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FORMULA ONE

Denmark bids for F1 Grand Prix race in 2018

Formula One cars could be racing in Denmark as part of the world championship if an ambitious plan to bring Grand Prix racing back to Scandinavia gets off the ground.

Published: 27 November 2014 07:37 CET
Denmark bids for F1 Grand Prix race in 2018
Could hometown hero Kevin Magnussen, shown here at the 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, race in front of a Danish audience? Photo: Grand Prix Photo

Danish newspaper Herning Folkeblad has reported that a working group is due to meet with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone to discuss a potential Danish Grand Prix for 2018.

The group are being represented by politician Helge Sander, who served as the minister for science until February 2010. It's believed that the lobby group were due to meet Ecclestone this week but the talks have been moved until January.

"It doesn't matter if a little more time passes before this meeting takes place as we are working to get Formula One to Denmark in 2018," Sander told Herning Folkeblad.

Any such deal would require substantial investment to construct a circuit suitable for F1 cars. Sander is understood to be trying to secure backing for the project by approaching leading Danish multinational companies to get the proposal off the ground.

Kevin Magnussen before the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Photo: Grand Prix Photo
Kevin Magnussen before the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Photo: Grand Prix Photo

Denmark is already represented on the F1 grid with Roskilde native Kevin Magnussen racing for the McLaren team in the 2014 season. The 22-year-old finished on the podium in his debut Grand Prix in Australia but struggled for much of the rest of his rookie campaign.

He eventually finished 11th in the world championship, scoring 55 points in the process. Magnussen currently faces an anxious wait to see if he will return to Formula One next year with McLaren yet to decide if they will renew his contract.

The racer has long been backed by Danish clothing company Bestseller, who have been tipped to become a sponsor of McLaren if Magnussen remains onboard.

Only a handful of Danes have raced in Formula One, including Magnussen's father Jan during the 90s.

Tom Belsø raced in the Swedish Grand Prix twice in the 70s, along with Jac Nelleman who made the F1 grid once. Prior to Magnussen's arrival this year the last Dane to race in the highest series of motorsport was Nicolas Kiesa back in 2003.

One of Formula One's leading photojournalists is Dane Peter Nygaard, who clocked up his 500th Grand Prix at the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

The closest Danish fans have come to getting an F1 fix was during the 70s when thousands took the Helsingør-Helsingborg ferry to watch the Swedish Grand Prix in Anderstorp.

Sweden hosted its last Grand Prix in 1978 so if the Danish bid is successful it will mark 40 years since Grand Prix cars raced in anger in Scandinavia.  

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SPORT

IN PHOTOS: Ferrari unveils its new car for the 2020 season

Ferrari unveiled its new SF1000 car on Tuesday at a ceremony in Italy's motor racing heartland of Emilia-Romagna, ahead of the coming Formula One season.

Published: 12 February 2020 09:32 CET
IN PHOTOS: Ferrari unveils its new car for the 2020 season
The new Ferrari SF1000. All photos: AFP/Ferrari press office

Ferrari unveiled its new SF1000 car for the 2020 Formula One season, which they hope will deliver a first world drivers title since 2007, during a glitzy ceremony on Tuesday.

The single-seater's name acknowledges the fact that the Italian team will start its 1,000th world championship race during the coming campaign, which begins with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 15.

Narrower than last season's SF90, with a deeper red colouring the body, Ferrari is pinning its hopes on the SF1000 car earning them drivers and constructors titles that have eluded them for 12 and 11 years respectively.

“I like it very much,” said German driver Sebastian Vettel.”It's much narrower at the back than last year and it is also redder, it's even better. I'm impatient to drive it, that will be even more fascinating than looking at it.”

The Scuderia broke with tradition and presented its new racing car outside of its stronghold of Maranello, unveiling it instead amid of sea of red on stage at the Teatro Romolo-Valli in the nearby city of Reggio Emilia.

“This is a very important place for our country,” chairman of the Ferrari group John Elkann explained.
“It was in this city that the tricolour flag, which became that of Italy, was created. And Ferrari is proud of Italy and of representing Italy.”

“This is a very special year,” continued Ferrari Team Manager Mattia Binotto.

“It's 70 years of Formula One, we have been there from the start and we are going to reach the figure of 1,000 Grands Prix, which is something incredible.”

Barring a forced change in the calendar because of the deadly coronavirus in Asia, the milestone should be reached in June during the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

“Maybe it looks a lot like the SF90, but I can assure you it is very different,” continued Binotto.

“We still have to make progress, especially on reliability,” he added, recalling that Ferrari, like the other teams, had to face “the double challenge” of preparing the next season in parallel with the following one, when new rules will come into force.

Binotto stressed that this season veteran Vettel and 22-year-old Charles Leclerc, who impressed on his debut last season, would be starting on an equal footing.

“We have seen that they can both fight for the best results. They are both on the same level. It is up to them to race,” he added.

Last season, the association between the experienced Vettel and Leclerc often turned into a duel, coming to a head when the two drivers collided during the Brazilian GP.

But 22-year-old Leclerc, who won two races and finished fourth place in the world championship, said lessons had been learned.

“We have learned the lesson from Brazil. We are free to race, but we are teammates,” he said.

“A lot of people are working behind us, as a team, and things like Brazil should not happen.”

Both drivers said they were impatient to try out the new car, which will be on track next week for the pre-season testing in Barcelona.

“I felt emotional when I saw it,” said Monaco's Leclerc.

“Now I can't wait to be out on track and try it and to show all the work that has been done on this car. It's going to be a great challenge,” he added. “I'm ready to learn from my mistakes to become an even better driver.”

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