In the round-up: AlphaTauri have confirmed Daniel Ricciardo will attend the Singapore Grand Prix, but not participate.
In brief
AlphaTauri announce Singapore GP plans
Ricciardo will join AlphaTauri’s race drivers – his substitute Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda – in Singapore this weekend. The driver who was injured at Zandvoort last month “will be present with the team in Singapore only for engineering purposes,” said the team in a statement.
Lawson is looking forward to his first ever Formula 1 race on a street circuit for sentimental reasons.
“When I was a kid, it was my favourite circuit,” he said. “My dad used to promise me every year that he would take me to the Singapore Grand Prix.
“In the end, we never went, but he’s going to be coming to the grand prix this weekend, so actually I’m taking him!”
Palou and McLaren’s legal case begins in UK court
McLaren’s legal case against reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou, who they had signed for the next three seasons, is taking place in the United Kingdom’s Commercial Court. Within the legal paperwork, Palou is referred to as ALPA as that is the company through which his contracts are signed for the provision of his services.The claim form presented by McLaren says that they procured Palou’s services in a contract signed on 1st October 2022, including him serving as McLaren’s Formula 1 reserve driver through the remaining races of this year. The documents refer to Palou’s racing services company ALPA Racing.
“The McLaren-ALPA contracts expressly oblige ALPA to procure that it and the defendant will not enter into any agreement which will conflict with rights granted and obligations assumed by ALPA under the McLaren-ALPA Contracts,” reads the form.
Representatives for Palou informed McLaren on 8th August this year that he “did not intend to perform” his contractual obligations, and that he had signed a contract with Ganassi.
1992 F1 champion Mansell to sell career memorabilia
Nigel Mansell, the 1992 F1 world champion, is selling items from his racing career.
RM Sotheby’s will host the ‘Nigel Mansell’s Legacy Collection’ auction on 4th-11th October. The catalogue of items is already collected together because they were previously stored in Mansell’s own museum on the island of Jersey. He opened it in 2012 and closed it seven years later.
Items listed for sale include a steering wheel from the Ferrari he raced in 1989, six wheels taken from Williams F1 cars he drove, various team memorabilia including Williams ski jackets and a leather Ferrari briefcase, his personalised ‘5 NM’ UK registration plate and a motorcycle he used to get around F1 paddocks. A variety of race suits are also being offered including the one he wore in his first full F1 season in 1981 and the Ford one he had for the 1998 British Touring Car Championship appearances.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Ex-F1 boss Ecclestone: 'Massa is only concerned about the money' (Blick)
''The Massa clan only cares about money. But the chances of that happening are zero,' says Ecclestone. 'Hamilton and Mercedes could have filed a lawsuit against the FIA after the not very clean 2021 finale in Abu Dhabi.''
F1 teams ‘see the benefit’ in extending Concorde Agreement (Speedcafe)
'Liberty Media boss Greg Maffei has claimed at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Technology Conference in San Francisco that the ten current F1 teams all “see the benefit” of renewing the Concorde Agreement early.'
McElrea finished second in Indy Nxt finale despite delaminating tyre (Formula Scout)
''something really funny happened. I don’t know if it was on our side or what, but lap two my tyre was delaminating, my right-front, and that was that,' revealed McElrea. 'That’s why – I mean, we were the dominant car all weekend, and we didn’t touch it and it’s not like we forgot how to be quick. So it was a shame not to fight for the win, but to get second with what we were dealing with, I think I would’ve taken that. It was a long 35 laps, I’ll tell you that.''
FIA unveils 'united against online abuse' campaign website (FIA)
'The newly launched campaign website, www.unitedagainstonlineabuse.com, will serve as the central hub for resources, information and support related to the campaign’s mission, guided by three core principles - strength in unity, adopting a research-led approach, and commitment to action by supporting our athletes, fans, officials and partners who are the many targets of this issue.'
