In the round-up: Max Verstappen says the doubt over whether he’d won the championship at the Japanese Grand Prix didn’t spoil the occasion.
In brief
Verstappen: “Doesn’t matter” that rule misreading interrupted 2022 crowning
Two months on from the confusion which surrounded his second Formula 1 world championship win, Max Verstappen says the strange circumstances of the finish of the Japanese Grand Prix didn’t take anything away from his triumph.“Not for me,” he told De Limburger. “When you’re ever done and you look back, you don’t think about how you became world champion. What matters is that you became it.
“The way doesn’t matter. My father and I have always said that to each other: it doesn’t matter how you win, as long as you win.”
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem addressed criticism of the finale at the official end-of-season gala last week, insisting the rules change behind the confusion came at the behest of teams, not the governing body.
Pre-season testing begins for Formula E’s landmark 2023 season
Formula E’s ‘Gen3’ era has officially began, with pre-season testing using the all-new car and tyres taking place at Valencia on 13th-16th December.
The first day of running was topped by Maserati, returning to single-seater racing after last racing as a team in F1 in 1957.
Their driver Maximilian Guenther was fastest in both Tuesday sessions, with McLaren’s rookie Jake Hughes in second place in the combined classification. Rounding out the top five were Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche), Oliver Rowland (Mahindra) and Guenther’s team mate Edoardo Mortara.
The fastest laps were set in the morning despite rain hitting the session, and both Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans spun off. In the afternoon Hughes and Sergio Sette Camara stopped on track, while technical trouble prevented Norman Nato and Sebastien Buemi from setting lap times.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Honda rewards junior driver with double 2023 programme
Honda junior Syun Koide won the Japanese Formula 4 title this year, and the brand has rewarded him with two race programmes for 2023.
In single-seaters, Koide will step up to the Formula 3-level Super Formula Lights series with the one-car Toda Racing team, then in sportscars he will race for Team UpGarage in Super GT’s secondary GT300 class.
Koide won nine races in the 2022 Japanese F4 season, making him the third Honda junior to be champion in the series after AlphaTauri F1 driver Yuki Tsunoda and his Red Bull stablemate Ren Sato, who races in Super Formula.
Toyota Racing Series rebrands as FIA championship
There will be another FIA Formula Regional championship in 2023 as the Toyota Racing Series rebrands to become Formula Regional Oceania.
The New Zealand-based series has used Formula Regional cars for its past two seasons, a move that safeguarded its eligibility in the FIA’s superlicence points system, and by becoming an official FIA championship it now means the champion will receive 18 superlicence points rather than 10.
Each season usually takes place over five weeks in January and February, enabling international drivers to contest it as a winter series, and the New Zealand Grand Prix is part of the championship. The rebrand opens the door to the series racing elsewhere in the region, such as Australia.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
IndyCar hailed for trailblazing work in concussion safety (IndyCar)
'IndyCar has again been recognized as a leader in motorsports safety. The latest example comes from the recent International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport, which was held in Amsterdam, where IndyCar's process of collecting and analyzing head trauma impacting its drivers was presented.'
Andretti: Formula 1 entry would be a nice Christmas present (Speedcafe)
'Michael Andretti hopes to learn whether his company will be granted a berth in F1 in the next couple weeks. The American has long been linked with a move into the sport’s premier class and was last year in negotiations to purchase what is currently the Alfa Romeo Sauber operation.'
O’Ward eyeing F1 and then IndyCar return (Racer)
'Pato O’Ward believes he would be able to return to IndyCar in future if he ever gets the chance to race in F1, so has to prioritise such a switch. The Mexican is under a long-term contract with McLaren SP in IndyCar but has also tested for the F1 team and drove in FP1 at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this year.'
Former F1 driver Sergey Sirotkin sends two of his students to Spanish F4 (Formula Scout)
'Drivex School has announced its first two drivers for the 2023 Spanish F4 season, and both are part of former F1 driver Sergey Sirotkin’s S35 Academy. Sirotkin raced for Williams in F1 four years ago.'
