In the round-up: Kevin Magnussen says that Haas are unsure if they have solved their problems from 2023
In brief
Haas unsure if we’ve solved tyre wear woes – Magnussen
Despite his team mate Nico Hulkenberg taking a point for Haas with tenth place in last weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Kevin Magnussen says his team aren’t sure if they have solved their tyre wear problems from 2023.
“I think Saudi Arabia was another positive weekend, although on paper the Jeddah circuit probably wasn’t the best for us with the high-speed characteristics of it,” Magnussen said.
“We were still relatively competitive, especially in the race I had very good pace relative to others at the end, which is our focus this season. We still haven’t concluded that we’ve solved our issues from last year yet, we need to do some more races, but it was another positive sign that we’ve made progress in that area.”
Bird beats own season target with win
After overtaking Mitch Evans on the final lap in Sao Paulo yesterday to win his first Eprix since 2021, Sam Bird says he has already met his target for the 2024 season.“Podiums have been sparse and I hope that this opens the floodgates a little bit,” Bird said.
“I had a target at the beginning of the year to get a couple of podiums. I didn’t expect to win, but we’ve got a win in race four. And it was a great race between me and Mitch, my old team-mate. It was really fair. Super race.”
F1 ‘dainty like champagne glasses’ says Busch
NASCAR driver Kyle Busch has compared Formula 1 to ‘like drinking champagne’.
Speaking as a guest on the Pat McAfee podcast, the two-times Cup champion said NASCAR was a very different kind of motorsport to Formula 1.
“NASCAR racing, to me, is like four bros, beer cans in their hands, smashing them up going ‘woo!’, partying, having a good time,” he said. “We’re gonna rub some fenders.
“When you go and do an F1 race, [it’s] little dainty, tiny champagne glasses doing ‘dink,’ and making sure you keep your pinky up when you take a sip. And we’re all about getting sloshed.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Lewis visits school with Petronas (Mercedes)
'The school is one of 39 that participated in a recent scheme run by Petronas focused on delivering a responsible waste management programme. SMK Seri Keramat came out as the winner. Lewis got the chance to see the school's efforts to integrate eco-friendly initiatives into the curriculum and the importance placed on sustainable efforts and practices.'
McLaren to use racing simulator tech to help develop road cars (Drive)
'McLaren will use a new simulator to help develop its next generation of road-going vehicles, including its successor to the P1 hypercar. McLaren Automotive – part of the broader McLaren Group containing its Formula One and IndyCar operations – has announced a partnership with UK-based Dynisma on simulation technology to help develop its road cars. The partnership will see a Dynisma Motion Generator (DMG) simulator – with Dynisma also used by the Ferrari F1 team – installed at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, UK.'
Vergne was crucial in Phil Charles move (Formula E Zone)
'There are two main reasons why I decided to make the move from Jaguar to DS Penske. The first was Jean-Eric Vergne. He grabbed me and said that I had to come.The second reason was Jay Penske. He was amazingly persuasive. He stands for everything I stand for. He wants to make things better and he is desperate to win races.'
Ellen Lohr: Times ''never so positive as they are now'' for women racers (Formula Scout)
''What is the experience they get racing against each other? We cannot be sure if they’re on a good level or not. That is F1 clapping the hands up. ‘Well done. Now we do not have to think about it because marketing-wise we are doing something for women.’ But where are the compulsory tests they have to give to women? These girls really should try to get into F3 and fight there and show their talent and show if they’re able to achieve more.''
Angela Ashmore, Caitlyn Brown reflect on journey in IndyCar (IndyCar via YouTube)
'In celebration of Women's History Month, Team Penske's Caitlyn Brown and Chip Ganassi Racing's Angela Ashmore reflect on their journey to INDYCAR, and their legacy as Indy 500 champions.'
Guenther Steiner and JC's WILD Mustang Supercar hot lap (Supercars via YouTube)
'Guenther Steiner and James Courtney tear up the Adelaide Parklands Street Circuit in a Gen3 Ford Mustang Supercar at the 2024 Adelaide Motorsport Festival.'
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Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
THIS MOMENT. 🤯
This is one of the greatest overtakes in Formula E history and we will not be told otherwise. #SaoPauloEPrix@SamBirdOfficial 👏 pic.twitter.com/gFENTppncK
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) March 16, 2024
You asked. He solved. ✅@ValtteriBottas#AskValtteri pic.twitter.com/igmGTeoWSL
— Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber (@stakef1team_ks) March 16, 2024
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Reader An Sionnach makes an empassioned case for Mick Schumacher to return to the F1 grid…
Mick is much better than Logan Sargeant. He failed to finish once in 2021 due to an error (Saudi). There were two races compromised by error in 2022, including Saudi again, where he took too much kerb and hit the wall hard in qualifying. On top of that, there was the embarrassing practice crash in Japan, where he made an error in the wet as he did in Monaco. He finished ahead of Magnussen in 13/22 races, with Magnussen finishing ahead eight times (in one race neither of them finished). Magnussen didn’t finish four times, but only one of these was his fault (France). Magnussen’s fifth place in the first race of the season counted for much of their points difference.
