In the round-up: Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer says the team will be able to keep adding upgrades to their car without reaching difficulties with the budget cap
In brief
Alpine unhindered by cost cap in battle with McLaren, says Szafnauer
Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer says the team will be able to keep adding upgrades to their car without reaching difficulties with the budget cap.Alpine are locked in a battle with McLaren over fourth place in the constructors championship, currently holding an advantage of four points after Lando Norris finished directly ahead of both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon at the latest grand prix in Hungary.
“They’ve definitely made a step,” Szafnauer admitted. “We had headroom under the cost cap. So there is no cost cap considerations stopping us from bringing upgrades.
“Whenever we found something, we would make it in quantities and bring it. Especially if it was additive – you didn’t have to throw stuff out to replace. And that’s still the case, so we’ll have something in Spa.”
Da Costa moves to Porsche for 2023 Formula E season
Antonio Felix Da Costa has confirmed he will move to Porsche for next year’s Formula E championship and the new Gen3 era.
Former Formula E champion Da Costa confirmed yesterday that he will move from Techeetah to Porsche for next year, stepping into a seat previously occupied by Andre Lotterer.
Newly crowned world champion Stoffel Vandoorne has not formally confirmed which team he will be racing with for 2023, but stated that he would return to Formula E to defend his title. It is expected he will join DS Penske for the first year of the Gen3 era.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Halfway through the summer break but gearing up for the second part of the season
I’ll be ready 👊#KeepPushing pic.twitter.com/pBJVoyjyQj
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) August 15, 2022
2022 @sbtgrvl 🚲
That was a fun day out! I finished 4th overall out of 700+ riders on the 60mile red course and 1st in my age group. This event is so cool!
And @tiffanycromwell the champ in women’s 100mile blue course 💪#VB77 @canyon_bikes pic.twitter.com/j5B4GDtvBN
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) August 14, 2022
The worst kept secret in F1 continues, as Porsche have registered a new trademark "F1nally" for marketing and merchandise. pic.twitter.com/fy0A4aQSaM
— Dan – EngineMode11 (@EngineMode11) August 15, 2022
And one last amazing Thank You to my French family @DSTECHEETAH . Yesterday they delivered me to @PorscheFormulaE . Love this @FIAFormulaE spirit. See you on track guys! pic.twitter.com/r2vcg17epy
— Antonio Felix da Costa (@afelixdacosta) August 15, 2022
This series has challenged every part of me as an athlete and competitor. I’m proud of the effort both the team and myself made to finish the year strong. Two top-5 finishes in the final two weekends 🤘🏼 Big thank you to @avaxandrettife for the unforgettable season! #ABBFormulaE pic.twitter.com/VJnGOmR6ta
— Oliver Askew 🔺 (@Oliver_Askew) August 15, 2022
If there was ever any doubt, pit crews are true athletes. It’s the worst feeling knowing I could have really hurt one of my guys, thankfully it didn’t come to that! Came in too hot & misjudged my stall, but Cory Jeremy Josh Milan & Jerick handled it like pros. Sorry again boys🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/HhXS7Z51or
— Daniel Suárez (@Daniel_SuarezG) August 15, 2022
UK – Live coverage of the *Moto3* #BritishGP on @ITV4 failed to make the channel's top 50, averaging fewer than 49,000 viewers. I know it is Moto3, but that's an astonishingly poor result… (via – https://t.co/vPiAIhjWTf)
— Motorsport Broadcasting (@f1broadcasting) August 15, 2022
I love when @Formula1game resets and deletes all my settings i love this game
— Frederik Rasmussen (@G2Frede) August 15, 2022
Interested in seeing what iRacing is all about? Now is the perfect time to dive in!
New users can get 75% off their sign-up during our iRacing Summer Sale!https://t.co/9bZvcWTnMw pic.twitter.com/9LhqoVIJFP
— iRacing.com (@iRacing) August 15, 2022
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Haas looking to become more American-focused (Racer)
"We need to use that (American identity) more now because there is more presence (in the United States). It’s what we need to do as a team, it’s not a directive. We were never told what we have to be – we are who we are. But now I think we can focus on it more because there’s more interest."
