Hi fellow F1 fanatics, this is your Friday edition of F1 Newsbites – let’s dive right into what is making the news heading into the British GP weekend.

 

 

Boullier resigns as racing director of McLaren

 

The news of the week is that Eric Boullier has resigned as racing director of McLaren in the midst of the team’s struggles in Formula 1.

 

The Frenchman joined McLaren from Lotus in 2014 and was in control of the sporting aspects of the Woking-based outfit during it’s recent struggles with former engine supplier Honda.

 

He hoped the team would return to battle with the front runners using Renault power-trains, but the team’s failure of form continued, mostly due to the issue with the MCL33’s aerodynamics, which led to Boullier stepping down ahead of McLaren’s home Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend.

 

“I am very proud to have worked with such a brilliant team over the past four years, but I recognise now is the right time for me to step down,” explained Boullier. “I want to wish everyone at McLaren the best for the remainder of the season and for the future.”

 

Following the news of Boullier’s resignation, the Woking squad brought about a major management restructuring in the team with former Champ Car Champion Gil De Ferran joining as the team’s sporting director.

 

Chief Operating Officer of McLaren Racing, Simon Roberts will manage the engineering, logistics and production side of the team whilst Andrea Stella, who joined the team from Ferrari in 2015 alongside Fernando Alonso, has been put in charge as performance director and will be responsible for McLaren’s trackside operations.

 

“The performance of the MCL33 in 2018 has not met the expectations of anyone at McLaren, especially our loyal fans,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown explained. “This is not the fault of the hundreds of committed and hard-working men and women at McLaren,”

 

“The causes are systemic and structural, which require major change from within. With today’s announcement, we start to address those issues head on and take the first step on our road to recovery.”

 

“I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the entire team to thank Eric for his service and contribution to McLaren and wish him well in his future endeavours.” Brown concluded.

 

The came following two weeks of extreme pressure on McLaren after both cars failed to make it out of the first stage of qualifying at Paul Ricard in France and the lack of one-lap pace at last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix whilst both car’s race pace has been an improvement.

 

McLaren currently sits sixth in the Constructors Championship on 44 points, but has only scored eight points since the Woking-based squad’s major upgrade at the Spanish Grand Prix.

 

Boullier was forced to defend his position at the French Grand Prix following a news report in the Daily Mail from an anonymous source, which said the team’s atmosphere at the Woking factory was “toxic”.

 

Brown watered down the story at the time, but the tension has built on the team since then, which lead to Boullier stepping down two weeks later.

 

 

Lowe: “Williams ‘humility’ stopping McLaren-like hostility”

 

Williams Chief Technical Officer Paddy Lowe believes his Grove-based squad’s “humility and sportsmanship” is why pundits are not eager to bring the team down for under-performing like rival McLaren.

 

The two British outfits are among the sport’s most famous winning a total of 296 Grands Prix and 17 Constructors titles between them.

 

However, both teams have failed win a Grand Prix since the 2012 season, with Williams’ Spanish Grand Prix victory through Pastor Maldonado that year being the Grove-teams’ only win in the last 14 seasons whilst McLaren’s last triumph came at the season finale in Brazil via Jenson Button.

 

McLaren are sixth in the Constructors Championship on 44 points while Williams are in a far worse situation sitting at the bottom of the ten teams.

 

When asked why Williams have avoided the pressure like McLaren has been receiving, Lowe explained: “You’ve got to look at the team and what it represents, and particularly look at Frank [Williams, team founder] and what he created,”

 

“It’s a very well respected team. Frank’s approach, his values, the way he’s approached motor racing, is instilled in the team and continued by Claire in a great way – a sense of sportsmanship and humility around what we do,”

 

“I met Frank once in a hotel lobby when I was at McLaren and they’d had a really bad day, 10 or more years ago, and I said, ‘Sorry about your bad day Frank’. He said, ‘We were tested and found wanting’. That’s his attitude,”

 

“There are others that have less humility, who blame anything else but themselves when having a bad day,”

 

“I think people sort of respect and sympathise with our position when things aren’t going well. And they then don’t tend to bail in and tear us apart.” Lowe concluded.

 

McLaren’s 2018 campaign took another turn following the resignation of racing director Eric Boullier during a difficult period for the Woking-based outfit since it’s divorce from Honda and switching to Renault power.

