In the round-up: Sebastian Vettel says he would get more enjoyment from driving some of America’s classic permanent circuits than the Miami International Autodrome.
In brief
“I’d love to go to proper tracks” in the US – Vettel
Vettel, who made his Formula 1 debut at the 2007 US Grand Prix, said the country “has fantastic race circuits with incredible history” that he’d like to sample.He called attention to the Road America circuit in Wisconsin, which IndyCar races at, as one venue he is keen to try, which he believes would be more exciting than Miami’s track.
“Going to Road America, for certainly the money that was spent to build this could have easily, you know, brought the standard up in great places, like Road America. And from a driving point of view, I think they would be a lot more thrilling.”
However he acknowledged the Miami’s circuit offers “a very different interest” for fans. “Racing in the cities is exciting because people are already there. You don’t need to excite the people, because in the first place, they are already close.”
“From a fan point of view I think that’s difficult for me to judge because the last time I sat on the grandstand to watch the race was in 2001,” he added, “So, a long time ago, and yeah, every fan is different. So it’s more for the fans in a way to decide.
“But certainly from a racing and driving thrill, I’d love to go to proper tracks.”
Pirelli spared effects of global supply disruption
Formula 1’s official tyre supplier Pirelli has not suffered the supply chain problems which have affected some other manufacturers following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However the tyre maker’s head of motorsport Mario Isola said they are experiencing high demand at the moment.
“The real issue is that after Covid all the championships started again and a lot of championships increase in the number of entries,” Isola explained. “So we have a very high request of tyres. We produce the tyres for motorsport in Turkey and Romania and still the factories are producing at the maximum capacity at the moment.
“We are in the position to supply all the championships – that’s more than 200, roughly 230 championships around the world, so it’s quite a lot of tyres, I have to say. But for the moment. It’s okay. Touch wood. We don’t know what is going to happen.”
Eaton only cleared to race with three weeks’ notice
W Series driver Abbie Eaton says she only had three weeks’ notice for her comeback to the series this year.
Eaton suffered spinal fractures at COTA last year when her car flipped up sharply and then came down heavily on kerbs. Her recovery and return to driving excluded her from the Barcelona pre-season test for W Series.
“I found out I was able to return to W Series probably about three weeks ago, so pretty last minute,” she told RaceFans. “But I’m here now and that’s all that matters.”
Eaton said that she had “made it through” her first session back in the W Series car and was relieved to find she “wasn’t completely appalling but there’s still a lot of work to be done with myself, with my body – I still need to build some strength and get back into it but I’m only going to hopefully get better and move forward.”
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
No Intro needed #The History Makers @LewisHamilton @F1 @f1miami @SkySportsF1 @RACERmag pic.twitter.com/dSC91jKlLs
— Willy T. Ribbs (@WillyRibbs) May 5, 2022
I maybe will never take a better photo. pic.twitter.com/Mao4muG3Qc
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) May 6, 2022
— Jenna Fryer (@JennaFryer) May 7, 2022
I'm in Pau this weekend with @ERAChampionship who are doing a gently paced public demo at the Grand Prix de Pau before their series launches in earnest pic.twitter.com/usVOR74oSE
— Chain Bear (@chainbear) May 7, 2022
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Miami Gardens homeowners react to F1 car noise (Miami Herald)
"Miami Gardens residents share feelings about noise from F1 Miami Grand Prix.quot;
I Will Never Forget the Tears from that Day (Player's Tribune)
"I got into karting because of my dad. He loved motor sports and did gymkhana himself. One day he took me to the circuit and I gave karting a go for the first time. I also tried out the pocket bike, too, but apparently I said, "Karting is more fun." Even though I don’t remember saying that. LOL."
Hamilton, hope and making history: Willy T Ribbs’ pioneering F1 path (Guardian)
"When I used to talk with Muhammad Ali, he said to me that all people congregate to champions no matter what colour you are and Lewis (Hamilton) is in that Muhammad Ali league."
Why Hull-born Abbie Eaton is hoping to raise women’s profile in motorsport (Yorkshire Post)
"I am 30 now and I started racing when I was 10-years-old. I didn’t have a female role model at that time but I just wanted to race and nobody was going to tell me or show me otherwise – I was going to race regardless."
