In the round-up: Carlos Sainz Jnr is amazed McLaren are still in contention with Racing Point for third place in the championship.
What they say
With one race remaining, McLaren are 10 points behind Racing Point, who are third in the standings.
Even with a fresher tyre, I couldn’t keep up, nearly, with a Racing Point, which exposes a bit our limitations right now.
Honestly, I don’t know how the Racing Points haven’t sealed that third place in the championship yet with the car they have. But we’re doing everything we can to stay in the fight.
They’ve done a massive step forward [in Sakhir] and I would like to congratulate Checo because I think he deserves that win. He deserves to be in the sport next year. I hope he gets a seat.
From our side, keep pushing, but at the same time, a car that is two or three tenths a lap quicker in this short track should always finish ahead.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Firstly the shoutouts. Congrats to @SChecoPerez on his first win. Crazy considering first lap incident so congrats Checo! First podium for @OconEsteban congrats to him and the team @RenaultF1Team. @GeorgeRussell63… Ahh. I feel ya son. Rough. Great showing though 👏🏼
— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) December 7, 2020
Helmet swap 🤝
📸: @TJProtreatment pic.twitter.com/26jUmjyFM8
— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) December 7, 2020
💬 “It’s my ultimate dream!"
June 2011 and a young karting driver called @GeorgeRussell63 shares his thoughts on where he’d like to be in a few years… #FutureWorldChampion #SakhirGP #Mercedes #F1 @WilliamsRacing @MercedesAMGF1 #GeorgeRussell pic.twitter.com/gmKFTVeWLB
— Mobil 1 The Grid (@Mobil1TheGrid) December 7, 2020
Depois de 20 anos fora, 17 de @F1 , estou de volta ao meu país. #2021 tamo junto 🇧🇷 @stock_car After 20 years away and 17 in @F1, I'm back to my country. #2021 🇧🇷 @stock_car pic.twitter.com/bucq4m30Nu
— Felipe Massa (@MassaFelipe19) December 7, 2020
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Formula 2 action continues in Bahrain post-season test (F2)
"Two more Red Bull Juniors are set to test with Hitech Grand Prix, as Jüri Vips returns to an F2 machine following his four-round stint in place of the injured Sean Gelael earlier this season. The Estonian is joined by the promising talent of New Zealander Liam Lawson, who finished fifth in F3 this year."
What we learned from pre-season testing in Valencia (Formula E)
"Coming out of the Valencia test, it looks like DS' decision to delay homologation may prove to be a prudent one. The team had some performance in hand in Berlin, as Da Costa's early dominance there showed, and he never set a time outside of the top four in Spain last week."
Bentley looking to hydrogen for future motorsport programme?
(Daily Sportscar)
"Of the latter trio, it seems clear that the 2024 hydrogen option is the most likely route back to Le Mans at this point for Bentley – Williams offered the opinion that the hybrid element of LMDh would likely have been of more interest if the hybrid aspect of the package was stronger, and that the 'massive cost' differential between LMDh and Hypercar looked like the major stumbling block to taking that route, a not dissimilar view to that offered to DSC by more than one other major player in a VAG group motorsport group."
$1.1 billion set to return to pay-TV subscribers (Forbes)
"Sky has also engaged in talks over rebates with other sports bodies including Formula 1's owner Liberty Media and national governing body, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)."
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it in via the contact form.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Comment of the day
With Daniil Kvyat’s hopes of remaining in F1 diminishing, Phil is concerned about the number of quality drivers who will be left without seats next year:
It really is a shame that there are not more seats available in F1. There are probably half a dozen drivers who have made a strong enough case for a place on the grid based on past performance but there is just no space for them.
The sport is likely to lose three decent drivers from this year’s line-up including yesterday’s race winner.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Gfasulo, James_Mc, Joey-Poey, Koper, Rick Denatale and Webbercanwin94!
If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is via the contact form or adding to the list here.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
8th December 2020, 0:47
Bitter that is how Sainz sounds.
F1oSaurus (@)
8th December 2020, 7:22
@peartree He’s right though, RP have had the third fastest car since the start of the season. Somehow they just haven’t been able to get the maximum out of it consistently for most of the season.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
8th December 2020, 16:29
@f1osaurus yes and I agree but that is not what he is trying to say and it is not the first thing he says. Sainz jr like his father always turns the spotlight on himself.
erikje
9th December 2020, 13:03
And loosing a important part of the points by FIA actions and two drivers for several races does not ring a bell it seems.
