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Time Magazine
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
All Your F1 Questions Answered, Ahead of 'F1 The Movie'
F1 The Movie, which is out in U.S. theaters and IMAX on Friday, has summer blockbuster potential, given the huge budget—north of $200 million—and star power—Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, cameos by Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and other Formula 1 drivers—involved. So if you're an F1 newbie looking to spend a few entertaining hours in an air-conditioned theater, or you've seen the film but don't totally understand all those terms about tires and safety cars and DRS, we've got you covered. Below, some of your questions, answered. (With an assist from Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, an executive producer on the film who also makes an appearance in the movie). It's a movie, people. And while Pitt is indeed a 61-year-old actor, we never find out the age of his character, Sonny Hayes, the journeyman washout whose promising F1 career was derailed by a horrific accident at a race in Barcelona in 1993. Pitt could be portraying a younger man. 'I don't think Sonny is 61,' says Wolff. Let's say, for the sake of argument, Hayes was an 18-year-old rising star at that race in Barcelona. That would put him at about 50 in the movie. Middle-aged drivers were more common in olden times: Luigi Fagioli, at 53, is the oldest F1 driver to win a race; he shared the 1951 French Grand Prix title with another driver. Fernando Alonso is the oldest driver on the current grid: the two-time world champion, who currently drives for Aston Martin, turns 44 at the end of July. But Alonso hasn't won a race since 2013. Hayes still has driving talent: at the beginning of the film, we see him help his team win the 24-hour endurance race at Daytona. Transitioning to F1 soon thereafter is a bit of a stretch, but not, according to Wolff, utterly impossible. 'Racing cars is like learning to ride a bicycle,' says Wolff. 'You don't unlearn that.' It's a term that pops up in the film, and in actual races: DRS, or Drag Reduction System. During F1 races, at designated areas of the track—particularly on straigtaways—drivers can can open up a flap on the car's rear wing to reduce aerodynamic drag, and overtake opponents. A car must be within one second of the racer it's trying to catch in order to use DRS. Grip, Wolff explains, 'is a tire sticking to the ground. The more sticking to the ground you have, the quicker you go through a corner.' Simple enough. 'Here comes the caveat,' Wolff says. 'Going beyond that limit of sticking, or sliding, creates overheating of the tire. So what you want to achieve is actually the optimum grip, the optimum sticking to the ground without it giving up and sliding.' Tires for dry race conditions—the slick tires—come in three classifications: soft tires offer the most grip but last the shortest period of time before degrading, so they're ideal for qualifying runs, or when a driver needs a burst of speed. Hard tires last longer—saving pit stops—but have less grip, and result in slower lap times. Medium tires split the difference between the two. In damp conditions, teams employ intermediate tires, which are grooved to allow drivers to navigate tracks with no standing water, or drying surfaces. The deeper grooves of the wet tires can disperse more water and are best for the rainiest days. Each of the 10 Formula 1 teams consist of two drivers, who are all fighting for two championships in every race: the Constructor's title, in which the combined performance of both drivers helps the team assemble points and trophies, and the Driver's title, in which a single driver is designated as world champion. Racers often put more stake in the individual title, which builds their legacies and brands. So while they're supposed to be working together on the track, they often want to beat each other to the checkered flag. F1's tension revolves around the aging Hayes and his teammate on the fictional APXGP race team, Damson Idris' Joshua Pearce, a young talent from Great Britain. Drivers at loggerheads is quite common in F1. 'Tension is always existing, which you've just got to accept,' says Wolff. 'That's how it is.' Wolff would know: as Mercedes boss, he had to manage the competition between Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time F1 champion, and Nico Rosberg, who won the 2016 title over Hamilton before retiring. There was hostility between the duo, especially after Rosberg used an engine mode banned by the team to gain an advantage over Hamilton during the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix. Hamilton returned the favor in Barcelona a month later. Drivers are calibrated to win at all costs. 'You can't expect the lion in the car and the puppy outside,' says Wolff. 