In the round-up: FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem says that the governing body should remain ‘neutral’ to the crisis in Azerbaijan and Armenia.
In brief
Ben Sulayem sees no need to move Baku prize gala
The FIA’s Annual General Assembly and prizegiving will take place in the Azerbaijan capital Baku in December. A recent escalation in the dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which the countries fought a war over in 2020, has led an estimated 60,000 ethnic Armenians to flee the area since last month.
Ben Sulayem said the FIA must remain neutral in the matter. “There is a war that will hopefully end,” he said, adding he could “name at least 20 countries” involved in armed conflicts.
The FIA’s Statutes state it shall “refrain from manifesting discrimination on account of… political opinion.” Nonetheless following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year it imposed restrictions on Russian and Belarussian competitors and events.
Ben Sulayem said that action was taken in line with the statutes. “When I was asked to cancel Russia, I said, ‘no, I’m not defying our statutes.’ We then called an extraordinary general meeting. Because it depends on what the members want. They have priority. And I was elected to implement the members’ wishes. And I am also a member myself.
“We must always maintain neutrality, both when it comes to religion and politics. Why? Because you don’t just talk about democracy, ethics and governance when it suits you. You either talk about it or you don’t.”
Garcia and Hamda Al Qubaisi take F1 Academy wins
Marta Garcia and Hamda Al Qubaisi claimed the victories from the first two races in the F1 Academy series round at Circuit of the Americas.Garcia took the championship title by winning the opening race of the weekend from pole position, holding off Abbi Pulling throughout the race. Hamda Al Qubaisi inherited reverse grid pole for race two and made it count, leading the entire race and taking her fourth race win of the series.
Jessica Edgar, who took third place on the podium in race two, will start from pole for today’s third and final race.
Tramnitz wins opening FREC Hockenheim race
Red Bull junior driver Tim Tramnitz took victory in the opening race of the Formula Regional European Championship round at Hockenheim. The 18-year-old, who was recently signed by the F1 champions, led home R-ace team mate Martinius Kleve Stenshorne.
Mercedes junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who has already clinched the championship, finished sixth.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
I can do something wiser with my time – Russell stops using social media (Independent)
'Every headline was negative. Other than being informed about what is going on in the world, reading negative headlines one after another didn’t bring anything to me, so now I am totally off social media.'
'Garcia looks at future after F1 Academy (Sky)
'F1 Academy championship winner Marta Garcia discusses a memorable season and looks ahead to her future beyond the series.'
Otmar Szafnauer: An F1 Executive's Rules of the Road (Boadroom)
''I was 30 some races in, and to me, 30-something is not 100. And I’m a man of my word. When I give my word, it’s what you do, and integrity, which I learned from my father, is everything to me. But it seems like the whole world didn’t learn from him, so there was always ‘promise one thing, do another thing.''
Star Spangled Scuderia (Ferrari)
'Some of Ferrari’s most memorable wins have been in the United States. Niki Lauda wrapped up his first world championship for the Scuderia by dominating the 1975 US GP, at Watkins Glen in rural New York. He led from start to finish, in what would be his fifth win of the season and Ferrari’s first US GP triumph.'
'Inside Lawson's crazy six-week stint as a F1 driver (Stuff NZ)
'It was walking back to the car to get in, that’s when it hit me pretty hard that I was about to start the race. But honestly, in any situation, It’s something that I’ve been doing since I was six.'
Hawkins: Where it all began (Aston Martin)
'It might seem a daunting environment but for me, F1 has been a very welcoming community. It's a real privilege to be working with a team. You create friendships and relationships with people that last a lifetime. You're working with like-minded people, doing the thing you love. It's a very welcoming sport, especially at AMF1 Team. It's like my tribe. I think that’s a good way to describe it.'
How do you paint an F1 car? (Red Bull via YouTube)
'We document the journey from design, to application of our special livery for the US Grand Prix in Austin. Designed by our fans, #MakeYourMark puts our livery into the fans' hands for three special occasions: all three 2023 US races. Here's the story of the second fan-designed RB19 livery that debuted in Austin!'
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 X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
This weekend we will pay tribute to our dear teammate and friend, Martin Kemp, who sadly passed away last month.
