2022 Formula 1 Thread

[DLSTR]

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff labels Michael Masi 'disrespectful' and a 'liability'


Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has accused former Formula One race director Michael Masi of being disrespectful to drivers, bad at taking criticism and a liability to the sport.

Mercedes blames Masi for costing Lewis Hamilton the championship at last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after he incorrectly implemented the safety car restart procedure at the end of the race.

Masi's decisions set up a one-lap sprint which saw Max Verstappen overtake Lewis Hamilton in dramatic fashion for his first title win.

Masi was removed from his role as race director in the aftermath and the role has been completely revised by motor racing's governing body, the FIA, for this season.

An FIA report into the Abu Dhabi race was critical of Masi's decision-making, although it insisted the Australian acted in good faith throughout.

Wolff compared how good he feels Hamilton is at taking constructive criticism to how Masi seemed to ignore it, even when it came from a good place, and recalled a meeting he had with the former race director before the controversial Abu Dhabi event.

"It is quite interesting because I had lunch with him on the Wednesday before the race, and I said to him that 'I really want to tell you, without patronising you, that you need to take criticism on board and develop from there. Lewis [Hamilton] does it every day, but you are a guy who always seems to know better'," Wolff told the Press Association news agency.

"It wasn't about influencing him but really giving my honest feedback that he shouldn't block outside opinion as simply being wrong.

"You hear from the drivers and how the drivers' briefings were conducted [by Masi] and some of the guys said it was almost disrespectful how he treated some of them.

"He was just immune to any feedback and even today he has not properly reflected that he did something wrong.

"He was a liability for the sport because everybody kept talking about Abu Dhabi and the race director, and the race director should not be somebody that people talk about, but someone who does the job and makes sure the race is run according to the regulations."

F1 has two race directors this year, Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas, who alternate duties.

One of the findings of the FIA's Abu Dhabi GP investigation was that Masi had too much to deal with, so the two new race directors are assisted by Herbie Blash, the long time deputy to Masi's popular predecessor, Charlie Whiting, who died suddenly on the eve of the 2019 season.

https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/3...tful-liability

[JARblue]

Kind of annoying I just tried to find the race broadcast replay on ESPN app only to find it is only available in Espanol (no English)

[Hotrodz]

Originally Posted by JARblue

Kind of annoying I just tried to find the race broadcast replay on ESPN app only to find it is only available in Espanol (no English)

That sucks!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[DLSTR]

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/mo...talks/9868145/

Monaco: Zero concerns over F1 future amid new contract talks
The organisers of the Monaco Grand Prix say they have zero concerns about the future of the Formula 1 race amid talks over a new contract beyond 2022.
Luke Smith
By:
Luke Smith
Co-author:
Benjamin Vinel
Apr 13, 2022, 11:05 AM

Monaco has long stood as one of F1's most prestigious events due to its rich history and glamorous image, acting as the original street race on the calendar in 1950.

But, amid the current expansion of the F1 calendar to include more city events such as Miami and Las Vegas, questions have been raised about Monaco's future, particularly as the race has traditionally not paid a hosting fee.

F1 CEO and president Stefano Domenicali recently warned that it was "not enough to have a pedigree anymore" for races to keep their place on the calendar, and that the arrival of new events would "force the organisers of traditional grands prix to raise their level of quality".

Following confirmation that Las Vegas would join the calendar from 2023, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said in an interview with Reuters that he thought Monaco "needs to come up to the same commercial terms as other grands prix" and give thought to its track layout due to the demands of modern cars.

Monaco's existing contract expires after the 2022 race, but the president of the Automobile Club de Monaco, Michel Boeri, responded to concerns about its future by expressing his confidence that a new contract would be signed as negotiations with F1 continue.

"I'd like to refer to what has been read in the press, where it is said that we may struggle to keep organising grand prix races beyond the 2022 event, so as early as next year," Boeri said at an event with the marshals ahead of next month's race, according to La Gazette de Monaco.

"It was implied that the fees required by Liberty [Media] were too excessive for Monaco and the grand prix would no longer be held.

"That's untrue. We are still in talks with them and must now seal the deal with a contract.

"I can guarantee you that the grand prix will keep taking place beyond 2022. I don't know if it will be a three- or five-year contract, but that's a detail."

