GP Racing UK May 2020

Strange times these for Formula 1, which clings desperately to the hope of resuming racing before everything falls apart. As races continue to fall by the wayside (ten and counting at the time of writing), decimating F1’s income as teams beg for handouts from Liberty Media simply to stay afloat, FIA president Jean Todt is right when he suggests this is an existential crisis for grand prix racing, and indeed all of motorsport. Even in these extraordinary times of crisis, F1’s game of high stakes poker rages on off track. Franz Tost says each lost race is costing his team €2million; Claire Williams suggests her team won’t survive if racing doesn’t happen at all in 2020; McLaren now calls for F1 to go further and faster with drastic changes to monetary…

ANDREW BENSON The rapid journey of Charles Leclerc from F1 new boy to Ferrari top dog is analysed by the BBC Sport's chief F1 writer on page 28 NIGEL ROEBUCK Our columinist pays a personal tribute to Stirling Moss, the man he thought of as the greatest racing driver ever (page 46) STUART CODLING Another busy month for 'Codders'. In between podcasts and quizzes, he penned pieces on Ferrari (p38) and the Brabham BT24 (p78) DAMIEN SMITH Damien kicks off another of his great team works with the history of Williams from the early days up to 1982 (see p68) Thanks to Tim Bampton, Russell Day, Darren Jones, Tom Lloyd, Charlotte Sefton, Matthew Spratt, Kevin Turner…

Max hits the big time in Barcelona This month we’d have been returning to Spain for the first time since pre-season testing. In the absence of a Spanish Grand Prix – for now – we’ve looked back through the Motorsport Images archive for some of our favourite shots from years past. This is Max Verstappen on the way to his maiden F1 victory, with the main grandstand and spectator mound forming a nice graphical sweep in the foreground and background. You couldn’t do this shot in the morning because the sun would be illuminating the people sitting in the grandstand and it would make the image look too busy. A large aperture size keeps the foreground out of focus, leading your eye to the car. Photographer Andy Hone Where Barcelona, Spain When 2.50pm, Sunday 15…

FORMULA 1 FEELS THE COVID PINCH 01 Two months on from the aborted season-opening grand prix in Australia, Formula 1’s teams have had to embrace radical measures to shield themselves from the financial impact of not going racing. Cancelled and postponed events, plus sponsorship payments and other business interests being hit by the economic slowdown triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, have induced an acute cashflow crisis which has moved some teams to seek advanced payments from Formula 1 itself. UK-based teams have taken action to reduce their costs including the imposition of ‘temporary’ pay cuts and placing staff on furlough, taking advantage of the government scheme to protect jobs. The commercial rights holder Liberty Media is not immune, since it funded its acquisition of the business through debt, though the underlying strength…

Q1 In 1988, when McLaren won 15 of 16 races, how many times did the team’s drivers finish one-two? Q2 Which christian name has been ever present on the grid since the 2006 season, but will be missing for the first time when racing resumes? Q3 Which current driver has started tenth or better only six times but finished in the points 15 times? Q4 In which year did the championship last start later than March: 1978, 1985 or 1988? Q5 Esteban Ocon has twice finished fifth - his best results - in his Formula 1 career and both were for Force India in 2017. Which races were they?? Q6 When and where did Jonathan Palmer make his F1 debut in a third TAG Williams entry? Q7 True or false: the last four GPs held at…

WILL LOCKDOWN CHANGE MINDS AND DECISIONS? The coronavirus lockdown has affected our lives in so many ways and the consequences are likely to be game changing. In the escapist yet passionately engaged sport of Formula 1, the teams have agreed to limit some of that future uncertainty by freezing technical regulations until 2022, a resolve which makes practical sense while opening and closing yet more doors for decision makers. Take Lewis Hamilton, currently free to choose where he goes for 2021. It is now clear the cars will remain virtually unchanged for a longer period. That will surely influence his thinking. Mercedes has dominated the world championship since hybrid engines were introduced in 2014. Without a shift in rules, the team is likely to stay at the top. Much of the hype prior…