F1 Racing - UK (2019-12)

Lewis Hamilton is undoubtedly a modern phenomenon onNow on sixFormula 1 world championships and counting,

the circuit, but his appetiteto grand prix racing –Lewis has also been busy buildingfor success is not limited only

something much bigger behind the scenes...

AN EMPIRE STATE OF MIND

PICTURES TOMMY HILFWORDS MARK GALLAGHERIGER

46 F1 RACINGDECEMBER 2019

How

Leclerc

became

Ferrari’s

new

ALPHACharlesLeclerc began

2019 with specificresponsibilityto

support SebastianVettel’s championship

ambitions, howeverLeclerc’s relentlessly

impressiveunexpectedly difficultform in an

seasonchanged the game, andfor Ferrari has

created a newlyinternal dynamicvolatilefor the

IPERRY AN: JCTUREDRE PICTURESWORDSScuderiaSCOTT MITCHELLto manage

F1 RACING DECEMBER 201947

THE DGOT THE FEARAY JENSON

(ANDOTHER STORIES)

When you think of Jenson Button youthink wet-weather mastery, right? In these

extracts from his new book, Jenson vividlydescribes the day he embarrassed himself

in the wet – along with afrom happier times in his career...few other yarns

PORTRAITS:ROB W

ILSON.PICTURE

:GLENN DUNBAR

F1 RACING DECEMBER 201971

JensonButtonaddressesHondaemployeesin

December2008reassuretheteamwthem thatillraceinto

2009andthathewillbefundinghisowntravelto

cutcosts

F1 RACING DECEMBER 2019 87

Inlate2008the “creditcrunch” went viral andbecamea worldwidecrisis. Banks wi,what hadbeen known aslted underthe

enormity of bad debtsconcealment in obscure, exposed after years offi nancial mechanisms.

Ten years ago a skeleton crew ofcompleted a remarkable turnaround as Jensonex-Honda people

Button claimed the world championshipafter histeam wasrescued from oblivion. That teamjust months

went onSpeakingto become Mercedes,toF1Raci ngahead of theand thelaunch of hisrest is history.

book,explains how the outSurvive.Drive.Win.fi t survived, Brawn GP CEOagainst the oddsNickFry

In responsethey cutback on lendingthe consequences was a collapsemarket.Honda decided to axeits strugglingF1in the new-car,and among

programme right awayteam principalRoss BrawntoHea throw hotelone Novembermorning., andsummonedFry anda meetingin a

NickFry :meeting. Webudget by about a third. Thispoor gentleman“We knewit was going tobe a d’d done enoughhomework to cuttheifficult,

Mr Oshimaas he told usthat wassituation on thebusiness side was thatbadthey,ourboss, was pretty muchinit–they were off. Thetear s

couldn’t spend any money onF1.Brackley and tethe lightson theway outll them all togo home and turn off’ was themessage.‘Please go to

you’ve got to giveus a chance.a big , honourable“It was me who saidcompany and after some, ‘ You can’ Honda is’t do that –

discussion wewere given a month. Running upto Christmas with the worldcrisisdidn’t give us a lot of time and’sworstfi nancial, er, wemet

some dodgy characters...”

Predictablyteased some interesting individualsout ofthewoodwork. Achilleas Ka,thesaleofllakis, supposedly adistressed assets

billionaireshipping magnatebut actuason of athe Brackley factory in a helicopterfailed Ealing nightclub ownertoo large to,arrivedatlly the

land on the helKollakisperpetrating a £750 mi,was eventuaipad. Kallakis, real name Stephanlly ja iled for seven years forllion mortgage fraud.

least peculiar suitors. Mallya had only recentlybought and renamedForce IndVijay Mallya actually provedto be one of theia, butwas

attractedto Hondacomparrun on a shoestringby severalpreviousowners.ison w ith hisacquisitby its superior facilion, which hadbeenities in

Ross Brawn rapidlydecided he would be unableto work with MallyaIndian magnate off as a less-than-ser, and Fry also wrote theious buyer.

