I’m not going to lie. I am pretty exhausted. Sitting in a Frankfurt Airport terminal, just waiting for the flight home, it has been difficult to pull most of the weekend together.
Maybe that will come this evening when a chance to relax has been taken, but for now, my head is one large bag of fuzz. Even my hair has decided to go stylishly AWOL.
During what was a full weekend, Audi took plenty of glory with a victory in the WEC at Spa-Francorchamps, two wins at Hockenheim at the DTM, as well as a successful launch of the Audi TT Cup – the newest support on the DTM programme.
Of WEC, I will eventually get to take it in later this week, but for now I think I need a day off and a day away from cars. It’s the only sensible thing to do.
Leclerc was a winner in Germany. © FIA F3 Media Services.
Charles Leclerc took his 2nd FIA European Formula 3 win today with a stellar performance at a wet and dour Hockenheimring.
With light fading, the Monegasque teen made the best of the conditions to beat Felix Rosenqvist to the flag after 18 laps, while Antonio Giovinazzi came home 3rd to make it six podiums finishes from six races.
Such were the damp conditions; the race began under the safety car, with poleman Rosenqvist leading the way. The green emerged on lap two ensuring only a brief neutralisation, allowing the 2nd place Leclerc to chase his experienced Swedish rival.
Although Rosenqvist initially stretched the gap to 1.5s by the fourth lap, Leclerc quickly came upon the rear of the leading Prema Powerteam entry and began to closely track Rosenqvist in a battle that lasted almost ten laps.
The fight for the lead was a tight one in
As Leclerc closed in on Rosenqvist, the sector times closed together and on numerous occasions the van Amersfoort man looked to be edging toward taking Rosenqvist in the hairpin, only for the Prema Powerteam racer to hold him at bay.
The battle was at its most fierce on lap 12. Crossing the line just 0.5s shy of the front man, Leclerc proved almost too close to Rosenqvist at the hairpin, as the tip of his nose gently touched the rear of Rosenqvist’s machine, although no damage was reported.
Leclerc stayed with the leader though and brought the gap down to just 0.2s at the next time of asking, before finally forcing the issue on lap 14. A look down the inside of Rosenqvist – again at the hairpin – unsteadied the leader, causing the Prema man to stutter upon acceleration and allowing Leclerc to sweep ahead.
The new leader would not have much time to steady – within half-a-lap, Martin Cao and Pietro Fittipaldi tangled in the stadium section, with Fittipaldi’s Fortec entry becoming stuck by the edge of the track.
The safety car emerged for two laps, bringing the field back together, but it would not stop Leclerc who merely pulled away from Rosenqvist at the lap 16 restart, eventually to win by 2.9s after 18 tours.
Although beginning to struggle for grip, Rosenqvist was still able to pull a four second gap over the Giovinazzi / Maximilian Günther battle; a fight decided in favour of Giovinazzi when Günther spun in turn one on the penultimate lap. Once again, Günther’s performance proved noteworthy, as the rookie again spent much of the running holding steady against his more experienced rival.
Both Giovinazzi and Günther would have further adventures on the final tour when first the Italian almost lost his Jagonya Ayam Carlin machine in the stadium section, while the recovering Günther was punted by Santino Ferrucci in Mercedes. Ferrucci had earlier forced Lance Stroll off the road at the hairpin and these actions would result in a 20-second time penalty, dropping the Fortec teen from 5th to 28th.
Amidst the bumping and grinding Mikkel Jensen moved up to 4th – easily his highest finish in his rookie year – ahead of Günther and Stroll.
Markus Pömmer battled with Jake Dennis over 7th and 8th for much of the running, with the final German F3 champion emerging ahead of the Briton, while rookies Alexander Albon (9th) and Callum Ilot (10th) assumed the final points places. It was a less than ideal result for Ilot, who was punted out of 5th place on lap two by an overeager Jensen.
Ekström took an emphatic victory at Hockenheim. © ITR.
Mattias Ekström made the most of worsening conditions at the Hockenheimring today to take the 18th DTM victory of his career.
Ekström’s Audi teammate Edoardo Mortara made it an Abt Sportsline 1-2, while ART GP Mercedes completed the podium after climbing from the final row of the grid.
It was a perfect start for Ekström. In a race that started out as a dry run, Ekström pulled ahead of poleman Mike Rockenfeller (Phoenix Audi) off the line, with RMG BMW man Marco Wittmann and Mortara assuming 3rd ahead of the sluggish Rockenfeller.
Initially Ekström pulled a slender lead over Wittmann, until the BMW racer dropped to 3rd behind Mortara on lap nine; however as the move played out, the sky darkened and by the one-third mark, rain began to drop over the Hockenheimring.
First the rain came as a greasy drizzle that made the drivers appear in elegant, but when the downpour became more apparent, the field began to pit to change to the wet Hankook compound.
Of the frontrunners, Mortara was the first to bite, as he pitted on lap 12, followed by Ekström, Rockenfeller and Martin Tomczyk a lap later. The extra lap on wets gave Mortara a brief lead as the Italian Mortara made good use of his tyres in the dampening conditions; however there was little he could do when the charging Ekström came upon his rear on lap 16.
Getting a good run out of turn two, Ekström slipped down the inside of Mortara through the Parabolika and ran Mortara wide through the hairpin, giving his Audi stablemate no opportunity to gain a switchback on the exit.
Job done.
Mortara had no chance thereafter, as Ekström – clearly in his element – pulled easily away from the field and built an 8.4s lead by lap 25. Over the final ten tours, the leader managed the gap to Ekström – and more importantly Paffett – to claim victory by 7.36s after 35 tours.
Paffett enjoyed a relatively good qualifying session with Paffett losing his 8th place on the grid, when a mechanical issue saw the former champion excluded from the results.
Starting 22nd (with Adrien Tambay also excluded and Lucas Auer unable to start due to a mechanical failure), Paffett had already climbed to 18th when the changing weather enforced a stop in lap 12.
Such was Paffett’s stellar pace during the crossover from dries onto wets that the Englishman emerged in 8th place once the last of the stoppers – Miguel Molina (Abt Sportsline Audi), Antonio Felix da Costa (Schnitzer BMW) and Timo Scheider (Phoenix Audi) – had made the move to wet Hankook’s.
Thereafter, Paffett charged up the order, taking Robert Wickens (lap 18), Bruno Spengler (lap 21), Rockenfeller (lap 23), Wittmann (lap 24) and finally Martin Tomczyk (lap 28) to assume the podium.
It was not with some luck however – Paffett required two go’s to get past Spengler and even clattered the rear of the MTEK BMW man as he followed through the hairpin on lap 18. Although lightly damaged, Paffett continued, although he noted that the impressive pace of Tomczyk made for a tricky overtake.
Paffett was closing in on Mortara when the chequered flag came out, but the Mercedes veteran fell just 0.8s short of catching the Audi. Mortara admitted that he was beginning to struggle in his Audi and may have even lost the runner-up position had the race been slightly longer.
Behind Paffett, Tomczyk enjoyed a healthy gap over Wittmann, who was battling hard with Rockenfeller and Robert Wickens to the flag. Come the race end, Wittmann appeared to be struggling the most of the trio, but lucked into the fact that Rockenfeller was unable to go completely aggressive while Wickens was on his tail. The trio would eventually cross the line covered by 1.7s.
After a promising performance in Race One, Pascal Wehrlein had a quiet Sunday and finished 8th, while Spengler dropped backwards late on, with the former champion falling from 6th in the latter third of the race as he began to struggle more with an ill handling BMW.
Timo Glock rounded out the points with another reasonable drive to 10th place. The former F1 racer was just shy of Spengler, but also only possessed a narrow gap over the charging Vietoris, who appeared to come alive late in the race.
Yesterday’s winner Jamie Green could only manage 13th in the “strategy race”, while Paul di Resta – 3rd on Saturday – ended the race a lap early in last position.
