Printable version of thread

Posted by: Smithy501 1st January 2024, 12:48 PM

29 February - 2 March - Bahrain
7-9 March - Saudi Arabia
22-24 March - Australia
5-7 April - Japan
19-21 April - China
3-5 May - Miami
17-19 May - Emilia-Romagna
24-26 May - Monaco
7-9 June - Canada
21-23 June - Spain
28-30 June - Austria
5-7 July - United Kingdom
19-21 July - Hungary
26-28 July - Belgium
23-25 August - Netherlands
30 August - 1 September - Italy
13-15 September - Azerbaijan
20-22 September - Singapore
18-20 October - USA (Austin)
25-27 October - Mexico City
1-3 November - Brazil
21-23 November - Las Vegas
29 November - 1 December - Qatar
6-8 December - Abu Dhabi


F1 2024 Drivers Line-Up

Red Bull: Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez
Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton, George Russell
Ferrari: Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz Jr
McLaren: Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri
Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll
Alpine: Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon
Alpha Tauri: Daniel Riccardo, Yuki Tsunoda
Stake: Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu
Haas: Kevin Magnussen, Nico Hulkenberg
Williams: Logan Sargeant, Alexander Albon

Posted by: Smithy501 1st January 2024, 04:10 PM

The wait for Sauber to reveal their new identity for F1 2024 is now over, with the team to be officially known as Stake F1 Team from the new season onwards.

The Swiss-based outfit’s post-Alfa Romeo rebrand had been listed as ‘Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber’ on the FIA’s entry list for the 2024 season last month, but the team later revealed that this would not be their official name.

Sauber went on to tease a New Year’s Day announcement on social media, writing: “Just when you thought the sizzle was over, we’re about to raise the stakes even higher.”

Posted by: Dobbo 1st January 2024, 10:40 PM

Terrible name, I thought Racing Point was bad.

Posted by: Severin 10th January 2024, 05:13 PM

Gunther Steiner has left Haas 'with immediate effect' and is to be replaced by the teams director of engineering Ayao Komatsu.

Posted by: Herbs 10th January 2024, 05:17 PM

& Drive To Survive loses a star!

Posted by: Dobbo 10th January 2024, 05:23 PM

About time tbh, great character and all but Haas were becoming more and more of a joke every season.

Posted by: Severin 10th January 2024, 06:37 PM

They fabricate everything else, so they'll probably just make out he still works somewhere!

Posted by: Silas 10th January 2024, 07:21 PM

Netflix must be f***ing gutted


Not sure that’s much of a loss otherwise. No doubt Netflix will have him in some form of pundit role for D2S

Posted by: Dobbo 23rd January 2024, 09:45 AM

New track in Madrid from 2026.

Posted by: Severin 23rd January 2024, 01:05 PM

Because yet another street circuit is exactly what the sport needs...

Posted by: Bjork 23rd January 2024, 01:40 PM

does it mean Barcelona will be out? cannot see 2 GP in Spain :/

Posted by: Dobbo 23rd January 2024, 01:41 PM

Yep, thankfully!

Posted by: Silas 23rd January 2024, 01:45 PM

The latest nail in the F1 coffin. Idk if anyone has been out to IFEMA but it’s f***ing soulless. They have/had an F1 exhibition there i visited last year that was pretty cool. Had some really cool things there and even Romain‘s car from his mega smash - well what’s left of it

Posted by: CoolHand501 23rd January 2024, 02:51 PM

Another inspiring idea of a street circuit this time in Madrid. They tried that for the European Grand Prix in Valencia from 2008-2012 and look what happened there.

With Grade 1 tracks, they have got Valencia, Jerez, Aragon.

Posted by: Dobbo 23rd January 2024, 03:10 PM

The Valencia track is a completely abandoned wasteland now.

Hopefully this circuit is better, it won't be that difficult to be.

Posted by: Severin 23rd January 2024, 03:24 PM

It doesn't look very interesting for racing.

At least Catalunya had the long curves, which are actually great for seeing the cars on the limit, and excellent spectator views. Whereas all street circuits have terrible opportunities for spectators to see large sections of the track all at once.

Posted by: Dobbo 23rd January 2024, 03:25 PM

Neither did Vegas and that turned out to be one of the best races of the year.

Posted by: Severin 23rd January 2024, 03:35 PM

Vegas being ok wasn't down to the circuit though - it was the time they held the sessions and race, causing low temps, low grip and subsequently a mixed up grid.

Madrid will likely be run in a much more traditional climate and time slot.

Posted by: Silas 23rd January 2024, 07:02 PM

Madrid will no doubt just take the same spot that Barcelona has. I’ll have to make an effort this year or next then to go to the Spanish GP before it’s ruined


Catalunya, now they’ve fixed sector 3 back to how it was, is one of my favourite circuits

Posted by: Dobbo 24th January 2024, 12:56 PM

VISA CASHAPP RB I'M HOWLING

Posted by: Severin 24th January 2024, 01:04 PM

Yes folks, we are back in the Benetton-Playlife era.

Seriously, might just call them Minardi from now on.

Posted by: Dobbo 24th January 2024, 01:40 PM

Shades of Mastercard Lola there too.

Posted by: Severin 26th January 2024, 01:24 PM

Leclerc has signed an extension with Ferrari for 'several seasons'

Posted by: CoolHand501 26th January 2024, 08:26 PM

Posted by: CoolHand501 31st January 2024, 03:36 PM

Andretti's bid to become Formula 1's 11th team in 2025 or 2026 has been rejected by Formula One Management.

Posted by: CoolHand501 31st January 2024, 03:45 PM

I'm baffled about why Andretti have been rejected.

Posted by: Dobbo 31st January 2024, 04:06 PM

It's a complete joke. And shame on all of the other teams, especially Haas.

Posted by: Severin 31st January 2024, 06:03 PM

Money. No one wants to dilute their share of the financial pot.

To the point of shortsightedness


The excuse they've come up with is because Andretti wouldn't be providing their own power unit at first. Pathetic

Posted by: Juranamo 31st January 2024, 07:08 PM

The existing teams have too much collective power. I'm not fully up to date with the story, but as long as they have the influence they do, no team will ever be successful:

1) Teams don't want an extra team to beat them
2) Teams don't want a reduced price pot
3) FOM don't want an uncompetitive team

So you end up with FOM rejecting the teams they want, just to keep the existing ones happy...

Posted by: Silas 31st January 2024, 09:41 PM

Only 3 teams on the grid bring their own power unit with them. I will lightly tolerate an argument for RB-Honda being a 4th. But that leaves 6/7 teams on the grid bringing the square root of f*** all on that metric. AND worst of all is that two of them are actually car manufacturers.. who don’t build their own engines



It’s absolute bullshit. And I hope that Andretti go after them under anti-cartel laws

Posted by: CoolHand501 31st January 2024, 11:11 PM

Can Andretti appeal the decision?

Posted by: Dobbo 1st February 2024, 10:49 AM

Hamilton joining Ferrari in 2025 WOW!!!

Posted by: Cow P 1st February 2024, 11:48 AM

What a shocker!

Posted by: Bjork 1st February 2024, 12:14 PM

truly shocking! guess Sanz is out then

Posted by: ukchartstatsfan 1st February 2024, 12:33 PM

Sainz Jr to......

Posted by: Severin 1st February 2024, 12:36 PM

Mercedes have a team meeting at 2pm today, so that might be followed by an official announcement.

I'm not entirely surprised by this.

Lewis has been increasingly unhappy at Merc and his body language has too often given that away despite the statements, and he has a history of working with Vasseur. Sainz has never been Ferrari's long term hope and it was always likely he'd be out.

Ferrari can not reasonably expect either of the grids other strong prospects (Max, Lando, Oscar, maybe George) to join any time soon and lets be honest, every driver would love to race for Ferrari (except Stirling Moss, who hated the man, but even he agreed to for 1962).


It'll be really interesting to see how fast he looks next to Leclerc.

It also suggest Lewis has taken one look at this years' Merc and gone 'Nope'

Posted by: Silas 1st February 2024, 12:38 PM

Oh holy shit I did NOT see that one coming


Silly season for 2025 gonna be more exciting than the 2024 calendar

Posted by: Severin 1st February 2024, 12:44 PM

Who goes to Mercedes?

Vettel? Wishful thinking

Schumacher? Very possible

Alonso? Who wouldn't love that?

Sainz? More likely at Red Bull

Piastri? Costly but possible

Norris? Very pricey

Perez? Not likely

Posted by: Dobbo 1st February 2024, 01:02 PM

Sainz will move to Stake or whatever they're called ahead of the 2026 Audi takeover then be their lead driver that's my guess.

Albon goes to Merc (tasty pairing with Russell there).

Posted by: Dobbo 1st February 2024, 01:04 PM

Yep I think that's exactly it. And yes a reunion with Vasseur who of course he was winning his 2006 GP2 title with at ART!



Yeah I think 13 of the current drivers are out of contract (not even including Lewis) after this season so for sure there'll be some more shocks on the way.

Posted by: Severin 1st February 2024, 03:00 PM

The Sainz name has a very strong link with Audi, which could be interesting.

Ocon is also technically still affiliated with Mercedes...