Formula 3 2023 season in numbers: stats, facts and records (FIA Formula 3)
'With the 2023 season in the books, we take a look back at the records that were broken, the statistics that stood out and the unbreakable markers that still stand. From the Championship titles, poles, podiums to the average positions, closest finishes in F3 history and leading teams and drivers, here’s 2023 summarised in numbers.'
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:
Kick start your career in Formula 1. 👊
Applications for our 2024 Industrial Placement opportunities are now open! 👇
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) September 13, 2023
Championship media tour photo dump 📸#INDYCAR // @AlexPalou pic.twitter.com/1PwoyHyFZK
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) September 13, 2023
What an incredible two years it’s been🥹
This team has given me the greatest memories of my life. From highs to lows, we were always smiling on the other side. I wouldn’t want my introduction to IndyCar to have gone any other way. We were much more than a team, we were family.… pic.twitter.com/8qfYuqA27O
— David Malukas (@malukasdavid) September 12, 2023
Returning to a country rich in culture. 🇸🇬
Our #SingaporeGP poster has arrived as we head towards the third night race of the year.#F1 #GetCloser pic.twitter.com/GRP8SlNig6
— Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake (@alfaromeostake) September 13, 2023
A fun day out with Estie & Jack…
More to come soon 👀#Alpine #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/swEqUHWf6R
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) September 13, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
For the third time this season, McLaren have unveiled a special livery. It will be used for the next two races, and swaps around where papaya and black are used on their car. Has it left an impact on fans?
I wish you could just design a livery and stick to it for the entire season, or change it for a reason (like new sponsorship). Constant playing around with liveries is kinda… meh. Grab my attention with something better, like good racing (which is actually not going so bad at the moment). There’s nothing special in a special design, if there’s always a new special design. Though this one looks more serious than the past few liveries, which to me looked garish and childish a bit, like something that came out of a video game (I play games, nothing against that, this is just a different context). Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer elegance over that.
Dex
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Gwenouille, Evered7 and Paul555!
David BR (@david-br)
14th September 2023, 1:43
Difficult to tell if Ecclestone is enjoying the attention from the fuss he stirred up (OK an obvious yes) or actually a bit worried that he’s opened up Pandora’s box with his comments about Massa as ‘rightful 2008 champion’ and FIA etc knowing all about crashgate early on. Deflecting to Abu Dhabi 2021 suggests yes.
Massa’s claim for compensation for lost earnings does suggest he doesn’t think there’s any chance of getting the 2008 championship results overturned and that he’s after money instead. But I do wonder if he was offered either the title or the money, which he’d choose. I mean, I don’t think he’s entitled to either. But which would he really want?
Yellow Baron
14th September 2023, 4:32
It it were just between title and money I’d assume the money because he really only would have wanted the title at the time surely than like this. Unless perhaps he feels very strongly about it. Knowing that isn’t possible he might be wanting some sort of acknowledgement. They can’t come out and say he would have been champion because it’s impossible to know but perhaps a proper and public apology is what’s he’s after. Having said that, only Bernie I believe is still alive from the people involved and he isn’t part of F1 anymore. So in the end it’ll just be an apology for the wrongs of the previous leaders, if anything. And perhaps that’s enough for him, a public account that he has legitimate claim to have potentially won an F1 world title.
If he wanted money surely he would sue Bernie?
PacificPR (@streydt)
14th September 2023, 7:00
Also. I am not sure what kind of evidence Massa and his lawyers have (I don’t think they stand a chance for money let alone the title – even with hard evidence) – but if their evidence is purely relying on one interview with Ecclestone… he has already backtracked on ever making those comments.
MacLeod (@macleod)
14th September 2023, 8:03
Bernie can backtrack what he will but all interviews are recorded just for things like this. Without a recording they can’t publish any interviews ….
But i think Bernie is getting worried as he was the sole owner of F1 back then AND can be involved in paying Massa. So why the team tries to sue the current F1 that i don’t understand as they aren’t the owners back then.
