team abu dhabi f1 powerboat

Abu Dhabi Team

UIM F1 H2O WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

F1 team abu dhabi.

INTERNATIONAL TEAM

F1 head of team.

Salem Al Remethi

General Manger

Guido Cappellini

Team Manger

Jumaa Al Qubaisi

Nasser Al Dhahery

Event manager

Thani AlQemzi

Shaun Torrente

F1 technical team.

More than 12 members of Team Abu Dhabi support the team in the Mechanical and Technical services.

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Abu Dhabi team preparing for UIM F1 World Powerboat Championship

Sport uae sport.

• Golf in UAE

Gillman's experience the key

Dubai: The Abu Dhabi Team pairing of Thani Atiq Al Qamzi and Ahmad Al Hamli will be out to prove a point when the European leg of the UIM F1 World Powerboat Championship takes off in Portugal next week.

Both Al Qamzi and Al Hamli are just coming into their own following a disastrous opening round of the championship in Qatar earlier this month.

Al Qamzi who was the race leader in Qatar dropped out at the two-thirds mark after being hampered through the weekend with engine maladies.

His teammate Al Hamli also struggled during qualifying and also suffered the same fate to eventually drop out in 16th position to end with no points after one race in the championship.

The Abu Dhabi Team is led by recently retired American four-time World Champion Scott Gillman as the Team Manager.

And it will be Gillman's vast experience that the team will be looking forward to in an attempt to start gaining the points as the season progresses.

Gillman is the defending champion in the Portimao race and he had also won there in 2004.

The 10th edition of the Grand Prix of Portugal will be held along the challenging Arade River on May 3-4.

The 2008 campaign opened with a strong win at the Grand Prix of Qatar for Swedish driver Jonas Andersson leaving American Jay Price of the Qatar Team in second. But the early leaders will have to be wary about former multiple world champion Italian Guido Cappellini, who finished fifth in Doha.

Cappellini has a fantastic track record in Portugal, having gained four pole positions.

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Starting Grid

Sprint race 2, sprint race 1, sprint race 2 starting grid, sprint race 1 starting grid, second free practice, qualifications 3, qualifications 2, qualifications 1, first free practice.

H2O RACING'S

Carbon neutral strategy.

The UIM F1H2O World Championship is the world’s foremost international series of single-seater inshore circuit powerboat racing.

Highly competitive, intensely challenging, risky and entertaining, inshore circuit powerboat racing is the ultimate adrenalin rush and regarded as one of the most spectacular and exciting sports in the world.

Cédric Deguisne - 73

Ferdinand zandbergen - 12, erik stark - 4, peter morin - 7, ben jelf - 9, brent dillard - 8, bartek marszalek - 77, thani al qamzi - 5, duarte benavente - 10, alberto comparato - 6, filip roms - 18, stefan arand - 2, marit stromoy - 50, ahmad al fahim - 3, rusty wyatt - 17, jonas andersson - 1, alexandre bourgeot - 74, sami selio - 11, red devil - smc f1 team, china ctic team, team vietnam, victory team, stromoy racing, maverick racing, f1 atlantic team, team abu dhabi, n.2 - april 2024.

ABU DHABI Team

Since 2015, Guido Cappellini is the Team Principal of the Abu Dhabi Powerboat Team, which partecipates of UIM F1, F2 and F4 Powerboat World Championship and also to the UIM World Endurance Circuit.

Guido Cappellini

Team principal of the abu dhabi powerboat team.

The Team is part of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sport Club

Since 2015, Guido Cappellini  is the Team Principal of the Abu Dhabi  Powerboat Team, which  partecipates  of UIM F1, F2 and F4  Powerboat World Championship and also to the UIM World Endurance Circuit. 11 World Championship won is the result of his work as Team manager in 5 years!

The Team is part of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sport Club, established in 1993: International Marine Sport Club  is a high level organisation, which creates  water sport events in its spectacular location, between Breakwater and the Corniche. At the beginning, it hosted a round of the UIM F1 H2O World Championship, the world’s most spectacular water sport series. Then, a series of  sports activities was developed, and  were put up the teams  which  are today   at the top of the  World F. 1 Inshore and Offshore championships.

