We’re not sure what’s more incredible - that we managed to two shows on back to back weeks or that Bernie Ecclestone issued an apology.
Bernie Ecclestone has apologized for his remarks on Good Morning Britain two weeks ago.
The roll hoop on Zhou Guanyu’s Alfa Romeo took an impact that is believed to be double the force of what the FIA tests for.
The F1 cost cap has been increased - a little bit.
The checks to prevent porpoising have been delayed to Spa - and it sounds like some cheating has been discovered with the skid blocks.
This might have been the most penalty ridden weekend we’ve ever seen.
Hooligans and hooliganism - that’s what we’re calling the fan behavior at this weekend’s event. And it shouldn’t be allowed to ever happen again.
Colton Herta is in Portimao for two days of testing in last year’s McLaren in preparation for a stint in an upcoming FP1 in a current year’s McLaren.
Once again the Silverstone gave us an absolutely mega race. It’s not often that a race makes us sit up on the edge of our seats - but this year’s British Grand Prix did exactly that.
But before we can get to the race, we have to catch up on the other off track drama - namely that there are still some people who need to be reminded that it’s 2022 and not 1922, and that is before we got to talk about the horrific interview that Bernie Ecclestone gave to ITV’s Good Morning Britain program this past week. An interview that you can find here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf2fJsiuV34.
As bad as all that was - the folks at Alpine bring us a unicorn chaser this week in the form of their newly announced Race(Her) Program.
Could teams have found a way to skirt that floor stiffness rules?
Christian “Think Bigger Than Your Own Team” Horner doesn’t want F1 to make changes to F1’s aero rules around bouncing.
Seven protesters were arrested after entering the track in an exceedingly dangerous attempt to disrupt the race.
Everybody involved in a horrific crash has come away unharmed.
Ferrari once again makes some questionable choices, and Daniel Ricciardo is working with Hulu for a scripted F1 TV show.
We’re back after spending a fairly eventful weekend at Road America for the Sonsio Grand Prix. Multiple Full Course Yellows and even a Red Flag or two but everybody involved walked away… And it wouldn’t be a race weekend for us if somebody almost didn’t get run over…
Since we were at Road America we completely missed the Azerbaijian Grand Prix so this week we turned our attention what what happened as F1 headed to Montreal…
And most of the conversation was about the latest Technical Directive that the FIA issued in response to the porpoising and bouncing that we’ve seen this year. The drivers and the teams have been asking for the FIA to do something about it - so now that there’s a Technical Directive everybody’s happy - right?
Australia’s got a new 10 year extension to their current deal that was set to expire in 2025, and all signs are pointing to F1’s return to South Africa in 2023.
Did you miss us? We’re sneaking in a show before things get busy again…
Marcus Ericsson has joined the exclusive list of former F1 drivers who have won the Indy 500 - a list that Fernando Alonso hasn’t been able to join.
Stefano Domenicali isn’t sure he’ll support Michael Andretti’s bid to create and F1 team.
F1’s jewelry exemption for drivers has been extended for another month.
Could Daniel Ricciardo be in danger of not being able to see through the end of his contract with McLaren?
While the calendar will only be 22 races this year, it might be extended to 24 next year - and that may mean that F1 needs to re-think the structure of F1’s calendar? What other factors could influence where F1 goes?
New York City Mayor Eric Adams approached Liberty Media about hosting an F1 race - and was told Thanks but No Thanks…
Monaco doesn’t have a contract renewal to host their race - F1 is looking for concessions from the Principality in order to continue hosting the race.
What happened to disrupt the start of the race this weekend?
Bernie Ecclestone was arrested in Brazil (but he was released) and Kimi Raikkonen is going to drive in NASCAR again.
This weekend was the inaugural Miami Grand Prix…. and we hated it. If you follow the show this probably didn’t come as a surprise - but we the reason we hated it was more than just because it ended up being an F1 race in a car park…
But first -
It’s confirmed both Porsche and Audi are joining F1 in 2026 - and Zak Brown insists that Audi is not buying McLaren.
Michael Andretti remains optimistic that he’ll be able to start a team in F1 - but we likely won’t have a decision from the FIA and F1 until the fall.
The FIA isn’t going to back down on their position regarding jewelry and flame retardant garments.
The crash between Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris was due to damage that Gasley suffered in a collision earlier with Fernando Alonso - a collision that earned him the first of his two 5 second penalties.
So the special pavement at the track in Miami - the drivers hate it….
And the chicane under the Turnpike exit ramps that posed a design challenge for the track designers - yeah the drivers hate that too, and it didn’t make for exciting racing.
