Inhaltsverzeichnis für October 2023 in AUTOSPORT

From its earliest days, when Bruce McLaren’s payroll extended not far beyond the number of people you could accommodate in a large estate car, his team developed a reputation for engineering excellence. It might have taken a couple of years to get that elusive first win but rivals up and down the Formula 1 pitlane would nod in appreciation at the smart, pragmatic design and exquisite standard of build and race preparation. This was when the company had not long moved out of its first premises, a rented corner of a New Malden shed used to house earth-moving equipment. Even after the post-Bruce regime faded and Ron Dennis replaced intuitive, oily-fingered engineering principles with space-age technology, glossy sponsor rosters and money-no-object presentation, there was a connection to the past. Forward-looking…

WHY FOOTBALL HAS POSED DIFFICULT QUESTIONS FOR FORMULA 1 The list of creditors owed money following the collapse of W Series makes for depressing reading. I know several of them and suspect some can ill-afford to write-off such losses. While founder Catherine Bond Muir and her team fought the good fight to establish W Series as the principal route for women racers to pursue their careers, there is no avoiding the fact that the series failed commercially. This happened despite W Series being invited to support selected F1 events. The championship also achieved good traction with media and plenty of support among the new audiences of young, female fans which are a notable feature of F1’s recent growth. Although some sponsors did lend it support, notably F1’s major partner Heineken,…

OH TO BE A FLY ON A WALL IN a setting as secretive as the Formula 1 paddock. Right now, perched behind a table in the computer-filled room constructed above the two Haas team trucks that form the race-weekend tyre store, GP Racing is finding out. First practice for the British Grand Prix has just finished. Every F1 team is now holding the same meeting. One of 10 per weekend which are critical to the outcome of each race and their seasons overall. The debrief. Racing engineering heaven. Or hell if things haven’t gone to plan for Haas and team principal Guenther Steiner decides he needs to interject an expletive or 10. Otherwise, here it is Ayao Komatsu’s show. Haas’s director of engineering sits at the head of the table…

A group of people armed with guns, standing shoulder to shoulder, are finding themselves being charged at by zombies. “I don’t want to do this!” screams one of them. “I don’t want to do this!” The footage, from inside one of London’s virtual reality game rooms, is enshrined on the phone of performance coach Michael Italiano. And the screaming voice belongs to a Formula 1 driver he works with, Yuki Tsunoda. “Yuki hasn’t spent much time in London,” the Australian, formerly the trainer of his childhood friend Daniel Ricciardo, tells GP Racing. “And I’ve been living in London for six years so, when he got there, he was like, ‘Show me something I haven’t done yet’. “And I knew he loves shooters! So I picked the scariest zombie game. But…

YOU WILL HAVE SEEN THE FUSS over who did what to whom when Sergio Pérez and Lewis Hamilton collided during the Belgian Grand Prix. Officials intervened, hit Hamilton with a penalty – and immediately set social media on fire with outraged opinion. What’s wrong with racing these days? Why can’t they simply let the drivers get on with it? Just like at the same circuit in 1987 when Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell disputed a piece of road – not far from the scene of this year’s contretemps – and the argument was settled when Nigel grabbed Ayrton by the throat. Job done. The officials didn’t utter a peep. Probably didn’t dare after they heard Senna’s description of how he saw Mansell storm into the Lotus garage with a look…

OLEG KARPOV Another busy month for Oleg, travelling to Sicily to interview Alessandro Alunni Bravi (p52), and a chat with Yuki Tsunoda and his trainer (p62) ANDREW BENSON BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer explains just how McLaren went from also rans to challenging for podiums in only half a season (p30) ALEX KALINAUCKAS Autosport’s Grand Prix editor managed to get into that most secret of F1 meetings, a team debrief, and this is what he discovered (p42) ANDREW FERRARO We sent Andrew to Sicily to shoot Alfa’s Alessandro Alunni Bravi and a classic 1969 GT1300 Junior over the Targa Florio route (p52) Thanks to Jess Borrell, Luca Colajanni, Roman de Lauw, Ella McPherson, Stuart Morrison, Will Ponissi, Tom Wood IS POWERED BY…

Monza, the Parabolica, and a Ferrari – on pole position, no less. If there’s such a thing as a holy trinity of Italian motor racing, this is it. There are a number of ways you can approach a shot from the famous tower at this corner (recently renamed in honour of the late Michele Alboreto). Conventionally you would do a pan shot from a frontal angle on a slow shutter speed so you get a speed blur with just the driver’s helmet sharp. But I went for a different angle and faster speed to make use of the afternoon light, which plays nicely over the lines of this car. This is Sainz’s pole lap; I could hear the crowd go crazy as he crossed the line. Where Monza, Italy When…

