Indholdsfortegnelse for August 2020 i AUTOSPORT

The inspiration for this month’s cover comes from an iconic image of boxer Muhammad Ali (née Cassius Clay) arriving at the weigh-in for his 1963 bout with Doug Jones – Clay with his usually loquacious mouth taped firmly shut, no doubt mocking those who would prefer he stayed silent. As he rose to global fame and acclaim, Ali made concerted efforts to use his profile and platform to further the cause of racial justice and civil rights. He remains one of the greatest sportsmen who ever lived, as well as an important political figure. Similarly, Lewis Hamilton has seized the present moment sparked by the brutal killing of black civilian George Floyd by police in the United States, using his own global profile to campaign in a similar vein –…

‘NEW DEAL’ RULES CHANGE F1’S PRIORITIES Nothing could ever offset the humanitarian disaster that COVID-19 has presented to every aspect of our lives, but the strength of a civilised society is seen in its response to a crisis. Be it financial, medical or societal, there are many examples where adversity has been a precursor to an emergence into a leaner, fitter and more efficient way of doing things. So it has come to pass in Formula 1 too. After the full impact of events in Melbourne hit home, both FOM and the FIA began working to see what could be done not just to survive the short-term effects of the virus but to seize the opportunity to bring Formula 1 back in a manner that would be more sustainable for…

The 1999 movie The Green Mile tells the story of a prison guard working on death row at Louisiana State Prison, and his encounter with a black inmate who possesses supernatural powers. The lead character, played by Tom Hanks, has a urinary infection cured by a convicted child murderer, acted by Michael Clarke Duncan, this giant of a man later restoring life to a pet mouse belonging to another prisoner. Welcome to the ‘Magical Black Character’, which acclaimed film director Spike Lee spoke about during a lecture at Yale University in 2001. Lee asserted that Hollywood film makers, unable or unwilling to cast black actors as normal people, instead preferred to introduce black characters as being mystical or magical, imbued with special powers to satisfy some need in the white…

Two years ago you signed Daniel Ricciardo and that was a big day for the team. How does that compare with the Alonso signing? I think we’re coming into this, I guess, eyes more open. I’ve managed personally to take even more time in explaining to Fernando, where we are standing, where we’ll be standing next year, and what’s the set of regulations for this winter: which means that the car will be pretty much frozen. And also, what’s the prospect for 2022. It is also true that I see a stronger fit with Fernando, not necessarily due to the past, because the past is the past and it’s behind, but I see a better fit in the fact that he’s got absolutely huge motivation to move back into Formula…

THE BEST OF TIMES THE WORST OF TIMES... Williams was awesome in the middle chunk of the 1990s, winning five constructors’ world championships in six seasons – a run back then only McLaren could rival – as Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve joined Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost among its illustrious roster of champion drivers. But it’s the glaring omission from that roll-call that will forever cast a shadow deep and long over the team’s most successful era. No amount of race wins and titles could possibly sooth the pain that would engulf Williams following the death of Ayrton Senna. But guilt? No, not that. Regret, certainly. But guilt suggests culpability for the crash that killed the world’s greatest racing driver, and for the rest of the decade and even…

MARK GALLAGHER Lewis Hamilton's fight against racism, and his campaign to address the issue in F1 and the wider world, is Mark's focus this month (p32) STEVEN TEE As racing resumed Steven was in Austria and Hungary, snapping away and examining what F1's 'new normal' is actually like (p44) RICHARD WILLIAMS Richard's superb feature on the 70 most influential people in 70 years of Formula 1 has reached the 1970s (see p50) STUART CODLING Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams gives Stuart the low down on the team's finances and why she remains optimistic (p40)…

Q1 In 2019 Charles Leclerc had six pole positions but which was the only race he started from second? Q2 Which current driver was disqualified from seventh in his first F1 race? Q3 Who started more world championship F1 races: John Watson or Derek Warwick? Q4 In Hungary Lewis Hamilton equalled Michael Schumacher’s record of eight wins at one GP. At which race were Schumacher’s wins achieved? Q5 In which year did a country last host two GPs at different circuits? Q6 How many races did Brabham win as a constructor in F1: 31, 35, or 36? Q7 Which driver raced all of these makes of car in his F1 career: Hesketh, Hill, Surtees, Shadow, Williams, Arrows and Lola? Q8 Which was the last race in which cars failed to…

