In the round-up: Pierre Gasly says Esteban Ocon’s maiden win in the Hungarian Grand Prix didn’t come easily despite its fortuitous circumstances.
In brief
Gasly rues Hungary misfortune
Gasly, who qualified three places ahead of Ocon, was badly delayed by the first-corner collision which eliminated several of their rivals and promoted the Alpine driver to second place. After the race Gasly congratulated his former karting rival and praised his performance.“I think that some got more lucky than others with what’s happened at the start,” said Gasly, “but they did after that very good race to keep the lead, doing all the race and working.”
Gasly scored his first F1 win at Monza last year thanks partly to a red flag which fell in his favour. “You need to be there when these opportunities happen,” he said. “It’s not an easy win even when this happens. They did the job so congratulations to them.”
After falling to 13th at the start as he avoided the turn one melee triggered by Valtteri Bottas, Gasly said he would have been better off qualifying lower down the order.
“I don’t know what to say except that Valtteri fucked up and took pretty much the first six cars out of the race,” he said. “Luckily we didn’t get damage from this compared to Max, Lando, or Sergio.
“But the target was to qualify ahead of the midfield to be in the best position possible for the race. That’s what we [did]. And in the end in this situation… I think we almost overperformed, qualified ahead of the Ferrari and McLaren and it would have been better to be in our position and slightly more to the back and benefit from this situation.
“You never know when these things will happen but it is just a shame from the first corner we were last on such a track it is extremely difficult to recover. I think we had a very good day to finish P6, we managed to get the fastest lap. But obviously, looking at the podium, it’s a bit disappointing because I just think that there was more to do if it would have been slightly more lucky at the start.”
Juncos pairs with Hollinger for full-time 2022 IndyCar programme
Juncos Hollinger Racing, an alliance between previous IndyCar entrant Ricardo Juncos and former Williams F1 board member Brad Hollinger, will participate in the final three races of the year in preparation for a full-time campaign in 2022. The Juncos team first raced in the series four years ago, but had to shelve its 2020 plans due to the pandemic.
The team is yet to confirm who will drive its Chevrolet-powered car in its first three races next month.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
The latest #Fit4F1 18-inch tyres for 2022 take to the track at the @HungaroringF1 with @MercedesAMGF1 and @GeorgeRussell63 today in Hungary. @F1 @fia pic.twitter.com/D1IEzZwhon
— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) August 3, 2021
Tyre testing at the @HungaroringF1 for the #Fit4F1 2022 18-inch P Zero covers is over! @Carlossainz55 completed a total of 82 laps in the afternoon, to give @ScuderiaFerrari a total of 173 laps today. @F1 @fia pic.twitter.com/LuklTlH57U
— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) August 3, 2021
Last day before the summer break for @gyzhou_33 so what do we ask him to do? Drive full-pelt around a high-speed track like Monza in the R.S.18 of course!
Another great job by our Test and #AlpineAcademy driver Guanyu Zhou. pic.twitter.com/Bbh9e3PlfN
— Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) August 3, 2021
Hmm. I don’t get it. What does this cryptic message mean? I kind of feel like I agree – but I don’t know what I’m agreeing to… pic.twitter.com/LlalbDeKNX
— Randy (@randysingh86) August 3, 2021
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Bearman excluded from F4 win at Imola for non-compliant engine (Formula Scout)
"Provisionally it reduces his championship lead from 135 to 97 points, with a 10-point deduction for breaking the technical regulations in addition to the 25 points lost from the exclusion itself, and promotes his VAR team-mate Nikita Bedrin to his first F4 win."
"The race track has been made so safe, the run-off areas so big, and the structures that he (Verstappen) finally came to a stop on, and even then the g-forces were enormous. I think that was a great example of what Silverstone have done to make the track safer."
Evans pens new multi-year contract with Jaguar (Formula E)
"I have been approached by other teams but my home continues to be with Jaguar. We are seeing strong results on track, the Jaguar I-Type 5 boasts excellent performance and we are ready to rival anyone on the grid."
186,000 Racing Photos and the Woman Who Shot Them All (AutoWeek)
"I was there when Pedro Rodriguez was killed (at Norisring in 1971). I saw the whole thing. It was just a little bit away from me. But the Monday after that all the major German magazines called me and wanted to have pictures (of the crash). I said no. No, I would never, ever sell a picture or have a picture published which was from a bad accident."
McLaren strikes deal to sell Applied technology arm to investment firm Greybull (Sky)
"McLaren Group is to sell its technology arm to a private investment firm in the latest stage of its bid to refocus on its core motorsport and supercar manufacturing operations."
Ferrari boss has no fears over electric future (Reuters)
"The European Union last month proposed an effective ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 as part of its measures to combat global warming, posing a challenge to automakers that have made powerful engines a key selling point. (...) 'We see the regulation as welcome,' Elkann said, as Ferrari stuck to its main 2021 targets after reporting second-quarter core profits just ahead of expectations."
"Reporters were not allowed to see what went on inside the pit building, where troopers responded to the hostage situation and 'swiftly' neutralised threats, MINDEF said."
