Surface Engineering Coatings Decorative Finishing Engineering Consultancy Specialist surface engineering solutions Sandwell are world leaders in surface engineering, offering a wide range of innovative solutions to help you meet your engineering challenges. Whether it involves specialist shot peening, bead blasting, specialised coatings or even decorative inishing, our team of experts can provide the right solution for you. Contact us today to see how we can help improve performance and durability of your components. Sandwell UK Ltd, 2 Foundry Place, Towcester, Northamptonshire NN12 6FP Telephone: +44 (0) 1327 350205 Email: [email protected] www.sandwell-uk.com CONTENTS PERFORMANCE LE MANS 24 FREE SUPPLEMENT The battle to Are you smarter than an F1 driver? defeat Toyota BRITAIN’S BEST MOTORSPORT WEEKLY JUNE 14 2018 £3.99 CANADIAN GP SHOCK “WE HAVE TO WAKE UP” Why Vettel TOTO WOLFF is now in PLUS Bird keeps Formula E title fight alive charge Neuville pips Ogier on final Rally Italy stage Ferrari ace wins New BTCC winner at ‘Hamilton’s’ before BMW takes over circuit COVER IMAGES Mauger/LAT Images, Lord Photography PIT+PADDOCK MAUGER 4 World Rallycross goes electric for 2020 6 Renault gives Red Bull an ultimatum 8 Motor racing returns to Switzerland 11 F1 technical focus ADVANTAGE VETTEL 12 In the paddock: Edd Straw 13 Feedback: your letters AND FERRARI AT A RACE CENTRE 14 COVER STORY ‘HAMILTON’ TRACK Canadian GP report and analysis 30 Vettel’s 50 Formula 1 triumphs Few people expected that, particularly Mercedes. On a 34 Formula E: di Grassi takes Swiss victory power-hungry circuit where Lewis Hamilton has won six 38 Neuville snatches late Rally Italy win times, Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel were dominant last weekend. 43 World of Sport: World Rallycross; Not only did Vettel’s 50th Formula 1 victory put him back NASCAR Cup; IndyCar into the lead of the drivers’ standings – by a single point – but 46 BTCC: Turkington takes charge it also showed that Mercedes is still not on top of its troubles, particularly with the softer Pirelli tyre compounds, though INSIGHT Hamilton’s weekend was also compromised by an old engine. 50 Le Mans: battle of the LMP1 privateers The gaps in qualifying demonstrated how close the top three CLUB AUTOSPORT teams currently are. Just 0.173 seconds covered the best laps 64 Champ Morris makes British GT return from Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull, while sixth-placed Daniel 66 New GT3 Aston to debut at Le Mans Ricciardo was 0.352s of pole. That promised a good race, but 68 National reports: Oulton Park; last Sunday’s event will not go down as one of Montreal’s fi nest. Silverstone; Brands Hatch; Dull Monaco GPs are never really a surprise, but Canada often Rockingham; Mallory Park; throws up an entertaining spectacle. It didn’t this time, as many Mondello Park fans pointed out, but a balanced response is necessary. FINISHING STRAIGHT There have been some good races this year – the Chinese GP 80 What’s on this week in particular – and F1 has rarely provided wheel-to-wheel battles 82 Pit your wits against our quiz throughout a season. But it’s also true to say that the current cars, which are among the fastest in F1 history, do not encourage SUBSCRIPTION OFFER overtaking. ‘Dirty air’ has been a problem for more than two 83 Subscribe for £1 for first six weeks and get a 2018 Mercedes F1 hat decades and is not as easy to fi x as it fi rst appears, but F1 has at least accepted there is a problem by looking at rules tweaks for 2019, ahead of the big regulation changes in ’21. Overtaking is unlikely to be such a problem at Le Mans this FREE INSIDE weekend, thanks to the long straights of the Circuit de la Sarthe. Following our bumper preview last week, in this issue Gary Watkins looks at the LMP1 privateers chasing Toyota PERFORMANCE SUPPLEMENT (page 50) and outlines why he thinks an LMP2 car Improving your has a real chance of an overall win. WIN mental agility, Spa 24 Hours A TRACKDAY memories and AT SPA FOR TWO a Cadwell Park guide are all AUTOSPORT COMPETITION WHY F1 DRIVERS ARE part of the For your chance to sample the SMARTER THAN YOU THINK latest Autosport Belgian Grand Prix venue, AND HOW WE COMPARED TO ONE head to the Performance Performance. [email protected] supplement JUNE 14 2018 AUTOSPORT.COM 3 OPINION O CONTROVERSY WORLD RALLYCROSS GO O WORLD RALLYCROSS the possible 2020 switch last August. “I’m excited to drive an electric car in that World Rallycross champions Petter specification, with that type of power and a Solberg and Mattias Ekstrom have voiced lot of torque,” said the Swede. “I