Open Wheel Racing

7th June 20197th June 2019

ThePitCrewOnline Exclusive: Juan Manuel Correa on the move to Europe, F2 and close racing

Juan Manuel Correa has found himself to be one of the star rookies in F2 this season, but it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. From settling into the European racing scene (and way of life), to his hopes for the current season and his highlights so far, Correa opens up about his experiences in the junior category.

Correa moved to Europe as a teenager, to finish his junior career in the European open-wheel scene. It was a big transition, I can’t say I’m still transitioning because I’ve been in Europe for the last five years, but it’s definitely a big transition, and a tougher one than most people can imagine, there’s been very few drivers who can make the switch, and be successful in both parts of the world.

‘It’s a mix between the level, I find it to be much higher over here in Europe. But in the lifestyle, the big change, not only your professional life but your social life. That was probably the hardest thing for me to get used to, living alone here in Europe, different culture than the US, it took me two or three years before I really felt comfortable in Europe. Now I feel much more at home, obviously I still consider Miami my real home but I feel good, that’s not an issue any more for me.

When asked about his aims for the rest of the F2 season, namely the championship, Correa expressed that was never expected to be in the script. ‘I would say my main objective is not to catch them in the championship, that’s not our objective. What I do still feel we can catch them in is results, if we come to the last three, four races of the year, and we’re able to fight with them on track for a position that’s really the goal, we should be very proud of it. It was obvious that these people would be fighting for the championship before the season started.

‘Some people have 3, 4, even 5 seasons of experience in this category, so it’s not realistic to fight with them in the championship, especially seeing now how strong of a start they’ve had, I’m not really looking at that. Is it possible? Anything’s possible, but that’s not even my aim right now.

Correa feels as though Charouz’s performance can be strong in Paul Ricard. ‘I would say yes, and not only at Paul Ricard, I think we’re missing some pieces to the puzzle, but once we sort that, like qualifying, we will be fighting for podiums for the rest of the season. Baku wasn’t a one-off thing, we’ve seen in Barcelona if I didn’t have the issue in the first race we would’ve been fighting for a top-eight finish, Monaco if I hadn’t had the crash I would have probably finished 5th or 6th, so it’s not like we’re having one-off performances, we just have to polish things during the weekend.

‘At the moment that is my priority, it’s a bit strange actually because we always have good race pace, free practice pace, but we struggle in the qualifying, whereas Callum doesn’t so at least we have him as a good reference, which definitely helps, but we need to get that sorted, and then the whole weekend becomes so much easier. You don’t need to risk on strategy on Race One, it becomes a lot smoother if you’re at the front.

On a lighter note, Correa ended with naming his favourite race battles so far. ‘That’s a tough one! I’ve had a lot of wheel-to-wheel action in all of the weekends, but I’d probably say now in Monaco, Race Two, that was a good one, I had a lot of fun that race, felt really good with the car, also Baku Race Two, defending so much the whole race was quite a handful but I would choose Monaco Race Two, that was a lot of fun.

4th June 2019

Why the Lotus 49 is F1’s most important car

If you were asked, what’s the most successful car in Formula One history, what would you say? Likely enough, 1988’s all-conquering McLaren MP4/4 (or, if record wins in a season is your metric, Mercedes’ W07). The most beautiful? Jordan’s 191, drizzled in the sexiest of liveries thanks to 7UP. But what about the most important? Well, that accolade falls to none other than Lotus’ not-so-difficult second album- the 49.

The 49 began life as Colin Chapman’s newest lovechild back in 1967, built to replace the ageing 25 that had escorted the wondrous Jim Clark to two World Championship titles. The 25 was a revolutionary car in its own right, being the first to have a fully stressed monocoque chassis (this made it 3x stiffer and much stronger than the chasing field), but the 49 would be an even smarter beast. It would go on to, unknowingly, shape the course of Formula One itself.

The first reason for my claim can be found in Formula One’s, and possibly all of racing’s, most iconic powerplant: the Ford-built, Cosworth-engineered Double Four Valve, otherwise known as, you guessed it, the DFV. This engine was a colossus, placing Cosworth on the map as an established go-to for private teams and even title hopefuls, and lasted 19 seasons, right up to Martin Brundle’s foray in the 1985 Austrian Grand Prix. And it started its journey nestled in the back of the 49.

