Category: Auto Sport

McLaren, like many of its rivals, switched its sidepod concept during 2022, moving away from the narrow rear body design that it employed at the start the season to something more representative of the downwash ramp solution seen on the Red Bull and AlphaTauri.

As the season progressed, it made further changes to the inlet region too, with the update introduced at the Singapore Grand Prix once again drawing inspiration from Red Bull, as it used a retracted upper leading edge that increased flow into and through the sidepods.

McLaren MCL60 sidepod inlet comparison

The MCL60 takes all these features and improves upon them, which has been made possible due to having a blank canvas within which to package the internal components with the external bodywork in mind.

Having the ability to rework the positioning of the radiators, coolers, electronics and side impact protection spars have resulted in a much more shrink-wrapped design for the bodywork, with a much longer undercut beneath the inlet.

McLaren MCL60

Photo by: McLaren

A swage line has also been introduced that falls off along the flank of the sidepod bodywork into the elongated undercut, in a similar vein to what we saw from Red Bull and latterly Aston Martin, which appropriated the design feature.

The cooling gills and downwash ramp design are also retained but should see an uptick in performance from the reprofiling of the sidepods’ upper surface, which appears to have been recessed in much the same way Alpine did with its bodywork last season. And, having been one of the teams to already have the shelf-like engine cover solution in 2022, it’s unsurprising to see it return.

McLaren MCL60, detail top view

Photo by: McLaren

The lack of revisions of the floor’s edge might suggest that what we are seeing isn’t what we should expect to see once the car is unveiled in Bahrain, with the team already bullish on the developments that it has in the pipeline for the MCL60.

Meanwhile, the forward upper wishbone arm on the front suspension was already housed rather high on the car’s predecessor, but it appears that the team has decided to take things even further with the MCL60 if the renders are to be believed.

We’ll have to wait to see the real car in the flesh before casting judgement on this though, as the car shown in the studio presentation didn’t appear to be as aggressive in this department.

McLaren MCL60, detail front suspension

Photo by: McLaren

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso has joined Aston Martin for 2023 in one of the biggest off-season driver moves, leaving Alpine after two years.

On Monday, Aston Martin launched its updated car, the AMR23, that Alonso hopes can help put him back into contention at the front of the field alongside new team-mate Lance Stroll.

While Alonso felt it was “a possibility” he can fight again for race wins and a third championship with Aston Martin, he admitted he did not think it could be expected this year.

“I have my feet on the ground,” said Alonso. “I cannot say to anyone that we will be fighting for victories this year. I will lie if I say that.

“But at the same time, we want to have a good car to start with, and to work and develop that car throughout the season.

“Maybe in the second part of the year, we can get closer. If there is an opportunity that is in changeable conditions, if the opportunity comes, we will not miss that opportunity.

“But at the beginning, I expect some difficult races until we find where the car operates, in which window we have to work with the set-up.”

Alonso has not won an F1 race since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, while his last championship success in grand prix racing came in 2006 with Renault.

He stepped away from F1 at the end of 2018 in order to explore other racing interests, such as competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500. He returned with Alpine for the 2021 campaign, but that year saw Alonso – by his own admission – initially struggle to get back up to speed in F1.

Aston Martin 23

Photo by: Aston Martin Racing

Yet he turned in some impressive displays throughout 2022, prompting him to hail it as being his best campaign since he came close to a third world title in 2012.  

Alonso reflected on the early struggles at Alpine when discussing his expectations with Aston Martin, noting there would be just one-and-a-half days of running in pre-season for him to get to grips with the AMR23 before the first race in Bahrain.

“I am aware that I will not be 100% in Bahrain, not in Jeddah, maybe not in Australia,” said Alonso. “So that’s a little bit unfair, maybe.

“I think that this is the only sport in the world that you do one day and a half practice and then you play a world championship.

“With Lance, I have that benchmark, in a way, after a few years in the team. I know what is 100, so I can get closer to that in the first moments. Let’s see. I think we have more possibilities to fight for wins and podiums next year, if we have a good baseline this year.

“What we have this year will not be our normal position, I believe.”