The pivotalmoment camewhen Mallya arrivedfi ve hours late for a dinner appointment at StoweCastle with Fry andthe fi nancedirector.

NickFry :very good currywas one of the more honourable peoplewho“Itwas a long wait but wedid get aat theend of it. Vijay, frankly,

expressed aninterestwas a situatThere were a lot ofcomplete tion wherewe hadto kiss a lotof frogs., which saysa lot.It reallyime-wasters, and

aroundChristmas that year therewas a lot of timespent byme and Nigel Kerrmeetingpeople who were just havingalook, our fi nancedirector, or,

money laundering, or even worse.

HOND A WANTEDTO SHUT DOWN

THE TEAMIMMEDIATELY

VIJAY MALLWAS A YA

POTENTIALBUYER

WORDS STUART CODLINGPICTURES

BRAWN

THE

LEGACY

F1 RACING DECEMBER 2019 3

IGNITION

Another title

but Lewis needs

to be challenged

PARADES

Celebrating

Hamilton’s

sixth title

F1INSIDER

WhatFormula 1

has planned

for 2021

UNDER

THEHOOD

Pat Symonds

on the roadto

a greener F

SUBSCRIBE

An offer to try

Autosport Plus

INBOX

What’s on your

mind this month

DEBRIEF

Reports from

the Mexican

and USA GPs

PREVIEW

A look aheadto

the Abu Dhabi GP

TRAVELGUIDE

Visiting the

Spanish GP

PRODUCTS

Reviews of the

best F1gear

FLATCHAT

Stuart Codling on

the veto against

reversed grids

CONTENTS

DECEMBER 2019

SECTOR 1

LEWISHAMILTON

How the champion has built an

empire away from the track

INCONVERSATIONWITH...

Six-time champLewis Hamilton

CHARESLECLERC

How the young Frenchman has

made his mark atFerrari

F1MEETSNASCAR

Haas drivers Magnussen and

Grosjean sample stock cars

SERGIOPÉREZ

We trail Checo on the busy

run-upto his home race

NIGELROEBUCK

José Froilán Gonzáles,Ferrari’s

first championship race winner

JENSONBUTTON

Illuminatingextracts from the

2009 champion’s latest book

NOWTHATWASA CAR

The P25, the car that finally

turned BRM into a GP winner

YOUASKTHEQUESTIONS

Williams’ George Russell

gets a grilling from readers

FRYONBRAWN

Former CEO Nick Fry reappraises

Brawn GP 10 years on

INNOVATIONTIME

A look at some ofFormula 1’s

most ingenious ideas

SECTOR 3

SECTOR 2

F1 RACING PRO

1 ETON STREET, RICHMOND,

LONDON, TW9 1AG, UK

46

IS LECLERC

NOW TOP

DOGAT

FERRARI?

70

JENSON

BUTTON:

ON THEDAY

HE GOT

THE FEAR

NICK FRY: THE

INSIDE STORY

OF BRAWN

34

COVER STORY:

HAMILTON’S

WORLD

OUTSIDE OF

FORMULA 1

34

44

46

54

60

68

103

104

108

110

4

6

16

22

112

114

30

32

86

58

DecemberUK £5No 286 2019.

RACING

THEWORLD IS

NOTENOUGHEXPLORING THE BUSINESS

EMPIRE OFSIX-TIME CHAMPF1’SNEW

LEWISRULESAGAINBUT...

F1’SNEWALPHA

afresh nightmareCharlesLeclerc:

forSeb Vettel

THEBRAWNLEGACYHOWTHAT

(^2009) SWERVEDOBLIVIONTEAM
MEXICO’SF1KING
Riding theMexican wave
with SergioPérez
BUTTON’SBOOKYExtracts fromWOOK
Jenson’s newmemoir
CANWEBORROW
YOURCAR?ON THESCENE
FORASV8 JOYRIDEPECIAL

STRAIGHTTALK

Mark Gallagher on how

F1’s TV output is evolving

PROFILE

Maartenten Holder, chief

auctioneer of RM Sotheby’s

NUTRITION

Howto keep an F1 driver

adequatelyfed and watered

PERFORMANCE

The significantextra benefits

of good helmet design

76

86

80

92

70

27

28

RACING

Lewis Hamilton is undoubtedly a modern phenomenon onNow on sixFormula 1 world championships and counting,

the circuit, but his appetiteto grand prix racing –Lewis has also been busy buildingfor success is not limited only

something much bigger behind the scenes...