'They drive with the knife between the teeth. It's the team's principal's role to say, 'no more.' And that's what we did.'' Mercedes drivers won every title between 2014-2020 (Hamilton in 2014, 2015, 2017-2020, Rosberg in 2016), and eight straight Constructor's championships from 2014-2021. In F1, APXGP technical director Kate McKenna, played by Oscar nominee Kerry Condon, tweaks the car design: the fix helps boost the team's results. Yes, this actually happens in the real Formula 1. While a set of strict technical regulations guides the makeup of an F1 car, teams can come up with innovations within these rules to give themselves an edge. Before the 2020 season, for example, Mercedes made a change to the steering column: its drivers could push and pull the wheel to change the alignment of the tires. The steering advantage was so effective, it was banned the next season and beyond. On-track accidents and dust-ups slow down the race. For less serious incidents, officials send out a 'virtual safety car'—no physical car is deployed onto the track, but cars must reduce their speed by 30-40% of the normal racing pace. So the gap between racers remains the same before the restart. For the more severe crashes, which require more time to remove debris from the track, an actual car—the safety car—enters the track. Cars file behind the safety vehicle: while drivers can't overtake one another on the track while a safety car is deployed, they can bunch up closer. So a driver who was way behind the leader, or the car in front of him, can effectively erase such a deficit. 'It kind of resets the race,' says Wolff. Which all begs the question: could one F1 teammate crash on purpose to give another an advantage? This is unlikely to happen for several reasons. First, a driver risks injury or worse in a crash. And second, a 2008 incident in Singapore, in which Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. said he was asked by his team to deliberately crash to allow his teammate, Alonso, to gain position during the safety car period as other cars made pit stops for gas, led to an embarrassing scandal. Alonso won the race. But the resulting 'Crashgate' fallout resulted in bans for Renault team leaders. Renault was threatened with disqualification from F1. The risk just isn't worth it. According to a 2025 study that appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 264 total injuries and 43 deaths were reported in F1-related events between 1950 and 2023. The analysis included 865 F1 drivers. While a 5% death rate for F1 drivers seems frighteningly high, there's a crucial caveat: a majority of the fatalities took place in the '50s, '60s, and '70s. No F1 driver has died in the 2020s. 'The evolution of safety regulations in F1,' the study concludes, 'appears to have successfully reduced total injuries, total deaths, and most injury classifications.' No, since each track, or circuit, has different designs and laps lengths. F1 races must cover a minimum of 305 km (or about 190 miles). Each race is about that length: but while the Belgian Grand Prix, for example, requires just 44 laps to reach that distance on the long track at Spa, the shorter circuit in the Netherlands requires 72 laps. One exception to this rule is the street circuit in Monaco: that race covers just 260 km (162 miles). Due to the narrow roads and sharp turns on the Monaco track, lap times are slower, so the distance is shorter to allow it to be finished within F1's two-hour time limit for races. (A race can take up to three hours in the event of suspensions due to bad weather; most are done in about 90 minutes). The feedback seems to be positive from the actual F1 drivers; they saw it at a screening before the Monaco Grand Prix in May. In the audience was Kimi Antonelli, the 18-year-old Mercedes rookie driver who finished his final high school exams right after earning his first podium with a third-place showing in Montreal in June. Perhaps not surprisingly, what stood out to Antonelli was the 2 hour, 36 minute run time. 'It's freaking long,' he said afterwards.
The Hindu
a day ago
- Automotive
- The Hindu
F1 Austrian Grand Prix: Verstappen would welcome Vettel having a role at Red Bull
Max Verstappen said he would welcome fellow four-time Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel back to Red Bull after the German spoke of possibly succeeding consultant Helmut Marko at the team. Austrian Marko, 82 and a former racer who was blinded in one eye after a stone pierced his visor during the 1972 French Grand Prix in Clermont-Ferrand, has a contract until the end of next year. Vettel, 37, won consecutive titles with Red Bull from 2010-13, retired in 2022 after stints at Ferrari and Aston Martin. 'It's more than normal that someone who has achieved so much with Red Bull, has been brought up by Red Bull (should return),' Verstappen told reporters at the Austrian Grand Prix on Thursday when asked for his thoughts. 'In a sense there's always a spot available, right? 'I think also Seb always kept a really good relationship with Helmut anyway, even when he left. I didn't know that of course they were talking but I'm sure that there's always a space for Seb in any kind of form.' Marko was a close confidant of the team's late Austrian owner Dietrich Mateschitz, serving as his trusted representative in the paddock as well as also taking charge of the young driver programme. During Vettel's era the outspoken advisor was part of a leading trio with principal Christian Horner and technical ace Adrian Newey, who is now at Aston Martin. RELATED | Vettel confirms 'talks' with Marko over succeeding him at Red Bull 'We're in contact about this, though maybe not so intensively or in-depth yet, but it's possible,' Vettel told Austria's ORF television recently. 'He's already said a few times that he'd stop, but he's still here, and I wish him all the best so that he stays around for a very long time.' Marko told Austria's Kleine Zeitung on Wednesday that Vettel was following everything very closely. 'The question of succession is also one of the issues,' he said.
