In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton offered his support to NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace who will return from a one-race ban in the series’ finale at Phoenix today.
In brief
Wallace will “do amazing when he comes back” – Hamilton
Wallace became the first driver to be banned for a race by NASCAR since 2015 following an on-track collision and subsequent altercation with Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway two weeks ago.The banning of Wallace, the first black driver to win a NASCAR Cup series race, prompted questions over whether other drivers would have been treated as harshly. Hamilton, who has declared his support for Wallace previously, said he “probably doesn’t need any advice” from him.
“I think what he’s done and what he stands for is amazing and he’s been so brave and being outspoken. I saw his documentary, I’m just generally really proud of him.
“If you let those things get to you, it can hold you back. And so I just ask him to [hold his] head high and don’t give up,” Hamilton concluded. “I think he’s going to do amazing when he comes back.
Aston Martin keen to move on after cost cap breach fine
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack says he believes the team can now move forwards, following the conclusion of an FIA investigation into its 2021 cost cap reporting that led to a $450,000 (£387,000) fine.
Despite the punishment, Krack said Aston Martin was satisfied with the process. “My first reaction is that we are happy we can close this chapter,” he said. “The 2021 cost cap discussions are are hopefully terminated soon.
“The collaboration with the FIA was very good, very open and transparent and the regulations are very complex and there was different interpretations and obviously that’s what it led to.”
Unlike Red Bull, Aston Martin was not found to have over-spent, a point Krack was keen to emphasise.
Aston Martin’s fine, unlike Red Bull’s, was for mis-categorising the way that it accounted for its spending, rather than breaching the cost cap. “I think it’s important to highlight that we were always under the cap which is the most important factor and the FIA has determined the fine, we accept this and move on,” said Krack.
Track temperatures only explanation for Williams’ loss of performance
“Were we nine tenths off in FP3 and obviously we’re not running minimum fuel in FP3 or anything like that,” explained Albon. “The track definitely got hotter, I think that played a massive part in our performance in qualifying.”
He called qualifying a “weird session” saying that “it really went away from us” and it wasn’t clear why. “We did have a different out-lap strategy than most most cars, I honestly think we stuck to our guns, which was the right thing to do. And it was working for us in FP3, I think, as the track came up and fell away from us.
“I’m only hypothesising, track temps and stuff like that, but honestly that’s the only explanation I have at the moment, because we didn’t change the car in between the two sessions.”
Albon’s final lap was compromised by a snap of oversteer which saw him run wide and lose the time for a track limits violation. He believes that was also related to the higher track temperature. “It was the same corner speed as run one and [I had] just no rear at all.”
Alonso hits out at media over his Hamilton comments
“And again… Please, all the titles are amazing, well deserved and inspiring,” said Fernando Alonso in a social media post yesterday. “Incomparable to each other and let’s enjoy champions and legends of our current time.”
What was he referring to? He didn’t specify, but at the time his name was trending on Twitter largely due to quotes attributed to him regarding Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, reported by Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. “Max’s titles are worth more than Hamilton’s,” it said. “I have a lot of respect for Lewis but it’s different when you win seven world championships having only had to fight against your team mate.”
“Tired of the continuous search for headlines,” Alonso added in his social post. “Let’s enjoy them.” He did not claim the quotes were incorrect or misattributed.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Ricciardo: 'I started to speak to a psychologist last year — the most challenging year I have had. Racing is very much results driven and dictates your Sunday happiness. I was neglecting friendships and thought it would be good to talk to someone to make sure the two sides of my life didn’t cross over.'
Antonelli unrivalled in chaotic Motorsport Games F4 qualification race (Formula Scout)
Antonelli started from pole and escaped being attacked into the opening corner, which was crucial for him then avoiding the chaos that occurred through the rest of the lap. He finished lap one 3.964 seconds clear, and had a lead of nine seconds on lap nine when the safety car came out and eradicated his advantage.
Team UK ace Baldwin storms to gold medal in esports (Motorsport UK)
He was kept honest throughout by his nearest challengers, Chris Harteveld (Netherlands) and Alberto Garcia Gomez of Spain, throughout the 60-minute race, but held his nerve to steer his McLaren 720S to an eventual 2.9-second winning margin. Baldwin was presented with his Gold medal on the podium by 11-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner Felipe Massa, an achievement that puts his name in the history books as the first British athlete to take the top prize at the FIA Motorsport Games.
Steiner: my 200 days with Carlos Sainz (WRC)
The biggest impression Sainz left on Steiner was his incredible work ethic, something he says has also been passed onto his son Carlos Sainz Jr. who currently drives for Ferrari in F1. 'The year with Carlos Sainz was very educational for me. He is a professional. I learned a lot about discipline and how to conduct yourself – how to work hard to achieve something, he never missed a beat.'
