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F1 (Round 9): Preview & Starting Grid For 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix


Race starts at 3:10 pm in Italy/9:10 pm in Malaysia

COVID-19 has caused loss of lives, hardship, disrupted life and businesses and impacted economies. It has also disrupted motorsports all over the world and as conditions eased, the Formula 1 organisers have rushed to try to run as many rounds as possible before the end of the year. And COVID-19 can also be ‘blamed’ for bringing the 9^th round of the 2020 championship to a completely new venue – Mugello.

First new circuit for F1 since 2016
Located near the city of Florence in Italy’s Tuscan countryside, the Mugello circuit was opened in 1974 and while it has never had a F1 race, it has had at least 30 rounds of the Italian Motorcycle Grand Prix. It is the 72^nd venue to host a F1 round and the first new one in four years, the last being the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan.

Mugello is not entirely new to F1 veterans though, as it was a testing venue until 2012, used mostly by Ferrari which also owns it (since 1988). However, where actual racing is concerned, it will be new to every driver and the teams have had only since last Sunday’s race at Monza to get to know and understand the circuit.

The circuit has a number of steep ascents and descents, long full-throttle sections and some extremely fast corners. Situated in a valley, it subjects drivers to quite a rollercoaster ride, especially at the start of the second sector. There are absolutely no slow corners (even the slowest can be taken in 4^th gear at 140 km/h), and the cornering speeds will subject the drivers to higher g-forces than usual.

Needless to say, the cars and the tyres will also be under tremendous stress but comments from the drivers after practices has been enthusiastic as they welcome the challenges of a new circuit.

“Driving an F1 car around this circuit is unbelievable. In all the fast sections, it’s pretty impressive. I think it’s going to be quite a tough race, physically, as already in the long run we’ve done in FP2 the neck starts to feel it! The lack of run-off areas will also make it difficult, but I guess this is what we like as well,” said Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Unusual layout and abrasive surface
Mugello’s unusual track layout has fairly old, abrasive tarmac and bears some resemblance to Suzuka in Japan. The engineers at the Mercedes-AMG team will therefore use the venue of the Japanese Grand Prix as a reference point for their predictions about tyre life and degradation. Both tracks generate a very high sliding energy and put a lot of stress on the tyres.

To cope with a combination of fast corners and abrasive asphalt, Pirelli is sending their hardest compounds to Mugello, with the C1, C2 and C3 on offer. This is also to shield against the potential for thermal degradation exacerbated by very hot weather. The narrowness of the track and the technical nature of the layout are likely to make overtaking difficult, putting an extra onus on strategy decisions.

*Some spectators allowed in for a change!*

The Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio Della Toscana Ferrari 1000 2020 – which most will refer to as just the Tuscan Grand Prix – will be the 1000th F1 race for Scuderia Ferrari. Last weekend was a blot in the marque’s history book but that’s past and to celebrate this milestone, the two SF1000s took to the track in their special Burgundy livery, the deep red originally seen on the 125 S, the very first Ferrari ever built.

*The F1 Safety Car painted in Ferrari Red as a tribute to Scuderia Ferrari’s 1000th race achievement this weekend.*

“We will honour the achievement with the Mercedes-AMG Safety Car in Ferrari red – our nod to a racing history that brought us some of the greatest moments in Formula One. The men and women of Maranello have a proud history to celebrate and we’re paying respect to those celebrations this weekend,” said Toto Wolff, CEO and Team Principal of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team.

Championship positions after Monza
Despite registering his worst result of the season at Monza last Sunday, Lewis Hamilton’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship holds steady at 47 points, with team-mate Valtteri Bottas moving into second position after Max Verstappen recorded his second DNF of the season.

Mercedes-AMG, meanwhile, expanded their lead at the top of the Constructors’ Championship as Red Bull Racing’s failed to score. Their lead is now up to 123 points. Behind them, the battle is rather more intense: McLaren’s best result since 2014 saw them extend their lead in the race for third place, pulling out a gap of 16 points ahead of Racing Point, who in turn have an 11-point advantage over Renault.

