Hamilton’s Q1 elimination in Shanghai was Mercedes’ mistake – Allison

In brief

Hamilton’s China qualifying a team error

After Lewis Hamilton was eliminated from Q1 in grand prix qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix after changing his set-up following a successful sprint race, Mercedes technical director James Allison says the team should have been more insistent that he followed the same run plan as team mate George Russell.

“Lewis was absolutely explicit about it afterwards, he said he really wished he had taken the same approach that George had taken which was in his first run in Q1, George fuelled to do two timed laps so that he could have a feel of the car in the first flying lap, do a cool down lap and then have another bite at the cherry which would just give him more of a feel for the car,” Allison explained.

“Whereas Lewis went later in the session, one timed lap, one timed lap and Lewis was very clear afterwards that he needed another lap. He’d found that the changes he’d made had made the car more understeery, they’d made it easier for the car to lock up under the braking and he was just pinching those front brakes in a way that was causing him difficulties.

“I think we all saw what happened on his second run, which was only his second timed lap therefore, just running down the main straight into that bottom hairpin, he just got a little bit out of shape on the braking, went deep and that’s 0.7 of a second just there. That’s quite a big gap without which he would have easily got through to Q3 and whatever. So he would hold his hand up and say “my mistake, my error”.

“I think we would be a little more rounded and say we should have actually encouraged more strongly that he was pursuing a programme a bit more like George’s, so that’s our mistake and we should frankly be making a car that is just not so tricky as the one we’ve got at the moment which is causing the drivers to make very uncharacteristic errors.”

Hadjar quickest as F2 test ends

Hadjar’s best time in the morning session was fastest of the three-day test, fourth tenths quicker than Marti in the session with Williams junior Franco Colapinto third. Amaury Cordeel set the pace in the evening session, in which teams focused more on race simulation runs on higher fuel levels.

The next round of the F2 championship takes place during the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix weekend in Imola in mid-May.

Hesketh commemorate first F1 victory

Members of the Hesketh Formula 1 team celebrated 50 years since the team’s first victory in a race run to F1 regulations at Silverstone.

A demonstration run of the Hesketh 308 driven by future world champion James Hunt was held as part of the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Spring Start meeting to commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the car winning the International Trophy event at Silverstone in 1974, the team’s first victory in Formula 1 machinery.

Hesketh would go on to win their one and only round at world championship level with Hunt at the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix before the team fell off the Formula 1 grid following the 1978 season.

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

An Evening with Guenther Steiner (Fane)

Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner will hold a series of talks in halls around the UK discussing his life and experiences in Formula 1

Motorsport UK launches StreetCar Disabled Drivers Scholarship (FIA)

'The StreetCar Disabled Drivers Scholarship expands on the successful partnership between Loughborough Car Club and Motorsport UK in introducing the sport to newcomers. Taking place on 11 May at Motorsport UK’s Headquarters at Bicester Motion, the day will offer a group of disabled motorsport enthusiasts a unique chance to experience the range of adaptations available to participate in an AutoSOLO.'

The men and women to watch in 2024 British F4 (Motorsport UK)

'Abbi Pulling is already a member of the Alpine Academy programme and, when calendars permit, she will be combining her appearances at the Grand Prix in the F1 Academy with outings in the F4 British Championship. Chloe Chong also arrives with F1 Academy experience under her belt while Ella Lloyd switches to single seaters after notable successes racing Ginetta sportscars… as well as on skis and horseback.'

Ferrari still only understands '80 Percent' of 499P (Sportscar365)

''At the end of last season, having raced on high-speed circuits, low-speed circuits, circuits with different corners, we have a clear idea of our strengths and weaknesses. I would say 80 percent of the car now, is clear. There is still 20 percent we need to control better. We will know more and more as we run on different tracks and gather data. We didn’t have data for 50 years. There is a server in Maranello building up from scratch.''

F1 24 Official Career Mode Deep Dive (EA Sports via YouTube)

A look at the main changes to Career Mode in this year's official F1 game.

Monaco Highlights | 2024 Miniature Grand Prix (Miniatur Wunderland via YouTube)

A remarkable scale model of the Monaco Grand Prix circuit in Hamburg in Germany has been completed, creating an incredible realistic scene.

CS55 Racing: Unveiling my own kart brand (Carlos Sainz Jnr via YouTube)

'Join me during the launch day of my own karting brand. Karting has been a fundamental part of my racing career since I was a kid so I'm thrilled to share this new chapter with you all.'

FIA Insights - Building a street track in Tokyo (FIA)

'Discover the behind-the-scenes challenges, triumphs, and breakthroughs that paved the way for the realization of this electrifying track, set against the backdrop of one of the world's most dynamic cities. From meticulous planning to meticulous engineering, witness firsthand the collaborative efforts that transformed a common vision into reality.'

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Social media

Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:

Together. 🧡

Debriefing on our Shanghai Sprint weekend. 👊 pic.twitter.com/yELVYnYg2r

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) April 25, 2024

A special day at the AMRTC. 💚 pic.twitter.com/tCJWJUT3qK

— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) April 25, 2024

This is Africa 🇿🇦#VB77 #SouthAfrica #Karoo
📷 @tiffanycromwell & me pic.twitter.com/8awxmKKNOf

— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) April 25, 2024

Celebrating our history.

Today, along with @PierreGasly, the whole team welcomed Ayrton Senna’s Toleman TG183 back home to Enstone.

A fantastic moment to look back at our past and inspire our future 💙 pic.twitter.com/3X1BrGqCrt

— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) April 25, 2024

A positive few days @Formula2 testing in Barcelona🙌 @zane_maloney pic.twitter.com/BfONhgMOrc

— Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber (@stakef1team_ks) April 25, 2024

No firings have been made in the wake of this incident, Cindric said.

Josef Newgarden used overtake 3 times at St. Pete when he shouldn’t have been able to for a total of 9 seconds.

— Nathan Brown (@By_NathanBrown) April 25, 2024

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• Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory

Comment of the day

With rumblings that Red Bull designer Adrian Newey may be looking to leave the team, Tifoso1989 argues this could be a pivotal moment for Red Bull’s dominance of the sport…

Apart from Christian Horner’s shenanigans, if Newey has indeed chosen to depart from the team, it likely stems from Red Bull’s uncertain ability to deliver a competitive power unit in 2026. The manner in which the Red Bull camp, led by Horner and Max Verstappen, is already lobbying for regulation changes indicates that the feedback from Ford isn’t promising. They have got cocky partnering with Ford and now they’re paying for it.

As for Newey, we already know that Ferrari’s offer for his services back in 2014 was insane… and John Elkann would likely have no issue doubling down on it if necessary. It only depends on Newey’s will to work for Ferrari. This marks the beginning of the end for Red Bull’s winning cycle – we may not have to wait long to hear about Verstappen’s move to Mercedes in 2026.
Tifoso1989

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Markd, John Beak and Terro!

On this day in motorsport

• 15 years ago today Toyota squandered a front-row lock-out and let Jenson Button and Brawn in to win again in Bahrain