F1 Crunch time for GP3 The Brits set to WEC Alonso takes McLaren in Spain battle for the crown victory on debut BRITAIN’S BEST MOTORSPORT WEEKLY MAY 10 2018 We need to talk about Max OAngered Lewis OCrashed into Vettel OAnnoyed his own team PLUS TRACK TEST WE DRIVE A WORLD TITLE WINNER %22. 7,&.(76 )520 $7 63(('0$&+,1(&20 1((+%+#. 5722.+'4 1((+%+#. .7$4+%#06 2#460'4 CONTENTS COVER IMAGES GEPA pictures/Red Bull Content Pool; JEP/LAT PIT+PADDOCK 4 Crucial McLaren upgrades ready to go 6 Miami reveals F1 street circuit 8 Aston Martin eyes LMP1 project 11 Spanish Grand Prix preview 13 F1 column: Edd Straw 14 WEC column: Gary Watkins 17 Feedback: your letters INSIGHT SUTTON/SUTTON IMAGES SUTTON/SUTTON 18 COVER STORY Time for Verstappen to throttle back CAN VERSTAPPEN 26 GP3 preview: the battle of the ARTists 30 Euro F3 preview: can a rookie win? FIX THE FLAWS THAT 34 Volvo S60 WTCC track test ARE HURTING HIM? RACE CENTRE 40 Alonso wins on WEC debut at Spa 46 Max Verstappen very nearly topped Autosport’s Top 50 drivers of World of Sport: MotoGP; DTM; Super GT; Blancpain Sprint; IMSA; 2017, only losing out to world champion Lewis Hamilton thanks Australian Supercars; NASCAR Cup; to the Mercedes driver’s superb form after the summer break. European GT4 We all expected a lot from the young Dutchman this year, and so did he, which is perhaps part of the reason why he now fi nds CLUB AUTOSPORT himself in something of a rut. It’s remarkable to note that he is 64 Extra enduro for bumper C1 entry 66 currently bottom of Autosport’s 2018 Formula 1 driver ratings BTCC racer Price joins TCR UK field 68 after serious errors in all four grands prix so far. Hamilton reunited with Le Mans Aston 69 Club column: Matt Kew This is not to say he can’t live up to the hype – we’ve already seen 70 National reports: Donington Park; enough to know that the three-time F1 winner is a potential future Silverstone; Knockhill; Castle Combe world champion. But, as Edd Straw shows in his cover interview with Red Bull boss Christian Horner, Verstappen needs to show FINISHING STRAIGHT an ability (or, perhaps, the humility) to learn from his mistakes. 78 Have-a-go hero and what’s on 80 If he can, then he and team-mate Daniel Ricciardo should be From the archive: 1971 Can-Am 82 formidable Red Bull-shaped thorns in the sides of Mercedes Pit your wits against our quiz and Ferrari this year and beyond. SUBSCRIPTION OFFER McLaren has looked a long way from fulfi lling that role for some 83 Subscribe for £1 for first six weeks years. A lot has been made of the upgrades to the MCL33, due to and get a FREE F1 print worth £40 arrive at this weekend’s Spanish GP (see page 4). It would be great for F1 if Fernando Alonso, fresh from his fi rst car-racing victory in fi ve years at Spa’s World Endurance Championship opener last weekend, FREE INSIDE could once again mix it with Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. But in reality, if McLaren can simply move to the front of the midfi eld pack that would show progress. There’s probably a long way to go before ENGINEERING SUPPLEMENT it can really challenge the Big Three for regular victories. Why Formula E is so tough and the regulations conundrum facing the sport are two of the key themes explored in this issue. [email protected] MAY 10 2018 AUTOSPORT.COM 3 OPINION O DUNBAR CONTROVERSY O McLAREN: ‘REAL’ CAR, NEW FORMULA 1 producing new parts is behind that delay. “We’re running with an evolution of last McLaren has promised that its ‘real’ year and not the new car,” said Boullier in DEBATE 2018 car will make its debut at the China. He then downplayed hopes when O Spanish Grand Prix this weekend, raising talking about the expected step in expectations that the team will turn Azerbaijan at the end of April. around a season that has started poorly. “There is a new direction starting from While McLaren has met its pre-season Barcelona, and you cannot expect to jump expectations by being fourth in the everybody,” he said. “Everybody is bringing constructors’ championship, that’s a a package, especially for the first European Band-Aid covering the deep wound caused races. Monaco will be another upgrade, by a car that has not been competitive Canada will be another upgrade and enough. On average, the McLaren is only Silverstone as well. It is every race.” ANALYSIS ANALYSIS the seventh fastest car of 2018, and owes McLaren has struggled for pace in O its lofty championship position to a run of qualifying trim in particular, and has seven out of eight possible points finishes. regularly been at the bottom of the speed Given that its performance on