In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton rubbished plans to add air conditioning to Formula 1 cars after reports claimed the FIA is considering a trial.
In brief
No need for air conditioning in F1 – Hamilton
Formula 1 introduced new rules allowing teams to add air scoops to aid driver cooling this year after some suffered in high temperatures in the Qatar Grand Prix. But Hamilton was dismissive of reports the FIA is considering whether to require teams to fit air conditioning.
“It’s not needed,” he said. “This is Formula 1, it’s always been like this. It’s tough in these conditions and we’re highly-paid athletes.
“You’ve got to train your ass off to make sure you can withstand the heat, ultimately. And it’s tough. It’s not easy, especially when you go to places like Qatar and Singapore. But I don’t think we need an AC unit in the car.”
Vandoorne to test current F1 car
Stoffel Vandoorne will have his first test in a 2024 specification Formula 1 car for Aston Martin next week. The team’s reserve driver will run their AMR24 in a two-day tyre test for Pirelli at Spa-Francorchamps on Tuesday and Wednesday.Herta eyes title bid after win
Colton Herta says his first IndyCar win for two years could act as a springboard for a shot at the championship. He lies 57 points behind leader Alex Palou with five races remaining.
“In testing we were quite a bit better than Alex at Milwaukee,” said Herta. “That’s not to say that they’re not going to find more speed when we go back. That’s a big points weekend. That’s basically double points with two races there.
“We’ve had success at Portland, we were on to win there last year until we got a speeding penalty. We’ve had really good cars at Gateway, qualified second there.
“There’s a lot of tracks that we’ve had success at in the past coming up. I have never put my head down and said the championship is over at any point just because you never know in IndyCar.
“It will take a little bit of help. He might need to have a few heartbreaks here and there. But we’ve been gaining points on him, so hopefully that can continue.”
Formula Regional Americas championship leader may have to quit
Ryan Shehan, who is leading the Formula Regional Americas championship after 11 races of 20, may be forced to miss the remainder of the season due to a lack of budget. The 19-year-old who has won four times this year says he may have to look elsewhere to continue his career.
“We clearly are not happy about the budget situation and would prefer to finish the season and fight for the championship, but we will pivot our strategy to racing in 2025 in England or Europe,” he said.
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'Like Lando I'm conflicted here. I managed a driver, at McLaren funnily enough, who was absolutely duped into handing over a race victory, not that this was the case on Sunday.'
Alpine engine updates 'on the way' after Le Mans failures (Sportscar 365)
'We have reacted, and we will bring some improvements and updates in the future to avoid any more trouble. It’s on the way but I don’t know clearly at the moment (when they will arrive).'
Ferrari CEO: E-fuels are 'way forward' for ICE supercars (Autocar)
'Vigna believes carbon-neutral fuel will 'become more and more a reality'. He said: “We are working with partners for 2026 for carbon-neutral fuel in Formula 1 (as part of new technical rules) and usually technologies start out on the track and migrate to the road.'
80-year-old granny drives F1 car - world record (Belgian Motorsport via YouTube)
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Who was @alo_oficial's race engineer that day?
Andrea Stella, now team principal at @McLarenF1…#F1 #HungarianGP #RaceFans pic.twitter.com/Y1eiAWIuIu
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Comment of the day
@Black assesses McLaren and Norris’ championship chances:
Norris is 76 points behind Verstappen with 11 rounds to go. It is not impossible to mount a challenge, but highly improbable, due to the fact that Norris is fighting at the front for the first time and he’s making mistakes here and there (Silverstone’s strategy, Austria’s clash which could have been avoided, etc…), while having the fastest car at them moment. Even in Hungary, he started from pole well and his main concern was to squeeze his teammate and not cover Verstappen completely, resulting in yet another poor start from pole.
Max and Red Bull on the other hand most of the times, even when the don’t have the fastest car, they manage to come out in front (Canada, Spain, Britain). Beating him to the drivers’ championship would require Norris to seriously up his game and not make silly mistakes for any of the remaining races this season. And even then it’s going to be tight.
