In the round-up: Mercedes will expand their Brackley factory with a major, multi-million pound development
In brief
Mercedes announce £70m factory expansion
Mercedes’ main F1 team headquarters in Brackley will undergo a £70m redevelopment and expansion. The team announced it has purchased local land around their existing factory grounds and will expand their design offices, staff facilities, and pedestrianise large parts of the site.
“Our campus was originally built to accommodate 350 people,” said team principal Toto Wolff. “Today, we are at 1,250.
“The development of the campus over the last five years was done at an astonishing pace. Now, what we are planning to do is to expand with multiple new buildings and creating a modern style campus. There will be break-out areas, restaurants, and a state-of-the-art gym and marketing building.”
Kobayashi, Maldonado F1 23 ratings revealed
Kamui Kobayashi and Pastor Maldonado’s driver ratings for F1 23 have been unveiled by EA Sports ahead of the game’s release next month.Both ex F1 drivers will feature in the game for players to hire in the MyTeam mode. Sauber and Caterham star Kobayashi earns an 85 rating with an impressive 94 racecraft rating, while 2012 Spanish Grand Prix winner Maldonado will be rated 82 with an awareness rating of just 65.
Three-times W Series champion and Indy Nxt driver Jamie Chadwick will also be featured as a MyTeam Icon, however the Williams junior driver’s ratings have not yet been revealed.
Palou “went aggressive” to secure Indy 500 pole
Indianapolis 500 pole winner Alex Palou says he went aggressive with his car’s set-up to secure the front spot on the grid for Sunday’s race.
Palou set a four-lap average speed of 234.217mph (376.936kph) – the fastest pole position run in history.
“We went aggressive,” said Palou. “We were the car that was more trimmed [on Saturday] I would say and also [Sunday].
“It’s what we had to do. It was the way that we could fight for pole, and I’m glad that it worked.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Ferrari are set to offer Lewis Hamilton £40MILLION deal to race in red next season (Daily Mail)
"Several well-placed sources in the UK and Italy confirmed that the Ferrari hierarchy are seriously considering two Hamilton-related scenarios. The first, and favoured option, is to partner the veteran with current No 1 Charles Leclerc from next season. That would mean shipping out Carlos Sainz to another team, something they would be prepared to do."
Racing drivers blink at the same points when going round a track (New Scientist)
"Different racing drivers blink at around the same points in a circuit, which could reflect their synchronised mental states as they concentrate on controlling the car. Blinking lubricates our eyes, but how it links to other aspects of our health are unclear. Studying this further could help us better understand conditions where blinking rates change, such as Parkinson’s disease."
F1 ace Valtteri Bottas completes Scottish gravel cycling race (BBC)
"Formula 1 star Valtteri Bottas traded four wheels for two at the weekend to take part in a gravel cycling race in southern Scotland. The Finnish driver was able to compete due to the cancellation of the Emilia Romagna grand prix in Italy. He was also there to support his girlfriend Tiffany Cromwell who won the women's race at The Gralloch event. Bottas finished 114th overall in a time of just over four hours for the 70 mile course at Gatehouse of Fleet."
Abbi Pulling: I'm always looking to have the perfect race (Sky)
"Following her second-place finish in the F1 Academy Barcelona Race 1, Abbi Pulling shared her disappointment at not having the 'perfect race'."
FIA President comments on Baja Rally attack (FIA)
"I am horrified by the reports of an appalling attack at the Baja California Rally in Mexico. Motor sport events should be safe places for participants and spectators. On behalf of the whole FIA family our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this senseless violence."
"It was left to Colin Chapman to affect the sea change, partnering with Ford and installing their 4.2-litre V8 engine in his Lotus 29 in 1963. Only some dubious politicking from the race stewards prevented the great Jim Clark from winning first time out as the Establishment closed ranks to ignore an oil leak on Parnelli Jones’ Watson roadster, which took a narrow and controversial victory over what the Americans had taken to calling the “funny car”."
