In the round-up: Kevin Magnussen insists Haas are capable of more than they have shown in 2023.
In brief
Haas have ‘weakest car but strongest foundations’
Magnussen says Haas are stronger than their car’s performance has indicated through the 2023 season so far.
Haas sit eighth in the constructors standings on 11 points but have only secured one points finish over the last nine rounds, in Austria. Asked if the previous round at Monza has been one of his toughest in F1, after he and team mate Nico Hulkenberg were the last cars running at the flag, Magnussen insisted his team are stronger than they look.
“Certainly it’s one of the weakest [weekends], I think, but I still believe that the team is in a stronger place than it has been,” he said.
“It’s just a paradox that we have probably one of the weakest cars we’ve had. With the strong foundation that I see in the team, I think we can do a lot better and I think we will do a lot better. So it really is a patience game. It’s about really sticking it out with what we have at the moment and waiting for better things.”
Perez lacks focus for being Mexican – Marko
Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko has claimed Sergio Perez lacks the mentality to perform at the same level as the team’s champion drivers Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel because of his nationality.Speaking to Red Bull’s Servus TV channel on Monday, Marko said Perez produced “one of his better weekends” at Monza where he completed a one-two for the team behind Verstappen.
However, Marko added, “we know that he has problems in qualifying, he fluctuates, he’s South American and his head just isn’t as fully focused as Max or Sebastian was.” Perez is from Mexico, in North America.
“But the racing is good and his race yesterday was a very, very good race,” Marko continued. “He had three people to overtake, it wasn’t easy, and the Ferraris were faster on the straight. So he did absolutely everything right.”
Fans must respect drivers’ space in paddock – Gasly
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly has urged fans with paddock access to be considerate of them during grand prix weekends.
Last year’s Mexican Grand Prix saw scenes of some drivers being crowded at times by enthusiastic fans, while the relatively cramped paddock in Monza for last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix also saw some drivers struggle for room during the weekend.
“I love fans and I love to always stop by and give some time, but it’s our work environment,” Gasly said.
“Sometimes it’s a bit tricky to get around and make sure that we are on time for the commitment that we’ve got because it’s minute-by-minute, and it’s clearly one of the busiest pit lanes. It’s very enjoyable, but sometimes it’s even people like knocking at the door inside your hospitality, you wonder how they got there, so [they] need to give the space we need to work properly.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Formula 1 given new deadline by Massa lawyers – who label Hamilton 2008 title a ‘sham’ (Independent)
'The letter, from London-based Enyo Law, set a request for a reply of 14 days but, after responses from F1 and the FIA indicated that two weeks did not present enough time for a suitable reply, Massa’s legal team set a new deadline of 4pm on Friday 8 September for an adequate response to the matter at hand. Should no response be received, his lawyers ''anticipate being instructed to file claims in the UK High Court''.'
So, you want to be an F1 strategy engineer? (Aston Martin)
Tom McCullough: 'Despite all the talented and experienced people in the team, the reams of information at your disposal, the data, the technology and resources, you won't always make the right strategy call. One of the hardest things to understand is how the tyres are going to work in specific conditions and this will inevitably catch you out at some point.'
"I don’t have time. I have to be two hours early to work and be two hours late to get out. Even though we wanted this Formula One race, it’s difficult taking care of four kids and our life for work. All the people working (on) Las Vegas Boulevard coming into work, it is very difficult for us."
Formula 1 owners are stuck marketing a sport after they sold us entertainment (Jalopnik)
'If F1 wants to pull itself out of this dominance-derived slump, it needs to readopt that Drive to Survive S1 mindset. It has already tried selling us repackaged versions of praise for Verstappen’s dominance, and fans aren’t responding. It’s time to find better angles, ones that can portray motorsport as being compelling even in the face of one-man show — before F1 loses all of its hard-earned momentum.'
Liberty Media Corporation announces definitive agreement to acquire QuintEvents (Liberty Media)
'F1 and Quint will continue to be operated as separate companies. The enhanced partnership creates numerous growth opportunities within F1 and for Quint’s other partnerships like the NBA, Kentucky Derby and Moto GP. The transaction will accelerate Quint’s specialized sales engine and leverage onsite event expertise to deliver best-in-class experiences to fans.'
F1 surprise for boy, nine, who passed maths GCSE (BBC)
Mike Elliott: ''We all saw it on the news and saw what he's achieved. Doing a GSCE in maths at nine is a fantastic achievement. To read that you were interested in Formula 1 and potentially becoming an engineer like me, I thought that was brilliant.''
Antonelli returns to FREC action as rumours swirl about his 2024 plans (Formula Scout)
'Stephane Guerin, who is in charge of trackside operations for the Mercedes Junior Team and primarily looks after their F2 title contender Frederik Vesti... could not be drawn to confirm if there was any truth to Antonelli moving up to F2, said 'we are focusing on Antonelli’s development, and the focus is now on FREC’s back-to-back rounds” at the Red Bull Ring and then Monza.'
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Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Yuki and his car through the Canal Grande, 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙩 𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨, @redbullITA Fan activation… the World Premiere of our docufilm in Venice was a great success 🤩
Watch the full video 👉 https://t.co/nTiXxOreJB pic.twitter.com/j8XOeBkU6U
— Visa Cash App RB F1 Team (@visacashapprb) September 7, 2023
Fact… Liam was three when the RB1 debuted 😲⏪ pic.twitter.com/zbGzGUx9NM
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) September 7, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
After our exclusive interview with Lando Norris, in which he admits to being careful about what he says on social media, Erg sympathises with the McLaren driver.
He’s referred to himself in past interviews as both an introvert and anxious, and that probably plays into it a lot more than him being “weird.” Given that he’s one of the most well-liked drivers by the other drivers on the grid who actually know him, it seems more like it’s his discomfort with the media piece of it (and the volume of hate he gets probably compounding on that).