Especially regarding the Inshore, the Abu Dhabi Team has just won several world titles (11 world crowns   won since 2015 to date: 3 as a Team, 3 individual F1 World Championship amd 2 individual in F2,  1  individual F4 title, and 2 World Endurance  Circuit crowns.)

In the 2019 season, the Abu Dhabi team Won the F1 World Championship  with  Shaun Torrente and the F2 World Championship  with Rashed Al Qemzi , and the F1 Team World Crown. After this, the Team is World Champion in the Endurance Circuit, with Shaun Torrente, Rashed al Qemzi,  Rashed Al Tayer and Tullio Abbate jr,

The hulls used are the splendid Dac Racing, showing the classic livery of United Arab Emirates in White, Green and Red Coral. The Team is suppourted by Etihad.

H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan - CHAIRMAN ADIMSC

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan - VICE PRESIDENT (ADIMSC CEO)

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Team Abu Dhabi on split with Emirati powerboat driver Ahmed Al Hameli: ‘Every team is looking to the future’

Al hameli expressed a degree of discontent at his departure from team abu dhabi, but their decision to revamp the team for the f1 h20 uim world championship was spurred by results first, osman samiuddin reports..

Championship power boaters Ahmed al Hameli, right, and Thani al Qamzi of Team Abu Dhabi UIM F1, stand around Thani's boat at Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club on Monday November 1, 2010. Andrew Henderson / The National

Team Abu Dhabi’s decision to revamp their powerboat team for this season’s F1 H20 UIM World Championship was spurred by a need to put results first.

The team ended long associations with the leading Emirati driver Ahmed Al Hameli and team manager Scott Gillman in February. Al Hameli had been with the team for nearly a decade and Gillman since 1999.

In their place came Guido Cappellini as the manager and three-time world champion Alex Carella.

On Monday, Al Hameli expressed a degree of discontent at his departure from Team Abu Dhabi.

“We moved out because we were not happy with what is going on with Team Abu Dhabi,” he said.

“We left because they prefer to bring in an Italian driver so they weren’t looking for local drivers any more. I wasn’t happy about that.”

[  – Al Hameli and Gillman’s new H2O UIM powerboat team ready to make waves  ]

[  – Team Abu Dhabi add three-time champion Alex Carella for 2015 F1 H20 world championship season  ]

Team Abu Dhabi has rejected that suggestion and pointed to the presence of several young Emirati drivers involved with the team.

“My answer is that Ahmed was with us and he is Emirati,” said Salem Rashed Al Romaithi, assistant general manager at the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club, which runs the team.

“We have three new drivers in Formula 4 who are a new generation working their way up. We want them to get to Formula 2 and then to the top: Mohammed Al Mehairbi, Rashid Al Qamzi and Rashid Al Romaithi.

“Maybe five years ago we had a gap, with Al Hameli and then nobody else. But we start to find new people over the last three years.

“Before we had only two local drivers, now we have seven local drivers. They need time to grow and be at the top.”

Officials played down the idea of lingering tension between Al Hameli and the club, pointing out that he is a regular visitor to the organisation, including the day he launched his own team Emirates Racing Team, along with Gillman.

Al Romaithi insisted there was nothing personal in the decision to part with Al Hameli, though in their stated search for more success, there was an implication that Al Hameli’s six race wins over the years were not enough.

“They started with our team and we still support them, we are happy for them, for whatever they achieve. Every team is looking to the future, for winning,” Al Romaithi said.

“Ahmed was a good driver but in all other sports, new drivers come in. We brought in a new driver, Alex Carella, who is a three-time world champion.

“Guido is a very established name. We’ll not say he is more experienced but he has a great background.

“In other sports, you give the team manager one season, two, three, four and if there are no results then you look for others.”

Carella finished fifth in the season’s opening race in Doha, in March, and Al Romaithi is confident about the team’s prospects this year.

“We have the best team manager, the best engine builder and we have become stronger and stronger. I hope this season we get something good,” he said.

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Team abu dhabi primed for double uae offshore powerboat challenge, as f1h2o season reaches climax in sharjah, new class 3 series gets under way in khor fakkan.

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Published: Wed 29 Nov 2023, 11:42 AM

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Team Abu Dhabi are primed for a big challenge on two powerboat racing stages as one season begins and another reaches its conclusion in the UAE next week.

