F1 Archives

McLaren Racing reveals 2022 F1 car as well as Extreme E and IndyCar challengers

The MCL36 is McLaren Racing’s new Formula 1 car for the 2022 world championship which sees significantly changed technical regulations. The new regulations – which include a switch to 18-inch wheels – have forced the engineers to completely overhaul their designs but the FIA expects that the racing will become closer and more exciting for fans.

With aerodynamics being crucial to performance, Formula 1 cars are designed with features to generate as much downforce as possible. At the same time, this must be achieved without sacrificing performance so it’s a challenge which engineers faced when developing the MCL36.

Gulf Oil racing car inspiration
The new bodywork, described as having ‘speed and elegance… very vibrant’ by McLaren CEO Zak Brown uses similar colours as before but with a different livery. It has ‘Fluro Papaya’ as the dominant colour which will certainly make the car easily identifiable on the track. The blue (lighter than in 2021) is similar to that used by Gulf Oil in its racing cars before, and the racing link with the oil company goes back to 1968.

More sustainable fuel
McLaren will continue to use the Mercedes power unit in the MCL36 which, apart from being improved, has been retuned to run on E10 fuel instead of E5. This is the most significant regulation change of the hybrid era began in 2014. The change is part of the FIA’s move towards making motorsports a sustainable activity and fuels must use sustainable ethanol. The engineers have had to optimize the combustion process but just how well the engine will run on E10 fuel will only be known during official pre-season testing towards the end of this month.

The drivers are the same ‘Commonwealth pair’ as in 2021 – Daniel Ricciardo from Australia and Lando Norris from Britain. Ricciardo, who finished 8^th in the Drivers’ Championship last year, began racing in 2011, while Norris, aged 22, entered F1 with McLaren in 2019.

*Lando Norris in the McLaren Racing MCL35M at a round of the 2021 F1 World Championship.*

McLaren Racing finished fourth in the championship last year with their highest points finish since 2012 that included one race win during the year. They have 20 world championship titles to their name and will be trying just as hard in 2022 to add another. The new regulations are helpful, in a way, in levelling the playing field again as each team has to now start to make their car more competitive from essentially the same ‘base’. The promise of closer racing could also be advantageous for some drivers.

*2022 Arrow McLaren SP Team IndyCar racing cars*

IndyCar and Extreme E challengers
Also unveiled at their base in England was the team’s IndyCar and Extreme E challengers. In addition, the livery of team’s esports programme, McLaren Shadow, was also shown to the world. The team also presented the 2022 Arrow McLaren SP team of Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist who will start their 2022 IndyCar campaign at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Florida, on February 27.

*Emma Gilmour and Tanner Foust will race with this all-electric rallycar in the Extreme E series this year.*

The McLaren Extreme E all-electric off-road racer will be used for the second season of the all-electric off-road series which began last year. The drivers will be Emma Gilmour from New Zealand, and 4-time US rallycross champion, Tanner Foust. Gilmour, who has also taken part in the WRC, becomes the first female McLaren racing driver, in-line with the team’s commitment to showcase and inspire diversity in motorsport. The McLaren Extreme E team will be on the starting line for the first round of the 2022 Extreme E Championship at the Desert X-Prix in Saudi Arabia next weekend.

A McLaren F1 racing car for just RM799.90!

Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team reveals AMR22 racing car for 2022 F1 season

The Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team is the third of the F1 teams to show its new racing car which will be used in the 2022 championship The car retains the overall green bodywork with new sponsor’s logos all over. The sponsors this year include Aramco, the Saudi Arabian oil and gas company which is one of the largest companies in the world.

Designated the AMR22, it is totally new to meet the significant changes in technical regulations for the sport. These include aerodynamic aspects – which are expected to allow for more overtaking – as well as a switch to larger 18-inch tyres that give a new look. However, as the new regulations will be around a while, the design of the car will continue to evolve and might even have changes when the first round starts.

The Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team will continue to have 4-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll (whose father is Executive Chairman of the company) as its drivers.

Aston Martin returned to F1 racing only last year and after a difficult season, finishing seventh in the world championship. But it is no stranger to GP racing as Aston Martins raced in the top-level category 100 years ago, starting with the 1922 French Grand Prix.

*Sebastian Vettel in the AMR21 during the 2021 season which the team finished overall seventh in the world championship.*

Aston Martin says that data from the 2021 season demonstrates that the global platform of Formula 1 is heightening brand desirability and product familiarity for Aston Martin as the sport enjoys growing popularity worldwide. Its website traffic increased by 15% when there were races on, compared to non-race Sundays. This increased to 25% on weekends where the company supplied the Vantage and DBX as Official F1 Safety & Medical Cars.

Lawrence Stroll, Executive Chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda, said: “The return of Aston Martin to Formula One has been a monumental moment for the brand, with transformative impact for our performance credentials and global awareness. Through the race team and our status as the Official Safety and Medical Car of Formula One, we have been able to showcase our product and test new technologies on the world’s greatest circuits.”