Roman Stanek: My Greatest Influences (F2)
"My grandfather was actually the one who got me into motorsport, but the first sport that I loved and did was motocross because there as a motocross track near my house, like a two-minute walk away. I started to ride motorbikes there when I was six or seven years old, and I was doing anything that had the smell of the fuel. I really loved it, and then my parents said no it was too dangerous."
A 360 yard drive with Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries (Honda Racing via YouTube)
AlphaTauri drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries hit the driving range.
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 to us via the contact form.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
This is a powerful story of how @BBCSport presenter, @JennieGow, overcame one of the biggest challenges of her life after suffering a devastating stroke last year.
To mark Stroke Awareness Month, she's offered to share this story… #TheOneShow 👉 https://t.co/eNLUi3kjTn pic.twitter.com/wxBpAzwDfK
— BBC The One Show (@BBCTheOneShow) May 22, 2023
Bravo 💪💪💪 @AlexPalou 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 https://t.co/4wPjinmcS5
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) May 22, 2023
👀 Save the date: Friday 26th May at 12:00 pm (BST) #GulfxWilliams #F1 #FormulaOne #Racing @WilliamsRacing pic.twitter.com/sIxjmCwVti
— Gulf Oil International (@GulfOilIntl) May 22, 2023
A busy few days for the #SauberAcademy!
Léna Bühler secured a pole position and her maiden @f1academy win at @Circuitcat_eng! 👏
Meanwhile, a tough weekend for Marcus Amand in #FRECA and Taym Saleh in the OK-Junior FIA #Karting Championship saw each take a best finish of P20. pic.twitter.com/uuix8UFMpX
— Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake (@alfaromeostake) May 22, 2023
Ask Me Anything is back and this time we’re looking for your questions for one of our Performance Engineers, Trevor Green-Smith!
Ask away in the comments👇#HaasF1 pic.twitter.com/MfiK9PYwOY
— MoneyGram Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) May 22, 2023
My angels were with me today. #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/UBkXiy5izN
— Marshall Pruett (@marshallpruett) May 22, 2023
Poor FRO. 🤣#INDYCAR // #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/yszXvUgJZC
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 22, 2023
The interview @jack_harvey93 gave (which was truly classy) showed the stress of this day. It was relief, not elation. He said he couldn’t wait for the day to be over. This team doesn’t expect to be in that position, but the #30 car did an amazing job to pull it off. GL Sunday.
— James Hinchcliffe (@Hinchtown) May 21, 2023
This team @IMS does not waste time! Already painting the walls back to glistening white! pic.twitter.com/vCuN9VFsp0
— J. Douglas Boles (@jdouglas4) May 22, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Are we set for the most processional and boring race of the season in Monaco this weekend? @f1frog isn’t so sure…
I don’t agree with the idea that the Monaco GP is always a procession. If we simply look at the last decade, almost every race had something interesting about it:
2022 – the switch from wet to dry tyres was fascinating from a strategic point of view, with Red Bull beating Ferrari, and those who went to inters early, like Gasly, pulled off some amazing overtakes.
2021 – not the most interesting race, but it was good to see different cars able to be competitive, in this case Ferrari.
2019 – Hamilton was wrongly on the medium tyres while those behind were on quicker hards, and an exciting defensive drive followed with Verstappen not quite able to get through.
2018 – Ricciardo managed to hold onto the lead and win despite considerably less power than those behind.
2017 – Not the best race, but still some interesting strategy between the Ferraris at the front.
2016 – Helped by the drying track, it was somewhat similar to 2022, and with a Ricciardo-Hamilton battle for victory.
2015 – Mercedes’ strategic blunder cost Hamilton victory.
2014 – Jules Bianchi’s amazing drive to score points for Marussia.
…
Monaco is a very special race, the one that requires the most skill to drive on by far and has been as such arguably forever (although there were more contenders in the past), and it is more unique than any other race. There is a reason it has been chosen as the third jewel in the triple crown. It has to remain on the calendar.
F1 frog
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Emmet!
Scottie (@scottie)
23rd May 2023, 4:05
It’s certainly interesting how teams are using their new found spare cash.
I look forward to the on campus specialty training and niche engineering side hustles to come of the new opportunities.
