Verstappen not thinking about title shot on Sunday

In brief

Verstappen’s focus not on title this weekend

Verstappen can clinch his second world championship in three days’ time but he says he is keeping thoughts of that from his mind.

The Red Bull driver leads by 116 points after winning the last five grands prix. If his lead is at least 138 points by Sunday evening he will win the title.

A race win with Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc finishing far enough behind will make him championship again. But he says he isn’t dwelling on the arithmetic.

“I don’t really think about the championship,” he said. “I just want to have a positive weekend on track and take it race by race, there’s no rush.”

F1 is racing in Singapore for the first time since 2019, the last two races having been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We haven’t been to Singapore for a while so it will be interesting to see how the track has evolved,” he said. “It’s definitely one of the best races of the year and it’s a beautiful place to be. It’s important to have a good qualifying lap here so we’ll be focussing on that.

“During the race we just have to be ready for anything as there’s usually a lot of Safety Cars. In general, it’s a challenging circuit, the humidity is tough on the body and it’s very difficult to do a perfect lap because of tight turns and how close the walls are.”

Singapore extends DRS zones for F1’s return

The first and third DRS zones on the Marina Bay street circuit have been extended by five metres each for F1’s return this weekend.

The first DRS zone, on the straight between turns five and six, used to begin 53 metres after turn five. For 2022, the activation point has been moved back five metres so drivers can use DRS 48m after the corner.

The second DRS zone, situation after the turn 13 hairpin with its detection point on the preceding bridge section, is unchanged. However the third zone, which used to begin 48m after the final corner, will now start 43m after the apex of turn 23.

W Series wants to add reversed-grid races

W Series’ CEO Catherine Bond Muir says she would like to see reversed-grid races again in her championship, after the series successfully trialled the format in 2019.

A non-championship race was held at Assen that year as W Series supported the DTM, and the victory battle was decided in a photo finish. Since then it has run on the F1 support bill, where scheduling has been tighter, although it has been able to hold two races in a weekend twice last year and twice this year.

But although the championship could be clinched this weekend by Jamie Chadwick, who has dominated much of the 2022 season, Bond Muir said the series is unlikely to vary its format to add interest to the final rounds.

“I just don’t think that under our rules we’re able to do that quickly,” she explained. “I think with DTM, we had a lot more time and that reversed-grid race was an extra race, so to speak.

“And racing with F1, our time is limited and very prescribed. So unfortunately, in this instance, I don’t think we can. But it would be nice to have and I definitely would love to have a reversed grid again, given how good it was in 2019. But at the moment, that’s not to be this season.”

Exclusive Autosport makes first Road to Indy signings

Exclusive Autosport ran Louis Foster to this year’s Indy Pro 2000 title, and the team has already started filling its books for 2023.

Its IP2000 line-up will be bolstered by the arrival of Yuven Sundaramoorthy, who came 10th in his rookie season this year. Before that he won races in USF2000, where Exclusive has retained Jacob Douglas for a second season.

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

W Series may not complete 2022 season due to ‘significant’ financial issues (The Telegraph)

“Speaking on Wednesday night Bond Muir said the current global financial crisis, and depreciating pound, had only made her job harder. But she expressed confidence the series would survive.”

Max Verstappen ready to join exclusive club… and with the earliest finish in 20 years (The Times)

‘Max Verstappen stands on the brink of joining an exclusive club of only 16 drivers who have won two or more F1 world championships. Less than ten months after winning his maiden title, the 24-year-old can win a second at the Singapore GP, with five races remaining after that. If he succeeds it would be the earliest finish to the season in 20 years.’

French GP Historique lands 2023 date (Auto Hebdo)

‘The GP de France Historique is brought forward to the Easter weekend, from Friday 7th to Sunday 9th April. The gathering celebrating the history of F1 and single-seaters will always take place at the Paul-Ricard circuit.’

Robb all-in on IndyCar move for 2023 (Racer)

‘Sting Ray Robb is going all-in on making the leap to the IndyCar series. With multiple offers to ponder, the Indy Lights championship runner-up has decided there’s no value in returning for a third season on the top step of the Road To Indy.’

‘Vips: ‘It’s looking quite difficult’ to find a 2023 seat’ (Formula Scout)

It’s been really, really tough. It’s also taught me a lot of things, I think I’ve grown a lot as a person, and as a driver as well.

Pro-Am battle to add S5000 competition in Tasman, Gold Star series (S5000)

‘A Pro-Am category will be added to the S5000 Tasman Series and 2023 S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship. The ‘Silver Star’ was introduced in the latter’s Formula Holden/Brabham era, with its return a further nod to the history of Australian open-wheel racing.’

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.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Donwatters!

On this day in motorsport

• 20 years ago today Michael Schumacher tried to orchestrate a dead heat in the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis – and accidentally let Ferrari team mate Rubens Barrichello win by 0.011 seconds