In the round-up: George Russell says he is open to any driver joining him at Mercedes in 2025
In brief
Russell would welcome “anyone” team mate
With Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes at the end of this season, George Russell says he is opening to anyone joining him next season, including Mercedes junior F2 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
“I think Kimi is a fantastic driver,” Russell said. “Obviously racing in Formula 2 this year, but he’s no doubt going to be a Formula 1 driver in the future and he’s a fellow junior driver as well, coming through the ranks, as I did with the team. So I think it makes for a great opportunity for Mercedes building into the future.
“But as I said before, I’d welcome anybody as my team-mate. I feel like I’ve got a pretty good team-mate right now as it is. So yeah, I’d welcome anybody.”
Foster takes Indy Nxt pole
Louis Foster secured pole position for today’s Indy Nxt series race in Detroit, ahead of championship leader Jacob Abel.
Caio Collet secured third on the grid, with Jamie Chadwick qualifying in fourth place.
Slater makes it four in Italian F4
Freddie Slater took his fourth straight win in the Italian F4 series to further extend his championship lead.
The Prema driver took the opening race of the weekend at Imola from Hiyu Yamakoshi with Aksha Bohra in third. Slater now sits on a perfect score of 100 points with victory in ever round, 46 points ahead of team mate Alex Powell in second, who retired from the race.
YouTuber SuperGT loses Nurburgring license
Simracer Steve Brown – known as ‘SuperGT’ on YouTube – was barred from participating with his team mates in this weekend’s Nurburgring 24 Hours after he was found to have driven too fast under a yellow flag zone in qualifying.
Brown was due to race alongside fellow simracing personality Jimmy Broadbent, Mikhail Charoudin and Manuel Metzger in a Black Falcon-operated GT4 BMW M4 in the endurance race. However, he was recorded travelling at 145km/h in a Code60 zone, where the maximum speed limit is 60km/h, during the second qualifying session. As a result, his team were handed a 90-second stop-and-go penalty for the race and Brown’s Nordschleife license was revoked, meaning he was barred from participating in this weekend’s race.
Brown will be permitted to reapply for his license and, if successful, will be allowed to race in future events at the circuit.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
'Milton Keynes roundabouts helped me with Formula 1' - Lawson (BBC Newsbeat)
''It's fair to say I've done a few roundabouts in my time. Sometimes you have street circuits that are pretty close to it. Monaco is a track that has a bit of everything. The hairpin in Monaco is tighter than most roundabouts in Milton Keynes.''
McLaren's 'family environment' has academy star Bustamante confident of F1 dream (Mirror)
''Personally, I've had a lot of growth mentally, physically. Having the chance to work with McLaren in the development program, I've had access to the amazing facility, working at MTC, training, and, of course, even having a sports psychologist to help me deal with pressure and having that mental stability throughout the race season, which is very, very important.''
Frederik Vesti: My focus is Formula 1 (Formula Scout)
''My focus is F1. That’s very clear also with Mercedes as a reserve driver this year. But to be standing completely still and not actually driving, I was a bit afraid to do that. And I really wanted to continue learning and building, adding bricks to the foundation I’ve already created.''
Ferrucci apologizes for homophobic remark in Detroit (Racer)
'The testy words were in response to on-track clashes with Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood and Colton Herta, and a heated pit-lane exchange with Kirkwood, that included a homophobic dig at Herta, who the A.J. Foyt Racing driver referred to as Kirkwood’s ''little boyfriend teammate.''
Saudi Arabia to host FIA World Rally Championship from 2025 (FIA)
'Today, June 1st, marks a historic moment as WRC Promoter officially announces a groundbreaking ten-year agreement with Saudi Arabia, securing the Middle Eastern nation's position on the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar from 2025.'
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Social media
Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
Happy Pride Month 🌈
For June we’re supporting and celebrating #Pride2024, and to fight for better inclusion. pic.twitter.com/SfKRYlnuQ0
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) June 1, 2024
Exciting news 😁 We've got a pop-up shop in downtown Montreal 👏
Open for all your merch needs this weekend and next week for the #CanadianGP 💪 pic.twitter.com/PfvmgCbFXJ
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) June 1, 2024
Swear I did not ask for the bib pic.twitter.com/dLTKNa2FqW
— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) June 1, 2024
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Is Esteban Ocon a reckless driver? Ben Rowe comes to the Alpine driver’s defence…
He does indeed find himself in these situations a lot, but several of those incidents with Sergio Perez were very clearly Perez’s fault. There was also an occasion when Fernando Alonso was furious with him in a sprint in Brazil when Alonso was 100% at fault for driving into the back of him and breaking his own front wing.
