In the round-up: Kevin Magnussen revealed the bizarre ordeal he experienced trying to return to the Interlagos paddock following his retirement from the Brazilian Grand Prix.
In brief
“I’m glad I wasn’t Lewis Hamilton in Zandvoort” – Magnussen
Magnussen revealed marshals at the Interlagos circuit had to cut a hole in a fence so he could return to the paddock after he retired from the Brazilian Grand Prix last weekend.The Haas driver started seventh in Sunday’s grand prix but was hit and spun on the opening lap by Daniel Ricciardo, putting both out of the race. However, Magnussen was not taken back to the paddock and was forced to sit in the infield and wait for the race to conclude.
“It was crazy,” Magnussen said. “I don’t know what went on, but it was the most dangerous thing I did all weekend – despite all the driving.
“For whatever reason, I didn’t catch a ride back to the pits. Daniel took me out of the race and then jumped in the Safety Car and took my ride back home to the pits and then I was left at the side of the track the whole race. I tried to speak to the marshals, but they didn’t speak a word of English – none at all.
“After the race, I was kind of waiting for someone to come pick me up or something and the marshals started leaving. And then I was like, ‘okay, what do I do?’. So I walked the same direction, but ended up by a fence that I couldn’t really see a way around. Of course, I could have walked the whole track and went around the start-finish straight, but there was all the fans. The marshals realised that I was in trouble and cut a hole in the fence and lifted me through the fence, which was kind of sketchy.”
Magnussen said he later received an apology from the event officials for their failure to collect him. “I’m glad I wasn’t Lewis Hamilton in Zandvoort, that would have been really sketchy,” he laughed.
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O’Ward feared early problem would end practice run
IndyCar racer O’Ward participated in the first practice session in Abu Dhabi in place of Lando Norris. He completed 22 laps over the hour, but had to cruise back to pit lane on his very first lap out of the pits after his McLaren developed a problem.
“At that point, I was just trying to make sure my communications to the team were clear, because I was getting bounced around quite aggressively in the car,” O’Ward explained. “But I mean, I don’t have much experience, so I don’t know what that meant. I don’t think we knew at the time either.
“We kind of just came into the box and gave it a reset and that seemed to fix whatever was the issue. I’m not quite sure exactly what it was, I’m assuming it was something electrical – maybe a sensor or something. I was definitely like, ‘oh, I really hope it doesn’t get cut short’ because it was a very exciting time for me to get my first FP1 under my belt.”
F1 Manager DRS and Safety Car fix coming in “early December”
Frontier Developments have confirmed that a heavily requested update to F1 Manager 2022 to rebalance DRS trains and allow lapped cars to un-lap behind the Safety Car will be released in “early December”.
Developers Frontier were criticised by players when they originally announced in October that they would cease issuing patches for the F1 management simulation game on all platforms just two months after its initial release. However, in response to the ensuing criticism, Frontier later announced they would continue to support the game and provide patches to address some of the most serious player complaints, including drivers getting caught in endless DRS trains and lapped cars having no ability to unlap themselves behind the Safety Car.
In an update posted on the game’s website, Frontier confirmed that a patch to address those faults is planned for release early next month.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Lewis Hamilton Reflects on His Next Step (New York Times)
"It’s going to be hard one day, stopping racing. I’ve done it for 30 years, and it’ll be 30-plus years when I do eventually stop. Luckily for me, right this second, it’s not now."
W Series CEO Catherine Bond Muir on the new F1 Academy (W Series)
"W Series welcomes any initiative which shares our ambition to provide more opportunities for women in motorsport. Our objective from the start has always been to increase the talent pool of women racing drivers, and the addition of the F1 Academy as a feeder to W Series and other series is a further step in inspiring the next generation to progress up the motorsport ladder."
Sebastian on retirement, the fans, and his favourite sandwich (Aston Martin)
"You asked, now it's time for Seb to answer. Ahead of the Abu Dhabi GP, Simone caught up with Seb to ask him your questions from what's on his playlist, to which circuit he'd want to race backwards."
My final Williams grand prix. One I’m determined to savour (Latifi)
"It’s been tough knowing that as a team you’re not able to fight for points all the time, because that’s the expectation of all the teams and drivers on the grid. But I’ll park that frustration at the circuit gates as I leave after the race on Sunday afternoon. Instead, I’ll take away the memories of the good moments and the strong relationships and bonds that have been formed along the way. I know those friendships will continue a long, long way into the future."
Haas may have overlooked vital Mick Schumacher detail in 2023 driver decision (Mirror)
"But in their focus on their own needs, and upon Hulkenberg and his suitability for an F1 race seat for the first time since 2019, did Haas fail to consider the impact that the lengthy decision process would have on Schumacher?"
McLaren Racing - McLaren Creators: Daniel special (McLaren)
"Ahead of his final race for McLaren, we look at our favourite fan-made Daniel Ricciardo creations."
Zak Brown has bought Nigel Mansell’s championship-winning IndyCar for $1 million (Top Gear)
"McLaren boss Zak Brown has bought Nigel Mansell’s title-winning IndyCar at auction for just shy of $1 million, adding yet another high-pedigree racer to his vast collection. The Lola T93/00 is fitted with a turbocharged, dual-overhead-camshaft Ford-Cosworth V8, which powered Mansell to four of the five wins in his successful 1993 campaign, as well as three pole positions."
