The Red Bulletin F1 Special - The Austrian Grand Prix 2020 - 03

SUNDAY, 5 JULY, 2020

AN ALMOST INDEPENDENT F1 NEWSPAPER

JOCHEN RINDT

IT WAS 50 YEARS TODAY...

02 Gallery F1 Spielberg

POLE POSITION!

5 July, 2020 The Red Bulletin

After months of waiting, we finally got to see how the drivers and teams compare. Qualifying is only the first course before a feast of thrills in the race. Surprises are the dish of the day on Sunday, especially here at the Red Bull Ring. Seatbelts tight, visors down and get ready for action…

The gloves are off: Rivals Lewis Hamilton (P2) and third-placed Max Verstappen share a friendly handshake at the start of the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship.

Pole man: Despite his excursion into the gravel on his last lap, Valtteri Bottas is on pole position. It’ll be the third time the Finn has started P1 in Spielberg.

Charles Leclerc: Last year’s pole sitter could do no better than seventh place after a difficult Qualifying session for Ferrari.

The Red Bulletin 5 July, 2020

F1 Spielberg Gallery 03

GETTY IMAGES, SCUDERIA FERRARI, PICTUREDESK.COM

WERNER JESSNER

Strategic advantage in Styria: Because Max Verstappen used the harder tyre in Q2, he will start on them, saving the softer tyres for a charge later in the race.

In a hard-fought midfield, just six tenths of a second separated ex-Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo in P10 from his team-mate Esteban Ocon in P14

In safe hands with Scuderia AlphaTauri team boss: The Red Bulletin.

What Franz Tost doesn’t know yet is that he’ll be on the cover soon. Stay tuned!

Next to Max Verstappen in row two: McLaren’s Lando Norris scored the best Quali result of his career so far, surpassing his P5 at last year’s French Grand Prix.

04 Bullhorn F1 Spielberg

5 July, 2020 The Red Bulletin

PIT BITCH: HELEN PARADYCE

The Bitch Is Back, sang Elton John.

But during her time away F1 has changed, and Helen is not impressed...

I

can’t believe I’m back at a grand prix for the first time since the early 20-somethings. But when I got the call from the people at the Bulletin I felt myself engulfed in a cloud of nostalgia and Euros and just couldn’t say no.

For those who don’t know, I used to be a media centre regular in the days when the Bulletin was a daily paper specialising in paddock gossip and tittle tattle, much of it acquired though my guile and feminine charm. But eventually the Bulletin couldn’t manage it four times a weekend (twice on Sunday) and folded. Quite frankly, by then I’d had enough of all the inappropriate touching and sexual harassment – I mean, hardly a race went by without the Editor telling me he’d had yet another complaint from a mechanic or ingénu catering boy.

I did wonder if F1 might have got too serious for little ol’ me, so I did a bit of research and I was delighted to see the spirit of fun and humour is alive and well, with witty writers talking about Fernando Alonso making a comeback in 2021. Laugh? I almost fell off the bar stool. Next, you’ll be telling me Kimi Räikkönen is still racing. What’s that? You’re kidding!

I told the Editor I’d do the job on the condition that I get my usual day rate plus travel and expenses.

Because while F1 is capping costs, I’m in no position to do so. Who needs a cap anyway? These days the only contraception I need is to leave the lights on. Which is why I’ll be staying on after the Hungarian Grand Prix to get a 100,000km overhaul. I’m checking into the clinic of Dr Milos Zsolt’s Lightning Surgery and Discount Dental – a reputable plastic surgeon I found on Yelp. By the time I get to Silverstone, I’ll be 10kg lighter and look 15 years younger. Perhaps I’ll pass for a driver’s mum. And I have a twin sister so I’ll know what I looked like before the surgery.

I’ve also been boning up on all the F1 gossip since the rest of you came back from your Melbourne Mini-Break and, frankly, it’s all rather tedious, with stuff about cost reduction and aero handicaps.

