Selection box - The ship has long sailed on complaining - Het up about the halo, and hailing the Hungarian heat
Published by Christine
You’d be forgiven for forgetting we’re rapidly heading into the summer break for Formula One, as there is news hitting the headlines constantly. If it’s not building up to this weekend’s race, it’s more fallout regarding the halo cockpit protection, and if it’s neither of those things, then it’s Sauber and Honda splitting up, or the pressure the sport is coming under from other motor racing series’. We’ve got all that and more covered in this super duper bumper selection box, so let’s get going.
We’ll begin with a few preview items for this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, a race that could prove pivotal in how the championship unfolds over the latter part of the season.
The more things change the more they stay the same. It applies to F1, and perhaps befittingly it can do so in a back to front manner too - that our view of things that stay the same in fact changes. Take the Hungaroring, the venue for this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix. When the fraternity rocked up to it for the first time in 1986 it wasn't too impressed.
Only one race remains before Formula One takes its annual rest for the summer – a break that after the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend may weigh heavier on some shoulders than others. The next few days will be potentially as instructive in the fight for the world championship as any we have seen thus far.
Take a lap with Haas F1 Team driver Romain Grosjean, featuring footage from our friends at Codemasters and its F1 2016 game.
Lewis Hamilton enters the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix weekend trailing Sebastian Vettel by one point. Hamilton would like nothing more than to reach another Michael Schumacher record and leave Hungary with the championship lead as Formula 1 heads into the summer break after the race.
The halo is still very much in the forefront of people’s minds, particularly as the F1 gathering in Hungary has allowed official opinions to be gathered, and explanations from the FIA to be sought. Here are a few links on that subject, starting with a gathering of tweets from Sky F1’s David Croft who went straight to the source.
The FIA held a briefing about the introduction of the new halo device. David Croft was there to pass on info to fans.
Safety in motorsport will always be a point of contention. There will always be people who believe that danger and risk comes with the territory and people who think that death and life-changing injuries should be made preventable where possible.
Among the droves of articles and sea of grievances, one thing is clear: the ship has long sailed on complaining and the teams face a race against time to come up with a Halo that isn’t visually offensive once the F1 circus rocks up in Melbourne next year.
Now, if you’ll allow it, we’re going to diverge slightly from the Formula One path and talk about a couple of other racing categories that are tangentially related. Formula E continues to be a benchmark comparison for those looking to the future of electric racing, and here’s a handful of recent thoughts about the ever-growing series.
Can we just start off with me holding up my hands and saying ‘I get it’. The noise isn’t quite soul-shattering, the speed might not be breath-taking and the lack of an actual engine is an unappealing factor for many, however Formula E continues to attract not only devoted fans and well-respected drivers, but major manufactures are flocking to the sport in outstanding numbers.
Everything in the Formula E world is looking as good as the next generation of cars showcased earlier this year. In the past few months Audi have confirmed works engagement in the series. Prior to that BMW announced their entry in 2018 with the Andretti team. Now Mercedes have shocked the motor sport world by leaving the DTM for Formula E.
Formula E is car racing’s first disrupt-the-status-quo tech startup built on a Silicon Valley vibe, social media buzzwords and celebrity endorsements. Like the provincial tech companies of the West Coast, it was born because a couple of people believed there was an insatiable appetite for something that didn’t exist.
From a burgeoning series to one that has plenty of history, there’s been plenty of crossover between F1 and IndyCar this season, so in case you’ve been missing that US-centric series, here’s a few items to keep you up to date.
To increase the performance of the cars, not only have they been made lighter, but there has been a notable shift in aerodynamic philosophy with 66% of the downforce now generated by the floor of the car. This will increase cornering speeds and high speed stability but it has also allowed for a reduction in complexity of the upper aero elements.
After several months of evaluating proposals and listening to presentations by the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach (IndyCar) and the World Auto Championship California (Formula 1), the City of Long Beach announced Tuesday its intent to award the contract to the GPALB.
Marshall Pruett and Robin Miller discuss the first test of IndyCar's 2018 speedway bodywork, delve into whether the series' next step needs to open the door to greater technology, preview this weekend's race at Mid-Ohio and touch briefly on Long Beach sticking with IndyCar and a few silly season items.
Next up, two behind the scenes videos because… well, who doesn’t love to find out more about the sport we follow from those on the ground?
Jennie Gow visits the Force India factory at Silverstone as they prepare to make the trip to the Hungarian Grand Prix.
For an insider’s view of running IT for a winning Formula One team, watch Matt Harris, head of IT, and TIBCO’s CMO Thomas Been discuss where technology and data are used by the team, best practices for lean IT teams, and the technology and vision of the new Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport-TIBCO partnership.
The next two links are fascinating because they are both looking to the past and comparing to the future, but in two completely different ways. The first considers what Ferrari should be doing in their hiring process, whereas the second look is more of a ‘where are they now’ summary.
Formula 1’s oldest and statistically greatest team has had a reputation of playing it safe with its driver line-up in recent history. As a matter of fact, except for a replacement driver in the early-1990s, Ferrari has not signed a driver under the age of 23 to race for its factory team in over 45 years. There’s a reason in favour of Ferrari’s 2018 line-up diverting from what many generations have known, by taking a massive risk.
The team was the 2nd team of the three new teams to depart from the sport with HRT leaving in 2012 and Marussia form into Manor for 2015 and 2016 before folding before 2017. But where are the key people from that 2014 Caterham F1 Team are at now?
And to finish, three rather more random links, starting with a fresh look at the F1 2017 game from Codemasters, always intriguing to see what realism they’ve added this time!
As the launch of F1™ 2017 gets closer and closer (less than a month to go now!), we’ve released a gameplay trailer that shows how the game spans the history of the sport and also highlights several new features, which we’re sure the eagle-eyed of you will spot.
Top Gear presenter Chris Harris gave an exclusive precision driving demonstration for visitors to Beaulieu at the launch of the updated World of Top Gear. The demo followed the official opening by Chris, The Stig and Lord Montagu, at the National Motor Museum in Hampshire.
While they may not be racing, these two women and many more are the backbone of Formula One, proving that it’s so much more than a man’s world. We spoke to Bernadette Collins, a Senior Strategy Engineer for Force India, and Jennifer Plückhahn, a Shell F1 Fuels Coordinator, to talk men to women ratios and the biggest misconception about women in sport. Prepare to get inspired…