Aston Martin finished seventh in last year’s constructors’ championship, enjoying an upswing in form through the second half of the season after struggling towards the very rear of the field in the early part of the year.

Aston Martin 23

Photo by: Aston Martin Racing

Alonso felt it was important to understand there were “no miracles in Formula 1” but hoped the AMR23 could lay the foundations for a more competitive future.

“Last year, the package had some difficulties as we all saw from the outside,” said Alonso. “I think the team went through a few things during the season and they improved a lot at the end of the year.

“Those difficulties are very good when you understand them and you can programme something from that car. I think this is the real first car with this new set of regulations that hopefully Aston Martin can develop in the future.

“That will be for me the biggest thing this year, that we can develop throughout the season, and we can finish 2023 knowing that this is a baseline for the future Aston Martin cars.”

The Mercedes driver is a minority owner as part of the Walton-Penner group that bought the three-time Super Bowl-winning Broncos in 2022 – led by Walmart heir Rob Walton and Greg Penner, the retail giant’s chairman, and his daughter Carrie – in a massive $4.65billion deal.

There are two other minority owners that complete the Broncos ownership group – former USA secretary of state Condoleezza Rice (who grew up in Denver and attended the University of Denver) and Mellody Hobson, co-CEO of Ariel Investments (a Minority Business Enterprise investment company and chairperson of Starbucks, a bonus fact being Hobson is married to Star Wars creator George Lucas).

Hobson’s Ariel Investments MBE status means it is at least 51% owned, operated and controlled by an ethnically minority person in the USA (African American, Native American, Hispanic American or Asian American or Pacific Islander) and advancing Black Equity and diversity overall is a key reason Hamilton says he took the opportunity to buy into the Broncos.

The Briton started his Hamilton Commission and Mission 44 initiatives in recent years as part of his drive to address the lack of diversity in motorsport and its associated industries.

Via his new access at the Broncos, Hamilton can directly assess the impact of changes enacted in the NFL to try and improve diversity in many areas in a sport where that has long been a problem – perhaps famously regarding representation of minorities and women in coaching positions, with the sport also played by a majority of black athletes – with mandatory requirements in hiring and selection processes.

NFL teams are also giant franchises that turn over billions in revenue each year, with their owners wielding huge power over how the championship functions (they vote to decide rule changes, much like FOM and the FIA typically needs agreement from F1 teams when it comes to altering elements of grand prix racing).

Hamilton’s new venture with the Walton-Penner group means he can “speak to them and learn from them” at a pivotal time in his life, when he has made improving diversity in his working sphere and Black Equity generally a top priority.

Hamilton is tipped to sign new Mercedes deal but has also been considering his post-F1 future

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

The 38-year-old is expected to sign a new contract with Mercedes this year that could result in him racing well into his 40s, but Hamilton has long made it clear he intends to forge a successful subsequent career when he does retire from racing.

In addition to his Broncos investment, he owns the X44 Extreme E team plus maintains his long-standing links to the fashion and music industries.

While Hamilton expects to gain valuable insight from his Broncos business partners, Walton said that having the seven-time world champion as part of the team’s ownership group means the F1 legend’s “resilient spirit and standard of excellence will be an asset” given his proven history of success.

Although the elongated modern F1 schedule drapes across the majority of the NFL’s regular season, Hamilton was able to watch the Broncos play in person at one stage during the 2022 campaign – the team’s 19-16 defeat to the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

The Briton said visiting the Broncos there had also helped him realise the potential gains he could make by learning about the players’ “athlete performance” work.

“That experience was incredible, to just be in that huge arena,” Hamilton said at last year’s US Grand Prix.

“Firstly, the stadium is amazing but just to see a different group of fans – all with the similarities of the fans that we have here, just passionate about their team, right on the edge of their seats for every single play.

“And then for me, just like speaking to the coach, speaking to the players, and speaking to the rest of the owners, about the takeover, about the challenges that we have, the things that we need to improve on, like our offence. Our defence is really strong but our offence is quite weak at the moment.

Hamilton has previously welcomed NFL star Russell Wilson to F1 events

Photo by: Bose

“You’ve got Russell [Wilson, Denver quarterback] that’s new to the team and he needs more protection. He’s still getting to know a lot of the players around him.