Official testing will take place at the Bahrain International Circuit over 3 days on March 10-12. The first round of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship season will also be at the same circuit on March 20.

F1 tyres to go from 13 inches to 18 inches in 2022 (w/VIDEO)

A McLaren F1 racing car for just RM799.90!

Racing cars are expensive machines, and Formula 1 racing cars are very expensive machines. That’s why each team has only a few cars built so team managers dread accidents during races that damage the cars. But you can own a Formula 1 cars for just RM799.90 – although you won’t be able to drive it or sit in it. Still, it will look good in your home or office.

The racing car is the McLaren Formula 1 Race Car by LEGO Technic and it’s been developed in close collaboration between engineering experts from the LEGO Group and McLaren Racing. Just like its real-life counterpart, this LEGO model is truly a one-of-a-kind piece of engineering excellence and packed with functionality.

2021 livery, 2022 looks

While the model has the team’s distinctive 2021 season livery, it gives fans a glimpse of what they might expect from McLaren Racing’s new F1 season model in 2022, which will see big technical changes in the regulations.

The LEGO Technic version is fully modeled on the life-size version featuring a V6 engine with moving pistons, steering activated from the cockpit, suspension and even a differential lock! Although LEGO Technic has many high-performance cars in its range (like the Senna GTR), the McLaren Formula 1 Race Car is the first Formula 1 car.

1,432 pieces to assemble

Like every LEGO Technic model, this one will provide many hours of enjoyment (actually, LEGO says it can be done in about 2 hours) being assembled. There are 1,432 pieces and when completed, the car is over 13 cm high, 65 cm long and 27 cm wide. It also comes with stickers of the various sponsors supporting the team.

*McLaren Racing’s F1 drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris delighted to see their racing car reproduced by LEGO Technic.*

“We are excited to unveil the unique LEGO Technic model of our McLaren F1 car, a fun and engaging product that celebrates our 2021 season livery while giving fans a hands-on interpretation of the new 2022 F1 car design. This has been made possible by an agile collaboration with the LEGO Group team, who have truly embraced the spirit of our brave and bold approach to design. The final product looks fantastic, and we cannot wait to make this available to our fans,” said James Key, Executive Director, Technical, McLaren Racing.

The LEGO Technic McLaren Formula 1 Race Car will be available from March 1, 2022, at LEGO Certified Stores, on-line retailers and other major retailers and department stores in Malaysia.

*The McLaren racing cars in action during the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship.*

McLaren Elva joins LEGO Speed Champions series

Hamburg’s Miniatur Wunderland to have F1 and Formula E races on 1:87 scale Monaco circuit

53-year-old Gerrit Braun and his twin brother, Frederik, founded Miniatur Wunderland in Germany’s Hamburg Speicherstadt district 20 years ago. It’s an exhibition space which measures more than 10,000 square metres in size and visited by around 1.4 million visitors a year.

If you have the time to count them, there are 9,250 cars, 269,000 figures, 15,715 metres of track, 1,040 trains with more than 10,000 carriages, 4,340 buildings and 130,000 trees. You’ll find cities, villages, mountain panoramas, an airport, artificial northern lights, and even a fair. It took over 300 employees who spent around one million hours to create this miniature world.

The scale of the models is 1:87 and many of them are Porsche sportscars, including the 99X Electric which was added recently. But unlike other miniature worlds, there will be cars that not just move but also race – just like the real thing, only smaller.

Project started in 2015
The motorsport project has been ongoing since 2015 and it’s their biggest challenge to date. It encompasses the redesigned south of France, which will officially open in the first half of 2022, and features the legendary Monaco Grand Prix course.

“We’ll alternate between Formula One and Formula E races,” said Braun. “Everything true to the original, with parade lap, safety car, starting grid – and then action!”. For visitors to have the perfect view of all the racing action, the Miniatur Wunderland team first had to shrink Monaco. Like everything else, the principality on the French Riviera was reproduced at a scale of 1:87. The racing cars are just 6 cm long and their top speed of 85 cm per second would translate to nearly 270 km/h in the real world. This is as realistic as it gets – but that’s also what makes the whole undertaking so difficult.

Miniatur Wunderland in Germany — *One of the sections of the Monaco circuit.*

A scenario never built before
A small-scale scenario this realistic has never been built before. Everything had to be created from scratch. The software responsible for controlling 20 racing cars was developed on their own computer. The system responds to the driving manoeuvres of the other racers within 50 milliseconds, so each race is different. With real battles for position, passing manoeuvres, and occasionally even a crash. “Of course, we want to avoid that, if at all possible, because then the Safety Car has to come out and a couple of people are kept busy for some time,” Braun said.

