8th August 2022, 0:017th August 2022, 21:45 | Written by Will Wood

In the round-up: Sergio Perez admits he had a “difficult” lead up to the summer break and is aiming to come back stronger over the triple-header.

Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Sergio Perez admits he had a “difficult” lead up to the summer break and is aiming to come back stronger over the triple-header in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy.

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Perez lost second place in the drivers’ championship to Charles Leclerc after the Ferrari driver took victory in Austria while Perez retired after contact with George Russell. Perez missed out on a podium in France after being passed late in the race by Russell, then finished fifth in Hungary before the summer break.

“We are aware that the last couple of races have been difficult on our side,” Perez said.

“Things have changed a bit in the cars, so we have to understand everything and just come back a lot stronger for the triple-header.”

Mercedes junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli extended his lead in the German ADAC Formula 4 championship after two second places and a fourth place finish at the Nurburgring.

Antonelli, who races with Prema in the series, took the chequered flag first in race one on Saturday but lost his win to Taylor Barnard after receiving a five second time penalty for jumping the start. Antonelli then finished second in race two behind Barnard and fourth in race three to extend his lead to 98 points over Ferrari academy driver Rafael Camara, who missed the round due to a positive Covid-19 test.

McLaren junior driver Ugo Ugochukwu claimed 16 points over the three races – his first round competing in the ADAC F4 series.

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Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:

We understand that, with our agreement, @infinityward have announced they designed a Grand Prix map as a part of the #MWII Beta. This is right, and the map will be playable for the 2022 Beta. We will be playing on Grand Prix in #MWII this year. pic.twitter.com/8kbaSEkChU

— Call of Duty @ #CDLChamps (@CallofDuty) August 7, 2022

No #F1, no problem 😜 Letting the RB8 rip at @JacksRacingDay 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/5ha7pfBd46

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) August 7, 2022

MORE pics of @ShwartzmanRob driving again a Ferrari #F1 car at Mugello after a lot of work at the sim?

Since you’ve all been asking so nicely 😉⤵️#essereFerrari 🔴 pic.twitter.com/ZD7aZHY3p4

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) August 7, 2022

Tag that one friend that laughs like this🥹 90% humidity. 90+ degrees. Pre race ice bath… its a vibe🛀 pic.twitter.com/5wtN5hngIz

— Pato O'Ward (@PatricioOWard) August 7, 2022

Live, laugh, love. pic.twitter.com/E6MI6P51ON

— Oliver Askew 🔺 (@Oliver_Askew) August 7, 2022

Although I don’t watch Moto GP closely I think it’s amazing the rider can stop after the race, Celebrate with the crowd then continue the ride back to the pit lane

— Brendon Leigh (@BrendonLeigh72) August 7, 2022

The FIA joins the organisers & participants of Rali Vinho da Madeira in Portugal, round 3 of the FIA Iberian Rally Trophy, in sending its most sincere condolences to the family of the young female spectator who passed away as a result of an incident that occurred during Stage 17.

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Motor racing links of interest:

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Ferrari’s strategies are so bad, it’s almost like they don’t want their drivers to win (Independent)

"Ferrari are so used to having mid-table results that when their engineers eventually presented them with a genuinely world-beating car, they didn’t know what to do with it. Some decisions have seen much of the F1 world wonder whether Ferrari have any interest in letting their drivers win at all."

The man behind the racer – Lawrence Barretto on getting to know the real Sebastian Vettel (Formula 1)

"He's also fiercely loyal to those around him. When Vettel left Red Bull, he wrote Carlos Sainz a handwritten note expressing his thanks for all the work the Spaniard did in the simulator, referencing his appreciation for the long hours – deep into the early hours of the morning – and feedback that was critical for race weekend set-up. It was one of many letters, all personalised, that Vettel wrote to his Red Bull colleagues."

Daniel Ricciardo snubs former team-mates with pick for most underrated driver (Express)

"Personally, I like Pierre Gasly. For the record, he’s not the only driver I like. I like him as a person, but also what he’s demonstrated, and he’s not the only one. Getting to the top of Red Bull, he got a really big opportunity with them and it was fairly short-lived."

Toto Wolff’s Mid-Season Review: F1 2022 (Mercedes via YouTube)

"Sitting down with Toto for a quick catch-up on the 2022 F1 season so far. Talking through the highs and lows of the opening 13 races!"

How Tiametmarduk Grew To The Top Of F1 YouTube From Nothing (iContrast via YouTube)

An overview of how YouTuber Tiametmarduk became the most popular F1 game influencer.

IndyCar round 14: Nashville (IndyCar via YouTube)

We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it in via the contact form.

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This weekend’s Caption Competition winner is RocketTanski!:

As a reward for their efforts, Zak bought his boys some special trips this summer. Lando got two weeks in the Caribbean, and Dan was promised a special “Alpine adventure”. RocketTankski

Thanks to everyone who came up with caption idea this week and a special mention to Electroball76 and Roth Man who all came up with particularly good captions.

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re: Call of Duty Twitter post.

It was funny when Albon did his parody. But doing the same thing again feels a bit lame

…but only if you really hate fun.

