In the round-up: Nicholas Latifi says he knows he needs to get on the same level as team mate Alex Albon
In brief
‘I have to get on Albon’s level’, accepts Latifi
Nicholas Latifi says he knows he needs to get on the same level of performance as Williams team mate Alex Albon.Latifi currently sits bottom of the drivers’ championship, one of only two drivers yet to score their first point of the season. He admits he is struggling with a lack of confidence in car – even on the straights.
“It’s everywhere,” Latifi said. “As soon as you’re not flat out through the straights, that’s when it starts.
“Obviously Alex is clearly more comfortable with the car. I mean, regardless of the pace of the car, we know we’re missing downforce. We know we’re struggling with balance issues – this is clear. But he’s doing a better job in managing it, so I have to get to that level.
“For me, it is just a pure feel and confidence thing with the car. It’s not a driving style – [that] I’m braking too late, not carrying enough mid speed, this and that. If you don’t feel the confidence in the car, you can’t begin to work on the more technical aspects when you eventually, will have to work on those things.”
Monaco double DNF a “bitter day” for Porsche
Porsche Formula E director Florian Modlinger said Porsche’s double retirement in the Monaco EPrix marked a “bitter day” for the team.
Pascal Wehrlein had been leading the race until he suddenly lost power to the car, with his team unable to radio to their driver. After a Safety Car, Andre Lotterer’s race ended in the Sainte Devote barriers following contact with Oliver Rowland.
“This is a bitter day for the team,” said Modlinger. “After a very good first half, Pascal was leading the field only to have a technical defect throw him out of contention. We now have to analyse what happened.
“The drivers and the team put in a strong qualifying performance and a promising start to the race, but unfortunately weren’t rewarded in the end.”
IndyCar drivers excited for Miami Grand Prix
IndyCar drivers Alexander Rossi, Colton Herta and Callum Ilott all say they are excited for Formula 1’s first ever Miami Grand Prix next weekend.
“I think it’s going to be awesome,” said Rossi. “I’m just excited for Formula 1 and America, honestly. It’s been a long time coming to have multiple races in the States. It’s a big country. There’s no reason not to have three.
Herta said that it was “really good” to see Formula 1 growing in the USA, while Ilott thinks the event will draw a large crowd despite the high ticket prices.
“With the amount of people that turned up to COTA last year, I think Miami will be quite a spectacle and a half, even aside from the on-track stuff,” said Ilott. “I have no idea where the track goes. The rest of it should be a great venue for a lot of people. Just expensive.”
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Not a bad view 😎 #MonacoEPrix pic.twitter.com/C01JRA8rAC
— Claire Cottingham (@Cla_Cottingham) April 30, 2022
Hey, @Charles_Leclerc! 👋
We hope you enjoyed the race 😉
🇲🇨 2022 #MonacoEPrix pic.twitter.com/rarOqMnug9
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) April 30, 2022
RB7… 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦! 🛠 pic.twitter.com/g71tHN7t4E
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) April 30, 2022
Why am I just now learning about f1 🤦🏾♂️
— DIGGS (@stefondiggs) April 29, 2022
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Toto Talks Mental Health, Motivation and More on the Leadership 2050 Podcast (Mercedes)
"I've been in dark places quite a few times and it doesn't last a day or a week, it can go on for months. But that will make you so much stronger because there was so much introspection, so much analysis about your life. This sensitivity that is being given to you, that felt like a burden, can actually be a superpower."
John Elkann: Cultural shift behind Ferrari's 2022 success (Formula 1)
"Lawrence Barretto in conversation with John Elkann, chairman of Ferrari."
"A Hard Rock Stadium spokesperson said an electrical incident, not an explosion, had occurred when work was being done for the race events from May 6 to 8. The workers did not suffer life-threatening injures, the spokesperson said."
"Hamilton is probably the best and biggest British motorsport athlete of all-time. To have my name up there in the future would be amazing."
F1’s Nicholas Latifi gears up for Miami, dishes on travels off track (NY Post)
"Our team has been good going into new tracks, getting on top of what we need to do and how to optimize the car. It’s going to be a good opportunity for us hopefully. At the same time, we have to be realistic. We’re not in the position we want to be. But it doesn’t take away from the excitement of arriving in Miami to experience a brand-new event."
"The family of famous Formula One racing driver Daniel Ricciardo have been hit with a hefty damage bill after a fire ripped through their Malaga factory. Ricciardo Earthmoving, owned by the Italian-Australian driver’s dad, Joe Ricciardo, went up in flames on Thursday."
Job: Junior Graphic Designer (Alpine)
"Alpine F1 Team are looking for a Junior Graphic Designer to work in our small but superb team of in-house designers. You will be expected to create content across multiple touchpoints, for use with the Race Team, the Commercial team and the wider Alpine F1 Team environment."
Formula E round 6: Monaco (Formula E via YouTube)
Euroformula Open round 1: Estoril (Euroformula Open via YouTube)
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
After this week’s poll asked whether F1 should adopt IndyCar’s approach to red flags in qualifying, a typically insightful contribution from @gt-racer…
This is actually something F1 has looked at adopting in the past but which they ultimately feel there is no real need for as the belief is they have enough data & analysis tools available to them now (As well as what teams are able to do to compile & present additional data) that it’s easy to see when something is done intentionally and when it was a simple mistake.
