In the round-up: Zhou Guanyu is encouraged by the progress Alfa Romeo have made with their car’s reliability.
In brief
Alfa Romeo has made “massive step” in reliability – Zhou
Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu says his team has made a “massive step” with the team’s reliability, despite a pair of concerning moments during testing.
Zhou was quickest in the second day of running but abandoned a practice start in the pit lane in the final minutes after a problem. In the early session of yesterday’s final day, Zhou’s team mate Valtteri Bottas stopped on track with a suspected power unit problem.
Despite the concerns, Zhou believes the team have made a vast improvement in reliability from 2022, where they were plagued by technical problems in races and practice sessions.
“We have done a massive step forward, together with also the Ferrari guys, in reliability issues,” Zhou said.
“Firstly starting with the cooling system, which was kind of our main part that we tried to improve during the year. It also slowed our other package development throughout the season for other parts to gain downforce. So we were focusing on making the car finish to the line. So we’re definitely aiming for much less DNFs between the drivers, because last year we had quite a lot.”
Alpine lost no downforce from anti-porpoising measures – Ocon
Alpine have not lost any downforce from new technical regulations introduced to curb porpoising, says Esteban Ocon.
The FIA enforced rule changes to the 2023 technical regulations in a bid to reduce aerodynamic porpoising in F1’s current ground effect cars. Car floors have been raised slightly, along with other minor changes to reduce the high speed bouncing effect.
After three days of running in the team’s new car, Ocon says Alpine have already clawed back the performance naturally lost from the new measures.
“If you take the regulations, we should have lost downforce and I don’t feel that’s been the case,” Ocon said. “So that’s pretty good.
“I feel a lot of all the different things between last year’s car and this year’s car in terms of how it handles, in terms of balance stability and braking stability as well, which is improved.”
‘Worth sacrificing qualifying for better tyre wear’ – Magnussen
Kevin Magnussen believes it is worth his Haas team sacrificing one-lap pace to try and make its car easier on its tyres during races.
Teams ran all six of Pirelli’s dry tyre compounds during testing, with Magnussen saying the team specifically focused on the C1, C2 and C3 compounds they will run in next weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
“We tried the compounds that we’re going to use at the race,” Magnussen said. “I think that’s one area that you want to always improve on and try and get less degradation and look after the tyres in the race.
“You can even trade a bit of quali performance to try and get a better tyre management or an easier car on the tyres, because that’s the most important point in the race. So I think that would be one of the things we try and focus on.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Guenther Steiner opens up on relationship with FIA boss as tensions rise (Daily Express)
“We need to work together to make the sport. Now with the popularity of the sport we need to all work a job to do things right. We need to work together and I think that works. Sometimes that relationship is stronger than another one but in general I don’t think it’s as bad sometimes as it’s made out to be.”
Grand Prix cancels Ladies Day as women demand the real thing (The Age)
“Between our last two Formula 1 Australian grands prix in 2019 and 2022, female event attendees of all ages and all attendees aged between 18 and 34 have both grown by more than half, up from 24 to 38 per cent and from 26 to 40 per cent respectively.”
Dear FIA, a ban on making political statements is, in fact, a political statement (source)
“The excuse that sport is a form of escapism dehumanises the athletes and performers. They are not circus animals plastered in front of our eyes solely for our entertainment and then caged back until the next race, match, tour, competition, etc. Once they get off those tracks they live in the same world that we do. Wealthy or otherwise, they are neither oblivious nor impervious to the prejudices and/or injustices that political structures may create, maintain, or refuse to dismantle in our societies.”
Invicta Watch Group & Virtuosi Racing join forces in FIA Formula 2 from 2023 onwards (Virtuosi Racing)
“The multi-year agreement between the two organizations will see Invicta become title partner of the team, to be renamed Invicta Virtuosi Racing. Invicta branding will be featured prominently on the team cars, driver race suits and team clothing. Invicta will also be investing significantly in marketing activities and activation in order to raise the profile of the team and Formula 2 alike.”
Formula 2 wants to shorten gap between its final rounds (Formula Scout)
“I’m not happy with that (gap), because either we have a winner already three months before the end of the season, or otherwise we don’t have a winner, but everybody forgets in the meantime what’s at stake for the last race. So it’s not good. And that’s what we had already last year.”
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Lighting up the streets and skies of Qatar! 🎆✈️
F1 and @qatarairways launched their new partnership in style, with an F1 car roaring down Lusail Boulevard 😍🙌#F1 pic.twitter.com/5CZHNcwTaI
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 25, 2023
196 laps in the bank. first three days in my new office and overall good progress. pumped for the real thing next week! 🤠#f1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/4TjtWgm4xO
— Nico Hülkenberg (@HulkHulkenberg) February 25, 2023
Confused by some F1 drivers reluctance to ban tire warmers. It makes for better racing, it highlights the skill of driving on cold tires, and it saves a ton of money/pollution from freight and energy consumption. The argument that it’s dangerous has been disproven in many…(1/3)
— James Hinchcliffe (@Hinchtown) February 25, 2023
I’m very sad. Gonna miss my first Formula E race due to suspension issue
So sorry for our supporters, partners and the whole team that worked so hard to get the car here
We can fix it back at the factory and we will be back stronger for São Paulo ePrix🇧🇷
NEVER give up.
— Lucas Di Grassi (@LucasdiGrassi) February 25, 2023
Devastated…We’re forced to withdraw all cars from the remainder of the event due to Safety concerns. I was loving the energy from the home crowd and after a very positive FP2 we were looking great for Qualifying. Sorry to everyone, this is not the way I wanted to end the day… pic.twitter.com/0W167MshMr
— Kelvin van der Linde (@KelvinvdLinde) February 25, 2023
|@OconEsteban reveals he’s had some reliability problems – though not with his new @AlpineF1Team A523…#F1 pic.twitter.com/PirHswdlUI
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) February 25, 2023
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Madbikerbob and Mitzi !
