Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2018 i AUTOSPORT

Look closely and you’ll see ‘Piedi per terra e a testa bassa’ written on the lip of the peak of the cap that sits atop Sebastian Vettel’s head when he’s not driving his SF71-H. It’s there on the cover of this month’s magazine, declaring sentiments to the effect of: ‘Feet on the ground and head down.’ The phrase speaks to ‘humility’ and ‘industry’ – two valuable watchwords for a team and driver about to enter the fight of their lives against Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. Alone, they won’t be enough to contain what looks like a formidable silver winning machine this season, but if Ferrari remain true to those values and manage to develop their car into something that can match the W09, then maybe we have the fight on…

“ THE CAR DOESN’T RESPOND THE WAY YOU LIKE AND IT’S STILL SLIDING IN PLACES. IF I COULD CHOOSE, I WOULD LIKE IT A BIT DIFFERENT” SEBASTIAN VETTEL THREE TRIBES GO TO WAR 01 Is Formula 1 set for a three-way title fight between Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull this year? It looks possible after the first competitive blows of the season. This issue of F1 Racing went to press before the Bahrain Grand Prix, but the season-opening race in Australia offered hints that the battle between the big three teams could be closer than some feared. Mercedes certainly have a car advantage – Melbourne winner Sebastian Vettel admitted as much after the race in Australia. But it is not as great as it might have appeared after Lewis Hamilton’s…

“LIBERTY’S ONLY SOLUTION TODAY: PAY MUCH MORE MONEY TO THE TEAMS AND A HUGE, ANNUAL BONUS TO FERRARI; GET THE NEW AGREEMENT SIGNED. CONTINUE TO SPEND BIG ON F1 CITY DEMOS AND THE F1 BRAND” HOW DID WE GET TO WHERE WE ARE NOW? With due deference to Prof Hawking, it’s time, I think, for a Brief History of F1. Imagine a Formula 1 world in which the teams dealt race-by-race with the circuit organisers – individually and on their own terms. Enzo Ferrari would tease the organisers of, say, the US GP into paying him x-amount in starting money for two or three cars and would race – or not – depending on the loot. Nothing was certain – particularly when it came to the presence of the Prancing…

CV Age 54 2014 Appointed President/ CEO Aston Martin 2010 Awarded honorary doctorate in Technology from Coventry University 2004 PhD in Engineering Management at Cranfield 1991-2014 Senior roles at Nissan, including Chairman of Infiniti from 2011 onwards 1991 Joined Nissan as Business Administration Manager 1990 Graduated with MSc in Product Engineering from Warwick 1984 Chief engineer of Manual Transmissions at Rover Group 1983 Project engineer at UK Automotive Parts 1979 Apprentice at UK Automotive Parts F1 Racing : Why are Aston Martin in this relationship with Red Bull? Andy Palmer: I’m going to have to give you a bit of background on the turnaround of Aston Martin because it’s fundamental to that story. It’s a seven-year plan moving the company from being a great brand that’s a financial basket…

FORMULA 1 is a gladiatorial contest between drivers; a political dogfight between team bosses. But the true nature of the beast is tireless pursuit of engineering excellence. Mostly, therefore, F1 is a battle of brains: the ingenious ideas of the brightest minds forged in carbon fibre, pitted against those of their rivals. A skirmish of pens, drawing boards and CAD machines. Think to victory: design or die. The cars are as intricate as Swiss clockwork; the engines a complex mix of fuel-starved, turbocharged, gas-recycling, electro-powered, hybrid wizardry – capable of producing close to 1,000bhp. The undoubted masters of this sorcery in the V6 era are Mercedes, but the new aerodynamic rules and wider tyres introduced for 2017 have, to some degree, scrambled the picture. Ferrari came close to denying Mercedes…

JAMES ALLEN Within our new business section you’ll find a monthly column (p29) authored by James, one of the most plugged-in experts in Formula 1 NIGEL ROEBUCK You’ll also find a new historic section this month; at its heart is a new column (p88) from the legendarily sagacious ‘NSR’ PETER J FOX ‘Foxy’ is Toro Rosso’s official F1 photographer, so who better to ask for some great pics of Pierre Gasly for our feature on page 70 BEN ANDERSON Our technical view of the three top F1 cars of 2018 (p49) comes courtesy of Ben, senior F1 guru on our sister publication Autosport…

03.03.18 Fast and the Furious composer records new F1 theme in London’s Air Studios 06.03.18 McLaren take up their seat on the F1 board for the first time, along with Ferrari and Mercedes 06.03.18 Former Ferrari chief designer Nikolas Tombazis joins the FIA in senior technical role 08.03.18 Pirelli announce Canada as the first race for new hypersoft tyre compound 10.03.18 Red Bull promote chief engineer Pierre Wache to newly created technical director role 12.03.18 Toro Rosso admit the possibility of taking tactical engine penalties 14.03.18 F1 safety director Laurent Mekies quits FIA for Ferrari role 22.03.18 Launch of new F1 live streaming service delayed 23.03.18 Force India postpone team name change…