The experienced pairings of Faleh Al Mansoori with Shaun Torrente and Rashed Al Tayer alongside Majed Al Mansoori are lined up for the opening round of the new UAE Class-3 Offshore Powerboat Championship getting under way in Khor Fakkan on 7th December.

Three days later, triple world champion Torrente will join forces with Thani Al Qemzi and Rashed Al Qemzi as Team Abu Dhabi look for a winning climax to the 2023 UIM F1H2O World Championship at the season’s final round in Sharjah.

While Sweden’s Jonas Andersson has already secured this year’s F1H2O drivers’ crown, Torrente in particular is highly motivated as he returns to action in the series, which saw him clinch the title on Sharjah’s Khalid Lagoon last year, as well as in 2018 and 2019.

Although Andersson and team-team mate Kalle Viippo hold an 11-point lead in the team championship, fourth-placed Team Abu Dhabi have not given up hope of adding to the six titles they have amassed in the last seven seasons.

For that to happen, they will need to dominate the Grand Prix of Sharjah podium, and rely on misfortunes for the Swedes, and second-placed Team Sharjah combination of Sami Seliö and Ferdinand Zandbergen.

Sharjah has produced many dramatic finishes to the F1H2O World Championship, none more so than 12 months ago when Torrente thought his title ambitions had been destroyed when a crash put him out of the race after just eight laps.

Leading after a flying start, Andersson looked set to retain his world title before technical problems on the 28th lap forced his retirement, giving the championship to Torrente, so the Swede will be taking nothing for granted this time.

Torrente said: “I love the event they put on in Sharjah. I love the ambience, and racing in the city on Khalid Lagoon. Unfortunately, this year I won’t be getting another world title, but we’ll still be trying for the win.”

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Team Abu Dhabi’s veteran Emirati driver Thani Al Qemzi, who finished third in the championship last season for the sixth time in his distinguished career, would like nothing better than a first victory in Sharjah to lift him from his current fifth place in the standings.

Meanwhile, for his cousin, Rashed Al Qemzi, the Grand Prix of Sharjah offers another chance to shine at the top level after he secured his fourth UIM F2 World Championship title this season with one round to spare.

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Formula 1 Powerboat Racing - the Ultimate Adrenaline Rush

5th oct 2017 by rightboat team.

In June 2018, the city of London will be blasted by the bellowing shrill of up to twenty racing V6 engines revving at over 10,000rpm. These highly tuned speedsters will then hit 62 mph in less than two seconds before maxing out at 155mph. What follows will be 45 minutes of the most exhilarating and spectacular racing that the city has ever witnessed. Twenty speed jocks, each peering intensely through a tiny windscreen, white-knuckled hands firmly grasping a steering wheel, will unleash 10,000hp of sheer power upon the city. This is Formula 1…but with a big difference. You won’t find Lewis Hamilton Instagramming from the grid, or see Fernando Alonso reclined in his now customary deck chair. They’ll be no talk of tyre compounds or fuel saving. This is F1H20, better known to the punters as Formula 1 Powerboat racing.

Now in its 4th decade, F1 powerboats will return to London for the first time since 1984, taking place during London Tech Week 2018, Europe’s largest festival of technology and innovation. The race will be part of the 38th F1H20 World Championship season. 8 races held across the globe from Abu Dhabi to China to Miami. The event will showcase the cutting edge of powerboat technology and engineering and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports. Welcome to the Formula 1 Powerboat racing- the ultimate adrenaline rush!

Where it all began

Formula 1 Powerboats didn’t have an easy birth. The genesis of the series is a story of change and evolution with multiple promoters and two massive corporations battling to win the right to call themselves Formula 1. The fight would lead to disarray and bitter wrangling amongst competitors and would finally end up in an acrimonious divorce.

The story begins in 1978, when PR manager, David Parkinson was approached by one of his clients, Mercury Marine, who offered to support him if he could establish a single unified championship for inshore powerboats. The resulting race, sponsored by another of Parkinson’s clients, became known as the Canon Trophy. At the same time the concept was launched, there had been an on-going engine war between Mercury Marine and their arch-rivals OMC (Outboard Marine Corporation). OMC favoured 3.5litre V8 that would become known as the OZ class,whilst Mercury offered a standard 2litre power-plant. This was known as the ON class. OZ manufacturers offered drivers a free supply of their engines in a bid to succeed. OZ powered boats with their vastly greater power, easily swept the ON powered craft before them.

