Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2019 i AUTOSPORT

Sebastian Vettel’s date with destiny awaits. After four years of unrewarded toil, can the man tasked with returning championship glory to the success-starved corridors of Maranello finally deliver? How Seb responds after two recent drubbings at Lewis Hamilton’s hands will likely play a pivotal part in how this forthcoming season’s title fight unfolds. This will be Vettel’s fifth year in Ferrari red. That’s a significant milestone because it represents the point at which, in his own Ferrari career, Vettel’s hero Michael Schumacher finally grabbed the Prancing Horse by the reins and rode it to the first of five consecutive championships. However, it also represents the point at which, having missed the mark repeatedly, Vettel’s predecessor Fernando Alonso departed having failed to depose Kimi Räikkönen as Ferrari’s last world champion. Whether…

01 LIBERTY UNDER FIRE Liberty Media’s acquisition of Formula 1’s commercial rights 18 months ago seemed to have ended the rancour that has characterised F1 politics for much of the past four decades. A new mood of unity prevailed among the various stakeholders – until now. Five grands prix – Britain, Spain, Germany, Mexico and Italy - face an uncertain future because their contracts end this year, but they are not the only events that are fighting for commercial survival. The Formula One Promoters’ Association (FOPA), a body that represents the majority of race venues, went on the attack against Liberty Media by issuing a strongly worded statement in which they underlined their frustrations with the way the sport is run. FOPA laid out three clear issues they wish to…

Q1 Which driver recorded the fastest time over the two days of the post-season test in Abu Dhabi? Q2 True or false: Nico Hülkenberg has finished sixth 20 times in Formula 1 races? Q3 Who was on the front cover of the first issue of F1 Racing, back in March 1996? Q4 There have been three circuits over eight miles in length that have held world championship F1 GPs. Which are they? Q5 Who will be the youngest driver on the youngest ever F1 grid this season? Q6 Robert Kubica’s only F1 win came in Canada in 2008, but who finished second? Q7 Who claimed their first F1 point in the 1993 European GP and their second and last one in the very next race in San Marino? Q8 Who…

MARCHIONNE’S ALFA LEGACY When the late Sergio Marchionne signed off on his deal with Sauber’s Frédéric Vasseur to bring Alfa Romeo back into Formula 1 last season, it didn’t generate quite the welter of enthusiasm the CEO of Fiat Chrysler and Chairman of Ferrari might have wished for. A splash of branding on the engine cover and the incorporation of Alfa Romeo into the team name appeared to some to be more about marketing or an astute political play, and less about racing. One year later and the transformative power of that deal has changed F1, promoting the considerable talent of Charles Leclerc to Ferrari and returning Sauber to their rightful place as a serious midfield contender capable of embarrassing the big guys. The ‘commercial and technical partnership’ first announced…

In an F1 paddock not exactly renowned for its levity, Sebastian Vettel is reliably always up for a laugh. This aspect of his personality isn’t immediately obvious, since he prefers to keep his press appearances to a minimum and Ferrari like to keep their star driver happy by acceding to such wishes. But he has a brain that fires on more cylinders than those of a number of his peers. Unless something has gone very wrong for him out on track, his interviews are laced with a wry, cheeky humour – and his impersonation of Jean Todt at the Autosport Awards a few years ago was comedy gold. So, this appointment with F1 Racing has been a long time coming. The last time we did ‘You Ask the Questions’ with…

Age 58 Nationality Japanese 2018-present Technical Director, Honda F1 2013-2017 Senior manager and race team chief engineer, Honda Performance Development, IndyCars 2009-2013 Mass-production engine development at Honda R&D 2008 F1 development project leader at Honda R&D 2003-2007 Chief engineer for Jenson Button at both BAR and Honda, and Honda race and test manager 1993-2003 Race Engineer, IndyCar engine developer 1990-1992 Engineer for Gerhard Berger with McLaren-Honda 1984 Joined Honda R&D…