Martin had been at McLaren for nearly 22 years and was a key member of our Composite Machining team.
To pay our respects, both MCL60 race cars will carry his name… pic.twitter.com/ZlbofrODAO
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) October 21, 2023
Thanks for having us in the paddock, @f1academy. ❤️
Lewis and George both took the time to visit F1 Academy and meet the talented drivers and teams. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/gr3I6zRo1q
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) October 21, 2023
Empowering girls in STEM with @Girlstart! 🙌
Lando joined Shane Woods, Executive Director of Girlstart, for an engineering workshop at COTA!
We're proud to sport Girlstart on our car this weekend with @Smartsheet's #SponsorX scheme. 🧡#USGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/aE4I4VQZWz
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) October 21, 2023
#F1 quali is borderline becoming unwatchable with all these rules. Spend more time watching the clock and seeing if they're within the white lines than actually enjoying the action.
— Richard Aucock (@richardaucock) October 21, 2023
I can’t fault the series or the drivers. To me it falls completely on the track designer. If your track has track limits, you need to go back to the drawing board. But I agree, the seemingly new idea of limits is quite annoying.
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) October 21, 2023
I think any #F1Sprint is doomed to be a little too similar to the first stint of a GP, albeit without the pay-off or importance.
I think modern motorsport is too covered in red tape for this, but it’d be more compelling to chuck them in a neutral car, BMW M1 Procar style. #USGP
— Adam Weller (@AdamWellerComms) October 21, 2023
https://twitter.com/MikeCaulfieldF1/status/1715861343268446333
|@JensonButton on the grid before the start: "You have eight cars that can realistically fight for a win."
Result: @Max33Verstappen leads every lap and wins by 9.4 seconds in 19 laps.
Give it a rest with the hype, it's embarrassing. #F1 #USGP #RaceFans
— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) October 21, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
After the FIA widened the white lines denoting track limits at multiple corners of the Circuit of the Americas, Mark Zastrow says he approves of the larger lines:
I support this. It’s still the same track for everyone, and it allows drivers to get more up onto the kerbs and potentially unsettle the car, which is more fun for us to watch.
I find it amusing though that it does seem to contradict the sporting regulations, which hold that “for the avoidance of doubt, any white lines defining the track edges are considered to be part of the track but the kerbs are not.” If you paint a kerb white, it is still a kerb, is it not?
Mark Zastrow
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Sasquatch and Porschephile!
Zann (@zann)
22nd October 2023, 0:16
They should drop the sprint and put the girlz on every Saturday. Let Marta stay on, give them more power, never mind whether or not they can scare the boys in open series, just have girls doing racing.
Jay
23rd October 2023, 9:47
I watch the Sprints, I wouldn’t watch that.
MarkWebber (@markwebber)
22nd October 2023, 1:23
Back in the day, it was only natural for a sports organization not to choose sides in international conflicts.
S
22nd October 2023, 6:34
Likewise, an automotive industry association.
Addme (@dontme)
22nd October 2023, 6:46
What period are you talking about?
kcrossle (@kcrossle)
22nd October 2023, 2:38
When a country violated international norms (SA / Apartheid, Russia / invading a neighbor) the result was cancelation.
From what I know, we have a case of territorial aggression with Azeris invading an Armeni conclave (which has often been desecrated by the Az).
Sanctioning this behavior is not in the interests of F1 or its followers. If religion is entering its ugly head in the debate, that’s worse.
kcrossle (@kcrossle)
22nd October 2023, 7:09
This was intended as a reply to @markeebber above.
MichaelN
22nd October 2023, 10:08
Ben Sulayem cannot decide these things on his own, which is presumably why he brings up the Russian example. It is for the FIA members to decide, and then it would definitely be possible to make changes, take a position, scrap events, etc.
The media often portrays the FIA president as some sort of monarch, but he’s mostly a figurehead for the organisation.
