Q: Trivia: The last American to score a point in F1? Michael Andretti in 1993 — 30 years ago. What needs to be done to get another competitive American driver in F1? Considering that a country the size of Finland has produced multiple F1 champions and drivers, it gets me wondering.
Dave
CM: That is a crazy stat isn’t it?! But I don’t think there’s much that needs to be done now in the sense that F1 is growing in the States, IndyCar drivers are starting to get more and more recognition for what they can do, and teams want a successful American driver in their car if it’s the right fit. So I don’t think Logan Sargeant is going to be the last one for nearly a decade like it was with Alexander Rossi.
But more importantly, it’s not that the drivers weren’t always competitive, it’s that their teams regularly weren’t. Now, the whole field is closing up so that anyone getting a seat will be in with a shout of points at some stage in a season, and hopefully that will continue to develop to the point of podiums and wins.
Put it this way: As we stand right now, I reckon Logan will pick up a point before the year’s out and end that drought. And if he is able to do that and show how Americans can make it into F1 through the European ladder, then a few more might follow. Add in a strengthening of ties with the U.S. ladder — which I think we’ll get in the coming years — and hopefully that becomes the biggest gap between points we’ll see.
Q: If I’m remembering correctly, after Romain Grosjean had his accident in Bahrain, Toto Wolff said that Mercedes would give Romain a test so he could finish his F1 career properly. Am I remembering this correctly? If so, I don’t think it has ever happened. Do you think it will? Have you heard anything about it?
Andy, melting away in Dallas
CM: First up, sympathy for the heat in Texas! As for the Mercedes run for Romain, it was all planned out and set to happen and then COVID restrictions led to it being cancelled in 2021, and last year both sides said it’s still part of the plan but the IndyCar schedule and testing restrictions made it too tough to nail down.
As far as I’m aware, it’s still something both sides are keen to make happen, but given how active Grosjean still is in racing it’s not being rushed through. I reckon we’ll see it eventually.
Q: Out of the three, who’s your odds-on favorite to be signed by Audi/Sauber: Norris, Sainz, or Leclerc?
Also, do you think F1 should switch back to two dry tires instead of three? Feels like the novelty of three tires has worn off, especially when the softest tire of the three is primarily used for qualifying only.
Andrew
CM: I’d actually say Sainz. As much as I expect Audi to be strong, it would just still be a gamble for a Norris or a Leclerc to leave the established teams that brought them into F1, and there’s a lot of time for both McLaren and Ferrari to make further improvements that would convince them to sign further deals where they are. If they look elsewhere, I just don’t see Audi being at the front of the queue given the interest they’ll have.
Sainz has worked with Andreas Seidl though and impressed him enormously, and has shown up well against both drivers. Plus, he’s shown he can adapt to multiple different teams and cars, and would bring varied experience to Audi/Sauber.
And it’s a no from me on the tires. The softest is genuinely designed to largely be a qualifying tire at each venue so that we see cars at their outright fastest but then have something more robust to race on. The majority of grands prix see strategies run on two compounds, but when we get races that allow all three to be used, then the strategic differences can add excitement.
Q: Chris, I just read your very good article “Where is F1’s U.S. baseline now?” You and Tyler Epp raised an excellent point about the one thing F1 still needs to do in the U.S. to build a longer-term fan base: engage more directly with fans. I’ve been an F1 and IndyCar fan for many years and F1 is great in many ways, but teams have never been good at that, or have not felt the need to. IndyCar teams have been engaging with fans for a long time. That to me is a critical thing Andretti can bring to F1 in the U.S. that I haven’t heard discussed yet. Direct fan engagement that would be a real ongoing boost. Agree?
Jeffrey Brown, Bernardsville, NJ
CM: Thanks Jeffrey! But to be honest, I don’t think Andretti will bring that much more direct engagement compared to F1 teams now. The amount of engagement definitely seems to have increased in recent years — what each team does at the North American races is clearly above what they do elsewhere — but plenty of it is restricted by racing timezones and calendars.