The first thing to know about the 49’s usage of the DFV is that Team Lotus built the car around it. Not metaphorically, literally. The engine was a genuine stress-bearing member of the car, bolted between the monocoque and suspension/gearbox. Stiffness, already a major string to the 25’s bow? That was boosted, and with the issue of anti-vibration mounts now a non-factor, the 49 was lighter for it. Effectively all Formula One cars followed this technique, the first ever-present standard the 49 introduced to open-wheel racing’s elite series.

The DFV was a driving force behind Lotus’ successes for the next 16 seasons, with every World Championship won by the Team Lotus outfit after its introduction powered by Cosworth’s masterstroke. When the 49 debuted, back in 1967, they had a monopoly on DFV usage- they were to be the only team putting it to use. While they didn’t manage to win the ’67 title, with unreliability plaguing Jim Clark’s efforts, the 49 did join an established list of greats, Clark taking its maiden win at the first attempt in Zandvoort, and Cosworth’s unanticipated decision to put the DFV on the open market for teams to buy didn’t dent Lotus’ success.

1968 would see Graham Hill take up the mantle of team leader with aplomb, after the tragic death of Clark in a Formula Two race earlier in the year, and he delivered the last of his two titles. And it’s here where we touch on the second sport-changing innovation the 49 delivered, this time one which has been not just an ever-present, but a snowballing force in open-wheel racing: front and rear wings.

In Monaco, Chapman and his team were rattling their heads for ways to lather downforce on their machine, and the solution came from Can-Am racing: Chaparral had been using front splitters and rear wings on their racing cars to generate downforce, and slice through the air. Thus, Team Lotus debuted a similar take, with aerofoil wings bolted directly to the front nose and rear suspension. And they worked to perfection, with Hill winning the race in dominant fashion.

Other teams would take time to adopt, but ever since the 49 gave way to wings, they would never leave the sport. By the early 70s, everyone had to adapt or perish, and a modern-day Formula One car simply can’t be driven without a front and rear wing in place (see Michael Schumacher’s struggles without one, for instance). The wings tacked onto the 49 evolved over time, too: the front section remained largely the same, but the rear spoiler morphed from a rising engine cover, to a full three-slotted wing, to a towering Goliath of a spoiler scraping the clouds above.

So let’s recap: the 49 not only acted as carrier for the sport’s most synonymous, and widely appreciated engines, it also introduced two critical aspects of Formula One design to the sport, both of which are still integral to the cars we have today and very likely the future ahead. It also bears the success it deserves, with two Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship titles in ’68 and ’70, and also outside of itself shaped history, with Jochen Rindt being the only Formula One driver to ever posthumously win a world title.

The MP4/4 may have created new standards itself, what with the beautiful lowline chassis layout, the MP4/1 before it brought carbon fibre into the mix, and Renault’s RS01 from 1977 lays claim to turbocharged engines, but for sheer breadth of innovation, not one car has had such a shaping effect on the sport than the 49.

28th May 2019

Another home run!: di Grassi hands Audi their consecutive second home win in Berlin

Lucas di Grassi gave Audi the bragging rights over rivals BMW and HWA by claiming his second win of the season at the team’s home race. Although it was not a mirror of last year’s dominant display with Daniel Abt and di Grassi’s 1-2, the latter swept past polesitter Sebastien Buemi and remained untroubled throughout the race to move up to second in the championship, with Buemi and current reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne claiming the remaining podium positions.

Qualifying was again crucial with group one again struggling to stay in the coveted superpole spots as the track conditions improved. Di Grassi was the quickest man in the first group whilst Andre Lotterer was hampered by the Brazilian Audi driver mistiming his lap, leaving his hopes of superpole increasingly slim. Robin Frijns also suffered with a problem with his Virgin car, coupled with a five-place penalty from the previous race to leave him dead last. HWA on the other hand, enjoyed an excellent qualifying session with Stoffel Vandoorne and Gary Paffett making their way into the top six superpole shootout. Alex Lynn also impressed to take his first appearance in superpole, but it was Nissan’s Buemi who took the spoils in the initial stages, beating out Vandoorne for the provisional top spot.

