“When I signed the contract, it was really just the step [McLaren] made in 2019,” he told the official Formula 1 YouTube channel.

“I think they kind of turned heads in the whole paddock and it felt like they’ve gone through those few darker years of trying to sort themselves out to rebuild the team.

“And it felt like in 2019 they really put everything together. It was like okay, they’ve laid everything out all the all the pieces together, it’s now just building and executing for the next few years.”

“Obviously, I signed at the beginning of 2020, but during 2020 they showed you a further step,” he continued. “I just think they had the most promise out of the rest. I like what I saw and felt like, yeah, everyone feels pretty comfortable at McLaren.

“When I say comfortable, don’t mistake that for complacent. We’re ready to get on with it.”

https://www.planetf1.com/news/daniel-ricciardo-explains-mclaren-move/

补档：

Jarno Trulli - Caterham

Jarno Trulli enjoyed a long and pretty successful F1 career, driving for the likes of Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota. Scoring multiple podiums and a race victory at the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix, his career was all but over by 2011.

Having faded to the back of the grid after signing with Team Lotus alongside Kovalainen for 2010, Trulli's 2011 season was to be his last.

Scoring no points in the uncompetitive Lotus, Trulli missed the German Grand Prix as reserve driver Karun Chandhok took his seat. While Trulli would take part in a pre-season test ahead of 2012 as the team rebranded to Caterham, he was replaced by Vitaly Petrov for the season.

Trulli never found a way back into Formula 1, but drove in the inaugural Formula E season for his own Trulli Formula E team. It was an unsuccessful foray into the new series, with the team folding just after the second season began.

Trulli's racing career may be over, but his business interests now include a vineyard operation in his native Italy.

https://racingnews365.com/10-years-on-the-drivers-who-were-daniel-ricciardos-first-rivals

2021-04-05

From best friends to enemies

Rosberg and Hamilton were best friends for a long time, having known each other in go-karts. When the two became teammates at the championship winning Mercedes team the atmosphere changed dramatically. At the High Performance Podcast Wolff explained that the two were not helping each other. "I'm not sure it gets the best out of both, because that is negativity, and you still have to be a team player."

Wolff explains his story further: "If the debriefing room is full of negativity, because the two drivers are hostile with each other, then that will spill over into the energy into the room, and that is not something I will ever allow again." The Austrian had no idea where the hostility from the two drivers came from. "We will never know."

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/81313/wolff-looks-back-on-rosberg-and-hamilton-rivalry-we-ll-never-know.html

2021-04-05

“This entry represents the combination of three strong relationships: McLaren and Indianapolis; Juan Pablo and Indianapolis; and McLaren and Juan Pablo, so the number just clicked for all of us,” said McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown in a release. “Most of all it will be fantastic for the fans, our partners and our team to see him line up with Pato and Felix for this global sports spectacle."

Montoya’s return to IndyCar will make his first Indy 500 since 2017, which consisted of a four-season run with Team Penske where, in 2015, he finished second in the championship and won his second Indy 500. During that stint, the Colombian driver finished outside the top-six in the 500 just once. He won as a rookie in a one-off effort with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2000, a year after his rookie CART title in 1999.

Among the rest of his storied racing career, Montoya also raced for McLaren in Formula 1 for two seasons from 2005-06, winning three races and landing on seven podiums.

“I’ve really missed this race so I can’t wait to compete in my first Indianapolis 500 since 2017,” Montoya said in a release. “It is extra-special to carry the No. 86 on my Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, honoring the incredible drive by Peter Revson for the pole for McLaren in 1971. This team is a great mixture of rich history and exciting promise, so it will be a thrill to join them as I compete for my third Indianapolis 500 victory."

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/motor/2021/04/05/indy-500-juan-pablo-montoya-run-no-86-nod-peter-revsons-71-pole/7077543002/

2021-04-05

"Lewis is important. In the first place, an incredible challenge awaits him: namely, to become the first and only driver with eight World Cup titles. So he will focus on that. Of course, he is also actively campaigning against racism and for diversity. It is crucial that he feels comfortable in Formula 1, because that is where he belongs and that is where we and the fans want to see him," Domenicali told the German media.

