In the round-up: The managing director of the Salzburgring believes his circuit would be suitable to host grands prix.
In brief
Salzburgring ‘would have no problem hosting F1’
Austria’s high-speed Salzburgring could host Formula 1 races following its latest upgrade, according to the track’s managing director Ernst Penninger.
The high-speed, 4.2 kilometre layout has a grade three FIA licence – grade one is required to hold Formula 1 events. However Penninger believes their latest upgrade puts them on a part with the Red Bull Ring at Spielberg, which has held F1 races every year since 2014.
“We now have a completely new, fully digitised race control,” he told Motorsport Total. “We finished it in April and it has been in full use since May.”
“Technically, we are on par with Spielberg, but with newer technology because the camera technology is newer,” he added. “We are more modern than many other DTM tracks and would have no problem hosting Formula 1 today.”
Ferrari “stronger” with Hamilton – Elkann
Ferrari chairman John Elkann believes the team are “stronger” with Lewis Hamilton joining the Scuderia in 2025.“He wants to win the eighth title, Ferrari wants to win and with Lewis it is stronger,” Elkann told Corriere dello Sport. “He does not come to Ferrari to enjoy his retirement and it is important to have motivated people around him, who want to win.
“There is real competition in Formula 1 now, with four very close teams: Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes. It is important to always go to the maximum of your potential: those with more experience have more consistency as Hamilton and Fernando Alonso himself demonstrate. And consistency count.”
Famin officially departs Alpine
An updated record on the British Companies House website formally records that former Alpine team principal Bruno Famin was terminated as a director of the team on July 30th, two days after the Belgian Grand Prix.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Links
Alonso sets ‘champions’ target for Aston Martin F1 despite recent struggles (Independent)
''I’m enjoying the journey. We want to be champions. We want to be competitive next year and also take the big opportunity in 2026. It’s not the time to be frustrated. It’s time to enjoy the process of becoming a big team.''
Largest ever collection of Senna cars confirmed for Silverstone Festival (Motor Sport)
'Charting Senna’s career from his early days karting in Brazil to winning F1 championships with McLaren, the showcase will feature over 25 exhibits at the circuit where he won more races than anywhere else — at every stage of his single-seater career. These include the Van Diemen RF81 single-seater in which he won the Formula Ford 1600 championship in his debut year, as well as the Ralt RT3 he raced against Martin Brundle as they duelled for the 1983 Formula 3 title; Senna emerging triumphant.'
Ludacris, Alesso and OneRepublic to headline stage during Las Vegas Grand Prix (Las Vegas GP)
'Global superstars Ludacris, Alesso and OneRepublic are set to headline the T-Mobile Zone at Sphere Stage during the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. Additionally, Chromeo, Drama, Kaleena Zanders, Meute, The Beaches, Too Many Zooz and more will take the stage for thrilling performances throughout the weekend.'
We always endeavour to credit original sources. Got a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport? Please send it to us via the contact form.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Social media
Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
Dad chat 🗣️😅
I think we all know what these two are doing during the summer break… 👶#HaasF1 #F1 pic.twitter.com/Sz6FGaOPI6
— MoneyGram Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) August 12, 2024
More adventures 🇫🇮🇳🇴#VB77 @canyon_bikes @SRAMroad pic.twitter.com/TgqwV08QvV
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) August 12, 2024
Eyes in the skies! Check out some of the incredible aerial footage captured during the 2024 #DetroitGP.#WeDriveDetroit // #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/nDnPjK5YGm
— Detroit Grand Prix (@detroitgp) August 12, 2024
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
The news that Oscar Piastri won the Hungarian Grand Prix with a fractured rib has impressed Sonny Crockett…
Hats off to Piastri, putting in the performances that he has with a busted rib.
I broke several earlier this year and it was agony. Took about six weeks before the pain started to subside. Like I say, well done Oscar. It makes what you’ve achieved even more special.
Sonny Crockett
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Chris Monk, Ciaran, Jonathan, Camo8723, David Knutson, Sevrige and Omarr-Pepper!
On this day in motorsport
- 35 years ago today Nigel Mansell scored an unlikely win at the Hungaroring from 12th on the grid, passing Ayrton Senna for the lead when the McLaren driver was slowed by Stefan Johansson’s Onyx
Jere (@jerejj)
13th August 2024, 8:19
Even if they upgraded to Grade 1, I doubt they could still join F1 with Red Bull making sure their circuit stays.
Simply put, I doubt both would practically fit simultaneously.
Simon
13th August 2024, 20:56
https://giphy.com/gifs/film-reaction-vintage-fRuKMTq1oS652
Nick T.
13th August 2024, 9:17
Don’t be ridiculous. We can’t have an amazing old school track located in a gorgeous European setting that makes Paris look like an eyesore. Not when we could fit at least another 3 dictators and/or emirates on the track? We’ll need races in Xinjiang, Modhi’s Motorsport Park and one in both Moscow and Mariupol to rehab the Kremlin’s image. Don’t dwell on all the empty seats installed by indentured laborers. Dwell on the billions in hosting fees they could net.
BasCB (@bascb)
13th August 2024, 10:38
You forgot to mention the fancy shiny new track in the desert they are building in S.Arabia right now there Nick, surely that needs a place on the calendar!
