In the round-up: Charles Leclerc says he hopes to have his first “clean weekend” at Silverstone this weekend since the Miami Grand Prix in early May.
In brief
Leclerc hopes for ‘first clean weekend since Miami’ at Silverstone
Leclerc finished second in the Miami Grand Prix to Max Verstappen, leaving Florida with a 19 point lead over the Red Bull driver in the championship. Since then, the Ferrari driver has fallen to third in the standings and nearly 50 points behind his rival.
He says he is looking forward to this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone and believes Ferrari may be stronger at the high speed circuit than in recent seasons.
“This year we’ve got a bit more of a competitive car compared to the last times we came here, so hopefully we can have a clean weekend finally, because since Miami it’s not been great,” said Leclerc. “So hopefully we can get back on track and get back a win.
“I think the next four races will be very important, just before the summer break, to go into the holidays with four good races would be great. So now we need to focus on ourselves. I think the performance is there. If we’ve got clean weekends, I’m pretty sure the results will follow. But again, we just need to focus on ourselves and then the results will come.”
Silverstone could be “pretty awesome” in new cars – Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo expects the new 2022 Formula 1 cars will feel “pretty awesome” around the high speed Silverstone circuit.
F1 cars were heavily overhauled this season to generate most of their downforce through ground effect under the car floor. Ricciardo believes that the new concept cars will be enjoyable through the many high speed corners around one of the fastest circuits on the calendar.
“The only thing that will hold cars back in the high-speed is probably ride and potential porpoising because that does upset the balance, but if that is not too much of an issue, I think the high speed is going to be pretty awesome, said Ricciardo.
“Compared to last year, probably the only thing that will make it slower is the extra weight. So I’m not sure we’ll be as quick as last year in the high speed. But I think as far as the grip and the feel, it will be pretty mega.”
Alfa Romeo “can’t afford” to keep losing practice time, says Bottas
Alfa Romeo team “can’t afford” to keep losing valuable track time in practice as it fights to keep ahead of its rivals in the constructors’ championship, says Valtteri Bottas.
The former Mercedes driver has missed out on significant running in practice sessions over six of the first nine rounds of this year’s championship due to either mechanical problems or as a result of accident damage. He says the team will be “penalised” if they keep losing runs due to problems.
“It has made things more difficult,” says Bottas. “Sometimes I think we made some pretty awesome recoveries from difficult Fridays – I think Miami was a good example for me.
“It’s so close in the midfield and tracks that hundredths of a second matter, you just can’t afford losing track time. At the same time, everyone is out there learning and fine tuning their set up. It’s Formula 1 and you can’t afford it. It will always penalize you.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
F1 star Norris reveals he regularly receives death threats – but says trolls are just ‘wasting their lives’ (The Sun)
“Whether it’s about my personal life, me and my girlfriend, especially the amount of hate pages dedicated to Luisinha now. It’s pretty horrific. They are on Instagram and Twitter, they are the main ones.”
Hamilton is right to question why ‘old voices’ Piquet and Ecclestone get airtime (iNews)
“Hamilton is not advocating the cancellation of gray communities, rather he wants us to adopt zero tolerance towards anachronistic, negative attitudes that in the example of Piquet, Ecclestone and Stewart can be damaging.”
Finding the first female F1 drivers’ world champion (More Than Equal)
“We will search globally for top female racing talent, provide them holistic training and support at par with what promising male drivers receive. Through a comprehensive training program coupled with racing opportunities, we aim to see women competing at the highest level of motorsport.”
For sale: 1985-1986 Moteur Renault Elf V6 Turbo EF15 (Artcurial)
“In 1985 and 1986, this 1,494cc V6 turbocharged engine with 800hp at 12,500 rpm, was used in Renault, Lotus, Tyrrell and Ligier Formula 1 cars. It was responsible for three victories and eight pole positions in 1985 and two victories and eight pole positions. positions in 1986.”
F1 Manager 2022 | Let’s Play! Work-In-Progress Gameplay (F1 Manager via YouTube)
“First broadcast on Twitch on June 29, 2022, check out the full recording of this F1 Manager 2022 livestream! Here, the Community team play the game live for the very first time, using a work-in-progress build to showcase key features and a full race, with insight from Game Director Andy Fletcher.”
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Tom Moloney, Pj and Jesper Mug!
On this day in motorsport
- 60 years ago today Bruce McLaren won the non-championship Reims Grand Prix after early leader John Surtees dropped out with a broken valve spring.