The ongoing fued between Red Bull and Mercedes has added extra spice to the title race between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Picture: AFP
No matter where you go – an official team website, general F1 website, fan blogs or any other channel proffering views on any aspect of Formula One, you will find yourself inundated with the Max Verstappen/Lewis Hamilton incident on lap 1 of the British Grand Prix.
Generally the views expressed reflect the authors’ own driver preferences or their country of origin. Sadly, many have reached levels of vitriolic attack and abuse regarding certain individuals from the two teams involved.
Unfortunately, it appears the centre of attention currently are the comments emanating from the F1 team officials of Mercedes AMG and Red Bull Honda.
Toto Wolff of Mercedes and Red Bull’s Christian Horner are the main protagonists, but we are also being fed the opinions of Mercedes man James Allison and the infamous Dr Helmut Marko of the Milton Keynes based team.
Obviously there is a large emotional content involved, coupled with a fair degree of mudslinging as to who was responsible and the subsequent team reactions, post-race. We all have our own opinions and as a regular F1 columnist in the field my neighbours have been asking for my opinion, but I am not being drawn on that.
I do find it interesting that Hamilton has been most vocal claiming Verstappen was “aggressive”, as has Wolff, whereas Verstappen’s team principal, Horner, has not weakened in his belief that Hamilton was to blame.
On the other hand the man who experienced the 280km/h, 51g crash has little to say apart from his comment that the Mercedes driver was “disrespectful” following the Englishman’s victory celebrations, as Verstappen was still undergoing precautionary medical examinations in hospital.
That statement of fact will hopefully be the end of the matter.
This weekend at the Hugaroring the two will face each other once again and I trust we will enjoy a clean, incident-free race and a nailbiter of a F1 title chase.
Too see the latest standings in the 2021 F1 Driver’s Championship, click here.
Discussions regarding the new power units for 2025 onwards are under way and various ideas are under discussion with teams, FIA and other official bodies.
Red Bull’s Christian Horner has expressed a wish for engines with soundtracks such as the high revving multi-cylinder screamers of a few years back, adding to the auditory experience and enhancing the sensation of speed, but using climate-friendly fuel sources.
However, he has opposition that suggests the F1 future must look more to the use of electric power, since it is more environmentally friendly and stressing the historic engines, mooted by Horner, have no relevance to the modern generation.
I am not sure one can suggest the relevance aspect as a reason for not considering such an engine. After all, the younger generation have had little opportunity to experience such a soundtrack.
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Incidentally, the man opposing Horner is Wolff – looks like the feuding will never end.
One aspect raising its head is the report that F1 chief Stefano Domenicali is prepared to cut traditional race circuits if they do not adapt to the modern concept of F1. In an interview with GQ Magazine he was questioned about the concept of 25 races per annum.
He is reported as saying: “I think 23 races is a stable amount, although there’s a provision in the Concorde agreement for more.”
Such a schedule will prove to be a tough one for the teams, but it was his later answers that concerned me when he asked: “So how many do we want in Europe, in America, in the Middle East, in Asia and the Far East?”
He said: “I can see fewer GPs in Europe, more in the US and more in the Middle East and Asia.”
It appears Domenicali is not concerned about the effect the loss of traditional circuits and the support of diehard fans would have Asked if he feared upsetting fans, he said: “I don’t think so. Of course we are aware of the importance of tradition and it gives you the ingredients for the future. But if you live by tradition you do not live long. We need to build foundations for the future.”
He continued saying this was not to be seen as a threat but as a motivation for some F1 circuits.
“The magic of having places that want to be part of our business in the future (referring to possible races in the US and the Middle and Far East) is part of our agenda.
“These places understand that the world is changing. Monza, to give you one example, is unique, but Monza also needs to invest in the future. The positive pressure the newcomers are putting into the system is great.”
The future of F1 looks set to change and it leaves me cold.
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