THE day Jamie Whincup feels another Supercars title is out of reach is the day he hangs up his driving gloves for good.
But not today.
The seven-time Supercars title winner and reigning champion believes his Red Bull Holden Racing Team is as good as any on the grid.
And he’ll hope to get his 2018 title defence off to a hot start when he lines up in two weeks for the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide — an event he has already won a staggering 10 times.
With potential retirement creeping ever closer, Whincup believes he’ll know when the moment is right to call time on his decorated Supercars career.
“I think that’s a gut feel,” the 35-year-old told the Daily Telegraph.
Jamie Whincup celebrating his seventh Supercars title after the Newcastle 500 last year. Picture: Tim HunterSource: News Corp AustraliaReady to roll: Jamie Whincup is set for the 2018 series.Source: Getty Images
“I take an independent and — I believe — a good read on my performance and my ability.
“The day I don’t feel like I can win the grand prize is the day I finish up.
“I think we have as good a chance as anyone right now and if we work hard good things should come.”
Despite claiming retirement was not yet on the cards, Whincup readily admits last year’s title push was the hardest he’d had to endure.
Whincup was locked in a two-way battle for the 2017 championship with Shell V-Power Racing’s Scott McLaughlin as they entered the final event of the season at Newcastle.
Whincup thought his title hopes were dashed when a crash during the first lap on the Saturday forced him to nurse his car through the race.
But three separate penalties to Scott during Sunday’s race gifted Whincup a narrow 21-point lead on the championship ladder.
“I’ve had some great battles in the past with some quality opposition but last year our standards were pretty lean,” Whincup said.
“Scotty (McLaughlin) stole all the pole positions from everyone and I was on three wins going into the last round which was well under what I normally would.
“I’ve got a few grey hairs these days but I’ll keep pushing through and I won’t go past my use-by date. I’ll hang it up when the time comes.”
The 2018 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship begins with the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide from March 1-4.
Daniel Ricciardo has revealed his new association with McLaren means that he is likely to appear in IndyCar at some point – although driving a Supercar around Bathurst is his ultimate goal.
Ricciardo joined McLaren at the end of last year following to mediocre seasons with Renault and enjoyed a seventh-place finish in his debut in Bahrain last month.
He’ll get his next chance to improve on that at Imola this weekend as he looks to get back on the podium in what appears to be the best car he’s driven since leaving Red Bull.
But the new Mercedes-powered McLaren isn’t the only positive to joining his new team, with him now able to explore ties in other motorsport series.
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One of them is in IndyCar, where McLaren has a team and has previously allowed Fernando Alonso to race in its flagship event, the Indy500.
Another is in Australia’s own Supercars, where McLaren CEO Zak Brown is a part-owner of Walkinshaw Andretti United and previously hinted that Ricciardo could land a wildcard entry into Bathurst.
Ricciardo was given a taster of what it’s like to drive a Supercar during the 2019 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne and has been keen to get back in the driver’s seat again ever since.
“I do have to ask Zak, because I need to,” Ricciardo told Speedcafe when asked about of a Bathurst drive. “Even if I don’t do the race, but I do need to drive a Supercar around Bathurst.
“Whether it’s a private test, or the actual race, I do need to do it and I think now I honestly have a good opportunity with Zak as a friend, and a boss.
“I would love to [drive a Supercar at Bathurst]; I would love to one way or another.
“I know he’s keen to probably try and get us into the other open wheelers as well in the States, the IndyCars.
“There’s a lot to do, but the Supercar is one I definitely want.”
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The former Renault and Red Bull racer was scathing in the aftermath of Grosjean’s crash, saying it was “disgusting” that the live TV broadcast continued to show a loop of replays of the scary incident during the hour-long break before the re-start of the race.
Ricciardo’s outburst resulted in him in December agreeing to meet with Formula 1 director of marketing and communications Ellie Norman to reach a peaceful resolution.
That had appeared to be the end of it, but an interview has now revealed Ricciardo is far from finished in his push to clean up the sport from its own employees.
Formula 1 had a much less dramatic race in Bahrain this year.Source: Getty Images
Ricciardo has told UK lifestyle magazine Square Mile Formula 1 is still habitually crossing the line with its internal coverage of crashes and on-track drama.
He highlights a social media post from last year where the official F1 account promoted crashes as some of the biggest moments of the 2020 season, which was famously derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think last year, F1 put on their social channels, like, ‘top 10 moments of the year’ or something, and eight of the ten were crashes,” he said.
