Famin has “a lot to do” to rebuild Alpine

In brief

Famin has “a lot to do” to rebuild Alpine

Alpine team principal Bruno Famin says that he has “a lot to do” to make his team more competitive in the future.

Famin took over leadership of the team following the departure of Otmar Szafnauer last year and was named permanant team principal at the start of the season. He formerly worked as the executive director of Renault’s power unit division at Viry-Chatillon in France.

“[My] role is to restructure the team,” Famin said. “I was in Viry for the two last years, now I am in Enstone mainly and we need to really change the way we are working in order to develop better our car – to be more agile, to be more efficient.

“There’s a lot to do. We have started to make some changes in our technical organisation, as you have seen in the last weeks. And my role is putting everything together, changing what we need to change. Of course, to change the mindset of the guys, to have the motivation of all the staff, but also having a better process and a better organisation.”

Bird breaks hand in practice crash

McLaren Formula E driver Sam Bird is recovering from a broken hand following a crash in practice for yesterday’s Monaco Eprix.

Bird hit the tyre barrier in the runoff at Sainte Devote during the opening practice session. The low-speed impact caused his steering wheel to jolt violently – similar to the accident Daniel Ricciardo suffered in practice for last year’s Dutch Grand Prix – injuring his hand and forcing him out of the event while reserve Taylor Barnard raced in his place.

In a statement on social media, the team confirmed that Bird had suffered a broken hand in the accident.

“Unfortunately scans have confirmed that he has broken one of the bones in his left hand and will require further treatment,” the team said. “Sam’s injury will be treated further upon return home to the UK.”

First autonomous AI race held

The first ever race of the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League was held at the Yas Marina circuit yesterday.

Featuring eight teams running modified autonomous Super Formula SF23 cars, four teams qualified for the main race. After the race was suspended in the early laps after a single car spin at the end of the back straight, the race was resumed and won by a team representing the Technical University of Munich.

Former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat also participated in a ‘human vs AI’ demonstration prior to the race.

Free BTCC Donington Park tickets available

Due to a sudden pet emergency, RaceFans writer Will Wood will no longer be able to attend today’s British Touring Car Championship season-opener at Donington Park.

Will has two adult general admission e-tickets available for today’s event. These e-tickets are being offered completely free to two RaceFans readers – one ticket each – on a first-come, first-served basis. Please understand that priority will be given to regular commenters.

If you would like one of these etickets, please declare your interest in the comments below. Will will then send one e-ticket in PDF format to the email addresses of the two RaceFans readers who request them first. Please only request them if you would genuinely intend to attend today.

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

‘He must be the worst liar I’ve ever known!’ | Box Of Bluffs (F1)

Daniel Ricciardo and Alexander Albon play a game heavily inspired by ‘carrot in a box’, popularised in the UK comedy show ‘8 out of 10 Cats’.

So, you want to be an F1 data engineer? (Aston Martin)

‘There are tools you can access, such as FastF1, which is a Python API, and provides you with F1 telemetry data – not to the same extent as what we have here at Aston Martin Aramco, but it’s a great way to begin immersing yourself in the kind of data we work with. With a bit of simple plotting, you can gain some further insight into the relative performances between teams and understand the circuits the various teams are stronger or weaker at in terms of quali and race pace, among many other insights.’

James Hinchcliffe picks five US-based racers who deserve a shot in F1 (Formula 1)

‘This season there’s one American driver on the Formula 1 grid, with Logan Sargeant in his second year with Williams. But there’s a host of talented drivers Stateside enjoying success in plenty of different racing series. We asked IndyCar star and F1.com analyst James Hinchcliffe to pick five US-based racers who deserve a shot in Formula 1.’

HP, Visa, Aramco: Who are the main sponsors of each F1 team? (CityAM)

‘The names of F1 teams are getting more and more difficult to remember given the endless number of sponsorship deals within the sport. Here City A.M. has broken down who partners with who, and what that has done to each of the team’s names. ‘

IndyCar leadership explains its handling of Penske P2P scandal (Racer)

IndyCar president Jay Frye: ”We think the penalty was addressed. It was, we think, severe. And it’s been handled and going forward (we’re) treating (them) just like we always treat everybody else.”

Formula E round 8: Monaco (Formula E via YouTube)

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