"Even though it won't be easy, because at the top it's getting more and more exciting. He has to be fully concentrated and drive perfectly. The competition will not make it easy for him. Max Verstappen will also be looking for his first world title. The ingredients for an exciting season are there."

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/81335/domenicali-on-hamilton-it-is-crucial-that-he-feels-comfortable-in-formula-1.html

Every McLaren F1 Winning Driver Since 1968, From Bruce McLaren to Jenson Button

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/formula-1/g35994905/every-mclaren-f1-winning-driver-1968-button-hamilton-alonso/

How Senna enraged an unknowing Schumacher in Brazil

By:
Charles Bradley
Apr 6, 2021, 1:21 AM
Ayrton Senna never enjoyed the best of fortunes at his home grand prix, and although he’d managed to conquer gearbox problems to win at Interlagos in 1991, mechanical issues came back to haunt him a year later – and put him squarely in the sights of Michael Schumacher. Michael, unaware of Ayrton’s problems, would hit out after the race – believing Senna had been “playing some kind of game”.

Start: Ricardo Patrese, Williams Renault, Nigel Mansell, Williams Renault, Ayrton Senna, McLaren Honda, Michael Schumacher, Benetton Ford

Start: Ricardo Patrese, Williams Renault, Nigel Mansell, Williams Renault, Ayrton Senna, McLaren Honda, Michael Schumacher, Benetton Ford1/36
Photo by: Motorsport Images

The 1992 season was a Williams walkover, and Brazil would play host to the third 1-2 thus far for the Renault-powered team. Nigel Mansell overcame a fast-starting Riccardo Patrese for victory, so the real race was for third, which Senna was determined to take…
His new McLaren-Honda, for the second year running a V12 unit, was over 2s off the Williams pair when healthy in qualifying, but about six-tenths of a second quicker than Schumacher’s Benetton B191B (a development of the 1991 car that would serve the team until the definitive ’92 car became available in Round 4). However, it became apparent early on that Senna was encountering problems, waving his right arm in the air as he crossed the start/finish line.

With his laptimes getting ever slower – Senna’s quickest lap was only 21st fastest out of the 26-car field! – he managed to hold up a train comprising Schumacher, Jean Alesi (Ferrari), Martin Brundle (Benetton), Pierluigi Martini (Dallara), Karl Wendlinger (March) and Thierry Boutsen (Ligier). On the debut of the McLaren MP4/7A, Senna’s Honda V12 had developed a misfire that would eventually prove terminal – but that didn’t stop him from fighting hard while being cheered on by his adoring Paulista fans.

Senna had already startled Schumacher once, by coming back at him around the first corner, making up for a poor start having been boxed-in by the slow-away Mansell. Senna clung tight around the outside of the German through the left-hander, and decisively claimed the position of the following right turn as Schumacher wisely backed out.

Riccardo Patrese, Williams FW14B, Nigel Mansell, Williams FW14B, Ayrton Senna, McLaren MP4/7A, Michael Schumacher, Benetton B191B
Riccardo Patrese, Williams FW14B, Nigel Mansell, Williams FW14B, Ayrton Senna, McLaren MP4/7A, Michael Schumacher, Benetton B191B
Photo by: Sutton Images

Senna pulled away until his engine began to misfire at high revs. “It cut out suddenly and in full straights, at 250km/h [155.5mph], as if I had taken my foot off the gas,” Senna said afterwards.

At the beginning of lap eight, Schumacher whistled past Senna on the long drag out of the final corner, as Senna’s engine continued to prove troublesome, but the Brazilian wasn’t about to give it up. While Schumacher clearly thought his wounded rival wouldn’t re-challenge for the position, Senna typically dived down his inside into Turn 1 and reclaimed third.

Ayrton Senna, McLaren MP4/7A
Ayrton Senna, McLaren MP4/7A
Photo by: Sutton Images

Now back in front, Senna tried to cure his problem by twice turning off the ignition to recycle the ECU, and also began to short-shift while altering the fuel mixture in a vain attempt to bring it back to full working order. The effect of this variation in pace would infuriate Schumacher.

“I was quicker than him and he was playing some kind of game, which surprised me, I wouldn't have expected this style of driving from a three-time world champion,” Schumacher fumed. “For the first 10 laps he was going as fast as he could but then just made it very difficult for me to overtake. He braked in the slow corner, and then accelerated and drove away on the straight.