A new year, a new team-mate and new ownership for this team. What are your hopes for 2019? I’m really excited about this year because it’s as if I’m joining a new team. But I’m working with the same people that I have for the last five years, so I really feel at home. There’s a new structure in place and everyone is motivated. The struggles we used to have at the start of every season, with getting new parts, are not there anymore, so I foresee a lot of success. How difficult was it last year, to put Force India into administration and force a new buyer, in the form of Lawrence Stroll? It was months of work with lawyers and my manager Julian Jakobi, and the communication we…

2018 RESULTS Position 1st Points 655 Wins/podiums 11/14 Poles 13 Fastest laps 10 THE DRIVERS 44 LEWIS HAMILTON Age 34 Debut 2007 Starts 229 Wins/podiums/ poles 73/61/83 Points 3,018 Titles 5 Last year Lewis Hamilton emphasised why he should be considered one of the greatest grand prix drivers of all time. His fifth world championship puts him within two of Michael Schumacher’s tally and he’s just 18 victories behind Michael’s all-time win record. Against a competitive Ferrari, Hamilton raised his game, eliminating mistakes and displaying a relentless will to win – clinching the title with two races to spare. Hamilton’s continual quest for self-improvement has kept him on top of his game – and he’s somehow getting better and better. F1 RACING VERDICT Hamilton and Mercedes go into 2019 as…

2018 RESULTS Position 4th Points 122 Wins/podiums 0/0 Poles 0 Fastest laps 0 THE DRIVERS 3 DANIEL RICCIARDO Age 29 Debut 2011 Starts 150 Wins/podiums/ poles 7/22/3 Points 986 This is something of a reset for Ricciardo in 2019. After five years at Red Bull, he commences a new chapter of his career at Renault. It was getting tough for the 29-year old to retain his smile last year as reliability blighted his campaign so much he described his RB14 as “cursed”. Only twice did he finish on the podium in 2018, but on each occasion it was on the top step. His victory in Shanghai was characterised by a series of typically brilliant overtaking moves. A similar win this year would be a mighty achievement. F1 RACING VERDICT Ricciardo’s…

2018 RESULTS Position 10th Points 7 Wins/podiums 0/0 Poles 0 Fastest laps 0 THE DRIVERS 63 GEORGE RUSSELL Age 21 Debut 2019 Starts 0 Wins/podiums/ poles 0/0/0 Points 0 Despite a few mechanical gremlins, Russell was in a commanding position throughout last season’s F2 championship, securing six victories on his way to the title. The 21-year old has been on Mercedes’ young driver scheme for the past few seasons, and Toto Wolff has shown his faith in Russell by helping to facilitate a seat at Williams to gain experience of Formula 1. As Williams aren’t expected to make huge strides up the grid in 2019 the spotlight should be off Russell, so he can learn his trade quietly. F1 RACING VERDICT Keep an eye on how Russell copes with the…

THE MAIN EVENT The new season gets under way at its traditional venue, the popular Albert Park lakeside circuit in Melbourne, Australia. For the teams this is the longest single trip of the year as they unpack their new cars and equipment after a 10,500 mile journey across the globe. In preparation for the opening grand prix of 2019, teams will transport up to 23 tonnes of sea freight (which will have left Europe in mid-January) and 40 tonnes of air freight. Mechanics, engineers and drivers also need to prepare for the long-distance voyage and handle the 11-hour timezone shift so that jet lag doesn’t impair performance. Fortunately the anticipation of a new season will keep the adrenaline levels high. KEY CORNER: Turn 3. A tricky third-gear right-hander taken at…

THE OFFICIAL REVIEW OF THE 2018 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Format Blu-ray Price £16.99 www.dukevideo.com While you wait for the new F1 season to kick off, why not remind yourself of the events of the year just passed. The 2018 content, produced by Formula 1, has received some criticism for being shorter than previous years, but at a run time of 136 minutes the tighter edit offers a perfect summary of each grand prix. And unusually, rather than offer a re-voiced overview, commentary has been taken from the live Sky Sports F1 broadcast voiced at the time by David Croft and Martin Brundle. The 2017 offering ran over two discs, whereas this uses just one. Aside from the race-by-race action, there is also an extra 56 minutes of bonus…

