Monday Morning Pit Notes from Max Verstappen's F1 Dutch Grand Prix Win

Leftovers and pit notes from another Max Verstappen win include a classy Daniel Ricciardo, a new job for Michael Masi, and an emotional moment for a young American.

Autoweek rounds up some of the other talking points from the Dutch GP.

Ricciardo: No Hard Feelings

Daniel Ricciardo’s on-track results have been dismal in recent races, but off-track he continues to exude class. Ricciardo has been replaced for 2023 by rookie compatriot Oscar Piastri, who is managed by fellow Australian Mark Webber, with a deal having been struck in early July. Ricciardo revealed post-race that he “obviously still likes Mark a lot and I respect him” and that he wishes Piastri well with McLaren.

“Obviously what we spoke about is private, but it doesn’t bother me saying it,” said Ricciardo. “I wanted to tell him there’s no hard feelings, because if there’s no communication, you never know what someone’s feeling or thinking. He’s a lot younger than me, so I don’t know maybe how he feels, if he’s nervous to reach out and see how I’m doing.

"Also I wanted to make sure that it was clear that I understand his position and absolutely no hard feelings. So yeah, that was good. I think it made him feel better, and I think the last thing he wanted was to have some weird tension between a few of the only Australians that have ever been in this sport, so I’m glad that we’ve done that.”

Ex-F1 Race Director Masi Gets New Gig

Former Formula 1 race director Michael Masi has picked up a new role in his native Australia.

Masi has been confirmed as the new independent chair of the Supercars Commission, a championship with which he was previously affiliated. Masi served as the Super2 Series race director in 2015 before stepping up to becoming Supercars’ deputy race director in 2016. Masi spent four years in Formula 1, one year as deputy race director, before moving into the race director role from 2019-21 following the death of Charlie Whiting.

Masi was fired as race director for 2022 following the events surrounding the conclusion to the 2021 campaign and the controversial race decision that helped Max Verstappen to the win over Lewis Hamilton. The Australian remained at the FIA for several months until the governing body formally announced that he wished to seek a position elsewhere.

F1 Support Series to Use Sustainable Fuels

Formula 2 and Formula 3 will work with Formula 1’s global partner Aramco to use sustainable fuels in both championships in 2023.

Initially 55% of the fuel will be sustainable with the intention that this increases incrementally to 100% before the 2027 season.

“Sustainability is a top priority in today’s world, and we have been working on making our sport more sustainable for some time now,” said Formula 2 and Formula 3 CEO Bruno Michel. “The goal to switch to synthetic fuel can only be achieved through the partnership with a company of the scale of Aramco, which is determined to produce advanced sustainable fuel in the near future.