Ricciardo at Singapore GP, Lawson will drive

In brief

AlphaTauri announce Singapore GP plans

Ricciardo will join AlphaTauri’s race drivers – his substitute Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda – in Singapore this weekend. The driver who was injured at Zandvoort last month “will be present with the team in Singapore only for engineering purposes,” said the team in a statement.

Lawson is looking forward to his first ever Formula 1 race on a street circuit for sentimental reasons.
“When I was a kid, it was my favourite circuit,” he said. “My dad used to promise me every year that he would take me to the Singapore Grand Prix.

“In the end, we never went, but he’s going to be coming to the grand prix this weekend, so actually I’m taking him!”

Palou and McLaren’s legal case begins in UK court

McLaren’s legal case against reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou, who they had signed for the next three seasons, is taking place in the United Kingdom’s Commercial Court. Within the legal paperwork, Palou is referred to as ALPA as that is the company through which his contracts are signed for the provision of his services.

The claim form presented by McLaren says that they procured Palou’s services in a contract signed on 1st October 2022, including him serving as McLaren’s Formula 1 reserve driver through the remaining races of this year. The documents refer to Palou’s racing services company ALPA Racing.

“The McLaren-ALPA contracts expressly oblige ALPA to procure that it and the defendant will not enter into any agreement which will conflict with rights granted and obligations assumed by ALPA under the McLaren-ALPA Contracts,” reads the form.

Representatives for Palou informed McLaren on 8th August this year that he “did not intend to perform” his contractual obligations, and that he had signed a contract with Ganassi.

1992 F1 champion Mansell to sell career memorabilia

Nigel Mansell, the 1992 F1 world champion, is selling items from his racing career.

RM Sotheby’s will host the ‘Nigel Mansell’s Legacy Collection’ auction on 4th-11th October. The catalogue of items is already collected together because they were previously stored in Mansell’s own museum on the island of Jersey. He opened it in 2012 and closed it seven years later.

Items listed for sale include a steering wheel from the Ferrari he raced in 1989, six wheels taken from Williams F1 cars he drove, various team memorabilia including Williams ski jackets and a leather Ferrari briefcase, his personalised ‘5 NM’ UK registration plate and a motorcycle he used to get around F1 paddocks. A variety of race suits are also being offered including the one he wore in his first full F1 season in 1981 and the Ford one he had for the 1998 British Touring Car Championship appearances.

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

Ex-F1 boss Ecclestone: ‘Massa is only concerned about the money’ (Blick)

”The Massa clan only cares about money. But the chances of that happening are zero,’ says Ecclestone. ‘Hamilton and Mercedes could have filed a lawsuit against the FIA after the not very clean 2021 finale in Abu Dhabi.”

F1 teams ‘see the benefit’ in extending Concorde Agreement (Speedcafe)

‘Liberty Media boss Greg Maffei has claimed at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Technology Conference in San Francisco that the ten current F1 teams all “see the benefit” of renewing the Concorde Agreement early.’

McElrea finished second in Indy Nxt finale despite delaminating tyre (Formula Scout)

”something really funny happened. I don’t know if it was on our side or what, but lap two my tyre was delaminating, my right-front, and that was that,’ revealed McElrea. ‘That’s why – I mean, we were the dominant car all weekend, and we didn’t touch it and it’s not like we forgot how to be quick. So it was a shame not to fight for the win, but to get second with what we were dealing with, I think I would’ve taken that. It was a long 35 laps, I’ll tell you that.”

FIA unveils ‘united against online abuse’ campaign website (FIA)

‘The newly launched campaign website, www.unitedagainstonlineabuse.com, will serve as the central hub for resources, information and support related to the campaign’s mission, guided by three core principles – strength in unity, adopting a research-led approach, and commitment to action by supporting our athletes, fans, officials and partners who are the many targets of this issue.’

Formula 3 2023 season in numbers: stats, facts and records (FIA Formula 3)

‘With the 2023 season in the books, we take a look back at the records that were broken, the statistics that stood out and the unbreakable markers that still stand. From the Championship titles, poles, podiums to the average positions, closest finishes in F3 history and leading teams and drivers, here’s 2023 summarised in numbers.’

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