It was an awful day for Molina. After qualifying on the front row, the Spaniard took a penalty to start 4th, before an awful start relegated him to 8th by turn one. Molina’s late stop for wets dropped him further down the order. The Audi man would eventually end the day 18th and 71s adrift of the winner.
Ekström conquered the wet conditions. © ITR.
Moscow Raceway proved unpopular in European F3 circles. © FIA F3 Media Services.
The FIA European Formula 3 Championship today announced that the planned visit to Moscow has been cancelled, to be replaced by Portimão.
Moscow Raceway had previously proved an unpopular venue with teams and drivers, due to logistical issues and high costs.
The 9th round of the European F3 Championship will now place at the Portimão circuit in the Algarve over the weekend of September 4th-6th; one week later than the originally scheduled Moscow round. The option of Portimão also ensures drivers and teams can test at the circuit on September 1st-2nd.
European F3 first visited Moscow Raceway last season; however only twenty of the twenty-six full season drivers made the trip, as numerous British entries decided not to travel.
It is believed a request to replace the Moscow round was made as early as last November, with the various parties making a final decision this week.
It will be the first time European F3 has visited Portimão; however the circuit did host British F3 in 2009, with ART Grand Prix’ Jules Bianchi claiming the honours in both races.
For this weekend only, European F3 will support the Blancpain Sprint Series, with the presence of live television proving a key factor in discussions.
Jamie Green was a winner in Hockenheim. © ITR.
Jamie Green grabbed his first with Audi since his move to the marque in 2013, with an inch perfect performance in Race One at the Hockenheimring.
After taking pole, Green – driving the Rosberg Audi – made a stellar start to leap into a supreme 2.3s lead over HWA Mercedes man Pascal Wehrlein after one lap, stretching that to a 3.6s gap when the first of two safety car periods began on lap 12.
Thereafter the unbeatable Green pulled out another gap over the final ten laps to win the season opener by 2.3s ahead of Wehrlein, to celebrate his first DTM victory since Norisring 2012.
Paul di Resta (HWA Mercedes) took 2nd from Wehrlein on the fifth tour and held the position admirably until Wehrlein fought back to the runner-up spot four laps from the end.
Edoardo Mortara assumed 4th, while former champion Mike Rockenfeller took 5th. A poor start dropped Nico Müller from 4th to 6th off the line, while Maxime Martin finished 7th in his RMG BMW.
Adrian Tambay was running 7th for a time, until an off in the gravel in the stadium section while battling with Martin, Mattias Ekström and reigning champion Marco Wittmann caused Tambay to retire. Ekström, meanwhile, pitted but continued on to finish 12th.
Timo Glock came from 20th on the grid to claim 8th after late moves on Wittmann and Augusto Farfus, who would go on to finish 9th and 10th respectively.
The first safety car was triggered when Daniel Juncadella got beached in the gravel at the Sachs Kurve. Following a brief green stint, it emerged again when an out-of-control Martin Tomczyk lost the rear of his Schnitzer BMW while battling with Lucas Auer (ART GP Mercedes) into the hairpin. From there, a backward sliding Tomczyk rammed the right rear of Gary Paffett (ART GP Mercedes), before pinning the helpless Auer in the hairpin.
Robert Wickens endured a first lap incident that caused him to retire, while Timo Scheider and Tom Blomqvist quit the action when tagged by Antonio Felix da Costa early on. Miguel Molina retired when he was clipped by Maximilian Götz.
Rosenqvist wins at the Hockenheimring. © FIA F3 Media Services.
Felix Rosenqvist took his second FIA European F3 win of the season at the Hockenheimring this morning and did it in emphatic style.
The Swede never looked troubled at any stage of the race, as he drew away from Charles Leclerc off the line.
Meanwhile championship leader Antonio Giovinazzi had to fight from 5th on the grid to assume the final podium position, but was too far behind Leclerc to challenge for 2nd.
The race contrasted greatly from yesterday’s event, which was peppered with safety car periods under damp conditions. With dry conditions the order of the day, Rosenqvist made the most of his Mercedes-powered entry to pull a 9.0s gap from the rookie Leclerc.
From the start Rosenqvist looked serene in his Prema Powerteam machine and was already 1.1s up on the French teen come the end of the opening lap, after the Monegasque Leclerc took a brief look down the insight of Rosenqvist into Nordkurve. The loss of momentum from Leclerc’s withdrawal allowed Rosenqvist to increase the gap by approximately three-to-six tenths per tour to lead by almost five seconds by the halfway mark.
It was a slightly different story for Leclerc who stayed in sight of the leader for a time, only to feel his tyres drop off after eight laps, ensuring Rosenqvist would pull even further away and win with ease. “It was a boring race for everybody, except me,” noted the victor. “The tyre [degradation] was perfect. It was a perfect start, a perfect race and the track was better than any other session: really grippy.”
Indeed the only difficulty felt by Rosenqvist came late on when attempting to lap Motopark’s Mahaveer Raghunathan, as absent blue flags made the task trickier than necessary.
Behind the leading duo, there was much shuffling as Maximilian Günther, Callum Ilot and Giovinazzi battled hard for the 3rd spot, with Günther emerging at the head of that group.
During what Giovinazzi admitted was a “tough race”, the Italian took Ilot momentarily on lap one, only for Ilot to retake in the hairpin. Giovinazzi stayed with his Carlin stablemate and finally grabbed 4th later on the opening lap from Ilot into Mercedes.
Giovinazzi’s fight with Günther lasted a touch longer, with the initially dice coming on lap three. Maintaining solid speed through turn two – where Giovinazzi has been powerful all weekend – the Jagonya Ayam Carlin man pulled to the rear of Günther’s Mücke machine and was slightly ahead at the hairpin; however the German rookie held his nerve and his pace made sure he retook Giovinazzi as the hairpin unraveled.
The Italian would lose out a little when he ran wide into Nordkurve on lap three, peppering his Hankook tyres with dirt, but closed back up on Günther by lap fourteen. After five laps of shadowing the orange machine, Giovinazzi tried a move along the Parbolika and into the hairpin again, only this time he made it stick, taking 3rd and maintain his record of a podium in ever race so far this season.
Once passed, Günther held 4th ahead of Ilot, while Santino Ferrucci drove a fine race to assume 6th for Mücke. Gustavo Menezes benefitted from a late mechanical failure for Markus Pömmer to assume 7th, in front of Alexander Albon (8th), George Russell (9th) and Brandon Maïsano (10th).
Lance Stroll finished 14th, but only after he was punted in the right rear at the hairpin by Ferrucci on the opening lap, while Jake Dennis stalled on the grid, but climbed to 15th by the end.
Rosenqvist led the field throughout. © FIA F3 Media Services.
The winner was flanked by Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi on the podium. © FIA F3 Media Services.
FIA European F3 Championship racer Nicolas Beer has been ruled out of the rest of this weekend’s action after sustaining an injury during yesterday’s opening race.
The Dane is reported to have broken his fifth vertebrae when rear-ended by Tatiana Calderon – a crash that brought out the race’s second safety car.
Beer will be examined prior to the next round at Pau, but it is believed Beer may not be in a position to return to the seat until Monza at the very earliest.
Giovinazzi (seen here during Free Practice) took his first 2015 win on Friday at Hockenheim. © FIA F3 Media Services.
Antonio Giovinazzi took his first FIA European F3 victory of the season at the Hockenheimring this afternoon.
In the wet, the race was interrupted by the safety car on three occasions with Giovinazzi taking the chequered flag under neutralised conditions ahead of Felix Rosenqvist and Charles Leclerc.
While Leclerc drove well to stay reasonably close to the leaders during the wet running, this event was all about Giovinazzi and Rosenqvist.
From pole, Rosenqvist was sluggish away, but so too was Giovinazzi; however the Carlin man closed to the back of Rosenqvist exiting turn two, as the Prema Powerteam racer struggled with rear end grip.
Giovinazzi’s better exit opened the door to draw alongside Rosenqvist down the curving back straight and take the lead as the emerged from the hairpin.