Williams was a little ahead of its time with it’s applied engineering arm back in the day.
frood19 (@frood19)
23rd May 2023, 7:12
I really don’t understand how this is possible within the cost cap – have I completely misunderstood it? Are they borrowing from future years’ caps? I wondered the same about Lawrence Stroll’s massive investment in force India and never got a clear answer on how it could be allowed within the cost cap rules.
S
23rd May 2023, 7:42
You are forgetting that the teams played a huge role in the creation of the budget cap rules…..
When competitors create the rules, they also create all the exclusions and loopholes.
MacLeod (@macleod)
23rd May 2023, 8:08
Strolls massive investement where before the costcap was implimented (the start of those building) Also there are things which aren’t in the costcap building a building could be one of those.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
23rd May 2023, 11:27
Pretty sure capital works (buildings etc) is excluded from cost cap.
Mayrton
23rd May 2023, 12:53
This shows again the cost cap is not something real or realistic. Well, its there but it is not real in the sense that it influences (flattens) the competition. It doesn’t. Some teams are still more equal than others.
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd May 2023, 6:09
I still highly doubt Hamilton would join Ferrari, but I don’t entirely rule out this possibility either because stranger things have happened in F1.
The New Scientist article is interesting. If some drivers really blink at the same circuit parts every lap, that couldn’t be entirely coincidental.
The series in question is either Super Formula or Super GT because the track locations mentioned are Suzuka, Fuji, & Sugo, which appear together annually only in these two categories.
I agree with the COTD in principle. Monaco GP in dry-weather conditions could be the most processional in a given season, but not always.
Even if yes, a dry race can also feature decent excitement or racing like the 2018 & ’19 lead battles show. Overtaking isn’t everything in the end.
slowmo (@slowmo)
23rd May 2023, 9:10
@jerejj my bet is the Ferrari leak is from Hamilton’s camp to bump up his contract during the negotiations. It makes no sense to jump ship from Mercedes to Ferrari at the moment as they have at least a few years of restructuring to do, to be serious challengers again imo.
drmouse (@drmouse)
23rd May 2023, 9:27
TBH I don’t think it makes sense for a driver to jump from Merc or Ferrari to anywhere except RBR, nor does it make much sense for either of the teams to swap take a driver from the other. Overall, neither team are performing significantly better than the other, and it’s a toss-up whether Merc get their chassis sorted or Ferrari get their organisation restructured first. As to the drivers, all are performing on a similar level. I strongly doubt anyone will be moving between these 2 teams.
Todfod (@todfod)
23rd May 2023, 11:53
That’s coz no one wants Sainz. I don’t see anyone leaving Mercedes for Ferrari either… Lewis has won 6 championships with them.. he trusts them to deliver more than he trusts a team thats failed to deliver in 15 seasons.
drmouse (@drmouse)
23rd May 2023, 9:20
I completely agree that overtaking isn’t everything. There’s nothing better, for me, than a multi-lap battle for position, with the driver chasing constantly putting pressure on the leader, trying to force them to make a mistake, looking for an opportunity to pass. It’s really exciting because you’re never quite sure if or when a pass will happen.
However, that’s where Monaco generally falls short for me. Because it’s nearly impossible to overtake on track, even these situations don’t have me on the edge of my seat. Even in 2019, with a close and potentially exciting HAM/VER battle, a pass was such a distant possibility that it wasn’t the even close to the same level of excitement as it would be on any other track. On any other track, HAM running a little wide in a corner, slightly outbraking himself, would have resulted in a pass, whereas in Monaco that isn’t the case.
With the size of the current cars, Monaco is just too narrow IMHO. Even back around 2008, the hairpin was just about an overtaking opportunity (although a very difficult one to pull off). Now, not a chance. Monaco is just not suitable for modern F1 cars, or put another way modern F1 cars are not suitable for Monaco.
Qeki (@qeki)
23rd May 2023, 9:27
@drmouse I don’t know who’s idea it was in the first place but they have the cards in their hands to say where F1 cars can race nowadays. By making them even larger and heavier they need wider and more open tracks. This way they don’t need Monaco, Spa, Monza anymore. Then they add some street circuits to the calendar so I don’t quite get it. It’s not like Jeddah is much different from Monaco?