AN EMPIRE STATE OF MIND

WORDS MARK GALPICTURES TOMMY HILFAGHERGER

46 F1 RACINGDECEMBER 2019

How

Leclerc

became

Ferrari’s

new

ALPHACharlesLeclerc began

2019 with specificresponsibilityto

support SebastianVettel’s championship

ambitions, howeverLeclerc’s relentlessly

impressiveunexpectedly difficultform in an

seasonchanged the game, andfor Ferrari has

created a newlyinternal dynamicvolatilefor the

ScuderiaWORDSP CTURESSCOTT MITCHELLto manage

F1 RACING DECEMBER 201947

THE DGOT THE FEARAY JENSON

(ANDOTHER STORIES)

When you think of Jenson Button youthink wet-weather mastery, right? In these

extracts from his new book, Jenson vividlydescribes the day he embarrassed himself

in the wet – along with afrom happier times in his career...few other yarns

F1 RACING DECEMBER 201971

JensonButtonaddressesHondaemployeesn

December2008reassuretheteamwthem thatllraceinto

2009andthathewillbefundinghisowntravelto

cutcosts

F1 RACING DECEMBER 2019 87

Inlate2008the “creditcrunch” went viral andbecamea worldwidecrisis. Banks wiwhat hadbeen known asted underthe

enormity of bad debtsconcealment in obscureexposed after years offi nancial mechanisms.

Ten years ago a skeleton crew ofcompleted a remarkable turnaround as Jensonex-Honda people

Button claimed the world championshipafter histeam wasrescued from oblivion. That teamjust months

went onSpeakingto become Mercedes,toF1Raci ngahead of theand thelaunch of hisrest is history.

book,explains how the outSurvive.Drive.Win.fi t survived, Brawn GP CEOagainst the oddsNickFry

In responsethey cutback on lendingthe consequences was a collapsemarket.Honda decided to axeits strugglingF1in the new-carand among

programme right awayteam principalRoss BrawntoHea throw hotelone Novembermorning.andsummonedFry anda meetingin a

NckFrymeeting. Webudget by about a third. Thispoor gentleman“We knewit was going tobe a dd done enoughhomework to cutthefficult

Mr Oshimaas he told usthat wassituat on on thebusiness side was thatbadtheyourbosswas pretty muchint–they were off. Thetear s

couldnt spend any money onF1.Brackley and tethe lightson theway outl them all togo home and turn offwas themessage.Please go to

youve got to giveus a chance.a big honourable“It was me who saidcompany and after someYou canHonda ist do that –

discussion wewere given a month. Running upto Christmas with the worldcrisisdidnt give us a lot of time andsworstfi nancialer wemet

some dodgy characters...”

Predictablyteased some interesting individualsout ofthewoodwork. Achilleas Kathesaleoflakis supposedly adistressed assets

bi liona reshipping magnatebut actuason of athe Brackley factory in a helicopterfailed Ealing nightclub ownertoo large toly thearr vedat

land on the helKollakisperpetrating a £750 miwas eventuapad. Kallakis real name Stephanly ja led for seven years forlion mortgage fraud.

least peculiar suitors. Mallya had only recentlybought and renamedForce IndVijay Mallya actually provedto be one of thea butwas

attractedto Hondacomparrun on a shoestringby severalpreviousowners.son w th hisacquisitby its superior facilon wh ch hadbeenties in

Ross Brawn rapidlydecided he would be unableto work with MallyaInd an magnate off as a less-than-serand Fry also wrote theous buyer.

The pivotalmoment camewhen Mallya arrivedfi ve hours late for a dinner appointment at StoweCastle wth Fry andthe fi nancedrector.