"Personally, I can’t imagine him getting another chance in Formula 1. But I wouldn’t know who Alpine should take at the moment."
You can now buy a £7k scale model of Max Verstappen’s championship-winning F1 car (Top Gear)
"Amalgam Collection used CAD data supplied directly by Red Bull to design each teeny component, with master patterns and moulds then 3D printed and the eventual model pieces cast, painted and then finished by hand. Apparently it took 2,500 hours of development to produce an exact replica of the real thing, with each model taking an extra 250 hours to put together."
Simona de Silvestro's IndyCar Return Hasn't Been Easy (Jalopnik)
"She’s said, ‘I’ve driven this car before, I should know how to do it. But it’s like, no she hasn’t raced this car before. It’s the same in principle since the last time she was on a road course seven years ago, but so much has changed. The aeroscreen added 70 pounds and totally changed the centre of gravity, so now the car responds differently to fuel loads. It’s a new beast."
22 Questions with Logan Sargeant (Williams)
"Wanting to get to know him just a little bit better, and with a big date in Austin now on the horizon, we tasked him with answering 22 questions about racing and life in general."
In Competitive Title Chase, Dixon Strongest Recently (IndyCar)
"Since July 1, a span of six races, Dixon has scored the most points in the series, climbing from sixth in the standings to second place. He is within six points of Power heading to this weekend’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois."
F1 Manager 2022 | Race Day | FEATURE FOCUS (F1 Manager via YouTube)
"Our final Feature Focus gameplay deep dive F1 Manager 2022 takes you to where your decisions will make the difference between glory and despair. It's race day!"
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
Mick Schumacher has picked up form as his second season in Formula 1 has progressed, but has it been enough for Haas to consider extending him for a third year? @Jens isn’t so sure…
Mick has finished races ahead of Magnussen, but never on merit. Reliability, poor strategy, reduced engine mode to just make it home, the black and orange flags mentioned in the article, etc. have been reasons each time Mick has finished ahead.
As for the 11-2 qualifying results…
In Australia where Mick qualified ahead of Kevin, Stroll had a big crash in the end of Q1, and Kevin was caught in traffic when they resumed.
In Miami, the other instance where Mick qualified ahead, Kevin’s radio didn’t work, and they did one long run instead of the usual two shorts, as they couldn’t communicate about when to come in.Mick has never really shown anything. Yes he had a bad car last year, but so did Kevin and Grosjean in 2020 and they both made a point scoring finish. He has crashed two cars big time this year (and last year too). He hasn’t finished ahead on merit. And he is lucky the qualifying result isn’t 13-0.
Why so many think Mick should be retained, whereas many think Riccardo with a lot more and a lot better results to show should stop, I cannot understand. There must be a lot of “Schumacher name momentum” for many.
jenc
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Feline-Fan, Fotache Sergiu and Lapov Onor!
BasCB (@bascb)
16th August 2022, 7:42
Lovely CotD there. Thing is, Kevin got those flags because he went in far too agressive. And that is pretty inherent in his approach to racing, it’s been part of most of his driving career. Sometimes it works for him, often it doesn’t. Some fans love it and are willing to go along with his excuses for it, some see it as an own goal.
I guess we know what @jens feels about those. I guess we disagree on that view.
Schumacher hasn’t been starring, but he did get some decent drives in recently, solidly bringing it home where Magnussen tried to get too much, too soon and ended up ruining his own race.
Qeki (@qeki)
17th August 2022, 10:21
Schumacher jr will be in a good car in the future unless he will crash in every race. Then we will see how he really drives. His name will take him up to the grid but that is where he really needs to put those results together. It is same situation as in any working place. You know someone whose child comes to work and all the colleagues start to rememeber how “your father was young and started working here before you were even born” Still name will help you but you have to do the job yourself
jff
16th August 2022, 7:43
The consideration/suggestion if/when to stop in F1 is totally different in both cases due to time in the sport and performance trajectory.
