Paddy Driver

F1 has a new mandatory helmet standard for 2019 following years of work from the FIA that included extensive military ballistic testing in a bid to further improve driver head protection.<br>All four current F1 helmet suppliers – Stilo, Bell Racing, Schuberth and Arai – were involved in the research and development phase for the new 8860-2018 standard.<br>However, Arai has only passed part of ...

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By user freddie.coates on Motorsport Fans<br>The Red Bull Junior Programme is split between 3 drivers. The one they like doesn’t have a Toro Rosso seat. <br>Daniil Kvyat fell foul of the ruthlessness in the Red Bull Programme in 2016. In 2014, he was fast tracked into Formula 1 and had a good first season with Toro Rosso. He did everything he should, highlights being breaking the record for ...

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Hartley was axed by Red Bull after just one full season in F1, a move he recently claimed was the result of a plan that began during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend early in the year.<br>The Le Mans 24 Hours winner and World Endurance champion had not communicated any 2019 plans so far but has now been confirmed as part of Ferrari's development team.<br>Ferrari needed to replace two key simulator ...

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It is common for modern racing drivers to seek professional help with their physical preparation and conditioning, through the likes of personal trainers and nutritionists.<br>Stewart, who has long been an advocate of the benefits of coaching behind the wheel and mentally, believes modern F1 drivers are not making the most of other avenues of support.<br>He told Motorsport.com that using coaches ...

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Red Bull junior Gasly made his full-time F1 debut in 2018 with Toro Rosso having contested five races with the team at the end of the previous season, ending the campaign 15th overall with 29 points and a best finish of fourth in Bahrain.<br>The Frenchman has been promoted to Red Bull for '19 as the Renault-bound Daniel Ricciardo's replacement alongside multiple race winner Verstappen.<br>"For ...

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<br><br><br><br><br>Grand Prix<br>Driver of the Day<br><br><br> Australia<br>  Fernando Alonso<br><br><br> Bahrain<br>  Pierre Gasly<br><br><br> China<br>  Daniel Ricciardo<br><br><br> Azerbaijan<br>  Charles Leclerc<br><br><br> Spain<br>  Lewis Hamilton<br><br><br> Monaco<br>  Daniel Ricciardo<br><br><br> Canada<br>  Sebastian Vettel<br><br><br> France<br>  Sebastian ...

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Delightful company out of the cockpit, but hard-as-nails inside it – and prone to his fair share of huge shunts! – I’ve known Mario since his British Formula Ford days of 1995. While he’s still the amiable character he always was, his life is very different these days, but that steely determination remains.<br>Mario now dedicates his life to saving jaguars via a remarkable project linked ...

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Bottas failed to win a race in 2018 while Hamilton equalled a personal-best 11 victories on his way to a fifth title. Mercedes asked Bottas to give up one victory, in Russia, to aid Hamilton’s title push and he also lost another likely win in Azerbaijan because of a late puncture. Wolff has defended Bottas’s record this season given the number-two role he was forced into by circumstance ...

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Latifi had a development role with Force India this season that involved three days of testing with the team and some Friday practice running. The Canadian, who finished ninth in F2 after struggling to adapt to the new car, will have an enhanced role with Williams. His switch to the team was expected following Force India's reincarnation as a new entry backed by a consortium led by Lance ...

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Hamilton won his fifth Formula 1 world championship this season, beating Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to the crown with a commanding performance in the second half of the season to equal Juan Manuel Fangio's tally of titles. He won 11 of 21 races - equalling his personal-best season haul from 2014 - during a campaign in which Hamilton and his Mercedes team faced their sternest challenge from ...

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Ocon has lost his Racing Point Force India seat to Lance Stroll as part of the changes triggered by Stroll's father Lawrence leading the consortium that rescued the team. Efforts by long-time backer Mercedes to place Ocon at other F1 teams including Renault, McLaren and Williams all failed, with Williams's announcement of Robert Kubica as its second 2019 driver on Thursday closing the final ...

