While I and paddock colleagues are sworn to secrecy on details of scenes, there was some filming equipment in the paddock on the opening day of the weekend too, leading to drivers regularly being asked about the project, and producer Lewis Hamilton understandably very chatty about the whole situation.
In fact, most drivers were largely intrigued or excited by the presence of a complete new team – however fictional it may be – and film crew at a race, and Brad Pitt’s attendance at the driver briefing only heightened that feeling. Pierre Gasly couldn’t help grabbing a selfie with the character to be known as Sonny Hayes, but not everyone was a huge fan.
At least, Fernando Alonso was playing it cool…
Pitt joins the driver line-up for the national anthem
Dan Mullan/Getty Images
“All the women are happy…” joked Fernando Alonso. “It doesn’t change my opinion, I hope they are not in the middle of the paddock or anything like that and we don’t get distracted by this. I will not for sure.”
Well, they were in the middle of the paddock, but to be fair to the film producers the level of detail and investment they’ve put in really does make the team simply blend in with the rest of the paddock, and any distractions were limited to Thursday. Even if that did make for some double-takes on the grid pre-race when Pitt and Damson Idris walked by in full race gear.
But what about a real 11th team?
One thing the APXGP set-up highlighted was the amount of interest and excitement that can be generated by something new in Formula 1. And to that end, the potential entries that are bidding to join the grid were another talking point during the weekend.
Toto Wolff was guilty of a few disingenuous comments as he suggested one reason not to allow an 11th team is because drivers are regularly complaining about traffic in Q1 and adding two more cars could be a safety issue, conveniently forgetting that little over a decade ago we had 12 teams on the grid and 24 cars were not deemed a problem even in qualifying in Monaco.
There’s space for an 11th team! Russell drives past the APXGP box
Xavi Bonila/DPPI
Rather than teams trying to protect their value by preventing a new team joining, the suggestion from some who are close to the Andretti project is that their value wouldn’t change either way because the Concorde Agreement currently allows more teams to be added. So teams are valued as if they are one of 12 already, and it was put to me that the more realistic aim of the current 10 will be to remove the vacant slots and completely close F1 off as a ten-team championship in the next Concorde, because that is a move that would increase the value of the existing franchises.
“Our position was very clear: buy a team,” Wolff had said on Friday.
It tallies at least…
Ricciardo’s shadow hardly looming large, yet
Ricciardo is still a fan favourite. This week’s time on track is crucial to make a case for a 2024 drive
Red Bull
Sergio Perez’s struggles continue to frustrate Red Bull on a Saturday, with Helmut Marko stating his qualifying performances – particularly in low grip conditions – have always been a weakness throughout the Mexican’s career. Marko wants to see an improvement but also backed Checo’s race craft and ability to recover, saying nobody does that to a better level that is available to Red Bull right now.
Given Perez’s drive to sixth place in a race where Red Bull’s advantage was not as big as it has been at some venues, it’s perhaps a fair assessment. And while in itself that is a slight on Daniel Ricciardo, until the Australian drives the RB19 this week during a Pirelli tyre test it’s hard to argue against given how he ended his time at McLaren.
