[Other Sport] F1 2024

[Audax]

Albon has signed a new multi-year contract with Williams. Exactly what "multi-year" means remains to be seen; so far they've only confirmed it keeps him there through 2026, but heavily implied it's longer.

 

[Audax]

Well well well ... Max and Red Bull under a bit more pressure. Both McLaren and Ferrari much closer.

 

[Audax]

Well well well ... Max and Red Bull under a bit more pressure. Both McLaren and Ferrari much closer.

So, let's expand on this a little.

Qualifying: max on pole yet again. Equals a long standing record for the most consecutive pole positions. But let's look a little deeper: Max had to work hard for it, and managed either a stroke of luck or a very smart piece of timing to get a big tow off Hulkenberg to start his pole lap. Without that tow, both Piastri and Norris would have been faster. That upgraded McLaren continues to be strong.

In the race, again it needs a little deeper analysis. Piastri was taken out of the equation due to his team failing to notify him of a another car on a fast lap in Q1, leading to an impeding penalty that dropped Piastri back 3 places. He'd end up stuck behind Sainz, and then Leclerc, and unable to help McLaren use two cars strategically against Max. Norris stalked Max initially, before dropping away a bit at the end of the stint. The latter half of the stint on hards, though, he came alive - Max forced to work very, very hard to retain his lead and the gap was less than a second at the chequer.

So McLaren appear to be close enough to make Red Bull sweat now. And the upgraded Ferrari isn't far away either, with Leclerc a strong 3rd not too far back - there's more to come from that upgraded Ferrari as they get to understand it better. The rest of the season might just be worth watching.

 

[Creaky]

Makes you wonder what the result would have been with Max in the Ferrari, the McLaren or even the Mercedes.

Claims that Max only wins races because of a superior car are being shown up as ridiculous.

Lando is starting to get the best out of the McLaren, good to see. His confidence level must be running high at the moment.

 

[A1X]

Also worth noting that once again when he was needed, Sergio Perez put in a dud qualifying and took himself out of contention, Red Bull will need someone who is able to step up and help out if Max is going to start being under pressure on a regular basis

 

[Audax]

Lando is starting to get the best out of the McLaren, good to see. His confidence level must be running high at the moment.

I think if Piastri had started in the 2nd place he'd earned with a fantastic qually lap, McLaren would have won the race. Have both Piastri and Norris hanging onto Max in the first stint, gives McLaren the opportunity to split strategy and force Red Bull into covering only one of them. Instead Piastri gets stuck in behind Sainz, who just didn't have the pace, and wasn't close enough to put the RBR strategists under any pressure. Likewise Leclerc in the first stint just didn't stay close enough.

I think we'll see a couple more McLaren victories this season. The Red Bull has been out of sorts two races running now and the upgraded McLaren looks to be much closer. I think we'll see certain circuits that play to the strengths of the McLaren result in Max being knocked off his perch. At the start of the season I thought this year *and* next year could be written off as Red Bull's. Not so sure now. This season is still max's to lose, I think, but we could see RBR miss out on the WCC if Perez slumps again, and next season could be close.

 

[Audax]

Time to update the 2025 (and beyond) driver changes tracker:

Red Bull
1. Verstappen (contract thru 2028; but if Red Bull implodes he'll go early)
2. Perez (out of contract after 2024); Ricciardo (needs to up his form at VCARB); Sainz

No new rumours at Red Bull. Perez still, for now, appears the favourite. Ricciardo will fall out of the picture very soon if he doesn't start trouncing Tsunoda. Sainz is waiting to see if he gets a chance.

Ferrari
1. Leclerc (long term contract)
2. Hamilton (multi year contract)

All settled here.

McLaren
1. Norris (multi year contract)
2. Piastri (contract thru 2026)

All settled here.

Mercedes
1. Russell (contract thru 2025)
2. Antonelli (Merc junior in F2); Sainz

Pretty quiet at the moment. Antonelli isn't setting the world on fire in F2, but apparently had a very good F1 test session with an old car. Hamilton has backed Antonelli.

Aston Martin
1. Alonso (contract thru 2026 minimum)
2. Stroll (ugh)

All settled here.

VCARB
1. Tsunoda (contract expires end of 2024); Lawson
2. Ricciardo (contract expires end of 2024); Lawson

Other than Lawson almost certainly getting one of these seats, not much has changed. Tsunoda has been the quicker driver, but apparently his improvement this season has mostly come about thanks to Ricciardo's input.

