RED BULL SETS OUT ITS STALL
Formula 1 returned with a bang in Bahrain and it seems like it will be a genuinely competitive season. Max Verstappen might not have quite been able to dominate in the desert, but he and the Red Bull team gave it a mighty good try. The portents for 2021 look mouth-watering. Verstappen’s decision – although prompted by a call from race control – to hand back the hard-won lead with four laps to go showed a great deal of maturity.
So often it has been the case where instructions like that have been ignored, the cars have crossed the line in the order they were on track and the arguments are then played out in the officials’ room afterwards. That would have been a highly unsatisfactory end to what had been a firecracker of a race.
But Max gave the place back and swallowed his pride, and grand prix racing was better for it. Given the pace shown by the Hondapowered car, his chance will come later on this year. Hamilton is going to have a fight on his hands to maintain top spot, and that is exactly what grand prix motor racing needs after years of a silver steamroller from Mercedes. This could be the dawn of a bright new era with two supremely talented drivers going toe-to-toe for top spot. Bring it on.
While the Formula 1 circus congregated in the desert, one of the notable absentees from the paddock was commentator Ben Edwards. Instead of rushing around and getting the latest gossip, he instead spent his time answering the Motorsport News readers’ questions. He offers a fascinating insight into his life behind the microphone and his battle to reach the top, which almost perfectly mirrors the struggles he would have had should his single-seater racing career have continued.
Elsewhere in this issue, we couldn’t help but have a sideways look at some of motor racing’s more whacky ideas – after all, this issue date is April 1. That isn’t a prank, but some of the innovations that organisers, designers and team bosses came up with might have been thought of as such when they first emerged. We pick out eight of our favourites which actually came to fruition.
Luke Barry looks at the shift away from running World Rally Cars in the UK and the increasing desire to run the more up-to-date R5 machines. Not only that, the global scene is changing too with a new FIA pyramid of progression, and Graham Lister guides us through the new-look structure