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Tag: Formula One

  • Max Hart: Irish racing prospect looks back on last season, and talks about his future plans

    This year’s TCR UK Touring Car Championship had its first lights out in April, with Irish prodigy Max Hart picking up a double podium on the first weekend in Cheshire’s Oulton Park. Following a 4th place Driver’s Championship finish in the 2021 season, Hart came storming out of the gates, looking to claim his first championship. 

    Another great weekend saw the Baltinglass native pick up back-to-back wins at Donnington Park, making him a hot contender for the Driver’s Championship. However, things soon began to turn, with his first retirement of the season coming in the 8th round at his return to Oulton Park. 

    Despite having a great qualifying session, Hart was ordered to the back of the grid for the race start, along with a 10 second start penalty. As he fought his way through the pack, his car began to slow down, with a faulty sensor ending his race. 

    His disappointing end to the 8th round started a trend, with Hart not finishing any of his next six races. Hart, alongside teammate Andy Wilmot, announced they would be leaving JamSport before the final round of the tournament.

    “This year I started really well. I had wins and podiums, and poles. Then things started to go bad. I ended up having to leave JamSport.” 

    Max Hart racing his JamSport Hyundai i30n; photo Courtesy of Max Hart

    Despite his departure from TCR Championship, Hart is not short of options ahead of next season. The 2019 Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the Year nominee says “what I know for sure, is that I’ll definitely be doing the GT Cup”.

    “I’m making the switch from TCR to GT Cup. That’s with a sponsor and teammate of mine from this year. I’m really looking forward to that. That will probably be in a GT4 Mercedes, if not it’ll be a [Porsche] 991 Cup car.” 

    Hart recently had the opportunity to test a new generation of Porsche GT Cup cars, with Duckhams Yuasa racing. While Hart looks forward to making the switch, he says he felt “at home” with the experience of driving the rear-wheel drive Porsche. 

    “It was unbelievable… Rear-wheel drive is like my home. I’ve come from single-seater racing where the cars are all rear-wheel drive. It wasn’t something that was unknown to me, or that big of a surprise. It went fine, and I really enjoyed it. I just hopped in and went as fast as I could straight away.”

    Hart also says he has had talks with Hyundai Motorsport, however, there is no concrete plan in place for next season. Hart is hopeful that he can make their Junior Driver Program, which includes EWRC driver and fellow Irishman Josh MacErlean – as well as TCR Championship rival Lewis Kent. 

    Hart explained that he is “in deep talks with Hyundai at the moment to compete in TCR Europe.” He adds that “nothing has been confirmed yet,” and he will “only go if I can get into their Junior Driver program”.

    Despite his plans for next season, Hart has not ruled out a return to open seated racing, although admits it is unlikely. The young hotshot has previously finished second in Monoposto Championship, while raking in 8 podiums out of a possible 14 in his Leastone 1000, including two wins. Before this, Hart had competed in – and won – the Irish Formula Vee Star of Tomorrow, in which he won 8 out of 12 races. 

    Hart says that although he would be open to a return, the financial aspect of open market racing could hamper his chances. 

    “If I could, and I knew I could get to the top, I would. The money side of stuff, I’m not going to say it’s impossible, but it’s very close to impossible, for me at my age to make it into Formula 1.”

    Hart also acknowledged that his aim would be to reach Formula One, the pinnacle of open-wheel racing, by the age of 24. However, he says that it’s ‘unrealistic,’ and “that’s not my goal at all at the moment.”

    “You have people that are in Formula 1 now, that are around my age, or a year older than me. I’d have to get into Formula 3, then get into Formula 2 and then Formula 1. I’d have to finish in the top three in both of those years, and then still I’d have to do more stuff to gain the super license points. I’d have to do an Asia Championship during the winter, just in the hopes that I would make it to Formula 1 before I turn 24… I could do a season in Formula 4, but it would be hard to raise the budget to get into Formula 3 or 2. You have to give money to the FIA as well, you’re talking just under €1 million to the FIA for Formula 3.”

    While Formula One may not be on the agenda for Hart, the future still looks bright for one of Ireland’s best young driving talents.

  • Formula E: The fast and the eco-friendly

    Formula E: The fast and the eco-friendly

    High speed, low emissions. Is there a better answer than Formula E to a sustainable future for motorsports? Photo by Tom Verdoot via Pexels.com

    The idea of Formula E was conceived in 2011 in Paris when Spanish businessman, Formula E chairman Alejandro Agag and fédération internationale de l’automobile (FIA) president Jean Todt met in Paris to discuss the possibility of an all-electric international single-seater championship.

    Now in its eighth season, it shows no sign of it slowing down with new teams like Jaguar, Nissan, Porsche and Audi joining the championship in recent years and with new locations being added all the time.

    The official Formula E website proudly states that the founding mission of the sport was to “race through the streets of the most iconic cities in the world – with a grid full of the best racing drivers and teams around – to show just what sustainable mobility was capable of”.

    The cars used in Formula E are similar to those used in Formula One, the body style of the car is ostensibly the same, the key difference is, of course, the use of batteries rather than an engine. 

    Although the cars are slower, with a top speed of 280 km/h as opposed to 360km/h in Formula One, this can be seen as a small price to pay for an eco-friendlier motorsport. With constant improvements being made, Formula E could close the speed gap sooner rather than later.

    Back in 2017, Dublin made a bid to host an E-Prix with former Fine Gael TD Noel Rock advocating for Dublin’s inclusion in the racing calendar. 

    “Dublin would perfectly fit the bill for such a race, and it would make for exciting viewing,” said Rock.

    “I fully support Fáilte Ireland and Dublin City Council exploring the possibility of acting as a host city and I would expect that the Government would support such a bid if one was to be made in the future,” he continued.

    The benefits of Dublin hosting a Formula E event would have seen a boost in economic growth and tourism, along with the possibility of Ireland becoming a permanent location for the Formula E racing season. 

    Unfortunately, Dublin was overlooked for the race. Instead Marrakesh, Hong Kong, Rome, Paris, Berlin and many more reaped the benefits of the popular motorsport.

    The Formula E Ireland Fan Site gave some insight into the future of Formula E in Ireland “I kind of feel like we might have missed our chance with it. There was a thing a few years back about potentially holding a race here when the series was still finding its place.

    “After Battersea cancelled their contract, we could have had a chance to slip in and be the English-speaking race location on this side of the Atlantic, but the series has grown so much now and has cities all around the world looking into hosting and bringing FE to big, exciting locations.”

    So, as the motor sport continues to grow what will the future look like for Ireland with regards to the possibility of hosting an E-Prix? The Formula E Fan Site holds onto the hope that someday Ireland will host a race “honestly, I’d absolutely love it if I were proved wrong.”

    Currently, only one driver who hails from the island of Ireland has taken part in the Formula E championship – Portadown native Adam Carroll. 

    Carroll took part in the 2016-17 championship driving for team Jaguar and coming 21st in his solitary season in the motorsport.

    With the success of Formula E, Alejandro Agag has also gone on to create Extreme E which is a climate-conscious electric rally series. 

    This form of E-Motorsport could fit perfectly into Ireland as there is already an established rally scene across the country. However, time will tell as to whether Ireland will capitalise on the ever-growing world of electrical motorsports.