What will you do on a rare weekend without Formula 1?
Soon there may be no such thing as a weekend without some form of F1 action, with the number of films, television series and documentaries being made about the pinnacle of motorsport growing by the day.
Already this year we’ve heard Lewis Hamilton is having a documentary made about him and will be the executive producer on a Brad Pitt-starring fiction film about F1. Daniel Ricciardo is also part of a TV series to be based on the sport. There’s a film being stood up about the early years of Enzo Ferrari. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz even have voice roles in the Toy Story spin-off Lightyear.
Now there’s a new series in the works, this one a documentary about the unlikely events of the 2009 series, and it’s being helmed by Keanu Reeves.
There’s truly never been such a popular time to be an F1 fan.
On the racing front, Yuki Tsunoda has been backed by AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost to rediscover his form and earn a new contract despite his growing scoreless run — and despite Helmut Marko’s “problem child” characterisation.
Meanwhile, Williams driver Alex Albon has some potential bad news for McLaren off the back of his first full grand prix weekend with his team’s newly upgraded car.
KEANU REEVES TO HOST NEW F1 DOCO
Formula 1’s proliferation into the mainstream consciousness is gathering speed, with Disney commissioning a four-part documentary series on Brawn GP’s fairytale 2009 championship double, to be hosted by Keanu Reeves.
Industry magazine Variety has reported production has already started ahead of an expected release in spring 2023.
The story of the 2009 season is one of the most remarkable in Formula 1, with Brawn GP rising from the ashes of the former Honda team to storm to a constructors-driver title double headed by Jenson Button and principal Ross Brawn.
Reeves was a guest of Brawn, now F1’s motorsport director, at the British Grand Prix earlier this month, where he told Martin Brundle on Sky Sports that he was excited to try to capture the magic of that unlikely campaign.
“We want to tell that amazing remarkable story,” he said. “There is so much to talk about.
“A friend of mine was telling me the story and I was so struck by it. He was actually working for Brawn back in the day in publicity and he’s a producer-director and so we were like, ‘Well, let’s tell that story, let’s try and tell that story’.
“[Brawn] has just been a legend. He’s such an amazing person, so it’s really cool to get to meet him and spend some time.”
Reeves also revealed the documentary will likely tell the broader story of 2009, which one was one of the sport’s most fractious. Protesting the FIA’s attempt to implement a budget cap, seven teams threatened to withdraw from F1 and set up a breakaway series if the proposal wasn’t substantially changed.
FIA president Max Mosley was eventually forced to step down from the top job in exchange for peace.
“It’s been really great to be able to learn more about what was going on in Formula 1 that year,” Reeves said. “It wasn’t just the cars. New regulations, FOTA [the Formula One Teams Association], breakaway series — I mean, there was just so much happening in Formula 1 at that time.
“The world of Formula 1 was just extraordinary. I mean, it’s always extraordinary, but in that year with Brawn GP I think something really special happened.”
Reeves has reportedly already started interviews for the series, and Italy’s Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata has published a photo of him with former Ferrari president Luca Montezemolo.
Recently Lewis Hamilton has been confirmed as an executive producer for a fictional F1-based film starring Brad Pit for Apple Studios, while Daniel Ricciardo is working on a Disney-backed scripted F1 series for Hulu.
Apple has also commissions a series based on the life of Enzo Ferrari, to be written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight.
FRANZ TOST ON YUKI TSUNODA: ‘PROBLEM’ CHILDREN PREFERABLE TO HOLY ONES
AlphaTauri principal Franz Tost has defended Yuki Tsunoda after Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko described him as a “problem child” following a series of crashes in recent races.
Marko said Red Bull had hired Tsunoda a psychologist to work on his legendary in-car outbursts of frustration, though the Japanese driver suggested replacing his long-time mental coach with a new one was actually to blame for crashing out of the Canadian Grand Prix and punting his teammate off the road at Silverstone.
But Tost, who has headed AlphaTauri since 2006 with a brief to blood prospective Red Bull talent, said he preferred quick drivers with rough edges to those who lacked fight.
“I like problem children because these are the really good children who can make something out of it,” he said. “I don‘t like the holy children.
“Yuki made a mistake [at Silverstone]. He knows it and he will work on this. He is still in his development process.
