Without doubt the biggest safety advancement in Formula One over its 68-year history is the introduction of the monocoque.
The monocoque combines the driver’s survival cell, cockpit and forms an integral part of the chassis, with the engine and suspension among the compartments bolted to it.
Despite it not being common-place until the 1980s, the first example of this device appeared in the 1960s/ An aluminum alloy monocoque chassis was first used in the 1962 Lotus 25 Formula 1 entry, while McLaren was the first to use carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers to construct the monocoque of the 1981 McLaren MP4/1, this being the device and construction the world of motorsport is used to.
For safety reasons, no fuel, oil or water lines may pass through the cockpit and the driver must be able to get out within five seconds without having to remove anything except seatbelts and steering wheel (which he must be able to refit within another five seconds). F1 seat belts comprise a six-point harness, which the driver can undo in one movement. They have been compulsory since 1972.
The monocoque must be mainly constructed of carbon fibre, with up to 60 layers of it in places to absorb the energy of heavy impact accidents largely due to the high-speed nature of accidents in modern day Formula One. There is also a roll-over hoop behind the driver’s head, made of metal or composite materials while the survival cell’s flanks are protected by a 6mm layer of carbon and Zylon, a material used to make bullet-proof vests. The updates to this in recent years include the HALO device, designed to prevent foreign objects entering the cockpit and striking the drivers head.
The width of the cockpit must be 50 centimetres at the steering wheel and 30 centimetres at the pedals, the modern day monocoque often compared to driving in a bath tub as a result.
The driver’s seat is a single plastic cast and is tailored to each driver according to their exact shape and size to provide maximum protection. Since 1999, the seat has been detachable for it to be possible to remove the driver and seat as one after an accident, decreasing the chances of spinal injuries.
The system is now synonymous with the open-wheel racing community and has saved the lives of many a driver, famously Robert Kubica at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix and Mark Webber at the 2010 European Grand Prix.
The monocoque started out life in Formula One as an aerodynamic device designed to increase efficiency, making the car narrower. The development of this system has led to Formula One and the wider racing community now being as safe as it ever has been, and the motorsport community continues to strive for improvements.
A year ago, Venturi were the minnows of Formula E, hidden behind the arms race of Renault and Audi. They have hosted a number of experienced drivers throughout their four seasons in the sport including current Mahindra driver Nick Heidfeld and WEC stalwarts Stephane Sarrazin and Mike Conway.
However, despite the talent of their drivers and a wealth of electric car manufacturing experience, the team have one podium to their name. They are one of the few teams that have never won a race and are never on the front pages. This could all be about to change with the arrival of two former Formula One drivers – one climbing behind the wheel and the other taking the reins of the team.
Susie Wolff and Gildo Pastor. Image courtesy of Venturi
It was announced this week that Susie Wolff; ex Williams test driver, will become the first female team principal of a Formula E team and will be taking up her new position at the season finale in New York in a few weeks time.
Wolff’s appointment will be a welcome one within the paddock. Since the departure of Simona de Silvestro in season 2, there has been a distinct lack of female figures in the sport. However, Formula E has always prided itself on new blood and on giving drivers from other series a fresh start. Having Wolff at the helm of one of the teams, coupled with the presence of her Dare to be Different campaign, which was first introduced at the Berlin ePrix, could inspire more women and young girls to become interested in and join the sport. It will also be a challenge. Wolff has no experience in leading a team but she will be working alongside a team of well seasoned mechanics and strategists who will help to integrate her into the new role. The appointment of Wolff is the latest step in Venturi’s plans to strengthen, following the regulation changes that will come into effect next season. F1 veteran Felipe Massa has joined the Monegasque team and will no doubt add add some further experience, flair and critical sponsorship. He will no doubt provide more exposure to the sport. Formula E already has two well known Brazilian champions in Lucas di Grassi and Nelson Piquet Jr, but a familiar face, particularly one as well known as Massa, will allow Formula E to reach a wider audience of motorsport fans. By choosing Venturi, a team who are yet to win a race, Massa may be hoping to prove something to those who think he’s too old for motorsport. Venturi certainly seem to be looking to the future and the acquisitions of Massa and Wolff are just the beginning. The Monegasque outfit are the first to establish a junior drivers programme within Formula E, which includes the likes of Arthur Leclerc, brother of F1 rookie Charles. Although development drivers are common, Venturi are taking the approach of nurturing youth to a new level. Many experienced drivers have got behind the wheel of a Formula E car and struggled with strategy and conserving the energy needed to perform well within a race. By educating a rank of junior drivers, Venturi will eliminate the problem and create a pool of experienced but youthful drivers going forwards.
