Motorsport News 22/07/21

It felt like a new beginning for Formula 1 last weekend, and in so many ways too. But let’s get the elephant in the room outof the wayfirst: that crash. There will always be divided opinions and a certain bias, be that patriotic or not, but the stewards at Silverstone who – let’s not forget – have access to data and telemetry that the rest of us are left guessing at made a decision. And they decided that Silverstone winner Lewis Hamilton should have a 10-second penalty for his part in the collision with Max Verstappen. That should be the end of the matter. But it wasn’t because, as so often happens in motorsport, the onlookers’ views are so heavily influenced by what the outcome of any contact is, rather than the…

Red Bull’s driver advisor and former racer Helmut Marko thinks Lewis Hamilton should have been punished more severely for his opening-lap crash with Max Verstappen at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday. Hamilton and pole-starter Max Verstappen slugged it out over the opening part of the first lap before Hamilton went for the inside of the Red Bull at Copse corner. The pair made contact and Verstappen went off at high speed, recording an impact with the tyre barrier at 51g. The race was red flagged. Hamilton continued in his undamaged car but was handed a 10-second penalty when the action resumed, which he served at a pitstop. Despite the delay, the Mercedes man fought back to overtake Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari – also at Copse – and win his eighth…

Formula 1’s first sprint race, which took place at Silverstone on Saturday and was won by Max Verstappen, has drawn a mixed reaction although the sport’s bosses say they were very pleased by the event. The Dutchman, who had lined up in second place on the grid, jumped Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes on the run to the first corner and the positions then remained unchanged. The major focus was on Fernando Alonso, who used soft tyres on hisAlpine to clamber into the top six initially and then fell back. F1 managing director Ross Brawn said he was “very pleased” by the reaction of the fans to the new addition to the F1 weekend. “There was lots of action,” Brawn said. “People are now understanding it’s a complete weekend. [It is] three days of action.And…

Formula 1 bosses gave a glimpse into the future at Silverstone when they revealed a full-scale interpretation of what a grand prix car built to the new technical regulations in 2022 might look like. The design was taken to Silverstone and put on display for all to inspect. The new rules include new simplified aerodynamics, suspension changes, vastly different front and rear wings and, most significantly, the introduction of ground effect. The emphasis of the tweaks to the car are to make the racing more competitive and allow cars to follow more closely behind each other, which improve overtaking chances as a result. Drivers were able to check over the design study. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz said: “I really like the car from the front wheels but I like how aggressive it is plus…

Motorsport UK chairman David Richards is considering a bid to run for FIApresident later this year, having been asked to stand for the role. The mandate of the incumbent president Jean Todt ends this year, and Graham Stoker, Todt’s deputy for sport, and former rally driver Mohammed ben Sulayem have confirmed their candidacies and running mates for the December election. Richards said: “I was asked to throw my hat into the ring, and I consider it very carefully. I wouldn’t say I’ve ruled it out but if there’s an appropriate [other] candidate that we [Motorsport UK] can support then we will.” Upon being asked if we should therefore ‘watch this space’, Richards added: “I’ve been around motorsport for all my life and I know you never say never in anything.” Richards added though that…

McLaren chief Zak Brown was forced to miss last weekend’s British Grand Prix after testing positive for Covid in the build-up to the race. TheAmerican returned the result after a check on Thursday morning and was force to isolate. He had been scheduled to drive his own Lotus 79, the car that MarioAndretti took to the F1 crown, in an on-track demo during the weekend’s celebrations. Ahead of the weekend, Brown said: “I feel fine. I’m frustrated, because I’m double-vaccinated and I’ve been ultra-careful for a year and a half but it’s just one of these that hits home when it gets you and you’ve got no idea where you’ve got it from.”…