In the round-up: McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri says his first F1 crash, which occurred in Canada, “was going to happen at some stage.”
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In brief
Piastri not “too disappointed” by qualifying crash
Piastri qualified ninth for the Canadian Grand Prix, marking the fourth time in his rookie Formula 1 season that he has started a race from inside the top 10, but hit the wall in Q3. “It’s never nice to crash, and it’s honestly I think the first wall I’ve hit in five years,” he told media.
“It was going to happen at some stage, I guess, but I think even with how the penalties worked out and stuff like that, I don’t know how much more there would have been than P8, so I wasn’t too disappointed.
“Obviously it’s a shame to end that way and cause the damage. Now the team have to make extra parts, and a late night for the mechanics, so of course it’s never nice. But from a performance perspective, I wasn’t too disappointed. I was much more disappointed in Barcelona, I think, where we had a better chance to be at the front of the grid.”
At the previous race in Spain, Piastri qualified 10th while team mate Lando Norris put his McLaren third on the grid. Piastri finished a lapped 13th that weekend, and in Canada came home 0.669 seconds short of the points in 11th place.
Saudi Public Investment Fund sells McLaren shares
The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund has sold its stake in the McLaren Group to the Bahrain sovereign fund Mumtalakat, according to a report from the Bahrain News Agency.
Mumtalakat is already the biggest shareholder of the McLaren Group, which includes its racing and road car divisions.
Sargeant surprised by tight midfield
Williams driver Logan Sargeant says he is surprised by how close the midfield pack is in his first season in Formula 1.
The rookie driver has yet to score a point in his opening eight rounds in F1. Asked what has been the biggest surprise about his season so far, Sargeant said he did not expect for the midfield to be as close this season as it has been over those first races.
“Obviously I knew the challenge, so I think nothing’s completely surprising in how difficult it is,” he said.
“But I think what was surprising was how close all the teams were – especially from around eighth to 20th is insane. So I’d say that’s the bit that was the most surprising of how small the margins are between the teams and drivers.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
‘Now’s the time for bold decisions’ asserts Zak Brown (Mclaren)
“But now’s the time for bold decisions. We need a genuine step change or we risk losing important ground and stalling on our continued commitment to advancing sustainability as a strategic priority.”
“There is the suspicion that the top teams exploit their parallel activities to conduct useful research also on the F1 front, thus bypassing the expenditure ceiling, given that these are areas not included in the ‘budget cap’.”
RedBird Nears Deal To Buy Into Alpine Formula 1 Team (Bloomberg)
‘RedBird is considering buying a minority stake in the UK operations of Alpine, and the companies could announce a deal as soon as June 26, when Alpine is scheduled to host an event in Enstone, UK, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. An agreement, however, isn’t yet signed and there’s no certainty the talks will lead to a deal, they said.’
W Series end is a dark day for female racers: F1 seats should be based on merit not money (Metro)
‘Women consistently haven’t made it to the top flight of motorsport, so it’s treated like a waste of a seat, even when they have the funding. Which they usually don’t because it’s hard to persuade sponsors to part with hundreds of thousands of pounds for a career there’s very little belief in the industry a woman can achieve.’
Ricciardo helping Ford learn F1 (Speedcafe)
Ford motorsport global director Mark Rushbrook: ”He’s been really good for us, and helping us learn the sport or learn the sport as we return to it. But also interacting with our company with our management with our employees. He’s a fantastic person, individual and a great resource for us.”
Race for new Melbourne Grand Prix boss reaches last lap (Hearld Sun)
‘An interim boss will be appointed in charge of the Melbourne Grand Prix as a global search continues for a new chief executive. From July 1, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation’s legal and general counsel general manager Dale Nardella will take over the reigns from outgoing chief Andrew Westacott.’
LGBTQIA+ Experiences in Motorsport: Navigating Identity On and Off the Track (MP Motorsport)
‘For the past few years, we have changed our logo to the MP logo with the pride flag each Pride month. This is all we do to show that we stand with the LGBTQIA+ community and show solidarity. We realised that changing our social profile pictures wasn’t enough. We didn’t change our profile picture this year because we wanted to change more than just the logo. That’s why we decided to chat with racing fans who are also members of the LGBTQIA+ community about their experiences.’
Cadillac Set To Continue Racing In Hypercar Next Season (Daily Sportscar)
GM sports car racing manager Laura Wontrop Klauser: ”We (Cadillac) intend to be in the FIA WEC next year. How many cars and all that stuff hasn’t been announced, but the intent is to continue.”
F1 driver Bottas among investors backing Cult Wines (Decanter)
‘Cult Wines said it has completed seed fundraising totalling around £1.7m, attracting fresh investment from a diverse range of individuals, including Formula One racing driver Valtteri Bottas and former Moët Hennessy CEO and chairman Christophe Navarre.’
Jaden Smith designs special GEN3 Formula E livery (Formula E)
‘The themes that Jaden opted for include the likes of world history, mathematics and physics, all subjects that captivated him when in academia. There’s also the addition of Mystery School, the star’s library and learning centre that serves as a platform for guest lecturers to educate the community on various topics from sustainability to mathematics.’
Le Mans – Writing the pages of history at 350km/h (Portugal Resident)
‘So, you see how winning Le Mans in 2023 was nothing more than a dream for Ferrari. A dream a Hollywood screenwriter would deem too impossible to be believable. But the reasons why Ferrari is the greatest name in automotive history are made of this kind of stuff; of magical moments that create mythical stories and make the passion for these cars and this badge go from generation to generation.’
F1 23 – The Tyres Are *WILDLY* Different This Year (Alex Gillon via YouTube)
YouTuber Alex Gillon explores the revised tyre physics in F1 23 compared to last year’s game, including tyre wear, temperature and marble pickup.
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