“He is fast. He was also fast this weekend here [in Austria]. And he will do his way. It takes a little bit of time.”
Tsunoda started the 2022 season effectively still on probation after a crash-prone start to his F1 career. He showed a confidence-inspiring upturn in form and consistency at the start of this season, but mistakes in Canada and Britain have contributed to a now five-race pointless streak that leaves him exposed in a contract year.
“If he continues like he did during the season, apart from crashing, I think that he has a good chance to stay with us,” Tost said.
“It depends on him. If he shows a good performance, he will stay; if he doesn‘t show a good performance, he is out. Totally easy.”
Red Bull is backing five juniors currently in Formula 2, the most senior of which is Juri Vips, who lost his link to the brand’s F1 teams as punishment for using a racial slur while streaming last month.
Jehan Daruvala is the highest placed in the standings in fourth, albeit he doesn’t appear to be considered a serious prospect for Red Bull given he was allowed to conduct a private test with McLaren in recent weeks.
ALBON: WILLIAMS NOW MATCHING McLAREN
Alex Albon has given a punchy review of Williams’s major upgrade package after its first proper trial at the Austrian Grand Prix, claiming it could propel the team back into the midfield.
Williams made major revisions to Albon’s car for the British Grand Prix, but Albon’s first-lap crash meant it recorded no race data from the weekend.
The Thai driver qualified 11th on Friday but started the grand prix 16th after penalties in the sprint. He finished the race 12th and only six seconds out of the points.
Albon, who’s already scored points twice this season despite the Williams being comfortably the slowest car this year, said he felt the package was enough of a step forward to put it on McLaren’s pace in race trim.
In the tight midfield he finished notably just eight seconds behind Daniel Ricciardo in ninth and 16 seconds behind Norris in seventh.
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“It was a fun race,” he said. “You risk and you push to fight for points and today it didn’t quite work out for us, but I still feel it was a good race.
“The whole race we were more or less matching the McLarens.
“We hit a bit of traffic here and there, but I was really happy with our pace, and we’ve definitely made a step forward this weekend.
“It was the first proper race with the new aero upgrade that we have and there’s a lot learnt from today, so we can look at the data and come back stronger in France.”
McLaren endured one of its more difficult rounds this season, albeit not helped by technical problems in the sole practice session before qualifying, but adding a disruptive Williams to the midfield mix would be bad news for the Woking team with an already slackened grip on fourth in the standings.
Williams has had the capacity to produce just one set of the new upgrades in time for the recent double-header. Nicholas Latifi is expected to have his car updated for the next race in France.
DRIVERS CALL FOR CONSISTENCY AS BATTLE WITH RACE CONTROL CONTINUES
Drivers have slammed the race direction of the Austrian Grand Prix for being “stubborn” and too inflexible in dishing out penalties, with several speaking out against the dual race director set-up and the stewarding panel.
The 11th round of the season was notable for the 43 track limits violations during the grand prix, with four drivers ultimately being penalised for crossing the white line four times.
Several drivers were also punished for in-race clashes that some considered more akin to racing incidents.
George Russell, who was penalised five seconds for a clash with Sergio Perez on the first lap, said the stewards hadn’t considered the context of the collision in deciding he was to blame.
“The dynamics of every single incident is different,” Russell said, per Autosport.
“To the letter of the law I was in the wrong and he was in the right, but from the second I braked I was on the limit of my car and there’s nothing more I could do.
“That’s what happens on the first lap. He’s got a lot of experience; he knows how it goes.”
Russell said the drivers and teams needed to work more closely with the stewards to find more consistency in decision-making.
“From the stewarding perspective it’s so difficult. We’re all looking for consistency, but we don’t want penalties handed out left, right and centre.
“We need to be working together for us all to be on the same page.”
Race winner Charles Leclerc, despite avoiding any in-race penalties, said returning to a single race director at the head of race control would help generate consistency.
“I think consistency has always been a thing that we‘ve searched for, and you can always be better,” he said. “Obviously [having] two race directors makes it probably a bit more difficult.
“Whether it‘s impossible to achieve a good level of consistency? I don’t think so.
“I do believe that probably with one race director it might be a little bit easier to manage.”
