Extra race turned down
NEXT YEAR: F1 CHIEF DISCUSSES ADDING A 23RD RACE TO THE 2020 SCHEDULE
Additional costs of power units and staff apparently deter teams.
The final laps of last Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix were certainly exciting as the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton hunted down the Red Bull of first-time pole sitter Max Verstappen.
The Englishman finally passed the Dutchman at the end of lap 66 as they headed for turn one.
The call for Hamilton to pit at the end of lap 48 concerned the Mercedes driver, but it would pay dividends at the finish, when he apologised for doubting the team’s strategy call.
That tyre change put him 20 seconds behind Verstappen, but the fresh rubber allowed Hamilton to rapidly reduce the gap.
Verstappen had requested a tyre change just after Hamilton’s, but was informed it would have brought him out behind the Mercedes.
One must wonder if new tyres would have given him a chance to retake the lead, but with Hamilton on form, it was unlikely.
However it did allow Verstappen to pick up a point for the quickest lap.
Unfortunately the event was
best described as a two-horse race.
Third and fourth were the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc, both trailing Verstappen by over a minute. In fact, they were both within less than 20 seconds of being lapped by the leading pair.
It is incredible when you look at the results and realise that from position five no fewer than 10 drivers had been lapped, four more were two laps down and one driver, three laps behind.
How the powers that be envisage eliminating that sort of result is beyond me.
Formula One chief Chase Carey met with all the team bosses last Saturday to discuss the addition of an extra race for a total of 23 in 2020, the highest in a season.
One of the issues was the extra cost if the number of power units were to be increased and amazingly, there was agreement that the quantity would remain the same as this season.
Toto Wolff of Mercedes was reported as saying: “In a nutshell we basically agreed to have a 22nd race. We must let Liberty do their business and their business is to grow F1.
“If they are able to attract promoters, we must support them. So we shouldn’t change the technical regulations because we have an extra race.”
One must hope all the power unit suppliers are confident that an extra race would not create a situation of possible mechanical failure. After all, such performance engines are engineered to provide maximum output for a limited amount of time.
More importantly Wolff discussed the personnel situation: “But equally we must protect our people, because it could get to a point where it is not manageable with one single crew.
“That becomes a factor that needs a solution.”
Operating a second crew would amount to a significant sum of money, but would be essential to protect the health and social relationships of those hard-working members of a team who spend a lot of time away from home.
I was surprised to read comments after the very wet German Grand Prix. Some called it the best race of the new era, and in my book it was exciting as a spectacle, but not as a race.
But comments from F1 managing director Ross Brawn, in his “media pass” column were interesting.
He wrote: “The German Grand Prix was incredibly exciting, from first lap to last. It had everything, overtaking, mistakes, less-thanperfect strategies, immense bravery, crashes and a top-10 order no one could have predicted.”
Agreed, but he went on to write: “...intermittent rain really made the spectacle, but it can’t be denied that for different reasons, all three recent races have been hugely entertaining.
“It is the best possible response to the unfortunate criticism the sport received after the French Grand Prix, some of it surprisingly vitriolic.”
I do not agree that the three recent races were hugely entertaining. I must be missing something.
He also writes: “But I think it is fair to say over half of this year’s races have been anything but boring, despite the dominance of Mercedes who have simply done a better job than any of their rivals.”
He concludes: “Not every race can be at this level, but there are enough to make this the greatest motorsport series in the world.”
Germany obviously was enjoyed by Brawn and he acknowledges the influence of the rain.
Perhaps Bernie Ecclestone wasn’t so crazy when a few years ago he proposed using sprinklers to wet tracks in certain corners to increase the excitement.
Just joking...