PacificPR (@streydt)
14th September 2023, 8:50
Even so. I hope for Massa’s sake his lawyers have more evidence than just one interview (where Bernie’s team can easily say it was ‘out of context’, ‘misinterpreted’ or the old age). The timeline of events could / would be pivotal. When exactly did Ecclestone and Mosley know? Anyhow it really doesn’t mater since as many more have mentioned – Alonso and Renault would have been Disqualified from the race, Rosberg would have won and Hamilton would have been second (giving Massa an even bigger deficit going into the next races). Case closed.
anon
14th September 2023, 22:57
@macleod whilst you say that “Bernie can backtrack what he will but all interviews are recorded just for things like this”, the flip side to that is that Bernie has also said in the past that his media strategy involved considerable amounts of exaggeration and hyperbole intended to stir up controversy for the sake of generating headlines.
Furthermore, during the Constantin Media trial, the judge recorded a string of complaints about Ecclestone’s testimony in court, noting that his testimony was “inconsistent” and “unsatisfactory” and that it was “impossible to regard him as a reliable or truthful witness” given the inconsistent and contradictory answers he gave.
Sure, Bernie made those comments in the press – but when Bernie’s also been branded as unable to give truthful or reliable testimony in a court of law and talked about wanting to create controversy for personal gain, the validity of the original comments is rather questionable.
David BR (@david-br)
14th September 2023, 13:33
@ Yellow Baron I get your point, but I think the idea of an apology specifically to Massa is still problematic. All the other drivers and teams were affected by Renault getting Piquet to crash deliberately. The idea that Massa was especially compromised doesn’t hold up: being ahead at 1/5th race distance or whatever doesn’t provide any claim to being rightful winner of that race, yet alone the championship. And cancelling the entire race because one driver or team cheated has never happened – rightly. The driver and team are eliminated from the results and penalized. For the remainder, it’s a valid race with the cheating just one of those random factors that have to be dealt with in any race (yellow flags, red flags, weather, crashes etc.).
Yellow Baron
14th September 2023, 16:52
Agreed
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
14th September 2023, 19:43
I disagree, I’m sure he would take the title, because 50 mil don’t have that much of an effect considering the amount he already has.
David BR (@david-br)
15th September 2023, 17:35
@esploratore1 I’d like to think so too.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
14th September 2023, 1:55
I keep wondering … Is Bernie really Keith Richards in disguise?
Amazes me that “journalists” still even bother to talk to him give his complete lack of relevance these days.
Jay
14th September 2023, 2:06
Because currently there are 2 comments on this site and both are about Ecclestone. (Now 3 comments) It’s good for business!
MarkWebber (@markwebber)
14th September 2023, 2:38
I do care a lot about Ecclestone’s opinion. He is to F1 what Henry Ford was to the car industry.
Elvira
14th September 2023, 22:17
At least Henry had the good sense to pass away before he became irrelevant.
MichaelV12 (@michaelv12)
14th September 2023, 9:16
In other news, the Rolling Stones just released a new single (“Angry”) which at present has 14 million plays on Youtube after one week.
————————
Here’s a little calculation I made. This is somewhat off topic but since Keith Richards was mentioned, I will take the liberty of sharing it.
So, Mick Jagger is 80 years, Keith is 79, Ron Wood is 76 = 235 years combined.
Now, if Charlie Watts (born 1941 = 82 years) and Brian Jones (1942=81) had been alive today – and if the Stones also managed to pull back Bill Wyman (1936=87) and Mick Taylor (1949=74)…
…then the Rolling Stones would have had a combined age of 559 years.
Counting 559 years back from now will take us to the year 1464 = 28 years before Columbus discovered America (1492).
So, as we can see, Keith Richards is relevant. Not only that, he has been relevant for a very long time. :)
————————
But wait, there’s more!
I’m thinking what might happen if Ecclestone joined the Rolling Stones.
The thought scares me, because we are getting into quantum physics.
Ecclestone joining the Stones might potentially send humanity back to a time before the invention of the wheel!
And if the wheel was never to be invented, then F1 could never exist…
Yellow Baron
14th September 2023, 4:27
It’s a great shame Mercedes didn’t file that lawsuit. Buts that’s probably exactly why, I can imagine Toto wanting to but being stopped by the people in charge above him.