“Eventually when he allowed me to overtake him, he slipstreamed me and overtook me. This kind of driving gave the others close behind me the opportunity to overtake me and I feel upset about this.”

Michael Schumacher, Benetton B191B Ford leads Jean Alesi, Ferrari F92A
Michael Schumacher, Benetton B191B Ford leads Jean Alesi, Ferrari F92A
Photo by: Sutton Images

Indeed, on a couple of occasions Schumacher found himself having to defend from Alesi’s Ferrari. After another five laps of toiling in Senna’s wake, Schumacher finally made a move stick on lap 13 – by which time he was well over 30s behind the Williams duo.

By lap 18 Senna called it a day, having slowly fallen down the order. He ended his race with one final huge angry rev of his ailing power unit before stomping off.

Senna described his issue as “a serious and intermittent engine cut-out”. He added: “The effect of this was totally unpredictable and could occur four or five times on one lap and or not at all on the next.

“At times the cut-out was so bad that it felt as if I had applied the brakes. I continued with this problem, trying to cover it in the hope that it would eventually go away, while at the same time raising my arm to warn the drivers behind of my problem.

“The cut-out did not go away and was the reason behind my retirement – it was really dangerous to be driving under those conditions.”

The Honda engine in one of the McLaren MP4-7As.
The Honda engine in one of the McLaren MP4-7As.
Photo by: Ercole Colombo

With Senna out, and Schumacher all but guaranteed the final spot on the podium, the race’s drama didn’t end there. Alesi clattered into Brundle at Turn 1, mortally wounding the Briton’s Benetton. Brundle went looking for the Frenchman at the Ferrari pit, in search of an apology, only to be told the Ferrari driver was still in the race (he’d finish fourth).

There was also drama in the Ligier camp: As Erik Comas was in the process of passing Johnny Herbert’s Lotus, Comas’s teammate Thierry Boutsen went for a gap that didn’t exist, hitting both Comas and the wall. Comas was sent flying into Herbert, putting the Lotus out too.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ayrton-senna-michael-schumacher-brazil-1992/4777213/

2021-04-05

Berger remembers ‘hardest ever race’ against Senna

Gerhard Berger has picked the 1987 Australian Grand Prix, which he won after fighting off Ayrton Senna, as his best and hardest race.

The race in Adelaide served as the 1987 season finale, and while Nelson Piquet may have already had the title wrapped up, it was a thrilling end to the year nonetheless.

Berger claimed pole position, going seven tenths quicker than Alain Prost, while Piquet and Senna formed an all-Brazilian second row.

After being briefly passed by the title winner at the start, Berger quickly re-took the lead and began to pull away. With 20 laps to go, Piquet and retired and the Ferrari man looked comfortable.

However, Senna then made a late charge and put the Austrian under pressure, posting fastest lap after fastest lap. Berger was able to respond though and went fastest himself late on to secure victory by half a minute.

Looking back, he thinks that was his best race ever, and his toughest.

“My feeling is my best race I ever did was in the late 1987 (season) fighting with Senna,” he said on the In The Fastlane podcast.

“That was really maybe my hardest race I had to do because it was very, very hot, I had Senna on the neck and he was about four seconds behind me and he was trying to catch (me).

“He had the quickest lap, I saw he come closer, I played the pack with the quickest lap and he came again with the quickest lap. It was the whole race going like this and it was a mental game because we had both been completely finished from the heat in the car.

“A street circuit like Adelaide it was extremely hard at the time because we have no automatic gearshift, I think it was about 3000 gearshifts a race and you had to do everything with your hands, you race basically with one hand because the other hand was always on the gear lever.

“The whole thing on this temperature with the turbo cars being difficult to drive on a street circuit, no room for mistakes, the concrete walls always very close, it was tough. And then having Senna on the neck it was really hard.

“I win the race and it’s still when people ask me, ‘What do you think was your best race’, I always take this race.”

