In the round-up: Lance Stroll plays downs his prospects of scoring a podium on home ground this weekend.
In brief
Mercedes’ pace could dictate Aston Martin’s chance of Canadian GP podium
Stroll said Aston Martin’s performance in the Spanish Grand Prix has left him doubtful over the possibility of getting his first podium finish of the season on home ground in Canada this weekend.
“I thought it would be possible when we settled into third [in Spain] but we just didn’t have the pace,” he said after finishing sixth at Circuit de Catalunya.
“If we put it all together and have a good pace, it’s possible. If Mercedes does what they did again, and Ferrari and Red Bull, it will be tough. So we have to definitely work on some stuff and come back stronger.”
The recently-updated Mercedes finished second and third in a Safety Car-free race in Spain, having started from fourth and 12th respectively.
Daly losing drive shows sport can be “brutal” – Hunter-Reay
Conor Daly’s mid-season ousting from the Ed Carpenter Racing IndyCar team shows the sport can be “brutal”, says the driver who is replacing him.
Ryan Hunter-Reay, who lost his last full-time drive at Andretti to Romain Grosjean at the end of 2021, said “I wanted to call Conor about it but there’s an area where you just need to cool off. I remember right after my situation happened, it’s not necessarily the scenario I would have liked to happen right after. I’ll approach that in the right way.”
“Conor is a friend,” Hunter-Reay continued. “Honestly, I think he’s a great driver and I honestly think he’ll be back at some point and I just hope that that is soon.
“This sport is brutal. Like I said, my career has been a journey. I have been on every different end of it, whether it’s at Indy being bumped in, bumped out, on the front row winning the race. Then you look at my career and the whole thing has just been a journey from team to team to team, like I said, having been on either side of it.”
Hunter-Reay said he was surprised to be called up by Carpenter’s team, but understands their decision. “These were huge considerations in the process of deciding on all this, and really when it came down to it, the team was at a position where in order for it to be in a place where it potentially would like to be in the off-season of ’23-’24, these things had to happen now.
“But I was surprised. It wasn’t something that I was pursuing.”
Imola trophies auctioned for charity
F1 is continuing its fundraising efforts for those impacted by last month’s floods in Italy that led to the cancellation of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
“F1 Authentics – the UK based sports memorabilia specialist – joined forces with F1, Pirelli, Ferrari Trento, Automobile Club d’Italia and Formula Imola recently to raise money for the Emilia-Romagna Region’s Agency for Territorial Safety and Civil Protection,” announced the owner of F1 Authentics today.
“The campaign involved a collection of extremely exclusive memorabilia auctions, hosted on the F1 Authentics platform, including the Pirelli Pole Position Award trophy and all four Podium trophies – all of which would have been awarded at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix – as well as an official Ferrari Trento bottle of sparkling wine. All of these items were also signed by all 20 F1 drivers, with the podium trophies also boasting autographs from team principals too.”
Auctioning of the items closed on 6th June, and led to £247,171 being raised for the Emilia-Romagna Region’s Agency for Territorial Safety and Civil Protection.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Netflix to enter live-streamed sports with celebrity golf event (The Wall Street Journal)
‘Netflix is in talks to live stream its first sporting event this fall: A celebrity golf tournament featuring professional golfers and F1 drivers, according to people familiar with the situation. Set in Las Vegas, the event would mark Netflix’s first foray into livestreaming sports, something executives have debated for more than a year.’
Ricciardo: You can’t expect too much from Piastri yet (Total Motorsport)
‘Daniel Ricciardo has praised Oscar Piastri’s start to his maiden F1 campaign. Piastri, who replaced Ricciardo after the latter departed McLaren at the end of 2022, has endured a mixed start to his rookie season but finished 10th at the Monaco Grand Prix.’
‘I want to do something significant’ (The Guardian)
‘After the regimented existence of his early years, where his job determined his timetable, Rosberg clearly relishes being his own boss. He vociferously rules out a future return to F1, whether as a driver or running a team: ‘Never, ever, ever, because I value my freedom,’ he says. ‘It was very intense’. Rosberg still watches all F1 races but confesses the experience is not relaxing: ‘When the lights go off, I imagine I’m there.”
