F1 Recess
F1 Format Changes, F1 meets Top Gun, Upgrades?, and more
I can hear the loud echoing of the school bell going off just over my head.
Our teacher asks us to line up, hoping for once we kids can march like the army, orderly & straight, even though she has to yell at Chad every time to get back in line.
Where are we going?
Long, live recess. Time for the great outdoors of the fenced-in schoolyard.
“Mike, do we team up for some kickball, or maybe tether ball this go?” I whisper.
Either way, it gets me out of this cinder block, boring ass white room full of humming lights and no windows.
During school, it was the best part of life followed closely by lunch. Recess ruled.
I imagine for most around the F1 paddock that’s what these current 3 weeks feel like.
Or perhaps, for struggling teams maybe it’s more like being in trouble during recess.
I remember having to “stand on the line” if I was “underperforming” in class; so embarrassing especially if my crush saw me.
Thanks to the Chinese GP being canceled this year teams, drivers, and fans are halfway through this long, unplanned recess in the schedule. For the most part, everyone seems to be taking advantage of the time to enjoy being home, gaining some perspective on their seasons, and focusing on car development at the factory.
Personally, I took a week off writing to focus on a personal project that has irritated me for over a year; really longer.
I live in a downtown high-rise building, and saying my exterior windows were filthy is an understatement. Solutions are ridiculously expensive, and I was tired of waiting for our HOA to execute our annual cleaning so I took the matter into my own hands and worked the problem.
What did I do?
I created a process where I could clean my windows from the inside. I think I could turn it into an interesting side hustle. Safe, environmentally friendly, and anyone can do it.
While I’ve been creating my window solution, the F1 world has been tweaking its own product.
The first tweak will come with the new weekend format in Baku.
The teams will only have 1 true practice on Friday then they will go immediately into qualifying; Friday's qualifying session will now set the race for the Grand Prix on Sunday, with the outcome of the sprint having no bearing on how a driver starts the main race.
Friday: Practice, Qualifying
Saturday: Sprint Qualifying, Sprint Race
Sunday: Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The top eight finishers in a sprint race will receive points (handed out 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1).
Why the change?
Evolution and the need to bring more excitement to each day. More eyeballs equal improved TV ratings.
Max hates it, and I agree with him. He threatened to “not be around long” if F1 keeps changing race weekends.
What I dislike most is that they are making this change during the season. This type of change should be flushed out prior to the season.
Red Bull team boss, Horner, isn’t happy especially knowing the change is coming on a street course. As a team and driver, you want the crucial track time on street courses; they have added character that only track time can teach you.
While Red Bull might be outspoken it seems a majority of team bosses, if not all, agree on the new format behind closed doors.
Trying things is important. It’s how F1 got to where it is today.
Expect more changes, tweaks, additions, or even subtractions. Perhaps practice will be eliminated altogether.
On a quick side note, Max Verstappen was very close to joining Mercedes, Toto Wolff revealed. He acknowledged their interest in the Dutchman:
"We had Lewis and Nico and both had long-term contracts, Max was clearly an interesting young man, but at that time we could have offered him a place in GP2 and then maybe a contract. “But Helmut was able to offer him a seat in Formula 1 and eventually I advised him to go down that route as well. And that meant seeing him leave the Mercedes orbit."
Max alongside Lewis? Those debriefing rooms alone would have been worth the price of admission.
Another tweak will be coming in Imola.
This one is related to the tires. Pirelli has confirmed that Imola will be the first venue where the new experimental qualifying format will be tested.
The new format imposes the use of hard tires in Q1, mediums in Q2, and softs in Q3 with the aim of saving two sets over the entire weekend.
An interesting change that might help Ferrari avoid screwing up its qualifying tire strategy.
Under this format you also won’t see smaller teams put on the softs just to try and advance further into qualifying early; everybody will be on the same tires during each session.
I have a feeling not much changes from what we’ve seen to date.
One good thing to see is how Guenther’s team is approaching the break.
"I just said to the guys, take it easy in these three weeks, don't do anything I wouldn't be doing," said Haas team principal Guenther Steiner. "For the race team, there's an opportunity to have a little bit of rest because the rest of the season will be tough."