The constructors’ championship though is definitely within reach for McLaren. They are only 51 points behind a team with only one points-scoring driver and they cut the difference by 26 points last time.
If McLaren wants to take that fight though, they need a driver duo that works well with each other and don’t make silly mistakes. Piastri on Sunday beat Norris at the start and lost the first place only because of the team’s strategy – Norris couldn’t pass him. If McLaren denied Piastri that deserving 1st win, then the next time they would be together at the front, maybe they be less civil about it (maybe Norris would consider himself the star of the team and Piastri would be more inpatient to get his 1st win) and result into a ‘Turkey 2010’ situation. Norris is not the absolute star driver of a team (like Max or Lewis during his dominating years), he needs the team and his team mate if he wants to win the drivers’ championship one day.
@Black
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Karan and Younger Hamii!
On this day in motorsport
- 25 years ago today Mika Hakkinen claimed pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
24th July 2024, 0:33
Why not aircon?
And a massage seat, satnav (just to make sure you get the pit entries and exits right), and a hot dog kiosk at the end of the pits.
Christine Beckers seemed to be getting some pace in that Arrows as she got more comfortable (At least on the straights). Very cool
MoogleSlam
24th July 2024, 0:45
Another key feature they should add is making the glovebox keep food cold!
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
24th July 2024, 0:59
I thought they already had some sort of Sat-Nav system on board so the team could keep a track of where the car was on the track.
Nick T.
24th July 2024, 2:18
He was saying SatNav screen to make sure they didn’t miss the pits. lol. They can see in the pitlane, but I don’t think the driver has a track map.
Nick T.
24th July 2024, 2:13
And bumper lanes on the outside of the track cause F1 isn’t soft enough already.
Glennb
24th July 2024, 6:33
An cig lighter and ash tray would be a nice addition.
notagrumpyfan
24th July 2024, 9:05
adaptive cruise control?
And please please please multi-colour ambient led lights.
Mayrton
24th July 2024, 12:29
We already had adaptive cruise control during 2014-2020
Jezson
24th July 2024, 10:04
Don’t forget a cup holder.
Jungle
24th July 2024, 10:36
“Box box Max”
“I want softs and a raspberry slushy.”
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
24th July 2024, 11:31
How has the line crossing warning with haptic in the steering wheel been left out?
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
24th July 2024, 0:47
I hope Stoffel produces very competitive lap times for Aston Martin and Pirelli. Of course, if he does then I guess no one will notice.
Nick T.
24th July 2024, 2:16
I always liked Stoffel. It’d be amusing and oddly fateful he came back as Fernando’s teammate. Even if Lance became the world’s greatest driver, I can’t really stand the sight of his face.
Coventry Climax
24th July 2024, 1:25
Looking at that track; not sure it was Madame Beckers, as we only get to see her driving with the mess already there, but some granny apparently forgot their incontinence pad.
Jazz (@jazz)
24th July 2024, 8:30
Looking at the timing sheet for that lap, I suspect they swapped out Christine for Lance $troll behind the scenes. Christine was the much better option.
AlanD
24th July 2024, 3:38
If they allow air con in the cars, what’s the betting that one team will use it as an excuse to such air into the cockpit from underneath the car whenever it is going round corners.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
24th July 2024, 6:24
Or mounting the air con unit, complete with fan, on the back of the car…
Nick T.
24th July 2024, 5:12
There’s much bigger news, which is that is sounds all but official Newey is going to Aston Martin.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
24th July 2024, 5:50
Really, oh. For all the years Adrian has been in F1, he’s managed to swerve around characters like Bernie, Ron, Flavio, Patrick etc and seems happiest when left alone and not politicking. I doubt at this stage of his career moving to Silverstone is financially motivated. To me it looks like a symptom of whatever behind the scenes at Red Bull looks like right now (I imagine the protagonists at Milton Keynes think of it as Star Wars saga, when it’s probably more like Grange Hill).
If Lance ends up with Newey designing his cars, that kid has life set on story mode.
Nick T.
