Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2021 i AUTOSPORT

In a sport as technologically dependent as motor racing, the respect of one’s peers can count for as much as any trophy cabinet. Dan Gurney didn’t win a world championship, and tasted victory in only a handful of F1 races in the 1960s, but he was still good enough to worry that decade’s defining driver, Jim Clark. It’s why the likes of Stirling Moss and Gilles Villeneuve were so revered, despite their achievements not matching the range of their abilities. But those who were there knew what the statistics couldn’t say. There’s a long way to go before we can say this month’s cover star, George Russell, definitively belongs in such rarefied company, but the way he finished his second F1 season by making an outstanding subsitute appearance for Mercedes…

01 NEW F1 SAFETY PROBE Grosjean accident prompts FIA investigation 02 ENGINE WARS: FERRARI HITS REVERSE Maranello aligns with Red Bull on engine freeze 03 SCHUMACHER NAME RETURNS 01 FIA LAUNCHES GROSJEAN CRASH INQUIRY Motorsport’s governing body will conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding Romain Grosjean’s dramatic accident on the first lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix. It will focus on the effectiveness of all the safety provisions – from the car itself to the driver’s personal safety equipment, the barriers, the marshals and the Medical Car – and identify areas for improvement. “ WE KNOW THAT IF THE HALO HAD NOT BEEN THERE, I DON’T WANT TO THINK ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE TRAGEDY ”JEAN TODT “As with all serious accidents, we will analyse every aspect…

FORMAT WARS: TO SPRINT OR NOT TO SPRINT? One of the most emotive topics of this unusual season has been the debate surrounding the introduction of sprint races. It is not a new topic, and in fact F1 commissioned research among fans in 2018 to solicit views on the subject. The top-level aim of such a proposal is to deepen engagement with existing fans while enticing new fans into Formula 1. The idea of a sprint race, with a grid where the cars line up in an order where the fastest is not necessarily at the front, is to generate an exciting spectacle in itself while also increasing unpredictability for the main event on Sunday. In doing this caution needs to be exercised because all sport should maintain meritocracy in…

SLUMPED DISCONSOLATELY AGAINST a grassy bank at Imola while marshals shepherded his damaged Williams off the track, George Russell could not believe what he had just done. Having accumulated a near-spotless record through his Formula 1 career to date, he’d just committed one of the biggest don’ts in racing: shunting behind the Safety Car. Running 10th and eyeing the prospect of scoring his first F1 point, Russell pushed too hard while trying to get warmth into his tyres before the restart, causing his Williams FW43 to spear left into the wall at the entry to Acque Minerali. “It was such an amateur mistake,” says Russell. “I felt just pure frustration and annoyance at the error I just made. It was such a schoolboy error.” The Imola blunder was all the…

Lewis, a wonderful race today [in Turkey], a wonderful season in 2020. What would you like to say. How do you sum it all up? My dad always used to tell me to do my talking on the track, so I don’t really have a huge amount to say. The performance hopefully shows what I’m capable of and what we could all do together. In the sense of young kids out there it’s important for them to see. I dreamt this when I was five years old, to be here in Formula 1 and it’s so important to hold onto your dreams, to dream big, for all of us, it doesn’t matter how old you are. It’s taken a long time to get here but I’m forever grateful to the…

What do you know about Nikita Mazepin? You’re probably aware that he has a rich dad. Maybe you’ve heard he once hit Ferrari Junior Callum Ilott in the face. And now, having lost out to Ilott in Formula 2, he’s beaten him to a 2021 Haas seat alongside Mick Schumacher. Well, there’s a lot more you need to know. The paths of Mazepin and Schumacher have crossed before, towards the end of their karting careers when they were team-mates in the works TonyKart team, and Nikita boldly claims that he was “a lot better” than Mick. In fact, it was maybe Schumacher Sr who left the bigger impression on Nikita. “Mick’s father was handling his career at the time,” Mazepin tells GP Racing. “He was very down to earth and…

LUKE SMITH Luke explains how George Russell has put himself in pole position for a Mercedes drive when it becomes available (p34) STUART CODLING Sustainability (p32), Simon Roberts (p42), McLaren (p44) and Haas (p62) all get the Codders treatment this month MARK GALLAGHER In addition to his column (p31), Mark examines Toyota's unsuccessful dalliance with F1 and details where it all went wrong (p52) ALISTER THORPE A regular behind the lens for GP Racing, Alister is responsible for the George Russell portrait that adorns our front cover this month…

SAUDI ARABIA IS ONLY PART OF THE PROBLEM We live in an imperfect world, so while the news that Formula 1 is to hold a race in Saudi Arabia next autumn prompted howls of protest across mainstream and social media platforms, it is worth pausing to reflect on the championship’s past before slamming the door on its future. The media likes a good story about greedy sports bosses hoovering up money from corrupt regimes. It makes for great headlines and sneering prose, never mind that Formula 1 management has to find the cash for both the championship and its teams from somewhere. Imola and Portimão’s pockets are full of fluff. Back in 2011 I recall being invited on the Nicky Campbell Show on BBC Radio 5 Live by a researcher…

