In the round-up: Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack says he is looking forward to seeing how close Aston Martin are to Red Bull around some more conventional European circuits
In brief
Krack eager to see Red Bull’s “true strength”
After many races around temporary and street circuits, Mike Krack says he is looking forward to how Aston Martin compares to Red Bull over the coming European races.
Aston Martin have typically been closest to Red Bull around street circuits or circuits with tight corners, like Jeddah, Monaco and Montreal. After being slower than Mercedes at the last permanent circuit in Spain, Krack says he has no concerns about his team’s potential performance over the upcoming rounds.
“No, I’m not concerned, because I think we have seen the latest upgrades have seemed to work,” he said. “There is some tracks coming now where you have a lot of high-speed corners, and I think we improved our car in high-speed corners, which we have maybe not so many [in Montreal].
“So, actually, we’re looking forward to them. Because in such circuits I think we will also see the true strength of the Red Bull, and also it means we have a better indication of how far we are away.”
Buhler sets pace in F1 Academy practice
ART driver Lena Buhler was the quickest driver during practice day for this weekend’s F1 Academy round at Zandvoort.
Buhler, who sits third in the series championship after the first three rounds, set a best time of 1’36.689 around the Dutch circuit, three tenths of a second faster than Carlin’s Jessica Edgar.
Qualifying for this weekend’s three races will take place this morning, ahead of race one later this afternoon and the final two races tomorrow. Marta Garcia holds a 41 point lead at the top of the drivers’ standings over Hamda Al Qubaisi.
Hinchcliffe returns to racing
Former IndyCar driver turned commentator James Hinchcliffe has returned to racing for the first time since stepping away from IndyCar at the end of 2021.
The six-time IndyCar race winner stepped away from the series after the season-ending Grand Prix of Long Beach and has not raced in any competitive capacity since.
Yesterday he raced for the first time in the seventh round of the North American Mazda MX-5 series at Watkins Glen, starting in seventh on the grid and finishing in sixth. At second race at the New York circuit takes place later today.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
International Women in Engineering Day (AlphaTauri)
‘Why is such an initiative needed? Well, figures show that women are still under-represented in this field. The world of motorsport in general and its engineering roles in particular have historically been a predominantly male preserve. However, through its policy of diversity and inclusion, the number of women working at Scuderia AlphaTauri is increasing year by year.’
The epic F1 title battle we’re missing due to Red Bull’s dominance (Motor Sport)
‘The Melbourne crash-fest, red flags and safety cars, saw a thrilling Hamilton-Alonso showdown, with Hamilton just holding off the Aston as the race was called. Pole-setting Russell had led the early going but retired with a PU failure. Three races, three different winners.’
‘The cyclists, accompanied by two support vans, will travel through France and Switzerland and 50,000 ft up into The Alps before arriving at The Red Bull Racing Factory in time to watch a weekend of F1 racing, on July 1.’
Ayumu Iwasa: The racer to his core on a quest for perfection (Formula 2)
‘There was one very good moment, it was on a deserted car park, and I was drifting all the way around it and I remember it was very fun. From that moment, I started to race when I was five. Honestly, I don’t think my parents wanted me to race because you have to spend quite a lot of money and it was dangerous, they knew that, but I really enjoyed driving. I loved cars before I drove in karting, so I really wanted to continue with racing, and I didn’t have any idea what I’d do without racing. I just wanted to drive a car, anything really, whenever I drove was an amazing moment, so that’s why I kept continuing to do it.”
US Poses Unique Challenges to Formula E Schedule Makers (Autoweek)
Jean-Eric Vergne: ”Look at how Formula 1 is at the moment. I think Americans started to love Formula 1, thanks to Netflix. It’s important to go and race on American soil,”We’ve been racing in New York City for many years now. We’re going to race in Portland, and I hope that next year we can race also in a bigger city such as Los Angeles, where it’s quite a big city for electric cars.”
FIA launches Technical Regulations for Electric Sport Vehicle (FIA)
‘The FIA ESV ruleset, approved by FIA World Motor Sport Council this week, is designed to allow affordable, entry-level electric racing in compliance with the FIA’s standards for high-voltage safety. The regulations cover both technology and safety, with performance management also an option depending on competition requirements.’
Welcome To Final Fantasy XVI Trailer (PlayStation via YouTube)
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly features in an advert for the newly released Final Fantasy XVI.
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Happy birthday to Andrew Smith, Daniel and Inc0Mmunicado!