24th July 2024, 7:13
Well, his RBR departure was set it stone. It sounds like Ferrari was his preferred destination (for a lot less money), but rejected his demand of $10 per year (sounds modest) and they hire 20 engineers of his choice. It seems like second part was the issue. Reportedly, his contract with AM is $25m per year. But who knows.
BTW, how ironic will it be if Alonso gets his first truly competitive car since 2007 in 2026 not too far from the age of 50. It’d be a great bookend to an amazing start filled with a few decades of driving crap in between. Even more ironic would be if Newey gets the design right and the Honda engine is a complete disaster. lmao
MacLeod (@macleod)
24th July 2024, 8:31
The Honda Engine is a strong one so the 2026 will be not weaker…
Nick T.
24th July 2024, 16:21
Aren’t the new PUs going to be much different though? Seems like battery tech and fuels will be the big differentiator
Jere (@jerejj)
24th July 2024, 7:00
So the cooling aid addition was only voluntary in the first place.
I’m surprised Vandoorne keeps having the reserve driver role year after year despite losing his chance of returning to a full-time drive a while ago.
He’d be better off focusing solely on other racing as he’s been away from F1 racing too long for someone who hasn’t achieved anything in the series nor even has vast experience like Hulkenberg who was away from a full-time drive for three seasons.
That role has simply become redundant over time, although this is equally true for Drugovich, the more time passes since his F2 championship.
Stella being a race engineer at the time is a good coincidence.
I couldn’t agree more with the COTD.
While the 7-point loss could prove decisive for the championship outcome, the likelihood of this is low.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
24th July 2024, 7:32
How on earth would aircon even function? It needs a sealed environment to work correctly and effectively.
MacLeod (@macleod)
24th July 2024, 8:06
They would close off the cockpit as they were planned todo that anyway……
notagrumpyfan
24th July 2024, 9:09
As the main complaints came from the middle east races, I guess they will go for an airconditioned venue, like the new football stadiums in Qatar or the indoor ski slope in Dubai.
Jere (@jerejj)
24th July 2024, 14:08
notagrumpyfan Only the last Qatar GP, as no other Middle East GP has featured similar driving conditions, except for the 2005 Bahrain GP.
Singapore GPs, on the other hand, are always more or less like the last Qatar GP, as were Malaysian GPs.
LosD (@losd)
24th July 2024, 13:19
A driver suit is probably a perfectly fine sealed environment.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
24th July 2024, 17:31
Although you would need to have a vent in your suit with pipework connected to an external unit to function as airconditioning.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
24th July 2024, 10:09
I bet Lewis wouldn’t mind a massive set of speakers in the back though, so he could blast the crowd with his own tunes as he went round ;)
BLS (@brightlampshade)
24th July 2024, 10:12
you mean “the best crowd”
Jungle
24th July 2024, 10:51
“So Lewis we are now thinking plan B?”
“Hang on Bono I love this song man.”
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
24th July 2024, 10:29
pretty soon they will be using cruise control for the corners, and 5 years after that people will be placing bets on which wad of heuristics can more effectively manage it’s tires and optimize battery life.
Chris Horton
24th July 2024, 10:40
Oh right yeah, air con.
Right after the announcement to marginally reduce the weight of these bloated cars, the FIA announce the addition of a heavy unnecessary feature.
Also, the cockpit is open. Just saying.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
24th July 2024, 12:16
AC outdoors?
How about ashtrays in MotoGP?
Asd
24th July 2024, 19:35
The onslaught of ridicule against AC in the cars is downright silly. Those cars get super hot, just give those drivers the damn AC. Not sweating like a pig doesn’t take away from anything. /And yes I know, pigs do not sweat./
Is getting hot part of the drivers heroic ethos? LOL, stop with that nonsense.
I can imagine all you silly people reacting to the introduction of water bottles into the cockpit back whenever those were introduced:
– What?!? Drinking inside a car? How about they get served a 3-course meal as well, huh?!?
– Water during a race?!? Maybe ice-cream during pit-stops too?!?
VengeVega
24th July 2024, 23:00
Sweat for my amusement while I sit on my couch in my air conditioned house! Back in my day…..