Berger and Senna went on to be team-mates at McLaren from 1990 to 1992, with the Brazilian prevailing in each of the three seasons, winning the title in two of them.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/gerhard-berger-ayrton-senna-best-race/

Wolff joined Mercedes after Hamilton had been hired as team mate to Rosberg. The pair had driven for the same team in karting over a decade earlier and Wolff admitted there was “negativity” between them at times following their reunion.
“I couldn’t change it because the drivers were hired before I came,” he told the High Performance Podcast. “Nobody actually thought, what is the dynamic between the two? What is the past between the two? I mean, there was a lot of historical context that nobody of us knew and will never know.”

The two drivers clashed at times as Mercedes dominated the 2014 season, notably at Spa, which left Hamilton with a punctured tyre and handed victory to Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. “It was very difficult because I came into the team as a newcomer in Formula 1 and Nico and Lewis had been in the sport for much longer,” said Wolff.

“But still, I was able to create an environment where they had to respect the team, sometimes with an iron fist. And they understood that they couldn’t let us down. They couldn’t let Mercedes down.

“When the events of 2014 [happened] I felt there was some selfish behaviour. I said, the next time you come close to the other car, your team mate, you think about the Mercedes brand. You think about single individuals in the team. You think about Dieter Zetsche, the CEO of Mercedes. That’s going to change the way you act.

“You’re not going to put your team mate into the wall. And I always made clear that if this were to happen regularly and I would see a pattern, I have no fear in making somebody miss races.”

https://www.racefans.net/2021/04/06/racefans-round-up-06-04-4/

2021-04-06
"There's certainly going to be competition, you know, I think there's no sugarcoating at this level," Ricciardo told Formula1.com.

"I think there's certainly a respect amongst all drivers and especially teammates because a lot of the time you can be like, first rivals, so to speak."

https://racingnews365.com/ricciardo-me-and-lando-compete-first-banter-second

2021-04-06

“That’s his strength really – Fernando thinks about motor racing 24 hours a day. Everyone says the same about a champion, about a racer, but actually when you say it about Fernando you mean it,” said De la Rosa.

“I’ve been with him when he’s not racing in Formula 1 or in WEC [World Endurance Championship] and he’s thinking about ‘we should do a karting race together again’. He’s always thinking ‘what can I race this weekend?’.

“This is quite unique – I’ve been with many drivers. Myself, the weekend I had off I wanted to do other things – I wanted to be at home, I wanted to see my kids, I wanted to be on the bike. But for him it’s not his work, it’s his passion. He’s a passionate man and I think that’s his biggest strength – he doesn’t have any other distractions in his life. He’s a committed man, 100%.”

De la Rosa added that he had no concerns about Alonso’s advancing years slowing him down.

“To see him, at his age, coming back, being this hungry is really fantastic,” he said. “I personally get a bit disappointed that everyone is asking him about his age and if he’s quick enough now that he’s close to 40. But I always got those type of jokes that young drivers made about myself.

“It’s part of the game, you know?” he added. “When you see a potential weakness on a competitor you always try to pull the string. The important thing really is how hungry you are inside and how confident you feel inside – have you lost the speed? Have you not?

“It is a bit unfair to say he has been retired from F1 for two years, I mean he has been racing at full level in WEC or Dakar, he’s always been karting, he’s always been in contact with motor racing – it’s not like he’s been out of the sport.”

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.he-thinks-about-it-24-hours-a-day-pedro-de-la-rosa-on-what-makes-alonso-such.24XD1FAaCnhI0qsc7c9NYd.html

ARE ALONSO’S F1 PROSPECTS REALLY BETTER NOW? – OUR VERDICT
Apr 6 2021

As Fernando Alonso heroically battled in the lower reaches of the Bahrain Grand Prix top 10 before sliding backwards in an ailing Alpine, then gave bullish soundbites afterwards, it was fair to wonder what was really different about his Formula 1 comeback compared to the McLaren situation he walked out of at the end of 2018.

But were such conclusions far too abrupt, given the major reset coming up with the 2022 regulations? Or are we already seeing enough to suggest that the double F1 champion’s return is just going to be an entertaining cameo rather than something that brings tangible success?

Our writers give their verdicts.

ALONSO NEEDED TO HOP ON THE F1 BUS BEFORE IT LEFT FOR GOOD
MARK HUGHES

Fernando Alonso F1 Bahrain GP Alpine

Alonso’s immediate prospects aren’t so very different now to when he left at the end of 2018, no. They might take a step up in 2022, but there’s no guarantee about that either. But had he not rejoined F1 this year, it’s unlikely he would have got another chance.

