In the round-up: Red Bull’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey says their dominant 2023 season has been less trouble-free than it looks.
In brief
Newey says Red Bull have overcome “lots” in 2023
Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen have won all five of grands prix between them so far this year for Red Bull. But Newey said the team have had to overcome “lots” during the season already to achieve that.
“It’s the old duck paddling frantically,” he told the team’s podcast this week, “it might look smooth on the top, but it’s not been so smooth underneath.”
“We had a few reliability concerns coming out of the Bahrain test, so there’s always things that kind of you’re always worrying about things. Reliability, performance as well. Melbourne, we struggled to switch the tyres on, particularly on Friday. Got a little bit more on top of it by qualifying, but it certainly wasn’t an easy ride.”
Former McLaren figure praises Hamilton’s wheel-to-wheel demeanour
Sam Michael, the former sporting director of McLaren and technical director of Williams, has praised Lewis Hamilton for his ‘clean’ style of racing, particularly in his rivalry with Max Verstappen.“Lewis has always been a clean driver. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him do something that you’d think ‘oh, that was dirty’,” Michael told the official F1 website.
“Even looking at the recent stuff with him and Max, he goes out of his way to not do stuff. So he might do things where, I don’t know, the pushing off the track and stuff. But that’s not putting the car into a position where it’s like ‘you do this and we crash’. You don’t see Lewis do that, do you?”
Hamilton and Verstappen have touched wheels several times in recent years. The pair infamously tangled at Silverstone in 2021, a collision which Hamilton was penalised for. Verstappen was given a penalty when they collided again at Monza that year and again when they tangled in Jeddah.
Sainz shuts down injury claims
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jnr has rubbished suggestions he picked up an injury ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.
In the week leading up to the race it is tradition for a charity football match to take place in AS Monaco’s ground Stade Louis II between two teams that feature past and present Formula 1 drivers. Some shared their concern online when they saw Sainz had to have a leg strapped up following an incident during this year’s match.
Speculation Sainz had injured himself and put his race participation at risk prompted him to take to social media to say otherwise. “I am well and completely ready to race this weekend in Monaco,” he said. “What happened yesterday was simply a contact during the traditional charity football [match], but it was not an injury. I enjoyed playing football as I always do and now I am really looking forward to the weekend.”
He added the hashtag ‘stop inventing’, referring to a remark he made on the radio to his Ferrari team last year.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Donington Park complete resurface hailed by top racers (Donington Park)
'Donington Park has confirmed full details of a complete resurfacing programme after the entire length of the 2.5-mile circuit was renewed ahead of 2023. This is the first time the circuit has been fully resurfaced for over 20 years and improved grip levels have already seen lap records tumble.'
'Katherine Legge makes an important point as the only female driver in the upcoming Indy 500: 'The car doesn't know the difference, but people do'. Legge, 42, will be making her third appearance — and first in 10 years — in the iconic race. But despite the Indy 500's 107-year history, she's just the ninth woman to ever race in it.'
'This campaign is a mockery of 'Winners drink milk' — a phrase promoting the beloved tradition of the Indy 500 winner chugging milk in Victory Lane. Aside from planting billboard advertisements near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the committee also sent a letter urging the speedway to give the winner plant-based milk or water instead.'
Martins’ need to improve in F2: 'It’s a matter of pushing at the right level' (Formula Scout)
'Victor Martins’ start to the F2 season has had ups and downs, with the rookie sitting 15th in the standings after four rounds. The Alpine junior has showed really strong pace since the beginning, qualifying second on debut at Bahrain and claiming pole position at the second attempt in Jeddah, but has only scored in two races.'
Euroformula heads to Spa for exciting duels (Euroformula)
'CryptoTower Racing Team is this time entrusting its cars to new drivers. Josh Mason, though, is a very well-known face. The Brit, who took three Euroformula wins last year, returns to the series while Gerrard Xie will make his first appearance. He is the reigning Chinese F4 champion and has recently started his racing career in Europe.'
Additional GB4 race confirmed for Donington Park this weekend (GB4)
'There will now be four GB4 Championship races at Donington Park this weekend (27/28 May), with an extra contest added to the event schedule following the abandonment of race one (round four) at Silverstone.'