NickFryvery good currywas one of the more honourable peoplewho“Itwas a long wait but wedid get aat theend of it. Vijayfrankly

expressed aninterestwas a situatThere were a lot ofcomplete ton wherewe hadto kiss a lotof frogs.which saysa lot.It reallyme-wastersand

aroundChristmas that year therewas a lot of timespent byme and Nigel Kerrmeetingpeople who were just havingalookour fi nancedirectoror

money launderingor even worse.

HOND A WANTEDTO SHUT DOWN

THE TEAMIMMEDIATELY

VIJAY MALLWAS A YA

POTENTIALBUYER

WORDS STUART CODLNGPICTURES

BRAWN

THE

LEGACY

F1 RACING DECEMBER 2019 3

IGNITION

Another title

but Lewis needs

to be challenged

PARADES

Celebrating

Hamilton’s

sixth title

F1INSIDER

WhatFormula 1

has planned

for 2021

UNDER

THEHOOD

Pat Symonds

on the roadto

a greener F

SUBSCRIBE

An offer to try

Autosport Plus

INBOX

What’s on your

mind this month

DEBRIEF

Reports from

the Mexican

and USA GPs

PREVIEW

A look aheadto

the Abu Dhabi GP

TRAVELGUIDE

Visiting the

Spanish GP

PRODUCTS

Reviews of the

best F1gear

FLATCHAT

Stuart Codling on

the veto against

reversed grids

CONTENTS

DECEMBER 2019

SECTOR 1

LEWISHAMILTON

How the champion has built an

empire away from the track

INCONVERSATIONWITH...

Six-time champLewis Hamilton

CHARESLECLERC

How the young Frenchman has

made his mark atFerrari

F1MEETSNASCAR

Haas drivers Magnussen and

Grosjean sample stock cars

SERGIOPÉREZ

We trail Checo on the busy

run-upto his home race

NIGELROEBUCK

José Froilán Gonzáles,Ferrari’s

first championship race winner

JENSONBUTTON

Illuminatingextracts from the

2009 champion’s latest book

NOWTHATWASA CAR

The P25, the car that finally

turned BRM into a GP winner

YOUASKTHEQUESTIONS

Williams’ George Russell

gets a grilling from readers

FRYONBRAWN

Former CEO Nick Fry reappraises

Brawn GP 10 years on

INNOVATIONTIME

A look at some ofFormula 1’s

most ingenious ideas

SECTOR 3

SECTOR 2

F1 RACING PRO

1 ETON STREET, RICHMOND,

LONDON, TW9 1AG, UK

46

IS LECLERC

NOW TOP

DOGAT

FERRARI?

70

JENSON

BUTTON:

ON THEDAY

HE GOT

THE FEAR

NICK FRY: THE

INSIDE STORY

OF BRAWN

34

COVER STORY:

HAMILTON’S

WORLD

OUTSIDE OF

FORMULA 1

34

44

46

54

60

68

103

104

108

110

4

6

16

22

112

114

30

32

86

58

DecemberUK £5No 286 201999

RACING

THEWORLD IS

NOTENOUGHEXPLORING THE BUSINESS

EMPIRE OFSIX-TIME CHAMPF1’SNEW

LEWISRULESAGAINBUT...

F1’SNEWALPHA

afresh nightmareCharlesLeclerc:

forSeb Vettel

THEBRAWNLEGACYHOWTHAT

(^2009) SWERVEDOBLIVIONTEAM
MEXICO’SF1KING
Riding theMexican wave
with SergioPérez
BUTTON’SBOOKYExtracts fromWOOK
Jenson’s newmemoir
CANWEBORROW
YOURCAR?ON THESCENE
FORASV8 JOYRIDEPECIAL

STRAIGHTTALK

Mark Gallagher on how

F1’s TV output is evolving

PROFILE

Maartenten Holder, chief

auctioneer of RM Sotheby’s

NUTRITION

Howto keep an F1 driver

adequatelyfed and watered

PERFORMANCE

The significantextra benefits

of good helmet design

76

86

80

92

70

27

28

RACING