F1 is set to hit the 24-race limit in the Concorde Agreement next year with the addition of races in Las Vegas and Qatar, as well as a possible return to China, which has a contract in place until 2025.

[ZCanadian]

Originally Posted by DLSTR

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/mo...talks/9868145/

Monaco: Zero concerns over F1 future amid new contract talks
The organisers of the Monaco Grand Prix say they have zero concerns about the future of the Formula 1 race amid talks over a new contract beyond 2022.
Luke Smith
By:
Luke Smith
Co-author:
Benjamin Vinel
Apr 13, 2022, 11:05 AM

Monaco has long stood as one of F1's most prestigious events due to its rich history and glamorous image, acting as the original street race on the calendar in 1950.

But, amid the current expansion of the F1 calendar to include more city events such as Miami and Las Vegas, questions have been raised about Monaco's future, particularly as the race has traditionally not paid a hosting fee.

F1 CEO and president Stefano Domenicali recently warned that it was "not enough to have a pedigree anymore" for races to keep their place on the calendar, and that the arrival of new events would "force the organisers of traditional grands prix to raise their level of quality".

Following confirmation that Las Vegas would join the calendar from 2023, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said in an interview with Reuters that he thought Monaco "needs to come up to the same commercial terms as other grands prix" and give thought to its track layout due to the demands of modern cars.

Monaco's existing contract expires after the 2022 race, but the president of the Automobile Club de Monaco, Michel Boeri, responded to concerns about its future by expressing his confidence that a new contract would be signed as negotiations with F1 continue.

"I'd like to refer to what has been read in the press, where it is said that we may struggle to keep organising grand prix races beyond the 2022 event, so as early as next year," Boeri said at an event with the marshals ahead of next month's race, according to La Gazette de Monaco.

"It was implied that the fees required by Liberty [Media] were too excessive for Monaco and the grand prix would no longer be held.

"That's untrue. We are still in talks with them and must now seal the deal with a contract.

"I can guarantee you that the grand prix will keep taking place beyond 2022. I don't know if it will be a three- or five-year contract, but that's a detail."

F1 is set to hit the 24-race limit in the Concorde Agreement next year with the addition of races in Las Vegas and Qatar, as well as a possible return to China, which has a contract in place until 2025.

I don't know how I feel about it - Love the atmosphere and history of the Monaco event, but it is really crummy racing. I doubt that any of the 2022 rule changes will improve that.

With F1 bumping up against the limit of races (actually, will exceed it by a couple of races next year), either they need to extend the Concord agreement to go beyond the 24 event maximum (and address the cost cap and parts allotments accordingly), or races like Monaco have to go. I've heard that Spa is another on the potential chopping block and I'd rather lose Monaco than Spa any day. But Spa is in the middle of the Ardenne forest in Belgium, not a rich billionaire playground destination the way Monte Carlo and the Mediterranean is, so I know which one is more likely to lose.

[DLSTR]

Originally Posted by ZCanadian

I don't know how I feel about it - Love the atmosphere and history of the Monaco event, but it is really crummy racing. I doubt that any of the 2022 rule changes will improve that.

With F1 bumping up against the limit of races (actually, will exceed it by a couple of races next year), either they need to extend the Concord agreement to go beyond the 24 event maximum (and address the cost cap and parts allotments accordingly), or races like Monaco have to go. I've heard that Spa is another on the potential chopping block and I'd rather lose Monaco than Spa any day. But Spa is in the middle of the Ardenne forest in Belgium, not a rich billionaire playground destination the way Monte Carlo and the Mediterranean is, so I know which one is more likely to lose.

Monaco was not missed when cancelled for COVID. Not even spoken of. Its a joke of a race in a great place. It should be charity event for F1. Put the overpaid driver minions in some spec series sportscars/coupes and let them run a short race etc.

Losing SPA is hard to accept if the F1 leaders think that is a good idea............