Red Bull's Lindblad to race with Prema for 2023 F4 season (Prema)
'Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad will join Prema for the 2023 F4 season, the team is proud to announce. Lindblad made his single-seater debut this year by entering the two final rounds of the Italian F4 championship, where he will compete as his main commitment in 2023.'
GB4 attracts its first privateer entry (GB4)
'Tin-top racer Dylan Hotchin will step up to the GB4 championship in 2023, after confirming plans to enter as a privateer. Hotchin will become GB4's first fully-blown private entry, with the 18-year-old switching from Ford Fiesta racing to single-seaters.'
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:
Farewell Andreas! It's been mega working with you these last few years. I've never seen our team looking as strong as it is now and some of that is credit to the work you've done. Best of luck in the new job mate, I’m sure I’ll see you around. pic.twitter.com/pOvKW4X9ua
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) December 13, 2022
Checking your phone and realising you are the fifth longest tenured Team Principal in F1 after only 9 months in charge 😉 #Alpine pic.twitter.com/bzDKBqoQkj
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) December 13, 2022
🔵 Lucas Fecury 🇧🇷 to race with DEForce Racing for the 2023 @USFJuniors Presented by Cooper Tires Championship. Welcome to the team, @lucasfecury_! 💪🏻 #BringDEForce 👊🏼 | #USFJuniors #USFPro #TeamCooperTire @USFProChamps #DriverAnnouncement pic.twitter.com/tNYw4FxQVj
— DEForce Racing (@DEForceRacing) December 12, 2022
Yashish Manohar joins the ERA grid in 2023 as he wins the first edition of the Next Gen Racer competition! Full story here ⚡: https://t.co/BlfhlHN1Cq#NextGenRacer #nexgenracing #electricracing #softwareag pic.twitter.com/9nPP04eK5N
— Software AG ERA Championship (@ERAChampionship) December 13, 2022
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Multiple team principals moved teams within the F1 paddock on Tuesday
I am fairly surprised by this ‘silly CEO season’ – and what I am wondering the most is what kind of contracts they have.. because I wouldn’t be surprised if someone like Seidl (with his background) has a thorough understanding of the development and designs of the McLaren car – can’t imagine that McLaren or any other team would be very happy seeing the knowledge fall in another teams hands.
JezH79
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Dermot Farrelly, Carlo Grlj and Majed Almadani!
Forrest Gump (@forrestgump)
14th December 2022, 1:25
“The way doesn’t matter. My father and I have always said that to each other: it doesn’t matter how you win, as long as you win.” kind of sums it all up, doesn’t it…
Ucat33 (@ucat33)
14th December 2022, 3:11
Sure does. This kid really needs to stop talking.
Mayrton
14th December 2022, 7:42
Good advise, after all he is not the world champion but we are.. oh wait..
Ucat33 (@ucat33)
14th December 2022, 14:25
That makes him perfect then. Heaven forbid someone try to get better in other aspects of their lives. I guess if he doesn’t want to be loved by all, then he shouldn’t care what he says. But when you say stuff like “Win at all costs”, you shouldn’t be surprised when people accuse you of cheating or being dirty. I am a fan – no doubt he is a generational talent – never questioned that. But, he would be much easier to root for if there was some “do it the right way” about him. I am not accusing him of cheating either – I just wish he would stop saying things that relight the “Max is a cheater” flame.
Jose Silva
14th December 2022, 19:38
My suggestion is that you just delight yourself with the driving and let the shenanigans go, just as you did with Schumacher and Senna.
Moi
14th December 2022, 12:41
Yes, honesty and straightforwardness are no longer virtues, all must bow to the media-training and virtue-signalling ways of today
S
14th December 2022, 5:24
Something wrong with the desire to win? They both are/were professional sporting competitors, after all.
The record books only show the results, so in that sense that is all that’s important.
Not many other professional athletes in the running for humanity awards based solely on their on-field performance either…
Serious question – who’d want to see F1 if every competitor were polite and patient, to the point of lacking in the desire for success?
