Lewis Hamilton says heâs never experienced as much pain while driving in Formula 1 as he did during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, thanks to his Mercedes carâs aggressive bouncing.
All teams have had to deal with either aerodynamic porpoising or their cars bottoming out along Bakuâs 1.4-mile straight, but Mercedes suffered most thank to the W13 already being predisposed to the bouncing.
The team clarified during the weekend that in Baku it wasnât suffering from the same porpoising that afflicted it before the Spanish Grand Prix; instead the car was scraping along the track on the straights because it needs to be run extremely close to the ground to generate performance.
Continue reading on RACERCharles Leclerc has called for Ferrari to ensure its double DNF in Azerbaijan isnât repeated this season after taking a massive hit to his title campaign.
Leclercâs power unit blew in a plume of smoke on the front straight on lap 20, forcing his retirement. Teammate Carlos Sainz had stopped with an engine hydraulics leak just 11 laps early, cementing a shocking day at the office for the Italian team.
The double retirement facilitated an easy Red Bull Racing one-two finish with Max Verstappen in the lead, consolidating a 21-point title lead ahead of teammate Sergio Perez. Red Bull Racing also widened its lead over Ferrari in the constructors standings to 80 points.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen has blown open his championship lead with a comfortable victory in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after both Ferrari drivers retired with mechanical failures.
The race was bubbling into a strategic thriller, with pole-getter Charles Leclerc having made an early pit stop during a virtual safety car on lap 9. The track-wide caution was triggered by Carlos Sainz, whose power unit suffered a hydraulic failure that forced him to park up in the run-off area at Turn 4.
Sergio Perez, having jumped Leclerc for the lead on the first lap, stayed out ahead of teammate Verstappen for a more conventional one-stop strategy that would have squeezed the Monegasque at the end of the race. But the tactics never had a chance to play out, with Leclercâs power unit popping in the final sector after just 20 laps, forcing him into a costly retirement, his second in three races after the Spanish Grand Prix.
Continue reading on RACERGeorge Russell has doubled down on his calls for Formula 1 to address the âsafety limitationâ in its new-design 2022 cars, declaring itâs only a matter of time before the chassis bouncing phenomenon, also known as porpoising, results in a significant crash.
Russell spoke out on Friday against the physical toll the bouncing was taking on drivers in Baku, where the long front straight is triggering the phenomenon for virtually all teams to varying extents, more severely than at any circuit this season so far.
Mercedes is arguably the worst affected, with the car intermittently scraping along the ground down the straight as well as moving up and down on its suspension. But after qualifying sixth and 1.3s off the pace on Saturday, Russell said the experience of the car on the limit was so extreme that a crash owing to the bouncing was inevitable.
Continue reading on RACERSergio Perez was in a pole-getting mood on Saturday afternoon in Baku but was left to lament a fuel problem that left the Red Bull driver unable to compete with Ferrariâs Charles Leclerc.
Perez and Leclerc had traded quickest time throughout practice and qualifying in Azerbaijan, and the pole shootout was set to go down to the wire when Red Bull Racing realized it had under-fueled the Mexicanâs car ahead of the final runs. It meant Perez had to be held in his garage for refueling, and by the time he rejoined the track, he had lost touch with the pack and had to set his lap without the benefit of the powerful slipstream down 1.4-mile straight.
Ultimately missing out to Leclerc by 0.282s, the Mexican was left to wonder what could have been partway through a particularly competitive weekend.
Continue reading on RACERCharles Leclerc claimed his fourth pole position in a row by dominating qualifying at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Ferrari held a provisional front-row lockout, but with Carlos Sainz leading a slightly scrappy Leclerc, the drivers battling with grip on a cooling track fast approaching sunset.
Sainz was first out among the front-runners for the second runs, but it was the Spaniardâs turn to struggle, and after some snaps of oversteer in the first few corners, his pole challenge was as good as over at the end of the first split.
Continue reading on RACERFerrari boss Mattia Binotto says Formula 1 must work more closely with its new race directors to accelerate their improvement after they were parachuted into the role at the start of the season.
Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich are sharing the race directorship this year after the FIA restructured race control in the wake of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix scandal that saw the world title decided after some controversial decisions from then race boss Michael Masi.
An internal investigation found Masi was overworked in the role and lacked support. Doubling up the number of race directors is one of the governing bodyâs responses to the findings.
Continue reading on RACERSergio Perez narrowly beat Charles Leclerc in Saturdayâs final practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Mexicanâs best time, a 1m43.170s, was only 0.07s quicker than Leclercâs fastest lap. He was almost 0.14s up on the Monegasque in the first and third sector, the bulk coming along the straight time between Turn 16 and the finish line, but Leclerc halved the difference in the slower middle sector.
Max Verstappen was third and a further 0.2s adrift, though the Dutchman had to abort his first flying lap on soft tires near the end of the session due to yellow flags at Turn 3, flown for an errant Valtteri Bottas.
Continue reading on RACERMercedes team boss Toto Wolff says Formula 1 should look to American sport for guidance on capping driver salaries as debate about expanding the cost cap heats up.
