Rosberg currently doesn’t believe in Mercedes victories
Update or not: Nico Rosberg currently doesn’t believe his former team can win any races. “It’s a long season, but they’re nowhere with this car. They won’t be able to fight for race wins anytime soon,” Rosberg told ‘Sky’.
He therefore believes: “It’s difficult for Lewis to maintain his motivation.” He reminds: “He has won a race every year of his career. And it looks like this could be the year he can no longer win.”
Indeed, Hamilton has won at least one race in every season since his Formula 1 debut in 2007. His worst year in this regard was precisely his first Mercedes season in 2013 with only a single victory.
Since the beginning of the hybrid era, Hamilton has even won at least eight races every year. A significant mental adjustment.
Read more Formula 1 Live Ticker: Mercedes not abandoning car concept
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End of the day!
And that’s it for our ticker today. Tomorrow, before the weekend, we’ll be back with a new edition for you, then my colleague Norman Fischer will take over here again.
Have a nice evening and see you then!
McLaren: Podium finishes are not enough
Imola was undoubtedly a good weekend for McLaren with P3. Norris finished ahead of both Mercedes factory drivers, among others. However, team principal Andreas Seidl emphasizes that this is not the team’s ambition.
“I don’t enjoy being ahead of Mercedes for one weekend. Our goal is to win races,” he clarifies, adding: “We know that we are not currently in a position to do so.”
They are not yet able to “regularly” fight for race wins. “We have to close the gap in the coming years,” says Seidl. So, McLaren’s ambitions have clearly risen again!
Speaking of weight …
Williams even went so far in Imola as to sacrifice part of the paintwork to save weight. But does such a step really achieve anything? “I can’t give figures,” says Dave Robson, but he emphasizes that it is definitely worth it.
“It’s significant,” he clarifies, emphasizing that it saves a few grams. Moreover, it is “the fastest” way to save weight. Part of the paintwork has therefore already disappeared from other teams during the year…
Vasseur: No understanding for weight problems
At the beginning of the year, the Alfa Romeo was possibly the only car in the field that didn’t struggle with “excess weight”. Team principal Frederic Vasseur has no understanding for the competition that wanted to adjust the minimum weight retrospectively.
“When you design a race car, weight is always the primary goal,” he explains, clarifying: “Nobody can be surprised by the weight at the last minute.” He assumes that the teams deliberately gambled.
“I think some teams played a game with the FIA, expecting them to raise the minimum weight at the last minute. But that would have been unfair,” he clarifies. That’s why some teams are now quite in a sweat…
Gambled away?
So far, Vettel’s move to Aston Martin has not been a success. Highlights last year were two second places in Baku and Hungary, although he had to return the trophy in Budapest after a disqualification.
It remains to be seen whether Vettel’s adventure in Silverstone will yet become a success story. Otherwise, a small consolation: he wouldn’t be the first world champion to have gambled away with a team change…
Photo gallery: Ten world champions who gambled away with a team change
Aston Martin: It would be “important” to keep Vettel
The future of the four-time world champion is currently open. His contract with Aston Martin expires at the end of the year. Team principal Mike Krack explains that it would be “very, very important” for the team to keep Vettel.
On the one hand, it’s about “continuity”, and on the other hand, of course, about the “experience” of the German. “When you have someone like him in the team, it has great value,” Krack knows.
“He has many ideas and pushes hard,” he reports. Other drivers who have had such successes as Vettel in the past could quickly lose motivation in similar situations, according to Krack.
“That’s not the case with Sebastian,” he emphasizes. Ultimately, Krack also knows that they must offer Vettel a sporting perspective if they want to extend his contract.
Binotto: Pressure played no role
Earlier, we already talked about Leclerc’s mistake in Imola. Teammate Sainz had already crashed in qualifying. Could that have had something to do with the additional pressure at the home race?
“Expectations were very high here in Italy,” admits team principal Mattia Binotto, who also clarifies that he does not assume his drivers felt any particular pressure in the cockpit.
Leclerc was “very calm” on the radio throughout the race and did not appear tense. “I think it was simply a mistake,” Binotto said about the crash on Sunday.