[DLSTR]

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/ha...money/9890055/


Haas rejects Uralkali request to repay F1 sponsorship money
The Haas Formula 1 team has rejected a claim from former title sponsor Uralkali to refund $13 million already paid, and demanded a further $8.6m compensation for ‘loss of profits’.
Jonathan Noble
By:
Jonathan Noble
Apr 14, 2022, 4:34 AM

In the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in March, the Haas team unilaterally terminated its Uralkali sponsorship deal because of the links the company’s owner Dmitry Mazepin had with the country’s president Vladimir Putin.

It also ended the deal it had with race driver Nikita Mazepin, who has since been replaced by Kevin Magnussen.

At the time, Uralkali said it was considering legal action over the matter as it sought repayment of sponsorship money it had paid in advance of the season.

In a statement issued last month, the company said: “As most of the sponsorship funding for the 2022 season has already been transferred to Haas and given that the team terminated the sponsorship agreement before the first race of the 2022 season, Haas has thus failed to perform its obligations to Uralkali for this year's season.

“Uralkali shall request the immediate reimbursement of the amounts received by Haas.”

Uralkali subsequently wrote to Haas to dispute the team’s rights to terminate the contract, as well as request a refund of €12 million ($13m) that had been paid in advance.

It has emerged, however, that Haas has now formally responded to the Uralkali letter and wholly rejected the company’s claims.

In the letter from the Haas team to the Russian company, a copy of which has been seen by Autosport, the American-owned team insists it had a right to end the deal because of a clause in the sponsorship agreement which stated that Uralkali does not ‘injure, bring into dispute, ridicule, or lessen the public reputation, goodwill of favourable image of Haas’.

Haas claims that the Mazepin ties to the Kremlin, allied to sanctions imposed by the European Union, triggered the disrepute clause. However, no sanctions had been imposed by the European Union or any other parties when the contract was terminated.

In the letter, Haas puts forward its argument as to why it believes the Uralkali sponsorship should not be repaid.

“According to unanimous legal scholars and case law, the party which terminates the agreement for breach of the other party is under no obligation to return to such party what it has already received under the agreement,” it states.

“The claim of Uralkali to obtain the re-payment of the down paid amount of EUR 12,000,000 is therefore ungrounded and rejected.”

Haas adds that beyond the money already paid, the team is also entitled to compensation for the loss of profits it believes would have been made if the Uralkali deal had continued.

It has subsequently demanded a payment of €8m in lieu of this, which it wants transferred in a matter of days.

Haas has also made clear that it will not fulfil a clause in its original contract for Uralkali to be given one of Mazepin's 2021 F1 cars until it has received the €8m payment.

The letter adds: “Unless and until the aforesaid amount will have been paid to Haas no obligation exists on Haas’ side to deliver and no delivery of the F1 car will occur.”

According to a source with good knowledge of the situation, Haas has also refused to pay Mazepin his salary for the time worked this season before his contract was cancelled.
Nikita Mazepin, Haas F1 Team

Nikita Mazepin, Haas F1 Team

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

Haas’s stance is understood to have left Uralkali astonished, with sources saying they are in "disbelief" about the withholding of the money, the 2021 car and the demand for an extra payment.

One source said: “Everyone understands the world is in a difficult situation, but it is patently ridiculous to argue that Haas is entitled to keep money paid from a contract it exited unilaterally, without rendering any of the agreed upon services.

“They seem to be fine with spending Russian money - and even are asking for more - but don’t want to have any Russians around.

“It's a truly shocking treatment toward a title sponsor who stepped up last season when the team badly needed resources and who had offered to go above and beyond the contracted amounts to provide additional bonuses to team staff to achieve better results for all involved.”
Read Also:


Representatives of Uralkali and Nikita Mazepin declined to comment on the matter and instead referred to a previous statement that had been issued on the company website.

The Haas F1 team was approached for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.

The matter now almost certainly looks to be heading to court, unless there is a last-minute change of approach from Haas in relation to the money

[ZontheRocks]

I wonder who that last source is. Million dollar litigation will not be quick.

[DLSTR]

Originally Posted by ZontheRocks

I wonder who that last source is. Million dollar litigation will not be quick.

Mazepin is sanctioned and Italy seized over 100 mil$ of his assets. He can beeetch about this all he likes. HAAS should never pay that idiot or his son 1 cent. Ever. Corrupt coward in the inner circle of Putin.

