In the round-up: The Victorian State Government has given assurances the Australian Grand Prix will take place as planned on April 10th this year following its cancellations in 2020 and 2021.
In brief
Victorian government commit to April Melbourne race date
The Australian Grand Prix will not be postponed to a later date after a commitment by the Victorian state government to hold the race in April.There has been no race around Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit over the last two F1 seasons due to the impact of the pandemic. The 2020 event was called off on Friday morning after McLaren team members tested positive for Covid-19 during the initial spread of the virus. The Australian Grand Prix was intended to take place in 2021, but was delayed multiple times before being cancelled.
Speaking to Speedcafe, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation’s Andrew Westacott said that the government of Victoria had assured them the race would go ahead on April 10th.
“We’ve got a commitment from the Victorian Government, that the event’s going ahead,” said Westacott. “We’ve got a commitment from Formula 1 that they’re coming here for round three. We’re selling tickets like hot cakes, and we’re 80 days away from the event. So everything is happening, everything is getting ready, and (I) can’t wait to host the best drivers in the world, in new cars, on a new track.”
Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit is due to host the third race of the season on a heavily revised layout. The Formula 1 season begins in Bahrain on March 20th.
Kanaan keen to run 25th Indy 500 in 2023
Chip Ganassi recently confirmed that the 47-year-old would race for them in May’s 106th edition of the race – the only IndyCar event he will compete in this season.
Kanaan, who won the race back in 2013, said he was able and willing to race in next year’s running of the famous race, which will mark his 25th year in the series.
“Do I have any things lined up for next year? No. Do I still want to do it? One hundred percent. Do I still think I can do it? One hundred percent,” said Kanaan.
“Look at what happened to Helio [Castroneves]. I mean, my question will be, what about if we go win number two? Are we coming back or not? So I’m not announcing anything because I actually don’t know. I can tell you my intentions are not [for this] to be the last one. Next year will be my 25th year in IndyCar, and I think it would be pretty cool if I could do that.”
AJ Foyt holds the record for most Indy 500 starts, having taken part in the race 35 time, in every year from 1958 to 1992.
Smolyar moves to MP for third year in F3
After two years at ART, Alexander Smolyar has moved to MP for a third season in the FIA Formula 3 championship. The 20-year-old placed sixth in the category last year, winning two partial-reverse-grid races including the season-opener at Circuit de Catalunya. MP are yet to announce who his two team mates will be.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Super excited to represent Team GB 🇬🇧 in the @RaceOfChampions this year alongside @therealdcf1 🙌🏻 Looking forward to making my #ROC debut on February 5-6 in Sweden 🇸🇪❄️ #ROCSweden pic.twitter.com/qb2bg8opvI
— Jamie Chadwick (@JamieChadwick) January 20, 2022
#STARTINGLIGHTS pic.twitter.com/hCIlIxwp4n
— Thrustmaster Official (@TMThrustmaster) January 20, 2022
DAYTONAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
That's right, ya boy's doing his 2nd 24 hour race in 7 days (pain), this time with some names ya might recognise.
Thanks so much @r8gesports for having me along! pic.twitter.com/bTPGvt1LVp
— Jimmy Broadbent (@JimmyBroadbent) January 20, 2022
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN ready for 2022 (Alfa Romeo)
"The addition of 'F1 Team' to the name is a particular badge of honour for Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN: it represents inclusion in one of the most exclusive clubs in the world, one of just ten outfits in the world entitled to use this prestigious moniker."
The story of Alex Albon so far (Williams)
"Alex’s journey started at the age of eight, getting behind the wheel of Honda Cadet class karts before quickly rising through the ranks. His elevation and success came hand in hand, never finishing outside the top three in any championship in which he competed between 2006 and 2011."
L'Equipe to air every Season 8 race live to Formula E fans in France (Formula E)
"Fans of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in France will once again be able to tune in to La Chaine L'Equipe and L'Equipe.fr to get their fix, with every race in Season 8 set to be shown live and free-to-air."