The domino effect of Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari contract not being renewed ultimately created a space at Alpine that would not otherwise have been there.

Alonso needed to get onto the F1 bus before it left without him. He’d already missed out two stops after stepping off it. He was unlikely to be able to ever get back on it if he missed out three.

This way he at least keeps himself in play, he can give his all in striving to make the Alpine programme a success and still be in the game as an active and current F1 driver. If other opportunities arise in future and he’s demonstrated something close to his previous levels of performance, then he could be in the frame in a way that would be unlikely had he continued his multi-year sabbatical.

His legacy is permanent but the halo still needs a polish for that stature to have any current relevance.

THERE WAS UNFINISHED BUSINESS AND NO BETTER OFFERS
EDD STRAW

Fernando Alonso F1 Bahrain GP Alpine

Alpine wouldn’t have been Alonso’s first choice for a Formula 1 comeback, or even his second, or third for that matter. But it was his best and therefore the only available option given he’s 39 and had to get back in the game in 2021 to have any chance of adding to his tally of grand prix victories and even contend for a championship again.

He definitely won’t be a title contender this year, and would likely require an outrageous slice of luck to win a race, but with the rules reset coming in 2022 there’s at least the possibility Alpine will be more competitive next year. If it is, then Alonso will be fully-integrated and race-sharp ready to make the most of it.

That this is a very big ‘if’ is by the by. For Alonso, it was either have one more crack at F1 with Alpine or give up on even a slender chance of winning that coveted third world championship. What’s more, by being an active driver delivering at a high level, he also keeps alive a vanishingly small chance that an established top team might need him.

Alonso was and still is a brilliant driver, but beggars can’t be choosers. When he walked away from McLaren, he still had a little time on his side but it was obvious there was unfinished business in grand prix racing.

Alpine was never going to be an easy path to further F1 success, but it was the best available. That fact won’t change, even if his comeback doesn’t pay off.

To be continued

UNSATISFYING DEJA VU
VALENTIN KHOROUNZHIY

Fernando Alonso McLaren F1 2018

Take your mind back to 2018, as fed up Alonso walked away after four years of McLaren purgatory. No seats were available – as far as we know – commensurate to his obvious immense ability, but that’s certainly not how he painted his exit.

Instead, it was a departure to new pastures, to new, unique challenges that would allow him to leave a wider motorsport footprint. Hell, he even said he’d got offers from Red Bull and turned them down (although Red Bull did not concur with that version of events).

Three years on, what has changed exactly? Alonso has brilliantly won the 24 Hours of Daytona and took a WEC title and two Le Mans wins that can be described as relative gimmes due to Toyota’s strength, needing just to beat the team’s second car. On the flipside, he hasn’t really come closer to the elusive Indianapolis 500 triumph and though his Dakar appearance was very cool, it was also just a ‘sampler’ rather than a headline addition to such a glowing CV.
And now he’s back, in an F1 that looks little different to the one he’d left, and in a car that looks marginal for points, just like the one he left (okay, it’s not anywhere near that 2018 McLaren, but you get my point).

Either Alonso is the biggest believer around in both F1’s 2022 reset (and its stated aim of evening up the field) and his Alpine team, or, in an interpretation that seems most likely to me, he simply missed the glamour and attention that F1 provides. And that’s not that bad a reason to come back, really – but for the rest of us, neither 2021 nor 2022 look likely to change the arc and story of his career in any meaningful way.

DON’T EQUATE THIS TO THE HOPELESSNESS OF 2018
GLENN FREEMAN

Motor Racing Formula One World Championship Bahrain Grand Prix Practice Day Sakhir, Bahrain
Alonso isn’t going to win races and championships in this final stint in F1. But it would be wrong to characterise this return as no better than the situation he left in 2018.

Alonso’s final years with McLaren were dreadful. Alpine hasn’t made the greatest start in F1’s ever-improving midfield in 2021, but Alonso will still be able to fight for meaningful results, and as he’s shown already, Q3 appearances. Now it will be interesting to see if he can lead the team up the order in the same way Daniel Ricciardo did during 2020.

He’s got something back that he didn’t have by the time he left McLaren: hope. Even with a big rule change, talk of race wins and titles seems beyond this team.

