In the round-up: AlphaTauri team principal, Franz Tost, said their data from the opening three day test in Barcelona correlated better with their projections than they expected following their move to a larger, 60%-scale wind tunnel.
In brief
AlphaTauri test data matched wind tunnel “better than expected” – Tost
AlphaTauri team principal, Franz Tost, said their data from the opening three day test in Barcelona correlated better with their wind tunnel projections than they expected. The AT03 is the first car the team has designed after moving in line with their rivals by switching to a 60% scale tunnel.The team completed 308 laps over the course of the first three day test in Barcelona last week between drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly, before their final day’s running was cut short by damage sustained by Gasly hitting the tyre barriers.
With three days of real world testing data from their AT03 to analyse, Tost says that the team’s figures matched their wind tunnel projections “better than expected”.
“To find out how close we are really there, we did a lot of measurements the last days with our racks, as you could see, with the sensors mounted on there,” Tost explained.
“Now the engineers are analysing the data and this is then the data basis for correlation with CFD and the wind tunnel. But the information I got is that we, from the beginning onwards, had quite a positive correlation. Of course, now as we have a lot of data from the racetrack, it’s much easier to build up this.”
Carpenter adds other oval races to schedule
Ed Carpenter, who previously confirmed he would return to the Indianapolis 500 this year, has added the four other oval races on IndyCar’s 2022 calendar to his schedule. He will enter the next round in Texas, return to the team for the Indy 500 in May, take on the double-header at Iowa in July and finish his season at Gateway in August.
Lawson lights up second day of Formula 2 testing
Red Bull junior Liam Lawson set the quickest time over the second day of pre-season testing in Bahrain ahead of the FIA Formula 3 season.
The Carlin driver set the quickest time of the test so far in the evening session, the only driver to break the 1’42 barrier. Fellow Red Bull junior driver Jehan Daruvala was second fastest for Prema, with Sauber academy driver Theo Pourchaire third quickest ahead of new Williams junior driver Logan Sargeant.
The test will conclude follow today’s third and final day, before the Formula 2 championship begins at the Bahrain International Circuit for the opening two races on the weekend of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Hadjar quickest during penultimate F2 test day
In Formula 3, Red Bull junior driver Isack Hadjar set the fastest time during the second day of pre-season testing.
Hadjar, who will make his debut in the FIA F3 series with Hitech this season, topped the times with a 1’47.516, just under a tenth quicker than Victor Martins for ART. It was the fastest time of all 30 drivers who had participated over the first two days of running.
Alonso launches driver management company
Alpine F1 driver and double world champion Fernando Alonso has launched his own driver management programme with former karting rival Albert Resclosa and manager Alberto Fernandez.
Alonso says that A14 Management will help to support a “small group” of young drivers through their ranks of motorsport.
The groups first clients are Formula 2 driver Clement Novalak and Bulgarian kart racer Nikola Tsolov.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Yeah, but I was an unusually old git for an F1 Driver. #f1
— Damon Hill (@HillF1) March 3, 2022
By my calculations, by the time Max Verstappen's Red Bull contract expires (assuming Jan 1 2029), he would have been a contracted #F1 race driver for 5,114 days, or 44.80% of his lifespan on Earth.
— Will Wood (@RaceFansWill) March 3, 2022
Slow down @LiamLawson30
— Richard Verschoor (@R_Verschoor1) March 3, 2022
It's full steam ahead for @arthur_leclerc7 in 2022 👊#F3 pic.twitter.com/10if0zH4hY
— Formula 3 (@FIAFormula3) March 3, 2022
These cars look 🔥 Proud to be sporting the Williams colours 🔵 #WeAreWilliams https://t.co/RMp03BnsCm
— Zak O'Sullivan (@ZakOSullivan) March 3, 2022
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
McLaren Racing stands with UNICEF to support the Ukraine Emergency Appeal (McLaren)
"McLaren Racing is donating towards UNICEF’s emergency appeal and is reaching out to McLaren colleagues, friends and fans to raise awareness of UNICEF’s work globally and their Ukraine emergency appeal. If you’d like to show your support and donate, please go to: www.unicef.org.uk/donate/mclaren"
François-Xavier (FX) Demaison: My pre-season journal (Williams)
"Performance wise it’s difficult to estimate where we are because we don’t know how much fuel the other teams were running or what engine modes they were in. But what was good is that both drivers were happy with the car. The feedback they gave us suggested that they can push with this car, they can follow and brake late."
"It was a great day. This morning I did my first laps back since Jeddah, so it was a long break for me, but we were right on it. We were right on the pace, and I was extremely happy that my first five or six laps were really competitive."