F1: Vettel to join Racing Point which will be renamed Aston Martin

It was already known that Sebastian Vettel would not get another season with Ferrari, the team he has driven for since 2015. So who he would be with in 2021 was the question in the air, and it’s been answered – Racing Point.

The 33-year old driver who has won 4 championships in his 13 years as a F1 driver is expected to be with Racing Point – to be renamed Aston Martin – for at least 3 years, although the team has not indicated the contract period.

“It’s a new adventure for me with a truly legendary car company. I have been impressed with the results the team has achieved this year and I believe the future looks even brighter. The energy and commitment of Lawrence [Stroll] to the sport is inspiring and I believe we can build something very special together,” said Vettel.

Though Vettel has had a lousy season this year and is 13^th in the current championship standings after 8 rounds, he remains one of the top drivers and a good catch for the team. “On a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, Sebastian is one of the best in the world, and I can’t think of a better driver to help take us into this new era. He will play a significant role in taking this team to the next level,” said Otmar Szafnauer, CEO & Team Principal of Racing Point.

*Sergio Perez (left) and Lance Stroll, the current drivers in the BWT Racing Point Team*

Perez departs
However, a team can have only two active drivers which has meant that the services of Sergio Perez won’t be needed in 2021. Lance Stroll, 21, being the owner’s son, obviously would not be the one to be ejected…

Perez revealed that his notice only came the day before Vettel himself announced that he will join Racing Point but suspected something like that would happen. The 30-year old Mexican driver, nicknamed ‘Checo’, has been racing in F1 for 9 years, having started with Sauber in 2011. He has been with Racing Point since 2014 when it was known as Force India. At this time, he said that he is uncertain whether he will join another team though he is keen to remain in F1.

*Aston Martin is currently involved in motorsports through a partnership with ProDrive.*

Racing Point’s change of name is more than just that and it will be an official Aston Martin works team. The intention is to run the team for at least 10 years, and it will be the first time the carmaker has been directly involved in motorsport in many decades although it currently has a partnership with ProDrive in Aston Martin Racing.

Who is Lawrence Stroll?
The move does not surprise observers since Racing Point’s owner, Lawrence Stroll, is Aston Martin’s Executive Chairman (after making a £182 million investment via a consortium and getting a 16.7% stake).

Stroll (the father), who is a Canadian billionaire, is well known in the fashion industry, with shares in Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors. He is a car-lover with a collection of vintage Ferraris and has been involved in F1 via brand sponsorships for many years.

*Returning drivers: Daniel Ricciardo (left) goes back to Red Bull Racing, and his place at the Renault team will be taken by Fernando Alonso who returns after 9 years.*

Movements so far
There are still 9 races to go on the revised 2020 calendar and team owners may well be having private discussions with drivers. At this time, the confirmed movements are Fernando Alonso joining the Renault team which will be known as the Alpine F1 team, and Carlos Sainz, Jr. going to Ferrari to join Charles Leclerc. The vacant seat left by Sainz at McLaren will be taken by Daniel Ricciardo, which means Red Bull Racing is looking for a partner for Max Verstappen.

4 more rounds added to F1 calendar, making it a total of 17 for 2020

F1 (Round 8): Results And Highlights Of 2020 Italian Grand Prix

♦ Lewis Hamilton, who set the fastest lap ever in F1 history yesterday, got off to a great start and pull ahead. But the same could not be said of team mate Valtteri Bottas who kept slipping back due to some damage sustained at the start when there was a collision with Lando Norris.

♦ Kevin Magnussen was an early casualty; on the first lap, his Hass racing car having sustained damage to the front wing and had to come into the pits to change the parts. But his race would come to an end on lap 19 when he had to pull over.

♦ Another dark day for Ferrari as Sebastian Vettel’s car continued straight at the first chicane with smoke billowing from the rear brakes that must have failed. He had done just 6 laps and though he could return to the pits, his race was over.