"That he is a Chevrolet team owner in IndyCar could make Dreyer & Reinbold Racing an obvious landing spot for one of three NASCAR Cup Series drivers that have expressed interest in competing in the Indianapolis 500. Those drivers include Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson. All three drivers have won NASCAR Cup Series Championships and all three drive for Chevrolet teams in NASCAR."
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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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
https://twitter.com/alex_wurz/status/1593698310568787969
Alex’s happiness made my day. 🤍 pic.twitter.com/XL2dBChH3q
— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) November 18, 2022
The man behind the wheel this morning. 👏
Hear from @PatricioOWard about his FP1 session and his time with the F1 team; watch the full video over on the McLaren App. 📲
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) November 18, 2022
P1 seen lots of stand in drivers. What is missed from the TV is the funny intercom discussions that would be happening as many get the names wrong in the heat of the moment. I was always pretty bad at this. #f1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/euTBH4xCmG
— Bernie Collins (@bernie_collins1) November 18, 2022
A head full of memories ✨
A one off helmet to celebrate my career so far, and my family who have supported it throughout ❤️
Thank you @StiloOfficial and @mdm_designs for getting this project together.
Let’s end this season on a high!#F2 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/Jk3AA1f5zp
— Olli Caldwell (@ollicaldwell) November 18, 2022
Updated @FIAFormulaE rule book for 2023 is out and, sure enough, one of the worst rules ever seen in motorsport has been expunged. #Fanboost pic.twitter.com/8o1nxQNMeB
— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) November 18, 2022
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
With Formula 1 planning to trial activating DRS one lap sooner in sprint races next season, @f1frog is of the view that overtaking is already too easy in 2022 as it is…
DRS is really never going to go away. I don’t understand why we are trialling more DRS when the new aero rules have reduced the need for it.
In my opinion, overtaking has been too easy this season, and we should be reducing the use of DRS for 2023 with the aim to drop it at least by 2026 if not before. An example would be in the Brazil sprint race. Obviously it would have been incredibly difficult for Kevin Magnussen to win that race, but I think, under the current rules, it would have been impossible in a clean race. Even if Gilles Villeneuve had been driving the Haas, there is no way he could have taken the win by driving perfectly and holding everyone off, as he did in Jarama in 1981, he would just have been overtaken on the main straight by Verstappen with his rear wing wide open. And that is not a good thing.
Similarly, in Spa, Verstappen was able to drive from the back to the front in a quarter of the race. Undeniably, he was outstanding that weekend and deserved to win, even from where he was, but DRS just made it too easy for him, and qualifying has seemed a lot less important this year as a result. DRS was absolutely necessary for getting any overtaking under the previous aero rules, but now it makes it too easy.
In my opinion, the perfect situation would be no DRS at all, but also the car behind being in no way affected by turbulence from the car in front. For 2023, I would suggest DRS should be kept, but only on the shorter straights, never on the long ones, apart from in tracks like Monaco and Singapore. They should also announce at the same time that there will be no DRS at all in 2024, giving the teams a year to design the cars around that fact. But it won’t happen, DRS will stay indefinitely.
F1 frog
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Joao and Matteo!
slowmo (@slowmo)
19th November 2022, 0:52
I completely disagree with COTD that its time to remove DRS but I think this year proved its perhaps worth trialling its removal at some tracks such as Spa, Baku and Interlagos. Tracks that are traditionally easier to pass on I think its fair enough to see the impact of removal.
I get why some people would prefer no overtaking to DRS passes but I don’t want to return to the Trulli train days either.
frood19 (@frood19)
19th November 2022, 8:46
I completely agree with COTD – every word. Overtaking should be difficult. The race that spawned DRS was Abu Dhabi 2010 when Alonso got stuck behind petrov. I remember feeling a bit sorry for Alonso but also enjoying the tension of not knowing if he could or couldn’t overtake for many laps – today he would just breeze past using DRS in an instantly forgettable motorway style pass. No tension, no drama, no memories.
I think this argument also relates to how easy the cars are too drive. Petrov made no critical errors in that race, which could mean he drove his heart out (and scored decent points) or that his job that day was actually not that hard (relatively) because the circuit and the car were not conducive to making errors. COTD talks about Villeneuve at jarama in 1981, which is an excellent example – that car was a dog to drive and he was under immense pressure all race. If he had made one error, all would have been lost. That’s why people still talk about it today. Conversely, people still talk about Abu Dhabi 2010 today but not with any reverence for Petrov. And no one talks about great defensive driving in 2022 at all.
Kringle
19th November 2022, 10:20
@frood19 new comment of the day right there.
Defensive driving makes up the other 50% of a great battle. When DC was stuck behind Bernoldi at Monaco 2001, I found myself downgrading DC’s driving and recognising Enrique.
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
19th November 2022, 14:02
@frood19
Common misconception.
