Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2021 i AUTOSPORT

@BenAndersonF1 Who knew a set of temporary, emergency rule changes, designed principally to arrest development of cars meant to be scrap already, in order to protect the integrity of tyres never meant to go on this long, would produce the most compelling Formula 1 season in almost a decade? I would argue this is as exciting a title fight as F1 has seen since 2012, when Sebastian Vettel inexplicably survived a first-lap collision with Bruno Senna at the final race in Brazil to beat Fernando Alonso to the prize. But in terms of what it could mean for F1 should Max Verstappen topple Lewis Hamilton, what we have now is a situation more akin to 2005-06, when Alonso and Renault finally ended Michael Schumacher’s streak. Even that analogy has limits,…

It might be regarded as one of Hermann Tilke’s finest works, lauded by drivers as an exciting test of finesse and bravery (and car grunt and grip), but Turn 8 at Istanbul is a tough place to photograph. Trackside, you get a magnificent sense of how fast the cars are travelling through this triple-apex left-hander; watch it on TV and you may wonder what all the fuss is about. F1 cars don’t lean over that much, even at high cornering speeds, but you can always count on a Red Bull to deliver a nice shower of sparks from its skid plates – and, here, the high humidity generated some interesting vortices around the top of the rear wing. Where Istanbul, Tukey When 15:26pm, Saturday 9 October 2021 Details Canon EOS-1DX…

PICTURES The 2020 and 2021 seasons will be remembered for many things, including the significant disruption caused by a calendar that often shifted in response to an ever-changing pandemic. While nothing good came out of the global crisis, F1 fans were at least able to enjoy their sport and see some variety compared with the formulaic calendars of the previous few years. Imola and Istanbul were reintroduced in 2020, while F1 raced at Mugello and Portimão for the first time. This season, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Losail in Qatar have been added, as well as returning again to Imola, Zandvoort, Istanbul and Portimão to help achieve a 22-race championship. One might argue that Imola and Istanbul are not new to F1, and cars have tested at Mugello and Portimão…

Much like a comic book superhero, almost every Formula 1 driver has an origin story worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster – given the horrifying level of commitment, talent, funds, results, luck, and sheer bloody-mindedness needed just to get a spot on the grid. Let alone get in the right car at the right time for a shot at victory. So it is for Mercedes-bound, British young gun George Russell, who has been like a heat-seeking missile from the outset: flat-out, and expertly guided by the finest minds in the business. He’s also not shy about the mission he’s on. “The clear goal is to become a Formula 1 world champion,” he said, in the days leading up to the announcement. “[To do that] I want to make sure I’m the…

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OLEG KARPOV Oleg snared an exclusive chat with Max Verstappen as the Dutchman goes full pelt in pursuit of his first title. See the results on p36 ANTHONY PEACOCK PR for Kimi Räikkönen's rally team in 2011 and still a friend of the Finn, Anthony explains why Formula 1 will miss the retiring Iceman (p72) ANDREW BENSON BBC Sport's chief F1 writer analyses exactly how Red Bull has levered itself into championship contention (p46) STEWART BELL Melbourne-based journalist Stewart reveals just how long George Russell has been on Mercedes' F1 radar (p56) Thanks to Matt Bishop, Michael Clayton, Steve Cooper, Lucy Genon, Clarisse Hoffmann, Gemma Lusty, Will Ponissi, Katharina Rees IS POWERED BY…

Since Istanbul Park isn’t the most photogenic of circuits in terms of background – it’s out in a fairly nondescript area of countryside and the trackside infrastructure looks a bit cluttered – you tend to look for areas where the cars are running under duress. This angle, at the exit of the final corner, makes use of the kerb and track to give a graphic composition. This weekend wasn’t a great one for McLaren since the nature of the track didn’t really suit the car, so the drivers were hustling to find lap time wherever they could. Both the drivers were leaning on the cars noticeably more than their rivals here, going wider and tearing off chunks of red and white paint. Where Istanbul, Turkey When 15:30pm, Friday 9 October…

