In the round-up: McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl says that Daniel Ricciardo will carry out runs in McLaren’s simulator to help understand where he is losing time compared to Lando Norris
In brief
Ricciardo to run simulator tests to close Norris gap
McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl says that Daniel Ricciardo will carry out runs in McLaren’s simulator before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to help understand where he is losing time compared to Lando Norris.Ricciardo finished out of the points in both the Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix, while team mate Lando Norris scored a combined 13 points despite battling the effects of tonsillitis. Seidl says Ricciardo will carry out work in the team’s simulator ahead of the next race in Baku as part of a standard process of helping him to understand why he appeared to lack the pace of his team mate.
“As always, after a race weekend – and it doesn’t matter what the result is or how the race went – the thing I do is thank my drivers for trying hard all weekend and doing the job they did on track,” said Seidl. “It’s simply important as always to stay calm and focussed and committed on both sides, which Daniel is, which we are.”
The team’s post-race analysis will help Ricciardo address his “difficulties in order to extract the maximum from the car compared to Lando,” said Seidl. “We will do some simulator work as well before we head to Baku and then hopefully we can make another small step these next races in order to get Daniel to be one hundred percent feeling comfortable with the car – especially when it comes to qualifying, when you have to push it to the absolute limit.”
Late Indy 500 red flag the “right call” – Kanaan
The race was brought under a yellow flag on lap 194 of 200 following a single-car crash for Jimmie Johnson. IndyCar race control opted to red flag the race to guarantee a racing finish, which saw Marcus Ericsson hold off the pair to win his first Indy 500.
“I believe we’re here for the fans,” said Kanaan. “We hear the fans. A lot of people are going to have different opinions about it, as you well know.
“They came here to see a race, green-flag and chequered-flag race. That was the right call. If I was Marcus, did I like that? No. If it had not gone red, if they had gone red flag in my year, would I have won that race? I don’t know. That’s all the things that we’ve learned trying to put a good show for the fans.
“I’m in fully support. It’s not because I was third or anything. If I was in the stands, I want to see a race finish under the green.”
The race was not red-flagged under similar circumstances two years earlier, to the surprise of Scott Dixon, who finished second in that race to Takuma Sato.
Official BTCC game delayed until 2024
Motorsport Games have confirmed that their official licensed British Touring Car Championship game will now release in 2024.
The first dedicated BTCC game for more than two decades was originally planned for release this year, but the developers have now confirmed fans will have to wait two years more.
“We are expanding our development efforts on the BTCC release to create the best experience possible for all players, with the full support from our partners at the BTCC,” said Motorsport Games’ George Holmquist.
“Both Motorsport Games and the BTCC are committed to bringing this famous and popular motorsport series to life within the virtual world. We remain excited by this project and look forward to the many activations and content releases we have planned for the BTCC game.”
Motorsport Games hold licenses for IndyCar, the Le Mans 24 Hours, NASCAR and the BTCC. NASCAR ’21 Ignition was released in October 2021 and currently holds a ‘mostly negative’ review rating on Steam.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Remembering you, Bruce. 🧡
Today marks 52 years since Bruce McLaren, our founder, sadly passed away. pic.twitter.com/sjoK3jaNsp
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) June 2, 2022
Deeply saddened to learn that José Abed, @FIA Vice President of Honour & @OMDAIMX President, has passed away. FIA major figure & gentleman, José dedicated his life to motorsport in Mexico & Latin America.The FIA family pays tribute to him and our thoughts are with his loved ones. pic.twitter.com/Y9JhTVMxA3
— Mohammed Ben Sulayem (@Ben_Sulayem) June 2, 2022
Hey @Formula2, do you have any F2 onboards from Baku?
— Enzo Fittipaldi (@enzofitti) June 2, 2022
Excited for the future. 🙏 https://t.co/l9VKQw0MjI
— Alexander Rossi (@AlexanderRossi) June 2, 2022
When I asked Zak Brown this week about the third seat he told me, “I’m only 95% sure what I’m doing with that car.”
So as of that conversation, he’d signed no one for the 3rd car … yet.
— Jenna Fryer (@JennaFryer) June 2, 2022
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Russell has ‘knocked Hamilton off his perch’, claims Eddie Jordan (Independent)
"I think the big surprise is, everybody globally, in Formula 1 context, thinks that Lewis Hamilton is top dog. But he’s no longer top dog, not even in that team because Russell has taken his perch away."
Bruce McLaren and the cars that made him (McLaren)
"Throughout his short 32-year life, Bruce drove plenty and worked on just as many. Since his passing in 1970, we've produced, driven and raced even more – the most successful of which can be seen as you walk the floor of the MTC Boulevard. But what were the key cars of our founder's lifetime?"
Circuit Paul Ricard to host 12 events for 2022 FIA Motorsport Games (FIA)
"Staged from October 26-30, the event features 17 different motorsport disciplines with individual FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) National Sporting Authorities (ASNs) from countries across the globe competing for gold, silver, and bronze medals."
