Weekly News Roundup - 10/13/23

Happy Friday, friends! Another break between race weekends before we go into a triple header - Austin, Mexico City, São Paulo - concluding in the first weekend in November.

Let’s get into the news from this week.

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News Roundup

• Former Formula One Boss Bernie Ecclestone Pleads Guilty to Fraud

  • The former F1 executive and billionaire pleaded guilty to fraud after failing to declare a trust of $650 million he had set up in Singapore for his daughters.

  • Honestly, nothing out of the ordinary here. Wealthy people are incredible at tax planning (sometimes tax avoidance?). His involvement and success in the world of motorsport is well documented, in case you have never heard the name.

• Formula One weighs changes after drivers vomit, pass out due to hear during Qatar race

  • The FIA are listening to the complaints of drivers, teams and fans after the grueling Qatar Grand Prix left many drivers unable to stand without help after getting out of the car.

  • With temperatures inside the cockpit reaching over 120 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsuis), it is insane to expect drivers to go through that while partaking in such a physically demanding sport.

  • The race will be two months later in the year next year, but we will see if that fixes much. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind nixing this race - there are already too many races in the season.

  • I’d love to hear your thoughts on this - so respond to this email with your stance!

• McLaren racing pioneers use of sustainable materials with innovative recycled carbon fibre trial

  • McLaren has taken another step closer to achieving its goal of building a ‘fully circular F1 car by 2030’ with this innovation.

  • Part of what makes F1 so fascinating is the technological innovations the sport brings. The recycled carbon fibre results in a 90% reduction in life cycle emissions (and a few other cool environmental benefits if you follow the link).

  • The one issue with this new carbon fibre is that it only offers up to 85% of typical carbon fibre strength. It will be great to keep following along with the innovations teams come up with related to this concept - I’m sure there are plenty more to come!

• AlphaTauri CEO Bayer says team have selected new ‘identity’ for 2024

  • The rebranding of AlphaTauri (FKA Toro Rosso) for 2024 has been out for quite some time, but it appears the team has made a decision.

  • Unfortunately, we do not know what the rebrand will be just yet. All we have from Bayer is, “The shareholders have decided on the identity of the team, we will move a bit closer to the Red Bull family.”

• Pirelli to continue as F1 tyre supplier until 2027

  • Pirelli originally took over the contract from Japanese manufacturer, Bridgestone, in 2010. Bridgestone also made a compelling bid earlier this year, ultimately losing out to Pirelli.

  • There may be some potential to bring back more than one tyre manufacturer in the future, but things are secured for Pirelli for at least the next three seasons.

• F1 champion Mika Hakkinen to mentor rising Indian F2 star Maini

  • The former McLaren champion has successfully mentored drivers in the past - Valtteri Bottas being one of his former mentees.

  • Maini currently drives for Campos Racing in F2, and has slightly fallen off after a strong start to the season. We will see if the Flying Finn can apply his magic touch to help this young driver along to achieve his dreams.

Social Media Post of the Week

The world-record-holding crew. Enough said.

@formula1bulletin

McLaren world's fastest pitstop Crew #f1 #f1edit #mclarenf1 #f1pitstop #worldrecord

Thanks for reading The Grandstand Gazette! As always, please respond to this email with any comments, questions or suggestions. We will be back in your inbox next week with a Weekly News Roundup and USGP Race Preview. Have a great weekend!

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