Building a gap of 1.3s in the opening four laps, it appeared as if Giovinazzi was going to walk away from Rosenqvist; however that advantage was wiped away when a Sachskurve beached Pietro Fittipaldi brought out the first safety car period.
It was not all plain sailing however, as Giovinazzi received a warning early in the running for weaving unacceptably ahead of the chasing Rosenqvist; however the Italian stayed clean thereafter.
Going green again on the seventh tour, Giovinazzi took two laps to create a 0.7s lead, only for the race to be stymied by the safety car again following a collision between Tatiana Calderon and Nicolas Beer in turn two. In this instance, luck rode with Giovinazzi when the 21-year-old collected a lairy spin on the entry into the stadium section.
Restarting on lap eleven, Giovinazzi again drew out a small gap, but on this occasion was held to just over half-a-second by Rosenqvist. Yet despite the Swede’s close proximity, the Prema was unable to stay close with Giovinazzi through turn two, which ultimately ended any chance of a pass for the lead on the back straight.
When Raoul Hyman became stuck in the gravel at the entry to the stadium section, the safety car was called for a third and final time and with time ticking down, the race would end under yellow.
Behind the leading pair, van Amersfoort rookie Leclerc headed Prema new boy Jake Dennis (4th). Starting 4th and 6th respectively, both Leclerc and Dennis took Maximilian Günther on the opening lap, when the Mücke man stumbled on the entry of turn two. Dennis’ start was particularly impressive as he also jumped Prema’s Lance Stroll early on.
Markus Pömmer took 7th after he too executed a good start from 9th. On occasion when the race was green, the last German F3 champion had a fight on his hands to keep Brandon Maïsano at bay; however that threat dissipated when Maïsano was passed for 8th by Mikkel Jensen on lap eight.
Although he kept close, Jensen was unable to threaten Pömmer and had to settle for four points come the close of the race. Maïsano’s quiet start to the season continued as he brought his Prema Powerteam machine home in 9th, while Gustavo Menezes rounded out the points with a 10th place finish after taking Sérgio Sette Câmera (lap 2) and Santino Ferrucci (lap 8).
The race was peppered by offs, little spins and curious incidents as Hyman had several mishaps; Nabil Jeffri powered between the spun Hyman and Nicholas Pohler on lap two and on lap 12, Ryan Tveter could not avoid colliding with Hyman.
Meanwhile Julio Moreno retired before the start of the race when he crashed entering the stadium section, while Callum Ilot and Camara endured silly offs during the running and Calderon was tapped into a spin by Sam Macleod.
On Friday June 5th, I will cycling from London to Brighton for the British charity Kids Company because raising funds for a good cause is a nice thing to do.
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In a few weeks, I will be taking part in Warner Music’s Wild Ride.
The ‘Ride’ – a London to Brighton charity cycling challenge – has been designed to raise money for the important work done by Kids Company.
Sponsor Leigh O’Gorman’s Wild Ride from London to Brighton by visiting JustGiving.com.
The charity, founded in 1996 by Camila Batmanghelidjh, provides practical, emotional and educational support to vulnerable inner-city children, young people and families.
Their services reach 36,000 across London, Bristol and Liverpool, including the most deprived and at risk whose parents are unable to care for them due to their own practical and emotional challenges.
For many, the roles of adult and child are reversed and, despite profound love, both struggle to survive.
The ride will start at the Warner Music UK office on Wrights Lane just off High Street Kensington, London, and journey 60 miles through Surrey and Sussex to the Brighton shore.
All money raised will go to Kids Company, so please dig deep and donate today.
In order to sponsor this effort, go to JustGiving.com/TheLeighOGorman and donate.
Leclerc took a win and a podium on his opening weekend. © FIA F3 Media Services.
Charles Leclerc took his maiden FIA European Formula 3 victory at Silverstone this morning, edging points leader Antonio Giovinazzi all the way.
Jake Dennis took the podium with a late race move on Gustavo Menezes, who was suffering from mechanical issues.
Having lost the lead from pole during yesterday’s second race, Leclerc did not make the same mistake again, as he edged Giovinazzi and George Russell out through the opening corner at Abbey.
Thereafter the leading pair dropped Russell, yet while Giovinazzi held Leclerc close, for the most part the Italian could not pressure Leclerc into an error.
Giovinazzi did get close to the front at the half way mark, when Leclerc made an error through Abbey; however the Monegasque teen held his nerve and kept Giovinazzi behind as he challenged down the Wellington straight.
For the remainder, Leclerc maintained a solid gap of approximately one second to Giovinazzi, although this was briefly interrupted when the stranded Fortec Mercedes of Pietro Fittipaldi required removal, necessitating a safety car.
The race went green for the final two laps, but once again Leclerc drew ahead of his Carlin rival to take his first victory of the season. Meanwhile Giovinazzi’s triple-podium result gives the Italian an eight-point lead in the standings over Leclerc.
Dennis assumed 3rd on the final lap, when Menezes began to suffer the beginnings of a fuel pump failure. Until then Menezes had held 3rd quite ably, having passed Russell on the opening lap. It was a startling getaway by the American, who had jumped from the fourth row and into a battle for top positions by the Wellington Straight.
Dennis, too, passed Russell for 4th on the opening tour, but could do little about the impressive American until mechanical woes struck.
Russell’s shaky start dropped him to 5th, but Alexander Albon took that place from at the beginning of the fourth lap. While Albon stretched his legs, Russell settled into 6th, but was offered a golden opportunity when the late safety car closed the field up again.
The Briton took his chance and passed Albon for 5th at the restart and dropped the Signature driver by almost two seconds come the flag.
Markus Pommer assumed 7th for Motopark, while Brandon Maïsano, Callum Ilot and Mikkel Jensen filled out the rest of the top ten. Starting 35th and last, Felix Rosenqvist came home 12th, although an error following the final restart cost him the possibility of points.
There was an early, brief safety car period, following an opening lap spin for Lance Stroll. The Canadian stalled his Prema Powerteam entry, forcing race control to neutralise the race for a time.
Conditions at SIlverstone for much of the weekend were excellent. © FIA F3 Media Services.
2015 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 1, Race 3, Silverstone)
Pos. Driver Team Time / Gap
1. Charles Leclerc van Amersfoort-VW 18 laps
2. Antonio Giovinazzi Jagonya Carlin-VW +0.440s
3. Jake Dennis Prema Powerteam-Merc +3.255
4. Gustavo Menezes Jagonya Carlin-VW +4.242
5. George Russell Carlin-VW +4.626
6. Alexander Albon Signature-VW +6.345
7. Markus Pommer Motopark-VW +7.185
8. Brandon Maïsano Prema Powerteam-Merc +8.447
9. Callum Ilot Carlin-VW +9.098
10. Mikkel Jensen Mücke-Merc +9.551
11. Ryan Tveter Jagonya Carlin-VW +10.269
12. Felix Rosenqvist Prema Powerteam-Merc +10.984
13. Santino Ferrucci Mücke-Merc +11.622
14. Alessio Lorandi van Amersfoort-VW +12.379
15. Nabil Jeffri Motopark-VW +12.942
16. Arjun Maini van Amersfoort-VW +13.969
17. Dorian Boccolacci Signature-VW +14.485
18. Nicolas Beer EuroInternatonal-Merc +14.820
19. Michele Beretta Mücke-Merc +15.877
20. Sérgio Sette Motopark-VW +16.074
21. Maximilian Günther Mücke-Merc +17.417
22. Tatiana Calderon Carlin-VW +18.216
23. Hongwei Cao Fortec-Merc +19.958
24. Matt Solomon Double R-Merc +20.622
25. Fabian Schiller West-Tec-Merc +21.249
26. Nicolas Pohler Double R-Merc +21.600
27. Zhi Cong Li West-Tec-Merc +22.071
28. Raoul Hyman West-Tec-Merc +22.561
29. Mahaveer Raghunathan Motopark-VW +23.113
30. Julio Moreno ThreeBond T-Sport-NBE +1 lap
Retirements:
Sam MacLeod Motopark-VW +1 lap
Matthew Rao West-Tec-Merc +1 lap
Kang Ling Mücke-Merc +2 laps
Pietro Fittipaldi Fortec-Merc +4 laps
Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam-Merc +17 laps
Russell took his first F3 win at Silverstone today. © FIA F3 Media Services.
