OFFICIALS GAZETTE 2018 FORMULA 1 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

Transcription

1 OFFICIALS GAZETTE 2018 FORMULA 1 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX Welcome to the 2018 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix from Albert Park, Melbourne. After the third hottest summer on record the grass is yellow, the trees could do with some decent rain and we are all thirsty for Formula 1. Soon the sound of multiple types of racing cars will wet the appetites of all race officials and race fans alike as they blast out of the pits today. Before we get started, the Gazette Team is pleased to report that CAMS have renamed the Stewards Cup; the Peter Nelson Cup in honour of the drive and guidance from former Race Secretary Peter Nelson who has always been a friend to officials. I managed to chat with Peter last week and in typical understated Peter Nelson fashion he was very pleased and honoured when told the Stewards Cup had received a name change to the Peter Nelson Cup. Over the last year Peter has battled health issues so we haven t seen him trackside but his work and influences still remain for those whom he mentored and assisted in the formative and ongoing years. If you re new to Formula 1 at Albert Park (welcome), Peter was well known as Mother to F1 Officials, and he always encouraged officials to give their best, to enjoy doing it and to always see the positives. Peter is still following Formula 1 and his tip for 2018 are the Red Bull team who are working hard in the background. Peter has also been enjoying watching the longer 12-hour races with Marcia. According to Michael Smith from CAMS, no one better epitomized the effort that went into setting up and maintaining the Race Secretary s role at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix than Peter. ISSUE 1 / PAGE 1

2 I have known Peter for over 20 years and during that time Peter mentored me both personally and professionally offering many insights that made me a better person. I wanted to share Peter s opening welcome from the 2006 Officials Gazette below as it still holds true today. If you have any ideas, thoughts and photos for this year s Officials Gazette please me at rich.mac@bigpond.net.au or text to Regards Richard McLean Editor Officials Gazette WELCOME FROM MOTHER Who would have thought in 1985 that we would still be here in 2006 playing with racing cars. We knew it was something special but we weren t quite sure what it was. There were no documents, few rules and no Event Organiser who had developed a Minute X Minute to outline how a FORMULA 1 Grand Prix works. There was a splendid gentleman, John Corsmit, who helped us think for ourselves and still comply with the rules, but there was little else in the way of guidance. To fill in the gaps, we inserted our idea of what a world event should be and set a benchmark. Sometimes I think we created a monster, but I just sit back and marvel at how good the raw material was that we started with. You (the officials) are still that raw material, and your energy and dedication has contributed toward what we have today. The fact is that the world has not duplicated what we do at Albert Park. Some have surpassed us in capital investment and the spectacular venues they have constructed. We will never catch up with these venues nor those with history that can t be matched - like Monaco. But we mustn t forget that Australia runs the second longest running Grand Prix in the world. We have the ultimate motor sport spectacle considering the amount of support categories we conduct as well as the major event. The feedback from officials has contributed to our collective knowledge. This has been dedicated to the development of our Grand Prix, and the results are what we present today. Thank you for this and never give up the dream of doing it better. As Dean would say, keep the letters coming in. - Peter G. Nelson ISSUE 1 / PAGE 2

3 2018 CHANGES After the downforce revolution that came in for the 2017 season, changes for 2018 have been quite light, though there s one change that will be extremely obvious. Let s start with the elephant in the room (on the track?) the halo. All F1 cars must now have a halo attached over the cockpit of the car. It s designed to protect drivers from large objects heading towards them, such as tyres or other cars. We will leave it to you whether you like the design or not but some teams have been more successful in blending the halo in with the rest of their car design. The halo has also allowed an extra area for little wings and fins to appear with at least one driver tearing their race suit while getting in and out of the car during testing. If nothing else, it ll be an extra challenge for extrication. Keeping on external changes, the only other major bodywork alterations are the removal of the T-wings that appeared throughout the season in front of the rear wing. Additionally, the fins on the engine covers have been distinctly reduced - though they do remain to provide a good space to show the car numbers, with the numbers being made mandatory to display in a large font during last season. In addition to the external changes, there have been a few minor changes to how the engines work regarding oil usage as well as a reduction in how many engines teams can use for the season without penalties. Now each car can only have 3 power units (engine, energy recovery, battery parts) for the season, in spite of there now being 21 races. On top of this reduction, there s been a simplification of the penalties for when power unit items require replacing, if the driver gets more than 15 grid place penalties, they just get put to the back of the field. The round black things called tyres have also made a make-over. There s now 7 compounds available for use over the season, though teams only have 3 to use at each race. Previously there were only 5 compounds but Pirelli have added Superhard (orange), a tyre designed as an insurance policy if the 2018 F1 cars exceed all other tyre capabilities, and the Hypersoft (pink), an even softer compound that Mercedes AMG F1 have described as similar to the old qualifying tyre from the 80s and therefore they only expect it to last a handful of laps at best. For the Australian Grand Prix, teams can choose from Soft (yellow), Supersoft (red) and Ultrasoft (purple) compounds, with a heavy leaning towards the Ultrasoft tyres with every car having at least 7 of the 13 sets as this compound. Finally, we come to changes in the teams. There are almost fewer changes here than the technical rules. Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Force India and Haas have the same drivers and engines, which should make for more intra-team fighting at Force India at least. Felipe Massa, having now retired from F1 for the second year running, has left Williams and has been replaced by Russian driver Sergey Sirotkin. Sergey has been the reserve driver for a couple of other teams, getting an occasional run in free practice and now has the opportunity to race alongside Lance Stroll. Renault stole Carlos Sainz Jr from Toro Rosso late last year in a deal also involving McLaren and Honda (more on this shortly). Sainz helped Renault jump Toro Rosso in the Constructors Championship and may allow the team, along with a big development push during the off-season, to catch up, and possibly overtake, Williams. SEA ISSUE 1 / PAGE 3

