Hamilton rubbishes plan to add air conditioning to F1 cars

In brief

No need for air conditioning in F1 – Hamilton

Formula 1 introduced new rules allowing teams to add air scoops to aid driver cooling this year after some suffered in high temperatures in the Qatar Grand Prix. But Hamilton was dismissive of reports the FIA is considering whether to require teams to fit air conditioning.

“It’s not needed,” he said. “This is Formula 1, it’s always been like this. It’s tough in these conditions and we’re highly-paid athletes.

“You’ve got to train your ass off to make sure you can withstand the heat, ultimately. And it’s tough. It’s not easy, especially when you go to places like Qatar and Singapore. But I don’t think we need an AC unit in the car.”

Vandoorne to test current F1 car

Stoffel Vandoorne will have his first test in a 2024 specification Formula 1 car for Aston Martin next week. The team’s reserve driver will run their AMR24 in a two-day tyre test for Pirelli at Spa-Francorchamps on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Herta eyes title bid after win

Colton Herta says his first IndyCar win for two years could act as a springboard for a shot at the championship. He lies 57 points behind leader Alex Palou with five races remaining.

“In testing we were quite a bit better than Alex at Milwaukee,” said Herta. “That’s not to say that they’re not going to find more speed when we go back. That’s a big points weekend. That’s basically double points with two races there.

“We’ve had success at Portland, we were on to win there last year until we got a speeding penalty. We’ve had really good cars at Gateway, qualified second there.

“There’s a lot of tracks that we’ve had success at in the past coming up. I have never put my head down and said the championship is over at any point just because you never know in IndyCar.

“It will take a little bit of help. He might need to have a few heartbreaks here and there. But we’ve been gaining points on him, so hopefully that can continue.”

Formula Regional Americas championship leader may have to quit

Ryan Shehan, who is leading the Formula Regional Americas championship after 11 races of 20, may be forced to miss the remainder of the season due to a lack of budget. The 19-year-old who has won four times this year says he may have to look elsewhere to continue his career.

“We clearly are…