♦ Alexander Albon received a 5-second time penalty for an incident with Romain Grosjean. The penalty would be carried out when he came into the pits.

♦ By the 17th lap, Bottas was down to sixth place, 20 seconds behind Hamilton and watching Max Verstappen in his mirrors.

♦ Magnussen’s car stopping on the track on lap 19 brought the Safety Car out, and Hamilton and Antonio Giovinazzi were the first driver to rush into their pits to get new tyres. However, thw two drivers could have entered the pit lane too early, when it was still closed, and the Stewards deliberated on the matter. Observers noted that the lights indicated the pit lane was closed at that time.

*It certainly was a dark, dark day for Ferrari at its home track when Vettel was first to retire and then Leclerc crashed halfway through the race.*

♦ As the Safety Car pulled off on the 24th lap and the race resumed, Charles Leclerc was in an advantageous position and the Ferrari driver shot past two Alfa Romeos to fourth place – and then lost control on the Parabolica and crashed! Ferrari’s day got even darker – and on home territory too.

♦ Leclerc’s crash damaged barriers extensively and the red flags came out, bring the racing to a stop for repairs to be carried out. 26 laps of the total of 53 had been completed as all the cars came to a stop in the pit lane.

♦ While waiting for the race to resume, Hamilton and Giovinazzi were informed that they had 10-second stop and go penalties. They would have to come in and wait 10 seconds after completing one lap when the race started again. For Hamilton, that put him 23 seconds behind everyone else and virtually last in the pack.

♦ Max Verstappen’s race ended on lap 31 after he pulled into the pits and the engineers found a problem with his Power Unit.

♦ Hamilton was working very hard and with 5 laps remaining, he was up to 10th from 16th and still putting in very quick times – 3 seconds quicker than other cars on some laps. Bottas meanwhile was in 5th, a second behind Norris.

♦ Pierre Gasly held on to the very end, crossing the finish line less than a second ahead of Carlos Sainz. For the Italians fans, the win by Scuderia AlphaTauri would have made up for the great disappointment of both Ferraris dropping out.

Lewis Hamilton had a good lead for 26 laps and then got a 10-second penalty for entering the pit lane before it was opened.

With Hamilton having a 10-second penalty, Lance Stroll found himself momentarily to be in the lead with 26 laps remaining – but lost it to the Alfa Romeos behind him almost immediately when the race restarted.

Renault’s Formula 1 team to be renamed Alpine F1 Team from 2021

Renault’s Formula 1 team to be renamed Alpine F1 Team from 2021

Renault’s official team in Formula 1 – currently known as the Renault DP World F1 Team – will have a new name in 2021: the Alpine F1 Team. The new name is taken from one of the brands in the Renault group which has a history going back to 1955.

The Alpine brand will be designated to the chassis and pay tribute to the expertise that gave birth to the A110 which went on sale in 2017. Alpine’s involvement in F1 will be a key step to accelerate the development and influence of the brand. The team’s engine will continue to benefit from the Group’s expertise in hybrid powertrains and its E-Tech name will be retained.

*The brand’s team is currently known as the Renault DP World F1 Team. DP World is a logistics company which is a leading sponsor of the team.*

The new name has been announced after Renault joined other F1 teams in signing the new Concorde agreements that cap budgets and will see the implementation of new technical regulations from 2022.

*Alpine is currently active in the World Endurance Championship.*

*The new F1 team will have Fernando Alonso and is expected to have colours reminiscent of the blue and yellow on the R.S.25 F1 cars.*

“This change comes at a key moment in the trajectory of the team and the sport. Alpine brings a new meaning, new values and colours to the paddock with the spirit of competition from other worlds and French creative agility. These will be assets in the preparation of 2022 deadlines,” said Renault’s Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul.