While the race simulations are already running in the computer, Braun still has to teach the cars to accelerate at just the right moment. “The software always wants to maintain the lead, but sometimes you just need to slow down during a race. Programming all that is a complicated process,” he explained.

The small electric cars are powered by magnetic fields. The 21-metre course through miniature Monaco is made up of 24 special circuit boards with a total of 1,400 magnetic field sectors, each of which is controlled separately and generates its own magnetic field.

3D-printed racing cars
While the software still needs some work, the racing cars are ready to race. They were created using the model building experts’ 3D printer and sheets of plastic just 0.03 mm thick. 3D data comes from companies like Porsche Motorsport which provided data for the 99X Electric used in Formula E.

The chassis are painted over multiple times and faithfully reproduced down to the smallest sponsor stickers to reflect their full-size counterparts. The underbody conceals a Halbach array, a diamond-shaped panel that serves as the counterpart to the magnetic fields along the course.

If everything goes according to plan, the miniature car races will be the Hamburg team’s next global milestone in the field of model building. “The crowning achievement of all our efforts,” said Braun. “Even more complex than the airport with its airplanes taking off and landing, which was commissioned in 2011.”

Time cannot be shrunk
The fact that the masterminds of miniaturization have been working on the ambitious idea of a real racecourse for 6 years demonstrates their passion as well as the sophistication of the project. But Braun reveals one unsolvable problem with miniaturization: “We may be able to shrink down objects, but we can’t shrink down time.”

Abdul Wahab’s 1986 Daihatsu Mira van will be Malaysia’s entry in Hot Wheels Legends event

F1 tyres to go from 13 inches to 18 inches in 2022 (w/VIDEO)

The 2022 Formula 1 World Championship will see the biggest changes in technical rules in some 4 decades. Among those changes – which are expected to contribute to close racing with more overtaking – are the switch 18-inch wheel rims from the current 13 inches. This means installing new low-profile tyres from Pirelli, which continues to be the tyre-supplier for F1.

13 inches since 1960s
Tyres in 13-inch size have raced for nearly the entire history of the championship to date, from the 1960s. Nonetheless, at the time – and into the subsequent decade – there was still a lot of regulatory freedom around wheel size. In the 1980s, 13 inches finally became the definitive size.

Pirelli first ran a 13-inch tyre in Formula 1 at the 1981 San Marino Grand Prix with the Toleman. Then, in the same season (Michelin and Goodyear supplied tyres then) and subsequent ones, other teams adopted the Italian tyres for their cars. Since 2011, Pirelli has been the sole tyre-supplier for the sport.

The first win for Pirelli’s 13-inch tyres came at the 1985 French Grand Prix, fitted on Nelson Piquet’s Brabham-BMW. Pirelli brought in a new generation of 13-inch tyres from 1989 (two years after the P Zero name was born) which were used until 1991. As Global Tyre Partner from 2011, Sebastian Vettel was the first to claim a championship for a Pirelli 13-inch tyre with Red Bull.

Wider tyres, faster lap times
In 2017, Pirelli innovated by introducing tyres that were 25% wider than they had been previously, providing a bigger footprint and more grip, which in turn resulted in lap records being lowered all over the world.

Since becoming sole supplier, more than 400,000 13-inch tyres have been produced from the Pirelli factories at Izmit in Turkey and Slatina in Romania.

Testing since 2014

The 18-inch tyres have been tested on F1 cars since 2014 when Pirelli first ran such tyres at a test at Silverstone with Lotus reserve driver Charles Pic. Initially, it was the intention to adopt 18-inch tyres from 2021 as part of a package of new technical regulations, but this was deferred to 2022 due to the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the meantime, Pirelli successfully ran 18-inch tyres in Formula 2 since the 2020 season and completed 36 days of 18-inch testing with Formula 1 cars that were modified to accommodate the new size. It’s actually the size of the rim that changes, adding 5 inches (127 mm) to the diameter that has been a constant in GP racing since the 1960s. This has been characterized by compact, very wide tyres featuring a ‘pot-bellied’ sidewall seen on four corners of the racing cars.

With a bigger emphasis on technological proximity to the road car as well as aesthetics, the brand new P Zero F1 tyre has the same tread width as before (305 mm at the front and 405 mm at the rear) but a slightly bigger overall diameter, which grows from 660 mm to 720 mm. The most significant change is a reduction in the sidewall, which now resembles that of the low-profile Pirelli tyres that, for years, have been seen on many performance road cars.

Less turbulence, closer racing
This new profile will change the behaviour of the racing cars, making them more precise when changing direction. From the tests carried out so far – in both dry and wet conditions – the drivers’ feedback has been positive, and the new tyres will contribute to even more competitive races, with cars that are less sensitive to aerodynamic turbulence while following behind one another (so racing can be closer). The lower sidewall also means that the tyre will flex less, meaning that it will have less impact on the overall aerodynamics of the car.