People were even getting excited about watching a bunch of spotty teenagers – whom I later realised are some of the current crop of F1 drivers – live streaming virtual racing on Twitch. In my view the only things that should be done online are shopping and porn.

But then Ferrari waded in with actual news about Sebastian Vettel leaving. Be honest, because of this massively long intermission in the season, how many of you half expected to see Carlos Sainz in red and Daniel Ricciardo in papaya right from this race in Austria, forgetting that we still have the 2020 season to get through?

IMPRINT Editor-in-Chief Alexander Macheck Deputy Editors-in-Chief Justin Hynes, Werner Jessner Creative Director Erik Turek Art Directors Marion Bernert-Thomann, Miles English, Kasimir Reimann Head of Photography Eva Kerschbaum Production Editor Marion Lukas-Wildmann Managing Editor Ulrich Corazza Graphic Design Martina de ­Carvalho-Hutter, Kevin Goll Picture Editors Tahira Mirza, Rudi Übelhör General Manager & Publisher Andreas Kornhofer Managing Director Stefan Ebner Head of Media Sales & Partnerships Lukas Scharmbacher Project Management Bernhard Schmied, Sara Varming, Anna-Lucia Wilczek Executive Creative Director Markus Kietreiber Head of Production Veronika Felder Production Friedrich Indich, Walter O. Sádaba, Sabine Wessig Reproduction Clemens Ragotzky (Ltg.), Josef Mühlbacher Sub Editor Hans Fleissner (Ltg.), Petra Hannert, Paul Keith Printer 1a druck Judenburg, Aichfelder Druck Ges.m.b.H., A-8750 Judenburg Editorial office Heinrich-Collin-Straße 1, A-1140 Wien Tel +43 1 90221-0 Web redbulletin.com Publisher Red Bull Media House GmbH, Oberst-Lepperdinger-Straße 11–15, A-5071 Wals bei Salzburg, FN 297115i, Landesgericht Salzburg, ATU63611700 Chief Executive Officers Dkfm. Dietrich Mateschitz, Dietmar Otti, Christopher Reindl, Marcus Weber

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HELEN PARADYCE

Personally, I think it’d be great if Seb, always one of the brainier boys on the grid, simply walked away. So much better than seeing former superstars slowly sliding down the pecking order, until their real job is making some ‘paid for by daddy’ driver look good. The big winner here might well be Ricciardo, joining McLaren at the right time and, given the huge amount he pocketed from Renault, I’d suggest he drives for nothing… nothing except for that 30% of the team McLaren has hinted it might soon be selling.

I recall that the Osterreichring, as I still think of it, was quite simpatico with plenty going on. Oh dear, the contrast with this brave new world is quite shocking. Well, shocking to anyone who’s never been to the circuits in Shanghai or Sochi. Now I hear those two venues are threatening us with the offer of two races apiece.

To paraphrase Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “How do I hate thee?

Let me count the ways.” Or for those of you for whom 19th-century poetry is a step too far, I’ll quote legendary film mogul Samuel Goldwyn, who once turned down a business deal by declaring, “include me out”. I can’t say I feel much pity for the more tedious tracks we will no longer be visiting this year, but I do have some sympathy for the staff in their ticket offices, who must be having to deal with literally dozens of ticket refunds.

JONAS BERGSTRAND (COVER), YANN LEGENDRE

‘The big winner might be Ricciardo’

F1 Spielberg Sim Racing 05

The Red Bulletin 5 July, 2020

RACING FOR REAL RAGE QUITTING You’re out of the points, lapped and limping around in a damaged car that’s crashed more times than an overheated Xbox. Want to jump out, have a sulk and Tweet anonymously about your team-mate’s close relationship with alpacas?

Stop! This is your job. Get over it, you over-entitled snowflake! Plus, parking up in mid-corner might not be your greatest idea.

