AUTOSPORTの December 2023 の目次

“I don’t have the answer. I know what we have today needs tuning.” Christian Horner’s thoughts on Formula 1’s troubled and much-disliked sprint format won’t be taken by the commercial rights holder as a particularly useful interjection on the subject. But if pronouncements such as these are lacking in specific and actionable proposals to improve the format, they certainly chime with the majority opinion in the paddock: it’s not working. The drivers think the sprints are pointless and so do the teams they represent. And, crucially, they’re not shy about expressing their contempt for the concept. Horner again: “It’s like you’ve won a long run [ie in a practice session] and got a medal for it.” Nevertheless, F1 remains committed to the concept. You have to wonder why. Promoters remain…

1 SPRINT EVENTS LOOK SET FOR FURTHER CHANGE Two and a half years since the introduction of the sprint concept Formula 1 is still struggling to home in on the right format to justify having two races on some race weekends. The current rubric is once again coming in for criticism – and potential changes have become one of the most debated topics in the paddock. As has often been the case lately, Max Verstappen placed himself at the forefront of the debate. Since becoming world champion, the Dutchman has increasingly used his influence to steer discussion in the direction he feels is right. His main argument is that the current sprint format robs the main event of its intrigue. He’d rather see Formula 1 get rid of the concept…

F1 AIMS TO HIT THE JACKPOT Las Vegas has launched itself onto the scene with the aim of becoming one of the key Formula 1 weekends of the next decade and a big earner for the sport. A revenue of $500 million is expected in this first year with more to come in the future, generated by rising F1 passion in the USA combined with the unique mix of entertainment the city presents: from gambling to dining out, from concerts to one-offs such as the opportunity to buy a Lewis Hamilton Mercedes F1 car at auction. It all adds to the thrill and cash outlay. It seems like a different world from the last time F1 raced in Las Vegas, when the crowd size of around 30,000 was pitiful despite…

CV 2021-present Chief Executive Officer, Saudi Motorsport Company 2012-2020 Motorsport Consultant, Australian Supercars 2010-2012 Chief Executive Officer, Australian Supercars 2004-2010 Chief Executive Officer, Bahrain International Circuit 1996-2003 Director of Motorsport, Ford Motor Company 1993-1996 Media Delegate, FIA 1990-1993 Media Delegate, McLaren 1988-1990 Media Delegate, FIA 1983-1988 Media Delegate, RAC Motorsports Association GP Racing: Where did your interest in motor racing begin? Martin Whitaker: A family friend, Alan McKechnie, ran local driver Bob Evans who won the Formula 5000 championship in 1974. The Lola was run from the fruit orchard close to my family home on the Herefordshire/Gloucestershire border. A ‘test’ track ran through the apple orchards and one day I went to see a new driver test. On arriving at the farm, I remember a chassis with Evans’ name taped…

As the 2023 season moves to a close, Ferrari’s future driver plans seem to be taking a recognisable shape. The team was always set on keeping Leclerc, and he on staying, despite interest from rivals including Aston Martin. Sainz’s future was less clear through the mid-summer, but Ferrari’s feelings as the season came to its run-in were to keep him, too, after both drivers’ contracts expire in 2024. Regardless, there is the potential for plenty of movement in the driver market at the end of next year. Among the top teams, Max Verstappen is locked into Red Bull until the end of 2027 and Lewis Hamilton and George Russell at Mercedes to the end of 2025. At McLaren, Lando Norris is contracted to the end of 2025 and Oscar Piastri…

1 “There are two cameras facing the driver in the cockpit – both built into the Halo structure. “The top one is a safety camera. You won’t see any footage from it during the broadcast, since it’s only accessible to the FIA for incident analysis – I’ve never seen any footage from it myself. The one at the bottom, on the other hand, is used during the broadcast but, as a driver, you never really think about it.” 2 “On the right you can see some stickers. The one closest to the wheel has a map of the track, in this case Barcelona. This may seem strange, but it’s actually very useful. Obviously it’s not there to remind the driver which corner is next, but it’s very handy when talking…

“LIFT AND COAST.” Expect to hear that command as tyres and power unit supplies are eked out in the final races. As you know, each driver is expected to get through a season on four engines. Which is a bit like asking the FIA president if he wouldn’t mind limiting his TV cameo appearances to 50. It’s a tough call. Things were more free and easy in the championship shoot-out 40 years ago. For the final race of 1983, BMW came to South Africa with no fewer than 13 engines. For one team. Or to be perfectly honest, for one driver. Nelson Piquet was BMW’s man as the Brabham number one went head-to-head with Renault’s Alain Prost (Ferrari’s René Arnoux was an outsider in this championship mathematical mix). BMW had…

