June 2021

Christian Horner has revealed Red Bull held “exploratory discussions” with Ferrari over a possible Formula 1 engine deal before deciding to go its own way for 2022 and beyond. Red Bull announced in February that it was creating its own in-house engine division, Red Bull Powertrains, to take over the running of Honda’s engines from 2022 until the end of 2024 following the Japanese manufacturer’s decision to quit F1 at the end of the year. It followed an agreement between the F1 teams to freeze engine development until the new era of power unit regulations that will come into effect in 2025. Honda’s decision to leave F1 had initially left Red Bull and its sister team AlphaTauri in a state of limbo before the engine freeze was agreed upon and led to Red Bull seeking alternative options. Given the animosity surrounding its split from Renault in 2019, the French manufacturer was a no-go, while Mercedes had little interest in supplying one of its main rivals, leaving Ferrari as the only other option for Red Bull. Horner confirmed Ferrari was “the most willing” engine manufacturer to potentially supply Red Bull but stressed the Milton Keynes squad was always against the notion of becoming a customer team. “The most natural thing was to have a discussion with the existing suppliers,” Horner told the Beyond the Grid podcast. “Mercedes was a very short conversation and Toto [Wolff, Team Principal] obviously wasn’t particularly keen on that one. “In fact Renault – their aspirations as a team didn’t include supplying a team like Red Bull, and probably the most willing was Ferrari. “And, you know, we had some exploratory discussions, but to be a customer, so to have to accept all the integration, particularly with the new regulations coming, would be a massively hard pill to swallow. “So that’s when we started to explore the possibility: OK, how do we take on this challenge in a Red Bull manner and see if we can put a deal together with Honda in the foreseeable future? “The freeze was fundamental to that, otherwise we wouldn’t have had the capacity to develop an engine.” Horner conceded a continuation project using Honda’s IP was “the only call” for Red Bull to remain competitive in the years to come. Red Bull has poached a number of Mercedes High-Performance Powertrains staff to join its new engine operation, including Ben Hodgkinson, who will lead the programme. “It’s a big step, it’s a bold step, to take control of our own destiny as an engine supplier and bring the whole lot under one roof in Milton Keynes, it would make us the only team other than Ferrari to have the whole lot within one facility,” Horner added. “In terms of a sell, I think he [Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull owner] reached that conclusion himself – that we had no choice – and Helmut [Marko] was obviously very supportive and pushing hard for it. “It was absolutely the right call. In reality, for us to remain in a competitive position, it was the only call.”

Several teams have voiced their concerns about clutch use heading into the first running of sprint qualifying at Silverstone – with the possibility of needing to skip practice as a result. Aston Martin, Alpine and McLaren in particular are worried about the state of their clutches heading into the British Grand Prix weekend, with the change of schedule seemingly set to play havoc with how the car is set up and put together for each session. After Friday practice, a regular qualifying session will take place on Friday afternoon instead of its traditional Saturday slot, which means the cars will go into Parc Ferme conditions a day earlier than usual. Only very limited parts of the car can be changed in Parc Ferme, and the clutch is not one of them. As a result, due to the limited capacity of how far the clutches can run on certain cars, some teams may forgo practice running in order to preserve their part – which will in turn have a negative impact on the time the teams can take to set up their car for the weekend. The 100km sprint qualifying event adds extra running to the weekend, which Aston and Alpine feel may take the clutch beyond its usable life. “These clutches were built for a different purpose,” said Aston Martin team manager Andy Stevenson, quoted by Auto Motor und Sport. “They need new shims and servicing after 300 kilometres. If we had known before the season what to expect, we would have built different clutches. “If we have to drive the whole weekend with a clutch without refreshing it, we can’t guarantee if it will last. “If the FIA doesn’t give in, we might have to skip a practice session. That can’t be in the spirit of the invention.” So far, the FIA has dismissed requests from these teams to reconsider the regulations surrounding clutch changes for the sprint races, but the pleas have reportedly been swept aside by FIA delegates, who say: “Then just do fewer practice starts.” Alpine’s head of operations Alan Permane holds a different view to the FIA’s assessment, however, and hopes they will allow fresh clutches to be put on their car to account for their increased usage. “It has nothing to do with the number of starts,” he said. “It’s simply wear and tear. The clutch is in use all the time. The gear changes are the problem, not the starts.”

