In the round-up: Max Verstappen says that he “hopes I can be happy” after agreeing to collaborate with the producers of Drive to Survive ahead of the new season of the Netflix documentary series
In brief
Verstappen “hopes I can be happy” after watching new Drive to Survive season
Max Verstappen says that he “hopes I can be happy” after agreeing to collaborate with the producers of Drive to Survive ahead of the new season of the Netflix documentary series.
After expressing his unhappiness at how he had been portrayed in early episodes of the show, Verstappen refused to participate with the programme, but agreed to work with the show’s producers in filming the latest season.
Asked by RaceFans if he’d been given any assurances by the show’s producers about how he would be portrayed, Verstappen said he “hopes I can be happy” after he watches it back.
“I spoke with them, of course, before I was going to give an interview with them,” he said. “I hope they understood my message and I also know, especially being a world champion, that you have to be part of something like that.
“I think I gave them like 30 minutes, or an hour of an interview. I hope they’re going to use it well – I don’t know when I’m going to watch it. But I hope they’re happy and I hope I can be happy after watching it. And I know that it’s important to Formula 1 as well for growing the sport in general.”
Herta tops day one of IndyCar test
Colton Herta was the fastest driver during the opening day of the pre-season IndyCar test at The Thermal Club in California.The Andretti driver’s quickest time of a 1’39.372 was just four-thousandths of a second ahead of Christian Lundgaard, with Alex Palou third fastest for Chip Ganassi.
Marcus Armstrong was the best-placed of the four rookies in the filed, setting the tenth-fastest time of the day. The second day of the test remains ongoing at time of writing.
Indy 500 loses double points status
The Indianapolis 500 will no longer count for double points towards the IndyCar championship after the series announced it will now award the same number of points as every other race.
Since 2014, the Indy 500 has awarded 100 points to the winner, rather than the usual 50, with all other positions paying double what they typically would. However, IndyCar announced the race would now pay out the usual amount.
“For 17 consecutive seasons, the IndyCar Series championship has been decided in the final race of the season,” said IndyCar president Jay Frye. “While double points at the Indianapolis 500 has not altered who won the season-long championship, occasionally it has had a negative effect on the final position of the full-time teams.
“As our entry list grows, this move will provide consistency for teams competing for championship positions while not diminishing the importance of ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
'New York? Why not!': Red Bull boss Christian Horner on the rise of F1 in the USA (Daily Mail)
"Racing in big cities in the US is really exciting. A race here in the Big Apple, for example, what a spectacle that would be. You can never say never (to a fourth US race). We've got other North American races as well, with Montreal, and there's certainly demand for it, so why not?"
Make Your Mark: Miami 2023 Edition (Red Bull)
"With one of the most recognisable cars on track, it’s not often we run a special livery. However, this year we wanted to celebrate you, our loyal fans, by giving you the chance to design not one, but three special liveries for the 2023 US races. You’ll get the opportunity to design a livery for the side chassis and end plates. That’s not all, the winner and their plus one will be provided flights, accommodation and an garage tour during the race weekend."
Formula One, county agree to make race a long-term Las Vegas event (Las Vegas Review Journal)
"Making Las Vegas a permanent Grand Prix stop on the F1 calendar is our goal, and a 10-year approval provides us with the certainty that race weekend would be available on the calendar for the long term."
Marcus Amand completes 2023 FRECA line-up (ART)
"ART Grand Prix is pleased to announce a new partnership with Marcus Amand to add to its trio of drivers entered in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine."
"Superstar Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo knows exactly why the sport has become so popular in America: his dashing looks, and the hit Netflix series, 'Drive to Survive'."
F1 Driver George Russell Talks Therapy, Masculinity and Mental Maintenance (Men's Health UK)
"George Russell wants to encourage more men to take care of their mental health. Depending on the severity of your issue that could mean reaching out to a professional, like he did. It could also mean speaking with friends and family or taking better care of your physical health."