Which would have been out of fear really. Understandable but Mercedes weren’t suddenly going to lose customers due to a rightful pursuit of what they were robbed of. In fact if they had been public of allowing it I’m sure many wound have respected them..
This is also where redbulls advantage was in the situation. Lawsuit no problem, Horner was already getting ready for it. And had it been max that was cheating out of the title I think there’s no doubt they would have taken it to courts.
MacLeod (@macleod)
14th September 2023, 8:22
Because taking FIA to court the result wouldn’t change at all Max would still be WC even if they nulify the race … It’s then what mercedes wanted to lose and win with that courtcase getting money from the FIA sure but PR wise they would lose….
Craig
14th September 2023, 11:30
Nullifying the race wouldn’t have happened as there’s no precedence or reason for it due to the sheer number of knock on effects.
You could argue for nullifying a lap as there is precedence for it under other circumstances but that’s ultimately irrelevant in this actual topic.
David BR (@david-br)
14th September 2023, 13:40
@macleod Mercedes would have had to argue that the race should be considered to have finished prior to Masi’s intervention in the rulebook. Personally I don’t think anyone would have benefitted from contesting the result and not pursuing the case was the right decision. Verstappen may have benefitted (winning his first championship as a result) but he was blameless and taking a trophy back from someone blameless is just, well, unpleasantly nasty really. I imagine Hamilton didn’t want his 8th title won (back) in such fashion.
Yellow Baron
14th September 2023, 17:02
Although I want to agree with you that realistically there’s nothing that could be done, the other point is tricky. Yes he benefited and was blameless but it wouldn’t have been taking it back as he hadn’t technically absolutely won it yet due to protest. Neither has he actually received it. He won it on the track in a contested result but so did Hamilton win spa on track in 2008 and so did any other driver win on track but lose it afterwards. It was the race. Yes they won on the track and celebrated etc but it was still provisional, otherwise Lewis won pole in Brazil. I don’t really have a conclusion here I suppose I’d like to hear from masi and cobwhat was going on their minds to do that. But maybe we’ll never know. Again I don’t imagine things would have played out the same the other way around. Not only because red bull and max wouldn’t have let it go as easy. Going by past president this is very fair to assume, and also because majority watching wanted to see max win so had it been him wronged, the online heat and distaste from fans would have been so much louder also adding pressure.
David BR (@david-br)
15th September 2023, 17:42
You’re right that Max’s title would have been held in suspension while any appeal was running. But the season was acrimonious already – the repercussions of the appeal would be huge, especially if the title was overturned. Hamilton’s reaction during the race itself made it clear that, at least then, he thought the whole thing was rigged. Did he change his mind after? He went quite a long time, suggesting no. But whatever the reason, it seems to have been his decision not to contest the result further. For which I think Formula 1 owes him. But as the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished…
David BR (@david-br)
15th September 2023, 17:42
*quiet
Red Andy (@red-andy)
14th September 2023, 6:17
Makes you feel old, doesn’t it, when a current F1 driver remembers watching the (very new, state-of-the-art, hasn’t been on the calendar for five minutes) Singapore Grand Prix as a child.
PacificPR (@streydt)
14th September 2023, 6:51
Yes indeed! Really nice anecdote though, hope they can have a great weekend and enjoy – living the dream.
Jere (@jerejj)
14th September 2023, 7:12
Lawson continuing his substition period in Singapore (& most likely also Japan) had been clear-cut for a while, although I didn’t expect Ricciardo to attend.
Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
14th September 2023, 8:16
@jerejj – I would have been more surprised if he didn’t attend. He has a broken hand so its not really a blocker for flying – and his presence bolsters the teams opportunities to get coverage through interviews and other commercial opportunities – everyone likes to see and talk to the honey badger.
I can’t remember which hand he damaged so not sure if he would still have autograph capabilities though :)
Jere (@jerejj)
14th September 2023, 13:09
Valid points, although he actually won’t be giving any interviews from what I read & left hand, so signing would work.