Drivers, you may have picked up a few bad habits while racing nothing but sims, but don’t worry, The Red Bulletin is here to help

MULTI-TASKING It’s lap 32 of the real Austrian Grand Prix and you’re engaged in a tense on-track fight for the lead, while also trying to manage some nasty graining on the left front. Unlike in the virtual world, now is not the time to take a phone call from your Mum. Wait until the race is over. But then don’t just send her a thumbs up emoticon – call your mother!

MOONLIGHTING It’s Friday morning and you’re strapped in the car ready for FP1. That’s when your team principal notices you’re snoring, having spent all of yesterday doing a virtual 24h race at the Nürburgring – solo.

Your dedication is to be commended – but you have to remember who’s paying the bills... and also that an F1 car doesn’t have wipers... or a co-driver to drive the quick stints.

MATT YOUSON

CRAIG ROBINSON

TRASH TALK Being a normal person, you’ve never resorted to casual bigotry online as if you’re a 12-year-old playing Call of Duty – but in moments of stress perhaps you might’ve said the odd rude thing to rival sim racers? Well, watch out!

It’s fine to say your teammate couldn’t drive a soapy stick up a dead dog’s backside from the comfort of your own home but not when you’re sat next to him during a debrief.

TORPEDO! Think it’s funny to take out the race leader who’s lapping you just before the chequered flag?

Well… it is – but only to someone with a juvenile mind set. Also, if you ‘Pagenaud’ a rival in the real world, you’ll have to walk back to your ready room past 50 large, angry men who’ve just seen you flush their win bonus down the toilet for a fun... think about that. Now, think about it some more...

RINGERS Sure, there are bits of your job you don’t like – but getting someone else to pretend to be you just isn’t a good idea. Ignore the moral argument, think about yourself! Do you really want to put the idea in your team principal’s head that you’re easily replaced by someone cheaper and more enthusiastic?

06 Interview F1 Spielberg

5 July, 2020 The Red Bulletin

TOUGH

TALKER GUENTHER STEINER’s expletive-laden rants on Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ have made him made a star far beyond the F1 paddock. But the Haas team principal couldn’t care less – he hasn’t even watched the series. That’s because his attention is focused on improving his team’s ratings

A

chance encounter in the Hockenheim paddock, back in 2014. “Hello Guenther. Haven’t seen you for a while. Are the rumours true?”

The question is met with a pirate’s smile, full of rogue-ish charm, and a pointed retort: “Why do you think I’m here?”

“Well, everyone says you’re coming back to F1 with a new team. Is that the case?”

“Well, we’re standing outside the bloody red motorhome, aren’t we?”

And with that bombshell, he was off, into the scarlet inner sanctum, for another in a series of meetings that would eventually deliver Haas F1 into grand prix racing at the start of 2016, running what was, in effect, a year-old Ferrari.

Building a team around another’s already proven car was a cunning ploy by team owner Gene Haas and

his team principal Steiner, the ex-Jaguar and Red Bull Racing man, who had latterly been viewing F1 from the USA, where he had resided after a spell running Red Bull’s NASCAR team.

The pair had worked out that F1’s rules allowed the purchase of almost an entire chassis from another constructor, plus its engine and gearbox, to serve as the platform for a separately constituted entry.

In an era of skyrocketing racing budgets, the strategy was sound and the cost, manpower and time saved through such an approach were vast, even if purists were offended by the notion of ‘off-the-shelf’ participation. But to hell with that: if the rulebook said ‘yes’, then that was the way to go and thus Haas F1 was born, thanks largely to Steiner’s street-smarts.

The feather-ruffling approach befitted a man whose endearingly abrasive style was as refreshing then as it is now. Indeed, the presence in F1 of a team boss so unguarded was a dream for paddock truthseekers – although until last year the earthy delights

HAAS F1 TEAM

Story by Tony Thomas

The Red Bulletin 5 July, 2020

F1 Spielberg Interview 07

‘I AM NOT HERE TO BE AN ACTOR, I’M HERE TO GET RESULTS’

08 Interview F1 Spielberg

5 July, 2020 The Red Bulletin

“THESE TWO DRIVERS ARE PART OF THE FURNITURE – AND WE LOVE THEM”

‘THIS HAS BEEN GOOD FOR F1...