PICTURES 01 AUDI OR PORSCHE IN FOR 2026? New engine rules appeal to new entrants 02 BATTLE HOTS UP FOR SECOND ALFA SEAT 03 HONDA CONFIRMS RED BULL ‘COLLABORATION’ 01 New rules aimed at making engine development less expensive are expected to attract manufacturers to F1 – and open the possibility of the Porsche name returning to the grid for the first time in 30 years. The Volkswagen Group, which includes the Porsche and Audi brands, is understood to have been closely involved in discussions concerning the next engine formula, due for introduction in 2026. While the formula has yet to be finalised, a consensus has been achieved over certain elements that senior VW figures have described as prerequisites for committing to an engine program. Adoption of so-called ‘e-fuels’ is…

@_markgallagher The return of Martin Whitmarsh to Formula 1 is the latest move by Lawrence Stroll to give his investment in Aston Martin – both the car company and the racing team – every chance of success. Stroll likes heavy hitters with a proven track record. Witness his appointment of former Mercedes-AMG boss Tobias Moers, tasked with reversing Aston Martin’s sales and fortunes on the stock market, and one-time Inter Milan CEO Jefferson Slack as the F1 team’s Managing Director – Commercial and Marketing. Slack later brought in McLaren’s Rob Bloom as Chief Marketing Officer, bolstering a commercial operation that achieved notable successes on the sponsorship front during the early part of this year. Sadly, the on-track results haven’t followed suit, the impact of those tweaked technical regulations stifling the…

Tread the streets of St James’s and you echo the footsteps of the great and the good, the influencers and dealmakers, the movers and shakers of a corner of London which has accommodated the elite since Restoration times. At its heart, St James’s Square; for at least two centuries one of London’s most fashionable addresses until the arrival of gentlemen’s clubs and – ugh, whisper it – commercial establishments prompted the aristocracy to up sticks for nearby Belgravia. Brass plates by the sturdy doors of these imposing highceilinged edifices now allude to the present occupants’ line of work. These are no longer houses, since 21st century commerce has no need of bedrest. Within, you will find businesses carrying opaque and anodyne titles, and specialising in such as merger arbitrage and…

PICTURES AFTER WINNING KARTING AND FORMULA VEE… championships in his native Brazil, Nelson Piquet came to Europe in 1977, winning innumerable F3 races before making his F1 debut with Ensign at Hockenheim the following year. After further grands prix in a privately entered McLaren, there came an invitation to drive a factory Brabham-Alfa at the final race, Montréal. It was the start of a long love affair. Piquet was always a maverick in F1, as also was Bernie Ecclestone’s team: over the next seven seasons there were 13 victories, and twice Nelson won the world championship. Rarely do you come across a relationship between team and driver like this one. For one thing, there was a fundamental empathy between Ecclestone and Piquet; for another, an almost telepathic working relationship developed…

1 “Blind faith” helps Lewis notch up his Hamil-ton Lewis Hamilton secured his 100th grand prix victory in an extraordinary race at Sochi, passing the McLaren of long-time leader Lando Norris as conditions changed radically in the final laps. The grand prix had been intriguing enough anyway until rain imposed a dramatic coda, in effect rendering the race a mirror image of Saturday’s qualifying session, where drying conditions abruptly changed the order in the final moments. Few people would have bet the house on a Hamilton win based on his Saturday showing. Foul conditions had prompted the FIA to adjust the weekend schedule, moving the first F3 race to Friday evening and abandoning FP3. Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen already faced long slogs from the tail of the grid, owing…

@benedwardstv PICTURES Nico Hülkenberg recently admitted his Formula 1 days are over and that was a sad moment for me. Having commentated on him for 15 years, I remain baffled that an F1 podium escaped his skills. The first time I observed Nico was at Zandvoort in 2006. The second season of A1GP began with Hülkenberg driving for Team Germany. He had won the 2005 Formula BMW championship in his home country before stepping up to the 550bhp Zytek-powered Lola single-seater without a blink. When a thunderstorm hit the track, we discovered just how talented he was. Cars driven by experienced campaigners were half spinning or scrabbling through gravel traps, but Hülkenberg kept it all together in the rain and delivered a brilliant final stint on slicks to overcome local…

