F1 Newsbites is back! Here is your Spanish Grand Prix edition with all the latest news coming from the Formula 1 Paddock in Montmelo.

 

 

Bottas heads Mercedes 1-2 in FP2

 

Championship leader Valtteri Bottas ended the day as he did in the opening practice session, on top leading Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to a Silver Arrows one-two in FP2 at the Spanish Grand Prix.

 

Bottas was the fastest in the early stages of the hour and a half session whilst using the yellow-marked medium tyres and was seven tenths quicker than Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

 

Vettel and team-mate Charles Leclerc continued to switch top spot on the time-sheets as both Ferrari drivers used the red-branded soft compounds first, with the latter eventually pipping the German by 0.088 seconds to grab third.

 

At the halfway point of the session it was Bottas and Hamilton who were out on track and running the softs in quick succession.

 

Hamilton provisionally snatched top spot with a 1:17.410 before Bottas eclipsed the Briton with the 1.17.284 on his first hot lap on the soft rubber.

 

Although Hamilton made an improvement, it was not enough to go ahead of his team-mate and ended up sandwiched in-between the Finn and Leclerc to remain second.

 

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who suffered an oil leak in FP1 that forced the Dutchman to change to his engine to spec 2, finished the day in fifth on the time-sheets and 0.750 seconds off of Bottas’ benchmark.

 

Verstappen complained of an engine issue during the session running 15 laps in before returning to the pits and then eventually emerging back on track with 15 minutes remaining.

 

Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean split the Red Bull pairing to take sixth after outpacing Pierre Gasly’s Honda-powered RB15,

 

Kevin Magnussen was running the old-spec VF-19 as the Kannapolis-Banbury outfit ran a comparison between the old and newer upgrades to take eighth and two tenths off his sixth-placed team-mate.

 

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz took ninth place and in-front of Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat to complete the top ten.

 

Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen was the last to improve as he powered his C38 racer from 15th to 11th as the 2007 World Champion put himself just ahead of the other Toro Rosso of Alexander Albon who was 12th.

 

Racing Point’s Lance Stroll who crashed in the opening practice session, drove his Mercedes-powered RP19 without the latest upgrades in FP2 to 13th quickest and in-front of the Renault F1 Team duo of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg who were 14th and 15th respectively.

 

The second McLaren MCL34 of Lando Norris was 16th and only three tenths off the top ten finishing ahead of 17th-placed Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi.

 

The other Racing Point of Sergio Perez ended 18th quickest and in-front of ROKiT Williams Racing pairing of George Russell and Robert Kubica who finished at the rear.

 

Formula 1 Emirates Gran Premio De Espana 2019 Free Practice 2 Classification

 

POS	DRIVER	CAR	TIME	GAP	LAPS
1	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport	1m17.284s	–	35
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport	1m17.333s	0.049s	35
3	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow	1m17.585s	0.301s	42
4	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow	1m17.673s	0.389s	41
5	Max Verstappen	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda	1m18.035s	0.751s	30
6	Romain Grosjean	Rich Energy Haas F1 Team	1m18.153s	0.869s	42
7	Pierre Gasly	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda	1m18.238s	0.954s	34
8	Kevin Magnussen	Rich Energy Haas F1 Team	1m18.355s	1.071s	40
9	Carlos Sainz Jr.	McLaren-Renault F1 Team	1m18.658s	1.374s	45
10	Daniil Kvyat	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	1m18.722s	1.438s	40
11	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo Racing	1m18.727s	1.443s	30
12	Alexander Albon	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	1m18.779s	1.495s	44
13	Lance Stroll	SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team	1m18.839s	1.555s	33
14	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault F1 Team	1m18.861s	1.577s	43
15	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault F1 Team	1m18.934s	1.650s	40
16	Lando Norris	McLaren-Renault F1 Team	1m19.041s	1.757s	43
17	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing	1m19.427s	2.143s	37
18	Sergio Perez	SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team	1m19.448s	2.164s	40
19	George Russell	ROKiT Williams Racing	1m20.191s	2.907s	38
20	Robert Kubica	ROKiT Williams Racing	1m20.781s	3.497s	23