The compounds for the 18-inch tyres will also be completely new, to ensure maximum consistency and less overheating. Five compound grades will be available for the 2022 championship, three of which will be chosen for each race weekend (as has been the case this year).

*Pirelli tyres were on the racing cars during the first years of Formula 1 in the 1950s,*

By going from 13-inch to 18-inch, Pirelli is the only tyre manufacturer that has competed in Formula 1 with all the wheel sizes that have been part of the World Championship’s history. It’s a story that began in 1950, with its first wins and titles with Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati. Those were front-engined racing cars that ran on tall and narrow tyres.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina over the weekend was the last race in F1 history where the cars ran on 13-inch tyres. To celebrate the ‘changing of the guard’, all the 13-inch slick tyres used in the race had a special logo on the sidewall: ‘Next year I turn 18’.

A look at the Formula 1 racing car of 2022

F1/Round 22: Highlights & Provisional Results For 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021

As the 19 cars (Haas F1’s Nikita Mazepin could not start due to COVID-19 infection) slowly took their places on the starting grid for the final round of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship, the air was full of tension. Tonight’s result would decide who the new champion would be. It could well be the race of the century.

As the lights went out, the Red Bull driver got a good start but was not quick enough to outrun Lewis Hamilton to the first turn and coming out on the other side was the Mercedes-AMG. But the first controversy started by Turn 6 as Hamilton ran wide and Verstappen alleged that he had been pushed off the track. However, the Stewards did not see anything wrong and decided not to investigate… much to Christian Horner’s frustration again.

While McLaren Lando Norris slipped back and was overtaken by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, it was Verstappen’s team mate, Sergio Perez, who managed to slip into third place about 4 seconds behind Hamilton. It was a good position to be where he could take over when the two leaders headed into the pits.

By lap 11, Hamilton was 3,5 seconds ahead but coming in was something that would need to be carefully considered as there was a risk in giving up the place too soon. Meanwhile, Verstappen was beginning to struggle with the soft tyres he started with, as opposed to Hamilton who had mediums from the start.

On lap 14, Verstappen had to come in and took on hard tyres. As usual, Mercedes-AMG followed next and when Hamilton rejoined, he was ahead enough to be in second place behind Perez who had taken over. However, Verstappen was further down and rejoined as Norris passed by. He had a 9-seconds gap from Hamilton who was ahead of Sainz.

With everyone more careful not to be the cause of any incident that could impact either of the championship leaders, Sainz didn’t put up a fight when the Red Bull was about to pass. Verstappen was up into third place but Hamilton had been pushing harder to reach Perez, and the gap was still 8 seconds.

On lap 20, Hamilton began to dice with Perez who had been instructed to delay the Mercedes-AMG driver enough so that Verstappen could close in. And as Hamilton had to be careful, he lost out as Verstappen shot forward unimpeded by his team mate who was ready to head for the pits. This put the Dutchman in second position and ready to fight for the title.

16 seconds behind Verstappen was Tsunoda, pursued by Bottas, while Perez slotted into fifth place after getting his fresh tyres. However, the Japanese drivers position was lost when he pitted, dropping him to tenth.

Alfa Romeo ORLEN’s Kimi Raikkonen did not get to finish his final F1 race as his car had braking problems around lap 26 and he had to limp back to the pits. Fans of the Finn, who was among the senior drivers, were saddened that the 20-year career had to end on a low note.

At the halfway point of the 58-lap race, Hamilton was still in the lead, 4 seconds ahead of Verstappen but without the security of having Bottas near enough. Though his team mate was in third, he was some 20 seconds behind. In any case, he had to come in for a tyre change and rejoined in tenth. His place was taken over by Perez who had a comfortable gap from Alpine F1’s Fernando Alonso, so he could focus on staying in the race.

Raikkonen’s team mate, Antonio Giovinazzi, also had an unhappy ending with the team as his car came to a stop on lap 36, triggering the Virtual Safety Car to enable clearing. Verstappen came in for hard tyres and rejoined still in second place as Hamilton did not want to lose his top spot. Twenty laps remained and Hamilton looked like he would keep the hard tyres till the end and take another world championship.

The Virtual Safety Car had given Verstappen a chance to close in on Hamilton and by lap 43, he had gained 4 seconds, though the gap was still over 12 seconds. His steady progress to close the gap meant that it was going to be a thrilling finish. And with 12 laps remaining, Hamilton was also getting close to backmarkers which could make things tricky.

With his tyres having been in use for over 37 laps, the team was warning Hamilton to be careful on the kerbs. A puncture would be disastrous at this point with the remaining laps.

7 laps from the end, Hamilton finally got past the traffic but Verstappen still had to carefully find his way past at least 5 cars, some of whom were also battling each other. The delay kept the gap at around 12 seconds.