Jochen Mass on Villeneuve's final day: ‘I felt so guilty’ (Motor Sport)
"Gilles went over Ronnie Peterson’s car and flew into a crowd of journalists over the barriers, killing two people (at Fuji in 1977). He was arrested by the police and I went with him. I tried to explain, and after several hours they eventually let him go."
GB4 round 7: Silverstone (GB4 via YouTube)
French F4 round 4: Pau (French F4 via YouTube)
Euroformula Open round 4: Pau (Euroformula Open via YouTube)
Formula Regional Europe round 3: Imola (Formula Regional Europe 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 Lewis Hamilton compared the chicane at Miami International Autodrome to ‘a B&Q car park,’ Sparky says organisers need to be open to reconsidering the track design for future years:
I thought the chicane looked terrible during the first practice just waiting for the wreck to happen. The off-camber entry and exit seems just too much too close together.
Cregan doesn’t need to like the idea of changing something brand new. He should be open minded enough to realize that his unique mistake generator design may be a bit of a mistake.
Let’s see how it turns out during this race weekend before any talk for changes are made for the future.
@sfrank15
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Miguel, Tororosso, Paul Stilwell and Lowell Reed !
some racing fan
8th May 2022, 0:20
100 percent agreed with the COTD. And the race also needs to be held next year as the first race of the season in March. It’s just too hot down there to hold a race at this time of year. Look how the heat has affected the track- and this what I was afraid of.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th May 2022, 7:18
Temps in Florida (similarly to Southeast Asia) stay relatively stable all year round, so holding in May versus March or April isn’t massively different. However, holding the event earlier wouldn’t be bad since Miami doesn’t lack warm weather earlier in the spring, like Imola can in comparison or Shanghai.
Opening the seasons would be unnecessary, though.
A weekend swap with Imola or round 3 two weeks after SA if Chinese GP still can’t take place & Melbourne returns as the opener or moves to later in the season.
bull mello (@bullmello)
8th May 2022, 0:39
Cheers to Vettel – “I’d love to go to proper tracks” in the US – in particular to Road America. That would be a great track for F1. One of my favorite tracks in the US. It would be so much better than the Miami one for sure.
some racing fan
8th May 2022, 0:58
Road America is one of the best venues we have over here. It’s really just a place where people come to hang out and watch whatever racing is going on. It’s also amazing for photography. Unfortunately however some millions would have to be spent bringing it up to Grade 1 spec, and it might also be butchered.
Alex
8th May 2022, 1:19
I think Road America would be a tough sell for a few reasons. 1. its so close to Montreal that it would potentially affect both races attendance. 2. the nearest city is Milwaukie and it would potentially be a hard sell to attact the normal F1 crowd (Liberty has tended to focus on more exciting or wealthy destinations).
I do believe there is a track that could satisfy all of this, Road Atlanta. It would take some renovations to meet FIA standards for F1 but its doable. Atlanta is a major transportation hub internationally so travel wouldn’t be difficult. Its also pretty well located on the eastern US to draw in a massive crowd.
SteveR
8th May 2022, 2:40
Yes, totally agree. I’ve been there back in the CART days and it was a fantastic track. Never happen though….
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
8th May 2022, 7:38
@bullmello / some racing fan Yeah, I’ve found myself watching things like IMSA where I have no idea whats going on but it’s just a joy watch to cars tackle it. It is a fast, undulating thing of beauty. It looks and drives like no other circuit in video games.
However, I fear that if the FIA scalpel came out to make it F1 ready, it might be nothing like what it is today. An F1 car going round it wouldn’t look like what we’d pictured in our heads and people would wish it had been left alone.
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
8th May 2022, 1:18
Something i was thinking about with that chicane which would maybe improve it would be to do away with the sausage kerbs and replace them with what they used to have at little chicanes like that.
You look at the kerbs at Variante Alta pre-2006, The monza Chicanes pre-2009, The final chicane at Montreal and the old version of the Bus Stop.
Kerbs that you could really throw the car over but which offered a real challenge as if you used too much you lost time but also lost time if you used too little. Plus they opened up the corners a little bit and allowed for slightly different lines.
