Welcome to Thursday’s edition of the RaceFans round-up.
Comment of the day
Does the explanation for Lando Norris’s poorer performances in qualifying this year come down to him – or his team mate?
I don’t think he can do any more, I think this is his level.
In the past, he’s qualified against Sainz, Ricciardo and rookie Piastri – who at the time he certainly had the edge over. But I think it’s reasonable to say Piastri’s stepped up his game from last year and I think Norris had maybe got a little complacent in that area, so he no longer has that edge. He’s got to actually work harder to stay ahead than he used to.
I still think Norris might be ever so slightly more efficient in the race than Piastri but much of that’s simply experience. I’m interested to see how good Piastri can truly get if he holds this upward curve, as just judging from the races this year I think it’s fair to say Piastri would absolutely deserve the title. Adam (@Rocketpanda)
'The financiers are serious people and they have the financial wherewithal to be able to fund a Formula 1 team. The car manufacturer that also wants to join Formula 1’s in place, so it’s just a matter of the timing being right to actually get the opportunity to start the 12th team.'
'Team Penske announced today the departures of IndyCar team president Tim Cindric, IndyCar managing director Ron Ruzewski and IndyCar general manager Kyle Moyer from the organisation. Team Penske will have further announcements this week related to personnel and replacements for this weekend’s Indianapolis 500. Roger Penske: 'Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams. We have had organisational failures during the last two years, and we had to make necessary changes. I apologise to our fans, our partners and our organisation for letting them down.''
Andrew Shovlin: 'It was a problem with the throttle damper assembly. We were seeing on the car that occasionally he wasn't getting to full throttle. Now the sensors can, we can run routines that allow us to recalibrate those live while we're driving, but ultimately it's a big safety issue if the throttle is malfunctioning. So the thing that stopped him was actually the car's own programme deciding that there was enough going wrong here that it was going to shut down that throttle signal. And that was obviously what brought the car to a halt. Now, with the fault that we had, we weren't going to make the end of the race anyway, so we'd always err on the side of caution.'
Frederic Vasseur: 'We know how crucial qualifying is at this track, and over the past few days we’ve been working specifically on improving our flying lap performance, because in recent races we haven’t managed to extract the full potential of our package on Saturdays.'
'Papaya was initially trialled on our cars in the Can-Am racing championship, inspired by Bruce’s business partner, Teddy Mayer, who had spotted a similarly coloured car at a British race meet he’d attended. Bruce and Teddy believed the vivid hue would stand out on the black-and-white television screens of the era, while looming large in the mirrors of rivals.'
Around half of the Monaco street track has been resurfaced this year. The new section runs from Tabac, though Swimming Pool, Rascasse, Anthony Noghes, along the pit straight, around Sainte Devote and up to Massenet.
Kimi Raikkonen beat Fernando Alonso to victory in Monaco today in 2005
70 years ago today Maurice Trintignant won the Monaco Grand Prix for Ferrari, in car number 44. It was the first time the race had been run to Formula 1 rules in five years.
Born today in 1970: Pedro Diniz, who started 98 grands prix between 1995 and 2000
Otmar’s plan is good & I’m looking forward to what this team would look like if it becomes true someday, although I wonder which manufacturer?
He mentioned buying an existing team, which wouldn’t increase the team amount, but I’m positive starting from scratch like GM Andretti & Haas, as the most recent before them, is also a viable option.
The 2005 Monaco GP is one of my outright favorite Monaco GPs, & one thing I particularly like about the 2005 edition is Red Bull Racing promoting Star Wars Episode III (which premiered a few days before) in cool fashion by having mechanics dressed as storm troopers & the cars feature the film logo & other references to it.
“A cheap way in ” I don’t think so. Nothing that Alpine are doing is going to make them selling their team
(if it is for sale) cheap. With a Mercedes power unit from next year and a team which this year is at least competent and in the mid field. It seem unlikely that next year will me similarly competent as the power unit will be from Mercedes who we can assume will be competent. No team sold within the next few years are going to be cheap. The other side of a billion will what to expect.