“The new regulatory and financial framework will establish the conditions for a fairer motorsport in its redistribution of revenues; simpler and progressive in its governance. The implementation of the ‘budget cap’ will put an end to the expense race and will allow the signatory teams to be measured for their sporting value. Alpine has its place in Formula 1 and can challenge for victory,” he added.

*A110 is currently the only model produced by Alpine.*

Sportscar specialist
65 years old this year, Alpine was an independent carmaker in France, specialising in sportscar and also a regular participant in motorsports. Its independence ended when it was acquired by Renault in 1973, a move necessitated by difficulties faced during the first energy crisis period.

Although the rescue by Renault enabled it to continue producing cars, Renault management took the decision to stop using the brand name in 1995. There were hints that the name would be revived in 2007 but the financial crisis of that period forced Renault to postpone the plan. It was only 5 years later that the revival of Alpine was finally underway and it would become a sportscar brand within the Group.

F1 (Round 8): Preview & Starting Grid For 2020 Italian Grand Prix

F1 (Round 8): Preview & Starting Grid For 2020 Italian Grand Prix

Race starts at 3:10 pm in Italy/9:10 pm in Malaysia

The compressed schedule means that just a week has been separating many of the first seven rounds of the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship. Last week, the drivers raced at Spa in Belgium and after that, the teams travelled 800 kms southeast to Monza in Italy for this weekend’s 2020 Italian Grand Prix. The eighth round is at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, a 98-year old circuit that has hosted F1 rounds 70 times.

Monza – nicknamed ‘The Temple of Speed’ – is all about pace, and some of the highest speeds of each season are reached as the cars race along the long straights and high speeds are possible at many of the 11 corners. The maximum speed cars will reach at Monza is around 336 km/h, the third highest in F1 – behind Paul Ricard (340 km/h) and Mexico City (350 km/h).

Just over 77% of the lap time and 84% of the lap distance are taken at full throttle. Because a large chunk of driving at Monza is spent in eighth gear, very few gear changes take place over the course of the lap compared to other tracks. Despite the focus on outright speed, cornering velocities are also important to getting good lap times. Traction out of the three chicanes is also vital.

Low downforce often features as a talking point every year at Monza and set-ups aim at getting it as low as possible to minimize drag on the straights. For this reason, good mechanical grip is very important.

For this round, Pirelli has brought to Monza a selection from the middle of its range of tyres. The C2 compound will feature as the white-banded hard tyres, while the C3 will be the mediums and C4 will be the red-banded soft tyres.

The championship positions
Having won 5 out of the 7 races run so far, Lewis Hamilton has a strong lead which is 47 points ahead of the closest rival, Max Verstappen. Valtteri Bottas is just 3 points behind Verstappen so expect him to be pushing hard to get past the Dutch Red Bull Racing driver. Sixth place in Belgium has moved Alexander Albon to fourth place, ahead of Charles Leclerc who was the winner of last year’s Italian GP.

Among the Constructors, Mercedes-AMG continues to extend its lead with each round. Its two drivers have already contributed a total of 264 points, comfortably ahead of Reb Bull racing which has 158 points. After that, there’s close contention between the next two constructors – McLaren and BWT Racing Point – with a separation of just 2 points.

On the historical side, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton have won the most times at Monza, each having 5 wins to his name. Schumacher’s victories were all with Ferrari which is also the team with the most number of victories (19), followed by McLaren and Mercedes.

*Since 1996, Mercedes-AMG has supplied the Official F1 Safety Car as well as other cars for official use at each round.*

Departure of the Williams family
The Italian Grand Prix will be a sad one for the Williams team and its fans. Having been sold to Dorilton Capital, a private investment firm in the USA, the Williams family will cease to be involved in the team that was established by Sir Frank Williams in 1977. The team has been managed by Williams’ daughter, Claire, since 2013.

The Williams team has had an impressive history with 7 Drivers’ titles and 9 Constructors’ championships. It’s the end of an era for the family-owned team and the decision to sell it off has been a difficult one, but necessary to ensure its survival. Under new ownership, it is expected that the team will have a secure long-term future in the sport.

