What would have been the 2023 Chinese Grand Prix

Ferrari failed…again… and it’s not even race week…

Ferrari failed…again… and it’s not even race week… how is this possible you ask? Well let’s talk about it.

In the wake of the disaster that was the Australian GP, Ferrari lodged an appeal to have Carlos Sainz’s 5 second penalty for causing a collision with Fernando Alonso after the lap 57 restart rescinded.

To do this, the team needed to present new, significant, and relevant evidence as to why the penalty should not be upheld. The team sighting precedent, elected to present telemetry data from Sainz’s car, as well as witness statements from Sainz himself, as well as other drivers in the form of post-race interviews.

However, the team failed to meet the most basic threshold for the evidence required by the FIA. It was not new. It was not significant. It was largely irrelevant.

The telemetry data provided no use in determining fault for the collision. The argument put forth that the car failed to brake properly due to cold tyres fell on deaf ears, with the stewards indicating that all drivers were subject to the same conditions and needed to take that into account and adapt to the conditions as necessary.

Sainz’s witness statement again provided no use in determining fault for the collision, with the stewards stating they “would have summoned Sainz if they thought it was necessary to speak to him”.

Post-Race interviews provided little use to the stewards in deciding about the collision, given that they were not considered significant or relevant to their considerations.

So overall, this entire exercise was a failure and waste of everybody’s tine. And while I commend them for their efforts in trying to get the decision overturned and points reinstated, their use of precedent was not ideally implemented, and their choice of evidence poor, given the stewards had access to all of it previously.

In my fresh out of law school opinion, the team should have at least tried to introduce evidence of previous instances where a similar collision had taken place and no penalty had been given, or penalty had been overturned, and related it back. This would not only have met the evidentiary threshold but would likely have been met with greater success. Afterall, F1 is not short on crashes, they could have picked so many and bluffed their way through it.

But alas, once again, Ferrari’s strategy has been nothing but a disaster. If you need some new legal counsel Ferrari, feel free to reach out.

Logistical challenges of the 2023 race calendar

Formula one and its global race calendar have once again been questioned with both environmental sustainability and competitive sustainability being brought to the forefront. The constant toing and froing from Europe to the Middle East, to Asia, Australia and the US and back again has made many commentators and fans question what F1 have hoped to achieve with this year’s calendar that is allegedly more economical.

Next up on the race calendar, following the axing of the standalone Chinese Grand Prix this weekend due to COVID-19, we head to Baku for round 4 of the championship which is coupled with a short turn around for the Miami Grand Prix in round 5 the week after. Two weeks after this, we are treated to a triple header, back in Europe, going from Imola, to Monaco and then to Barcelona.

Logistically, this is dreadful for both the environment, as well as the teams and their staff plus the drivers. So, how do we fix it?

Grand Prix Driver’s Association Director and Mercedes Driver, George Russell, believes coupling current standalone races, such as Australia and China, will reduce both the mileage teams need to travel, but also the jetlag the drivers and thousands of team employees must endure.

This is a particularly pressing issue, especially if the F1 governing body are looking to implement additional races in Asia and expand from the 24 races already on the calendar.

George has suggested moving the first free practice session to a Friday afternoon, allowing teams to arrive on a Thursday morning, rather than a Wednesday, allowing everybody to spend less time away from home and their families and easing some of the pain caused by the race calendar.

This proposal would mean the axing of a free practice session, which some people have been calling for. However, with F1 looking to implement more sprint races across the year, this may be a complex thing to balance.

Audi’s 2026 Preparations in full swing

While the implementation of the new regulations and entrance of Audi to the competition is still three years away. That hasn't stopped the team from designing their future power unit and manufacturing a prototype allegedly ready to be tested by the end of the year with the final design of the power unit and car set to be finalised at some point in 2025 ahead of their 2026 debut.

The prototype drivetrain is reported to encompass the combustion engine, electric motor, control electronics, energy recovery system and battery, as well as an electric motor.

While this may seem to be counter intuitive, given that the regulation changes for 2026 onwards are yet to be finalised by the FIA, it appears that Audi and Sauber are taking note of Mercedes success upon the implementation of the turbo hybrid era in 2014 and have begun creating the skeleton for their future drivetrain that can be adapted to the future regulations when they are eventually finalised.

It has been reported that the team has a single cylinder test engine in operation at their new headquarters in Germany that they are relying on heavily for insight into their new power unit, which is set to feature increased capability for the energy recovery unit with the overall goal to improve the overall efficiency of the car.

Could Sebastian Vettel be returning to F1?

Could we see beloved former F1 driver Sebastian Vettel back in the paddock once again? Sky Sports Reporter Ted Kravitz believes so.

It is believed that the four-time world champion may be set to return before the end of the season, sighting a return to Redbull where he spent the most successful years of his career. But not as a driver, which is probably a good thing as they have enough reserve drivers to fit out another two teams at this point. It has been reported that Vettel is gearing up to take over from Helmut Marko in an advisory position for the team and overseeing the driver development program, which is credited with bringing multiple drivers onto the Formula One track, including Vettel himself.

Kravitz also floated the idea, however unlikely, that Seb may take up an advisory role with Audi prior to their entrance to the grid in 2026.

But I guess for now, only time will tell and we will have to wait and see.