I had meant that while I think Mick deserves another go, Liam Lawson and Oliver Bearman should get in first. I may have been wrong about Bearman though, since he’s only been involved in one race. That said, it was the one that gave Mick the most trouble. Bearman was also under pressure from Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton, which has to mean a lot!
The trouble is that Sargeant is already in there. I think his time in F1 has to reach a more natural conclusion than Mick’s did. Franz Tost’s assertion that a new driver could do with three years given the lack of testing should be more than fair. In Sargeant’s case, his first year was so bad, that two should be enough if his second year follows a similar trajectory to the first.
Hopefully Lawson, Bearman and Mick can return next year. There are enough drivers treading water that this should be a possibility. The trouble is that two of them (Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda) are unfirable. There may be five others under pressure, but I think they all have the capacity to deliver.
An Sionnach
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Herman, Jp From Treasures, Themagicofspeed, Tmax and Alistair C!
Tristan
17th March 2024, 0:53
100% agree with the cotd, F1 needs a clear out.
Give me Antonelli, Bearman, Lawson, Doohan (for a year just to get him out of the awkward af to watch alpine/tv deal) and Schumacher.
Between Haas, Sauber, Toro Rosso, Mercedes and Williams, there’s more than enough room to make the seats.
Dusty
17th March 2024, 1:39
Drugovich? Pourchaire? Not sure what’s the point of being F2 champion when your F1 drive shot is lower priority than giving 2nd chances to Mick or talents yet to win F2.
Tristan
17th March 2024, 1:55
100% them too, throw Alpine and Aston Martin seats into the mix… Honestly there’s so much in F1 that could go and the product would be so much more entertaining, exciting, interesting, all the stuff F1 apparently wants.
Dex
17th March 2024, 9:15
I don’t know what’s the point, but they didn’t really impress. Pourchaire didn’t really impress at all, even in his last season, with some incredibly stupid mistakes. Drugovich had a good championship winning season, but it took him years to get there, plus everyone better than him to leave the championship (without great talents coming in that year). They both tested F1 cars and probably didn’t overly impress (or we’d hear about it, at least something).
But in truth, we find out more about a driver (and his F1 potential) after seeing him in one real F1 race session, than with all his previous experiences combined. Lawson didn’t impress in F2 either (not more than Sargeant…), yet he did pretty well in F1. I’d like to see Drugovich in F1 for a race or two at least (Stroll could stroll out). Porchaire I really don’t like that much, he’s kinda dangerous on track too, but why not… Doohan seems fast, but inconsistent, he could be good in F1. How will we ever know though?
Perhaps instead of pointless sprint races we could have occasional races in for junior drivers (10 cars on the grid). It’s pricey, but they could do it like few times a year, and since every team would have to participate it would be fair (re using parts etc.).
Nick T.
17th March 2024, 6:13
I agree, but Liam’s hype is down to one race in which he would have finished in 14th if it weren’t for a bunch of highly unlikely incidents among drivers that would have finished ahead, including two people being punted into the wall be Checo, Russell’s crash, multiple mechanical retirements and Sainz and Leclerc intentionally backing up the entire field, which allowed him to remain close.
He was also merely tied with the hopeless Logan Sargeant in F2. Vandoorne and De Vries also had one-offs that won them big hype.
But, yeah, there’s a lot of deadwood, including Zhou, Bottas, Magnussen, Stroll, Checo and Sargeant as mentioned. That’s six seats. More than enough for every good prospect.
There’s a 7th potential seat if Ricciardo continues to just basically barely match Yuki. But, when you consider DR has as many wins as Sainz, Leclerc and Russell combined + is the only driver to outqualify and outscore Max as a teammate, he clearly deserves at least half a season to pull regain some form and has the most exciting potential upside. Sadly, besides Mexico, he’s just looked like a reliable midfielder than anything potentially exciting.
Nick T.
17th March 2024, 6:28
BTW, how can anyone agree a driver needs three seasons to develop? Every single star has shown they were amazing in their first season. Pick any of the best drivers on the grid and they all had great rookie seasons.
Claus J
17th March 2024, 9:40
Why put talent in miserable cars?
A Haas with Bearman in the seat is not likely to score more points than one with Hulk or KMag og even young Schumi in that same seat. It will crash more, though. Besides, I’m not at allconvinced Bearman has more skill or racecraft than the other three. Zhou, Bottas and Magnussen are actually rated higher in the paddock than amongst then pundits, only Stroll and Sargeant are known to be poor. (Yes, Bottas is no Lewis, but he is no Stroll either). The other two have never driven good cars. Checko has and is no Max, but with all due respect none of the young talent are Max, either…
Put the talent in a good car next to a known entity who’s had a period to show their actual level of skill so we can judge them fairly. Just randomly swapping drivers in the backmarkers is simply a waste of time and effort. And money, of which the backmarkers has too little…
RatSack
17th March 2024, 2:20
F1 I’d say is more like drinking fancy wine direct from the bottle. There is an element of being fancy but you’re still trying to get hammered.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
17th March 2024, 2:59
Yes, I agree with cotd, when I said mick is better than sargeant I meant just that, in my opinion mick is a f1 level driver, especially with a 3rd season, but he should be in a backmarker car unless he can improve, lawson did well enough for a midfield car and bearman did well enough he could be in a “top” car, since nowadays we have several good cars that still can’t hold a candle to a red bull, but indeed we have to see more of him, since de vries’ first race was great and then in another car he was terrible and russell, while he hasn’t been that bad, disappointed me a bit after the first race, as I thought he would be able to beat hamilton (I know he’s ahead this year but last 2 years in performance hamilton came out on top).