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it in via the contact form.
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Comment of the day
An unusual and unwanted distinction for Dan Ticktum, from @Wsrgo:
Not since Mirko Bortolotti in 2010 has a driver been dropped from two separate junior programmes.
@Wsrgo
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Picasso 1.9D FTW (@picasso-19d-ftw)
4th August 2021, 0:55
Gasly is right to give Ocon due credit, and also in his pithy description of Bottas’ error. But as Jolyon Palmer pointed out, Gasly himself made basically the same error and lucked out in not crashing into Perez at turn 1 too
https://youtu.be/mIypr8j_644
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
4th August 2021, 0:59
But Gasly is a star performer!
sumedh
4th August 2021, 5:46
That was a good analysis! Didn’t know Gasly had such a near miss.
So Perez was screwed either ways.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th August 2021, 10:24
@picasso-19d-ftw Admittedly, I didn’t notice Gasly nearly rear-ending Perez at the time. He indeed was lucky.
rodewulf (@rodewulf)
4th August 2021, 2:07
Ocon drove amazingly for the win, regardless of luck. His excellent performance allowed him to grasp the victory, and as for luck affairs if we would identify the drivers that helped him the most to score the win, beyond Alonso and his breathtaking defense, it would be Bottas (for starting a bowling game that swept the field and opened the gates for him, taking out Norris, Perez and damaging Verstappen’s car), Stroll (who tried to be clever cutting through the grass only to add more to the carnage himself, taking out Leclerc and also damaging Ricciardo’s car), but let’s not forget of Latifi, who held so many drivers in 3rd place that paved a safer way for Ocon’s triumph. If it wasn’t for him, not only Hamilton could have caught Ocon and Vettel sooner, but Alonso himself would have challenged him for a podium, as he had a stronger race pace. So many things on last race could have gone different, that’s the way thrilling and memorable races stands out.
Doug Webster
4th August 2021, 2:36
Great points. Nice.
sumedh
4th August 2021, 5:29
Ocon was undoubtedly benefitted by all things you mentioned. Of course, it wasn’t all over. He still had to defend from Seb.
In hindsight, Vettel is one who underperformed the most. He had all of Ocon’s advantages and also a faster car. Yet, he somehow couldn’t make a move stick.
PaulK (@paulk)
4th August 2021, 7:05
I don’t know about that. Vettel and Ocon had tyres with similar age throughout the whole race and Vettel’s car wasn’t that much faster considering how difficult it was to overtake.
RandomMallard (@)
4th August 2021, 7:28
@paulk I would assume that Vettell being able to run so close to Ocon for all 67 laps or whatever it was after the red flag was probably and indication of that he was quite a bit quicker.
PaulK (@paulk)
4th August 2021, 7:53
@randommallard, he was clearly faster but it’s unlikely he was that much faster. Many drivers were able to stay close but had trouble overtaking. Even Hamilton couldn’t pass Sainz for 15 laps with similarly aged tyres and then when he had fresher tyres and was over 2 seconds faster he still took 10 laps to pass Alonso and only succeeded because Alonso made a mistake.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th August 2021, 10:29
@randommallard Marginally faster at best as otherwise, he would’ve eventually overtaken Ocon. He may have been quicker, but the delta needed on this track for overtaking without the driver ahead making an error wasn’t large enough.
@paulk
Balue (@balue)
4th August 2021, 17:18
Vettel underperforming the most? As we saw with Hamilton, even with a massive car advantage, overtaking here is not easy, and Vettel was just slightly faster than Ocon. You must also factor in that Ocon was lift-and-coasting quite early so his pace was not representative. He could be fast in the last corners and that’s all that’s needed here. Vettel did good. Piling on the pressure, had good speed and didn’t make mistakes. That’s 2 podiums for Aston now.
rodewulf (@rodewulf)
5th August 2021, 9:13
If he had a car only slightly faster and couldn’t pass then it’s not enough to conclude that he have underperformed the most, especially considering it’s a track that makes it hard to overtake.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th August 2021, 10:33
I Googled Mirko Bortolotti as the name was entirely unfamiliar to me and interestingly found out about him being linked as Massa replacement in 2009, succeeding Badoer, who eventually got replaced by Fisichella.
He’s also tested F2008 on Fiorano and appearance for Williams in post-2011 Abu Dhabi GP young driver test.
stefano (@alfa145)
4th August 2021, 12:05
I have an unrelated question, but I don’t know where else to ask @keithcollantine :why is the predictions standings still stuch on Silverstone and even showing 0 for everyone?
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
4th August 2021, 21:28
Stewart’s not wrong. But then again, lots of drivers would have been killed over the last few years if the accidents happened in the 60s. You simply couldn’t afford to take the 50/50 chances then (like say Russell on Bottas in Imola this year). The mentality of drivers surely changes when the threat of certain death is removed. Given how horribly unsafe cars and tracks from the 50s to 70s in particular were, it’s actually kinda surprising more weren’t killed…
rodewulf (@rodewulf)
5th August 2021, 9:06
@tommy-c Cars were significantly slower, I guess? I’m not certain if that was a factor, though.