In the round-up: Ferrari honour their ‘young driver’ free practice committment by running Robert Shwartzman at Zandvoort.
In brief
Shwartzman to make third F1 practice appearance this weekend
Ferrari have confirmed that their reserve driver Robert Shwartzman will take the place of Carlos Sainz Jnr in the first practice session at this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.
Shwartzman was previously a Ferrari junior, and after coming second in the Formula 2 championship in 2021 he served as Ferrari’s test driver last year. That included driving in FP1 at the United States and Abu Dhabi grands prix, as each Formula 1 team was obliged to run a ‘young driver’ in two practice sessions over the year.
That rule remains in place for 2023, and Shwartzman is set to be Ferrari’s nominated driver for both of the required sessions this season.
“Robert will do Zandvoort in Carlos [Sainz]’s car, and he will do another one – probably Abu Dhabi – in the Charles [Leclerc] car,” revealed Ferrari’s team principal Frederic Vasseur to media including RaceFans, explaining that it was Sainz’s choice of circuit for giving up his car.
“I know that it’s not an easy situation, but Carlos was very direct. It’s not so easy to decide because for sure you can’t do it in Singapore, in Japan, in Las Vegas, and also you have some sprint events in Austin, Qatar and so that you can do it. Then you have the races with the tyre allocation a bit different. It’s also tricky to do it. But it means that at the end of the day you don’t have so many options.”
Alonso thought he could match Schumacher when he arrived in F1
Michael Schumacher was already a three-times F1 world champion by the time Fernando Alonso debuted in 2001, but the then-19-year-old rookie knew he had what it takes to beat the benchmark driver of the time.
“When I got to F1, Michael was dominating the sport. But I never thought that I was slower than him, in a way,” Alonso said on Jake Humphrey’s High Performance podcast. “Maybe it was just a kamikaze approach to F1 and to start of my career, but I never doubt that having the same car maybe I could challenge him one day. So that’s how all my career went so far.”
Alonso was already fighting Schumacher for wins by his second F1 season, and left him in its wake in 2005 and 2006 as he won the title and ended Schumacher’s five-tear unbeaten run.
Brabham makes another Indy Nxt comeback
Matthew Brabham, grandson of three-times F1 world champion Jack, will drive for Juncos Hollinger Racing in Indy Nxt at the Gateway oval this weekend.
The Stadium Super Trucks star first raced in Indy Nxt in 2014 with Andretti Autosport, and following that was briefly promoted into its Formula E team. He then returned to Indy Nxt for the first two rounds of 2015, and eventually earned an IndyCar debut a year later.
But his time in single-seater’s top tier was once again short-lived, only getting two races apiece in FE and IndyCar, and last year he was back on the Indy Nxt grid with Andretti. He won two races and came third in the standings, but no options presented themselves for 2023 so he returned to trucks.
However last month Juncos called him up as an Indy Nxt stand-in at Iowa Speedway, and then Cape Motorsports did the same in Nashville. Now Juncos has summoned him again for another outing.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Newgarden, Vanthoor join expanded Porsche lineup for Petit Le Mans (Racer)
‘Two-time IndyCar champion and 2023 Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden will make his GTP debut at Petit Le Mans on October 11-14 driving for Porsche Penske Motorsport. Newgarden, who raced in the LMP2 class at the Daytona 24 Hours earlier this year, will race alongside Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche 963 at the IMSA season finale at Road Atlanta, a month after the conclusion of this year’s IndyCar campaign.’
Steiner highlights issues behind Haas infrastructure split (Speedcafe)
‘Haas team principal Guenther Steiner feels the team’s infrastructure split is playing its part in the on-track difficulties this year. Since Haas entered F1 it has always operated out of different bases, with its administrative headquarters in the USA, and with a factory in the UK. In early 2022, Haas added a third facility by taking up an opportunity from power unit supplier Ferrari to house its aerodynamic and design team in Italy.’
F4 CEZ aims to double its grid size in 2024, and to race at Oschersleben (Formula Scout)
‘The Oschersleben season opener is dependent on approval from the German federation (with this year’s planned round there falling foul of a change in the FIA Sporting Code prohibiting zonal championships from racing outside their region), and the Hungaroring’s place is in doubt due to planned paddock reconstruction work. Hungary’s new Balaton Park circuit should feature.’
Johnson to make USF Pro 2000 debut with VRD at COTA (USF Pro 2000)
‘Nikita Johnson, who has already won this season in USF2000 and won twice just under a year ago in USF Juniors at Circuit of The Americas, will step up to USF Pro 2000 this weekend at the venue of the United States Grand Prix.’
F1 releases race and road closures schedule for Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend (Fox 5)
‘F1 on Monday released a schedule breakdown for the races that are set to take place as part of the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November.’
2023 Dutch Grand Prix – Preview (Alfa Romeo Racing)
”In Zandvoort we will have a lot of special activities we cannot wait to unveil. Our focus, however, remains firmly on track and on the target we have set for ourselves, to finish ahead of the pack we are battling right now and claim P7 in the championship. With ten races to go, there are still several opportunities to do well and add points to our tally; the battle throughout the field is tight, and we are confident we have it in us to turn the tide and come out on top of our battle.”
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Meet Nat Ollington, Senior Executive – Formula 1 VIP Guest Relations at @McLarenF1 🧡
Nat joined the team in Woking in March 2019 and has been smashing it in #TeamPapaya for over four years across a few roles.
📸: McLaren#WomenInMotorsport #F1 #McLaren #McLarenF1 #DutchGP pic.twitter.com/k9ggW82L3P
— Females in Motorsport (@FemalesinMSport) August 22, 2023
#OnThisDay in ’54, at Bremgarten, in a Merc W196, Juan Manuel Fangio won the last #SwissGP to be run in Switzerland, by 57.8sec, & it was his 5th #F1 GP win of ’54. #AnorakFact: Swiss GPs were held in ’75 (non-championship) and ’82, but both races took place at Dijon, France. pic.twitter.com/NDHphrHERa
— Matt Bishop 🏳️🌈 🏁 (@TheBishF1) August 22, 2023
Right from the beginning 🫶
In light of @sambirdofficial‘s move to @McLarenFE, let’s take a look back at some of the BEST OF BIRD ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/4onc94hwsy
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) August 22, 2023
Laps led may equate to winning races, but the points-scoring form needed to fight for the FIA #F3 title this year hasn’t been about spending time out in front.
And those who have led a lot of laps have lost points by being inconsistent, and even suffering disqualifications. pic.twitter.com/37FMGBtdr9
— Formula Scout (@FormulaScout) August 21, 2023
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Innim and Tomas!
