Welcome to Tuesday’s edition of the RaceFans round-up.
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Cape Town and Kyalami in race to host F1 grand prix (Business Day)
'Kyalami hosted its first F1 race in 1967 and has long held a prominent place in SA motorsport. Cape Town is also vying for the race with two separate bids.'
'McLaren the class of the field but have hard tightrope to walk' (BBC)
Andrea Stella: 'We are very lucky with Oscar and Lando because it comes natural and, so far, the fact that we have Oscar and Lando for me is just a way of elevating the performance of the team and the internal competition. I'm sure there will be situations, but I'm also sure that they will be reviewed, and we will learn, and we will grow even more the way in which we protect the interest of the team.'
Horner has thrown Lawson to the slaughter (The Telegraph)
'It must be galling for Lawson that Horner is refusing to publicly back him for the Red Bull seat after just two rounds. Especially so given that he lost significant time in the car at both the pre-season test in Bahrain and the opening round in Australia, through no fault of his own.'
Brundle assesses Piastri's win, Ferrari 'pain' after disqualifications for Hamilton and Leclerc (Sky)
'It was about now that we remembered Verstappen was in the race as he started to find some grip. Somehow on lower fuel, or simply track conditions, and probably even the realisation that he didn't need to babysit the tyres so much, this allowed him to catch the Ferraris. In fact Max would deliver his fastest and front-running lap time on the final tour, which is a bit confusing.'
IndyCar, Thermal weighing options post-race for 2026 return (Racer)
'There’s a whole extra part of the track we don’t use for the IndyCar layout that we would want to go to because there’s a lot more room to put grandstands, and there’s a lot of new houses being built out in that section.'
Strong Arrow McLaren chasing solutions for Alex Palou puzzle (IndyCar)
''It’s tough seeing this guy beat us every single event,' Lundgaard said after finishing third, one position behind O’Ward. 'We’ve got find a way to stop him.''
Interesting to note the FIA issued two different versions of the decisions confirming Leclerc and Gasly, removing references to "inside and outside scales". Were they ensuring no one could hang an appeal on a minor error? This is Leclerc's, Gasly's is much the same.
#F1 #ChineseGP #RaceFans
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— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine.bsky.social) 24 March 2025 at 09:59
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Guilherme Teixeira, Marc, Thomas Lindgren and Thomas Lindgren!
On this day in motorsport
- 40 years ago today Alain Prost gave McLaren’s new MP4/2B its first run, at Brands Hatch. He went on to win his first world championship in the car
- 35 years ago today Alain Prost won the Brazilian Grand Prix for Ferrari at Interlagos after leader Ayrton Senna collided with backmarker Satoru Nakajima
- Famed F1 circuit designer John Hugenholtz died 30 years ago today
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t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
25th March 2025, 0:36
I hope Kyalami gets it. But I bet it will end up being (another) street circuit at Cape Town that makes the calendar.
MacLeod (@macleod)
25th March 2025, 7:45
Save money on improving a track so Cape Town is here the best (I really like circuits) in this poor country.
Par
25th March 2025, 16:29
Agreed 💯
An Sionnach
25th March 2025, 0:58
I can see the appeal of a spin around Cape Town, especially if there’s a nice section of road by the sea. Kyalami has the heritage, of course, and it would almost certainly be a better track than another flipping street circuit.
The Telegraph article says they should have hired Sainz. It seems they don’t get it. Someone like Rubens Barichello would be more suitable. Perhaps Red Bull should phone him? Hulkenberg might have been a decent option as he can qualify. Maybe even Magnussen, who wouldn’t hesitate to rack up the penalty points for team strategy and can also do well in qualifying!
Jonathan Parkin
25th March 2025, 5:02
Red Bull needed another driver who can drive a pointy car. Yes this comes with the danger that he might out perform Max, but if you want both championships that’s what you have to do.
Jere (@jerejj)
25th March 2025, 6:58
Rwanda is still in contention for a future GP, so I wonder whether both Kyalami & Cape Town would have a chance simultaneously or even otherwise, especially since the Cape Town option would most likely be a city circuit.
Unicron (@unicron2002)
25th March 2025, 8:12
Flat. Dull. Middle of nowhere. Not built for racing on or for spectators. Multiple circuit configurations. Lots of blue and red paint. Indycar has a Paul Ricard twin in Thermal Club. I really hope they do not return, it does not deserve a spot on the Indycar calendar.
asz
25th March 2025, 11:31
A hard tightrope is perhaps easier to walk.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
25th March 2025, 13:34
Brundle’s assessment is frustrating for fans also, clearly the algorithms over diagnosed the circuits new tarmac and we were left with a fairly dull procession. The teams are so scared to lose overall race time they forget actual racing creates a changing dynamic from those in front and those chasing. Oh and drama but who cares about that. I guess the engineers favourite result is probably 0-0
MichaelN
25th March 2025, 16:33
Kyalami seems such a dull answer to the ‘where should F1 race in Africa’ question, especially now that there have been a whole load of somewhat decent (semi-)permanent venues added to the calendar.
Kyalami, like Zandvoort, is pretty much a relic from a bygone era. Driving it with modern, long and heavy F1 cars is unlikely to be anything but a dull affair. Much better to have a place where F1 cars can stretch their proverbial legs.