Posted by: ukchartstatsfan 1st February 2024, 03:24 PM

Posted by: ukchartstatsfan 1st February 2024, 07:04 PM

Confirmed by Mercedes:

Posted by: jakewild 1st February 2024, 07:15 PM

tsunoda obvs

Posted by: ukchartstatsfan 1st February 2024, 09:15 PM

Posted by: Severin 2nd February 2024, 09:34 AM

In other news -

Suzuka confirmed until 2029

And the latest Haas is unveiled today

Posted by: Severin 2nd February 2024, 09:45 AM

Maybe Grosjean will finally get that promised Merc drive...

Posted by: Bjork 2nd February 2024, 11:25 AM

but it's a tad early for the announcement, like Sanz now has to run for 1 yer x Ferrari knowing he's not wanted anymore and not gonna continue although he wanted to

whats Sanz link to Audi? cos of his father?

Posted by: Severin 2nd February 2024, 01:10 PM

Yeah Carlos Sr is a member of Team Audi so could well forge some ties. A year at Sauber to bed in and launch with Audi would tick a lot of boxes.

I agree though, I don't see Mercedes in any rush to pick a driver from the available options. They clearly want to see how Antonelli develops so the replacement will likely be short term (2 years?) which is why I won't rule out Vettel, Alonso or even Hulkenburg.

Posted by: ukchartstatsfan 2nd February 2024, 01:58 PM

Great to hear that Suzuka is staying on the calendar and not replaced by a street circuit in Osaka.

Posted by: ukchartstatsfan 2nd February 2024, 02:08 PM

Posted by: ukchartstatsfan 2nd February 2024, 02:53 PM

Alonso to Mercedes, Red Bull or remain at Aston Martin for 2025?

Posted by: Severin 5th February 2024, 03:22 PM

Red Bull (the parent company not the F1 team) have launched an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour by Christian Horner.

No further details yet.

Posted by: Severin 5th February 2024, 10:16 PM

Source - Racefans.net

Posted by: Dobbo 6th February 2024, 09:25 AM

Don't like the sound of this new format, think they had it right the past 2 seasons.

Posted by: Severin 6th February 2024, 09:39 AM

I think most people so far seem to prefer it, as it means they can completely ignore the sprint if they choose to and the weekend itself is dedicated to the Grand Prix. Which if we're realistic is the thing the fans, drivers and teams actually care about.

What I'd really like to know though is at which point Parc Ferme is locked in.

Posted by: Dobbo 6th February 2024, 10:48 AM

If someone gets taken out in the Sprint, that's their entire race weekend ruined as there won't be time to fix the car before qualifying for the Sunday race. That's a bit too much jeopardy for me...

Posted by: Severin 6th February 2024, 11:58 AM

That applies to 3rd practice on a normal weekend too though. It's potentially more likely now certainly, but the drivers tend to be risk averse in the sprints more often than not. When it eventually does happen it'll only serve to further highlight a problem with the sprint concept.

What it will also do is mean that teams will have three sessions to set the car's balance up before qualifying which will likely see a less mixed up grid for the race. Somebody elsewhere suggested one shot qualifying for the sprint would liven it up a bit and I honestly wouldn't object to that if they came out in reverse championship order - essentially putting the fastest cars out first. Still very much a gimmick but better than the reverse grids which Liberty seem dead set on.

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 6th February 2024, 07:42 PM

I do think it's much better having the two separated. Qualifying for the race followed by qualifying for the sprint made very little sense.

Posted by: Bjork 7th February 2024, 01:27 PM

the order is the right one now
main qualifier on Fri was a Big No!!

Posted by: Dobbo 7th February 2024, 01:59 PM

Looks like we've done a complete 180 in terms of liveries from 2020 when half the grid were predominantly white cars to this season where so far 3 out of 4 revealed are mainly black cars.

Posted by: Severin 7th February 2024, 03:00 PM

There has to be a way around this. All the cars are going to be increasingly hard to distinguish at a glance in some light conditions.

I wonder what Ferrari are thinking right now. It's such an obvious gain weight-wise but the idea of a Ferrari not being Rosso Corsa is bad enough but one being black would enrage the old man.

Posted by: Dobbo 7th February 2024, 03:21 PM

Well we'll definitely be in for a lot more Croftyisms

Posted by: Silas 7th February 2024, 03:44 PM

Looking like all of them are carbon fibre. At least we can use the pink on the Alpine to distinguish it from the Williams. And thank god Sauber has that rancid green - that won’t be tough to miss




The sprint is such a shit concept. It’s too long with the current tyres. I’d be more in favour if they gave them a set of the like 2000‘s Michelins that were indestructible (everywhere that wasn’t Indy) and then we would actually see a sprint. But I think without a return to the 3rd car era we’re not gonna see drivers as willing to take risks on something that is basically meaningless

Posted by: Silas 8th February 2024, 02:17 PM

Silverstone staying until 2034

Posted by: Dobbo 13th February 2024, 11:04 AM

Well this year's Ferrari launch was a lot less interesting than last year's.

Posted by: Severin 13th February 2024, 11:17 AM

At least it's red. Let's hope it's fast

Posted by: Severin 13th February 2024, 01:32 PM

This year's Red Bull - the RB20 - has been seen (and filmed) out on track at a rather wet Silverstone, 2 days prior to its official launch.

Given the quality of the footage it's impossible to see any discernable difference between it and last year's car.

Posted by: Dobbo 13th February 2024, 01:48 PM

Don't think its livery has changed since 2005 tbh.

Posted by: Severin 13th February 2024, 04:06 PM

Yeah but I was referring to the car itself really. It doesn't seem to have any major changes to the shape of its bodywork or aero, unlike, say, the Ferrari does

Posted by: Dobbo 13th February 2024, 04:15 PM

Ah I'm wilfully ignorant of all the technical changes cos it's all mumbo jumbo to me mostly. I gathered there wouldn't be much difference to this year's cars as we're part-way through the current regs era. Roll on 2026!

Posted by: Severin 13th February 2024, 04:52 PM

I expected many of the teams to switch their suspension set up from a push rod to a pull rod, as that had been the RB19's biggest strength. Much more so than the aero package. Seems to be the case so far but it's apparently heavier and harder to fit in the chassis.

This years grid will look a lot more like last year's Red Bulls in their design features.

Posted by: Silas 13th February 2024, 05:32 PM

From what I understood, the pull rod was a key reason behind how the aero could work so effectively and why Red Bulls downwash concept was so effective in comparison to others (may also explain why Alpine struggled in 2023 because they swapped to Push Rod at the rear even tho they were one of the original downwash innovators in 22). It’s giving blown diffuser only working because of Renaults engine mapping vibes


Very interesting to see what happens with those who have stuck to push rod

Posted by: Severin 13th February 2024, 06:17 PM

Couldn't put it better

Posted by: Severin 14th February 2024, 01:03 PM

Clearer pictures have been posted of the RB20 and there's an obvious difference to the aero around the engine cover. Quite a striking high shoulder line from the HALO to the rear.

New Merc looks nice too but they seem to be talking it down already, but we'll see next weekend how it looks like performing

Posted by: Mack. 18th February 2024, 06:41 PM

Formula 1 has urged Red Bull to resolve the controversy surrounding Christian Horner as soon as possible.

Horner, Red Bull's team principal, is facing allegations of inappropriate and controlling behaviour towards a female colleague.

Horner, who has led the team since 2005, has denied the allegations.

"We hope that the matter will be clarified at the earliest opportunity after a fair and thorough process," an F1 statement read.

"We have noted Red Bull has instigated an independent investigation into internal allegations at Red Bull Racing," it added.

"We will not comment further at this time."

Posted by: Dobbo 19th February 2024, 09:42 AM

Random predictions for the season:

One race gets cancelled so we're down to 23
Max wins 20 races, Perez 1, Leclerc 1, Norris 1
Ferrari regain second in constructors and McLaren jump Mercedes to third
Aston Martin disappoint, only a couple of podiums for Alonso
VCARB make a leap forward back to the midfield, Ricciardo rejoins Red Bull
Albon gets a podium for Williams
Alpine in no man's land again
Stake vs Haas for last place, both Bottas & Zhou dropped at end of season

Posted by: Severin 20th February 2024, 10:02 AM

I don't think I'll go for any real predictions until I've watched the testing but I'll draw a few observations from the launches and interviews.

Haas has acknowledged they'll start the season badly. I've seen nothing to suggest otherwise.
Alpine haven't looked like they've made any notable progress.
I suspect no great leaps from Sauber, and whilst Williams are talking themselves up we haven't actually seen the car yet and they've decided against a shakedown session. Williams are a genuine unknown going in to testing.
Aston Martin will show definite signs of having utilised their latest inhouse factory and development team but may not move up the pecking order.
RB will show an improvement and probably move up to fight Aston Martin more often.
Ferrari will doubtless improve their pace and team strategy/performance but have they found a way to not destroy their tyres? Sainz will have a point to prove.
McLaren will not be held back by a poor start for the first time in 3 years. Should be at the sharper end.
Mercedes' new car will be interesting to see. Have they found a better balance this time? Russell will see no reason to yield to Hamilton and Lewis will no like that.
Red Bull seem to have seen something they feel they can work with in the Mercedes zero pod design. If Newey is right and as brilliant as ever, this could be another slap in the face to Mercedes. Max will comfortably see off Perez

Posted by: Severin 21st February 2024, 06:36 PM

The RB20 looked very good out there today.

The FIA are also questioning whether Mercedes' front wing is within the spirit of the rules (it's not).

Posted by: Dobbo 22nd February 2024, 09:41 AM

Second day of testing and we're already talking about drain covers again lol.