Susie Wolff the new Team Principle at Venturi. Image courtesy of Venturi
Wolff’s position also raises questions over Mercedes arrival in season 6. This season, Venturi partnered with Mercedes DTM specialists HWA, working alongside them in preparation for their inaugural season. This partnership will continue into season 5 with Venturi providing customer powertrains for the new outfit. Venturi and HWA have links to Mercedes. Both Venturi drivers, Maro Engel and Eduardo Mortara currently drive for the successful German outfit. It seems likely that when Mercedes finally join the party, it will use either Venturi or HWA to ease into the transition. It is a tried and tested method that was employed by Audi upon their entry as a full works team this season. HWA seem more likely due to their customer status, but Mercedes could continue to remain in partnership with Venturi. It would not be a foolish decision owing to the invaluable experience that the Monegasque team have and the resources that they have.
No matter who Mercedes choose, one thing is certain – Venturi won’t be fading into the background anytime soon.
Texas Motor Speedway delivered what we’ve come to expect from it, a sensational race with numerous cautions and unexpected turns. Last week’s Race 1 winner, Scott Dixon, took a dominant win over Penske’s Simon Pagenaud who graced the podium for the first time this season, managing to hold off a charging Alexander Rossi.
Will power ahead of Scott Dixon. Image courtesy of Team Penske
Before Texas, Dixon had only led 39 laps in the whole season but he put that right by leading 119 laps in the night race, over double that of anyone else. After battling with Tony Kanaan early on, Dixon had got into the top three, behind Will Power and Robert Wickens. Once those two had swapped positions, Dixon quickly picked off the struggling Power before passing Wickens for the lead shortly after the second round of pit stops. It turned out to be a lead that he didn’t surrender for the remainder of the race, finishing a good five seconds ahead of his nearest rivals to take his 43rd career win, his second in a week and, most importantly, the championship lead. The #9 Chip Ganassi driver now boasts a 23-point lead as he, along with Kanaan and Sebastien Bourdais, heads off to Le Mans.
Second on the road was Pagenaud who finally scored his first podium of what has been a very troublesome season. The 2016 champion initially lost places and his race was looking far from good when all three Penske cars started experiencing extreme tyre blistering, it was a wonder Pagenaud even made the end of the race. Already struggling with the inferior fuel mileage on the Chevrolet’s compared to the Honda’s, Penske were left with no choice but to call both Pagenaud and Power in after teammate Josef Newgarden’s tyres had blistered incredibly badly, leaving the canvas of the tyre exposed. After the final pit stops had been made and the field went green after the third and final caution, many doubted Pagenaud’s ability to even make the end of the race but the cooler temperatures that had come with nightfall favoured Pagenaud, meaning he could make the end and hold off Rossi, taking a very respectable second place finish.
Josef Newgarden. Image courtesy of gm.com
For a long time, it looked like Rossi would be winning in Texas. The #27 Andretti driver had superior pace to those around him and was willing to risk it all for overtakes around the outside that most drivers wouldn’t dare attempt, carving his way through the pack from his starting place of eighth. A fuelling issue after pitting under the second caution could’ve cost Rossi any chance of a decent result but he was saved by two factors: 1) they were under caution and 2) there were only six cars on the lead lap. After that drama, Rossi quickly recovered the lost ground to be all over the back of Pagenaud on the third restart however, the Frenchman proved a tough nut to crack and Rossi was eventually forced to concede defeat. That podium finish has put Rossi back up to second in the championship, overtaking Power and now just 23 points back from Dixon.
Power himself certainly had a race to forget; the #12 Penske driver had run well for the first part of the race but, like his teammates, struggled with tyre blistering as well as his car balance. His race ended when Zachary Claman De Melo was trying for an overtake around the outside and Power turned up on him, putting both of them into the wall. Power was quick to remove any blame from the rookie or though wouldn’t fully take it himself.
A much-needed decent result finally came for the otherwise incredibly unlucky James Hinchcliffe, scoring his first top ten finish since the Indy GP and first top five since Barber. Hinchcliffe qualified way down in fifteenth and, with rookie teammate Wickens in fourth, the pressure was on for a good result. The #5 Schmidt Peterson driver progressed well in the first laps, eventually making his way up to shadow his good friend Rossi. As the race went green after the last restart, Hinchcliffe was right in the battle for second with Pagenaud and Rossi but, after dropping slightly in the closing laps, fourth was the best he could do – still, a very important, confidence-boosting weekend for Hinchcliffe.