AND I DON’T MEAN JUST BECAUSE OF ME!’

The Red Bulletin 5 July, 2020

HAAS F1 TEAM, MOTORSPORT IMAGES

“PEOPLE THINK WE ARE STARS BUT THIS IS ONLY OUR FIFTH SEASON”

Guenther Steiner’s F1 career stretches back to Red Bull Racing’s debut season in 2005 when he was the team’s Technical Director (far left, with former F1 driver Scott Speed).

After a spell in the US, his return to the sport as Team Principal of Haas F1 has coincided with the arrival of Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ series. The documentary has turned him into a star, though he says he has not watched the show.

of a back-of-the-garage chat with Guenther remained a pleasure reserved only for those within the select Formula 1 community.

Then came Netflix and the ‘Drive to Survive’ documentary series that bestowed on Guenther ‘swear jar’ Steiner unbidden celebrity. Sharply selfaware asides to camera vied for top billing in the Steiner script with volleys of stream-of-consciousness profanity and ego-puncturing home truths, all of which were caught on camera from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi across the 2018 season. An ‘approved parody’ Twitter account (@bantersteiner) followed almost instantly, with a self-issued ‘licence to swear’.

The F-bombs continued to drop throughout the series’ second season as the docu-drama charted the team’s troubled trajectory from a fifth-placed championship finish in 2018 to a dismal ninth last year. The nadir – or peak, depending on one’s point of view – of Haas’ 2019 campaign came after an ontrack collision between drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean at the British Grand Prix, which wiped both out.

“We have two f**king idiots driving for us,” Steiner raged. “This is not acceptable and we will make changes. If it were my decision now, I would sack them both…”

Steiner is not one to hide the intensity of race-day emotions behind a poker face, but in the wake of the paradigm shift of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team’s driver line-up is now the least of Steiner’s current concerns. “These guys are almost part of the furniture,” he laughs, “and honestly, even if you do make me think about it for a second, there is not a lot else going on that’s much better.

“Let’s go racing and then I’ll start to think about drivers. At the moment, we love them.”

However amusing Steiner’s salty banter may be, it should not be mistaken for bluster. No empty blowhard, Steiner, 55, is a hard-boiled motorsport engineer whose heart-on-his-sleeve intensity derives from a raging competitive spirit. As such, think of the expletives as a release valve for those moments when the pressure drives the needle deep into the red zone.

Regarding his Netflix notoriety, Steiner is phlegmatic, as befits an engineer – albeit one imbued with the quick passions of his Italian heritage: “I didn’t do it to get famous,” he says emphatically. “I am not here to be an actor. I am here to do a job for the team and to get results. If they want to film it, fine; but if not, also fine. I’m not here to be liked by everyone.

“Maybe people won’t believe me if I say I haven’t seen

F1 Spielberg Interview 09

either series – ask my wife – and the reason for that is if you see you yourself then maybe you behave differently… [there’s a pause for maximum comic effect…] Maybe I should!”

Maybe, yes, but more likely, no. For if Steiner is anything, he’s authentic and the very bluntness that made him a most unlikely Netflix idol has been fundamental to the appeal of ‘Drive to Survive’.

This, in turn, has helped Formula 1 reach new audiences unaccustomed to sitting still for two hours on a Sunday afternoon, but who have suddenly found themselves inexorably drawn in by the grand prix soap opera.

“A lot of people come to talk with me in places where you don’t expect them,” Steiner admits. “They just say, ‘Oh I’ve just seen you on Netflix – I didn’t even know that Formula 1 existed.’ Or maybe they knew it existed, but they would never watch it. So really this has been very good for F1 – and I don’t mean just because of me!”

Good for F1, and welcome, too, for the profile of Haas, which entered F1 without fanfare four seasons ago and stealthily worked their way up to that 2018 constructors’ fifth place, before last year’s slump.

