George Russell, Williams, Red Bull Ring, 2021

Williams doubtful they can replicate Austria form at home

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In the round-up: Williams will not be as competitive at Silverstone as they were at the Red Bull Ring if conditions are windy again, the team’s CEO Jost Capito says.

In brief

Williams form may not continue at Silverstone

George Russell scored Williams’ best qualifying position for four years last weekend. However the Silverstone circuit, which is built on the site of a former airfield, often sees windy conditions which would not suit the team’s car.

Capito said “it’s very difficult” to predict how competitive the team will be at its home race. “It’s very dependent on the on the weather conditions.

“Everybody knows by now that our car is very tricky in windy conditions and Silverstone is known that it can be very windy. I think if it’s very windy, we might struggle. If it’s not that windy then we might have a chance to be somewhere close to where we were here.”

IndyCar extends Road America deal

Start, IndyCar, Road America, 2021
Popular Road America track will remain on IndyCar schedule
IndyCar will continue racing at the 6.45-kilometre Road America circuit after agreeing a new, multi-year deal. The six-kilometre track joined its schedule in 2016, having been a popular venue during the days of the CART Indycar championship.

Motorsport industry worth €160bn globally

A report commissioned by the FIA claims the motorsport industry is worth €160 billion (£137bn) worldwide and is responsible for 1.5 million jobs. It also involves the work of 302,000 volunteers, such as marshals.

“This is remarkable and it demonstrates that our sport efficiently contributes to the rebound of the economy in Covid-19 times,” said FIA president Jean Todt.

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Comment of the day

F1 says Sprint races won’t diminish the importance of grands prix, but not everyone is convinced.

Sprint qualifying is a solution in search of a problem, or the answer to a question nobody asked; choose your adage.

There are already too many grand prix races in a season, making each one less “grand”. Now we have a Saturday race in addition. They are overexposing the product and diluting the offering. A grand prix used to be special, one of nine or twelve or fifteen, and winning a grand prix was special; no more. I’ll still watch, but it’s a bit sad.
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On this day in motorsport

  • 30 years ago today Nigel Mansell passed Alain Prost twice to win the French Grand Prix. Ayrton Senna came third in the first F1 race at Magny-Cours

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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24 comments on “Williams doubtful they can replicate Austria form at home”

  1. Pretty much agree with COTD.

    1. Me too.

    2. Agreed. Less is more with big sporting events. Can you imagine adding a second miniature Paris-Roubaix to the cycling calendar? It just wouldn’t happen.

      1. Can you imagine adding a second miniature Paris-Roubaix to the cycling calendar?

        I guess it’s more like the prologue (initial short time trial) of one of the main multi-day tours.

        And there are probably more ‘1 day classics’ in cycling than classic races in F1.

        All sports are filling up the calendar to feed the demand of the fans and empty the pockets of the sponsors.

        1. That’s a fair point and cycling does its fair share of tinkering with formats. There is a healthy respect for tradition that seems a little lacking in F1. My worry is that the demands and attention span of the fans is finite whereas the profit demands of the shareholders appear boundless.

          1. Coventry Climax
            9th July 2021, 0:19

            A healthy respect for tradition in cycling? So that’s why the Tour de France starts in other countries these last years? If that continues, it’ll be rebranded Tour around France.
            I’m afraid no sport manages to avoid the lure of the dollar.

    3. What the CotD misses though is that many fans (also on this site) asked for more opportunities for full-on/flat-out racing.

      Whilst nobody knows (and many now doubt) if Sprint Qualifying will deliver this, it is a direct response by the owners to those demands (together with an option to monetise the additional action).

  2. Bernie was always a loyal helper for the F1 constructors. NOT.

  3. I hear what the CotD is saying, and what I hear is “waah waah waah”

    The goals and justification are defined, let’s just see how it plays out. I’m actually excited to see how it goes despite thinking it’s unnecessary.

    1. The goal is expanding the advertising platform and the justification is to make more money. They will gladly sacrifice the history and heritage of Formula One, such as the concept of Grand Prix racing, in order to make this a reality. These three ‘trials’ are no ‘trials’, they just couldn’t schedule more of them in time for the season.

  4. The problem for Williams too is that Russell has a tendency to out perform the car on a Saturday. If he “qualifies” 10th again, it’s likely he’ll fall backwards during the sprint race and technically qualify further down the field. If he tangles with someone mid-pack, I guess latifi will finally out qualify him…

  5. As to CotD, I agree. I really liked having a race every two weeks during the spring/summer. We’re seeing too much racing now and it dilutes the uniqueness of F1. I understand the owners want to make money, but this season just goes on too long, ending in the middle of December for God’s sake. It just isn’t so special anymore.

  6. I’m not pessimistic like the COTD.

    The car is STR14 featuring present livery actually.

  7. I agree with the COTD in respect of the sprint races.

    What I don’t agree with is there being too many races and F1 being less special as a result.

    I’d happily watch an F1 race every Sunday for most of the year if that was possible.

    1. Yes, me too, I’d be ok with 52 races a year, I understand teams and drivers not wanting them, but not fans.

  8. I’m wondering if the badge on that hypercar is only there for the photographic session @keithcollantine and whether it will disappear when that Peugeot actually hits the track in earnest.

    Seems way too bulky to be actually included on the front of a race car.

    1. @dbradock Was it a photo shoot? I thought they were renders.

    2. Photoshooting the computer screen.

  9. Sadly in BARC Endurance, C1 Category a driver was killed this weekend at Snetterton. Currently there appears to be no details about what happened, but, after witnessing the pit lane fiasco (also I believe at Snetterton), I feel BARC safety protocols may well be found to be wanting.

    @keithcollantine Would you be able to do some digging and find out more?

  10. Is it just me, or does anyone else see “Bernie” in a headline and skip the article? I had a bellyful of Bernie Ecclestone when he was actually relevant, I feel no need to give him any of my attention now.

    1. Stevan Vasiljević
      7th July 2021, 18:29

      I operate in three steps:
      See Bernie headline.
      Facepalm.
      Skip article.

  11. Re Williams: Probably sooner or later they will have bigger upgrades and more power. A repeat of a great form from a previous race is a thing, so they should take a look how Australia did the impossible against Finland 19 years ago.
    Re IndyCar: It’s a nice deal done.
    Re Peugeot Hypercar: Now time for some classic liveries!

  12. That AT actually looks quite cool on those rims.

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