In the round-up: Oliver Bearman hopes Carlos Sainz Jnr is well enough to return to his car for the next race in Australia.
In brief
Bearman hopes Sainz recovers soon
Ferrari may need the services of substitute driver Bearman again at the next round of the world championship at Melbourne in two weeks’ time. Sainz is recovering from surgery on his appendix last week.
Asked whether he will be in the car again in Australia, Bearman said: “Honestly, I’m not sure. I hope not. That’s not to say I don’t want to be in the car, but I wish Carlos the very best and I hope he feels better.”
“It’s his car, and I feel like I shouldn’t be in his car, I should give it back to him so he can have another turn,” Bearman told Channel 4.
Sauber must fix wheel nut problem – Zhou
Zhou Guanyu urged his Sauber team to solve the wheel nut problems which caused slow pit stops for both drivers over the opening races. He believes he was on course to repeat his 11th place finish from the opening race until he lost 25 seconds at his pit stop.“This was definitely not my weekend,” said Zhou, who crashed heavily in final practice on Saturday and was unable to participate in qualifying. “The race was difficult in the beginning, but we managed to go quite long on the medium compound tyres before pitting for new softs.
“We would have comfortably finished in P11 but unfortunately the pit stop compromised my race. We encountered another issue with a cross-threaded nut, something that we, as a team, are investigating. We need to understand how this happened and improve to make sure it doesn’t occur again.”
Hadjar frustrated by third failure in four races
An unimpressed Isack Hadjar failed to reach the chequered flag in either of last weekend’s Formula 2 races in Jeddah after his car’s engine twice went into safe mode. Having also retired from the feature race in Bahrain, he hasn’t scored since taking fourth place in the season-opener.
He believes a better result was possible in the feature race. “We executed a good pit stop. A few laps later I managed to overtake Antonelli for [net] fourth. I got into Crawford’s DRS and stayed there for a moment while we were catching the car in provisional P2. I felt like I was close to making the move but the [Safety Car] got deployed.
“I was in a great position to fight for second place considering how good our pace was, but I got a similar issue again as in practice and race one.
“Tough moments, three races DNF for things out of my control, which in all of them we were always fighting ahead. The pace is there.”
Nojiri starts Super Formula title bid with win
Tomoki Nojiri burst through from the second row of the grid to take the lead and win the opening round of Japan’s Super Formula championship. Sena Sakaguchi and Kakunoshin Ohta started slowly from the front row and both finished off the podium. Two-times champion Nojiri was joined on the rostrum by Kenta Yamashita and Naoki Yamamoto.Ayumu Iwasa picked up two points for ninth place on his debut. But Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire endured a difficult start to life in the series, and was the last driver running in 18th, one place behind fellow newcomer Juju Noda.
Newgarden ruined our strategy – Kirkwood
Kyle Kirkwood rued the timing of race winner Josef Newgarden’s final pit stop which he believes cost him a better finish in the Grand Prix of St Petersburg. He took the chequered flag 12th having started 18th.
“It was extremely hard to pass,” said the Andretti driver. “Very little degradation across either set of tyres, so everyone was just stuck on the same strategy and not able to do much. The only excitement that we had was on a pit sequence, which didn’t work out for us whatsoever.
“Unfortunately, the leader came out in front of us when we were still on an in-lap and held us up massively. We spent multiple seconds on that exchange and it cost us massively. We should’ve been right behind Palou, who ended up sixth. We should’ve been in the top 10, even knocking on the top five, but it was literally the matter of that one lap that cost us a stronger finish.”
“At least this year we weren’t five feet in the air,” added Kirkwood, who was involved in a spectacular crash during last year’s race.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
'But the couple, who share three kids, were dismayed to learn the unidentified woman had switched lawyers and is poised to appeal.'
'At the centre, however, is a woman who is not allowed to speak (as is commonplace in investigations) and is ultimately seen as being suspended from her job after raising abuse allegations. For a sport that seeks to create inclusivity for women, this is a moment when it needs to examine its standards.'
Maini’s Jeddah weekend in his words (Formula 2)
'Qualifying, we’ve been first and second through the first weekends, so very, very strong. Race pace has been getting there and the last one was very positive, so we’re getting stronger and stronger as we learn about the new car. I have high hopes for Melbourne, the team and I are very positive and hoping to take another step on the podium.'
