Three power units ‘too few’ for current calendar · RaceFans

In brief

Binotto: Three power units ‘too few’ for current calendar

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto says that the current limit of three power units for a season are not enough for the current calendar.

All drivers are limited to three power units for the 22 race season in 2022. Any driver who exceeds their allocation of components during the season is assessed with a grid penalty. This has led to rounds where almost half of the field have served grid penalties for the same race, such as the most recent race at Monza, where Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jnr was one of eight drivers penalised.

“I think the amount of penalties [at Monza] are too many,” said Binotto. “It’s difficult for a fan, I think, to see a car on pole and not starting on pole because he’s got grid penalties or whatever.

“Maybe the three power units for each driver are too little at that stage for what we have achieved. Maybe we need to reconsider as well for the next season’s.”

The 2023 F1 calendar is expected to feature a record-breaking 24 races.

Alguersuari says Tost ‘hung up’ on him after he was dropped from Red Bull

Former Formula 1 driver Jaime Alguersuari described the difficulty he had coming to terms with his ejection from Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso in 2011, two-and-a-half years after making his debut for them as a teenager.

Speaking to El Confidencial, Alguersuari said he was stunned to learn he had been dropped the day after attending a sponsor event. “Franz Tost called me the day after the Cepsa event at eight in the morning to tell us that Red Bull couldn’t help us anymore and that he had bad news,” said Alguersuari. “And he hung up on me. Because I guess he didn’t want to talk to me.”

He raised the matter with Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko. “I pick up the phone, and I call directly to Helmut Marko. ‘This is a joke?’. ‘You already found out, right?’ ‘What’s this about, Helmut?’ And he tells me: ‘I couldn’t do anything.’”

Alguersuari said he still feels affected by his experience. “At Red Bull, in Formula 1, you didn’t live in peace, even with great results,” he said. “You did a great job and you never left feeling like the job was done and everyone is happy. Your rivals congratulated you more than the people…