George Russell took his first FIA European Formula 3 championship victory at Silverstone today in what was only his 2nd race.
An aggressive start by the Carlin man opened up a gap into Abbey corner, while pole Charles Leclerc fell to 3rd, as Antonio Giovinazzi slotted into 2nd place.
The trio momentarily banged wheels as they fed from Abbey down toward the Arena bend, but as the opening turns unraveled, Russell led from Leclerc and Giovinazzi – the latter having lost ground in the entry onto the Wellington Straight.
Russell could not pull away immediately – a tangle between Sam Macleod, Sérgio Sette, Tatiana Calderon and Michele Beretta just after the Arena turn brought out the safety car for three laps.
Although the incident itself was not too serious, the nature of tangled carbon fibre rendered the clean up longer than was probably expected.
From the lap four green lap, Russell led again from Leclerc, but the Briton’s gap was pegged from 0.7s-1.3s for much of the running. It was not until the 13th lap that Russell began to stretch his legs – just as Leclerc began to struggle on his ageing Hankook tyres.
Thereafter, Russell managed the lead to Leclerc, taking victory at only the 2nd time of asking.
Giovinazzi could not hold onto the leading pair following the safety car period. The Italian discovered soon after his turn one clash that his Jagonya Ayam Carlin machine was slightly damaged, but not so dented that he lost dramatic amounts of time.
Lance Stroll pressed Giovinazzi for a portion of the race, but could do little to get around the experienced Carlin man as the effects of dirty air began to ripple over the front of his Prema Powerteam Mercedes entry.
Brandon Maïsano assumed 5th ahead of the impressive Alexander Albon (6th), but the real star of the race was Felix Rosenqvist. Having won race one, the Swede was forced to start 35th and last for today’s race and climbed to 7th position by the end of 18 laps, with the Prema Powerteam man spending much of the event passing car after car after car.
His progress halted when he took 7th on from the battling Pietro Fittipaldi and Fabian Schiller on lap 12, but which time Albon was too far ahead to be caught.
Fittipaldi finished the race 8th to grab his first FIA European F3 points. The Brazilian enjoyed a handy six second gap over Mücke Motorsport pairing Santino Ferrucci (9th) and Mikkel Jensen (10th).
2015 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 1, Race 3, Silverstone)
Pos. Driver Team Time / Gap
1. George Russell Carlin-VW 18 laps
2. Charles Leclerc van Amersfoort-VW +1.723s
3. Antonio Giovinazzi Jagonya Carlin-VW +5.412s
4. Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam-Merc +6.332
5. Brandon Maïsano Prema Powerteam-Merc +13.630
6. Alexander Albon Signature-VW +15.005
7. Felix Rosenqvist Prema Powerteam-Merc +22.178
8. Pietro Fittipaldi Fortec-Merc +36.821
9. Santino Ferrucci Mücke-Merc +42.445
10. Mikkel Jensen Mücke-Merc +43.404
11. Fabian Schiller West-Tec-Merc +44.052
12. Maximilian Günther Mücke-Merc +44.849
13. Nabil Jeffri Motopark-VW +45.599
14. Arjun Maini van Amersfoort-VW +45.928
15. Ryan Tveter Jagonya Carlin-VW +46.420
16. Alessio Lorandi van Amersfoort-VW +46.592
17. Hongwei Cao Fortec-Merc +50.542
18. Gustavo Menezes Jagonya Carlin-VW +50.935
19. Callum Ilot Carlin-VW +52.882
20. Nicolas Beer EuroInternatonal-Merc +55.323
21. Kang Ling Mücke-Merc +56.477
22. Matthew Rao West-Tec-Merc +1:02.028
23. Julio Moreno ThreeBond T-Sport-NBE +1:03.680
24. Nicolas Pohler Double R-Merc +1:05.301
25. Mahaveer Raghunathan Motopark-VW +1:12.137
26. Matt Solomon Double R-Merc +1 lap
27. Raoul Hyman West-Tec-Merc +1 lap
28. Zhi Cong Li West-Tec-Merc +1 lap
Retirements:
Jake Dennis Prema Powerteam-Merc +1 lap
Markus Pommer Motopark-VW +1 lap
Dorian Boccolacci Signature-VW +2 laps
Michele Beretta Mücke-Merc +18 laps
Sérgio Sette Motopark-VW +18 laps
Tatiana Calderon Carlin-VW +18 laps
Sam MacLeod Motopark-VW +18 laps
Rosenqvist wins Race 1 at Silverstone. © FIA F3 Media Services.
Felix Rosenqvist claimed the opening FIA European F3 win of the season at Silverstone, during a race peppered by safety car interruptions.
The Swede – now in his fifth year at this level – led from the start and despite the constant presence in his mirrors of Carlin rival Antonio Giovinazzi, Rosenqvist could not be pressured into an error.
Starting behind the safety car, due to the changeable weather conditions, gave Rosenqvist the advantage as he drew away from Giovinazzi at the lap three green. “It is difficult when it is like this,” said Rosenqvist. “It was drying every lap and you are trying to prove yourself to the conditions, so you have to be on edge all the time and have to be a bit more brave than you think you have to be.”
The racing would last only a few short moments, George Russell and Charles Leclerc clipped on the approach of Vale, which in turn caused Brandon Maïsano to spin, while just behind Matt Rao and Kang Li had offs.
Such was the spread of cars in the gravel or stuck on still damp kerbs, the safety car was recalled for a further three tours – it was an incident that certainly captured Rosenqvist’s attention. “The place for the safety car line is maybe not the best, because […] there was a crash, so maybe they should have a rethink on that one.”
While there maybe a touch of truth in Rosenqvist’s statement, it would be amiss to mention that almost all who ran off road at that time were effectively Formula 3 rookies.
From the lap six restart, Rosenqvist headed Giovinazzi again and had built a 2.4s lead over the Italian when the race was neutralised after another off, this time for Alessio Lorandi, who had beached his van Amersfoort Volkswagen into the gravel at Woodcote.
Once again Rosenqvist led from Giovinazzi at the restart, but this time the Carlin man stayed closer to the lead, with Rosenqvist not stretching the gap to more than 1.0s.
For the 23-year-old Rosenqvist, everything came together perfectly. “It was quite controlled; I managed to do a great lap with each restart – Antonio was always quick, but was never in the situation where he was close enough. It was about managing the gap and not doing anything stupid.”
Jake Dennis completed the podium in his Racing Steps Foundation-backed Prema Powerteam Mercedes. Dennis enjoyed a brief battle in the early green flag running with Signature’s Alexander Albon, only for Dennis to settle the battle in his favour with a solid pair of post-safety car restarts.
Albon took 4th and was the highest placed rookie. He managed the gap back to Markus Pommer, while Lance Stroll rounded out the top six. Gustavo Menezes made a solid start to assume 7th, although one of the more startling performances came courtesy of Russell, who 18th after his clash with Leclerc.
From there, Russell rose through the order taking 8th at the flag after he passed Maximilian Günther, Callum Ilot, Pietro Fittopaldi, Mikkel Jensen and Nicolas Beer in the final two laps alone.
Günther (9th) and Ilot (10th) rounded out the points scores, while the quick Leclerc could only rise to 12th come the end.
