In the round-up: Pierre Gasly says he has been able to drive the way he wants to since returning to Toro Rosso,
What they say
Gasly’s race performances appear to have improved since he lost his place at Red Bull.
I think it’s more the fact that we managed to get a car that suits the way I drive a bit more. So I just feel like I can really push the way I want naturally without really trying to copy someone, or like I just really changed massively the way I drive slowly.
The opportunities that [came] to me during the Grand Prix in Singapore gave me the opportunity to try new things. So I think it’s many factors put together that mean way that I could show that I can race as I’ve always raced.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Take a look behind the scenes with @alex_albon on a typical race day… 👀🏁 #givesyouwings pic.twitter.com/fkzJpGKl37
— Aston Martin Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) October 4, 2019
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Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Abiteboul: Managing Ocon-Ricciardo relationship will be a ‘challenge’ (F1)
"(Esteban) will want to beat Daniel. And I know that we will have some challenges from a driver management perspective on the pit wall to manage that. But that’s also a nice problem to have."
Vietnam ready to join Singapore in F1 firmament (Reuters)
"(It’s) just the perfect time to join Formula One with our robust economics, with our traditions, with our culture, with our people, with our food, so everything is just right."
Toyota Confused by Gap to Rebellion Despite Handicaps (Sportscar365)
"What is really surprising, and what we have no explanation for, is the really bad performance of the Rebellion. They have lost nearly two seconds compared to last year."
DTM Hockenheim race two (DTM via YouTube)
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Comment of the day
Why is Liberty Media playing it cool on the possibility of new teams joining F1 in 2021?
I suspect the other reason is that Liberty May be quite concerned that one or two of the current teams might elect to withdraw from F1 once the rules are finalised.
By holding back and keeping quiet on accepting new entrants, they may well be entertaining the idea that if a team withdraws, they might be able to broker a deal for the new entrants to purchase those that withdraw as ongoing turnkey concerns in the same way that Brawn/Mercedes did when Honda withdrew.
I recall an article suggesting that they were keen to develop the financial arrangements so that teams acquired a “franchise” style of value and I imagine their first priority for 2021 is to ensure that there are still 10 teams/20 cars.
The best way to do that would be to hold back new entrants until 2021 and it’s structures settle in with the option of bringing them on stream as new “franchise” owners of any teams that withdraw rather than add to the list.
DB-C90 (@Dbradock)
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On this day in F1
- 45 years ago today Helmuth Koinigg was killed in a crash during the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, while Emerson Fittipaldi won his second world championship by finishing fourth
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
6th October 2019, 2:05
Not really sure Gasly has done himself any favours with those comments.
Whilst I agree that driving a car designed around someone else’s driving style is difficult, it’s a fact of life. He’d been given an opportunity to demonstrate that he could be at least competitive in the RBR car and their expectation would have been that he’d be consistently in the top 6.
The fact that his far less experienced replacement has done so (so far) without overdriving it, suggests that his mental approach may have been lacking a bit.
One wonders whether he would have executed the pass that Albon did against him last race would have been as clean as the way Albon managed it, or if Albon would have made it ad difficult for his sister team as Gasly did.
No doubt Albon will, and already has, make mistakes, albeit at the same spot as Max did, but to me he’s applied himself very sensibly to meeting the expectations of RBR, whereas in my opinion, Gasly’s approach was maybe too aggressive and he paid the penalty for it.
PDG147
6th October 2019, 6:08
Completely agree.
The best drivers can drive anything fast – and are able to adapt their style to the needs of the car or situation.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
6th October 2019, 7:00
@dbradock well said.
HAL
6th October 2019, 8:46
I partially disagree with that… While drivers have to be able to adapt to cars, it is always more complex if the car does not fit your driving style (driving is all about feeling after all). And it’s especially true when we are talking about a young driver with only 1 year XP in F1. So he gets a car that does not suit his driving style, is compared with “the max”, one of the most impressive driver, in a new env that is much more exposed (pressure started from day 1 in Melbourne)… Did RB wanted Gasly to succeed ? I don’t get the “we invest millions in yound driver but when he’w ready we put him in the worse context possible” approach. My opinon: nowadays a young driver needs to be lucky: if the car fits more or less his needs, he can be fast from day 1 thanks to all the sim and pre-settings from the team. If not… bye bye
Yaru
7th October 2019, 20:07
Doesnt help that the car will be built around his teamster than him too.
