In the round-up: Sebastian Vettel has downplayed the possibility he could return to Formula 1.
In brief
Vettel “at peace” with life after F1
Vettel, who left F1 at the end of 2022, admitted being back in the paddock at Imola made him long to return. “I’m enjoying my time, especially with the kids,” he told Channel 4. “Obviously, I miss Formula 1 on days like this when the sun’s out, people are here, full house. I wish to be in a competitive car and just ne on the grid.”
However Vettel, who tested Porsche’s 963 World Endurance Championship Hypercar earlier this year, said “it doesn’t look like” he will return to F1 “because I think I have a very distinct way of how to do things.”
“There’s lots of things that I miss but there’s also things that just don’t work together,” he said. “It was a very tough decision, it still hurts, I think it’s better now after one and a half years of distance. But I think I’m very much at peace with it and enjoying my new life.”
Penske’s Indianapolis domination continues
Penske stayed on top in the eighth practice session for the Indianapolis 500, the day after locking out the front row of the grid for this weekend’s race.Last year’s winner Josef Newgarden was quickest with a best lap of 364.094kph (226.238mph). Andretti’s Colton Herta separated Newgarden from his team mate Will Power in third, with pole-winner Scott McLaughlin 21st.
Bird back for Chinese round
Sam Bird will return to the cockpit of his McLaren Formula E car in this weekend’s double-header at Shanghai International Circuit. Taylor Barnard substituted for Bird in the last three races after he was injured during the opening practice session in Monaco.
Latest F1 Arcade venue announced
Formula 1 will open its third F1 Arcade in America at the Caesars Palace casino in Las Vegas. Its first US arcade opened in Boston last month and another will be launched in Washington later this year.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
An Original: Andy Stevenson on what he's learnt from 33 years in F1 (Aston Martin)
'I obviously didn't start out using seven video feeds on the pit wall – it's been a natural development to get there, and we get offered new technology all the time. It's all about adapting new tech for the purpose you need it for – adaptation is a skill. You have to be comfortable with change. In addition to those seven screens, I also listen to about 15 radio channels so it's not surprising that you end up a bit frazzled after a race – your mind has been working intensely for the previous two hours.'
Goethe’s Imola weekend in his words (Formula 3)
'It’s a similar story to Melbourne where the tyres dropped off a lot, so it's really crucial to manage them well because you can make such a big difference in the last part of the race, no matter how you do at the start. It's tricky to manage especially when you are struggling more than the guys around you, but I kept my head cool and kept calm to not make the situation worse and it worked out all okay in the end.'
An exceptional public, three days of celebrating (Minardi)
'We saw an important upward compaction in the performances of McLaren and Ferrari, in particular they narrowed slightly the gap from the direct rivals. The fight for the points zone and for the podium is becoming fiercer.'
The Ducati Monster Senna is a two-wheeled tribute to the F1 legend (Top Gear)
'The Monster Senna is painted in yellow, green and blue to reflect the colours of the Brazilian flag and to evoke memories of Ayrton’s iconic helmet design.'
Top moments from Practice 8 for 2024 Indianapolis 500 (IndyCar via YouTube)
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:
Will Power clearly frustrated that @Team_Penske opted not to run yesterday afternoon in the heat of the day to simulate the Fast 12 & 6.
Said yesterday that that came straight from Roger Penske.
"We should've run. I wanted to & we didn't & that's a bad decision in my opinion."
— Nathan Brown (@By_NathanBrown) May 19, 2024
I can adopt you if needed
— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) May 20, 2024
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Did the influence tyre performance in Norris’ pursuit of Verstappen last weekend enhance or detract from the race?
It again shows how F1 has been contrived by tyre performance for far too long. It’s become a tyre science sport.
Yes, aero is important, power is important, but the overall car performance has been far too dependent on getting the tyres to work. I’d rather have the tyres just being neutral.
Sure, have different compounds to trade durability for grip, but enough of these struggles to just get them to do what they’re supposed to do. Let the drivers focus more on racing rather than on tyre management.
Andre
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Gv27, Kanyima, Thersqaured and Olivia Stephanie Ault!
Tristan
21st May 2024, 0:29
Tyres are so integral to a cars performance such that managing their temperature is unavoidable, it’s the same on any car at any level of competition. You can be ignorant of that, but it doesn’t change the fact. You heat up rubber, it’ll get softer.
Switching to Bridgestone or Michelen or Firestone or whoever is never going to change that. When you’re in search of tenths or even hundreds, getting the tyres to the optimal temperature for that circuit and the conditions on the day is always going to lead to a lap time improvement.