Posted by: Severin 24th February 2024, 01:30 PM

Post test ranking as I see it

01 - Red Bull - comfortably ahead. Improved performance in slow corners should help on street tracks. Verstappen for the title, Perez in a fight with Ferrari and Mercedes
02 - Ferrari - Strong one lap pace, but race distances may be tougher. Better than Merc overall.
03 - Mercedes - Car looks more stable than previous ones. Will outperform ferrari at some tracks
04 - McLaren - May be able to challenge for a win on some days if luck goes their way.
05 - Aston Martin - Potential podiums occasionally. For Alonso at least
06 - RB - In a group on their own
07 - Williams - Seems to have made another leap. Sargeant will make it look worse than it is. Reliability?
08 - Alpine - In a fight with Williams and Sauber
09 - Sauber - Might be better than Alpine or Williams. Tough call between the three
10 - Haas - clearly going to start on the back foot. Poor car, ordinary drivers.

Posted by: Silas 24th February 2024, 09:30 PM

Ferarri vs Drain Covers, the most thrilling battle of the last 6 months



and probably the rest of the year

Posted by: Mack. 28th February 2024, 03:41 PM

Red Bull's team principal Christian Horner has been cleared of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague following an internal investigation.

Allegations of inappropriate and controlling behaviour had been made against the 50-year-old.

"Red Bull is confident that the investigation has been fair, rigorous and impartial," said a spokesperson.

Posted by: Dobbo 28th February 2024, 03:50 PM

Conveniently closed one day before the season starts. Even if he was guilty of anything Red Bull would never ever have the balls to sack him.

Posted by: Herbs 28th February 2024, 04:11 PM

Regardless of whether he did or didn’t do something surely there will be people who won’t let it go now? (He’ll always be guilty in their minds…)

Posted by: Mack. 29th February 2024, 02:18 PM

Bahrain First Practice:

1) Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) RB 1:32.869
2) Lando Norris (GB) McLaren +0.032
3) Oscar Piastri (AUS) McLaren +0.244
4) Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) RB +0.314
5) Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin +0.324
6) Max Verstappen (NED) Red Bull +0.369
7) George Russell (GB) Mercedes +0.382
8) Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari +0.399
9) Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes +0.433
10) Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Sauber +0.485
11) Carlos Sainz (ESP) Ferrari +0.516
12) Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull +0.544
13) Alex Albon (THA) Williams +0.714
14) Lance Stroll (CAN) Aston Martin +0.999
15) Zhou Guanyu (CHN) Sauber +1.054
16) Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams +1.344
17) Esteban Ocon (FRA) Alpine +1.938
18) Pierre Gasly (FRA) Alpine +2.275
19) Kevin Magnussen (DEN) Haas +4.608
20) Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Haas +5.069

Posted by: Severin 1st March 2024, 10:11 AM

Alledged screenshots of Horner's messages have been leaked to many in the F1 community via an anonymous source.
Haven't seen them all but what I've seen appears flirtacious (and you decide yourself if that's inappropriate for a married man) more than it does predatory or sinister but there may be much detail not yet revealed. The power dynamic or persistance may be the bigger issue with the content being secondary

Posted by: Mack. 1st March 2024, 02:57 PM

Practice 2:

1) Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:30.374
2) George Russell Mercedes +0.206
3) Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.286
4) Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.395
5) Oscar Piasti McLaren +0.410
6) Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.477
7) Nico Hulkenberg Haas +0.510
8) Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.517
9) Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.739
10) Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.741
11) Alex Albon Williams +0.959
12) Daniel Ricciardo RB +1.142
13) Logan Sargeant Williams +1.341
14) Kevin Magnussen Haas +1.390
15) Yuki Tsunoda RB +1.507
16) Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.577
17) Valtteri Bottas Sauber +1.627
18) Esteban Ocon Alpine +1.653
19) Zhou Guanyu Sauber +1.674
20) Lando Norris McLaren +2.234

Posted by: Mack. 1st March 2024, 02:58 PM

Practice 3:

1) Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:30.824
2) Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.141
3) Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.238
4) Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.270
5) Lando Norris McLaren +0.294
6) George Russell Mercedes +0.366
7) Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.386
8) Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.424
9) Nico Hulkenberg Haas +0.454
10) Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.572
11) Daniel Ricciardo RB +0.625
12) Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.628
13) Yuki Tsunoda RB +0.807
14) Kevin Magnussen Haas +0.847
15) Alex Albon Williams +1.141
16) Zhou Guanyu Sauber +1.176
17) Valtteri Bottas Sauber +1.272
18) Esteban Ocon Alpine +1.300
19) Logan Sargeant Williams +1.301
20) Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.558

Posted by: Severin 1st March 2024, 05:59 PM

Well, if this qualifyting is anything to go by it's is going to be much closer this year.

Fastest driver today didn't get pole either

Posted by: Dobbo 1st March 2024, 06:18 PM

It was pretty close in quali most of last season, I remember a few times Max only took pole by less than a tenth. Unfortunately when it came to the races there was seldom any contest whatsoever.

Most striking result of that quali is that Alpine are the new Haas.

Posted by: Silas 1st March 2024, 06:40 PM

Oh good god it’s going to be a long year


I’m naively hoping that we will do a McLaren and pull a massive update package that puts us from last to right into it





But it’s more likely we end up with nil points

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 1st March 2024, 07:45 PM

Alpine being quite that bad aside, that basically felt like a continuation of last season. Sauber's + Sargent in Q1, Stroll failing to make Q3 as his teammate breezes through, Hulk being the best non-top 5 qualifier, Leclerc being Max's closest challenger, Perez being a way off hi and a few positions down the grid...

Posted by: Dobbo 1st March 2024, 07:50 PM

There was never likely to be any big change in the order, not until 2026 with the new regs. McLaren not flopping so far at the first race was about the only other change from last season.

Posted by: Severin 1st March 2024, 08:31 PM

That's true but it closed up over the year. Comparing with last season's Bahrain qualifying, the Red Bulls were 1-2 with Perez two tenths ahead of Leclerc and the only cars with a lap time below 1:30. Today the top nine cars were all in the 1:29s plus Leclerc's fastest lap was quicker than anyone else but it came in Q2, suggesting that Ferrari have more pace in the car as neither Charles or Carlos got it all hooked up as much as they like.

I still expect Red Bull's greatest strength is in low tyre wear and strong race pace but if Ferrari has sorted out their tyre deg it should make more of a fight of it from day one. I don't think Red Bull are as far ahead now as they were this time last year. Perez certainly isn't whereas Max is... well, Max.

Posted by: Herbs 1st March 2024, 10:29 PM

Loads of drama at the front tomorrow and Hulkenberg swoops in for a fairytale win…..(one can dream)

Definitely a lot closer than a lot of people were expecting. Would be good to see Leclerc push Max

I know it’s race 1 but I can see myself getting frustrated with Perez and Stroll early on

Posted by: Bjork 2nd March 2024, 09:03 AM

Ferrari looked great, rooting for them

Posted by: Severin 2nd March 2024, 11:13 AM

It'll be interesting to see if they've sorted their tyre wear problems but I strongly suspect that Haas is gonna go backwards pretty fast

Posted by: Severin 2nd March 2024, 05:59 PM

Well I guess 3rd place being 25 seconds behind this time, instead of the 38 seconds last year is closing up on Red Bull.

Posted by: Dobbo 4th March 2024, 05:19 PM

BIG rumours that Max is going to sign for Merc for 2025. Can't even let Lewis have the #1 shock driver move story of the year

This seems like a chess move in order to get Horner to resign.

Posted by: Dobbo 5th March 2024, 02:38 PM

Meanwhile Mohammed Ben Sulayem is busy making the likes of Sepp Blatter look as clean as whistle by comparison.

Posted by: Mack. 7th March 2024, 01:53 PM

The woman who accused team principal Christian Horner of inappropriate behaviour has been suspended by Red Bull.

Allegations of inappropriate and controlling behaviour had been made against the 50-year-old, which he denied.

After an internal investigation, Red Bull's board dismissed the complaint last week.

"The company cannot comment on this internal matter," a spokesperson said.

A day after Red Bull dismissed the complaint, an anonymous email including messages purporting to involve Horner were leaked.

Posted by: Herbs 7th March 2024, 01:56 PM

Interesting development.

How trustworthy are these ‘leaked emails’. Are they legit or is this just something that could have been invented?

Posted by: Dobbo 7th March 2024, 02:16 PM

Who needs exciting races when ALL the drama is happening off track.

Posted by: Silas 7th March 2024, 02:39 PM

That is certainly a twist

Posted by: Severin 7th March 2024, 04:55 PM

Easily faked with photoshop if you wanted to but a forensic analysis would reveal that. No one involved has commented on their content or legitimacy but they've not commented on anything at all so no idea if they're disputed or genuine.

Posted by: Mack. 8th March 2024, 11:41 AM

Sainz out of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Oliver Bearman is his replacement.

Posted by: Dobbo 8th March 2024, 12:00 PM

Get well soon Carlos.

Unbelievable opportunity there for Bearman, has anyone ever made their F1 debut in a Ferrari?

Also means he'll be the first Briton to race for Ferrari since Nigel Mansell in 1990!

Posted by: Severin 8th March 2024, 12:47 PM

Clay Regazzoni is the most obvious one, followed by Arturio Mezario

Posted by: Bjork 8th March 2024, 07:58 PM

oh Sanz's bad luck continues

Posted by: Dobbo 10th March 2024, 09:36 AM

No penalty for Norris' jump start because the sensor wasn't working so even if he had floored it Maldonado-Spa 2012 style he'd have gotten away with it.