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 20 THE MEXICO CITY GP IN 5 KEY MOMENTS 1 Home is where the art isn’t Competing at a home race can be a double-edged sword. If you think of Nigel Mansell at Silverstone or more recently Max Verstappen at Zandvoort, they both thrived on the adulation of racing in front of their faithful fans. In contrast the pressure to perform can frustrate even the greatest champions. It took Ayrton Senna eight attempts to triumph in Brazil. Sebastian Vettel was desperate to win at Hockenheim in 2018… and he crashed while comfortably leading. Ever since Mexico City returned to the F1 schedule in 2015, the support for Sergio Pérez has been off the scale. In the past two seasons that he’s had a car at the…

BENETTON – REBELS OF FORMULA 1 Author Damian Smith Price £60 evropublishing.com From the pen of GP Racing contributor and former editor-in-chief Damien Smith comes this immaculately researched history of the Benetton team, F1’s bad boys of the 1980s and 1990s. Featuring interviews with the likes of team principal Flavio Briatore, engineering gurus Pat Symonds and Rory Byrne, and Alessandro Benetton himself, the book chronicles the team’s transformation from moribund Toleman outfit into a title winner. There are plenty of other voices here, including Toleman stalwarts Alex Hawkridge and Chris Witty and Benetton insiders such as Paul Seaby, the mechanic captured emerging from the flames in Steven Tee’s iconic photograph of the 1994 pit fire. The revelation that another member of the pit crew had to resort to putting his foot in…

@mattkewF1 facebook.com/gpracingonline HOW MCLAREN GOT MORE BANG PER BUCK Fernando Alonso grew bored with Alpine not offering a long-enough contract, so he signed for Aston Martin in double-quick time when Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement. McLaren won the court case to recruit rookie sensation Oscar Piastri. Haas thought Mick Schumacher crashed too often so recalled qualifying ace Nico Hülkenberg. Last year’s Formula 1 driver market ‘silly season’ was especially turbulent. But of all the shuffles and switcheroos, 2023’s star appointment is surely found outside the cockpit. When news leaked over the winter that Andreas Seidl – the team principal who oversaw McLaren’s constructors’ championship climb from ninth to third, plus a 2021 Italian Grand Prix victory – was to leave for Sauber, it felt as though the team’s progress was…

OLEG KARPOV Oleg managed to corner AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost for a final interview (p56) and tried to find out why Oscar Piastri remains so calm (p44) ANDREW BENSON BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer has analysed the performances of Carlos Sainz and why the Spaniard remains a good fit at Ferrari (p32) ALEX KALINAUCKAS What does an F1 team do to prepare itself ahead of a visit to a circuit for the first time? Alex provides the answers on page 52 MATT KEW In addition to his fantastic Flat Chat column (p106), Matt reveals what is on Mercedes driver George Russell’s radar (p42) Thanks to Rebecca Banks, Harry Bull, Will Hings, Roman De Lauw, Sara Malocco, Adam McDaid, James Roberts, Kevin Tee, Fabiana Valenti, Tom Wood IS POWERED BY…

CUTTING LOSSES ISN’T SCIENCE F(R)ICTION It is well known that in order to get power from an engine one needs to get a lot of air into it and use that air to combust the fuel as well as you can. What’s often less appreciated is that power can be significantly increased if you minimise the many losses involved in running the engine. So let’s examine this, the second side of the equation. A kilogram of fuel contains around 43 Megajoules of chemical energy and, when we boast that an F1 engine is over 50% efficient, it’s the same as saying that somewhere around 21 MJ of that energy is going to waste. So where does it go and what can we do about it? Much of the losses are…

IN THE MIDST OF ANOTHER TOUGH YEAR for Ferrari, Carlos Sainz has had his best season yet for the team, and it looks as if it will secure him a long-term future at Maranello. Just after the summer break, Sainz’s position at Ferrari looked less guaranteed. He wanted to stay beyond the end of his current contract, which finishes next season, but the team wasn’t as sure. There were questions about the dynamic between Sainz and team-mate Charles Leclerc; about some of the ways the intense competition between them had occasionally frayed more than the matey official Ferrari social media posts would suggest; about whether Sainz really was the best long-term partner for Leclerc, who remains the team’s primary driver in heart and mind, even if Ferrari doesn’t designate them…

You scored 35 points more than your team-mate last season. This year you’re on course to finish behind Lewis Hamilton. How do you feel you’ve compared at the second time of asking? In terms of pure performance, I feel that this season has been my best-ever. But I reckon there’s over 60 points that we’ve lost for a number of different reasons. When I put it in contrast to last year, I think we were in the top five in 19 of 22 races and we just kept on collecting those points. It was quite clear this year from the beginning that we weren’t going to be fighting for a championship. I don’t know if that’s had an impact on my mentality or not. But once we’re in the position…

After the Brazilian GP, the typical 2,000 metric tonnes of freight headed for Nevada and slotted into the triple-decked, 300,000 square foot, $500m paddock building Formula 1 has constructed under a mile from the Bellagio fountains. This will house the typical garage set-ups, as well as being open all year round. Talk of team hospitality units being over a mile away from the pits ended up wide of the mark thanks to F1’s land purchase for building the permanent paddock complex. To get the approximately 2,000 paddock personnel in and out every day, let alone the thousands of corporate guests who are expected to sample this new race, three temporary vehicle bridges have been constructed, with one dedicated to serving the paddock only. This is aimed at getting the teams…

