00:02Alpine says suggestions online from Argentinian fans that it sabotaged Franco Colopinto's results in China last month by giving him
00:10an inferior car are unfounded.
00:15Colopinto scored his first point for Endstone in Shanghai after he finished 10th, but he was 4 places and 49
00:21seconds behind Gasly, which fans suggested was due to a difference in their cars.
00:28But Alpine, in an open letter to fans, said barring some small low-performance impacting parts in China due to
00:35switching gearbox components, the two drivers have been running the same equipment, though the squad was firm in its need
00:43for flexibility with parts.
00:47There might be times this year when pushing in the development race that upgrades come to one car first, which
00:53the team will communicate and be completely transparent about, Alpine wrote.
01:02Williams' team boss James Vowell says he could see the squad returning to score consistent points after the traditional summer
01:08break, when it's set to introduce its strongest upgrades.
01:14Williams is currently ninth in the constructors' standings, equal with rival Audi on just two points after three races, with
01:21the squad suffering with its FW48 car that is overweight and limited in other areas.
01:27But Val said with upgrades, it will likely break into the competitive but inconsistent midfield pack from P5 that comprises
01:35Alpine, Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls, from which it can build.
01:42Now what I can really forecast forward is we have a huge amount of work going all the way through
01:48and beyond the August break to effectively add performance to the car.
01:52Now the teams will as well, it's a relative gain. Some of that performance, I think, on the stronger end
01:57will be coming post-August break.
02:01Four-time F1 World Champion Max Verstappen is set to lose a long-term Red Bull Racing ally, with his
02:07front-end mechanic Ola Shaq, rumoured to be in discussions with the team about the timing of his exit.
02:14Shaq is the last of Red Bull's crew to have transitioned across from the squad's previous incarnation as Jaguar Racing,
02:21and has seen its rise to eight driver's titles with Sebastian Vettel and Verstappen.
02:29The Dane, who is reportedly seeking a fresh challenge beyond Red Bull, has vivid memories of the Energy Drinks team's
02:35earliest days.
02:382005 was such a transition year because all we did really was paint the cars that was green and silver
02:42before to blue and silver.
02:45But coming to Australia and got fourth place, I think fourth or fifth place DC got, we were punching massively
02:49all our way.
02:50And on the first three races, we scored more points than we did the whole year before.
02:55Lance Stroll will take a break this month from his current F1 woes with the Canadian to race a GT3
03:00Aston Martin Vantage in the opening round of the GT World Challenge Europe at Paul Ricard on April 11th.
03:08Stroll's Green Squad has endured a nightmare start to the season, with its Honda power unit not just overweight, underpowered
03:15and unreliable, but vibrating enough to threaten permanent nerve damage in the driver's hands, though a fix is coming for
03:22Miami.
03:24Stroll will therefore enjoy time away from F1 in the Vantage, racing in the pro class for Com2U Racing, with
03:30teammates Roberto Meri and Aston Martin Academy driver Mari Boyer.
03:34Stroll's Green Squad.
03:36Stroll's Green Squad.
03:39Red Bull Reserve Yuki Tsunoda says he hasn't given up on a return to race in F1 and sees value
03:45in showing his face in the paddock, rather than going off to race in another series to stay sharp.
03:52Tsunoda was dropped from Red Bull's race seat for this year, closing out five straight years on the grid, four
03:58with sister team racing bulls, with the Japanese driver replaced by young gun Isaac Hadjar.
04:05But Tsunoda has remained in the Red Bull's reserve, a role that he feels will keep him at the forefront
04:10of the driver market.
04:15I think showing my face, not just at Red Bull, but in the general F1 paddock is quite important, he
04:21said.
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