Finally, at the Italian Grand Prix, the détente broke when Renato Molinari arrived to compete with two engines in the back of his boat. 28 drivers signed a petition demanding that OZ powered boats be banned giving birth to the Formula ON Drivers Association (FONDA). In 1981, OZ boats and ON boats would have their own championships. OMC would run the OZ class whilst FONDA would run the ON class. However, both championships felt it was their right to be prestigiously titled, Formula 1. In 1981, cigarette manufacturer John Player, chose to sponsor the OZ championship. The sponsorship money resulted in enormous technological and performance advantages over the lower-powered ON boats which were being run effectively as the remains of the Canon Trophy.

The Monaco based international governing body of powerboat racing, Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM), finally stepped in awarding Formula 1 status to the OZ class while the ON class was overshadowed and had to settle for the less prestigious “World Grand Prix” nom de guerre. In common with Formula 1 car racing, Formula 1 Powerboat racing adopted a points system with the top 6 finishers receiving 9, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 points. With the money pouring in from John Payer, the speeds increased to dangerous levels. This reached a tragic climax in 1984, when Tom Percival was killed in a racing accident.

He was the fourth driver to lose his life in just a few short months. Major sponsor, Carlsberg cancelled their contract for fear of the brand being closely associated with the death or serious injury of another driver. A depleted field finished the 1984 season but it was obvious that the OZ class couldn’t hold on to the Formula 1 moniker much longer in its current state. The series eventually ended in 1986.

There was now the opportunity for the FONDA World Grand Prix Series to take up the mantle of Formula 1. After three years without an official Formula 1 Championship, UIM awarded FONDA Formula 1 status in 1990. Today the boats are powered by Mercury 2.5litre engines which were introduced in 2000, replacing the original 2litre power-plants.

The Powerboats

The early boats were made from plywood with drivers dangerously exposed in an open cockpit with a high risk of serious injury or death. To improve the safety in the new Formula 1 series, boat designer Chris Hodges was brought in. His first contribution to the sport was that of a safety cell made from strong composite material. Hodges’ safety cell was separate from the main structure and was fitted to the hulls and centre section. In a similar manner to the cockpit area of an F1 car, the safety cell was designed to absorb the forces of an impact leaving the wooden hull to break up, whilst the driver remained protected in the cell.

This heralded a revolution in powerboat safety with equipment such as airbags becoming mandatory. It was only now that drivers wore seatbelts. Nowadays composite material has replaced wooden hulls.

Modern Formula 1 Powerboats are tunnel hull catamarans. This design lends to exceptional manoeuvrability and speed. The tunnel hull design creates “lift” in the same way an aeroplane’s wing functions, hence, when they are at high speed only a few inches of the boat actually touches the water. They weigh 860 pounds (390 kilogrammes) of which 260 pounds (118 kilogrammes) is the engine. They are seven feet wide (2 metres) and 20 feet long (6 metres). Weight is kept to a minimum by the use of carbon fibre and Kevlar in the construction process.

A Mercury Marine V6 two stroke engine powers the boat generating over 400hp at 10,500rpm resulting in 0-100kph (62mph) in less than two seconds and a top speed of over 250kpm (155mph). The engines burn through 100LL Avgas at a wallet-shattering rate of 120 litres or 32 gallons, per hour.

The Drivers and Teams

Since 1981, there have been thirty-three Formula 1 Powerboat World Champions, but of these, one man stands head and shoulders above the rest, Guido Cappellini. The most successful powerboat racer in history and the sports equivalent to F1 god, Michael Schumacher, this Italian racer has won ten world titles in the sport. Winning his first title in 1993 and he went on to win the next three years back to back. He retired in 2009 after winning his tenth title and final that year. He’s currently team manager for Team Abu Dhabi Formula 1 powerboat team.

