Bearman “up to speed” from third lap in F1 car

In brief

Bearman “up to speed” from third F1 lap

Ferrari’s head of track engineering, Matteo Togninalli, says that Oliver Bearman was immediately quick from the first time he drove a Formula 1 car at Ferrari’s Fiorano test track late last year.

“One thing that surprised me straight away the first day in Fiorano in October of ’23. He went out for the first time in his life with a Formula 1 car and like the third lap that he did at Fiorano – a new track, new car, new situation – he was already up to speed. So that is talent,” Togninalli said.

“He was a guy, 18 years old and you would never expect that straight away he was up to speed. The other aspect to me that is paying off quite a bit is he is very calm, he’s very focused, he’s not panicking. So I think he has a great future. I hope he can achieve whatever he wants in life and I’m sure he can.”

Not being on grid “frustrating” – Lawson

Lawson replaced the injured Daniel Ricciardo at the team now known as RB for five rounds in the second half of 2023, scoring two points with ninth place in the Singapore Grand Prix. He is acting as reserve driver this season.

“I always imagined what it would be like to be in Formula 1 and now I know what it’s like because I’ve driven it, so maybe it makes it harder,” Lawson said at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival.

“Obviously I want to be in that full time, so I’m working towards that. But I think just knowing how rare the opportunity is, knowing how big it is, obviously maybe it’s frustrating at times, but I guess I have to remind myself of that.”

Sette Camara disqualified

ERT driver Sergio Sette Camara was disqualified from the final results of the weekend’s Sao Paulo Eprix after stewards determined he had exceeded his maximum energy allowance during the race.

Sette Camara finished 16th, less than half a second ahead of ERT team mate Dan Ticktum. However, he exceeded his total energy allowance of 38.5 kWh for the race, resulting in his disqualification. Ticktum, Norman Nato and Robin Frijns all moved up one position in the final results.

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

‘The biggest F1 race in the world’: New boss wants grand prix festival to spread into surrounding suburbs (The Age)

Travis Auld: ''There’s no doubt that holding an F1 race in a park is not an inexpensive exercise. It’s justified by the size of the crowds we get here. What we should be held accountable to is the economic contribution that the race makes to this state. It’s about $2.66 for every dollar that the government or the taxpayer puts in.''

Newly dismissed ethics complaint on mayor’s F1 weekend details repayment to billionaire (Miami Herald)

'The state Ethics Commission on Wednesday dismissed a complaint alleging that Miami Mayor Francis Suarez improperly received tickets to last year’s Formula 1 race in Miami from billionaire Ken Griffin, concluding the mayor repaid the cost of the VIP passes to the Sunday race for him and his wife. But the investigation did not address other key questions raised in the complaint, namely who provided his other VIP passes throughout the three-day Grand Prix weekend from May 5-7.'

This ‘Rush’ movie prop Ferrari F1 car is begging to become a track-day build (The Drive)

'This prop played the role of Niki Lauda's Ferrari 312 T2 F1 car, though the extent to which it was used is unclear. It's one of nine prop cars made for the movie but it's hard to tell how much driving this car actually did. It looks like it was driven at least a little bit, as there's some wear and tear on it from movie use but it doesn't seem to have been driven too hard.'

Featured Automobilista 2 March 2024 development update (Reiza Studios)

'We are delighted to announce that Automobilista 2 is now an official licensee of the International Motorsports Association, the body in charge of several long-running racing series in the US, the premier of which of course being the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, featuring some of the most traditional Endurance events in the world such as the Daytona 24h, the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta and the Sebring 12h - the latter taking place just as we write this.'

This is the Simracing Golden Age (random callsign via YouTube)

Is simracing better now than it has ever been? Yes, argues YouTuber random callsign.

Who's to blame for the Pin incident? (Mr V's Garage via YouTube)

YouTuber Mr V offers an informative look into who was responsible for Doriane Pin losing victory in the second F1 Academy race in Jeddah after she failed to stop after the chequered flag.

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:

Valtteri Bottas in the Leyton House CG891 Judd with Damon Hill and David Croft. Bottas made a last-minute call to drive the Leyton House at the 2024 Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival. #F1 #Adelaide #AMF pic.twitter.com/QYwURG6WBa

— Adelaide Motorsport Festival (@AdelMotorsFest) March 17, 2024

👍 or 👎 Nico and Kevin rank some of F1’s most famous circuits!

What do you think of their selections?#HaasF1 pic.twitter.com/mexS0byfuY

— MoneyGram Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) March 17, 2024

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• Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory

Comment of the day

This weekend’s Caption Competition winner is Derek Edwards!:

“You’ve got a bit of Stake on your shirt…”
Derek Edwards

Thanks to everyone who came up with caption ideas this week and a special mention to Broke1984, Wheel Nut, Bullfrog and Red Andy who all came up with particularly good captions.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Oskar!

On this day in motorsport

• Born today in 1982: Timo Glock