We've had our Villa vs Bournemouth goal line tech fail equivalent!

Posted by: Dobbo 11th March 2024, 10:16 AM

That was a great debut performance from Bearman, let's hope he doesn't go the way of De Vries if he gets a drive next season (given the parallels so far are eerily similar).

Posted by: Silas 11th March 2024, 10:20 AM

What do we make of KMags drive?

Posted by: Severin 11th March 2024, 10:52 AM

Technically, nothing wrong with his drive, illegal pass on Tsunoda aside. Unfortunately, the penalty system allows a driver to break the rule and still hold up another on purpose negating the intent of the penalty. Other than the aforementioned, Magnussen drove within the rules by holding everyone up.
Was it unsporting? Arguably.
Would I prefer drivers didn't do it? Yes.
Was it funny? Yes.
Would it have been an issue if he hadn't illegally passed Tsunoda? No. And this is the real issue. Intentionally breaking a rule by illegally passing a car, only to then take the penalty and further obstruct said car is not something we want to see and not in the spirit of the sport.

A preferred punishment to the 10 second penalty is a pit-lane drive through (not a stop-go and must not be used as a pit stop). Cars behind are released and guilty party loses roughly equivalent time. Failure to do so within 3 laps is a black flag.

Posted by: Dobbo 11th March 2024, 11:14 AM

He should have been ordered to let Tsunoda back past, a time penalty is futile in these situations. Same with Max at Vegas last season, forced Leclerc off the track at turn 1 to keep the lead then just took the 5-second penalty and drove away.

I do think the 10-second penalty for the contact with Albon was way too harsh though, wouldn't put the blame on either rival there it was just a super narrow part of the track.

Posted by: Mack. 21st March 2024, 09:25 PM

Albert Park as a track is also quite unique: it's a street circuit, but then it has gravel traps as well. So, anticipating plenty of red flags, particularly during F3 and F2 sessions. Hopefully F1 will be free of stoppages.

Posted by: Dobbo 21st March 2024, 10:08 PM

I dunno, last years crazy 3 red flag race was pretty entertaining as far as current regs F1 goes.

Posted by: Herbs 21st March 2024, 10:09 PM

Hulkenberg podium - to make up for the one he almost got last year…..

Posted by: Mack. 22nd March 2024, 09:49 AM

Williams confirm that Logan Sargeant will be withdrawn from the Australian GP.

Posted by: Herbs 22nd March 2024, 10:04 AM

Bloody hell, not the first time Williams have been caught out by lack of preparation.

I suppose at least Logan doesn’t have the risk of being outshone by a one race replacement!

Posted by: Bjork 22nd March 2024, 10:17 AM

the AU schedule is not very European-friendly, gonna have to miss it sadly :/

Posted by: Dobbo 22nd March 2024, 10:37 AM

Wow Williams are a joke, I really thought they would be heading under the right direction under Vowles but this is back to 2019 levels of embarrassment.

Mind you, not like Sargeant had a prayer of scoring any points whilst Albon did put in that stellar drive in 2022.

Posted by: Silas 22nd March 2024, 11:04 AM

That’s bullshit


If you f*** up so badly that you render your chassis unusable then you should bare the consequences and be also be man enough to say that yeah this is my error and I deal with the consequences thereof


I know that they expect Albon to do better in the race but Sargent didn’t f***in bin it and wreck his chassis and yet has the consequences

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 22nd March 2024, 12:04 PM

On the one hand it's easy to see why they've made that decision. Alex is 24-0 in qualifying and 27-1 in points vs. Logan. In a season which has started with a clear gap between 5th and 6th every possible point is huge for the bottom half, and Albon is way more likely to be maximising a chance of doing that, but on the other I don't see how this helps Sargent develop in anyway, really bad for confidence and shows they have no faith in him (I mean that isn't harsh, but why give him another year?)

Posted by: Mack. 22nd March 2024, 12:31 PM

Has there been any another occasions that one driver has had to give up his chassis for the weekend??

Posted by: Dobbo 22nd March 2024, 01:11 PM

Not that I can remember. This is like a more extreme version of Silverstone 2010 when they replaced Vettel's front wing with Webber's.

Posted by: Silas 22nd March 2024, 01:14 PM

For a while they used to have third cars fully built and ready to jump into and the only controversy would be around which driver that had been configured for.

I think I read that this used to be more common back in the earlier days of the sport

Posted by: Mack. 22nd March 2024, 01:24 PM

Even HRT would have both cars ready for the whole weekend.

Posted by: Severin 22nd March 2024, 02:51 PM

Can't think of any for the whole weekend (although I'm sure it's happened) but the most famous car swap was the 1956 Italian Grand Prix. Championship leader by 8pts Juan Fangio suffered a steering failure and retired to the pits leaving teammate Peter Collins on for becoming Britains first ever World Champion as a win would give him the required 9pts. Their other teammate Luigi Musso was ordered to relinquish his car to Fangio, so that the Argentine could still win the title. MUsso refused to do so. Shortly afterwards Collins arrived in the pits and handed his car over to Fangio, throwing away his title hopes and forever earning the 5 time champions respect - "I was moved almost to tears by the gesture... Peter was one of the finest and greatest gentlemen I ever met in my racing career."

Posted by: Severin 22nd March 2024, 02:54 PM

They banned T-Cars in 2008, under the reasoning of cutting costs.

Posted by: Severin 22nd March 2024, 03:03 PM

You should check out the story of Andrea Moda team from 1992. They were so poorly funded they deliberately sabotaged their own driver Perry McCarthy (AKA The Stig). His official Monaco lap time that years was 17minutes 5 seconds! At Silverstone he was sent out with wets, on a dry track, 45 seconds before the chequered flag dropped. It was after that they were threatened with expulsion and went under.

That's not even half the story either. You can see the whole hilarious debacle in a documentary called Last & Furious. It's brilliant

Posted by: Mack. 22nd March 2024, 03:33 PM

Of course, Andrea Moda, thanks. I'll check out that documentary, thanks Severin,

Posted by: Silas 23rd March 2024, 06:21 PM

Small victories but an Alpine made Q2 🙌🏻

Posted by: Dobbo 24th March 2024, 05:49 AM

Always worth getting up for the Oz GP!

Posted by: Bjork 24th March 2024, 07:45 AM

oh wow was really worth waking up
very happy for Sanz, he's (finally) on fire!

Russell once more proving he's still not a great pilot and still has tons to learn

Posted by: Silas 24th March 2024, 02:31 PM

Struggle to see how Alonso got a penalty for defensive driving 101. Why are we punishing him for showing up Russell’s lack of talent? This was a Fernando masterclass, he has always had this same approach to defending and you see him taking various lines and braking points to force the driver behind into making an error or just being unable to work out how and where to attack

Russell was asleep at the wheel.

Posted by: Severin 25th March 2024, 12:01 AM

Because Johnny Herbert hates Alonso.


Seriously though, once Russell closed up on Alonso I thought to myself 'how long before he bins it?'

I wasn't surprised in the least when he did.


This is an egregious penalty and he should appeal.

Posted by: Bjork 25th March 2024, 08:32 AM

they should appeal it was so unfair and biased it's not even funny

Posted by: Mack. 25th March 2024, 03:49 PM

Lando Norris overtakes Nick Heidfeld for most podiums without a win

2024 Australia was his 14th, overtaking Nick's haul of 13

Posted by: Dobbo 25th March 2024, 04:18 PM

Still trails Heidfeld for second places without a win however: 7 vs 8. I'm sure he'll beat that too this season.

Posted by: Dobbo 25th March 2024, 04:20 PM

Another very niche stat from this weekend is that Sainz was the first driver to win an F1 race having missed the previous one since Gerhard Berger in 1997.

Posted by: Mack. 7th April 2024, 12:11 AM

Proposed 2025 F1 calendar
February 19-21 – Pre-season, Bahrain
March 9 – Australia
March 23 – Japan
March 30 – China
April 13 – Bahrain
April 20 – Saudi Arabia
May 4 – Miami
May 18 – Imola
May 25 – Monaco

https://speedcafe.com/teams-told-australia-will-open-2025-as-early-f1-calendar-emerges/

Posted by: Mack. 7th April 2024, 12:53 AM

Fernando Alonso put the upgraded Aston Martin fifth on the grid at the Japanese Grand Prix

But team-mate Lance Stroll is having "one of those weekends", having struggled to P16 on the grid:

Posted by: Bjork 8th April 2024, 11:07 AM

interesting race, glad Sanz made #3, Alonso also doing great

Posted by: Herbs 8th April 2024, 12:32 PM

Was an interesting race, especially from a strategy perspective.

I see people are piling on Danny Ric for the crash. I'd rather see how his pace is over the next few races.
Great to see Yuki make the top 10 - although I think he was helped by Hulkenberg being bogged down on the restart
Sainz still the better Ferrari but Leclerc did a good job on the strategy
Bravo to Mercedes as well for their choices - great to see Russell with a strong(er) end after the last race!


Surely Stroll and Sargeant should have their days numbered. Stroll was just poor and Sargeant seemed to be on better pace until his mistake. Then he was in no man's land (story of his life...)

Posted by: Dobbo 8th April 2024, 01:37 PM

Ignoring the crash Ricciardo is getting schooled by Tsunoda this season, they need to get Lawson in the other car pronto.

Posted by: Herbs 8th April 2024, 01:49 PM

Being schooled more than Stroll & Sargeant?

