Innehållsförteckning för November 2024 från AUTOSPORT

Mind your language As pointless brouhahas go, the veritable storm-in-an-eggcup over the extent to which expletives should form part of the F1 race broadcast was remarkable for several reasons. The way it hogged the headlines over and above the excitement of the championship run-in was most peculiar – although, since what it actually represented was the rumble of old fault lines grinding against one another, perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised. As Alex Kalinauckas points out on p106, this is fundamentally yet another example of the FIA and its president making a valid point but the wider world, and particularly F1’s competitors, contriving to miss that point because it wasn’t communicated clearly enough. The fact that a perfectly reasonable observation about sub-optimal communication was communicated so sub-optimally is an irony…

If the weather’s with you in Baku then you get some great light for the late-afternoon track sessions. It takes on a slightly warm cast. Among the quirks, the alignment of the pit buildings overlooking the main straight is slightly south-south-east so at this time of day you get some pools of shadow to play with as well. Like many current F1 cars there’s a lot of black on the Mercedes but it also has that nice loop in the Petronas colours as well as the red of the Ineos logo on the rear wing. This shot also worked out well in that the rear lights were illuminated, along with a timely flick of dust in the pool of light as George came in after his first Q3 run. Where…

We like to capture all possible angles of the Singapore Grand Prix and, this being a street circuit, that takes a lot of planning and co-ordination. To get away from street level we work with the race organisers to have at least one photographer in the right pod on the Singapore Flyer, another in a hotel room overlooking the circuit, and here in the slightly unromantic location of an overpass leading off the highway. Once you’re up here there’s no easy or quick way back so you accept you’re here for the duration. I captured the race start from this angle, then to add some variety I zoomed in slightly for this one of Lando Norris taking the chequered flag. Timing was important because of all the fireworks! Where Marina…

@_markgallagher Don’t feel too sorry for Daniel Ricciardo. Having survived the risks and rigours of 14 seasons competing in Formula 1, the ever-likeable Aussie can now enjoy the freedoms which come with a fortune most people can only dream of. On top of that he has much to look forward to. For some time to come, let’s say the next year at least, there is always the tantalising prospect of him returning to the fight, drafted in to deputise for someone who has fallen off their bike in pre-season testing, stumbled on a tennis court or tripped down the steps of their private jet. It’s happened before. Then there’s his future in wider racing. Plenty of teams in lots of categories would love to have Daniel drive their cars, wow their…

The sophistication of aerodynamic research techniques has grown immensely in recent years. When I started windtunnel testing in the 1980s, the models were crude, the tunnels small and the instrumentation limited to a simple balance to measure forces and moments as well as a manometer to measure a few pressures. CFD didn’t exist, at least not in the realms of motorsport. The aerodynamics department consisted of two full-time employees and two others (me included) who also performed other duties. Today an aerodynamic department will be the largest single engineering group in a team: around 100 people with jobs ranging from developing CFD tools and methodologies, through wind tunnel model design and build, to those actively engaged in developing the aerodynamic shapes and keeping on top of actual performance. With such…

OLEG KARPOV Oleg has co-authored this month’s Charles Leclerc cover feature (p32) as well as talking to Paddy Lowe for a Long Interview (p62) PAT SYMONDS In addition to his column (p24), Pat explains why some teams have introduced less-than-successful upgrades this season (p52) ALEX KALINAUCKAS As the title battle hots up Autosport’s GP editor mulls over the part Oscar Piastri could play in the final destination of the trophy (p44) DAMIEN SMITH For Now That Was A Car this month Damien looks at the P160, the last car produced by British Racing Motors to win a GP (p72) NEXT ISSUE ON SALE: NOVEMBER 14…

It’s been interesting to watch Williams rookie Franco Colapinto grow through his first three grand prix weekends. He’s obviously pretty confident and not afraid to explore the car’s limits, but he gets there in quite a methodical way. Obviously in Singapore he had to learn the circuit – but here the first practice is mostly in daylight anyway so it’s not representative of race conditions. By FP2 he was starting to push, as you can see here. The Williams was oversteering on the soft tyres but looked better on the hards. This venue’s artificial lighting makes the smoke of a lock-up that bit more dramatic provided you expose it correctly to dial down the harshness. Where Marina Bay, Singapore When 9:48pm, Friday 20 September 2024 Details Nikon Z9 400mm lens,…

