[Other Sport] F1 2024

[A1X]

Or the old fujitsu one? That's what I thought.

Think they’ve designed the F1 scoring system, every time I looked at it Max Verstappen’s points had doubled

 

[Audax]

Last year was the only one that was completely Red Bull dominant and even then Perez struggled a lot, it was Max being so good and consistent that made it so easy for them.

Throughout the rest of the pack there were a lot of great battles throughout the season including Aston Martin starting very well and dropping midway through whilst McLaren made massive strides.

There have been far less interesting seasons, and last year was one where you just have to appreciate how good Verstappen was (as much as some people may not like it).

Agree - last season was (if you ignore Verstappen) a really interesting one, full of good racing and lots of interest as the fortunes of various teams waxed and waned. To add to your Aston / McLaren examples, both Mercedes and Ferrari had their peaks and troughs as well. All it would take for a far more interesting WDC / WCC fight this season is for one or two of those teams that had variable performance in 2023 to (McLaren, Mercedes the most likely pair for me) start 2024 with a stronger car and to then develop that car positively throughout the season.

 

[Audax]

From the BBC Sports website:

"Technically, Steiner, who built up the team using an innovative business model, was not fired. His contract had expired and Haas chose not to extend it, BBC Sport has learned."

Can't see Netflix being too happy with this. Drive to Survive was excellent with Gunter in it.

"Technically" doing a lot of heavy lifting there. They are most likely "technically" correct, but if you read between the lines of the rest of that article (plus what's been put out from other sources) this very much looks like a "contract renewal was assumed to be a formality until it wasn't" scenario where both sides had most likely verbally committed to wanting to renew until a disagreement emerged and Haas held the upper hand through being able to simply say "no renewal then".

 

[Echo the Seagull]

Guenther Steiner has left Haas

Think Gene had enough of Haas looking like focking vankers

 

[AstroSloth]

Agree - last season was (if you ignore Verstappen) a really interesting one, full of good racing and lots of interest as the fortunes of various teams waxed and waned. To add to your Aston / McLaren examples, both Mercedes and Ferrari had their peaks and troughs as well. All it would take for a far more interesting WDC / WCC fight this season is for one or two of those teams that had variable performance in 2023 to (McLaren, Mercedes the most likely pair for me) start 2024 with a stronger car and to then develop that car positively throughout the season.

I think I agree Re McLaren and Mercedes as they seem like the only two teams who would have the consistency to challenge. Ferrari might make the car to be able to challenge but they're a shambles organisationally. Aston I think we'll see drop off a little bit more than last year unfortunately but you never know.

 

[Audax]

McLaren: TBC
AlphaTauri/TBC: TBC
Williams: TBC
Haas: TBC
Stake F1 Team: February 5
Alpine: February 7
Aston Martin: February 12
Ferrari: February 13
Mercedes: February 14
Red Bull: February 15

Busy day for Car Launch date announcements. Red Bull announced theirs this afternoon, for February 15th. Alpine announced their date this morning (7th Feb), as did Mercedes (for 14th Feb).

 

[Flounce]

Last year was the only one that was completely Red Bull dominant and even then Perez struggled a lot, it was Max being so good and consistent that made it so easy for them.

There have been far less interesting seasons, and last year was one where you just have to appreciate how good Verstappen was (as much as some people may not like it).

No argument that Max had a stellar season, don’t think he made a meaningful mistake all season. However when you have the best car and no competition (Perez was clearly aware that when push came to shove he couldn’t race Max) it makes life pretty easy. I really hope a team can compete with Red Bull this season, then we’ll see if Max really can be considered one of the best ever. After last season it looks like he might be but let’s see how he copes with a car that challenges him now he’s the finished article. I still have a very sour taste about how he was handed his first World Championship. I feel Lewis may be too old to be the man to give him that challenge now though, sadly.

 

[Audax]

Surprise! from McLaren this evening. Not a car launch, but they have revealed their 2024 livery on X:

 

[AstroSloth]

Surprise! from McLaren this evening. Not a car launch, but they have revealed their 2024 livery on X:

Some comparison shots to last year. Note the car won't look anything like this come March and this is just the livery reveal.

 

[Audax]

AlphaTauri/TBC: TBC
Williams: February 5
Stake F1 Team: February 5
Alpine: February 7
Haas: February 11 (shakedown at Silverstone)
Aston Martin: February 12
Ferrari: February 13
McLaren: February 14
Mercedes: February 14
Red Bull: February 15

Update on 2024 car reveal dates.

Alpine have been busily teasing some pictures of a pink camouflage livery. That'll be the latest in their series of "start the season with a pink livery, then swap to the primarily blue with some pink". With less than a week between the end of preseason testing and the start of the first race weekend, I very much doubt they'll be running a test-only livery.

We're also still waiting to hear what AlphaTauri's new name will be. Or even when we'll find out. Rumours and possible leaks are suggesting that the team will become "Racing Bulls" and pick up title sponsorship from Visa and CashApp, to become "Visa CashApp Racing Bulls". Ugh.

 

[JJ McClure]

We're also still waiting to hear what AlphaTauri's new name will be. Or even when we'll find out. Rumours and possible leaks are suggesting that the team will become "Racing Bulls" and pick up title sponsorship from Visa and CashApp, to become "Visa CashApp Racing Bulls". Ugh.

