Q: Just wondering if you think Grandpa Childress is going to have a talk with his favorite grandson Austin about the fact that just because you have a mustache and the number 3 on your car, you are not the second coming of Dale Sr.?
Dan Schertner
KC: No, I don’t think he’s going to have a talk with Dillon. In the immediate aftermath at Richmond Raceway, there were no apologies or regrets from Dillon, Childress, or anyone from the organization. And considering they are appealing the penalty, it doesn’t strike me that Childress or anyone else thinks there is anything worth discussing.
Q: After watching the finish of the Richmond race, can NASCAR still be considered a legitimate racing series? It seems to have morphed into a more entertainment realm, like a circus. OK Kelly, do your best to spin this into something palatable.
John, Seville, OH
KC: Yes, it is a legitimate racing series that has its moments of absolute buffoonery. All series, all sports have their moments. Richmond was one of those moments for NASCAR, and I wrote after the race that the sanctioning body needed to take a stand and get the garage under control. NASCAR did with its penalties, so in this case, I think they are the right side of the moment by showing they don’t want that buffoonery.
Q: As Andretti Global is waiting in the wings for its own F1 entry, an FIA Formula 3 team will make its swansong at Monza. Jenzer Motorsport announced it is bowing out of the series. It is not much, but it could open a door to placing U.S. and North American talent on the grid. It is premature, but would this be the chance for Michael to take a first step towards Formula 1?
JLS, Chicago, IL
CHRIS MEDLAND: There is quite a regular turnover of Formula 3 teams, but you’re right about Jenzer’s departure leaving a notable hole, as it has been part of the series since it originally launched as GP3. It sounds like DAMS is more likely going to take that spot though, as it currently only races in F2, and in the past there was talk of a partnership with Jenzer in F3. (Plus, Jenzer will still run the car in the post-season test for the new team, which suggests a good working relationship).
It would be a great route for Andretti to get a foot on that ladder, and sometimes F3 does replace existing teams based on applications for each cycle (2025-27 is the next one), but the impression I’ve had so far is that the lack of support for the F1 project means Andretti’s plans to run junior teams are less likely to move as quickly.
Q: There is a frequently repeated statistic during F1 broadcasts that “if the car was x kg lighter the car would be y seconds a lap faster,” and I was wondering if anyone has ever publicly done analysis to show if the stat was true?
All other things equal, a lighter car would be faster, but 1.5 kg in George Russell’s case for a 800kg car seems like it shouldn’t matter.
Will Coffey
CM: Publicly, no teams won’t ever do that analysis because it gives away information about their car and performance, but internally they have done it because it can be worked out through simulations. You set the parameters exactly the same (track, grip level, weather, tires, set-up) and only change the fuel level.
What it does mean, though, is that it’s never as simple as the statistic you rightly cite Will, because it varies based on the track length, weather conditions, tires being used and where they are in their life etc. Over a lap as long as Spa-Francorchamps, a difference of 1.5kg would be at least 0.05s per lap compared to an identical car at the heavier weight, but of course Mercedes pointed out that the car only got lighter as the race developed (rather than its starting weight being 1.5kg lighter) so that wouldn’t be a static number either.
So for arguments sake, let’s say the lap time advantage started going up by 0.01s every five laps from the end. Using that hypothetical number over the last 25 laps of the race (so, nine laps longer than Russell’s final stint) would equate to 0.75s of race time, and it’s a race he originally won by 0.526s.
That shows that even a small single lap time gain can make a difference of a position, even before you factor in that running the one-stop strategy gained track position that means Russell could then influence cars behind him and hold them off. Having that impact on other cars in the race would be another reason such a penalty has to exist, even if the direct race time gain was minimal.
THE FINAL WORD
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, August 21, 2013
Q: I was wondering what you remember about Bruce Jacobi? He seemed to be a “super sub,” often filling in temporarily when a team was between drivers or their regular driver was injured. He made a 10-year career of this in Indy cars before moving to stock cars where he sustained fatal injuries in a qualifying race at Daytona. If he had gotten a regular gig with a top team, how good would he have been? He seems to be an almost forgotten footnote in racing history, so any light you can shed on him or his career is appreciated.
Gregg Rauscher, Port Colborne, ON
ROBIN MILLER: Bruce was a journeyman who was entered at the Indy 500 almost every May from 1960 to 1974 but never made the race. He qualified in 1962 but the engine blew as he took the checkered flag and he crashed (only to be bumped a few minutes later). His best ride was in 1963 with the Vita-Fresh Special but he crashed that before qualifying. His best-ever result was a fourth at Springfield in 1970 (thank you Donald Davidson for the fact-check). The real tragedy is that he’d been away from racing for almost a decade when he went to Daytona in 1983 and had his fatal accident. He was a handsome, very personable guy who was at the right place at the right time to get some decent chances but never quite made it.