Home F1 F1: New COVID-19, engine mode deferred to Monza, Hamilton throwback

F1, FIA, COVID-19 — BARCELONA, SPAIN - AUGUST 16: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W11 leads Valtteri Bottas of Finland driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W11, Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB16 and the rest of the field at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of Spain at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on August 16, 2020 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202008160136 // Usage for editorial use only //

F1: New COVID-19, engine mode deferred to Monza, Hamilton throwback

21/08/2020

F1 posted one COVID-19 positive test from this past week as engine mode limitations deferred to Monza while Lewis Hamilton has a throwback.

COVID-19 positive:

With over 60,000 COVID-119 tests conducted by the F1 over the six race weekends and two non-race weekends, only four has returned to be positive, where two were found out during Hungarian GP, one in British GP and another now post-Spanish GP.

The latest came from F1 after the 2,847 COVID-19 tests conducted between August 14 and 20. As is the norm, there was no mention of the personnel but it is unlikely anyone from the team or race officials, as if it were like Sergio Perez, the news would be out already.

The statement from F1 read: “The FIA and Formula 1 can today confirm that between Friday 14th August and Thursday 20th August, 2,847 tests for COVID-19 have been performed on drivers, teams and personnel. Of these, one person tested positive.

“The lower number of tests conducted in this period compared to previous weeks reflects the fact there is a break in the race schedule following three back to back events. The FIA and Formula 1 are providing this aggregated information for the purposes of competition integrity and transparency. No specific details as to teams or individuals will be provided by the FIA or Formula 1 and results will be made public every 7 days.”

F1 engine mode Technical Directive:

While details of the Technical Directive is not out but publications like Racefans.net, Motorsport Network, BBC, AMuS and co, have confirmed the engine ‘quali mode’ restriction taking place from F1 Italian GP onward as opposed to the Belgium GP.

The defer of the restriction is due to teams getting to understand details and dyno runs to be ready for a single mode in qualifying and race. Article 2.7 and Article 27.1 from 2020 FIA Technical/Sporting Regulations is cited as the two key rules for the change.

The former details on Duty of Competitor under Technical Regulations, while the latter details on Driving unaided under Sporting Regulations. The move was first talked upon to come into effect from 2021 F1 season but has been brought forward to now.

The FIA wants to have a single mode, so that it becomes a bit easier for them to monitor and not allow any F1 team to use the complex feature for any tricks. Out of all, Mercedes seems to be the only one to have a qualifying mode but they feel the restriction to be OK.

Along with their drivers and Toto Wolff, they all downplayed the significance as they feel it will only help them be quicker in the races, which their rivals – at least Red Bull Racing – agreed. It may have some trouble for Racing Point and Williams, though.

The likes of Red Bull Racing, Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, Haas and Alfa Romeo Racing, see this as an opportunity to qualify better with Racing Point and Williams unable to take much advantage. The changes, though, will have differing opinions come Belgium GP.

Lewis Hamilton throwback:

While we wait for the grand prix with a F1 weekend’s gap, Hamilton shared a throwback to him winning in European karting and sharing the moment with his dad, brother and mothers, as he looked back at that achievement leading to what he is now.