Di Grassi was the first man out on track in superpole and set the initial pace, slotting himself into P1, a position he would continue to occupy as Paffett, Lynn and Alexander Sims failed to topple the Brazilian’s time. However, it was fierce rival Buemi who continued Nissan’s impressive qualifying record to break the deadlock by four-tenths of a second. With again Vandoorne again showcased his impressive qualifying form by disposing of the Audi driver by three-tenths of a second, another excellent result for the Japanese outfit. It fell to Vandoorne and HWA to prevent the fourth Nissan pole of the season and net the coveted top spot for themselves at their home race, but Vandoorne could not match Buemi’s time, trailing the Swiss driver by three-tenths of a second. Buemi took his second pole position of the season with Vandoorne and di Grassi rounding out the top three.

Buemi managed to hold the lead in the opening stages of the race, as Vandoorne was disposed of by di Grassi for P2. Six laps later, di Grassi performed the same manoeuvre heading into turn six to snatch the lead away from the leading Nissan. It was a position that di Grassi upheld for the remainder of the race, relatively untroubled by his racing rival and spurred on by the contingent of Schaeffler and Audi fans in the grandstands. Lotterer made ground in the opening stages, fighting his way up through the order after a poor qualifying, whilst his teammate Vergne followed suit, a podium very much on his mind, carving through the field from P9. BMW’s Antonio Felix da Costa was equally spurred on to claim his second win of the season as after starting from P8, he had managed to force his way through the field to pressure Buemi for P2. Buemi conceded the spot, only to activate his attack mode and claim the position back from the BMW, leaving da Costa in P3.

As the time ticked down, Vergne began to pressure da Costa for the final podium position, with Abt and Vandoorne battling behind. Vergne eventually got the job done into turn 10, snatching P3 away as Lynn’s Jaguar forced the racing to neutralise when his car stopped on the start-finish straight with what appeared to be a hydraulics issue. It was a shame for the Jaguar driver who had been running in the points when his car stopped, bringing out the full course yellow. Another driver to be hit with bad luck was Lotterer who after storming up the standings, was forced to retire his Techeetah due to an overheating battery issue, ending his home race moments before the end.

Buemi held off a hungry Vergne in the closing stages of the race to keep hold of P2, his first podium since last season’s Marrakesh ePrix, whilst di Grassi held firm under pressure and sailed to victory, sealing a home win for Audi for the second consecutive year. The win also catapulted the Brazilian up the standings, but it was not enough to disturb current championship leader Vergne whose P3 finish allowed him to extend his lead at the top of the standings.

Formula E will return for the inaugural Bern ePrix on May 23^rd.

20th May 2019

Indy 500 Drama: Alonso Fails To Qualify

In pursuit of the Triple Crown (Monaco GP, Le Mans 24 Hours and Indy 500) Fernando Alonso and McLaren returned to American soil for the Indianapolis 500.

Saturday was the day where the top 30 qualifying took place, with the fast nine to qualify again on Sunday for pole position and the six drivers out of the top 30 would also qualify again on Sunday, but with a higher stake.

After the two-time F1 World Champion did not make the top 30 (he ended up in 31st) it was time for ‘Bump Day’, where the last six drivers fight for the last three positions on the starting grid. The three slowest would pack up and go home. James Hinchcliffe, Sage Karam, Fernando Alonso, Max Chilton, Patricio O’Ward and Kyle Kaiser were all in the danger zone.

First to put a time on the table was James Hinchcliffe. With an average of 227.543 MPH, he was almost guaranteed of a spot on the grid for next week’s race, having missed out on the race last year. Next in line was Max Chilton, and just like Alonso, with a Carlin car. His pace was way off, with a mere 226.192 MPH meaning his chances would be very slim to qualify.

The third driver to make his run was Alonso. His first lap looked promising for a good result, and he ended up with an average of 227.353 MPH, putting him in (at that moment) second place.

Zak Brown and Fernando Alonso watch and wait after their qualifying attempt. Credit: Joe Skibinski/IndyCar

With three drivers to go, it would take just two of them to be faster than Alonso for the Spaniard not to qualify for the legendary race. The fact that Fernando was signing some autographs rather than watching the timings showed everything about his nerves. He just didn’t want to look, knowing full well that it would be very close.

