In the round-up: IndyCar driver Colton Herta looked into entering the Formula Regional Americas series in an effort to score enough FIA superlicence points to be able to race in Formula 1.
In brief
Herta’s Formula Regional plan
Herta was one of AlphaTauri’s prospective F1 drivers for 2023, but the FIA rejected the multiple IndyCar race-winner’s bid to enter the series as he had not scored enough superlicence points since 2019. He has won seven IndyCar races in that times, but in a closely-fought 2022 season could only finish tenth in the standings, leaving him eight superlicence points short of being F1-eligible.
In his quest to earn more such points, Herta’s father approached the Formula Regional Americas championship about entering his son in the fourth-tier category. “Bryan Herta called me in July of this year, just before Toronto, and wanted to see if he can get [his son] Colton to come and run in our FRegional series because he needed more superlicence points,” the series’ race director Scott Goodyear said on the Racer to Racer podcast.
“The teams and the drivers in FRegional were ecstatic because they thought somebody of Colton’s calibre was going to come to run in the FRegional, and they get a real chance to see how their abilities matched up to somebody that’s one of the best drivers. The FIA protocol [stopped him].”
However an FIA spokesperson told RaceFans they were not aware of any formal request to the governing body regarding a FRegional entry Herta, and pointed out that “because IndyCar and FRegional Americas run in the same calendar time” he would only have been able to claim superlicence points from that series or IndyCar.
By contesting the six races of the final two rounds, which took place after the IndyCar season, it would have been possible – but highly unlikely – for Herta to finish as high as third in the standings and qualify for a superlicence if he won all of them.
Ferrari’s potential 2023 engine gain
Ferrari have made a larger performance step with their 2023 power unit than their rivals, despite restrictions on development, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.Addressing the reliability problems the team encountered last year has allowed Ferrari to unlock 30bhp from its 066/7 engine, it believes, while Mercedes have found 16bhp and Red Bull’s ex-Honda unit boasts an extra 10bhp. Alpine’s Renault power units have been modified without increases in power output.
Alpine to coach the next British F4 champion
The 2023 British Formula 4 champion will receive a year of physical coaching from the Alpine F1 team in the gymnasium at their Enstone headquarters.
The tailored physical training programme is one of several prizes for the champion, as they will also get to shadow McLaren at the 2024 British Grand Prix and will have a test in a FRegional car paid for by one of British F4’s series partners.
Ferrari announces juniors for 2023
Two of the FDA’s eight drivers are new additions, and joined the academy after winning shootout competitions last year. World Karting champion Tuukka Taponen won the FDA’s World Scouting Finals, and Aurelia Nobels won the FIA Women in Motorsport Commissions’s Girls on Track Rising Stars programme. Both had already been announced.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Manchester United: Sir Jim Ratcliffe's company Ineos formally joins process to buy club (BBC)
"Having inspected the accounts at Chelsea early, then left his actual bid until after the deadline for offers, Ratcliffe's tactics raised a few eyebrows last year."
Bohra set for FRegional European Championship debut with Trident (FRegional Europe)
'Coming from a successful 2022 FRegional European Championship that saw the team win the rookie title, Trident will welcome rookie Nikhil Bohra for 2023 as he looks forward to making his series debut. The team, led by Maurizio Salvadori, will continue to run with three cars in the challenging European competition, with the goal of improving their fifth place in the 2022 team championship.'
Team champions Kevin Mills Racing confirm Jack Clifford in GB4 line-up (GB4)
'Australian youngster Jack Clifford will make his European racing debut with Kevin Mills Racing in the 2023 GB4 championship. The 17-year-old is a graduate of Australian Formula Ford, having competed in three different categories in his homeland, in addition to several karting campaigns.'
F2-bound Bearman did “an amazing season” in F3, says Prema’s Rosin (Formula Scout)
'Prema was not quite able to make it four FIA Formula 3 drivers’ titles in a row last year, but with Ollie Bearman it came close.'
Marc Surer über Hülkenberg-Comeback: 'Hat noch eine Rechnung offen' (Formel1.de)
'F1 expert Marc Surer still has a lot of confidence in the German despite the longer break, as he reveals in a video call on the Formel1.de YouTube channel: 'He's a strong talent. In terms of speed, he usually manages it, full stop.'
'Now you have the opportunity to bid for an absolute rarity: An original rear wing endplate from the world champion's W11 car from the 2020 championship season, personally signed by Lewis Hamilton.'
''If China enters F1 with a Chinese manufacturer, driver and an event, this is incredibly encouraging but equally, I respect existing teams’ budgets, and if I am convinced that any new entity does not consist of the right people or the right team, then we will protect the sport from having someone trying to enter who is not serious,'' said Ben Sulayem.'