And then Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi crashed at Turn 14 while duelling with Haas F1’s Mick Schumacher, and the Safety Car had to come out. Just 6 laps remained and with the cars unable to race, the release of the Safety Car would certainly be a dramatic moment as the two leaders tried to sprint to the finish. Verstappen decided to come into the pits to get fresh tyres – certainly the last time in the race – but Hamilton was unwilling to take any risk of losing his position right at the front.

With 3 laps remaining, the gap was just 3 seconds between Hamilton and Verstappen. Everyone was biting their nails as the outcome was going to be very tight. Verstappen still had 5 slower cars in front of him.

On the 57th lap, the cars were still behind the Safety Car so it seemed like a real shoot-put to the finish line. Then race control told the 5 cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to overtake the Safety Car as it was about to leave the track – and it would be Hamilton and Verstappen going for it as they were side by side. An incredible setting to the end of the season!

The moment racing resumed, Hamilton had a slight edge but Verstappen grabbed the lead – and held it to the chequered flag to become the new World Champion. Crossing the line, the Dutchman was about 2 seconds ahead of the Mercedes-AMG driver, whose boss was unhappy at the circumstances. But his team does win the Constructors Championship again, which makes it 8 times in a row. But for the Red Bull Racing team, the hard work finally paid off and for Honda, their engine supplier, it was a great way to end F1 involvement.

*Valtteri Bottas leaves the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS team to take over the spot vacated by Kimi Raikkonen, while Williams Racing’s George Russell will become Lewis Hamilton’s team mate in 2022.*

Guanyu Zhou 2022 F1 Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN — *Guanyu Zhou will join Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN in 2022 to partner with Bottas.*

F1/Round 22: Preview & Starting Grid For 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Race starts at 5 pm in Abu Dhabi/9 pm in Malaysia

And so its down to the final round of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship which takes place at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. It’s been a dramatic year with the two leaders – Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton – having a battle between themselves only. And now, as they face each other for the final time this year, their points are tied so this is a crucial race to decide who takes the crown. Tensions are so high that the Race Director has warned both drivers not to indulge in any unsporting behaviour otherwise the winner could be decided by the Stewards – which no one wants.

Last time was 1974
The last time two drivers were tied for the title was in 1974, when Emerson Fittipaldi of Lotus and Clay Regazzoni of Ferrari had 52 points each. But it was a different era too, with faster and more powerful cars, and the business of the sport also far more intense. Hamilton already has a string of 7 titles going back to 2008 and would certainly like to add another. But there are also some who would like to see a new champion although Verstappen has gained a ‘bad boy’ image of late.

“The final race will be intense… the fact that both championships will be decided at the season finale proves just how hard both sides have been challenging each other and pushing each other forward. It’s all or nothing for the season finale and that’s amazing for the sport, amazing for the fans and amazing for all of us, too,” said Mercedes-AMG’s Toto Wolff.

*‘May the best man win’ as the team bosses of Mercedes-AMG and Red Bull Racing shake hands before the race.*

Circuit substantially altered
The Yas Marina Circuit has, for some time, held the season-closing race. In fact, 9 of the 12 times it has had a F1 race, it has been the finale round. The cumulative data the teams have gained over the years will not be so applicable as the circuit has also been substantially altered for this year’s race. For one thing, it has 5 less corners – 16 instead of the 21 in last year’s layout. The hairpin complex from Turns 5 to 7 has been replaced with a wider hairpin bend at Turn 5, with the aim of promoting overtaking.

The changes have shortened a lap by 273 metres, which sees the number of laps increased from 55 to 58, all run after sunset. The changes to the track will also increase speeds and loads through some corners. However, as the circuit will still be smooth, with average stress on the tyres in terms of wear and degradation, the three softest compounds in the P Zero range remain a suitable choice, according to Pirelli.

The pitlane is the only one in F1 to feature a tunnel, with drivers passing under the circuit at the pit exit and re-joining on the left-hand side of Turn 2. It can prove tricky to see other cars when feeding back onto the track mid-corner.

*The last outing for the F1 Safety and Medical Cars which have been supplied by Mercedes-AMG (above) and Aston Martin (below) and used in different races.*

F1/Round 21: Highlights & Provisional Results For 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021

With this being the second last round, tensions were very high on the starting grid. Lewis Hamilton had to put in everything he could to secure a win while Max Verstappen, with just a narrow lead, could take the title tonight too. The Constructors title was even closer – just 5 points apart – and with the new circuit, there were still unknowns that could affect the way the race would end.

As the lights went out, Hamilton got a good start and team mate Bottas, who had started next to him, did his duty by preventing the Red Bull driver from going after Hamilton. No major incidents as the cars got to the first corner other than an incident between Williams Racing’s George Russell and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

Further down, Yuki Tsunoda, Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Japanese driver, challenged Alpine’s Esteban Ocon going into the first corner but the high wall forced him to back off and in the process, he lost 5 places, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz slipping past him as well.