The very interesting thing is that a few years back, Ocon was the only driver driver alongside Valtteri Bottas that went over 12 months without any penalty points at all, implying that if he was involved in incidents, he clearly wasn’t at fault. I don’t think his history is as bad as some are implying based on this.
Ben Rowe
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Jayantj, Rahim.Rg and Aditya Fakhri Yahya!
Scottie (@scottie)
2nd June 2024, 4:48
Santino Ferrucci just reinforcing his underlying character in my eyes.
He gives me the impression that he is only here to represent how NOT to be a decent human being.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
2nd June 2024, 5:54
Yep. The lashy comment sure seems to show who he really is, whereas the apology seems more like a PR cleanup job.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
2nd June 2024, 6:35
INDYCAR brought his on themselves when they hired a known bigot, who had been ousted from European racing precisely after a particularly egregious event, and started praising him over and over again and complete ignoring that. Even despite him showing no remorse nor a proper apology over that incident with Maini.
They can’t go complaining now, they knew what they had.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
2nd June 2024, 6:38
Whoops, posted that one prematurely. The excuse being used that “it’s not who I am” never works. If you throw around such comments and insults when you’re angry, you already had them ready to go. Probably using them all the time when you’re amongst friends and consider yourself safe. All you lost was your public filter in your anger.
Never trust someone that’s “accidentally” a bigot. They’re a bigot. Always.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
2nd June 2024, 10:32
+ 1
BasCB (@bascb)
3rd June 2024, 12:17
Well said there @sjaakfoo. It should have been obvious for anyone what kind of person Ferrucci is a few years ago. Sure, people can change, but they have to DO/Learn something before that happens. He clearly did not.
Nick T.
3rd June 2024, 17:06
I heard Ferrucci and Lando are starting their own team: Trump Steak & Estates Kick F1.
Jere (@jerejj)
2nd June 2024, 6:23
I feel like the article about Frederik Vesti already appeared on a round-up, the second-to-most recent, but sourced from a different site.
Nevertheless, unfortunately for him, the F1 train effectively left a little while ago, with his chances only getting lower & lower over time as teams have other drivers prioritized.
Saudi Arabia’s inaugural WRC round has been in the making for some time, so I’m looking forward to seeing what the special stages will look like, even if mostly on sand.
COTD: The incident with Alonso in the 2022 Sao Paulo GP sprint was more or less 50-50, iirc, & among the incidents with Perez, the 2018 Singapore GP one was definitely Perez’s fault (albeit only an unfortunate opening lap racing incident) as was the 2017 Belgian GP one, although the same-season Baku & Hungaroring coming together situations were caused by Ocon.
MichaelN
2nd June 2024, 9:19
The Nürburgring penalties are serious business. Has to be at a track like that.
Still, it must be very disappointing for Brown. I gather it was his first lap, and at night too.
Hopefully these guys can get together again next year.
Seann Sheriland
2nd June 2024, 16:15
Alex Albon to Mercedes from Williams.
Got the talent, just needs a better car to drive.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
2nd June 2024, 18:27
Unfortunate for SuperGT that, having for so long feared a meeting with Barry R, he was actually undone after meeting Stu Wards.
BasCB (@bascb)
3rd June 2024, 12:18
:-)
Matthijs (@matthijs)
3rd June 2024, 14:03
When I read that Ferrucci was ‘homophobic’, I expected much worse. I find it quite ironic that implying that someone is gay is consideren homophobic. In an ideal world where homo- and heterosexuals are considered equal (which they are), Ferrucci’s comments wouldn’t be considered homophobic, discriminating or even derogatory. Being offended when you are called gay is also a bit homophobic right?
Nick T.
3rd June 2024, 17:07
Considering the guy’s history and very public politics, he doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt on something like this…
AlanD
3rd June 2024, 17:57
Implying someone is gay is not in itself, homophobic. Just like references to race, gender, disability, parenthood, religion, age, the context is everything. He was clearly using it in a derogatory way, to cause offense.
pastaman
3rd June 2024, 23:31
I also didn’t find it that offensive. However, given his history and that fact that it’s Pride Month in the US, it was ill-timed to say the least.
Janith
4th June 2024, 14:05
It’s going to be Nikita Mazepin