Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Istanbul Park, 2021

Verstappen can “theoretically” complete season without further power unit changes

RaceFans Round-up

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In the round-up: Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says his team shouldn’t need to introduce any new power unit parts – and therefore incur further grid penalties – before the end of the season.

In brief

No engine fears for Verstappen

Max Verstappen has already exceeded his maximum allocation of power unit parts but Horner says they shouldn’t need to take more over the final six races.

“I think in normal circumstances we should be able to do it with the penalty that we took in Sochi,” Horner explained. “That gives us a free engine still alive in our pool, we’re not down to just one engine.

“So theoretically we should be able to get to the end of the end of the year, but never say never.”

Harvey joins RLL

Jack Harvey’s widely-expected move to Rahal Letterman Lanigan racing for the 2022 IndyCar season has been confirmed. He joins the team from Meyer Shank and replaces Takuma Sato alongside Graham Rahal.

Team co-owner Bobby Rahal said he’d followed Harvey’s progress since his spell in Indy Lights, where he finished twice in consecutive seasons. “He and Graham will work well together and be a strong foundation for our driver line-up that will raise not only the level of each driver individually but of the team as a result,” said Rahal.

Van Amersfoort replace HWA in F3

FIA Formula 3 has confirmed the 10 teams which will contest the next three seasons. The only change in the roster is the arrival of Van Amersfoort in place of HWA.

Series CEO Bruno Michel thanked HWA for their participation and welcomed Van Amersfoort to the field. “Their success in other categories make them a nice addition to our grid,” he said. “I am confident that they will adapt quickly to the demands and challenges of our championship.”

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Comment of the day

The debate continues over Pierre Gasly’s collision with Fernando Alonso:

I now slightly agree with the stewards decision. Fernando was mostly ahead of Pierre, so Pierre should have let him complete the overtake manoeuvre. However, I didn’t like the way Fernando squeezed Pierre at the apex of the corner.

It seemed to me Fernando made nearly all of the choices into how this situation arose while Pierre had almost no choices. Fernando should have left more room on his left, although admittedly that might have affected his ability to accelerate away from Pierre. Because Fernando had squeezed Pierre he was able to accelerate better than Pierre, which was why his rear wheel was adjacent to Pierre’s front wheel when they collided.

It seems to me the stewards have decided that when the rear wheel of one car is about in line with front wheel on another car then the leading car has the right to the place. I think Pierre got a five-second time penalty for this collision, and I think it should have been left there.
Stephen Crowsen (@Drycrust)

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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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17 comments on “Verstappen can “theoretically” complete season without further power unit changes”

  1. Drycrust that theory was not valid at monza. Gasly understeered wide, he had a couple meters to his left as Perez neatly took the inside kerb. Alonso placed himself in the danger zone however I can’t blame him for getting hit.
    In my view it is a racing incident, however I see both Pierre’s clash and Alonso’s as the same incident, if one gets a penalty so should the other.

  2. Verstappen almost torpedoed Hamilton in Spain and yet this is a penalty?!

    Seems very harsh since it was T1 at the start on a wet track.

  3. Brundle refers to Hamilton successfully overriding his team strategy call at Turkey last year for the win, but AFAIC they were already winning, and the Hamilton override was just a call for a safety stop for fresh inters at the end in case it should start to rain, as he didn’t trust himself to not bin it in the pit wall etc. In reality he was just lucky it didn’t rain or all might have been lost, so can’t say it was much of an override.

  4. Is this the first time there’s been a wet race with no DNFs?

  5. RE:cotd and many other people. What is this thing of the last few years of calling racing drivers by their first name? It’s not like any of us have ever had dinner with any of them. I can somewhat accept that TV commentators that are ex drivers themselves refer to the guys by their first name, but can we stick to surnames as has been done for decades please?

    1. lol, you do you mate, let everyone else call them by their first names if they want. this is one of the most ridiculous requests i’ve seen in a comment here really.

      1. Hehehehe – I rubbed my eyes twice on reading it.

    2. I don’t know if it is a regional or a National thing but in my part of the world calling people by their surname is considered a bit rude and offensive. Sort of like looking down on them.
      As I say – it will vary from place to place – Country to Country I expect.

      1. In sports its common to use surname but who gets offended if they called him by their real name, its really silly.

    3. @alfa145 Agree a bit. Even people in F1 will not always call the drivers by their first name.

      The worst is when first name is used for some and last for others, revealing a preference..

    4. Euh, Mac told us to use his forname during events otherwise he would think you meant his father…

      1. Mac? that had to be Max ! Please Keith edit function please!

  6. As for Brundle, Lewis didn’t ‘overrule’ the team, he queried the call and Bono agreed he should stay out while they discussed it. Bono could have given a clear order and that would have saved the day. It was a joint effort to do the aggressive thing and it didn’t work out. Anyway credit to Sky: they included Lewis’ post-race Insta to balance the story.

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      12th October 2021, 14:19

      @zann – He did overrule the team. On lap 41 they told him to box. He asked why and they responded that new inters was “the way to go.” Hamilton responded with “I don’t think it is.” After that, the team discussed it and agreed for him to stay out.

      The team clearly asked him to pit and told him why and he said he didn’t agree. That’s absolutely fine but ultimately, the decision not to pit was his.

      The team have to base their decisions in part on the data they have but also on feedback from the driver and in this case, Hamilton got it wrong.

      1. That is not overruling. “I don’t think it is” is not an overrule. It was one part of joint decision, a discussion, that’s how he was TOLD to stay out. Of course it turned out to be wrong, but the driver feedback was correct as far as the car was concerned at the time, the laptimes were fine. It was the forecast that was wrong. But if you listen carefully, Brundle is often a bit patronising towards Lewis.

        41 Bonnington Box, box. Box, box.
        41 Hamilton Why?
        41 Bonnington New inter is the way to go. Under threat from Gasly…
        41 Hamilton I don’t think it is, man.
        42 Hamilton Is it much quicker?
        42 Bonnington We have Ricciardo 33.5.
        42 Bonnington We also have Gasly coming into our window mid-33s.
        42 Hamilton It feels like we should stay out, man.
        42 Bonnington Okay, we’ll stay out one more lap. Give us a bit more thinking time.
        43 Hamilton Not far off dries.
        43 Bonnington Okay copy Lewis we won’t react yet. Just keep in mind Gasly is five seconds outside our pit window.
        43 Hamilton We’re just going to lose a lot of time.
        43 Bonnington Copy. We’re staying out, staying out.

  7. The Indy lights overtake of the year – I mean it’s a good opportunistic move on a track with enough space… am I missing something or is that actually the best the series ha to offer?

  8. Coventry Climax
    12th October 2021, 19:51

    COTD: “It seems to me the stewards have decided that when the rear wheel of one car is about in line with front wheel on another car then the leading car has the right to the place.” That would mean that Verstappen had the right of place in Silverstone. The ‘predominantly’ there however, for Hamilton, was not changed to a ‘fully’, not even after a couple of hours.
    So it ‘may seem’ like this to you, but the fact is the Masi-bunch just talk right whatever decision they have taken, even when wrong. To me, it seems Masi went to school with Isola, who does the same.

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