Sage Karam surprised with a pretty quick average of 227.740 MPH, putting him on the top of the table. He pushed Alonso back to third place, just enough to qualify. But with two drivers left, tensions were rising.

Patricio O’Ward, the new Red Bull F1 junior, also drove with a Carlin built car, which showed; an average of 227.092 MPH put him in fourth, meaning he was done for this year. The last one who could attempt to qualify was Kaiser.

His first lap was the same as Alonso, but his second and third lap were slightly quicker than the Spaniard’s. With only one lap to go, Alonso once again went to sign some items of fans, too afraid of looking at the timings.

In a very dramatic manner, Kaiser – with his very small Juncos Racing team – beat the great (but new) McLaren Indy team to the last spot on the grid: 227.372 MPH. Just 0.019MPH quicker than Fernando.

Juncos Racing celebrate qualifying for the Indy 500, despite numerous setbacks. Credit: Chris Jones/IndyCar

In a reaction on social media, Alonso said: “A difficult week, no doubts. We tried our best, even today with a completely different set-up and approach, 4 laps flat on the throttle but we were not fast enough. It’s never easy to drive around here at 227mph+, and want more speed… We tried our best and we’ve been brave at times, but there were people doing a better job than us. Success or disappointments only come if you accept big challenges. We accepted.”

Gil de Ferran, McLaren sporting director, apologized to Alonso, the team and fans. “This has been a very emotional and difficult experience, I think, not only for me but for the whole team”, he said. “I want to take this opportunity to apologize and thank the fans, not only here in the U.S. but globally, who have been following our progress. So you know, this is in my 35 years of racing – actually a few more – the most painful experience I’ve ever had.”

Even though Alonso will not be there, the show still goes on. The only Carlin car to qualify for the Indy 500 was Charlie Kimball in 20th. Meanwhile, Simon Pagenaud took pole and got a cheque of $100,000, with Ed Carpenter and Spencer Pigot lining up next to him. There will still be a fantastic race and all fans of motorsport should definitely watch it.

Simon Pagenaud accepts his pole award for his first ever Indy 500 pole. Credit: Chris Jones/IndyCar

(Featured Image Credit: Shawn Gritzmacher/IndyCar)

19th May 2019

British F3 – Neil Verhagen: Hoggard “Not Very Smart” For Race Three Incident

Double R’s Neil Verhagen heavily criticised Fortec Motorsport’s Johnathan Hoggard after the two came to blows on the opening lap of the final British F3 race of the weekend at Snetterton.

Hoggard was later give a 10-place grid drop for Race One at Silverstone after the clerk of the course deemed him the guilty party, and an aggrieved Verhagen did not hold back.

“I’m not sure if it was defending, or just not being very smart. I don’t know.”

“I had a better launch off the line than Hoggard and, I had a look on the inside into turn one and he made it pretty clear that was not going to happen, I was still able to have the inside line going into turn two and four or five-hundred metres before the corner he has just right hand downed, turned into me and had me in the wall before I got to turn two so before I was braking I was already in the wall and after that, I was just a passenger for the ride.

After a strong Race Two during which Verhagen made up eight places to finish third after starting eleventh in the fully reversed grid race on Sunday morning, the American was bitterly disappointed not make more of his strong pace on Sunday.

“It is just really frustrating because we had the pace as we showed in Race Two and had would have been a good start, it’s disappointing for the team because they want to see both of us up there. That’s racing, I guess it is what it is but it’s not the way we wanted end the weekend.

“It was a great race, Race Two, it was great chance and great to get most of my overtaking done early on and on older tyres. This weekend we kept our fresh tyres for the third race. It is frustrating s we’d made progress.”

Despite a sour way to end the weekend, the man from North Carolina was keen to reflect on the positives from his Snetterton weekend.

“There are positives for sure, this is only one race out of three and we have been progressing throughout the weekend, thank you to all of the hardworking guys at Double R because it is a real team effort. We’ll be back for Silverstone”

19th May 2019

British F3 – Double R’s Hampus Ericsson Takes Race Three Spoils as Championship contender Hoggard toils

Hampus Ericsson took a hard-fought Race Three victory to kick-start his British F3 season in a tightly contested final outing of the weekend.