Getting that wrong is always going to result in quotes of “we couldn’t get the tyre in the window” and that’s simply not the tyres fault.
Johns
21st May 2024, 5:50
When the latest tire contract was being negotiated, Bridgestone Racing said if they get the contract, they will build the best tires. Apparently FIA didnt want that. I will never buy Pirilli tires since after 20 years, they still cant figure out what Bridgestone or Goodyear already know about race tires.
Tristan
21st May 2024, 6:17
I guess that’s the best marketing for them then, they make the best tyres in the world! Without you know, actually having to make the tyres for the best cars in the world.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see F1 try another tyre manufacturer as much as anybody. But nobody has any idea what forces these tyres are expected to handle and there’s absolutely no guarantee that another manufacturer is going to do any better job of it at all. And it certainly isn’t going to fix everything, nothing ever does.
anon
21st May 2024, 6:49
Johns, it seems that there were technical concerns raised about some of Bridgestone’s proposals in their tender, with another issue being questions about how exactly Bridgestone intended to test their prototype tyres in a way that also maintained neutrality between the teams.
I’m also not exactly sure what you mean by saying “Bridgestone Racing said if they get the contract, they will build the best tires”, given that “best tyres” seems to be a rather subjective and arbitrary distinction by yourself. Bridgestone would have been required to build tyres around the performance requirements put forward by the FIA, and as far as we know, Bridgestone did not propose to deviate from those.
It’s also somewhat ironic that your post seems to be illustrating a point that I recall one tyre engineer making, which is that, for the average person on the street, most of what they are paying for when they buy their tyres is marketing and emotions. As he pointed out, the performance requirements for a road car tyre are so fundamentally different, and actually far more complex than a race car tyre, that making a decision to buy a road car tyre based on what their race car tyres are like was a classic case of buying on emotion and marketing, since the technical crossover would be negligible.
frood19 (@frood19)
21st May 2024, 6:52
COTD is deeply flawed. Throughout the history of motorsports, the interaction of the tyre with the road has been the key aspect of performance. You might have a great engine or great aero but if you can’t transmit that power or downforce through the tyre to the road, then you’re nowhere.
I forget the circuit, but the impact of the tyre war between Goodyear and Bridgestone in 1997 resulted in the cars lapping 6 seconds quicker than in 1996. There were no big regs changes to the cars that year apart from the introduction of the tyre war.
José Lopes da Silva
21st May 2024, 23:24
Wild variations happened in several circuits and contributed to the mayhem the season turned out, even if Schumacher vs Villeneuve was predictable. The most underrated F1 season and a worthy example of the tyre war power.
MichaelN
21st May 2024, 7:51
Tyre management is important, yes. But the problem with Pirelli is that their temperature/performance graph is very spikey. One or two degrees below or above the optimum and the difference is huge.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
21st May 2024, 8:58
The problem these days is that the tyres are way too sensitive and it’s difficult to keep them in the best operating window. A tyre that has a wider margin is what’s needed, but F1 keep insisting on forcing degradation and pit stops. We used to have races where a single tyre set would last the whole race (because of the rules forcing them to or because it was just faster not to pit). I think Pirelli CAN do better. They are just not allowed to. Indycars have a wider operating window it seems, you never hear a driver complaining about tyres the way F1 drivers do.
But I agree it’s just part of racing. Making the tyres work is essential to any kind of motor race. It’s the be-all and end-all of motorsport.
Asd
21st May 2024, 11:22
Tristan, you either fail to see the point or purposely ignore it. The problem is the sensitivity of the tyres and the sensitivity of F1 cars to basically the smallest amount of anything.
Tyres – as a variable – should impact cars in a range from a “slower lap” to “consistently fast laps”, but what is the case in F1 is that they create a range from a “completely undrivable car” to “couple of fast laps” and the range is very hard to manage. That’s the problem.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
21st May 2024, 11:40
Tires have always been the x factor in F1, for good reason. If the teams actually understood them there would be no competition.
Tristan
21st May 2024, 12:34
Sure, of course the issue is more nuanced than I make it out, but it’s lot more nuanced than the cotd makes out also. You can’t just expect tyres to be a moot point that aren’t considered and fussed about as they do.
Also, that range is exaggerated by the cars. What’s an undriveable car in F1 car these days? 2 seconds off the pace? Probably closer to 1 second now. As the competition gets closer the expectations for tyres is only increasing, and the impact of even being slightly off on those temps is further exaggerated.
