Formula 1 - Discussion Thread

[BouncerGuy]

FIA steward Warwick suspended for Canadian GP

Former grand prix driver Derek Warwick has been suspended from his role as a steward at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix.

Governing body the FIA said the decision had been made "following recent unauthorised media comments".

It said he would be replaced by Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi, who would be "officiating from the remote operations centre in Geneva for the remainder of the event".

The FIA added: "After discussion, Derek acknowledges that his comments were ill-advised in his role as an FIA steward and has apologised.

"Derek will resume his duties as a steward in the forthcoming Austrian Grand Prix."

Warwick won the Le Mans 24 Hours, is a former president of the British Racing Drivers' Club and is one of the most senior driver stewards in F1.

An ex-F1 driver is always one of the four stewards officiating at every grand prix.

Last week Warwick was quoted as saying that a penalty given to Red Bull's Max Verstappen at the Spanish Grand Prix after the Dutchman apparently deliberately collided with Mercedes' George Russell was "right".

On a gambling website, Warwick said: "Should he have done what he did, in Turn Five with George Russell? Absolutely not. Did he get a penalty for that? Yes.

"It seems to me that, although he dove in, he then did turn away from George, but momentum pushed him against George. It is absolutely wrong and the FIA was right to give him a penalty."

Warwick is the second driver steward to be punished by the FIA for commenting on races in the past six months.

In January Johnny Herbert was dropped by the FIA, which said his "duties as an FIA steward and that of a media pundit were incompatible".

The FIA's decision to suspend Warwick came a day after controversial statute changes were passed by the organisation's general assembly.

The changes are said by critics to "risk further contributing to the erosion of the FIA's reputation for competent and transparent governance" under president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

Ben Sulayem's time in office since 2021 has been marked by a series of controversies, the majority of which have been focused on the erosion of accountability and good governance and the introduction of measures that enhance his power and reduce oversight.

When there are questions about how stewards arrived at decisions during a grand prix, the FIA refuses to comment on the basis that stewards are "independent from the FIA".

BBC

 

[BouncerGuy]

Russell snatches 'mighty' pole from Verstappen

Venue: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal Date: 15 June Race start: 19:00 BST on Sunday

Mercedes' George Russell snatched pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix from Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Russell beat Verstappen by 0.160 seconds to grab the fastest time just seconds after the Dutchman himself had taken it away from McLaren's Oscar Piastri.

The Australian's team-mate and title rival Lando Norris could manage only seventh place, behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and a superb performance from Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.

The grid sets up a battle into the first corner between Briton Russell and Verstappen in Montreal, just a race after their controversial conflict at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Verstappen was penalised 10 seconds and given three licence penalty points for deliberately colliding with Russell in the closing stages of the race and is one licence point away from a race ban.

'Exhilarating' lap gives Russell 'goosebumps'

Russell had felt on arriving at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Saturday morning that he had a good chance of setting pole, and his confidence was well placed.

Like Verstappen using the medium tyre for his final lap, Russell said it was "one of the most exhilarating laps of my life".

He added: "I swear, every corner I was looking at my lap-time delta on my steering wheel and I was going 0.1secs quicker, 0.1secs quicker. I got to the last corner and I was 0.6secs up and I thought: 'This lap's mighty.' It felt like the car was on rails. I am so pleased with pole."

Russell said he "had goosebumps" after crossing the line. "I don't think I've ever had that before," he said.

Verstappen said: "I felt quite good all weekend. The car was in a good window. This track is quite cool. It feels like a big go-kart on the kerbs.

"You need to be quite efficient on the straights, which I think we are. The tough choice was the tyres and I think we chose the right ones. We will see what we can do tomorrow. I am already happy to be on the front row and I hope we can have a solid race."

McLaren had had a difficult weekend and Piastri said he was "pretty happy with third".

'Big mistakes' cost Norris

The grid gives the Australian a good chance to extend his championship lead over Norris, who had a tricky session.

He missed the final chicane on his first lap of the top 10 shootout and had to be reminded not to push too much in the braking zones.