The gaps were close in mid-field with the most aggressive driver being Sainz, fighting pushing other drivers as he moved further up from his 15th starting spot. However, the frantic pace cooled off when the Safety Car appeared after Haas F1’s Mick Schumacher’s spun and crashed crashed at the spot where Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had also had the same misfortune in FP2.

As the Safety Car led the convoy, Hamilton and Bottas came in for a tyre-change that could be their only one in the 50-lap race. Verstappen, however, remained on the track to try to open up a gap and hold on to his inherited lead. When the two Mercedes-AMG drivers rejoined, they were about 3 seconds behind. Besides Hamilton and Bottas, 8 other drivers also came in to change tyres.

For this race, it was the Safety Car provided by Aston Martin and messages heard on the radios seemed to suggest that the speed of the green car in front was not fast enough. And then a Red Flag signal came out on lap 14, and all cars had to return to the pits. The barriers that Schumacher had it at Turn 23 were too badly damaged and time was needed to get them fixed properly. Hamilton was furious, suggesting that the appearance of the Red Flag was not necessary…

When the race was allowed to restart (standing start) about 18 minutes later, Verstappen had the ‘pole position’ he did not get on the starting grid, his decision to stay out having paid off – just by luck. He could also get fresh tyres and push as hard as his rivals for the remaining 36 laps.

An angry Hamilton was well prepared for the restart, this time behind Verstappen and both cars raced side by side to the first corner. However, Bottas locked up and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez went into a spin. In the chaos, three cars crashed – Haas’ Nikita Mazepin, Russell and Perez – all had their race end there. Out came the red flags again and racing stopped again. What a way for Saudi Arabia’s first ever F1 race to go!

Only 15 laps had been completed when the race was allowed to restart after the mess was cleared. Earlier, when the two frontrunners were charging into the first turn, Hamilton had reached it just a slight bit earlier and was trying to hold the lead. However, the Red Bull forced him off and wide, which many felt was not right, and Ocon slipped by.

The Race Director saw what happened and told the Red Bull team that Verstappen would start in second place. It was assumed that Hamilton would be the first car but Red Bull stated that it was Ocon. The race was suspended for 15 minutes again and the restart saw Ocon as the first car, Hamilton second and Verstappen third, an arangement Mercedes and Red Bull accepted.

The restart saw Ocon, briefly enjoying his pole position as both Hamilton and Verstappen charged with him int Turn 1 . Hamilton didn’t take chances and eased off while Ocon decided to avoid both of them… and it was Verstappen who emerged on the other side in the lead again. However, he felt that he was not getting sufficient power when he saw how Hamilton was closing in.

As the race neared the halfway mark, Tsunoda couldn’t make the first turn as he battled with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, and went straight off, destroying his front wing as he went into the barriers. And out came the yellow flags with the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) being activated. Four cars were already out of the race – would the AlphaTauri be the fifth? Tsunoda would be deemed to have been in the wrong and got a 5-second penalty.

As the VSC ended, the cars had finally reached the halfway mark of 25 laps. Verstappen was in the lead, just barely ahead of Hamilton, with Ocon some 11 seconds behind.

But the VSC came back on again a few laps later as there was too much debris on the track from the various collisions, including one between Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. The risk of a puncture was great, Alonso was warning, especially with the cars hitting up to 300 km/h. So the officials decided to activate the VSC to clear the debris, which slowed down all the cars again.

The VSC was switched off on lap 33 and racing resumed, with Hamilton still holding the fastest lap and the 1 precious point. He pushed harder to set an even faster time 2 laps later. And then it happened as both cars arrived at Turn 1 again and Hamilton went into the back of Verstappen, damaging his front wing badly! But the Mercedes-AMG driver stayed in the chase although his car’s performance was compromised with the damage.

On lap 42, Verstappen was told to slow down and let Hamilton pass to take the lead, as it seemed to be recognised that the collision was the Dutchman’s fault so the team was probably trying to ‘resolve’ things before the Stewards made their decision. The Stewards decided to let the race proceed and would review the incident after the race. With 4 laps remaining, Hamilton regained the lead and was on course to take the chequered flag.

It was by no means easy for both the drivers in the remaining few laps. Hamilton’s front wing was self-destructing and Verstappen had to keep his tyres intact till the end. Hamilton crossed the line comfortably in the lead and had 25 points plus 1 point for fastest lap, so it was going to be a close fight in the final round.

Bottas had put in a superb effort and just on the last lap, he managed to get past Ocon and slot into third, adding much-needed points to the team to secure its title again.

F1/Round 21: Preview & Starting Grid For 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Race starts at 8:30 pm in Jeddah/1:30 am (Monday) in Malaysia

This weekend, for the 21^st round of the 2021 championship, Formula 1 goes to Saudi Arabia for the country’s first F1 event at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. The circuit, newly created, is a street circuit situated 30 kms outside the historic city of Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia. It is the second venue to join the calendar this year, following Qatar a fortnight ago.

