Williams has set Logan Sargeant a number of “very clear targets” to hit in order to secure a seat for 2024, says team principal James Vowles. Sargeant has had a number of high-profile crashes since the summer break that Williams says has been …
Williams has set Logan Sargeant a number of “very clear targets” to hit in order to secure a seat for 2024, says team principal James Vowles.
Sargeant has had a number of high-profile crashes since the summer break that Williams says has been overshadowing progress that the rookie has made this season. Yet to score a point, Sargeant’s future is still unconfirmed for 2024 but Vowles insists the team wants the Floridian in its car next season as long as he delivers on the goals he has been set.
“Logan has very clear targets of what he has to hit before the end of the season, and we are working with him continuously,” Vowles said. “And that’s the important point — we are working with him. We want him to succeed, and we want him in the car next year.
“This is very much on us as well. We have taken someone straight from Formula 2, without any significant testing, put him a day and half in Bahrain in this car, and then wished them well on a season that has been awfully challenging for rookies.”
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Vowles says there was an appreciable rise in Sargeant’s performance at Suzuka relative to teammate Alex Albon before the American’s crash in qualifying, and that Williams is a long way from running out of patience with the 22-year-old.
“There were some very positive signs to take out (from Japan),” Vowles said. “First and foremost, Logan is not on the same aerodynamic specific as Alex was. We have updates that are on Alex’s car that are not on Logan’s, due to the amount of attrition we have had this year.
“So, often when you see a performance offset it is not quite what it may seem on the timing pages. Further to that, if you look at the case of Suzuka, he did a build-up across the weekend — as he went into FP3, he did a time that matched Alex. And as we go into qualifying, until the accident he was overlaying, line-on-line, within a tenth of Alex’s performance at one of the trickiest circuits of the season.
“So, the progress is there in certain forms but very clearly being marred by a number of other issues and accidents have appeared as well. We will continue to work with Logan, and invest in Logan, as we want him to succeed as a result of the journey he is on.
“He is on a journey with us as Williams; we have a young driver program that we will continue to invest in. Only at the point where all of us come to the conclusion that we have reached the end of that road will we make any decisions, but we are nowhere near that yet.”
Ricciardo may be waiting until the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, before getting back in a Formula 1 car after his injury.
Scuderia AlphaTauri driver [autotag]Daniel Ricciardo[/autotag] may have to wait a little bit longer to get back in the cockpit of the AT04.
Ricciardo raced for AlphaTauri in two races alongside teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the Hungarian Grand Prix and the Belgian Grand Prix, but he broke he broke his wrist during practice at the Dutch Grand Prix and has since been replaced by New Zealand Driver Liam Lawson.
While some have wondered if Ricciardo could return for the upcoming Qatar Grand Prix, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner isn’t getting his hopes up. Horner recently spoke to Sky Sports and revealed that Lawson is likely to take the wheel once again in Qatar, letting Ricciardo continue to recover.
“I’d say probably less likely than likely at the moment,” Horner told Sky Sports. “His recuperation is going well, but he’s fixed in the seat next year — does he need to rush?”
Qatar? 💭 Austin? 💭
Christian Horner gives an update on Daniel Ricciardo's recovery and when he could be back racing 👇 pic.twitter.com/hMRnL1jlb3
Horner said that while Ricciardo is focused on a return at the Qatar Grand Prix, it might be more beneficial to let him rest for a few weeks and make his debut at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas — a track and location Ricciardo is publically a fan of.
“Might be better to use that time in preparation for Austin,” Horner said. “I know he has his sights fixed on Qatar, but he’ll drive the simulator next week and we’ll make some decisions based on that.”
AlphaTauri isn’t in dire straights without Ricciardo, as Lawson has been extremely impressive for a rookie. He’s placed higher than 15th in every race with the car so far, with two 11th place finishes and a points finish in 9th in Singapore.
Lando Norris will be in action a week before the Las Vegas Grand Prix, joining McLaren’s lineup at Velocity Invitational at Sonoma Raceway on November 10-12. Norris will join Arrow McLaren IndyCar drivers Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi, and Tony …
Lando Norris will be in action a week before the Las Vegas Grand Prix, joining McLaren’s lineup at Velocity Invitational at Sonoma Raceway on November 10-12.
Norris will join Arrow McLaren IndyCar drivers Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi, and Tony Kanaan, as well as Mclaren Racing CEO Zak Brown at the event, which is now in its fourth year.