His second attempt was slower than Alonso's first and Norris failed to improve on his final run, and was bumped further down by Russell, Antonelli and Hamilton.

Norris said: "Just a couple of big mistakes. One, hitting the wall on the last lap in the exit of (Turn) Seven and first lap, I think, last corner. So, yeah, just two mistakes that cost me, I guess.

"We've clearly not been as quick as normal. I think that's just because of the layout of the track. I think the cars have been performing relatively well and I was happy through all of qualifying. Maybe not the car to take pole today, but good enough to be up there and fighting for top three."

Team principal Andrea Stella said: "Lando just tried too hard. I think he felt that the speed was there, but on this track if you try too hard then you may have quite a bit of price to pay."

Alonso's sixth place was Aston Martin's best grid position of the season and confirms the progress the team have made since introducing an upgrade at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

"We maximised for sure the potential of the car," Alonso said. "I feel happier with the car since Imola, since the upgrade.

"At the beginning of the year, it was a challenge to understand what the car needed and what kind of direction in the set-up I needed to go, but since Imola I am more comfortable and I can be more precise on the feedback and make the changes that I know will make the car faster and sometimes you succeed on that.

"Last four races, four Q3 (places). It makes the whole team a little more relaxed."

Rounding out the top 10 behind Leclerc were Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar and Williams' Alex Albon.

However, Hadjar was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Williams' Carlos Sainz at the end of the first session, preventing the Spaniard from progressing. Alpine's Franco Colapinto will now start 10th.

Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda, who qualified 11th, will start at the back because of a 10-place penalty for overtaking Piastri's damaged McLaren after a red flag during final practice.

Stewards rejected Tsunoda's explanations for his actions, saying Piastri was not going slow enough to excuse the breaking of a safety rule.

BBC

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Ex-F1 driver Kubica wins iconic Le Mans 24 hours

Former Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica took victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours with a privately entered Ferrari.

The number 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, also driven by China's Yifei Ye and Britain's Phil Hanson, took the chequered flag 14.084 seconds ahead of the number six Porsche 963 of France Kevin Estre.

Pole Kubica, once considered one of the world's best F1 drivers as part of a group of young drivers which included Lewis Hamilton, won the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix for BMW-Sauber.

But three years later, as an established F1 driver for Renault, Kubica suffered life-changing injuries in a rallying crash which left him with a partially severed right arm and multiple fractures.

He returned to F1 with Williams in 2019 as team-mate to George Russell, scoring one point that season, and then drove two races for Alfa Romeo in 2021.

At Le Mans, the works number 51 Ferrari 499P driven by Antonio Giovinazzi took third place, with the sister 50 car driven by Antonio Fuoco fourth.

Both factory Ferraris, who had been competing for the victory until the final hour, were nursing problems in the final stages.

It is the third victory in a row at Le Mans for the 499P, which won in the top class for the first time in 50 years in 2023 - the 100th anniversary of the famous race.

Le Mans: Robert Kubica, 40, wins iconic race in privately entered Ferrari

Former Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica take victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours with a privately entered Ferrari.

www.bbc.com

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Norris & Piastri collide as Russell wins in Canada

Title rivals and McLaren team-mates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri came to blows for the first time as the Briton appeared to misjudge a passing attempt in the Canadian Grand Prix.

Norris hit the back of Piastri's car on the pit straight with four laps to go as George Russell took Mercedes' first victory of the season with a controlled drive.

Norris, who had been attempting to pass Piastri for fourth place, told his team it was "all my bad" and that it was "stupid of me".

Norris' car retired on the spot with front suspension damage and the race finished under the safety car with Piastri in fourth place behind Russell, Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli.

Piastri's championship lead over Norris increased to 22 points, with Verstappen 21 adrift of the Briton.

Canadian Grand Prix result: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri collide as George Russell wins

Lando Norris crashes out of the Canadian Grand Prix in a collision with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, as George Russell wins.

www.bbc.com