In the round-up: The organisers of the Goodwood Festival of Speed have confirmed “no serious injuries” occured following an incident in which a wheel came off a car.
In brief
“No serious injuries” after incident at Goodwood Festival
A Jaguar Mark One shed its left-rear wheel during a run at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, which began yesterday. Footage of the incident indicated the wheel cleared a straw bale and went into a spectator enclosure.
The event organisers confirmed on social media no one involved had been seriously hurt. “Following the incident on the hillclimb we’re pleased to confirm that there were no serious injuries and those involved were able to go back to enjoying the event,” they said.
In May a wheel cleared a barrier at the Indianapolis 500 following a collision between Kyle Kirkwood and Felix Rosenqvist, but no spectators were injured.
F1 street races in France and Spain rumoured
French president Emanuel Macron has shown an interest in reviving the French Grand Prix, according to Nice-Matin. The mayor of Nice told the newspaper the president had responded positively to the idea of bringing F1 back to the country.
However the preferred venue is understood to be a new street track in Nice, rather than one of France’s existing F1-grade permanent circuits.
Meanwhile the president of the Executive Committee of the Ifema convention centre in Madrid, Jose Vicente de los Mozos, has indicated it is moving closer to confirming a street circuit in the Spanish capital will host a round of the world championship. It has previously been tipped to take over the Spanish Grand Prix from the Circuit de Catalunya when its contract expires after the 2026 race, but no official announcement has yet been made.
Vergne given suspended fine for “misconduct”
Jean-Eric Vergne has been fined €3,000 (£2,564), suspended until the end of the year, following his public criticism of a penalty given to his DS Penske team at the previous Formula E round in the USA.
It is the latest in a series of similar penalties issued recently. Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner was reprimanded for describing the Monaco Grand Prix stewards as “laymen”. More bizarrely, Formula Regional European Championship team MP Motorsport were issued a suspended fine after a staff member responded to a stewards’ bulletin in a WhatsApp group using a poo emoji.
In Vergne’s case, the specific language he used was not cited by the stewards. Following a hearing with Vergne the stewards said “the driver stated that some of the written words in the press [were] not said by him.”
“He agreed that some comments he really said have not been respectful towards the stewards and also towards the FIA. He promised to try to [not] do so in the future because he has the full respect for the work of the stewards and the FIA.”
Vergne was deemed to have committed “misconduct towards officials and FIA”, and to have violated article 12.2.1 clauses (c), (f) and (k) of the International Sporting Code. These prohibit: “Any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally”, “any words, deeds or writings that have caused moral injury or loss to the FIA, its bodies, its members or its executive officers, and more generally on the interest of motor sport and on the values defended by the FIA” and “and misconduct towards” FIA members of staff and other associated parties.
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On this day in motorsport
- 50 years ago today Peter Revson won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone which was red-flagged after Jody Scheckter triggered a huge crash at Woodcote. John Watson and Jochen Mass made their debuts in the race.
