Fernando Alonso, Alpine, Monaco, 2022

Alonso still carrying hand injury from Melbourne qualifying crash

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In the round-up: Fernando Alonso says he has been driving with an injured hand since crashing in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix

In brief

Alonso carrying hand injuries since Melbourne

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Fernando Alonso says he has been driving with an injured hand since crashing in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix in April.

Alonso crashed in the final sector of the Albert Park circuit on his first flying lap in Q3 when his Alpine suffered hydraulic failure, denying him any engine braking and seeing him crash into the tyre wall. The double world champion says he has been coping with hand injuries from the accident ever since.

“Bones, ligaments, tendons – everything is a mess at the moment,” Alonso said. “I need two or three months. There is no surgery, nothing you can do – just rest. Unfortunately, every two weeks I have to drive. So I try to rest at home, but it will take a few months.”

Wolff not satisfied with “gifted” podiums

Toto Wolff says he and Mercedes will not be satisfied until the team are earning podiums on pace once more, rather than being “gifted” podiums.

Mercedes sit third in the constructors’ championship on 134 points – 101 behind leaders Red Bull. Mercedes have taken three podiums appearances in seven races: One for Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain and two for George Russell in Australia and Spain. Wolff says he wants Mercedes to start earning top three finishes on pure merit as soon as possible.

“In the past, we had a few podiums before, but this is only when something goes wrong in the front,” Wolff said.

“At the moment, I don’t want anything gifted for us. Our team is only third on the road and that’s why the positions of fifth and sixth are where we belong to, but this is not where we want to be. If you’re inheriting a podium, that is nice – it’s good for the points long term – but I don’t want any of that. I want to be part of winning in the front and this important lessons that we learn here and is going to be the basis of us performing long term again.”

Aron heads Beganovic in FREC Paul Ricard race one

Mercedes junior driver Paul Aron took victory in the first of two Formula Regional European Championship (FREC) races this weekend at Paul Ricard.

The Prema driver beat team mate and Ferrari academy driver Dino Beganovic to jump from third on the grid and win his second race of the season with a margin of victory of just under a second. MP Motorsport’s Michael Belov took the final podium position in third.

Beganovic increased his points lead in the championship to a commanding 65 points over Hadrien David in the standings. Race two takes place this afternoon.

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Comment of the day

Formula 1 is betting heavily on the success of the Las Vegas Grand Prix by purchasing a $240 million (£192m) plot of land by the Las Vegas Strip. But PeterG is not impressed by the investment…

Is F1 spending $240m for a spot of land in Las Vegas really a good deal considering they have hamstrung teams with a cost cap and are refusing to allow a new team to enter to avoid having to spend more of its revenue by splitting it with 11 teams rather than 10?

Plus does anyone really think this rather dull looking Las Vegas car park track is going to be around for that long?

If F1 are having to waste that sort of money to buy land to make a car park street track work for teams then it was clearly not a good place to throw together the car park track. Could have spent far less to go racing on a proper racetrack anywhere else.

But the show and spectacle over sport era of Liberty Media WWE F1 cares only about the spectacle glitz and glamour off track, so I guess racing on an actual good track no longer is important.

I’d much rather they save the money to race on a proper track or help get another team or 2 on the grid than have another horrid car park street race on a track like all the other recent car park street tracks.
PeterG

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On this day in motorsport

  • On this day in 1977 Gunnar Nilsson scored his only F1 victory in the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, which was briefly led by David Purely in the obscure LEC entry

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21 comments on “Alonso still carrying hand injury from Melbourne qualifying crash”

  1. LyndaMarks
    5th June 2022, 2:10

    The fact they had to spend $240m to make the las vegas race work better for teams tells me that they were so desperate to have another race in the us and specifically in las vegas that they didn’t put much thought into the logistics or sensibleness of it from a sporting perspective.

    The lackluster circuit design that does nothing new, interesting, challenging or exciting further shows this. Its a circuit designed to use the las vegas strip and cram in as many drs zones as possible for the spectacle irrespective of how boringly forgettable drs passes tend to be on long straghts like those.

    It actually reminds me a lot of some of the street circuits of the 80’s, Especially the last Las Vegas one in the Ceasers Palace car park. A race they threw together in a car park with minimal facilities for teams, media or fans simply because Bernie at that time was desperate to have a big spectacle race in las vegas.

    For all the hope and talk about Liberty Media been different and better for the sport/fans than Bernie/CVC were in reality i don’t think they have been that dramatically different in this regard. They still do the pay tv deals that limit many fans from been able to watch and are still doing big money deals to get F1 in dubious countries on circuits that are just as terrible as some of the ones Bernie took us to.

    And just like Bernie many of the wonderful classic venues most fans and drivers love seem to be constantly under threat.

    Only difference is that the Bernie at least understood the sport and had a passion for it as well as some level of respect. Liberty have none of those things sadly and i don’t think they care to gain them. In fact i wonder if they will still have an interest in F1 in 10 years or if they will have sold it having made a fortune from it just as CVC did.

    1. LyndaMarks
      5th June 2022, 2:14

      Btw when i say las vegas reminds me of the street circuits from the 80s I don’t mean in design i mean more in the way that they are there because they were desperate to have a race there rather than because they were great circuits that had something interesting to offer or whatever.

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      Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
      5th June 2022, 11:22

      + 1. You really do wonder sometimes if Liberty have been an improvement.

      1. Ryan F
        5th June 2022, 11:45

        Liberty were an improvement over Bernie on the business and image side e.g. YouTube and willingness to engage in a younger audience. However in terms of sporting spectacle its becoming a farce, sprint races and constant silly gimmicks take away from the sports origins. I think its time for liberty to cash in and sell on to someone more willing to let it be, in the end they’re just trying to appease shareholders.

