In the round-up: Ferrari has announced it will send financial aid to Ukranians suffering after Russia’s invasion two weeks ago.
In brief
Ferrari donates £830,000 to Ukraine appeal
Ferrari has donated £830,000 (€1 million) to a fund administered by the Emilia-Romagna region, where Maranello is located, to help Ukrainians affected by the Russian invasion. It has also contributed to the Association Chernobyl of Maranello, Fiorano, Formigine in order to support Ukrainian refugees staying in the region.Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna said “Ferrari stands alongside everyone in Ukraine affected by this ongoing humanitarian crisis. While we hope for a rapid return to dialogue and a peaceful solution, we cannot remain indifferent to the suffering of everyone affected. Our thoughts and support go out to them. We are playing our small part alongside the institutions that are bringing immediate relief to this situation.”
McLaren have also partnered with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), donating and encouraging fans to add their own contributions. Formula E posted a message asking its followers to donate to UNICEF and expressing support for Ukraine.
Ferrari has joined many other car makers in ceasing sales to Russia. Among the notable brands involved in motorsport Mercedes, Porsche, Jaguar, Aston Martin, BMW and Audi all suspended deliveries to Russia, while the Renault Group, which includes AutoVAZ (Lada) has paused production at its Russian factories. Toyota has also suspended production in Russia, as did Hyundai last week temporarily.
Alunni Bravi appointed managing director of Sauber Group
Alessandro Alunni Bravi has become the managing director of the whole Sauber Group, which still operates the Alfa Romeo-branded Formula 1 team. Alunni Bravi has been at Sauber in other managerial roles for over four years, with previous experience in the ART and Trident Formula 2 teams and at Formula E chassis makers Spark.
“It’s an honour to take on the challenge of being managing director of a company with the successful history that Sauber has,” Alunni Bravi said. “I am also aware of the responsibility that this position brings towards the more than 500 people employed by Sauber, a commitment I will meet with hard work, passion and dedication.
“I’d like to thank Frédéric Vasseur and the Sauber Group shareholders, as well as all those who have been by my side these last years, making it possible for me to achieve this next step. There is much work ahead but I’m excited to begin this new adventure.”
Replacement venues for Russian GP surface
The Jerez and Sepang circuits are in the running to fill the empty space on the calendar caused by the cancellation of the Russian Grand Prix, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. The race, which was due to take place on September 25th, was called off following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
‘Revolutionary’ Mercedes upgrade rumoured
A report in Corriere della Serra claiming Mercedes is about to reveal a radical upgrade for its W13 prompted speculation on social media. The Italian newspaper claimed the aggressive development of the car will look strikingly different to the one which race at the first pre-season test, with almost no sidepods. Testing will resume at Bahrain International Circuit tomorrow.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
On #IWD2022, we’re celebrating the incredible commitment and effort put in by the women working for Nissan e.dams!
Hear from Electronics Engineer Charlotte Henry on what her job entails, why she loves motorsport and who inspired her to chase her dream.#FormulaE #FeelElectric pic.twitter.com/kWYNdeAA6W
— Nissan e.dams (@Nissanedams) March 8, 2022
Tarso Marques (@marquestarso), a Brazilian racing driver who has competed in 24 Formula One Grands Prix races, will be our driver in the NASCAR Cup Series races and other series to be announced in 2022. pic.twitter.com/26pXb7zYJV
— Team Stange Racing (@teamstange) March 8, 2022
We are pleased to announce the launch of #WomenInMotorsports Powered by @PNCBank with Chip Ganassi Racing, a new campaign in support of gender equality in the workforce.
Visit https://t.co/s98kLjoLLy to learn and apply for the paid internship. #IWD22 #BreakTheBias pic.twitter.com/pFvkLpJdx1
— Chip Ganassi Racing (@CGRTeams) March 8, 2022
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Projeto de Resolução PRC 79/2021 (Portuguese) (Camera Dos Deputados)
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton is to be made an honorary citizen of Brazil.
It is difficult, it is a very sensitive issue but I think the main thing is that the majority of Russians do not agree with what is happening. Many athletes, like everyone else, have spoken out against what he is doing, their leader, but sadly it's the consequences.
Bruno Michel Q&A: your guide to the new campaign with F2 and F3's CEO (Formula 2)
Having a team mate like Valtteri Bottas is going to be a fantastic asset for him, as it will allow him to continue progressing. It is always interesting to see how our drivers perform in Formula 1 because that is the DNA of Formula 2 – it is the job of F2 to prepare drivers or Formula 1. So far, I think that the eight drivers who have gone from our category to Formula 1 have performed well. I don't see why Zhou will not do the same.'
My new partnership with cybersmile (Nicholas Latifi)
It’s been a busy start to the season in the factory and at the track. But I’ve also been looking at how I can follow up on the commitment I made last year to contribute somehow to the fight against online abuse and bullying. I used the winter break to understand more about the extent of the problem that exists, and to figure out a way that I could turn my own experiences after Abu Dhabi into a positive.
'I'm watching this - episode one, episode two - and I hate it,' Wolff said of the ‘Drive to Survive’ show. 'Now we are participants. We gradually grew into this. I never wanted to have the camera in my face.'
