Role distribution at Mercedes
In recent weeks, there have been recurring rumors that James Allison, Mercedes’ technical director, is more involved in the car’s development than before. The reason for this is the “Silver Arrows'” weak start to the season and the desire to completely overhaul the W14’s concept.
Toto Wolff has now exclusively commented on this to “Autosport” and clarified that while Allison is integrated into the team’s extended strategy development, he is not as closely involved in car development as before.
“No, he’s not really involved. He’s concerned with the long-term strategy of the team, but he’s more occupied with the America’s Cup.”
With this, Wolff refers to Allison’s involvement in the sailing project of team co-owner INEOS, for which he works. This division has not changed despite the disappointing start to the 2023 Formula 1 season.
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Merci bien!
Like Charles Leclerc, I’m now getting ready for the evening!
It was nice being with you today. Tomorrow again? Good! Same place, same wave, because until Friday, I’m your man at the wheel for the live ticker monster.
Yes, it’s time to call it a day. Kevin Scheuren wishes you a good evening! Bye!
Important Kilometers
Formula 1 wheels are not standing still everywhere.
Felipe Drugovich is allowed to collect kilometers today. The Brazilian is taking the wheel of the AMR23, and the team has published some impressions of it on their Twitter channel.
I don’t want to withhold these from you:
Hard to replace
Aldo Costa left Mercedes for Dallara in 2020.
As chief engineer, he was instrumental in the successes between 2011 and 2019. A total of six Constructors’ and Drivers’ World Championships were won during his tenure.
This departure was hard to cope with, as Toto Wolff also says in an interview with “Autosport”: “You can never replace people like Aldo. Nevertheless, you have to find a new structure and distribute the job among several shoulders.”
Wolff was very impressed with how Costa coordinated the succession: “Aldo structured that well. It’s not something that happened overnight. We basically had two and a half years to prepare for his departure. So he was able to set up the department as he saw fit.”
But I can’t quite believe Toto Wolff that everything is running so smoothly at Mercedes despite all the important departures. Can you?
Rebuilding takes time
In an interview with “Autosport”, Toto Wolff also spoke about the subsequent challenges of personnel losses.
“It’s never just one person who is important to the company,” says the 51-year-old, “you have to find the right person for the right position. Sometimes someone can be extremely competent in one area, but not overall.”
Wolff is referring to the difficult legacy that James Allison left behind with his “step back”. “James has a great track record of success and is someone who is very good with people. He remains very important to the company.”
Like father, like son!
As written earlier, not only “Papa Palmer” was active in Formula 1, but also his son Jolyon. He competed a total of 35 times in the premier class, including alongside Nico Hülkenberg at Renault.
But there are many more father-son stories in Formula 1. We have summarized these for you in a photo gallery.
Photo Gallery: Like father, like son
A Doctor in Conversation
By the way, Dr. Jonathan Palmer is a guest on the official Formula 1 podcast, “Beyond the Grid”, today. Yes, exactly, the father of ex-Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer!
Palmer Senior can look back on a very eventful life and career in motorsport. In total, he made 82 starts in the premier class. He drove for Williams, RAM, Zakspeed, and Tyrell and has remained involved in motorsport even after his active career.
He was a television expert, series founder, and today, with one of his companies, is the operator and owner of several traditional racetracks in Great Britain, such as Brands Hatch or Snetterton.
With Tom Clarkson, he dares to look back at his life in motorsport, perhaps something for your lunch break?
Title Contender Alonso?
Also a topic in the “Starting Grid” podcast was the prospect of an exciting title fight. Before the season, I had hoped for a three-way battle between Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes. I still don’t want to give up on that idea, but then there’s Fernando Alonso!
Few expected Aston Martin to start the season so strongly. Alonso himself had only planned the step for 2024. Now they are the second force and naturally have to perform. “From Baku, Imola, and Barcelona, teams will start bringing upgrades to the car. And we also have to be a top team in that regard,” he demands.
Alonso also expects an increase in performance from Mercedes: “They will get better and will soon be a candidate for victories,” after all, they also won in Brazil in 2022. However, in his opinion, there is currently no team that has a car that can match Red Bull.
My colleague Ruben Zimmermann has written a detailed article with further quotes from the two-time Formula 1 world champion for you, which I highly recommend.
