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Fernando Alonso Retires - Bristolian F1 Driver Incoming (Confirmed)


nebristolred

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As the above really! Fernando Alonso has today announced he's retiring from Formula One at the end of the season. Certainly one of the prime candidates to replace him is 18 year old Lando Norris, born in Bristol and a product of none other than Bristol Sport..... Could be interesting to see.

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4 minutes ago, phantom said:

It's always like Alonso never quite fulfilled his true potential

He almost seems like he has been happy to plod along for a number of years

@nebristolred is Lando a test driver for any of the F1 teams?

He's with Mclaren as test/reserve driver, does a lot of sim work for the team alongside competing in Formula 2 with Carlin Racing.

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On 14/08/2018 at 17:25, nebristolred said:

As the above really! Fernando Alonso has today announced he's retiring from Formula One at the end of the season. Certainly one of the prime candidates to replace him is 18 year old Lando Norris, born in Bristol and a product of none other than Bristol Sport..... Could be interesting to see.

 

British teenager Lando Norris will make his Friday practice debut for McLaren at this week's Belgium Grand Prix.

The 18-year-old will deputise for Fernando Alonso in first practice after the double world champion announced he would retire at the end of the season.

Norris, from Glastonbury in Somerset, is the reserve driver for McLaren.

His Spa-Francorchamps drive will be his first at a full grand prix weekend and a chance to stake a claim for a 2019 race seat.

Fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz will replace Alonso at McLaren next season, but the identity of the team's second driver is unclear, with the British outfit not certain to retain Stoffel Vandoorne.

Norris was approached by Toro Rosso in June to replace Brendon Hartley for the rest of this season, but McLaren refused.

McLaren sporting director Gil de Ferran said: "This is not only part of his ongoing development, but also the evaluation and performance evolution of the car.

"We'll be taking a strategic view race-by-race at where else this might be beneficial for us over the coming grands prix."

Norris won the European Formula Three championship in 2017 and this year sits second in the Formula Two championship, the feeder series to F1.

The F1 season resumes in Belgium following its one-month summer break with Hamilton holding a 24-point lead over Sebastian Vettel.

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Looks like we can remove the question mark from the title. Lando Norris confirmed at McLaren next year, massive for Bristol Sport that. Not sure how extensive any involvement will be at that level but that is fame and exposure far beyond anything any of the other clubs in the group can achieve in the short term.

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British teenager Lando Norris is to replace Stoffel Vandoorne at McLaren after the Belgian driver announced he is to leave at the end of the season.

Norris, 18, has been the team's reserve driver and took part in first practice sessions in Spain and Hungary in 2018.

He will partner Renault's Carlos Sainz, who will replace Vandoorne's retiringteam-mate Fernando Alonso.

"This is a special moment, one I could only hope would become reality," said Norris.

"To be announced as a race driver for McLaren is a dream come true."

Norris is a title challenger in the Formula 2 feeder series this year, sitting second in the championship having won on his debut from pole position.

Since joining McLaren's Young Driver Programme in early 2017, Norris has conducted race simulation work for the team in addition to participating in testing.

"For the remainder of 2018, my focus remains firmly on the Formula 2 championship," he said.

"My objective is to win the title before joining McLaren full-time, which will be tough, but I will fight as hard as I can for the remaining four races.

"I'll also be working closely with McLaren at every opportunity to learn as much as possible from the drivers, engineers and mechanics to give myself the best preparation."

Vandoorne, 26, is 16th in the championship and has no points from his past 10 races. He finished 12th in Sunday's Italian Grand Prix.

"The past two seasons we didn't achieve the success we'd hoped, but I want to thank everyone for the opportunities they gave me," said Vandoorne.

"I intend to give it my all for the remaining seven races of this season, and will announce my plans for next season in due course."

McLaren team boss Zak Brown added: "It's clear we haven't provided Stoffel with the tools to show his true talent."

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Analysis

Chief F1 writer Andrew Benson

The departure of Vandoorne from McLaren at the end of this season is no surprise in one sense - he has failed to match up to team-mate Fernando Alonso since joining the team in 2017.