Ericsson led home Clement Novalak, who himself completed a solid weekend for Carlin Motorsport while teammate Kaylen Frederick completed the podium, holding off the hard charging Ayrton Simmons as the top four cars were covered by two seconds on the road.

Early Championship contender Johnathan Hoggard’s race ended early with a crash at the start of the race, with the man from Lincolnshire having started from pole position and previously targeting the Championship lead pre-race.

For Hoggard however, a great weekend was soured somewhat on the first lap when he and Verhagen battled into the Wilson’s hairpin to collide and in the process take Jewiss out of the race with them.

All three retired on the spot, with the drivers appearing to disagree as to the cause of the incident.

Manuel Maldonado was a solid fifth place to finish his weekend with some form of a flourish ahead of Nazim Azman, with Ulysse De Pauw seventh to turn around a previously wretched weekend.

Benjamin Pedersen had to make yet another recovery drive to finish eight, Josh Mason picked up his best finish of the season with ninth place and Kris Wright completed the top ten for the first time this season.

The incident between Verhagen, Hoggard and Jewiss is being investigated after the race.

19th May 2019

British F3 – Novalak: P2 was the best we could do

Clement Novalak felt that he extracted the maximum from his Carlin British F3 package after finishing second in the first race of the weekend at Snetterton on Saturday.

Novalak had started pole but wasn’t entirely happy with the feel of his car and lost the lead to Johnathan Hoggard midway through the race.

“I am still pretty happy with P2 considering the pace we had. Obviously it is a little disappointing to lose the lead on a mistake rather than a normal overtake.

“I’ve been struggling with the brakes, but I’d rather finish P2 than have a crash or an off. The more points we can take, the better and P2 is the best we could have done today on the pace we had.”

Despite not being comfortable on Saturday, Novalak insists that there are positives to be had from the result in Race One.

“It’s a definite positive that there’s more to come and it shows how much potential we have and that when we maximise our potential we’ll be a force.”

“It’s about consistency, Johnathan has been really consistent as well but that’s what will make you a winner at the end of the year, if you’re consistent every race. We were P2 today and if we can salvage some points in the reverse grid race tomorrow and then from P5 we can get a podium in Race Three.”

For Sunday morning’s Race Two, where the entire finishing order from Race One is reversed with points awarded for overtaking, the young Brit is confident that he can gain places, and points.

“You can definitely overtake easier here a lot easier than Oulton Park, there’s a lot of long straights even if there tends to be fast corners just before braking points so that makes it slightly harder. You probably have to come from a longer way back, all in all it should be fun tomorrow.”

IMAGE: JAKOB EBREY

18th May 201918th May 2019

Visser takes victory in chaotic second round of W Series

After another blistering lap in qualifying which landed her on pole position for a second time, Jamie Chadwick lined up at the front of the pack at Zolder this afternoon, with Beitske Visser in P2, and fellow Brit Alice Powell in P3.

Reserve drivers Vivien Keszthelyi and home-girl Sarah Bovy both made their debut appearances in Belgium today. Keszthelyi had to step in for Finn Emma Kimiläinen after she was taken ill and was advised not to race.

The race got off to a rather confusing start as yellow flags, caused by smoke pluming from the back of Sarah Bovy’s car as the rest of the pack darted away from their grid slots. The safety car was brought out to clear the stricken car.

Amid the confusion, Dutchwoman Beitske Visser ran into turn one and took the lead from championship leader Jamie Chadwick.

With 24 minutes remaining, Emsee Hawkey and Keszthelyi made contact, resulting in both spinning off-track. Gosia Rdest also got caught up in the incident, and the safety car was deployed once again. All three were investigated for the incident, with Rdest was also sent to the stewards for an alleged jump start.

Racing got underway again with 17 minutes remaining, with Visser quickly making a gap to second-placed Chadwick.

Miki Koyama made an excellent move at the restart whilst overtaking Caitlin Wood for P8, the Australian struggling to keep position over the Japanese driver.