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
#NeuesProfilbild pic.twitter.com/KBlwlugvbO
— Mick Schumacher (@SchumacherMick) January 16, 2023
What happens when you let @AlpineF1Team driver @OconEsteban surprise unsuspecting guests with passenger laps at Le Castellet? 🤔
Fasten your seatbelts – you’re in for a wild ride! 🎢#Alpine #F1 pic.twitter.com/QIvO6C5Xkr
— Castrol (@Castrol) January 17, 2023
On this set of tyres in the rain at Interlagos, @LewisHamilton raced to his first-ever F1 World Championship. 🏆🧡🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/IA0znio6Em
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) January 17, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Mercedes have indicated they will continue with their 2022 design philosophy this year and try to maximise that rather than take ideas from other teams in their plan to catch up with Red Bull. Although design variation tends to decrease the longer a cycle of technical regulations goes on, Mercedes have faith to keep on going with their concept.
I think it’ll be good if the top teams are still coming at this with different concepts. That increases the chances that even if one team dominates on a particular weekend, another could come into play or win on a different circuit under different conditions. That kind of uncertainty and unpredictability always adds interest to a championship.
Keith Campbell
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Keeleyobsessed!
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
18th January 2023, 0:27
If Mr Herta wants to qualify for a super licence, there are plenty of ways for him to get to that goal, including but not limited to doing better in the professional series he’s been competing in for four full seasons.
During that same time frame, multiple Indycar drivers collected enough super licence points to qualify.
Dex
18th January 2023, 0:32
Sure, as well as Gasly or Magnussen had a fair chance of winning the F1 championship last year.
S
18th January 2023, 0:44
Gasly and Magnussen drove substantially inferior cars than the regular winners did.
Herta, on the other hand, drove almost identical machinery to everyone else on the grid…
Dex
18th January 2023, 2:05
Yeah, but teams matter there almost as much as in F1. Basic car is the same, but everything they do with it later isn’t, and as we can see it makes a huge difference.
S
18th January 2023, 2:10
But not nearly as much difference as in F1.
Anyone in Indycar needs good driving and good strategy to achieve a podium. They all have the tools.
Anyone not in the top 2 teams in F1 needs a miracle to achieve a podium, and many need it to even break into the points.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
18th January 2023, 8:34
Would that be the same team that desperately wants an F1 entry and is convinced they understand and are up to the challenges that come with that?
SteveR
18th January 2023, 1:05
Gotta say, your anti-American stuff is getting a bit old. I’m curious how you would react if it were Penske and not Andretti applying to get into F1…..
anon
18th January 2023, 8:12
SteveR, I wouldn’t necessarily say that poster is anti-American, if only because they seem to have a similar level of contempt towards pretty much everyone, not just Americans.
That said, there is perhaps a point that a number of his backers have been emphasising Herta’s nationality when talking about him entering F1, with the implication that a non-American driver who happened to be performing in the same way as Herta in IndyCar would not be being supported in the same way.
A driver who happened to be in Herta’s position and with Herta’s performances, but happened to be of any other nationality, would also be getting the same treatment as Herta – and it’s quite likely that very few here would be complaining or accusing the FIA of being biased against another nationality.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
18th January 2023, 8:58
I’m anti-“driver not qualifying for a super licence getting a super licence”, and proudly so. You’ll find that that applies to anyone and everyone equally.
I think you’ve asked me that before, and I have no idea why. Care to explain?
SteveR
18th January 2023, 14:19
Sure, your antagonism seems aided at Andretti.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
18th January 2023, 17:54
If Roger Penske tried to get back into Formula 1, he’d have both upsides and downsides to his bid compared to Michael Andretti’s.
It would probably help that he was in Formula 1 before, as well as his significantly higher net worth (almost two orders of magnitude) clearly allowing him much more control over the team, should an entry be granted.
It probably wouldn’t help that he’s the owner of the biggest North American open-wheel racing series (however tiny compared to Formula 1), IMS and the Indy 500, his age would likely be a factor, and his buddies at GM already being busy printing stickers for Michael’s cars might not help, either.
SteveR
19th January 2023, 3:43
At this point I have to ask who you would ‘let’ into F1. Does anyone meet your criteria and why are you so concerned? If they enter and fail then so what? Do you have some monetary connection to F1?
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
19th January 2023, 8:42
At the current cut-rate price? Only works entries.
I cannot think of a privateer bringing enough value to Formula 1 at this moment in time to warrant handing them several hundred million dollars in pure profit with their entry.
lynn-m
18th January 2023, 12:17
@proesterchen If you watched Indycar or knew what you were actually talking about you would know that Herta slipping backwards since he finished 3rd in the championship as a rookie if more down to his teams struggles than any lack of ability on his part.
But then I bet you do actually know that but just want to continue trying to get a job working as Liberty media’s PR man since you seem to vehemently defend everything they do & say and at times seem to take some really ridiculous stances while doing so.
Are you even a fan of the actual sport as some of what you say sometimes suggests you have no idea about anything?
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
18th January 2023, 17:41
If that were true, why would he sign an extension to his contract with said struggling team through 2027?
Jere (@jerejj)
18th January 2023, 1:15
Ferrari’s 30bhp gain claim is quite old already.
A Mclaren car for an Alpine-organized thing rather than an Alpine car.
Unsuspecting how?
So Mclaren has actually stored the tyre set used for their former driver’s last stint in his first WDC-winning race from over 14 years ago.
Billys (@bilarxos)
18th January 2023, 16:35
Jere, I think it’s an Alpine A110 not a McLaren