Everyone who isn’t Mercedes or Red Bull is hanging their hat on 2022 solving all of their problems, but they can’t all get it right, and we’ve not seen enough from Renault/Alpine in recent years to suggest ‘Team Enstone’ should be particularly high up the list of those most likely to take a big step with the new rules.

But we know this team is capable of podium finishes. That’s a realistic aim, and if Alonso can bag a few of those between now and when he retires from F1 for good, this will have all been worth it.

To be continued

INDYCAR MOVE WOULD’VE BEEN BETTER
JACK BENYON

Fernando Alonso Indycar Indy 500

We all know how this is going to end. Alonso will be great but Alpine will continue to deliver sub-par machinery compared to the top teams and one of F1’s best drivers will be consigned to the midfield. Again.

He should have made a full-time switch to IndyCar.

Going back to F1 with a midfield team was never going to improve on his legacy, but what would have done that is winning in IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500. OK, he came away without milk in the past, but he of all people knows he has the talent to win that race, as he showed in 2017.

A shrewd competitor like Alonso would have many of the tools to take on Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden in the ultra-competitive IndyCar Series title fight. And even if he didn’t win the championship, he’d have the opportunity to fight for wins every week.

Seeing his talent be wasted in non-top F1 machinery is heartbreaking.

And the two years he’ll be away from the 500 will probably mean he won’t return now sadly, as Alonso has made much more favourable noises of taking on the Dakar Rally again.

Shame, as IndyCar was the perfect place for a person in his position.

AT LEAST IT’LL BE A BETTER SEND-OFF
SCOTT MITCHELL

Fernando Alonso McLaren F1 2018

Even though I believe Alpine will fall short of its and Alonso’s ambitions, this is at least an opportunity for a more fitting farewell.

While ostensibly this is no different to what Alonso left in 2018 – a midfield team hoping (and failing) to achieve more than it can – it’s worth remembering just how bad and demotivating that McLaren season was. Sixth in the constructors’ championships masks the fact the team ended the year vying with Williams to avoid being the slowest qualifier. Alonso was actually a regular Q1 victim in the run-in…

Factor in no sign of F1’s fundamental competitive balance changing in the short-term and it’s easy to see why he grew so disillusioned.

If the choice for a two-time world champion’s method of bowing out of F1 is this gamble with Alpine or what he had with McLaren in 2018 then these prospects are definitely better.

It might not look much different to 2018 on the surface but it’s at least something more motivating, competitive and enjoyable – and comes with that glimmer of hope for ’22, with a major new rule change just around the corner.

MIDFIELD HEROICS WILL DO
MATT BEER

Fernando Alonso F1 Bahrain GP Alpine

Outperforming Ocon to get Alpine into Q3 against the odds and then tigering a little higher up the top 10 early on is a decent return for race one of a comeback that Alonso feels like he’s put in a sensible context.

His mid-2010s rhetoric of wanting to prove himself the greatest driver of his generation via various quests such as his ‘Triple Crown’ pursuit and needing an F1 car worthy of his talents has been dialled down a bit.

He now talks more like a driver who’s approaching 40, who last won in F1 eight years ago, accepts he won’t be adding a third title and is comfortable with making a strong contribution to a team in transition because he knows he’s still quick and competitive enough to do that to a very high level.

Alpine is benefitting from Alonso being around, he’s certainly not embarrassing himself or damaging his legacy (the early part of his McLaren stint would’ve done that if it was going to happen) and he looks like he’s enjoying himself.

That’s three things that fellow 2000s legend Valentino Rossi can’t currently say the prolonging of his MotoGP career is achieving. So by those criteria, no, Alonso’s Alpine return probably is just McLaren part two repeated. But it really doesn’t matter.

https://the-race.com/formula-1/are-alonsos-f1-prospects-really-better-now-our-verdict/

2021-04-06

There is a remarkable rumour doing the rounds in the paddock. Lewis Hamilton is said to have not spoken to George Russell since the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix. Toto Wolff knows nothing about it, but doesn't rule out the possibility either.

Hamilton versus Russell

In 2021, however, it's Hamilton and Bottas again in the Mercedes, but the contract of both expires at the end of the season. The same goes for Russell's contract, and so Wolff has all the choice for 2022. However, Hamilton would no longer talk to Russell due to all these circumstances. At least that's the rumour, but Wolff doesn't want to deny that.