2015 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 1, Race 3, Silverstone)
Pos. Driver Team Time / Gap
1. Felix Rosenqvist Prema Powerteam-Merc +15 laps
2. Antonio Giovinazzi Jagonya Carlin-VW +0.938s
3. Jake Dennis Prema Powerteam-Merc +2.681
4. Alexander Albon Signature-VW +4.767
5. Markus Pommer Motopark-VW +5.229
6. Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam-Merc +6.175
7. Gustavo Menezes Jagonya Carlin-VW +6.934
8. George Russell Carlin-VW +7.470
9. Maximilian Günther Mücke-Merc +7.897
10. Callum Ilot Carlin-VW +8.531
11. Pietro Fittipaldi Fortec-Merc +9.886
12. Charles Leclerc van Amersfoort-VW +10.282
13. Mikkel Jensen Mücke-Merc +12.464
14. Nicolas Beer EuroInternatonal-Merc +13.147
15. Nabil Jeffri Motopark-VW +14.060
16. Fabian Schiller West-Tec-Merc +14.915
17. Sérgio Sette Motopark-VW +15.486
18. Santino Ferrucci Mücke-Merc +15.884
19. Raoul Hyman West-Tec-Merc +17.549
20. Tatiana Calderon Carlin-VW +17.939
21. Dorian Boccolacci Signature-VW +18.687
22. Sam MacLeod Motopark-VW +19.510
23. Hongwei Cao Fortec-Merc +20.021
24. Michele Beretta Mücke-Merc +20.304
25. Matt Solomon Double R-Merc +22.949
26. Mahaveer Raghunathan Motopark-VW +28.887
27. Nicolas Pohler Double R-Merc +30.780
28. Julio Moreno ThreeBond T-Sport-NBE +33.168
Retirements:
Kang Ling Mücke-Merc +4 laps
Zhi Cong Li West-Tec-Merc +5 laps
Alessio Lorandi van Amersfoort-VW +7 laps
Arjun Maini van Amersfoort-VW +9 laps
Ryan Tveter Jagonya Carlin-VW +10 laps
Brandon Maïsano Prema Powerteam-Merc +14 laps
Matthew Rao West-Tec-Merc +14 laps
Leclerc inherited two poles. © FIA F3 Media Services.
FIA European F3 rookie Charles Leclerc assumed pole position for races 2 and 3 of the opening round of the season when the efforts of original top man, Felix Rosenqvist, were thrown out.
Rosenqvist, who had for a brief period, replicated his stellar Q1 efforts, was removed from the results when it was discovered that the dimensions of his Prema Powerteam machine did not conform to the technical regulations.
Instead Leclerc will lead an all-rookie front row for race two, with the van Amersfoort man just heading Carlin racer George Russell, while Antonio Giovinazzi (Jagonya Ayam Carlin) and Alexander Albon (Signature) secured the second row.
The same four men will take up the front two rows for race three, albeit in a slightly different order, as Giovinazzi heads Russell for the weekend closer.
Positions for rows three and four also contain the same four protagonists, with 5th-8th in both events lining up as Brandon Maïsano, Jake Dennis, Lance Stroll and Gustav Menezes.
As with the other sessions so far this weekend, traffic proved an issue, as 35 entries vied for free space on a full track.
Russell makes it an all-rookie row two for race two. © FIA F3 Media Services.
2015 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 1, Qualifying 2, Silverstone)
Pos. Driver Team Time / Gap
1. Charles Leclerc van Amersfoort-VW 1:51.148
2. George Russell Carlin-VW 1:51.448
3. Antonio Giovinazzi Jagonya Carlin-VW 1:51.458
4. Alexander Albon Signature-VW 1:51.550
5. Brandon Maïsano Prema Powerteam-Merc 1:51.755
6. Jake Dennis Prema Powerteam-Merc 1:51.781
7. Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam-Merc 1:51.808
8. Gustavo Menezes Jagonya Carlin-VW 1:51.982
9. Ryan Tveter Jagonya Carlin-VW 1:52.042
10. Callum Ilot Carlin-VW 1:52.061
11. Mikkel Jensen Mücke-Merc 1:52.165
12. Markus Pommer Motopark-VW 1:52.189
13. Fabian Schiller West-Tec-Merc 1:52.317
14. Dorian Boccolacci Signature-VW 1:52.347
15. Pietro Fittipaldi Fortec-Merc 1:52.367
16. Maximilian Günther Mücke-Merc 1:52.376
17. Arjun Maini van Amersfoort-VW 1:52.402
18. Santino Ferrucci Mücke-Merc 1:52.411
19. Michele Beretta Mücke-Merc 1:52.474
20. Nicolas Beer EuroInternatonal-Merc 1:52.506
21. Alessio Lorandi van Amersfoort-VW 1:52.506
22. Nabil Jeffri Motopark-VW 1:52.564
23. Tatiana Calderon Carlin-VW 1:52.677
24. Julio Moreno ThreeBond T-Sport-NBE 1:52.755
25. Raoul Hyman West-Tec-Merc 1:52.769
26. Sérgio Sette Motopark-VW 1:52.904
27. Matt Solomon Double R-Merc 1:52.909
28. Matthew Rao West-Tec-Merc 1:53.332
29. Kang Ling Mücke-Merc 1:53.354
30. Hongwei Cao Fortec-Merc 1:53.409
31. Sam MacLeod Motopark-VW 1:53.460
32. Mahaveer Raghunathan Motopark-VW 1:53.468
33. Zhi Cong Li West-Tec-Merc 1:53.488
34. Nicolas Pohler Double R-Merc 1:53.954
Felix Rosenqvist Prema Powerteam-Merc {no time}
2015 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 1, Qualifying 3, Silverstone)
Pos. Driver Team Time / Gap
1. Charles Leclerc van Amersfoort-VW 1:51.489
2. Antonio Giovinazzi Jagonya Carlin-VW 1:51.537
3. George Russell Carlin-VW 1:51.543
4. Alexander Albon Signature-VW 1:51.688
5. Brandon Maïsano Prema Powerteam-Merc 1:51.877
6. Jake Dennis Prema Powerteam-Merc 1:51.934
7. Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam-Merc 1:51.953
8. Gustavo Menezes Jagonya Carlin-VW 1:52.006
9. Callum Ilot Carlin-VW 1:52.081
10. Markus Pommer Motopark-VW 1:52.212
11. Mikkel Jensen Mücke-Merc 1:52.389
12. Dorian Boccolacci Signature-VW 1:52.410
13. Ryan Tveter Jagonya Carlin-VW 1:52.505
14. Alessio Lorandi van Amersfoort-VW 1:52.549
15. Pietro Fittipaldi Fortec-Merc 1:52.603
16. Nabil Jeffri Motopark-VW 1:52.604
17. Nicolas Beer EuroInternatonal-Merc 1:52.625
18. Santino Ferrucci Mücke-Merc 1:52.645
19. Arjun Maini van Amersfoort-VW 1:52.669
20. Maximilian Günther Mücke-Merc 1:52.716
21. Tatiana Calderon Carlin-VW 1:52.744
22. Michele Beretta Mücke-Merc 1:52.853
23. Fabian Schiller West-Tec-Merc 1:52.854
24. Julio Moreno ThreeBond T-Sport-NBE 1:52.869
25. Raoul Hyman West-Tec-Merc 1:52.884
26. Matt Solomon Double R-Merc 1:52.944
27. Sérgio Sette Motopark-VW 1:53.005
28. Matthew Rao West-Tec-Merc 1:53.396
29. Kang Ling Mücke-Merc 1:53.471
30. Hongwei Cao Fortec-Merc 1:53.477
31. Zhi Cong Li West-Tec-Merc 1:53.520
32. Mahaveer Raghunathan Motopark-VW 1:53.542
33. Sam MacLeod Motopark-VW 1:53.562
34. Nicolas Pohler Double R-Merc 1:53.973
Felix Rosenqvist Prema Powerteam-Merc {no time}
Rosenqvist took pole for Silverstone race 1. © FIA F3 Media Services.
Felix Rosenqvist took the first FIA European F3 pole of the season during today’s qualifying session at Silverstone.
Following a bright and warm morning, the clouds descended over the Northamptonshire circuit, with even brief sprinkles of rain making their appearance known before the green flag.
It mattered little to the experienced Swede, who took the top spot by over one-quarter-of-a-second from Jagonya Ayam Carlin racer Antonio Giovinazzi.