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As reported by Motorsport.com, the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix winner will partner George Russell at Williams in 2019 and end an absence from the F1 grid of more than eight years. Kubica has not raced in F1 since the 2010 season finale, having suffered severe injuries to his right arm in a rally crash in early '11. Securing a 2019 drive means Kubica completes a stunning comeback from the ...

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Sauber has not previously had a defined junior operation but has established close ties to Ferrari, having handed Charles Leclerc his Formula 1 debut this season. Charouz entered Formula 2 in 2018, having moved over from the Formula V8 3.5 series, and next year will participate in Formula 3, which replaces GP3 on the Formula 1 support bill. Charouz also competes in ADAC and Italian Formula 4 ...

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Ericsson was announced as Sauber's reserve when Antonio Giovinazzi was confirmed as a race driver last month, but he has subsequently landed an IndyCar seat with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. There are eight clashes between the F1 and IndyCar schedules in 2019, and other weekends where it would make little sense for Ericsson to travel to a grand prix just be on standby. However, he would be ...

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The gathering had been widely expected to focus on the drivers’ misgivings about the current generation of Pirelli tyres. The sensitivity of the compounds has resulted in a tendency for races to be dictated by tyre management, narrowing strategic choices and forcing drivers to run slower than they would prefer. But in the event, the meeting – held immediately after the ...

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Fittipaldi was in talks to test for Haas earlier this year before suffering a crash in the build-up to the Spa World Endurance Championship round that left him with a broken leg. The Brazilian, 22, has now been confirmed as Haas's official test driver for 2019 and will begin that relationship by taking part in the opening day of the Pirelli tyre test after this year's Abu Dhabi Grand ...

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An increased reliance on tyre management, plus an ever-widening gulf between the top three teams and the rest of the field, has prompted drivers to get together and work out if they need to step in to try to improve things. Daniel Ricciardo said that while the latest tyres allowed drivers to push harder in certain circumstances, the need to look after rubber to minimise pitstops meant that ...

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Hamilton wants to help aspiring racing drivers who are taken out of school in pursuit of a career as a driver and then have little to fall back on if they do not succeed. The Mercedes driver said he is aware of the impression F1 stars can make on young children because he sees the same "sparkle" in the eyes of those he encounters as he had as a youngster meeting David Coulthard and Mika ...

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Magnussen escaped sanction for a clash with Charles Leclerc at the Japanese Grand Prix when he was defending against the Sauber. But FIA F1 race director Charlie Whiting later revised his opinion and said on reflection the Haas driver had moved across too late. Magnussen said he also now accepted he had been in the wrong. But he argued that current mirror positions mean he could not have ...

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Hamilton and Alonso endured an intense season as McLaren teammates in 2007, with their sometimes fractious relationship creating internal friction at the outfit. They are viewed as the team leading drivers of their generation but Alonso's career path with Renault and Ferrari after McLaren meant the pair would never enjoy a season-long fight for the title again. Hamilton says the fact that ...

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Leigh, who came into the event with a healthy points lead having won two of the opening three races of the season, took a controversial victory in the first race of the day at Paul Ricard. Polesitter Leigh was locked in a tense wheel-to-wheel fight with Frederik Rasmussen in the second half of the race, with Leigh forcing Rasmussen off the track at the Turn 11 hairpin on the penultimate lap of ...

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The subject was discussed in the Friday drivers’ briefing ahead of the United States Grand Prix in the context of a discussion over Kevin Magnussen’s controversial defensive move on Charles Leclerc in the Japanese GP. It was acknowledged that the current mirrors have limited rear visibility, with one concern that it is difficult to judge closing speeds of a following car - particularly when ...

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Pierre Gasly gave F1's camera glasses their first race weekend trial in Monaco before Romain Grosjean wore them for an installation lap on Friday in Canada. The arms of the glasses contained electronics that made them bulky and meant they fitted poorly inside a helmet and were painful to wear. Motorsport.com has learned that F1 wanted to move away from this to satisfy the FIA's safety ...

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