[ZCanadian]

Originally Posted by DLSTR

Mazepin is sanctioned and Italy seized over 100 mil$ of his assets. He can beeetch about this all he likes. HAAS should never pay that idiot or his son 1 cent. Ever. Corrupt coward in the inner circle of Putin.

Haas should put the money in trust for a charity to rebuild an independent Ukraine!

[VHRpurr]

Williams strategy with Albon was genius. Hard compound until the last lap, pit him and he crossed the finish line in the pits.. As for Monaco…… it is the most boring race to watch on tv. Almost 0 overtaking and where you start is where to finish, mostly. Only about 2 places to pass, turn 1 and the chicane after the tunnel. These modern F1 hybrid cars are too fat for those roads.

[DLSTR]

Ferrari: Too early for Leclerc/Sainz F1 team orders
Ferrari says it is still too early in the 2022 campaign to consider team orders between its Formula 1 drivers, despite Charles Leclerc’s current advantage over Carlos Sainz Jr.

[DLSTR]

Red Bull downplays talk of big F1 upgrade package for Imola

Red Bull Formula 1 chief Christian Horner downplayed the suggestion the team has a big upgrade package planned for its RB18 car at Imola, saying any developments are an “evolution”.

[DLSTR]

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/ho...006606/?nrt=54

Why Ferrari has stayed in front despite its no upgrades approach
The Ferrari F1-75 looked fast from the first day of 2022 Formula 1 testing at Barcelona in February, and that pace has remained through the first three race weekends.
Adam Cooper
By:
Adam Cooper
Apr 18, 2022, 5:00 AM

Indeed, in Australia the car had a clear edge on the Red Bull RB18, after the two frontrunning machines proved to be evenly matched in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

One of the more intriguing aspects of Ferrari's season so far is that, in contrast to its main rivals, the team has done very little to the car since that first test, and there has been no package of upgrades.

There are several aspects to the Ferrari strategy. Firstly, the car was quick from the off and had no obvious vices. Like others, it suffers from porpoising, but the team seems to have found a way to live with it, without compromising performance as much as some rivals have been obliged to.

Crucially, by not changing the package every week, the team has been able to take a deep dive into fully understanding the car, allowing the engineers to start each race weekend with a good base set-up.

That in turn has the added bonus of allowing the drivers to fully come to terms with the car and know what it requires from them, although it's taken Carlos Sainz a little longer to adapt than Charles Leclerc.

The bigger picture is that by not having to throw new parts on at short notice in order to find performance, Ferrari has been able to pace itself in terms of R&D. The team can focus on honing new items that it knows will work when they come to the track, rather than fast-track through stuff that hasn't been fully proven as a fire-fighting exercise.


In an era where the budget cap puts a limit on what how much you can do over the course of a full season, that's a crucial advantage.

"Luckily the car is good since the beginning," says chassis operations manager Claudio Albertini. "So it's something that is good news for us, because then we can focus on good development.

"With these new regulations it's a different approach compared to the past, because with the budget cap, actually we have to be very careful, because every development that is not working, is also a waste of money, in addition to not giving performance to the car.

"The conditions are different from the past. We have to work in a different way. But for sure in our line there are future developments. Also, because this philosophy of car is very new there are many things that we are still investigating, and want to prove."

In essence, Ferrari has been able to hold back on new parts because the car was good from the off, with sufficient pace to win races.

"Luckily we met the expectations," says Albertini. "So in a way you see that the car has a potential. And so as I said, we could spot since the beginning of the project the parts of the car that were more performing, and focus on them.

"We now understand that our first idea was good, because the important parts are in good shape, and we are going in that direction. So we are still following the base plan that we had since last year."

Ferrari did bring a different floor to Melbourne, but as was planned it was run by Leclerc only on Friday, before he reverted to the normal spec for the rest of the weekend.

It was purely a data gathering exercise that will feed into more permanent changes later in the season, and was a good example of the team making efficient use of a Friday practice session.

"We had a packer in the diffuser," says Albertini. "Actually, it's a part that changed the shape of the floor. It was a test item. We knew since the beginning that it would not be in the car for the qualifying and race. And it's normal nowadays, with less real testing of the car, that you use Friday for this development.

