Formula One
Following consultation and review between the FIA, Formula 1 and all ten teams, on 26 April the FIA Formula 1 Commission unanimously approved the adoption of a Sprint Qualifying at three Grands Prix during the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship. These events will be held at two European and one non-European venue.
Pirelli, as title sponsor of this weekend’s F1 event in Imola – the Gran Premio del Made in Italy e dell’Emilia Romagna – is supplying the race trophies. The tyre maker turned to Alice Ronchi to supply the creativity, selecting the artist for this project thanks to her collaboration with Pirelli HangarBicocca, the non-profit foundation dedicated to the production and promotion of contemporary art established within a converted warehouse in Milan in 2004.
Murray Walker, whose voice became virtually synonymous with Formula One, has died aged 97. Walker commented on his first Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1949 and became a full-time F1 commentator in 1978, a position he held for the next 23 years. Such was the esteem in which Walker is held within the Formula One fraternity, a constellation of racing stars have celebrated his life. Following the news of Walker’s death, which was announced over the weekend of 13 and 14 March 2021, seven-time Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton summed up their words: “The iconic voice of our sport and a great man, thank you for all you did, you will never be forgotten”.
After the postponement of the season opener due to the coronavirus, the first Formula 1 race of the year will take place this weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. The same event will feature another premiere: Pirelli’s new 18-inch racing tyres will also be used for the first time, but initially only in Formula 2. Their debut in Formula 1 will follow later.
Following government calls for automotive manufacturers to assist with ventilator production during the Covid-19 crisis, the Mercedes AMG F1 team has developed a breathing aid designed to help keep patients out of intensive care. The device was adapted by mechanical engineers at UCL and clinicians at UCLH working with Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains (Mercedes-AMG HPP) and has been approved for use in the NHS.
Formula 1 teams based in the UK are working with the government and other groups to help address a shortage of respiratory equipment amid the coronavirus crisis. The news follows a government call for businesses to help increase the supply of ventilators to hospitals. According to an official statement, the teams have expert design, technology and production capabilities, and specialise in rapid prototyping and high value manufacturing, which is hoped can be applied to the critical needs set out by Government.
Formula 2 is already established as the place to watch the Formula 1 drivers of tomorrow. In 2020, the championship will also be home to a new technological innovation as it adopts 18-inch tyres from Pirelli: the same size that will be raced in Formula 1 from 2021 onwards.
The Monegasque and Senna brands have launched a limited edition range of bracelets made from a tyre used by Ayrton Senna during legendary F1 Grand Prix at Donington Park.
Pirelli will remain global tyre partner of the FIA Formula One World Championship until the end of the 2023 season after extending its current contract – which lasts until the end of the 2019 season – for a further four years. Pirelli notes that the agreement to extend the partnership was “completed in a short timeframe” on the back of the “successful partnership over recent years.”
The latest official Formula One game for PS4 and XBOX has just been released and this 2018 edition features Borg & Beck, one of the premier racing division’s most well-known brands, evoking memories of an era when Borg & Beck received the design award for outstanding achievement in motorsport, with over 300 wins from vehicles fitted with OE Borg & Beck.
Following the agreement signed last year, Vredestein is again the official tyre partner and main sponsor of the world-renowned Mille Miglia (1000 Miglia) rally currently taking place in Italy. The event has in turn provided the backdrop for the announcement of a new partnership between Vredestein and former Formula One racer Jochen Mass.
Pirelli began an eighth season as Formula 1 tyre supplier at the Australian Grand Prix over the weekend, and it opines that pit stop strategy was “central” to the race’s outcome.
Pirelli showcased the broad variety of its global motorsport programme from the largest stand it has ever presented at Autosport International at the 2018 edition of the show. Pirelli’s head of car racing Mario Isola, who heads up the company’s Formula One programme, visited the show along with around 100,000 other visitors over the course of the weekend.
The level of race to road technology transfer in Formula 1 is insufficient to pique Michelin’s interest in returning to the series as tyre supplier. This is the comment from Pascal Couasnon despite the tyre maker’s renewed interest several years ago.
Yesterday’s Mexican Grand Prix delivered Lewis Hamilton his fourth drivers’ title, not to mention a moment of bated breath in the very first round as Hamilton’s Mercedes made contact with the Ferrari of closest title contender Sebastian Vettel. The collision, comments Pirelli, added an extra tactical element to the race, as both protagonists were forced to deviate from the expected one-stop strategy.
Matthew Spencer; Flickr; CC-BY-2.0
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