In the round-up: Mick Schumacher admits it took him several races to get the best out of his car at the start of the 2022 season
In brief
Schumacher ‘got lost with car set-up’ early in season
After a disappointing second season in Formula 1 which ended with him losing his drive at Haas, Mick Schumacher admitted it took him several races to get the best out of the car.“Looking back, my approach was probably wrong,” he told Auto Motor und Sport. “We got lost with the car set-up at the beginning, but then caught on relatively quickly and made the right decisions.
“We started again from scratch. From the Canadian GP onwards I had a car that suited me and that we have continuously improved.”
Schumacher was on course to score his first points of the season in Montreal when he retired with a technical problem. He delivered on his promise by taking points in the next two races, but did not return to the top 10 again over the rest of the year.
IndyCar documentary series detailed
IndyCar will have its own six-part television documentary series focusing on next year’s Indianapolis 500 broadcast on The CW Network and VICE early next year.
The series, titled ‘100 Days to Indy’, will been produced by VICE and will be shown on CW before being re-aired soon after on VICE TV. It will explore the early part of the IndyCar season and follow drivers and teams in the build up to next year’s Indy 500.
Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles said the new show will provide fans an “unprecedented front row seat as the racing season begins and the countdown to Indy accelerates.”
Andretti unveil Gen3 Formula E car
Andretti Formula E team have revealed their new Gen3 car for the 2023 edition of the all-electric championship.
The American team have changed powertrain suppliers from BMW to Porsche for next year’s championship. Jake Dennis will remain at the team but will be joined by Andre Lotterer for the new season, which begins next month in Mexico.
French F4 champion Giusti moves to FREC for 2023
French Formula 4 championship Alessandro Giusti will compete in next year’s Formula Regional European Championship for G4 Racing, the team announced.
Giust took two race wins, 12 podium finishes and six pole positions throughout the 21 race championship en route to the title.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Australian Grand Prix tickets sell-out within hours (The Age)
"Next year’s Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park is on track for a record attendance after tickets for the Sunday race day sold out in three-and-a-half hours on Tuesday. But general admission tickets and grandstand spot for next April’s event went on sale at 10am on Tuesday and organisers were surprised by the rapid take-up."
Ricciardo planning 2023 American motorcycle journey (Speedcafe)
"Just taking more time for me to do things, prioritise some other things but also I’m trying to plan a ride across America. That’s something that I know will be yes, exciting, fun, but I’ll also just get so much self-reflection time."
FIA creates e-library to preserve its motor sport and mobility heritage (FIA)
"In order to preserve its rich heritage for future generations, the FIA will digitise its archives, creating an e-library that will be accessible to all in 2024, when the FIA celebrates its 120th anniversary. Today, a beta version of the e-library was presented for feedback to the FIA Member Clubs at the FIA Annual General Assembly in Bologna, Italy."
REVEALED: The move you voted as the best overtake of the 2022 F1 season (F1)
"Sebastian Vettel’s last-gasp pass on Kevin Magnussen at the United States Grand Prix has been voted as the best move of the 2022 season, earning the retiring F1 star the overall Crypto.com Overtake King crown."
Chip Ganassi Racing and The American Legion Announce Multi-Year Partnership Extension (Chip Ganassi)
"Chip Ganassi Racing and The American Legion announced a multi-year partnership extension today that features primary sponsorship of the No. 10 Honda driven by 2021 IndyCar Champion Alex Palou. The American Legion will be featured prominently across Chip Ganassi Racing’s IndyCar program, including 2022 Indianapolis 500 Winner Marcus Ericsson, as well as development driver Kyffin Simpson in the Indy NXT Series."
Tech download: IndyCar fuel saving strategies (Racer)
"Welcome to the first installment of a new series of IndyCar technical deep-dives that we’ll be running through the winter. Over the coming weeks we’ll be shining the spotlight onto all sorts of topics related to making an IndyCar go fast, many of which are rarely discussed in detail outside of engineering debriefs."
Top 10 F2 Moments (F1 via YouTube)
"The 2022 Formula 2 season gave us no shortage of memorable moments! Here are our top ten..."