think the their support for the series’ switch to noise thing is what the spectators get most DEBATE electric cars in 2020, after the move worried about. As a driver I don’t think it O was oicially approved by the FIA will change my life, because in the car you World Motor Sport Council last week. don’t hear it anyway. I think there will be Both Solberg and Ekstrom won the ways [for spectators] to enjoy it, because World RX title driving for their own I think the show on the track will be even teams, which are now supported by more crazy than today. If the racing gets Volkswagen and Audi respectively, two of better and you have more competition, the marques to have publicly cited interest more guys fighting for the win, I think in signing up to the electric WRX. people will not complain once they have “I’m very positive about it – I think they seen it. I would at least give it a chance.” ANALYSIS ANALYSIS are finding a good system that will work Entries will remain restricted to two-car O for many manufacturers,” Solberg told teams, eligible to compete for drivers’ and Autosport. “It’s the only way to go. We manufacturers’ titles, but the makes are have to look forward to the future. Maybe expected to run multiple cars through not everything is positive, the [lack of] separate two-car teams (like in the DTM), noise people say, but I only have positive with the top four cars from each make NEWS feelings with it, to be honest with you.” scoring manufacturers’ points at events. Nine manufacturers have been involved Solberg has not ruled out continuing to in developing the electric rallycross run cars under his own PSRX banner. “We concept with the FIA and World RX have a very good relationship with VW, so promotor IMG in a Technical Working we just have to find a new structure how Group for more than 18 months. Although manufacturers are yet to sign up, Solberg made hints about Volkswagen’s “THE NEXT STAGE commitment. “I don’t think we would have IS JULY 30 THE been here in this championship now if there wasn’t a plan for electric,” he said. DEADLINE FOR A Ekstrom has been an advocate of the concept since Autosport first revealed DECISION TO ENTER” ‘Hyperboost’ gets the go-ahead FORMULA E Apart from its confirmation that World Rallycross will go electric for 2020, the FIA World Motor Sport Council also firmed up the temporarily titled ‘hyperboost’ plan for the new Gen2 Formula E car, which makes its competition debut this December. With the standard race setting set at 200kW, the higher power mode (225kW) will be activated once a driver goes through an activation zone. It is understood that the zones will be away from the racing line in order to slow the drivers down, with digital screens placed to signal the area to spectators. It had previously been suggested that the system would be available twice during FE races and that the duration would last four minutes each McKLIEN time. But it has now been confirmed that “the number of activations and the duration of the use of the higher power mode will be determined at ES ELECTRIC FOR 2020 each race by the FIA, according to the individual features of the circuit”. This would be a barrier towards teams all we can do it together,” he said. “How it If there are three, there will be discussions gravitating towards the same strategy will be done, we don’t know yet.” between the three manufacturers that have The FIA has also announced that Moving away from the current committed, and the other interested FE races will no longer run to a set steel-bodied Supercars, a single-make manufacturers. Then a decision will be number of laps, but will now have a ‘silhouette-type’ carbon-monocoque taken as to how to move forward.” maximum time limit of 45 minutes chassis kit will be supplied by French Solberg and Ekstrom have confirmed to plus one lap. The current point for firm ORECA, while Williams Advanced Autosport that they expect VW and Audi fastest lap will be replaced by a new Engineering will supply a common battery to continue in WRX in 2019, for what reward for the driver in the top five pack. Manufacturers will fit their own should be the final year for internal- positions who uses the least amount composite bodyshells to the chassis, with combustion machines in the pinnacle of energy. The superpole segment of increased aerodynamic freedom, similar category. Peugeot has already committed to qualifying will be expanded to six cars to the current WRC rules. Constructors 2019 and is the marque to have made the after the addition of the HWA team in will install their own powertrain, with most noise about involvement in EWRX.