Indycar feel the need to have the lap time deletion as they don’t have access to the same amount of data or have the same sort of analysis tools available to them (Or the teams) so it’s much more difficult to judge if certain things were intentional or not.
It’s something they have had since the 90’s in different forms & something that was introduced at a time when they didn’t always have TV coverage of qualifying, Didn’t have much data from the cars and where only a few cars carried onboard cameras. Back then judging incidents in qualifying was next to impossible so this came about as a deterrent. As coverage of qualifying & data available has got to where it is now, It’s probably something they wouldn’t introduce if it wasn’t already a thing as it’s less needed than it once was.
@gt-racer
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Ivan!
HUHHII (@huhhii)
1st May 2022, 1:05
It’s as if Alonso saying he “needs to get on Kimi’s level”. Never happened nor never will. Superiors are superiors and sometimes the best you can do just isn’t enough to reach the ultimate high.
Dusty
1st May 2022, 15:43
Exactly! Alonso wouldn’t be able to slow himself down to Kimi’s level, it’s not a matter of trying, it’s just talent.
Rahim.RG (@rahim-rg)
1st May 2022, 21:51
Alonso is indeed driving really well after his return. But so did Kimi, and although i’m a Kimi fan, I was not the only one who was impressed with his driving after his return.
https://www.racefans.net/2013/04/18/alonso-raikkonen-driving/
So yea, Alonso did say in a way he needs to get on Kimi’s level, lol.
Coventry Climax
1st May 2022, 1:40
Well Nicholas, let me tell you, you will never get to that same level. What you describe can be put in one word: talent. And sorry, but you just lack it.
bogaaaa (@nosehair)
1st May 2022, 2:32
Yes he and Mick look in trouble with a lot of talent knocking on the door, Riccardo has the talent, but needs to start beating Norris soon, or he will be in trouble also.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
1st May 2022, 8:10
You can’t exactly be sure. I’d say Russell is a fair bit better than Albon. On race day, Russell wasn’t that often all that much quicker than Latifi. Latifi just seems to be struggling to adapt to this years cars. It may turn out that when he feels more comfortable, he will be much closer. There were several occasions last year where Latifi was actually better than Russell, so I personally feel there will be more than just a few occasions later this year where Latifi will also get the better of Albon. But will have to wait and see.
Too many things are just based on very few recent events. If we look at Albon’s red bull season and judge things, maybe we should say he lacks talent…
All this said, I don’t think Latifi isn’t very good, but this year he’s not looked at the same level he was previously I’d say. I think he will get better.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
1st May 2022, 4:49
I get the feeling that Miami is being regarded as an off track spectacle and that the on track action is being considered secondary, possibly even a nuisance to their “fun”.
Hopefully the racing and track action meets the what seems to be fairly low expectations of the attendees.
anon
1st May 2022, 8:45
@dbradock I’m surprised one of the more absurd aspects of the Miami circuit hasn’t been mentioned yet, which is that part of the circuit could be described as something of a Potemkin village. To make at least part of the area look more interesting than a concrete car park, the organisers have decided to place some boats onto a wooden frame and then painted it blue to create a fake marina at one of the corners.
S
1st May 2022, 10:14
How many years has Monaco had a fake seascape painted on a temporary wall at Portier?
And that actually has a real seascape behind it.
DaveW (@dmw)
1st May 2022, 22:17
The worse part is they just put in some basic boats you see towed behind f250s on the highway. It does not exude wealth or status. It’s just silly. They should have asked the feds to bring in some proper yachts seized from drug kingpins or oligarchs. Maybe they can hire some professional influencers to lie on the boats in dishabille and ignore the race so it’s like Monaco.
stjs16 (@stjs16)
1st May 2022, 7:39
Not as much as Williams
Billys (@bilarxos)
1st May 2022, 7:44
Ayrton Senna, 01/05/1994 San marino Imola.
Gmacz
1st May 2022, 9:01
Rest in peace Ayrton. And thank you.
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
1st May 2022, 11:46
28 years since his passing but still very much alive in the minds of F1 fans.
🏎💨🏁
RandomMallard
1st May 2022, 13:35
One of the darkest weekends in motorsport history. Thank you Ayrton and Roland. And RIP.
UNeedAFinn2Win (@uneedafinn2win)
1st May 2022, 9:04
Seems to me that the other driver feels he’s earned his seat and is making a go of it for this year and the future while the other never had to work for his and has given up before the season even gets on its way. Never underestimate hunger.
Jere (@jerejj)
1st May 2022, 10:30
Certainly, but easier said than done & slightly doubtful.
An interesting & valid COTD.
superman
1st May 2022, 20:30
It’s like a lazy, untalented person promising that after doing something one way for years that they’ll suddenly start to try and make an effort. If Latifi was going to be better he’s had years to show it, and if he’s admitting to not being as good as he should have been due to lack of effort, then that’s equally as pathetic.
Guys like him and Stroll reached their average peak within their first season, they have nothing more to offer.
DaveW (@dmw)
1st May 2022, 22:06
For people who love cycling I recommend Bottas’s strava feed. He always finds cool routes around the race venues f1 visits and shows some interesting pics sometimes too. A lot of it is around Monaco where he lives, but there are worse places to ride I guess.
Qeki (@qeki)
3rd May 2022, 14:15
About COTD Good points but F1 seems to follow the route of “a stupid idea but if we want it we will do it.” So we cannot rely on logic