In the round-up: Fernando Alonso says he hopes Michael Andretti’s bid to enter a new team in Formula 1 is successful
In brief
Alonso hopes Andretti’s Formula 1 team bid succeeds
Fernando Alonso says he hopes Michael Andretti’s bid to enter a new team in Formula 1 is successful.Alonso raced in the Indy 500 in 2017 with a McLaren team heavily supported by Andretti, leading 27 laps of the race before an engine failure forced him into retirement. Michael Andretti is currently lobbying for a future entry for the Andretti name into Formula 1, which Alonso says he supports fully.
“It could be a big thing,” said Alonso. “I know Michael very well, I know the Andretti family and they are obviously a big part of motor sport in general and they are legends. So if we can have them in Formula 1 that will be the best news, I think for both.
“Formula 1 would benefit from that and obviously Michael and his team will benefit from the sport and from being in Formula 1. And I think they have the capabilities, the resources, they have the talent to be in Formula 1 and be competitive as well. So I hope this thing comes true in the next few years, and I will follow very closely.”
Alfa Romeo impressed by Zhou’s racecraft
Alfa Romeo’s head of trackside engineering, Xevi Pujolar, says that he is impressed by Zhou Guanyu’s racecraft and ability to overtake in races.
Rookie Zhou has scored one point so far this season on his debut in the Bahrain Grand Prix and has yet to reach Q3 so far in 2022, meaning he has had to makes his way through the field in races. Pujolar says that Zhou has shown he has the ability to overtake despite his lack of experience.
“He has been shown that in every race, when he’s fighting with someone, he’s overtaking the guy,” Pujolar said.
“He’s not someone that gets stuck for 15 laps behind a competitor. He gets there and he overtakes. So on that one, I think it’s encouraging, the racecraft he’s showing. And for Barcelona with all the updates, we hope we will have two strong points contenders.”
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Toronto‘s Nick Latifi fired by Williams F1. Two things: Williams better have a lot of money because there will be one hell of a lawsuit and his replacement, Nyck DeVries, had better do better in that pig of a car, which is doubtful.
— Norris McDonald (@NorrisMcDonald2) May 12, 2022
Correction. Nick Latifi will continue as a Williams driver for the foreseeable future. Information I received earlier today was incorrect. It doesn’t matter how old are how often one learns this important lesson: get it first but first get it right. My apologies to Nick Latifi.
— Norris McDonald (@NorrisMcDonald2) May 12, 2022
😂🤔 Sightseeing going well…#BerlinEPrix 🇩🇪 #Passioneers @AlexanderSims @oliverrowland1 pic.twitter.com/89U9EBOK6D
— Mahindra Racing (@MahindraRacing) May 12, 2022
How many #F1 world champions are on a commuter train in London right now? I’m going to say: “One.” pic.twitter.com/UTKxOhoLcW
— Matt Bishop 🏳️🌈 (@TheBishF1) May 12, 2022
It was always obvious Sebastian Vettel was an intelligent, informed individual, on #BBCQT he's proved a cut above certain British politicians, notably the tone-deaf, craven @Conservatives hack @SuellaBraverman. He's a credit to #F1.
— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) May 12, 2022
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMLvQLaAF/?k=1
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Formula One's image problem – and the ambitious plan to cut its carbon footprint (Stuff)
"So while Formula One deserves some kudos for its efforts to combat climate change, plenty of critics believe they should be doing a lot more – and with greater urgency. Chief among them are Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, both of whom are multiple world champions and committed environmentalists."
F1 hosts F1 Esports Women’s Wildcard Experience Day ahead of 2022 season launch (F1)
"The Experience Day guests documented their time on the sim racing rigs, created bespoke content for their channels and provided their audiences with information on how to actively participate in the Women’s Wildcard themselves. This year’s Women’s Wildcard submissions open on Tuesday May 17 2022 and close on Monday May 23 2022."
The World’s 10 Highest-Paid Athletes 2022 (Forbes)
After being named the eighth highest-paid sportsperson of 2021, Lewis Hamilton does not feature in this year's top ten.