“After you” – “No, after you” – “No, really, you first” – “It’s okay, I had my turn 3 races ago…”
I’d take a grid full of drivers with Verstappen’s attitude to racing over a bunch of people who lack the desire to push that little bit more or take that extra risk to achieve a better result any day.
Nobody looks back fondly on the days that someone didn’t try for the overtake, or was content to conserve to finish 3rd…
Diez Cilindros (@diezcilindros)
14th December 2022, 7:21
Nobody is talking about not going for a gap, or settling for a P3. The topic is ‘no matter how you win’, and this is completely contrary to the basic notions of sport. Of course it does matter how you win. Winning by cheating, for instance, has nothing to do with ‘sport’.
And a bit of disclaimer: Max has won his second title on full merit (and it wasn’t he, but Masi who broke the rules on the first one), no cheating on his side, I’m JUST talking about the caption, the ways of winning and the sport.
PS: sorry for typos and poor English.
MacLeod (@macleod)
14th December 2022, 7:47
I think he won both titles on merit even if you drop the last race he was still ahead…
In F1 winning is the most importance that was already so in the sixties when i was around the pit area. So if Max said it’s not how you win but that you win that was it didn’t matter if you got full points and win there or the race after as in history he did just win the WC.
S
14th December 2022, 8:28
If you are found to be cheating, there is a penalty.
Whether that penalty costs the win or not is a separate matter.
Exactly how you or I define cheating may differ from how the FIA define it – but ultimately, their opinion is the only one that matters in declaring a winner.
petebaldwin (@)
14th December 2022, 9:30
Yep – it puts him in the same category as the other greats of F1 who all had the same attitude.
oweng (@oweng)
14th December 2022, 9:30
It’s an interesting quote from a psycological point of view. As are the replies it provokes. For some, how you win is important, you can be ruthless but fair for example and still be a winner. For others, just winning is all that matters.
petebaldwin (@)
14th December 2022, 12:45
@oweng – There was an interesting discussion (can’t remember where) about this exact topic but related to football. The England national team (driven by the press and fans) is obsessed about how they win. Play badly but get a result and everyone bangs on about how bad they were. Play well and lose and they’re heroes who fought hard but were unlucky.
Teams like Argentina and France don’t care how they perform because all that matters is winning. Lots of nations couldn’t care less if a dive wins a crucial penalty that settles the match – in fact, I’d say most nations don’t care. Some nations do care though and whilst it’s very honourable, they haven’t won an awful lot…..
If you look at the most successful drivers in F1, most (if not all) have had very dodgy moments where they clearly didn’t care about the rules, their team, their competitors or anything else other than winning.
Short Circuit (@jjohn)
14th December 2022, 11:07
@forrestgump Winning isn’t everything it’s the only thing!
Attributed to a couple of US football coaches depending how far you want to go back. Russell or Sanders.
Qeki (@qeki)
14th December 2022, 14:24
I don’t think Michael had anything to do with that ;)
In the end Jos was his good friend
tielemst
15th December 2022, 9:03
I think it’s kind of awesome that a reply by Verstappen concerning the point rules on shorter race distances gets twisted into a personality issue of him. Maybe he just should have answered with “I’m so happy, the fans here are all amazing. I love coming here”.
Craig
14th December 2022, 8:04
It seemed rather appropriate the title was ‘settled’ in a confusing, unsatisfying manner after F3 and F2.
Jere (@jerejj)
14th December 2022, 11:20
Mclaren certainly trusts that Seidl won’t do anything as they didn’t try & force a Gardening Leave, & the same with Sauber concerning Fred’s move without a waiting period.
Jose Silva
14th December 2022, 19:39
So many people demanding Verstappen to be politically correct.
Roberto Fratelli (@rfratelli)
15th December 2022, 14:48
I don’t blame Verstappen, his comments are justified because he’s a racer.
But for the rest of us watching at home, nobody had a %#^$% idea that those final laps at Suzuka were defining the championship. It was just ridiculous.