In the round-up: Romain Grosjean says wet weather races are more enjoyable in IndyCar than in Formula 1.
In brief
Wet IndyCar races “more enjoyable” than F1 – Grosjean
Ahead of this weekend’s race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road circuit, which ran in wet conditions last year, Grosjean said he enjoys racing in the rain on the series’ Firestone tyres more than he did in F1 on its Pirelli rubber.
“The good thing is that we could stay flat out on the straight because we have good tyres,” he said. “So I feel my life is a lot more enjoyable than I’d known in the past.”
Some IndyCar drivers encountered visibility problems with their Aeroscreen during last year’s race, but Grosjean wasn’t one of them. “I was one of the only guys that had no problem,” he said. “I had no fog, visibility was poor, but compared to Formula 1 in the wet was actually pretty decent.”
Doohan quickest after causing last of eight red flags
Jack Doohan remained on top in the second day of Formula 2 testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, after causing the seventh and final red flag of the day. The Alpine junior driver lapped the Spanish Grand Prix venue in 1’24.318, putting him a tenth of a second clear of Frederik Vesti.
Clement Novalak was first to spin and bring out the red flags after the session began on a wet track. Jak Crawford caused a pair of stoppages, while Roy Nissany, Dennis Hauger, Enzo Fittipaldi and Ralph Boschung also did their bit to keep the marshals busy.
Haas wreckage shocks Sainz
Madrid native Carlos Sainz Jnr visited the F1 Exhibition at the Ifema venue in his home city and was particularly impressed by the burnt-out Haas VF-20 chassis from the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix.
“The most shocking piece in my opinion is of course the burnt chassis of Romain Grosjean,” said Sainz. “It is a great reminder of how dangerous this sport can be, despite all modern safety measures. It’s also a reminder of what we drivers put on the line every time we go racing.”
Grosjean’s car was destroyed after it exploded into flames when he hit a barrier on the first lap of the race. He survived the crash with burns to his hands.
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F1-inspired Medical Car for the road…
If you’ve always wanted to drive around town looking like you’re in the Formula 1 Medical Car, Aston Martin have the special edition for you. The DBX707 AMR23 Edition features a similar body kit and colour scheme to the model seen on track at F1 races this year.
…and overtake boost for the track
Alternatively if you like the idea of a hot hatchback with a central driving position and a 10-second overtaking boost button, this concept car from Alpine may be to your taste. Whether those features will make it to the production model remain to be seen, however.
Alpine say the overtake button is “derived directly from Formula 1 and the rest of the motorsport universe [and] will come on all models in Alpine’s full-electric line-up.” The feature “can only be used when the track is dry and can only be pressed again after a 10 second wait,” it adds.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
”Their proposal, Randalls Island, is probably not our perfect venue,’ Maffei said. He also realised: ‘New York is a wonderful venue, but it’s hard to see that they’re going to shut Central Park for us.’ So F1 sped off.’
F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix spectator zone construction set to begin (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
”We will start out Koval construction for our temporary hospitality structures,’ Anthes said. ‘From that point our construction will continue to expand in our dedicated fans zones and the property where we’re building our paddock building.”
Getting to know: Luke Browning (Williams)
‘The racecraft from (Max) Verstappen when he first came to F1 was incredible – that aggressiveness, that anger – I think I have a certain bit of that in me. But then you’ve got to think about the consistency of Lewis (Hamilton), for example – being able to hold onto it for so many years and to keep his mental headspace is really impressive.’
75 days – From the hospital bed to the top step of the F1 Academy podium (F1 Academy)
Hamda Al Qubaisi: ‘In Paul Ricard I saw improvements but still I was driving just with my left arm and I couldn’t use my right arm so much. I was able to do more laps and push more over the two days, but I had to avoid all the kerbs because of the pain and so to have the pace was really good considering I was driving one handed.’
“The fifth and sixth episode of the series released at the end of April features 16-year-old Jean-Nicolas Gagnon and his father, Nicholas, from Saguenay, Que. who own a one-of-a-kind Lewis Hamilton card that Jean-Nicolas pulled out of a $50 pack.”
Exclusive Verstappen grandstand at the Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023 (Verstappen)
‘Ticket holders for the Max Verstappen Grandstand will receive access to the Red Bull Fan Zone. These dedicated hot spots lie adjacent to each other and promise incredible views from the grandstand, as well as interactive elements such as racing simulators, virtual reality experiences and pit stop challenges in the fan zone.’
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
It’s a fair point, I’ve driven in IMSA without warmers.
The cars are heavier now, we can ban warmers it’s clearly possible to manage but I think the efficiency curve against the shunts drops into ‘inefficient’ zone
— Alex Brundle (@AlexBrundle) May 11, 2023
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Steven!
On this day in motorsport
