Alonso texted Newey to encourage him to join Aston Martin

In brief

Alonso texted Newey to pitch Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso has revealed that he reached out to Red Bull’s departing designer Adrian Newey before he signed for Aston Martin in a bid to try and convince him to join his team.

Newey announced that he would be leaving world champions Red Bull after almost two decades at the end of the current season. Alonso says he reached out to Newey when he heard the news.

“I was hoping Adrian would join when he decided to stop with his previous team,” Alonso said in an article on the Aston Martin website. “To start with, you dream that it can be a possibility. There were a couple of rumours that he was joining different teams and I was asking Lawrence, I was asking Martin Whitmarsh, I was asking various people in the team if we had contacted Adrian.

“I even ended up contacting him. I have his phone number and texted him: ‘What a surprise. If you ever think you would like a new challenge, I would love to work with you one day.’

“And I then found out that Adrian and Lawrence Stroll were in contact. Lawrence kept me up to date on negotiations. When Adrian decided to join, I was extremely happy but also extremely proud – proud that he wanted to work with us and that he believed in our project.”

Palou quickest in Indy test

IndyCar champion Alex Palou was quickest in the one-off test day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to test out the new hybrid system on the famous oval ahead of next year’s Indy 500.

The Ganassi driver posted the highest average lap speed of the day with a 224.342mph best lap, with reigning two-times Indy 500 champion Joseph Newgarden second-quickest and Rinus VeeKay in third.

“I think the overtake we get (from the hybrid) is nice,” Palou said. “I think it’s good enough to set up a pass maybe in the middle of the pack. We’ll have to see.”

Fuji win boosts Tsuboi’s SF hopes

Sho Tsuboi moved within half a point of Super Formula championship leader Tomoki Nojiri after winning the first race of the double-header weekend in Fuji.

Tsuboi led home Red Bull junior Ayumu Iwasa to win the first race of the weekend. Kamui Kobayashi completed the podium in third.

Links

Drivers among those to lose out as W Series reveals £17 million debts (Formula Scout)

'It appears that none of the prize money due for the final season was paid to the drivers, leaving Jamie Chadwick owed £394,900 (the sterling equivalent of the $500,000 champion’s prize fund), with Beitske Visser and Alice Powell, second and third respectively, also out of pocket by more than £100,000 each. F1 Academy points leader Abbi Pulling is owed £81,624.'

F1's newest team boss Oli Oakes on getting Alpine back on track (F1)

''Toto said something quite funny. He said ‘it’s good to have some young blood among us dinosaurs!’ I was laughing away, it was nice of him to be so welcoming. People at home don’t often get to see that part of F1 – how close people are, how so many people have come up through the ranks together in different ways. I think it’s quite cool.''

The Ineos Effect: hit and miss as Jim Ratcliffe’s tentacles have gone global (Guardian)

'Financially, Ratcliffe and Ineos will have few complaints (with Mercedes). Last year they took a share of a £75m dividend from the team, largely through healthy sponsorship revenues. On the track it has been downhill since Hamilton’s controversial loss to Max Verstappen in 2021. Mercedes won the constructors’ championship that year but the well has been dry since: they failed to react smartly to a regulation change in 2022, while Red Bull and recently McLaren have outshone them on race days. Hamilton will depart for Ferrari next year. In a fast-changing sport, though, the murmurings are they will be well placed to revive when the rules next alter in 2026.'

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Comment of the day

Although safety has improved in the decade since the tragic accident of Jules Bianchi, Jeanrien believes race control could be smarter with how it approaches covering incidents on track…

What I don’t get is that we’ve had some good tools introduced with the Virtual Safety Car and halo but some are still used below optimal.

I don’t understand why the VSC is not triggered more quickly, as soon as there is major incident and debris on track, the time to assess the situation and decide if it requires a Safety Car or a red flag.

In the worst (or best) case, the situation resolves itself quickly (marshals able to push the car out of the way) and the race can resume within minutes with minor impact on the result.
Jeanrien

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Randy Torres!

On this day in motorsport

• 5 years ago today Sebastian Vettel threw away his pole position advantage at Suzuka by jumping the start, which allowed Valtteri Bottas to burst through from third place to win.