“The exposure hasn’t helped us in any explicit commercial sense,” says Steiner, “those relationships take a very long time to build. But what it has done is to help establish Haas as a team. We are by far the youngest team in the championship but it seems like we’ve been there forever. It’s strange how some people think we are stars of the sport, but this will only be our fifth season.”

The packed calendars of contemporary F1 mean Haas have already racked up 83 race starts in those four seasons, ahead of this weekend’s 2020 seasonopener, placing them alongside starrier names such as Prost Grand Prix and right behind Jaguar (85), Honda (88) and BMW-Sauber (89).

“We must be doing something right then,” quips Steiner, who acknowledges that his team at last feels “stable”.

“I think we are pretty well established now and people have respect for what we are doing,” he adds.

“We have scored points every year and, you know, we are there. It’s not just like ‘I want to be there…’ We are fighting for points, we take points away from other people – although, as we’ve seen these past months, you never know what is around the corner.”

Steiner, like all his peers, is profoundly relieved to be going racing again in Austria, after a period during which Formula 1’s very existence had seemed under threat. But the ‘pandemic pause’ has at least offered a moment for reflection and a chance to review the cost-capped 2021 regulations that in theory should favour structurally lean operations such as Haas.

And according to Steiner, the latest agreed budget ceiling of $145m (falling to $135m by 2023) is likely to benefit all competitors.

“For us, it could be even lower,” he says, “but we have a compromise where everyone is a little bit happy. You have to respect the big teams as well. They have been built up over the past 15 years, so to ask them to go down to half of their budget in six months is quite brutal.

“But honestly, we should be in a much better place, with closer competition and more interest for everybody. It’s something to look forward to particularly for the fans.”

10 Magic Moments F1 Spielberg

5 July, 2020 The Red Bulletin

July 5th 1970 50 years ago today Jochen Rindt won the French Grand Prix and took the lead in the world championship for the first time. He wouldn’t relinquish that lead again, all the way to his tragic death in September

“I

t’s a monkey swing,” exclaimed Jochen Rindt, using a local expression for a rollercoaster ride – and he wasn’t talking about his car, the quick yet delicate and dangerous Lotus 72. He meant the Circuit de Charade, aka the Circuit ClermontFerrand – an eight-kilometre orgy of turns, inspired by the legendary Nürburgring.

Parts of the track are flanked by rock faces, others by concrete barriers and hardly any straights. It’s an amazing feat of engineering that snakes its way

through ancient volcanic peaks of the Massif Central rising 150 metres from the lowest to the highest points. When Rindt raced there in the 1969 French Grand Prix, he complained of feeling sick as he tackled this big-dipper of a track.

The “madman with a broken nose”, as his contemporaries had nicknamed him, was dreading the 1970 French GP. Two weeks previously, his friend Piers Courage had died in an accident in the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort and the following weekend, French rookie Jean-Luc Salomon met the same fate in

JONAS BERGSTRAND

Words WERNER JESSNER

The Red Bulletin 5 July, 2020

F1 Spielberg Magic Moments 11 Triple threat: The Lotus 72, team principal Colin Chapman (left) and lead driver Jochen Rindt.

a Formula 3 race in Rouen. In those days, it was rumoured that the drivers’ wives never left for a race without first packing a black dress.

These were the most dangerous years in motorsport history. By today’s standards, the tracks beggar belief with the absence of run-off sections, guardrails and soft Armco barriers. In this regard, Clermont-Ferrand was one of the worst. The lack of kerbs created a danger to the drivers who cut corners by driving over the grass with their inside wheels, much like a rally driver.

“Cutting”, as it was known, churned up stones which turned into missiles for oncoming drivers. In 1972, Helmut Marko lost an eye, which ended his driving career.

In 1970, Rindt was slightly luckier when one of the stones hit him just above the lip, causing a cut on his cheek that needed four stitches to close. Given the ever present threat of debris, why wasn’t Rindt wearing a full-face helmet, rather than an open-faced helmet with a mask and goggles? It was a calculated risk: the Austrian was more concerned about motion

12 Magic Moments F1 Spielberg

5 July, 2020 The Red Bulletin

Double jeopardy: The combination of a twisty track and stones thrown up by the cars made Charade a dangerous test.

