#which has been proven by the junior formulas this weekend

[racewinners-landoandsam]

the thing that pisses me off the most is that lando is always the first to say how amazing the team is. when they do well, when they win, it's a win for the team. when they make a mistake, when they lose, it's his mistake, nothing to do with the team. doesn't matter if it's a messed up pitstop or a mistake on track, it's always his mistake.

'you need the team' a team that's happy to win with him, but won't help him win.

'you need oscar' well oscar's made it obvious that he doesn't want to help lando get the championship, is even risking the team championship for his own agenda.

which he ultimately ended up losing out on. oscar is ahead of carlos in the championship, he's catching charles, but by what he chose to do at the beginning, it ended with charles scoring more points than him, and is risking lando's championship. it's reckless and stupid, and mclaren should be doing more to help the better driver

[lennies-blog]

Article: “Schumacher still an apprentice” (English Translation)

Excerpts from: Sport1.de

SPORT1-Comlumnist Peter Kohl looks back on Mick’s and Seb’s crash and takes a look at Mick’s performance, the pressure he is under and prospects and hopes for the future.

“Hello dear F1 fans! The name Schumacher per se means discussions, passion, hopes, expectations. A heavy load that Mick carries around as the son of seven-time world champion Michael. Claims to the contrary are nonsense. He is in his second Formula 1 season, the rookie protection of the debut year has been used up.

(...)

A Hamilton, a Verstappen, a Leclerc, the young Vettel, Ricciardo in his early years - they all had a much more spectacular start to their Formula 1 careers, literally eating up their established teammates or opponents. Hit it straight away.

Mick's path is rockier, tougher. The crash with Vettel in Miami went badly. A misjudgment of what is possible with worn tires compared to the Aston Martin with much fresher tires makes Mick look bad.

Attacking is in the DNA of top drivers, looking for and using every opportunity leads to the front. Without this ability, this hunger, none of them would be in the top class of motorsport, but would have failed in the junior classes.

The fact that you sometimes have to rein yourself in to achieve goals is a learning process that everyone has gone through. Also a Vettel, a Hamilton and a Verstappen.

For Schumacher, it's about redirecting will, passion and determination into a certain lightness and naturalness. A transformation that is very difficult. Especially when he's constantly being criticized.

The high art for him will be to isolate himself from it, to free himself from it and to continue to follow the path he has chosen.

He's still an apprentice. They make mistakes and they should be allowed to make them. A hyper talent like Max Verstappen needed years to steer his aggressiveness and aggressiveness in the right direction.

A rightly praised George Russell tried to overtake Bottas in high spirits in Imola in 2021 on a half-wet road with slicks. That ended in one of the most spectacular crashes in recent years and could have taken both of them badly, despite the question of who was at fault. Some risky decisions just don't pay off. Mick found that out the hard way in Miami.

He is verbally getting his ears ripped off from many sides (=he is heavily criticised). The fact is: he once again threw away a chance to win his first championship points. His accident frequency is too high and costs cash.What he needs now are a couple of race weekends that run more or less flawlessly and without impacts.

The question of when Schumacher will get the chance from Ferrari to take a seat in the red top car from Maranello has been settled for the time being anyway. Sainz's contract has been extended until the end of 2024. Leclerc and Sainz occupy both cockpits in the medium term.

But what can go wrong when joining a top team too early was shown by Albon and Gasly, who couldn't withstand the high pressure of expectations at Red Bull and crumbled under it. It is almost a miracle that both have found their way back into Formula 1. Because the graveyard of career hopes buried early is large.

Ferrari decides whether and how things will continue for him at Haas. Schumacher is under contract with the Italians and they have the right of co-decision for filling one of the two pilot seats.

If they keep him, which I firmly believe in, the Haas team, and first and foremost team boss Günther Steiner, have the task and responsibility when it comes to the further development and shaping of Schumacher.

And the youngster is in the best of hands. With Haas he has the opportunity to continue to gain important experience in the hotly contested midfield.

Magnussen has proven that the material is always suitable for scoring points this season. And Mick will do it in 2022 too!

It would be appropriate and sensible not to always see Mick as the upcoming world champion.

If he manages to stay in Formula 1 for years, to play a role like Perez, Ricciardo, Sainz or Bottas, then a lot of good things would have happened already. Because then he would have proved that he is without question one of the 20 best drivers in the world. And sitting in a Formula 1 car, rightly so. That must be the primary goal.

If he can do that, he deserves the utmost respect. Especially in view of the backpack that he unintentionally carries around with him thanks to his father's high-flying successes. May the racing god be with him in Barcelona!”

