In the round-up: Sebastian Vettel admits he’s having to find new forms of motivation racing in the midfield
In letter
Vettel having to find “different sort of motivation” at Aston Martin
Sebastian Vettel admits he’s having to find new forms of motivation while racing in the midfield with Aston Martin.
Vettel joined Aston Martin from Ferrari and has only raced once this season, in Australia, where he retired. Vettel admits that racing has a “different taste” when not fighting for wins.
“In all honesty, I had an amazing 15 years or so looking back and I was in a position to win championships, win a lot of races, fight for positions, get a lot of podiums, and obviously the taste was great,” said hag.
“It’s not a secret that if you’re not in a position to be there that it’s a different taste. You need to find a different sort of motivation. But I think, ultimately, I’m willing to be tasting the same again. That’s the nature of the sport.”
Mercedes promoting broke stay on Russell’s car – Wolff
Toto Wolff revealed that George Russell’s Mercedes suffered so severely from porpoising on the straight at Imola in practice that it broke a floor stay designed to increase the rigidity of the car’s floor.
Mercedes have struggled most visibly from the bouncing phenomenon experienced by 2022 ground effect F1 cars and are still developing solutions to the problem.
“We had George bouncing so much that he broke the stay, actually, on the floor,” Wolff explained to Sky. “You can’t drive here, you have to lift on the straight.”
Asked how the effect would impact on drivers Russell and Lewis Hamilton physically, Wolff said he did not know. “I don’t know, but I think they are trained,” he said.
“I have never experienced in my life bouncing like this, but it’s clearly not drive-able.”
“Everyone was panicking” before F2 qualifying, says polesitter Vips
Jüri Vips, who took pole in Formula 2’s heavily delayed qualifying session, said that despite a disrupted and wet practice session teams had been predicting dry weather.
“The most important thing on days like this is just to keep calm,” said Vips, describing the way sessions had been postponed, moved, rescheduled and red-flagged. “Two hours before qualifying, we had literally the full dry set up on the car because we didn’t expect any more rain.
“And then it started raining all of a sudden and everyone was panicking. We changed the setup immediately. If you go with a dry set up on a wet track, you just be last no matter how good of a job you do. So there was that factor.”
F2’s qualifying start was dependent on the end of Formula 1’s, which was significantly elongated by red flag periods.
“We didn’t know what the weather was going to do, maybe it was going to dry,” explained Vips. “There were a lot of questions, a lot of things that you can’t really predict, it’s out of your control.
“But you just have to make the best of the situation because in the end, the weather and all these other factors are just the same for everyone. So you just have to remain calm and do your job.”
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social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
???? 
Very pleased with the first pole of the season after an action packed day. Very tricky conditions on a track like this make it all the more exciting!
The points are on the rest of the weekend though so we keep pushing 
@redbullracing pic.twitter.com/VtXeEK169T
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) April 22, 2022
Well, that’s P2 for tomorrow’s sprint race! A bit disappointed but it is the way it is. Still a long weekend ahead
Grazie mille a tutti i tifosi per il sostegno e per essere venuti in pista anche se il tempo non era top 
pic.twitter.com/FTyiaQlJ7Q
— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) April 22, 2022
WHOOOOP!!! P4! Best qualifying for @HaasF1Team ever. The car was just phenomenal. It’s looking like it’s going to be dry tomorrow so we’ll just go and have fun and give it everything we’ve got like we did today. #F1 pic.twitter.com/cXfCTMwfFN
— Kevin Magnussen (@KevinMagnussen) April 22, 2022
There is little to say other than sorry to the entire team and every fan out there. The car surprised me with a snap and I couldn’t stop it before the wall. Weekend is not over yet. Difficult moment, but it’s time to focus on recovering.
https://t.co/SVVPLosa27 pic.twitter.com/NU87nrfHkz
— Carlos Sainz (@Carlossainz55) April 22, 2022
Hi Jennie, its not about “being unhappy with media time spend” , but suggesting a more efficient use of the time for the media and the drivers. We in this together! Aiming for a better output and seeking the dialogue on what we think could be optimized. https://t.co/KyIFulxylW
— alex wurz (@alex_wurz) April 22, 2022
Hey @FIAWEC,
Announce 24 hours of Imola 
#ImolaGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/Wg3dGFu2xO
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) April 22, 2022
Not even Ferrari could help get me out of this one (and believe me, some of the team tried 
) #carparkchaos #F1 #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/msXjSaR3Fe
— Claire Cottingham (@Cla_Cottingham) April 22, 2022
Left
Motor racing links of interest:
Abbie Eaton completes 2022 grid (W Series)
“To have another opportunity with W Series is what I’ve wanted ever since I broke my back six months ago, so I’m relieved that all my hard work has paid off. I’m super excited to be back and hoping to get stronger as time goes on, but the tests and races I’ve done over the last few weeks have been promising and I’m looking forward to the first race in Miami.”
Haas F1 Team to Promote HaasTooling.com European Debut (Haas F1)
“Haas F1 Team will proudly feature prominent branding promoting HaasTooling.com from this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix onwards.”
The Williams Warm Up: Episode 6 (Williams)
“In the first segment of this week’s show, Williams Racing Head of Creative Design, Ed Scott, and our Head of Guest Experience and Events, Ellie Matthews, give us a tour of our brand new motorhome.”
The last lap: Palm Beach International Raceway to close Saturday ahead of sale to developer (Palm Beach Post)
“Drivers will start their engines for the last time Saturday at Palm Beach International Raceway as the park marks its bittersweet ‘Last Lap’ ahead of the property’s sale to a warehouse developer.”
Miami Gardens Residents Deserve A Voice In Formula One’s Miami Grand Prix (Jalopnik)
” Earlier this week, I posted a frankly bad take about the locals who have been trying to sue the city and race organizers to prevent the Grand Prix from happening. I fell into the trap of traditional motorsport press, where my enjoyment of an event should take precedence over everything else — something I’ve actively tried to avoid. I was, frankly, ignorant.”
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