But for Haas the consideration who to hire is quite different. Maybe due to DtS is Ricciardo now better known in the US than the Schumacher surname, and could he be a good fit with Haas Team USA ;)
Jere (@jerejj)
16th August 2022, 7:49
Bottas seemingly enjoys Colorado these days as he also went in that state post-Miami GP weekend before returning to Europe.
However, despite the location being in the US, I’m surprised he referred to competitive distances in miles rather than km, even though he’s not only accustomed to metrics from having grown up in metrics country but also only ever lived in metrics countries.
Just because Ralf says so, doesn’t mean Ricciardo couldn’t continue racing in F1 in another team.
I’m entirely confident he could make a Team Enstone return if/when Piastri moves to Mclaren rather than becomes a regular driver within Alpine (still possible via court outcome).
Who’d want a (pricy) scale model of a tainted championship-winning car?
COTD is interesting, especially the last paragraph.
jff
16th August 2022, 10:48
Not sure what’s so weird about it; it’s even best practice.
The race is over 60 miles, so you call it a 60mile race.
In the US they refer to the 100m sprint (or ‘dash’) as 100m rather than 109yards-and-1foot-and-1inch dash.
But that might be due to the fact that pronouncing this would take longer than a typical race ;)
MichaelN
16th August 2022, 11:04
Right, while it’s usually better to use the global standards rather than regional systems, if the event is based on such a measurement it makes sense to use that. Nobody calls it the Indy 804 either, after all!
SteveP
16th August 2022, 20:30
After a fashion, but you do have to wonder why a unit value “metre” is given an alternate spelling in the USA.
Maybe the Europeans should in response to the US misspelling of metre? :)
SteveP
16th August 2022, 8:42
Uh?? He hasn’t won yet.
S
16th August 2022, 9:31
You keep telling yourself that.
SteveP
16th August 2022, 18:34
Leaving aside the need to step into an alternate reality, where Ferrari have a clue about strategy, it is possible for Leclerc to win.
It’s also mathematically possible for any driver on the grid to win.
But I do take your point, Ferrari don’t have said clue, so Max is almost certain of a title.
S
17th August 2022, 2:21
Wow. It must really suck to feel the need to block out last year’s result from your own reality…
SteveP
17th August 2022, 17:32
Bradders (@bradders)
16th August 2022, 9:00
Does the Amalgam model come with Masi’s autograph?
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
16th August 2022, 9:23
I suppose the key difference with Mick is he’s in his 2nd F1 season up against an experienced teammate. Ricciardo is in the twilight of his career getting flattened by his less experienced teammate. Of course Mick needs to show improvement soon but it’s not surprising to see him behind Magnussen. Most would have expected Ricciardo to be ahead of Norris on the balance of things.
S
16th August 2022, 9:39
Not necessarily.
Depends on how much you know about and understand the relationship between driver and car.
And how the team feel about their two drivers….
Ruben
16th August 2022, 11:22
I’d say that Verstappen model would’ve been better with the race winning soft tyres.
Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
16th August 2022, 13:29
Rather like Jacques Villeneuve, I wish Ralf Schumacher would shut up.
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
16th August 2022, 13:46
I guess the difference is that Mick is still young in his career & has shown enough speed in both his junior career & F1 for many to feel that he can grow into a front running driver as he gains more experience & gets into better equipment.
Meanwhile we know what Riccardo is capable of. He’s won races & been competitive in the same team up against 2 world champions (Vettel & Verstappen) & so his form in more recent years is more disappointing because he simply isn’t performing at the level we know he can.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
16th August 2022, 17:27
This years’ motogp British GP was an attendance disaster and apparently also a ratings disaster. Is it the Vale effect? Bikes are generally strong in the UK.