01 RED BULL RESHUFFLE Ricciardo loses out to Lawson 02 VIRY BAD THINGS Renault shutters F1 engine programme 03 ROOKIE RACE OFF Sprint idea postponed WHY RICC’S RACE WAS RUN 01 Odds of seeing sparkling white wine gulped straight from a shoe on a Formula 1 podium any time soon have diminished considerably following the official announcement that Daniel Ricciardo will be replaced by Liam Lawson for the remainder of the 2024 season. The Australian’s journey in F1, at least as an active driver, appears to have come to an end with his departure from the RB team. The announcement came as no surprise in any meaningful sense, since it was not only widely expected, but also fairly straightforward to explain. Ricciardo’s return to the Faenza team last summer was meant to serve…

@benedwardstv The final quarter of the 2024 F1 season is about to kick off with a particularly intense burst of action. A triple-header in the Americas is followed by a two-week gap before the last three races are held on consecutive weekends, travelling from Las Vegas to the Middle East. For drivers fighting for a higher position in the championship it will be a hugely engaging period. Yet for mechanics and team staff who have to plan, arrange, shift equipment and recreate a pit garage every time, it is going to be an even tougher run towards Christmas. Former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley is very aware of the stress that the latter part of the season can create for everyone involved. “I used to think of it as being like…

GP Racing: Is it true you spent some time in the Houses of Parliament before you started your career in motorsport? Stephanie Carlin: Yes, I studied politics and did work experience in the Houses of Parliament as I was initially thinking about a career in political journalism. But I always had a love of cars and motorsport, so my first job was actually at the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) which acts as the voice of the motor industry, promoting its position to government and supporting the UK automotive industry at home and abroad. The person I replaced at the SMMT had left to become PR manager for the new A1GP series and I soon joined them for the launch and inaugural season of A1GP in 2005. GPR:…

Obfuscation is an innate part of the F1 game. Teams are, utterly understandably, unwilling to allow any more insight into their designs or decisions than is strictly necessary into the public realm. Lest rival squads use any of that information for their own gain. At McLaren, preserving the squad’s ‘intellectual property’ is a hot topic for team principal Andrea Stella. This makes his erudite media appearances all the more impressive in that he explains things in so much depth, all while guarding those precious secrets. It doesn’t hurt that he’s unafraid to call less sensitive things exactly as he sees them too, such as a fastest lap-chasing pitstop from one team benefitting its senior squad, or Max Verstappen’s 2021-like driving against new title rival Lando Norris in Austria. The necessary…

The mountains The perfect escape for me is to go to the mountains. I love the mountains and take every opportunity to go and spend some time away from the noise of everyday life. It doesn’t happen often but, when it does, I enjoy going to a completely remote place – somewhere in the Italian Alps, for example – where there aren’t even small villages nearby, just to enjoy the peace and quietness. I love that. And I hope the family enjoys these occasions too. Staying at home I think I speak for everyone who works in F1 when I say that the moments you actually get to spend some time at home are invaluable. Because we travel so much, we spend a lot of time in hotels but, even…

MANY YEARS AGO, there was a Swedish motor sport journalist whose specialist subject was ‘The Graves of Dead Racing Drivers’. Rather than being a reverential journey of respect, this was a mission, an assemblage of headstones from far and wide. He would show cemetery photos with a sense of enthusiasm not dampened in the least by the apathy of his rather bewildered audience. I therefore hesitate – but not for long – before revealing that I recently sought out the resting place of Peter Collins, one of Britain’s finest young drivers and the winner of his home grand prix in 1958 at the wheel of a Ferrari Dino 246 F1. It seemed appropriate because I happened to be in Worcestershire and Collins’s name had come up in the debate about…