“THE MAXIMUM AVAILABILE CHEMICAL ENERGY IS NOW DICTATED BY THE FUEL-FLOW LIMITATION. IF YOU COULD ADD ONE PER CENT MORE ‘FUEL’, YOU COULD ACHIEVE ONE PER CENT MORE POWER” OIL BE DAMNED: FORMULA 1’S BURNING DESIRE Pre-season testing always sparks some controversy based on creative interpretations of the 105 pages of Technical Regulations that govern the design of the cars. It’s the first time that rival technical directors get a look at the opposition, and inevitably this leads to discussion of the semantics that may be used to form the understanding of those regulations. I’ve mentioned oil burning briefly in this column before, but since interest in this abstruse subject – which many thought had been put to rest – has been sparked afresh, it’s worth revisiting and examining in…

VETTEL Races started 199 Wins 48Win percentage 24.1%Fastest laps 33Points 2,450Laps led 3,030Races led 89CHAMPIONSHIPS 4 Youngest ever race winner 21 years 2 months 11 days Youngest ever championship runner-up 22 years, 3 months, and 15 days Youngest ever championship winner 23 years 4 months 11 days HAMILTON Races started 209Wins 62 Win percentage 29.7%Fastest laps 38Points 2,628 Laps led 3,535 Races led 115CHAMPIONSHIPS 4 Greatest number of poles 73 Greatest number of wins at different tracks 24 All-time highest number of career points 2,628 Statistics correct as of 2018 Australian Grand Prix…

During the winter break you posted on Instagram asking fans to vote on whether it was okay for a Saturday ‘cheat day’ burger. We all know you love a good burger, but what is your all-time favourite? Fern Lock, UK Where are all these people coming from? Renault’s hospitality has been fat-out through lunchtime, and as one of the crew guides F1 Racing to our appointed table, her face contorts into a rictus of disapproval as she clocks the stains left on the tablecloth by previous guests. Evidence of their offending splatter is promptly whisked away, thrust into a bag, and replaced with a spotlessly clean equivalent. Such is the world of F1 testing in the Liberty era. Pre-season at Barcelona, in the spring sunshine, the paddock is bustling with…

Nigel Roebuck: I was at Brands Hatch that day [when Clark lost his life in a Formula 2 race]. It was the BRDC 1000km sports car race. It was cold and I was in the Clearways grandstand. After a couple of hours the race had settled down, so I went off to a buy a couple of books. I went to pay for them and the guy behind the till said to me: “Have you heard about Clark?” And I said: “No, what about Clark?” He said he’d been killed at Hockenheim that morning. They talk about the world suddenly swimming before you and it was a little like that. It was a complete shock. He was the one guy it was never going to happen to, whatever else. It…

WHY VISIT? The Italian Grand Prix has been a constant on the Formula 1 calendar since the inaugural world championship in 1950 and all bar one of those races – the 1980 event at Imola – have been held at the evocative Monza circuit. Originally built in 1922, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza has undergone several changes over the decades, but the track’s layout still retains its high-speed thrill and oozes history. Add into the mix the passionate Ferrari tifosi, and a trip to the Italian Grand Prix becomes both an unforgettable and magical experience. No other circuit captures the speed and excitement of grand prix racing as much as Monza does, and the atmosphere is something that every F1 fan should savour at least once. The circuit is located in…

FORMULA ONE - THE REAL SCORE? Author Brian Harvey Price £45 www.veloce.co.uk This is a great idea for a book and F1 statistics fans will love it. The premise is based on the argument that F1 stats are skewed in favour of modern drivers because so few races officially counted for the world championship in the early decades, For example, when in 2016 Nico Rosberg equaled Stirling Moss’s tally of 16 GP wins, that failed to take into account the races Sir Stirling won against the same level of competition in non-championship events. The Real Score lists the podiums of every non-championship F1 event and then reworks the end-of-season points tally. This tome is essentially a list of races (700 no less), but credit is due for the detail in collating…

Ticker tape parade This is the first podium of the season – Albert Park – and once again hundreds of thousands of pieces of ticker tape shoot out from two cannons while the top three drivers are celebrating on the rostrum. I’m able to access the walkway above the podium because we supply images for the Australian GP organisers. The only other people up here were an FOM TV cameraman and some of the new ‘grid kids’ with their parents. The trick to this shot is to pre-focus the camera in the area the drivers are going to be and to keep shooting. There is so much ticker tape that you usually only manage to get one or two usable frames. Where Melbourne, Australia When 5.48pm, Sunday 25 March 2018…

WHY FERRARI THREAT IS REAL I’m fascinated by Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne’s concern that the DNA of F1 is about technical differentiation and that this should be preserved at all costs. He doesn’t like the direction that Liberty Media is proposing to take the sport from 2021 onwards, whereby the engine is simplified and the rules package prescribed such that there is a more level playing field between teams. Marchionne sees no value in racing in a series where the difference between a Ferrari and a Mercedes is mostly paint colour. Mercedes feel the same way. Unlike previous managers who have threatened to take Ferrari out of F1 in the past, such as Luca di Montezemolo, I believe he means it. Marchionne’s Ferrari needs to be handled very differently from…

