In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton indicates Mercedes did not follow his recommendations about the development direction for the W14.
In brief
Mercedes “didn’t listen” to
Hamilton suggested Mercedes did not take on his advice about changes to the team’s car for this year after their tricky 2022 campaign.
“Last year, there were things I told them. I said the issues that are with the car,” Hamilton told the BBC. “It’s about owning up and saying ‘yeah, you know what? We didn’t listen to you, it’s not where it needs to be and we’ve got to work’.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has admitted that a change in design philosophy would be required for its 2023 car to cut its deficit to the front after starting the season in Bahrain finishing over 50 seconds behind the winner with both of its cars.
Raikkonen returns to NASCAR
2007 F1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen will make his second start at NASCAR’s top level in the race at United States Grand Prix venue Circuit of the Americas on 26th March.
Raikkonen will drive for Trackhouse Racing, the same he made his NASCAR Cup debut with last year at Watkins Glen. It has a scheme called ‘Project 91’ where it signs drivers from outside of drivers to race its cars.
In 2011 Raikkonen made two starts in the two lower tiers of NASCAR, finishing 27th on his debut in the second-tier Xfinity Series and 15th in the third-tier Truck Series race he contested. He failed to finish his Cup race in 2022.
IndyCar team penalised following Daytona 24H win
IndyCar team Meyer Shank Racing has been caught violating the rules in North America’s IMSA sportscar championship after they won the season-opening Daytona 24 Hours race. The tam’s IndyCar pairing Helio Castoneves and Simon Pagenaud won the race alongside team mates Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun.
IMSA put out a statement yesterday saying: “After the completion of post-race technical inspection and both provisional and official results were released for the Rolex 24 At Daytona, IMSA became aware of the potential manipulation of tyre pressure data from the number 60 car to IMSA as the monitoring point for the minimum tyre pressure regulation. Following a thorough investigation of all cars in the class, IMSA officials today announced that the number 60 Meyer Shank Racing GTP team has been penalised for a violation of the following 2023 IMSA Sporting Regulation and SSR.”
The violation of the series operational requirements was the “intentional application of software offsets within the pressures being reported by the tire pressure monitoring system and associated car telemetry system.” MSR has been handed multiple penalties but not been stripped of its win as the results has already been declared official. This also means there are no changes to points awarded to the lower finishing positions.
Meyer Shank and its drivers have been docked 200 points each and lost all of their points counting towards IMSA’s Endurance Cup. Their prize money has been rescinded and the team must to pay a $50,000 fine. Team boss Mike Shank has been put on probation until the end of June, and IMSA also confirmed the “revocation of IMSA annual credential and indefinite suspension of IMSA membership for team engineer Ryan McCarthy.”
The data manipulation was discovered by Honda Performance Development, whose Acura ARX-06 car was raced to the disputed victory by Meyer Shank, and reported to IMSA by the manufacturer.
Euroformula changes tyre supplier for 2023
Euroformula has announced the end of an eight-year partnership with Michelin, with the Formula 3-level series switching to Hankook tyres for the 2023 season.
Michelin had supplied rubber to Euroformula since 2015, and had been planning with the series to introduce larger 18-inch wheels for 2023. However the design changes that would have been required to the Dallara 320 car used in the series meant the move did not go ahead and last year a search for a new tyre supplier began.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
FIA Women in Motorsport Commission celebrates International Women’s Day (FIA)
‘The FIA Women in Motorsport Commission and its president Deborah Mayer reaffirm their commitment to growing women’s participation at all levels of motorsport – an environment in which women and men can compete on equal terms. Through the continuation of existing projects and the development of new ones, the commission continues to foster passion, grow participation and to show that equal opportunities exist in every sphere of the sport.’
‘I haven’t seen any barriers in F1. I think the audience sometimes has a more negative view and you have to actually persuade them that you’re there for the right reasons and on merit.’
David Morales joins JHR Developments for GB3 return (GB3)
‘American driver David Morales will switch to the JHR Developments team for his second GB3 season. The 19-year-old from Florida scored a podium during his debut campaign, and has already tasted victory this year with a triumph in Formula Regional Oceania.’
Gilkes completes Rodin Carlin’s F1 Academy line-up (Carlin)
‘Rodin Carlin is pleased to announce Megan Gilkes will complete the team’s line up for the F1 Academy. GB4 race-winner Gilkes joins the already announced Abbi Pulling and Jessica Edgar for the inaugural season of the all-women championship which kicks off in April.’
Exuberance vs experience: F3 Weekend Wrap-Up (FIA F3)
‘The 2023 Formula 3 season kicked off in Sakhir and, as expected, the battling was frenetic from the word go. With no shortage of young chargers looking to stamp their authority on the championship, the races were full of action. But who got their year off to the best start?’
Kai Daryanani joins Virtuosi Racing (British F4)
‘Kai Daryanani has joined Virtuosi Racing for the 2023 British Formula 4 season. The Indian is progressing into his first full season of single-seater racing after a recent introduction in the 2023 F4 UAE championship. He made the step up from karting and showed steady improvement throughout the winter UAE campaign.’
The demands of being a working parent in motorsport (Maserati MSG Racing)
‘The worlds of motorsport and parenting collide for many and balancing the demands of both requires commitment, compromise, and continuous sacrifice. Both are connected by a common denominator, defined and divided by time, and requirements and expectations shape and curate each person’s way of life.’
‘Four thoughts after IndyCar’s 2023 season-opening race on the streets of St. Petersburg.’
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Alpinestar, Venturi Effect, Cdmracing and Guillaume Blanchet!
On this day in motorsport
- 20 years ago today David Coulthard won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix for McLaren