F1 2022

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Kak is this with Merc? Cheating probably

Maybe now they understand what they did wrong after Miami practice?


The Miami practice sessions lent some validity to Mercedes’ arguments, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton much more competitive throughout Friday’s track time. Russell ended the day with the fastest time, with Hamilton in fourth.

While the team made setup changes that resulted in a dip in performance from which they couldn’t reverse through Saturday, Mercedes believe Miami has given them a much more positive dataset to bring onwards to Barcelona.

“On Friday, it’s not that we were running low fuel – that car was quick!” Mercedes’ Chief Strategist James Vowles told the F1 Nation podcast.

“It was quick on one lap, it was quick on the long run that we did at the end of FP2. It’s fair to say [that], as we went to Saturday and from Saturday onwards, the car dropped away quite a bit.

“If we understood all of the reasons why, clearly the car would be quick in the race or quick in qualifying and we don’t yet.
 
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LMAO he's only saying that to cover his own bases the past decade or so.
 

Aston Martin debuted a number of upgrades for its AMR22 car on Friday ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, featuring design concepts that quickly drew parallels to Red Bull’s RB18 car.
The FIA revealed it had investigated the matter after noting the similarities as part of its routine pre-event checks, but deemed Aston Martin had followed the correct processes in designing the updates, thus complying with the regulations.
But Red Bull responded by issuing a statement saying that a transfer of its intellectual property would be a “serious breach” of the regulations.

A number of Red Bull staff, including former head of aerodynamics Dan Fallows, have made the switch to Aston Martin in recent months. Fallows formally started as Aston Martin’s technical director on 2 April.
“Imitation is the biggest form of flattery, at the end of the day,” Red Bull team principal Horner said on Sky Sports after practice on Friday in Spain.
It’s no coincidence that we’ve had a few individuals that have transferred from Red Bull to Aston Martin over the winter and the early part of this season.
“It was brought to our attention by the FIA earlier in the week, when they said ‘we’ve got a car that looks remarkably like yours, can we have a list of your leavers to see where they went?' So that immediately raises alarm bells.
“Now what is permissible, we see it up and down the paddock, individuals move from team to team after a gardening leave period. What they take in their head, that’s fair game. That’s their knowledge.
“What isn’t fair and what is totally unacceptable, which we wouldn’t accept is if there has been any transfer of IP at all.”

The FIA clamped down on rules surrounding the reverse engineering of cars in the wake of the ‘pink Mercedes’ controversy in 2020, when Racing Point - since rebranded as Aston Martin – tried to copy the design of the 2019 title-winning Mercedes using photographs.
But Horner said the Aston Martin updates could not have been design the same way as “the look of [the RB18] wasn't even released until a month or so ago”, meaning “work started well before that”.
Horner was reluctant to share if Red Bull had any evidence of IP being transferred, but confirmed the team would look to investigate internally by looking through its software.
“We’ve got our own software protections, we know exactly what software is looked at, where that software is controlled,” Horner said.
“But I think it’s the job of the regulator, the FIA, because they have the access, and we rely very much on them to ensure that there is no transfer of IP, that there has been no abuse of that. So it’s very much their job to go and police that.”

Horner added that it was down to the FIA as the regulator to ensure the rules had been followed, chiefly because of concerns about “the precedent that is set”.
“It’s not the biggest of issues for us unless Aston Martin start beating us,” Horner said.
“But for the teams that are in that midfield, it could have a material effect on them.
“The biggest thing that we want to ensure is that our IP is protected and it hasn’t been abused.”
 

Fernando Alonso accuses Formula One directors of 'incompetence'​


Barcelona — Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso on Friday made a blistering criticism of Formula One’s current stewarding standards and accused those running the sport of incompetence.

The 40-year-old Spaniard claimed that officials, notably in Miami, lacked knowledge of motor racing and had made "unfair" decisions and suggested that Niels Wittich, one of two Race Directors appointed this year to succeed Michael Masi, lacked the experience required.

Speaking ahead of his home event, this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya, Alonso made clear that safety concerns raised by drivers in Miami had been ignored.
"We saw a couple of things already that proves that we still need to improve a lot," said Alonso.
"(In) racing, you need to have some knowledge about racing before being a race director — or trying to monitor a race.

"And I don't think that knowledge is in place at the moment. I know there is a new race director here…"
The sport’s ruling body, the International Motoring Federation (FIA), appointed Wittich and Eduardo Freitas after Masi was removed following his controversial handling of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year.
Wittich took charge of the first five races, but Freitas will take over this weekend.

"I think Freitas has a lot more experience with the World Endurance Championship, and other categories at the top level, and I think that will improve things."
Alonso has endured a difficult start to the 2022 season which continued in Miami where he was awarded two penalties during the race, incensing his Alpine team

He was given a five-seconds penalty for a collision with Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly and another similar one for cutting the chicane in the closing laps. The Alpine team disputed the decisions with data.

“We believe that it was very unfair and just incompetence from the stewards,” said Alonso.
"They were not very professional in Miami. I missed one corner and then I gave back the time on the lap, but... they took the decision without asking [for] any proof.”

He added that the stewards were caught off guard by the 'new' evidence presented.
"We came there, we showed them all the data. So, they said 'give us five minutes' and then they found themselves with their hands tied, probably because they issue the penalty already and they didn’t know how to get back from that document.
"So, it was very bad. It’s already in the past but it is something that should not happen in F1 with professionals and the standards that Formula One has right now.”
Alonso also highlighted Wittich's decision not to respond to drivers' requests for an impact-absorbing barrier at a corner where Ferrari's Carlos Sainz crashed heavily in Friday practice in Miami.
Sainz said the impact was worse than it should have been, given the low speed involved, but was told it was a freak accident and a barrier was not necessary.

Twenty-four hours later, Alonso’s Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon had an almost identical accident which damaged his car's chassis.
Ocon said he had spoken to Freitas in Spain this week and was told that after analysis of both accidents there would be changes at the Miami track next year.
Wittich has also sparked controversy this year for taking a strict approach to the rules on jewellery and drivers’ fireproof underwear.
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton claimed in Miami that this focus on a ‘bling ban’ was "almost a step backwards" when the sport had "bigger fish to fry".
 
So Helmut Marko implying impropriety without actually blaming anyone. This guy can work for the ANC.
Inside job for sure Helmut. The mole could be Max. Lol.
A bunch of RB aero staff moved to AM. The FIA are apparently investigating those guys and it would negligent of RB to not do the same, considering the value of the IP potentially stolen.
 
A bunch of RB aero staff moved to AM. The FIA are apparently investigating those guys and it would negligent of RB to not do the same, considering the value of the IP potentially stolen.
Proving it is going to be fun. CH hinted that they might not bother if they are not challenged in the championship.
 
Proving it is going to be fun. CH hinted that they might not bother if they are not challenged in the championship.
No way they'll let it go. He didn't make direct accusations because he'd be cautious about getting sued for slander. This thing will play out in the courts.
 
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