The same could almost be said for teammate Wickens who ran an excellent race, passing on the inside and outside before dicing with Rossi and even taking the lead for four laps. However, it all came tumbling down on Lap 171 when the rookie sensation tangled with Ed Carpenter. It was Carpenter who took the blame for the incident, Wickens was on his inside to lap him when Carpenter turned down on the rookie, sending the pair into the wall and ending both their races. An unfortunate end to what was a very promising weekend but Wickens wasn’t the only rookie shining for once.
Andretti’s rookie Zach Veach was running an amazing pace with all the confidence of an old-timer, gaining ten positions in the first fifty laps to be running in sixth. This performance, like Wickens, soon came crashing down. Veach got up too high, brushing the wall and breaking his right-rear tow-link, just as Kanaan had done 50 or so laps previous. The other rookie to come to blows was Matheus Leist whose car caught fire just five laps into the race.
It’s a well-deserved weekend off for the IndyCar paddock who are next out at Road America on 24th June.
Full Race Result
Scott Dixon
Simon Pagenaud
Alexander Rossi
James Hinchcliffe
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Graham Rahal
Takuma Sato
Sebastien Bourdais
Ed Jones
Charlie Kimball
Spencer Pigot
Max Chilton
Josef Newgarden
Marco Andretti
Gabby Chaves
Zach Veach (R)
DNF – Zachary Claman De Melo (R), Will Power, Robert Wickens (R), Ed Carpenter, Tony Kanaan, Matheus Leist (R)
British F3 championship leader Linus Lundqvist says he and his Double R team have struck the right balance between pace and consistency this season after another strong weekend at Silverstone.
While championship rivals Kush Maini and Nicolai Kjaergaard toiled in Northamptonshire, Lundqvist won, had second and a sixth across all three races.
And the Swede was keen to stress the importance of picking up points in every race.
“Every time we speak it’s been about consistency and we showed that today again, Kush and Nicolai being behind me and as they were the closest rivals I’m really happy with the second place.
“We’ve been in the mindset, with the team having won the championship in 2016, that if you want to fight for the title you have to be consistent. We’ve shown that through every race weekend that we’ve a race each weekend and that we’re not just picking up seconds and thirds, we’re actually there on pace. We’ve found a very good mix between raw pace but also consistently scoring.”
While he now has a commanding lead in the standings after making gains on Kjaergaard and Maini over the past two weekends, Lundqvist knows he can’t afford to relax.
“We’re only halfway through the season, there is still a long way to go and a lot can happen. Two DNFs and our lead is gone.
“It’s about staying focused and taking valuable points and hopefully we will be able to fight for the wins in future rounds too.”
While Gamble won, Lundqvist was not disappointed to finish second in the final race of the day as he finished ahead of Maini and Kjaergaard and further extended his lead to 56 points.
“Without Tom it would have been a perfect race, all in all you always want to fight for the win and I tried to put pressure on him but he was just a little too quick for us but looking back, it’s been a solid weekend.”
Tom Gamble wants more consistency for the remainder of the season after a Super Sunday for the Nottinghamshire teenager.
Gamble was third early on Sunday before winning from the first corner of the evening race after an engine change Saturday night when an issue was discovered.
Since his maiden pole and win on the Saturday at Rockingham six weeks ago, it’s been difficult for the 16-year-old with disqualifications and collisions since then.
“I can’t thank Fortec enough for deciding to change the engine and it was the right call. I’m delighted to be back on the top step because since Rockingham it has felt like ages.
“A podium today was great earlier, last race I made a good start and got him at the first corner and it was a case of being consistent and building a gap.”
Gamble is a comfortable fourth in the championship and is looking up rather than down the standings after improvements this weekend.
“There’s no pressure, I’d like to make the top three in standings and I think it’s definitely possible as long as we stay consistent because Snetterton and the second half of Rockingham was a nightmare. We want to get as many wins as we can.”
And he isn’t fazed about the prospect of racing at Spa-Francorchamps in six weeks’ time despite having never done so before.
“A few of the competitors around me have been to Spa before but we all do the two-day test there earlier in the year so I know where I’m going. If we had not have changed the engine then it would have been a lot harder.”
Lucas di Grassi ended his season four win drought by rising from fifth to first in Sunday’s Zurich ePrix, while title challenger Sam Bird finished second to slash Jean-Éric Vergne’s championship lead by almost half.
Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler / Courtesy of ABB FIA Formula E
The race began in mixed-up fashion, with Techeetah’s Andre Lotterer starting well from second to threaten maiden polesitter Mitch Evans off the line. But although Evans managed to defend from Lotterer and drop him back into pressure from third-placed Bird, the Jaguar driver was unable to pull clear of the cars behind as he struggled with rising battery temperatures.
This brought di Grassi right onto the back of the podium pack, once the Audi driver dispatched with Jérôme d’Ambrosio for fourth place. By lap 13 di Grassi had passed Bird at the hairpin—taking advantage of the Briton’s battle with Lotterer ahead to close in on the pair—and three laps later did what Bird was unable to and took second from Lotterer.
With Evans’ battery issues continuing out in front, di Grassi was quickly onto the gearbox of the Jaguar—and on lap 18 the outgoing champion made his move on the run to Turn 1, and breezed past into first place.
Once in the lead di Grassi continued to build a gap to those behind him, and at the end of lap 39 crossed the finish line 7.5s ahead to take his first and Audi’s third win of the 2017–18 season.
Jean-Éric Vergne, Techeetah / Courtesy of ABB FIA Formula E
But while last season’s champion enjoyed his best Formula E weekend since last year’s Montreal finale, current championship leader Vergne suffered huge losses at the Zurich ePrix.
Coming into the weekend with a mathematical chance of clinching the title, Vergne qualified near the back of the grid in 17th while his only remaining rival Bird was set to start from the second row.
Vergne made good progress in the early stages and before the halfway stage had already got his Techeetah up into the lower points. But on lap 17 Vergne came together with Felix Rosenqvist while taking eighth, sending the Mahindra driver into the wall at Turn 1 and triggering a full course yellow to remove the debris.
Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing / Courtesy of ABB FIA Formula E
This proved to be the defining moment of the race, as shortly after the halfway pitstops it was announced that Vergne—along with Lotterer, Evans and Sébastien Buemi—had been given a drive-through penalty for speeding under the full course yellow.
These penalties drastically altered the order. With fewer than ten laps remaining, Lotterer, Evans and Buemi dropped from second, third and fourth respectively, while Vergne was once more put outside the points after his trip through the pitlane.
Worse still for Vergne, the penalties for those in front meant that Bird was elevated to second place, where the DS Virgin driver finished to add another 18 points to his championship challenge.
Jérôme d’Ambrosio, Dragon Racing / Courtesy of ABB FIA Formula E
D’Ambrosio completed the podium in third, his and Dragon’s first podium since the 2016 London ePrix, while Lotterer held on for fourth.
Buemi recovered from his penalty to take fifth, one place higher than he started, after using his FanBoost to pass Evans in the closing stages—Evans lost a further place to Nick Heidfeld before the end, and finished behind the German in seventh. António Félix da Costa and Oliver Turvey were promoted into the lower points by the penalties ahead and a retirement for Nico Prost, and finished eighth and ninth respectively.
Meanwhile, Vergne fought his way back into tenth place to take the final point of the day. The Frenchman had been set to add another point with the fastest lap, until his Techeetah teammate Lotterer take that honour away in the final stages.
Vergne’s low finish and Bird’s podium mean the gap at the top of the standings is now down from 40 to 23 points with only the double header in New York—which Bird dominated last season—left to go.
Linus Lundqvist took pole and win on a super Saturday for the British F3 championship leader to hold off championship rival Kush Maini, while second in the standings Nicolai Kjaergaard could only manage sixth after qualifying seventh.
Jordan Cane made an impressive return to the podium. Here’s what they had to say following a busy Saturday.
Lundqvist:
“Today was perfect, we got pole and win and I’m super happy. There’s another two races tomorrow but I’m going to enjoy this victory for a short time.
When someone is as close as Kush was there doesn’t go a lap where you aren’t looking in your mirrors, you sort of look at what they’re trying to do and I made a small mistake out of the hairpin and he got a run on me. We went side by side a Brooklands and Copse, I just stayed cool and was able to stay ahead.
I would like a win where it’s easier but all in all we’ve had a great car all weekend so thanks to Double R. I just did my part today.
You could say it’s almost perfect. I’m always happy with a win and it’s always a bonus if your main rival isn’t doing too well. We’re always happy with a win when it’s there.”
Maini:
Today was perfect, we got pole and win and I’m super happy. There’s another two races tomorrow but I’m going to enjoy this victory for a short time.