Alpine might not be that easy to sell. It’s not wholly owned by Renault. There’s plenty of investors in the team from all sorts of places. It’s not like Renault selling a Renault car. We don’t know who has what voting rights, vetos etc. F1 teams make money (at the moment), and those quiet partners might be quite happy with the status quo, and any buyers less keen to buy into something they can’t fully control.
Indeed. FIA should start sanctioning teams if drivers don’t park their cars beside an orange-marked hole when retiring from a race or sprint.
Antonelli unnecessarily continuing further down the Tosa-Piratella interval only to park relatively far away from the closest exit hole was simply excessive, especially as it required a recovery vehicle to be sent from around Acque Minerali.
Totally agree. It won’t always be possible to bring the car to a controlled stop, such as when the gearbox just locks up, but most times it is.
This is ultimately a safety issue, and the drivers usually show little to no care for anything but themselves. I think it was Hamilton in Australia who showed how it is done, whereas Bottas was usually really bad.
And soon (or already) teams will use this as part of their strategy.
Since Singapore 2008 it’s no longer allowed to instruct a driver to crash a car, but the rules leave it open to park a car for safety reasons in such a location that a SC is required.
Imagine if Russell had an extra set of new mediums and achieved a podium finish due to this fortunous ‘err on the side of caution’.
I am to this day surprised that Mercedes did not do this with Bottas in Abu Dhabi back then. But in a good way, regardless of whether it just didnt occur to them or that they decided against it. If I remember correctly, Red Bull pulled Pérez in to avoid exactly that scenario, as he was nursing an issue in the latter parts of the race.
You can never totally rule out shenanigans in a team sport, but some sort of deterrent for causing a disruption should hopefully clean this up quite quickly. Drivers could do with being a bit more considerate when pulling over. It’s just a small thing, but it can help both the marshals and the race itself.
Legislating for such a thing would be silly and impractical. Generally when a driver experiences a car failure they’ll ask a few questions;
Can I fix this?
If not; Can I get back to the pits?
If not; then they’ll look for somewhere safe to pull over. If there’s a gap in the wall they can see then great, otherwise it’s get the car somewhere safe as quickly as possible.
You then get instances where they’re instructed to stop the car right now to avoid a failure and they may not have the luxury of going as far as a gap in the barrier before they lose an engine or gearbox.
If a team is suspected of stopping their car somewhere specific deliberately to force a VSC or SC, you know everyone else would be all over them. I think Red Bull was accused of it last year or the year before at some point.
when Antonelli’s Mercedes stopped in more or less the same place [as Ocon’s Haas] – actually a little further on – there was no space for it in the marshals’ post behind it, because Ocon’s car was already there.
That meant it needed to be pushed uphill to the next marshals’ post, and that needed a recovery vehicle. And it took about five minutes for the recovery vehicle to get there.
Good comment @jimG. What we really really dont need is more rules in F1 EVERYTIME something happens. Anyone who follows F1 reasonably closely knew about the Haas already being where they would’ve taken the Merc but some are more interested in imparting their wisdom than finding out what actually occurred.
@jimg The hole where Ocon’s car was moved isn’t the closest to Antonelli’s precise stopping spot, so Ocon’s car filling that hole’s space was irrelevant since Antonelli’s car was too far from that hole to begin with.
Ocon stopped on the LHS grass shortly after Tosa, meaning that his car was moved behind that portion of catch-fencing, & Antonelli stopped shortly before Piratella beyond the LHS exit hole towards that corner, while the exit closest to Piratella is on the opposite side.
The #SportsEmmys Award for Outstanding Documentary Series – Serialized goes to Formula 1: Drive to Survive @F1 (@netflix).
