In the round-up: Max Verstappen says the doubt over whether he’d won the championship at the Japanese Grand Prix didn’t spoil the occasion.
In brief
Verstappen: “Doesn’t matter” that rule misreading interrupted 2022 crowning
Two months on from the confusion which surrounded his second Formula 1 world championship win, Max Verstappen says the strange circumstances of the finish of the Japanese Grand Prix didn’t take anything away from his triumph.
“Not for me,” he told De Limburger. “When you’re ever done and you look back, you don’t think about how you became world champion. What matters is that you became it.
“The way doesn’t matter. My father and I have always said that to each other: it doesn’t matter how you win, as long as you win.”
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem addressed criticism of the finale at the official end-of-season gala last week, insisting the rules change behind the confusion came at the behest of teams, not the governing body.
Pre-season testing begins for Formula E’s landmark 2023 season
Formula E’s ‘Gen3’ era has officially began, with pre-season testing using the all-new car and tyres taking place at Valencia on 13th-16th December.
The first day of running was topped by Maserati, returning to single-seater racing after last racing as a team in F1 in 1957.
Their driver Maximilian Guenther was fastest in both Tuesday sessions, with McLaren’s rookie Jake Hughes in second place in the combined classification. Rounding out the top five were Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche), Oliver Rowland (Mahindra) and Guenther’s team mate Edoardo Mortara.
The fastest laps were set in the morning despite rain hitting the session, and both Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans spun off. In the afternoon Hughes and Sergio Sette Camara stopped on track, while technical trouble prevented Norman Nato and Sebastien Buemi from setting lap times.
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Honda rewards junior driver with double 2023 programme
Honda junior Syun Koide won the Japanese Formula 4 title this year, and the brand has rewarded him with two race programmes for 2023.
In single-seaters, Koide will step up to the Formula 3-level Super Formula Lights series with the one-car Toda Racing team, then in sportscars he will race for Team UpGarage in Super GT’s secondary GT300 class.
Koide won nine races in the 2022 Japanese F4 season, making him the third Honda junior to be champion in the series after AlphaTauri F1 driver Yuki Tsunoda and his Red Bull stablemate Ren Sato, who races in Super Formula.
Toyota Racing Series rebrands as FIA championship
There will be another FIA Formula Regional championship in 2023 as the Toyota Racing Series rebrands to become Formula Regional Oceania.
The New Zealand-based series has used Formula Regional cars for its past two seasons, a move that safeguarded its eligibility in the FIA’s superlicence points system, and by becoming an official FIA championship it now means the champion will receive 18 superlicence points rather than 10.
Each season usually takes place over five weeks in January and February, enabling international drivers to contest it as a winter series, and the New Zealand Grand Prix is part of the championship. The rebrand opens the door to the series racing elsewhere in the region, such as Australia.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
IndyCar hailed for trailblazing work in concussion safety (IndyCar)
‘IndyCar has again been recognized as a leader in motorsports safety. The latest example comes from the recent International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport, which was held in Amsterdam, where IndyCar’s process of collecting and analyzing head trauma impacting its drivers was presented.’
Andretti: Formula 1 entry would be a nice Christmas present (Speedcafe)
‘Michael Andretti hopes to learn whether his company will be granted a berth in F1 in the next couple weeks. The American has long been linked with a move into the sport’s premier class and was last year in negotiations to purchase what is currently the Alfa Romeo Sauber operation.’
O’Ward eyeing F1 and then IndyCar return (Racer)
‘Pato O’Ward believes he would be able to return to IndyCar in future if he ever gets the chance to race in F1, so has to prioritise such a switch. The Mexican is under a long-term contract with McLaren SP in IndyCar but has also tested for the F1 team and drove in FP1 at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this year.’
Former F1 driver Sergey Sirotkin sends two of his students to Spanish F4 (Formula Scout)
‘Drivex School has announced its first two drivers for the 2023 Spanish F4 season, and both are part of former F1 driver Sergey Sirotkin’s S35 Academy. Sirotkin raced for Williams in F1 four years ago.’
Red Bull’s Lindblad to race with Prema for 2023 F4 season (Prema)
‘Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad will join Prema for the 2023 F4 season, the team is proud to announce. Lindblad made his single-seater debut this year by entering the two final rounds of the Italian F4 championship, where he will compete as his main commitment in 2023.’
GB4 attracts its first privateer entry (GB4)
‘Tin-top racer Dylan Hotchin will step up to the GB4 championship in 2023, after confirming plans to enter as a privateer. Hotchin will become GB4’s first fully-blown private entry, with the 18-year-old switching from Ford Fiesta racing to single-seaters.’
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Dermot Farrelly, Carlo Grlj and Majed Almadani!