In the round-up: Alfa Romeo’s Xevi Pujolar believes the Miami circuit layout will suit their car during next weekend’s Miami Grand Prix
In brief
Alfa Romeo “will be strong” around Miami circuit, predicts Pujolar
Alfa Romeo’s head of trackside engineering, Xevi Pujolar, predicts that the Miami Grand Prix circuit will suit their car’s strengths next weekend.The team currently sit fifth in the constructors’ championship, having acquired 25 points over the first four rounds. Pujolar believes that the Miami circuit will suit the car better than Imola, where Valtteri Bottas scored their best result of the season so far with fifth.
“We expect to be stronger than in Imola,” Pujolar said. “I think the type of layout could maybe suit us a bit better.
“Now we’ve got an idea – we’ve got a layout in the simulator and everything – but how actually it will look, we’ll have to find out when we are there. So we’ll see. It’s kind of a layout that I think we will be strong, but we’ll have to see in terms of the tarmac and everything what actually what it will be. But everyone has a lot of expectation and for us now with the package and everything, fighting with Alpine and McLaren is very encouraging for us.”
IndyCar lacking “buzz” around racing – Rossi
Alexander Rossi says IndyCar would benefit from creating more “buzz” around itself.
Speaking ahead of yesterday’s Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber, Rossi praised the quality of racing in IndyCar but said the series needs to create greater excitement around itself away from the track.
“I think we all have to remember we are an entertainment property, ultimately,” said Rossi. “That is what we are. That’s why we always talk about the show. That’s why we’re always interested in improving that with car updates. It’s talks and conversations we always have. I think IndyCar is aware of that.
“I think the on-track product is not necessarily the issue, right? It’s creating that buzz around it that we lack, that we struggle in. I think that takes someone much smarter than me… to figure out.
Evans “lucky” to take second after energy issues in Monaco
Mitch Evans says he and his Jaguar team were “lucky” to finish second in the Monaco EPrix after he had to carry out more energy saving than he anticipated in the race.
Evans had started from pole position and lead the early laps until he had to back off to conserve energy. The Jaguar driver admits he “got a bit of a shock” after the team had figured out his energy level.
“We had a clear strategy and obviously got the lead at the start,” Evans explained. “For the first few laps, I was under-consuming. Everything for our plan was looking strong until we got the energies and got a bit of a shock when I when I heard I was down on energy.
“It was quite stressful and I think we recovered really well. I think to get second today we were very lucky. We’ll analyse things – obviously something’s gone wrong somewhere because the car felt fine, but just the efficiency and the energy wasn’t quite there.”
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Hometown! https://t.co/7O1lr13m9d
— Pietro Fittipaldi (@PiFitti) May 1, 2022
Looks like inclement weather is causing issues with the @IndyCar feed tonight from Alabama. @SkySportsF1 have switched over to commentary from London for the second time.
— Motorsport Broadcasting (@f1broadcasting) May 1, 2022
Awesome effort all weekend. You put everyone on notice this weekend.
— James Hinchcliffe (@Hinchtown) May 1, 2022
I spoke to one of the team members and they said GR did not go speak to RG … quote, “Would not have been a good situation” https://t.co/wZdjjowGE1
— Leigh Diffey (@leighdiffey) May 1, 2022
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Ayrton Senna's 10 defining moments (McLaren)
"We take a look back at the 10 moments that defined Ayrton’s magical time at McLaren – moments that tell the story of a man whose brilliance was spellbinding, and whose immense compassion and kindness belied his ruthlessness in the heat of battle."
"I think they’ve grown up racing each other in karting and so on, and they know each other very well. They come from the same generation, and there is a genuine respect between the two of them."
Iconic V16 Formula 1 car to be raced again at Goodwood (BBC)
"The first new P15 V16 Mk1 car to be finished, which will be kept in the Owen family, was unveiled at Goodwood Revival in 2021, and did a few laps of the track for fans to enjoy. It is hoped one of the V16s will race at the motorsports event in September to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Graham Hill's 1962 F1 World title win."
How winning the world championship made Verstappen a more potent driver than ever (Formula 1)
"The Verstappen we are seeing now is better than he’s ever been before. Every time he gets behind the wheel, he looks more dangerous and potent than the race before."
Euroformula Open round 3: 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
This weekend’s Caption Competition winner is @fullcoursecaution!:

“Mate, I wouldn’t want to find his biting point…”
Pat Ruadh
Some truly crocking caption attempts this weekend. We were swamped with snappy suggestions and it was great to see everyone sink their teeth into it. Thanks to all who came up with a caption idea this week and a special mention to RocketTankski, Diez Cilindros, Gilles Amon and Richard Hill who all came up with particularly good captions.
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Adam Kibbey and Ruliemaulana!
On this day in motorsport
- 30 years ago today Nigel Mansell took pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix by over a second from Michael Schumacher, who claimed his first first row start
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
2nd May 2022, 4:53
36,000 parts, referenced in 25.000 drawings, 1.5 litre, 600 bhp!
Sounds unbelievable.
They must be counting each rivet and nut and bolt. 12.000 rpm is impressive but the power figure is out of this world it must be on rocket fuel or at least alcohol.
Is Alfa getting ferrari’ps pu upgrade? I can’t see why they’d be particularly stronger around Miami.
Jere (@jerejj)
2nd May 2022, 7:43
We’ll see if Miami indeed proves stronger for Afla than Imola.
The midfield is very tight as usual, so for now, predicting the specific order between them Haas, Alpine, & AT is hard.
Srdjan Mandic (@srga91)
2nd May 2022, 8:57
I wonder why Alfa thinks they will be more competitive at Miami. Maybe their latest upgrade works even better in low to medium downforce configuration. They seemed to have had the third quickest car at Imola, with Bottas making up 12 sec on Russell after a slow pit stop and almost matching Leclerc’s pace. Zhou also had a great Q1, setting the 4th quickest time.
If the reports are true and Ferrari are bringing an ERS upgrade to Miami (I hope Alfa will take it), then they could easily lead the midfield.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
2nd May 2022, 9:23
I have been really pleased with Grosjean’s performance in Indy to date, but that contact was quite disappointing.
On a side note, I don’t think it’s great form for Horner to be pictured on the quad with no head protection. I know it’s common, but those things are notoriously dangerous and given his position I think he should se a better example, if only for the camera.
rpiian (@rpiian)
2nd May 2022, 12:34
Bottas ahead of Hamilton is quite a joke – I’m enjoying the Alfa being right up there!