Having watched Friday’s track action in Baku, you wouldn’t necessarily have put money on a McLaren winning. Neither car topped the times in practice and Lando Norris had a very scrappy FP2. I wasn’t on hand in the right spot to capture him giving Pierre Gasly the finger after a near-miss elsewhere on track but I did get this moment when he ran wide at the final corner. When the F1 circus isn’t in town this bit of road feeds on to a big roundabout so the markings give an interesting graphic effect. The light is also right at this time in the afternoon as the sun dips behind the Heydar Aliyev Foundation building on the right. Where Baku, Azerbaijan When 5:04pm, Friday 13 September 2024 Details Nikon Z9 24-70mm…

One of the perks of being a team photographer is that you get to be in parc fermé when it wins. In some circumstances this limits your angles on the podium but in Singapore you get a pretty good shot from below, provided your driver stands in the right place. There are other factors which make this shot, apart from the unusual angle. The organisers switch the main lights off and then fix a spotlight on the winning car; the driver then gets some of the reflection plus there’s the giant LED screen behind them. The effect is like something from a Ridley Scott movie. Plus the look on Lando’s face, just for a fraction of a second, as the magnitude of this victory sunk in. Singapore is a really…

Elsewhere in this issue we discuss the difficulties of relating experimental aerodynamics to what is happening to the physical car on track, and how our tools for aerodynamic research all have their limitations (p52). During this we refer to computational fluid dynamics, or CFD, as a primary tool of discovery – but what is CFD? Physical processes such as the bouncing of a car on its springs or the flow of air around a car, and the consequential forces that those systems exert on the car, can be described mathematically by a series of equations. The big difference between the two examples given is that while the motion of a car on its springs is relatively easy to write the equations for, and hence to solve, those determining the flow of…

Whisper it – but sharing a garage with a seven-time world champion could mean less rather than more pressure on Charles Leclerc in 2025. That’s because Leclerc, according to those close to the team, has nothing to lose unless Hamilton regularly beats him by a huge margin – and, going on recent form, that’s unlikely. Hamilton’s presence actually puts Leclerc in an enviably strong position: if he wins races, even the championship, he’s beaten one of the greatest drivers of all time. If he doesn’t, well – being overcome by a multiple world champion is a lesser-order loss than being beaten by any other team-mate. Indubitably his reputation will be diminished less than on those occasions when Carlos Sainz has got the better of him in recent seasons. Leclerc has…

How has your life changed since the day you were announced as the new Williams F1 driver? Yes, it’s changed a lot! The day before I was driving in Formula 2. It was obviously a big step, a dream come true and I am really happy to be here [in F1]. I am enjoying the opportunity. I knew it was going to be tough, but we’re doing a great job as a team, building up the pace to get me through the learning process quickly. And I think we’re doing a great job. Is the life of an F1 driver what you expected? Ever since I was little, my dream was to drive a Formula 1 car and be a Formula 1 driver. What I love is driving, everything else…

He’s worked with Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna and Mika Häkkinen as well as Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, but this quietly spoken and unassuming engineer has flown below the public radar for much of his Formula 1 career. Nevertheless Paddy Lowe has had a hand in winning 12 world championships as well as over 150 grands prix. From active suspension to McLaren’s ‘F-duct’ – the banned invention which paved the way for the Drag Reduction System – Lowe has been a restless innovator. Now, as head of Zero Petroleum, he’s creating fuel out of thin air… GP Racing: Paddy, you were born in Kenya, weren’t you? Paddy Lowe: Yes. My parents actually lived in Sudan. They were missionaries. My dad trained local people to be clergymen. And my mother was…

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@Nauckas facebook.com/gpracingonline ‘WTF?’ Seems the appropriate response to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem revealing recently that he wants Formula One Management to limit bad language in live broadcasts. It certainly had that effect during the Singapore GP weekend – spectacularly managing to distract from the on-track action in this unexpectedly exciting 2024 F1 season. When Max Verstappen tested the waters with an F-bomb in the pre-event press conference and was slapped with a community service sanction (alone astonishing given Ferrari and Mercedes team bosses Fréd Vasseur and Toto Wolff got off with warnings for the same thing in a vitamin D-deficient Las Vegas press conference), observers duly connected the dots and decided that an example was being made. There have been rumblings elsewhere. World Rally legend Sebastien Ogier had been…