"It was something related, obviously, to the aerodynamics of the car. And we aim to understand better the airflow, especially on the floor, and the bottom part of the car.

"These special components have the aim of gathering information. So actually, we run that component, we have sensors in the car, we do all the measurements, then we bring all the information at home.

"And then they can correlate with our calculations, with wind tunnel data. It's a way we can match the real car and the calculated car, and we have a better picture. For the later development in season of the car, this is the first step.

"It was not something that was supposed to be better or worse. It was something useful for us to have a different amount of data to consider at home.

"The floor is obviously the most important part of the car. And this philosophy of car is very new. So we are still understanding new things. Time is going, and so we are focusing on different parts of the floor, trying to improve it overall."

Running that kind of test before going ahead and manufacturing sufficient sets of new floors to get the team through a race weekend is another example of how restricted funds are having an effect on how and when teams introduce updates.

"For sure, as I said, the budget cap has an impact on how we operate this season," says Albertini. "It is extremely important when there is a development that the new component is good, otherwise there is a waste of money and a waste of time.

"Understanding at the beginning led us to a process of improvement rather than bringing new parts and having the old ones not used anymore. So not useful, also from the budget cap perspective.

"Sometimes it's a bit of a bet. You bring the part, and if you bring earlier and it's okay, then you are more relaxed, and you do development. But if you bet and you arrive to the second test with the new component, but then it's not working, it is even worse."

While aerodynamic parts are obviously the main development focus with the new cars like all teams, Ferrari is also pursuing a weight-saving programme.

"At the moment it is in parallel," says Albertini. "Because weight is very important, because these cars are heavier. For sure, weight reduction is a big focus on our development.

"We have aero development, mechanical development, weight development, so we are going in parallel with different programmes, and we pick up where we can see there is the most need. It's something that goes together at the moment."

Saving weight costs money, but as Albertini notes, so does everything else.

"Even a light part like the floor in a way is extremely expensive. For sure [to have a] light car means we have to rebuild the metallic parts, doing it in different materials. So in a way it's a big cost. But I can tell you that also aero development, even if the part is not weight-related, is very, very expensive!"

As noted a stable car package helps the drivers to get the maximum out of it each weekend, as they become more familiar with its quirks. Is it more a question of the drivers adapting, or the set-up being honed to suit their styles?

"As usual it's a bit of both sides," says Albertini. "This car was new for the drivers, and it was new for us. We had to understand a bit, because they had to change the way in which they have to drive, because this car has such an aerodynamic load and a different mechanical configuration compared to last year.

"It has to be driven differently. So as a team, we have to understand what is the best way for the driver's skill? And the driver in a way has to adapt. It's a bit of both again, and we have to meet together."

The new tyres are a key element that team and drivers have had to understand, and again a stable package has helped that process.

Ferrari has found that typically two preparation laps on the soft tyre are optimal for qualifying, for example.

"It's very circuit dependent I think," says Albertini. "It's a bit of a match, tyre and asphalt and ambient conditions. For sure, it is part also of the tests that we do on Friday. It's not that you arrive and you know since the beginning maybe we need the prep lap, maybe not.

"It's something that also you have to test. And also you see some teams are doing this, and some not."

With Maranello just down the road and an obvious desire to please the home crowd, Ferrari could be tempted to bring a major update package to the Emilia Romagna GP.

However, Imola is a sprint weekend, and with just one session before Friday qualifying, it makes no sense to disrupt the winning package.

"I think it will be a difficult weekend in the respect of bringing updates and try to evaluate them on the Friday practice," team boss Mattia Binotto noted in Australia.

"Because you need obviously to focus yourself on the quali of the afternoon. If we will look at ourselves, there will not be much in Imola because again, we believe it will not be the right place.

"We try to mitigate the let me say the issues we got still so far, I'm thinking of the porpoising and the bouncing that has affected our performance over the weekend. So we again try to work on that specific point.

"But for the upgrades and more, let me say significant ones, it will be for later on in the season."

The big question now is how much development potential can be found in the F1-75 compared to the RB18? We'll only know the answer as the weeks and months unfold.

[ZCanadian]

If you're more than 1/4 second ahead of the next closest car in qualifying on a tiny lap like Albert Park, I'd say you're doing the right thing!