The current champion is a three-times winner, 53-year-old Frenchman, Philippe Chiappe. He’s won all three of his titles driving for the CTIC Shenzhen China Team who he’s driven for since 2010. He began his career in 1998, competing in the French S850 class before moving on to the S3000 class in 2001. He made his debut in Formula 1 in 2003 before returning to win the S3000 class in 2006. His first F1H20 podium was in St. Petersburg in 2009 and first pole position in Abu Dhabi in 2014. By 2015, Chiappe had started 100 Formula 1 Powerboat races. He is one of only four drivers to have won back-to-back championships.

For the 2017 season nine teams of two drivers are competing for the title. The teams and drivers are as follows:

CTIC F1 Shenzhen China

Based in France and managed by Eric Chan. Debuted in 1997.

Drivers: Philippe Chiappe

- Peter Morin

Victory Team

Based in United Arab Emirates and managed by Scott Gillman. Debuted in 2015.

Drivers: Ahmed Al Hameli

- Shaun Torrente

Team Abu Dhabi

Based in United Arab Emirates and managed by Guido Cappellini. Debuted in 1997.

Drivers: Thani Al Qemzi

- Alex Carella

- Rashed Al Qemzi

F1 Atlantic Team

Based in Portugal and manged by Mario Benavente. Debuted in 1999.

Drivers: Grant Trask

- Duarte Benavente

Mad-Croc Baba Racing

Based in Italy and managed by Michael Jenkins. Debuted in 2000.

Drivers: Sami Selio

Team Sweden

Based in Sweden and managed by Jane Persson. Debuted in 2006.

Drivers: Jonas Andersson

- Erik Stark

Blaze Performance

Based in Italy and managed by Francesco Cantando. Debuted in 1996.

Drivers: Bartek Marszalek

- Francesco Cantando

Emirates Racing Team

Based in United Arab Emirates and managed by Craig Bailey. Debuted in 2015.

Drivers: Marit Stromoy

- Mike Szymura

Maverick F1

Based in France and managed by Jean Vital Deguisne. Debuted in 2015.

Drivers: Beranger Robart

- Cedric Deguisne

- Amaury Jousseaume

Each team usually consists of a manager, two drivers, mechanics, radio coordinator and technical coordinator. Each team operates two boats (plus 1 F4 boat) and associated infrastructure such as workshop trailers, etc.

Up to ten teams, 20 drivers, engineers and other support staff compete for the Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship. The Grand Prix season 2017, comprises of six races beginning in April in Portugal followed by France, two in China and Abu Dhabi before climaxing in December in Sharjah, U.A.E. The Grand Prix is held over three days.

Day 1 mostly consists of technical scrutineering and registration. The teams must ensure that their craft and associated equipment are in the pits 24 hours before this process begins.

Day 2 begins with a drivers’ briefing and is followed by free practice. Qualifying takes place in the afternoon. The race circuit is approximately 2,000 metres with multiple turns. They are usually located on lakes, rivers, protected bays or inland waterways. The turns can produce a G-force of up to 4.5 in a U-turn at 100mph. Pole position is decided by a three-tier qualifying system in a similar fashion to the one employed in Formula 1 car racing. Q1 is a twenty-minute session with all boats running multiple laps. The fastest 12 progresses to Q2. After a short break, Q2 begins, running for another twenty-minutes. The six fastest boats in Q2 then progresses to the final session, Q3. The top six boats run in reverse order from their fastest Q2 times. They run two laps each to decide their starting positions.

Day 3 is race day and it begins with a drivers’ briefing and then an hour of free practice. The race itself is held in the afternoon with a duration not exceeding 60 minutes. The average race is usually around 45 minutes long, longer than any other powerboat race but substantially shorter than most car races. The Grand Prix weekend ends with the trophy ceremony at 4:00pm.

World Championship points are awarded as follows;

1st - 20 points

2nd - 15 points

3rd - 12 points

4th - 9 points

5th - 7 points

6th - 5 points

7th - 4 points

8th - 3 points

9th - 2 points

10th - 1 point

In addition to the F1H2O race, a support class race made up of F-4 class craft is held. This consists of two single races per weekend. The boats are equipped with Mercury 60hp stock EPA engines and reach a top speed over 120mph. In common with their more powerful big brother, F4s utilise a tunnel hull catamaran design. Many F4 drivers use the class to obtain the super-licence needed to progress to more powerful series such as F2 and F1H20. At a F1H20 Grand Prix weekend, each team must run one F4 boat in the support races.