Wow, a proven fake/scripted/twisting reality documentary is able to win an Emmy. F1 has become the victim of consumerism and cheap entertainment for the masses. Who cares about integrity and truth? Getting money out of the pockets of consumers is way more important.
These awards are given by the US National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, so it’s worth noting the competition was quite sparse.
The other nominations were ‘Full Court Press’ by ABC, about women’s college basketball, ‘Hard Knocks’ by HBO about an American football team’s off-season activities, ‘Messi’s World Cup’ by Apple, which is two years late to the party, and ‘The Money Game’ by Amazon about a state university in Louisiana.
It’s not but it’s a shame Alpine aren’t a Nissan F1 team as I reckon they would sell the team for about £600 to a Billion pounds, Renault / Alpine might be getting built up to be more competitive so they become more attractive to a potential buyer. Flavio pointed fingers at how competitive the Renault engine is and expensive to develop and to produce. The Alpine-Mercedes connection relationship will begin in 2026, I still don’t rule out an Alpine sell off and for them to takeover the Nissan formula e team (this is not official rumours are news, just MO)
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd May 2025, 7:25
Otmar’s plan is good & I’m looking forward to what this team would look like if it becomes true someday, although I wonder which manufacturer?
He mentioned buying an existing team, which wouldn’t increase the team amount, but I’m positive starting from scratch like GM Andretti & Haas, as the most recent before them, is also a viable option.
The 2005 Monaco GP is one of my outright favorite Monaco GPs, & one thing I particularly like about the 2005 edition is Red Bull Racing promoting Star Wars Episode III (which premiered a few days before) in cool fashion by having mechanics dressed as storm troopers & the cars feature the film logo & other references to it.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
22nd May 2025, 11:23
I reckon that Alpine are likely the target as I don’t see them staying around much longer. Be a cheap way in.
harold wilson (@bonbonjai)
22nd May 2025, 12:32
“A cheap way in ” I don’t think so. Nothing that Alpine are doing is going to make them selling their team
(if it is for sale) cheap. With a Mercedes power unit from next year and a team which this year is at least competent and in the mid field. It seem unlikely that next year will me similarly competent as the power unit will be from Mercedes who we can assume will be competent. No team sold within the next few years are going to be cheap. The other side of a billion will what to expect.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
22nd May 2025, 17:18
Alpine might not be that easy to sell. It’s not wholly owned by Renault. There’s plenty of investors in the team from all sorts of places. It’s not like Renault selling a Renault car. We don’t know who has what voting rights, vetos etc. F1 teams make money (at the moment), and those quiet partners might be quite happy with the status quo, and any buyers less keen to buy into something they can’t fully control.
S Arkazam
22nd May 2025, 7:45
If only they would err on the side where the marshals could easily extract the car.
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd May 2025, 8:27
Indeed. FIA should start sanctioning teams if drivers don’t park their cars beside an orange-marked hole when retiring from a race or sprint.
Antonelli unnecessarily continuing further down the Tosa-Piratella interval only to park relatively far away from the closest exit hole was simply excessive, especially as it required a recovery vehicle to be sent from around Acque Minerali.
MichaelN
22nd May 2025, 8:42
Totally agree. It won’t always be possible to bring the car to a controlled stop, such as when the gearbox just locks up, but most times it is.
This is ultimately a safety issue, and the drivers usually show little to no care for anything but themselves. I think it was Hamilton in Australia who showed how it is done, whereas Bottas was usually really bad.
S Arkazam
22nd May 2025, 9:34
And soon (or already) teams will use this as part of their strategy.
Since Singapore 2008 it’s no longer allowed to instruct a driver to crash a car, but the rules leave it open to park a car for safety reasons in such a location that a SC is required.
Imagine if Russell had an extra set of new mediums and achieved a podium finish due to this fortunous ‘err on the side of caution’.