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:
The fastest drivers of the season so far 👀🏁@TAGHeuer pic.twitter.com/cxt2W0Vchr
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) May 24, 2023
What a way to kick off the #MonacoGP week. 😜 And Kimi helped the All Star Drivers Team to victory. 👏⚽️ pic.twitter.com/MwogToLqRT
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 23, 2023
This Sunday, approximately 1 in every 1,000 people in America will be here. pic.twitter.com/W0wLYUzCYI
— Jake Query (@jakequery) May 23, 2023
.@ColtonHerta wins the Son of the Year award after surprising his father @BryanHerta with the best birthday gift in the world. #Indy500https://t.co/YwAmXp7g3J via @YouTube
— Marshall Pruett (@marshallpruett) May 23, 2023
Mi motor para las 500 Millas de Indianápolis. @alo_oficial 😜 pic.twitter.com/FJ0Rm4YaEv
— Alex Palou Montalbo (@AlexPalou) May 24, 2023
The quiet before the storm. Really excited about media day tomorrow – have some very exciting interviews lined up. Watch out for them on @racefansdotnet over the coming weeks ✌🏼 #MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/481u2WVzX2
— Claire Cottingham (@Cla_Cottingham) May 24, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Honda have announced they will return to F1 in 2026 to supply power units to Aston Martin, who currently have Fernando Alonso in their driver line-up. In 2015, when he was racing for a Honda-powered McLaren team, a frustrated Alonso infamously called Honda’s unreliable F1 power unit of the time a “GP2 engine”.
Despite making this insult on the brand’s home ground in Japan, Honda has no concern about reuniting with Alonso should he remain with Aston Martin through to 2026.
This time round he’ll have to say “FIA Formula 2 Championship engine!”
Electroball76
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Sumedh and Joe Papp!
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
25th May 2023, 0:14
“Plant”-“based” “milk” is for losers.
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
25th May 2023, 9:17
Winners never point out losers. Losers, on the other hand…
Patrick (@paeschli)
25th May 2023, 9:34
I don’t get how it’s legal to call something plant-based « milk » or « a burger ».
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
25th May 2023, 9:49
While I somewhat understand the former, I question the latter, given the list of “ingredients” that have been turned into paddies in human history.
Dan
26th May 2023, 3:47
I suspect you meant patties. Aren’t paddies little paddocks?
MichaelN
25th May 2023, 14:23
Because it takes place in the US. In the EU, plant-based products cannot be labelled as the dairy products they’re imitating.
That said, ‘vegan milk’ does sound better than ‘liquid legume’.
SadF1fan
25th May 2023, 10:00
Plant-based is never milk, because milk comes out of a mammary gland.
Talby (@maichael)
25th May 2023, 12:31
@bullfrog @paeschli Cow’s milk etc. is for babies, though. Except they’re separated from their mothers at birth, so people can drink it, with the mother being hung from one leg and her throat slit well before her time, when she’s too worn out from systematically being violated and impregnated.
And here we’re talking about losers.
A grown person shouldn’t have to breastfeed (which is what you’re doing when you’re drinking actual milk), never mind from the breast of a non-human animal.
People will accept the most perverse (and vicious) behaviors without ever questioning them.
Amonymous
25th May 2023, 16:15
Some dairy executive in the 30s comes up with a way to sell addictive slave-milk and that’s now somehow considered a ‘tradition’. What’s worse; if you question the whole thing, it’s because you’re loser.
-_-
grat
25th May 2023, 21:31
Plant based “milk” goes back centuries, and in English, the term “milk” has been used for plant-based juices since 1200 AD.
Maciek (@maciek)
25th May 2023, 3:42
That’s a wonderfully enlightened take
Maciek (@maciek)
25th May 2023, 3:43
Dang, fail. That was supposed to be a reply to @bullfrog
Miane
25th May 2023, 4:59
Lewis almost stopping at the track before the restart to get Max’s tyres colders, that’s not dity at all.
slowmo (@slowmo)
25th May 2023, 9:08
He was entitled to set the pace at that time and had no obligation to ensure Verstappens tyres were in the correct temperature range. It’s not dirty but if that’s the best you can do then it’s very telling.
Chris Lloyd (@chrisr1718)
25th May 2023, 12:43
Would Lewis’s tyres not have been cold as well then? Think you need to put a little more thought into your comments.
grat
25th May 2023, 21:32
You’re right. Perfectly legal.
Chris Horton
25th May 2023, 5:40
Sounds like Red Bull have been having a nightmare.