“That can always happen. A small mistake that cost him a few positions,” explains the team principal. But that had nothing to do with pressure.
Support for Hamilton
The record world champion has received a lot of support after the difficult Imola weekend. “Lewis will come back incredibly strong. I have no doubt about that,” says teammate Russell, for example.
Former teammate Bottas is also sure: “We will see a strong Lewis in the upcoming races.” And even from the Red Bull camp, there are encouraging words for the Briton.
“He obviously had a terrible weekend. But he is still a seven-time world champion. So he hasn’t forgotten how to drive in the last four races,” says Christian Horner.
The Red Bull team principal is sure: “Eventually they will solve their problems and he will become a factor [in the championship]. I have no doubt about that.” But how quickly will that succeed…?
Read more F1 Live Ticker: Sainz can hope again!
Norris: We need to improve everywhere
P3 in Imola was definitely a step in the right direction. But what else does McLaren need to close the gap to the top? According to Norris, the MCL36 has no obvious weaknesses this year.
“Simply put, we need to improve everywhere: high-speed, medium-speed, and slow-speed,” Norris explains, adding that the focus might be a bit more on the slow and medium-speed sections.
But: “The whole package needs to come to the next level,” says the Briton, who explains that the balance, for example, is good. But overall, they are simply still a bit “slower than the others.”
“It’s not easy. You want to focus on everything. But in such a long season, you have to tackle certain things first,” Norris explains. Because you can’t do everything at once…
On this topic …
… this photo gallery immediately comes to mind. A dominance like Mercedes’ has never been seen in Formula 1 before. Take a look during your lunch break!
Photo gallery: Pure dominance: The longest F1 championship streaks
Mercedes faces longest winless streak since 2013
Across seasons, Mercedes has now been waiting for a victory for five races. Hamilton celebrated their last success at the penultimate race of 2021 in Saudi Arabia. Mercedes has never had to wait longer for a success in the hybrid era!
The last time a winless streak lasted more than five races was at the end of the 2013 season. Back then, after Hamilton’s victory in Hungary, there were even nine races without a win.
If they don’t win in Miami either, it would be the longest winless streak in over eight years.
What Ferrari copied from Aston Martin
The Aston Martin is considered one of the worst cars of the 2022 generation alongside the Williams – the Ferrari one of the best. So why should the Italians copy something from Vettel’s team?
Specifically, it’s about small winglets on the keel of the car below the drivers’ legs. Aston Martin already showed such winglets at the presentation in February. After that, they also appeared on the Ferrari.
Our technical experts explain all the background here!
Clean sheet
Speaking of Ferrari: No driver has his teammate as clearly under control this year as Leclerc. The Monegasque won all four qualifying sessions and races against Sainz and also left the Spaniard behind in the Imola sprint.
That’s a solid 9:0 for Leclerc! Every other driver in the field has lost at least one session against their teammate in 2022. But does that speak for Leclerc or against Sainz…?
You can find an overview of all qualifying, sprint, and race duels of the 2022 Formula 1 season here!
Binotto: No clear trend discernible
Does Red Bull or Ferrari currently have the best car? “One weekend they are stronger, another weekend we are,” shrugs Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto. “That’s how it’s been since the start of the season,” he reminds.
“In Bahrain and Australia we were stronger, in the other two [races] they were,” says Binotto, who therefore believes that it currently depends on the track who is ahead.
“I don’t think there are already significant differences [between the cars],” says the Italian. From the perspective of neutral fans, it can gladly stay that way!
Progress at Aston Martin
Anyone interested in the new Aston Martin factory will get a small update in this video. It will only be finished in 2023, by the way. So, with the current problems, the new facility will not yet be of any help.
Should sprint races be longer?
This thesis has now at least been put forward by Russell after Imola. The Mercedes driver believes that sprints would have to be 50 percent longer to work and provide added value for fans.
“I’m not a big fan [of the current sprints],” he admits, explaining: “Drivers need to manage their tires a bit more so that you see a difference between the cars.”
His complete statements can be found here!
Read more Formula 1 Live Ticker: Date for Sebastian Vettel’s hearing is set!