While keen that the world championship is not decided by Sprint Qualifying results, the latest gimmick from F1 gets its very own sponsor, Crypto. In addition to being announced by F1 as a “Global Partner and Inaugural partner of the new Sprint series”, Crypto.com, the fastest-growing crypto platform with over 10 million users worldwide, will also have a trackside presence at every race for the remainder of the season “as part of a leading Global partnership deal with the sport. “Partnering with Formula 1 will ensure Crypto.com continue to grow their brand awareness on an international stage,” reads the official release, as “F1 continues to explore new ways for fans to engage and become more immersed in the sport, Crypto.com will also become the Official Cryptocurrency Sponsor and NFT Partner of F1. “Mirroring the fan-first approach F1 has adopted to engage with new audiences, Crypto.com aim to democratize the world of cryptocurrency for fans, through education and experiences in the new partnership. Crypto.com will also present a brand new award, which will be announced ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix. “Aligning with the sustainability plans for F1 to be Net Zero Carbon as a sport by 2030 Crypto.com announced an ambitious pledge in May 2021 to become carbon negative within 18 months, offering the industry a path and a model for “clean crypto”. This plan will initially focus on an assessment of the carbon generated through cryptocurrency trading, deposit and withdrawal activities across all of its own platforms, before re-evaluating the ways it operates throughout the business outside of trading. “ “We are pleased to welcome Crypto.com to the Formula 1 family, as we continue to attract progressive global brands anchored in performance and innovation,” said Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO, Formula 1. “We are thrilled to announce Crypto.com as a Global Partner and lead partner of the Sprint event as we bring this exciting new format to fans for the first time this year,” added Ben Pincus, Director of Commercial Partnerships at Formula 1. “We will rely heavily on their expertise as we explore the world of cryptocurrency, an area we are very interested in, and this will be the first time as a sport we are able to offer fans the opportunity to explore this exciting world as we further increase our digital presence. Crypto.com are revered in the industry and their experience was key in the decision to partner with them, as well as the company’s commitment to becoming carbon negative, as we continue to move towards sustainability goals of our own.” “We are extremely proud to be the first cryptocurrency sponsor of Formula 1,” said Kris Marszalek, co-Founder and CEO of Crypto.com, “joining a prestigious collection of brands supporting a sport with technology and innovation at its core. We look forward to many years of innovating together, and will begin at the Belgian Grand Prix where we will present a brand new award. We’re also excited to partner with F1 in the development of exclusive NFTs, connecting fans to the sport in new and innovative ways.” Currently, the “Sprint series”, comprises the British, Italian and Brazilian rounds of the 2021 season, though it is widely speculated that the latter event will not take place.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is already lamenting the loss of Honda from F1 at the end of the year following the Japanese manufacturer’s resurgence. Honda has played a key role in turning Red Bull into title contenders this season as it has helped propel the team to four consecutive victories and five in eight races. The four in a row is the first time Honda has achieved the feat since 1991 when the late, great Ayrton Senna took the chequered flag in the opening quartet of races that year with McLaren. But Honda has less than six months of its partnership with Red Bull to run before it pulls out of F1, although the team will continue to run its engines. With the alliance in the ascendancy now, Horner said: “It will be tremendously sad to see them leave at the end of the year. “They have been a great partner for us to work with, they have been supportive as they have set up our Red Bull Powertrains. “We have obviously utilised their technology moving forwards but it has been a great relationship and we will be sad to see them leave F1. I think it will be a loss for F1 at the end of the year.”