Osprey Rescue provide safety support at the events. They worked alongside Chris Hodges in the design of the safety cell, testing the device. Their safety boat incorporates a crane which can support the safety cell out of the water keeping rescue times down to a minimum.

With water and wind conditions playing a major part in a race’s outcome, drivers frequently drive “blind” at full tilt in close combat with their competitors. The trick is to “trim” the boat to attempt to control the amount of water flowing through the hull’s tunnels, to increase or decrease the amount of drag. This is achieved by subtly altering the angle of the engine. Teams have up to 40 different propellers of varying “pitch” (angle of the blades) to choose from, depending on conditions. Former world champion and boat designer, American Billy Seebold told the Independent newspaper;

"A Formula One boat is more an aeroplane than it is a boat. The driver is trying to fly it just above the water, working the throttle with the foot, steering it and monitoring a two-litre engine all at the same time."

Get the trim wrong and a driver could be facing being catapulted sky-high. Welsh-born former race winner Jonathan Jones describes the process to E&T.org thus;

"There is a fine line between getting it right and running on a cushion of air and totally losing control. You don't want a lot of contact with the water because it creates drag, but at the same time you need some contact otherwise you lose control of the boat. You are trimming the boat by moving the engine in and out and up and down as you try to get the boat to glide millimetres off the top of the water. Sometimes if you alter the angle by even one or two degrees it is the difference between running the boat perfectly without any drag and getting too much air under the hull causing the boat to blow over.”[1]

The boat is controlled by buttons on the steering wheel which control hydraulic rams that move the engine at the rear of the boat in and out and up and down. The higher the engine is raised more air is trapped inside the hull tunnels the faster the acceleration. The trick is to maintain a balance between keeping enough contact with the water to remain in control whilst minimising the contact to decrease drag. Small increments as little as one or two degrees can have a devastating effect on the handling of the powerboat. Jones went on to describe the technique employed;

"You come out of a corner, you trim the engine out by about 15 degrees, it lifts the nose and you capture the air in the tunnel, accelerate off the corner and try to control the boat to keep as much air in the tunnel. After about 250m you start bringing the nose down by trimming the engine in, which lowers the nose and the boat levels out as you reach top speed. You approach the corner, which is a single turn buoy about half a metre wide and you are only half a metre away, at about 125mph, take the turn and exit at about 100mph. I've measured the lateral G-force at 6.5Gs, but it happens very quickly."

Shortly after winning his third Formula 1 car racing title in 1984, Niki Lauda test drove a Formula 1 powerboat. “It’s like driving a Formula 1 car across a ploughed field”he said. That sums up F1H20 perfectly. It’s exciting, it’s dangerous, it’s exhilarating and it’s ever so slightly bonkers! It’s cutting-edge technology meshed with visceral skills and cool-headedness. Put simply it’s a 400hp two-stroke engine propelling a 390kg catamaran at speeds of over 150mph on a cushion of air and held to the water by mere millimetres of adhesion which could prove the difference between the glory of winning and catastrophic disaster. What’s not to like? Read F1 powerboat -  Engineering and Technology

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Steiner identifies Bearman RISK for F1 drive

Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner had high praise for Oliver Bearman after his impressive debut in F1 in Saudi Arabia.

Steiner has previously worked with Bearman, after the Brit took part in FP1 in Mexico and Abu Dhabi last season with the American team.

READ MORE: Ferrari chief REVEALS Bearman F1 Australian Grand Prix role

The 18-year-old is Haas’ reverse driver for the 2024 season as well as Ferrari , and it was with the latter where he would make his debut in the sport replacing Carlos Sainz , after the Spaniard was diagnosed with appendicitis.

Despite having only one practice session to get used to F1 machinery, Bearman narrowly missed out of Q3 and went on to finish the race in seventh , beating fellow compatriots Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton .

Steiner: I'd put Bearman in a seat

Writing in his first column on the official F1 website , Steiner was impressive by the teenager’s performance, but was not surprised by it having worked with him closely.