raw pace traps. This is partly down to the car is almost identical to that of last season, carrying a little too much drag, but it despite the change from Honda to Renault is also understood that the gear ratios NEWS propulsion, it’s no surprise that technical selected for the season are contributing director Tim Goss has been moved to that. F1’s technical regulations mean aside as part of what racing director teams can select only eight forward Eric Boullier describes as an “ongoing ratios, which are frozen for the season. investigation and restructuring”. McLaren’s relatively healthy points tally Comments by Boullier at last month’s Chinese GP raised hopes for a dramatic turnaround in Spain, when he said “MAYBE THE GAP the specification of car that was originally REMAINS AS IT IS, WE planned for Australia would be introduced there. A combination of troubleshooting RECOVER A BIT, OR pre-season reliability problems and some overambitious schedules for signing of and WE LOSE GROUND” Birmingham aiming for FE ‘Superprix’ FORMULA E The Mayor of the West Midlands 2018 PACE RANKING Andy Street says he is in “advanced” negotiations with Formula E about 1 Ferrari 100.205% organising a street race that would 2 Mercedes 100.237% revive the Birmingham Superprix. 3 Red Bull 100.639% The race would form part of FE’s 2018-19 season, the first to feature 4 Renault 101.704% the series’ new Gen2 cars. 5 Haas 101.949% Street pledged to host a street race 6 Force India 102.129% in Birmingham as part of his May 2017 election manifesto. The Birmingham 7 McLaren 102.519% Superprix was a Formula 3000 round 8 Toro Rosso 102.907% (below) that took place between 9 Williams 103.255% 1986-90 using roads around the south of the city centre. Sauber 10 103.404% “Over the last year, we have been in negotiations with the organisers of the Based on taking each team’s fastest single lap of each weekend, FIA Formula E Championship about expressed as a percentage of the bringing a road race to Birmingham, outright fastest and averaged efectively reviving the Superprix,” over the four grands prix so far said Street. “We are now in the advanced stages of these negotiations. “Like many Brummies, I remember the original Superprix fondly. Photos and footage from those events have HOPE, SAME RESULTS? become almost part of folklore and remind us of how those events thrust the city firmly into the spotlight. of 36 is largely down to Fernando Alonso’s sights on catching Red Bull. During the “So much of the engineering that strong performances and the ability second race weekend in Bahrain, Alonso goes into the cars already used in of the team to execute races well. A suggested he wasn’t thinking about the Formula E racing comes from the West McLaren has yet to reach Q3 in 2018, midfield and instead was focused on joining Midlands, it makes perfect sense we and Alonso’s season-best fifth-place the big three. This now seems ludicrously should be hosting such events. If we finish in Australia was assisted by the optimistic, and McLaren’s objective now are successful in concluding the deal, timing of the virtual safety car. must be to try to climb to the front of this Formula E race will take place “Definitely not an easy start, especially the midfield as the season progresses. next summer on a route similar to on Saturdays,” said Alonso of the season. Not only will major technical- the one used in the original Superprix. “On Sundays, we did score a lot of points. department changes be disruptive, but it “Of course, there is still work to do. In Barcelona, there is a new aero package will also be a long time before they deliver Birmingham City Council have been coming, but I think 95% of the paddock is improved performance. That’s what makes supportive in our discussions and we bringing a new aero package so maybe the the Barcelona upgrade significant, if it can are working towards a deal based on gap remains as it is, or we just recover a at least work as hoped, correlate well with commercial sponsorship.” little bit or we lose more ground. Who the of-track expectations and ensure the FE evaluated adding a race in knows? It’s up to us to make that package team has something to work with. Birmingham to the end of the current work to expectations and hopefully some That it proves McLaren is working season’s calendar in place of the others don’t deliver – that is our hope.” in the right direction is almost more cancelled double-header in Montreal, Realistically, it’s diicult to see a important than the overall performance but the championship was eventually dramatic transformation in McLaren’s step.