Super Formula round 9: Suzuka (Super Formula 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.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
From a conversation with one of our engineers while marshalling at the #MexicoGP in 2016, to working for Mercedes-AMG HPP as a Hardware Coordinator 👏
Alejandro shares with us his unique @F1 story and how that conversation changed his life ❤️ pic.twitter.com/4E9VWcL79b
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) October 29, 2022
Fans waiting for drivers at the media pen after qualifying… never seen anything like it! #F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/guEoOwzk29
— Claire Cottingham (@Cla_Cottingham) October 29, 2022
Got a note from Brad Pitt explaining what happened with our near miss on the Austin grid. Unnecessary, but nice of him. Absolutely nobody is obliged to talk to me on the grid, but as I endeavour to make 10/12 minutes of live and unscripted sports TV I’m obliged to at least ask.
— Martin Brundle (@MBrundleF1) October 27, 2022
|@schecoperez checks out @AdrianF007's IndyCar in the pit lane at @autodromohr.
Eight-time CART race winner Fernandez contested the penultimate race of his career in the series at this track in 2003, finishing eighth. #F1 #MexicanGP #MexicoGP #IndyCar #RaceFans pic.twitter.com/jNVCdqUOLh
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) October 29, 2022
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
As the debate about whether Red Bull’s punishment for breaching the F1 cost cap fits the infringement, Random Mallard considers whether the financial regulations should be enforced as strictly as the technical rules:
The FIA have clearly gone for an approach closer to the sporting regulations, whereby a breach is penalised based on the severity of the breach, rather than the technical regulations, whereby any breach, no matter how small (e.g. Brazil 2021) is an automatic disqualification. My guess is it is down to personal choice as to how people want to see this policed. Some may want disqualifications for any breach, some may only want it for extreme major breaches. There are valid arguments on both sides.
I’m interested there wasn’t a points deduction, at least for the constructor’s, where any deduction would likely have made no difference to the 2021 results. And there is precedent for losing constructor’s points but not driver’s, notably Spygate and the RP20 brake duct infringement (where 7.5 points were deducted per car, and a 7.5 point deduction for Perez would, as it turned out, have lost him P4 in the driver’s championship at season’s end). I wouldn’t have been overly surprised if the FIA had deducted constructor’s points but not driver’s points.
Overall, my initial reaction is this is slightly too lenient. However, I don’t think I can truly make a decision until the actual impact of the penalty is seen, which could be 2024 before anything noticeable materialises, if anything come of it at all.
Random Mallard
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to L. Martins and Haseyachooli!
Webber fan
30th October 2022, 2:35
Would anything be said if Wallace was Caucasian?
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
30th October 2022, 5:20
No because he wouldn’t in Nascar.
Leroy (@g-funk)
30th October 2022, 5:27
Most likely nothing would need to be said because he probably wouldn’t have been banned if he were Caucasian. Typically NASCAR handles fights between drivers with probation or fines. A suspension for a driver is very rare for a fight. And given that what transpired between Wallace and Larson could barely be called a fight, the suspension is not only excessive but seems be be targeting the most famous black driver in NASCAR with a double standard.
Qeki (@qeki)
30th October 2022, 10:35
After watching the replay the move was a bit sketchy but that FIGHT wasn’t nearly as bad as Max v Esteban in Brazil
Willie
30th October 2022, 11:43
Bingo! Larson put him in the wall on purpose; he knew exactly what he was doing. He didn’t expect Bubba to come after his silly ass. Larson was the guy that got suspended for the liberal use of the n-word. It’s a mystery why he would be in conflict with a black NASCAR driver. It’s a riddle.
willie
30th October 2022, 12:02
Wasn’t Larson suspended for the N-word use?
MichaelN
30th October 2022, 13:37
Would Hamilton have been asked? He was responding to a question by Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press, who declared: “You [Hamilton] are a role model for Bubba Wallace, the NASCAR driver and he returned today from a one race suspension that he took very hard. And he was suspended for things that in NASCAR are typically celebrated, but because it’s Bubba, people called for lifetime bans and things like that. How would you suggest he move forward and handle that?”
Her two assertions that 1) Wallace’s actions are normally celebrated and 2) are not ‘because it’s Bubba’ are both great bits of framing, trying to get Hamilton involved in what one imagines is an article she already came up with and just needed to fill with some of Hamilton quotes.
Hamilton’s reply is so vague and non-specific that he could’ve said it about pretty much anyone and everything.
AlanD
30th October 2022, 18:28
Michael, good bit of context, thank you. So many of the reports we read, including on this site, present a fragment of an answer that a driver has given to a question and present it as if the driver called a press conference, announced it, and expected the whole world to sit up and take notice. And you can see how many chains it has yanked on here as a result.
stever
30th October 2022, 4:29
Since when are computer games athletics?
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
30th October 2022, 6:15
De Telegraaf is trash reporting. Best ignored by all involved.
SteveP
30th October 2022, 8:27
We have equivalents in the UK (Sun, Star, Daily Mail… – yeah we have more trash reporting)
Does DT make things up (like the aforementioned set) too?
The advantage of e-media is they now waste less wood pulp.
Jere (@jerejj)
30th October 2022, 6:37
As strictly as technical rules, perhaps.
