In the round-up: AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost described how he reassured a shocked Daniil Kvyat after his role in Romain Grosjean’s huge crash in Bahrain last weekend.
What they say
Tost said that he sought out Kvyat, who had had contact with Grosjean as he crossed the track before crashing, to tell him that he was not responsible for the crash and to try to get his driver to concentrate on the restart when the red flag would end:
Well, I went to him because he was shocked about everything that’s happening, we concentrated enough on the second start, said ‘that was absolutely not your fault’ and Grosjean is not injured as far as I could have seen, and therefore best we concentrated for the race. And this is what he did.
Of course, he was shocked. He immediately asked on the radio after the incident and what happened to Grosjean, but we couldn’t answer him because we didn’t know it ourselves because at this stage they didn’t show anything on TV. We only later came up with the pictures. And then, of course, we saw that Grosjean jumped out of the monocoque
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
It fits! Just… 😂 pic.twitter.com/c8P481qhIP
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) December 2, 2020
Happy for you @GeorgeRussell63! Perfect man for the job… Now I’m gonna have to be the one defending from you hahah! 😠
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) December 2, 2020
Michael @Schumacher made his F1 debut at the age of 22@SchumacherMick will make his F1 debut on the day before he turns 22#F1 pic.twitter.com/7LUiygckCk
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) December 2, 2020
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Rosberg Xtreme Racing Announce Johan Kristoffersson as First Driver (Rosberg Xtreme)
"We are delighted to welcome a driver of Johan’s pedigree to the RXR family. As a former driver and now team founder, I have huge respect for what Johan has achieved in motorsport so far and look forward to being a part of his next chapter. In Johan we have one of the best off-road drivers in the world who adds to our team’s passion for racing and commitment to driving positive societal change."
Shwartzman excited for 'NASCAR' style layout at Sakhir in Round 12 (Formula 2)
"'The track is going to be very interesting because it's very short and it's like a NASCAR track. It's like an oval. There will be a lot of overtaking, and everybody is going to be very close to each other.'"
"The Volkswagen brand is on the way to becoming the leading provider for sustainable e-mobility. To this end, we are pooling our strengths and have decided to terminate the Volkswagen brand’s own motorsport activities. The motorsport workforce will be integrated in Volkswagen AG. The deep technical expertise of the motorsport employees and the know-how gained from the ID.R project will remain with the company and will help us put further efficient models from the ID. family on the road."
Formula E Season 7 Testing (Formula E)
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Comment of the day
Dr Mouse says that Russell being alongside him at Mercedes this weekend puts more pressure on Bottas to deliver a win than if he’d had Hamilton in the other car:
Bottas has a huge advantage, in that he has been driving that car all season. He also has experience of the pressure of being at a top team. Russell, on the other hand, has barely driven the car and is used to being at the bottom end of the grid.
It is not enough for Bottas to beat Russell. Even if the two are of equal ability, his experience with the car should put him a decent step ahead. If Russell finishes close to Bottas or beats him (without extenuating circumstances), most will consider that a strong indication that Russell is the better driver, which puts Bottas future at Mercedes under serious threat.
In short, Bottas needs a convincing win. That won’t really do much to improve his standing, but anything else will make him look very bad. I would not want to be in Bottas’s shoes…
(Actually, what am I saying. I would gladly trade places with Bottas! He gets to drive, not only in F1, but in the best car in F1!)
Dr Mouse
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Boomerang
3rd December 2020, 7:09
I forgot to write that Tost was right. It even rhymes.
Jere (@jerejj)
3rd December 2020, 7:50
I share the same sentiment as the COTD. Bottas indeed has to beat Russell, given his considerable advantage in car familiarity over him. Losing to a driver that hasn’t driven the W11 for even a single mm on merit would be quite embarrassing.
Mayrton
3rd December 2020, 8:49
As Ricciardo can confirm….
Robbie (@robbie)
3rd December 2020, 14:51
I don’t expect GR to head VB at any point this weekend, but if he does then yeah not only would that raise some eyebrows about GR, but there would be a percentage of folk who would then argue that LH is driving a car that anyone can sit in and win with. But as I say I don’t expect that to be the case.
I also think Max has a good chance for a win this weekend since his main competitor is absent and VB generally squanders what he has. Gonna be a blast to watch.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
3rd December 2020, 8:24
Romain is still missing a shoe.
The swap injects some life into dull f1. Hopefully the cockpit won’t bother Russell. About the cotd, you should not be able to be that much faster than anyone on such a short limited track. Russell has raced at the front end before, leading is not a problem. Surely Bahrain outer will feel like a first day on the job but all things considered it is a great opportunity. I don’t think Russell is Bottas’ threat. Toto signed Bottas to finish behind Lewis, inspired choice, his character and ability make it so Bottas does not give the team or Lewis any headaches. Russell is a threat to Lewis. If Lewis does not sign the contract quick, if Lewis keeps demanding, even though the team almost always engineers something to support him, merc can just show Lewis that there is another marketable Brit they can resort to.
Mayrton
3rd December 2020, 8:53
A similar situation led to Ricciardo wandering around for quite a while now without race wins or even a race winning car. So Bottas should not take this lightly
Warheart (@warheart)
3rd December 2020, 11:00
@peartree I’d say Romain is still wearing a shoe. Everyone else seems to be barefoot or wearing flip flops.
Retired (@jeff1s)
3rd December 2020, 11:08
Kvyat onboard and radio was… deep.
He asked « Tell me he’s okay, please tell me he’s okay » then joined his hands like a praying sign, as he rejoined the pitlane.
I’m sure he thought for the worst.
Robbie (@robbie)
3rd December 2020, 14:39
My goodness and why wouldn’t he? He must have heard the crash over his engine noise and then of course seen the flames in his mirror. Gut wrenching. Glad he was ok too and that Todt went and spoke to him. When push comes to shove the whole grid of teams becomes one big family and will pull together.
Dave
4th December 2020, 15:59
If Romain didn’t move right all of a sudden, we would not have seen something horrible…