The comments when he accidentally broke Max’s trophy [in Hungary] were absolutely insane, and there’s been a noticeable pull back from social media and almost an edge to him in interviews since then. It seems like that hate had more of an effect than people realized.
I think F1 fans, when it comes to all drivers, need to consider that we’d all be way, way worse in these situations than they are and they’re all pretty young whose entire lives have built up to this. There’s just not really much grace given to any of them and it’s a level of scrutiny that would mess with anyone’s head.
Erg
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Kngs!
Aquila_GD
8th September 2023, 3:38
This comment from Helmut Marko strikes up all the red flags that we want o see removed from the sport. This is a very discriminatory comment and I hope the FIa take this seriously.
Todfod (@todfod)
8th September 2023, 5:47
Agree. I don’t understand the reason behind giving that statement. Of all the ridiculous statements Marko has made about the driver who isn’t Vettel or Max, this is by far the most ridiculous. I can’t think of a more unlikeable character in the F1 paddock… Horner might come close.. but this dude definitely takes the crown.
melanos
8th September 2023, 13:22
Agreed but only because Ron Dennis is not there anymore. If I had the possibility to erase just three people from History so they would never have been born RD would be one of them.
anon
8th September 2023, 7:24
Aquila_GD, this is not the first time either that Marko has made negative remarks based on Perez’s nationality either.
Back in April 2022, when Marko was asked about what concerns he had for Perez’s welfare in the Saudi Arabian GP in the wake of the attacks by the Houthi’s on the nearby oil refinery, Marko effectively went “well, he’s from Mexico City, he should be used to it”.
After the French GP in July 2022, when asked about Perez having been slightly slow to react to the race resuming from a virtual safety car due to being slightly confused over the messages from the FIA, Marko made jokes about Perez being hung over from drinking too much tequila the night before.
In August 2022, Marko then made comments that are similar to the ones he’s made now – i.e. calling Perez “mentally weak” and unable to perform consistently because he was “South American”.
The latest comments are not a one off remark – they’re part of a series of similar comments that Marko’s been making over an extended period of time. However, it seems that both the FIA and Red Bull themselves are ignoring the matter – indeed, at least some of the time, Red Bull are the ones giving Marko the media platform from which to make those remarks in the first place.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
8th September 2023, 9:35
Very much this.
Quite an appalling and racist comment from Marko.
Time to go Helmut, get back to your cave.
RandomMallard
8th September 2023, 11:01
Completely agree. Unwanted and unnecessary comments that have no place in the sport.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
8th September 2023, 13:44
I hope Marko has either chosen to skip Mexico this year, or has hired some very good body guards!
GeeMac (@geemac)
8th September 2023, 6:04
Seriously Helmut…
HAL
8th September 2023, 8:57
Yep, unbelievable… Racist, stupid and ignorant as Mexico is not a South American country. But Brazil his… Motherland of Senna who was known not to be able to focus indeed.
Djeez, Horner, get rid of Her Dr Djunk
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
8th September 2023, 6:04
It’s funny that comment from Marko isn’t being red flagged… That sort of remark is very harmful.
I hope Red Bull puts a stop to it. He’s a disgrace of a person …
Red Andy (@red-andy)
8th September 2023, 6:59
Sounds like Marko needs to go on one of the same courses his former driver Juri Vips went on.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
8th September 2023, 9:38
Yeah, looks like a nice time at RB ! And with Max in couple with the daughter of Nelson Piquet, dinners must be fun …
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
8th September 2023, 13:45
Excellent idea!
Jere (@jerejj)
8th September 2023, 8:23
Mexico is geographically in North America actually.
I’m surprised people still fail to realize this these days.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
8th September 2023, 9:27
@jerejj That is already noted in the article.
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
8th September 2023, 8:36
What a manipulative headline, disgusting.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
8th September 2023, 9:46
What is disgusting? Marko’s behavior ? Or the fact the headline is missing the geographical mistake on top of a plain racist comment ?
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
8th September 2023, 10:39
This is how it should look like, instead of what you see in the news. Shameful “journalism”.
Why would comments made by Marko be disgusting or racist? Do you live only to be perpetually offended by something? In 2017 SOUTH AMERICAN Juan Pablo Montoya said:
As a European, I categorically declare such comments aimed at us aren’t racist in the slightest and people getting offended by them are snowflakes who should spend more time outside of the internet.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
10th September 2023, 9:35
Whining on details. Turning it however you want wont change what he’s said. And then you put on your best snowflakes comments, please.
notagrumpyfan
8th September 2023, 11:49
I find the insinuation that Marko made incorrect.
But at the same time this site is (again) stirring it up by getting the punctuation wrong in the quote:
And the title is amplifying the stirring up! Firstly he did not mention ‘Mexican’, but more important he never mentioned ‘for’, or made the direct link.
I don’t like the racial reference by Marko, but why does it need stirring up?
All that’s missing is somebody saying that he made those comments because he is Austrian.
notagrumpyfan
8th September 2023, 11:51
PS didn’t know how best to translate “Formschwankungen”.
‘Form’ stand for ‘being is shape’ or close to ‘performance’
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
8th September 2023, 13:42
I think its a very entertaining throw away ironic put down, given the idiocy and casual racism of Marko’s comments.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
8th September 2023, 13:43
Amazing, I responded to a comment that’s since been deleted, so now it’s a new message without context!
SteveR (@stever)
8th September 2023, 15:33
On another topic, Haas:
Umm, Haas has been ‘waiting’ since 2016. Waiting should be over by now.
JA
9th September 2023, 19:51
2017 and 2018 doesn’t exist to you?