F1 Red Bull bosses Formula E Emotional F2 Brit Russell storms demand apology Vergne moves closer to victory after from Daniel and Max to the crown heartache BRITAIN’S BEST MOTORSPORT WEEKLY MAY 3 2018 Lewis lucks in... …as Baku Bullfight turns nasty How Red Bull implosion handed Vettel’s race to Hamilton PLUS WEC PREVIEW 10PAGE GUIDE .#753NG.05-L#?K#3#&G7JG0AG.#05G#@#AG%O< = H" I F866D H 0/ 88+ I CB=H49- :,=I D8OO24; B$=+49- :H=C D8OO24; B,=H49- :H=$ D8OO24; I #40AA075A 66-D24= '#@ K30! J5G03 8 J3N IO8$ G 9@G009G05- !#3#@A 753N= @0KG# @#G03 JAG74#@A 753N= 055# 9@7K0!#! 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L#G.#@ 75!0G075A 4N '#G G.# 7(03 @#AJ3GA=; 5&7@4G075 7@@#G G G04# 7& 9@05G= 7!#3 A.7GA A.7L5 @# &7@ 033JAG@G075 9J@97A#A 753N= 0AA5 7G7@ :; G! .#0K#@A(#@2 #5.4N 0245AL7@G. #@G&7@!A.0@#H6= CONTENTS GALLOWAY/SUTTON IMAGES GALLOWAY/SUTTON COVER IMAGES Sutton Images; Mauger/LAT PIT+PADDOCK 4 Can Wehrlein use DTM for F1 return? 6 Radical new Rally GB route AN ALTERNATIVE 9 F1 technical focus 11 F1 column: Edd Straw TAKE ON THE 12 F1 column: Adam Cooper 13 Feedback: your letters F1 TITLE FIGHT RACE CENTRE 14 COVER STORY What a crazy start to the Formula 1 season we’re having. Azerbaijan GP report and analysis You could easily argue that all four of the 2018 grands prix 30 Vergne closes on Formula E crown held so far have been won by the ‘wrong’ driver. 36 Tanak dominates Rally Argentina It’s dangerous to make assumptions, but without the safety-car 42 Cook makes BTCC point at Donington interventions and strategic blunders the world championship 46 World of Sport: Formula 2; WTCR; standings would look rather dif erent. Lewis Hamilton would have World Rallycross; NASCAR Cup won in Australia, Valtteri Bottas could have won in Bahrain and INSIGHT WEC PREVIEW should have been victorious in China, while Sebastian Vettel 50 Can anyone stop Toyota in LMP1? probably deserved to win in Azerbaijan last weekend. 54 Maldonado’s LMP2 challenge If the races had gone this way, the drivers’ world championship 56 BMW’s return with the M8 GTE would be even closer than it is now. As it stands, Hamilton leads 58 Q&A: Pierre Fillon and Gerard Neveu on 70 points, with Vettel second on 66. Kimi Raikkonen is third CLUB AUTOSPORT on 48, with Bottas next on 40. But in the alternative scenario 70 O’Connell in ATS for Monaco attack outlined above, Vettel would be leading on 76, Bottas would be 72 Dean calls for LMP3-GT Cup merger second on 72 – arguably a fairer refl ection of his ef orts in the 74 Early TVR to get back on track tricky Mercedes W09 so far – with Hamilton only third on 67. 75 Club debate: points for passes Bottas would be right to feel a little aggrieved so far, particularly 76 National reports: Donington Park; after his late tyre failure on Sunday (above). Rockingham; Brands Hatch Of course, motorsport is full of ifs and buts, and the fact that FINISHING STRAIGHT Hamilton leads the points despite not currently driving at his 84 What’s on this week best is ominous for the rest. But it’s good to know that there 87 Top five world sportscar winners would be a good championship fi ght this season even without 88 From the archive: 1959 Le Mans the random elements that have made the races entertaining so far. 90 Pit your wits against our quiz Joining that fi ght could be Red Bull duo Daniel Ricciardo and SUBSCRIPTION OFFER Max Verstappen, but only if they can avoid the sort of calamity 91 Subscribe for £1 for first six weeks that ruined their races in Baku. Although Ricciardo has to take and get a FREE F1 print worth £40 responsibility for the contact that put both out of the race, before then we had seen several examples of Verstappen once again overstepping the mark. The team was right to criticise both. FOR OTHER WAYS TO READ AUTOSPORT VISIT AUTOSPORT.COM [email protected] MAY 3 2018 AUTOSPORT.COM 3 DTM 2018 CALENDAR May 5-6 Hockenheim (D) May 19-20 Lausitz (D) OPINION O June 2-3 Hungaroring (H) July 14-15 Zandvoort (NL) August 11-12 Brands Hatch GP (GB) August 25-26 Misano (I) September 9-10 Nurburgring (D) September 22-23 Red Bull Ring (A) October 13-14 Hockenheim (D) CONTROVERSY CAN WEHRLEIN USE TINTO O DTM year,” he said. “We tried with Williams, but it didn’t work. Of course I was hoping The DTM kicks of this weekend at for it. Now it’s a new challenge for me Hockenheim, and much of the focus will with DTM. I’ve been three years there, be on 2015 champion Pascal Wehrlein but now for two years I haven’t driven DEBATE as he returns to the Mercedes tin-top a touring car, and it’s a big challenge. O fold after two seasons in Formula 1. “It’s the last season of Mercedes in This is the final year for Mercedes in the DTM, and many things have changed. The DTM before it turns its focus to Formula E. cars are diferent – they don’t have tyre So this represents just one opportunity for blankets anymore, and you’re driving out Wehrlein to get back to winning form after with cold tyres. And I’ve only had two days two inconclusive years in F1 with Manor in the car before the first race. I want to and Sauber, and reboot his stalled career. win races again – I was missing this There is no doubt that expectations are feeling in the last two years – and high within the Mercedes camp heading my expectations are high, of course.” ANALYSIS ANALYSIS to Hockenheim. “I want him to win Mercedes has given him an F1 lifeline in O on Saturday, win on Sunday, lead the the form of a reserve-driver role, shared championship on Monday!” the marque’s with Formula 2 star George Russell. If sports boss Toto Wolf told Autosport. there is an F2 race on the schedule, Russell “It’s not easy, but he performed well in the will be the reserve that weekend, and if tests, his impact in the team was great, there is not – and that means most of the NEWS people in the team were happy. Now flyaway races – Wehrlein will be present. we just have to see how it all starts.” He is also doing a lot of running in the Wehrlein arrived in F1 with Manor F1 team’s Brackley simulator. in 2016 amid much fanfare, and he was “My target this year is just focusing on clearly positioned by Mercedes as its DTM, and travelling to at least half of the potential homegrown superstar. There were some good performances, but the consensus was that he did not do enough “MY TARGET WAS F1 relative to his team-mates. Esteban Ocon THIS YEAR. WE TRIED leapfrogged him as the man most likely to one day race for the works team, and WITH WILLIAMS, BUT Mercedes had nowhere to place him in ’18. “Definitely my target was to be in F1 this IT DIDN’T WORK” 4 AUTOSPORT.COM MAY 3 2018 Button joins Russians for Le Mans 24H WEC The World Endurance Championship has a new star signing to go with Toyota driver Fernando Alonso. Fellow ex-Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button will make his debut in the series at the Le Mans 24 Hours.