MichaelN
22nd May 2025, 11:04
I am to this day surprised that Mercedes did not do this with Bottas in Abu Dhabi back then. But in a good way, regardless of whether it just didnt occur to them or that they decided against it. If I remember correctly, Red Bull pulled Pérez in to avoid exactly that scenario, as he was nursing an issue in the latter parts of the race.
You can never totally rule out shenanigans in a team sport, but some sort of deterrent for causing a disruption should hopefully clean this up quite quickly. Drivers could do with being a bit more considerate when pulling over. It’s just a small thing, but it can help both the marshals and the race itself.
Craig
22nd May 2025, 10:27
Legislating for such a thing would be silly and impractical. Generally when a driver experiences a car failure they’ll ask a few questions;
Can I fix this?
If not; Can I get back to the pits?
If not; then they’ll look for somewhere safe to pull over. If there’s a gap in the wall they can see then great, otherwise it’s get the car somewhere safe as quickly as possible.
You then get instances where they’re instructed to stop the car right now to avoid a failure and they may not have the luxury of going as far as a gap in the barrier before they lose an engine or gearbox.
If a team is suspected of stopping their car somewhere specific deliberately to force a VSC or SC, you know everyone else would be all over them. I think Red Bull was accused of it last year or the year before at some point.
JimG (@jimg)
22nd May 2025, 11:42
According to the BBC:
Are you planning to legislate for that as well?
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
22nd May 2025, 12:57
Good comment @jimG. What we really really dont need is more rules in F1 EVERYTIME something happens. Anyone who follows F1 reasonably closely knew about the Haas already being where they would’ve taken the Merc but some are more interested in imparting their wisdom than finding out what actually occurred.
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd May 2025, 13:36
@jimg The hole where Ocon’s car was moved isn’t the closest to Antonelli’s precise stopping spot, so Ocon’s car filling that hole’s space was irrelevant since Antonelli’s car was too far from that hole to begin with.
Ocon stopped on the LHS grass shortly after Tosa, meaning that his car was moved behind that portion of catch-fencing, & Antonelli stopped shortly before Piratella beyond the LHS exit hole towards that corner, while the exit closest to Piratella is on the opposite side.
asz
22nd May 2025, 10:01
Seeing a headline like this, my first idea is still that someone is reminiscing about Räikkönen.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
22nd May 2025, 12:15
Well, I must say I do love the comment of the day. Very insightful. Much smarts.
S Arkazam
22nd May 2025, 12:29
;)
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
22nd May 2025, 12:59
So his level is fighting for a WDC against 2 outstanding drivers. I think he and his fans will take that.
Seems like some drivers have to be a mix of Fangio, Clark and Prost to be considered any good
Ferdi
22nd May 2025, 13:18
Wow, a proven fake/scripted/twisting reality documentary is able to win an Emmy. F1 has become the victim of consumerism and cheap entertainment for the masses. Who cares about integrity and truth? Getting money out of the pockets of consumers is way more important.
MichaelN
22nd May 2025, 15:07
These awards are given by the US National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, so it’s worth noting the competition was quite sparse.
The other nominations were ‘Full Court Press’ by ABC, about women’s college basketball, ‘Hard Knocks’ by HBO about an American football team’s off-season activities, ‘Messi’s World Cup’ by Apple, which is two years late to the party, and ‘The Money Game’ by Amazon about a state university in Louisiana.
It’s not exactly a grand line-up.
paulsf1fix
22nd May 2025, 21:15
It’s not but it’s a shame Alpine aren’t a Nissan F1 team as I reckon they would sell the team for about £600 to a Billion pounds, Renault / Alpine might be getting built up to be more competitive so they become more attractive to a potential buyer. Flavio pointed fingers at how competitive the Renault engine is and expensive to develop and to produce. The Alpine-Mercedes connection relationship will begin in 2026, I still don’t rule out an Alpine sell off and for them to takeover the Nissan formula e team (this is not official rumours are news, just MO)