Daniel Raring to Fire
Posted on June 29, 2023 Tags: Formula One
Jordan Love for ‘Ardennes Rollercoaster’
While Supercars SVG debuts on the streets of Chicago
DANIEL RICCIARDO is up for his first true test for a serious seat in 2024 when he takes up the challenge from Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko, talking this week to Austrian news outlet ORF.
“We will have Ricciardo in the car for three days after Silverstone during the tyre test, and then you can evaluate where Ricciardo really stands,” said the straight-shooting Austrian tyro who, it should be remembered, has a serious say in all major decisions affecting the team.
While Helmut and Christian Horner’s crew currently leads the constructors’ championship – due to the brilliance of Max Verstappen – Sergio Perez’s form has dropped off, missing the podium in the last three races. Although he’s still second in the driver’s championship.
The same news source claims Checo had never intended to stay at Red Bull for an extended period, although he is contracted until the end of 2024.
Whatever Helmut’s aim, his comments are bound to light a fire this weekend under the Mexican’s butt in Austria, around the 4.318km Red Bull Ring.
In the three days following the British Grand Prix July 9, a sound performance by the Aussie superstar testing the Pirelli tyres on the RB19 could prove the eight-time F1 victor is still a premier driver on the F1 circuit.
Daniel has been clear he would only join a dominant team he knows would provide a car capable of winning races and podium finishes.
“I don’t want any seat next year, as much as I think I want to be racing again,” he told Top Gear.
“It’s Not Coming from an Arrogant Place“
“I don’t want to just start from zero, and kind of build my career from scratch.
“It’s not coming from an arrogant place. But I’m just past that.
“I don’t think that’s going to stimulate me or give me that second wind I’m looking for.
“So, it makes the top seats even scarcer.
“But that’s where I know I will be able to perform at my best and thrive.
“That’s the sort of stuff I’m keeping my eyes on.”
Daniel Ricciardo June 2023
Since he stepped back from racing, the Perth dynamo has focused on family and putting energy into his pet projects. His promotional work with Red Bull is moulding in nicely with clothing brand Enchanté by Daniel Ricciardo, and his collaboration with St Hugo Wines.
Teaming up with St Hugo chief winemaker Peter Munro, it is a long term partnership between one of Australia’s most celebrated wine brands and one of Australia’s most celebrated F1 drivers.
In the next few weeks, Daniel will concentrate on the getting as much time as he can in the Red Bull simulator, helping with research and development, and honing those extraordinary skills in preparation for of one of his greatest challenges.
Spielberg – Home Turf for Max
MAX VERSTAPPEN is fast approaching legendary status as he continues to master his undoubted uncanny ability to deal with any eventuality at 300+km/h, with his rear end centimeters off the ground.
The Dutchman has now drawn level with doyen Ayrton Senna for career race wins.
“It’s amazing. I never expected to be on these kind of numbers myself,” he said, immediately after the Montreal race. “We keep enjoying, we keep working hard, but it has been a great day again.”
But he still has veritable yonks to go to even match Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton’s seven F1 World Championship titles!
Holland’s favourite son returns this weekend to Spielberg, and the famous Red Bull Ring, for the Austrian Grand Prix.
It follows the 24-year-old’s historic run last up in Canada in the world’s premier motorsport series – his fourth consecutive F1 grand prix victory – to extend his seeming near-unassailable lead in the championship.
Red Bull Ring: Where Tyres Get No Rest!
The Red Bull Ring has only 10 corners, with the shortest lap time of any track on the championship.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz holds the lap record here, completing lap 68 of the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix in a time of 1m05.619s, driving a Renault-powered McLaren on P Zero softs.
• But the driver with the most wins on the current version of the Austrian track is Red Bull’s Max, with four wins from the 18 races held since 1997.
While the most successful manufacturer is Mercedes with six wins, courtesy of Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, and Valtteri Bottas – who all claimed two races each.
It is, of course, difficult to comprehend that anyone could be a legend at anything at such a young age.
Montreal was the 100th win for the proud Red Bull team with Max flawless in Canada, never looking threatened from start to finish in notching his 41st career win.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso finished second with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton third.
McLaren, meanwhile, failed once again to score any points after both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris drivers, continuing its horror run in 2023. Daniel Ricciardo must be thanking his lucky stars he escaped with his millions!
The top runners all pitted on lap 12 after George Russell crashed at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit. The Brit surprisingly continued but retired with 15 laps to go.
Spielberg, Austria
Weather looking positively spooky!
The Spielberg weekend is the second grand prix on the calendar featuring an F1 Sprint, with Qualifying to decide the starting grid for the Grand Prix scheduled for Friday after a single free practice session.
With Saturday, dedicated to the Sprint Shootout and the Sprint Race. the forecast is looking decidedly dodgy.
During the three short sessions that make up the Sprint Shootout (lasting 12, 10, and eight minutes respectively) teams have to fit new tyres, using the medium compound for Q1 and Q2. In Q3, only the soft compound can be used.
Teams have the C3 compound P Zero White hard, C4 Yellow medium and C5 Red soft at the Austrian Grand Prix. And, just like the last race at Montréal, Pirelli has nominated the three softest compounds in the F1 range.