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 8th April 2024, 01:53 PM

The only reason you have one of the oldest drivers on the grid in the Red Bull second team is because there's a chance he'll soon be in the main team, and there was so much talk pre-season about whether Ricciardo would replace Perez. At the moment, Perez has done what Red Bull want him to do in 3 of 4 races, whilst all Ricciardo is doing is proving his McLaren form wasn't unlucky or unrepresentative.

Posted by: Dobbo 8th April 2024, 02:09 PM

Thar's irrelevant and not related. Stroll has a lifetime contract as long as Daddy is in charge and Sergeant is only in the sport because he's American.

Posted by: Dobbo 8th April 2024, 02:15 PM

Yep and I myself thought he would retake that seat eventually but it's clear now he's not gonna get his best form back again. Perez has done well so far this year but let's remember he started last year even better and ended it basically a meme.

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 8th April 2024, 02:54 PM

I think with Perez he's previously fallen to pieces after winning a couple of races and being talked up for the title and spoken about how he wants to beat Max, probably putting too much pressure on himself. It now feels a bit like he's realised and admitted his place and more at peace with it, in which case he might be more consistent in doing what Red Bull want him to do. At the moment it's looking close to 0 chance he gets replaced by Ricciardo, so RB may as well get Lawson in early after his performances last year.

As for Sargent, I've become convinced he only got a second season because of Antonelli. Mercedes will want him in F1 next year and that's the likely seat lined up for him whilst he's not yet ready for the main team, Williams probably thought it was pointless having a different driver for this in-between season, especially as no other drivers became available. They've proven they're not really behind him with the Aus decision and he's not exactly done anything in Japan to make them think they might have got it wrong.

Posted by: Severin 8th April 2024, 09:20 PM

There's still a small glimmer for Ricciardo, in that Horner remains an admirer of his and will vouch for him, as would Max. And the other factor is that Daniel likes a car that handles in a very similar way to how Max does. Sharp at the front end and looser in the rear. Their driving styles are quite similar, which would suggest he could still perform in the Red Bull, if given a chance. Whether those in the team would be willing to take that gamble is a big if though and only another test would give them any inidicators but that's not really possible.

As for Stroll, there are still a fair few rumours that daddy may be looking to sell for the right price rather than admit defeat.

Posted by: Severin 11th April 2024, 05:45 PM

Alonso has signed on for a further two years at Aston Martin, which will reunite him with Honda engines once again.

Probably a smart move given his options right now.

Posted by: Dobbo 11th April 2024, 09:13 PM

GP2 Engine!

Posted by: Dobbo 12th April 2024, 12:36 PM

Provisional 2025 calendar released, only notable afference to this season's is Australia being restored to its traditional place as season opener.

Posted by: Herbs 12th April 2024, 12:37 PM

Yes! Always love an Aussie GP opener.

Posted by: Severin 13th April 2024, 02:56 PM

Marca are reporting that Sainz to Mercedes is as good as a done deal.


Reports elsewhere are also suggesting that both Renault and Red Bull would be willing to sell their teams (RB in the latter example) for the right terms.

Meanwhile, Andretti Global are pressing ahead with their plans for 2026 by opening a state of the art facility in Silverstone, and F2 team Prema have announced they will field two cars in next years Indy championship rather than look to F1.

Posted by: Dobbo 19th April 2024, 08:33 AM

Blimey, that was an action packed Sprint Quali! Shame the Sprint itself is a 4AM

Posted by: Mack. 19th April 2024, 01:57 PM

Was the cause of the grass fire in FP1 ever revealed?

Posted by: Mack. 19th April 2024, 03:08 PM

First Practice:

1st Lance Stroll (CAN) [Aston Martin] 1:36.302
2nd Oscar Piastri (AUS) [McLaren] 1:36.629
3rd Max Verstappen (NED) [Red Bull] 1:36.660
4th Sergio Perez (MEX) [Red Bull] 1:36.690
5th Nico Hulkenberg (GER) [Haas] 1:37.101
6th Kevin Magnussen (DEN) [Haas] 1:37.118
7th Esteban Ocon (FRA) [Alpine] 1:37.213
8th Alexander Albon (THA) [Williams] 1:37.229
9th Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) [RB] 1:37.238
10th Valtteri Bottas (FIN) [Kick Sauber] 1:37.530
11th Zhou Guanyu (CHN) [Kick Sauber] 1:37.626
12th Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) [RB] 1:38.006
13th Charles Leclerc (MON) [Ferrari] 1:38.090
14th Carlos Sainz Jr (SPN) [Ferrari] 1:38.284
15th Logan Sargenant (USA) [Williams] 1:38.286
16th Lando Norris (GB) [McLaren] 1:38.630
17th George Russell (GB) [Mercedes] 1:38.806
18th Lewis Hamilton (GB) [Mercedes] 1:38.839
19th Fernando Alonso (SPN) [Aston Martin] 1:38.936
20th Pierre Gasly (FRA) [Alpine] 1:39.276

Posted by: Mack. 19th April 2024, 03:13 PM

Sprint Qualifying:

1st Lando Norris (GB) [McLaren]
2nd Lewis Hamilton (GB) [Mercedes]
3rd Fernando Alonso (SPN) [Aston Martin]
4th Max Verstappen (NED) [Red Bull]
5th Carlos Sainz Jr (SPN) [Ferrari]
6th Sergio Perez (MEX) [Red Bull]
7th Charles Leclerc (MON) [Ferrari]
8th Oscar Piastri (AUS) [McLaren]
9th Valtteri Bottas (FIN) [Kick Sauber]
10th Zhou Guantu (CHN) [Kick Sauber]
11th George Russell (GB) [Mercedes]
12th Kevin Magnussen (DEN) [Haas]
13th Nico Hulkenberg (GER) [Haas]
14th Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) [RB]
15th Lance Stroll (CAN) [Aston Martin]
16th Pierre Gasly (FRA) [Alpine]
17th Esteban Ocon (FRA) [Alpine]
18th Alexander Albon (THA) [Williams]
19th Yuki Tsuonda (JPN) [RB]
20th Logan Sargeant (USA) [Williams]

Posted by: Mack. 19th April 2024, 03:14 PM

Channel 4 have 3 programmes this weekend on each of Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Posted by: Mack. 19th April 2024, 03:18 PM

I've just been watching sprint qualifying on C4 and the out-of-syncness was very pronounced. "He's gone fastest!" Has he? I'm still waiting for him to cross the line.

Posted by: Bjork 22nd April 2024, 11:26 AM

Not the most exciting race in China
you can tell cos no one even commented in here

Posted by: Dobbo 22nd April 2024, 11:44 AM

Yeah the only interesting thing that happened was Stroll doing a Stroll.

Outstanding drive by Norris though, that car had no right to finish P2.

Sprint race was better, Hamilton leading for 10 laps was quite the sight and then that great battle between Alonso and the Ferraris.

Posted by: Herbs 22nd April 2024, 11:59 AM

The interview with Danny Ric where he is told Stroll blamed him was interesting - you could see Danny trying to keep composed. It gets boring just saying Stroll shouldnt be in the sport but here we are.

Which reminds me - where are the voices calling for Danny to be replaced? (he dominated Yuki this weekend)

Great race for Lando. Alonso's strategy made things interesting late on.

Haas got a strategy right for once, pitting Hulkenberg early to undercut Bottas who had just overtaken him. Great to see Nico get the most out of the car again

Posted by: Severin 22nd April 2024, 12:38 PM

Do you think so? It was the 2nd fastest car this weekend. Lando, I expected to finish at least 3rd and he's well capable of challenging Perez for 2nd in that car, on that circuit. Oscar should probably have finished 4th or 5th, in and around the Ferraris and Alonso. Just unfortunate that Piastri had such heavy damage he couldn't make the most of it.
It was a good drive but I wouldn't say it was outstanding.


Fun facts of the weekend -

Nico Hulkenberg not only has the record for most races without a podium but also ties formost races without a win, with Andrea De Cesaris's 30 year old record.

Max Verstappen has won 18 of the last 20 GP - a win percentage of exactly 90%

Posted by: Dobbo 22nd April 2024, 12:47 PM

I don't think going into the weekend McLaren were expected to beat Ferrari in the dry at all.

Posted by: Severin 22nd April 2024, 01:33 PM

Low temps, lots of long sweeping corners and an abrasive surface are all things that recent Ferraris don't tend to like. They either struggle to get heat in the tyres or have high deg. Added to this that Leclerc is having trouble getting a handle on the cars finer points this year, suggested they could find it harder. McLaren meanwhile have a car that suits a circuit like this and Norris is driving better than ever.

Miami should see an improved Ferrari performance.

I thought the biggest surprise was how poor Hamilton was in the dry this weekend.

Posted by: Mack. 22nd April 2024, 03:44 PM

Posted by: Mack. 22nd April 2024, 03:46 PM

Andretti Group will they eventually manage to get onto the grid?

Posted by: Dobbo 22nd April 2024, 04:41 PM

Long overdue re points down to 12th, I'd go even further and give them down to 15th like in MotoGP.

Posted by: Mack. 22nd April 2024, 04:42 PM

Not sure about it going down to 15th, but 12th I would agree with.

Posted by: Severin 22nd April 2024, 05:31 PM

Not really fussed either way about what points are awarded (often during a race for a split second, I'm still think in terms of only the top six scoring)

Points further down certainly has the potential to increase competition among cars down there towards the end of a race.

