Planet SFR S2 Issue 1

Woking Worries down to lax atmosphere?

McLaren had a torrid start to the season, with a car that has been proven to be able to fight for podiums only pulling in a singe point in the season opener. The team was put under administration not long before the race due to the absence of team principal Connor, but it appears that there is a very easy-going atmosphere in the factory. We talked to former Redbull driver Michael, who told us "we [Michael and bag] were both laughing hard". However, the poor showing was hardly a laughing matter. The team was put under administration shortly before the race, putting them under control of the FIA. This makes it all the more ironic that the Irishman was reprimanded by the steward team for destroying braking markers in qualifying and on the formation lap. When questioned, Michael told us that he "thought I was flying my Nakajima Ki-44". The papaya pair once again struggled in Jeddah, with neither completing the full race distance. Perhaps the return of Connor may tighten the ship, but only time will tell. As we stand, the team are on a hauntingly similar trajectory to that of Ferrari last season, who finished in a disappointing 6th in the constructors championship.


CollinHogenberg: We live and learn

Championship protagonists Kogoda and CollinHogenberg have given us a thrilling start to the season, with two cracking fights for the win in both Bahrain and Jeddah. It was the defending champ who came out on top on both occasions, with Dutch man Collin losing out. On the surface, the season opener at Sakhir was a dominant showing from Kogoda, who finished 11 seconds clear of his rival. However, nothing is as cut and dry as it can seem. The pair were close together on the final lap, but a strategy gamble from the Red Bull crew meant that Collin ran out of fuel on the final straight, losing time to the finish. Jeddah was yet another brilliant battle with no shortage of drama, but damage for Collin early in the race resulted in him drifting wide and getting penalised. Despite this damage, he put up a hard fight for the mercedes man, who tried to utilise the back-to-back DRS straights to his advantage, with Collin nearly making contact with the rear of the Mercedes. Collin vented his frustration at this on the run to the chequered flag, lifting off the throttle and coasting to the line. This put him in range of AlphaTauri driver Mister Altf4, who got close enough to move past the sister car after penalties were applied. We got the opportunity to talk to the dutchman after the race, and asked him whether he would have changed his damaged wing in hindsight, given it lost him the opportunity to fight Kogoda at full strength. He told us that the damage seemed minor on the MFD, but as he went on the understeer seemed to get more severe. He said if he had the power to turn back time, he would have changed the wing, but said "you live and learn, we'll take this to the next race". When asked about his uncharacteristic mistake fuelled by frustration, Collin told us that "at the time I was incredibly frustrated, it was extremely stupid of me, I forgot I picked up a additional penalty due to the damage that let alt f4 come to close and he overtook me, which surely is a learning point for me, I've reviewed the entire race from my side, rewatched the race as well to see what I did wrong and where I can improve and I will take that as feedback for the next grand prix". Despite his somewhat uncharacteristic errors, given his dominant performance in F2 last season, he is still driven and looking forward to Monza.






Finally, I've posted one of these again. Lost all motivation for it when my predictions article got corrupted, but hey, it is what it is. As part of a push for more media content, I will be conducting interviews with 1-2 drivers and team principals each week, similar to press conferences irl.