I also think we might have to consider a Maduro-ring somewhere in Venezuela soon …
Constantijn Blondel
13th August 2024, 15:21
There’s already a Maduro-dam, BasCB. They could build the circuit there ;)
Shimks (@shimks)
13th August 2024, 19:10
I enjoyed these. Thanks, guys! :)
Nick T.
14th August 2024, 4:38
Maduro may have the lowest IQ of any “president” in the history of the world. But he more than makes up for it in…wait, nothing. Zero charisma either.
Nick T.
14th August 2024, 4:35
I did. I’ll add the one caveat that if the track looks anything like the artwork showed it looking like as it winds through crazy looking rock formations, at least it will actually be a very cool looking track. I still wouldn’t want F1 to go to SA based on simple moral decency.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
13th August 2024, 10:06
Salzburgring looks absolutely boring though. And with no room for modifications it doesn’t look like it can be tweaked, so hopefully the idea isn’t serious.
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
13th August 2024, 10:54
Yes, it’s sort of like a stripped down Paul Ricard. My memories of the track from a decade or so ago when I watched touring car races there are constant chaos in the first chicane, boring long straights and a few sweeping turns which produce no big action, and a bunch of punctures. Also if Wikipedia is correct, it’s an FIA Grade 3 circuit, so they are absolutely not ready for a Grand Prix – I’ve been actually looking around Salzburg on the internet recently for a trip, and the city seems like it could perhaps handle a GP, but the circuit and its facilities very much couldn’t. I’m really curious what they mean by fully digitized race control and modern camera technology. HD CCTV?
anon
13th August 2024, 21:26
@hunocsi you’re right that quite a few people say that they’ve found the racing at the circuit to be somewhat lacklustre and that it’s getting it’s reputation boosted by it’s location rather than for the track itself.
The circuit owners seem to have been skimping on the details of what this upgrade entails, as it seems they’re more interested in showboating instead. From what little information they’ve given, the upgrades seem to be mainly higher quality cameras and a race control centre that can handle the increased number of camera feeds that are now being fed into it.
As you note, the circuit is Grade 3 because the safety features around the track haven’t been upgraded for decades, and there is no capacity to upgrade the circuit to cope with anything particularly fast. The upgrade package they’ve introduced was about trying to persuade DTM that the circuit is now safe enough for them to race at, since they’ve previously refused to race there on safety grounds – i.e. GT3 races may just about now be feasible at the Salzburgring.
Nick T.
14th August 2024, 4:36
I can’t say for sure, but it looks not much different than Monza. However, I agree. It’s a bit lacking in interesting curves.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
14th August 2024, 12:34
I don’t think a second fast track would be a bad thing nowadays, remember we had hockenheim’s old layout, which was even better than monza that way, then they changed it into a more typical circuit, so only monza is left as the temple of speed.
Coventry Climax
13th August 2024, 10:21
Ferrari stronger with Hamilton? Maybe. I think Sainz did a pretty decent job sofar. Leclerc though disappoints me on a quite consistent frequency, and I somehow struggle to see there’s any progress there. It often seems he’s very despondent with the way things seem to go at Ferrari, and I honestly believed he’d go find a seat elsewhere, if only to re-invigorate himself. So I feel maybe Ferrari traded in the wrong guy?
Then the other way round: if Hamilton is also stronger with Ferrari? That’s actually doubtful to the level it makes me laugh.
It’ll take a massive, huge, humongous lot more than just another driver to turn things at Ferrari around. There’s no look and feel of a team on a buzz, that buzz of a team actually and collectively trying to get it all together and go for wins.
Can I say it? They’re too arrogant to have their mindset changed with just another driver. They’ve had many, many great ones before, and generally failed to do anything with them.
Doh
13th August 2024, 11:48
The way I see it is Ferrari is probably stronger with Lewis from a development and car progression pov. He has a lot of experience but also even in the McLaren days it was a strength of theirs having Lewis to improve the car. His driving showing weaknesses better than Jensen etc
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th August 2024, 13:26
I know it’s more than just the driver, but if the driver imput matters at improving a car, then hamilton has a pretty good record at making cars better; that could be what ferrari wants, then ofc they still have to perform strategy wise, as 2022 shows.
Asd
13th August 2024, 13:39
“Red Bull Ring at Spielberg, which has held F1 races every year since 2014.”
But overall, the track in its current shape has been hosting F1 races since 1998.
I loved watching F3 races at Salzburgring, it’s a fantastic track and I wish it replaced Spielberg.
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
13th August 2024, 15:59
First F1 race on the modern layout was 1997.
Simon
13th August 2024, 20:58
Yep. I was there
Mr A
13th August 2024, 18:37
Salzburgring looks boring, like a blend of Paul Ricard and AVUS and Jeddah, but with few corners or braking zones than either, so no thank you.
ChrisJ (@chriju0411)
14th August 2024, 8:46
The Salzburgring article is absolutely not about the quotes here make out of it. They revamped part of the track to be on the DTM calendar soon and not even that is fixed.
The only comparison they make to Spielberg and F1 is the new digital race control. They never talk about hosting F1, they say their new race control and tech – and only that – would be suitable for F1 as well, just to highlight its state of the art.
There’s nothing more to that “story”.