NIGEL ROEBUCK The legendary F1 scribe has penned his final Autosport Fifth Column but you can still read him in F1 Racing. His take on Lewis is on p54 ADRIAN MYERS This is the second time Carlos Sainz has been photographed by Adrian Myers, but the first in his new-look McLaren overalls. See page 82 OLEG KARPOV Russian F1 driver Daniil Kvyat had a biography published by journalist Oleg Karpov back in 2017. Read his 26 facts about Kvyat on p106 ALISTER THORPE It's been a busy month for Alister Thorpe, who photographed the two new Brits in Richmond (p74) before shooting Kubica at Williams (p98)…

12.01.19 Max Verstappen performs day of ‘public service’ at Marrakech Formula E round 15.01.19 Formula 1 announces 2019 race start times; French GP to begin an hour earlier 16.01.19 Niki Lauda released from hospital after recovering from a flu infection 18.01.19 Newly announced Renault Sport president Thierry Koskas leaves the company 19.01.19 Mick Schumacher officially joins Ferrari Driver Academy 24.01.19 Paul Ricard pitlane entry to be modified before French GP 31.01.19 F1 plans to rethink TV camera angles to increase impression of speed 01.02.19 Sauber team renamed Alfa Romeo Racing 11.02.19 Middle East F1 broadcaster BeIN rules out contract renewal over piracy issues…

IS RICCIARDO’S RENAULT GAMBLE A FOOLISH ONE? Fortune favours the brave, but destroys the foolhardy. The question is, which is Daniel Ricciardo? Defecting from race-winning Red Bull when they are on the cusp of starting a works relationship with Honda to join a re-emerging Renault team that still have a long way to go could prove to be either. Ricciardo may never win another grand prix as a result, but he could also establish himself as the focal point of a frontrunning works team. That’s quite the coin toss. Much of this is out of Ricciardo’s hands, because we already know he can win races in the right team. Renault have invested heavily and their largely all-new car should allow them to slash the gap to the top three, but…

Shell’s association with Ferrari, one of the longest in motorsport, has yielded plenty of grand prix wins, though regulatory changes in recent years have shifted much of the emphasis towards reliability as well as performance. But there’s still room for functional fluids to make the difference in a development-restricted era F1 Racing: Tell us how you got involved with Shell and became one of their scientists working with Ferrari in Formula 1? Benoit Poulet: I’ve always been interested in technology and studied engineering at school and then majored on thermodynamics at college. I started my career at Renault, doing an internship looking at engine design, and then a few years later joined Total as a fuel scientist. It’s very important to have that background in engine design to understand…

POOR START 28 Jan 2014 As the new Red Bull breaks cover, it spends most of the first day of the hybrid era in the garage. Sebastian Vettel can only manage three laps on the opening day of testing 1 Feb 2015 The new McLaren-Honda breaks down repeatedly as Fernando Alonso manages just six laps on the first day of pre-season testing at Jerez PUBLIC PRESSURE 22 Jun 2014 “The performance is unacceptable.” After failure for Vettel in the Austrian GP, Christian Horner puts public pressure on Renault to make drastic changes 5 Sep 2015 At the Italian GP Honda boss Yasuhisa Arai refuses to apologise publicly for poor performance. Later that month Alonso lambasts Honda’s “GP2 engine” in Japan CHANGE IS MADE 3 Jul 2014 Ex-Caterham team boss Cyril…

As Lando Norris and George Russell cast furtive eyes across The Cricketers lunch menu, for a fleeting moment it looks as if both will order fish finger sandwiches and chips. It seems Britain’s two newest F1 racers have momentarily forgotten themselves and, more importantly, the regimented nutritional code that governs the lives of modern athletes. A sense of dietary professionalism eventually prevails and George dashes back outside to purchase the requisite lean-meat sandwich and salad. Lando isn’t far behind, returning with his own salad and fruit salad combo. There is a sense both would prefer to indulge in some hearty British fare – but a collective sense of duty has overcome. George and Lando need to be in tip-top shape for the challenge ahead, as they get set to join…

