In the round-up: McLaren have postponed the planned introduction of their latest minor upgrades to after the summer break
In brief
McLaren postponed latest minor upgrades to after summer break – Stella
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says that its minor upgrades intended for this weekend in Hungary to compliment their major revision from the Austrian Grand Prix will be introduced after the summer break.
Stella had indicated McLaren were planning to introduce more smaller upgrades after their major package, but the team has not brought any new parts for this weekend at the Hungaroring except for a new front wing for Oscar Piastri, the same specification team mate Lando Norris ran in Silverstone.
“Here, we have the front wing to be allocated to Oscar, the new front wing,” Stella said. “Which wasn’t possible because of the limited number of parts, in the UK.
“Then when it comes to the upgrades, we realised that we need – from a design and production point of view – a bit more time to complete the full round. So, what we will actually see is that there will be some new parts coming in the next races and, above all, post-shutdown.”
Doohan storms to first F2 pole of season
Alpine junior driver Jack Doohan secured his first feature race pole position of the Formula 2 season at the Hungaroring.The Virtuosi driver pipped Victor Martins by just half a tenth on his final lying lap to take pole for Sunday’s feature race, with championship leaders Frederik Vesti and Theo Pourchaire on the second row of the grid.
Kush Maini and Dennis Hauger will occupy the front row of the reversed-grid for today’s sprint race. Juan Manuel Correa has also received a three-place grid drop for the sprint race after he was deemed to have impeded Amaury Cordeel at turn 12 during qualifying.
O’Sullivan heads Prema F3 feature race front row
Zak O’Sullivan will start the F3 feature race from pole position ahead of Prema team mate Dino Beganovic.
The Williams junior driver beat his Prema team mate of the Ferrari driver academy by four tenths of a second in yesterday’s qualifying session to take pole at the Hungaroring. Leonardo Fornaroli was third for Trident with Franco Colapinto, another Williams junior, fourth.
Gabriele Minì will lead the field for today’s sprint race from reverse-grid pole position.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Like someone cut my heart out – Claire Williams on sale of father’s F1 team (F1)
''When I left in Monza it felt like someone cut my heart out and it has never been returned. You just have to find something to put in its place. But it was very difficult then and three years on, it is still really hard.It is just one of those griefs that is really difficult to get over, or to come to terms with.''
'As much as everyone at Red Bull insist the 33-year-old will remain with the team until at least the end of his contract and the end of the 2024 season, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko have shown they won’t wait. Patience is not a virtue adhered to at Red Bull.'
EXCLUSIVE: Boss Signs Formula 1 Driver Fernando Alonso as Brand Ambassador (Women's Wear Daily)
Hugo Boss senior vice president of global marketing Nadia Kokni: ''When we think about Fernando Alonso, he is an icon. He’s definitely a boss on the track and an icon of the sport. He’s also enjoying a renaissance — I don’t think people really could imagine that someone who has been at the top for so long could really have this renewed energy. For us, it’s amazing to be associated with someone who is a living legend and a boss of their domain.''
Top Formula-E Execs, Team Owners, Sponsors And Insiders Talk Growth Of The Global Series (Forbes)
Michael Andretti: ''It's amazing to watch that technology grow and see where it's going. So it's been a lot of fun to be a part of. The other thing that really drives us here is the competition. It's as good as you're getting anywhere in the world. Drivers are top-notch. Very, very competitive. It feels good when you do well here.''
Nashville poised to host 2024 IndyCar season finale (Racer)
'The Nashville Grand Prix is expected to receive a new contract from the IndyCar Series that will keep the popular Tennessean street race on the calendar after its three-year contract with the series concludes once the August 4-6 event is held. Multiple sources have told RACER the Music City Grand Prix will not only continue, but two significant changes are in the works for next year’s race.'
F2 points leader Vesti reunited with his engineer in Hungary (Formula Scout)
Frederik Vesti: ''Pedro (Matos) is back. He's back, and he’s confident, so it’s good to have that feeling and confidence back, because when you miss your engineer for the weekend it’s (tough).''
Updated statement regarding Lydden Hill incident (World Rallycross)
'Following a fire in the service area of the Special ONE Racing team at Lydden Hill Race Circuit in Kent, England today (Friday, 21 July), the FIA World Rallycross Championship races scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday, 22 July) will not take place while investigations continue regarding the cause of the fire. The fire began just before 08:45, with fire crews working hard to bring it under control and extinguish it as swiftly as possible. Regrettably, the entire Special ONE Racing area was burnt down, including both of their RX1e cars. There were no injuries and no other racing cars were affected.'
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
You will find us with a black nose on the FRECA grid, as we think about Dilano while we go back racing#FRECA #RacingForDilano pic.twitter.com/2lRfuXLZaR
— MP Motorsport (@OfficialMPteam) July 21, 2023
Thank you to the mechanics back at the garage for the tremendous job they did to get the car back on track for FP2. Better feelings for tomorrow, we will give it everything we’ve got. 💪
Gracias a todo mi equipo en el garaje por el tremendo trabajo que hicieron para devolver el… pic.twitter.com/mOo62ruG1o
— Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) July 21, 2023
Oconheimer. Showing in cinemas now 🎞️#Alpine #Oppenheimer pic.twitter.com/LgXd3NVHDt
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) July 21, 2023
A little too close 🫣
Teammates @RGrosjean and @ColtonHerta almost come together in practice. #INDYCAR // @INDYCARatIowa pic.twitter.com/3MJW3KtLrx
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 21, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
With Daniel Ricciardo’s return to the F1 grid this weekend with AlphaTauri sparking speculation over Sergio Perez’s future at Red Bull, @robben reckons Perez’s practice crash from yesterday was just him playing mind games…
Interesting tactic by Perez to limit Ricciardo’s dry running by causing a red flag before the rain arrives.
Roope Pöyry
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Phillip C’De Baca and Matthew!
Mark (@mrcento)
22nd July 2023, 0:23
Or in other words…. The recent McLaren upgrades have probably slightly over delivered, They’re now in a far more competitive place, and with Hungary being a track they don’t expect to go well at (albeit looked promisingly ok in practice), They’re going to take a little bit more time to assess what they already have, see what else they can get out of what else they have coming, with the added benefit of not showing their full hand on the upgrade package and what direction they are going to the rest of the teams before the summer break.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
22nd July 2023, 4:10
@mrcento
Yes indeed. Those are other words.
Could be true. Or of course it could also be true as originally stated.
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd July 2023, 8:15
The Independent post is spot-on. Horner, of course, said what he did because what else could/would/should he say, given neither current driver’s contract is about to expire?
Sacking is nevertheless a possibility under certain circumstances since contracts are always terminatable.
On a related matter, COTD’s joke is good.
Oconheimer, though, really?
Asd
22nd July 2023, 10:10
Nashville doesnt deserve to be the season closer unless they repave the whole course. Those streets are a mess.