Jochen Rindt (left) was injured by a flying rock.

‘If this happens again and I survive, I will kill you all!’ a two-hour race, the V12s would run out of fuel and the less thirsty Ford Cosworth V8-engine in the Lotus wouldn’t.

Even though he had been proved right, Rindt was still furious with his boss because his steering column had broken in practice and the Austrian had only just managed to avoid a serious accident.

This was the weekend when he famously said, “If this happens again and I survive, I’m going to kill you all!” Helmut Zwickl, the doyen of Austrian motorsport journalism, was on hand and recorded it for posterity.

Niki Lauda was famous for being blunt, but the same was true of Rindt – only more so. He may have been leading the world championship but he was fearful for his life. And things didn’t get any easier after that.

Next up was the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. The inveterate risk-taker Chapman would pull out all the stops to win Lotus’s home race. But that’s another story.

MOTORSPORT IMAGES, GETTY

sickness and reasoned that if he had to vomit, an open helmet would be much more comfortable. It really was a different era.

Arriving in France, defending world champion Jackie Stewart of Tyrrell was leading the title race ahead of Rindt and the veteran Jack Brabham in his own team’s BT33 car.

Belgium’s Jacky Ickx in the Ferrari V12 took pole at Charade, half a second ahead of Frenchman Jean-Pierre Beltoise in the Matra MS120, much to the disappointment of the local fans who had flocked in their thousands to the fields around the track and who were often only separated from the drivers by a rock face or a stretch of grass.

Rindt qualified in sixth place, a second and a half off the pace. It wasn’t down to his driving, however, but more the simple fact that his eight cylinder power unit didn’t have the grunt of his rivals’ 12-cylinder engines.

There was a gladiatorial mood at ClermontFerrand but this time not a single driver was thrown off the rollercoaster ride. For once, there was no need for the wives to unpack any of those black dresses.

Instead, the race was determined by a host of technical failures. Ickx’s engine packed up. Dodgy electrics cost Stewart valuable time and Beltoise was quick but had to coast into the pits to refuel shortly before the end of the race.

Rindt strode forward to win his third grand prix of the year on a track he hated – ahead of Chris Amon and Jack Brabham.

Colin Chapman was probably the happiest that day. The Lotus team principal had predicted that in

F1 Spielberg Magic Moments 13

The Red Bulletin 5 July, 2020

‘Like war reporters’ Journalist Helmut Zwickl recalls Rindt’s French Grand Prix weekend in 1970

While innovative and fast, the Lotus 72 was also dangerously fragile.

To the victor, the spoils: Jochen Rindt left the French Grand Prix a winner and the new leader of the Formula 1 World Championship.

W

hat was it like for journalists working in Formula 1 in 1970?

It was an adventure.

I shared a car with the photographer Alois Rottensteiner. We drove all the way from Vienna to Clermont-Ferrand without taking a break. It took 16 hours. Maybe more.

We knew, of course, how dangerous the circuit was.

It was a mini Nürburgring.

Deaths were commonplace during those years. Did people just accept them as part of the sport?

Yes, we were like war reporters. It felt as if someone died at every other race. Before the editor of the sports section of the Kurier newspaper went on holiday, he left two obituaries for Formula 1 drivers with the editorial department: one if they died in a fire, the other if they didn’t.

We would just have to fill in the names.

How did Rindt deal with that?

You could see he was under a lot of pressure. He knocked the camera out of Alois’s hand in ClermontFerrand because he didn’t want to be photographed with a fish-eye lens. “I

look stupid,” he said. But he apologised afterwards.

The interaction between racing drivers and the media was quite different back then.

Did Rindt have that natural authority at the time that we ascribe to him now?