TimesLIVE
2 days ago
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
Verstappen says he would welcome Vettel having a role at Red Bull
Max Verstappen said he would welcome fellow four-times Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel back to Red Bull after the German spoke of possibly succeeding consultant Helmut Marko at the team. Austrian Marko, 82, a former racer who was blinded in one eye after a stone pierced his visor during the 1972 French Grand Prix in Clermont-Ferrand, has a contract until the end of next year. Vettel, 37, won consecutive titles with Red Bull from 2010-13 and retired in 2022 after stints at Ferrari and Aston Martin. 'It's more than normal that someone that has achieved so much with Red Bull, has been brought up by Red Bull (should return),' Verstappen told reporters at the Austrian Grand Prix on Thursday when asked for his thoughts. 'In a sense there's always a spot available, right? 'I think also Seb always kept a really good relationship with Helmut anyway, even when he left. I didn't know that of course they were talking but I'm sure that there's always a space for Seb in any kind of form.'
The Star
7 days ago
- Automotive
- The Star
Motorcycling-Marquez claims 100th career pole with lap record in Italian GP qualifying
FILE PHOTO: MotoGP - French Grand Prix - Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans, France - May 11, 2025 Ducati Lenovo Team's Marc Marquez in action during the MotoGP race REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo (Reuters) -Marc Marquez took the 100th pole of his career on his Ducati debut at the Mugello Circuit at their home Italian Grand Prix on Saturday in a qualifying session where the lap record was broken several times. It was Marquez's sixth pole of the season and the 72nd MotoGP pole of his career to go with his 14 poles in Moto2 and 14 more in the 125cc World Championship. "I'm super happy because it was a real pole position, it was without (using) the slipstreams, alone and just trying to find my limits," Marquez said. "The pace was not bad but (I have to) be patient because in the afternoon with a warm temperature, it can change everything. But at the moment we are there and ready to fight for the sprint and main race." Marquez initially took provisional pole when he slotted in behind his brother Alex and used the Gresini bike's slipstream to his advantage. As Alex crossed the line with the fastest time, Marc snatched top spot from him less than a second later with a lap record. Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo then broke the record but before he could celebrate, Marc's Italian team mate Francesco Bagnaia went even faster on his home track where he has won the last three Grands Prix. However, Marc had one more flying lap left in him and when the Spaniard crossed the line, he set a time of one minute and 44.169 seconds to pip Bagnaia to pole by 0.059 seconds. Alex will join them on the front row. "I tried everything in qualifying, Marc was in super shape and it's tough to beat him. I wanted to start on the front row and this was the best result in qualifying (for me) this season," Bagnaia said. Quartararo was only fourth fastest despite breaking the lap record and he will be joined on the second row by KTM's Maverick Vinales and VR46 Racing's Franco Morbidelli. (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
The Citizen
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Citizen
Brad Binder urges Red Bull KTM to ‘figure out things a little bit'
South African star could only earn one point is his last four MotoGP starts. Brad Binder admitted there is lots of room for improvement after another disappointing weekend at the British MotoGP. The Red Bull KTM rider left Silverstone with one point after crashing out of the sprint race and finishing the main race in 15th place. The solitary point is all Binder has to show for his last four starts, after crashing out twice at the French Grand Prix. Binder is still 14th in the title race on 34 points, a country mile behind leader Marc Marquez (196). Marx Marquez finished third at Silverstone behind Marco Bezzecchi and Johann Zarco to stretch his champions lead over this brother Alex Marquez to 24 points. No luck for Brad Binder Things could have turned out very differently for Binder had the main race not been red-flagged following a collision between Franco Morbidelli and Aleix Espargaro.. He made a great start to move from 19th on the grid to 12th as the Marquez brothers crashed out within the first three laps. The pair restarted on new bikes and Binder could not repeat his heroics at the second go and never ran higher than 12th. 'A tough weekend for us here in Silverstone. Qualifying was difficult. We didn't finish the sprint. And the race today was tough,' Binder told the KTM website. ALSO READ: VIDEO: Brad Binder's MotoGP Red Bull KTM RC16 from up close 'I got a good start before the red flag and didn't on the second start. I struggled with confidence and to know where I could push and where I couldn't. As soon as I started to feel okay then I would have some moments. It's hard at the moment. We need to figure things out a little bit and step-up for Aragon.' KTM loses more ground What should be of great concern to KTM is that other manufacturers are catching up with Ducati at a much faster rate than they are. Bezzecchi won for Aprilia, Zarco is on a Honda and Fabio Quartararo, who was on pole position and leading the race when he retired due to mechanical issues, rides for Yamaha. ALSO READ: Brad Binder: Sleeping at home and racing at Kyalami will be 'sick' Binder's team-mate Pedro Acosta did well to finish sixth from 14th place, but even he was very vocal about the KTM's struggles at the weekend. Ruché Moodley, who made his comeback after a hand injury, finished the Moto3 race in 20th place. Brad Binder's younger brother, Moto2 rider Darryn Binder, will only make his return from a hand injury at the Aragon Grand Prix in two weeks' time.
