In the round-up: Kimi Raikkonen is puzzled by Alfa Romeo’s downturn in performance at Yas Marina after getting both cars in the top five at Interlagos.
What they say
[icon2019autocoursempu]The C38s were 1.8 seconds slower in Abu Dhabi compared to last year and neither drivers made it out of Q1. Raikkonen said the team couldn’t get their tyres in the right shape for the start of the lap, let alone the end of it:
We’ve been not very competitive the whole weekend. We seem to be struggling with tyres to really make them work as well as we should, because our car is certainly not in two weeks one second slower than the ones that we raced against. But that’s how it is. [The race was] was a little bit better but still we were just not fast enough.
Generally on one lap even the first part of the corners were not good. And then obviously it multiplies in the last sector because there is actually where you need more grip – the first two sectors are mainly straight-line.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
How will #F1 change the turbulence cars generate to improve the racing in 2021? Rob Smedley explains using animations showing the current and future flow structures in a presentation for @AWSreInvent. pic.twitter.com/PXKwQ2ehfD
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) December 3, 2019
Daniil Kvyat finally using his Russian GP helmet today during the #AbuDhabiTest 👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/4xvR2cLfzc
— Jens Munser Designs (@JMD_helmets) December 3, 2019
"The support has been absolutely outstanding." 🧡
A message from @ZBrownCEO as we bring the curtain down on a memorable 2019 season. #FansLikeNoOther pic.twitter.com/oqY9HMoUZ9
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) December 3, 2019
Portrait of @LewisHamilton by artist @akajimmyc at Farm Bridge. Don’t forget to pop by during our 2020 events to take a look! pic.twitter.com/5t71w2iVWy
— Silverstone (@SilverstoneUK) December 2, 2019
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
French GP considering big Paul Ricard layout changes (Autosport)
"Everybody says 'take out this chicane and have a straight line and it's going to solve your problem'. Yes, but it's creating more problems for me because I've got 10,000 grandstand seats there."
Roy Nissany: "I feel great. You know that feeling that you like your job and you know what you are doing. It took me four laps to get comfortable in the car, and from there on it was just building up my pace and confidence."
Lando Norris: "It was also a good day for me to explore different driving styles and techniques. Overall, it’s been a productive day with good mileage achieved and with both the team and I learning a lot."
Lundgaard joins ART for F2 test, linked to race seat (Formula Scout)
"Christian Lundgaard will partner Marcus Armstrong at ART Grand Prix in this week’s post-season Formula 2 test in Abu Dhabi, ahead of an expected 2020 race campaign."
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Comment of the day
Formula E is becoming a world championship, but some still find it too flawed:
Formula E frustrates me because it’s a series I really want to like and while I am interested in the tech side I always get put off by the more gimmicky things, The awful circuits, how much contact there often is and to an extent the spec nature of the chassis.
If Formula E did away with the Fan Boost/Attack Zone gimmicks gimmicks, raced on better circuits, clamped down on contact and allowed a bit more freedom in the chassis (think something like CART from 20 years ago) then it would be something I would really get into. But as it is it’s something I went into excited about but found myself losing interest in as it went on primarily for the reasons I bring up.
I just see the Fan Boost/Attack Zone gimmicks as been completely unnecessary. I know the argument for the attack zones tends to be that they recreate the strategy that was lost now that they don’t need pit stops, But I think that’s a bad argument because the cars can run close, race and overtake so I think the racing is perfectly fine (And even more enjoyably) without pit stops or some artificial gimmick trying to recreate them in some way.
@Stefmeister
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MtlRacer (@mtlracer)
4th December 2019, 0:40
COTD sums up my own feelings of FE quite well.
@HoHum (@hohum)
4th December 2019, 1:00
Seconded, Glad they don’t have pit stops now ( there seems to be no coverage here in Oz ), now if we can only get F1 to drop the gimmick pit stops I might even pay to view.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
4th December 2019, 2:01
I don’t think I’ve ever loathed a circuit as much as Paul Ricard. Not sure layout changes would make much difference. Any chance of starting again from a clean slate…?
Tomcat173 (@tomcat173)
4th December 2019, 3:18
@tommy-c Agree, the circuit has no soul.