My only bugbear is that people use reasons like most points scored as some kind of relevant statistic to compare drivers. I know it tends to be those more ill informed but it's a tad annoying. They can't even retroactively adjust the stats as though all drivers accumulated points under the current scoring system because you end up altering who was champion on quite a few occasions.

That last point is actually fairly interesting so here goes. And yes this does include points for fastest lap -

Graham Hill becomes 3x WDC taking 1962 away from Surtees
Clark in 1963 scores nearly double that of challenger Richie Ginther
Jacky Ickx takes 1970 from Rindt
Lauda takes 1976 away from Hunt but loses 1984 to Prost
Prost himself becomes a 6x champion by also taking Senna's 1988 title (Prost still loses 1983 to Piquet but only by a point - yes, he is seriously underrated)
Schumacher's DSQ and 2 race ban costs him 1994 long before Adelaide, making Damon Hill a double WDC and bettering Michael's reputation.
Schumacher therefore drops to a 6x WDC by losing 1994. however, he would have likely won 1997 as he didn't need to take out Villeneuve to win the title, 2nd would have been enough so likely still 7x Champ and no bad smells around him.
Irvine ends any debate about who's the worst champion ever when he wins 1999 in place of Hakkinen (yes really!)
Raikkonen comfortably wins 2007 but Alonso finishes a clear runner up.
Hamilton still beats Massa in 2008 by a point.
Vettel wins 2013 by a huge margin of 160

Everything doesn't change much

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 22nd April 2024, 05:52 PM

The gap between 5th and 6th this season is quite unique, so certainly would add some excitement to it. The continued greater reliability of cars also makes it worth it, the average retirements in 2010 when it was introduced was about double what it is now (3.35 per race vs 1.67 for 23-24), so would make sense from that respect.

I think 12 is perfect, wouldn't want to go much further as you're getting towards points for finishing.

Posted by: Mack. 24th April 2024, 12:02 AM

Hockenheim & Nürburgring hope for the German Grand Prix to return to the calendar, starting from 2026, rotating between them.

https://www.grandprix.com/news/german-circuits-hope-for-f1-rotation-scheme-from-2026.html

Posted by: Mack. 24th April 2024, 12:11 AM

Thailand is the latest country in line for an F1 race,

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240423-thailand-keen-to-host-f1-race-on-streets-of-bangkok

Posted by: Mack. 25th April 2024, 03:09 PM

Red Bull design chief Adrian Newey is to leave the team in the wake of the controversy involving allegations about team principal Christian Horner.

Newey, regarded as the greatest Formula 1 designer in history, has told Red Bull he wants to move on, BBC Sport has learned.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cmm3v9ny78eo

Posted by: Dobbo 25th April 2024, 03:15 PM

That's it then, the Red Bull era will soon be done.

No doubt Verstappen to follow him out of the door next.

Posted by: Severin 25th April 2024, 03:59 PM

So with the designs for the 2025 Red Bull already underway it'll be interesting to see how much impact that might have on next years car, and even were he to be placed on gardening leave immediately he's unlikely to be able to contribute much for next year to whichever team he might go to, should he choose to continue in F1.

Smart money would seem to be on Aston Martin who have the ambition and funds to offer him anything he wants, plus a Honda engine and Fernando Alonso. Stroll Jr may or may not be on his way out and if Verstappen were to follow Newey, AM looks the best bet for him too.

Any team would no doubt be interested in Newey but does he fancy Merc or Ferrari? Not sure he'd fit in that well at Ferrari. McLaren may well fancy having him return and Williams would be a nostalgia inducing option but they may be too far behind.

RB would obviously be a similar set up and a team which already run a car that takes infleunce from his work.

Other than that - Audi, Haas, Alpine. Maybe even Andretti. None seem that likely.


This is going to be an interesting few weeks at least.

Posted by: Dobbo 25th April 2024, 04:23 PM

Ferrari have tried to get him many times in the past, offering him a "Hollywood contract" and all but he's always turned them down. Don't think he'd ever go back to McLaren after leaving on bad terms although that was in the Dennis era. Williams are miles below him, no chance.

So that leaves Merc or Aston Martin. Now Merc would be hilarious especially if Verstappen did end up joining them too. Aston Martin would make the most sense, it would be a similar situation to when he joined RB in 2005, a midtable team whom he could help morph into a powerhouse and call all the shots... ah except for the fact the owner is an absolute clown and would massively hinder his autonomy.

Posted by: Silas 25th April 2024, 05:32 PM

Would love this. Germany should never have been allowed to fall off the calendar in the first place. Bin a sand Prix


Silly season this year is gonna be mental

Posted by: Severin 25th April 2024, 06:20 PM

Agreed.

Germany, Italy, France, Britain, Belgium and Monaco (not in that order) all have a historical significance to Grand Prix and Motor Racing that no other countries can match. They should be classed as Tier 1 countries and given special dispensation to remain on the calendar without fail. France is welcome to remodel Paul Ricard or build another track somewhere.

Japan, USA, Australia, Canada, Austria, South Africa, Brazil should be Tier 2 because of historical and geographical importance.

After that you can pick and 7 circuits in the world on a slightly rotating basis to give a calendar perfect 20 races. I'd go for 2 x GP of the Americas (Mexico, Miami, Vegas), 2 x European GP (Imola, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Netherlands, Russia one day maybe), 2 x Asian GP (Malaysia, Turkey, India, China, Singapore, Azerbaijan, Thailand, S. Korea, Vietnam potentially) and 1 x Middle East GP (Qatar, Saudi, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait)

Posted by: Silas 26th April 2024, 08:59 AM

Hulk off to Audi (Sauber) for 2025

Posted by: Silas 26th April 2024, 09:03 AM

I wouldn’t mind maybe 22 circuits. But 20 is also a fair number.

Otherwise I fully agree. We shouldn’t forget that the Grand Prix is a French invention (Renault won the first ever official Grand Prix in 1906) and the calendar should always have a European core. Beyond that, a more variable calendar would be really interesting and would help I think shake things up a little from year to year and keep casuals in touch. The approach works well for Formula E tbh, and it makes it feel a little more like a world championship and not a „which dictator paid the most“ championship

Posted by: Herbs 26th April 2024, 10:04 AM

I am not sure about this move.

Hulkenberg is too good a driver to spend pretty much his whole F1 career in midfield/back of the pack teams. I hope as a team they make a leap forward and give Hulk a chance at a good end to his career/and a bloody podium!

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 26th April 2024, 10:32 AM

I'm not sure what other options he'll have. I don't realistically see any of the current top 5 ever going for him as an option.

It'll be good to see the grid shake up a bit. I guess it makes K Mag more likely to stay, depends on how Haas see rookie vs. experience again - think it's likely Bearman will take on of the seats. If Audi replace both drivers I'd be trying everything to get Bottas if they want an experienced driver.

Posted by: Bjork 26th April 2024, 10:46 AM

sure Bearman wil have a seat in Haas next year yeah

so Sanz-Hulk in Audi?

Posted by: Dobbo 26th April 2024, 01:27 PM

Can see Bottas moving back to Williams and Zhou getting the boot. He's had his China race now can't see any team wanting him as he's not shown any glimpses of greatness at all yet.

So that leaves Audi as the only realistic option for Sainz. Think Merc will take a leap of faith with Antonelli and put him straight in the car to have a year before the big regs change. Red Bull will keep Perez so long as he keeps racking up the podiums and if they get rid of him they might risk promoting Tsunoda. But who knows what state that team will be in by the end of the year.

Posted by: Silas 1st May 2024, 09:12 AM

Newey confirmed to be leaving in early 2025

Posted by: Dobbo 1st May 2024, 09:23 AM

Back to the midfield for Red Bull from 2026 then!

Posted by: Severin 1st May 2024, 04:08 PM

I think a lot of people seem to be overinflating Newey's ability to have an immediate impact at any new team. The Williams was already the dominant car when he joined in 1991 (only Senna could have beaten it in that, admittedly great, McLaren). His first design at McLaren took Hakkinen to the title but only Schumacher's injury in 1999 enabled Mika to win that championship and Schumacher then went on a 5 year winning streak, during which Newey left for Red Bull in 2005. It took 5 years to deliver the Austrian team their first title of four in a row before they were eclipsed once again.

During those barren years from 2014 to 2021 Red Bull almost certainly had the best aero package but the importance of that aspect was far less than now and will likely become so again in the future. By the time he can start elsewhere should he chose to continue, (and I wouldn't rule out retiring) it will be 2026 and he'll be 67.

And I'm not convinced Ferrari is so odds on as others think. Newey is not likely to relish to the idea of moving to Italy and may find the team dynamic too volatile and... passionate for his comfort. He's expressed an interest in working with both Alonso and Hamilton but who knows what kind of capability either will have in 2 years time and he may well decide to go wherever Verstappen wishes to go. Ferrari is obviously a huge draw but he's also been designing cars around Honda power units for a good few years and they have the best engine out there right now. Wherever he goes it will definitely be a works team but it won't involve Renault I'm sure.

Posted by: Dobbo 4th May 2024, 04:50 PM

Jeddah Magnussen was back for more today. If that was an online F1 lobby he'd have been disqualified by about lap 12

Posted by: Severin 5th May 2024, 09:12 AM

I've said it before and I'll say it again but the stewards need to issue a drive through in a situation like that and if the team ignores it, they should disqualify them from the race - both cars.