ANTHEM When Daniil Kvyat won his first FIA European F3 race at Zandvoort, race organisers didn’t have a copy of the current Russian national anthem to hand, so they played the old one, Mikhail Glinka’s ‘The Patriotic Song’, instead. Afterwards, Kvyat’s compatriot Vitaly Petrov started taking a CD of the correct anthem with him to races. BACKGAMMON Kvyat was taught to play backgammon by former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, and received a set from his father for his 22nd birthday. He regularly takes a travel set with him on tour so he can play against his girlfriend. CARLOS SAINZ Throughout his career, Kvyat’s closest rival has been Carlos Sainz. In 2009, Kvyat joined the Red Bull junior programme at the same time as Sainz. They became team-mates in Formula BMW…

2018 RESULTS Position 2nd Points 571 Wins/podiums 6/18 Poles 6 Fastest laps 4 THE DRIVERS 5 SEBASTIAN VETTEL Age 31 Debut 2007 Starts 219 Wins/podiums/ poles 52/59/55 Points 2,745 Titles 4 Despite starting brightly, 2018 was a season of disappointment for Sebastian Vettel. A litany of unforced errors – the most high profile of which was sliding out of the lead of the German GP – turned a championship lead into defeat. There was also turmoil at Ferrari with the sudden death of their chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne and political infighting between management, which led to team boss Maurizio Arrivabene’s departure over the winter. Vettel has to regroup, ignore the politics and come out fighting. F1 RACING VERDICT This will be Vettel’s fifth attempt to win the championship for…

2018 RESULTS Position 5th Points 93 Wins/podiums 0/0 Poles 0 Fastest laps 1 THE DRIVERS 8 ROMAIN GROSJEAN Age 32 Debut 2009 Starts 143 Wins/podiums/ poles 0/10/0 Points 381 Last August, Romain Grosjean’s future participation in Formula 1 was looking rather shaky. The first part of the year was characterised by errors which cost Haas valuable points. An opening lap shunt in Spain was followed by an inexplicable spin into the Baku wall while running behind the Safety Car. But when the VF-18 was suited to his style and his mind was focused, he was capable of great performances. Only five times did he fail to qualify outside of Q3 on pace. Going into 2019, it’s safe to assume more of the same. F1 RACING VERDICT On his day, Grosjean…

2018 RESULTS* Position 8th Points 48 Wins/Podiums 0/0 Poles 0 Fastest laps 0 THE DRIVERS 7 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN Age 39 Debut 2001 Starts 291 Wins/podiums poles 21/82/18 Points 1,816 Titles 1 For many fans, Kimi Räikkönen’s stay of execution in F1 will be met with delight. His bluntness, honesty and appetite for fun has cemented Kimi as one of the most popular drivers in the sport’s history. His antics at the FIA awards gala last winter have already established legendary status. At 39 (the oldest driver on the grid) he’s still quick – as his victory in the US Grand Prix last year proved. There will be no major expectations of him at Alfa Romeo, so he can enjoy the next two seasons driving flat-out and dicing in the midfield.…

Round 1 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 15-17 March, Albert Park, Melbourne Round 2 BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 29-31 March, Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir Round 3 CHINESE GRAND PRIX 12-14 April, Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai Round 4 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX 26-28 April, Baku City Circuit, Baku Round 5 SPANISH GRAND PRIX 10-12 May, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona Round 6 MONACO GRAND PRIX 23-26 May, Monaco, Monte Carlo Round 7 CANADIAN GRAND PRIX 7-9 June, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal Round 8 FRENCH GRAND PRIX 21-23 June, Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet Round 9 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX 28-30 June, Red Bull Ring, Spielberg Round 10 BRITISH GRAND PRIX 12-14 July, Silverstone, Northampton Round 11 GERMAN GRAND PRIX 26-28 July, Hockenheimring, Heidelberg Round 12 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX 2-4 August, Hungaroring, Budapest Round 13 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX…

