Trump makes a stir at Miami GP
Former United States president Donald Trump was a high-profile attendee of the Miami Grand Prix last weekend.
The controversial businessman-turned-politician is again a candidate for the US presidency, and his entourage was warned against using the event as a political platform in the run-up to the weekend.
Parading the paddock in a ‘Make America Great Again’ cap, Trump was welcomed into the McLaren garage pre-race (at the request of F1) and, following it, congratulated winner Lando Norris.
“McLaren is a non-political organisation however we recognise and respect the office of President of the United States so when the request was made to visit our garage on race day we accepted alongside the president of the FIA and the CEO’s of Liberty Media and Formula 1,” McLaren said in a statement shortly following Trump’s appearance.
“We were honoured that McLaren Racing was chosen as the representative of F1 which gave us the opportunity to showcase the world class engineering that we bring to motorsport.”
Asked about Trump following his victory, Norris added: “He saw me after, and he came up to congratulate me.
“So I guess an honour because, whenever you have someone like this, it has to be an honour for them to come up to you, to take time out of their life to pay their respect for what you’ve done.
“He said he was my lucky charm because it’s my [first] win. So I don’t know if he’s going to come to more races now.
“But yeah, there’s a lot of special people or cool people that have been here this weekend. Donald is someone that you got to have a lot of respect for in many ways.
“For anyone like that who acknowledges what you can go out and do, and acknowledges the work ethic that goes into things, you got to be thankful for that. And I was. So yeah, a cool moment. And that’s all.”
Some questioned whether Trump’s appearance breached the FIA’s international sporting code, specifically the article governing political statements.
However, the 77-year-old took no formal part in the event or surrounding ceremonies and was merely one of a long list of high-profile guests in attendance.
However, he was mentioned in race commentary, as world feed caller David Croft declared, “Norris trumps Verstappen” in winning the Miami Grand Prix.
Vettel pays tribute to Senna
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel will drive a 1993 McLaren once raced by Ayrton Senna over the course of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Three decades on from the great Brazilian’s death at the Imola circuit, Vettel’s outing pays tribute to the triple world champion.
“Ayrton Senna was not only a driver who I valued highly for being one of the best racing has ever seen, but also a man of great compassion,” Vettel said in a video on Instagram.
“It’s been 30 years since his accident and I would like to pay tribute to Ayrton.
“I will be in Imola for the Grand Prix to drive his car, the McLaren MP4/8.”
Senna claimed the 41st and final grand prix win of his career in the McLaren MP4/8 in Adelaide at the end of the 1993 season.
No room for Andretti
While Michael Andretti has claimed that his eponymous operation would look to enter Formula 2 and Formula 3, he’s not received a positive response from championship officials.
Bruno Michel, who oversees both competitions, has said that there is no capacity to field an additional team in F3.
“I would say that for F3 I think it’s completely out of the question to increase the number of cars: 30 is already a lot and it’s a very good number,” he said.
“You always have to think that we need to find the proper number of drivers for the teams as well and the teams have to be able to find the drivers which is not always an easy situation.
“It’s still not easy figure to ride, and then after that on track, we know as well that having too many cars is not very good for the racing and to have a consistent rate form. So for F3, there will not be additional cars.”
In Formula 2, he’s also disinclined to allow the American operation entry.
“I’m not so inclined to increase the number of teams so they can try to do a deal with an existing team or they can apply and if they do that there’s always a possibility that one team will not continue or one team will not have done a proper job.
“In that case, they would have a chance to come in.”
He added: “I have to be fair to the existing teams so it would have to go through the same process as everybody else because it would be completely uncharted to the extinct teams otherwise, even if Andretti is a good name.”
Wheatley linked with Red Bull Racing exit
Following the news that Adrian Newey will leave Red Bull in early 2025, other senior figures have been tipped to follow suit.
In Miami, McLaren boss Zak Brown claimed he’d seen an increase in CVs from Red Bull staff as it was suggested the squad’s sporting director, Jonathan Wheatley, is looking for new digs.
The Times claimed that the 56-year-old has aspirations of being a team principal and has been doing the rounds in the paddock for a prospective employer.
It’s added Wheatley is in negotiations over a new contract, while a host of other senior figures have recently inked long-term deals.
Ex-McLaren man for Alpine
David Sanchez has quickly found a new home following his short tenure with McLaren.
The ex-Ferrari designer was a high-profile signing for McLaren, part of its technical restructure announced shortly after Andrea Stella took over as team principal early last year.
However, that relationship didn’t work out and Sanchez was quickly released from his position.
The Italian has now joined Alpine as executive technical director, where he will oversee the technical department at the squad’s Enstone base.
He’ll hold an overarching role with Ciaron Pilbeam (Technical Director – Performance), Joe Burnell (Technical Director – Engineering), and David Wheater (Technical Director – Aerodynamics) all reporting to him.
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