Brooks: 'In a multi-national team working in a global sport, this is extremely important and in an international society, it’s essential that we all have awareness and acceptance. Awareness and acceptance of not only ourselves but also of others, so people can bring their whole selves to the table which is critical to attaining an inclusive environment.'
Interview: Envision Racing's Alice Powell (Envision)
Powell: 'From when I started karting there really weren’t many females racing. Believe it or not, I was quite a quiet kid, especially if I didn’t know anybody. So, being around a male dominated sport where literally there was just me and maybe two other girls in the karting paddock, that was a little bit daunting.'
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Comment of the day
After Mercedes upgraded the safety and medical cars it supplies to F1, Leroy says the competition on track isn’t only about the cars that follow it…
A clever bit of subliminal marketing from Mercedes there. Their safety car is so aerodynamic that a light bar on the roof interferes with its performance. Whereas the Aston safety car can have a light bar because its aerodynamics aren’t as tuned.
I have to say I prefer the Aston’s aesthetics (sans light bar) more than the Mercedes though.
@g-funk
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Alpinestar, Venturi Effect, Cdmracing and Guillaume Blanchet!
@HoHum (@hohum)
9th March 2022, 0:26
2 big thumbs up for Ferrari.
Harry
9th March 2022, 4:18
Indeed. Hope other teams follow suit.
mkindyfan
9th March 2022, 0:30
So nobody is mentioning the Kaspersky Sponsorship still on the Ferrari car??
JohnH (@johnrkh)
9th March 2022, 1:43
Ferrari and some others have a knack for bending the rules when it comes to sponsorship. But I think in this case they will be picked up on it and have to make arrangements. Otherwise, they will appear to be making an each-way bet.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
9th March 2022, 2:59
Just a couple weeks ago anti-virals were of the utmost importance.
Denis (@denis1304)
9th March 2022, 6:26
@mkindyfan Kaspersky is “hiding” behind holding company in the United Kingdom…
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
9th March 2022, 9:12
They should probably rebrand to something vaguely English-sounding. Like “Johnson”.
Jazz (@jazz)
9th March 2022, 10:25
I mentioned the Kaspersky issue on a post yesterday as did many others, and Ferrari deleted the post a short while after.
In other news, still waiting for RB to pull their product out of Russia. Nothing on their corporate site about it.
Laurie
12th March 2022, 8:26
I have noticed Kaspersky’s name has vanished from the car and team shirts, and the sponsor page on their website has been taken down. This is the only report I can find on it, which says they have ‘suspended’ their sponsorship.
https://www.motorsport-magazin.com/formel1/news-275892-formel-1-2022-ferrari-legt-deal-mit-russischem-sponsor-auf-eis-kaspersky-robert-shwartzman-f1-2022-testfahrten/
I’m hoping they’re no longer using Kasperaky information security devices and anti-virus protection, as they could be a vector to attack the team and company who’ve stopped shipments and severed ties now.
Mach1 (@mach1)
9th March 2022, 0:31
I love these Merc car rumours.
Even if they turn out to be completely untrue. Can’t wait for Bahrain.
Always time for a bit of gossip and intrigue before testing.
Leroy (@g-funk)
9th March 2022, 1:42
@mach1 I’d love for a team to show up with some totally insane concept just to see the other teams reactions as they scramble to take detailed photos and try to work out if it’s a direction they should head in.
Even if the rumors are false, they probably have some teams running feasibility tests to see if they can trim their sidepods down to nothing which is distracting them from real development on their car and would be a small early win for Merc in the mind games battles.
@hazelsouthwell Thanks for the CotD!
Aapje (@aapje)
9th March 2022, 17:32
@g-funk
The only way I can see it being true is if they determined that the RB design was far better than their own design. Otherwise it makes no sense to ‘lose’ that much testing to fake out the opposition.
Michael Norman (@mick80)
9th March 2022, 1:07
No sidepods?? That’s an interesting idea, lets hope there is some truth to this rumour
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
9th March 2022, 2:57
They already have almost no sidepods.
Win7Golf (@win7golf)
9th March 2022, 4:07
Good.
Now get rid of the Kaspersky sponsorship, and we’ll call it a great thing!
Jere (@jerejj)
9th March 2022, 8:14
A good move by Ferrari.
Jerez is automatically off for logistics as a truck event can’t be on consecutive weekends with a freight one, the same for Algarve, i.e., only like-for-like be that two (or three in triple-headers) truck or freight ones, just not a mixture.
People should be realistic with their thoughts. I once got told by a user on another site who works in F1.
I had Previously hoped for Baku to get paired with Hungaroring or Red Bull Ring instead until he enlightened me on the matter that explained how a double-header with Montreal is actually easier despite considerably longer distance.
The same thing, of course, equally applies to other locations, so only freight events are viable options for the weekend preceding Singapore GP, in this case meaning either Istanbul Park (which I still view as the most likely replacement) or Sepang.
An honorary citizen, priorities.
COTD: I couldn’t care less about SC aesthetics.
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
9th March 2022, 9:28
Well done Ferrari.
Re: the Sochi replacement, any chance of it being Portimao? I might have a chance of attending that one!
Qeki (@qeki)
9th March 2022, 11:00
@hazelsouthwell
You missed one driver from the Happy birthday list
Pastor Maldonado!
stefano (@alfa145)
9th March 2022, 12:20
it’s “Corriere della Sera”, not “Serra” @hazelsouthwell