Who are they? Pemex (Petróleos Mexicanos) are a Mexican gas and oil company. Founded nearly 80 years ago, they have been providing forecourt fuel in the country for the past 25 years. The company are state-owned and generate approximately 2.5 million barrels of oil and 6 million cubic feet of natural gas a day. Where are they? Pemex logos were first spotted when the covers were pulled off the new Force India VJM11 in testing. They appear on the car’s wing mirrors, the drivers’ suits and team clothing.…

This is a funny old time in Formula 1: a time of transition. F1’s owners, Liberty Media, at the start of their second year in charge, are a welcome fresh face, centred on ever more ambitious marketing and promotional plans. Cars are faster than ever and more powerful than any since the fully boosted mid-80s turbo monsters. In Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1 can boast a genuine global sporting icon – a rival in eminence to the likes of Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna before him, while his team, Mercedes, are arguably more brilliant than even the greatest superteams of the past: ’80s McLaren; ’90s-era Williams; Ferrari at the turn of the millennium; and, latterly, Red Bull. Yet turbulent undercurrents swirl beneath these superficially alluring waters. There’s trouble brewing over the…

 BOOM AND BUST: THAT WAS FERRARI’S WAY. FROM THE PEAKS, THE VIEW WAS BREATHTAKING. ASCARI, FANGIO, HAWTHORN, HILL, SURTEES, LAUDA, SCHECKTER... these were the blessed members of Formula 1’s most exclusive club, all having filled their lungs with the heady, rarefied air as Ferrari world champions. “THIS WASN’T ENZO’S FERRARI, ALL FLAIR AND FLAW IN EQUAL MEASURE; THIS WAS A MACHINE, A VISION OF F1 PERFECTION DESIGNED TO DELIVER THE ULTIMATE RESULT, ON REPEAT – NO MATTER WHAT” Yet, almost to a man, the oxygen turned sour on the inevitable plummeting descent. Backstabbing turmoil, bitter disappointment and, yes, even death seemed to follow the apparent anointment of Italian immortality. This was the nature of life at Maranello, and it only made the Scuderia all the more alluring. But there was…

For those lucky enough to be there, the Beatles were never fresher nor more explosive than in their first bloom. Love Me Do charted only as high as number 17 late in 1962, but for anyone paying attention the revolution was patently here, and it was turning fast. Some months earlier in that seismic year, an equally ground-shaking force had quaked through F1. Thanks to the British Racing Green cigar-shaped tube with vivid yellow stripe you see here, and Jim Clark, the sublime young Scot who lay almost fat within it, nothing in the motor racing world would ever be the same again. The Fab Four were no overnight sensation, of course. They’d paid their dues before the Big Bang. Likewise, Team Lotus and live-wire founder Colin Chapman had endured…

THE MAIN EVENT China first appeared on the Formula 1 calendar 14 years ago, but the Shanghai International Circuit still looks like a new arrival thanks to its ultra-modern architecture and top-of-the-range facilities. Built on reclaimed marshland and supported by 40,000 stone pillars, the circuit is roughly shaped as the Chinese character ‘shang’ (meaning ‘high’) while team paddock buildings are set on stilts within a lake, resembling Shanghai’s famous classical Yuyuan Garden. A huge main grandstand, which can hold up to 29,000 spectators, offers views of almost 80 per cent of the front-limited circuit, which largely comprises long-radius, late-apex corners. A lot of the engineering focus is to preserve the life of the front-left tyre, particularly through the high-loads at Turns 1 and 2 and Turns 11-13. Low cloud, smog…

YOUR BOOKING INCLUDES: • Return flights from London to Malpensa or Linate • Return airport transfers to your selected hotel by coach • A great choice of hotel accommodation in Bergamo with daily breakfast • Weekend general admission ticket • Race day (Sunday) return circuit transfers • Welcome Friday night drinks reception • Race day (Sunday) post-race drinks reception with 2x complimentary drinks at the Thomas Cook Sport Terrace @ St Georges Restaurant (between 4-6pm) • Merchandise pack with poncho, bag, suncream, ticket wallet, lanyard and pen • Thomas Cook Sport staff there to help • Service charges and taxes • ATOL Optional extras (at a fee) • Ticket upgrades • Qualifying day (Saturday) return circuit transfers by coach WHERE TO STAY Hotel Excelsior San Marco Located in central Bergamo,…

HOBBO: MOTOR RACER, MOTOR MOUTH. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DAVID HOBBS Price £50 www.evropublishing.com For Formula 1 fans, David Hobbs is probably more famous in the US than he is in his native England. Over a number of decades Hobbs has been a commentator on F1 for American television working alongside Steve Matchett and Leigh Diffy on Speed and for the last five years on NBC. In this detailed 300-page hardback, Hobbs talks at length to journalist and friend Andrew Marriott about his motor racing career, and the book is adorned with lavish photographs from the huge breadth of machinery in which he competed. ‘Hobbo’ raced from the 1960s through to the 1980s and made a handful of F1 appearances for BRM, Honda and McLaren – his best result was seventh at…