Following a pair of morning sessions where Rosenqvist proved quick – but not quickest – the 23-year-old found space amongst the crowded Silverstone circuit to go quickest on the third of his seven laps.
Indeed, a majority of the fastest times came midway through runs, as the Hankook tyres peaked, before giving up premium grip.
Behind Giovinazzi, Jake Dennis (Prema Powerteam) and series debutante George Russell (Carlin) secured the second row, followed by Charles Leclerc (van Amersfoort) and free practice fast man Brandon Maïsano (Prema Powerteam).
If the midfield is as close in the race as it was in qualifying, we may be in for a stellar battle, as the gap from 11th (Maximilian Günther) to 23rd (Mikkel Jensen) was a mere quarter-of-a-second.
With a 35-car grid for tomorrows season opener, those who manage traffic the best could be the big winners.
2015 FIA European F3 (Rd 1, Qualifying 1) Pos Driver Team Time 1. Felix Rosenqvist Prema Powerteam-Merc 1:51.007 2. Antonio Giovinazzi Jagonya Carlin-VW 1:51.274 3. Jake Dennis Prema Powerteam-Merc 1:51.332 4. George Russell Carlin-VW 1:51.652 5. Charles Leclerc van Amersfoort-VW 1:51.685 6. Brandon Maïsano Prema Powerteam-Merc 1:51.768 7. Alexander Albon Signature-VW 1:51.792 8. Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam-Merc 1:52.066 9. Markus Pommer Motopark-VW 1:52.113 10. Callum Ilot Carlin-VW 1:52.113 11. Maximilian Günther Mücke-Merc 1:52.294 12. Ryan Tveter Jagonya Carlin-VW 1:52.309 13. Gustavo Menezes Jagonya Carlin-VW 1:52.324 14. Nicolas Beer EuroInternatonal-Merc 1:52.352 15. Nabil Jeffri Motopark-VW 1:52.374 16. Arjun Maini van Amersfoort-VW 1:52.426 17. Pietro Fittipaldi Fortec-Merc 1:52.443 18. Sérgio Sette Motopark-VW 1:52.446 19. Fabian Schiller West-Tec-Merc 1:52.486 20. Dorian Boccolacci Signature-VW 1:52.490 21. Alessio Lorandi van Amersfoort-VW 1:52.496 22. Raoul Hyman West-Tec-Merc 1:52.543 23. Mikkel Jensen Mücke-Merc 1:52.543 24. Tatiana Calderon Carlin-VW 1:52.798 25. Santino Ferrucci Mücke-Merc 1:52.849 26. Sam MacLeod Motopark-VW 1:52.879 27. Hongwei Cao Fortec-Merc 1:52.901 28. Julio Moreno ThreeBond T-Sport-NBE 1:52.938 29. Matt Solomon Double R-Merc 1:53.039 30. Michele Beretta Mücke-Merc 1:53.073 31. Kang Ling Mücke-Merc 1:53.198 32. Matthew Rao West-Tec-Merc 1:53.251 33. Zhi Cong Li West-Tec-Merc 1:53.305 34. Nicolas Pohler Double R-Merc 1:53.705 35. Mahaveer Raghunathan Motopark-VW 1:53.874
Maïsano was quickest in practice at Silverstone. © FIA F3 Media.
Brandon Maïsano and Lance Stroll topped the opening FIA European Formula 3 practice sessions of the season at Silverstone.
The Prema Powerteam dup made the best of the traffic in the warm and sunny conditions Maïsano to find time, with Maïsano setting the quickest lap of all with a best of 1:51.677s – ending the second session just 0.066s ahead of teammate and F3 veteran Felix Rosenqvist.
Stroll’s FP1 effort – a 1:52.123 – gave him a narrow margin over Carlin rookie George Russell, with the Briton following that up with 3rd in FP2.
In a packed field of 35 entries, only two-and-a-half seconds covered top-to-bottom. If this is replicated in qualifying and the races, the European Championship will be in for a stellar year.
Times to follow.
Darren Turner (left) continues into 2015 with his term Aston teammate Stefan Mücke. © Richard Washbrooke.
ON the eve of the beginning of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship, Aston Martin stalwart Darren Turner is keen to turn defeat at the hands of AF Corse Ferrari’s into victory – and where better to start than on home ground.
Speaking to TheMotorsportArchive.com at the Royal Automobile Club in London prior to the season opener in Silverstone, Turner spoke of his ambitions for the year ahead.
—
“The main thing is to be pushing from the very beginning and to try and maximise our points at Le Mans,” Darren Turner states matter-of-factly. “Once we’ve done that, then we can really work out the best strategy for the second half of the season. That’s the plan, but it’s probably similar to every other car on the grid really.”
The sprightly Turner is one of those few drivers’ in motorsport who happens to be in possession of an easily recognisable and seemingly permanent feature.
A veteran of DTM and the British Touring Car Championship, the two-time class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans is most famous for his exploits in GT racing at the wheel.
Yet there are probably almost as many photographs of the Surrey native’s near permanent stubble than there are of him behind the wheel of his precious #97 Aston Martin Vantage machine.
This year, Turner comes to the FIA World Endurance Championship with a clear target. Despite taking two race victories last season, Turner and teammate Stefan Mücke finished a disappointing 5th in the World Endurance Cup for GT Drivers.
With the 2015 season beginning at Silverstone this weekend, the Briton is certainly fired up and waiting for the challenge; however given its double-points status in the WEC, Turner believes the 24-hour French classic still holds the key to a successful season.
Indeed it was a difficult Le Mans race in 2014 that helped to scupper Turner and Mücke’s season and was yet another reminder that even though twenty-four hours is a long time, the GT battle is probably at the closest it has ever been.
“We had a fairly small reliability issue at that race which was fixed quickly on the pitstop,” explains the 40-year-old. “The way the GTE battle is and how close it is, even if you lose a minute or two minutes, it probably marks you out of the game and we lost ten minutes getting it fixed. That took us out of the equation and took us out of scoring some big points. You are always then on the backfoot for the second half of the season.”
The disappointment of the failure at Le Mans merely compounded the feeling of what could have ben come the season finale at Bahrain last year. “We had a good car for the whole season. Le Mans is the big turning point in anyone’s part of the championship, because of the double points. We had race win and the car showed its potential for being on pole, but we weren’t able to claw back the deficit that we lost in that first part of the season.”
None of that has changed of course. The Aston is still a very potent entry – as are their rivals – but with each new season comes a reset, as the field starts afresh at Silverstone this weekend.
Turner and Mücke took two wins for Aston Martin in 2014 – this one came at the finale in Interglagos. © John Rourke.
The six-hour opener brings its own issues though – and not just the occasionally erratic April weather. According to Turner, driving for a manufacturer team and company situated mere minutes from the Northamptonshire circuit brings its own pressures, but not all are bad.
“We have got slightly more added pressure because [Silverstone] is our “home race”; it is very much a home race for Aston Martin Racing, because it is only down the road, so we have a lot of local support as well and that’s all at the first round of the championship,” said Turner.
At this stage in his career, Turner has raced at Silverstone almost too many times to remember; yet he feels at this level all that track time has ceased to be an advantage, as he explains. “The ‘home’ circuit knowledge doesn’t really mean anything at this level anymore. When you are young and you are first starting out, you know the British circuits really well, but then you do your first international circuit and you are at a bit of deficit to the local boys.”
Nowadays, experience does not just come on track anymore, as Turner – who heads up one of the UK’s leading simulator programmes, Base Performance Simulators – is well aware. “As you get more and more experienced over the years, and you race on more and more circuits – I’m as experienced at Le Mans as I am at Silverstone for instance – the extra knowledge I have is irrelevant to the other drivers. We’re all at a level where most of us know these circuits inside out.
“There is added pressure, but it is all positive pressure. We just need to get a good result – that’s the key to it and a good result would be a podium position and a great result would be a win.”