And we hated the race for the stupid over the top hype about almost every aspect of the event - except the racing, which wasn’t particularly exciting.
F1 has purchased land from Las Vegas to house the paddock and garages.
We’re getting two more seasons of Drive to Survive.
We admit it - since we were on vacation last week we didn’t see the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but you don’t listen to us for the race reviews do you?
While we were gone Nikita Mazepin spoke with CNN’s Quest Means Business - although we’re not sure why.
Haas says that they’ve learned their lesson and will be doing more due diligence on their sponsorship deals.
Lewis Hamilton is part of a consortium of investors looking to purchase the Chelsea Football Club.
F1 has published the rules of conduct for drivers when entering a corner - and it’s essentially what the rules already said.
The FIA appears to have blocked expanding Sprint Races for the moment.
Red Bull are being poor winners - again…
Mercedes woes continue.
And next week is the Miami Grand Prix at the Miami International Autodrome.
We’re back - for a week… We’ll be out again next week.
The rumor mill has ramped up again over Audi and Porsche and nothing has actually changed.
Sebastain Vettel on a scooter is the latest meme to take F1 by storm.
The FIA is cracking down on drivers not wearing appropriate underwear… And on drivers wearing jewelry… And on Max Verstappen’s strategy when he’s not in the lead behind a safety car.
We know what was glowing under Lewis Hamilton’s car during the Australian Grand Prix.
The FIA doesn’t appreciate drivers complaining about the Aston Martin safety car.
With a 23 (or 22) race season Pirelli is struggling to find tire test dates.
Haas refuses to refund Uralkali their 2022 sponsorship payment - and they think that Uralkali should actually pay them more money.
Could there be a second race in Singapore this year?
And F1 is headed to Las Vegas.
This week F1 was in Saudi Arabia. We weren’t particularly thrilled that F1 decided the race in Saudi Arabia to begin with, and this week we were even more bothered by F1 racing in Saudi Arabia.
Mercedes continue to struggle with porpoising on their 2022 contender.
Mick Schumacher has a massive crash during qualifying, and if the team was willing he would have been in the car for the race on Sunday.
Red Bull might have an aero strategy that could give them the edge this year.
And F1 says they’re going to talk to Netflix about the manufactured drama in Drive to Survive.
It’s possible that we’ve now recorded more shows in the past week than we have in the past month - don’t get used to it…
The FIA has released their report on the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, there’s not a lot of new information in it though. It did however conclude that Michael Masi acted in good faith, and that the standings of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix are final.
The regulations governing unlapping lapped cars under the safety car have been clarified.
The FIA has amended the 2022 Technical Rules to allow stiffening rods to help control the porpoising that teams have been experiencing. They’ve also adjusted the weight rules for the 2022 cars.
Otmar Szafnauer is hitting out at his former team…
What did you think of the new race graphics?
One race in and that it looks like the new rules have had an impact on the racing - but did it fully work as intended?
First, the FantasyGP League is back up. If you think you know better than us - and you quite possibly might, then head over to Fantasygp.com sign up and enter the League Code 14831491.
It’s out of cycle - but here are our predictions for the 2022 season… Although as we recorded we hadn’t yet gotten The Boy’s predictions, but before these get sealed in the vault we’ll have them.
No, we haven’t watched Drive to Survive yet, we’re behind on Star Trek Discovery, behind on Star Trek Picard, and we haven’t even watched the last few episodes of The Great Pottery Throw Down… Plus because the last winter test was so close to the first race weekend - we haven’t even gotten our predictions done- but hopefully we’ll have that sorted by the end of the week.
Instead of taking decisive action on the question of Russian drivers - the FIA decided to punt… Meanwhile Motorsports UK has released a pretty strong “NOPE” when it comes to Russian drivers.
Let there be no doubt now - F1 has in fact canceled the Russian Grand Prix, it hasn’t been suspended it’s been cancelled. But more than that, F1 has now cancelled the contract for ANY Russian Grand Prix. Before this had happened F1 had a contract for aRussian Grand Prix through 2025.
Oh, and were you hoping to watch F1 in Russia? Yeah, that’s not happening either as F1 has cancelled the broadcast rights contract for F1 and shut down F1 TV for Russia as well.
Haas has terminated their relationship with Nikita Mazepin, Dmitri Mazepin, and Uralkali. Nikita doesn’t understand why Haas would do this, Uralkali says they want their money back - and Nikita says that he’s not under sanctions…. And he was right - up until the European Commission named him as the 732nd Russian to be placed under sanction.