Lequien: Qatar date forced ‘modification’ in WEC’s USA round (Sportscar365)
‘The proximity of the new season opener in Qatar to Sebring forced the World Endurance Championship to “modify” its plan in the USA according to championship CEO Frederic Lequien. The WEC will make its return to Circuit of The Americas for the first time since 2020, as a replacement for the ‘Super Sebring’ event that saw three editions of the joint WEC and IMSA event.’
Vowles key to Browning’s Williams junior deal (Formula Scout)
‘Luke Browning has made an impressive start to his rookie FIA Formula 3 season, but it would not have been possible without the support of the Williams F1 team. Like current Williams driver Logan Sargeant, Browning had previously been evaluated by Vowles for Mercedes’s F1 junior programme, and was snapped up by Williams when Vowles became their team principal this ear.’
Hulkenberg sees potential for Haas to lead midfield in future (Racer)
‘Nico Hulkenberg believes Haas has the potential to be the leading midfield team in future despite the competitive nature of the current grid. Haas finished fifth in 2018 when Hulkenberg was at Renault, who came out on top in the battle for fourth by 29 points. That season sticks in the German’s mind when he thinks about how high his current team can aim in future.’
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it to us via the contact form.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
🇮🇹 Calling all #Tifosi to come to Monza on July 9th to celebrate Le Mans winners @FerrariHypercar 👏🏻
🗓️ 7-9 July
ℹ️ Free admission on Friday for FP1 and FP2
🎟️ https://t.co/jvKYC0My7n#WEC #LeMans24 #6HMonza @Autodromo_Monza pic.twitter.com/IFbtihfpX4— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) June 13, 2023
Lucky lap. That day transformed my life, I realised I could beat Ayrton on the same day in the same car, and so did he. I won the race the next day. Went from being a Toyota salesman to F1 driver within 8 months. But Ayrton had a god given talent I’d never seen before. Or since https://t.co/5gJb8jVfDq
— Martin Brundle (@MBrundleF1) June 12, 2023
So happy to spend the weekend with my @porsche team on their 75th birthday at Le Mans 100 year anniversary race!!! 🏎🏎🏎 pic.twitter.com/tgnUZrmDLH
— DUA LIPA (@DUALIPA) June 13, 2023
Foot News➡️Fabio has some ligament damage and an incomplete fracture to his mid-left foot. He has some pain and is on crutches at the moment. Fabio being Fabio, he will certainly be fighting fit and pumped up for the next one at Monza❗️💪🤩#IEC #WEC #LEMANS24 #FootlooseFabio 💯 pic.twitter.com/8HJeUYJBdI
— Inter Europol Competition (@IE_Competition) June 13, 2023
Yesterday we met with @MercedesAMGF1 team members in Brackley and delivered a workshop on bringing #Pride & Allyship to #F1.
There was great attendance at the workshop and we had some important conversations about how everyone can be part of championing #LGBTQ+ inclusion. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ pic.twitter.com/YzxaDtV0OB
— Racing Pride (@RacingPrideHQ) June 13, 2023
Dear drivers: We are wholeheartedly happy to announce that Circuit Superstars is coming to #NintendoSwitch this June 21st! Thank you for your excitement for this version of our love-letter to motorsport, we can’t for you to see it. pic.twitter.com/lX8J7XZzCM
— Circuit Superstars (@CircuitSUP) June 13, 2023
I remember 2019 @F1GPCanada very well. Kimi arrived early on Thursday due to miscommunication with marketing activities so we decided to go all together for a track walk. It was the first and last time we did. He got surrounded by hundreds of fans and said after:”I never did it…
— Julien Simon-Chautemps (@julien_sc) June 13, 2023
@livvthediv PETA supporters urge Lewis to help #formula1 #peta #lewishamilton #fyp
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Sudhakar, Sankarjune14, Tifoso1989, Winterwarmer and Mashiat!
On this day in motorsport
- 20 years ago today Ralf Schumacher led a Williams lock-out of the front row in Canada