If anything, he is more than well aware of how competitive the battle for GTE honours can be and while he has experienced more than a few close battles in time, Turner believes there to be a healthy respect across the field. “There’s a good level of racing respect out there; you push and be aggressive, but it’s aggressive against the stopwatch as much as much as it is against the wheel-to-wheel,” notes Turner, keen to shut down any signs of complacency.
Even though the racing is close, Turner is aware that getting too close and receiving damage can only damage efforts. “It gets close and you trade paint, but it’s not like touring cars or anything like that where it is the norm, because we know the only way that the car are going to finish is if we keep them in one piece.
“Even if you lose a winglet, you’re losing lap time. You just can’t afford to do that. Endurance racing is all about keeping the car in one piece over long distance of time…” Indeed, it is an integral lesson of endurance racing that many drivers have had to learn the hard way over the years.
Before closing, Turner has one final thought about the year ahead in the GTE Pro category. “The racing is close and that’s the way it should be. It’s fun for the drivers, fun for the spectators – and probably not that much fun for the teams, but that’s part of racing.”
Turner doesn’t seem like a driver who is going to stop any time soon. Hungry for his third Le Mans class victory, the Briton still looks like a driver who is having plenty of fun.
The 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship opens at Silverstone this weekend.
The #97 Turner/Mücke Aston Martin was one of a number of cars on display in London last week. © Jeff Carter.
When it was revealed on Thursday that the FIA World Endurance Championship had decided not to taken on the option of using of grid girls during their events, the reaction from a sizeable corner of the motorsport community was sad, but not surprising.
The usual wails of “leftism”, “political correctness gone mad” (etc.) were alive, well and proving vocal. Claims that “it’s all a bit of fun”, “no one is forcing the girls to do it” and the more aggressive stance of “sex sells” also rang in the air.
And it all misses the point.
In one sense, some of the critics are right – no one is forcing models to be grid girls and most appear to be happy at that – but these are also the times that one may need to think less of the individual and more of motorsport’s place in wider society.
At a time when the sport could be celebrating female successes and achievements – by competitors such as Michèle Mouton, Janet Guthrie, Leena Gade, Danica Patrick, Shirley Muldowney, Desiré Wilson Lella Lombardi, to name a few – it actively goes out of its way to reduce them to eye candy, propping up boards in front of a car while a man gets prepares to drive.
Last week, Formula One commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone spoke in a patronising manner about creating a ladies F1 championship in order to bring more women into the sport, but only if plays support to the men’s event.
In times such as these, it is worth remembering not just how much impressions can influence, but also how damaging poor impressions they can be.
A ladies championship, that only serves to play second fiddle to the main show, is not the solution – making the option of jumping from karts to entry-level motor racing a more inviting one would certainly help. In this regard, motorsport is struggling.
At the top level, many years of neglect and pointless posturing, squabbling and endless arguing in the international arena only serves to reflect a form of entertainment that is dying on its feet.
Since full live coverage of Formula One in the UK moved to Sky in 2012, viewing figures have remained have decreased with the pay-per-view station on average attracting approximately one-sixth of the viewers that the BBC were able to pull when it previously held exclusive coverage.
Outside of F1, rallying is struggling with viewing figures in the thousands and the reach of endurance racing – such as the WEC – continues to be minor. In the US, eyeballs for the NASCAR Sprint Cup have decreased noticeably in the past decade and IndyCar barely registers as a blip. Even V8 Supercars has endured some difficult years, as other attractions prove more absorbing.
Realistically ours is a sport that is struggling, yet collectively we tend to put our fingers in our ears and sing “la-la-la-la” in the hope that falling audiences – both on site and in broadcast – become miraculously reversed somehow.
While the removal of grid girls may seem like a small move, it does – if nothing else – reflect a changing attitude at the top of at least one championship under the FIA’s banner. Motorsport has spent too many years parading itself as an exclusive club tailored to an extremely narrow demographic, at a time when it desperately needs to broaden its horizons and show that it is a welcome environment for all.
Motorsport’s audience is generally ageing men and with the continued use of grid girls, it goes out of its way to parade women as objects, rather that actually invite them into the heart of the sport.
Amidst an encouraging number of more enlightened views, one commenter on Radio Le Mans’ enthusiastic Midweek Motorsport Collective noted on Friday that the “lovely ladies” are “scenery enhancements.”
Well I’m calling bullshit to that mindset.
Yet the attitude to “scenery enhancements” feeds into this old age notion that ‘sex sells’ and while it is true to a degree, one needs to measure just how real that statement is. Any product (and let’s take motorsport as a product) that feels the need to utilise sex status in order to sell itself should ask itself the following questions:
Who are they selling to?;
Why does one need sex to sell it?;
And more importantly, what exactly is sex helping it sell?
None of this should be rocket science, although it may make an interesting study. Sex, like everything else, sells to the demographic at which it is aimed and in this instance motorsport categories get it badly wrong.
On a personal note, one can’t help but feel that if your product needs “glamour” and “sex” to sell, then potentially:
There may be something wrong with your product;
You have little confidence in your product using its merits to sell in its own right;
Or maybe you just don’t know how to sell it in the first place.
The reality is those things matter little when the sport as a whole is so haphazardly managed, promoted, marketed and sold. While also holding on to its outdated traditions that probably should have gone the way of the boyband Bros a couple of decades ago, motorsport has also done a poor job of attracting new fans.
To the desperate, the sport still holds on to the notion that fillers – such as mandatory pitstops, DRS, “jelly” tyres, unnecessary driver changes, reverse road orders, reverse grids (and so on…) – are what the audience wants. This is entertainment, yes, but sometime motorsport feels like a television show has added a new character in order to try to garner lost attention.
When examining the bigger picture, perhaps it is refreshing to see a championship take a stance that looks beyond its own navel and goes some way to addressing one of the image problems that is fast killing this sport. With luck, maybe more will follow.
TheMotorsportArchive.com considers the practice of grid girls to be a tacky, outdated practice and one that should have been dumped years ago and if that upsets people, well that’s just too bad.
© Auto GP Organization S.r.l
The Auto GP Series this week cancelled its championship opener at Marrakech, citing a “difficult political situation” in Northern African region.
Despite this the FIA World Touring Car Championship races, which headline the Marrakech weekend, are still going ahead, as are the WTCC’s other support categories.
The new Auto GP opening round is set to take place at the Hungaroring, just outside Budapest over the opening weekend in May.
Auto GP has been struggling for entrants in recent seasons, and swallowed up the failed Formula Acceleration 1 category at the end of last year, but with the Morocco round less than the two weeks away, the series had only signed up ten competitors {note 1}.
Meanwhile series boss Enzo Coloni was keen to press home his reasons for the cancellation. “We were forced to opt out of the round scheduled for the 19th of April in Morocco,” said Coloni. “We did everything we possibly could to line-up at Marrakech but, in an effort to protect our teams and drivers, we decided to postpone the beginning of the season to Budapest.”
Coloni added, “In the years spent in Morocco we always felt at home and we will definitely miss the warmth of the crowds there. We hope to be back next year”.
While all that was developing, Coloni’s son Paolo announced the debut of Paolo Coloni Racing, which the team hope will eventually field three cars.
{note 1}
Last year’s Auto GP Series ended with only ten drivers at the final round at Estoril, while the Formula Acceleration 1 championship only managed five of its originally planned nine.
Grosjean led the Lotus charge in Malaysia. © Lotus F1 Team.
In what should be a period of improvement and consolidation for the Lotus Formula One team, the Enfield leave the Malaysian Grand Prix toward the rear of the Constructors’ table, with only the limp Manor behind them.
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“Today was about unfulfilled potential. Both Pastor and Romain could have scored strongly but events out of their hands meant they did not.”
Depends on the viewpoint to a degree. This was not a day of celebration for Federico Gastaldi, Team Principal of the Lotus F1 squad. Despite a second Grand Prix with the (almost) all-conquering Mercedes engine and power unit, Lotus have still yet to score a single point in the 2015 season.
After a nothing race in Melbourne that was over for them in less than four laps, Pastor Maldonado called it a day with mechanical issues after 47 of the 56 laps, while Romain Grosjean took a scoreless 11th, after receiving a hefty punt from the Force India Sergio Perez on the 30th lap.
