Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2018 i AUTOSPORT

Flash, boom, bang! With a flick of the wrist that grand old showmaster Bernie Ecclestone would always keep us coming back for more. “It’s all about the next one…” he’d mutter with dark relish, perhaps inspired by the declaration of Rocky Horror’s Dr Frank N. Furter: “I see you shiver with antici……… pation.” And on that point, if not, perhaps, in all his thinking, the grizzled impresario was surely correct: the next race would always be better; the season ahead more thrilling than the last. Of course it would be (even if, in the event, it wasn’t). ‘Bigger, better, faster, more’ was a mantra and method that served Ecclestone well over his 40-plus years in charge and we’re all, dare one suggest, still suckers for it. Good news for Liberty…

WE’RE ABOUT TO GET A WHOLE LOT QUICKER The regulation changes for 2018 are minor compared with the upheaval of last year, and while the introduction of the halo – and the enormous loads the chassis has to handle as a result – has set a considerable engineering challenge, it’s certain that changes to the tyres are going to have a much larger effect on racing this coming season. In preparation for 2017’s wider tyres, coupled with increased aero loading, Pirelli ran a testing campaign through 2016 using so-called mule cars. These were ’16 chassis modified to accommodate the 2017 wheels and tyre sizes, and which had various appendages designed to increase the downforce to the levels expected of a properly developed 2017 car. It has to be said that…

For more than 40 years Niki Lauda has been one of the most prominent characters in the F1 paddock. From humble beginnings as a pay driver at BRM, he rose to become one of the sport’s superstars, leading a stellar period in Ferrari’s history [see p90]. After dominating the 1975 season, he was heading for back-to-back titles in ’76 before he suffered one of the worst accidents captured on film, at the Nürburgring. His subsequent recovery is ingrained in F1 legend, though the scars he carries from the accident that so nearly killed him remain traced across his face and skull. He raced on into mid-’79, latterly with Brabham, but “tired of driving around in circles” he quit F1 to run his own airline, before being tempted back into the…

After a 30-year absence, how proud are you that Alfa Romeo are returning to F1 via a multi-year partnership with Sauber? I’m very proud of the team because life isn’t easy when you’re at the back of the grid. The new project started very late, but we’re improving and making small steps on the car. Real progress is visible. Success is always the addition of small things, so if motivation is there the rest should follow. I definitely do believe that – especially when you have the chance to team up with such an iconic partner as Alfa Romeo. You moved to Sauber after splitting from Renault last year. What have you found at your new team? Pressure. Okay, there is less pressure from the outside, from the media, but…

Adrian Newey OBE: the only F1 designer responsible for championship-winning cars with three different teams; Williams, McLaren and Red Bull. Sought after by Ferrari. And now the author of How to Build a Car. That’s a racing car, of course. Given the secretive nature of the business, not to mention Newey’s low profile, it’s worth finding out just how much this essentially private man wants to reveal. On the basis of previous enlightening and honest chats, I can only assume it will make illuminating reading. As Damon Hill (1996 world champion, courtesy of Newey’s creation) says on the book’s cover: ‘Adrian has a unique gift for understanding drivers and racing cars. He is ultra-competitive but never forgets to have fun. An immensely likeable man.’ We meet in the lounge of…

ADRIAN MYERS He’s shot Hamilton, Rosberg, Alonso and Vettel for our front covers. This month Adrian electrified Max Verstappen (p26) PETER NYGAARD The Danish photojournalist has reported on 560 GPs and has a ‘93 Tyrrell in his office. We lap Copenhagen with him on p36 ZAK MAUGER Taking a break from photographing both Formula E and F1, the Guernseyman flew to Abu Dhabi to shoot Esteban Ocon (p48) ANDREW VAN DE BURGT Having joined as Editor in chief, ‘VdB’ was tasked with putting the F1 paddock’s questions to Niki Lauda (page 42)…

Q1 Niki Lauda and Jody Scheckter won the Swedish GP twice, but who were the other two winners? Q2 Two world champions won as many GPs in their whole F1 career as both Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas have done? How many wins do they share and who were the world champions? Q3 Which marque has the most single race hat tricks (win, pole and fastest lap) in Formula 1? Q4 In his brief career Gunnar Nilsson won a solitary GP. Which one was it and where was it held? Q5 Aside from Brendon Hartley, how many other New Zealanders have raced in F1: 8, 12 or 14? Q6 How many seasons did Felipe Massa finally end up driving for Williams in F1? Q7 How old will Kimi Räikkönen be…

F1 CHAMPIONS CELEBRATED IN HALL OF FAME It was one of those “Why-on-Earth-has-no-one-thought-of-this-before?” occasions: many of the great and the good of Formula 1, past and present, attending the official opening of the FIA Hall of Fame. Watching them gather around the FIA’s Parisian headquarters on a December evening, I was gripped by a feeling this should have been done while many of those represented here by family members were still alive to witness it. So it goes almost without saying that such a homage – to the 33 people who have achieved motorsport’s highest honour since the FIA Formula 1 World Championship was inaugurated in 1950 – is long overdue. That a long succession of FIA presidents failed to celebrate their achievements in this simple yet prestigious manner is…