Posted by: Bjork 5th May 2024, 04:34 PM

they really have different rules depending on pilot
why are so tough on Alonso
can they be more permissive with people like Hamilton or Magnussen

Posted by: dandy* 5th May 2024, 10:05 PM

Norris’ first win!! <3

Posted by: Dobbo 5th May 2024, 10:05 PM

Man did F1 need that. Not just the result but a different car finally able to take it to Red Bull.

Great for Lando to finally break his duck.

Posted by: Severin 5th May 2024, 10:16 PM

Always good to see a first time winner and for a little better luck and timing Piastri could have made the podium at least.

It may have taken Red Bull having an off weekend to happen, and I suspect Max would have won if he'd got the setup right, but at the end of the day Norris beat them on equal footing and deserved it.

It will be interesting to see if these McLaren upgrades will work as well at most other circuits.

Posted by: Bjork 6th May 2024, 06:50 AM

very lucky x Norris but congrats to him

judges as usual pretty unconsistent with Sanz

Posted by: Severin 6th May 2024, 09:02 AM

I thought the calls for Sainz were right in this case. Piastri never left the track, was ahead at the apex and had the right to the corner, despite Carlos getting very irate about it. So no issue there.

Then later Sainz lost control of the back end and broke Piastri's car. A standard 10 sec penalty that he was lucky to have reduced to 5.

If anything Sainz was lucky rather than hard done by.

Posted by: Cow P 6th May 2024, 10:39 AM

Happy for Norris!

Posted by: Severin 19th May 2024, 01:38 AM

Piastri has been demoted to fifth following a three place grid penalty for impeding Magnussen.

Feel free to make your own jokes on this one.

Posted by: Mack. 19th May 2024, 12:23 PM

Now Norris have a car, which can fight Verstappen. Looking forward to see how he battles Verstappen today.

Posted by: Mack. 19th May 2024, 01:05 PM

No changes in the Top 5 at the start.

Posted by: Severin 22nd May 2024, 09:40 AM

A few thoughts following Imola.

Imola is a glorious circuit and would be even better if the cars were smaller as has been tentatively planned for the future.


Following Verstappen's impressive weekend, his 59th win now puts his win percentage above Lewis Hamilton's with 30.73% for Max vs 30.38% for Lewis.

A quick visit to the calculator suggests that if Max continues to win around 80% of the races as per his form of the last 12 months, he will eclipse the great Jim Clark's 34.72% by the end of the year, Alberto Ascari's 40.63% by the end of 2025 and be closing in on Juan-Manuel Fangio's seemingly unassailable 47.06% by mid 2026.

Obviously, much can happen between now and then, from injury, illness, retirements, a bad design for the car or a much improved rival but you only have to look at the consistency of his lap times to see that Max is absolutely driving with the kind of form rarely seen in the sport.




Monaco however could go any way and I still can't work out which car is best suited this year. Perhaps this year is the most open for a long time.

Verstappen could claim another 2 records this weekend - Most poles at the start of the season, currently equal with Prost on 7 from 1993, and most consecutive pole positions which is currently held by Senna. To take this away at Monaco would be somewhat fitting

I really like the one off Senna livery McLaren are going to run this weekend.

The possibility of Tsunoda replacing Perez next year seems more and more likely with each race.

Posted by: Dobbo 22nd May 2024, 09:56 AM

Imola is a great driving track but has always been terrible for racing no matter the era. It's still a track however that punishes driver mistakes so the jeopardy is there (see Leclerc binning it in 2022) so it's very much a second Monaco in almost every aspect.

Speaking of Monaco, can't see anything but another Verstappen masterclass, that pole lap last season was a sight to behold.

Posted by: Herbs 22nd May 2024, 09:56 AM

Seems mad that Monaco last year was Alonso's great chance to get a win. but he'll go into this one on the back of a bad weekend at Imola

I could see Norris/a Ferrari upstaging Verstappen at Monaco.

Will be intrigued to see if any of the mid-field runners can qualify high (Tsunoda & Hulkenberg especially as they have been smashing it in qualifying)

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 22nd May 2024, 11:11 AM

The McLaren livery is nice, but I do prefer a one-off that bears some kind of resemblance to the current one so you can still tell what team it is, the Papaya has always had a presence in their last few one-offs.

Posted by: Severin 22nd May 2024, 06:28 PM

Imola was great until '94 but they neutered it after that and took away much of its majesty. Yet, it's still brilliant watching the cars really hang it out there in ways most tracks don't allow these days and I'd rather see that than a boring race on a boring circuit (hello Mexico). The sport has always been more about the risk of a mistake at high speed than close quarter racing, it's why we remember the fights so well when they do emerge. If you're watching F1 for close battles and loads of overtakes you're watching the wrong motorsport.

Plus it's in Italy, one of the giants of motor racing and is the home race for Ferrari, and who doesn't love that?


As for Monaco, only the true greats excel there, can Max put his name alongside Senna, G Hill, Prost, Schumacher, Stewart, Moss, Hamilton, and er... Rosberg (exception that proves the rule?) as a triple winner or can Leclerc finally start to deliver on the talent he has?

Posted by: Severin 23rd May 2024, 10:30 AM

This is a great little documentary about the other driver we lost in 1994 and well worth a look at.

I remember the day he died so well. Me and my then girlfriend were painting a neighbours garden shed and had Saturday Qualifying on the radio. We heard the reports live and were shocked. I remember we had a long discussion about how this sort of accident was so rare in F1 these days and how unlucky he had been. The same views were echoed by our friends down the pub that night, and we celebrated the little known Austrian journeyman who'd spent years trying to make a mark and had finally reached the sport's top discipline only to be cruelly taken away. It was quite a sad evening.

Then, after the next day hardly anyone was talking about him, and except for the diehard fans, he's barely remembered anymore.



Four episodes are on the site and all are worth watching

Posted by: Dobbo 23rd May 2024, 11:03 AM

Think he suffered the highest ever G-force in an F1 crash too so he had no chance unfortunately

Posted by: Cow P 25th May 2024, 11:17 PM

Where will Verstappen likely finish tomorrow?

Hoping Leclerc doesn't mess up his race too.

Posted by: Severin 26th May 2024, 08:46 AM

Both Haas drivers were disqualified from qualifying for running an illlegal rear wing. Haas have acknowledged it was a setup error for a new part.
They will start from the pitlane

Posted by: Severin 26th May 2024, 08:50 AM

This is a straight fight between Ferrari and McLaren. Red Bull don't have the car to win this. He'll do very well to beat Russell's upgraded Merc or snatch a podium.

But it's Monaco and a red or yellow flag could throw form up in the air

Posted by: Severin 26th May 2024, 01:14 PM

Magnussen should be facing a ban for that.

Posted by: Cow P 26th May 2024, 03:29 PM

Today's all red for both 2 wheels and 4 wheels.

WD Leclerc!

Posted by: Severin 26th May 2024, 03:43 PM

Couldn't have been a better result. Ferrari and Leclerc at Monaco

Posted by: Mack. 26th May 2024, 06:38 PM

Posted by: Herbs 26th May 2024, 07:51 PM

Thrilled for Leclerc - his emotion at the end was sweet

I don’t think Magnussen is the worst driver on the track but dude, you took out your teammate by being reckless
Same for Ocon….

Posted by: Mack. 27th May 2024, 12:23 AM

Ocon to be dropped in Canada??? That could be a possibility.

Posted by: J❄️hq 27th May 2024, 07:53 AM

I didn't expect my happiness at Lando winning his first race to be topped so quickly, but a Charles victory in Monaco

Posted by: Bjork 27th May 2024, 02:18 PM

Oh my great win for Charles and Ferrari

What a moron Verstappen is, complaining about the snoozefest race

Anyone knows if Kevin will get a penalty? He should!

Posted by: Dan17F1 27th May 2024, 06:20 PM

No, they determined it was a racing incident in the end. Although it was predominantly Kevin’s fault, I wonder whether they were weary about giving him a race ban when it was 100% his fault.

Posted by: Severin 27th May 2024, 06:23 PM

Why single out Verstappen? Hamilton, Russell, Albon, Piastri certainly all voiced similar opinions. I expect others did too but we just haven't heard those reports. Lewis was more critical if anything. At least Max and George made a joke out of it.

And to be honest they're right. I love the challenge of Monaco but when they all changed their tyres on lap one and could just manage them to the end it destroyed the possibility of anything (bar a driver mistake) changing the order.
Charles did what he had to do and drove at a pace often slower than an F2 car. Job done.

If changing tyres and repairs under a red flag were prohibited, it would have kept the interest alive. At least the Indy 500 was brilliant though, when it finally got going.


Magnussen got lucky and escaped punishment because Perez looked in his mirrors and should have known he was there. Magnussen's positioning was stupid but both drivers to blame in some part and so a racing incident. If Perez didn't make the obvious glance in his mirror I suspect he would have had a penalty and therefore a ban.

Posted by: Bjork 28th May 2024, 08:24 AM

the way Verstappen always moans and protests is so childish, sometimes he still behaves like a teen 12 years of age

Posted by: Dobbo 28th May 2024, 08:43 AM

It was pretty funny him complaining that the race was boring which is precisely what everyone else thought about almost every race last year. Very bizarre off weekend for Red Bull on a track they've always been strong at even in the Merc dominated era, perhaps this was their Singapore 2023 of this season and it'll be back to the norm from Canada, at least for Max anyway. The norm for Perez after round 5 is not even reaching Q3.

But super happy for Leclerc to finally break 2 curses in one, not just his rotten run at Monaco but ending his streak of 12 consecutive non-converted poles.