As noted by Gastaldi, “That’s motor racing sometimes…”
Yet even after the move from Renault-to-Mercedes power this year, there is still much to do at Enstone. Grosjean was able to maintain a solid pace and held top five position in the opening stint once the safety car had departed, but realistically more speed is needed.
Grosjean lost a lot of time during his opening stint behind a struggling Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) and where the quick guys were pitching in numerous laps in the 1‘46s-early 1’47s range, Grosjean could not get out of the mid-to-late 1’48s bracket. “We had quite a good race with a strong first lap and some nice overtaking,” said Grosjean after the race, before adding, “I lost a lot of time behind Hulkenberg and then the spin with Perez in such a fast corner.”
The first stint may have also revealed a tactical naivety within the team. Although an earlier pitstop could have dropped Grosjean toward the rear of the pack, it may have at least given him a portion of free air between the Felipe Nasr (Sauber) and Maldonado. Behind Hulkenberg, Grosjean was only slow.
The Frenchman stopped for a new set of medium compound Pirelli tyres after fifteen tours and spent much of the next forty laps registering laps in the 1’45s-1’46s region, but by then the pace of his competitors had also stepped up a notch.
When the race did eventually finish, the final points paying place – Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) – was nearly twenty seconds up the road. “I had some fun overtaking with Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Force India, which was great, and we had a good strategy but we lost too much time to benefit from it. I also had an issue with my drinks bottle which added to the fun…”
On the other side of the garage, Maldonado’s difficult start to the year continued. After receiving a thump on the opening lap from Valtteri Bottas (Williams) that punctured his right rear tyre, mechanical woes ended the Venezuelan’s run.
Maldonado, however, was keen to look to the positives of the weekend. “The potential is clearly there, especially in the race where the car pace is very competitive and we can score good points.”
The luckless Maldonado continued: “There was an incident on the first lap which lost me a lot of time and compromised the race from then on. Despite dropping to the very back to the field, we switched to a different strategy and we recovered well.
“Unfortunately, we suffered from a brake issue, which isn’t great but it’s effectively our first race and we need to keep working through issues, ready for the next Grand Prix.”
Maldonado asserted himself further. “As soon as we have a clean race, we will be fighting for good points.”
They may be fighting for points in China at the next Grand Prix, but in their current situation, it may only be for the scraps as Mercedes, Ferrari, Williams and Red Bull continue to head the home.
Vettel was victorious in Malaysia. ©FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO
It only took two races for four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel to claim his first Ferrari victory, but while an early safety car period played into his hands, this was by no means a lucky score.
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“Grande gara, bella macchina,” came the call. It was a call delivered with renewed energy and passion and one that reached out to a fanbase groomed in red. The Tifosi had not been long in waiting. “Sorry for starting to speak in Italian, but today is such a special day for me. I don’t really know what to say, I am speechless.” Sebastian Vettel had arrived and had done so with confidence and a certain style.
After a year on the fringes, Ferrari appears to have bounced back, following substantial improvements to their power unit in parallel with the restructuring of the technical department and the race team. Yet despite the positive noises made about the SF15-T machine, it is doubtful many expected Vettel could take such an early Grand Prix victory in red.
“It is a great boost for the entire team,” noted the victor. “Ferrari had a horrible year last season, and they got criticised a lot from all sides. A lot of things have changed already, including one driver. And I do hope for the better, and I am very happy to join Ferrari. For sure this is a great day for the team and for myself, and it makes me very proud.”
That Vettel has made his mark already places him in the same category as Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher; all of whom claimed races for the Scuderia very early in their respective times at Maranello.
Indeed once he had assumed the lead at the end of lap four, the German looked in supreme control and even seemed to have the measure of the Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in the final stages of the race.
The former Red Bull man needed to get aggressive from the start. As poleman Hamilton romped away in the opening metres, Vettel was forced to defend against the other turquoise-and-silver entry, piloted by Rosberg.
It was close too. On the previous day, Vettel had managed to split the Mercedes pair, but while that was a noteworthy effort by the Ferrari man, it did place Rosberg just shy and to the right of Vettel, albeit on the second row, but as Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff correctly pointed out after qualifying, “you get no points on Saturday…”
Post-qualifying, Rosberg already planning ahead. “Two other guys just did a better job, […] but I think I have a good chance tomorrow at the start as I will be on the clean side of the grid. I will try to attack [Vettel] off the line and then there are some good opportunities also to catch Lewis.” Rosberg did attack, but Vettel would defend hard as he squeezed his countryman close to the pitwall and then later the inside kerb through the lingering turn one. With little choice but back out, Rosberg obediently dropped into 3rd place.
And that should realistically have been it – except Marcus Ericsson was slow to get the message on a weekend when Sauber had lost their Melbourne sheen. Having qualified well, the Swede was running 8th when an overly ambitious attempt to pass Nico Hulkenberg into the first turn on lap four went awry, as he explained: “When I tried to pass him down to Turn 1, I went for the move to the outside. I know it is possible to overtake there, but unfortunately I lost the rear, went off and got stuck in the gravel trap…”
With a large lumbering tractor required to pull the stricken Sauber from harm, the safety car was called to neutralise the race and in a moment, the face of the event was altered.
Whereas Vettel stayed on track, the two Mercedes cars – as well as both Williams’, Red Bull’s, McLaren’s and Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso) – stopped for a change of tyre and strategy, promoting Vettel to lead and demoting Hamilton and Rosberg to 6th and 9th respectively.
Vettel: “They pulled in obviously, which I think we were a bit surprised by, but we saw on Friday that they weren’t too happy on the medium compound and Lewis was struggling in the first stint and I was able to keep up with him, which I enjoyed a lot.”
Upon the lap seven restart, Vettel – now trailed by the Force India of Hulkenberg – pulled away and held a 9.9s gap to Hamilton when he eventually climbed back to 2nd on lap ten and the gap stayed more or less like that for much of the running.
Vettel, however, was being kept on his toes throughout. “I knew I had to deliver, trying to make those tyres last and trying to go as fast as I can,” said the victor. “Second stint [Hamilton] was chasing me down, which was tough, so he had a strong second stint. In the end I think I was able to rebalance the car a little more and I was able to have a solid gap the last couple of laps.”
The German eventually made his first stop on lap 17, with Hamilton venturing to the pit for the second time on lap 24; however from this point Mercedes were left with a conundrum – do they leave their leading man on track for the remainder of the 32 laps and risk a large fall-off late on, or do they opt for a third stop.
Come the two-third mark, the decision would be taken away from them – earlier than expected degradation and a raft of traffic forced Mercedes’ hand and Hamilton was called in for a third time on lap 38, just one lap after Vettel completed his second and final stop.
With seventeen laps remaining, Vettel’s lead over Hamilton was just over fourteen seconds, but as the duo slipped through traffic, the German held his nerve and allowed the gap to fall to a manageable 8.56s come the chequered flag.
“It’s not only one childhood dream that becomes true, it seems to be many dreams together,” said Vettel, adding, “It was amazing to look down from the podium and see the mechanics, the engineers, the whole team and listen to the German and Italian anthems. The atmosphere in the team has always been great, but it’s just getting better and better.”
There was no doubt whatsoever that fortune played its part in Vettel’s first Ferrari win, but one must not discount what was a devastatingly excellent drive by a champion out to prove himself again after a difficult 2014.
Almost breathless and dripping with sweat, the relief was clear and present. “I shouldn’t say it but […] I was shitting myself the last couple of laps because here and there the thought was coming to my head, I was looking at the top of the chassis and thinking, ‘this is a red, you’re about to win’ and then I thought, ‘OK, stop thinking that, otherwise you’ll miss the next apex or something.’”
For Sebastian Vettel, the first hurdle has successfully been cleared. Whether Ferrari has the strength to produce this type of performance regularly in an unknown, but the Scuderia are on the March again and Mercedes will be looking over their shoulder from here on in.
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