Ben Constanduros: An Insight into the life of a journalist
Category: Motorsport
Carter Williams – Driver Coach
Carter Williams is a driver coach for one of the best young driver programmes in Great Britain. It was the driver academy that brought through the likes of Billy Monger before his major incident in 2017. Now there is a young Welshman under their ranks named Matthew Rees and Carter tells us why he thinks Rees will be Britains next best prospect.
“I think he is someone that is just out of this world like this is first year outside of karting and the results he has been producing is just unreal”.
“Matthew has already won the title this season and there is still one race to go, we have seen many different championships this year go down to the final race and he’s already done it. He really is that different level you do not see around at all”.
Rees is currently only 15 and has proved himself sensationally at the lower level. Carter is not the only person that has noticed that so far is trajectory is something very similar to the likes of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.
“A lot of people have started to make those comparisons of how fast Matthew is going through titles right now. As a coach as much as it is great to hear the comparisons about someone you are working with it really is all about getting ready for the next big event”.
“Of course it is possible for him to make huge steps forward, it is for most in this sport, it’ll come down to the training and the work he puts in. You know the greats are always spoken as if they were relentless, everyone knows you gotta be like that”.
“I have worked with a few people as a coach since I was a driver for JHR, as much as there has not been many there, I am pretty comfortable with saying he is the best I have seen since I was at that level, I know he has more than enough options for next season”.
Many at the top of the motorsport ranks are rumoured to have already got one eye on what Rees decides to do next, as what he chooses, could be the start of something simply amazing.
Women in Motorsport
It has been a common trend more often in motorsport than anywhere else where women have historically been pushed aside, in particularly working in the media and coverage side of the community. I was lucky enough to talk to someone who is currently just over a year working in the industry as a full time occupation and spoke about her time in, and her journey into, the motorsport world from a media perspective.
The conversation started talking about the obvious of what it has been like breaking into an industry that has historically been male dominated. To which they had a very positive response that is reassuring that a difference is and has been made after stating;
“To be honest I think that this industry is very hard to get into whether you are male or female. I don’t feel I’ve personally faced any barriers in work because I am a woman. It’s all about having the skills and the attitude”.
“I don’t personally work in the FE(Formula E) paddock as I do the majority of work for that series from home. However I do see some really inspiring and talented women working in the paddock every weekend. In Formula E women are no longer taking up the more traditional idealogical roles. There are some brilliant engineers and mechanics and it is fantastic to see their achievements”.
“I personally love the idea that I’m part of a group who are paving the way for future women. What I brilliant feeling. It still blows my mind when girls and women get in touch asking me for advice about the industry. It was only a year or so ago when that was me!”.
Nowadays with the experience we see people getting there has been relatively no difference between career paths dependant on gender whereas that would have been the case years ago.”I would say my route has been relatively identical. Obviously I haven’t experienced the male route but from what I’ve seen and heard it is similar. It shows the progress this industry has made!”.
On top of all of this, it is never about who you are, it is about enjoying what you are doing. That is no different in this instance, “My jobs are SO enjoyable. I never thought I’d love my job so much. Each team and driver mean a lot to me and and it’s fantastic to be a part of their motorsport journey.”
Alfa Romeo: Looking For a New Horizon
At first look, 2021 is not the most optimistic of years for the Swiss team. The more time goes on both ends of the driver lineup have less of a threat, and one is young, with the carryover of a car that is far from groundbreaking.
The main aim of this season will be to put the team in the best possible place to make progress when the rule changes come into play come 2022. Especially with the sliding scale of wind tunnel research you can do which is likely to be favouring Alfa Romeo based off of 2020 results.
A tactic seen in other sports, such as the NFL, is ‘tanking’. This is where the team will perform badly on purpose to try and get better circumstances for the seasons following.
As better wind tunnel time comes with finishing further down the field along with the fact both Williams and Haas are looking to make progress this season and Alfa Romeo have been very quiet, the idea of almost writing off 2021 seems painfully more likely than it should be.
Kimi Raikkonen is without a doubt a fan favourite within the sport no matter what team he is at. On saying this, the soon to be 42 year old come the end of the season is very unlikely to come back after this season with the massive rule changes coming into play.
Along with the the long line of Ferrari junior drivers waiting to come into the sport the changing from one era to another just looks too simple to no take as soon as it comes.