 

Selected Driver Quotes

 

Valtteri Bottas, #77, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W10 EQ Power+: “It’s always an interesting day when you’re bringing new parts to the car to get a feel for it and see if they bring the performance they should. The car felt really good today, completely different to how it was in winter testing, and it seems like our cornering performance has improved. The balance around the lap is also better, so it looks like we’ve taken the right direction since the winter. Today was good, but it’s only Friday and Ferrari are very close. It feels like we’ve made a good step forward, but we need to wait and see what tomorrow holds.”

 

Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W10 EQ Power+: “It was quite windy on track today and it was a bit tricky with the grip levels on the three different tyres, but we got through our programme and now have lots of data to analyse tonight and then fine tune the car for tomorrow. Everyone worked really hard to bring the new package here and a huge amount of effort has gone into it. It seems like it’s working, but it’s hard to feel it because this track is so different to the streets of Baku. We’ve got work to do with the balance, but it’s been positive for us to be out there.”

 

Sebastian Vettel, #5, Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow, SF90: “As far as the aerodynamic and engine updates are concerned, I’d say we can be pleased with them, but it’s only Friday and the true order of the teams will be only be seen from tomorrow onwards. I’d say we are not yet where we’d want to be, especially in the slowest corner and so I think we still have quite a bit of work ahead of us to be ready for qualifying and the race.”

 

Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow, SF90: “We focused on understanding our new package today and ran all of the tests we had planned. We have some more work to do to find the right balance, but this is normal when you put a car with new parts on track for the first time and it should be a quick fix. Overall, the potential is there and we are in good shape. We will push hard to challenge our competitors and have a positive qualifying result tomorrow.”

 

Max Verstappen, #33, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda, RB15: “During the two practice sessions we tried to improve the car and understand the new updates, which I think we did. I have a good feeling about the upgrades, which work for sure, and the tyres seem to be working quite well, too. The long runs were okay and we still need to find a little bit of pace, but we have the whole night to find it. During FP1 we had an oil leak so we had to change the engine ahead of FP2, which put us a little on the back foot. I think that’s also a little bit of the reason why, in the second practice session, we were not exactly where we wanted to be set-up wise with the balance of the car, but we have enough data to understand and improve it for tomorrow. I enjoy being at this track, and especially this weekend, as we have our new Energy Station which is a great home for our Team.”

 

Pierre Gasly, #10, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda, RB15: “Overall, today felt good and it was a pretty positive day. I think we’ve taken a step forward and the first feeling with the car is good. Of course, as a driver you always want more grip, but I think in terms of balance it was good and so I’m really happy. It’s only the first day of running so it’s too early to make any conclusions and we need to understand more about this package. It’s clear Mercedes and Ferrari have made a pretty big step, but we ran a lot of tests today, so now we need to analyse everything tonight and try to put everything together for tomorrow.”

 

Daniel Ricciardo, #3, Renault F1 Team, R.S.19: “There was a lot learned today. I felt the car was pretty good to start the day and better than what we showed on the timesheets. There is more potential and we have some work to do to identify why we couldn’t demonstrate that pace over one lap. That said, it seemed better on the high-fuel runs. Tomorrow, we’ll look to extract better qualifying pace.”

 

Nico Hulkenberg, #27, Renault F1 Team, R.S.19: “Today was quite a standard Friday with nothing too special to report. We did the usual mix of short and long runs across both sessions as well as some tyre assessment. As always around here, we were chasing the balance of the car and we have some work to do in that area. The car didn’t feel perfect today and we have some room for improvement looking ahead to tomorrow’s qualifying.”

 

Lance Stroll, #18, SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team, RP19: “I feel that we have made some progress today. The car is feeling better than it has at the previous races so that’s a positive. Unfortunately I put a wheel on the grass in the morning session at the entry of turn nine. We missed a bit of running in the afternoon as a result, but the team did a great job to get the car repaired and we still got our programme done. We have some parts being delivered tonight so we should be in good shape for the rest of the weekend. My feelings on the updates were generally positive, but let’s wait and see what the data says.”

