DANIEL Ricciardo made a promising start to Formula One’s pre-season by driving his Red Bull to the fastest time and the most laps on the track near Barcelona.
Ricciardo clocked 1 minute, 20.179 seconds before rain and cold track temperatures that dipped below seven degrees kept most cars off the tarmac.
The Aussie star bucked that trend and braved the poor conditions to be the only driver to reach the 100-lap mark.
Defending champion Lewis Hamilton managed to get in 25 laps before the weather turned unfavourable after teammate Valtteri Bottas had his turn behind the wheel for Mercedes.
Somewhere in the middle of the pack is Daniel Ricciardo.Source: Getty Images
Bottas put in the second fastest lap.
Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari and Nico Hulkenberg of Renault were all also within 0.4 seconds of Ricciardo.
“We still got over a hundred laps, so we are happy with that,” Ricciardo said.
“The morning was all right when it was dry, but the afternoon was just so cold, it was hard to get anything working on the tires. We didn’t get any real productive running.”
Last year, Ricciardo proved to be the circuit’s next best driver after the dominant four of Mercedes and Ferrari. He finished fifth overall with one grand prix win in his fifth season with Red Bull.
Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, made an inauspicious start after his McLaren lost a wheel and went off the track while it was still dry.
Alonso was about to complete his seventh lap when the rear wheel on the right side came off, sending him into the gravel on the final turn at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The morning session was stopped for a few minutes while a crew hauled the McLaren onto a flatbed truck and drove it back to the pit lane. McLaren racing director Eric Boullier said the wheel popped off due to a problem with a wheel nut.
Daniel Ricciardo has set the early standard in Barcelona.Source: Getty Images
“Obviously it cost us track time, the only downside today,” Boullier said.
McLaren is hoping to rebound this year after changing to Renaut engines following three problem-plagued campaigns with Honda.
Testing in northeastern Spain runs until later this week. A second four-day session will be held from March 6-9.
Formula One: Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Qualifying: 12am Sunday (AEDT) — Live
Fresh from his record 92nd career win last Sunday, Lewis Hamilton will be the centre of attention again this weekend when his Mercedes team aim to seal a record seventh constructors title.
But he’ll have to overcome a radical new weekend schedule – with no Friday running and just one practice session on Saturday – which puts plenty of additional pressure on every team in the paddock.
In addition to leading the ‘silver arrows’ bid for unprecedented glory at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Hamilton was emotional over his first F1 race at Imola – the site of legendary Ayrton Senna’s death on May 1, 1994.
“Obviously, the history of 1994 is something we always remember,” Hamilton said. “I went ‘round today and it was a really special lap, just going round and seeing this historic track, passing the harsh reminder of where Ayrton crashed …
“It is very surreal still for me, when I go to places where you know that the greats of the past have raced like the tunnel at Monaco or Silverstone …
“Earlier on, I was in an area where many years, 26 years ago, Ayrton was here doing what he loved, as I am.
“So, in one way, that’s heartwarming, to know that I was able to be here and do what he was doing 26 years ago, but otherwise it’s just another race.”
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Ricciardo sent spinning in Q2
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As the F1 circus returns to the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari for the first time in 14 years, and for Italy’s 100th F1 race, Mercedes need 11 points to confirm their record seventh straight title win.
As last Sunday’s Hamilton-Valtteri Bottas one-two at Portimao was a fourth this year and they average more than 36 points per race, that may seem to be a formality.
But, without any scheduled practice on Friday ahead of the sport’s first official two-day race weekend, the teams will all be under extra pressure to hit the ground running on Saturday morning (local).
The race will be the third Grand Prix to be held in Italy this season.
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Fernando Alonso will step up his preparations for a return to Formula One next year with a two-day test in Bahrain next week, his Renault team said Friday.
The former two-time world champion will try out the R.S.18 model from the 2018 season, having driven an F1 car for the first time in nearly 18 months in Barcelona in mid-October.
Alonso, 39, had not been in an F1 car since a test session for McLaren in Bahrain in April 2019 and had not raced one since the 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, also with McLaren, at the end of his 17th season.
The Spaniard won his titles in 2005 and 2006 with Renault, and will rejoin the team for the 2021 season when it will compete as Alpine, the French manufacturer’s sports car brand.
Since leaving F1, Alonso has won the Le Mans 24 Hours twice as well as the endurance world championship title, all with Toyota.
This year he competed in the Dakar rally, finishing 13th, and drove for a second time in the Indianapolis 500 finishing 21st. He retired in his first Indy appearance in 2017.
Not content with dominating Down Under, Scott McLaughlin is set to be the top dog in America within three years.
