Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul scored victory on Rally de España in Salou today, but it was not enough to keep the Hyundai crew in the fight for the crown, as Toyota’s Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja secured the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship title.*

Tänak and Jarveojä finished in second place but importantly won maximum Power Stage points, which promoted them ahead of Dani Sordo and Carlos Del Barrio, who complete the podium in third place.

Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen claimed FIA WRC 2 Pro victory for Citroën, while Eric Camilli and Benjamin Veillas won in the FIA WRC 2 class in a privateer Citroën C3 R5.

* subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA

Kevin Magnussen has lashed out at the ‘really bad’ rear view mirrors on modern Formula 1 cars, suggesting that they leave drivers essentially blind at crucial moments.

Since joining Haas in 2017, Magnussen has been repeatedly criticised by rivals for blocking them on track. He countered this on several occasions by suggesting that he had been unsighted and couldn’t see them approaching.

The most recent example came in Suzuka at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix when Sauber’s Charles Leclerc ended up running in the back of the Haas on the starting straight.

• Leclerc wants clarification after exoneration of ‘stupid’ Magnussen

The stewards cleared him of blame for the collision at the time but race director Charlie Whiting later changed his mind, saying that Magnussen had indeed moved too late and that he should have been penalised after all.

“I have to say I think he was right to change his opinion, because it was too late that I moved over,” Magnussen admitted last week.

“But the problem is that you can’t see the guy behind you until he moves,” the Dane continued. “Then you can see him. That’s a problem that we need to fix all together.”

The FIA is already planning on introducing changes to the technical regulations for 2019 that will be more prescriptive about the position of rear-view mirrors, requiring them to be lower and more outboard than at present.

The new rules will also mandate an adjustment to the permitted height of the new, wider rear wings that were introduced in 2017 and which currently obstruct the driver’s view of the track behind them.

“The rear wing will be higher so it should be better,” Magnussen agreed.

“[At the moment] you’ve got the rear wing so when the guy’s right behind you, you don’t see,” he explained. “As soon as he moves out that’s when he becomes visible. So you can’t do anything but react when you see.

“These cars are really bad. You can only see him when he’s at an angle, so either in a corner or off-set,” he stressed. “Right behind you, you’re blind.”

Drivers have suggested that the problem requires a more technological approach, with rear-view cameras instead of mirrors.

2019 Sauber driver Antonio Giovinazzi has experience with exactly that sort of solution from his time racing in the LMP2 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2016.

“I think it’s a good thing,” Giovinazzi said. “Now it’s really difficult to see with the mirrors with the aerodynamics at the back of the car, so maybe a screen will help.

• FIA tweaks rear wing rules to boost visibility

“It will depend where you put the screen and everything, but I think it can be a good option,” he continued.

“It was really good. In an endurance race you need the mirrors more because an LMP1 car is coming or a GT car is behind you, so you need to see more. I think this was really good for drivers to have a camera to see what’s behind.”

Magnussen’s boss, Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, also thought that the rear-facing camera idea was something worth looking into.

“The technology is out there,” he said. “It’s already available, the technology. We could do that, and I think it’s in discussion with the FIA at the moment. Charlie Whiting is looking into it.

“If that is a better way to look to the side and backwards, when the Saubers are coming, we can see them and we don’t run into them!”

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Touted as the next possible female F1 driver, GP3 racer Tatiana Calderon completed 23 laps behind the wheel of a Sauber C37 in Mexico City on Tuesday, the young Colombian driver enjoying her first experience in an F1 car.

The run at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez was conducted within the context of a Sauber promotional event and filming day, thus limited to the mandatory 100-kilometer distance.

Sauber has stayed on in Mexico as part of its participation in Pirelli’s tyre test programme, entrusting development work to its 2019 driver Antonio Giovinazzi.

Ericsson heads west to IndyCar for 2019 with SPM!

“Driving the Sauber C37 today was an incredible experience,” said an ecstatic Calderon.

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“The power, braking and grip of this car are unbelievable, and I felt very comfortable on track. After a few laps, you start getting used to the speed, and I had lots of fun.

“I want to thank the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team, Excuderia Telmex, Telcel, Infinitum and Claro for giving me this opportunity today, and trusting me to do the job. This is a day I will remember forever.”

Xevi Pujolar, Sauber’s head of track engineering was impressed with Tatiana’s skills and commitment.

“Tatiana drove a Formula One car for the first time today and did a very good job,” said the Spaniard.

“We are happy to see her perform so well, and once again were impressed by her dedication and work ethic.

“This event marks a positive step for our sport, and we look forward to seeing Tatiana continue to make progress.”

Calderon has been associated with Sauber for the past two years in her capacity as a development driver, the 25-year-old taking part in technical debriefs and conducting simulator work at the team’s base in Hinwil.

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Jos Verstappen says a healthy dose of anger helped his son power to a dominant fifth career win in Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix.

Verstappen Sr. said the Red Bull driver’s determination on race day was fueled by his missing out on pole position on Saturday, when he was pipped by team mate Daniel Ricciardo, the Aussie depriving the 21-year-old from becoming the youngest poleman in the history of F1.

‘Sleepless’ Verstappen never under pressure in Mexico

“I saw him on Sunday morning and he told me straight away that he had slept very badly,” Jos Verstappen told Dutch broadcaster Ziggo Sport.