There have been a lot of changes this year for you and for the team. How different was your managing director role from what you were doing at McLaren? And then how much has it evolved since you took on team principal duties? The managing director role was very similar to what I did at McLaren. Obviously it’s a different team but, in terms of the scope of the role and responsibility, it was almost the same. But since then it’s changed a bit. Since Claire [Williams] decided to leave I’ve had the chance of stepping up as team principal so now I’m much more involved with all the races rather than just some of the races, and everything to do with the top-level activities of the team. How hands-on…

1 Halo averts catastrophe in Grosjean shunt Divisive on its introduction in 2018, the Halo cockpit protection system unequivocally proved its worth during the Bahrain Grand Prix when Romain Grosjean emerged largely unscathed from a fiery accident in which he hit a trackside barrier while travelling at 137mph. The impact force of 53 times the force of gravity sheared the Haas in two as the front half sliced through the barrier. This was an accident some 30 seconds in the making and with several contributory factors. Several drivers were out of position, either as a result of problems in qualifying (Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll) or poor starts (Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Daniil Kvyat). Bottas would later attribute his slow start to conservatism on the clutch paddle…

Fluttering ‘fetti is a Turkish delight Lewis Hamilton has just won the Turkish Grand Prix and, with it, a record-equalling seventh world championship, so that made this the most important podium of the year. The pressure was on! I was one of three ‘pool’ photographers allowed into parc fermé so I was able to photograph Lewis getting out of the car. You’re then allowed to stay provided you maintain a distance from team personnel. There’s an element of luck as well as craft in shots like these. I’d been told there would be confetti, which means manual focus. You want the drivers’ faces sharp, which is tricky while they’re jumping around, but it all came together with this shot. Where Istanbul, Turkey When 3.16pm, Sunday 15 November 2020 Details Canon…

WHY F1 STILL SEES VALUE IN AGEING DRIVERS Two decades after bursting up to the top level of motorsport, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen will be headliners again in 2021. With three world titles between them, plus several that slipped away, their impressive statistics set the scene. Alonso has won 11 races more than Räikkönen, but Kimi has the higher number of podiums (103, including race wins). Add their joint tally together and it comes to 200 and counting. Fernando has half the number of Kimi’s fastest laps (23), but Alonso has led one more race (84). And both have scored close to 1900 points in total. Their records speak loudly, but at a time when young drivers such as Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc have shown new talent can…

Although fans generally shudder when they see the S-word connected with Formula 1, they’re going to have to get used to it. Motor racing’s highest echelon is predicated on pitting the drivers of the fastest and most advanced motor cars against one another on a global stage, but it’s also a business. And businesses increasingly need to demonstrate social and environmental responsibility. Corporate sponsors and investors no longer wish to be associated with profligacy and the plundering of the earth’s resources. Squaring sustainability with F1’s competitive essence is a huge challenge, and one to which the stakeholders are rising. F1 recently published an update on its mission to become net carbon zero by 2030, a target first announced in November 2019. While much of the document was devoted to reiterating…

INNES IRELAND WAS FEISTY AND TOUGH, yet essentially a gentleman, and as humane an individual as I have known in racing. A character is what he was, and among the fastest drivers of his generation. Take the Oulton Park Gold Cup in 1960, where his Lotus 18 simply left the rest behind – ‘the rest’ including Rob Walker’s similar car, driven by one Stirling Moss. When the mood took him, Ireland could hack it with anyone, but invariably his luck was poor, and that day was typical in that the car eventually broke. There was always a strong element of fatalism in Ireland, and indubitably his career was signposted by a number of sizeable accidents. Innes was under no illusions about Lotuses of the time, reluctantly accepting that if Colin…

1 Mercedes tyre blunder costs Russell victory George Russell’s mother couldn’t speak, such were the overwhelming emotions of the night, but the family was full of pride, despite terrible disappointment at the outcome. “That was yours today” is what Russell said his father told him on the phone, and of course he was right. For 63 of this race’s 87 laps Russell had everything under control. Pending a final stint showdown with Valtteri Bottas, who was chipping away at the gap, Russell looked set to cap an outstanding debut for Mercedes in place of unwell world champion Lewis Hamilton with victory. That it all fell apart so spectacularly was principally down to a communication error in the pits. It was the sort of pitstop – servicing both cars consecutively on…

BROADCASTING QUESTIONS OF TASTE Good taste, said the poet Edith Sitwell, is the worst vice ever invented. And yet the question of taste, subjective and problematic as it is, is one with which the media must constantly grapple. In some circumstances it can be a delicate balancing act, in others less so. Formula 1’s global coverage has recently drawn criticism over matters of taste and even precipitated something of a diplomatic incident. Max Verstappen’s use of ableist terminology during an incident with Lance Stroll in Portugal brought into focus an issue of concern: that F1, in its quest to expand its reach, is beginning to default to the lowest common denominator. After all, there were two separate but related pieces of poor decision-making here. First there was Verstappen’s choice of…