Tomáš Enge

All 10 teams are currently working flat out on their 2022 programmes and designing all-new cars to meet the demands of the biggest package of rules changes in years.<br>They are doing it against the background of a cost cap that reins in the biggest-spending teams, as well as a sliding scale of aerodynamic testing restrictions that works against the best performers. Those two factors provide a ...

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At last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, it even emerged as a thorn in the side of the world champion Mercedes team – outqualifying the German manufacturer and battling it hard in the race.<br>Its approach to making that progress has been measured too. Rather than rushing through upgrades, it appears to be taking stock of what’s going on around it: analysing the relative ...

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Following the cancellation of the Turkish GP, F1 asked Boullier to move the Paul Ricard event from its original date of June 27 to June 20, in order to make way for a second race in Austria.<br>That gave Boullier and his team some logistical headaches, and led to some spectators asking for refunds as they could no longer make the new date.<br>"It was a big problem,” Boullier told Motorsport.com ...

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Pirelli always reserves the right to make a change after Friday's running, and on this occasion it has upped the rear pressures from 19psi to 20psi.<br>The change is an extra curveball for teams who struggled to optimise tyre management on Friday, with graining proving an issue for some. Charles Leclerc and Valtteri Bottas were particularly vocal about tyre issues on team radio in FP2.<br>Teams ...

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For years, teams have followed established routines through FP1, FP2 and FP3 as they prepare both for Saturday qualifying and the Sunday race that follows. The usual rhythm is broken only when bad weather wipes out sessions.<br>A unique planned break with tradition came at Imola last year, when transport issues meant that there was no Friday track action, and a single Saturday morning practice ...

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Red Bull announced in February that it would be taking over the production of its power units from Honda at the end of the year, moving its engine operations in-house in anticipation of the next rules cycle in 2025.<br>The team has since been on a hiring spree for its engine division, including the signing of Mercedes High Performance Powertrains head of mechanical engineering Ben Hodgkinson, who ...

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The changes to the floor, brake ducts and diffuser were originally aimed at cutting downforce by 10%, although indications suggest teams have already clawed back half of that.<br>But of more intrigue in Bahrain was how the floor tweaks in particular had favoured some teams over others, with the low-rake concept cars in particular looking like they have lost more.<br>It was no wonder then that a ...

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F1 teams will operate under strict financial regulations for the first time in the series' history this year after moving to curb costs to become more sustainable.<br>In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, teams agreed to reduce the budget cap from $175 million per year to $145 million from 2021, setting the bar for the coming season.<br>While some teams operated under or around the budget cap ...

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That's the path being pursued by Alpine this year as Marcin Budkowski and newcomer Davide Brivio share responsibility for running the organisation, their jobs split, in essence, into factory and track operations.<br>Until his departure was announced in January, Cyril Abiteboul was Renault's man in the spotlight. He was expected to move into a more senior role as overall boss of Alpine Cars, having ...

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Double Formula 1 world champion Mika Häkkinen came to Artisans de Genève with a personalisation that would reflect his philosophy in life: to keep moving forward, no matter what the obstacle.<br>The result, the Mika Häkkinen Challenge, is the perfect blend of classic watchmaking traditions and the high-speed world of Formula 1.<br>“Time can be your ally or your worst enemy,” says Häkkinen ...

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There's a long established routine and rhythm to the process, but this particular off- season has required a fresh approach, and for a variety of reasons.<br>Firstly, the 2020 racing season ended so late, running until the Abu Dhabi finale on December 13. In addition, all teams are having to work around tight COVID-19 restrictions in their factories.<br>Then there's a significant change to the ...

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The German car manufacturer is coming off the back of seven consecutive F1 title doubles, and is favourite for the campaign ahead with teams carrying over their cars for a second season.<br>But Wolff says that the difficulties of a cost cap, allied to the headache of preparing all new cars for 2021, means that his team is bracing itself for a tough time.<br>"For us, it will be an interesting year ...