01 HOW THE DRIVER MARKET STALLED No shock moves, no sudden retirement announcements, no heated confrontations between teams over a driver’s services – this year’s ‘silly season’, unlike last year’s, has been relatively quiet. The main reason for the calm is likely that market momentum – a factor of drivers’ keenness to move – is temporarily becalmed: but it will engage again ahead of the change in regulations scheduled for 2026, which could shake up the competitive order. Any lingering doubts there could still be major bombshells have been dispelled by the announcement that both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will continue to race for Mercedes until the end of 2025. There were virtually no questions asked about the latter’s future. LEWIS HAMILTON AND GEORGE RUSSELL WILL CONTINUE TO RACE…

CRUNCH TIME FOR YUKI TSUNODA AS HOME RACE BECKONS As F1 returns to Asia for races in Singapore and Japan Yuki Tsunoda will be relishing the additional support from fans during a crucial stage in his career. The 23-year old is in his third season with AlphaTauri but the connection with the overall management goes back to 2019 when he became a member of the Red Bull junior team to race in FIA Formula 3. Just one year at that level led him into Formula 2 in 2020 and an impressive season which included three victories and one point away from runner-up position to Mick Schumacher. Yuki and Mick both stepped up to F1 in 2021 and for Tsunoda being the 65th driver in the history of F1 to score…

Another European round with four seasons in one day, but an opportunity to see up close what makes Red Bull such an effective fighting force. While the headlines are dominated by Max Verstappen’s winning streak and the apparent superiority of the RB19 package, it’s easy to overlook the contribution of the whole team. Red Bull’s pit crew practice relentlessly and they’re every bit as fiercely competitive as Max himself. No hint of complacency even as Verstappen notches up the wins. I captured them ready to attach full wets just before the red flag (not that they knew one was in the offing). And, yes, it was as wet as it looks! Where Zandvoort, Holland When 4:30pm, Sunday 27 August 2023 Details Nikon Z9 70-200mm lens, 1/1000th @F2.8…

CLUTCH CONTROL: THE SECRETS OF ENGAGEMENT Components that are hidden deep in the car are often overlooked and yet play a vital part in providing function with performance. One such item is the clutch. The clutch in a Formula 1 car performs a similar function to that of the clutch in a road car in that it provides a coupling between the engine and, ultimately, the road wheels. An automotive clutch is a friction device connecting the engine to the transmission: it’s capable of slipping and hence can provide an infinitely variable ratio between the two, ranging from the engine turning and the gearbox input shaft stationary when the clutch is disengaged to a one-to-one ratio when the clutch is fully engaged, and the gearbox input is rotating at the…

There was a rumour over the summer break that you’d signed what could be a five-year contract extension with Ferrari worth up to £150 million. What’s the latest on your future? I wish I did this deal because it looks like a good deal! But there are no new deals and no discussion whatsoever. But at some point we’ll definitely have those discussions. My intentions are clear. And then on the team side, I don’t know, but I’m not too worried either. But it’s not a priority for now. We just want to try and work as much as possible on the car to get back to where we were last year, which was to fight for wins. Then we’ll see. But at the end of the season, for sure,…

Voluntary work Probably a lot of people know it already, but when I’m back in Milan I spend some of my free time working as a volunteer, filling in as an ambulance driver and paramedic. I started when I was 18, so it’s more than 35 years now – almost all of it in the same association. I like doing night shifts, not only driving an ambulance but sometimes being in charge of the team as well. I love it. It’s something that helps you to realise there is something different in the world apart from F1 or motorsport. Playing guitar My dad used to play double bass. He and his friends had a small jazz group and, when I was six or seven, I used to go with him…

@mattkewF1 facebook.com/gpracingonline A SLIM CHANCE OF REWRITING F1 HISTORY Felipe Massa insists that money is not motivating his legal challenge against the FIA and Formula 1. That’s despite his sizeable representation claiming the Brazilian has missed out on “tens of millions of euros” for not having been crowned an F1 champion. Disputing the result of the 2008 season, which he lost by a single point to McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, is instead about seeking “justice for the sport”. Massa argues that recently circulated interviews with Bernie Ecclestone and the late Max Mosley prove they knew in good time that Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr crashed deliberately in Singapore. Therefore, the race result (where Hamilton scored six points, Massa nil) should be tossed in the bin. There’s genuine reason to believe Massa…