That’s the time frame for success Team Penske has placed on their newest IndyCar recruit.
“Tim Cindric (Team Penske President) said a couple of top tens, top 15 next year, maybe push the top five bracket in ‘22 and then if we can challenge for wins and potentially a championship in my 3rd year that would be good progression,” McLaughlin told Fox Sports’ Loud Pedal Podcast.
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The 27-year-old admits he has a lot to learn but isn’t shying away from the Penske predictions.
“I’ve certainly got a lot of time but at the same time … I’ve got everything I need here; I’ve got a big resource, a great team, I’ve got great engineers and a great car, there’s not really any excuses apart from being a rookie,” McLaughlin said.
It’s been a whirlwind two weeks for McLaughlin, whose American dream was finally confirmed just days after he concluded his Australian career at Bathurst where he was formally crowned Supercars Champion for the third consecutive season.
“I definitely knew that I was shifting to the US but I didn’t know whether I was going to be on a full-time program and if they had the budget to do it,” McLaughlin said.
“I’d done everything that I’d wanted to do in Supercars and had this opportunity with probably the world’s best motorsport team, especially in the US, to come across and be a part of something … to be able to start as a rookie again and learn a completely different discipline it’s really refreshing and I’m just really excited.”
McLaughlin crashes on debut
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The preparation has been a long one with the New Zealand native noticeably transforming his body over the last 12 months in readiness for the physical demands of top-level, open-wheel racing.
McLaughlin revealed he has lost 11 kilograms since his IndyCar test in January.
“I was fat, I was a big unit,” McLaughlin admitted.
“I’ve lost a huge amount which was cool … I certainly feel good.
“Cardio wise I’m no dramas, I think I just need to get a little more stronger in my shoulders … my neck seemed pretty good, but oh man they’re so physical, there’s nothing like it, you’ve got to do laps.”
The 2019 Bathurst Champion also this week completed rookie testing at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which he subsequently passed, allowing him to enter qualifying for the time-honoured Indy500 in May.
The top speeds on the oval circuit are upwards of 360km/h surpassing those produced by the V8 Mustang he leaves behind which reaches almost 300km/h on Bathurst’s Conrod Straight.
“Definitely the fastest I’ve ever been and that’s average speed. I think we hit close to 225 mph (362 km/h) at one point today which is just crazy,” McLaughlin said.
“It’s race trim so it’s similar race pace to what they did this year and it’s just mind blowing the feeling you have.
“You head down into turn one and there’s like a 90 degree turn and all you can see is wall and you just have to trust to hold the thing flat, and turn it in which is crazy, it’s really cool.”
McLaughlin’s move to the States coincides with Team Penske’s withdrawal from Supercars and its partnership with Dick Johnson Racing (DJR).
“It’s sad but it’s a business decision, it’s something that they had to do. I think COVID has struck everyone hard including Roger (Penske) himself and the Penske organisation,” McLaughlin said.
“They’re exiting in a pretty nice way, it’s not like they’re just dropping the tools and leaving, there’s a lot of intel, a lot of Penske help that was at DJR that will continue to be used.”
McLaughlin has an open-ended arrangement to return to Bathurst as a co-driver for DJR who’ll have an all-new line-up next year with Anton de Pasquale and Will Davison replacing McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard, but which one he partners with at Mount Panorama remains to be seen.
“I’d love to just drive in the 17 – whoever that’s going to be driving that car I don’t know – but I’d love to go back to my old car and my old crew,” McLaughlin said.
“It’s a pretty special number in my place in Australia along with DJ and I really take a lot of pride in driving that.”
Despite expectations of a successful career in the States, the record-breaker hasn’t ruled out a full-time return to Supercars.
“Depends how I go,” McLaughlin said.
“If I go like a busted arse over here I’m going to have to come somewhere.
“I’m planning on not (leaving), I plan on trying to forge a career here … Ideally I’d love to stay here until I retire, but if not I’ll come back to Australia.”
In his absence McLaughlin believes compatriot Shane van Gisbergen can keep the Supercars title in Kiwi hands.
“If it’s not a DJR car, I think Shane’s pretty strong,” McLaughlin said.
“He’s coming in with a lot of confidence, obviously winning Bathurst that’s a big thing for him to get off his back. He’s going to be strong, he’s going to be dangerous and I think he’ll be tough to beat,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin won’t return to Australia this summer. Instead, he’ll remain in the States setting up his new home in Charlotte, North Carolina – a 25-minute drive from the Team Penske headquarters.
He’ll return to the track on Monday for further testing at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.