Romain Grosjean of France and Haas F1 is pictured on a screen escaping his crash during the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain at Bahrain International CircuitSource: Supplied
“I was just like, you guys are f***ing idiots. Maybe 12-year-old kids want to see that kind of content, and that’s cool because they don’t know any better, but we’re not kids. Just do better, guys. Do better than that.”
He says in the interview the trending focus on drama has also been propelled in the highly-acclaimed Netflix documentary series Drive To Survive.
“I think the first season of Drive To Survive was awesome,” he said.
“I spend some time in the States, and I noticed it literally from one trip to the next.
“It was the first time I started being recognised and people referencing that TV series. So it certainly did us wonders, even – not to talk social media – but numbers on social media went nuts. It did a lot for us and the sport.
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“I mean the second season, there were some episodes or parts where I feel they forced it a little bit.
“They tried to create a bit of a rivalry between me and [Carlos] Sainz and it wasn’t really there. Like, he’s no more a rival than anyone else. There wasn’t any personal grudge with him, but I think [Netflix] wanted something, so a lot of questions led with asking about Carlos.
“Maybe no one noticed, but for me, I was like, he’s fine. I’ve probably got other guys that I dislike, you know, as opposed to Carlos… I mean, he dresses like a 60 year old, but otherwise he’s alright.”
Ricciardo’s comments strike a very different tune to the one that followed his initial meeting with the sport’s marketing boss.
“I think she was very understanding and appreciative, and I think also accepted my concerns as well,” he said at the time.
Romain Grosjean of France and Haas F1 walks in the Paddock with his wife Marion before final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix.Source: Getty Images
“She didn’t push back, I think she was trying to listen and learn as well, how they could maybe do things differently. But she also talked me through the reasons why they broadcast what they did.”
It came after he gave the administration a public slap in Bahrain last year.
“The way the incident of Grosjean was broadcast over and over, the replays over and over, it was completely disrespectful and inconsiderate for his family, for all of our families watching,” he said.
“We’re going to go race again in an hour and every time we look on the TV it’s a ball of fire and his car’s cut in half.
“I mean we can see that tomorrow, we don’t need to see it today.
“For me, it was entertainment and they’re playing with all of our emotions and I thought it was pretty disgusting.”
Formula 1 at the time defended the decision to replay the incident, saying the footage only rolled again when officials were certain Grosjean and the marshals who came to his aid were all safe.
Daniel Ricciardo’s new team principal at McLaren has opened up on the reason the Formula One outfit was so keen to sign the Australian.
After losing Carlos Sainz to Ferrari – a move that somewhat surprised the British-based unit – McLaren took less than a week to unveil Ricciardo in his new orange livery alongside British rising star Lando Norris.
Now McLaren boss Andreas Seidl says the decision to sign the former Renault and Red Bull racer was based on maintaining a competitive driver pairing where each would push the other.
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While many rivals use a clear ‘number one’ and ‘number two’ driver – such as Ferrari clearly placing Charles Leclerc as their top priority ahead of new recruit Sainz, or Red Bull’s Max Verstappen leading that charge – McLaren’s rise up the constructors championships in the past two years has come from both drivers regularly banking strong points.
Continuing that balanced two-pronged approach is crucial this season, Seidl told Motorsport.com.
“As you can imagine it was obviously important for me that when we made the decision to go for Daniel that we simply made sure for the team that we have again also from this year onwards, a very strong driver line-up,” Seidl said.
“Because key in the last two years for securing these positions we could secure in the constructors’ championship was that we always had two drivers who were there and always ready to score good points.
“I’m really happy with what we have seen so far from both guys. It’s great that we again seem to have a very strong driver line-up. We managed to get through both cars in Q3, both guys always very close together.”
The pair was separated by just 0.055 seconds in third qualifying at the season-opener in Bahrain. And while Ricciardo struggled with floor damage – and therefore pace – Norris rose from seventh to fourth in a strong finish for the McLaren duo.
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With Ricciardo dropping to seventh from his grid position of sixth, the pair’s combined 18 points was good enough to move the team to third on the constructors championship – a highly promising beginning to the season.
Even more promising was the margin between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in his best qualifying lap and the McLaren duo, which was 0.3 seconds smaller than last season.
“The gap we had to pole position was smaller compared to what we could do last time we have been here in Bahrain, which is again an encouraging sign that we’re making a step as a team with the car towards the front and that we are heading in the right direction,” Seidl said.
