Hello fellow F1 fanatics, we’re back for the US Grand Prix edition of Newsbites. Let’s see the latest news from the paddock.

 

 

F1 2019 Driver Market Update

 

We’ll start off F1 Newsbites with the two latest additions to fill the Formula 1 grid for the 2019 World Championship season. Firstly, overnight was the announcement that Sergio Perez has agreed to extend his contract with Racing Point Force India F1 Team and will race for the Silverstone-based outfit in 2019.

 

The Mexican has scored five podiums for the team since joining in 2014 and currently sits seventh in the Driver’s Championship on 53 points (tied with Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg on points).

 

Perez is very confident and looking ahead to the next campaign. “I am very happy to finally announce my future and I’m really motivated for 2019,” explained Perez. “Force India has been my home since 2014 and has allowed me to grow as a driver and show my skills on track. We have achieved so much success in the last five seasons but I think the best is yet to come. The new investment the team is enjoying fills me with confidence and I am really excited about the future.” Perez concluded.

 

You can read the full statements here including from Racing Point Force India F1 CEO and Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer: https://www.forceindiaf1.com/news/sergio-perez-confirmed-2019-racing-point-force-india.

 

Russell confirmed for Williams Racing in 2019

 

Catching up on news from last weekend from my little break was hearing that George Russell will be racing for Williams Racing in the 2019 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season and debuting at the Formula 1 2019 Rolex Australian Grand Prix.

 

After a successful beginning to his career in karting, Russell has progressed through the single seater rankings, winning the 2014 BRDC Formula 4 Championship and achieving the McLaren Autosport BRDC award.

 

Russell then spent the 2015 and 16 campaigns racing in the FIA Formula 3 European Championships for Carlin and Hitech GP coming sixth and third in the standings for his respective teams.

 

The Briton then moved into GP3 in 2017 for ART Grand Prix and winning the title in his rookie season before being promoted to the GP2 outfit in 2018 where he currently leads the championship with two races remaining at the upcoming Abu Dhabi finale. Also Russell is currently fulfilling his duties as Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport F1 Reserve driver and has been part of the Silver Arrows junior programme since 2017.

 

You can read the full statements from Russell himself and Williams Racing Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams here at the link: https://www.williamsf1.com/racing/news/2018/10/williams-racing-confirms-george-russell-from-2019.

 

Williams are yet to announce who will be partnering the Briton next season.

 

How the 2019 grid is shaping up

 

Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport – Lewis Hamilton & Valtteri Bottas

Scuderia Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel & Charles Leclerc

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing – Max Verstappen & Pierre Gasly

Renault Sport F1 Team – Daniel Ricciardo & Nico Hulkenberg

Haas F1 Team – Romain Grosjean & Kevin Magnussen

Racing Point Force India F1 Team – Sergio Perez & TBC

McLaren Renault F1 Team – Carlos Sainz & Lando Norris

Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda – Daniil Kvyat & TBC

Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team – Kimi Raikkonen & Antonio Giovinazzi

Williams Racing – George Russell & TBC

 

FIA Approves 2019 calendar and rule changes

 

 

Another bit of news was seeing next years FIA Formula One World Championship calendar along with a number of rule changes being officially approved by the sport’s governing body the FIA, following a meeting from the World Motorsport Council last Friday.

 

For the third time in the sport’s history, it will feature a record 21 races as in 2016 and the current season. Eleven of the 21 rounds will be contested in Europe, five in Asia, four in the Americas and one in Australia.

 

The 2019 championship season will begin March 17th on the streets of Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia for the Formula 1 2019 Rolex Australian Grand Prix and finish on December 1 at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi for the Formula 1 2019 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In-between the two races, in China on April 14, Formula One will celebrate it’s 1000th Grand Prix since it’s inception in 1950.

 

The approved 2019 FIA Formula 1 World Championship calendar

 

 

New rules for 2019 and beyond

 

The World Motorsport Council also approved a raft of changes to the 2019 Sporting Regulations including:

 

• Changes to the Safety Car regulations to ensure there is a consistent point at which drivers may overtake when the Safety Car returns to the pits. This will now be the same in all three types of restart.
• The teams will now be responsible for initial scrutineering of their cars. Before the cars go on track for the first time, teams must declare conformity with all safety related matters.
• The official end-of-race signal will now be a chequered light panel, although the chequered flag will still be shown.

 

For 2020, the sport will increase the amount of time team personnel must be away from the track from eight to nine hours.

 

The Formula One Strategy Group and Commission’s proposals concerning the 2019 Technical Regulations were also approved, which include:

 

• Changes to the mirror regulations and also associated rear wing changes (height) for rear view visibility and safety (Articles 3.6 and 14.3)
• The on-board camera regulations will be modified to improve the TV spectacle (Article 21)
• Rear endplate lights are to be added for safety (Article 14.5)
• Minor modifications to the halo fairing (Article 15.2.6) are to be made for safety reasons during a potential driver extraction

 

The full details will be available on FIA.com

 

Hamilton: “I improve throughout the year”

 

 

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton has been on another level and could wrap up his fifth World Driver’s Championship this weekend in Austin, Texas as he did in 2015. The Briton’s signature is producing a dominant second half of the season and the Silver Arrows star cannot explain why he has been so strong in the final part of the season.

 

Every year since 2014 when Hamilton started winning championships for Mercedes, the Briton has won at least three races on the rebound after the sport’s summer break to propel himself with the chance of clinching the title going into the season’s end.