“Coming in to replace Carlos at the last minute – that was a lot of pressure on him,” he said. “Let’s not forget, he was on pole for the F2 race – he was already excited about that – and then getting the news he had to replace Carlos the next day must have been a lot to deal with. But you wouldn’t have known. He was very cool throughout.

“Jeddah is a one of the toughest tracks on the calendar, it isn’t easy there. If you make a mistake they are normally very costly. He did a good job – and obviously teams will be looking at him.

“When he drove in FP1 for us, I never feared he’d do something you wouldn’t expect. He was always in control. He did the same in Saudi Arabia. Was I surprised by what he did in Jeddah? No. I had faith he could do that.

READ MORE: Wolff reveals the 'REAL STORY' behind Horner investigation

“I think he has a good future in the sport. He just needs to stay calm and I have no doubt he will do that.”

Steiner, who was replaced as team principal at Haas by Ayao Komatsu , then urged his successor and the other team bosses to take a look at Bearman for next season.

“Based on his performance in Jeddah, after what I saw from him at Haas , I’d put him in a race seat,” said the Italian. “Obviously, it depends on the circumstances and what seats are available. You need to see the whole landscape, but he would be a candidate.

“Obviously, it is not 100% that he will succeed. It’s still a risk. But the way he handled himself in qualifying and the race in Jeddah, having just had one hour of practice, suggests the risk is so much smaller.”

READ MORE: Wolff admits SHOCK Verstappen Mercedes swoop rests on crucial move

Steiner insists Red Bull and Mercedes factors key to Haas exit

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New Lewis Hamilton Abu Dhabi 2021 swap theory as Felipe Massa action begins

Lewis Hamilton has not won a race since being dethroned by Max Verstappen at the infamous 2021 Abi Dhabi Grand Prix

F1 commentator Peter Windsor believes Lewis Hamilton would happily concede his 2008 title to Felipe Massa in order to change the outcome of his Abu Dhabi 2021 defeat to Max Verstappen.

It emerged last week that Massa has commenced legal proceedings against Formula 1, its governing body the FIA and former F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone over the outcome of the 2008 World Championship.

Could Lewis Hamilton contest Abu Dhabi 2021 after Massa action?

Massa’s complaints centre on that year’s Singapore Grand Prix, where Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr crashed deliberately to help team-mate Fernando Alonso win the race.

Ferrari driver Massa had led comfortably from pole position until the moment of Piquet’s crash, but ultimately finished 13th after a chaotic pit stop during the ensuing Safety Car period.

Those lost points would prove pivotal at the title decider at Interlagos five weeks later as he missed out by a single point to Hamilton.

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Explained: Why is Felipe Massa legally challenging Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 World title?

Lewis Hamilton now finally has a chance to escape the ghosts of Abu Dhabi 2021

Massa’s action has led to suggestions that more drivers could come forward to contest other controversial moments from F1 history, including the infamous 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix where Hamilton was denied a record eighth World Championship in highly controversial circumstances.

Michael Masi, then the FIA’s race director, failed to apply the Safety Car rules correctly in the closing laps of the race, setting up a one-lap sprint between Hamilton, on old hard tyres, and Verstappen, who had pitted for fresh softs.

Red Bull driver Verstappen proceeded to overtake Hamilton and sprint away to a maiden title, with Hamilton heard describing the race as “manipulated” over team radio as the finish line neared.

Speaking via a recent YouTube stream, former title-winning Williams team manager Windsor – who has given his support to Massa’s legal action – claimed Abu Dhabi 2021 has an obvious similarity with Singapore 2008 as a single in-race incident had a transformative effect on the destiny of the title.

And he even reckons Hamilton would happily give away the 2008 crown to Massa in order to change the result of the Abu Dhabi 2021 race.

He said: “What about Abu Dhabi ’21?

“That was an absolute error of a huge proportion, made at the wrong time and it resulted in Max Verstappen winning the World Championship.

“That was a one-race error, but as a result Max won the World Championship.

“So on the basis of what Felipe’s doing about 2008 in Singapore, in theory there is certainly a lot more discussion to be had about what happened at Abu Dhabi ’21.

“In my view, the last lap should not have been counted and Lewis should have won that race and he should’ve been World Champion. It’s an interesting point, isn’t it?