Our Time | #FordReturns (Ford Performance via YouTube)
"We are bringing our 173,000 employees around the world along with us on this journey of a lifetime. Buckle up for the ride!"
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Officially official 😏 #FordReturns @f1
Innovation ✅
Sustainability ✅
Electrification ✅
World Stage ✅ pic.twitter.com/BlJx07ibsw— Ford Performance (@FordPerformance) February 3, 2023
Thanks @McLarenF1 for a great first day 😀🧡
🍿 https://t.co/HVGcuNKprK pic.twitter.com/xbBwIj7gpV
— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) February 3, 2023
It was reported last week, but a proper goodbye to the team that gave me my @F1 debut seemed right.
We’ve had a lot of fun over the years @WilliamsRacing, and did some pretty kick-ass stuff on track too. I’m not sad about leaving the story here, I’m proud that I did what I did. pic.twitter.com/mYyNU2TTox
— Jack Aitken – 한세용 (@JaitkenRacer) February 3, 2023
Mick meets the Team. 📸 Getting stuck into 2023 with a visit to Brackley and Brixworth. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/E0vka74R3i
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) February 3, 2023
|@PREMA_Team has announced its first signing for the inaugural @f1academy season – former @WSeriesRacing racer @racerbia.
The first driver to compete in the series was announced yesterday:https://t.co/o6GXTl2cha#F1Academy
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) February 3, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
After Red Bull unveiled the livery in which their RB19 will race in this season, @jabr is left with a sense of deja vu…
Did RaceFans use last year’s images by mistake?
Jose Abreu
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Mantas Degutis!
Tristan (@skipgamer)
4th February 2023, 2:17
Wow, that pop from the crowd when Ricciardo said his good looks. Conclusive proof that F1 has transcended motorsport fans.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th February 2023, 6:41
No Christian, three in a single country & five on the NA continent as a whole are more than enough.
Otherwise, we might start making F1 more like IndyCar, Nascar, etc., i.e., a regional-specific series.
Good thing a NY GP isn’t an intention based on Greg Maffei’s words last year, but of course, never say never.
I like the board image that features Homer, Burns, Jasmine from Aladdin, & Bottas as a king.
I don’t recognize the last two.
Re COTD: Possibly, which would be unsurprising, although if true, the team originally used those rather than Racefans.net or any other 3rd-party.
HC
4th February 2023, 6:57
Noone likes that dirty driver.
Itsmeagain (@itsme)
4th February 2023, 8:53
You mean you and your friends in the bubble? I understand that his popularity has somewhat decreased after some actions last your. Bot ‘none’ like this guy? You will be surprised https://www.skysports.com/amp/f1/news/12433/12440256/f1-fan-survey-lists-max-verstappen-as-most-popular-driver-ahead-of-lando-norris-and-lewis-hamilton
Yaboy
4th February 2023, 8:59
I like Max he’s my favourite driver if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it at all
elvira
4th February 2023, 10:36
I like Max more than I like his boss. That’s as nice as it gets. Good enough?
elvira
4th February 2023, 10:36
I was wondering why Ricciardo wasn’t doing the RB Bathurst run – clearly the US PR is worth more to them.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage (@davedai)
5th February 2023, 8:13
Only in America could a compere excitedly welcome “Daniel Ret..rdo” to Oracle Red Bull Racing.
MichaelN
4th February 2023, 12:58
Makes sense that teams who are not necessarily competitive for wins, but still committed to the full Indycar season would feel a bit miffed about one-off entries taking a boatload of points from just one race. Double points races rarely make sense, even if the Indy 500 is still a special race on the calendar (the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 is “only” 500 kilometers, rather than miles like the race at Indy).
Dan Jordan
4th February 2023, 22:46
I would applaud anyone who gets a New York City GP off the ground. It’s still one of the few things I still say will never happen.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage (@davedai)
5th February 2023, 8:56
I think it would have been “WISE” had Ford Performance put World Stage at the top of their list.