When someone is as close as Kush was there doesn’t go a lap where you aren’t looking in your mirrors, you sort of look at what they’re trying to do and I made a small mistake out of the hairpin and he got a run on me. We went side by side a Brooklands and Copse, I just stayed cool and was able to stay ahead.
I would like a win where it’s easier but all in all we’ve had a great car all weekend so thanks to Double R. I just did my part today.
You could say it’s almost perfect. I’m always happy with a win and it’s always a bonus if your main rival isn’t doing too well. We’re always happy with a win when it’s there.
Kjaergaard:
We’ve struggled a lot yesterday and today. We were slow yesterday and we’re only a bit better today, Clement did a really good job in qualifying.
I didn’t put my lap together so I was P7 and a lot of others put new tyres on and we didn’t have the pace anyway. It was going to be hard.
Tomorrow we need to have a look and see what we can do, we definitely need to find some speed as we weren’t fast enough.
Hopefully these things even themselves out, normally we do have a very quick car. This time it’s weird, we just can’t figure out exactly what the problem is. We seem to have the same problem every time. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll be faster.
Cane:
You always aim for the top step but third isn’t bad, Douglas gave me a great car. It was about focussing and staying with the front two, got close towards the end as they battled more than they did. It’s a good result today.
I knew Maini had four new tyres, where we had two like Linus, set the second fastest lap time so we’re in a good position for race three. We’ll be pushing to stick with these boys tomorrow. This is the one place you can have a go at overtaking, as we have a lot of downforce it usually is quite difficult.
Ah, Monte Carlo, the signature event on the Formula One calendar. While the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix won’t go down in history as the most exciting race (the word ‘processional’ comes to mind), the challenging nature of the circuit itself makes for an interesting technical race. This season’s running certainly offered up some worthwhile moments, though the lack of a full Safety Car made it seem like it wasn’t quite Monaco.
Daniel Ricciardo leading the pack in Monaco. Image courtesy of Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
Daniel Ricciardo stole the show with his masterful pace control from pole position. Capitalising on a clean start, he was able to back the field up for the first several laps, babysitting his hypersoft tyres. Several other drivers commented on the slow pace of the opening stint, but due to the difficulties of overtaking on the narrow streets of Monte Carlo nobody was able to mount an effective attack.
The race appeared to begin in earnest around lap 15, when Ricciardo opened up the throttle. Responding to Vettel’s lap 16 pit stop, Red Bull pulled Ricciardo in for a set of ultrasofts on lap 17. Enjoying a comfortable lead, Ricciardo rejoined the race in first.
On lap 28 Ricciardo reported losing power. While Ricciardo later admitted that Red Bull had identified an issue with the MGU-K on lap 18, it was ten laps later when he announced the problem. Despite being down on power, and further only able to use six of his eight gears, Ricciardo was able to manage his pace remarkably.
As the race progressed, pervasive graining on the left front tyre helped discourage Vettel and others on ultrasofts from pursuing too aggressive an approach, whereas the Red Bull’s chassis served tyre management well. In time, Vettel’s tyres settled in and he was able to mount an attack on Ricciardo, but the Red Bull man defended brilliantly.
A late Virtual Safety Car played into Ricciardo’s hands, as Stoffel Vandoorne’s McLaren emerged from the pits between Ricciardo and Vettel, albeit a lap down. This traffic allowed Ricciardo to rebuild a lead that saw him cross the finish line over 7 seconds ahead of Vettel to claim victory. After the stunning strategy mistake of 2016 cost him that win, this victory was particularly sweet for the Australian. The fact that he remained in P1 through the entire race could’ve only sweetened it further. His Driver of the Day award was well-earned.
Max Verstappen – image courtesy of Rob Smalley / Red Bull Content Pool
On the other side of the Red Bull garage, Max Verstappen drove a solid race. Starting from the back of the grid, he had claimed both Haas cars on the opening lap, and patiently climbed the order. Verstappen maintained a cool head throughout the race, shepherding his starting set of ultrasofts for 47 laps.
Despite some early complaints of pitting late for a set of hypersofts, he engaged in a duel with Carlos Sainz in which both drivers cut chicanes (leading to an amusing radio call of, “He cut the chicane!” from Sainz who moments before did exactly the same thing) resulting in a warning from the pit wall to keep his overtaking clean. After a weekend of trouble and serious errors in previous races, Max drove a clean race to finish in ninth, up from 20th.