Magny Cours wasnt a super brilliant layout, but I do remember there being overtaking back in the pre-DRS days. It would be much better than Paul Ricard.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
4th December 2019, 7:21
@tomcat173 – But it has 10,000 grandstand seats, so hush with your criticism ;)
KaIIe (@kaiie)
4th December 2019, 7:49
@tomcat173 Sounds like you’re suffering slightly from rose-tinted glasses syndrome. Magny-Cours was usually lined up with Barcelona as one of the worst places for overtaking on the calendar, as it had fast corner(s) leading to long-ish straights. Of course, there were exceptions, like the dry-wet race of 1999, and Schumacer v Coulthard in 2000 (or was it in 2001), but overall the track layout was bad for F1 cars of the times, and the location was in the middle of nowhere. Maybe with DRS nowadays the run to the Adelaide hairpin would be a place for overtaking, but that’s just another artificial gimmick.
On the other hand, I think Paul Ricard could be salvaged. Just make it super fast, i.e. get rid of the first chicane and the chicane on the backstraight. At least then it would be something different.
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
4th December 2019, 13:44
@tomcat173 Magny-Cours is a great circuit to drive & watch cars driving on but it was often called Magny-Bores by fans because in the dry there was hardly ever any overtaking there.
There was really only 1 overtaking spot which was into the hairpin at the end of the straight, But the very fast Estoril corner leading onto it meant cars were rarely able to get close enough to have a go. They revised (And ruined) the final sector in 2003 to try & add another passing spot but even overtaking into that was very rare & the only overtake I remember was Barrichello on Trulli on the last lap in 2004 (I think the only overtake we saw all race).
anon
4th December 2019, 21:23
@stefmeister, you are right that, when you look back at the comments that people made at the time about Magny-Cours when F1 was racing there, a lot of people complained about how dull the races were and had little enthusiasm for the venue. In fact, there were more than a few at the time who floated the idea of switching to Paul Ricard instead of sticking with Magny-Cours…
Islander
5th December 2019, 9:31
Magny Bore is one thing, but groan-prix racing at Paul Ricard is something else.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
4th December 2019, 4:19
@tommy-c Sochi is up there alongside Paul Ricard for me. I genuinely preferred India, Korea, and even Valencia to those two.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
4th December 2019, 5:26
@tommy-c I’d be surprised if anyone here had a kind word to say about Paul Ricard, the fact that Boullier says we have to keep the chicane because that’s where the grandstands are says enough, and even connecting the straights I doubt would do much to improve it. It looks like they’re riding BMX’s around a cricket pitch whilst their mum and dad look on from afar.
For as much as I doubt Zandvoort will promote overtaking, at least it’ll look great, tight banked corners and atmosphere, and if someone does manage to ‘throw one up the inside’, it’ll be infinitely more exciting.
Wellbalanced
5th December 2019, 9:40
Ha ha. That BMX comment sums it up
Phylyp (@phylyp)
4th December 2019, 7:22
@mashiat – I’m slightly surprised you’ve omitted Malaysia – to me it is well ahead of Korea, and its unpredictable weather put it ahead of India as well.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
4th December 2019, 9:02
@phylyp Absolutely, but I didn’t bring either Malaysia or Turkey to the table because it’s basically a given that they’re considerably better tracks. But India, Korea, and Valencia were often criticized, but if given the choice of any of them over Sochi and Paul Ricardo, I’ll 100% take it.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
4th December 2019, 9:08
@mashiat – gotcha, you were going for best of the worst. I’m with you on your list. 👍
Antz (@antznz)
4th December 2019, 8:26
Agreed, it’s what.. A piece of tarmac with some lines arbitrarily painted on it? That’s how it feels. Near impossible to work out where cars are on the track. Really dismayed they allowed a race there. Yes other tracks are dull but at least they all have a distinct layout.
Ericglo
4th December 2019, 5:25
Agree with COTD.
The number one problem for me are the circuits. Berlin is one of the only ones I think is adequate.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
4th December 2019, 6:00
I agree with COTD but not about the chassis. If they open up chassis development it’ll increase costs for no reason, and it’ll kill competition. Besides, aero development is meaningless in the real world
I rather have them focused on developing power trains. That’s the main reason for the series existing anyway.