      2. S
        5th June 2022, 12:00

        You really have to wonder why anyone would think they would have been

    3. Carbonized
      5th June 2022, 12:01

      Amen sister! There are a few tracks in the US that given 240 mils could become 1st grade F1 tracks. Think of Road Atlanta +240 mils, Road America+240 mils, even Miller Motorsport Park +240 mils (To name a few). But hey, who wants to hang around in Georgia, Wisconsin, Utah? No fake marina would bring the “blings” to theses places. Forget the racing part, that’s just accessory . Blings come first. Must have the Blings!

    4. José Lopes da Silva
      6th June 2022, 11:31

      Only difference is that the Bernie at least understood the sport and had a passion for it as well as some level of respect.”
      Yes, bring back the double points finish, the title given to the most gold medal winner, and the water sprinkles. Bring back Bernie’s respect!

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    Neil (@neilosjames)
    5th June 2022, 2:43

    Don’t really see the Las Vegas $240m as any sort of waste, as they spent it on land. And even if the race doesn’t work out, they’ll still own that land and they’ll likely be to sell it for at least what they paid for it.

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      Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
      5th June 2022, 4:30

      Yup. They are only spending one mbappe.

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      SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
      5th June 2022, 7:54

      I mean, aside from the obvious investment value of owning that land. The sheer PR and new people a Las Vegas race attracts to the sport will more than pay back that amount over time. It really isn’t that crazy.

      COTD talking about car parks and such when the race is going to be partly on the Las Vegas strip pretty much tells you how narrow their POV is, honestly.

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        Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
        5th June 2022, 10:49

        @sjaakfoo The term ‘Car Park Circuit’ was something coined by Mark Webber in 2009 to describe many of the flat & featureless really boring modern style circuits that began to popular the F1 calendar at the time.

        This Las Vegas race fits that bill perfectly & while it’s obviously not in a car park like Miami, It may as well be because it looks just as awful as Miami, Valencia, Sochi, Jeddah & all the other more recent car park ‘street’ tracks which feature everything Mark Webber (Among others) were saying didn’t make a good, exciting, challenging track a decade ago.

        But sadly money talks so the great tracks go away while awful car park tracks or Tilkedromes replace them.

  3. Profile Photo

    Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
    5th June 2022, 7:51

    There is another factor in Las Vegas. Liberty is the organiser of the Las Vegas race, so it allows the track to be a backstop venue if they annoy too many other venues and also – more importantly – allows Liberty to pocket the organiser income from race tickets, concession stands and track sponsorship. So it would be lucrative for Liberty, even if the race is uninspiring. Especially since if it is uninspiring, @neilosjames ‘ point that it’s a land purchase still stands.

    Mind you, it would probably have been better to buy the land next year if the predicted recession happens.

  4. Profile Photo

    bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
    5th June 2022, 9:45

    I enjoyed Abbie Eaton’s thing, I know some might see it as gimmicky, but I like seeing drivers offering something of their personalities. How much taller Eaton is compared Babickova is crazy, considering they race in the same car.

    Building a spec series car, I guess you’ve got to make sure the pedals go forwards and back quite a bit.

  5. Profile Photo

    Jere (@jerejj)
    5th June 2022, 10:58

    He’s done well, considering he still has hand injuries from Melbourne Q3 & or after-effects, something I didn’t think he’d have anymore.

    Gifted podiums are the max Merc can achieve for now.

    I like Haas’ image compilation.
    This also shows Binotto’s hairstyle change from 2015 to ’16. The top-left image must be from 2004, at the latest, as I note green (Jaguar team’s predominant color) in the frame’s far-left background.

    Sainz might become a factor in some cases & or to some extent, but only a factor, as I doubt him properly joining the WDC battle anymore.

    A good COTD & I agree in principle.
    Indianapolis as an already-existing circuit would’ve been a better choice, but unfortunately, temporary (even more so, city) tracks are a priority over permanent ones.

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    Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
    5th June 2022, 11:24

    Formula E in India on a long term bases could work – lets hope that India have worked out their tax strategy though or Formula E will go the way of F1 and leave, never to return.

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      BasCB (@bascb)
      6th June 2022, 8:16

      Ahm, Jakarta is the capital city of IndoNESIA @ahxshades, the nation of a thousand islands a bit more to the south of the south china sea, not in India.

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        Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
        6th June 2022, 8:24

        @bascb – thanks for the geography lesson – I was referring to the story entitled “I see long-term future for Formula E in India”

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          BasCB (@bascb)
          6th June 2022, 9:34

          Ah, right, sorry. That makes more sense then @ahxshades

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            Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
            6th June 2022, 12:08

            @bascb – hey, no problem my friend

  7. Prashanth Ramadas
    5th June 2022, 12:05

    Hope Mahindra bounce back in this business.

  8. Only Facts!
    5th June 2022, 13:59

    The Land Liberty is buying is intended to become a permanent installation for pits, media center, hospitality and all that stuff they need around the starting straight. The starting line and some changes of direction will be build, the rest of the track will be on the streets.

    Racing will be done on the Casinos alley, the Las Vegas Blvd southbound, turning left at the MGM to reach that piece of land and all permanent installation. It will than turn north towards the convention center (LVCC) and left at the Wynn/Encore to reach Las Vegas Blvd again.

    It will be an impressive night race, after all it’s called the city of lights for some reason.

    Expect 2x Miami crazy prices, and also 2x less focus on the race itself.

    But it will be some show.

Comments are closed.