IndyCar Grand Prix of St Petersburg highlights (IndyCar via YouTube)
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Social media
Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
Interesting sighting in the @IndyCar @GPSTPETE this morning:
Former Alpine F1 team principal Otmar Szafnauer.
— Nathan Brown (@By_NathanBrown) March 10, 2024
Once again, social media strikes. Regardless if you agree with a result or not, don’t take it out on the person who is benefitted. Seeing some of the hateful comments & messages to @AbbiPulling really is not right…. #F1 #F1Academy
— Alice Powell (@alicepowell) March 10, 2024
Another one-two for @redbullracing, another wait for a photocall… #F1 #SaudiArabianGP #RaceFans pic.twitter.com/8YpjGTRhUj
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) March 10, 2024
It's Mother's Day, so we're going back to 1977 to meet Margaret, a mother of five who replaced her road car with a Formula Ford machine. Margaret spoke on Nationwide about her dream of becoming a racecar driver and the balance between family life and time on the track. pic.twitter.com/9VmUlyM8LN
— BBC Archive (@BBCArchive) March 10, 2024
Moronic decision by #IndyCar to cut away from live coverage of its first race of the new season eight laps in to show an interview with a musician instead.
— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) March 10, 2024
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Comment of the day
Gary tips Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll’s next move:
My prediction is that Lawrence Stroll will (attempt to) take advantage of the organisational chaos at Red Bull, and hire Adrian Newey for Aston Martin. Stroll will pay whatever it takes: double salary, quadruple salary.
Stroll’s dream and goal is a drivers’ championship for Lance. The only way that conceivably happens is if Lance is in a dominant car that is untouchable. A Lotus 79, a McLaren MP4/4, a Williams FW14, a Mercedes W05, any number of Red Bulls.
It just won’t happen otherwise, and Adrian Newey is Lawrence Stroll’s only hope. If Horner is forced out I believe Newey will be open to offers. And having the Aston Martin factory on Dadford Road is a huge plus.
Gary
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Renegade.Ego and Browny!
Derek Edwards
11th March 2024, 0:25
Depends on the musician, depends on the race, unless it’s F1, in which case the musician will always be more interesting. No, Geri is not a musician, even if an interview with her would be interesting.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
11th March 2024, 0:49
Lap eight’s about right – after the minute or so of proper racing, the activation of DRS, and the replays of the start over laps 3 to 7.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
11th March 2024, 6:32
It was Jon Bon Jovi and to be fair indycar does picture in picture, and we weren’t really missing much.
And it could’ve been worse too, the guy from Poison was around the track having waved the green flag. They could’ve interviewed him!
Yellow Baron
11th March 2024, 8:43
Don’t see the issue if they did it with picture in picture. As if they don’t have ads anyway lol
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
11th March 2024, 9:26
Perhaps the broadcast I saw was different as this was a full cut from the action, not picture-in-picture.
Yellow Baron
11th March 2024, 14:03
Fair enough. I know at least with adverts sky stays on with their own commentary. NBC sometimes does picture in picture ads.
Actually also I’ve seen a broadcast which shows the tracks feed without commentry when the American broadcast is playing full adverts. It’s pretty cool to have no commentary for a bit, a few times during the race.
Red Pill (@redpill)
11th March 2024, 3:00
I can see this happening (maybe). I know there was some collaboration in the past between Newey and Aston Martin but unsure how well that went with the Valkyrie project? I can see Newey wanting to spend more time at home, like he has in the past and already has achieved incredible, legendary work. What incentive would he have to stay at RB, and continue the grind?
It appears the relationship between Newey & Horner is strong, and those two provide a very solid contribution to winning World Championships, along with Max and Honda.
Love him or hate him, Horner has been the captain of Red Bull (during up’s & downs) and steered the team to winning championships. If they lose Horner, and then maybe Newey, what is left of Red Bull, they’ll have the rest of the winning team members, but will they continue to be winning the same without the captain and Newey? and, Honda has announced they’re leaving RB.
Red Bull will still have Max and other members of the team, but is that enough? These would be massive changes.