Perez keen to come back stronger? Won’t happen.

Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic) 8th August 2022, 1:59

Checo offers a new meaning for awkward: When you lose 2nd place in the standings to a Ferrari driver in 2022.

Likeable guy, but indeed won’t happen

Perez may well come back stronger – but in that car and with that team, nobody will ever get to see it. The more time he spends there, the more the car is engineered away from his preferred driving style.

Too bad for Perez but the enginering always goes for the fastest option…

However, the fastest option is usually whoever gets the car built for them. It’s a catch-22. You can’t show how fast you are if the car never does what you want it to do.

V. Chris (@vasschu) 8th August 2022, 11:44

And yet, there are drivers that are always extracting more than their team mates. Different years, different regulations, different technologies, different tracks, but they still manage to beat comfortably their team mates, or they will be incredibly close to them. We all know their names. Perez so far is not one of them.

If you say so, @vasschu. Even if it comes straight back to my point about having a car that matches the driver, and not about having the best car….

Perez and Verstappen were pretty closely matched at the beginning of the year, but not now…. Perez even references that himself:

Things have changed a bit in the cars

As in, they are tailoring the car more to Verstappen’s preferences, and less to Perez’. In that situation, how can Perez beat his team mate?

Go on, say it…. ‘Just be faster than him.’

Not necessarily. If Verstappen and Pérez are relatively close, as they were earlier on, and both give feedback about the car, the engineers will study that feedback, run tests and simulations, and if they decide that there is more time to be won by addressing the issue Verstappen had it might seem like they’re “building the car for Verstappen”, but they’re actually just trying to make the most of the limited time and money they have.

Unfortunately, pretty much every improvement in one area costs a bit of performance, handling, reliability, tyre management etc. in other areas and that might bias the development to one particular driving style. But if Verstappen can improve two tenths with a particular change, and Pérez can’t… as trite as it sounds, he really does have to find a way to make it work, because the car is getting faster overall.

as trite as it sounds, he really does have to find a way to make it work, because the car is getting faster overall.

Is it, though? One driver is going faster, but the other is falling back as a direct result of those changes. On balance, you could surmise that’s it’s not necessarily actually faster overall, but merely more optimised for only one of the drivers. Had they taken development the other way, perhaps Perez would be doing much better than Verstappen. Now we can all have our own opinions on whether that would actually happen or not – but the simple fact is that nobody will ever know, because they won’t do that. Verstappen makes them more money…..

His style is slow, same goes for Carlos and Pierre snd Vettel.

Whatever the reason, it won’t happen. Getting back to your excuse: None of the teams he has driven for, have ever considered the option to make a car to Perez’ liking. And that too, will never happen, at least not in F1.

Whatever the reason, it won’t happen.

Maybe so – but the reason is important. In my comment, I separate the performance of the driver from their results in a particular car. The driver could be the ‘best’ on the grid, but if the car doesn’t match their style the combination is just a recipe for failure.

I know a lot of F1 fans like to push the idea that certain drivers are just ‘better’ than others and their results prove it – but sadly, in the real world, that simply isn’t always the case. Perhaps never.

None of the teams he has driven for, have ever considered the option to make a car to Perez’ liking. And that too, will never happen, at least not in F1.

That’s unfortunately all too accurate, and it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Perez. Some were simply underfunded, others lacked in other areas, and, more recently, they just plain didn’t want to because they’d rather back their other driver – whether that was the sensible thing to do or not.

I know a lot of F1 fans like to push the idea that certain drivers are just ‘better’ than others

As one of the ‘lot’ I push that idea as well. You seem to think that better is just a faster time in a specific car. I however define better as being able to drive fast in any car, and get the maximum out of that car. You can see that best when drivers switch teams, or after a major reg reset.

Adaptability is just one of many skills that drivers possess. Sure, they all can and do to varying degrees all the time, but there’s still the element about how much they have to adapt… Verstappen is now having to adapt his style less than Perez is.

The reason is important indeed, never said it wasn’t, just wouldn’t speculate as to what it might be. So you reply to something I did not say. But OK here goes: that important reason is -my opinion-, that Perez just isn’t good enough.

In my comment, I separate the performance of the driver from their results in a particular car. The driver could be the ‘best’ on the grid, but if the car doesn’t match their style the combination is just a recipe for failure.

Perez has had several ‘particular cars’ throughout his career. He has shown no exceptional excellence in any of them. I don’t think you can separate the two. It is the team that -in an ideal world- gets together with the driver and says, ‘this is what we think makes our car as fast as we can, do you think you can adapt your driving style to it?’ I seriously doubt any driver, but especially Perez with his ego, will say ‘no, I can’t’. And that’s where things go wrong, as some drivers do indeed manage to adapt, but not Perez.

Verstappen is now having to adapt his style less than Perez is.