“And so yeah, I like getting super deep into all that kind of stuff.

“And also into athlete performance because these guys are huge. Some of the guys are over 300 pounds, they’re massive – wouldn’t want those guys to hit you.

“Then just looking into how I can play a role with that team in terms of supporting them and also the things that we’re going to do with D&I [Diversity and Inclusion] within the community in Denver.”

The 2022 NFL season concludes with Sunday’s Super Bowl game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, with the Broncos having missed the post-season playoff mini-tournament after Wilson, Hamilton’s friend who attended last year’s Monaco Grand Prix, struggled in his first season with the team.

The Broncos subsequently fired former head coach Nathaniel Hackett – brought in before the Walton-Penner group takeover – and have now hired Sean Payton, who won Super Bowl 44 with the New Orleans Saints and is considered to be an offensive genius coach capable of getting Wilson back to his best level.

Much like in motorsport, making meaningful change takes time in the NFL, with the coming off-season a time that both the Broncos and Hamilton can mutually benefit from their new partnership – with the Briton clear his off-track ventures have long provided a boost that in turn improves his racing.

The Italian squad held a livery launch in New York on Saturday night and also took the opportunity to release some basic renders of its 2023 challenger.

The actual AT04 will have a shakedown at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on Tuesday ahead of the start of pre-season testing in Bahrain on February 23.

While the renders issued on Saturday do not show much detail on the car, they do point to it having different sidepod inlets.

The downwash area also has a ramp that the AT03 did not, while the nose and front wing are similar to the concept used at the end of last season.

Technical director Jody Egginton explained that the squad had tried to be aggressive with the packaging and aero improvements in a bid to lift downforce levels, with this having been a key weakness last year.

Reflecting on what the team took on board from its tricky 2022 campaign, Egginton said: “We learned a lot from the AT03 during its development, and a lot of that information went into the overall layout of the AT04 in order to address some of the shortcomings identified on last year’s car.

“Simply put, we lacked some downforce compared to our main competitors and identified opportunities to reduce mass.”

He added: “Almost all areas of the car represent a strong evolution from the AT03, and great attention was paid to packaging so that we would have the best basis for aerodynamic development.”

 

Although sister team Red Bull produced the best car last year, as Max Verstappen secured his second world title, AlphaTauri has steered clear of ramping up the number of parts it purchases from Milton Keynes.

“The synergy program continues with a similar basis as in previous years,” added Egginton. “It is extremely beneficial for us, so we will continue on this path.

“We keep some components with the same specifications as last year, while others have been modified, but the total range of components purchased from Red Bull remains virtually the same.

“This is a strategic choice we make from time to time, but overall it represents continuity with what we did last year.”

Jaguar driver Bird set a time of 1m13.631s with just five minutes remaining in the second practice on Saturday morning, heading a closely-contested contest that saw 18 of the 22 drivers finish within a second of each other.

The laptimes tumbled as the track rubbered in during the 30-minute session, with Bird’s teammate Mitch Evans the first to beat the FP1 benchmark 10 minutes into the running with a 1m14.926s.

But there was a lot more time to be found in the remaining two-thirds of practice, with Nick Cassidy proving just that by breaking the 1m14s barrier just past the halfway mark.

But Cassidy’s time of 1m13.811s in the Envision would only be good enough for third at the end, with both Bird and DS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne usurping him in the final part of the session.

Bird finished 0.113s clear of Vergne and a further 0.067s clear of Cassidy, as Jaguar appeared to be the powertrain to beat heading into the inaugural Hyderabad E-Prix qualifying later on Saturday.

Fourth place went to Edoardo Mortara in the Maserati MSG, with Nissan’s Sacha Fenestraz and McLaren driver Rene Rast separated by just 0.001s in fifth and sixth respectively.

Wehrlein recovered from Friday drama to finish seventh, 0.405s down on Bird, with Lucas di Grassi leading the way for home favourite Mahindra Racing in eighth.

The top 10 was rounded off by Sebastien Buemi in the Envision and the NIO 333 entry of Dan Ticktum.

