In the round-up: McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes Formula 1’s budget cap will take “probably another two years” before the system begins bringing teams closer together and increase competition.
In brief
Budget cap needs ‘another two years’ to produce “awesome competition” – Brown
McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes Formula 1’s budget cap will take “probably another two years” before the system begins bringing teams closer together and increase competition.
In an interview posted by the team on social media, Brown said that teams with less sophisticated resources require a handful of years to build up facilities before they can compete with the larger teams. Asked when he forsaw the cap closing up the field, Brown said “I think probably another two years.
“I think even though we’re all kind of on the same money spend now, some teams have bigger infrastructures,” he explained.
“We’re still waiting for our wind tunnel, which is down the road to be done, which will be done here shortly – a new simulator. So even though everyone’s kind of on an equal playing field, or most teams from an annual expenditure standpoint, a handful of the teams have come in with a better technology infrastructure, which we’re catching up on and some other teams are.
“So I think as these regulations stabilise, people will catch up. I think in a couple of years time it’s going to be an awesome competition.”
Blakeley has one hand on esports title as Opmeer eliminated
Reigning two-win Formula 1 esports world champion Jarno Opmeer will lose his championship crown during tomorrow night’s final round after he was mathematically eliminated from contention.
McLaren Shadow driver Lucas Blakeley won his fourth race of the season at Interlagos, leading the majority of the race from pole in changeable conditions to extend his championship advantage to 21 points over Red Bull’s Frederik Rasmussen and Haas’ Thomas Ronhaar a further point behind. Blakeley requires only a top seven finish to secure his first F1 esports championship.
Fox Sports extends Mexico F1 broadcast deal
Formula 1 will remain on Fox Sports in Mexico for the next three seasons after Formula 1 announced it had extended its existing deal with the broadcaster.
Fox Sports Mexico will continue to hold exclusive rights to live coverage of the world championship until the end of the 2025 season. Belgian broadcaster Play Sports will also continue to show Formula 1 in the European nation for the following two seasons after its own deal was extended.
Nato fastest on penultimate day of Formula E test
Nissan driver Norman Nato set the fastest time on the third day of the pre-season test in Valencia ahead of the 2023 season.
Nato, who did not compete in this year’s championship, set the best time of a 1’23.776 to top the third day of running with the series’ new Gen3 car. Nato’s best time was just a tenth of a second quicker than Mahindra’s Oliver Rowland, with Sebastian Buemi putting his new team Envision into third.
Reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne had eclipsed Nato’s quickest time late in the session, but had it deleted due to exceeding track limits. The test ends with a final day of running tomorrow.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Michael Masi joins Karting Australia board (Speedcafe)
“Michael’s experience in the world of motorsport in Australia and on a world, level is exceptional, and we’re delighted that he has decided to accept the invitation to join the Board.”
Who is our new Team Principal, Andrea Stella? (McLaren)
“Twenty-four hours is a long time in Formula 1, and although it may seem like a lot has changed within a short period, the wheels of Andrea Stella’s trajectory to Team Principal have not only recently started turning, they’ve been in motion for some while. The Italian’s roles, responsibilities and value to McLaren have grown ever since he first set foot into the McLaren Technology Centre and walked the famous white corridors back in 2015.”
2023 Grand Prix to be the chequered flag for GP boss Andrew Westacott (Australian Grand Prix)
“The Australian Grand Prix Corporation today announced that Andrew Westacott, AGPC’s Chief Executive Officer, will not seek another term following the conclusion of his current contract, which runs until 30 June 2023. The 2023 Grand Prix will be the fifteenth Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix event for Andrew during his time at AGPC, having also been involved in the delivery of fifteen Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix events.”
Doohan and Iwasa’s tyre management skills recognised with Pirelli Trophy honours (F2)
“Voted on by a panel of international Formula 1 and F2 journalists, Doohan and Iwasa were jointly awarded the Pirelli Trophy for the best utilisation of their tyres, beating out fellow nominees Logan Sargeant, Enzo Fittipaldi, Frederik Vesti and Dennis Hauger.”
Gen3 impressions: the drivers on Formula E’s all-new car (Formula E)
“Max (Guenther) has already gone quicker than the fastest lap we did here last year so we’re already faster over a lap. We can expect a bigger difference but that will come with us exploiting the car better – you will see bigger differences on targets in the race and on target laps because the car is effectively a lot more efficient.”
The 2022 F1 Season Animated! (F1 via YouTube)
“F1 Animated is racing like you’ve never seen before. We’ve got Sebastian Vettel rocking out, Valtteri Bottas sun bathing and Max Verstappen handing out presents…”
Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo : The Story (Gran Turismo via YouTube)
“The Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo, the first Ferrari concept car created specifically for virtual motorsports, is coming soon to Gran Turismo 7. To mark the occasion, we are releasing a special behind-the-scenes ‘Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo: The Story’ video from the development team at Ferrari who worked on the Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo.”
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