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“Velocity Invitational offers a unique opportunity for automotive enthusiasts to witness firsthand the performance, innovation and excellence that defines McLaren Racing,” said Brown. “It’s a celebration of our rich heritage and an invitation to experience the intersection of speed and history up close.
“We’re excited to be part of it this year, celebrating our 60 years as a racing team.”
As well as the announcement of Norris’ addition to McLaren’s Velocity roster, the full lineup of cars that it is taking to the event has also been revealed. A number of the brand’s greatest hits will be running on-track, in what is the largest collection of heritage cars McLaren has ever run at Velocity.
The MP4-23 that Lewis Hamilton drove to his first Formula 1 championship win will be one of the cars in action. Motorsport Images
Among the collection is the teams two latest F1 championship winners – MP4-23A-05 that Lewis Hamilton drove at the 2008 Brazilian grand prix to clinch his maiden title, and MP4/14A-04 that Mika Hakkinen drove to victory in the 1999 Japanese grand prix en route to his second consecutive triumph.
MP4/6-10 driven by Ayrton Senna in 1990 and MP4/2A-01 driven by Niki Lauda in 1984 to their respective third and final championship victories are also in the lineup, along with M23-5 that Emerson Fittipaldi pedalled to McLaren’s first drivers’ and constructors’ titles.
M7C-1, first raced by Bruce McLaren in 1969; M26-2, which won the 1977 British and United States Grands Prix in the hands of James Hunt; the ex-Alain Prost MP4/2B-3 from 1985; and M8D-3, raced in the 1970 CanAM championship by Dan Gurney (who won at Mosport and St. Jovite in the car) and Peter Gethin (who drove it to victory at Elkhart Lake), will also be in attendance.
A statement from Rodin Cars discussing its own failed application to join the Formula 1 grid has named Andretti Global as being successful in meeting the FIA’s criteria. The FIA opened up the process to allow potential new entrants to try and join …
A statement from Rodin Cars discussing its own failed application to join the Formula 1 grid has named Andretti Global as being successful in meeting the FIA’s criteria.
The FIA opened up the process to allow potential new entrants to try and join F1 earlier this year, with Andretti having been the most vocal project wanting to enter. But New Zealand car manufacturer Rodin has now confirmed it submitted an application that has since been rejected, in a statement from founder David Dicker.
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“Rodin Cars participated in the recent FIA process aimed at gaining entry into the prestigious Formula 1 World Championship,” Dicker stated. “Unfortunately, our bid was not successful.
“This statement is intended to provide insight into the key points of our bid that we believe justified its merit. We wish to emphasize that our objective here is not to criticize the FIA or seek a reconsideration of its decision. We fully respect and accept the outcome. Our sole purpose is to release information we consider in the public interest to inform the Formula 1 community.
“Recent information suggests, as anticipated from the outset of this process, that the only successful applicant will be Andretti Global.”
Dicker goes on to explain that his team would have been based out of New Zealand and guaranteed to run a female driver if it had been successful.
“We committed to reserving one seat for a female driver. We have tested Liam Lawson, Jamie Chadwick and Louis Sharp at our facility in New Zealand, in both an F3 car and our own car, the Rodin FZed, which is a car somewhat quicker than a GP2/F2 car. Jamie performed exceptionally well, and if she was available, we would have no hesitation in putting her in a seat.”
He also suggest a Ferrari partnership was in the works, adding: “We had the opportunity of discussions for a Ferrari collaboration on the Rodin F1 car.”
Dicker also pointed out that Rodin’s ownership stake in Carlin provided a pathway for young drivers through the European ladder, and says his personal wealth would have fully funded the project if required.
“We appreciate the opportunity to have participated in the FIA process and extend our best wishes to Andretti for their successful bid,” the statement concluded. “Rodin Cars remains committed to pushing the boundaries of motorsport and will continue to pursue excellence in the world of racing.”
The FIA has yet to formally comment on the process, but any successful applicant would still need to reach an agreement with Formula 1 itself on a commercial level to be able to join the grid.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says Oscar Piastri can only improve his race pace with experience and is showing all of the signs that he will develop quickly as a driver. Piastri scored his first podium at the Japanese Grand Prix but was …
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says Oscar Piastri can only improve his race pace with experience and is showing all of the signs that he will develop quickly as a driver.