That’s conjecture, at best. Red Bull may have asked Verstappen that same question, ‘can you adapt’, although there’s more than a decent chance they give Newey the freedom to just design what he thinks is quickest. If it was indeed asked, I think Verstappens answer contained a lower percentage of ego, and we both know who has proven to be faster so far. Both in racing as in adapting to a car. Remember the first race Verstappen drove for Red Bull? Remember Perez’ first race for Red Bull? Same with Ricciardo. Sure, given another decade or so, he might learn to drive this McLaren. But McLaren – and F1 as a whole for that matter-, won’t wait for it to happen. Lando says the car is not to his style either, but he manages -read ‘adapts’- a lot better than Ricciardo.

If a driver needs a car to suit his style then maybe he isn’t cut out for F1 and should go race somewhere else. Good drivers are quick no matter what you give them. And they are quick out of the box and get to grip with a car within 3 laps. This is supposed to be the pinnacle of motorsport. We are all lulled to sleep by the endless holding on to the Perezzes, Massas, Barrichellos, Bottasses, etc etc. I wish F1 would be more harsh on this mediocre batch and build in some mechanism they are forced to leave, so we as spectators can finally get some good racing. It is not just the cars that create a situation of top teams and midfield. We are way to lenient towards too many drivers. They can have a fine career somewhere else.

He’s already hit his peak at Monaco.. which commendable for him. I can’t see him outperforming Max for the remainder of the season. He does have a serious shot at P2 in the WDC though… Binotto and the entire Ferrari team are behind him.

Slightly surprising, Pato refers to Fahrenheit figures in his tweet, even though he’s from a country that uses the globally far more used measurement units.

I don’t get Oliver Askew’s tweet. Weird.

Slightly surprising, Pato refers to Fahrenheit figures in his tweet

Maybe because he spends most of his time in America, surrounded by Americans?

I don’t get Oliver Askew’s tweet. Weird.

Click on the link. But even then it just proofs it’s a slow news day. So slow indeed that the site need to headline with a quote from a driver saying he will come back stronger.

It’s not only far more used, it’s the official worldwide standard to use the metric system; Celsius, meter, pascal, etc.

The most ridiculous of non standard measuring is the AWG, American Wire Gauge, where they use a number to say how thick a wire is. Why the heck would you want to do that? When you can just say, e.g. it’s a wire 3mm thick?

AWG is a standard form of measurement… Are you measuring by diameter, or area? And given that (completely at the time, and very much so now still) America uses the imperial system, why would you measure in fractions of an inch when you could just give it a single or double digit number?

Your 3mm wire measured by diameter could be 0.114″, or about 7/64. Or 9AWG. Measured by area (as conductors usually are, for engineering purposes) it could be 0.081″, roughly 5/64… Or 12/13AWG. As we are talking about wire, contextually we don’t even need to say “AWG”….. And when you know which gauge wire you are using, you can much more easily work out how much current you can put through it, and what resistance, capacitance and inductance characteristics it will have.

Now does it make sense why it is a standard?

Are you measuring by diameter, or area?

What part of the word ‘thickness’ is it exactly you don’t understand? Because by my book, for wires, that means diameter. Area would be Pi times that.

why would you measure in fractions of an inch when you could just give it a single or double digit number?

Because a number in itself, no matter what amount of digits or decimals, has no meaning. As in I’m driving 6. Nice, 6 what? Lightyear, kmph, m/s?

when you know which gauge wire you are using, you can much more easily work out how much current you can put through it, and what resistance, capacitance and inductance characteristics it will have.

That’s the point: you still need to work it out. With a diameter given in units, it is almost a direct given. Your immediate reaction is to go from mm to a fraction in inches. That’s pointless. Have you looked up the AWG in Wikipedia? What a disaster. So when you combine a 5/8 with a 12/13 wire how much current can that take? Is that 5/8 of an inch? mm? Mile? And the 12/13, is that AWG, so somewhere inbetween 12 and 13? I’m sure the answer is 8 though, as long as you find some silly system to translate the 8 to an amount of Ampère.)

Back to Fahrenheit: According to Wikipedia:

… based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736).[1] It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he originally defined his scale exist, but the original paper suggests the lower defining point, 0 °F, was established as the freezing temperature of a solution of brine made from a mixture of water, ice, and ammonium chloride (a salt).[2][3] The other limit established was his best estimate of the average human body temperature, originally set at 90 °F, then 96 °F (about 2.6 °F less than the modern value due to a later redefinition of the scale).[2] However, he noted a middle point of 32 °F, to be set to the temperature of ice water.

What a mess. Not reproducable, vague, unscientific.

The fact that you are used to something, does not mean it’s logical.

But Pato is working with people who use Fahrenheit, in a country that uses Fahrenheit, and a series that uses Fahrenheit.

At least he’s not saying something silly like is common in F1, where English people will claim the Spa-Francorchamps circuit is 4.352 miles long instead of saying it is 4 miles and 620 yards long. Leave the metric tenths and thousands to the French (and the rest of the world)!

Ricciardo considers Gasly the most underrated driver?

Ok, he is moving to AT then :) Talking up your teammate (and direct comparison) is always the first order of business of course.

Perez sshould revert to the previous spec, if it helps him. The moment they brought upgrades, he was nowhere near as competitive anymore.

And given that Mercedes is closer now, and Leclerc, Hamilton and Russell are better drivers than him, that Red Bull 1-2 is looking more and more like just a pipe dream.

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