 

 

Vettel: “F1 penalties out of control”

 

Sebastian Vettel has taken aim at F1’s rulebook following the penalty for “blocking” he received at last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, which relegated him down the grid.

 

The German dropped from third to sixth on the starting grid in last Sunday’s race after impeding Renault’s Carlos Sainz during Q2, and while Vettel and the Maranello-based outfit admitted they were at fault, the four-time World Champion felt the penalty was pointless.

 

When asked about his grid demotion last weekend, Vettel deplored Formula 1’s sporting regulations and said the drivers were partly accountable.

 

“I think I’ve said before I’m not a fan of penalties. I think I’ve said as well in the past it’s our own fault, the drivers’ fault, because we sit there on Friday afternoon complaining about the decisions and the consistency [of them],” explained Vettel.

 

“My point of view is motorsport is not black and white so not every decision can be the same and I don’t see the necessity to decide every time, but that’s what the sport has developed into. Every incident needs to be looked at – so-called racing incidents for some reason are not allowed to happen anymore,”

 

“So we end up with a massive rule-book which could have the header ‘we’re not allowed to race’ because that’s sometimes how it feels.” Vettel said.

 

The penalty re-ignited debate on the consistency of penalties given Sainz, while was forced to take the first corner run-off, still made it to Q3 on a later flier during the second stage.

 

“Obviously in that situation in qualy no one was hurt, Carlos said it was no problem and he completely understood and was chilled, but still we ended up with a penalty,” Vettel continued. “So for me it sucked on the day, it will probably suck for somebody else at some point in the season,”

 

The race stewards reasoning for hitting the German with a penalty was because Vettel stayed on the racing line whilst on a cool down lap and both Ferrari drivers have reported difficulty seeing through the rear-view mirrors.

 

But Vettel who received a penalty on the opening lap after tangling with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas at the French Grand Prix, argued that standard errors should not always lead to punishable sanctions.

 

“I just think all these things are unnecessary because sometimes it’s not that you lose your mind or do something crazy because you intend to, you try to push the limits and you might do a mistake,” Vettel said. “It’s happening everywhere else, I think there’s a trend everywhere else that things are being investigated. I really don’t like the word, but that’s what it is.”

 

Had Vettel started in third, then he could have been in the perfect position to take advantage of Mercedes rare double retirement instead of taking the final podium place.

 

The four-time World Champion still however, reclaimed the top of the Driver’s Championship by just a point from rival Lewis Hamilton and when asked if he was regretting that his lead could have been bigger Vettel said.

 

“I’m still happy with one at the end of the year! If it’s one or 10 it doesn’t matter,”

 

“I don’t know; I think we have to take every opportunity that we get. It’s the same as from the beginning of the season. Sometimes you might look back and say it might have been better to do this or that, but we’re here to look forward and we’ve collected a lot of points as we are moving forward. It’s the right approach.” Vettel concluded.

 

 

Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team’s British GP Preview

 

After the Hinwil-based outfit’s first double points finish of the 2018 season at last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team’s heads to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone celebrating a special occasion – the 68th anniversary of Alfa Romeo’s first ever Grand Prix victory with Giuseppe “Nino” Farina piloting the Alfa Romeo Tipo 158 “Alfetta” on May 13 at Silverstone back in 1950.

 

At a circuit with colossal history and popularity amongst motorsport fanatics, drivers Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc are looking forward to tackling the legendary Silverstone and appreciates the challenge of it’s high-speed corners.

 

“Silverstone is one of my favourite races on the calendar. It is a track that has a good mixture of everything – but I especially like the high-speed corner combinations,” explained Ericsson who scored his first points finish last weekend since round two in Bahrain. “They really challenge you as a driver, and I see driving these types of corners as one of my strong points,”

 

“The British fans always show up in great numbers, which makes the event even more special. The weather always plays a big role there, and the changeable conditions can spice things up. It is one of the highlights of the F1 calendar for me and it’s great to head there with the strength of the good result in Austria.” Ericsson concluded.

 

On the other side of the garage, Leclerc is relishing the characteristics of Silverstone’s fast-flowing nature.