Posted by: Herbs 28th May 2024, 08:48 AM

I have no issue with any driver complaining the race was boring.

Other than the 1st lap antics it wasn't a great representation of the sport

Max winning all the time doesn't make the sport boring, as there is so much going on behind him. If anything I think his dominance has been nothing short of inspirational. I've heard people compare him to Federer a lot (in the way they both obliterated competition for a prolonged period of time)

Posted by: Dobbo 28th May 2024, 08:53 AM

This is the way Monaco has been ever since the beginning, a procession. What made it worse this time was the red flag negating any strategy and forcing the drivers to be even slower than normal to save tyre life meaning mistakes were also less likely.

And for the record, I agree with your last point. It's up to everyone else to make it more exciting if one guy is just levels clear.

Posted by: Silas 28th May 2024, 08:57 AM

I disagree, Monaco hasn’t always been like this, it’s just that the cars 20 years ago were significantly smaller and therefore was easier to do a move into a chicane

Formula E went three abreast into Lowes 👀👀

Posted by: Herbs 28th May 2024, 09:00 AM

I did see it was the first time the top 10 on the grid finished in exactly the same order.

Thanks to K-Mag for that, giving Sainz a chance to get back in

Posted by: dandy* 28th May 2024, 09:05 AM

Yeah I agree with Silas - I remember it being much more fun to watch back in the 90s, there always seemed to be some sort of drama and people would definitely try to overtake. It has however sadly descended into the most boring race these days, I'd happily see it removed from the F1 calendar

Posted by: Severin 28th May 2024, 10:13 AM

Monaco was never always a procession. Look at 1982 where 5 different cars lead the race in the final few laps or 1996 where only 3 cars completed the race. 1933 had 21 lead changes and the races from 1961, 70, 81, 92, 08 and 16 are all pretty damn good or classics.

The circuit itself is not the problem. The size and weight of the cars is the real issue. It looks the worst at Monaco but it's slowly killing other tracks too (Imola, Hungary, Spain, Singapore leap to mind).

Thankfully from 2026 the cars will start to be reduced in size and weight so things should improve there.

Posted by: Herbs 28th May 2024, 10:15 AM

1996 was always a sore point for me!

I was a DC fan and he should have won that race (had Mclaren bought him in instead of Hakkinen, he'd have been in front of Panis)

Posted by: Dobbo 28th May 2024, 10:40 AM

I mean 1992 is only remembered because of Mansell being unable to overtake Senna despite being in a vastly superior car with fresher tyres thus proving the point. I think back in the old era there didn't exist the chicane after the tunnel and I think removing that and moving the DRS zone to there could be an option.

Even when the cars were smaller, without any crashes or rain it was much the same as it is now. 2003 for example saw zero overtakes despite smaller cars.

But your general point about the size of today's cars I do agree with.

Posted by: Liam sota 28th May 2024, 10:54 AM

Monaco is the worst race of the year every year the pole getter will win 99.9% of the time

Posted by: Dobbo 28th May 2024, 11:10 AM

You say that but interestingly it's only happened 4 times in the last 9 races (or 5 if you count Max as the realistic pole-sitter in 2021). Most of those were admittedly pit-stop blunders (2015/2016/2022) but I found that a peculiar stat.

I still like the uniqueness of Monaco personally, if you can accept that whilst overtaking is nigh on impossible, there's the jeopardy in every single corner from any small error. The big problem with this year's race as I mentioned is that no one was driving flat out at any point due to tyre management which is definitely something that could be looked into re red flag regulations although I'm not sure what an alternative solution could be.

Posted by: Silas 28th May 2024, 12:46 PM

I think Monaco is one of those races where refueling would had more of a play and we wouldn’t have had an entire race run on a single set of tyres for the majority of the field


Ultimately though I think my preference would be for a red flag to mean that the teams can’t touch the cars in any way shape or form and that by doing so they are automatically relegated to a pit lane start, like taking the car out of Parc Fermé

Posted by: Severin 28th May 2024, 01:00 PM

But in 92 Senna's exceptional skill was the real difference though. There were a number of overtakes in the race.

This is a count of all genuine overtakes in the Monaco GP over the last 40 years.

From the following post from the overtaking database - https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/nf4jkq/f1_overtaking_database_19942020/?rdt=33171


I don't include overtakes on the first lap (or on standing starts after a red flag) as it would misrepresent the total figure for race and also be a nightmare to calculate. The focus is on on-track overtakes for position so I don't include overtakes made while someone is in the pits, when someone has spun or is off track, when someone has a severe reliability problem, lapping and unlapping or through team orders.


1984 Monaco 22
1985 Monaco 22
1986 Monaco 21
1987 Monaco 16
1988 Monaco 11
1989 Monaco 20
1990 Monaco 11
1991 Monaco 9
1992 Monaco 7
1993 Monaco 31
1994 Monaco 9
1995 Monaco 9
1996 Monaco 6
1997 Monaco 31
1998 Monaco 2
1999 Monaco 5
2000 Monaco 1
2001 Monaco 7
2002 Monaco 10
2003 Monaco 0
2004 Monaco 5
2005 Monaco 16
2006 Monaco 19
2007 Monaco 2
2008 Monaco 33
2009 Monaco 8
2010 Monaco 6
2011 Monaco 28
2012 Monaco 13
2013 Monaco 17
2014 Monaco 10
2015 Monaco 10
2016 Monaco 14
2017 Monaco 3
2018 Monaco 4
2019 Monaco 2
2021 Monaco 0
2022 Monaco 13
2023 Monaco 22
2024 Monaco 4



As you can see from the data, the circuit is nowhere near as bad as people like to make out, although the last 10 years have really begun to see the number of on-track passes drop.

As for the red flag, yes I agree teams should not be able to touch the car or change tyres due to a stoppage. The red flag is supposed to neutralise the race but allowing teams to make changes means it breaks the race in to two separate smaller races, which I'm not in favour of.

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 28th May 2024, 07:57 PM

I have no problem with Monaco remaining on the calendar, even with a complete inability to make overtakes, but it's a massive shame when the rules of the sport deem the race completely pointless. At least there's some jeopardy over strategy, and drivers pushing with the possibility of mistakes in 'normal' race conditions, but there was no need for any of that in this years race due to the red lap = mandatory pit stop rule. When cars can complete 77 laps on a set of mediums it makes for an awful spectacle.

Posted by: Severin 29th May 2024, 07:28 AM

Perhaps it's time Monaco was returned to a full length race these days it can be completed in the 2 hour mandate (assuming no delays). It's been shortened for over 50 years but that no longer seems necessary. Removing Monaco's exemption may well remove the dedication to a one stop strategy. Pirelli could supply only the highest deg tyres. Because concentration levels are so high the driver's are more likely to make an error. the longer the race continues.

Posted by: Dobbo 29th May 2024, 08:28 AM

Does anyone else think the fallout from the Ocon incident is way overblown? Yeah it was a dumb move but losing his seat over it is ridiculous, especially as he's been the better driver of the 2 so far this season.

Posted by: Severin 29th May 2024, 08:55 AM

If it were an isolated incident I'd think it was very harsh but Ocon has been colliding unnecessarily with teammates (Alonso, Perez, Gasly) and rivals (Verstappen in Brazil springs to mind) for years without learning anything by his mistakes. He disobeyed explicit team instructions on Sunday, as he has done frequently before and has a 5 place grid penalty for his next race, effectively ruining their chances of a decent result in Canada before the weekend has started.

He's only been marginally better than Gasly in the races this year and very much looks like he's the destabilising influence in the team. You have to wonder whether he was a factor in the loss of both Alonso and Piastri, I'm not convinced but it's a possibility. Alpine have understandably lost patience with him and decided he needs to sit on the naughty step for a while. He's not a team player and he's not a good enough driver to get away with it forever.


On balance I say it's a reasonable decision. Frankly, I'd like to see more teams take a harder line with errant drivers. There's plenty of potential talent waiting for a chance and too many on the grid that are there because they're seen as a safe option, benching him for a race with demonstrate Alpine's disappointment in him and allow them to test another driver under race conditions. It's a win for Alpine all round.


But at the moment it remains a rumour and that may be enough for Alpine to make their point.

Posted by: Herbs 29th May 2024, 08:59 AM

In general working environments something like that would be punished

I do think it’s slightly overblown but then I’m comparing it to reckless or poor drivers (K-Mag, Stroll, Sargent)

In a way I kind of hope they do do it, as it’d be a reminder that drivers should not be able to just do what they want without consequence

Posted by: Dobbo 29th May 2024, 09:05 AM

I mean I'm all for giving new blood a rare chance, we saw how well Lawson and Bearman performed in their unexpected opportunities. I just think it's a bit too kneejerk...

Posted by: Bjork 29th May 2024, 09:32 AM

I also think it's an over-reaction
especially since he's been doing it for ages and Alpine never had an issue before and always supported him rather than Alonso for instance

Ocon has always been Alpine's protected child so I'd be very surprised if they kick him out now

Posted by: Silas 29th May 2024, 10:06 AM

Im not sure it’s an overreaction because it feels like this is coming to the end of a long process of unhappiness with his attitude towards his teammates

Posted by: Bjork 29th May 2024, 12:30 PM

but why they never had an issue before? Alonso was complaining about him for ages and ages and ages and Alpine was acting like Ocon was the #1 and Alonso didn't matter at all

Posted by: Severin 29th May 2024, 01:14 PM

You can only give someone a pass or benefit of the doubt for so long. Patience always runs out eventually