today that British racing driver Callum Ilott, Scuderia Ferrari’s official Formula 1 test driver, will drive for the team in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans race on the weekend of 21/22 August."
Lots of elements in play for third RLL entry (Racer)
"Who will drive the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing IndyCar entry in the future? The answer to that question is something Bobby Rahal and his team’s co-owners are looking to find across the majority of the races left on the calendar as they plan for a three-car program in 2022."
Fast, fabulous and thoroughly entertained – all the social VIPs at Silverstone yesterday (Tatler)
"Tom Cruise, by now the face of the British summer season and a guest of Mercedes, was trackside – cheering on his mate Lewis Hamilton. Shaking hands before, they dismissed formalities after, going in for an ecstatic post-race embrace. Few will forget racing legend James Hunt, and his 34-year-old son, Freddie, is a chip off the old block. He was photographed at Silverstone yesterday gallivanting with Ellie Bamber, star of BBC’s The Serpent and The Trial of Christine Keeler, who was in attendance at the races with her younger brother, Lucas."
The story of when Ayrton Senna flew aboard FAB Mirage III and RAAF F-111 (The Aviation Geek Club)
"Interesting photos feature three-times F1 champion Senna in the cockpit of the Australian and Brazilian Air Force's planes before going on a supersonic flight."
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Comment of the day
The focus on the crash between Hamilton and Max Verstappen meant other aspects of the British Grand Prix weekend were overlooked – such as Hamilton’s Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas finishing third despite having the fastest car once his two rivals collided, as EuroBrun pointed out.
A win is a win, but a third is a poorly performing driver who should have been able to easily win when one of the two best drivers is out of the race, and the other has a penalty.
The Hamilton / Verstappen incident will cause many things from this weekend to be missed or quickly forgotten.EuroBrun
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On this day in motorsport
- 35 years ago today Roland Ratzenberger won the Formula Ford Race of Champions at Brands Hatch from pole position
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Jim from US (@jimfromus)
20th July 2021, 2:02
The key to tyre wear seems to be to stay off the kerbs.
I completely agree that Bottas was a poor performer. He couldn’t close on Charles, couldn’t stay ahead of Lewis, team orders or not, and couldn’t get fastest lap.
jff
20th July 2021, 8:01
One big plus of the Sprint is that we don’t get these tyre management explanations.
It’s not perfect yet, but added something to the weekend.
Bottas had one of his lesser weekends, but Perez did not get the most out of his car either.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
20th July 2021, 3:09
If you’re having to ask for help from Mazepin you may need to start looking for another profession outside the family business. Tired of these driver’s kids wasting seats. Except forHill, Ver and Villenueve they have all been terrible.
dex022 (@dex022)
20th July 2021, 6:18
How about Rosberg?
Red Andy (@red-andy)
20th July 2021, 6:44
Rosberg?
James
20th July 2021, 6:55
Unlike you, a great driver learns from any advantage they see, rather than dismissing people like spoilt milk. I suppose you’re above all that though right?
BasCB (@bascb)
20th July 2021, 14:56
First of all, you forgot Rosberg in that list of not so terrible drivers who are the child of a champion @darryn.
And in contrast with you, I actually think that it is a really good sign that Mick is open to learning from his teammate when he sees something Mazepin did manage well in a race.
George.be
22nd July 2021, 14:20
Michael Schumacher and Lewis were/are known to check for margins to be gained by comparing data from the other side of the garage. Comparing data between different cars is hard, but with close to identical cars…
Jere (@jerejj)
20th July 2021, 6:58
COTD is spot on, others things indeed did become overlooked or forgotten because of the Copse incident.
Yes, a nice tough, although HAM didn’t seem to notice.
Tatler forgot to include Michael Douglas, who also was in attendance.
An interesting interview with Domenicali.
jff
20th July 2021, 8:05
Do people care here who attended; I’m even surprised you open the link.
Andrey Baydin (@minilemm)
20th July 2021, 8:17
Especially loved this part of the Domenicali interview:
“ -But won’t F1’s core fanbase be angry about losing traditional GPs? Tracks you’ve relied on this past year?
-I don’t think so.”
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
21st July 2021, 15:10
@minilemm Well, that contradicts the pattern observed over the last 20 years…
Broke1984 (@broke1984)
20th July 2021, 9:29
Agreed. This will be another performance noted by Wolff when making driver decision. I truly believe Hamilton will retire at end of 2023 and they need Russell
Harry (@harrydymond)
20th July 2021, 8:31
Obviously Bottas didn’t get the memo that anyone can win in the Mercedes
TurboBT
20th July 2021, 18:38
Ask Perez who finished with top drivers, I mean top low field drivers.
Dave
20th July 2021, 8:36
Re Schumacher: Legend says that Nikita still wants to do the Spa 2000 move.
Re F1 2021 game: Wait until it’s complete.
Re Ilott Le Mans: Nice to see him get the opportunity.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
20th July 2021, 9:48
I’m not 100% sure Mercedes was obviously the best car. It isn’t the first time, but Ferrari did actually look close to them. Leclerc could easily keep hamilton behind to begin with and I think it was simply hamilton’s tyre management that allowed him to close right in and overtake. I think I would say they were close to equal. If you look at Sainz’s pace in the sprint, his recovery from 19th to half a second off 10th was in next to no time at all. Red Bull arguably could have been better than Mercedes, though Perez didn’t show this.
While Hamilton is making a lot of mistakes this year, aside from them, his great driving is still there and his speed also. Effectively he finished over 20 seconds ahead of Bottas without his mistake. I think the performance gap is as much on his skill as it was on Bottas being poor this weekend. I think many will have very much doubted that he will have even got 2nd or possibly a podium. All this said, Bottas hopefully won’t continue having performance like this, though I think Mercedes should try 2 stops with him more often as his pace is often good at the start of stints, he just can’t always extend them very well. I really expected more 2 stops out there given there was 4 punctures last year and 3 related to long 2nd stints.
Ivan B (@njoydesign)
20th July 2021, 22:49
The article makes it seem like mazepin jumped Mick in the pits, when in reality he came out a second behind and then overtook him shortly after, and a pretty good one at that. Reminded me of the battles Hamilton and Button used to have when together at McLaren. Overall this was a first race where he was properly on pace with Schumacher and even faster than him. I know it’s difficult to say anything positive about mazepin, but you could at least try.