F1 Newsbites – Weekly Roundup

 

Sauber announces Alfa Romeo partnership

 

 

Sauber have announced a multi-year technical and commercial partnership with Alfa Romeo, which will see the Hinwil-based squad rebranded as Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team.

 

Alfa Romeo, part of Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles, which is managed by Ferrari Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne, will become the team’s title sponsor.

 

Marchionne dropped a hint that a return to Formula 1 in the future for Alfa Romeo was not out of the question and a major deal has been reached with Sauber, which is already supplied with Ferrari power-trains.

 

The full statements can be read here: https://www.sauberf1team.com/news/the-sauber-f1-team-enters-a-multi-year-partnership-agreement-with-alfa-romeo

 

Todt, Carey set to attend Alfa Romeo F1 launch

 

 

The return of the Alfa Romeo name back to Formula 1 as title sponsor of Sauber is set to have the support of the sport’s top bosses including chairman Chase Carey and FIA President Jean Todt who are due to attend the official launch.

 

Ferrari CEO and Chairman Sergio Marchionne will hold a press conference at Alfa Romeo’s Storico Museum near Milan today to explain the reasons behind bringing the iconic Italian brand back to the pinnacle of motorsport.

 

The significance of Alfa Romeo’s push back into F1 has become clearer, with Carey and Todt set to attend the launch where the Hinwil-based outfit’s 2018 driver lineup could be confirmed.

 

Carey and Todt’s appearance is fascinating because it comes after Marchionne threatened to make Ferrari quit the sport after 2020 due to the proposed engine regulations.

 

The Alfa Romeo’s deal with Sauber not only includes sponsorship but more likely a full rebranding in the company’s traditional red and white colours.

 

The two will co-operate in strategic, commercial and technological areas which includes the sharing of Alfa Romeo engineers and technical staff.

 

Joining Marchionne at the press conference will be Sauber’s chairman Pascal Picci, who is considering who will lineup alongside 2017 Formula 2 Champion and Ferrari Academy driver Charles Leclerc.

 

Marcus Ericsson remains the favourite to retain his seat at the Hinwil-based squad due to the team’s Swedish backed owners Longbow Finance while other contender for the seat Antonio Giovinazzi could be given the third driver or reserve spot if he does not get a seat.

 

Renault says “extreme” preparation paid off

 

 

Renault Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul says the Enstone-based squad’s “extreme” preparations was highly beneficial after it jumped Toro Rosso to claim sixth place in the Constructors Championship.

 

Renault’s target was fifth in the 2017 season but changed it’s approached after Williams pulled away due to the French manufacturer being held back by reliability problems.

 

Renault returned to Abu Dhabi behind the Faenza squad but moved ahead after Nico Hulkenberg took sixth place for the team.

 

With that, Renault finished on 57 points and four in-front of Toro Rosso with Abiteboul praising the team’s strategy for the weekend.

 

“Mission accomplished,” explained Abiteboul. “We came here with one clear objective. At the start of the year we set out to finish fifth, which was very ambitious, but ambition is good – you have to set high targets. This season we’ve not made it easy for ourselves and the last three weekends have been a microcosm of this rollercoaster of a year. At times we’ve been too aggressive, then too conservative, but we came to Abu Dhabi with a very extreme preparation and the weekend went almost exactly to plan. Sixth was the revised goal and I’m so proud we got it. It’s a milestone for the team and an achievement that goes beyond the on-track result,”

 

“It’s a motivation for everyone – for every team member and a fantastic reward that will count far more through the winter than any financial considerations.” Abiteboul concluded.

 

Renault’s sixth spot saw an improvement of three places from last season, jumping ahead of Toro Rosso, Haas and McLaren.

 

Hamilton not 100 per cent after title triumph

 

 

World Champion Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he was not driving at “100 per cent” after claiming his fourth title compared to earlier on as the Briton went without a victory in the final three rounds.

 

Hamilton after a close battle with title-rival Sebastian Vettel, edged clear when Formula 1 returned from the summer break and secured the championship with two races remaining at the Mexican Grand Prix.

 

However like his third title triumph in 2015, the Briton did not win another race, after making an excellent recovery to finish fourth in Brazil after crashing in qualifying and second in Abu Dhabi.

 

Hamilton said he would not let his focus slip, but promised to continue pushing hard through to Abu Dhabi but accepted after the final Grand Prix that he had not accomplished his target.