 

Sergio Perez, #11, SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team, RP19: “It was quite a tricky day and difficult to know how we will perform for the rest of the weekend. We completed lots of laps and collected the data, but we are not yet happy with the performance so we need to understand where we can unlock more potential tonight. We were a bit up and down today – at times we seemed more competitive and then at other times we seemed further away. So the work we will do over the coming hours – looking through the data – will be really important to get us in better shape for qualifying. It’s early days to give a definite decision on the new parts we tried today and we need more time to really understand them.”

 

Kimi Raikkonen, #7, Alfa Romeo Racing, C38: “That was a difficult day for us, with lots of issues here and there. At the end of FP2 we understood the car a bit better, but we still have a lot of work to do for tomorrow’s qualifying.”

 

Antonio Giovinazzi, #99, Alfa Romeo Racing, C38: “It was very nice to finally have a Friday without issues and I hope it is a sign of things to come for the rest of the weekend. I was able to get some good mileage under my belt in both sessions, which was crucial. Barcelona is a track we know very well but it’s interesting to see how much the cars have progressed since testing and in these temperatures. As always, understanding the tyres was a big part of our programme today and I feel we have a good understanding of how they work. Hopefully we can progress a bit more tonight and we will be in the battle for Q3 tomorrow.”

 

 

 

Bye Interlagos, welcome back Rio?

 

The Brazilian Grand Prix will be moving from Interlagos to a purpose built race-track in Rio de Janeiro, which could be named after the country’s late three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna, the president of Brazil has revealed.

 

With long-term uncertainty over the current Formula 1 event in Brazil at Interlagos, president Jair Bolsonaro said the switch of venues would happen next year in 2020.

 

At a press conference, it was announced that the deal had been signed with Rio’s Governor Wilson Witzel and Mayor Marcelo Crivella for the construction of a new circuit in the western Deodoro district.

 

The plan is for the track to completed by the end of the year and will be financed by private backers.

 

“The management of F1 has decided to maintain a grand prix in Brazil, but Sao Paulo has become impractical because of the event’s public financial support and the debt that exists over there,” President Bolsonaro explained to reporters. “The new racetrack will be built in six or seven months.”

 

“The hotel sector will be happy, the state economy as well since it will be six or seven thousands jobs generated. It is good for both Rio de Janeiro and Brazil.” Bolsonaro concluded.

 

Brazil’s former Grand Prix home in Rio, the Jacarepagua circuit, was demolished in 2016 to make way for the Olympic Park precinct.

 

The new circuit at Deodoro will be built on private land being given up by the country’s military and is set to be designed by Hermann Tilke.

 

It is also targeting to host around of the MotoGP World Championship with a letter of intent sent to the sport’s promoter Dorna.

 

Two races set to drop off calendar

 

 

Formula 1’s CEO Chase Carey has dropped a hint that the sport will drop two current venues from the calendar but will remain stable at 21 races.

 

Carey also confirmed that due to ongoing demand the Grand Prix schedule is set to expand beyond 21 after the 2020 season.

 

Vietnam is already locked in for next season in April, while a deal has been agreed but not signed for Zandvoort in May just yet.

 

Although he did not name the circuits, Carey said two current venues have been confirmed whose contracts expire at the end of the season, whilst confirming that the sport is still in negotiation with other tracks that are up for renewal.

 

Monza has already revealed that it’s future on the Formula 1 calendar is close to being secured, while Silverstone, Hockenheim, Mexico and Barcelona is uncertain, with the latter widely expected to be dropped.

 

“We’re in the process of finalising our 2020 race calendar,” Carey explained to financial analysts. “We have agreements in principle on two renewals, and are actively engaged on three other renewals.”