ColdFly (@)
4th December 2019, 7:19
I must be one of the few who actually likes the attack zones. It is the same for all; it’s an interesting strategic tool where you invest some time to have a temporary power boost; and creates some variance in the sport based on real speed.
It also reminds me of other sports where you could risk going through the attack zone (aka doping) to create an advantage. Who doesn’t recall greats races by Ben Johnson, Lance Armstrong, or the whole Russian athletics team.
Antz (@antznz)
4th December 2019, 8:22
@coldfly I think attack zones are brilliant, everyone has the same opportunity to use when they choose. With the safety cars there end up being such mixed strategies. Great addition.
Now that F1 is behind a paywall for me, FE is my racing fix. It’s not perfect but I’m enjoying it and 2 kiwis in the championship is a bonus! I’m finding that f1 highlights & news are enough for now. 2021 I might splash for the real thing once again.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th December 2019, 7:51
Just try without the Mistral straight-chicane for at least a single season while keeping the rest of the layout the same. BTW, how could a DRS-zone precede the high-speed flat out Signes-corner? Abbey was a risky business with DRS in not only race-trim but qualifying and practice as well. If Blanchimont or 130R wouldn’t be able to handle DRS in race-trim, then how would it be any different with Signes? Maybe in qualifying-trim, but race-trim side-by-side with another car could be quite risky.
allstargp
4th December 2019, 9:11
Loving Kyvat’s helmet. Absolutely childish that F1 doesn’t allow the drivers to use custom helmets.
ColdFly (@)
4th December 2019, 9:46
That Smedley video is great, you can watch the whole speech here.
I’m very excited that they can reduce dirty air from up to 40% downforce loss now to only 7% downforce loss in 2021. This will be great for following cars in the curvy bits.
Not sure though what it will do on the straights. Extra downforce helps when accelerating and braking, but how will it impact the speed of the following car? It might eliminate most of the tow. Thus maybe cars can follow in the turns, but they have no opportunity to ever get there as the leading car drives away on the straight.
Let’s hope they don’t come up with some kind of artificial system which makes only the following car less draggy.
José Lopes da Silva
4th December 2019, 12:16
The rose-tinted glasses are amazing, and so frequent in Formula 1. And in football too, at some extent.
Everyone looks at videos of the 1988 and 1990 French Grand Prix and is able to says that was awesome. But there was only 1 actual overtake to decide the win, in each race. The circuit was good, although shorter than the current version.
In 1991 people complained (I have a Formula 1 anuary stating this!) that Magny-Cours had no soul and Paul Ricard was better. Three decades after, we’re back to the same argument, now with the tracks reversed.
Races are about cars, not about tracks. Tilke has built the best Formula 1 tracks ever (“BLASPHEMY!!”). No one complain about Las Vegas tracks because the races were exciting. People loved the 1988 French Grand Prix because there was aN incredible fight for the win between two titans in the same car. People loved the 1990 French Grand Prix because Adrian Newey showed himself for the first time and that made for an exciting but almost overtaking-less race.
People loathed the 2019 French Grand Prix because it was the definitive evidence that Bottas and Ferrari were nowhere near Hamilton, and everyone understood the championship fight was more than over. Removing the chicane would not change that. And putting the race in Magny-Cours would not, either.
Jonathan Parkin
4th December 2019, 12:54
I actually don’t mind the current F1 layout for Paul Ricard. If I was making changes to it I would take out every other layout from the track and replace the god awful tarmac run offs with grass and gravel
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
4th December 2019, 14:02
They actually did, Nobody liked that circuit at the time & nobody was sad to see it disappear into the history books.
The drivers hated it & the mechanics hated it just as much as it had pit facilities (If you can call them that) that wouldn’t have looked that out of place in the 1950’s. And on top hardly any fans bothered turning up (I think ’82 only saw about 25,000) despite both races there been title deciders (The only reason either race is remembered) because clearly they hated it just as much.
Islander
5th December 2019, 9:38
Alfa need quality personnel, for that they must recruit from the top engineer pool, and for that they need cash. They certainly need Kimi if only for the haul of points that kept them ahead of Haas.
So from here it looks like one small step could be swap GIO for a good pay driver. Logical.