COWELL’S SKILLS WILL PLACE HIM IN HIGH DEMAND It would be interesting to know the thoughts that ran through Andy Cowell’s head while watching the Austrian Grand Prix, the head of Mercedes’ F1 powertrain business having left his role two days before practice started. For the former Cosworth engineer, the 16 years he spent working at the epicentre of the Silver Arrows’ engine division could hardly have been more fruitful - world championship successes with McLaren and Brawn in 2008 and 2009, followed by the extraordinary engineering achievement that’s been the hallmark of the company during F1’s hybrid era. Being central to the power behind every one of Lewis Hamilton’s six world titles is no mean feat. Whatever the future brings, Cowell will be in demand by Formula 1 media…

Formula 1’s unexpectedly protracted offseason has been painful for many of the teams, but for Williams in particular the resumption of racing couldn’t come soon enough. Declining performance in recent years – and the attendant shrinkage of its prize fund share – meant the team was already under considerable financial pressure when the payments from title sponsor ROKiT abruptly ceased in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Williams didn’t get to become the second most successful F1 team of all time in terms of championship wins by being soft, cuddly, or in any way a pushover. So, its response was quintessentially hard-nosed and unsentimental: it publicly gave ROKiT the rocket and came out fighting. Sir Frank Williams might have moved aside from the day-to-day management of affairs, but the business…

For Formula 1, the 1970s started with the posthumous crowning of a world champion. The fatal accident to Jochen Rindt at Monza not only robbed motorsport of a gifted driver but cost Jackie Stewart one of his closest friends, fuelling the Scot’s long campaign to make the sport less lethal for its participants. The last world champion of the 1960s, Stewart went into the new decade as Formula 1’s leading figure: not just as the quickest in the field, destined to win further titles in 1971 and 1973, but as a pioneer in both paddock style and on-track safety. This son of a Dumbarton car dealer went out of his way to make himself a highly marketable figure, thanks to the long hair, the tartan band around his white helmet…

“ON THE RECORD, YES – OFF THE RECORD, NO!”… This was Gerhard Berger, responding to my question: was he happy in his current team? There was a time, before the tentacles of PR tightened, when racing drivers were fun to interview, and none more than the irreverent Gerhard, who – like Niki Lauda – always gave you straight answers. Why did he live in Monaco? The sun, the blue of the Mediterranean, the security…? “No, for the same reason as everyone else – tax!” I remember Berger’s first Formula 1 start, at the Osterreichring in 1984. His ATS wasn’t much of a car, but it did have BMW’s muscular turbo engine, and when the lights went out he blasted away in a series of lurid slides. “You looked out of…

New perspective for an ageing bull With a circuit as small as this it’s tricky to find fresh angles but I set myself that challenge for the second part of the double-header in Austria. In the centre of the circuit there’s a huge wrought-iron sculpture of a bull jumping through an arch. During FP2 I looked to find a way of integrating it into a new shot, and came up with this. Shooting at a very slow shutter speed, which blurs the background slightly as you pan across, you can get the cars as they brake for Turn 1. It’s technically difficult to achieve because they appear quickly from behind a tree, so you have very little time to pick them up as you pan, but you do get into…

RUSSELL WILL ‘EXPERIENCE’ GREATNESS Working from the Silverstone Experience for Channel 4’s coronavirus-adapted production of the Austrian Grand Prix allowed me to immerse myself in the fabulous heritage of motorsport we enjoy in this country. The newly opened museum contains cars, bikes and memorabilia from some of Britain’s greatest motorsport exponents, as well as educational areas to entice youngsters. It serves as a reminder of what’s been achieved in the past as we prepare for two key events a few metres away on the circuit. In 2020, Lewis Hamilton is not only seeking a seventh world title but also his seventh victory at Silverstone; how suitable it would be if he achieved it in the year we sadly lost the man who thrived on number 7, the late, lamented Sir…

Water company BWT took on title sponsorship of Racing Point this season and made a commitment to digging a new well in Gambia for every top-ten finish the team achieved. On present form that should keep the company very busy, but it’s also setting its sights on a hydrogen-powered future… GP Racing: The first question many people seem to ask when they look at the BWT branding is, “Why pink?” Did you arrive at that choice purely for visibility reasons? Lutz Huebner: Yeah, the reason is really that simple. If the cars were green or blue or grey, nobody would ask. That was the beginning. We said we really want to bring something new to motorsport, that was the thinking behind the pink colour. I’ll never forget the launch of…

For a while it didn’t look like there would be a grand prix at Silverstone at all this year, but you’ve ended up hosting two. How did you go about actually making it happen? The challenges have been endless, because at the point where we were trying to make decisions we didn’t know what was going to be possible. At one stage F1’s aspiration to get a season under way looked at odds with so many other sporting events and championships. It was commendable for them to keep focused but challenging when other people were saying, “But surely you can’t be going ahead?” We delayed our decision on whether the public could be present for longer than many, just to give ourselves the space we needed to really establish whether…