Motorsport News – August 14, 2019

Even Red Bull bosses think overhauling Merc is unlikely

Mexico secure

Formula 1 ended the doubts over

the Mexican Grand Prix’s future by

announcing a new deal last week,

helped by private financial backing

being secured for an event that has so

far depended on government support.

The Mexico City news moved F

closer still to a 22-race 2020 calendar,

as it had been one of five events in

jeopardy going into this season. Only

the German GP looks set to fall off

the calendar now as the Netherlands

and Vietnam join.

Miami back?

Another new addition to the calendar

that appeared to be dormant has been

revived, with F1 chief Chase Carey

saying the Miami Grand Prix plan

might still have a future. That race was

supposed to join the calendar this

year but complications including local

objections delayed it, and the intended

street location was dropped for a new

stadium-based plan. Carey said F

had “made good headway” towards

another US race and that Miami

was still an option, but also hinted

at Las Vegas.

Vettel’s 5/

Sebastian Vettel rates the first half

of his 2019 F1 season as “five out

of 10”. Ferrari’s strong winter testing

performance meant he began the

year as title favourite, but Vettel is

still to win a race this season, has

often been outperformed by new

team-mate Charles Leclerc and is

94 points behind leader Lewis

Hamilton in fourth in the drivers’

championship. “I struggled here

and there to really get on top of the

car,” said Vettel. “I feel I can do a better

job in the second half.”

Going green

F1 plans to do more to make itself

more environmentally sustainable,

and to better publicise its achievements

on that front so far. “The hybrid engine

was an incredible step forward in

terms of fuel efficiency, while retaining

power,” said series chief Chase Carey.

“And we are working aggressively on

things like synthetic fuels, working

with the oil industry as a whole on

synthetic fuels, bio fuels, hydrogen

fuels. You’ll see between now and

year end the sustainability issue

becoming much more front

and centre.”

McLaren’s battle

McLaren insists it can’t consider the

battle for ‘best of the rest’ won even

though it is now 39 points clear of

its nearest rival in fourth in the

constructors’ championship. “We

have seen how quickly it can change

and we have seen how close the

others are in the race,” said team

principal Andreas Seidl. “It is good

to have this gap at the moment in the

points standing. For us it is important

to not get carried away with that. It’s

heads down and make sure we

keep fighting.”

RACING NEWS

Bottas has ‘options’ in fight for F1 future

HORNER: IT WOULD TAKE A MIRACLE TO CLAIM TITLE

Red Bull team boss Christian

Horner thinks only a

“gargantuan” blunder by

Mercedes would allow Max

Verstappen to challenge for the

world championship this year.

Verstappen has scored more

points than any other driver at

the four most recent grands

prix, and Mercedes boss Toto

Wolff said at the Hungarian

Grand Prix that form had made

the 21-year-old a title threat.

But Horner reckons the

comfortable 69-point advantage

that Lewis Hamilton holds over

third-placed Verstappen with

just nine races remaining

means his team’s title dreams

are not realistic.

“Lewis has close to a three-

race [win’s worth of points]

Valtteri Bottas admits that he

has already been exploring

other options should he not

be retained by the Mercedes

Formula 1 team in 2020.

Team boss Toto Wolff has

confirmed that Bottas (below)

is in a fight with Esteban Ocon

for the seat

alongside

Lewis

Hamilton

next

season,

with a

By Adam Cooper

Lewis Hamilton has hit

back at former Mercedes

team-mate Nico Rosberg’s

suggestion that his ability

level will tail off now he is

in his mid-30s.

Rosberg used his video blog

ahead of the Hungarian Grand

Prix to suggest that Max

Verstappen had overtaken

Hamilton to become “the

best driver out there”.

Speaking about Hamilton,

who is now 34, Rosberg had said

“the best age for racing drivers

is 30, 31, 32 – and that’s because

your ability as you’re getting

older slightly decreases, but

experience counts so much

in this sport. So experience

will outdo the small decrease

in your natural ability as a

human as you get a bit older.”

When Rosberg’s comments

were put to Hamilton, the

reigning world champion said:

“I’ve never seen the blog, I don’t

know who follows it, but it has

no bearing on anything that I do.

“I don’t care, everyone has

their own opinion. Whether

he’s right or wrong, I don’t

really care. All you have to do

is look at my tally of results

over the years and they kind

of speak for themselves.

“So naturally there will be

people that have not had the

success that I’ve had, and

might want to talk it down,

but that’s OK.”

Hamilton said a “really

good book” called the Four

Agreements had helped him

avoid worrying about

people’s opinions.

“There’s an element in

there where it says don’t take

anything personally, so when

someone says something about

you, it’s not actually about

you, it’s how they feel about

themselves,” he said.

“I’m 34 years old, but I feel

like I’m driving better than

ever. Hopefully you can see

that I’ve not lost any speed.