Trailblazing racer Lella Lombardi remembered, 30 years on from her death (Formula 1)
"She attempted to make her Grand Prix debut in the British GP at Brands Hatch, in a Brabham BT42 rented from Bernie Ecclestone. She wasn’t far off team mate John Watson’s times initially in a similar car, but failed to qualify by nine-tenths after a driveshaft failure."
UK's most loved sports teams and people (Sports Direct)
Hamilton has been named the third most-loved sports personality in the world behind LeBron James and Simon Biles when comparing social media searches and online sentiment.
F2's Chasing The Dream: Zhou Guanyu's F1 Story (Formula 1 via YouTube)
"Meet Zhou Guanyu, 2022 Alfa Romeo driver and Formula 2 graduate. Take a sneak peek of Formula 2's newest season of 'Chasing The Dream'."
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it in via the contact form.
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Comment of the day
With Max Verstappen having signed a massive six year contract extension to remain at Red Bull, @milesy-jam thinks that the world champion is putting a lot of faith in his time by committing with them for so long…
A massive show of confidence in Red Bull from Max. These new regulations could bring them back into the pack a bit if they don’t get it right. Also you would have to think there would be uncertainties in RB making their own engine for the first time.
A huge call from both sides to commit to such a huge deal when their success together is still so young, and history shows that even the best team-driver relationships don’t last forever.
Lewis only stayed another 4 years at McLaren after his first title. Senna was another 5 years after ’88 with McLaren and won another two championships. Seb won another 3 WDC in 4 years after 2010 with Red Bull yet he left as soon as the success dried up.
If I was to predict now, I think that the Red Bull-Verstappen relationship could be one of the most successful of all time or could explode in a hot mess very quickly.
@milesy-jam
Happy birthday!
No RaceFans birthdays today
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
4th March 2022, 0:49
Isn’t Lewis with mercedes since the age of 13?
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
4th March 2022, 5:36
No, since 2013
Jere (@jerejj)
4th March 2022, 7:49
@sjaakfoo F1 team, yes.
@peartree
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
4th March 2022, 16:23
@jerejj @sjaakfoo I have just checked it’s all in here He actually signed for McLaren-Mercedes which was partly owned by Mercedes, I recall Ham racing mercedes in f3, so maybe that is why I thought he had a deal with Mercedes. In 98 Lewis was 13.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th March 2022, 17:16
@peartree True, hence why I referred to the F1 team specifically.
grat
4th March 2022, 16:21
As a sponsor / engine supplier, yes. His relationship with Mercedes, and Norbert Haug in particular, goes back quite a way. Williams apparently wanted to sign him as an F1 driver, but BMW wouldn’t fund him.
With the exception of GP2, he’s been driving a Mercedes powered car since 2003.
Scottie (@scottie)
4th March 2022, 2:13
So what is it… Guanyu Zhou, or Zhou Guanyu?
All the way through F2, Alex has been calling it Guanyu Zhou, and only in testing did I hear it pronounced the other way around.
Perhaps it’s one way in English, another in Chinese due to grammar differences?
Tim
4th March 2022, 2:29
In some countries Family name goes first, including China, Japan, Russia (formal). Zhou is the Family name in this case.
GeeMac (@geemac)
4th March 2022, 4:52
I understand that the correct naming convention in China is to say the family name (Zhou) first and the given name (Guanyu) second, in that case Zhou Guanyu would be correct. I believe this is also the convention in Korea (hence Park Ji-Sung not Ji-Sung Park).
I suspect he’s been dealing with people in Europe long enough through his career not to care which way round people say his name…
S
4th March 2022, 5:53
Yep. China and its territories, the Korea’s, Japan and Thailand all use the family name -> given name convention.
The family/group is traditionally more important than the individual in such cultures, so the family name comes first.
Likewise with Yuki Tsunoda, who is Tsunoda Yuki at home – or, respectfully, Tsunoda-san.
Qeki (@qeki)
4th March 2022, 7:26
Hai!
Jere (@jerejj)
4th March 2022, 7:57
@S I knew about East Asia, but not Thai. Yes, Tsunoda-Yuki & Tsunoda-San, but Yuki-San also works, as does Kun & even Chan, depending on the speaker.
S
4th March 2022, 8:52
He could be Yuki-san to you if you are older and know him personally. Perhaps you are his boss or a neighbour…
To be Tsunoda-kun or Yuki-kun he would likely still be in his early-middle school years, and to be Tsunoda-chan or Yuki-chan he would usually be either a baby, or female.
Certainly, the honorifics change with the age and status of the two people involved and their relationship to each other.
And there are lots of others…
Jere (@jerejj)
4th March 2022, 10:20
@S Generally, yes, but I’ve heard Chan sometimes also for males, while San is the most common one from my observations.
Yes, others too, like Sama for people in high positions, Senpai & Sensei for teacher & or someone who’s achieved certain mastery level or some other skill, etc.