"I’ve never tried any of these apps, such as Zwift or Sufferfest (now Wahoo Systm). I’m really competitive and I think if I start getting involved in them then my competitive edge will take over and I’ll forget the reason why I’m training, it’s not to be fastest on these apps but to be fit enough to drive an F1 car."
Escapade interviews: Grosjean (Escapade)
"I'm probably going to do some endurance races so maybe one day I'll do Le Mans with Praga and an e-sports driver next to me, because I believe we can find some e-sports drivers who can compete to the highest level. But then we'd need to go to the LMDh category because that's what I want to do - I would like to win Le Mans 24 Hours one day..."
Grid Legends - Man. Machine (Featuring Ncuti Gatwa as Valentin Manzi) (Grid via YouTube)
"Ncuti Gatwa plays Valentin Manzi in Grid Legends' story mode: Driven to Glory. Also featured is the Tushek TS 900 Racer Pro, making its videogame debut in Grid Legends."
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
With superlicence rules set by the FIA limiting how inexperienced drivers entering Formula 1 can be, @sjaakfoo questions whether the sport even needs it:
There is no benefit to this system at all. It’s preventing nothing, it’s helping nobody.
Like none of the drivers that got into F1 with “too little experience in motor racing” are worse off for it. Kimi won a WDC, Max won a WDC, Button won a WDC. Yes, these drivers were “fast tracked” into Formula 1, but not because of money or having a good manager, it was because they were stellar drivers that teams saw something in that made them want to sign them.
On the opposite end, you have the pay drivers like Stroll who were also fast-tracked, but then you still ended up getting Nikita Mazepin (who’s not as good as Stroll by quite a margin, but that’s besides the point) that still ended up in F1 anyways.
So again, who or what is this system for? F1 isn’t any better or worse off with this system in place. Everything’s the same except now there’s arbitrary rules that would prevent Max Verstappen from coming into F1 if there was to ever be a Max Verstappen again. And 2015 with Verstappen was a much more entertaining season then 2015 without Verstappen, so I’m not convinced that’s a good thing.
@sjaakfoo
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Oukilf1, Bruno and Ehsansatti!
Jason (@jasonj)
21st January 2022, 0:42
F1 should avoid Melbourne, the Victorian government is super reactionary to the whims of petty politics and flights of fancy. If they run a poll that even hints at negative reaction from having an event, they will once again cancel it on the day it is supposed to run.
April is way to far in the future to predict how this government may react.
Jere (@jerejj)
21st January 2022, 7:53
@jasonj Victoria doesn’t require quarantine for fully vaccinated arrivals, so I’m not worried for now.
Jason (@jasonj)
21st January 2022, 10:25
@jerejj It’s a long way to April, and the definition of vaccinated is on shifting sands already, god know what the random rules for attendance will be when the day comes, if the day comes. I’m pessimistic because this government is petty, vengeful and erratic, as a simple tennis match has become headlines and highly politicised this past week.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
21st January 2022, 10:50
@jasonj It will go ahead despite the best efforts of ant-vaxxers and freedum warriors.
Jason (@jasonj)
21st January 2022, 13:39
@johnrkh Well, comprehension may not be your thing, that’s fair enough, at least you’re confident that your making some sort of sense. Keep fighting shadows only you know you’re fighting.
Erkr
22nd January 2022, 0:55
Not a simple tennis match, but an individual that knowingly broke the rules of entry
pastaman
21st January 2022, 1:09
Obviously, the superlicense system is for the FIA to make money and ensure their lower categories are worth more, but I think that’s what CotD is implying.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
21st January 2022, 4:27
The super license weighting just needs to be adjusted, 5th! in F2 shouldn’t be as many points as 3rd in indy, FE or F3…
There should be just as many points for winning a series, an equal amount of points for the top 10 in F2/Indy and FE (around where Indy is now), then F3 should be behind that again.
If there are less pay drivers for teams to choose from who can barely make it to the top quarter of the F2 field, it increases the likelyhood of those who actually win the feeder series to join the top flight. I really think making F2/Indy and FE equal feeder-series would be a much fairer system.
