United States GP : Preview

For the fourth time in FF1M’s history, Road America plays host to the United States Grand Prix, a venue which has proven to be popular among the teams with its long straights providing good racing. Its corners can be challenging as well, in particular the long right of the Carousel, which has caught out many drivers over the seasons, but also the tight left after the Moraine Sweep, which in 2012, saw a game of chicken between both Pedersen and Sean Connery Motorschhh drivers go too far and consequently triggered a rare red flag.

Grosjean ends victory drought

The previous race at Montreal saw Tornado take their second win of the season with easily the fastest car in race trim, but it was the two-stopping Romain Grosjean who outfoxed his three-stopping teammate to take a convincing win. Vaino Kimminen’s strategy to run light in the first stint meant that he rejoined deep in traffic after his first stop and ended up finishing 3rd behind the Shake ‘n’ Bake of Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard extended his pole position record and also became the first driver in a 17 car to take pole. With Shake ‘n’ Bake now comparable against Tornado and Mitchell in race trim after the first third of the championship, their accelerated aerodynamic development potential compared to the 16Bs means that they could get even stronger towards the end of the season and become a threat for one of the championships.

The past three races have suggested that Firestone have gained an edge over their American rivals Goodyear having taken the last three wins. Indeed, Firestone have scored 83 points compared to Goodyear’s 40 largely thanks to the consistency of the two Climax runners with only Grosjean failing to score at Aragon thanks to his collision with Lewis Hamilton. As for the reigning champion, he seemed out of sorts at Montreal after another poor strategy choice and an uncharacteristic spin on his way to 7th, losing the championship lead to Kimminen in the process.

Paddock News

Rumours of Cooper Lee’s seat being under threat have gathered momentum after another lacklustre showing where the Aussie lost 8th place in the closing stages to Alessandro Farina. In his desperation to stay ahead, he cut the final chicane and spun round, finishing outside of the points for the third race in a row and losing more ground to Tornado in the teams championship. It was reported that team boss Joe Mitchell spat feathers at Lee in the team debrief and there is the possibility that Road America could be his last race depending on his performance. So, who could replace him?

Although Mitchell test driver and long time member of the team’s Young Driver Programme Chuck Bucknum has been performing extremely well in FF2M, he is not able to replace Lee at short notice as he does not have the required AFIA licence to race in FF1M due to his lack of experience, so Mitchell will have to look elsewhere, and two FFeM drivers look like obvious candidates. The first is Lucas di Grassi, who currently drives for an Australian subdivision of Mitchell. He looks almost certain to win the 2017 FFeM championship at the final round at Watkins Glen, and he knows Hamilton well having been his teammate in 2012. The second option is the driver currently 2nd in the championship and an old Mitchell favourite, Sebastien Buemi. However, there is a whisper going round that Mitchell have been in contact with another FF1M team about a driver swap, which would save Lee’s career.

Further down the pitlane, Megatron have become the final manufacturer to take their first engine upgrade of the season and will fit new ICE, CE and ERS components at the start of the weekend.

Rumble at Road America

As mentioned previously, Road America has a habit of punishing driver errors. Its high-speed nature also has a habit of inducing some fairly big accidents. Last season saw Kevin Magnussen and Kimi Raikkonen collide through the Kink in the early stages resulting in a big smash into the barriers for the Dane and at least six full spins for the Finn. A few laps later, Robert Kubica had a more spectacular smash after contact with Grosjean going into the first corner with the unfortunate Raikkonen getting himself involved in the aftermath. Alonso will be looking to avoid any such incidents with other drivers as he seeks his third Road America win, and with a brand new engine upgrade, he must fancy his chances, if the Megatron stays reliable.

Support Races

This weekend sees FF2M’s first visit to Road America for the series third round of the season. Racing on home soil, the aforementioned Chuck Bucknam leads the championship, and won at the circuit on his previous visit in the 2013 FF4M North America series. Bucknam lies nine points ahead of Monagasque Charles Leclerc in the championship and will be hoping to filter out the rumours from outside of the support paddock and extend that lead.