Leclerc Begins Cautious Contract Talks With Ferrari

In brief

Leclerc and Ferrari begin discussions on a new deal

Charles Leclerc signed a five-year contract extension with Ferrari after his first season with the team in 2019. With that contract set to expire at the end of next season, Leclerc confirmed that conversations about his next deal have started, albeit gradually.

“We’re starting slowly to speak about it, yes,” Leclerc said. “I don’t have any particular deadlines. I still feel like a year-and-a-half is a long way to go. But I haven’t set myself any particular deadline.”

Kanaan named special advisor to McLaren IndyCar

McLaren’s IndyCar operation has confirmed that Tony Kanaan will join the team as a special advisor following his retirement from full-time racing.

The 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner made a final appearance in the series last month, driving a fourth car run by McLaren for the event and finishing 16th. In his new role Kanaan will mentor drivers and support commercial and business initiatives for the team.

“I had said that I wasn’t going to leave racing or the IndyCar Series, so I’m very excited to join the McLaren team in this role,” Kanaan said. “Zak [Brown, McLaren Racing CEO] and Gavin [Ward, racing director] have a great vision for where this team is heading and what we can accomplish, so I look forward to helping us get there and making the team and the series even better.”

Ocon invited to Deadpool set by investor Ryan Reynolds

Alpine driver Esteban Ocon revealed he had been invited to visit actor Ryan Reynolds on the set of the upcoming Deadpool movie. Reynolds is among a group of investors who purchased a 24% stake in the F1 team, and Ocon said he welcomed the chance to build relationships and help Reynolds learn more about the sport.

“I was extremely lucky to be able to chat on Tuesday with Ryan,” Ocon said. “We exchanged a couple of WhatsApp messages. He told me I was invited on the set in London for the Deadpool movie so I’m definitely going to be going. He also said that he was very much looking forward to learning from our world, seeing how things work and just to have a racing chat altogether.”

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

Lando Norris victim of robbery in Marbella (The Independent)

‘We were out for dinner and our place got robbed. A mixture of many things were stolen. Some were expensive and some were not so expensive. It is still an ongoing investigation so I cannot say too much.’

Formula 1’s oldest drivers are showing the youngsters how to do it (The Economist)

‘Much has been made about how the average age of Formula One (F1) drivers has been dropping. It is 28 for this year’s group. Nearly all the teams have driver academies that allow them to pick up talented drivers in their early teens and then take them through the categories of racing until they can occupy an F1 seat. Young drivers who perform well in Formula 2, F1’s feeder championship, can go straight into an F1 team. Yet older F1 drivers have often been winners in the modern era. The champions in 1992 and 1993, Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost, were respectively 39 and 38. Both were driving Williams cars designed by Mr Newey that were as crushingly superior to the rest of the field as the Red Bull is today.’

McLaren to celebrate 60 years of thrilling high performance at Goodwood (Automotive World)

‘McLaren will pay homage to founder Bruce McLaren at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed, celebrating his bold vision and the greatest moments from the six decades since McLaren began in 1963, including McLaren’s capture of motorsport’s unofficial ‘Triple Crown’ of victories at the Indianapolis 500, Monaco Grand Prix and Le Mans 24 Hours. McLaren Automotive will also be looking to the future with global dynamic debuts of two new models on the Goodwood Hillclimb, alongside other iconic cars both running and on display.’

For the love of fans: New Velo survey reveals fans keen for more from motorsports (PR Newswire)

‘With a wave of new motorsport fans joining the community, it’s no surprise that fans are reaching out for more events and activities (38 per cent) and behind-the-scenes content (30 per cent). The fan community really sits at the heart of the sport, with 21 per cent reporting their favourite part of the F1 community is the shared passion for motorsport, with 17 per cent enjoying the sense of team spirit.’

Maloney set for Formula E outing in Rome (Formula E)

‘Avalanche Andretti has announced that Zane Maloney will once again get behind the wheel of their ‘Gen3′ car when he participates in a Free Practice session in Rome.’

Compete and earn in-game rewards in F1 World this July (EA)

‘Ever finished watching a grand prix and said to yourself: “What if…?” This is your chance to rewrite history. In F1 Replays, you’ll be able to take the place of any driver on the grid based on their race starting position, recreating the real-world race that just took place.’

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Social media

Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:

Would @KevinMagnussen like to see the points positions in the sprint race extended down to 10th place? #F1 #AustrianGP #RaceFans pic.twitter.com/wIv1ehKV1u

— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) June 29, 2023

Checo won’t be at the circuit today. He became unwell last night and is taking the day to rest to ensure he’s in the best possible health for this weekend’s race.

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) June 29, 2023

Doesn’t matter how many racetracks we visit, this will always be the best media centre view #AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/pqO08VEJbo

— Claire Cottingham (@Cla_Cottingham) June 29, 2023

Thrilled to have you sticking around, @TonyKanaan! https://t.co/kc4oRzWagR

— Zak Brown (@ZBrownCEO) June 29, 2023

Going to head over to Mid Ohio tomorrow to check out some @IndyCar activities. Hope to see some of you fine folks there! #RaceFan

— Conor Daly (@ConorDaly22) June 29, 2023

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• Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory

Comment of the day

With a number of drivers expressing a desire to bring back one-shot qualifying, @esmiz hopes to see it return…

Yes please.

For me, it is the most fun and interesting type of qualifying, since you can see the onboard laps of all the drivers. Also a small mistake leaves you on the back of the grid.

The problems that I see are the days of changing conditions, and that at the end of the session there is more rubber on the track than at the beginning. But apart from that, for me, I hope they do it.
Dani B. Molina

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Rhys, Mike-E and Optmist!

On this day in motorsport

• 10 years ago today Nico Rosberg won a British Grand Prix which was affected by multiple tyre blow-outs