''This is the first time I have heard this. However, the feelings of my drivers are the last thing on my mind. I can imagine it though because the competition between these two is very strong. The big boys always feel it when a good guy comes along, and Russell is the next generation,'' Wolff said to Sport 24.

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/81347/hamilton-no-longer-speaks-to-russell-after-replacement-in-bahrain.html 

2021-04-06

ALPINE: WE HAVE A DECENT UPGRADE PACKAGE COMING FOR IMOLA

“There’s an area that’s changed in the regulations which is an area of development at the moment,” he said, as reported by RaceFans. “It’s obviously the side of the of the floor and the diffuser.

“We’ve done some work there at the tests, we’ve done some work and no doubt we’ll do some more work at the next few races, everybody else will as well. It’s an area which will change.

“We have a pretty decent upgrade package coming for Imola, so we’ll have some more new parts and more performance on the car in Imola. And in general, in the first few races of the season, we’ll have some new bits coming through.”

One observation that Alpine made in Bahrain was that they struggled in the hotter practice sessions that took place earlier in the day, although Budkowski said this is unlikely to prove relevant across the next couple of races in Europe.

“We have a bit of homework on understanding why we’re seemingly less competitive in the hot sessions than in the evening sessions,” he added.

“Which I don’t think is going to be a problem in Imola or Portugal but could become a thing in the summer months.

“We were fairly happy with with the car at the test but it’s fair to say we’re less happy with the car in the hot sessions. First and third practice were more difficult for us and we went back to a level of competitiveness that is more representative in the evening sessions, second practice and qualifying.

“The temperature has been quite extreme. It was hotter than during the test. Towards the beginning of third practice it was 38 degrees ambient, I think 47 track temperature, that’s way hotter than it was two weeks ago at the test.”

https://www.grandprix247.com/2021/04/06/alpine-we-have-a-decent-upgrade-package-coming-for-imola/

"So when Fernando now is obviously not happy when people ask him about his age, I say 'well you did the same with me, you always took the piss about my age'.

哈哈哈哈哈，他以为自己永远不会开F1开到这个年纪。

Lewis Hamilton ‘wants’ Valtteri Bottas to extend Mercedes stay amid George Russell talk Daily and Sunday Express19:22 6-Apr-21

“二副否定权”来了？

2021-04-06

Despite their strong performance, Norris has insisted the MCL35M was only the fifth fastest car on the grid.

As quoted by Crash, when asked if the car is better for a Saturday or Sunday, he answered: “Difficult to say. I want to say we did a good job about thinking about [the race].

“Already on Friday and Saturday we were thinking about the race already. The pace seemed easier to maintain. [In qualifying] realistically we had the fifth fastest car. We aren’t like the third best or anything.

“We have work to do and hopefully at Imola we can make a step forward.”

“We have a lot of work to do,” he added. “If the other AlphaTauri of [Yuki] Tsunoda was in Q3 they probably would have been ahead of us.
“We were ahead of Carlos [Sainz in qualifying] but if he did a good lap he should have been ahead of us, so it’s not like it’s perfect. We have a lot of work to do, maybe more in qualifying than the race.

“If we were further back in the race it would have been more difficult and we wouldn’t have looked quite as good.

“I don’t think we can get complacent just by having a good result. I’m happy, there are a lot of positives, but also negatives to work on.”

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lando-norris-mclaren-fifth-fastest/

2021-04-07

Asked during an interview with Sport1 whether he had received a ‘well done’ call from his old adversary, the 2016 World Champion said: “No, but he probably would if he had my number.

“Still, how cool is that we are now competing against each other as team bosses and are also first and second in the championship? It’s funny that the duel now continues here.”

The 35-year-old added on Sky Germany: “Our teams were in duels all weekend. Sometimes his team was first, sometimes mine. It was a really big duel and in the end we were able to decide it our way, which made me very happy.

“But that will certainly continue throughout the season. The beauty of it is that the more intense our duel becomes, the more attention we can draw to the series – to the issues we are campaigning for, like fighting together against climate change.”

https://www.planetf1.com/news/nico-rosberg-lewis-hamilton-call/