Alpine: It was a podium in Sochi
Speaking of Alpine: Marcin Budkowski believes that Fernando Alonso would have finished second in Sochi if the rain hadn’t gotten any heavier in the end. “It looked like the rain would ease up. And Fernando did really well on the dry tires in difficult conditions. In light rain he overtook a few cars on the track,” he recalls.
“The reality is that if the rain had subsided, he would probably have finished second – or even first if Hamilton and Norris had stopped,” said Budkowski. Ultimately, however, the rain became much stronger, which is why Alonso had to stop and again lost several positions. He is therefore “a little disappointed” that it was not enough for the podium.
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Alonso makes Ocon look old
If you look at the bare numbers, Fernando Alonso and team-mate Esteban Ocon are roughly on par this year. In both qualifying and racing duels, the Spaniard is only marginally ahead with 8: 7. On closer inspection, however, it is noticeable that the old master Ocon has clearly outstripped the rank for a few weeks.
After Monaco, Ocon was 4-1 and even 5-0 ahead in qualifying and races, but recently he hardly saw any land against Alonso. Since Baku he has been leading 7: 3 or even 8: 2. There are also two sprint victories against Ocon at Silverstone and Monza. So the momentum at Alpine has clearly tipped over. In the World Cup, Alonso is now also ahead with 58:45 points.
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Lando Norris’ own kart
The Briton has just presented his first own kart. “This is a project that I worked on with OTK last year,” he reveals and explains that he is “super proud” of it. “It all started for me in karting. I won my first world championship with an FA Racing Kart from OTK. I can hardly wait for someone to win their first championship with an LN Racing Kart,” says Norris.
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Where Red Bull lost points
Of course, there is always no need to discuss such theoretical matters. But let’s take a look at where Verstappen lost points this year (mostly through no fault of their own). In Baku he retired while in the lead with a puncture, at Silverstone he collided with Hamilton and also retired.
In Hungary he was cleared by Valtteri Bottas right at the start and in Monza he crashed with Hamilton after the team had previously beaten his pit stop. Do four races in which Verstappen would have at least finished on the podium. Even calculated extremely conservatively (four third places), he has lost around 60 points here.
It should have been even more realistic.
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What role can McLaren play in the title fight?
If the troupe from Woking continues to perform as well as in Monza and Sochi, could McLaren tip the scales in the World Cup duel? “You have obviously made great progress this year,” explains Christian Horner, who also remembers: “On some tracks you seem to be performing well, while others may be more of a challenge for you.”
Because even in Zandvoort, McLaren was way behind the front runners before they were able to get among the front runners in Italy and Russia. “But I’m sure that there will be a few more tracks by the end of the year on which they will also be good,” warns Horner. Because that could take away valuable points from Mercedes or Red Bull.
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Wolff: It’s about the right balance
Earlier we talked about the excessive triple headers in Formula 1. Toto Wolff also explains in this context that the number of triple headers in a year should be “limited”. At the same time, however, he also reminds us that more races mean more income and that there is a high demand.
One therefore has to find the right balance in order to, on the one hand, “our employees [zu] protect “, but at the same time also take into account the” business model “of Formula 1.” We will definitely find a way, “he says optimistically. The only question is how many races and triple headers this path then includes. .
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The fate of Norris in Sochi …
… by the way, share these pilots in our photo gallery. They too lost a race victory due to unbelievably unfortunate circumstances – and in some cases even the world championship! No real consolation for Norris, but it shows that something like this is simply part of Formula 1.
Photo gallery: technical dramas that cost racing victories
It could hardly have been more stupid for Lewis Hamilton: while in the lead, the Mercedes star suffered an engine failure at the 2016 Malaysia Grand Prix in Sepang. Later that should cost him the world title. In our photo series we remind you of other dramatic examples from Formula 1 history …
Photo gallery
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