A marshal assists Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3, after a heavy crash

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

The opening practice on Friday was repeatedly delayed due to a track invasion, with the session not getting underway until 5:15pm local time after having originally been scheduled for 4:30pm. The police were understood to have erroneously opened up a barrier and allowed several road cars onto the circuit, causing a major disruption.

Subsequent delays, according to one source, were caused when marshals at key posts reported a lack of charge on their walkie talkie devices, forcing organisers to rush for replacement batteries.

When the track action did get underway, Wehrlein lost control of the Porsche heading into the final corner, the front-right section of his car smashing heavily into the barriers at the exit of the turn.

The German driver was able to walk out of the crash but had to visit the Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad after practice for precautionary checks, having initially been attended to by the FIA’s medical team.

The incident prompted Porsche to withdraw all remaining cars from practice as a precaution, including the two Andretti-run entries of Jake Dennis and Andre Lotterer.

A thorough examination revealed that the crash was caused because of a Vehicle Control Unit (VCU) dysfunction, the root cause of which is still being investigated.

When the session resumed after a lengthy red flag, the laptimes dropped rapidly as the dusty track slowly rubbered in, with all of the best times set right towards the end of the 30-minute session.

Buemi led the way for Envision with a best effort of 1m15.008s, beating the DS Penske of reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne by 0.181s. 

Sergio Sette Camara was a surprise third in the NIO 333 car, a further 0.183s back, with Bird fourth-quickest for the Jaguar team using the same powertrain as Buemi’s Envision.

Di Grassi ended up fifth on Mahindra’s home turf, 0.559s off the pace in the M9Electro, while Evans made it three-Jaguar powered cars inside the top six.

FP2 results:

 

FP1 results:

Acura enjoyed a perfect start to the new GTP era with a one-two finish for its two new ARX-06 prototypes, as Meyer Shank Racing took victory in the IMSA SportsCar Championship opener ahead of Wayne Taylor Racing.

While the Honda brand proved itself the class of the field at Daytona, Porsche managed to get one of its new 963s on the front row before suffering reliability issues in the race, while Cadillac was also well in the mix for the win for large stretches of the race, its best V-LMDh finishing third.

PLUS: How MSR took Acura to the first win of sportscar racing’s new era

The close nature of the competition between the four LMDh manufacturers came after IMSA elected not to adjust the BoP in the GTP class in the wake of the pre-event Roar Before the 24 test.

And Albuquerque, shared the second-placed WTR Acura with Ricky Taylor, Louis Deletraz and Brendon Hartley, feels that the series should let the manufacturers make further progress on extracting more performance and reliability from their all-new packages before tinkering with the BoP.

“After Daytona, I don’t want to sound biased because we won, but these new rules have started really well,” Albuquerque told Autosport.

“We were obviously competitive. Cadillac was very strong in one part of the race, Porsche was very competitive with [Nick] Tandy in the end until he had a failure. 

“Maybe BMW was a bit of a step back, but just give them time to sort things out, because they are a great manufacturer.

PLUS: Inside BMW’s long-awaited prototype racing return

“I don’t think we should have any BoP adjustments yet.

#10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Louis Deletraz, Brendon Hartley

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

“I think we need to give all the manufacturers time to address their long list of issues they have to address. And only then should we start changing the BoP, if needed.

“There should be room for the manufacturers, the teams and the drivers to make the difference at the end of the day.”

The final year of IMSA DPi competition were characterised by swings in performance between Acura and Cadillac at different circuits, with the previous ARX-05 tending to excel at some tracks and struggling at others.

Albuquerque feels that Acura has come up with a much more consistent package for the first year of the new LMDh regulations but warned that the marque can’t rest on its laurels after a strong start at Daytona.

“I think we have a good car,” said the Portuguese driver.

“We have addressed a lot of the issues we had with the DPi, especially considering the IMSA calendar. We were able to make the areas we were not so strong with DPi better.

“But just because we did a 1-2 in Daytona doesn’t mean it will be like this for the rest of the year. We had a good start, but we need to stay humble, because when you lose, you work harder.

“We need to have the same mentality, we need to work harder to find speed in our car. We don’t underestimate our opponents because they are really strong.”