• Most drivers made two stops last year, starting on the medium ahead of two stints on the hard. There was plenty of overtaking, particularly in the midfield, with five cars competing for the places just off the podium.
• The elevation changes at the Red Bull Ring put it second only to Spa-Francorchamps in terms of variation. There’s a change of more than 60 metres between the lowest point on the track – just before Turn 1 – and the highest point, after Turn 2.
Traction and Braking – Key Elements
“The cars race through the track’s 10 corners in a lap time of just over a minute, and the few straights mean that there is little reprieve for the tyres.
“The asphalt has a fairly high micro and macro roughness, due to the age of the surface, while grip is high at the start of the lap.
“Traction and braking are key elements, while particular attention will have to be paid to managing tyre overheating.
“Drivers who manage not to cool their tyres properly may find it difficult to defend against attacks from rivals, especially in the first and last sectors.
“An important factor in this will be ambient temperature, with weather conditions traditionally somewhat variable.
“Last year’s race was largely a two-stopper using the medium and hard compounds, but a one-stopper could also be an option this year if degradation is not too high.”
MARIO ISOLA – Pirelli Motorsport Director
F1 Academy – Zandvoort round
Hamda Al Qubaisi (MP Motorsport) won two out of three races at the Zandvoort round of the F1 Academy, exclusively supplied by Pirelli.
The Emirati driver maintained the lead in race one, heading Lena Buhler (ART Grand Prix) and Nerea Martì (Campos Racing).
Carrie Schreiner (ART Grand Prix) took her first win of the season in Race 2, ahead of Marta Garcia (Prema Racing) and Buhler.
MP Motorsport locked out the podium in Race 3, with Al Qubaisi winning again, ahead of Emely De Heus and Buhler. The next round is Monza July 7-9.
Jordan Back for ‘Ardennes Rollercoaster’
Mercedes-AMG Junior Driver Jordan Love makes his return to the iconic 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps this weekend, marking his third appearance at the biggest GT3 racing event on the calendar.
He’ll be behind the wheel of the Haupt Racing Team #79 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the Bronze Cup, sharing driving duties with Arjun Maini, team owner Hubert Haupt and Sébastien Baud.
The team takes on the legendary track with a bumper field of 72 cars, looking to bolster their promising start to the season with a class victory and another podium finish in the Bronze Cup.
The team is among the favourites for class victory at Spa and is targeting further top finishes on the legendary seven-kilometre Ardennes rollercoaster.
“I’m delighted to be back for my third Spa 24 alongside Hubert, Arjun and Sébastien!
“It’s the highlight race of the season and I can’t wait to get going.
“Spa wasn’t so kind to me last year.
“After a comfortable lead in class making it through the night, to then be taken out after a small technical issue in the final hours was devastating.
“I definitely return this year with some redemption to be made.
“I’m looking forward to fighting for those Bronze Cup honours with the rest of the #79 crew.
“It’s going to be a long weekend, in which anything can happen, but bring it on!”
– Jordan Love, Haupt Racing Team #79
Thanks to Michael Pearce – michael@markblundellpartners.com
SVG Set for NASCAR Debut
Three-time Repco Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen scored his first taste of stock car machinery, as the Kiwi prepares for his NASCAR Cup Series debut this weekend in Chicago.
The 33-year-old Red Bull Ampol Racing ace had a test day with Trackhouse Racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway Tuesday, turning his first and only real-world laps before the Windy City street race.
“First time here. First time driving the NASCAR, it was awesome,” said the two-time Bathurst 1000 winner. “Similar in some ways to what I’m used to, but in other ways completely different.”
Shane is racing for Trackhouse’s “Project 91” program for international drivers, the most recent of whom was two-time F1 world champion Kimi Räikkönen.
It’ll be a historic ride for the Supercars star as it’s NASCAR’s first-ever race on a temporary street circuit. It takes place around the famed Hyde Park, along Lake Michigan.
He’ll face off with the best teams and drivers in American stock car racing, then head back across the Pacific to North Queensland, for the NTI Townsville 500 to notch his 500th career Supercars start
Sébastien Supreme in Rally Kenya
Just like last year, Toyota filled the top four places at the 2023 Safari Rally Kenya: round seven of the Pirelli-equipped World Rally Championship.
Frenchman Sébastien Ogier was the pride of the plains as he recovered from a minor morning setback Friday, claiming his third win of the season, just 6.7s seconds ahead of Kalle Rovanperä: the narrowest winning margin in Safari Rally history.
Their teammates Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta were third and fourth.
The African stages were characterised by rain and mud: ideal territory for the soft compound Pirelli Scorpion KX tyres.
Estonia is the next round of the WRC July 20-23.
Bagnaia Wins Rd 8 MotoGP
Brit Jake Dixon came back from running wide and losing the lead to win his first Moto2 grand prix In the DutchGP at Assen, round eight of the championship.
MotoGP – R8 ASSEN
Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Francesco BAGNAIA DUCATI 40m37.640
2 Marco BEZZECCHI DUCATI +1.223
3 Aleix ESPARGARO APRILIA +1.925
EDITED by AC
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