Sebastian Vettel at Monaco 2018. Finishing 2nd. Image courtesy of Ferarri.com
Scuderia Ferrari delivered a workmanlike race, though not terribly memorable. Sebastian Vettel consistently kept pressure on Ricciardo, though he wasn’t able to overtake. The pervasive left front graining on the ultrasoft tyres combined with the narrow streets prevented him from pushing past Ricciardo. Technical gremlins briefly popped up for the German on lap 41, causing a brief blackout on his dash. Happily, this wasn’t to become a more serious issue. Vandoorne’s late pitstop during the VSC period sealed Vettel’s second place.
Kimi Räikkönen, despite pushing hard against Lewis Hamilton, was similarly unable to make any meaningful gains. Suffering from the ubiquitous trouble with his left front tyre, the Finn started and finished in fourth.
On the Mercedes front, it looked briefly like Valtteri Bottas might have a chance at upsetting the order as Mercedes elected to send him out on supersofts after pitting on lap 17. While he avoided the graining issues that held up the other drivers at the sharp end of the grid, tyre temperature issues caused him to back off from Räikkönen for several laps, and he wasn’t able to mount a serious challenge to his fellow Finn. Bottas further continued the trend of finishing where he started, in fifth.
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton, while vocal about his tyre issues, race pace and so forth, wasn’t able to do much about any of it either. Starting in third, he finished in third.
Steve Etherington/Mercedes AMG
And so it went for the frontrunners (and Max), though there was a bit more excitement down the grid.
Perhaps the most exciting moment of the race came on lap 72, when local boy Charles Leclerc’s Sauber suffered a brake failure while approaching the chicane. Accompanied by a large puff of brake dust (and brakes), he plowed into the back of Brendan Hartley’s Toro Rosso. While Hartley limped back to the pits to retire, Race Control invoked the Virtual Safety Car while marshals recovered the damaged Sauber.
Leclerc’s teammate Marcus Ericsson had a much less eventful race, finishing in 13th, from starting in 16th.
Pierre Gasly. Image courtesy of Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
Scuderia Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly drove an excellent race. Starting in tenth, he shepherded his used set of hypersofts for 37 laps before pitting for supersofts. Avoiding drama, the Frenchman put in a workmanlike drive to finish in seventh.
Renault displayed an admirable amount of teamwork and coordination when defending against Max Verstappen’s charge. On lap 55, Nico Hulkenberg, running in ninth, clearly had pace over teammate Carlos Sainz, who was running in eighth. Sainz did a brilliant job of ceding eighth to Hulkenberg while preventing Verstappen from following through the door. Though Sainz would eventually lose ninth to the Dutchman, he didn’t give up the position without a fight. Hulkenberg proceeded to finish in eighth, up from eleventh, while Sainz finished in ninth, down from eighth.
It’s tempting to say that McLaren’s early form is waning, though there are still many races left in the season. Long-suffering Fernando Alonso suffered his first retirement of the season, with a gearbox failure on lap 54 after running in the points. His teammate Stoffel Vandoorne finished in 14th, having stymied Vettel’s chances, starting from 12th. Perhaps Ricciardo will send him a fruit basket for his efforts, or at least a nice note.
Sahara Force India F1 Team
Force India suffered from bad luck on one side of the garage, as a troublesome right rear wheel caused Sergio Perez’s lap 23 pit stop to run precious seconds long. Though emerging on the durable supersoft tyres, he was unable to make up positions and finished in 12th, down from his starting position of ninth. Teammate Esteban Ocon, though, despite some graining in the middle stint, had a relatively trouble-free drive to finish where he started, in sixth.
Williams is… continuing to be Williams. The storied organisation’s run of poor performance continued today, even before the race start. Sergey Sirotkin was given a 10-second stop/go penalty for not having his tyres fitted by the 3-minute warning, and was investigated again when it appeared that his crew worked on his car while he served the penalty. He was cleared of this, and went on to finish in 16th, down from 13th.
Lance Stroll had an eventful, though negative, outing. One could be excused for thinking that Stroll was attempting to fill in the punches on his Frequent Pit Stop card, pitting three times. Pitting on lap 9 for a new front wing and supersoft tyres, he emerged in 20th and would have remained there save for retirements up the field. Subsequent stops in laps 34 and 59 for fresh sets of hypersofts didn’t help him overmuch. The Canadian finished in 17th, where he started.