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
30th October 2022, 7:01
Wait, I thought Sir Lewis Hamilton is prominent advocate of peace and love, vehemently against violence and proud he never took anyone out on purpose while racing. So here we have a driver who crashed on his own, took his rival out intentionally and then on top of that started an assault, yet Sir Hamilton is supporting such individual? Isn’t that definition of hypocrisy?
Dear Sir Hamilton fans, please answer this question: what would THE GOAT said if that happened in F1 and instead of somebody with similar skin color to Hamilton, it’d be, let’s say, Max Verstappen attacking innocent rival?
SteveP
30th October 2022, 8:38
I prefer not to think too much about Max’s driving in 2021 thank you. Even if most of the dodgy stuff did rebound on him.
Wayne
30th October 2022, 8:07
Correction Alonso. Lewis won 7 championships racing all the drivers not just his team mate. Can you now blame Lewis if the competition were not upto the task? Stop with the jealousy.
SteveP
30th October 2022, 8:35
Also to be considered is that Alonso was his teammate and couldn’t beat the rookie.
Same car, more experience, still failed to beat Lewis. Even envelopes of cash to any engineer not working on Hamilton’s car didn’t improve FA’s results.
Not good for the ego, discovering you’re second-best.
Wayne
30th October 2022, 14:27
Well said.
superman
30th October 2022, 9:19
Correction most of Ham championships have come from beating a second rate Bottas and a sketchy Vettel well past his prime. If Rosberg had stayed he might have been given an actual challenge.
At least Alonso can say he beat the very best of the best in Schumacher.
Wayne
30th October 2022, 14:28
And lewis beat the double champion that beat the best (schumacher) in his rookie year…
superman
30th October 2022, 9:16
You can be absolutely sure that if the skin colours were swapped, a white Wallace would have been cancelled into oblivion.
What he did was disgusting thuggish behaviour and has no place in Motorsport.
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
30th October 2022, 10:02
Yet Sir Lewis Hamilton doesn’t seem to condemn, but rather almost embrace it? Very peculiar from somebody who spoken on his social media many times against using violence, isn’t it?
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
30th October 2022, 10:03
Lol. remind me of someone who was truly cancelled?
MichaelN
30th October 2022, 13:21
With the winter sports starting their seasons, it seems those governing associations have done a pretty thorough job clearing their entry lists of anything that seems even remotely Russian.
Leroy (@g-funk)
30th October 2022, 14:32
You clearly don’t follow NASCAR. What happened between Wallace and Larson on track happens all the time. The “fight” if you could call it that, happened multiple times a year. NASCAR includes the wrecking of opponent and the fights in their highlight packages, so they clearly don’t think they negatively affect the reputation of NASCAR.
Mark in Florida
30th October 2022, 12:17
Well one thing Lewis and Wallace have in common is they both are experts at crashing out their rivals at 180 mph. Hamilton needs to stop dog whistling and support classy behavior and racing standards. Any driver that assaults another driver then assaults an official needs corrective action from the sanctioning body.
SteveP
30th October 2022, 15:46
Your idol did that to himself, although he has notably changed driving style this year and hasn’t bounced off Leclerc in the same way.
Maybe Hans Christian pointed out how much it was costing?
Mark in Florida
30th October 2022, 19:16
SteveP I love a comedian! I’m not a Max fan! So jokes on you! I just call it like I see it. I didn’t think Vettles penalty was harsh enough for running into Lewis. So how can you intimate that Lewis was faultless and it was Maxes fault somehow? You do know that Lewis was found to be primarily at fault? I didn’t like some of the garbage that Schumacher did and I was a fan of his. Don’t be blinded by your idol they are human too.
Leroy (@g-funk)
30th October 2022, 14:46
Sure. But the corrective action should follow precedent. At most, NASCAR issues fines or puts a driver on probation for a fight. Given this was just shoving and no fists were thrown a suspension seems suspiciously excessive. Also, wrecking other drivers happens all the time in NASCAR. Bubba’s only mistake was he wrecked someone immediately after they put him in the wall, making it very obvious what was happening. Usually drivers wait a race or two before they get their revenge on someone.
Leroy (@g-funk)
30th October 2022, 14:46
That was meant as a reply to Mark in Florida
Mark in Florida
30th October 2022, 19:44
(@g-funk) The days of fighting and crashing people out are over according to NASCAR. They want to clean up the sport and Bubba pushing another driver and one of the officials is not a good look. Larson did go into the corner a little hot and drifted up the track but he didn’t wreck Bubba out of the race. Bubba decided to wreck both of them as payback. Then decided that wasn’t enough and assaulted him. Kyle kept trying to get away from him but again Bubba pursued him. That’s completely on him. If Larson had attacked Bubba and cracked him we would be talking about a whole different scenario.NASCAR is trying to get away from the Cale Yarborough lets have a fistfight on the infield days. He needs to be a man suck it up take the L .
Leroy (@g-funk)
30th October 2022, 20:12
See Chastain vs Hamlin from just this year. Purposely wrecking a driver out of a race still happens and in that case was widely celebrated.