Antonio Giovinazzi is someone who is under all the pressure at Alfa Romeo. After not really doing anything of note in his first few ventures into F1 it is very fair to say he has to really outperform his teammate in order to keep his seat for the future or the cut throat nature of the sport will grab hold of its next victim.
Looking at 2021 as a whole, Alfa Romeo cannot be looking further forward than getting eighth in the constructors championship. Whether they would want to do that is another question.
If they are fully focused on getting the best they can out of 2022 and bounce back in the new era, a few questionable strategy decisions could be deployed that worsens the teams fortunes for this season to better them in the future.
Eighth would be the ideal, but the optimism over what Williams are rebuilding makes it difficult not to believe that Haas and Alfa Romeo will be battling over the bottom spot. Unless, Ferrari sort out their engine.
Nürburgring, Portimao and Imola; What is next?
(Image above by Bloomberg/Getty Images)
After a recent announcement confirming all previous rumours that Formula 1 will in fact go to some historic circuits unplanned to the original calendar, it has sparked some questions for what could happen for the rest of this year and years to come.
To start, even the idea of going to Mugello and these three circuits this year is unbelievably exciting as they are all circuits people would love to watch an F1 car go round.
Unfortunately that does bring our first problem. Qualifying will be great at these venues and that is undoubted. The races on the other hand, concern is the first thing that comes to mind.
With Mugello and Portimao having one noticeable overtaking points with Imola not having one, the races might end up being dull for the sacrifice of having some of the greatest qualifying laps we could ever see.
Dirty air has been all too common a theme over the years of the latest generation of car and these tracks would help produce a lot with the high-speed nature of the corners making it difficult for people to get close to each other.
What does this hold for the rest of the calendar?
Now that the rumours we all heard became true, what is coming up on the horizon for the rest of the season?
Currently, the rumours are that after the race at Imola, the teams would be heading east for a double-header of Vietnam and a return to Malaysia at Sepang.
This is all again positive news for Formula 1. Vietnam still getting its debut in 2020 is great news to see the new track even if it is not when it was first scheduled. Then to go Sepang would be just great news. Drivers love the place, fans love the track and it always produces great racing.
The only other news on the horizon is a double-header afterwards in Bahrain on two separate layouts of the circuit before concluding the season at Abu Dhabi.
If this is to be true we would have an 18 round season that would only be four short of the original season length. A great effort would be made to pull this off in such a confined time gap.
Another question all of this picks up is what happens to future calendars? If all these circuits are options for this year why could they not be for future years?
There are definitely circuits on the calendar people do not like and produce poor race weekends. So could we see them being replaced? With the original idea of the Miami GP we know Liberty Media, owners of Formula 1, are happy with scrapping the idea of one venue per country.
If this were to be the case, could calendars of future seasons with the next generation of more race-friendly cars go back to these venues? I certainly hope so as there is no question it would be a spectacle.
The future continues to look brighter and brighter for motorsport as a whole and in particularly Formula 1.
From first, to sixteenth, to third, to hospital and back five days later
(Photo above by STR/Getty Images)
It is fair to assume that reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez has had a rollercoaster of an opening week to the season.
After a strong start from the outset Marquez put his Repsol Honda in first for FP1 on the Friday and keeping it on the front row in P3 in qualifying.
Then came Sunday, where the madness started.
After a strong start to the race Marquez found himself in a very familiar position, leading out front.
Then as it is weirdly common to expect from a rider in MotoGP, the cameras cut to a shot of him riding through the gravel after saving a moment mid-corner that sent him to the back of the pack.
After getting himself back on track, the iconic Marquez that has entertained for so long came to the forefront.
Showing yet again much superior race pace in comparison to everybody else he cut his way through the field as if it was nothing getting himself back into a podium position with six laps to go.
This lasted four corners.
After passing Jack Miller at the final corner it took until turn three for Marquez to have a spectacular high-side that saw him rolling violently through the gravel getting hit by his riderless bike in the process.
In an instant it was clear not everything was alright as he had fractured his humerus and needed to have surgery that would not come until two days later.
Once this had become announced it was expected that Marquez would miss a number of races in a shortened calendar that would really hurt his championship chances.
Then believe the impossible. The surgery went “spectacularly well” and not five days after the accident Marquez is back on his bike for FP1 at the same track.
Marquez has broken too many records to count in MotoGP and still has plenty of years to break what is left of other records. Not only this but the man has now defied logic having the quickest recovery you have ever seen from a fractured arm.
Marc Marquez is something else, enough said.
Sports Insider by Gerren Scapens 