 

“I think in previous years it probably dropped more than this year,” explained Hamilton, reflecting on 2015. “I think this year I’ve tried my hardest to stay more on it but I was doing other things, yeah, celebrating a lot so…I think I still drove relatively well but yeah, I wouldn’t say it was a 100 per cent like it was whilst in the season. What can I say? When you’ve won you win, doesn’t matter with two races to go at the end, you’ve got to enjoy it so I do and try and still turn up and do the job, it’s just not so easy,”

 

Hamilton stated that things would return “back to business” from the get go in 2018 as he chases his fifth world championship.

 

“It’s a 1-2 for Mercedes, it’s a very strong win against Ferrari [in Abu Dhabi] and we mean to continue next year,” Hamilton continued. “Of course going into next season, it’s back to business, but I’m excited for the challenge ahead.” Hamilton said.

 

On the topic of the new F1 logo, Hamilton described the sport’s old one as iconic: “The problem is logos… I think the one that we already had was an iconic logo,” said Hamilton. “Just imagine Ferrari changing their logo, or Mercedes changed their logo,”

 

“I don’t think the new one is as iconic, but maybe it will grow on us.” Hamilton concluded.

 

Honda “needed change” of teams

 

 

Honda Senior Engineer and General Manager Yusuke Hasegawa believes the Japanese company needed a “change of teams” in 2018 and does not regret moving to a new power-unit concept next year.

 

Honda following three years with McLaren, which were hit with a lack of reliability and performance, will join with Toro Rosso next season.

 

Hasegawa believes that Honda will be able to work better in a different environment, with the change that could help the manufacturer understand where it can improve.

 

“A new challenge and making new relationships with people is always exciting,” explained Hasegawa during an interview on Honda’s official web site. “From an experience point of view, for this era of Honda, it will be the first time we have changed team and we’ll get a better understanding of what a normal situation is. We only know things as the McLaren-Honda way, but this will be another opportunity to expand our understanding and experience of a different way of working. I think we needed the change. From a technical point of view it’s good for us to know more about other things, like new cooling situations or how the top speed of a different car design is affected by drag. It is very important to understand what the standard is,”

 

McLaren’s divorce with Honda was triggered when the Japanese manufacturer struggled during the first half of the season, having completely redesigned its power unit, as it looked to improve it’s long term potential.

 

Hasegawa insisted that Honda has “no regrets” in changing it’s strategy, which resulted in pain during the 2017 campaign, and its eventual split from McLaren.

 

“Although we showed some decent performance last year we knew it wasn’t good enough to break into the top three, so we needed to change the engine concept,” Hasegawa continued. “There is no doubt that this was the right direction but we just couldn’t complete the package in time for the start of the 2017 season. That meant we had to solve many issues at the Grands Prix instead, but unless we tried those modifications there was no chance of going forward in the longer term,”

 

“So that’s why we decided to change. I have no regrets in taking that decision.”Hasegawa concluded.

 

Stroll to compete in 2018 Daytona 24 Hours

 

 

Williams Martini Racing’s Lance Stroll will compete in next years 2018 Daytona 24 Hour event it has been confirmed.

 

The Canadian has secured one of the four seats in the Jackie Chan DCR JOTA LMP2 car alongside Robin Frijns, Daniel Juncadella and Felix Rosenqvist.

 

“We are going to Daytona to enjoy, compete and of course try and win,” explained Stroll. “I always want to be best and most competitive I can be. I’ll be out there with some of my buddies in the same car and it is going to be a pleasure to do this race again as I just love to race. We are the four young guns so it will be great fun I’m sure because we go way back together. A big part of Daytona is who you share the car with so I’m really looking forward to it,”

 

“There won’t be any fuel or tyre management to worry about, and it will be racing hard and racing in traffic which I will enjoy,” Stroll added. “I’ve heard a lot of great things about the Jackie Chan DCR JOTA team so I can’t wait to be a part of it,”

 

“I am really grateful to Williams for realising I want to keep my racing sharpness through the winter and letting me race at Daytona.” Stroll said.

 

Daytona hosts the Rolex 24 event from January 27-28, with the traditional ‘Roar Before the 24’ test run from January 5-7.

 

Stroll who came 12th in his debut Formula 1 season with a podium finish in Baku and several points finishes will be joined by double world champion Fernando Alonso at the endurance event.

 

Alonso will team alongside McLaren-reserve Lando Norris and Phil Hanson in a United Autosports LMP2 car under the leadership of McLaren boss Zak Brown.

