Komatsu to let Bearman make ‘the right mistakes’ in rookie year

In brief

Komatsu to let Bearman make ‘right mistakes’

With Haas bringing rookie Oliver Bearman into their team alongside Esteban Ocon in 2025 and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc expressing his hope that Bearman will be allowed to make mistakes, team principal Ayao Komatsu says he will show patience with his teenage driver.

“I think you’ve got to look at the individual mistakes, as it were,” Komatsu said in response to a question from RaceFans. “Every situation is different. We’ve got to judge it in context.

“It might be the right mistake to make, it may be the wrong mistake to make. It really depends on the context – where you are in the championship, where you are on the grid, what phase of the race it is, is this the race to take the race, is this the event to be conservative? So it’s depending on the context. But the thing is, Ollie understands the bigger picture very well. So my expectation is if he is going to make a mistake, he will make a mistake in the right way, if you like. That’s not something to be shouted at for, if you like.”

Cadillac join with JOTA for 2025

JOTA founder and director Sam Hignett said the move realised the team’s ambition to become a full factory team.

“Having competed against the Cadillac V-Series.R for the last two seasons, we have experienced how competitive it is and we are genuinely honoured to be entrusted with fielding its cars from 2025 onward,” said Hignett. “We are in the privileged position to have enjoyed record-breaking success in the FIA World Endurance Championship, especially at Le Mans, and we are very much looking forward to continuing this success with Cadillac.”

Links

Verstappen makes McLaren, Mercedes admission with Red Bull no longer F1's fastest (Sky Sports)

''I think they are ahead of us. It depends. Sometimes McLaren, sometimes Mercedes. I think we were faster than Ferrari but coming from P11 we didn't have enough time to pass them. We know that we have work to do. We know that we want to do better, we are of course not satisfied with this, but everyone is doing a great job and you have to take your hat off for that as well.''

The day Sebastian Vettel decided to retire from F1 — then annoyed Aston bosses with climate campaign (Motor Sport)

'Yet Vettel always tried to do more. On one occasion, I had been contacted by a young man who was deeply depressed. I told Seb about him, and he said, ''Let’s do a Zoom call with him.'' So I arranged it. I had thought that Seb might speak for five minutes or so. But no: he chatted animatedly for more than 20 minutes, with touching humility and heart-warming empathy, and I feel confident when I say that those 20-odd minutes were significant in expediting the lad’s mental and emotional recovery. A few months later, Seb hand-wrote the boy a four-page letter. He gave it to me at a grand prix — I cannot remember which one — and he instructed me to post it on when I returned to the UK. I read it before I did so, and the tenderness and beauty of Seb’s prose brought me to tears. There are many other examples of his remarkable generosity and sensitivity: too many to mention, in fact.'

F1 Arcade race simulators are only part of the experience (Washington Times)

'With one curved screen showing the view from the cockpit and another to help identify one’s place on the track, the simulator might resemble a high-end setup for an especially dedicated gamer. What sets it apart are the haptics: the way the seat bounces and leans to simulate the sense of weaving through the turns — or slamming into the wall. There are five race modes, from rookie to elite. The easier levels don’t require shifting, and arrows show the proper race line and when to brake and accelerate; the top levels take away the assistance and activate the steering wheel gearshift buttons, like the ones on real F1 cars.'

Kick F1 Simracing Team to continue with Thomas Ronhaar and Brendon Leigh into 2024-25 (Sauber)

'Kick F1 Simracing Team will continue racing with Thomas Ronhaar and Brendon Leigh in the 2024-25 simracing season, as preparations continue for the new campaign and our drivers compete in the PSGL Championship – the simracing competition effectively acting as an unofficial pre-season for the F1 Simracing Championship.'

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Comment of the day

With more winners on the current F1 grid than since 1978, that only increases Scotty‘s appreciation for Red Bull’s dominance of last year…

It’s seasons like 1978 and 2024 that truly show the brilliance of the dominant seasons like 2023. If one team doesn’t get it just right, the whole pack will catch you. While they may not be as exciting as close seasons, you have to be impressed by the execution of a masterpiece. I have been watching F1 for twelve years now and couldn’t be happier!
Scotty

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Matthew Mcmahon, Penelope Pitstop, Ell, Foleyger, Mitch and Sunil Kumar!

On this day in motorsport

• On this day in 1954 Stirling Moss won the non-championship Oulton Park Gold Cup after starting last (his Maserati 250F arrived too late for him to practice) and passing 18 cars in the first four laps.