[f1]

Doohan to drive for Alpine in Mexico and Abu Dhabi practice sessions | 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix

Alpine junior Jack Doohan will drive for the team in the first practice session at this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix and the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The two sessions will be Doohan’s first in a Formula 1 car on a race weekend, and in Alpine’s A522 car. The Formula 2 racer has previously done private running this year in the manufacturer’s 2021 car. Doohan lies fourth in the F2 standings with one round to go, and the rookie is in contention to be championship runner-up. He looks set to race in the series again next year, and will likely also replace McLaren-bound Oscar Piastri as Alpine’s reserve driver. “I’ve had a few runs this year in the A521, but to be actually driving this year’s current F1 car but also on the same track at the same time as the current F1 drivers, on a F1 weekend, is going to be unbelievable and something that I’ve dreamt of since I’ve been a little kid,” said Doohan “We had some good time on the sim, in which I was able to work with the engineers to kind of get my head around it. It’s quite an extraordinary circuit and place. So it’s going to be an experience, and not only for a new track, but to experience conditions like this. But nevertheless I’m super-excited. “I’ve been over-looking, you could say, the F1 weekend from afar over my F2 season so far, being able to come up into the paddock at certain points. But actually being able to be full-time in the F1 paddock and be with the engineers through every moment of the weekend will enable me to really understand the step-by-step movements that is required to fully be ready for these sessions and for the participation in the session.” By placing Doohan in the car at two events, with the 19-year-old replacing Esteban Ocon in Mexico and Fernando Alonso in Abu Dhabi, Alpine will complete the new-for-2022 requirement of running a driver with less than three grand prix starts in two first practice sessions across the season. “We have all been impressed with Jack’s progression across many areas this season and he’s deserving of this chance as we continue to nurture his high potential,” said Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer. “It’s important to give our young drivers opportunities to test Formula 1 cars and our Academy programme has proven to be successful in doing just that. We expect Jack to work hard during the session and take as much as he can from the experience of being involved in a Formula 1 grand prix weekend.” Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free F1 teams’ junior driver practice schedules Team Event Driver Event Driver Mercedes French Grand Prix Nyck de Vries TBC TBC Red Bull Spanish Grand Prix Juri Vips TBC TBC Ferrari United States Grand Prix Robert Shwartzman TBC Robert Shwartzman McLaren United States Grand Prix Alex Palou Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Pato O’Ward Alpine Mexico City Grand Prix Jack Doohan Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Jack Doohan AlphaTauri Belgian Grand Prix Liam Lawson TBC Liam Lawson Aston Martin Italian Grand Prix Nyck de Vries Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Felipe Drugovich Williams Spanish Grand Prix Nyck de Vries United States Grand Prix Logan Sargeant Alfa Romeo Bahrain Grand Prix Zhou Guanyu United States Grand Prix Theo Pourchaire Haas Mexican Grand Prix Pietro Fittipaldi Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Pietro Fittipaldi 2022 Mexican Grand Prix Browse all 2022 Mexican Grand Prix articles via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net/

[ultrasfcb-blog]

Lando Norris: Can McLaren

Lando Norris: Can McLaren

Lando Norris: Can McLaren

Meet Lando Norris – McLaren’s new kid on the block

It has been the fate of many promising British racing drivers in the last 10 years to be dubbed “the next Lewis Hamilton”.

The difference with Lando Norris, who has been signed to race for McLaren next year, is that he looks like he might just be one who can justify the hype.

Hamilton is a tough act to follow – as was demonstrated by his superlative drive to victory in Italy on Sunday. And Norris has a long way to go before he can be considered anywhere near him.

But in his short career, the indications so far are that he has a considerable natural talent.

Still only 18, Norris has been quick pretty much straight away in virtually every car he has driven. That’s always a good sign. As is pace in the wet, which Norris has also demonstrated in abundance.

McLaren’s reserve driver this year, he drove the car in Friday practice at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.

In the rain, he was matching team-mate Fernando Alonso’s pace. And although he ended up considerably slower than the Spaniard, he had been on course to set the same sort of time had he not encountered traffic on his fastest lap.

A meteoric rise

Footage of a young Lando Norris doing doughnuts

Norris might not be 19 until November, but he is already a veteran of seven different junior motorsport categories and a champion in three, including the prestigious Formula Three Euroseries last year.

How is that possible? Well, it helps to come from a very wealthy family – his father is an investment banker. They recognised his talent and had the multi-million pound fortune to back it – and felt in a position to allow him to give up school to pursue it.

“I left school to concentrate on racing,” Norris says. “It was a family decision between my mum, dad and myself.

“I feel it has paid off because I have definitely improved with not feeling tired all the time from travelling, getting home and then going to school the next day.”

But no amount of money can compensate for a lack of talent, and Norris has demonstrated that he has plenty.

Norris has made his name by winning titles in several junior categories

Quick but raw

Monza on Friday was the sort of performance that has convinced McLaren they should take the risk of promoting the lad from Glastonbury in Somerset into a full-time race seat in Formula 1 in 2019.

But a risk it is, however talented Norris is.

If they’re quick enough, they’re old enough, is an F1 adage. Norris is certainly quick, but whether he is ready is a question that will only be answered with time.

McLaren always had an eye on promoting Norris to F1 in 2019 when he embarked on his maiden Formula Two season this year.

He had already impressed at the Daytona 24 Hours sports car race in January, where he shared one of the cars run by McLaren boss Zak Brown’s United Autosports team with Alonso and British driver Phil Hanson.

Alonso was using the event to gain experience of night-time sportscar driving ahead of his ultimately victorious visit to Le Mans with Toyota this year. Norris, a source close to the situation says, was determined to set a quicker lap time than the great man.