 

“I am looking forward to driving at Silverstone. It is a high-speed track, and I am a big fan of the types of corners the track features,” said Leclerc who achieved his first consecutive points finish last weekend at the Red Bull Ring. “In general, I enjoy driving in wet conditions very much. The weather in England is quite unpredictable, so I hope that there will be some rain to add an extra challenge to our sessions. It is an historic race, and there are many passionate fans who come to support us at the track. This will make the atmosphere even more special for the weekend, and I can’t wait to be back in the car.” Leclerc concluded.

 

 

Hamilton keen for “Special Silverstone” as he attempts record win

 

Lewis Hamilton has defended the Silver Arrows following their reliability and strategic problems at last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix but the Briton is very motivated to fight back with a victory in-front of his British fans this weekend at Silverstone.

 

Hamilton fell one point behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in the World Driver’s Championship following last round at the Red Bull Ring where the Briton lost the race lead due to a strategy error before retiring with a fuel pressure issue.

 

But while the reigning champions could not have time to recuperate and fix it’s problems before their home Grand Prix, Hamilton said Mercedes reaction has been “incredible” and he has full faith in the team to bounce back.

 

“It was a difficult weekend but whatever doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger,” Hamilton explained. “The spirit within the team is stronger than it’s ever been.

“These experiences that we’ve been having, and how we’ve been handling them, has really united us more than any other year and there’s a great energy within the team. Whilst it was a painful experience it actually brought us closer and made us stronger. The team are super on it and confident that we’ve done everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again,”

 

“You go in with the same mentality as the last weekend – hoping for the car to be reliable. You can never predict what’s going to happen but that’s not getting in my way and I’m pretty certain that for the majority of people in the team they’re not letting that get in their way either.”

 

Although Mercedes are hoping to avoid any grid penalties this weekend, driver Valtteri Bottas also retired from the race in Austria and Hamilton insisted that the Brackley-based outfit has designed to fix both their W09 EQ Power+ machines.

 

“It’s inspiring me to keep pushing and I truly believe in these guys,” Hamilton said to Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz. “If I’m really honest I’m grateful that it’s happened because it was going to happen at some stage,”

 

“I’m only one point behind and it could have been a lot worse. I’m just going to try and keep the pressure on and try and perform as I have the last couple of races and it’s going to continue to be a close season.”

 

On the team’s strategy decision, where Hamilton was kept out longer following Bottas’ retirement, which brought out the virtual safety car, the Briton once again backed his team and James Vowles, who claimed responsibility for the mistake.

 

“The amount of simulations that go on, the amount of information, there’s a lot of tough calls for each team to make,” Hamilton continued.”I hope it’s not a title decider but I can’t predict what’s going to happen going forwards – all I know is we are constantly getting better and improving. I really do feel like I’ve got the best strategist team behind me. Look how many wins I’ve had with this team,”

 

“We’ve had far, far more successes than we’ve had failures. Nobody’s perfect and that’s just the way the sport is, there’s no way to be perfect.”

 

Looking ahead to his home British Grand Prix this weekend, Hamilton has already won five races on his turf and is attempting to take a record-breaking fifth victory in a row in-front of his passionate British fans.

 

“It’s difficult to put into words how special it feels when people come and support, you see the flags flying,” the defending British Grand Prix winner said. “There’s something incredibly special about the British sporting fans, there’s just an energy that’s die-hard. When you’re on the receiving end of that, I can’t express to you how crazy that feeling is. It’s one of the most special feelings ever,”

 

“What you want to do is just give back in whatever way you can which is ultimately getting the result so that they can blow up in their energy or get to actually see them during the weekend.”

 

With England’s national football team exceeding it’s expectations at the FIFA World Cup in Russia, Hamilton believes he can complete a great weekend of sporting success for the country if he can win again in Britain.

 

“It’s been a really incredible journey since 2007, coming here and just to be riding this positive wave every time you come to this grand prix. I’m really grateful to be in the position to fight for a win here at Silverstone for the sixth time, I’m very privileged in that respect,”

 

“And the support is unlike anywhere else. The atmosphere here is just incredible throughout this weekend, particularly when the weather is good. The hope is always that you can deliver, arrive in good form and perform and that’s what I’m going to try and do.” Hamilton concluded.