F1 (Round 7): Results And Highlights Of 2020 Belgium Grand Prix

♦ McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr. didn’t get to race as exhaust failure while driving for the grid line-up forced him to instead return to the pits just before the start.

♦ Rain was headed towards the circuit but the start of the race was in dry conditions.

♦ The first crash took place during lap 11, bringing out the Safety Car. Giovinazzi’s Alfa Romeo was starting to spin and Russell (Williams) tried to avoid him but could not and crashed into the wall, with Giovanazzi doing the same a second later.

♦ Pierre Gasly and Sergio Perez chose not to head for the pits to get fresh tyres while the rest of the cars came in while the Mercedes-AMG Safety Car was out for about 3 laps. Gasly would only bring his Scuderia Alphatauri Honda in on the 27th lap, the last driver to do so.

♦ Charles Leclerc was required to meet the Stewards after the race as he was seen to be ‘driving unnecessarily slowly’ during the reconnaissance lap.

♦ At the halfway mark, Lewis Hamilton had a 3-second lead over team mater Valtteri Bottas, and was about 7.5 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen. The top three were essentially on their own as the gap after the Dutch Red Bull driver was about 16 seconds to Daniel Ricciardo.

♦ On lap 28, Hamilton’s car was spotted having a damaged wing and at the same time, the team sent a message to Bottas which suggested he was to push as hard as he could.At that point, Hamilton was still 3.7 seconds ahead.

♦ In the last few laps of the race, Hamilton expressed concerns about the front tyres, fearing a repeat of Silverstone – which wasn’t good at a track with such a long lap. But he managed the tyres as best as he could and crossed the finish line for his fourth win at Spa.

F1 (Round 7): Preview & Starting Grid For 2020 Belgium Grand Prix

Race starts at 3:10 pm in Belgium/9:10 pm in Malaysia

After one weekend break, the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship begins its second three-in-a-row rounds with Round 7 at the historical Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgium Grand Prix. The event is the 65^th F1 World Championship round hosted by Belgium and is one of the original races from the 1950s season. However, the F1 races were not always held at Spa-Francorchamps and on 11 occasions, they were held at two other circuits.

The 7-km track with 19 turns is therefore familiar to the drivers and teams, with its outstanding features and characteristics leading to some interesting set-up decisions. The two long full-throttle sections of the first and third sectors require low drag – but the longer intricate middle sector, where much of the lap time is made or lost, makes for a complicated choice of downforce levels. If too high, the car cannot attack or defend on the long straights; too low and too much time is lost in the middle of the lap. Each team will therefore have different strategies and it is always interesting see which one proves suitable.

Spa-Francorchamps is F1’s longest track with a lap distance of 7.004 kilometres. This tops the second circuit on the list, Baku (6.003 kms), by just over one kilometre. Because of its long lap distance, the Belgium GP has the lowest number of race laps in F1 with only 44 – making for a race distance of 308.05 kms. Also at this track, the drivers experience up to 5.2g (at Turn 10), which is the highest lateral g-force of the season.

Longest lap, few gear changes
Interestingly, despite having the longest lap in F1, the drivers only change gear 38 times for each circulation of Spa, one of the lowest figures in F1. This is particularly low when compared to the busy laps of Monaco where drivers will change gears around 50 times per lap – and that street track is less than half the length of Spa.

The main reason for the relatively low number of gear changes per lap is that a large portion of the lap at Spa is covered in top gear. Additionally, most of the corners that require gear changes come in groups – for example, Turn 5 to Turn 7. Over the length of the entire 7.004 kilometres of lap distance, there are only 6 sets of gear changes required.

Prompted by a 2019 race in which no driver used the C1 tyre and seven of the ten points-scoring cars ran a one-stop strategy, Pirelli has brought a compound one notch down for this weekend’s racing, with the C2, C3 and C4 available to the teams.