Igora Drive has been confirmed as the new home for the Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix from 2023. The race has been held at the Sochi Autodrom since debuting on the calendar in 2014, taking place at the site of the Olympic Park and Fisht Stadium on the Black Sea coast. However, for several years now, there has been talk of a move to the Igora Drive track near St. Petersburg and finally, on Saturday, the relocation was announced. “I am pleased to confirm following joint intensive work with our Russian partners and detailed assessment of Igora Drive – Formula 1 will be racing at that amazing circuit from 2023,” said F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali. “I am impressed by St Petersburg and believe that the Russian Grand Prix at Igora Drive will be an incredible event.” The new circuit opened in 2017 and is another creation by F1’s renowned architect Hermann Tilke. The full layout measures just over 4km long with 14 corners that run in an anti-clockwise direction. Igora Drive is also expected to be a more attractive venue for fans, particularly those from Finland, with the track only 150km from the border. DTM, Germany’s top touring car series, was set to be the first major motorsport category to visit the circuit last year before Covid-19 forced its cancellation. But now Igora Drive can look forward to hosting the absolute pinnacle of motorsport in just two years time.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes it would be “disingenuous” of the FIA not to investigate flexing front wings after recent footage of Mercedes’ system. The flexi-wing debate originated from comments made by seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton at the Spanish Grand Prix over a ‘limbo’ rear wing on the Red Bull. That led to the FIA immediately ordering a technical directive to clamp down on the components from last weekend’s French Grand Prix. After reviewing footage across the three weekends following the Barcelona race, Red Bull has since countered that Mercedes has a flexing front wing and it is incumbent on the FIA to regulate this part of the car in the same way. “Obviously a lot of noise was made about the rear wing,” said Horner. “New tests were introduced and the car has obviously fully complied with those rules at all times. “But it would be disingenuous of the FIA not to look at the front wing in the same way. “And of course, we’ve seen footage across recent races and obviously we’re just looking for consistency – consistency of application of the regulations that deal with the rear wing, and obviously the front wing falls into that same category. “And so the main thing we are seeking through all of this is a consistent application.”

The governing FIA issued a technical directive to teams before the weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix in Austria to clarify the rules and prevent the use of automated systems during pitstops. New controls will be enforced from the Hungarian Grand Prix in August. Championship leaders Red Bull hold the record for the quickest pitstop at 1.82 seconds and regularly manage to change all four tyres in less than two seconds – a time considerably faster than rivals Mercedes usually achieve. “If you can’t be beaten then obviously the most logical thing is for your competitors to try to slow you down, and that’s obviously what’s happening here,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told reporters at his team’s home race. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff revealed that his team had asked the FIA some three or four weeks ago about a safety mechanism related to a system they were using and asking if it could be optimised. “Did that trigger anything else? Maybe. I don´t know,” added the Austrian. Horner said teams already had a duty to ensure their cars were safe as they left the pitlane and the penalties for a wheel not being fixed were ‘brutal’. “What the technical directive is trying to achieve, I´m not quite sure because I think there´s an awful lot of complexity to it,” he said. “I think you can see there´s an awful lot of pointed activity in our direction at the moment – but that comes with the territory of being competitive.” Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is 12 points clear of Mercedes’ seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton while the team are 37 points clear in the constructors’ standings. Mercedes have had several glaringly slow pitstops, most notably when they failed to remove a jammed wheel from Valtteri Bottas’s car until the Tuesday after the Monaco Grand Prix. Horner said there had been previous discussions and directives on pitstop procedures and the latest was not well thought through. “To have to hold a car for two-tenths of a second I think you could almost argue that it is dangerous because you are judging your gaps and the guy releasing the car is having to make that judgement,” he said. “Formula 1 is about innovation and competition and seeing pit stops in sub-two seconds is a remarkable feat and we should be encouraging it, not trying to control it. “Otherwise, where does it stop? We´re going to be told which way we should walk into the garage, where we should sit on the pit wall and which buttons we should press, I guess.”

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas has been hit with a three-place grid drop for Sunday’s Styrian Grand Prix, after he span his car in the pit lane during the closing minutes of Free Practice 2. When Bottas pulled away from his designated pit stop position, he lost control of the car when he turned into the fast lane. He oversteered, spun and came to a stop across the fast lane near the McLaren pits. The Woking-based outfit’s personnel helped get the Finnish driver pointing the right way again. Speaking to the media after the afternoon practice, Bottas revealed that his team was experimenting with different setting which led to his spin.“I would be surprised if there is [any penalty]. It’s a normal mistake, it happens, but yes, I’m sure they’ll understand what happened. “I spun. We tried something different getting out from the box and yes, there were some variables to what we normally do with the wheelspin and that’s why I spun,” the Finn concluded. Although the Finn did not expect any penalties, the FIA race stewards penalized Bottas for the incident which will see the Finn earn a three-place grid drop for Sunday’s Styrian Grand Prix. During the hearing, the Nastola-born driver stated that „in the past they have been losing time in the pit departure. So they tried something new, which was to leave in second gear. As a result, the wheel spin was much higher and the result unexpected. „Therefore he didn’t manage to control the car properly into the fast lane. This has to be considered as potentially dangerous driving, especially as personnel were around in the pit lane,” read the FIA statement.