4 Toro Rosso became a game of musical race seats last year with neither of their drivers who started the season, finishing with the same team. With Sainz to Toro Rosso, Daniil Kyvat was bumped out to allow the team to test their two new drivers under race conditions. One seat was taken by Red Bull Junior driver, Pierre Gasly, who s had a promising run through the lower categories, including winning the 2016 GP2 title. In the other seat is a World Champion Bredon Hartley. The Kiwi won the 2015 World Endurance Championship as well as the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours before debuting for Toro Rosso at Austin for the US Grand Prix when Gasly attempted to win the Super Formula title in Japan (unfortunately for Gasly, the final races were called off due to a monsoon). McLaren, after a tumultuous few years, have dropped Honda and taken with Renault to supply their engines. Both Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne have stayed with the team, although Alonso is pairing his season with a bid for the Le Mans 24 Hours and the World Endurance Championship driving for Toyota. Pre-season testing hasn t shown well for McLaren with the wheels, well one wheel, literally falling off along with a number of other issues which limited their running. The team, though, are keeping a stiff upper lip and are aiming to improve from their 9th position in the 2017 Constructors title. The last of the teams is Sauber. Sauber have brought 2017 F2 winner, Charles Leclerc, into the team to give him some race time for a potential Ferrari seat next year to replace Kimi Raikkonen. Sauber have also joined forces with Italian car maker Alfa Romeo to brand their Ferrari engines. Alfa Romeo s previously foray in the 80s didn t end well in 1985 the Alfa Romeo team retired from three quarters of the races they entered. Expectations are higher for Sauber where they move from year old Ferrari engines to current ones and should, at the very least, catch up to the back of the main field. Few rule changes tend to close up the grid, providing closer racing and a tougher championship. We will find out if this trend continues this year on Sunday. ISSUE 1 / PAGE 4

5 VALE RON WALKER On the 30th January 2018, Ron Walker AC, CBE died of cancer at the age of 78. He was largely responsible for bringing the AGP to Melbourne in 1996, and he served as Chairman of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation until Walker was Chairman of the Melbourne Major Events Corporation and chaired its organising committee, and as such traveled to 80 countries. He brought the 2006 Commonwealth Games to Melbourne, the Bledsoe Cup, golfs President s Cup, as well as other major hosting rights. He was also involved with building Crown Casino. In addition to his events organising and developing, he was involved with Fairfax Media. Walker served as Melbourne s Lord Mayor from Many say he is responsible for making Melbourne the sporting capital of the world. Walker was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 but was declared cancer-free two years later after treatment in the US with Keytruda, a trial-drug. He then successfully campaigned for several years to make it available in Australia. In 2015 it was made affordably available to many patients, which he felt was his greatest achievement. Among his many awards are Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Companion of the Order of Australia, Victorian of the Year, and Victorian Father of the Year. Ron Walker had a state funeral. (Photo courtesy of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation) FACTS AND FIGURES First Grand Prix 1996 Number of Laps 58 Circuit Length km Race Distance km Lap Record 1: (Michael Schumacher 2004) P1 - Friday, March 23 at 12:00-13:30 P2 - Saturday, March 24 at 16:00-17:30 P3 Saturday, March 24 at 14:00-15:00 Qualifying Saturday, March 24 at 17:00-18:00 Race Sunday March 25 at 16:10-18:10 ISSUE 1 / PAGE 5

6 JUST 2 WEEKS AGO ISSUE 1 / PAGE 6