ACM Russia Wrap
Posted on October 2, 2019 Tags: Japanese F1 Grand Pix Suzuka
FUNNY OLD GAME, this Formula One caper! It’s all looking good for Ferrari with a remarkable three-race run – Spa, Monza and those steamy Singapore streets.
Then it all returns to the norm around Sochi, Russia!
Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas are back to their customary one-two, with Sebastian Vettel’s ride blowing a gasket (actually a hybrid failure on his Ferrari SF90) while his teammate – that dynamic rookie Charles Leclerc puts in another stunner, for four poles on the trot!
Charles was just three-years-old when that milestone was achieved, by the legendary Michael Schumacher.
The amazing form from the 21-year-old Monegasque has him sitting third in the drivers’ championship, now two places ahead of Seb.
Not up to Scratch
And all this is seriously piddling off the Verstappen clan, with Patriarch Jos (above) firing a broadside at Red Bull warning they’d best get their act together.
What’s happening in that garage is not yet up to scratch, according to the Dutchmen.
And that’s a red light to Max‘s boss Christian Horner, who knows only too well that the darling of the Orange Army is only contracted to 2020.
Dan needs a “Better Car”
And our mate Daniel Ricciardo has yet another failure! Renault Sport Racing boss Cyril Abiteboul is not shy in telling us the brilliant and affable Aussie needs a better car (stating the bleeding obvious, in his Gallic way) – but an ardent plea, one suspects, to his bosses at home in the delightful UK village of Enstone, Oxfordshire, and the engine team at Viry-Châtillon, Essonne, France.
Back to the Future
Seb’s answer to Sunday’s bad trip around Sochi was to head over to Lonato, Italy on Monday for a pre-arranged commitment with the famous Tony Kart – and his first ever Superkart drive.
It was back to the future for the German who, in 2001, was part of the then embryonic Italian manufacturer and race team.
Seb thoroughly enjoyed the new challenge of driving a kart with gears.
Video courtesy of https://www.tkart.it/en/magazine/
“It was the first time for me doing shifters. You need to drive it a bit different, and obviously with the gears it’s a bit more like driving the cars. I enjoyed it a lot.”
Sebastian Vettel, four-time F1 world champ.
My thanks to Motorsport.com, Kym Illman, Photostream, and TKART for their assistance with this post. EDITED by AC
Formula 1 moves to Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix on October 11-13.
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