Fresh engines installed
Another potential factor at this race is the use of fresh engines. The announcement of an extended calendar earlier this week takes the projected number of races up to 17 (originally 22) which is above the threshold that allowed competitors to use a third ICE, TC or MGU-H. Spa has traditionally been a race where teams install a new power unit anyway, and so this weekend may see a slight shift in running, especially in the ultra-tight midfield.

The championship positions
Lewis Hamilton continues to enjoy a commanding lead at the top of the Driver’ Championship table with 132 points. Behind him is Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who has 95 points after having taken 5 5 consecutive podium finishes. He is ahead of Valtteri Bottas who started the season well but now finds himself slipping and has so far collected only 89 points.

Once again, Mercedes-AMG is in a strong leading position in the Constructors’ Championship with 221 points. That’s 86 points ahead of Red Bull Racing. The teams to watch are Racing Point, McLaren and Ferrari: Racing Point has 63 points, just one point ahead of McLaren and two ahead of Ferrari.

Past winners
Michael Schumacher has had the most number of wins at the Belgium GP -2 with Benetton and 4 with Ferrari. The Ferrari team has had the most victories, 18 in all, which is 4 ahead of McLaren.

4 more rounds added to F1 calendar, making it a total of 17 for 2020

The 2020 Formula 1 World Championship, disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic just as the opening round was to take place in Australia in March, will end the season with a toral of 17 races. Following the announcements regarding the initial thirteen races of the revised 2020 calendar, 4 additional races have been confirmed which will take place in the months of November and December.

While it was already expected that Bahrain and Abu Dhabi will host the last rounds (the former running two races), a newcomer is Turkey which will have the Formula 1 DHL Turkish Grand Prix 2020. The race will be held at the Istanbul Park Circuit which was opened in 2005 when the first Turkish F1 GP was held. The venue was included on the F1 calendar up to 2011 and then left out over the past 8 years.

*The Intercity Istanbul Park Circuit last had a F1 race in 2011.*

Familiar circuit to top drivers
The circuit, also designed by Hermann Tilke, the F1 track specialist, has a length of 5.34 kms and 14 turns. Past races have been run for 58 laps with the lap record still held by of 1:24.770 still held by Juan Pablo Montoya when he was driving a McLaren in 2005. Drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel would be familiar with the circuit as they have raced and won there before.

“We can confirm that a number of races in the revised 2020 season will be open to a limited number of fans, including hospitality, and we are working with each promoter to finalise the details. While we want to see as many fans as possible return as soon as it is safe to do so, our priority remains the safety of the Formula 1 community and the communities we visit, and we review fan access on this basis,” said Chase Carey, Chairman & CEO of the Formula 1 organisation.

Strict SOPs still applied
This means that the races will continue to be held without spectators and with a minimum number of participants allowed into the circuit. So far, the strict measures taken have ensured that there are no COVID-19 infections spreading and when the health authorities are more comfortable with the situation, perhaps there will be an opportunity for spectators in the stands.

“Sadly, we will not be racing in China this season and want to thank our partner Juss Sports for their support and engagement in recent months and hugely look forward to returning to Shanghai next year,” Carey said.

F1 (Round 6): Results And Highlights Of 2020 Spanish Grand Prix

♦ With temperatures already at 30 degrees C. when the race started, managing the tyres was a major part of the race strategy for the Mercedes-AMG drivers. It was evident from the beginning laps as they moderated lap times.

♦ Unlike his advantageous situation at Silverstone in the previous round, Max Verstappen found his tyres (especially the rear ones) to be less than satisfactory at Catalunya.

♦ After 22 laps, the drivers were struggling with the tyres and heading for the pits to get fresh sets. 3 of them held out till over 30 laps.

*Empty stands, as it has been in the other five rounds this year.*

♦ At the halfway mark, while Hamilton kept a 5.5-second gap from Verstappen, the action was closer in the midfield between drivers like Alexander Albon, Pierre Gasly, Charles Leclerc and Land Norris.