Getting rid of the super license points system all together would be a step backwards, it just needs better tuning.
Jere (@jerejj)
21st January 2022, 8:10
@skipgamer I reckon keeping other restrictions while axing the points system would suffice.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
21st January 2022, 8:19
Performances in Formula 2 have higher applicability to qualifying become a Formula 1 driver than Indycar and Formula E. Weighing them differently is only logical.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
21st January 2022, 13:58
I think the quality of competition is on par, if anything better in Indy/Fe to justify equal weight.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
21st January 2022, 17:37
I wasn’t referring to the quality of the drivers, but rather that Formula 2 is racing on F1 circuits while both Indycar and Formula E follow their own distinct philosophies in circuit design and selection.
Aapje (@aapje)
21st January 2022, 9:16
@skipgamer
Why? You don’t actually give a real argument for it, rather than the non-argument that it is a step forwards compared to not having it. To me, those kinds of comments imply that people can’t actually give a good reason, so they just appeal to some generic ‘progress.’
Tristan (@skipgamer)
21st January 2022, 13:53
If I gave a reasoning for every statement I’d end up writing paragraphs for every comment. Sometimes it’s okay to have an opinion without justification. I’m not writing theses’.
Anyway, reason being it would give teams more choice to chase sponsorship dollars or nepotism and even less chance for the deserving winners of feeder series to find a seat. Which is already a problem.
bosyber (@bosyber)
21st January 2022, 17:04
In a way @skipgamer it just shifts the balance of who can get the opportunity to those with bigger budgets so they can get to the needed level (see how Stroll got competent with a lot of training; not that he’s the worst, there are certainly less talented drivers I’d say, but even so, no doubt he’s there bc. of family money, lots of it).
Yes, it might to some extent keep out rich talent lacking wannabees without persistence and experience to make up for that lack of talent but it doesn’t solve the issue, which is that the path to F1 in both very expensive, and biased to male European drivers, keeping a large part of humanity with little chance to not only find out they have the talent and attitude needed but also reach the maximum of their potential if they do.
anon
21st January 2022, 18:06
@aapje we could also hold your post to the same standard you have held others – since you seem to be implying that you think it would be a positive thing to scrap the current superlicence points system, where is your argument in support of that position? Currently, it would appear that you can’t actually give a good reason for your own position either.
Aapje (@aapje)
25th January 2022, 18:05
That not how debating works. You can’t accuse a person who asks for an argument of not providing an argument themselves.
grat
21st January 2022, 23:12
Points per series should be on number of laps per season and average pole time. The faster the series, or the longer the races, the more points should be awarded.
But like most things FIA, it’s all political.
Ben (@)
21st January 2022, 5:13
Why do they have to keep changing things. I had the Australian track dialed in. I know exact how fast I can take a turn, exactly how much to brake and accelerate out. I hate learning new tracks. Just leave it alone.
Jere (@jerejj)
21st January 2022, 8:08
@sunnchilde To try & help passing or at least make the track more flowing, like with Yas Marina Circuit.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
21st January 2022, 8:22
And if it works as well, we’ll just have another one of our regular Melbourne procession stinker on our hands, but at least it’s not to start the season this time.
Adrian
21st January 2022, 7:52
Victoria is almost a failed state, it is so badly run. The government will shut down the race on a whim, like they have done to other public events and gatherings over the past 18 months.
Jason
21st January 2022, 8:00
Like how the Aus Open isn’t going ahead right now?
Jere (@jerejj)
21st January 2022, 8:12
@Adrian, I doubt.
Fully vaccinated people are welcome without isolation.s fully vaccinated people are welcome without isolation, after all.
Jere (@jerejj)
21st January 2022, 8:13
Something went wrong, which caused some orders to appear twice.
Jere (@jerejj)
21st January 2022, 8:14
Words, not ‘orders’ I should pay more attention.
S
21st January 2022, 8:49
Not sure if you are aware, Adrian – but there’s been a global pandemic going on over that period.