Drivers are opposed to moves to cap their earnings as part of a broader push to keep team spending in check. A driver salary cap would be separate from the general cost cap, which currently excludes each teamâs three biggest earners.
On Friday in Azerbaijan several drivers spoke out against the idea, claiming it would be unfair to limit their earnings when the sport is bringing in more money than ever before on the back of a popularity boom. Sebastian Vettel described it as a strategy to boost team bottom lines.
Continue reading on RACERGeorge Russell is calling for talks with Formula 1 to find a way to reduce the propensity for porpoising with the current generation of cars after a painful afternoon at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Mercedes in particular has struggled with aerodynamic bouncing for most of the year, and although upgrades brought to the Spanish Grand Prix facilitated a strong weekend for the reigning constructorsâ champion in Barcelona, the porpoising has returned with a vengeance in Baku.
The problem is particularly bad in Azerbaijan, where the cars are flat out for more than 1.3 miles down the front straight, the longest single blast in the sport. The faster the cars go, the more energized the ground-effect floor becomes, sucking the cars closer to the ground until they bottom out, which causes the bouncing.
Continue reading on RACERCharles Leclerc took top spot in second practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Sergio Perez. The Monegasque trailed the Mexican in the first hour but snatched top spot in the late afternoon with a 0.248s margin.
Leclercâs Ferrari was running with a much skinnier wing compared to FP1, and it showed in the sector times. Whereas earlier on Friday he was dominated in the first sector, by the end of the day he was quickest of all in that split â and without sacrificing performance in the slow and twisty middle sector, where his advantage was at its largest. In fact he was quicker than Perezâs Red Bull through all three splits by the end of the afternoon as well as at the speed trap.
But the day wasnât flawless for Leclerc, who in the final five minutes complained this his engine was losing power, though the team radioed back that it was nothing to be worried about.
Continue reading on RACERSergio Perez topped a blustery first practice hour at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Charles Leclerc. Perez, who won in Baku last season, set a best lap of 1m45.476s to beat Leclerc by 0.127s.
The Red Bull Racing and Ferrari cars were generating lap time in dramatically different ways. Perez was fastest of all in the straightforward first sector, but Leclerc made is all back with a purple time in the second split, which comprises 11 of the trackâs 20 turns.
The last sector, comprising the flat-out run from Turn 16 to the first corner, went Perezâs way by 0.2s, setting the classification in his favor.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton has welcomed FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem walking back his comments stating that drivers shouldnât be using their F1 platform to advocate social and environmental causes.
Ben Sulayem singled out Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Lando Norris for using Formula 1 to âimpose [their] beliefsâ on the audience in an interview published last week, but in a tweet on Thursday he clarified that he believed the sport could be a force for positive change.
âAs a driver, I have always believed in sport as a catalyst of progress in society,â he wrote. âThat is why promoting sustainability, diversity and inclusion is a key priority of my mandate. In the same way, I value the commitment of all drivers and champions for a better future.â
Continue reading on RACERDaniel Ricciardo has rejected rumors that he could lose his McLaren race seat, reiterating his commitment to the team through to the end of next season.
Ricciardoâs tenure at McLaren has been the subject of intense speculation since the last two rounds in Spain and Monaco, where he was comprehensively beaten by teammate Lando Norris despite the latterâs struggle with tonsillitis and failed to score points, extending his run of dry races to six from seven grands prix.
Pressure was ratcheted up by team CEO Zak Brown declaring publicly that the Australian wasnât meeting expectations and then openly discussing exit clauses in his contract. But speaking ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Ricciardo said he retained the confidence of Brown and the team and was committed for the long haul.
Continue reading on RACERWorld champion Max Verstappen has hit out against the idea of a cap on Formula 1 driver salaries, arguing it would limit their ability to capitalize on the sportâs growing popularity and booming income.
F1 introduced a general cost cap last season for the first time in its history, but it excludes the three highest paid members of staff â typically the drivers and team principal.
Expanding expenditure controls to the drivers has long been mooted, with $30 million to cover a roster of two drivers informally proposed in 2020. The sport has yet to pursue it vigorously, with the question of how to deal with drivers already signed up on hefty salaries proving a tricky one to tackle, but the dramatic rise in inflation and ensuing spending squeeze has resharpened focus on its introduction in recent weeks.
Continue reading on RACERWhat do you think of Daniel Ricciardo (unusual)? We open the world-famous talkback line for the first time in Box of Neutrals history for your hot takes.
Max Verstappen dominated final practice at the British Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Perez.
Verstappen had only two stints on track on the soft tire but blitzed the field easily with his second set of the red-walled rubber to set a time of 1m27.901s, which was 0.41s quicker than Perez in a strong rebound for Red Bull Racing after a difficult Friday setting up its upgraded car.
Ferrari was the next-best team, but Charles Leclerc was 0.447s off the pace, almost all of which was lost along the straights, with the red car otherwise a match through the corners.
Continue reading on RACER