♦ The engine of Leclerc’s Ferrari cut suddenly on lap 40, causing a spin and stall. He managed to get it restarted and limped to the pits, his race over.

♦ It may have been blistering hot but as 20 laps remained, the possibility of rain grew stronger. That was something unexpected since it had not rained at a Spanish GP in 21 years.

♦ With 13 laps left to go, the Ferrari team decided – and Vettel agreed – that he would not change tyres and aim to finish on the very old set he had. But he found it hard to hold off other cars and slipped from fifth to seventh.

♦ With 4 laps remaining, Hamilton had a comfortable 17-second gap from Verstappen, who had to watch out for Valtteri Bottas making a bid to end with a Mercedes-AMG 1-2.

♦ With one lap remaining, Bottas changed his tyres with the aim of going for the fastest lap and managed to pick up an extra point.

F1 (Round 6): Preview & Starting Grid for 2020 Spanish Grand Prix

Race starts at 3:10 pm in Spain/9:10 pm in Malaysia

The compressed revised schedule of 2020 Formula 1 World Championship continues this weekend with the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The circuit is a familiar one to the F1 teams as it is where they go for pre-season testing. Located in the Barcelona area, the circuit has been in operation since 1991.

The 4.655-km circuit has 16 turns and though many drivers have driven around it a lot, it is still challenging with its broad mix of corner types. There are swift changes in direction and a long start-finish straight that tests both the car’s strength and weaknesses. Each year, teams search for the best set-up to enable their drivers to extract the maximum from the machines.

To get that right set-up can be elusive; there are strong winds blowing at the circuit and they change not just in direction but also speed. So aerodynamics are very important although they are important everywhere else too.

Hotter than usual
For this weekend, there is concern about high temperatures. This has not been a major issue in the past as the Spanish Grand Prix usually runs in May when it is still cool. However, it is now mid-August and the engineers are preparing the cars to cope with temperatures of around 30 degrees C.

Pirelli is bringing its most durable compounds to cope with the heat and high loads of fast corners such as Turn 3. The C1 is nominated as the hard tyre with C2 and C3 and medium and soft tyres, respectively.

The hot conditions can be a problem for the Mercedes-AMG cars, as evident at Silverstone last weekend. It’s possible that similarly high temperatures could give Red Bull Racing a chance to claim a second victory of the season after Max Verstappen’s success.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been to Spain when it’s been this hot. The weather is beautiful, but it’s tricky for the car and very tough on the tyres as well. We didn’t see any blistering, the tyres felt OK and the long runs didn’t look too bad, but we also didn’t see any blistering last Friday, so we’ll have to remain careful,” said Lewis Hamilton, who will start from pole position at tomorrow’s race.

The Ferrari drivers also find conditions challenging but have been doing well in practices. “I am confident we can extract the maximum out of the car in quali and if I manage to get the balance where I want it to be, we can have a pretty good result. With regards to the heat, out on track is not that hard because at least there’s some air, but when you are in the garage… it’s like being in a sauna!” said Charles Leclerc.

Max Verstappen is now second
After winning last weekend, Verstappen is now second in the Driver’s Championship, 30 points behind leader Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas is, however, not far behind with a gap of just 4 points.

The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS team has a good lead with 180 points after 5 rounds, 67 points ahead of Red Bull Racing and 125 points ahead of Ferrari. The Italian team has had the most wins here, having won 12 times, of which 5 were won by Michael Schumacher who has also won the event the most times.

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F1

F1 (Round 9): Preview & Starting Grid For 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix

F1: Vettel to join Racing Point which will be renamed Aston Martin

F1 (Round 8): Results And Highlights Of 2020 Italian Grand Prix

Renault’s Formula 1 team to be renamed Alpine F1 Team from 2021

F1 (Round 8): Preview & Starting Grid For 2020 Italian Grand Prix

F1 (Round 7): Results And Highlights Of 2020 Belgium Grand Prix

F1 (Round 7): Preview & Starting Grid For 2020 Belgium Grand Prix

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