But it is in another - Vandoorne was one of the most successful drivers in recent years in junior categories before his graduation and was widely regarded as one of the most promising new talents around.

So, the question remains: have his difficult two seasons at McLaren proved he was not quite up to the job, or is Alonso just that good?

Alonso is an all-time great and remains at the top of his game. And Vandoorne has been much closer to the two-time champion on pace than many of the Spaniard's former team-mates, including Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen.

And the past two years at McLaren, with a difficult car and the end of an engine partnership with Honda and start of a new one in Renault, have not been easy. The team are in crisis - there is no other way of putting it.

It's quite possible that Vandoorne is better than a number of drivers on the grid but has just not been in a position to show it. As such, some in the paddock believe he deserves another chance.

Opportunities for 2019 are limited but they are there - at Toro Rosso and Sauber in particular.

Whether Vandoorne lands one remains to be seen.

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53 minutes ago, El Hombrecito said:

He's in the Porsche series now. Doesn't appear to be sponsored by Bristol Sport any more though. Certainly no logo on his car or overalls. Maybe BS have gotten out of motorsports? Do they definitely still sponsor Lando?

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Seem to stop sponsoring Lando after he made the jump to F2.  Don't seem to report much on Glos Cricket either, maybe just keeping it football/rugby/basketball? 

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Dino has been driving in the Porsche Carrera cup series for a couple of years now, think this is his third year. Last year the BS logo was very evident on his car and overalls but this year not so. He is leading the group currently, fortunately for him his main rival who was winning everything (Dan Cammish) moved to BTCC (British Touring Car Champion) this season. I don’t think we have ended our sponsorship with him completely though, but I haven’t heard we have been using Ashton Gate as we have in the past for his launches etc either. 

Lando has been a lot less in the public eye than Dino, at least with the BS involvement. Again I haven’t heard that we aren’t involved, but I suppose we shouldn’t assume we are either. The fact we aren’t blowing our trumpet over either on the BS site maybe says we have little or no involvement...or the website is poor !

Edit: it was Charlie Eastwood and not Dan Cammish that Dino lost the championship to last year. They had the same number of points so went to the tie breaker of Eastwood having one more victory. Close. 

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11 minutes ago, phantom said:

Maybe the money involved with F1 was simply too much for Bristol Sport to get involved with?

No doubt the figures were eye watering, even at Dino’s level he was always needing more and more money. I expected some mention of him by BS even if it was only we were proud to have helped his career, good luck and goodbye.

 

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George Russell will become the third British driver in Formula 1 next year after signing to race for Williams.

The 20-year-old, a Mercedes protege and leader of this year's Formula Two championship, has secured what Williams describe as a "multi-year contract".

"I feel on top of the world," Russell told BBC Sport. "It has been a lifelong dream to make it to F1 ever since I started racing when I was seven.

"It was a long road. Suddenly it's here and it just feels amazing."

Russell said he would remain a Mercedes young driver but added: "As of 2019, I am fully contracted to Williams and that is my 100% full focus."

Russell joins Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and fellow rookie Lando Norris at McLaren to make the largest British contingent on the grid since 2016.

Deputy team principal Claire Williams said: "We have always tried to promote and develop young talent at Williams, and George fits that ethos perfectly.

"He is already highly regarded in the paddock and a driver whose career we have been watching for a while.

"In the time we have spent with him so far, we believe that he will be a great fit for our team. His commitment, passion and dedication are exactly what we need."

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What's happening with Ocon is really sad, a very good promising driver and a very likeable guy but there doesn't appear to be a seat for him, the only real option is Williams but can't really see them having two Mercedes drivers on their books unless Mercedes offer them a very tempting deal.

There is a huge influx of talented young drivers coming through at the moment but not enough seats to go around, there needs to be a few more teams on the grid. I am pleased that F1 does appear to now be moving away from the pay drivers that had taken over the grid. For next season only Stroll appears to be the only pay driver, could possibly add Perez to that as he brings a huge amount of sponsorship with him and that's the only reason he looks likely to get the seat at Force India ahead of Ocon. 

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