In the round-up: Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur says this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix marks a good opportunity for Ferrari to fight for a victory
In brief
Monaco “a good opportunity” for Ferrari to fight for win – Vasseur
Despite sitting in fourth place in the constructors’ championship after five rounds of the 2023 season with just a single podium finish for Charles Leclerc in Baku, Vasseur believes Ferrari’s strength in qualifying could pay dividends in Monaco this weekend.
“From the beginning [of the season], I think we were always in a position to fight for pole position,” said Vasseur. “And when you start from the first row in Monaco, you can expect to win – or at least you have the chance to do it.
“For sure it’s a good opportunity for us, now let’s see what’s happens tomorrow and Saturday, before the race on Sunday.”
Aston Martin moving into new factory
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack says he is in the process of moving into the team’s multi-million pound new factory build at their headquarters at Silverstone, which is in the process of being completed over 2023.“I moved out of the factory yesterday and I move into the new one on Monday,” Krack explained. “So I got my box with all my stuff in and on Monday it will be in the new factory.
“Obviously for people like me, it’s easy – I just have an office – but for the whole production side, the move has already started earlier and it will go also for longer. Then you have your test equipment and your test facilities that have to move. So there is a masterplan in place that has been followed so far and the move has started and is going over the next, I would say, two or three weeks. And we are all super-excited to be in this fantastic facility.”
Stanek hit with grid penalty for Boschung clash
Formula 2 driver Roman Stanek will drop three places on the grid for tomorrow’s sprint race after Monaco Grand Prix stewards deemed him responsible for crashing into Ralph Boschung at Anthony Noghes in yesterday’s practice session.
The stewards determined that the Trident driver “turned in for the corner without allowing the room that car 25 [Boschung] was owed” and was wholly responsible for the collision. He was handed a three-place grid penalty from where he qualifies for Saturday’s sprint race and given two penalty points.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Explained: Why F1 has more street circuits than ever before (Williams)
"In sharp contrast to those failed attempts, the Singapore Grand Prix has become the standout weekend for the country and demonstrates how much of an event F1 can be for a host city. A-list musicians perform daily, hotels get fully booked up with guests, and the combination of these with F1 creates an inescapable party atmosphere for anyone there, whether or not they have tickets to the race."
Las Vegas drivers share frustrations over F1 paving as main work moves to Harmon (8 News Now)
"The first round of F1 paving wrapped up on Las Vegas Boulevard last week, but now the traffic nightmare has moved to Harmon Avenue between the Strip and Koval Lane. Myll and other local drivers said they have to give themselves at least an extra half hour to get through the area safely. He told 8 News Now winding lanes and rolling closures cause a myriad of issues."
Lewis Hamilton supports 'brave' Vinicius Junior for standing up to racist abuse (Sky)
"Lewis Hamilton says it's devastating that racist abuse continues to exist in 2023 and has supported Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior for standing up to it in recent weeks."
Broadcast shake-up for Jakarta E-Prix (Formula E)
"Ben Edwards joins Formula E’s broadcast team for the rest of Season 9 taking over from Jack Nicholls, who has moved on from the championship."
Iwasa expecting close battle for pole to get Championship fight back on track (Formula 2)
"I think pole is possible for sure. We have the potential to get pole, but we shouldn’t think about it too much. We just have to do our best as a team to get the most speed out of it and then in my driving performance. I need to spend some time from now until Qualifying to do that."
Lando Norris Plays F1 23 For The First Time! (Quadrant via YouTube)
"Lando Norris takes on the brand new F1 23 game, getting an exclusive first look at the new Formula 1 Las Vegas track!"
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Post surgery update from Stefan.#IsItMay2024Yet pic.twitter.com/GRZdoBZ1NM
— Stefan Wilson (@stef_wilson) May 25, 2023
The statue of "Williams", the first winner at Monaco, buried beneath a grandstand. Good to see there is such respect for history… @f1 @ACM_Media pic.twitter.com/eL78ckgVY1
— Joe Saward (@joesaward) May 25, 2023
With F1 now controlling the terrestrial television pictures in Monaco for the first time, it is immediately noticeable that most of the camera angles are completely different this year. Reminds me of F1's old digital TV service from the late 90s/early 2000s #MonacoGP 🇲🇨
— Sean Kelly (@virtualstatman) May 25, 2023
This is the new T1 grandstand! 🥰🥰🥰#F1 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/aEyACeLmq2
— Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (@Circuitcat_eng) May 25, 2023
A beautiful tribute for a very special weekend for @arthur_leclerc7 ✨
Both Arthur and older brother @Charles_Leclerc are paying tribute to their late father Hervé with their helmet designs ❤️#MonacoGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/jrIvHwuwqp
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) May 25, 2023
God save the King! A royal coronation is a once-in-a-lifetime event for Brits and I had to honor that this year. The #Indy500 is Motorsports biggest stage, so what better way?!@RoyalFamily | @_PeopleReady | @rllracing | @polendesigns | @indycar | @IMS | @BellRacingHQ |… pic.twitter.com/3Oz6yxxe52
— Jack Harvey (@jack_harvey93) May 25, 2023
Here it is!
Introducing the @McLarenAuto 720S Evo now in Assetto Corsa Competizione… FOR FREE!
Restart your Steam Client to download the update and put the pedal to the metal!
Also coming to console soon
— Assetto Corsa (@AC_assettocorsa) May 25, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
With both Lewis Hamilton and Frederic Vasseur both dismissing reports that they were discussing a potential Hamilton move to Ferrari, @david-br is disappointed that the link up does not appear to be on the cards…
Sigh. Sounds like it won’t happen, though why Lewis would sign before seeing how the next, say, third or even half of a season pans out with the attempts to redesign the car, I don’t know. A shame if he doesn’t leave as I think this is the last window for Hamilton to make this move, or any move to another front-running team, while still at a peak. Presuming a multi-year contract with Mercedes. A straight swap of Leclerc and Hamilton would have been ideal and fascinating.
David BR
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Lustigson and Zazeems!
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
26th May 2023, 0:08
Ferrari’s chances would be better if they didn’t have a lead driver that cannot keep the car out of the barriers.
Jere (@jerejj)
26th May 2023, 6:20
@proesterchen Or had a more efficient strategic team.
Jere (@jerejj)
26th May 2023, 6:19
Yes, but everything needs to be perfect, as last season’s race shows starting on pole position or even front-row alone is insufficient, & knowing Ferrari, I’m more skeptical than hopeful they’d convert a pole into a victory this time around either.
The Williams article explains the general street or temporary circuit trend well.
Accessibility & being in the center of things are indeed the biggest factors.
8 News Now: The same story with all new temporary circuits when before inaugural event.
Re the Quadrant video: The last grid positions are in a corner rather than a straight line, which is unusual for any circuit.
I assume that the sharp-ish final corner is why the S/F straight won’t feature an activation zone.
I guess that monorail bridge facing T9 is why the original sweeping continuous fast T6 configuration changed into a slow-ish T7-9 corner combination because that bridge limits the available runoff space.
The track has a good flowing high-speed tempo, a la Jeddah Corniche Circuit anyway, so no biggie.
That roughly 2 km long Strip straight seems & feels never-ending.
I wish this concrete barrier at T15 were further away from the track edge, unless the runoff extent is also problematic.
Overall, I’m looking forward to this track’s debut & definitely, an instant favorite driving-wise.
I’m yet to see the world feed footage in action, so I’ll find out when FP1 begins or within the first few minutes.
COTD is spot-on.
Simon
26th May 2023, 17:50
As always 🙄🙄🙄