He managed it, too, although the source says that to do so he treated one particularly nasty kerb with a fair bit more aggression than might have been ideal in a 24-hour endurance race.

“The things he did were very impressive,” Alonso said after the race. “The team work, the preparation, the focus.

“When we switched to wet tyres for one stint, we were fifth, one minute behind the leader. Then we switched to slick tyres again in damp conditions – all this with Lando driving – and we were 27 seconds behind the leaders. He is 18 years old, so that is quite impressive.”

Daytona demonstrated Norris’ pace, and his determination and drive. And when he began the F2 season impressively, with a win in the first race and an early championship lead, the decision was pretty much made to promote him.

Norris negotiates Monaco’s famous hairpin corner in a Formula Two race back in May. Next year he’ll get to do it in an F1 car

Norris also attracted the attention of Red Bull, whose motorsport boss Helmut Marko made a pitch for him to replace New Zealander Brendon Hartley in the early summer. This was resolutely rejected by McLaren, who were determined to hold on to him.

But then Norris had what can only be described as a mid-season wobble, and he has looked less convincing in recent races. In fact, he has been outshone by another British talent, George Russell, a protege of Mercedes.

McLaren began to wonder whether Norris might be better off doing another year of F2, or something else to gain experience, before his promotion to the big time.

When Alonso decided to retire from F1 at the end of the season, McLaren signed Carlos Sainz to replace him. Their choice as his team-mate was effectively between Norris, and the two Force India drivers, Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez.

Ocon seemed the most logical choice – he’s young, quick and proven. But McLaren were unwilling to take a driver who had contractual links with Mercedes, for all sorts of reasons tied up with the wider political climate in F1 at the moment.

Perez is effectively tied to Force India, and with no will to change their minds on Ocon, the seat was Norris’. Meanwhile, he is still very much in contention for the F2 title – 12 points behind Russell with two rounds to go.

Norris (centre) stands on the podium after a Formula 4 race in 2015

A chance to prove what he’s made of

Norris is one of the most promising talents to come along for a while and he has earned his F1 break on merit.

But he only has to look at his current team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne to see that what you achieve on the way up is no guarantee of a successful F1 career. The Belgian’s junior career was at least as impressive as Norris’ – and he is being pitched after two seasons of unconvincing performances alongside Alonso.

Like Hamilton, Norris is making his debut with McLaren, but this is a very different McLaren from the one Hamilton graduated with in 2007.

Then, they were at the front of the grid; now they’re at the back. Hamilton had a known quantity in Alonso as a team-mate and benchmark; Norris has someone who, while clearly quick and talented, is still proving his level – and was not going to be retained by Renault at the end of this season, whether McLaren wanted him or not.

McLaren in 2007 were the factory Mercedes team and knew exactly where they were going. McLaren in 2019 have a customer Renault engine and are starting what will clearly be a long and difficult rebuilding process.

Norris has absolutely earned his chance. But if he wants to emulate Hamilton, the real work starts now.

Additional reporting Gary Rose

BBC Sport – Formula 1 ultras_FC_Barcelona

ultras FC Barcelona - https://ultrasfcb.com/formula1/12876/

#Barcelona

[grandpxnews-blog]

The Torpedo returns to Toro Rosso

New Post has been published on https://grandpx.news/the-torpedo-returns-to-toro-rosso/

The Torpedo returns to Toro Rosso

Daniil Kvyat will return to Toro Rosso as their full-time driver for 2019, the Faenza based outfit confirmed.

Motorsport and other news outlets had predicted that the Russian will be confirmed during the Sochi race weekend.

This is Kvyat’s third time returning to the junior Red Bull outfit. In the first instance, the Russian drove for the team in 2014 and then was demoted back to Toro Rosso from Red Bull in early 2016.

In late 2017, the Torpedo was dropped from the program due to lack of improvement. Ferrari picked him up as their development driver for the 2018 season.

But the Italian team has released him as he had to chance to return to racing with Toro Rosso next year.

Speaking after the confirmation, Kvyat said: “First of all, I would like to thank Red Bull and Toro Rosso for giving me this opportunity to race in Formula 1 again and I am particularly pleased to be returning to a team I know very well.

“Toro Rosso has always made me feel at home and I’m sure it will still be the same next season.

“I would also like to thank Ferrari for trusting my driving skills which allowed me to stay connected to F1 as their development driver.

“Even if my duties were primarily simulator based, I’ve learnt a lot, and I now feel stronger and better prepared than when I left Toro Rosso.”

The Russian said he “never gave up hope of racing again”. The youngster has matured since his time away from the team, says Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko.

Talking about their new line up, Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost said: “I believe he deserves another chance in Formula 1.

“Daniil is a highly skilled driver with fantastic natural speed, which he has proven several times in his career.

“There were some difficult situations he had to face in the past, but I’m convinced that having had time to mature as a person away from the races will help him show his undeniable capabilities on track.

“We’ll push very hard to provide him with a good package, and I feel the best is yet to come from his side.

“That’s why we are happy to welcome him back to our team, to start a successful season together.”