Ipsom
6th October 2019, 5:13
I don’t think Abiteboul will have to worry about that, Ricciardo is a higher caliber driver
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
6th October 2019, 5:53
Ricciardo will be missed Max’s bluntness so much.
Sundar Srinivas Harish (@sundark)
6th October 2019, 7:09
We all know the lengths he’d go through to keep his drivers from colliding with each other. For instance, a few weeks ago he decided not to resign one of them so that they wouldn’t fight unnecessarily!
Mashiat (@mashiat)
6th October 2019, 17:24
Is he though? Using Perez as a common denominator, we can say that Ocon is at least as quick as Hulkenberg, and there hasn’t been that much between Ricciardo and Hulkenberg this season. Not to mention that Ocon has a lot more to unlock given his age and inexperience.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
6th October 2019, 7:07
Gasly is pulling a kvyat, in morecways than one, surreal stuff.
I wonder how a slower car can be easier to drive, surely there is less downforce on the str that said visually the str rear wing is far bigger whilst the front is the ferrari/alfa design instead of the merc/rbr.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
6th October 2019, 10:18
I don’t think that the toro rosso will be easier to drive than the red bull, but there will very likely be plenty of tracks where the slower cars may actually find it easier. There have been several occations this year where you can see in qualifying and practice, despite Hamilton and Bottas being fastest, they look like that are really having to fight the car compared to a lot of other teams that are not as quick.
I think it is certainly the case with Red Bull that it is overall slower than the Mercedes, but clearly has a handling advantage. It seems to suffer far less behind other cars and looks to have better grip and downforce too, but with a lack of speed.
So I certainly can see how some drivers will think a slower car can be easier to drive.
Jere (@jerejj)
6th October 2019, 7:37
Well, the STR14 is partly designed around him, given how deep into last season the announcement of his promotion to the senior team took place, meaning that the current-season STR-car was well into the design-phase by that point in time. The RB15, on the other hand, was designed to suit more the drivers who drove for the senior team last season, although that still doesn’t really excuse him from not consistently finishing P5/P6 as Albon has done so far in that car.
Regarding the COTD: That could be the approach. Maybe, maybe not. We shall wait and find out over time.
Urvaksh (@thedoctor03)
6th October 2019, 10:19
Yes Pierre. It is a slower car.
Kamto
6th October 2019, 11:32
Gasly’s comment reminds me of something Leclerc said after the Monza win. He said something along the line of him having learnt through the year to adapt his driving style to the car instead of adapting the car to him. The result has been 9 quali straight wins over Vettel and crucially 4 poles in a roll.
And when looking at the 4 races since the summer break, if we take away Leclec’s 4 pole positions and look at where Vettel would have finished, Ferrari might still be without a win. So should we credit Ferrari’s upturn in race results to Leclerc’s improvement rather than any magic from Ferrari?
Maybe the ability to adapt to the car you are given is one of the skills of a top driver?
Balue (@balue)
6th October 2019, 19:21
Absolutely. Already seems an outdated excuse when simulators have been here for decades already, and drivers like Alonso have long since mastered the art and shown how extremely useful it is.
DAllein (@)
6th October 2019, 15:16
Sure. Lot’s of drivers (form F1 and lesser classes) often find themselves driving “better” and even clinching championships when switching to other, slower, categories of racing.
Why it happens – is the greatest mystery of all!!!
Ericglo
6th October 2019, 16:05
Regarding the comment of the day.
Yes I do believe Liberty/FIA will move to a franchise type arrangement to create value to go along with a very high cost barrier of entry for new teams. I am not sure they can keep new teams from joining, but make it more expensive to join than just buy a team.
The other point missed is that Liberty has to obey financial rules to avoid getting in trouble with stock manipulation. See Elon Musk. That probably has more to do with it than any ulterior motive on the part of Liberty. I know it is foreign for some to understand that Liberty is running F1 like a business. Sometimes Dieter’s comments remind me of those who used to yearn for the days when the mafia ran Las Vegas instead of the corporations of today.
Yaru
7th October 2019, 20:09
Good for him, I hope he feel better and happier there.