“Qualifying is not always

going to go great, you just have

to move on. Races are not always

going to go great, the last one

[in Germany] sucked.

“But you know what, you

move straight on, let it go,

there’s nothing you can do

about the past, all you can

do is try to shape the future.”

As recently as June, Hamilton

had stated that he could

“definitely” race for another

five years in F1 and he reiterated

that retirement is not on his

agenda. “Right now I feel

fantastic physically, generally,

this year, and mentally,” said

Hamilton. “There’s more to

achieve together inside and

outside of the car.”

MN’S SAFETY SPOTLIGHT PAGE 19

Photos: LAT

Hamilton (r) has rebuffed

Rosberg’s recent vlog

IN BRIEF

Five-time champion thinks former team-mate Rosberg is wide of the mark in assessment

HAMILTON SAYS HIS ABILITY

IS NOT GOING TO TAIL OFF

advantage with nine races to go,

so he would have to not turn up

for three races,” said Horner.

“They would have to f *** up by

gargantuan proportions not

to win this championship.

“Our target in the second half

of the year is very much to

close that gap. And as we get

more performance on the

car as Honda continues to

make progress, this is very

much a building year as we

transition into 2020.”

decision due to be made

during the summer break.

Bottas said he knows he has

to have at least one alternative

in place should the decision

go against him.

“When you’re in that kind of

situation and when you still

want to race in F1, you need to

have plan B, possibly plan C,”

he said. “I’ve been thinking

and talking about stuff. It’s

good to have different plans.”

Bottas conceded that amid

the pressure of the looming

2020 decision it had not

been easy for him to judge

how much risk to take in

recent races.

“People think that some

drivers perform better under

pressure when things are on

the limit, but for me it doesn’t

help,” he said.

4 AUGUST 14 2019 motorsport-news.co.uk Advertising enquiries: 0203 405 8110

EvenRedBullbossesthinkoverhaulingMercis unlikely

Mexicosecure
Formula1 endedthedoubtsover
theMexicanGrandPrix’sfutureby
announcinga newdeallastweek,
helpedbyprivatefinancialbacking
beingsecuredforaneventthathasso
fardependedongovernmentsupport.
TheMexicoCitynewsmovedF
closerstillto a 22-race 2020 calendar,
as it hadbeenoneof fiveeventsin
jeopardygoingintothisseason.Only
theGermanGPlookssetto falloff
thecalendarnowas theNetherlands
andVietnamjoin.

Miamiback?
Anothernewadditionto thecalendar
thatappearedto bedormanthasbeen
revived,withF1chiefChaseCarey
sayingtheMiamiGrandPrixplan
mightstillhavea future.Thatracewas
supposedto jointhecalendarthis
yearbutcomplicationsincludinglocal
objectionsdelayedit, andtheintended
streetlocationwasdroppedfora new
stadium-basedplan.CareysaidF
had“madegoodheadway”towards
anotherUSraceandthatMiami
wasstillanoption,butalsohinted
at LasVegas.

Vettel’s5/
SebastianVettelratesthefirsthalf
of his 2019 F1seasonas “fiveout
of 10”.Ferrari’sstrongwintertesting
performancemeanthebeganthe
yearas titlefavourite,butVettelis
stillto wina racethisseason,has
oftenbeenoutperformedbynew
team-mateCharlesLeclercandis
94 pointsbehindleaderLewis
Hamiltonin fourthin thedrivers’
championship.“I struggledhere
andthereto reallygetontopof the
car,”saidVettel.“I feelI candoa better
jobin thesecondhalf.”

Goinggreen
F1plansto domoreto makeitself
moreenvironmentallysustainable,
andto betterpubliciseits achievements
onthatfrontsofar.“Thehybridengine
wasanincrediblestepforwardin
termsof fuelefficiency,whileretaining
power,”saidserieschiefChaseCarey.
“Andweareworkingaggressivelyon
thingslikesyntheticfuels,working
withtheoil industryas a wholeon
syntheticfuels,biofuels,hydrogen
fuels.You’llseebetweennowand
yearendthesustainabilityissue
becomingmuchmorefront
andcentre.”

McLaren’sbattle
McLareninsistsit can’tconsidert
battlefor‘bestof therest’woneve
thoughit is now 39 pointsclearo
its nearestrivalin fourthin the
constructors’championship.“We
haveseenhowquicklyit canchan
andwehaveseenhowclosethe
othersarein therace,”saidteam
principalAndreasSeidl.“It is goo
to havethisgapat themomentin t
pointsstanding.Forusit is import
to notgetcarriedawaywiththat.I
headsdownandmakesurewe
keepfighting.”