Piastri scored his first podium at the Japanese Grand Prix but was comfortably beaten to second place by teammate Lando Norris in a race of high tire degradation at Suzuka. The Australian stated he wasn’t fast enough in certain sections of the race and Stella says it’s natural for a rookie to need to experience such challenges to build up the knowledge required to handle tire-limited races.
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“I think when it comes to race pace, it’s not like you learn race pace and then it’s a set of skills that you deploy for every race,” Stella said.
“So I think that’s why it’s a bit of a journey and it takes time because every situation presents its own characteristics. I’m sure Oscar will have learned things and actually I think towards the end he was already better than he was in the second stint.
“It’s just systematic work of cashing in all the possible learning. There’s not one-off learning that is applicable to every situation, it’s just a rookie element.
“But the first thing I would take is always the outright speed, which is what we saw (in qualifying), because when you have that, race pace and all these things are much easier to work on. But finding the edge on a single lap in Suzuka like was saw is more difficult to sort of work together with your engineers, that’s a gift.”
The double podium result in Japan helped McLaren closed the gap to Aston Martin in the constructors’ championship to 49 points, but Stella says he doesn’t need to openly set the team a target of winning that battle.
“I don’t even want to think that there’s anybody at McLaren that needs this kind of carrot to push any harder, because I trust and I believe that everyone is pushing at the fastest reasonable sustainable pace. That’s what I want and that’s what I think is happening.
“If you start thinking of ‘We need to finish fourth’, everyone will say ‘Andrea, we know already, you don’t need to tell us, we don’t have to declare this to the world, we’re just going as fast as we can’. That’s the attitude.”
A positive competition between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz is helping Ferrari improve its level of performance, according to team principal Fred Vasseur. Sainz held off teammate Leclerc for a podium in Monza having qualified on pole position, …
A positive competition between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz is helping Ferrari improve its level of performance, according to team principal Fred Vasseur.
Sainz held off teammate Leclerc for a podium in Monza having qualified on pole position, and duly followed that up with victory from pole in Singapore. Leclerc responded with a strong fourth place in Japan and while Vasseur says there hasn’t been one clear moment that Ferrari has made a step forward in recent races, instead the drivers have helped push the team in the right direction.
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“We have to avoid coming to conclusions too quickly,” Vasseur said. “Before the break in Spa we were also in good shape, Charles started from pole position – qualified on the first row – and did a good race. As it’s a matter of hundreds of seconds, sometimes you do a small step and you have the feeling that everything has changed but it’s not exactly the reality.
“But it’s a sport and in the end we can accept that one is doing a better job than the other from weekend to weekend. I think that we have a positive competition and this is also helping us to improve.”
One area Ferrari appears stronger is with tire usage after not suffering from degradation issues during the Japanese Grand Prix, something Vasseur says has been improved since the opening races.
“It’s a step forward compared to the beginning of the season but on the other hand we were probably a bit too conservative (at Suzuka). I think it was true of everybody on the grid but we were more scared than the reality. But it was okay, it was under control in the race and I think it’s been a good step forward in this regard.
“If you have a look at the first couple of races of the season, the degradation or the tire management was not always our biggest skill. Coming to Suzuka with the track temps we were a bit anxious but I think at the end of the day we did a good job on this side.
“The race was under control, the strategy was well managed and we did well. It’s a clear step forward compared to the first part of the season.”
Williams believes Logan Sargeant’s recent spate of high-profile crashes are masking the progress the young American has been making in terms of pace during his rookie Formula 1 season. Sargeant reached Q3 for the first time in Zandvoort but then …
Williams believes Logan Sargeant’s recent spate of high-profile crashes are masking the progress the young American has been making in terms of pace during his rookie Formula 1 season.
Sargeant reached Q3 for the first time in Zandvoort but then crashed heavily on his first run in damp conditions, before also crashing out of the race when he suffered a hydraulic issue linked to a curb strike. In Singapore Sargeant hit the wall and break off his front wing during the grand prix, while Japan saw him severely damage the car when he went off at the start of Q1. Head of vehicle performance Dave Robson says that while Sargeant needs to iron out the errors, there are underlying positive signs.
“I guess inevitably they catch the headlines, don’t they? And they’re obviously quite visible,” Robson said of Sargeant’s string of wrecks. “But I think it has kind of masked his steady performance, and (Japan) was actually going really well. It’s such a difficult circuit to come to and find the lap time, and he went about it really well on Friday, built on that (in FP3) and then to lose it in the very last corner of the first lap…
“And really it was quite a minor mistake; it’s just at that corner, once you touch the grass you’re in a whole heap of trouble. That was a real shame, but I think it is fair to say the crashes since Zandvoort have masked what otherwise has clearly been some steady improvement.”