Kevin Magnussen has signed a “multi-year” contract to fill the seat vacated by Nikita Mazepin at Haas.
This week was the actual winter testing sessions, as always it’s hard to get a clear picture of where things stand but there were a few clues.
The top three still appear to be Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari.
Red Bull appears to have an edge, but the Ferrari looks strong
Mercedes say that the car is off the pace and not a winner, however nobody believes them.
Mclaren is struggling with brake cooling issues.
The rest of the pack appears to be pretty tight.
Lewis Hamilton will be featured in an upcoming documentary on Apple TV+
And Imola will host F1 through 2025.
Did somebody say Unicorn Chaser?
We can’t ignore what’s happening in Ukraine, especially given F1’s connection to Russia. We applaud the strong statement from Sebastian Vettel - that he would not race in Russia if the Russian Grand Prix was held, and also the statement from Max Verstappen that essentially stated that F1 had no business racing in Russia.
Formula 1 has stated that “it is impossible to hold the Russian Grand Prix in the current circumstances” to which we and many other interpreted to mean that the 2022 Russian Grand Prix has been cancelled. However, the organizers of the event still think there’s a chance that the event could happen.
Haas has removed the Uralkali colors and branding from the VF22, the team’s gear, their trucks, their website and pretty much anyplace else that it might have appeared. As of when we recorded Nikita Mazepin is still driving for the team, but Gunther Steiner has stated that the team will assess their relationship with Uralkali this week.
With Nikita Mazepin’s position on the team tied so closely to the Uralkali sponsorship it seems likely that he’s not going to retain his seat. Gunther Steiner says that Pietro Fitipaldi is most likely to get the call to replace Nikita.
The more we hear about the Andretti Autosport application to start an F1 team the stronger the application sounds. But could the loss of Uralkali trigger a partnership with Haas and Andretti?
Toto Wolff and Christian Horner say they are burying the hatchet for 2022.
Initial reports are that the new cars can follow closer than before - but we’re learning about porpoising and it’s a problem for many teams.
First off we have a correction and an apology to Herbie Blash - he’s apparently very much not dead, we were incorrect in saying he was.
The FIA has completed their investigation into the actions at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and in the interest of openness and transparency the FIA has decided… …to not share their findings with the public…
What the FIA has agreed to do is share the changes that they will be making to F1 as a result of their investigation - with the most notable being the decision to relieve Michael Masi of his duties as Race Director and offer him a new role within the FIA. Niels Wittich and Eduardo Frietas will be alternating as F1’s Race Director and both will be backed up by Herbie Blash who will serve as Senior Advisor.
Other changes - The Race Director will be supported by an off track Virtual Race Control Room. Communications between the teams and Race Control will no longer be broadcast and will be tightly controlled to prevent teams from distracting the Race Director.
The FIA has also announced changes to the Safety Car Restart Procedure as a result of the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - although we’re skeptical that the changes are an improvement.
Independent of the Abu Dhabi investigation, the FIA has modified the requirements for classifying and event as a race and assigning points in the event of another rain soaked weekend like we saw in Spa this past year. Like with the new Safety Car Restart Procedure we’re not quite sure that the new requirements are an improvement.
Other changes for 2022:
There will be just three sprint races. Friday’s qualifying at these weekends will set the grid for both the Sprint and Sunday’s race. The top 8 finishers of the Sprint will get points.
There will be technical show and tell sessions for the media to see and understand the upgrades teams are rolling out every weekend.
All teams will now have a free choice of starting tires for Sunday’s race, no longer with the top 10 be required to start on the same tire they set their fastest time on in Q2
Ross Brawn says that teams won’t try to sabotage their wakes to make following more difficult - we say, if they weren’t before they’re probably going to now…
Otmar Szafnauer has been announced as the new Team Principal at Alpine.
We’ve had car reveals…
Drive to Survive is coming on March 11
New F1 Simulation Centers could be coming to a city near you.
F1 will be racing at COTA for another 5 years
And Michael Andretti and Andretti Autosport have applied to launch an F1 team.
There was a click bait article that cause F1 media and fans to collectively lose their minds… We talk about the article and why it doesn’t mean nearly what every one wants it to mean.
It turns out that the Sporting Regulations for the 2022 season have yet to be approved - and that may have caused a problem with Ferrari’s private test in Fiorano last week.
F1 will only have 1 pre-season test this year - the other session will be a “shake down session”
Franz Tost says that he doesn’t think the new budget cap will close the gap between the teams.
Could the new fuel this year have a bigger impact than teams are saying it will?
