Alpine “expect challenging start to the year”

In brief

Alpine “know where we stand” after “solid” test

Famin was encouraged by Alpine’s reliability during the test but indicated it may take a few races for them to get the best out of their overhauled A524.

“It’s been a solid three-day test for the team where we’ve focused on ourselves and committed to a comprehensive and important test programme,” said Famin. “We have been operationally strong all week and demonstrated great teamwork between both factories and the trackside team, which has been good to see.

“Our reliability has been good and that has enabled us to complete our test plan as expected. Now is the time to work through the data and concentrate on optimising the package we have in our hands ahead of next week’s first grand prix.

“We know where we stand. We are expecting a challenging start to the year as we continue to learn more and more about our A524 to develop it across the season.”

Wilson Fittipaldi does aged 80

Former F1 driver Wilson Fittipaldi – older brother of double world champion Emerson – died on Friday in his native Brazil.

The 80-year-old, who competed in 35 grands prix between 1972 and 1975 with a best finish of fifth in the 1973 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, died after falling into a coma from a cardiac arrest on Christmas Day.

Wilson Fittipaldi also ran the Copersucar Fittipaldi F1 team in the late seventies, which his famed brother joined in 1976. Christian Fittipaldi, Wilson’s son, also competed in the world championship for three seasons with Minardi and Footwork.

Chadwick to launch karting series

Williams junior driver and Indy Nxt driver Jamie Chadwick has launched her own all-female karting series in the UK to support participation of girls in motorsport at a grassroots level.

The Jamie Chadwick Series will provide free opportunities for karting for girls over eight-years-old and a dedicated racing series which will begin later this year.

“I actually started in, ‘arrive and drive’ kind of style karting at a pretty low level when I was 12 years old and never really had much of a career roadmap or anything to suggest that there was opportunity beyond that,” Chadwick told Sky.

“I just did it as a hobby, so I was fortunate enough there were opportunities that did come around and I had an older brother that helped the early sort of stages of the next progressions, but without that, I definitely wouldn’t have had the chance to progress. So it’s kind of going back to that level and trying to identify some talent, encourage and mentor the young girls at that level and give them ideally an opportunity then to progress through to the next step of their careers.”

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

Racing’s manhole mishaps: why Bahrain had plenty of warning (Motor Sport)

‘It isn’t like F1 doesn’t have previous with that piece of street apparatus though. The problem isn’t just known, it has previously been responsible for high-profile disruption at Baku, Monaco and Las Vegas as well as permanent circuits including Portimao and Sepang. Officials were aware: a team visited the Singapore Grand Prix last year to learn how its team constructed the circuit and avoided pitfalls. But it also said that it would shun solutions used by European circuits to seal or cover manholes in order to prevent them coming loose in the race.’

Martin Brundle on his F1 grid walks: ‘A-listers look at me like I’m from outer space’ (GQ)

‘If somebody’s on the grid and they’ve got 50, 80 million followers, it’s good for business. I remember not that long ago, we didn’t see anybody like that on the grid: I don’t know whether Formula 1 had lost its mojo, or it just wasn’t sexy to be seen supporting it. It’s absolutely electrifying, I like people to come and experience that.’

An ode to Guenther Steiner, Drive To Survive’s ultimate main character (Cosmopolitan)

‘Sure, there’s been other key figures (hey Daniel Ricciardo) and some stand out moments, but without Guenther, it wouldn’t have created half as much splash in the Netflix arena. Unlike the rest of the grid, who appear to either take the show very seriously or don’t want any part of it (Max Verstappen didn’t appear for three seasons), Guenther provides much needed comic relief. Dry and boring? We don’t know him.’

Silverstone Festival to honour Senna (Silverstone)

‘This summer’s Silverstone Festival (23-25 August) will honour one of motor sport’s most iconic drivers: Ayrton Senna. In a record-breaking career, the legendary Brazilian scored more race wins at Silverstone than at any other circuit in the world. Now paying tribute to all his many incredible successes – and with the full support of both the Senna family and Senna Brands – the Festival is assembling what it hopes will be the biggest and best collection of cars raced by the triple world champion ever to be brought together in one place. This incredible display will feature many of Senna’s revered racers from Formula 1 as well as from his earlier formative years in a fitting celebration of his legacy.’

Aston Martin’s Valkyrie supercar comes with $450,000 service tab (BNN Bloomberg)

‘The Valkyrie is one of the world’s most expensive road cars. It’s designed like a Formula 1 race car, capable of generating the necessary amount of downforce to enable fast track driving, especially round corners and bends. Its launch has been delayed repeatedly as the carmaker worked to sort out electronics issues. Aston Martin limited the model to 150 coupes, 85 open-top Spider versions and 40 of the track-only AMR Pro variant. Bloomberg Intelligence estimated in 2021 that a single Valkyrie sale makes the same earnings contribution as 21 of Aston Martin’s Vantage V8 models.’

Lance Stroll – Canadian F1 racing star at 18-years-old (W5 via YouTube)

A 2017 documentary on then-rookie F1 driver Lance Stroll, recently published from the archives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdLYFTTSypM

We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it to us via the contact form.

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