THE MAIN EVENT After the long-haul trip to Australia, the second round of the world championship is a little closer to the team’s bases – just a seven-hour flight to the Middle East. The Bahrain International Circuit is in the south of the island kingdom, a 30-minute drive from the capital Manama. This race will be a tougher test than Melbourne because the heat and dust are notorious engine breakers, while the stop-start nature of the abrasive track is punishing for both tyres and brakes. The most representative practice session is Friday’s FP2, held in the local evening time. As the track temperature drops away the balance of the cars changes, and it’s important for teams to find a baseline set up because the race begins at sunset and finishes…

NOTHING TO SEE DOESN’T EQUATE TO FAILURE Remember when you partied and it was 1999? As the clocks ticked inexorably towards midnight, so too imminent doom approached in the form of the so-called Millennium Bug. Who knew what catastrophes would ensue as the new century began and computers all over the world went into meltdown, unable to cope with a quadruple-digit date change? In the event, no nuclear reactors went critical, aeroplanes remained in the sky, and humanity rubbed its collective head and got on with the traditional New Year business of clearing out the empties, setting irresolutions, and praying for a decent James Bond film in the afternoon. In the public consciousness, the abortive apocalypse was filed away as a pointless (if highly lucrative) beano for the IT industry.…

Pushing the limits right from the off It’s been 12 weeks since the 2018 season finished in Abu Dhabi last December, so everyone was excited for the opening day of testing to unofficially start the 2019 Formula 1 year. The reigning world champions Mercedes enjoyed a productive first day with Valtteri Bottas managing 69 laps in the morning and Lewis Hamilton taking over to run 81 laps in the afternoon. This shot of Lewis was captured at the exit of Turn 12. I noticed there were a lot of stones on the circuit as drivers were pushing quite hard and just as I arrived Hamilton ran wide, sending a golden plume of dust into the air. Photographer Mark Sutton Where Barcelona, Spain When 5.10pm, Monday 18 February 2019 Details Nikon…

When the sun sets, darkness falls and 1,600 floodlights powering up the Marina Bay Street Circuit come alive — the Home of Formula 1® night race sparks into action with man and machine going wheel-to-wheel on the meandering mean streets in the ultimate pursuit of victory. It is three days of pure gripping action that is backdropped against the glistening Singapore skyline boasting iconic heritage buildings and modern architecture. Race. Party. Repeat. Defining the ultimate Singapore Grand Prix experience is the specially curated entertainment programme touting world-class artistes and more than 92 hours of non-stop stellar entertainment. 2019’s first wave of entertainment line-up features stadium rockers Muse, British DJ legend Fatboy Slim, Jamaican reggae icon Toots and the Maytals and American roots band Larkin Poe with many more to be…

THE KEY STORYLINES OF F1 2019 There are many harbingers of spring, but to us petrolheads it is the excitement of dissecting the winter F1 testing days and the anticipation of the season ahead. I write this well before the testing has started, but attempting to analyse the results without intimate knowledge of conditions, fuel loads, engine modes and tyre age is a fool’s errand. Much more interesting is to consider the many changes that we will see for 2019 and what the outcome of these changes may be. Technically we have a reasonably significant change to the front wing aimed at reducing outwashing of front wheel wakes and improving the performance of following cars. The question being asked is whether it will improve the racing, and unfortunately that’s a…

Ferrari’s second tweet of 2019, right after wishing their 2.2 million followers a happy new year, was to welcome Charles Leclerc to the team. Their third, posted the next day, celebrated his achievements. Leclerc, Ferrari announced, had never finished lower than second in any championship throughout his junior career. And he had won eight of those titles over the course of ten years. It was a reminder of the impeccable credentials that have earned the Monegasque a Ferrari seat in only his second year in F1, following his stellar debut with Sauber in 2018. Leclerc comes from a racing family. His late father, Hervé, competed in Formula 3, and was best friends with Philippe Bianchi, father of the former Manor driver Jules Bianchi, who died of injuries sustained in a…

