In the round-up: Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali expects to confirm details of next year’s calendar “around early October”, including two more races than this year’s 22-round schedule.
In brief
Maximum 24 race cap likely to be hit in 2023, suggests Domenicali
Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali expects to confirm details of next year’s schedule “around early October”, he told a call to Liberty Media investors yesterday.Domenicali indicated the 2023 F1 calendar is likely to feature the maximum permitted 24 races. The series is endeavouring to reorganise some of its rounds to reduce the amount of travel and therefore cut costs and emissions.
“We would like to keep the right flow in terms of efficiency around the world, to consider the needs of a calendar to be spread out from March to November all around the world,” he said.
“The demand is very, very high,” for races, he added. “We cannot [say] anything more than what we are saying because we are, of course, finalising all the details. But we for sure expect to have a couple of races more than this year, but less than 25, that’s for sure.”
Nato replaces injured Bird for Seoul season finale
Jaguar Formula E driver Sam Bird will miss the season finale double-header in Seoul, South Korea, after fracturing his hand early in the second London EPrix last weekend.
Norman Nato will step into Bird’s car for both races in Seoul, which will be hosting the all-electric championship for the first time. Nato previously competed in the series with Venturi last year, taking one race victory in the second Berlin EPrix.
It will be the first Formula E races without Bird on the grid, leaving Lucas di Grassi as the only driver to have started every Formula E race. He and the series will reach their centenaries of starts on Sunday.
Formula Regional Asian Championship adds Kuwait to 2023 schedule
The Formula Regional Asian Championship and the Formula 4 UAE Championship will both compete at the Kuwait Motor Town circuit for the first time during next year’s season.
The 5.6-kilometre grade one venue was opened in 2019 but has never previously held a round of the FRAC before. The Kuwait circuit will form one of five rounds in a 15 race schedule, beginning in Dubai in mid-January and closing in Abu Dhabi in mid-February.
This year’s FRAC drivers’ title was won by Ferrari academy driver Arthur Leclerc, younger brother of Ferrari F1 driver Charles Leclerc.
Grid penalty for Castroneves
Helio Castroneves has been given a six-place grid penalty for this weekend’s IndyCar race in Nashville after his team fitted his fifth engine of the season, exceeding his maximum limit of four. The Meyer Shank driver was 23rd out of 26 competitors in the opening practice session, which was led by Christian Lundgaard.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Been off my phone, anything going on? pic.twitter.com/nBdeEhpYnd
— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) August 5, 2022
Only five drivers have scored more wins than Daniel Ricciardo in the last decade.
Hamilton
Vettel
Verstappen
Rosberg
BottasArguably none of his eight wins were achieved with the fastest car on the day. It's a brutal game sometimes.
— Alex Jacques (@AlexJacquesF1) August 5, 2022
Stats on parade at @redbullracing in F1 Manager 2022 🐂
And it's a strong showing from both @Max33Verstappen and @SChecoPerez!#F1 pic.twitter.com/SgP3mWt3R3
— F1® Manager 2022 (@F1Manager) August 5, 2022
I think its perfectly normal to be upset and emotional about your favourite driver being removed from a team (especially if its earlier than the contract ends) but that doesn't make bashing the team/manager rational.
— Redeye (@PaulChaloner) August 5, 2022
Just a couple of guys kickin’ it at McLaren HQ. 🤩🎮⚽️@LandoNorris 👊 @masonmount_10 pic.twitter.com/tAGRpl5p6f
— McLaren Shadow (@McLarenShadow) August 5, 2022
The McLaren 720S GT3 is the car of choice for the sim racing zone at the Commonwealth Esports Games.
Do you have what it takes to post the fastest lap time?Will @LandoNorris make a cameo appearance? #Initesports #sports #simracing #assettocorsa #motorsports #McLaren #Diversity pic.twitter.com/7R3QboA6NV
— Assetto Corsa (@AC_assettocorsa) August 5, 2022
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Vettel offered Formula E place after F1 exit by former Virgin racer (Mirror)
"I think a lot of the sustainability talks in F1 are not really making any difference, like saying 'don't use fossil fuels' and then they're sponsored by Aramco. Vettel has become, in the last few years, conscious about the state of the world and what he can do to make it better and use his platform as a sportsman to try to make the world a better place."
Off Grid | Hungarian GP (Williams)
"The latest episode of Off Grid is brought to you from the glorious city of Budapest. We welcomed some of our super fans inside the paddock on Friday, Nicholas Latifi lead a Williams one-three in FP3 in the wet and Jamie Chadwick continued her W Series title pursuit."
Explaining the latest Technical Directives – and what they mean for porpoising (F1)
"F1 technical expert Sam Collins is on hand to explain just what the FIA are up to, what it means for the teams, the timelines involved and whether we’ll see any more porpoising after the summer break."
Opinion: Ricciardo’s situation at McLaren exposes F1’s brutal nature (Top Gear)
"And if McLaren’s game of lawyers and clauses comes to nothing, there’s always the option of simply paying up what Ricciardo would’ve earned and saying ‘cheerio’. That would likely mean parting with a sum of money quantifiable as A Lot, but given how public the fallout has been, it looks like the Woking team has decided to bite the bullet either way."
Formula 4 aces to return for 2022 FIA Motorsport Games (FIA)
"Each FIA National Sporting Authority will have the opportunity to enter one driver to compete in the Formula 4 events which will be run at Circuit Paul Ricard."
Ask Mick Schumacher (Haas via YouTube)
"You sent in you questions for Mick Schumacher on social media - he answers some of them in the new edition of Ask Mick!"