 

“In addition we have already announced our race in Hanoi, and construction has begun on the track and facilities. It will be a street course that is one of the most unique and challenging race tracks in the world, with 22 corners and a couple of long straightaways, the design of which we have been intimately involved with. I was in Hanoi a few weeks ago, and the excitement was palpable,”

 

“In addition to Hanoi, we also have an agreement in principle to add another new circuit to our calendar in 2020. We’ve not finalised the number of races in 2020, but we currently expect it to be 21, the same as 2019. Obviously the math means that we will not be able to renew all our current races.”

 

Carey said that a lot of thought goes into deciding the Formula 1 calendar in how it’s shaped, with which circuits to include or drop and suggested some change is good for the sport.

 

“We value our partnerships with our existing promoters, however we believe it is important for our fans and the growth of our sport and business that we both add exciting new locations, and manage a limited level of churn,” Carey continued. “We’re in the fortunate position of having more demand than supply, but recognise that we need to manage that dynamic in a thoughtful manner,”

 

“The factors we consider in deciding on a race include the quality of the track for great racing, and the location as one that captures the world’s imagination; the level of fan and broader support and enthusiasm in the host city and country; the historic importance and future potential of the track and race; the global balance of our schedule; and a number of other factors,”

 

“We clearly have demand for more than 21 races in 2020, and do expect that number of races in a year will increased slightly after 2020. However we want to make sure that we’re maximising the opportunities for the sport and fans, and not rush to decisions,”

 

“And we do believe that a limited expansion of the calendar, and churn, are important for creating a fresh and exciting dynamic for fans and for our ongoing growth.” Carey concluded.

 

 

 

Pirelli chooses three teams to test 18-inch tyres

 

Pirelli have confirmed that Mercedes, McLaren and Renault are the three teams, which will undertake testing mule cars fitted with 2021 18-inch tyres.

 

Each team will have it’s own two day session running the new prototype compounds with different sizes towards the end of this year and Pirelli will share the data amongst the other seven teams that will not take part.

 

The entire grid were offered a chance to develop a mule car from last year’s chassis with suspension revisions and only three responded positively.

 

Red Bull could not take part due to it’s divorce with Renault and could not run it’s 2018 car whilst Ferrari said it did not have the resources or any time to participate.

 

Pirelli will be running another more substantial mule test car program in 2020, when most of the teams will be expected to run.

 

“The intention is to have three test sessions, September, October and November,” explained Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola. “We are going to offer the opportunity for a mule car again in 2020 for all the teams. It’s their choice if they want to do that or not. It’s the same system and procedure we are using the last few years. We offer it to everybody, teams can accept or not.”

 

“Then we make the plan according to the number of teams that accept. We have 25 days of testing next year, as it was the last few years. So we have a short development plan for 2020 in the first half of this season and then we switch from September onwards,”

 

“Everyone knows the development is not just these three sessions in 2019, so as I said the teams all the teams can decide to participate in 2020. The three teams that replied positively have been chosen, and we are planning three sessions, so it’s quite easy to give one sessions each.” Isola concluded.

 

 

Drivers running post-Spanish GP test

 

SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team will allow test and simulator driver Nick Yelloly to have two days running in the RP19 in the post-Spanish GP test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

 

Yelloly took part in the same test back in the 2015 season with Force India, which transformed into Racing Point in the mid-point of last year.

 

The Briton will drive the RP19 on Tuesday and Wednesday while team regulars Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez will have a day each.

 

Ferrari has confirmed ex-Formula 2 racer and simulator driver Antonio Fuoco to run a day in the SF90 on Wednesday whilst Sebastian Vettel will be doing Pirelli test duties on Tuesday and Charles Leclerc will take part on both days with the final day more focused on the Pirelli side.

 

Callum Ilott, one of Ferrari’s Academy drivers will run F1 machinery for the first time as he pilots the Alfa Romeo Racing C38 on Tuesday.

 

Haas F1 Team announced Pietro Fittipaldi to drive the VF-19 on Tuesday before Dane Kevin Magnussen takes over on Wednesday.

 

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing have announced that Dan Ticktum will test the RB15 on Wednesday with Pierre Gasly running on Tuesday.