And they were actually more fun to watch cars bouncing over than the sausage kerb design that replaced them
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
8th May 2022, 1:21
For example.
https://youtu.be/0FzhtGXf-x0
Jere (@jerejj)
8th May 2022, 7:21
@stefmeister
Those are merely bumps rather than sausage curbs necessarily, but I don’t see them being an issue.
superman
8th May 2022, 3:05
As long as Vet is being beaten by clowns like Lance then he’s best not talking….
Steve K
8th May 2022, 3:26
Seb can’t hear you. His Championship rings are plugging his ears.
neiana
8th May 2022, 9:40
Not during the race, they aren’t.
amian
8th May 2022, 11:35
Superman, you sound like an angry 12-year old or a drunken person. Please stop with the childishness.
Vettel is sharing his opinion as an F1 driver about a subject that concerns both F1 drivers and fans and makes for a very interesting debate.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th May 2022, 7:09
Indy is the only other permanent circuit with FIA Grade 1, but unfortunately, LM/FOM have seemed uninterested in a return since they’ve instead gone for temporary tracks in city areas.
Tsunoda’s translated Player’s Tribune post is good even if from last year.
I share COTD’s view.
They indeed should be more open to a change rather than dismissing this possibility immediately.
Sham (@sham)
8th May 2022, 7:28
I have a horrible feeling that the race is going to be a series of safety cars and red flags.
That tight section is bad enough in practice and quali, in the race I expect it to be a disaster. I hope I’m wrong – because one car in the wall there means a red flag, as there is nowhere to recover the cars to easily.
Ajaxn
8th May 2022, 12:21
Hate to agree, but yeah. Unfamiliar track, porposing, low grip, no rubber off line, concrete barriors, and all that hype, will add up to take its toll.
Sam
8th May 2022, 7:52
Completely agree with Vettel. Whilst the US does not feature any tracks in the ultimate tier for me (only Spa, Suzuka and Interlagos are in there) I honestly think all the following tracks would easily be in the top ten tracks measured by the currently F1 calendar: Road America, Sonoma, Mid-Ohio, Road Atlanta, Laguna Seca, Daytona Road Course, Watkin’s Glen. I guess there is a reason why IMSA is my favourite series.
Yes, there is the argument that these tracks would be butchered to get them to modern F1 standards. Whilst I would dread that, I am unsure it would be needed. I think an F1 car around them would be far safer than say Jeddah. I doubt any would be more dangerous than Imola. Maybe Sonoma might need changing, and I don’t know if F1 cars could take the banking of Daytona.
S
8th May 2022, 11:51
The most effective way to stop a ‘proper’ track like Road America being a ‘proper track’ is to ‘upgrade’ it to Grade 1 standards and put F1 cars on it.
F1 – Please don’t ever go to these places until you have reverted your technical regs to Grade 2 specification.
Stanley
8th May 2022, 14:48
The problem is that the only other Grade 1 track in the US (other than the ones that are coming) is Indianapolis, and Penske doesn’t want F1. Not that he has anything against it or sth, it’s that he has other things on his mind right now, such as keeping IndyCar on its upwards trajectory and expanding the IMS itself – installing lights for sportscar racing is infinitely cheaper than getting F1 to go there.
And all the other tracks that could get Grade 1 don’t want Grade 1. It costs a loooooot of money, you might need to alter your track layout a lot, which might negatively affect all the other series out there… Tracks like Road America or Watkins Glen could quite easily be Grade 1 tracks, it’s just that they don’t want to go through the hassle. I mean the esses at Watkins would be gone for sure, so there’s that. Barber is the only track I could see wanting to go through that hassle, but it’s layout is unsuitable for F1 racing and it’s in the middle of nowhere (aka Alabama).
Road America’s layout would work as is (although you’d need to reprofile the Kink or use the chicane, not enough space for runoff there), but there the issue is pretty much everything else – pit facilities would be the biggest money sink, because what pit facilities are there now?
This is why the street tracks are happening – they’re infinitely easier to do. And if we’re honest they’ve tarted up a literal carpark well enough to make it look like a permanent race facility anyway.