While this is the first time an F1 race is being held, Saudi Arabia is no stranger to international top-level motorsports and, in recent years, has hosted rounds of the Formula E series and the Dakar Rally. Saudi Arabia also joins three other countries in the Middle East – Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE – to host F1 rounds.

Second longest circuit
The streets have been specially prepared to meet FIA’s strict standards for a Formula 1 circuit, with 34 tonnes of new asphalt and 550,00 tonnes of cement used. At 6.175 kms, it is the second longest circuit in the 2021 calendar, just 800 metres longer than the circuit at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.

The Jeddah Corniche Circuit will be the fifth track to run a F1 race at night. The total number of lights is estimated at over 600 to achieve lighting levels have to be 1,500 lux, and there is more than 20 kms of electric cabling.

There are 27 turns around the track with one (Turn 13) banked at 12 degrees. That’s three degrees steeper than Indianapolis’ banked corners and 7 degrees less than those at Zandvoort. This will add stress for the drivers who will experience a high g-load (around 4.9 lateral g) as they circulate for 50 laps.

As the track is totally new, the top speed that the cars will reach is not known but simulations put it as 322 km/h, with an average speed as high as 252.8 km/h. On this basis, Jeddah has billed its circuit as the ‘fastest street circuit in the world’.

The waterfront location presents similar challenges to Abu Dhabi, blowing sand onto the track and experiencing wind shifts from daytime to the evening. Because of the long track length, energy management is very difficult, which puts more focus on the performance of the MGU-H and hybrid systems.

Hard work for tyres
The circuit has more corners than any other track on the calendar, which will keep the tyres working hard. As it’s never been used before, drivers can expect a slippery and ‘green’ track at the start of the weekend. “Jeddah is probably the biggest unknown we face all year, as with the track being completed very close to the race. As a result, we can only rely on simulations from F1 and the teams, along with other information we’ve collected, to come up with our nomination of tyres to supply,” said Mario Isola, Head of F1 and Car Racing at Pirelli. “This street circuit looks set to be quite different to anything else, and the high speeds with fast corners will obviously play a big part in the way that the tyres behave.

Blind corners, unforgiving track
Many parts of the circuit are quite narrow and unforgiving, with the walls close to the side of the track. “Blind corners are obviously an issue whenever someone is cooling down and you are on a push lap because of the huge speed difference so we all need to be super focused even when we are not pushing. The track leaves very little margin for mistakes and Charles Leclerc was unfortunate to crash,” said Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

“It is unforgiving; there is no room for any mistakes. The most challenging part is getting into the right rhythm with all the blind corners there are. But as soon as you do, it’s even more exciting to drive,” added Leclerc.

With the exceptionally high speeds, stopping power will be of great importance and the expert at Brembo have classified 2 braking sections as ‘very demanding’ on the brakes; 2 are of ‘medium difficulty’; and the other 3 are ‘light’. The hardest on the brake system is the last corner because the racing cars come to it after braking for the last time on turn 22 (they don’t have to brake in the other 4 corners). As they come onto Turn 27, the cars will be at around 317 km/h when the brakes will need to be used for 2.6 seconds. This is the time needed to slow down to 110 km/h. In the meantime, they cover a distance of 127 metres and the drivers experience 4.3g of deceleration.

Can Verstappen be champion?
Following Lewis Hamilton’s victory in Qatar, Max Verstappen’s lead had been cut to just 8 points. The Red Bull Racing driver still has a chance to take the 2021 title and he must outscore Hamilton by 18 points. This requires the Mercedes-AMG driver to finish 6^th or lower. Clocking the fastest lap with its precious point – and holding it till the end – will also be an important factor. If he finishes second with the fastest lap and Hamilton is down in 10^th place at the end of the race, then the Dutchman can be confirmed as 2021 champion.

In the Constructors Championship, the gap is narrow – just 5 points – so the drivers of each team will be working hard to collect as many points as possible. Ferrari looks set to take third overall this year, with McLaren in fourth.

Guanyu Zhou – first Chinese driver in F1, to race with Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team in 2022

Guanyu Zhou – first Chinese driver in F1, to race with Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team in 2022

Ever since Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms of the 1980s transformed China’s and opened it to the world, the country’s presence in the auto industry has kept growing, to the extent that it is now the world’s largest motor vehicle market. And even in motorsports, the country has steadily become more involved, initially providing world-class racing circuits.

Where drivers have been concerned, this has been slower as racing was non-existent before, let alone private ownership and use of cars. The only people who were able to drive back then were mostly drivers in the military and commercial vehicle drivers. In fact, even as the auto industry modernised and opened up in the 1990s, only a small number of people could qualify as motoring journalists as most had no experience of driving. In one instance, one global carmaker assisted a group of Chinese reporters with a short driving course before they attended a media event for a new model outside China.