As Jim Clark’s successor at Lotus, he could afford to take some liberties, even with team principal Colin Chapman. When his steering broke in practice, he summoned the whole Lotus team and tore a strip off them. Chapman stood there very quietly. The atmosphere at Lotus that year was electrifying.

Because Rindt had seen what was possible that year?

Exactly. He’d already won at Monaco and Zandvoort.

He said Lotus would either make him a world champion or kill him. As it turned out, it did both.

What were his emotions like after he won in France?

I would say it was relief combined with a degree of satisfaction. He knew how good he was. The most important thing was that he’d got to the finish line in one piece. That time, at least.

14 Pitstop F1 Spielberg

5 July, 2020 The Red Bulletin

What’s the most extravagant thing you’ve ever bought?

Probably a home simulator.

Which driver do you most want to go wheel-to-wheel with?

Lewis Hamilton.

If you had your choice of another motorsport series or discipline to compete in, what would it be?

I think it would be cool to try IndyCar. What was your favourite toy as a child?

Any video game!

The coolest hotel you’ve ever stayed in?

The Atlantis, Bahamas. As a kid it was so cool with the water slides, lazy river, arcades.

Racing wise, I’ve always been a fan of the hotel at Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi. The vibe of it on a race weekend is awesome.

Country you’d most like to visit?

Singapore. I’ve heard great things.

What’s your worst habit?

I have a lot of these! The biggest one I’d say is… procrastination.

You’re ordering take-out, what do you go for?

When I’m in the UK and being healthy, I’ll get a big salad bowl with eggs, chicken, chickpeas, vegetables, and loads of other stuff.

What are you scared of?

Spiders and snakes.

Best book you’ve ever read?

‘Can’t Hurt Me’. It’s an autobiography by an ex-Navy Seal called David Goggins.

Have you ever seen a ghost?

I’ve never seen a ghost but I’m still convinced when I was six years old I saw Santa Claus!!

Toughest opponent you’ve come across on the road to F1?

There’s been quite a few. I’ve raced against so many guys on the current F1 grid like Esteban, Max, Alex and George, so I’d say all those guys.

What’s the best advice anyone’s given you?

Find what you love and any work you have to do to achieve that won’t feel like work.

WILLIAMS, GETTY IMMAGES, GETTY PREMIUM

What was the last thing you watched on Netflix?

I’m watching ‘The Last Dance’ (a documentary about Michael Jordan’s final NBA season).

What was the first car you owned?

BMW M3.

What car(s) do you own now?

I don’t currently own a car!

Favourite musician/band?

Drake.

The last thing you listened to on Spotify?

My chillout playlist, which is a lot of hip-hop, rap and R’n’B. What are your hobbies away from the track?

Working out, gaming, chilling with friends.

If you could do any job in the world, apart from being racing driver, what would it be?

If it was still sport, it would be pretty cool to play in the NBA! If non-sports, I would have probably joined the family business and worked with my dad.

When did you first realise you wanted to be a racing driver?

I would say… To pursue it professionally, probably not until I was 16.

If you had a time-travelling DeLorean, when and where would you want it to take you?

One of my big regrets was leaving school to do online home schooling. In hindsight, I’d rather have finished high school while still racing – if possible.

Your best race to date?

The Formula 2 Feature Race in Bahrain 2019.

[Nicholas’s first Feature Race win in the category].

Where do you keep your trophies?

They’re all over! All of my karting and early car trophies are in Toronto, I have some in my flat in London and all of my F2 trophies are still with DAMS! They’re going to send them to me.

There are over 20, though, so there’s a lot!

What’s your favourite movie?

‘Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame’.

It’s kind of like one big movie.

Do you have any pets?

We have two golden doodles. One is a puppy and one is 11. They’re called Simba and Kenzo.

JUSTIN HYNES

The only rookie on the grid will this weekend become the 13th Canadian driver to make an F1 start. Here’s hoping it’s lucky 13 for the Williams man who confesses to not even owning a road car!

FULL OF WIIINGS. FREE OF SUGAR.