The race directorship was split into two positions in the aftermath of last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to try to spread the load of the burdensome position.
But Max Verstappen, who described the number of track limits offences handed down as “stupid” and “a bit of a joke”, said it had less to do with structure and more to do with attitude.
“I don‘t think necessarily it depends on one race director, I think it’s more about working with the drivers instead of just keeping your stance and just being stubborn,” he said.
Drivers continue to raise their concerns around consistency in drivers briefings, but Sebastian Vettel walked out of the regular meeting in frustration this week, for which he was given a suspended €25,000 ($A37,000) fine.
BOTTAS RATES RUSSELL’S MERCEDES SEASON
Valtteri Bottas has praised George Russell’s half-season effort against seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in his former Mercedes seat.
Russell has led Hamilton in the drivers standings since the second race of the season and has a 128-109 advantage in fifth and sixth in the drivers standings. Before his retirement on the first lap of the British Grand Prix two rounds ago his lead had been as high as 34 points.
Bottas spent five years as Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate but rarely led him in on the points table beyond some fast starts to the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He was replaced by Russell for this season.
Speaking at the Austrian Grand Prix, the halfway point of his season, the Finn acknowledged Russell’s good work at keeping himself on par with the better decorated Englishman.
“I think George has done great, as expected,” he said. “Especially as I know myself how tricky it is to beat Lewis, so yeah, he’s been doing a good job.”
Russell has been quick to talk down the idea that he has the upper hand over Hamilton this season, acknowledging that his teammate has frequently been caught out by safety cars and has borne the brunt of Mercedes’s experimentation with set-up to master its difficult W13, but he nonetheless said he was meeting his own expectations to perform strongly this year.
“I knew the challenge I faced ahead of the season, going up against Lewis, and I’ve seen first-hand just how great he is,” he said.
“I think in any sport you often get into a bit of a groove and a bit of a rhythm and things seemingly go for you or seemingly go against you, and I think I obviously had quite a good run.
“Those first nine races I’d say we’re pretty good, maybe eight races. The last two races have been a bit more tricky for me of course.
“I think we’ve seen in the last couple of races just how fast Lewis is.”
McLAREN IMPRESSED BY HERTA AFTER TWO-DAY TEST
McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has been “quite impressed” by development driver Colton Herta’s performance during a private two-day test in the 2021 car.
IndyCar driver Herta had two days circulating around Portimão’s Algarve International Circuit in Portugal in the MCL35M in preparation for a possible FP1 outing after the mid-season break.
Every F1 team is obliged to devote two practice sessions this season to rookie drivers. McLaren’s junior driver academy’s only driver, Ugo Ugochukwu, is still competing in Formula 3, so the team is using its IndyCar presence to evaluate racers from across the Atlantic instead.
Portimão was Herta’s first experience in F1 machinery, and Seidl said the 22-year-old American made a good impression.
“Getting used to the different operational aspects of a Formula 1 race weekend, like comparing different tyre compounds, running at different fuel loads as well, qualifying runs, [doing] race simulation-like runs as well — I have to say the team was quite impressed how Colton was dealing with all these challenges and his professional approach,” Seidl said, per Racer.
“What was great to see as well was his physical preparation was enabling him to really keep going throughout the two days, knowing how challenging this can be in a Formula 1 car on a track like Portimão.
Herta was enthusiastic about his experience of the car.
“It was a lot of fun,” he said, according to the F1 website. “Great two days getting acclimated to the car, which is obviously quite a bit different to what I‘m used to driving, a little bit of a different driving style, but the engineers were very helpful getting me up to speed.
“What a car to drive!”
He also said the test confirmed his feeling that he could handle his goal to switch to Formula 1.
“You can’t say no to that question or else you wouldn‘t be a professional driver,” he said. “I do think I’m fast enough. Whether people agree or not, only time will tell.”
Herta is not eligible for an FIA superlicence and would have to finish in the top three this season to qualify. He’s currently 10th after nine rounds of the 17-round season.
McLaren IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward is also in the frame for a practice drive, having tested with the team at the end of last season. The team is also attempting to sign reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou to its roster for next year, though Chip Ganassi Racing says it has already signed him up for 2023.
