Formula 1 2020 Motor Sport

[Fraser]

More races announced and some abandoned

11.10. Nürburgring
25.10. Portimao
1.11. Imola

Formula 1 has abandoned hope of holding the US, Mexican and Brazilian Grands Prix this year as a result of the coronavirus situation in the Americas.

The three countries have among the worst infection rates in the world and F1 bosses therefore believe it would be irresponsible to hold races there.

Instead, three further races in Europe are to be added to the calendar.

These will see a return for Germany's Nurburgring and Imola in Italy, and an F1 debut for Portugal's Portimao track.

 

[Son Of Jack]

More races announced and some abandoned

11.10. Nürburgring
25.10. Portimao
1.11. Imola

Although covid19 is a complete shit show, in F1 terms this situation has done wonders for tracks that would have never had the chance to get a look-in for races. Great to see Portugal and "San Marino" back on a calendar. Pity there are no fans this time around, but at least it will go the help prove the point that other purpose-built circuits do exist and are suitable for F1 racing as opposed to more "we can turn this city into a track" events.

 

[Geezer]

The Imola weekend will be a 2 day event. No Friday practice apparently.

 

[Random Guy]

I'm guessing Barcelona in mid-August is looking unlikely now considering how Covid-19 has led to Catalunya being locked down again?

 

[David76]

I'm guessing Barcelona in mid-August is looking unlikely now considering how Covid-19 has led to Catalunya being locked down again?

I'd think there must be some doubt but I've not seen anything yet.

 

[Dylan]

Nico Hulkenberg is poised to replace Sergio Perez at Racing Point for the next two grands prix.

The German driver has emerged as the frontrunner to partner Lance Stroll for the British and 70th Anniversary races at Silverstone over the next two weekends.

Perez is currently in self-isolation after testing positive for Covid-19, with Hulkenberg now understood to be the team's preferred option as a replacement.

Although Racing Point has Esteban Gutierrez and Stoffel Vandoorne on its reserve list, the team is believed to be concerned by the fact the former has not driven in a grand prix for almost four years, while the latter is in Berlin with Formula E.

Hulkenberg only stepped out of F1 at the end of last season after Renault signed Esteban Ocon, with the 32-year-old well known to Racing Point after previously racing for the Silverstone-based team when it was previously known as Force India, initially in 2012 and again from 2014-16.

Hulkenberg will now get a chance to put himself in the shop window for 2021 it seems, all he needs to do is outperform Stroll, if he can't do that he may as well retire.

 

[David76]

Good to see Hulkenberg back behind the wheel of an F1 car but this is a tough blow for Perez trying to keep his seat for next year.

 

[David76]

Renault protested against the Racing Point again (the brake ducts specifically) after yesterday's race. There is a chance the FIA will finalise their ruling on it this week before the 70th GP.

 

[Best]

Ferrari weighing in on the Racing Point legality question now. They've written to the FIA asking how copying last years Mercedes can be considered Racing Points own design.

 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1290347880268673024

 

[Son Of Jack]

To be fair, none of the teams have regular mechanical failures like this one. I'd say the mechanical side of things has never been stronger. This is towards the end of the current formula and I think all the teams (even the slowest cars) are completely on top of the mechanical reliability side of things. If this kind of thing happens again in the next few races then we need to question Racing Point or Mercedes. But at the moment it's just "one of those things".

Racing Point is in the process of expanding the whole operation and aspiring to get right up the grid. It's probably normal that they have some blind spots or take their eye off the ball in some ways, otherwise, how would they learn how to run a bigger operation? The real question is whether they do what Mercedes did and systematically and ruthlessly hunt down the source of problems and eliminate them.

Racing Point is no longer a plucky underdog, dating back to the Jordan days, who is the best value team considering its medium-small budget. It's becoming a money team now. I wonder if the old staff can handle the different challenge of being a top team.

Ferrari weighing in on the Racing Point legality question now. They've written to the FIA asking how copying last years Mercedes can be considered Racing Points own design.

This isn't really a complaint as much as asking the FIA to clarify the rules on how other teams can do the same thing. Alpha Tauri will be the biggest beneficiary of this new design approach. Joe Saward said they often lodge a complaint against things because then all the teams get to take a look at some of the designs when the defendant puts forward evidence in its defence.

The next step I'd be looking at is to have Alpha focus it's design on some parts while Red Bull focus on other parts and then just scan them (swap designs) and maximise both cars.