It turns out that Red Bull won’t be assembling engines at their new factory before 2026.
Saudi Arabia is making changes to sight lines in response to concerns from last year’s race.
Singapore should be on the F1 calendar until 2028.
it looks like something may come out of the FIA’s Investigation of the end of the last Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. We may still end up with a wholly unsatisfying determination from the FIA (and to be clear we do not expect the Driver’s Championship to be overturned and we do not believe that overturning the Drivers Championship to be a satisfactory or desirable result).
Could Lewis Hamilton actually be considering leaving F1 - or is there something else going on with his silence this off season?
We learned of a major flaw in F1’s Race Director structure - one that in this era of Covid Protocols we think is pretty inexcusable. A flaw that arguably didn’t exist when Charlie Whiting was in the role.
We got the first acknowledgment from somebody at Honda that walking away from F1 when they did might not have been the right idea…
Aston Martin is the first to announce the reveal date for the 2022 season challenger. Plus they’ve named Mike Krack as their new Team Principal.
Alpine has parted ways with their Team Principal Marcin Budkowski.
And McLaren is adamantly opposed to any changes in the cost cap.
New Year, new episode - and we’ll admit to not being fully over the events of Abu Dhabi
We have a lot to say about how things played out at that race, specifically in the last few laps of that race, and we’re hopefully that the FIA’s investigation into those events ends up with decisive action to prevent it from ever happening again.
After 12 years Jean Todt has finished his tenure as FIA President and for the first time in the FIA’s history a none European has been elected to the role. Former Rally Driver Mohammed ben Sulayem has been elected to the role.
F1 team personnel are likely to be required to be vaccinated for Covid-19 prior to the start of the season in order to participate in the 2022 season.
Otmar Szafnauer is out at Aston Martin after assuring us during the Brazil race weekend that he wasn’t leaving the team. But Christian Horner got a contract extension to remain as Team Principal at Red Bull with the team now looking to extend Max Verstappen’s contract.
Mercedes have fired up their 2022 engine for the first time while Haas’ chassis has passed crash testing.
And is Apple getting ready to produce an F1 based movie with Brad Pitt?
Finally, since this is the first show since the end of the season - it’s time for us to review our predictions that we made at the start of the 2021 season and see how we did.
The theme for this week’s show is “controversy” because there sure was a lot of it this week.
Sebastian Vettel held a private karting event in Saudi Arabia - and invited only female Saudi racers to participate.
Lewis Hamilton expressed his displeasure with F1’s decision to come to Saudi Arabia.
Mercedes has a new sponsor - that might cause the UK government to change the laws around sports sponsorship…
Dmitri Mazepin wants to pay retention bonuses to Haas personnel
Helmet Marko says that Red Bull gets treated differently by the Stewards - he might be right, just not in the way he thinks.
Max Verstappen says that F1 is more about penalties than racing - and while we have problems with how penalties have been awarded this season… Max is his own worst enemy.
We know where F1 wants to hold sprint races in 2022.
Hey, remember us? We’re back with a new show and expect to have another one or two shows before the end of the year…
We remember Sir Frank Williams who passed away this weekend at 79.
We’re talking penalties… Driving standards and how they’re enforced, when decision come down, and what “straight talking” really means.
The rumors are picking up a member of the Volkswagen group is headed to F1 - but McLaren wants us to know that they have NOT been purchased by Audi.
And Barcelona will be hosting F1 for a few more years.
Since we didn’t have a show last week we didn’t get to talk about the provisional 2023 calendar that was released, but don’t worry we discuss it this week!
Andretti’s purchase of Sauber appears to be on hold - Sauber’s investors appear to be holding out for more money… Oh, and Valtteri Bottas says that he didn’t know that talks were happening for Andretti to purchase the team when he started his negotiations.
The latest fan survey results were announced - and no surprise, fans don’t like Sprint Races… No matter what Stefano Domenicali seems to think…
Aston-Martin is considering changing the green that they’re using - but only if the paint isn’t too heavy.
The bumps at COTA appeared to be breaking cars…
W Series driver (and former Grand Tour driver) Abbie Eaton was hospitalized after a significant crash at T1 at COTA - which also led to the removal of the sausage curb at the corner.
Why are celebrities on the grid at F1 races? No really, why?
Could Sydney be trying to take over the Australian Grand Prix?
Nico Hulkenburg is getting an IndyCar test.
No, Petronas is not leaving Mercedes.
And Zak Brown got a tattoo in response to a bet before Cyril Abitboul did. But not due to a bet with Daniel Ricciardo.