“You could never ask him this in a press conference because he would never give an honest answer, because it’s so hypothetical and doesn’t want to go down those paths again.

“But, deep down inside, if you said to Lewis Hamilton: ‘If you lost the 2008 World Championship to Felipe Massa, but you got the ’21 Championship back, would you be comfortable with that?’

“I think he’d be very comfortable with that.

“Not to say that he didn’t want to win in 2008, because he drove really well in 2008 and had some great races, but it was very different circumstances and he knows how well Felipe drove that year and how competitive Felipe was.

“It was very, very close.”

Windsor feels Massa’s legal proceedings could open the door when it comes to other administrative errors in F1’s past such as the 2018 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, where supermodel Winnie Harlow waved the chequered flag before the scheduled end of the race.

That meant the results were taken from Lap 68 of 70, with Daniel Ricciardo’s successively fast laps rendered null and void and Sergio Perez’s overtake on Kevin Magnussen reversed in the final classification.

He explained: “I think that’s quite big news and quite an interesting precedent for what we may see in some other race results.

“I’m just thinking also of other stuff the FIA have done over the years, about the 2018 Canadian Grand Prix when that supermodel started to wave the [chequered] flag at the wrong time and what a mess that was.

“And what about the ’82 Swiss Grand Prix at Dijon? This was not a supermodel, this was an FIA steward guy who started to twitch and get the flag ready two laps from the end of the race.

“He started unfurling the chequered flag and my buddy Peter Collins, who was running Lotus at the time, was very near Race Control and saw this and with very quick thinking just ran to Race Control and put a V-sign up, meaning there’s still two more laps to go.

“There was radios everywhere and people waving hands and there was enough distraction to stop this guy waving this chequered flag.

“But the interesting thing is that they then didn’t wave it at the end of [the race] and everybody then drove [another lap] flat out until they saw the chequered flag, as you would, even though in the regulations once the race has reached the exact finishing point it’s over regardless of whether the chequered flag is shown or not.

“If you go back to Canada 2018, I think a couple of overtakes were deleted because the race was stopped early.

“I remember Daniel Ricciardo, who was driving for Red Bull at the time, set his fastest lap on the lap that was then taken away from him and one of the overtaking manoeuvres involved Kevin Magnussen.

“There’s lots of weird, inexcusable things that have happened in terms of administering the sport and doing it correctly.

“This case by Massa is the first time a driver has decided to do this.”

Read next:  Max Verstappen to Mercedes? Reasons for and against leaving Red Bull in F1 2025

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Frode Sundsdal

What is prw.

It’s a powerboat racing website that has covered circuit racing, offshore racing and PWC since 2016. Maintained by The Race Factory based in Norway who have specialists in event planning and promotion, social media, graphic design, and photography. We are currently working on our vision and believe that we can and will make a different in powerboating. We will dedicate our time to produce accurate factual stories and to promote the sport to a wider global audience.

Guido Cappellini was in a confident mood when PRW joined them in Northern Italy today, he even quoted his mentor, Angelo Molinari ‘You win the race in the workshop.’

As always, Team Abu Dhabi is extremely well prepared and showed up in San Nazzaro, Italy for their European pre-season test sessions which will last for three days.

The racecourse for the F1H2O season opener in Macon, France has been laid out on the Po River and now Shaun Torrente has flown in from his home in Florida and Thani Al Qemzi his F1 team-mate has travelled with his fellow Emirati from Abu Dhabi.

It was not just the F1H2O guys that were here in Italy to test. UIM F2 World champion, Rashed Al Qemzi was joined by Mansoor Al Mansoori along with a pair of brand new UIM F2 DAC race boats.

When PRW asked Thani Al Qemzi about his ambitions for the coming season his answer was both quick and to the point.

To win the F1H2O Drivers and Team World Championship titles.

After his first time on the water, he spoke to us again.

As usual, the team has prepared an amazingly fast boat for me. First day of testing was incredibly good. We are satisfied.

Torrente told PRW

It’s always great to be back in the boat after a long break, that’s when you realise just how much you enjoy it. First day was good. We did what we came to do.

The opening round of this year’s F1H2O World Championship t he Grand Prix of France-Mâcon Val de Saône takes place over the weekend of June 4 – 5.

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