The idea of DRS came up early in 2010 more as a reaction to Bahrain been awful that year (Which was more down to them using the longer endurance layout that year) & was added to the 2011 regulations well before Abu Dhabi.
It was announced by the FIA on June 23rd.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/fia-announces-moveable-wing-changes-4439614/4439614/
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
19th November 2022, 1:48
The more races I watch the more I realize the clowns are running the circus that is F1. How do you leave a driver on the side of the track for an entire race? The team, organizers, medical team, track workers, …, never noticed? Unacceptable!
Nikos (@exeviolthor)
19th November 2022, 3:28
@jimfromus
It seems that not even Haas noticed it…
Miane
19th November 2022, 5:09
The problem was Michael Masi, everything is fine now.
Jere (@jerejj)
19th November 2022, 6:43
@jimfromus @exeviolthor
His fault when he didn’t use his opportunity to go into the medical car while it was at their collision location.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
19th November 2022, 8:26
I just assumed Magnussen chose to stay in the infield for whatever reason. It did seem a bit weird at the time. Could he have run across the track during the late safety car? I would have thought there was a gate somewhere that would have let him up into the back of the paddock. Where he ended up he was probably no more than 100m away from HAAS. Just a little bit of climbing to do.
I wonder if he tried a bit of Danish with the marshalls? Might have worked.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
19th November 2022, 3:12
The way DRS is used makes it obvious that the goal isn’t to improve the quality of the racing and just massively increase the quantity of passing.
Overtaking should be realistically possible but still difficult enough that drivers have to work for it and where defending is possible via clever car placement and late braking.
It’s so frustrating with how easy passing has got to the point where there is so much of it now that none of it really stands out. An overtake used to be an exciting and memorable thing but now it’s so easy and so frequent that most of it is completely forgettable.
Will any pass from the DRS era that involved DRS be remembered? Will any of it be looked back on as fondly as the great scraps and truly exciting overtakes from the pre-DRS era?
I honestly don’t think any of it will so i think all the past decade has done is created a decade of quickly forgettable quantity over quality which is a real shame. A dark period for the sport.
S
19th November 2022, 5:00
All this moaning about DRS, but nothing about the fact that F1 cars are fundamentally poor race cars regardless, and have been for far longer than DRS has existed. Their design actively and intentionally discourages on-track competition.
DRS was introduced and continues to exist because F1 is incapable and unwilling to create a set of regulations that put racing first and lap times second.
If you want to watch Trulli trains every week, @roger-ayles, there are plenty of races in F1’s archives for you to enjoy.
A maximum of 16 per calendar year, of course, because any more than that is too many, right?
By all means, complain about F1 – it certainly warrants it in so many ways – but you don’t have to complain about the same few things every single week.
Gmacz
19th November 2022, 6:15
The DRS issue is fundamental to the sport and should be aired often and vigorously. What are we watching for if not exciting and challenging passes? Yet the DRS aid dilutes that into a dull manoeuvre in most cases.
The crux of it for me is simply quality over quantity. Yes, pre DRS we had some dull races but even then when a pass occurred it was crafted over the preceding laps displaying cunning and courage. Such a satisfying and entertaining spectacle that is largely lost in the F1 we have today.
S
19th November 2022, 6:54
People watch for a large number of reasons – most notable would be on-track competition.
While a DRS pass is usually pretty dull, it’s generally better than drivers not even attempting a move simply because they know it isn’t possible.
F1 as a racing series is broken – but not because of DRS.
Jere (@jerejj)
19th November 2022, 6:41
He could’ve & should’ve gone into the medical car simultaneously with Ricciardo when it was at their collision site.
Space for five persons overall, given the model is road car-based, & not like he didn’t have enough time to do so either.
Yes, Haas could’ve handled the matter better.
How could defending have been more difficult for Kev without DRS than with it? Somewhat contradictory portion, & otherwise, I disagree that overtaking has been too easy, although some circuit portions, such as Kemmel straight, could do without DRS.
Tommy Scragend
19th November 2022, 9:11
No one has said that. The COTD said that it would have been difficult for Magnussen to win the race without DRS, but it was impossible with it.
frood19 (@frood19)
19th November 2022, 8:48
That Aston Martin website is a real turrd – I know it’s just a silly interview but I quite like the inanity of them. But the corporate dross written there, the product plugs, the awful mottos just make me feel a bit queasy.
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
19th November 2022, 13:56
I’d much rather DRS not be there & i’d prefer to see them moving towards getting rid of it rather than looking at using it more. But If they are going to keep using it & are going to keep using it the way they are then they need to be smarter about where they place it.
The aim shouldn’t be to simply have a ton more passing, The aim should be to find a balance so that we can see some good competitive battling where overtaking is possible but not too easy. Putting DRS zones on straights where overtaking was already possible without it (Kemmel at Spa for example) does nothing but make things at times far too easy.
Put the zones where it will help make overtaking possible where before it wasn’t rather than in places where it isn’t really needed.
That said I still think that if they want to have an overtaking assist that something along the lines of P2P would be a far better solution. It’s fairer, Less predictable, More in the hands of the drivers & introduces an extra element of strategy for drivers to manage in terms of when/where/how they use it.