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
11th March 2024, 8:08
He will also have to hire Sergeant instead of Alonso if the aim is to have Stroll jr winning the championship.
WDC for the team would be a huge achievement for Stroll, but i’m not hiring Newey is enough and that would need to happen now too have time to restructure the way they work internally to exploit Newey inputs and then have a design for 2026. Creativity and good ideas will be most rewarded in the first year of new regulations.
GmP (@gmp)
11th March 2024, 3:54
I heard so much about the great competition in Indycar, and then one of the young drivers (Kirkwood) told a reporter this:
“It was extremely hard to pass,” said the Andretti driver. “Very little degradation across either set of tyres, so everyone was just stuck on the same strategy and not able to do much. The only excitement that we had was on a pit sequence, which didn’t work out for us whatsoever.
Grass greener?
Mooa42
11th March 2024, 5:25
Great to see Grosjean continuing his recent form with the new team, and using Bottas’s number too.
Maybe when he gets dumped from this team he can take a seat alongside Russell next year? After all, Toto did promise him a drive!
S
11th March 2024, 8:18
The grass is definitely greener on Indycar’s side in terms of racing quality. You can take a sample size of one if you want to, but that’s not telling you anything.
But then, I guess many people have probably also taken 2021 as a standard in F1 – and that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The unfortunate truth is that F1 is usually dull and predictable – where Indycar is only sometimes dull, and rarely predictable.
Yellow Baron
11th March 2024, 8:35
If you shouldn’t judge F1 by one race then it’s more for indycar. Also what you you have preferred? Drs? so they just make highway overtakes? I haven’t seen it myself yet but I can imagine it’ll still be better than the F1 season opening. Even if just watching the drivers hustle those cars around without power steering in a bumpy track. They also do a fantastic job showing the speed with their broadcast. Much better than F1. To the point they look as fast as F1 cars. (Sometimes wec as well actually)
MichaelN
11th March 2024, 9:29
Not all Indycar races are great, especially on a narrow and twisty track like Petersburg. And cars like this are always going to be aerodynamically sensitive, that’s just physics. But on the whole Indycar probably has a better balance than F1. Their cars are very raceable, especially by comparison.
Another thing is the weight reduction, which is set to be temporary due to the delayed introduction of the hybrid unit. I wonder if the tyres were changed; probably not, so they might have been a bit “harder” than last year, relatively speaking.
Yellow Baron
11th March 2024, 14:06
Good point about the tyres and weight. Perhaps once they introduce the hybrid then tyres will wear like usual.
Not sure if this explains it all though as I wonder if ateast the softs should still wear decently
How much is the weight reduction for this season?
MichaelN
11th March 2024, 14:18
It was about 15 kg, now down to about 750 kg on the normal circuits (the oval spec is lighter).
Not a huge bit and perhaps not even that noticeable for the tyres. Who knows!
Yellow Baron
12th March 2024, 8:10
True, thanks!
Jere (@jerejj)
11th March 2024, 5:49
Regarding the SF season-opener: A great start by Nojiri, as taking the lead from P3 within such a short distance is relatively rare in circuit-racing.
Yamashita & Yamamoto also did well, as did Iwasa for a debut race, & plenty of events left to prove himself worthy of a 2025 full-time drive in the Red Bull B-team.
For Juju Noda, merely finishing the race was a good achievement, even if only running towards the back & not finishing dead last only because Pourchaire struggled quite a lot in his series debut, which I couldn’ see coming beforehand.
Yellow Baron
11th March 2024, 14:07
Where is this streamed btw? It was available on YouTube a few years ago
Retired (@jeff1s)
11th March 2024, 7:48
The F1 community mocking IndyCar because of Jon Bon Jovi, really?
At least he’s a fan and no wannabe or no Megan Thee Stallion or no any other kinda-star on the F1 grid.
There was a two-seater with Bon Jovi as a passenger and the Rosenqvist car was also sponsored by Bon Jovi. Remember the guy had a partnership with VW/Golf back in the time.
The lost art of keeping the mouth shut.
LosD (@losd)
11th March 2024, 8:26
@jeff1s No matter who or how much a fan the musician is, you do not show an interview during the race. It’s ridiculous, and IndyCar should be mocked.