RBATSE-00002 Keyvisual ED + SF Anzeige EN 202x287+5_l2.indd 1

19.06.20 16:59

16 Grid shootout F1 Spielberg

5 July, 2020 The Red Bulletin

QUALIFYING RESULTS Q1 DRIVER

TEAM

TIME

1 MAX VERSTAPPEN

RED BULL RACING-HONDA

1:04.024

2 VALTTERI BOTTAS

MERCEDES

EDES 3 LEWIS HAMILTON MERC 4 LANCE STROLL

RACING POINT-MERCEDES

ARI 5 CHARLES LECLERC FERR 6 CARLOS SAINZ MCLA

REN-RENAULT

+0.087

Max Verstappen: Is the only top driver starting on medium tyres.

+0.174 +0.285 +0.476

Q2

+0.513 +0.519

DRIVER

TEAM

ARI 8 SEBASTIAN VETTEL FERR

+0.530

1 VALTTERI BOTTAS

MERCEDES 1:03.015

ULT 9 DANIEL RICCIARDO RENA

+0.532

2 LEWIS HAMILTON

MERCEDES

+0.081

ATAURI-HONDA 10 PIERRE GASLY ALPH REN-RENAULT 11 LANDO NORRIS MCLA RED BULL RACING-HONDA 12 ALEX ALBON

+0.579

3 ALEX ALBON

RED BULL RACING-HONDA

+0.731

+0.582

4 LANDO NORRIS MCLAREN -RENAULT

+0.804

+0.637

5 SERGIO PEREZ

RACING POINT-MERCEDES

+0.845

+0.909

6 LANCE STROLL

RACING POINT-MERCEDES

+0.940

7 SERGIO PEREZ

RACING POINT-MERCEDES

ULT 13 ESTEBAN OCON RENA ATAURI-HONDA +1.007 14 DANIIL KVYAT ALPH +1.070 -FERRARI 15 ROMAIN GROSJEAN HAAS +1.140 FERRARI 16 KEVIN MAGNUSSEN HAAS+1.143 IAMS-MERCEDES 17 GEORGE RUSSELL WILL +1.151 ROMEO-FERRARI 18 ANTONIO GIOVINAZZI ALFA +1.200 ALFA ROMEO-FERRARI 19 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN +1.733 IAMS-MERCEDES 20 NICHOLAS LATIFI WILL

TIME

7 CARLOS SAINZ MCLAREN -RENAULT

+0.956

8 MAX VERSTAPPEN

+0.985

RED BULL RACING-HONDA

9 DANIEL RICCIARDO RENAULT

+1.008

10 CHARLES LECLERC FERRARI

+1 .026

11 SEBASTIAN VETTEL FERRARI

+1 .1 9 1

12 PIERRE GASLY ALPHATAURI-HONDA

+1.290

13 DANIIL KVYAT ALPHATAURI-HONDA +1 . 4 16 14 ESTEBAN OCON RENAULT

+1 .628

15 ROMAIN GROSJEAN HA AS-FERRARI

+1 .676

POLE

POSITION

Q3 DRIVER

TEAM

TIME

1 VALTTERI BOTTAS

MERCEDES

1:02.939

2 LEWIS HAMILTON

MERCEDES

+0.012

3 MAX VERSTAPPEN

RED BULL RACING-HONDA

+0.538

4 LANDO NORRIS

MCLAREN-RENAULT +0.687

5 ALEX ALBON

RED BULL RACING-HONDA

+0.929

6 SERGIO PEREZ

RACING POINT-MERCEDES

+0.929

7 CHARLES LECLERC

FERRARI +0.984

8 CARLOS SAINZ

MCLAREN-RENAULT +1.032

9 LANCE STROLL

RACING POINT-MERCEDES

10 DANIEL RICCIARDO

RENAULT +1.300

+1.090

Missing out: Sebastian Vettel dropped out of the top 10 in the second session.

GETTY IMAGES, REUTERS, MERCEDES-BENZ

VALTTERI BOTTAS