While many of his peers moved on to Renault’s Formula 1 engine project, Laurent Rossi stepped out of powertrain development and into the business world – a journey that would ultimately bring him back to the world of cars and motor racing, via a stint with the world’s most powerful and influential tech company… GP Racing: Having qualified as an engineer, what made you decide to go to business school? Laurent Rossi: After six or seven years of working on powertrains and doing pretty much everything there – I travelled to Mexico, tested engines in volcanoes, went to the Arctic Circle, I did a lot of cool stuff – I just realised I was only doing engineering things. I was pretty much like a big boy playing with big toys.…

PICTURES RED BULL HAS ALWAYS APPROACHED FORMULA 1 ON THE FRONT FOOT. IT’S AN ATTITUDE ENCAPSULATED IN THE UNOFFICIAL COMPANY PHILOSOPHY: “NO RISK, NO FUN.” ANOTHER CLICHÉ TO DESCRIBE IT, PERHAPS, WOULD BE: “GO HARD OR GO HOME.” It is a credo, a modus operandi, that goes right back to Red Bull’s early days in Formula 1. When Red Bull joined the grid back in 2005, taking over the Jaguar team, Christian Horner decided the best way to guarantee success was to sign the greatest designer of his age. So Red Bull’s team principal went after Adrian Newey and tempted him away from McLaren at the end of 2005, a little over four years after McLaren had successfully fought off an attempt by Jaguar to do the same. It was…

Don’t expect a fanfare in Abu Dhabi, or any grand curtain call designed to soak up two decades of accumulated Formula 1 glory. But do expect a small farewell party. It’s just that you won’t be invited. Kimi Räikkönen, in a move which surprised almost nobody, finally announced his decision to retire at the beginning of September – although it’s something that he had settled on for nearly a year. And that’s why his announcement came almost as an afterthought, in the form of a somewhat laconic Instagram post that started off with: “This is it.” Kimi likes to get to the point and not waste time with words, a trait he shares with many of his fellow countrymen. They have a saying in Finland that goes along the lines…

1 Red Bull minimises losses on Mercedes’ day Valtteri Bottas rightly hailed his victory from pole position in Turkey as “one of the best races I’ve ever had”, but it wasn’t enough to stop Red Bull’s Max Verstappen reclaiming the lead of the world championship. While Bottas led imperiously throughout, apart from a brief period after his sole pitstop, team-mate and title contender Lewis Hamilton had a more eventful run to fifth. A strategic engine change, adding another internal combustion element to the pool for the title run-in, consigned fastest-in-qualifying Hamilton to 11th on the grid. He had the pace to overtake on the wet and slippery Istanbul track, rising to ninth on the opening lap and then slicing through the field quickly after spending eight laps bottled up behind…

12-14 November 2021 Autódromo José Carlos Pace THE MAIN EVENT It’s nearly 50 years since Interlagos hosted its first F1 race, the 1972 non-championship Brazilian GP won by the late Carlos Reutemann in a Brabham (Red Bull ‘driver advisor’ Helmut Marko was fourth in a BRM). Then just short of five miles long, the circuit has changed much in the interim and survived a number of challenges from other tracks for the privilege of hosting the country’s race, which will be known as the São Paulo GP for the next five years. Despite frequent resurfacing, this is a bumpy track which presents a major physical challenge to drivers. In combination with the bumps, the anticlockwise layout and relentless nature of the corners makes this a physically fatiguing event. The weather…

PICTURES @CoddersF1 facebook.com/gpracingonline We’re all in this together. Some may recognise this as a song from High School Musical performed by a youthful Zac Efron and his ensemble, others as one of the more disingenuous slogans uttered by career politicians over the past decade-and-a-bit. Axiomatically, of course, then as now, some are more in it than others. The Formula 1 calendar is a case in point. Formulated by the alphas of the c-suite and above, a constituency generally unfamiliar with hard work; but lived by those with oil under their fingernails and bags beneath the eyes. By the time you read this, the FIA’s World Motorsport Council will have ratified a 23-race 2022 calendar. As is usual, over the preceding weeks sundry F1 websites splurged speculative versions of the schedule,…