Don’t get me wrong, Andretti would probably be able to engage better and more consistently as a U.S.-based team, but don’t forget it would actually be F1’s global nature that be attractive and while IndyCar gives Andretti a strong American footprint it will be also be looking to engage with fans outside the U.S. if it becomes an F1 team.
It’s certainly not a bad thing, but I don’t think it would be a game-changer in the sense that it would be central to Andretti’s hopes of getting in. I still feel that centers around bringing GM in.
Q: I’m really curious about this Legacy Motor Club/Noah Gragson situation. With the team moving to Toyota next year, I can’t imagine Chevy is giving them any meaningful support, especially not if that’s going to betray its approach for next season.
Has there been any conversation around LMC leasing that charter out to another Chevy team who can use it to test a younger driver or general setup experimentation for Chevy? I’m imagining a car built and prepared by Spire with Carson Hocevar behind the wheel, and then right before they load it on the truck, they slap a 42 on the door and a Sunseeker logo on the hood.
Maybe LMC doesn’t want to do Chevy the favor, but why bother finding replacement drivers for the rest of the year who are willing to get behind the wheel of the slowest car on the track?
Chris, Philadelphia, PA
KELLY CRANDALL: Well, the simple answer is that’s not how it works. Legacy Motor Club has no reason or incentive to move its charter, and no team would do that during the year. Those things need to be done for a full season, and NASCAR has to approve it. The manufacturer has no control over what the team does with its charter. Legacy Motor Club is just trying to get through the season; they haven’t given up on 2022 by any means as they continue to try to make what they have as competitive as it can be, but the hope is to be much better off next season. And to be clear, Legacy Motor Club was never getting much Chevrolet information to begin with because it is not a key Chevrolet partner.
Q: The only manufacturer that still seems to sell a lot of V8 products is Chevy. Does Toyota make a V8? What motors are the NASCAR teams actually running?
Pete Pfankuch, Wisconsin
KC: All NASCAR Cup Series teams are running V8 engines from their manufacturer.
THE FINAL WORD
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, August 19, 2015
Q: I was looking back at Justin Wilson’s idea to replace catch fencing on ovals with big overlapping metal sheets, since that would be a lot safer for drivers than catch fencing. The obvious drawback is that you can’t put those metal sheets in front of a grandstand, since it obstructs the fans’ views. But what about the areas of ovals without grandstands?
The catch fence that killed Dan Wheldon wasn’t in front of a grandstand — it was in front of a bunch of billboards and a parking lot. Why on earth was there a spectator-friendly catch fence there instead of something safer for drivers, if there were never going to be any spectators there in the first place? If IndyCar tracks replaced all of the catch fences on ovals that aren’t in front of grandstands with Wilson’s metal sheet idea, they could cut the amount of oval catch fencing almost in half, and they could have it done by the start of next season. That would be a big step forward for driver safety, and it wouldn’t obstruct a single fan’s view of the action. It would cost some money, but I don’t think it would be outrageously expensive, and if the series had done this four years ago, Wheldon would probably still be alive.
Tracks could cut down on catch fencing exposure even more by designing a removable metal plate system that can be bolted on to existing catch fences and can be put up/taken down in a few hours. That would enable tracks to put up the metal plates in front of a grandstand when that stand is closed, and take down the plates when the stand has fans in it. That might have saved Tony Renna, and would have probably helped Kenny Brack at Texas as well. The racing world obviously needs to find a safer replacement for catch fencing that can be used in front of grandstands, but, but it’s going to be years, if not decades before we find that solution. Replacing the catch fencing in front of areas without spectators would be a good interim solution that can be implemented very quickly, if the desire is there.
Max L.
ROBIN MILLER: There is no doubt keeping cars and debris out of the grandstand should be all of racing’s paramount concern and some kind of a guard like you propose needs to be developed. Tony George took the lead on the SAFER barrier so it would be nice to see NASCAR get out in front of this because if Austin Dillon’s engine goes into the spectators at Daytona we might not be having this discussion. Or any more races.