 

Bottas learns “great deal” on 2018 compounds

 

 

Valtteri Bottas says he learned “a great deal” about Pirelli’s new 2018 tyre compounds trying them for the first time at the post-Abu Dhabi Grand Prix test.

 

Formula 1 ran two days of post-season running at the Yas Marina Circuit so drivers could gain valuable mileage with Pirelli’s modified slick tyres.

 

Pirelli has added two new compounds to it’s range, the Pink-branded Hyper Soft and Orange-marked Super Hard meaning it now has seven compounds which it hopes will improve the racing.

 

Each team was given 20 sets of tyres at the test, 12 selected by the Italian tyre-manufacturer and eight by the themselves.

 

“It was a really interesting day, trying out the new Pirellis and discovering the differences between this year’s and next year’s tyres,” explained Bottas. “I could really feel the differences and it was nice to get the feel now rather than next year.

 

“We tested all kinds of compounds and learned a lot out of all of them. I myself learned a great deal about the driving style with these new tyres.” Bottas concluded.

 

Santander ends Ferrari, F1 sponsorship

 

 

Spanish Bank Santander will end it’s partnership with Ferrari and Formula 1 as a whole after signing a deal with the UEFA Champions League.

 

Santander has been sponsor of the Scuderia since the 2010 season and Formula 1 for 11 years.

 

The Spanish Bank has decided to move to football’s Champions League from the 2018/19 seasons through to 2020/21.

 

“Santander’s partnership with the UEFA Champions League, the world’s most global and aspirational sporting competition, builds on our support of Libertadores and, more recently, Racing Santander, the local football team of the Cantabrian city where our bank was founded 160 years ago,” said Banco Santander Executive Chairman Ana Botín. “We love sport. Our free-time exercise, which we do to challenge ourselves to be better, the weekend match we watch with family and friends, our loyalty to a club and the excitement of the spectacle. Ferrari and Formula 1, to whom we are very grateful, have played an important role at Santander over the past 10 years,”

 

“We will continue our support of sport because it is a valuable way to contribute to the prosperity of the communities where we work.” said Botín.

 

Santander’s name and logo is currently present on Ferrari’s cars and team wear.

 

Vettel fastest as Abu Dhabi test concludes

 

 

Sebastian Vettel picked up from where Ferrari team-mate Kimi Räikkönen left off by setting the pace in the final day of the post-Abu Dhabi Grand Prix test at the Yas Marina Circuit, signalling the end of running for 2017.

 

Vettel posted a 1:37.551 on the pink-branded Hyper Softs, a few tenths quicker than Räikkönen did the day before.

 

Vettel and his rivals continued to gain valuable data on Pirelli’s new 2018 rubber, which has expanded to seven compounds.

 

Each team were given 12 sets from Pirelli and eight chosen by themselves.

 

Pirelli’s Hyper Softs are two steps softer than the Ultra’s while the orange-branded Super Hard will be introduced as a precaution.

 

Vettel’s lap on the pink compound put him a second clear of Mercedes rival Valtteri Bottas, who clinched pole position and his third career victory at last weekend’s final round of the championship.

 

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was a further couple of tenths back in third placed and ahead of Force India duo Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon who were fourth and fifth respectively and shared their running following Nikita Mazepin’s on Tuesday.

 

Renault’s Carlos Sainz clocked up more mileage with the Enstone-based squad taking sixth place and about two seconds off the pace.

 

Williams continued to weigh it’s choices to replace outgoing Felipe Massa by testing both Sergey Sirotkin and Robert Kubica in the FW40 over the entire days running.

 

Kubica who ran in the late afternoon was seventh and half a second quicker than Sirotkin though exact running programs were kept under wraps by the Grove-squad.

 

McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne took eighth despite crashing at turn 19 and in-front of Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen who was ninth and the aforementioned Sirotkin who completed the top 10 for Williams.

 

Ahead of his much awaited promotion to the top level, 2017 Formula 2 champion Charles Leclerc ran an extra day with Sauber, which announced it’s new partnership with Alfa Romeo in the morning of the test’s last day running.

 

Leclerc was the most busiest driver on the day, clocking up 149 laps in his CW36 racer, almost equal to three race distances and ended the session 11th on the time-sheets.

 

McLaren once more running two cars after it’s planned tyre test at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Brazil was cancelled, gave more mileage runs to reserve Lando Norris who stayed on for the Formula 2 test.

 

Norris ended the day in 12th and ahead of Toro Rosso duo Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly who finished at the rear and miles off the pack.