“Max was annoyed about the car and missing the pole. But also by Ricciardo,” he revealed.

“He [Ricciardo] celebrated his pole position with the exuberance of having become world champion. Max was very angry and wanted only one thing: to win.”

Despite his barn burner lap that allowed him to lead the field off the line on Sunday, Ricciardo was overhauled by his team mate and Lewis Hamilton into the first corner.

The Renault-bound driver eventually worked his way back up to second only to endure a frustrating eighth retirement ten laps from the checkered flag, sidelined by a clutch failure.

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Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari’s decision to give preference to Sebastian Vettel according to circumstances is a “logical” one.

Leclerc earned enough stripes last season with Sauber to justify his promotion to the Scuderia where he has replaced Kimi Raikkonen.

The mercurial Monegasque has enjoyed a flawless path to the pinnacle of motorsport, marked by wins and championships in the junior ranks.

Many are predicting the 21-year-old will be snapping at the heels of his team mate at the outset this season, but Scuderia boss Mattia Binotto recently said that team policy will favour Vettel when required.

Leclerc keeping dream of Melbourne win out of his head

“That wasn’t news to me and I don’t think Mattia said anything exaggerated,” Leclerc told the media in Barcelona on Thursday.

“I already knew it would be like that for a while and for me this is logical and understandable.

“I’m new to Ferrari so it’s clear that one driver is preferred in a 50-50 situation. That’s what he said, and I totally understand that it’s Vettel.

“But that doesn’t mean it always has to be that way. My job is to be so fast that no team order is necessary.”

One man who knows a thing or two about racing for Ferrari and sharing garage space with a fast team mate is four-time world champion Alain Prost, who raced for the House of Maranello in 1990 and 1991.

“It’s a brave and indispensable decision,” said the Renault F1 Team advisor, speaking to French daily Le Figaro.

“In a team like Ferrari, it’s very difficult to win a championship if you leave both drivers fight freely.

“It’s a bit of a pity for the sport and it wouldn’t have happened 20 or 30 years ago, but today it’s the rule.

Prost commended Ferrari and Binotto for its diligent management.

“It’s better and more prudent to decide this in the beginning, it clarifies the situation. And it’s more comfortable for Charles,” added Prost.

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Ferrari conducted a filming day at the Circuit de Catalunya on Sunday, with Sebastian Vettel shaking down the Scuderia’s SF90 a day ahead of the start of pre-season testing.

Vettel did most of the running, but team mate Charles Leclerc was also given a series of laps onboard the Italian outfit’s 2019 car.

Ferrari’s Binotto sees ‘heavier’ 2019 cars 1.5s slower

Ferrari remained under the 100 km limit, as filming day regulations impose, and ran its car on mandatory demo tyres.

Vettel will handle testing duties on Monday in Barcelona while Leclerc will be in action on Tuesday, with the team alternating its drivers again on Wednesday and Thursday.

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Japanese manufacturer Honda says it wants to see as many of the ‘grey areas’ as possible in Formula 1’s sporting rules and regulations tightened up in the future.

Honda has been involved in F1 since 1964, but pulled out at the end of 2008. The former Honda factory team went on to win the constructors title the following year as Brawn GP, and subsequently become the hugely successful Mercedes squad.

Honda returned to F1 in 2015 with an ill-fated partnership with McLaren before moving to Toro Rosso season. This year it will add Red Bull to its roster. But Honda motorsport boss Masashi Yamamoto says his company is still playing catch up compared to the more established manufacturers.

“We were the ones who came in the later time so we were behind from the point of view of knowledge and understanding,” Yamamoto told Autosport magazine last week.

• Renault: Honda progress will remain capped without reliability

In particular, Honda still lacks the expertise and in-depth knowledge of their rivals when it comes to identifying and exploiting Formula 1’s ‘grey areas’, where an innovative interpretation of the rules could give a team a race-winning advantage.

It was Ross Brawn’s development of a controversial double diffuser that allowed Jenson Button to get off to an unbeatable start in 2009, going on to clinch that year’s driver and team titles.

A more recent example was Ferrari’s attempt to use some leeway in the results covering the new Halo protection device to introduce new aerodynamic elements to the design of their 2018 cars in the form of rear-facing mirrors.

There was also a big debate about whether the perforated wheel rims Mercedes introduced last season complied with current rules banning movable aerodynamic elements.

Honda has been reticent to explore such grey areas since its return, even though teams with bigger budgets have been hard at work doing just that.

“Everyone was really keen to exploit the grey areas, especially Ferrari and Mercedes,” Yamamoto said, explaining why it had been so difficult for Honda to get on an even footing with their rivals since their return..

Eliminating vagueness in the rules out be difficult but not impossible, he believes, and would result in better competition.

“We want to burn all of those grey areas,” he insisted. “We want them to stop. No grey areas is our hope.”

He admitted that there would always be some contentious areas within the regulations but that the sport should be able to do a better job laying down the law than they are at present.

“We cannot help having grey areas,” he conceded. “[But] they can do a better job than now.

“In terms of F1, we know we’ve got so many specialists inside the FIA” he pointed out. “We think they can make better regulations to not have grey areas.”

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