With 12 minutes remaining, Visser led by 1.5 seconds. Marta Garcia was put under a lot of pressure from Sarah Moore behind in P4, with Pepper and Fabienne Wohlwent fighting hard for P5. American Sabre Cook was given a drive through penalty for causing a collision, slotting into last place once she had rejoined the field.

With two minutes remaining in the second round of the W Series championship, Alice Powell touched Jamie Chadwick whilst attempting an overtake, but managed to make the move stick and snatched P2 from her fellow Brit. Chadwick didn’t give up though, and gave Alice Powell a tough fight for the second spot on the podium. She eventually managed to snatch the position back on the final lap. The duo were 4.5 seconds behind leader Visser, who was having an impeccable race.

24-year-old Beitske Visser took an impressive victory in Zolder during a race filled with wheel-to-wheel action. Round three of the championship will commence in Italy at the Misano World Circuit on 8th June.

18th May 2019

British F3 – Hoggard reflects on a strong Snetterton Saturday

Fortec’s Johnathan Hoggard was pleased to punish mistakes on Saturday at Snetterton as he took a Race One win and a Race Three pole position.

Hoggard lined up second for Race One but made his pressure count as polesitter Clement Novalak slid wide to allow Hoggard through.

“My start could have been slightly better, I got a bit of wheelspin but I still almost passed Clement at turn two on the opening lap, he’d gone a bit wide and I was so close to getting the move done around the outside at turn three but again I didn’t quite manage it.

“It was then just a case of following him and seeing if he made a mistake, which he did at turn two again. I managed to pass him there when he went wide.”

“I was a bit closer than before, I think he made a mistake a couple of laps beforehand at the last corner, it’s just mostly flat through turn one. I managed to keep that momentum going and I think he was too late on the brakes and locked up and ran really wide, and I was able to sweep through.”

Hoggard is looking to add consistency to his repertoire having felt that it was at times lacking during his British F4 campaign last season, with two top-four finishes at Oulton Park preceding the win on Saturday.

“At this stage you want to take as many points as you can, luckily for me I’ve managed to do that this season so far. Starting P2 and taking P1 is a really good result so hopefully we can go again for race three.”

IMAGE: JAKOB EBREY

18th May 201918th May 2019

British F3: Qualifying Reaction – Novalak rues missed Race Three opportunity, Hoggard optimistic

Clement Novalak was miffed at a drop-off in pace that saw his second-fastest lap over six tenths of a second away from his Race One pole lap.

The second fastest lap of a driver is important in British F3 this season as it sets your grid position for the final race of the weekend on Sunday afternoon.

Carlin driver Novalak will start Race Three in fifth, after taking pole positon for Race One.

“Either there was a massive peak on my tyres or the track got a lot, lot worse throughout that session so we weren’t able to get a great second lap.

“I think my pole lap wasn’t anything incredible to be honest and it’s a shame the track fell away so quickly so I couldn’t get a second lap done.”

The British driver felt that the track was considerably different from Friday testing as a result of Snetterton’s wind-sensitive nature.

“The track changed massively from yesterday in that there was no wind today compared to yesterday, all in all despite the second lap I am pretty happy with the job I did.

“Starting fifth, I’ve put a lot of work on myself for Race Three but it is all to play for and it’s a lot easier to overtake than at Oulton so if we have the pace in the race then we can grab a couple of positions in the race. It could be fun on Sunday.”

Second on the grid Johnathan Hoggard was more upbeat, with the man from Lincolnshire starting pole for Race Three by virtue of his second-best lap being faster than anyone else’s.

“With my fastest sectors I would have pushed for pole position in Race One so it’s slightly disappointing for myself not being able to do that, but I am still on the front row for Race One, there’s Race Two and I’m pole for Race Three so it’s still very good.

“There are long straights here, you can get a good slipstream here if you’re close enough but it’s still difficult to pass because there are a lot of fast corners, but there are a lot more possibilities than at Oulton Park.”

Hoggard, who wants better consistency from his season with British F4, has a plan for this weekend at Snetterton.

“It is all about being consistent with your points scoring, getting the good results in Race One and Three and picking up places in Race Two without getting into trouble because of the points for overtaking.”

IMAGES: JAKOB EBREY