The Mercedes-AMG One is a $2.7 million F1 car for the road that's banned in the USA (Yahoo)
"It won't be getting an EPA rating, because it's not street legal in the US Mercedes-Benz said that "in order to preserve the unique character of its Formula 1 powertrain, we have concluded that meeting US road standards would significantly compromise its performance and its overall driving character.""
Jacques Villeneuve's Incredible Career | Rise Of The Rookie (F1 via YouTube)
"The Canadian driver followed his late father, Gilles, into F1 and immediately made an impact."
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 in via the contact form.
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Comment of the day
Comparing the team radio transcripts of Red Bull and Ferrari through the Monaco Grand Prix, @dmw notices a pattern with the car that eventually won the race…
The amount and depth of communication between Perez and Bird is much more than the others. I don’t think it was the key to victory per se, in terms of what they actually discussed, but the constant connection I feel made understanding opportunities and seizing them more likely.
Rewd Bull was lucky in a couple key points (Ferrari pit stacking issues, Williams blocking Ferrari) but you make your own luck sometimes as they say by being prepared.
DaveW
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to J.Danzig and Tom Parfitt!
On this day in motorsport
- 60 years ago today Bruce McLaren won the Monaco Grand Prix after Jim Clark and Graham Hill retired ahead of him
Leroy (@g-funk)
3rd June 2022, 1:06
But it didn’t finish under green. It finished under yellow. Sage Karam crashed at Turn 2 on the final lap, bringing out the yellow. They tried to create a dramatic finish but it still finished under yellow. It just seemed blatantly artificial to try to create drama because Erickson was firmly in control. Just let a race be a race and stop trying to manipulate it for excitement.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
3rd June 2022, 1:58
Surge Carrom…
amian
3rd June 2022, 7:53
The final yellow was irrelevant though as the leaders were already entering the final turns. And you couldn’t have not waved the yellows if there was a crashed car on the track.
Everything was done PERFECTLY about the yellows and the red at that race. Kudos to IndyCar! The let the race be a race. And I can’t see you having a single meaningful point against it.
PeterG
3rd June 2022, 13:11
@amian
No, They turned the race into a show.
Letting the race be a race would have been leaving it to end under caution which is what used to be done before they started turning the sport into a fake feeling show to follow NASCAR into the world of WWE.
The fact modern fans are so willing to accept fake show over sport created drama like this just shows how far the SPORT has fallen & how little many modern fans actually understand what SPORT is and shows just how little respect any of them actually have the SPORT. I bet none of them knows what sporting integrity is because a lot of these show over sport decisions have zero sporting integrity.
These things just turn a race into a lottery & A sport into a show & it’s something that needs to stop!
Just look at nascar for how bad things can get when you start throwing away your sporting integrity and putting the show above the sport. Is that what we want Indycar & F1 to be? I sure don’t!
Cronies
3rd June 2022, 11:00
It call a motor race Leroy
PeterG
3rd June 2022, 1:18
I don’t share Kannan’s view on the late red flag. Fine the race ending under caution (Which it eventually did anyway) isn’t ideal but sometimes thats just how things go and throwing a red flag for purely show/entertainment reasons is something i cannot stand as it just doesn’t seem fair or sporting.
Marcus Ericsson took the lead and drove away, He’d have easily won that race had it run to the end uninterrupted and also had it ended under caution. The red flag for show reasons was simply unfair on him and had he lost the win as a result of it it would have felt and unsatisfying and end to the race as Abu Dhabi did last year in F1.
A win taken away from someone because the show was deemed more important than the sport.
Fortunately however the results didn’t change as much as they could have and another crash (Which always become more likely with these green/white show over sport restarts as) ended it under caution anyway.
The direction everything is going with the show been put above the sport is in my opinion the wrong direction and the fact more and more categories are heading that way is leaving those of us who love the sport more than the show nowhere to go. The whole thing is just starting to feel very hollow because the more show it all goes, The less real it feels.
Welcome to the WWE era of Motor racing :(
Red Pill (@redpill)
3rd June 2022, 2:26
Further down the page:
I would love to see this be the new F1 safety/pace car. I’m guessing it’s faster than the current one? The current MB did look racy at Monaco but can imagine the “One” being more so, giving the drivers following it less to complain about the safety car itself rather than the speed chosen for safety purposes and herding the cars around the track with stewards trying to clean it so they can race again.
This certainly appears to be the case so far, but it’s still early and perhaps premature, similar to the way the press was stating Leclerc was the clear leader to win this seasons championship. Perhaps both statements is premature and need more time before stepping on the apple box.
I like to think we’ll see more winning performances from Leclerc as well as seeing Hamilton getting some good podium races in this season but only time will tell.
UNeedAFinn2Win (@uneedafinn2win)
3rd June 2022, 6:39
@bluepill, The 1000BHP AMG One is “slightly” faster than the 725BHP AMG Black, yes…
I think the complaining is too much focused on in the broadcasts.
VSC is for the situations where the race control deems the DANGEROUS SITUATION ON TRACK THAT COMPROMISES SAFETY manageable enough for the drivers themselves to handle slowing down, keeping the delta, what is it 40% slower this year
The actual Safety Car speed should be a mandated 100 KPH. Period.
jff
3rd June 2022, 7:32
The safety car seems more of a marketing exercise.