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As for their impact to the team’s budget cap, Robson insists Sargeant’s crashes haven’t put Williams in any trouble financially but concedes that his performance potential might start being limited by the specifications of parts he has to run if new versions are in shorter supply.
“Yeah (it’s getting close to the budget limits)… But I think most people will be similar, won’t they? I think most people will spend up to the budget cap, it’s just about how much you hold in reserve. But we’re kind of consuming parts we already owned for the most part, so it’s expensive but it’s not limiting at this point in the season.
“To some extent you end up having to drop back on specs because for all of the long-lead items — and then having to ship them around the world — it’s already too late to make more new ones, really, even if you had the money and the time to do it. So you inevitably make do.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes it is impossible for his team to improve on its current level of Formula 1 success – but is guarding against complacency creeping into the team after this season. Red Bull has won all but one of the …
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes it is impossible for his team to improve on its current level of Formula 1 success — but is guarding against complacency creeping into the team after this season.
Red Bull has won all but one of the 16 races so far this year, only being beaten in Singapore where an uncompetitive weekend saw Max Verstappen finish fifth and Sergio Perez eighth. That was quickly put behind the team as Verstappen won comfortably in Japan to secure a sixth constructors’ championship. Horner cautions that it’s a season that will be tough for the team to follow up.
“It’s a golden moment for the team,” Horner said. “To do better than we are doing I think is impossible. We are riding a wave and we want to ride that wave as long as we can.
“But F1 is a fast-moving business — you see how quickly teams move up and move down, and Singapore demonstrated, if nothing else, that there can be zero complacency. We have to keep pushing the boundaries.”
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Horner says the impact of unseen areas of a team are often overlooked but play a major role in ensuring Red Bull operates at such a high level in terms of both car performance and race execution.
“Formula 1 is one of the biggest team sports in the world and it’s a result of all the 22 different departments, all the support functions, all of the backroom staff that have worked crazy hours, made sacrifices to produce these types of cars and this kind of result,” he said. “Everybody is invested in one thing and that’s the car. To produce the kind of car we have and achieve these kind of results is an incredible performance.
“The field has been moving around behind us,” Horner noted. “One week it’s McLaren, next week it’s Ferrari, next week it’s Mercedes. We’ve been 99% consistent, 90% consistent at the front of the field. And I think we’ve been fairly limited in the amount of development that we’ve done on the car, but I think the development that we’ve done has been effective enough to maintain a reasonable margin that we’ve seen again (at Suzuka).”
Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. Due to the high volume of questions received, we can’t guarantee that every letter will be published, but we’ll answer as many as we can. Published …
Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. Due to the high volume of questions received, we can’t guarantee that every letter will be published, but we’ll answer as many as we can. Published questions may be edited for length and clarity. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will appear the following week.
Q: If they were all in their prime, who would be champion: Zanardi, Montoya, Dixon or Bourdais?
Geoff
MARSHALL PRUETT: I see you’re trying to get me in trouble with these legends…thanks, Geoff.
I’ve been fortunate to witness the complete IndyCar careers of all four, and only one jumps out as the easy No. 1, and that’s Monterrier, aka, JPM. I’ve never seen talent like his since he arrived in CART, and if we took all four at their peaks, Juan’s on pole by 0.2s and wins on any circuit — road, street, or oval. I’m not saying he’d run away from the other three, but I don’t think it would be super-close.
Also, I can’t wait to get punched in a few weeks when I see Dixie and my French Fry at Petit Le Mans…
Q: Even though I only become a fan in 2019, when I think of IndyCar, my mind is drawn to high-speed ovals. It’s where the cars shine the brightest and have the most thrilling speeds. I didn’t start watching IndyCar early enough to watch races at Michigan or Fontana and I only caught one race at Pocono. Now with Texas not on the schedule, I’m more and more disappointed that we don’t get to see IndyCar at a high-speed oval regularly. Once a year at Indianapolis is nowhere near enough! I hope not just Texas comes back for 2025, but also Michigan and Pocono. Please give the cars more chances to look awesome!
Josh Eichholz, Peoria, IL
MP: I’m with you. Of the circuits on the calendar, few incite fear and terror like Texas. We get to see the best IndyCar drivers of the day do things at speeds that are frightening, and specific to Texas, the ballsiest drivers can assert their wills in ways that just don’t leave you in awe at other ovals.