UNTIL MAX VERSTAPPEN BOSSED THE 2017 MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX, it had become increasingly – and bizarrely – fashionable in some corners of the Formula 1 paddock and internet fandom to write Max off as an over-rated, overly impetuous danger to himself and others, a wunderkind whose mojo was crumbling under the pressure of sustaining the expectations thrust on him by his rapid promotion to a top-line drive before the age of 20. And, like all crank theories, this narrative gained momentum with each new event that appeared to confirm it – the start-line shunt at Singapore, for instance, when Max’s Red Bull was collateral in a contact triggered by Sebastian Vettel, and yet Max was pilloried simply for being there. Unsurprisingly, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner takes a different…

HISTORY TENDS TO PAINT HIM AS THE WILY PRAGMATIST WHO CALCULATED HIS WAY TO A PAIR OF FERRARI WORLD TITLES IN THE MID 1970S – A KIND OF PROTOTYPE MICHAEL SCHUMACHER. “UPON ARRIVING AT MARANELLO, LAUDA HAD WONDERED WHY FERRARI DIDN’T WIN EVERY YEAR, SUCH WERE THEIR RESOURCES. LIKE JOHN SURTEES BEFORE HIM, HE’D LEARN THE HARD WAY…” Those labels alone do Niki Lauda a monumental disservice, however. Clinical? Oh yes, certainly. But also searingly fast – a match for anyone at his mid-decade zenith, and almost certainly on a curve that was still rising… until the Nürburgring 1976. The blazing crash, head-melting scars and awe-inspiring recovery are the stuff of Lauda’s legend, though his contribution to Ferrari’s myth-making in the team’s fourth decade was already of epic proportions, even…

YOUR BOOKING INCLUDES • Return flights from London to Budapest (Manchester also available) • Return airport transfers to your selected hotel by coach • Weekend general admission ticket • Choice of hotel accommodation with daily breakfast • Welcome drinks (Friday night) • Sunday return coach transfers from your hotel to the circuit • Merchandise pack including ticket wallet, lanyard, sun cream, poncho, pen and bag • Representative staff in resort • Service charges and taxes • Optional extras: ticket upgrade and Saturday return coach transfers to circuit WHERE TO STAY Mercure City Centre Located on one of Budapest’s most famous streets, Váci utca, in the heart of the city, this hotel is a two-minute walk to the River Danube. The Mecure offers air-conditioned rooms, free WiFi and a covered car…

It seems as you get older you go for something more clean. In my first year with Red Bull I ran more orange, but ran a white one in Austin in 2014 and I liked it, so went with white as a base. Then I went white and faded it into an electric blue as it looked cool, clean and summery. I used to have a design on the top, but now I’ve got my logo and number and a bit of honeycomb detail. On the back I’ve got the honey badger – that’s cool, I like that – and a little quote above it. For years I had ‘What would he do?’, and other phrases like ‘My time’, ‘Whatever it takes’ and ‘Let’s get it’. It’s just a little…

ALFA ROMEO – THE RETURN OF AN F1 MARQUE So Alfa are back. In name and large euros initially – which is probably a good thing, given the complexities of modern F1 racing and Fiat-Alfa’s passion for wanting to make things happen yesterday – but there’s no denying the heritage. Aston Martin tried to build a front-engined F1 car for the 1960 season, by which time everyone knew that rear engines were the way to go. Then they disappeared. Alfa, though, are Alfa. Il quadrifoglio. Enzo Ferrari raced for Alfa before he managed the team. Alfa are also Giuseppe Farina, winning the first round of the world championship at Silverstone in 1950 and becoming F1’s first world champion. They are also Juan Manuel Fangio taking it to Ferrari’s José Froilán…

You’re talking pretty much the perfect driver line-up when you look at Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. They’re both aggressive racers – but they’re both emotionally intelligent enough to be respectful of others and specifically of one another; and their driving styles are substantially different, which is what you want when you’re seeking to maximise the data for the purposes of developing the car. Max, like Lewis Hamilton, is all about the creation of straight lines and relatively early turn-ins. Max tries to extend the straights, lives with relatively low minimum cornering speeds but focuses on reducing the length of time his car carries load. Sebastian Vettel is of similar ilk but seems to need a planted rear to make the vee-corners happen; Lewis and Max have additional, God-given, abilities…

THE GOOD MONACO ‘A sunny place for shady people’. ‘The Cote d’Azur jewel’. ‘A Mafia-owned hell-hole’. These and other trenchant views are frequently expressed by visitors to Monaco. Regardless of which you find most apt, there’s little argument that Monaco is part of F1’s fabric. Ever-present on the calendar since 1955 and a round of the original 1950 world championship, it screams ‘F1’ like no other race. Many of the sport’s greatest drivers consider it to be the ultimate test of their skills. And in F1 Racing’s view, if you can attend only one grand prix in your life, make sure that it’s Monaco. THE BAD VALENCIA STREET CIRCUIT This curious waterfront track hosted five ‘European’ Grands Prix from 2008-2012. They were staged during a brief boom period for the…

Never say Nevers again? It was interesting to read Lewis Hamilton’s comments about how he would prefer the returning French GP to be at Magny-Cours rather than Paul Ricard. I’m not disputing that Ricard is not the most exciting of circuits, especially with that awful blue and red colour scheme that covers the acres of asphalt on the outside (and inside) of almost every corner. However, let’s not get too misty-eyed about Magny-Cours. When it first hosted the French GP back in 1991 it was universally panned, and I seem to remember one motorsport title almost advocating a boycott of the Nevers circuit when the decision was announced by shouting ‘Don’t go to Magny-Cours’! Yes, the 2003 revamp helped a little and encouraged a host of different strategies due to…