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 21 THE SÃO PAULO GP IN 5 KEY MOMENTS 1 Alonso thrills with defensive masterclass Fernando Alonso arrived in Brazil with a point to prove. He’d been annoyed by a scurrilous rumour (supercharged by a needlessly cryptic Tweet from a Spanish journalist) that suggested he was heading to Red Bull in 2024 to replace Sergio Pérez. The implication was that Aston Martin’s steady downturn – from the highs of scoring regular podiums, to failing to reach Q3 – was starting to fracture the harmony within the team. Having struggled to optimise the latest upgrades introduced at the previous sprint weekend in the USA, Aston approached the Interlagos race with a hybrid car spec, only using ‘new’ elements it felt certain would suit this circuit. The result…

HOW TO SOLVE THE NEW-TEAM RANCOUR Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali cannot have been hugely thankful when FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem announced in early October that the sport’s governing body had approved Andretti Formula Racing’s entry application, thus handing the poisoned chalice to Formula 1 in order to discuss commercial terms. A toxic game of pass the parcel. As is always the case, the FIA had followed a process. These processes are always described as ‘strict’ or ‘stringent’, yet the last time the FIA followed its own path to determine the viability of new F1 teams things really didn’t work out. As the person at Cosworth responsible for supplying engines to USF1, Campos Meta, Manor Grand Prix and Lotus Racing in 2010, it soon became apparent to me that…

“YEAH, NOT THE BEST PACE I’VE EVER DISPLAYED IN THE WORLD, BUT I’LL ENJOY THE TROPHY FOR NOW” NO SCREAMS, NO GASPS, NO UNINTELLIGIBLE exclamations, no tearful hyperbole for the commercial rights holder to splash across its social channels. Just the usual calm and measured message from Oscar Piastri to his engineer on the team radio – only this time it was in response to securing his first-ever F1 podium, at Suzuka, one of the most challenging tracks on the calendar. To be fair, there was also a bit of a “woohoo”, but it was more befitting of getting a tricky pub-quiz question right than reaching a career milestone. Kimi Räikkönen might appear an impulsive extrovert at times compared with McLaren’s Australian rookie. “He’s very methodical,” Mark Webber, Piastri’s compatriot…

Along, rose-tinted farewell interview? No way, he’s not going to do it. A sentimental rewind through 18 years at the helm of Red Bull’s junior team, a key role in developing young talent into grand prix winners and world champions, memories of his own racing career… Franz Tost is not available for any of this. He still has a job to do before he clocks out and melts away from Formula 1 into a quiet retirement in the Austrian Alps. “He will refuse to talk about himself.” Fabiana Valenti, AlphaTauri’s communications director, has been with the team since its Minardi days and well knows how its boss rolls. He might make an exception for us, though, because we’re friends, she says. But only if we want to talk about the…

Hiking I started quite late, in my mid-20s, with my wife – we did quite a lot of hiking. When I moved to England I stopped. But now I do it whenever I have the time. When I go to the mountains, it’s just nice. When you’re walking, you don’t usually talk, because in the mountains you have to breathe. Heights don’t scare me – I never thought I could fall. When you’re exposed to heights all the time, you get used to them. And that’s a good thing, because if you do fall, at least you’re not scared – you’re just dead. Walking the dog When I’m at home, I walk our dog every day. But I don’t just do it for the dog! It’s good for me too.…

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 19 THE UNITED STATES GP IN 5 KEY MOMENTS 1Brakes issues can’t halt Max’s 50th win Starting the final lap of the United States Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was just 1.8 seconds behind leader Max Verstappen. Fifteen laps earlier the Mercedes – on the medium tyre, the softer of the two preferred race compounds – was 7.5s in arrears. Hamilton had passed a spirited Lando Norris for second place seven laps from the flag and, for a brief moment, it looked as if he could challenge Verstappen for the win. But this is 2023. Max crossed the line to record his 15th victory of the year and the 50th of his career. His points tally of 466 eclipsed his own previous record for the most scored…

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 23 ABU DHABI GP 24-26 November 2023 Yas Marina THE MAIN EVENT A curiously polarising venue, Yas Marina is certainly glitzy – the day-into-night racing format is augmented by spectacular light effects after the sun goes down – and it’s delivered on the original brief of operating as a successful business in its own right, busy with activities all year round. Sadly, 2021 season finale aside, the fireworks have largely been confined to the skies after the chequered flag. A revamp of key areas of the circuit ahead of that controversial race aimed to improve the flow of the track and create overtaking opportunities. They have been a qualified success, especially the removal of the ridiculous chicane ahead of what’s now Turn 5 and the reprofiling…