The places that haven’t been shutting things down are the places where you’re most likely to become seriously ill or die.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
21st January 2022, 11:15
@Adrian *The Australian GP will take place unless Bill Gates can get enough people fitted with the 5G tracking via the Covid vaccinations and turn us all into slaves. Of course, we must not forget the Deep State and the lizard people who run the planet.
I have a plentiful supply of tin foil hats, Dexamethasone, ivermectin and bleach if you’re interested.
*This post is meant a joke and is not to be taken seriously.
someone or something
21st January 2022, 16:44
I’m receiving weird political vibes from this ‘failed state’ nonsense. It’s very reminiscent of the similarly worded propaganda about California that the American right has increasingly been pushing in the past few months. I didn’t even have to ask Wikipedia to get an idea of what political affiliation the current Government of Victoria has, or where Victoria ranks among the Australian states in terms of ‘failed state” stuff, such as GDP per capita, HDI, life expectancy, education, and why not CoViD vaccination rates …
Now, I’m not going to post spoilers, but I ended up having a good laugh about how accurate my predictions were …
Jere (@jerejj)
21st January 2022, 8:07
No stumbling blocks should arise anymore for the Australian GP nor the other two-year cancellations, for that matter, especially if the earliest one can finally go ahead.
The temporary infrastructure build-up commences early next month as per the lead time reference I got five years ago from the AusGP website, so quite soon. That’s the ultimate deadline, but everything should be okay.
S
21st January 2022, 8:47
Melbourne will be fine – I’m more reserved about Japan, though.
They are seeing another infection wave right now, and have no plans on opening their borders any time soon.
Vaccination rate is a little slow, too, further hampering their re-opening.
Jere (@jerejj)
21st January 2022, 18:01
@S I see what you mean, but I’d be surprised if Japan still had entry restrictions come August when the ultimate deadline arrives as per the last two years. Time will tell, but I’m confident about all scheduled events for now.
jff
21st January 2022, 8:20
The COTD recipient makes a good point; FIA is known for making complex, inconsistent and superfluous rules:
Why have a complex points system when most teams will go for talent rather than young wannabes?
Why have a minimum weight when budgets are limited?
Why the confusing rules which caught out Kimi/AR in Italy?
Why have complex SC ending write-ups when giving the RD full responsibility and free rein to determine timings?
Joshua Miles (@milesy-jam)
21st January 2022, 10:22
People saying the Australian GP will be canceled have no idea of the situation.
The reason the 2021 race was canceled was due to a mandatory 14 day quarantine for incoming travellers to Victoria. This doesn’t exist anymore so isn’t an issue.
Also with the high vaccination rates (78% double dosed but much higher if you discount 12 yo and younger) the is no chance of VIC going back into lockdown.
Victoria has moved on from a “Covid-Zero” strategy to a “you have to live with it” one.
The biggest threat really would be to the track build, with all time high case numbers possibly impacting the workforce with Covid isolations, but that is something that will be worked through I am sure.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
21st January 2022, 11:20
Wait until your favourite F1 driver / team principal / journalist / personality / whatever turns out to be one of those anti-vaxxers and pulls the entire sport into disrepute trying to enter Australia anyway.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
21st January 2022, 11:24
Oh right. Atleast some #3 driver will get a chance.
Erkr
22nd January 2022, 0:50
If you didn’t realise, Djoker, brought everything on himself. He lied on his visa and granted himself exemption due to supposedly catching covid in December. Catching covid doesnt immediately grant you 6 months vaccine exemption according to current Australian guidelines, you have to have an acute medical illness requiring hospitalisation or have suffered confirmed cardiac complications from covid infection.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
21st January 2022, 11:21
Err regarding race of champions..
What exactly is Culthard champion of?
GB has a choice of many motorsport champions.
Maybe.. Sir Lewis Hamilton? Or is he to vain to attend?
I remember when Schumacher and Vettel attended, when Schumacher was clear GoAT and Vettel was reigning champion.
Atleast GB should have a current F1 driver. They have a number of good ones.