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:
It was a pleasure to address the @FIA African Sport Clubs meeting at our Annual General Assembly with FIA Vice President for Sport @R_F_Rocha. Africa has huge potential for growth and is key to our goal of doubling motor sport participation and increasing diversity.#FIAAGA2022 pic.twitter.com/T3M3Eijbai
— Mohammed Ben Sulayem (@Ben_Sulayem) December 8, 2022
Thank you to everyone that joined us on Campus for our Evening With Christian and @therealdcf1, as well as those that helped support Wings For Life 🤝 pic.twitter.com/uRZvkQFccg
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) December 8, 2022
2 years later, back home! 🖤#TeamZHOU pic.twitter.com/nCyTPgEgnq
— 周冠宇 | Zhou Guanyu 🇨🇳 (@ZhouGuanyu24) December 8, 2022
Remember the wedding couple who received updates on last year's Brasilian GP during the ceremony? 😁👏
Well, this year, we surprised them with a (slightly late) wedding gift… with a difference! A race suit signed by @LewisHamilton 💚💛 pic.twitter.com/DHrwvJRZSt
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) December 8, 2022
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
With Daniel Ricciardo being rated a lowly 19th out of 20 drivers in RaceFans’ 2022 driver rankings, @slowmo believes it’s a fair position for the McLaren driver…
The few high points he had is why I agree with why he was rated above Latifi. For me he did have several races where he maximised the car performance but they were just so few which is why ultimately he was completely dismantled by Norris this year. Maybe if Norris had performed worse at more races then it would have made Ricciardo look better, but he didn’t and hence why I think such a low ranking is fair enough. At the end of the day, McLaren finished fifth and not fourth because of Ricciardo.
slowmo
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Myles Woerner, Samuel Tatipamula and Julien!
Tristan (@skipgamer)
9th December 2022, 2:32
F1 being one of the few sports to continue throughout Covid (and the huge media attention of the cancellation), Drive to Survive, Ricciardo’s character and “shoey” antics, Liberty’s push on social media, accessibility on Kayo. It’s all been a perfect storm for F1 in Australia, it’s really risen to the fore front of the general public’s attention.
Who would of thought it would go from dwindling crowds questioning whether it was worth the investment, failing to be worth a free-to-air slot for all races, and complaints from the old guard of rev-heads at the track about the spectacle just not being the same without the engine noise, to sold out in just a few short hours.
Nothing is capturing Australia’s imagination like F1 at the moment, it’s unheard of for international sporting tickets to sell out that quick, not happening at the Tennis, definitely not the Cricket. The only things that really come close are the national football codes finals, but that’s a completely different kettle of fish.
With this kind of demand it’s making the Vegas prices very understandable. We’re a tiny fraction of the market there. Imagine if there was a U.S racer to get behind. It’s kind of crazy that there isn’t.
S
9th December 2022, 2:49
I think you overestimate the F1 influence in those ticket sales.
This event has arguably the best support category list of any F1 GP in the world – even more so now with F2 and F3 coming – along with big-name band concerts (which also sell out in no time at all). Now that our borders are open to the world again people want to come, and many of them have so much money that they might as well blow a few grand on some champagne and hors d’oeuvres in the hope that they see a celebrity not watching car racing.
F1 is as niche as it has ever been in Australia, and the complaints about it are at least as prevalent.
Difference is that people just want to go out and do things now that Covid is not forcing them to be in lockdown anymore, and due to those lockdowns and government handouts, they have more money than they ever had before.
FOMO is real…
Ciaran (@ciaran)
9th December 2022, 10:15
@skipgamer Agreed, the miserable years around 2014-2016 feel like so long ago! They have the opportunity of a lifetime in so many countries at the moment.
Short Circuit (@jjohn)
9th December 2022, 6:39
Hope Daniel enjoys the ride.
He can choose if he’s Peter Fonda or Dennis Hopper or just live his own dream.
I’d advise being cautious of pulling alongside a pickup truck with a shotgun rack and a
QUIT HONKIN’ I’M RELOADIN
sticker on the back.
Jere (@jerejj)
9th December 2022, 11:40
Seb’s pass is a good choice, but I’d argue that Ocon’s double pass & Zhou’s unseen move on Albon would’ve been equally justified choices.
Zhou at least has enough time for quarantine & other things before returning to Europe for pre-testing stuff.
Coventry Climax
9th December 2022, 14:15
The ‘Best Overtake’ contest is, to my opinion, showing the poor state F1 is in.
Given we’re talking ‘Pinnacle of Motorsports’ here, and ‘the 20 Best Drivers of the World’, racing for 23 rounds of about 2 hours each, a choice out of a pool of three is not particularly impressive.
Maybe the focus on ‘show’ is not working as expected?
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
9th December 2022, 21:41
Indeed, I absolutely agree with quality over quantity when it comes to drs passes, even a battle with some chance to pass which doesn’t materialise can be better than a motorway pass.