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd May 2023, 15:14
@drmouse @qeki
While car size may be an issue, overtaking has always (& will always be) been equally difficult in Monaco regardless of dimensions, weight, DRS, tyres, powertrains, anything, etc.
Just nothing to do that could make Monaco more overtaking-friendly, since widening & alternative track configuration options are undoable or limited.
drmouse (@drmouse)
23rd May 2023, 16:09
While I agree that overtaking always has and always will be difficult, I disagree that it has always been equally difficult.
– Logically, on a section of track of a set width, wider and longer* cars make overtaking more difficult.
– Empirically, there are fewer overtakes now than with previous, smaller cars. There are places which were known overtaking spots, albeit very difficult ones, which are never used anymore.
* Longer cars will generally have a larger turning circle, reducing the available space for an overtake.
Short Circuit (@jjohn)
23rd May 2023, 9:40
COTD is excellent, even better in its unabridged form.
Ferrari have made some monumental errors lately, but surely they are not serious about Hamilton 🥴
There are more accurate takes on F1stars “taming the brickyard” and politicking elsewhere.
Mayrton
23rd May 2023, 12:55
Its hard to imagine, but then again AM went for Vettel as well which rationally didn’t make sense at all.
David
23rd May 2023, 16:13
Vettel to AM was entirely rational if you understand what Lawrence Stroll is trying to achieve.
David BR (@david-br)
23rd May 2023, 10:45
I’d love to see Hamilton at Ferrari. It’s been rumoured so many times over the years, it’s difficult to take seriously. Clearly it suits both camps (Hamilton and Ferrari) to have these rumours circulating. But Verstappen could well be in an unassailable Red Bull for several years. Hamilton may at least enjoy these years in a new environment and, who knows, maybe all his title successes can make a difference. The big question is Leclerc. Wouldn’t it be a vote of no confidence in him? In a car he likes, I’d expect Hamilton to be typically a bit faster than Leclerc but also a lot more consistent. If Ferrari reckon the same, that’s a tempting combination. Maybe Leclerc himself would prefer Hamilton there to Sainz too. It’s intriguing, even if all very unlikely.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
23rd May 2023, 13:45
Yes I agree with this. I would like to see it but from Lewis’ point of view, is it worth it. Merc are just as likely to be able to bring their car up to the level of the Red Bull as Ferrari.
I cannot believe the money alone would be enough. He wants that eighth title.
Jason (@jasonj)
23rd May 2023, 15:40
@phil-f1-21
That 8th isn’t coming unless he lands himself in a Red Bull, since Hamilton clearly knows that, the next best thing is cash and a serious amount of avid supporters buying his merchandise, for years to come.
David BR (@david-br)
23rd May 2023, 16:29
@phil-f1-21 I think it would be prestige of driving for Ferrari and the prospect of winning a title at another constructor. The question you hit on is whether Merc are just as likely as Ferrari to bring their car up to Red Bull level. They clearly have the resources, I’m not sure how much they’ve learnt about listening to their drivers though.
RandomMallard
23rd May 2023, 11:10
As much as I would like to see Hamilton in a Ferrari, I would trust (the recently departed) Mystic Meg before I trusted anything the Daily Mail has to say.
Tragic news about the Baja Rally attack. Rest In Peace to all those who were killed, and thoughts and prayers to their friends, families and other survivors.
Re the Indy 500 article, one does wonder if F1 is a little rich to talk about “dubious politicking from the race stewards”…
Very emotional story from Jennie Gow. Glad to see that she seems to be doing alright.
Re COTD, I think Monaco does have the potential to be a very good race, and is one where strategy can very much be the deciding factor. And it has the single best qualifying session of the year, so I’d keep it for that reason as well.
In my opinion, it looks like Williams are going to be announcing a Gulf livery. 2021 likely refers to the McLaren Monaco Gulf livery of that year, and the shot at the end looks like it could represent a showroom, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Gulf get another run out at Monaco.