The first tests, in Miami, confirmed that the new autodrome is a very fast circuit where it is easy to get off the road. But behind the scenes, the future is becoming clearer.
New spoiler
The Mercedes W13s are fielding several new solutions in Miami, primarily in an attempt to solve their porpoising (high-speed bouncing) problem. A new rear wing has notably been brought. On Friday, George Russell set the best time of the day, with Lewis Hamilton fourth.
So it’s better, but… not so much! “The bouncing (the porpoising) is still there, regrets Lewis Hamilton. But the times are a little better. We will see.”
George Russell also didn’t understand why he was the fastest. “We knew it would be a bit better for us, because it’s very hot here and we have a problem warming up the tires when it’s cold. But otherwise, I really don’t know why we’re going so fast…”
Liberty doubles its profits
In the paddock, the affair was passed over in silence, as if the journalists should not be interested in finances to concentrate on the lives of the pilots or on the bolts and washers.
Early Friday evening, a conference call was held by the bosses of Liberty Media, the company that owns the commercial rights to F1. Being listed on the Nasdaq, the company is forced to publish its figures every three months, which makes public the evolution of the financial health of F1.
And to note, in this case, that the profits made confirm its current success. Between January 1 and March 31, 2022, Liberty almost doubled its turnover and profits compared to 2021, a year still marked by the pandemic.
Revenue rose from $180 million to $360 million for the quarter, while profit jumped from a loss of $33 million to a gain of $34 million. Everything is up: the number of races, television revenues and institutional sponsors (those linked to the entire championship).
Land in Vegas
Liberty Media, in its conference call, also confirmed the 2023 Las Vegas race, which Liberty will co-promote – this will be the first time the rights holders will also promote.
At the time when F1 was led by Bernie Ecclestone (before 2016), the Briton made fun of the promoters, whom he squeezed financially – he even called them “the victims”!
With Liberty Media, a change of course. The company even acquired, for 240 million dollars (that is as many Swiss francs) a huge piece of land in the heart of Las Vegas, 16 hectares in size, intended to build a permanent paddock – proving that this future event in the Nevada is bound to stay on the schedule for a long time.
Liberty also announced the renewal of the contract with the Italian circuit of Imola until 2025. Monza, on the other hand, is seriously threatened.
Sebastian Vettel in boxer shorts
On Friday, during the drivers’ briefing, Niels Wittich, the new race director, returned to the ban on drivers wearing jewelry and other piercings while driving – an article of the regulations dating back to 2005 but never entered into force so far .
The German insists on enforcing this regulation “for safety reasons”, in case a driver is stuck in a burning single-seater. But Lewis Hamilton doesn’t hear it from this (earring) ear: “I have two piercings that I can’t remove anyway: one in my nose, and another whose location I can’t reveal. , he blurts out. I can’t and don’t want to take them off. And if I’m forbidden to run, so be it. I will not run. We have reserve pilots for those cases.”
For now, Niels Wittich has given Lewis Hamilton a two-race reprieve to run. But he will not give up on enforcing the rules. “All this is perfectly ridiculous”, thunders Sebastian Vettel who walked around the paddock in his underpants to protest. “Race management is obviously targeting Lewis, it’s absurd.”
Niels Wittich also tackled underwear, which must now be fireproof. Hence the show in his boxers of the quadruple German world champion.
Overtaking not so obvious
After spinning on the teams’ simulators, the drivers felt that the new Miami circuit was difficult, but that several places would allow overtaking.
But on Friday, at the end of the first day of testing, everyone no longer shared this opinion: “It’s going very fast, but there are many ‘blind’ corners, you can’t see what’s behind, that risks being dangerous for qualifying,” remarks Sebastian Vettel. “And besides, I’m not sure that we can overtake so easily: it’s so narrow that there is only one possible trajectory. To overtake, you must at least be next to the one in front…”