Retired (@jeff1s)
11th March 2024, 8:32
All apologies good lord @losd. Rememeber it was a 100-lap race. Or just tell me you’re commeting without having watch the subject !
Re-watched the 2000 German GP yesterday and Schumacher was shown interviewed during the race, I guess you’re new to the sport if you think such a nonsense.
Yellow Baron
11th March 2024, 8:38
F1 is not much better with sometimes unnecessary interviews during the race. More so however in the actual commentary they sometimes go off tangent as if it’s a practise session lol. Taking about things unrelated to F1 entirely.
Iosif (@afonic)
11th March 2024, 8:48
Honestly if you swap Lance and Max right now does anyone expect Lance to take the championship? Probably not.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
11th March 2024, 9:08
Well, we already know he isn’t as good as Perez, so it’s near-certain Stroll wouldn’t take the championship if he swapped seats with Max. In fact, in those circumstances I wouldn’t bet against Max still being champion.
Davethechicken
11th March 2024, 10:40
I disagree you can say Perez is any better than stroll. If you look back to when teammates Stroll Vs Perez at RP was close. If you look past the points Stroll lead more laps over Perez in th races than perez did stroll. When both cars finished it was 4 – 4 who finished ahead.
Stroll has likely improved significantly from then given that was very early in his career.
miciek (@micio)
11th March 2024, 11:24
Do you really think Max would be a champion in non-RB car?
Red Andy (@red-andy)
11th March 2024, 12:09
Depends who the Red Bull drivers are, but if they’re Perez and Stroll then I would give him a good chance.
ludewig
11th March 2024, 10:02
Being told by your lawyer that you have no case, only to then switch lawyers to continue the fight, is a pretty bad look. In every case where I’ve seen that happen, the client was delusional about their chances, and they ended up with a very bad lawyer who just wanted the money, and didn’t care about their time being wasted on a frivolous lawsuit/appeal/whatever.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage (@davedai)
11th March 2024, 10:21
I didn’t report. Wanted to reply. Sigh.
Agree with you.
So far I can see no “case”.
Rumours of allegations, yes.
Media leaks , yes
A statement of claim or similar term, no.
I wonder who has been and is now footing the legal bill.
MichaelN
11th March 2024, 11:00
Not really, pretty much all lawyers and even entire firms specialise and it’s not at all strange that someone involved in an HR-dispute is not the right pick for a different kind of case.
We just don’t know, so to draw bit conclusions about events, process and intent is not very useful.
The leaked chats show Horner to be a sleazy guy, but that was never news given his prior antics. There’s no indication he did something illegal, and if Red Bull wants to associate with these people that’s their right. And, given their other associations and controversies, also not a huge surprise.
ludewig
11th March 2024, 13:40
That seems like a very unlikely explanation. How could a firm specialized in arguing a case on a certain topic, then be unable to argue for the appeal on that same topic?
But you are correct that we don’t know enough to be sure.
MichaelN
11th March 2024, 14:23
Yeah, an appeal shouldn’t be a big deal. It’s more of an issue when an HR dispute becomes an actual trial, or even a criminal one (and just to be clear, there’s no reason to suspect the latter will happen).
The suggestion made by @red-andy below is another possibility. We just don’t really know.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
11th March 2024, 12:13
I have to say my initial impression was the same – it’s not unknown for someone with a hopeless case to replace lawyers telling them what they need to hear with those who are willing to tell them what they want to hear. In those cases it rarely ends well for the litigant.
On the other hand there are other potential reasons why someone might change lawyers. Differing specialisms is one thing, as MichaelN suggests above, although perhaps unlikely when appealing a decision based on the same set of facts. Could also be funding-related – the complainant could have received pro bono representation (or trade union-funded, for example) at first instance which is unavailable to her on appeal. Ultimately we don’t know enough about the case and the complainant’s circumstances to say for sure what is happening.
ludewig
11th March 2024, 13:42
Yeah, the financial angle seems like a possibility.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
11th March 2024, 13:38
Nice of Ollie to say it but I don’t believe him for a second that he wants to give that car back to Sainz :-)
Seeing his dad watching the race about to go into cardiac arrest was probably the highlight of this race. Everyone can sympathize with him and could feel the pride and worry. He should be very proud of his son’s performance!