Read more Formula 1 Live Ticker: Formula 1 as lucrative as never before
And at McLaren?
The MCL60 from the traditional Woking team does not yet meet the expectations of Team Principal Andrea Stella and CEO Zak Brown. Therefore, there will be extensive updates throughout the season.
As for the drivers, this has already been done. 22-year-old Oscar Piastri can look back on a good start to the season. He is in no way inferior to the highly-rated Lando Norris and has so far collected only four fewer points.
Norris is also very impressed with the Australian’s entry, who succeeded his compatriot Daniel Ricciardo: “He’s done a really good job. I think he’s understood the car well, even though it’s not easy to drive. He performed really well in Saudi Arabia, achieved our only Q3. Yes, he’s keeping me on my toes.”
Considering how far apart Norris and Ricciardo were throughout their time together, the Brit should definitely always keep an eye on his teammate!
The Big Problem Children
A sensational podium for Haas could also be favored by the persistent weakness at Alpine and McLaren.
Both teams continue to fall short of their ambitions. We also discussed this in the “Starting Grid” podcast. While we all agreed that both teams can return to their former strength, the general consensus, especially for Alpine, is that there’s no need to worry too much about them.
Sky commentator Olivier Zwartyes said: “Alpine doesn’t make such a bad impression on me at all. At the top, we have Red Bull, behind them we thought Mercedes and Ferrari would be. Now Aston Martin makes an unexpected leap to second position, and then the big problem is that as the fifth force in Formula 1, you’re only in the midfield.”
No one could have expected the Aston Martin surprise, and in Enstone, they consider themselves behind Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari. If they can now avoid complete failures like in Melbourne, Alpine will certainly be in a better position than McLaren…
What speaks against it?
If a podium for Hülkenberg (or Magnussen) is to happen, it probably needs to happen quickly.
It is not to be expected that Haas can really bring major updates despite the money coming in from the new main sponsor Moneygram. Even if technical director Simone Resta sells the situation differently by saying: “The team is working on it, we have our roadmap. But it’s still too early to say exactly what we will do when.”
Many Haas fans have also lost a bit of faith in the team because an update only came very late last year. So if a podium is to happen, they probably have to get ahead of the competition’s first wave of updates and strike.
Could that perhaps already work with a bit of chaos at the sprint weekend in Baku? Hülkenberg almost drove to a podium there in 2018 in the Renault, but unfortunately, he ruined the race for himself back then.
Key Factors
What needs to happen for Nico Hülkenberg to achieve his first podium this Formula 1 season?
Of course, the Haas needs to perform. Hülkenberg himself is very satisfied with the development. He says: “We have a very good rhythm and good momentum, and we want to maintain that and take it into the next races.”
Then he should continue as before. In the team duel against Kevin Magnussen, it’s currently 3:0 for Hulk in qualifying, but he still needs to catch up in the race (1:2 for Magnussen). However, both are performing at a similar level, which is good for the Haas team.
And then, of course, a bit of race luck is needed. A chaotic restart like in Melbourne, and you can slip through and spray Ferrari sparkling wine.
If anyone can be trusted to do it, it’s probably Nico Hülkenberg!
Discussion Material
In the Formula 1 podcast “Starting Grid”, we talk every week about the current topics in Formula 1.
Since our editor-in-chief Christian Nimmervoll was unavailable this week, my colleague Sophie Affeldt and I received a visit from Sky Germany. Olivier Zwartyes stopped by. He comments on Formula 2 and Formula 3, but is also always happy to be involved with the premier class.
Since last week, “Starting Grid” is also available on our YouTube channel. So you can not only listen to us wherever podcasts are available, but also watch us.
How about right now? Have fun!
Midweek!
Good morning and hello to the Formula 1 live ticker on Wednesday!
Kevin Scheuren welcomes you today, and we’re taking it a bit easier today. Formula 1 is still in its Easter digestion sleep, so today we’ll dedicate ourselves to a few podcasts and use the time to talk about some of the topics raised there.
For questions, suggestions, or complaints, you can use our contact form. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and for questions, our Twitter hashtag #FragMST is available. Let’s go!
Here you can read yesterday’s ticker again!