Sauber / Audi
1. Hulkenberg (multi year contract)
2. Bottas; Sainz; Zhou

Williams
1. Albon (contract thru 2026 minimum)
2. Sargeant (rumoured to be on race-by-race contract); Antonelli; Gasly; Bottas

The latest to add to the list to drive alongside Albon in 2025 is Bottas.

Haas
1. Magnussen (contract expires 2024); Ocon
2. Bearman (rumoured)

Ocon has now been mentioned as a possibility at Haas.

Alpine
1. Ocon (contract expires 2024)
2. Gasly (contract expires 2024); Doohan; Martins; Mick Schumacher

Mick Schumacher has been named as a candidate at Alpine. Martins is struggling in F2 this season, so his star may be waning at just the wrong time. For Mick Schu to be a prospect at Alpine would suggest to me that they are expecting *both* incumbent drivers to leave, because I can't see them taking Mick over Doohan.

 

[Flounce]

Makes you wonder what the result would have been with Max in the Ferrari, the McLaren or even the Mercedes.

Claims that Max only wins races because of a superior car are being shown up as ridiculous.

Lando is starting to get the best out of the McLaren, good to see. His confidence level must be running high at the moment.

Are you suggesting Max could have won in a Merc?

 

[Audax]

Red Bull
1. Verstappen (contract to 2028; but if Red Bull implodes he'll go early)
2. Perez (out of contract after 2024); Ricciardo (needs to up his form at VCARB); Sainz

No new rumours at Red Bull. Perez still, for now, appears the favourite. Ricciardo will fall out of the picture very soon if he doesn't start trouncing Tsunoda. Sainz is waiting to see if he gets a chance.

A day later...

Rumour floating around that Perez has turned down a 1 year extensions and asked for 2 years.

---

While I'm here, two new nuggets of news relating to the Andretti effort to enter Formula 1 in 2026.

During the Miami race weekend, all the news was about how several members of the US Congress had taken an interest. Two separate letters were sent to FOM/Liberty demanding answers on why Andretti had been refused and suggesting US antitrust laws had been broken by FOM.

This week, a group of bipartisan US Senators have written a letter to the US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission about the matter. They again allege antitrust violations and urge that an official investigation be launched.

Separately, it was announced by the FOM that Pat Symonds had chosen to leave his role as Chief Technical Officer at the FOM and had been placed on gardening leave. While at the FOM, Symonds oversaw the development of the chassis rules for the current generation cars as well as the nearly-finalised 2026 rules. It was today announced that Pat Symonds will join Andretti as soon as his gardening leave ends, specifically to help them in their efforts to become a Formula 1 team.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Claims that Max only wins races because of a superior car are being shown up as ridiculous.

Who on earth has ever said that?!

 

[A1X]

Williams
1. Albon (contracted through at least 2026)
2. Sargeant (rumoured to be on race-by-race contract); Antonelli; Gasly; Bottas

The latest to add to the list to drive alongside Albon in 2025 is Bottas.

So does Antonelli getting a drive in the Williams this season suit all parties (other than Sargeant, obviously)?

 

[Audax]

So does Antonelli getting a drive in the Williams this season suit all parties (other than Sargeant, obviously)?

It's not been said yet, but I suspect he won't drive for Williams now. I think the FIA refused an exemption on super licence. That being the case, it makes more sense for Mercedes to invest in giving him as much testing time as possible.

 

[Audax]

2025 drivers market is heating up again. The latest is that Tsunoda may be interested in a seat at Haas, as he sees no prospect of being promoted to Red Bull.

 

[Flounce]

Not expecting much excitement in the race but Monaco qualifying could be the most exciting part of the weekend. Max currently off the pace, Hamilton doing better than expected and Le Clerc apparently “miles” in front on Friday practice. Plenty of drivers clipping walls/armcos

 

[Audax]

Cracks appearing in the Red Bull dominance? Third race on the bounce they're in trouble...

 

[Scappa]

 

[Guinness Boy]

Cracks appearing in the Red Bull dominance? Third race on the bounce they're in trouble...

While the race is typically a boring procession I’m quite looking forward to it. There’s a good chance Max doesn’t win, a good chance of the pasta gun coming out and an outside chance again for McLaren.

 

[Flounce]

I know I’m reading between the lines here but it appears to me that there is some tension brewing in the Mercedes garage. George, understandably, is now being prioritised as the No 1 driver?

I found this an interesting listen

 

[zefarelly]

These are a quick reaction.

 

[A1X]

Ferrari vs McLaren in Monaco? Have I woken up in the 1990s?