None of this is to mention intense wear and the cliff and all that to add even further nuance and complication, but the teams have been quite capable of being able to prevent that for a while now.
Jere (@jerejj)
21st May 2024, 5:58
Nor has he had a strong desire, let alone any intention to return at any point.
Mayrton
21st May 2024, 6:44
Yeah, like his lack of skill… Never understood why people feel he is a good racing driver. Fast on an empty track over one lap, for sure. But it takes a bit more to be a good racing driver. He will bring nothing should he return, so let’s not go there.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
21st May 2024, 11:46
Sure, four world championships are nothing. Watch Brazil 2012 again. Why would he want to return, as he’s already done more than most in the sport? I have nothing but respect for Vettel.
Mayrton
21st May 2024, 18:40
Those four championships were down to the car and a very mediocre team mate. He simply got pole and drove off during the race. He didn’t amount to much if not starting on the front row. People read too much into the number of championships achieved. The same can be said about Lewis. Although I rate Lewis amongst the better/best (unlike Vettel) it is clear that if Alonso would have gone to Mercedes he would have 8 to 9 WDC’s by now (depending on whether he would have kept Rosberg at bay) and Lewis would be stuck at 1. I still would rate Lewis as one of the best despite that 1 WDC. The circumstances count, not the tally.
MichaelN
21st May 2024, 14:57
Especially compared to all the other drivers who have Mercedes and Hamilton a run for their money… like, eh, that other guy.
Vettel won 14 races for Ferrari during an era of unprecedented dominance. His world champion teammate won… one.
Sainz and Leclerc combined haven’t even won half as much.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
21st May 2024, 14:59
Hey now, easy on Kimi!
Edvaldo
21st May 2024, 17:43
Different cars, different people involved. Vettel was given the tools to suceed at Ferrari but came up short.
He’s a quality drive but there’s no point in coming back if the top teams have no place for him. He isn’t Alonso. He’s married, he’s a father and he has no ‘unfinished business’ with F1.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
21st May 2024, 9:01
I don’t see why people ask Seb to return, or why it’s always part of the conversation in the media. After that spin at Hockenheim 2018 he was a shadow of the driver he used to be. He’s done it all, got to his own peak and started going down, as they all do. He got the timing right to retire when he did.
Much better to see him race at Le Mans. He’d make a terrific endurance driver!
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
21st May 2024, 10:49
Why on earth would anyone want Seb back when we have the likes of Lawson and Bearman waiting for a seat?
I have nothing against Seb, but let’s get fresh new blood into the sport instead of clinging onto the past.
Sumedh
21st May 2024, 12:03
Tyre science tyre management is not a problem per se. Problem is no one, not even the diehard fans understand whose tyres are in better shape at any time of the race. There is very little knowledge of what temperature means good / bad for every car?
May be a better commentator or better graphics (heat map of tyres) will help viewers understand.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
21st May 2024, 13:59
Tyre management & trying to figure out how to get the best out of each compound has always & will always be a part of the sport.
The problem IMO with the tyres as they have been since 2011 is how the way the tyres work & many of the problems that come up with them often feels contrived because of the way the tyres have been artificially designed to act a specific way.
Going back to the Pre-Pirelli days for example the tyres were always designed around been the best they could possibly be with the focus been on performance rather than trying to hit certain characteristics for the show. As a result if an issue arose or if a team/driver using them a certain way introduced some other characteristics it felt more acceptable because it felt like it was just down to the specific circumstances & conditions of that day rather than something coming about as a result of the tyres been designed around artificial targets.
The obvious example is degredation & Montreal 2010 Vs. the Pirelli era.
Montreal 2010 wasn’t a fantastic race simply because of degredation. It was a fantastic race because the tyres acted in an unexpected way & nobody knew how to deal with it so everyone was figuring out what to do on the fly. It didn’t feel artificial because it wasn’t, It was a purely organic situation that arose from the specific track conditions of that weekend.
Moving into the Pirelli era where the tyres were designed around the high degredation concept & suddenly what was organic became artificial because they were designed to act that way, Everyone knew to expect it & therefore tyre management & designing cars, systems & driving styles around it became the way to go racing. It morphed from been a sport about pure performance where the tyres may need managing under specific conditions to a show around artificial degredation where the tyres acted sub-optimally everywhere and worse still the tyres been designed that way brought up several other negatives with the patheticly tiny operating windows etc..
S
21st May 2024, 15:09
So the moral of the story is that you actually want F1 reduce or even eliminate the ability for the teams to practice and prepare in advance?
That would definitely make F1 more interesting, I agree. ;)