Coventry Climax
14th September 2023, 17:51
That’s assuming he’s right handed.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
14th September 2023, 19:56
Which happens for 90% of people and look at the case, “As a right-handed driver, Ricciardo’s preference is the clutch on the right…”
mooa42
14th September 2023, 8:02
How does an island country like New Zealand, with a population of approx 5 million people, manage to produce so many drivers competing in top level motorsport? Lawson in F1, Scott Dixon and Scott McLaughlin in Indy, Brendon Harley in WEC and ShaneVanGisbergen now in Nascar, (not that I’d really rate Nascar as top level) anyway per head of population it must be punching above it’s weight, or somewhere similar to Finland??
MacLeod (@macleod)
14th September 2023, 8:26
It’s very simple: British roots with good connections to the motorsport ! Also the population are well off so can afford to support their childeren in any motorsport.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
14th September 2023, 9:00
Having lived in New Zealand for over seven years I can tell you that they are very focused on all kinds of sports.
To the point of obsession.
(It was a running joke that when an All Blacks career ended he could have his pick of any school in the country to be Headmaster of)
When I lived there they had a very well-organised motorsports scene covering everything from Motorcycles to touring cars, from dune buggies to dragsters even.
It does seem odd that such a small country produces so many sports people but trust me, there isn’t a lot else to do down there, other than sports ;)
Avro Anson (@avroanson)
14th September 2023, 11:16
You forgot Bruce McLaren!
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
14th September 2023, 15:03
Not to forget their past legends like McLaren, Hulme, and Amon. Also, Marcus Armstrong became Indy rookie of the year in 2023.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
14th September 2023, 19:59
As I recall, denmark is another country with the same amount of people and they have had magnussen + his father and I’m sure there’s a similar number if we go dig into other motorsports\check older f1 drivers.
Elvira
14th September 2023, 22:26
IMHO, SVG might be the pick of all of them but is too big for open wheelers.
Unicron (@unicron2002)
14th September 2023, 9:25
I had a look through the Nigel malot on the Sotheby’s website…. and it just made me sad. Nigel is putting up a vast chunk of his life achievements up for sale (materially, at least). Even down to flogging his BBC Sports Personality trophies. Who is going to buy them, and why?! Imagine owning Nigel Mansell’s SPOTY trophies. They are for one person and one person only. Its sad that some of this collection is being passed down through the family and heirlooms. Lost out of the Mansell family and gone for ever. He clearly REALLY needs the cash.
MichaelN
14th September 2023, 9:56
Absolutely, it’s an odd thing to want to own. I get that it’s the ‘real thing’, but it’s not yours. Reminds me off amateur road cyclists wearing a replicate world champion (or rainbow) jersey. Kinda defeats the purpose of the thing.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
14th September 2023, 11:28
According to Motorsport Brazil, Massa received a notification from Liberty instructing him to stay away from the F1 paddock. Ironically, both Briatore and Pat Symonds, the ones who ignited the controversy, currently enjoy VIP statuses within F1.
Yellow Baron
14th September 2023, 11:59
Wow so libertarian.
David BR (@david-br)
14th September 2023, 14:44
@tifoso1989 No idea how those two are acceptable figures now in F1 yet alone ‘VIPs’. Well I do have an idea and it isn’t particularly flattering. Massa? Hmm, I can see where they’re coming from to be honest. He’s basically in a legal dispute with FIA and Formula 1 itself, even if the owners have changed, and being in the actual paddock could be seen as deliberately antagonistic, intended to sow discord to obtain backing (or evidence) in his favour. He opted for this litigious route. Surely he has to accept some of the consequences of being so antagonistic.
x303 (@x303)
14th September 2023, 21:37
I disagree with COTD: let the team and drivers change their colors as they see fit. Vettel changing his helmet colors every race was fun (and I wasn’t a fan of his when he was dominating). McLaren playing with their colors is too.
Elvira
14th September 2023, 22:30
It hasn’t been a problem to pick them out of the lineup since they (re)adopted papaya.