#PrayforCrofty

 

[Scappa]

Another iconic track to be removed from the schedule - a street circuit in Madrid will host the Spanish GP from 2026

Spanish Grand Prix to move from Barcelona to Madrid in 2026

Madrid will replace Barcelona as host of the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix from 2026.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[A1X]

We're also still waiting to hear what AlphaTauri's new name will be. Or even when we'll find out. Rumours and possible leaks are suggesting that the team will become "Racing Bulls" and pick up title sponsorship from Visa and CashApp, to become "Visa CashApp Racing Bulls". Ugh.

Only acceptable if this becomes their constructor anthem

 

[JJ McClure]

Another iconic track to be removed from the schedule - a street circuit in Madrid will host the Spanish GP from 2026

Spanish Grand Prix to move from Barcelona to Madrid in 2026

Madrid will replace Barcelona as host of the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix from 2026.

www.bbc.co.uk

I guess its had its moments over the years - Mansell v Senna down the straight and the Hamilton / Rosberg crash - but its produced more than its share of boring races so can't say that I'll miss it.

 

[lost in london]

Genuine question and not having a dig - do people really get excited about battles for places other than who wins?

I hear this a bit as a defence of F1 and its predictability, particularly in the Hamilton and Verstappen eras, but really struggle to give it much credit. Sounds to me like people clutching at straws. Maybe though I'm missing something and there are lots of people happy that someone came 5th as it was a great result for that particular team.

As a very casual fan I don't know the various backstories well enough to care about anything other than who wins.

 

[Audax]

Another iconic track to be removed from the schedule - a street circuit in Madrid will host the Spanish GP from 2026

Spanish Grand Prix to move from Barcelona to Madrid in 2026

Madrid will replace Barcelona as host of the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix from 2026.

www.bbc.co.uk

Going to be an awkward calendar in 2026. Barcelona's contract expires after their 2026 race, so there will need to be either a pay off to Barcelona to get them to end early or two races in Spain for 2026 (in which case, does that flag a temporary calendar expansion or does another race drop out?)

As far as losing Barcelona is concerned ... I'm not fussed. It's a fantastic F1 testing circuit, as the layout really does test the cars' abilities in both medium and fast corners really well. But it's always been a bit of a "boring race" producer. In some years, almost as bad as Monaco for the inability of faster cars to make a pass stick (think back to Max Verstappen's first F1 win with Red Bull at Barcelona for a brilliant example).

In other news, the competition for worst full team name has now officially heated up, with confirmation that AlphaTauri will become "Visa Cash App RB" (at least they've not gone with "Racings Bulls" and left it as RB!). Launch day confirmed as 8th Feb, and based on the colours used to announce the new team name it'll be going back to a mostly blue livery.

Red Bull rebrands second F1 team Visa Cash App RB for 2024

Red Bull has taken the first concrete step in rebranding its second Formula 1 team by changing AlphaTauri to Visa Cash App RB for 2024

www.the-race.com

 

[Audax]

Williams: February 5
Stake F1 Team: February 5
Alpine: February 7
Visa Cash App RB: February 8
Haas: February 2 (livery) & February 11 (shakedown at Silverstone)
Aston Martin: February 12
Ferrari: February 13
McLaren: February 14
Mercedes: February 14
Red Bull: February 15

Quick update on the car reveal schedule. Haas have now announced that they will reveal their new livery on Feb 2nd. That'll be via their Haas+ members.

 

[Audax]

Genuine question and not having a dig - do people really get excited about battles for places other than who wins?

Yep, me. I do enjoy a ding-dong championship battle that goes down to the last race, so seasons like the one that had Hamilton/Alonso/Raikkonen duke it out to the last. But I've also always had an interest in what's going on through the whole grid. Even in those ding-dong WDC seasons, there's often something even more interesting going on deeper in the grid.

I think it largely depends on how "invested" in F1 you are. Casual viewers are generally going to watch to see who wins and that's about it. People like me, though ... I spend a bit of time staying current on what's happening between races, car development, political plays, driver moves, etc etc. I also keep half an eye on F2 and F3 (from a "which drivers might join the F1 grid in future" perspective).

 

[lost in london]

Yep, me. I do enjoy a ding-dong championship battle that goes down to the last race, so seasons like the one that had Hamilton/Alonso/Raikkonen duke it out to the last. But I've also always had an interest in what's going on through the whole grid. Even in those ding-dong WDC seasons, there's often something even more interesting going on deeper in the grid.

I think it largely depends on how "invested" in F1 you are. Casual viewers are generally going to watch to see who wins and that's about it. People like me, though ... I spend a bit of time staying current on what's happening between races, car development, political plays, driver moves, etc etc. I also keep half an eye on F2 and F3 (from a "which drivers might join the F1 grid in future" perspective).

Fair enough, happy to hear that. Trouble for the administrators I guess is keeping us more casual viewers engaged. Not an easy nut to crack I imagine.

 

[Algernon]

Have there been any rule changes or car modifications introduced to make this year's racing interesting? Year on year, changes are made that don't work so surely they need to do something because F1 fan figures can only be declining.
I can't imagine anyone becoming interested in F1 for more than a couple of years before noticing how processional it is and switching their attention to something more exciting like............well, pretty much anything.
The sights and sounds are lovely but I want to be gripped so I have to stay awake. As it is, I watch until I fall asleep.