Strange..
ppzzus (@ppzzus)
8th December 2020, 0:48
Probably would be sealed up if stroll wasn’t 50 points behind his teammate
BasCB (@bascb)
8th December 2020, 7:00
you’d think that the likely Podium finish Stroll could have had in Mugello, and the one last weekend in Bahrain would have easily done the trick @ppzzus. And when Hulk did not even get to start the race due to tech issues, that also cost the team a haul of points (not to mention having to put in a sub in the first place for Perez)
Jere (@jerejj)
8th December 2020, 7:54
@ppzzus @bascb
RP lost a lot of points for different things such as unreliability, bad luck, Stroll’s inconsistency to an extent, other stuff out of the drivers and or team’s control, etc., but don’t forget, also the 15 constructor points from Austria 2 that were (somewhat unfairly) taken away.
dio
8th December 2020, 8:51
Mclaren had to pay 100 millions and was expelled from WCC for data that never used. You find 15 points for copying half a car (we all know how they copied it) unfairly?
JohnH (@johnrkh)
9th December 2020, 0:01
More than half the car #dio
Mike Davies (@nanotech)
8th December 2020, 1:03
OK, I certainly understand losing Perez would suck, but who are the other two referenced – Grosjean and Magnussen? I’d much rather see some new talent than watch either of those two warming seats anymore.
Kvyat going away wouldn’t break my heart either.
Wish it was a bigger rookie bunch coming in – Mick won F2, deserves it. Tsunoda has a good chance at Kvyat’s seat. Ilott not getting a shot is a shame. Mazepin will be another Stroll/Latifi seatwarmer unfortunately.
(And yes, counterpoint to my argument is Alonso, though that should be entertaining one way or the other!)
ppzzus (@ppzzus)
8th December 2020, 5:03
Hulkenberg is probably who he’s referring to, or ocon who had to sit a year out.
BasCB (@bascb)
8th December 2020, 7:01
I get the impression they also mean Kvyat being dropped @nanotech. And indeed Hulk, and now possibly Perez.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th December 2020, 7:59
@nanotech @ppzzus @bascb
The ones from the current grid being left out in the cold are going to be Grosjean, Magnussen, Kvyat, and either Perez or Albon. Out of these, the only one that doesn’t deserve to end up in this group is Perez.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
8th December 2020, 8:11
Well @jerejj is more or less correct. But it is open to our individual interpretation of a decent driver. I was actually thinking of Kvyat who the article is written about, either Albon or Perez and one of Magnussen/Grosjean.
In my opinion they all have proved that they are good enough to have a seat in F1. Their actual performance in statistical terms depends on what they have been driving of course. They are all pretty decent drivers though who might keep their status as an F1 driver if there were more teams.
Kribana (@krichelle)
8th December 2020, 3:50
Response to COTD: We need more teams in F1, or have three cars per team or more. However, we can’t have new teams joining and then being 4-7 seconds off the pace.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th December 2020, 7:57
@krichelle Indeed. Having more teams wouldn’t be worth it if they were essentially moving chicanes, like 2010-2012.
Ipsom
8th December 2020, 6:11
Sainz has a point (ha), the RP team were massively underperforming in the first five races or so. Perez only got into his groove a race or two after returning from his COVID break
Todfod (@todfod)
10th December 2020, 4:08
The answer to his question on why Racing point haven’t sealed third is quite obvious though. Lance Stroll.
HS (@hsvdt15)
8th December 2020, 6:49
Probably would have sealed it without strategy blunders on Perez’s side and Strolls poor luck mid season. Plus of course the 15 points taken off.
BasCB (@bascb)
8th December 2020, 7:07
I seriously doubt that Sky has a chance to get any rebate from Liberty. First of all, that deal still builds on what they signed with Bernie. And off course, with 17 races in the season, Liberty fulfilled their side of the deal. On top of that, we had quite a treat for a more than usual amount of those races as well, the races we’ve had after the championship was settled in reality have all been very good for ratings I would think.
Also, Liberty can point out to Sky that with the Covid-19 restrictions, they actually got far more exclusive access to the pitlane, since only the TV crews were allowed to get to talk with teams and drivers while all written media now had to settle for posting questions in a video format that is then open for everyone to use. That is a huge advantage for breaking stories. Which surely greatly added to the package.
Balue (@balue)
8th December 2020, 18:13
Kvyat has had a lot of poor performances this year, but lately been quite Ok, and his demeanor outside the car seems improved as well. Maybe the shock of the RB drop has waned and he’s now fully accepted it, or maybe it’s just relief of no more F1.
Trouble is that replacing him will just be for another hopeful just like Kvyat was, and why not keep a fully trained one. Something seems to be working at the team so why change anything.