RACING NEWS

Bottashas‘options’infightforF1future

HORNER: IT WOULD TAKE A MIRACLE TOCLAIM TITLE

RedBullteambossChristian

Hornerthinksonlya

“gargantuan”blunderby

MercedeswouldallowMax

Verstappentochallengeforthe

worldchampionshipthisyear.

Verstappenhasscoredmore

pointsthananyotherdriverat

thefourmostrecentgrands

prix,andMercedesbossToto

WolffsaidattheHungarian

GrandPrixthatformhadmade

the21-year-olda titlethreat.

ButHornerreckonsthe

comfortable69-pointadvantage

thatLewisHamiltonholdsover

third-placedVerstappenwith

justnineracesremaining

meanshisteam’stitledreams

arenotrealistic.

“Lewishasclosetoa three-

race[win’sworthofpoints]

ValtteriBottasadmitsthathe

hasalreadybeenexploring

otheroptionsshouldhenot

beretainedbytheMercedes

Formula1 teamin2020.

TeambossTotoWolffhas

confirmedthatBottas(below)

is ina fightwithEstebanOcon

ByAdamCooper

LewisHamiltonhashit

backat formerMercedes

team-mateNicoRosberg’s

suggestionthathisability

levelwilltailoffnowheis

in hismid-30s.

Rosbergusedhisvideoblog

aheadoftheHungarianGrand

PrixtosuggestthatMax

Verstappenhadovertaken

Hamiltontobecome“the

bestdriveroutthere”.

SpeakingaboutHamilton,

whois now34,Rosberghadsaid

“thebestageforracingdrivers

is 30,31, 32 – andthat’sbecause

yourabilityasyou’regetting

olderslightlydecreases,but

experiencecountssomuch

inthissport.Soexperience

willoutdothesmalldecrease

inyournaturalabilityasa

humanasyougeta bitolder.”

WhenRosberg’scomments

wereputtoHamilton,the

reigningworldchampionsaid:

“I’veneverseentheblog,I don’t

knowwhofollowsit,butit has

nobearingonanythingthatI do.

“Idon’tcare,everyonehas

theirownopinion.Whether

he’srightorwrong,I don’t

reallycare.Allyouhavetodo

is lookatmytallyofresults

overtheyearsandtheykind

ofspeakforthemselves.

“Sonaturallytherewillbe

peoplethathavenothadthe

successthatI’vehad,and

mightwanttotalkit down,

butthat’sOK.”

Hamiltonsaida “really

goodbook”calledtheFour

Agreementshadhelpedhim

avoidworryingabout

people’sopinions.

“There’sanelementin

therewhereit saysdon’ttake

anythingpersonally,sowhen

someonesayssomethingabout

you,it’snotactuallyabout

you,it’showtheyfeelabout

themselves,”hesaid.

“I’m 34 yearsold,butI feel

likeI’mdrivingbetterthan

ever.Hopefullyyoucansee

thatI’venotlostanyspeed.

“Qualifyingis notalways

goingtogogreat,youjusthave

tomoveon.Racesarenotalways

goingtogogreat,thelastone

[inGermany]sucked.

“Butyouknowwhat,you

movestraighton,letit go,

there’snothingyoucando

aboutthepast,allyoucan

dois trytoshapethefuture.”

AsrecentlyasJune,Hamilton

hadstatedthathecould

“definitely”raceforanother

fiveyearsinF1andhereiterated

thatretirementis notonhis

agenda.“RightnowI feel

fantasticphysically,generally,

thisyear,andmentally,”said

Hamilton.“There’smoreto

achievetogetherinsideand

outsideofthecar.”

MN’S SAFETY SPOTLIGHT PAGE 19

Photos:LAT

Hamilton(r)hasrebuffed

Rosberg’srecentvlog

IN BRIEF

Five-time champion thinks former team-mate Rosberg is wide of the mark in assessment

HAMILTON SAYS HIS ABILITY

IS NOT GOING TO TAIL OFF

advantage with nine races to go,

so he would have to not turn up

for three races,” said Horner.

“They would have to f *** up by

gargantuan proportions not

to win this championship.

“Our target in the second half

of the year is very much to

close that gap. And as we get

more performance on the

car as Honda continues to

make progress, this is very

much a building year as we

transition into 2020.”

decision due to be made

during the summer break.

Bottas said he knows he has

to have at least one alternative

in place should the decision

go against him.

“When you’re in that kind of

situation and when you still

want to race in F1, you need to

have plan B, possibly plan C,”

he said. “I’ve been thinking

and talking about stuff. It’s

good to have different plans.”

Bottas conceded that amid

the pressure of the looming

2020 decision it had not

been easy for him to judge

how much risk to take in

recent races.

“People think that some

drivers perform better under

pressure when things are on

the limit, but for me it doesn’t

help,” he said.

4 AUGUST 14 2019 motorsport-news.co.uk Advertising enquiries: 0203 405 8110