Safe to say the Haas team is on recess?
What are teams really working on? Upgrades.
For instance, Mercedes is still working to fix the ride height of the car. The Mercedes engineers have increased the ground clearance of the W14 because they expected better performance in the slow corners as well as better drivability. While bouncing and bottoming are both now inexistent, they pay the price with a lack of contact pressure in the fast corners, and when accelerating out.
Unsurprisingly, Red Bull has found a way to lower the RB19 without paying a price.
Mercedes was forced to switch to a different vehicle philosophy in order to become competitive again in the medium to long term. Ground clearance was reduced in Melbourne, but it does not go any lower. At a certain point, a reduction has more negative than positive consequences.
Their current focus is the suspension per Mercedes CTO, James Allison who also heads up the INEOS America’s Cup team effort.
"We are working as hard as we can in the wind tunnel to find more downforce, we will be working as hard as we can in the drawing office to convert the things that the wind tunnel found a few weeks ago into performance that we deliver to the track," Allison said in a team debrief. “We will be working in the drawing office also to bring some mechanical parts to the car, some different suspension components that we think will help the underlying balance of the car and make it a more driveable thing."
The work being done in these weeks will really go into effect as the European swing heats up. You will see a “development war” kick in with each race seeing new suspension, aero, and wing bits to gain speed, low or high.
Alonso’s input. “I think the first three races being away from Europe, it’s difficult to bring upgrades and things like that. But from now on, maybe we see the level of the teams changing a little bit, race-by-race, depending on who brings an upgrade that is good enough.”
A development that you might see around the F1 paddock is director Joseph Kosinski’s upcoming movie.
This is the guy that directed Top Gun: Maverick. An exceptionally action-packed movie.
Damson Idris will star as an F1 driver, and the role was inspired by the life and career of Sir Lewis Hamilton, who is also producing the movie. Brad Pitt will play the role of a former driver who returns to the sport; Damson joins as his teammate.
The movie set will literally be many of the upcoming races, starting with Silverstone, as the production team will “immerse” themselves into the sport.
F1 Boss, Stefano Domenicali seems excited.
“Actually, we're going to start the shooting in Silverstone very soon, and you will see it will be the first movie when basically, they will be within the racing event. It will be quite invasive in terms of production, it's something that we need to control in a way, but it will be another way of showing that F1 never stops.”
"A Brad Pitt movie with Lewis Hamilton consulting, and with Bruckheimer and with the director from Top Gun: Maverick – we've already seen some of what they're going to do, and how they're going to skin these cars. They took the technology from Top Gun, and it's going to be amazing.”
One great thing to see is that AMR is not letting up.
Lawrence Stroll isn’t satisfied with the podiums Aston Martin is currently achieving. He’s pushing Aston Martin to win races, Mike Krack says:
“The mission is very clear. [Lawrence Stroll] has not been having any delay in telling us, ‘When are we going to win the next one?’.”
Give us Alonso on the top step of the podium this year. Pretty please.
Neither is Alpine.
Alpine is aiming to gain six-tenths until the summer break. The development steps have already been approved in the wind tunnel with the first two major upgrades scheduled for Baku and Imola, and the next ones for Montreal and Silverstone.
If everything goes to plan, the Alpine should be three-tenths faster at Imola. That would almost close the gap to Ferrari, Mercedes, and Aston Martin.
A great piece of news is that Will Sweet, the fan who was hit by Kevin Magnussen's flying debris during the Australian Grand Prix, is not only fine after the accident but says he's ready for his next race.
Finally, are you debating with your friends or family if this season of the new regulations is better than last season? If you look at overtakes as your measuring stick, then 2 of the 3 races have been better according to AutoSport.
Recess is almost over, and I hope you learned something,
🏁Brent🏁
PS If you thought F1 cars were large. Check out “Big Rig” racing, European style. Imagine trying to apex one of these beasts. The link is below since Twitter & Substack are at war.
https://twitter.com/ahmed_baokbah/status/1644457076989591553?s=20