Latest F1 news in brief – Tuesday
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Lando Norris wants to race, not play video games on the team simulator Lando Norris prepared to leave McLaren
- Mercedes replaces Boss with Tommy Hilfiger
- McLaren focused on fielding easy-to-understand car
- Grid girls not the reason for lack of female presence in F1 says Stewart
- Toro Rosso announces launch date
Lando Norris prepared to leave McLaren
(GMM) Lando Norris says he is prepared to leave McLaren if the British team has no place for him within a year or so.
This year, McLaren will line up with an unchanged driver pairing of Fernando Alonso alongside Stoffel Vandoorne.
But youngster Norris, the new reigning F3 champion, steps up into the reserve role for 2018.
About his future, he said: "You could say it depends on what he (Alonso) does.
"So we'll have to wait to see what Fernando wants to do because I think they (McLaren) are also happy with Vandoorne," Norris, 18, is quoted by Marca sports newspaper.
The young Briton will combine his McLaren role with Formula 2 this year.
"I can develop a lot and definitely improve as a driver in 2018," Norris said.
"Obviously my goal is to be at McLaren but if I cannot get a place here, then I'll have to look for other opportunities.
"If they tell me there will be no place for three years then it's obvious that I'll have to go somewhere else, but if it's only a year, I think I'll continue with McLaren," he added.
Mercedes replaces Boss with Tommy Hilfiger
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| Tommy Hilfiger's logo will be very small on the car, but it will be where the driver's name goes so Tommy will look like the driver of both cars |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport is delighted to announce a multi-year strategic partnership with Tommy Hilfiger, owned by PVH Corp., from the 2018 season onwards.
TOMMY HILFIGER will become the Official Apparel Partner of the team, building on the sport sponsorship heritage that Tommy Hilfiger has embraced since first founding his brand, and underscoring his vision to continuously elevate and expand the brand in key markets to the next generation of TOMMY HILFIGER consumers.
The new partnership will see TOMMY HILFIGER providing Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s race and travel wear, as well as factory, office and hospitality clothing.
The distinctive TOMMY HILFIGER logo will debut on the Mercedes-AMG F1 W09 EQ Power+ car at the team’s launch event at Silverstone, UK later this month, as well as featuring on garage and trackside assets.
“We are delighted to welcome Tommy Hilfiger to Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport and back to the world of Formula One," said Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport.
“It is always exciting to embark on a new partnership, particularly when it touches such a key area of our team’s image; I am positive that it will energize our brand and bring a new spin to how we are perceived from this season.
"We are excited to see how Tommy Hilfiger will dress the team this season and to showcase their exciting plans to the fans of Formula One."
McLaren focused on fielding easy-to-understand car
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| McLaren hopes to launch a simpler car |
McLaren has worked diligently in the past months to design a car that will work well over "a broad operating envelope", says tech boss Tim Goss.
The Woking-based outfit embarks on a fresh cycle this year with new engine partner Renault. In a bid to minimize its potential difficulties on the eve of a new dawn, McLaren aimed for an easy-to-understand MCL33 which complies with a large spectrum of requirements for its drivers.
"So much of producing a great F1 car these days is giving the driver a car that they can exploit," Goss told Motorsport.com.
"There is no point in giving them a car with very peaky performance. What we are trying to do is give the driver something that operates very well over a broad operating envelope.
McLaren's thinking follows a similar approach which prevailed last year, when F1 introduced new aero rules for the sport which featured wider tires and a significant increase in downforce.
"Initially we are not worried about what level of performance we are going to put on the car," adds the McLaren technical director.
"What we wanted to do was understand the flow physics and try to get good, well-behaved aerodynamics across the range of the operating envelope of yaw/steer/roll and ride-height.
"And only when we did that and we were happy that we had well-behaved aerodynamics did we start to build the performance.
"So our approach these days is very much about giving the drivers something they can trust and work with, and peaky load is in our view not the way to produce a quick aerodynamic package for the driver, or vehicle dynamics change." F1i.com
Grid girls not the reason for lack of female presence in F1 says Stewart
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| Stewart thinks Grid Girls are gone because of an overreaction to democrat Harvey Weinstein's sexual exploits |
Sir Jackie Stewart believes the lack of a top female Grand Prix driver has no link whatsoever with decades of grid-girl presence in F1.
Liberty Media kicked up a storm last week when it confirmed its decision to take the girls off the grid at Grand Prix events, because their presence was no longer in line with the values the sport wishes to embody going forward.
The move sparked a fiery debate in the media between progressive thinkers and traditionalists, with no side clearly emerging a winner.
Since the inception of the world championship in 1950, only a handful of women drivers have gained access to F1, with no meaningful results.
A state of affairs which historically has no link to gender discrimination, says Stewart.
"The idea that grid girls put off women drivers is baloney," says the legendary triple world champion, seen here in the picture above with another sports legend, Olympic Gold Medalist Lindsey Vonn.
"If a racing team could find a female that’s going to get to the top in Formula 1, boy would they be paying attention.
"They’d be falling over themselves. Formula 1 would love to see a woman. If we had a women, the viewing numbers would go up.
"Commercially a female driver would be hugely successful with make-up, clothing, all the cosmetics and fashion brands.
"For whatever reason, young women are not going to karting tracks.
"That’s what all the boys do. Whether it’s Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, these guys, from a young age, have been week after week at go-kart events.
"A girl so far has never done that and become a great driver. You have to keep in mind that from the hundreds of thousands of go-kart racers in the world there are only 20 Grand Prix drivers who make it into Formula 1."
Stewart has always seen grid girls as adding to the sport's glitz and glamour but always within the boundaries of respect and decency. But events of late, mainly in the US, involving sexism, harassment and gender discrimination have forced Liberty to take preemptive action, according to the Scot.
"The girls of this generation are not overly provocative. They are very well presented. They are properly dressed. It’s not as if they are all in bikinis or something," adds Stewart.
"In America, you have the Weinstein thing and many more cases of, ‘He tried to do something’ or, ‘He rubbed against me’.
"I don’t think any drivers have crossed the line but I really don’t know because I haven’t been part of that world.
"Because of the Weinstein thing, I think Formula 1 has taken preventative medicine." ef1i.com
Toro Rosso announces launch date
| TEAM | CHASSIS (POWER UNIT) | DATE | VENUE |
| Williams | FW41 (Mercedes) | February 15 | London, UK |
| Sauber | C37 (Ferrari) | February 20 | Online |
| Renault | R.S.18 (Renault) | February 20 | Online |
| Ferrari | TBC (Ferrari) | February 22 | Online |
| Mercedes | W09 (Mercedes) | February 22 | Silverstone, UK |
| McLaren | MCL33 (Renault) | February 23 | TBC |
| Toro Rosso | STR13 (Honda) | February 26 | Barcelona, Spain |