"Viewers will doubtless want to learn more about the progress of the Swiss meadow he intends to plant for his daughters in the shape of a heart. Or on the reaction he received to the T-shirt he wore at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix last week warning of a race under water by 2060 in a city vulnerable to rising sea levels."
McLaren Automotive honours Queen Elizabeth II in her Platinum Jubilee year (McLaren)
"In honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's 70 year reign, British luxury supercar maker McLaren Automotive has unveiled a bespoke Jubilee platinum paint finish and badge 18 years to the day since she opened McLaren’s global headquarters in Woking, the McLaren Technology Centre."
Girard-Perregaux launches Laureato Absolute Chronograph AMF1 Edition (Aston Martin)
"The new AMF1 Edition features a cutting-edge 44mm case and blends titanium powder and carbon elements taken from two Aston Martin F1 race cars used during the 2021 season, representing a first in the watch industry."
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it in via the contact form.
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Comment of the day
Is the FIA’s sudden insistence that the rules forbidding drivers from wearing jewellery while driving purely about enforcing safety restrictions, or is there a more political motive, asks @BasCB:
I get the idea that they want to get back to enforcing rules, especially the safety rules. But when I see some officials, even an F1TV pundit like Buxton mentioning that ‘hey, Mercedes asked the FIA to be strict on adhering to the rules, so there you have it’, combined with the FIA suddenly getting strict on this after 16 years of ignoring it?
Sorry, but to me that just shows there probably is someone who feels they have to assert their power over the drivers (the new president? The new race director/directors? The FIA itself?), because they must have known this would give them exactly the kind of thing they’ve got now with Seb Vettel walking around with his briefs over his overalls and Hamilton with all the bling he could fit on at a press conference. In other words, they wanted to get this for some kind of PR stuff.
Otherwise they could have just quietly informed the teams and drivers before the season started about wanting to get back onto enforcing this – probably with reference to the investigation into the Grosjean crash – from the start of the season and it would have given them time to solve things like piercings one cannot easily take out, religious and personal jewellery, or the fact that there is only one company actually providing a single model of fire proof sports bra (I presume the rules also count for the W Series, right?) etc… to wear under the Nomex stuff.
@BasCB
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Stephen, Mclarengal, Quinn and Dbradock!
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mantresx (@mantresx)
13th May 2022, 1:48
I remember the 2012 Spanish GP like it was yesterday, what a race! Williams garage on fire and everything.
Everyone thought after winning Pastor would be a more mature driver and have his pay driver reputation go away (like Pérez eventually did) however he was
doing his shenanigans just on the next race at Monaco, what a shame.
Jere (@jerejj)
13th May 2022, 1:53
I agree with both in-brief notes.
The foreseeable future is until this season’s end for now.
Perhaps also a political motive.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
13th May 2022, 6:33
The Latifi rumours have been doing the rounds for a while. Possible that Norris McDonald is correct, just a bit early.
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
13th May 2022, 19:26
Surprised he’s lasted this long to be honest, I mean he’s not the worst driver ever but so many better alternatives out there and he almost never gets close to whoever his teammate is, either in qualifying or the race.
Nick T.
13th May 2022, 20:30
He’ll last just as long as Williams desperately need his bags of cash. It’s not like they’re keeping him because they’re not aware of more talented drivers. It astounds me that people often act like Williams is keeping him on because they’re not aware better drivers are available.
theRealMax (@millionus)
13th May 2022, 7:19
Feels like today’s roundup is one long advert for new stuff you could (if you had oodles of cash) buy.
UNeedAFinn2Win (@uneedafinn2win)
13th May 2022, 7:37
They are BACK !
GP Historique will be streaming all weekend from Monaco, this year featuring up to 35 Lotus GP cars
MotorSport magazine story here, ACM Youtube channel here
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
14th May 2022, 9:52
Thanks for the links, @uneedafinn2win!
Great to hear and see the old cars looking as dangerous as ever.
While I’ve been critical of F1’s technical changes in recent years, seems I’m 60 years too late. Once F1 abandoned front-engine beasts it’s been all downhill since. ;-)
What wonderful noises the 250F and 246 Dino make.