Of course, there have been racing drivers in Hong Kong and Macau for decades as these two regions had developed independently from mainland China. They operated with western-style economies and so there were some drivers who could purchase racing cars and go overseas to participate in races or rallies (many coming to events in Malaysia).

But as with many things, China has been progressing rapidly and next year will see the first Formula 1 driver from the country. Guanyu Zhou is one of the new drivers who will replace Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi when their contracts end with Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN at the end of the 2021 season.

Started in karting
Zhou is by no means a rookie in racing, especially since you can’t get to F1 without making progress through the various stages of the sport. Like many F1 drivers, he started in karting (in 2007) and was Karting China Champion from 2008 to 2010. He finished second in Italian F4 in 2015, before collecting victories in Euro F3 and F2 events, Formula 1’s feeder series. The Chinese youngster has been a multiple race winner in the FIA F2 Championship with success at all levels of racing in his career. He made his F2 debut in the 2019 season and finished seventh with one pole position and five podiums, winning an award for highest-placed rookie. His Race win in Sochi also made him the first mainland Chinese driver to win an international single-seater race.

As an official the driver for the Renault F1 Team, which became the Alpine F1 team, Zhou had a chance to drive Fernando Alonso’s A512 racing car in FP1 of the Austrian GP this year. He says that Alonso (below) inspired him to pursue a career in racing when he was young.

2021 in particular has been a breakthrough year for the driver, who is currently in second place in the standings in F2 and is ready to mount a challenge for the title in the final two events of the season in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. He is racing with the British UNI-Virtuosi team this year.

On the radar of F1 teams
Zhou, 22, has been on the radar of most F1 teams for some time. He was an official test driver for the Renault F1 team in 2020 and this year, he took over Fernando Alonso’s A521 for FP1 in Spielberg, making him just the second driver from mainland China to take part in an official F1 session, and the first in 8 years.

“From a young age, I dreamt of climbing as high as I could in this sport that I am so passionate about. Now the dream has come true. It is a privilege for me to start my Formula 1 career with such an iconic team, a team that has introduced so much young talent into Formula 1 in the past. I feel well-prepared for the immense challenge of Formula 1, the pinnacle of my sport, alongside a proven, world-class talent in Valtteri Bottas,” said Zhou, who is called ‘Joey’ by his team mates at UNI-Virtuosi.

*Zhou has been racing with the British UNI-Virtuosi team for the past 3 years.*

“Next year, the target will be to learn as much as possible and as quickly as possible. To be the first ever Chinese driver in Formula 1 is a breakthrough for Chinese motorsport history. I know a lot of hopes will be resting on me and, as ever, I will take this as motivation to become better and achieve more,” he said.

*Zhou will have Valtteri Bottas (above left), who is 10 years older, as his team mate, taking over from Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi (right).*

Zhou will join a team with extensive heritage and tradition, completing a highly competitive line-up alongside Valtteri Bottas, who comes from the successful Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Racing Team. Thus there will be a combination of youth and experience for Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN to move forward, at a time when the sport embraces a completely new set of regulations, and all teams start from scratch in their quest for glory.

Guanyu Zhou will be the 28^th driver from Asia to race in Formula 1 since the championship series began in 1950. The first driver from Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh from Thailand, who was among the racers in the first ever F1 race and would continue until 1954. 65 years later, Alexander Albon, another Thai, would enter F1 with the Toro Rosso Team.

Of the 28 drivers from Asia, Japan is the one with the most – 21, with Hiroshi Fukuda being the first to take part in 1975. Albon (above right) and Yuki Tsunoda (above left) have been the most recent Asian drivers, with Tsunoda currently racing with Scuderia AlphaTauri.

Drivers from three other Asian countries have also taken part in F1 – 2 from India, 1 from Indonesia and of course, Alex Yoong from Malaysia.

*With a Chinese driver racing in F1 next year, we should see an increase in attention by motorsport fans in China.*

Alfa Romeo’s global branding
“Alfa Romeo is delighted to welcome Guanyu Zhou into its family as the first Chinese driver in Formula 1. The decision to recruit Zhou has been made in complete agreement with the Alfa Romeo Racing team and is the result of a specific objective and a clear strategy; for Alfa Romeo to become a global premium brand,” said Jean Philippe Imparato, CEO Alfa Romeo.

“Guanyu Zhou represents a key opportunity to take full advantage of the potential offered by the global F1 platform and serves as a privileged entry point into the Chinese market that plays a notable role in Alfa Romeo’s future. Welcoming Zhou to the team speaks of the inclusive power of a brand that inspires visceral and universal emotions, shared the whole world over,” he added.

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Of the 28 drivers from Asia, Japan is the one with the most – 21, with Hiroshi Fukuda being the first to take part in 1975. Albon (above right) and Yuki Tsunoda (above left) have been the most recent Asian drivers, with Tsunoda currently racing with Scuderia AlphaTauri.

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