Glenn Dunbar/Williams F1
Haas too continued to struggle. After qualifying 18th and 19th, both of the drivers failed to make significant gains on-track, though they did finish ahead of both Williams’. Kevin Magnussen, this season’s points-generator for the American team, finished out of the points in 13th, while Romain Grosjean finished in 15th.
At the end of the day, Lewis Hamilton retains the lead in the Drivers Championship with 100 points, with Sebastian Vettel in second with 96. Daniel Ricciardo rounds out the top three, with 72 points. On the Constructors side, the teams so far mirror the driver standings. Mercedes leads Ferrari by 178 to 156, and Red Bull is comfortably in third with 107 points.
As we approach Canada, the Drivers and Constructors Championships are still wide open. It should be exciting to see how the teams cope with the demands of the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montréal under the new regulations. Stick with us on the weekend of 8–10 June for your Grand Prix du Canada coverage.
Featured image courtesy of Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
Carlin Motorsport’s Billy Monger says he is getting used to the challenges that the British F3 series has thrown at him this season.
The 19-year-old drives an adapted car having lost both of his legs in an F4 accident at Donnington Park a year ago.
Those adaptations feature a throttle paddle behind right of his steering wheel, while the gear shifting paddles are both on the left.
Monger says that it has been difficult, but he is getting on top of the added challenges.
“Of course it has been a challenge because the step up from F4 to F3 is already massive on its own along with the fact that I’m learning new controls as well.
“It has been a steep learning curve, but I do feel like I’m getting the hang of it now.”
At the first weekend at Oulton Park, the man from Surrey took a fairytale podium, but at Rockingham things did not go his way with two races lost to incidents and contact.
At Snetterton, he was closer to the sharp end of the field with a seventh, a ninth and a sixth and feels that the first dry weekend of the season helped him.
“In the dry I feel more confident in the car than the rain because the hand throttle is quite difficult in the wet but I’m getting on alright.
“The feel is different from hands to with feet, it is difficult to get a feel for everything, that is something I have to learn really.”
And one of the championship’s bigger names is confident of fighting for the top three after misfortune earlier in the season.
“We’re definitely competitive enough, it’s just about having the luck on our side to put us up there fighting for podiums and wins.”
Monger does concede that his long-term involvement in the championship depends on finance and sponsorship, but is keen to stay with Carlin.
“The plan is to finish the season with Carlin in British F3, it does depend on budget and sponsorship, those are things that will come into play with regards to whether I can finish the season or not.
“We want a good solid position in the championship come the end of the year.”
Once again, the Indy 500 delivered an action-packed race full of twists, turns and the inevitable cautions, seven this time! We had a new Indy 500 victor in Will Power, who now tops the championship as a result of his 100-point haul, but the likes of Ed Carpenter, Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi all put up very good fights. It wasn’t all plain sailing though, the new, lower downforce cars coupled with the higher temperatures and subsequently lower grip caught more than one notable driver out.
Starting at the top, Power may have taken the win and led a sizeable number of laps in the process however, it wasn’t until well after half-way in that he actually took the lead for the first time. After qualifying third, Power dropped back at the start but regained the lost ground at the first round of pit stops under the first caution, gaining three positions in one go and putting him back up to third. In the latter quarter of the race, Power’s win rarely looked in doubt but there was very nearly a surprise when Stefan Wilson, Jack Harvey and Oriol Servia all didn’t pit under the last caution. Wilson led the race for three laps after the restart, making him and his late brother Justin the fourth set of brothers to do so, but it wasn’t to be as all three drivers had to pull into the pits having run out of fuel. With those three out of the way, Power had a clear track ahead of him to take a dominant win, well ahead of Carpenter and Dixon. Power, along with his Penske squad, was clearly elated in victory circle and it was a win he certainly deserved after a less than great start to the season.
Super-speedway specialist, Carpenter, was tipped by many to take the victory and seemed in charge in the opening stages of the race but he was overhauled by first Tony Kanaan and then, once Kanaan had eliminated himself from the lead with a puncture, Power who went on to the victory. Carpenter had taken a few front row starts at the Indy 500 before but never a win, he was confident that he could rectify that before the race but the cautions and changes in strategy just didn’t play into his favour and he was left in a rather disappointing second. A story of what could’ve been for Carpenter who knows time is fast running out for him to get that elusive Indy 500 win.