I’m familiar with Japanese honorifics through considerable language exposure I’ve got since 2017 August.
S
4th March 2022, 11:34
-San effectively translates as Mr, Mrs, Miss etc. It applies to everyone, so naturally it’s most common.
True. -Chan is usually used in a cute, funny or light-hearted way if applied to males. Some male comedians and TV entertainers use -chan, for example.
Ah, very good, @jerejj. Yep, some honorifics are used regularly, some not so much. Casual conversation and normal life outside of work tends not to use any normally, as honorifics are mostly for formal situations.
Sempai (pronounced as M, not N) can be used for as little difference in status as a year above you at school, or someone who started work the year before you… It’s all contextual in Japanese language. For example, teachers or professors don’t call each other Sensei, because they are equal to each other in status.
I have the privilege to live in Japan on and off for months at a time, so I get to experience it all often.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
4th March 2022, 7:24
Ted said in his notebook during testing -don’t call it a test- that he preferred Zhou Guanyu, so I assume certain, if not most, commentators and pundits will respect this once they’re aware of it.
DanielH (@danielh)
4th March 2022, 9:18
The BBC radio commentator Jack Nicholls called him Zhou during his FP1 running last season.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th March 2022, 7:54
@scottie Already mentioned, but surname-given name order is Chinese, Japanese & Korean thing (even Thai apparently but at least East Asian).
Red Andy (@red-andy)
4th March 2022, 9:08
@jerejj I think the same is true in some other non-East Asian languages too, such as Hungarian – although (as with Japanese) English-speakers tend to put the given name first (e.g. Zsolt Baumgartner, Viktor Orban).
Hazel Southwell (@hazelsouthwell)
4th March 2022, 9:57
He actually calls himself Jo for a western audience because it’s the closest pronunciation to Zhou people are likely to hit (I empathise, have never attempted to legally change back to my ‘real’ name because it’d be a nightmare) – but yes, Guanyu would be his family name, Zhou is his first name if you attempt to crowbar it into a western format. Realistically, neither is either because names simply don’t work like that but he does seem to have accepted that Zhou will be used as though it was his surname.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
4th March 2022, 16:28
@hazelsouthwell
Now we want to know your name…
Hazel Southwell (@hazelsouthwell)
4th March 2022, 18:20
@peartree there are far too many people who loathe me enough to be malicious with it on the internet
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
5th March 2022, 2:46
@hazelsouthwell guess we won’t get to tell you how beautiful your name is, though you make it sound like it is embarrassing.
Now I’m going to live the rest of my life thinking about this. It too is a nightmare. Now seriously, none of my business.
OOliver
4th March 2022, 7:37
Had to check if my tea had alcohol in it.
Mayrton
4th March 2022, 8:48
:-) if you formulate your research question to what you want to find you often get what you were going for.
grat
4th March 2022, 16:24
It’s based on global searches and likes. Curiously, he destroys both LeBron and Simon in likes. He’s also the only F1 driver in the top 10.
Coventry Climax
4th March 2022, 19:59
Never knew she was a transgender and changed her name from Simone to Simon already.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th March 2022, 8:14
I like Hill’s response to Bishop’s tweet.
I also like Will’s tweet, as I do, Verschoor’s joke.
I share COTD’s sentiments.
Asanator (@asanator)
4th March 2022, 10:29
@willwood F2 and F3 are muddled in BOTH ‘in brief’ articles.
slowmo (@slowmo)
4th March 2022, 10:48
I think Hill was a perfect example of someone who didn’t possess the natural ability of some of his peers but what he lacked in natural talent he made up for in work ethic. I suspect his nice personality worked against him in getting into the sport quicker and thus robbed the sport of more years with him in it. He possibly lacked a little in wheel to wheel battles but his technical knowledge and testing abilities made up for that. I think the tweet sums up why he’s loved so much in the sport, wonderful humility to see in a successful sportsman.
Robbie (@robbie)
4th March 2022, 15:31
Regarding CotD, I find it hard to imagine “could explode in a hot mess very quickly.” I think that by Max committing as he has, he is just showing he’s in it with his racing family through thick and thin, he’s making a fortune (already was before the new deal) doing what he absolutely loves, and is there to compete hard, enjoy it, and I just get the impression Max knows there are never any guarantees, even from one race to the next, so he’s just going to go out there and put nose to grindstone and what will be will be. You do your level best and that way there are no regrets. So I’m not sure what would ‘quickly explode.’
Coventry Climax
4th March 2022, 20:03
The ‘prediction’ is much like ‘the rain will either fall or not’. Rather pointless. As is commenting on it.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
4th March 2022, 17:31
@slowmo Hill was a relatively late starter in four-wheeled motorsport, having raced bikes initially. His first full season in cars wasn’t until he was 25 or so.