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Magnussen finished second in his very first F1 race at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix after being handed a McLaren drive following his title victory in Formula Renault 3.5 the previous year.<br>But the Dane was unable to better that result during spells with Renault and Haas through the remainder of his F1 career, only recording a next-best finish of fifth.<br>Magnussen made what he expects to be ...

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Sainz has joined Ferrari ahead of the 2021 season after being signed as four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel's replacement back in May.<br>The Spaniard will partner Charles Leclerc at the Italian team, and joins off the back of two impressive years for McLaren that saw him help lift the team up to third in the constructors' championship.<br>But Sainz will have only a narrow window to get up ...

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But as Valtteri Bottas was left licking his wounds after being outpaced by Mercedes debutant Russell, the Finn also had his race ruined by some awful luck.<br>It was the latest in a long line of unlucky moments for Bottas in 2020. Although they may not have been enough to turn the tide in the F1 title race against Lewis Hamilton, it would certainly put his season in a different light.<br>So where ...

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Renault has successfully lobbied the FIA for Alonso to be allowed to take part in what was originally agreed to be a test solely for young drivers.<br>The one-off rule defining the test, introduced as part of cost-saving measures at the height of the lockdown earlier in the year, reads that drivers “must be in possession of an International A Licence; and unless otherwise approved by the ...

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In the video above, Allison also gives some intriguing insight into the issues the team faced at the Portuguese GP, where Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas struggled for pace in the opening laps, and were initially left behind by McLaren’s Carlos Sainz.<br>Allison conceded that it was “pretty dicey” for the Mercedes drivers at the start of the race, although it came good in the end, with ...

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Portimao was used for F1 testing in the winter of 2008/09, and the teams have not returned since, although Mercedes ran a two-year-old W06 there on demo tyres for George Russell and Nicholas Latifi in April 2017.<br>The resurfacing also creates an extra challenge for Pirelli, as the Italian company now has to prepare for the four European venues that have been added to the 2020 calendar, with ...

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Binotto said ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix that while Vettel's was Ferrari's first choice, the pandemic led the Maranello squad to change its preferences.<br>"I think the virus and pandemic situation, which changed the entire world, not only our motorsport, our F1," he said.<br>"The budget cap has been changed by quite a lot, and is a lot more strict, the regulations have been postponed from ...

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<br>No team other than Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull has won an F1 race since the turbo hybrid era began in 2014, with an unofficial ‘Class A/B’ divide coming into effect over the ensuing six campaigns.<br>But the new $145m cost cap rule, which will come into effect from 2021 and reduce further over the following two seasons to $135m for 2023-2025, as well as other measures such as restricted ...

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As teams gear up for the first race of the F1 season at the Austrian Grand Prix next weekend, a number of outfits have already run private tests to try to get used to a new way of working.<br>Although all competitors are braced for logistical difficulties and work to take longer because of social distancing requirements, Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies says it is adjusting to life with a ...

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An eight-race European calendar has so far been confirmed following the coronavirus pandemic which will take place across 10 weekends with potentially more races - either as flyaways and/or again in Europe - also added later in the year.<br>Norris believes that while drivers will get up to speed with their machines within a handful of laps, the forces being placed on their bodies again could prove ...

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On Monday there was formal confirmation from Chase Carey that the intention is to begin with a behind closed doors race in Austria, but after that, everything remains vague.<br>All fans really gleaned from Carey's statement is that the intention is to run from July to December in Europe, Eurasia (which in F1 terms covers Azerbaijan and Russia), Asia, the Americas and the Middle East.<br>Apart from ...

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Ferrari was at the centre of controversy earlier this year when it was announced that it had reached a private agreement with the FIA to formally conclude an investigation into the legality of its engine.<br>The deal was struck because the FIA did not want a lengthy court case over the matter, having been unable to prove Ferrari broke the rules with the Italian outfit adamant it had been legal at ...

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<br>With teams having unanimously rejected a 2020 prototype tyre following a test in Abu Dhabi last year, the decision was made to stick with the 2019 construction and compounds.<br>While that means teams are in a unique situation of having the same tyres for a second year, Racing Point’s technical director says changes to the tyre pressures required to cope with the increase in car ...

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