Driver change still in 2022?
It was completely wild on Sunday night, when the normally well-informed Spanish colleague Albert Fabrega from ‘DAZN’ also told in a video about a “change of driver” in the near future.
“The market is already on the move,” he said, referring to a “driver exchange between two teams” – without mentioning names, of course. This sparked the wildest speculation on the internet.
It is possible that Fabrega only meant the Williams rumor with his statement. But many interpret his words in such a way that it should still be an exchange within this season.
“It does not surprise me who is leaving – but who is coming,” Fabrega says only on the subject. We can only say one thing for sure: “Silly Season” is already gaining momentum!
tire test
We announced it already yesterday in the ticker: There will be another Pirelli tire test today. After Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri and Alpine were on the track in Imola yesterday, Ferrari is also with today.
Leclerc is currently driving, Sainz taking over F1-75 in the afternoon. Usually there is little information from these tests. But of course we are still keeping an eye on it. New tires for 2023 are being tested.
With this topic …
… this series of pictures pops up immediately! And yes, Virgin VR-01 is of course included …
Photo gallery: The 10 worst Formula 1 cars of the millennium
Is the Mercedes really “impassable”?
Toto Wolff has the floor after the difficult weekend for Lewis Hamilton himself on Sunday. But what exactly does it mean when a car is “non-drivable”? Former Formula One driver Timo Glock informs us about ‘Sky’.
“Untraceable simply means that the car does things that the driver does not expect. Sometimes you steer in and the rear axle is stable and suddenly in the middle of the curve the rear axle breaks out,” says Glock.
This behavior can be “different from round to round and from curve to curve”. “And it always puts a driver in the position that he just can’t get the most out of the car,” Glock says.
And he must know it. Glock once said of his Formula 1 years at Virgin: “At first glance, I’m glad I came from there relatively unharmed. […] It was cross-border at times. ‘
Is it just as bad at Mercedes this year?
Aston Martin is not writing off 2022 yet
For the team led by Sebastian Vettel, the 2022 season actually only started in Imola after three meaningless races. And you also do not want to write off the year after the messy start, emphasizes team manager Mike Krack.
“We want to bring updates to every race,” he reveals, explaining: “It’s important that development continues and does not stop. Of course, there comes a point where you stop and focus on next year’s car.”
“But we are still far from that at the moment,” the team manager clarifies. Will Vettel and Co. still manage to turn things around in 2022?
Latifi lacks confidence in the car
While Williams’ new signature Albon currently looks quite happy, that is not at all the case with his teammate. Latifi explains that he lacks confidence in FW44 “everywhere”.
“Since Saudi[-Arabien] I just did not have a good feeling in the car anymore, “he shrugs. As a reminder: In Jeddah, the Canadian crashed first in the qualifiers and then in the race.
“As soon as you stop going for full throttle on the straight side, it starts,” he describes his problems, admitting, “Alex clearly felt more comfortable in the car.” He’s just doing a “better job” at the moment.
“I also need to get up to that level,” Latifi says. Otherwise, his cockpit could be in danger …?
Good mood at McLaren
Norris gave the traditional team the first podium of the year in Imola this weekend. This was of course again appropriately celebrated yesterday at the factory in Woking during the investigation.
By the way, to get straight back to our big topic today: Some Formula 1 fans assume in this context that McLaren would like to get rid of Ricciardo.
Explanation: The Australian makes a lot of money, but is still only number 2 after Norris in terms of performance. At McLaren itself, however, they emphasize several times that they are happy with Ricciardo.
And do not forget: Ricciardo was the one who took the first McLaren victory since 2012 last year. Norris, on the other hand, has not yet won a Formula 1 race.
Dismissed drivers
This series of photos proves that in Formula 1, in case of doubt, even an existing contract does not protect against dismissal …
Photo gallery: 15 Formula 1 drivers who have been fired during the current season
contracts
Here is an overview of the contract terms for the 20 current Formula 1 drivers. Theoretically, at least eight contracts expire in the coming year – which of course leaves plenty of room for speculation.
But if it’s really about an exchange between two teams, then the contract period would still be irrelevant, and that could really mean everyone …
Will Williams get hold of Oscar Piastri?
“Silly Season” started last weekend in Imola, where colleague Ted Kravitz from ‘Sky’ explained that Williams should seek the services of Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri in the 2023 season.
That would make sense, because there does not seem to be room for alpine juniors on their own team. Ocon has a contract until 2024 and Alonso’s contract expires, but the Spaniard has recently emphasized several times that he wants to continue.
In addition, Laurent Rossi confirmed a few days ago that it is a possible scenario to loan Piastri to another team. But the question would still be whether he would replace Latifi or Albon.
“Silly Season”
Hello and welcome to a new edition of our Formula 1 live ticker. The premier class has a break this weekend, but there are some exciting topics away from the racetrack. For example, “Silly Season” is already gaining momentum! But more on that in a moment and in the coming hours.
Ruben Zimmermann follows you here through the day. If you have any questions, suggestions or complaints, you can use our contact form. You can also find us on Facebook this year, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and if you have any questions, you can also use our Twitter hashtag #FragMST. Here we go!
Here you can again read our live ticker from Tuesday!