Unicron (@unicron2002)
22nd October 2023, 13:32
It’s a pretty political hot potato (as Alan Partridge once said). You then have the Chinese and their handling of the Uighar Muslims. What happens with the return to Shanghai International Circuit? It’s all been said on here a million times though because it’s can of worms time with UK, US etc
GeeMac (@geemac)
23rd October 2023, 8:32
It is indeed a complex issue. I mean, we went back to the USA in 2012 while they were in the midst of a war in Afghanistan and no one seemed to bat an eyelid…
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
22nd October 2023, 3:07
Something been talked about in the paddock is comments from the COTA bosses stating that this been a sprint weekend has seen zero benefits for them with Friday/Saturday attendance down on past years despite Sunday attendance been up.
It’s also been noted more generally that despite the selling point of sprint weekends been higher fan engagement over the 3 days that it’s actually had the opposite effect with overall fan engagement been down on sprint weekends.
The data appears to be suggesting that the fans who dislike the format simply aren’t watching the Saturday action and that it hasn’t brought in many more casual viewers. End result is that fewer people are watching qualifying on Friday than when it’s in it’s normal Saturday slot, Fewer still are watching the Saturday sprint qualifying session with the sprint race itself also drawing a smaller number the qualifying usually would in that slot. The GP on Sunday is about where it usually is.
So if you are someone that has been ignoring the sprints and not watching them then It’s been noticed as it’s having an effect on ratings. So if you really dislike the format then keep not watching them i guess as it’s been noticed.
Zann (@zann)
22nd October 2023, 10:09
That’s interesting. Almost nobody likes the Sprint idea, it’s so obviously a fake way of trying to milk more out of the same thing.
They should put the girlz on instead, permanently, instead of trying to make them omg as good as the Boyz!
Unicron (@unicron2002)
22nd October 2023, 13:28
@gt-racer nicely put. I have been watching F1 for 31 seasons. I have watched not a single sprint event/race and never will as I refuse to add myself to the viewing stats.
I love qualifying and the Grand Prix so I’ll continue to tune in to them obviously.
Arthur Zakaryan (@arthurgd3)
22nd October 2023, 3:43
I agree with the FIA not taking sides on any political or military conflict but choosing to have your year end trophy ceremonies in a country that is in a clear conflict where it isn’t even up for debate their role in the conflict with Armenia is a really bad look for the FIA. As neutral as the FIA would like to look in this matter, the fact that a race is hosted in a country like Azerbaijan shows the FIA and F1 just prostitutes the sport to the highest bidder. I get it’s a business but have some moral compass for what you’ll accept and what you choose to turn down, you’re basically saying you don’t care what this country is doing as long as they are paying us our fee to come to your country then that’s all that matters.
S
22nd October 2023, 6:37
Let’s put that into the context of the level of competition (or lack thereof) in this year’s championship, though, shall we?
Casual viewers want to watch a competition, not a parade.
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
22nd October 2023, 13:31
Thing is though that the ratings for the GP have remained strong which is an indication that the Verstappen dominance isn’t turning people off the racing itself.
And some of the internal data they have is showing that the number of newer, younger, more casual fans for the Sunday GP has actually increased this year despite the lack of competition at the front of the championship.
The drop in engagement & lower ratings are very specific to sprint weekends & it’s been a trend that started on sprint weekends last year.
This is why you are starting to hear pushes to alter the format of sprint weekends next year to try & find something to maybe bring people into it because the sprint format as it is/has been simply & increasingly obviously isn’t working as they intended it to.
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd October 2023, 7:32
Nothing to worry about regarding Azerbaijan.
SteveP
22nd October 2023, 8:51
Feel the force…
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
22nd October 2023, 9:09
You being ironic or have you missed the news coming from there?
Diez Cilindros (@diezcilindros)
22nd October 2023, 9:24
Russia bad, Azerbaijan good. Don’t worry, FIA, we the Eurovision fans are familiar with that kind of hypocrisies (not only AZE competes in the contest, Israel too).
Zann (@zann)
22nd October 2023, 10:04
You can’t really be neutral, it’s just not caring. If they hold a huge gala somewhere, that’s approval
Sviat
22nd October 2023, 10:07
Wow, then you can go to hell with this statement. You remain neutral, you support it.
Coventry Climax
22nd October 2023, 11:47
FiA – Azerbaijan:
If you decide not to choose, you still have made a choice.
Moshambles (@moshambles)
22nd October 2023, 12:19
Looking forward to the Israeli GP in Gaza