F1 Teams Summer Break Evaluation (Conor Moore via YouTube)
"Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferarri, McLaren and Gunther look back at the first half of the season..."
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 the future of the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps in doubt, the question is why is it so challenging for the iconic venue to make money from hosting the race? Once again, @gt-racer is here to educate…
A lot of the classic races struggle to make a profit, Partly because as the newer state backed venues began to come in they started throwing more & more money at Bernie/CVC & now Liberty which started to see the amount they asked races to pay to host a race increasing to a point where it’s difficult for the races without state funding to be able to afford it.
At the same time circuits lost the income they used to make from trackside advertising. Circuits used to be able to do there own deals for trackside sponsorship which is why you used to see different trackside ads at different circuits. But that is now something that circuits can’t do as all the trackside advertising are F1 deals that F1 gets paid for with nothing going to the circuits.
Basically the only income circuits get from an F1 weekend is part of the ticket revenue which they also have to split with F1. That was a part of the reason ticket prices started to go up.
There is also additional pressure now as Liberty are pushing for every race weekend to be a big event with loads of additional activities (See Miami as an example) & that is all stuff that has to be paid for & organised by the circuit. And circuits that can’t afford that stuff or just don’t want to are immediately seen as been less attractive to Liberty.
GT Racer
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to F1Antics!
On this day in motorsport
- 55 years ago today Denny Hulme led his Brabham team boss Jack Brabham in a one-two at the Nurburgring
Scary Terry (@hatebreeder)
6th August 2022, 5:01
Out here, there was a time when cricket was madness. When a match was aired, everyone would stay back at home to watch it. Streets would be empty and you’d hear people cheering or booing from their houses. When the match ended, people left with a happy feeling and wait eagerly for the next match whenever it was.
Then Cricket exploded. Different formats, lots of matches, one on ones, 20-20s, everything. I stopped enjoying it as much. There was no missing and waiting for the next match cause there was always something going on. I don’t even watch it anymore.
The way they are squeezing in more and more races, I hope F1 becomes what cricket became to me.
Miane
6th August 2022, 5:24
I would watch F1 every weekend. Actually I watch F1, F2, F3, italian/german F4, GB3, FREC, Indycar and Formula E.
S
6th August 2022, 9:59
The world has changed since cricket was popular. The last cricket match I watched would have been during the 80’s.
There’s a lot more to choose from now – more things trying to attract, capture and hold attention. It’s much more difficult now than it was 30 years ago, when there was no internet and only 5 TV stations (all free).
The question worth asking yourself is: “If I don’t like (cricket or F1) as much now, is it because ‘it’ has changed, or because ‘I’ have changed.”
Probably both, given the time span….
frood19 (@frood19)
6th August 2022, 12:02
I have no doubt that less is more with these sports. The current F1 calendar is reaching the point that I struggle to maintain my interest for every single race – the double and triple headers are just way too much. I feel the same about cricket, but the different formats are easier to manage as a fan (I religiously follow the tests, the others not so much).
F1 races should be huge carnivals in their own right. Parceling them up as being merely a part of a bigger championship diminishes them as individual events and reduces their local appeal.
I would love a return to a 16 race calendar, with revolving hosts for the majority of races. There would be a core that appear every year. It’ll never happen because the owners of the sport are addicted to quick money, but it would be a huge improvement on the spectacle. It would also reduce the likelihood of multiple dead rubbers when one driver runs away with the title.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
6th August 2022, 7:30
The COTD is 100% correct and is a much better explanation than mine.
Ruben
6th August 2022, 8:07
Re: COTD
This, and this last sentence in particular, I think puts things in a negative spotlight.
I mean, basically you could argue that it’s a racing event and if people aren’t satisfied with what the circuit can do for them, with all the racing in the different series throughout a day or weekend, fans should go somewhere else.
On the other hand there’s many upsides to making it a broader event. If you keep people entertained at the track longer you can spread traffic (traffic jams are notoriously bad around Spa). And in case you (or other companies nearby) organise Grand Prix related side events (a Goodwood FOS style event would be fitting to the Ardennes region) that can make an impact on the region, more than when everybody just stays at the track and only spends money there.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
6th August 2022, 13:07
It used to be that Belgian GP sponsors struggled to sponsor the event, I don’t think that is the case now. During the covid dictatorship races were much less expensive, that also helped keep Spa on.
Shell is doing great, oil is doing amazing, you can thank the USA. Spa should be able to sponsor the Belgian GP, the thing is we are getting to 24 races and this means bidding wars for spots on the calendar also we have zandvoort now, shell does not need another race in the area.
floodo1 (@floodo1)
6th August 2022, 16:18
Sad. Way too many races and at so many poor circuits )-8
Antz (@antznz)
6th August 2022, 20:30
@floodo1 pick the circuits you like and skip the others. I’ve been trying it this year and I have enjoyed F1 more as a result. Some circuits are just too hard to watch.
Jere (@jerejj)
6th August 2022, 19:01
Surprising time of year choice for FIA officials’ visit, given Middle East’s typical extreme heat.
Everything’s, of course, in place as Jeddah Corniche Circuit, is effectively a semi-permanent circuit, i.e., a temporary one closest to being full purpose-built.
some racing fan
8th August 2022, 0:05
I seriously hope Miami is the first race of the year, on 26 February. Then they could have Bahrain (12 March) and then Saudi (19 March), just before Ramadan. Having a race in Miami in early May or later is just stupid and a waste of time.
Mayrton
8th August 2022, 18:25
What a ridiculous revenue driven calendar