How much of an evolution is the new power unit compared with the 2018 model? Can you explain where additional resource and development work has been focused? Apart from a 5kg increase in the amount of fuel that a car can use during a race, the technical regulations relating to the power unit are unchanged from 2018. Therefore, the RA619H is very much an evolution of last year’s power unit. Indeed, some of the development work we undertook throughout the previous season was with this one in mind. It looked as though Honda eradicated their early weakness of reliability last year, to allow more focus on performance. Can you quantify how much performance has been gained? We hear talk of a ‘party mode’? We do not give out power figures,…

2018 RESULTS Position 3rd Points 419 Wins/podiums 4/9 Poles 2 Fastest laps 6 THE DRIVERS 33 MAX VERSTAPPEN Age 21 Debut 2015 Starts 81 Wins/podiums/ poles 5/17/0 Points 670 Which Verstappen will turn up in Melbourne? The incident-prone Max who threw away wins in the first six races last year? Or the post-Canadian GP Max who steered clear of on-track controversy and drove supremely, taking wins in Austria and Mexico. Verstappen is only 21, but has done a lot of growing up in the last four seasons he has been racing in Formula 1. Although his physical response to Esteban Ocon taking him out of the lead of the Brazilian GP perhaps shows he still has some maturing to do. F1 RACING VERDICT For daring overtaking and on-track thrills, there…

2018 RESULTS Position 6th Points 62 Wins/podiums 0/0 Poles 0 Fastest laps 0 THE DRIVERS 55 CARLOS SAINZ Age 24 Debut 2015 Starts 81 Wins/podiums/ poles 0/0/0 Points 171 Sainz has been a Red Bull-managed driver since 2009, but with Ricciardo and Verstappen locking out the main team, he was loaned out to Renault last year. Up against Nico Hülkenberg, who was already established at the team, Sainz struggled on occasion. By mid-summer he’d decided to split with Red Bull and sign for McLaren, replacing his hero Fernando Alonso at the Woking-based team. It’s a clean break and a fresh start for Sainz, but in the competitive order, switching from Renault will be a move down the grid in 2019. F1 RACING VERDICT If Sainz is able to mirror some…

2018 RESULTS Position 9th Points 33 Wins/podiums 0/0 Poles 0 Fastest laps 0 THE DRIVERS 26 DANIIL KVYAT Age 24 Debut 2014 Starts 72 Wins/podiums/ poles 0/2/0 Points 133 With both Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz leaving the Red Bull family last year, the fizzy drinks firm suddenly found they were short of suitable drivers (the hapless Brendon Hartley was dropped). The result is that Russian Daniil Kvyat gets a reprieve, having been discarded by Red Bull in 2016 and by Toro Rosso at the end of 2017. Kvyat has spent the past year as a Ferrari simulator driver and should have no trouble slotting straight back into his former team and being straight on the pace. Third time lucky, perhaps? F1 RACING VERDICT Toro Rosso slipped down the order…

Is this the final British GP at Silverstone? I have to confess that I only visit Silverstone for the British GP, but last week was driving along the Dadford Road next to the track. I was struck by the eerie presence of the huge grandstands that lay dormant and stopped to admire the dramatic ‘Wing’ complex. I couldn’t help thinking what an incredible waste it would be if F1’s owners and the circuit failed to negotiate a new contract to keep the race beyond this year. Silverstone is awesomely quick and has the infrastructure and space to host a grand prix, accommodating hundreds of thousands of passionate, die-hard F1 fans like me. I’m all for new races in Singapore and Baku, but these races are far too financially prohibitive for…

What’s your favourite part of the track? It has to be Eau Rouge, one of the most exciting parts of the circuit where drivers are flat out. An F1 fan’s dream to watch. The best thing to do away from the track? It has to be the Grand-Place, the beautiful centrepiece of Brussels, which contains numerous spectacular restaurants. There’s stunning food, great beer and amazing views. A meal here is a genuinely special experience. Any local food or drink to recommend? Probably everything Belgium is famous for: beer, chocolate and waffles. They are an absolute must. You won’t struggle to find any of these but as usual, expect to pay a little more in the tourist spots. How long is the transfer? Transfers from Spa to Brussels take between two…