In dangerous situations where the VSC doesn’t suffice a Red Flag would do a better job than the physical safety car.
S
3rd June 2022, 11:42
A red flag would be a time-wasting overkill on the occasions when it would take only 2 or 3 laps to clear an incident, and the track workers can get the majority of the racing surface clear in only 2 or 3 minutes.
The point of the SC is to bunch up the cars, after all….
A think the VSC should be eliminated, personally. I don’t like anything about it at all.
The only thing it does is allow the field to remain spread out, which is not at all what I want to watch. An opportunity wasted to liven up the race, I say.
Red Pill (@redpill)
3rd June 2022, 6:39
PS> It sounds like McLaren is doing everything they can (within reason) to get RIC up to speed. The rest will be up to him; the grace period for getting settle is well beyond the expiration date; good results are expected and well paid for.
I hope to see him achieve McLarens and his goals this season.
In regards to the Red Flag at Indy. To me is was a 50-50 call on which way to go. Not fair to drivers who were saving tires & fuel and timing it to attack and try to pass for the win on the last laps; that was lost once the red flag went up. On the other hand Ericsson looked like the solid winner before the red but that’s a one off scenario and don’t see often. Him winning the restart and holding the lead just solidified he was hands down the fastest driver out there at the end of the race. He deserved the win and he earned it
On the last yellow I think they should have let the lead pack racers continue to race to the finish line without them going into yellow mode like they do with Nascar. The crash happened behind them but I also get that they needed to throw the yellow (whole track) because there were back marker cars still racing that were going to enter the crash zone.
Red Pill (@redpill)
3rd June 2022, 7:00
@uneedafinn2win
I have zero disagreements with you on that. Safety cars and full yellows are guaranteed to happen in F1, every season. The F1 teams, engineers & FIA need to figure out a better way to not burn up the cars when a safety car is out; it’s on them and not the fault of the safety car. The safety car is going a certain speed for good reasons that (typically) hasn’t anything to do with the car performance of the safety car but more for herding cats and creating a safe environment for the stewards on the track and any crashed driver needing help. It’s pretty simple, without stewards, there would be no racing and they’re out there helping to get the race back on so driver can race again. But I can also see opportunities for the safety car to blaze in other parts of the track (when deemed doable) to help keep F1 cars cool and keep their tires in the zone. You need a blazing fast safety car for that, I’ll look forward seeing the “One”. AM will need to step and match.
By the way, your name includes Finn, do you mean the Finn racing sailboat? If so, I wholeheartedly agree. That’s the best thing since sliced bread : )
UNeedAFinn2Win (@uneedafinn2win)
3rd June 2022, 7:27
My username on this forum is derived from “If you want to win, hire a Finn” -, a quote often attributed to Jean Todt when he ran Rally Peugot in the 80’s, but used decades before (and after) in motorsport, and I am, indeed, a Finn.
Finn-Jolla, as we call it, is indeed a fine product still raced today, 70 years after it’s introduction at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
Alas, I’m averse to anything aquatic. :)
UNeedAFinn2Win (@uneedafinn2win)
3rd June 2022, 6:44
The AMG One vs Aston Martin Valkyrie is what I was “promised” with the LeMans Hypercar -category back when announced, throwing in a Koenigsegg Gemera and a Pagani Zinque -based beasts
oh well…
UNeedAFinn2Win (@uneedafinn2win)
3rd June 2022, 6:50
geeez…maybe i meant Koenigsegg One:1 and Pagani Zonda Cinque. You get the point :Edit
anon
3rd June 2022, 13:40
No, that was never what was ever promised – that was the misinterpretation of the press.
The original proposal was for something closer to a silhouette formula – the whole notion of converted road cars never seems to have been considered seriously, as the opinion was that they could never meet the crash protection standards that the ACO wanted.
Nitzo (@webtel)
3rd June 2022, 7:25
I thought doing sim work before a race was a given for someone trying to improve. I also keep reading comments that a lot of young drivers such as Norris and Leclerc put in many hours of sim work consistently. Makes me wonder if Daniel didnt really take this up to improve himself but was rather focused on getting his mind in the right place which isnt a bad thing anyway. I just hope the sim work helps him close the gap to the front runners.
Jere (@jerejj)
3rd June 2022, 8:52
Hopefully, Ricciardo’s simulator would help him to some extent, at least.
Generally, I hope he can regain his confidence & improve, but unfortunately, I’m doubtful about this.
I’ve just lost some hope already & don’t know how to feel about his situation anymore.
Yes, more in-depth than with other driver-race engineer pairings, but yes, understanding & seizing opportunities were keys to victory alongside getting lucky with Ferrari’s strategic choices & Williams duo’s blue flag ignorance.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
3rd June 2022, 22:03
I’m of the opinion that confidence follows practice. The more you practice the more your confidence grows.
Electroball76
3rd June 2022, 10:46
“Dan, give it some welly”
– “What for?”
“He’s got a gap”
– “That’s not a gap… THIS is a gap!”