S
17th March 2024, 4:24
F1 is more like making champagne than drinking it.
An overly scientific, particularly slow, boring and drawn out process (especially to the viewer) enjoyed by the most pedantic of individuals. The details are far more important than the holistic product…
Jere (@jerejj)
17th March 2024, 6:05
Dainty like Champagne glasses is an interesting reference, even if I don’t necessarily get it.
Good questions for Bottas, even if somewhat weird.
Mick hasn’t really achieved anything in F1 to definitively deserve another chance & in any case, no team seems hugely interested in having him as a full-time driver with priorities in other drivers.
Additionally, one can’t definitively say he’d be an improvement from Sargeant & while the latter’s rookie season may have been bad in some relative comparisons, it wasn’t as bad when considering realistic expectations & how he compared to his predecessor’s 2022 performance level, & likewise with this season, he’d only get sacked after two seasons if he gave a strong justification for that rather than easily & or regardless of performance level.
I agree on Bearman & Lawson deserving a full-time chance, although I doubt the former gets one for next season specifically because certain factors being against that.
Finally, Stroll may be unfirable, but Tsunoda isn’t, although no reason to even consider sacking him at the current rate.
Nick T.
17th March 2024, 6:17
What did Liam do that Mick didn’t? Nothing and he wasn’t even super competitive in F2. Personally, I don’t think Mick is an exciting prospect. He’s just a lot better than Sargeant and showed he was better than Magnussen by the end of the season.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
17th March 2024, 8:54
I agree about Mick. I don’t think we can conclude he showed enough to make us believe that he might be at best, more than a midfield driver who might win a race someday. I am not sure Lawson did either but he had much less opportunity. Sargeant hasn’t either.
The thing is I think it’s fair to say that the top drivers, Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel and Verstappen all make an instant impact in their first seasons. If you don’t do this, the evidence suggests it’s not really going to work out great.
I am not sure about Bearman. He did a great job but he was in a very good car, relatively. I would definitely like to see him given the chance of a full season next year. I think other recent F2 champions or Lawson deserve a chance before Mick returning or Sargent staying.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
17th March 2024, 9:29
I agree, I don’t even think mick schumacher would ever be able to win a race unless in lucky circumstances, simply cause drivers of his calibre don’t usually get to really good cars, so you need stuff like the race gasly won to get a chance.
However I don’t see why he shouldn’t be in f1 just cause he’s not a top driver, apart from verstappen, hamilton, norris, alonso, russell, piastri and ricciardo of old we don’t really have a lot of top drivers in the current grid, if drivers like stroll, magnussen, zhou are on the grid, so should mick.
I think bearman is the one who would give more info regarding his performance if he got a full season, we already have a decent idea of mick’s and lawson’s level since they had 2 seasons\a handful of races.
Nick T.
17th March 2024, 6:24
The fairly pathetic level of junior talent over the last decade really shows the need for F1 teams to begin sponsoring talent before wealth starts overly distorting results (I.E., as young karters when McLaren first started its relationship with Lewis).
It’s no coincidence that prior to Max, the clearly 3 best drivers came from working class families: Schumacher, Alonso and Hamilton. Kimi did too. Today’s junior drivers are more professionally prepared than ever, but they’re certainly not more talented than ever.
anon
17th March 2024, 8:40
Nick T., there have also been individuals and team owners in junior series complaining that the process of F1 teams sponsoring drivers has also contributed to the problems with cost inflation.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
17th March 2024, 14:48
NASCAR always gave me a crystal meth vibe.
JA
18th March 2024, 10:26
COTD is cherrypicking a faulty statline. Was Schumacher close to Magnussen, yes but that he finished better is not a viable stat. In five of the races he finished better Magnussen had damage in two and another three he was shown a meatball flag due to the weak/not too weak endplate. Racedata and point finishes are what matters and only in Silverstone was Schumacher faster over the weekend. By the end of the season as some points out, Schumacher had already used up the inventory of updated parts, so Magnussen was running an older spec. And then there is the case that Schumacher only once finished better than Magnussen on even footing when inside the top12 – near points giving positions. Everyone Knows Magnussen doesn’t give it all when running way outside the points. Could Schumacher be better than some current drivers, sure, but he is on the edge and teams very rarely go for backmarker talent when implementing them into F1. In that case he already had his shot due to his name and beating Ilott and Shwartzman to a seat. Of course we have some due to nationality and another due to daddy’s pockets.