 

Hamilton currently has one hand on the trophy and is set to repeat his five consecutive race winning run as he did in 2014 with Italy, Singapore, Japan, Russia and the United States – solid form, which could land him his fifth world title should championship-rival Sebastian Vettel finish in third place or lower this weekend at the United States Grand Prix. How does the Briton do it?

 

“I don’t really have a massive explanation for it,” explained Hamilton. “It’s a combination of so many things. Naturally, as a driver… I notice I improve throughout the year. How you conduct yourself, how you perform within the team, how you’re able to maximise within the car.”

 

“But I think also as a team, collectively we’ve also done a better job in every area, and then [Ferrari], for sure, have not done as good a job in that respect coming into the second phase.”

 

“We are improving the car the whole year long, improving our knowledge of the car and how to get the most out of it. If we knew what we knew in the second half, we would do a lot better at the beginning. That’s just how it is in the sport, that’s how it always is. It’s been the same since I started in 2007 and I think it’s probably the same for everyone.”

 

Hamilton needs to score eight or more points than Vettel to secure the championship at the Circuit of the Americas this weekend, an achievement, which will see the Briton equal the record of the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio of five World Driver’s Titles. But Hamilton was not thinking of how clinching his fifth championship crown would feel at the moment.

 

“As a team, none of us are saying how cool it would be if it happened this weekend, or the next,” Hamilton continued. “We’re not focusing on ‘ifs’, we’re focusing on making sure that we deliver. There’s still 100 points available, so you can just never be complacent in life and in a championship as intense as this.” Hamilton concluded.

 

 

Vettel: “I need to take risks to stay in the title fight”

 

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel believes he needs to take more risks in order to keep his title fight with Lewis Hamilton alive.

 

At the last round’s Japanese Grand Prix, the German took an aggressive chance attempting to overtake Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at Spoon corner, which saw the Dutchman refuse to surrender his position and the duo collided with Vettel spinning in the run-off area and was forced to climb his way through the field.

 

Vettel revealed he received news of Verstappen being hit with the five-second penalty for the earlier incident with Kimi Raikkonen, But the reason why he was so aggressive to go for the move he said.  “Generally, I always try to win,” explained Vettel, when asked about his recent Grands Prix. “I think you have to be aggressive to win, and of course you need to find the right balance. Obviously you never try to do something silly or not to finish, because that way you can’t win. I think that’s normal.”

 

“The approach, I know what it takes, I know what to do, so in that regard it’s fairly similar, but we know that we need to take probably here or there a bit more risk because we are not in a position to manage the gap in the championship, because we don’t have a gap.”

 

The German insisted that Hamilton and Mercedes have done a better job than him and Ferrari as well as acknowledging that he should have done better.

 

“So far, yes,” Vettel continued. “It’s pretty obvious, you just have to look at the points.”

 

“I think some [of the races] I should’ve done better. If you want to name one, then Hockenheim… But overall I think we just didn’t have enough races where we had the speed to dominate the weekend, put the car on pole and finish first. Unfortunately it didn’t happen too often – or not often enough.”

 

“Unfortunately some of the races didn’t go our way at all, and [Mercedes] were able to benefit from that, but they were very strong benefitting from that. It’s not just we step aside and they were there. I think they had to do their job and they did it to get the points. Obviously it hurt us, but well played to them.”

 

“From our side, obviously it wasn’t ideal, but that’s done now, that’s in the past. We can’t change it. So I think we focus and look forward to the next four races. We will still try to do everything we can, and then we see what happens.”

 

With Hamilton needing to score just eight points more than Vettel to wrap up his fifth World Championship in Texas, the German knows he and the Scuderia need to give the maximum at the Circuit of the Americas to keep the title-battle alive.

 

Vettel still has hope however, that he and the team may still find the form that succeeded in unnerving Mercedes at times during the 2018 season.

 

“I think the weekend [in Suzuka] helped us to understand some things,” Vettel continued. “Obviously the last couple of weeks we didn’t have the speed, so let’s see what the next four races bring. In terms of our speed… obviously we hope to be back to the form we showed earlier this year.” Vettel concluded.

 

 

Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team’s preview of the US Grand Prix

 

The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team are looking forward to this weekend’s United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

 

A challenging circuit awaits drivers Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc, with both drivers looking forward to different combination of corner types and the massive kilometre-long back straight.

 

The United States Grand Prix is a favourite amongst the drivers and the teams on the F1 calendar, which features entertainment both on and off the track as well as the unique atmosphere the city of Austin, Texas provides.

 

“Austin is one of the best race locations each season.” explained Ericcson. “The city itself has a lot to offer, and the track as well as the atmosphere around it are always great. It is a challenging circuit. The first sector reminds me a bit of Suzuka, with very high-speed parts to it.”

 

“There are some good opportunities for overtaking, and the mix of the track’s characteristics make it an interesting one to drive. With the good pace we have shown over the past few weeks, we should be able to fight for good results, and I look forward to seeing what we will be able to achieve there.” Ericsson concluded.

 

On the other side of the garage, Leclerc is keen to tackle the Circuit of the Americas where he has done some running last year with the Hinwil-based squad.

 

“The United States Grand Prix will be an exciting one,” explained Leclerc. “I like the circuit very much, and have driven some free practice sessions there in the past.”

 

“It would be interesting to discover the track in dry conditions, as I have only ever driven there in the wet. Going to Austin is always something special, and the ambience at the track it will surely make for an exciting race weekend.” Leclerc concluded.