In the round-up: Alpine will run development parts in the single hour of practice before qualifying tomorrow.
In letter
Alpine brings upgrade to Imola
Alpine’s chief technical officer Pay Fry says the team needs to bring its race pace up to the same level as its qualifying form.
“Clearly our qualifying performance is relatively competitive since we’ve had both cars regularly in Q3,” said Fry. “Had we got things right in Melbourne, we could have been as high as the second row.
“We need to improve our race pace and we’re investigating what can be done. There’s always the right balance to be found between qualifying pace and race pace and we need to continue to work on this to get comfortable with the car on low and high fuel.”
The team will have an upgrade for its A522 chassis at the fourth race of the season this weekend. “We’re working through bringing weight-saving items to the car when and where we can,” he said.
“Although it’s a sprint race weekend we still have a new floor upgrade that we will test, so we’ll see how that fares in the sole Friday practice session. It’s a step in the right direction and it will be interesting to see how it performs on-track.”
Tsunoda more confident about sprint format in second year
Yuki Tsunoda feels more confident about tackling sprint qualifying weekends in his second season as an F1 driver.
“Last year, I was worried about the sprint qualifying with only having one practice session before qualifying,” Tsunoda admitted. “But this season I feel much more confident, also because Imola is a track I know well as I have driven a lot of laps there. So, I now know how to approach the sprint weekends and hopefully it will end in points for us.”
Vettel relishing ‘eighties throwback’ at Imola
Driving Formula 1’s new ground effect era cars appeals to Sebastian Vettel’s sense of the sport’s history.
“Imola is a real test of driver and machine, and that’s what every F1 circuit should be,” the Aston Martin driver said. “It’s hard to imagine we’d ever be racing around Imola in ground effect cars – that’s really something special, and a bit of a throwback to the 1980s, which is cool.”
Beth Paretta and Lyn St James launch Women in Motorsport North America
Former Le Mans Dodge Viper project leader and owner of IndyCar team Paretta Autosport Beth Paretta and former IndyCar driver Lyn St James have announced today the launch of Women in Motorsport North America. The initiative is intended to act as a resource for any women looking for information, mentoring or advice on entering a career in motorsport in any capacity.
“We are proud to have such a strong, varied working group of professional women and men who have helped shape our purpose and strategy. Our strength is in our members and the breadth of their perspectives across many disciplines including engineers, drivers, team management, PR, marketing, track operations, sponsor relations, and event promotions,” Paretta explained.
“As we strive to increase opportunities for women to work in motorsports, WIMNA will be a resource for people considering or advancing their careers,” she continued. “The organization will help us all work together to identify, train, and support new talent to continue to produce a pipeline of future experts in our sport.”
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Motor racing links of interest:
Miami-Dade judge won’t block upcoming Formula One race at Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Herald)
“Fine said any potential harm to the residents would be avoidable — perhaps by wearing ear plugs or staying inside — and added that the evidence the residents have presented on noise levels is ‘highly speculative.'”
IMS: Indy 500 balloon release paused ‘indefinitely’ (Fox 59)
There will be no balloon release at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500. The move was confirmed to FOX59 by both IMS president Doug Boles and IMS representative Alex Damron.
McLaren planning for a future that includes Pato O’Ward (AP)
Brown offered O’Ward a reworked deal but the driver hasn’t accepted and he also declined to sign an identical contract to the one Colton Herta signed to test McLaren’s F1 cars. O’Ward, who turns 23 next month, desperately wants to move to F1 and wants a significant pay raise that aligns him with the top IndyCar drivers.
Private test points to potential new Indy Lights tires (Racer)
The test was recently held on the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway oval in Madison, Ill., where the Roger Penske-owned series sampled tires made by its IndyCar series partner Firestone.
Aston Martin F1 Team New Factory Update (Aston Martin via YouTube)
Remembering Marcel Albers, the Netherlands’ lost champion (Formula Scout)
Thirty years ago today, the world tragically lost another young Dutch driver, Marcel Albers, who stood on the verge of huge success in the sport. Coming into round three of the 1992 British Formula 3 season at Thruxton, the 24-year-old Alan Docking Racing (ADR) driver was trailing Paul Stewart Racing-run title rival Gil de Ferran by four points, the pair taking a win apiece in the first two races.
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