Scot Dixon. Indycar 2018: Round Six – image courtesy of hondanews.eu
Third on the road was Dixon who managed to not go flying this year to take a well-deserved podium. The #9 Chip Ganassi driver had a fairly quiet first half of the race, other than very nearly crashing with Sebastien Bourdais, often running within the top five but never taking the lead however, he rolled the dice under the sixth caution by pitting and trying to make the end. Once the rest of the pit stops had cycled out, Dixon found himself in the net lead and a fair amount ahead of Power however, he was soon caught on his older tyres with both Power and Carpenter blasting past, leaving Dixon to fend off Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay. That he did, taking third and propelling himself into fourth in the championship.
Rossi was, amazingly, the bookmakers favourite going into the race despite the fact that he was starting second-to-last in thirty-second. After enjoying the last row club, along with Harvey and Conor Daly, it was down to business for the #27 Andretti driver. He made up a good six positions in the first five laps, but his progress stalled somewhat, only making up a further three positions in the next forty laps. By the third caution, Rossi had made it up to twelfth before he made incredible progress on the fourth restart, going around the outside, in very brave fashion, of just about everyone in his group. This trait was continued on the fifth restart when he went high to take a further two cars, putting him into third. The last round of pit stops didn’t play into the 2016 winner’s hands with Rossi eventually having to settle for fourth but gaining twenty-seven positions in one race is nothing to be ashamed of!
Penske, despite the win, didn’t have the best of days with their other three drivers. Josef Newgarden’s off strategy gamble under the third caution didn’t really pay off and, after being as low as twentieth, he was only able to recover an eighth-place finish putting him ten points back from the lead in the championship. Simon Pagenaud went fairly unnoticed throughout the race but a long last stop quashed any remaining chance the Frenchman had of a podium, eventually coming home in sixth. The last Penske of Helio Castroneves was the most unfortunate after he was the cause of the fifth caution. He was clearly upset after losing the rear and ending up hitting the inside wall, but he wasn’t along in doing so.
Danica Patrick’s last race. Image courtesy of media.gm.com
First to fall foul of these oversteer-prone cars was last year’s third place finisher, and arguably Rookie of the Year, Ed Jones who ploughed into the wall, causing the second caution of the day. This crash was repeated by Danica Patrick whose fairy-tale final race at Indy was ended when she too lost the rear after struggling with her car all day. Bourdais, Sage Karam and Kanaan all had very similar crashes to Jones and Patrick with those three causing the fourth, sixth and seventh cautions respectively.
Takuma Sato. Indycar 2018: Round Six – Indy 500, Indianapolis. Image courtesy of media.gm.com
All but one of the cautions were caused by a single car crash which is very unusual for the Indy 500, usually famed for its wrecks. The only exception to that rule was the very first caution which was caused by last year’s winner, Takuma Sato, hitting the back of James Davison. Davison had been running considerably slower than the cars around him for quite a number of laps before Sato was caught out by the pace differential coming out of the corner, leaving him a passenger as he hit the side of Davison.
All drivers were thankfully ok following their incidents, with only Jones’ in slight doubt for next week’s double header at Detroit after being taken to hospital as a precautionary measure with head and neck pain.
It hasn’t been announced yet, but Schmidt Peterson’s Robert Wickens is expected to take Rookie of the Year after an impressive ninth place finish in the absence of bumped teammate James Hinchcliffe.
Will Power, driver of the #12 Verizon Team Penske IndyCar Chevrolet V6, celebrates his victory Sunday, May 27, 2018, after winning the Verizon IndyCar 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. This is the first Indy 500 win for Power and the 17th win for team owner Roger Penske. Image courtesy of media.gm.com and the photo by Phillip Abbott/LAT for Chevy Racing.
With the 102nd running done, it won’t be long before talk points to the 103rd running of the Indy 500 however, for now, IndyCar heads to the double header that is the Duel in Detroit next weekend before completing the second, and most valuable, triple header at Texas Motor Speedway.
Full Race Result:
Will Power
Ed Carpenter
Scott Dixon
Alexander Rossi
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Simon Pagenaud
Carlos Munoz
Josef Newgarden
Robert Wickens (R)
Graham Rahal
JR Hildebrand
Marco Andretti
Matheus Leist (R)
Gabby Chaves
Stefan Wilson
Jack Harvey
Oriol Servia
Charlie Kimball
Zachary Claman De Melo (R)
Spencer Pigot
Conor Daly
Max Chilton
Zach Veach (R)
Jay Howard
DNF – Tony Kanaan, Sage Karam, Helio Castroneves, Sebastien Bourdais, Kyle Kaiser (R), Danica Patrick, Ed Jones, Takuma Sato, James Davison
