In the round-up: Vasseur approves of stewards’ decision not to show Leclerc the black-and-orange flag straight away when he picked up wing damage.
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur said the FIA was correct not to demand Charles Leclerc pit immediately to have his broken front wing attended to during the Mexican Grand Prix.
Leclerc sustained damage when he tangled with Sergio Perez on lap one. Ferrari told their driver later in the lap not to pit for repairs, and his front-left endplate fell off three laps later.
Vasseur said Ferrari “didn’t have time” to consider whether to bring Leclerc in “because I think that when we saw it, we tried to have a look at what’s happened and he lost part of the front wing, the end plate, one lap after”.
Last year Haas were forced to pit Kevin Magnussen on three separate occasions due to broken endplates. Following discussions with the teams, race control now handle these situations more leniently.
Vasseur approved of the stewards’ decision to consider the matter after the race. “You have the pro and cons on both sides but if they take a decision, they are not able to listen to us and to listen to our position. If they postpone the decision for sure the podium is done and it’s done.”
Haas introduced a major upgrade, which included a new floor, to the United States Grand Prix in the hope of improved performance. Although the team’s drivers did confirm they felt they had a better car during the grand prix, they failed to score at Circuit of the Americas and also in Mexico City last weekend.“The key learnings are that we maybe expected a little bit more from the upgrade, but then it’s still a little bit up and down because Austin was a sprint weekend with not a lot of testing, and Mexico had such high altitude,” said Haas’s team principal Guenther Steiner. “We didn’t have enough total downforce last weekend, so I still haven’t come to a full conclusion but the expectations were a bit higher, although it’s giving us the right direction for next year.”
At this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix their long-time reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi will be making potentially one of his last appearances in the team’s garage since he has a full-time IndyCar ride for 2024.
“Pietro is a part of the family at Haas, and everyone is very happy about him getting a full-time drive in IndyCar because then at least he can go out there and compete at a very high level,” Steiner said. “If he will be a part of the team with us next year depends a bit on the calendar and what matches up or not, but as I said he’s part of our family, so if possible, we’ll try to keep him on board.”
It has taken over two years for the Indian Formula 4 championship to be turned from idea into reality, and this weekend’s inaugural round has had a last-minute venue change.
The season was supposed to get underway in Hyderabad, on the street circuit used by Formula E, but the opening races will now be held on the permanent Chennai track where teams have been testing this week. An unusual reason has led to the relocation.
“This is due to a force majeure event that has been invoked due to code of conduct that has been prescribed for elections in Telangana,” the series said in a press release. “We would like to respect the rules and regulations of the election commission, and hence, have come to the decision of shifting the venue.”
‘A key piece of infrastructure has opened to motorists weeks before the Las Vegas Grand Prix takes place on roads in the resort corridor. Installation of the massive Flamingo Road bridge over Koval Lane was completed last week, with the 760-foot bridge serving as a major piece to allow approved traffic into and out of the Strip area when F1 drivers are on the 3.8-mile circuit.’
‘Andersen Promotions today unveiled the schedule of events and scholarship packages for the 2024 USF Pro championships: USF Pro 2000, USF2000 and USF Juniors. They will continue to offer over $1.68 million in scholarships, prize money and awards for drivers to advance their careers, and will return to NOLA Motorsports Park for the first time since 2015.’
“After milling the racing surface, the second step of the process for Kokosing featured asphalt repairs and reinforcement of high stress areas which required additional milling depth.”
“The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team, working together with our title and technical partner Petronas and our logistics partners, saved 339 tCO2e (tons of carbon dioxide equivalent) and reduced race and hospitality trucks and generator emissions by 67% through HVO100 biofuel use over the course of the 2023 Formula One European season.”
‘Teams at racing’s top level having young driver development programmes or junior teams isn’t exclusive to F1, and is gradually becoming more common in IndyCar. Formula Scout finds out about the newest one.’
Over the past few weeks, I have been given some amazing opportunities and participated in one of the most historic Formula Ford races in the world, the FFord Festival. It was my first time at Brands Hatch, and I immediately loved the track. I qualified fourth for my heat and managed to finish third. I was looking to ride my momentum into Sunday; however, a hiccup in the semi-final set me 19th on the grid on Sunday afternoon. A hard-fought race resulted in 14th in the final.’
‘Sepang International Circuit and Petronas have announced a new deal that sees the iconic track being officially renamed Petronas Sepang International Circuit. Petronas’s senior general manager of group strategic relations and communications believes the three-year naming rights partnership would benefit the Malaysian motorsports industry. Neither SIC nor Petronas disclosed the value of the deal.’
‘A contract clause could come into effect in the first third of the 2024 season that would allow Red Bull to release the Mexican early without severance pay if the results are mediocre. The deadline for this should be the Monaco GP at the end of May.’
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