Qeki (@qeki)
25th May 2023, 7:11
First I was like where is Kimi and then I was like its Antonelli not Raikkonen
Qeki (@qeki)
25th May 2023, 7:13
Why does Neweys cap look like it should read United colors of benetton
Jere (@jerejj)
25th May 2023, 7:15
Sainz’s participation was never under threat anyway, or at least I never doubted it.
I like COTD’s joke.
Rothmans (@carlosdavid)
25th May 2023, 9:32
Lewis always does this thing where he understeers when somebody wants to overtake him on the outside. That’s not nice. he did it in Silverstone 2021, did it with Albon, and in Spain 2022 against Magnussen.
Bojangles
25th May 2023, 9:46
Yes, Lewis is not the clean driver they say he is. His pupil Russell already learned from him and shows the same nasty behaviour..
melanos
26th May 2023, 1:51
Ayrton Senna used to be the dirtiest of them all, bur Sir has surpassed Ayrton
Mayrton
25th May 2023, 11:28
Not only on these instances. Sam seems to be in need of an optician.
melanos
26th May 2023, 1:49
And I would never buy an used car from the guy
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage (@davedai)
25th May 2023, 11:55
Well he is certainly adept at the aptly put acronym PIT (precision immobilization technique)
Chris Lloyd (@chrisr1718)
25th May 2023, 12:45
“he understeers when somebody wants to overtake him on the outside”, You mean he does what every driver does.
baasbas
25th May 2023, 13:57
@chrisr1718
That seems like a fair assessment. At least a lot more fair than the tinted views of Sam Michael
MichaelN
25th May 2023, 14:13
No, plenty of drivers do not do this. And even those who have a habit of doing so, like the two Mercedes drivers, don’t do it all the time. Outside of F1 it rarely ever happens because their stewards haven’t forgotten what the FIA Code on driver conduct actually says about crowding people off.
grat
25th May 2023, 21:36
So explain to me where it’s in the rules that the driver being overtaken has to get out of the way of the overtaking car?
Surely it’s the overtaking car’s responsibility to overtake cleanly? And overtaking on the outside has ALWAYS been the worst way around someone– so for Hamilton (and every other driver on the grid, including Max) to make it slightly more difficult for the overtaking driver is actually called “good racing”, or at least it used to be.
And explain to me, when Max can see a car to his freakin’ right, on the inside, how Max turning INTO THE OTHER CAR isn’t at least partially his fault?
This idiotic “You have to leave room for the overtaking car” was only added to the rules after Schumacher drove like the original %@@ at Monza, blocking Hamilton from overtaking for half the race.
grat
25th May 2023, 21:41
It’s called defensive driving.
So question: When a car is overtaking another car, on the outside, who’s responsibility is it to ensure the overtake is clean and accident free?
Your argument seems to imply that you think it’s the car being overtaken that has to play nice.
drmouse (@drmouse)
26th May 2023, 7:56
That sounds very similar to Verstappen’s signature move…
Proesterchen_nli
25th May 2023, 9:35
I find it hilarious to refer to an ad campaign activation event as a “beloved tradition”.
grat
25th May 2023, 21:38
Well, that’s because you’re ignoring the fact that it started 90 years ago when a winning driver asked for milk. No advertising involved.
Next you’ll be saying that spraying champagne on the podium is also just an ad campaign.
Facts aren’t your strong point, are they?
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage (@davedai)
25th May 2023, 9:36
So I’ll try it without the link.
I can’t decide if the “new” Merc upgrades makes it look like a duck or a swan.
But it does look different!
grat
25th May 2023, 21:39
Due to the lack of wings, feathers, bills, and the presence of tires and suspension components, you have a strange idea of what both ducks and swans look like.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage (@davedai)
25th May 2023, 23:41
Sigh
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
25th May 2023, 10:04
Adrian, you can paddle your prattle as fast as you want… there’s a flock of other teams that wouldn’t mind having your old duck and its “few reliability concerns”. ;-)
MichaelN
25th May 2023, 14:09
Must be hard for Red Bull to struggle with ‘switch[ing] the tyres on, particularly on Friday’ at one out of five events. Still, Horner might want to sit Newey down and explain to him how he can work their “draconian” (their words) penalty – which was all just a misunderstanding, mind – into these statements.
Also: do better, other teams. There are free practise P1s up for grabs!