Newgarden destroying the field at Iowa is a sight to be seen, but watching he or Pato fly around and play with people at Texas like they’re strapped to rockets while the others are seemingly standing still is just wholly unique to that crazy-ass place.
Texas and Indy are the only stops left on the calendar where I leave each year and think, “I can’t believe they still let us do this here.” Now that list is down to one.
Q: Some stone-cold truth: No IndyCar race in Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston or San Antonio equals no race in four — five, if you want to add our cousins up in NYC — out of the top 10 U.S. population centers. But hey, we got a race that +99% of the fans can’t attend even if they want to. Have another glass of milk, you brainless old farts.
Stephen Archer
MP: As my father used to say when I offered takes like this, “Who peed in your Cheerios this morning?” Also, is this the point where, after my wife tried in vain for 10 years to get me to make the change, I acknowledge I’ve finally switched over to almond milk?
The wow factor was real at Texas. Brett Farmer/Motorsport Images
Q: Was a fifth Ganassi car a surprise? I hadn’t heard any mention of that possibility during silly season.
Dave K., Michigan
MP: It was! To wind things back a little bit, there had been rumblings about a fifth car all summer, but I never thought it was credible because the only fifth driver option I knew of was Kyffin. And despite winning the pole at Road America where he then proceeded to blow it into Turn 1, fly off track, and finish eighth, the rest of his season was a portrait of boom-or-bust performances, which is the hallmark of a young driver who needs more seasoning.
Chip told the media at Laguna Seca that he was set on four cars and wasn’t inclined to run a fifth at Indy, and within a week, plans for a fifth full-time car were in motion. The team refused to explain how this turnaround happened, but it sure looks like something changed in a short time span. We’d mentioned in the early stages of the season that Kyffin would be going to IndyCar with Ganassi, but it was a question of whether it would be 2024 or 2025 and was dependent upon if the team felt he was ready.
There were no indicators that I saw to suggest he’s ready, so it might just be a case of Simpson wanting to go now instead of spending a third year in Indy NXT. Since his family has the ability to fund his career, the choice of when Kyffin would leap to IndyCar was strictly in their hands.
Q: Any news on 2024 plans for Nikita Johnson? I’m very excited to see his next step. Seems like he could be the next American star driver that nobody’s talking about.
Mark, Niagara Falls, NY
MP: I’d expect him to be in USF Pro 2000. Rocking up and taking a win and another podium in the last four races was just the kind of statement you love to see from a young breakout talent.
Q: We just got back after a weekend at IMS for the IMSA Battle on the Bricks. What a great event! More racing than you could ever imagine, spent 13 hours at the track on Saturday, over seven on Sunday and the price for tickets was an absolute steal! Everyone had access to Gasoline Alley, two grid walks on pit road, seating almost anywhere you desired, autograph sessions, and access to the teams.
The people we met and talked with included Roger Penske, Michael Andretti, Scott Goodyear, several IndyCar drivers, tons of IMSA folks, Robert Wickens, Sebastien Bourdais and the list goes on and on. Every single one of them stopped for photos and autographs. My favorite moments included Doug Boles approaching us Sunday morning while handing out donuts to the fans, watching the engine swap at the AO Racing garage on Rexy the Porsche, and getting an in-car tour from Tom Sargent and his father of their 911 GT3. I highly recommend adding this event to everyone’s racing calendar.
Allen Smith, North Muskegon, MI
MP: I’m so glad you got to see what makes IMSA racing, and its counterpart at SRO America, so special. It’s a big culture shift from IndyCar, which often (but not always) keeps fans at a distance to the cars and garages unless you pay for special access. There’s another element to IMSA races that tends to differ from IndyCar, and that’s the welcoming mindset so many teams have; if you ask — assuming they aren’t thrashing to get ready for a session — most will welcome you under the tent or in the garage to take a closer look at the cars and answer your questions. Add in the open grid walk where every fan is welcome to pack pit lane prior to the race, and it’s unlike anything you’ll find at pro racing events.
Red Bull’s performance this season has been magnificent, even allowing for the blip in Singapore a week before the team secured the constructors’ championship in Japan. With six rounds still remaining, it’s a new record – a stat that should not be …
Red Bull’s performance this season has been magnificent, even allowing for the blip in Singapore a week before the team secured the constructors’ championship in Japan.
With six rounds still remaining, it’s a new record — a stat that should not be downplayed simply because there are more races per season now. Three of those six events feature sprints that combine to offer more than another race’s worth of points.
But that championship success was a foregone conclusion as early as the fourth race of the season as Red Bull showed itself to be strong on every type of venue. That storyline has been shut down, but there are two hugely entertaining fights — for different reasons — just behind them.
Neither of the two teams fighting for second place in the constructors’ standings this season will have had that target in mind when they entered the year. Mercedes and Ferrari both harbored hopes of putting up a challenge to Red Bull and entering the frame for top honors.
Last season played out in a similar season way, with the two were fighting for second overall right up until the final round.
It was a different dynamic in 2022, though. Ferrari had started the season with arguably the quickest car, and certainly a race-winning one that secured a one-two in Bahrain. The Scuderia was seen as a championship contender early on. Mercedes, meanwhile, was in real trouble with the new regulations and took a long time to become competitive, but there was a one-two of its own when George Russell took his first win in Brazil.
The impression was Ferrari had performed poorly as it slipped away from Red Bull and only just managed to hang onto second place, while Mercedes showed encouraging development to get into that fight.
This year it’s been much more balanced, but if anything the roles are slightly reversed. Although Ferrari was quick in Bahrain, Mercedes appeared the more consistent of the two, regularly being third quickest while others fluctuated around it.
That the gap had opened up to as much as 56 points over Ferrari by the summer break suggested P2 would be a formality, but consistency now belongs to the Scuderia, which has delivered a very solid run from Monza onwards. Across very different types of circuit, that bodes well for it to be a tussle right to Abu Dhabi.
Should you care? Well, Mercedes does, not only because of pride and the spirit of competition, but because of the way learning from these kinds of pressure situations can set a team up for the ultimate prize in the future.
“We definitely want to beat them, and they’ll want to beat us,” Andrew Shovlin said of Ferrari. “Second place is not a world championship, and if we win it we aren’t going to be as crazy as Red Bull are right now, but it is important for us and everyone at the factory wants to achieve that.
“It’s also actually quite good practice, because we haven’t been fighting for a championship for a couple of years, and in our sense we’ve got two cars that are closely matched. We’ve got a very small margin, we’ve got some difficult tracks and some new circuits coming up, and it’s actually quite good for us to just get back into that mindset of racing for championships — there’s only so many points on the table, making sure you can grab as many of them as possible.
“The team is enjoying that challenge. You saw in Singapore how quickly the team gets back into that mindset of aggressively racing for a race win. Certainly we’ll do everything we can and push as hard as we can to get second.”
Earlier this season you’d have certainly expected Aston Martin to be one of the teams Mercedes was talking about too, but the impressive development rates from the teams around it has led to AMR slipping ever further back. Its haul of four points from the last two races have coincided with a return of 57 for McLaren, and that only scratches the surface of that dynamic.
In the first eight races, McLaren scored just 17 points and looked a world away from the front-running teams. Then came the Austria upgrade, and in the eight races since — the same sample set — Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have amassed 155 points between them. That’s nearly a 10-fold increase in scoring.
Not every weekend will be as lucrative as Japan, but the fact Norris has scored four second-place finishes in the past seven races suggests there will be more big scores, and with Piastri also regularly contributing, the gap is closing rapidly. If it keeps up the pace at which it has been outscoring Aston Martin since Austria — 11 points per round — McLaren will have moved up to fourth and hold a six-point advantage heading to Abu Dhabi.
Alonso’s spirited efforts continue to keep Aston Martin at the sharp end, adding an x-factor to McLaren’s second-half comeback. Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
But that overlooks the impact of Fernando Alonso, who pulled off another stunning start in Japan and felt more points were on the table than his eventual eighth place had the strategy been different. The Spaniard retains a habit of dragging cars into positions they sometimes don’t deserve to be, and with the buffer Aston Martin still has, he could slow McLaren’s progress with one or two more such performances in the remaining six rounds.
It’s also still the same team that developed the car that was so strong out of the box, and the timing of when it has scored its points shouldn’t detract from the strong overall step forward Aston Martin has made in terms of a season’s worth of points. If any of its upgrades that are still planned for this season have even 10% of the impact its winter development did, Aston will give itself a good chance of holding on.
One is a titanic battle on track where two drivers are locked within a second of each other throughout, the other completely opposing strategies that are converging towards the final lap and promising a mouth-watering conclusion.
Sure, it’s not for a title, but it’s still damn fun to watch.
