F1 2024

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Word on the street is that Christian Horner's "inappropriate behaviour" isn't just telling a female member of staff to work harder or controlling behaviour, it involves many, maybe hundreds of inappropriate WhatsApp messages of a sexual nature. If that is in fact true he is out of Red Bull 100%.

 

[spitfire]

Word on the street is that Christian Horner's "inappropriate behaviour" isn't just telling a female member of staff to work harder or controlling behaviour, it involves many, maybe hundreds of inappropriate WhatsApp messages of a sexual nature. If that is in fact true he is out of Red Bull 100%.

Horner is many things but he’s not stupid. How could he think he’d get away with it if he did it?

Power corrupts I guess. Allegedly.

 

[Limejuice]

Bahrain testing.

The 2024 season officially starts in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

Vroom!

 

[spitfire]

Not sure if it will embed but worth a trip to youtube if it doesn't.



eta: Drive to survive trailer.

 

[1%er]

Horner is many things but he’s not stupid. How could he think he’d get away with it if he did it?

Power corrupts I guess. Allegedly.

Lets not forget Horner left his girlfriend of 14 years and their 6 month old baby girl, just walked out and never looked back. That's the sort of man we are talking about here.

 

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Everything that happened on first morning of 2024 F1 testing​

Max Verstappen put Red Bull's new 2024 Formula 1 car on top in Bahrain as the 10 teams racked up more than 500 laps on the first morning of pre-season testing.

Key moments

• Verstappen seven tenths clear on first morning
• Albon brings Williams to a halt late on
• First chance to see 2024 tech in more detail

The first morning of 2024 testing allowed for a closer look at the RB20, which was described at its launch last week as a "quite aggressive" evolution of the RB19 that won all but one of last year's 22 grands prix. These new details included halo inlets as well as more detail around its sidepod design. Red Bull has seemingly split its inlet into two parts on the 2024 car. While the RB20 appeared to be a handful early on in the four-hour session, it looked far more cooperative when Verstappen switched to the mid-range, yellow-sidewalled C3 tyre and he went fastest inside the first two hours.

Verstappen, who is back in the Red Bull later on Wednesday afternoon, went faster still on a subsequent run and ended the session with a best time of 1m32.548s - meaning he was the only driver to eclipse his 2023 day one benchmark (1m32.837s). Charles Leclerc had been within two tenths of the Red Bull at one stage but Verstappen's improvement meant the Ferrari driver ended the session 0.699 seconds adrift. Leclerc had a couple of lock-ups and the SF-24 appeared to suffer from some bouncing on the approach to Turn 1 but his session was otherwise trouble-free.

Fernando Alonso was the only other driver within a second of Verstappen's early benchmark, lapping 0.837s off. He was the most industrious driver in the morning session, completing 77 laps in the new Aston Martin AMR24. McLaren had a slow start to the morning but Oscar Piastri cleared more than 50 laps on his way to the fourth-fastest time, three tenths further back from Alonso. The MCL38 was one of the more-anticipated cars to emerge from the Bahrain pitlane as McLaren has been discreet with the angles it revealed of its new car during its launch last week, but it appeared without significant differences to the specification seen previously.

Yuki Tsunoda was fifth fastest for the rebranded RB team ahead of George Russell, who had a low-key session for Mercedes. Russell spent an extended spell of more than half an hour in the Mercedes garage mid-session but the team said its focus was on learning rather than what it described as 'mileage accumulation'. He completed 48 laps. Alex Albon, who was eighth behind the Sauber of Valtteri Bottas, was the only driver to stop on track during the session. He brought the Williams FW46 that was seen for the first time on Tuesday to a halt on the outside of Turn 3 with 25 minutes of the session remaining, having slowed on the main straight and then cut the right-left Turn 1/2 switchback at the start of the lap. The car, which completed 40 laps but conducted extensive running with flo-vis paint applied, had been recovered to the Williams garage by the end of the session. Albon was an outlier in setting his best time - a 1m34.587s - on the softer C4 compound.

Esteban Ocon was ninth for Alpine, with Kevin Magnussen - whose Haas spent some time on its stands in the garage with a reported fuel system issue - 10th, 3.144s off Verstappen's benchmark.

WEDNESDAY AM TIMES
1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m32.548s, C3 tyre, 66 laps
2 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.699s, C3, 64 laps
3 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +0.837s, C3, 77 laps
4 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +1.110s, C3, 57 laps
5 Yuki Tsunoda (RB) +1.588s, C3, 64 laps
6 George Russell (Mercedes) +1.682ss, C3, 48 laps
7 Valtteri Bottas (Sauber) +1.883s, C3, 68 laps
8 Alex Albon (Williams) +2.039s, C4, 40 laps
9 Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +2.129s, C1, 60 laps
10 Kevin Magnussen (Haas) +3.144s, C3, 66 laps

 

[Sasaferrato]

yikes!

That's what I was thinking.

 

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Norris usurps Verstappen to top Day 1 of testing in afternoon​

Lando Norris narrowly pipped Max Verstappen to lead Day 1 of pre-season testing at the halfway stage of the afternoon session.
Taking over from Oscar Piastri for the second four-hour session, Norris was initially limited in the pits, producing less than 20 laps.
But using the Medium C3 tyres, he was able to pump in a 1:32.484 effort to beat Verstappen's time from the morning of 1:32.548 by 0.064s, with Carlos Sainz also showing a good turn of pace with his 33 laps.

The Ferrari was just 0.100s slower than Norris, with Daniel Ricciardo also climbing into the top-five after assuming the RB from Yuki Tsunoda. In total, eight of the teams swapped drivers, with only Red Bull and Mercedes not doing so, meaning Verstappen and George Russell got both sessions of the opening day, meaning Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton must wait.

It was another quiet session in terms of yellow flags with no stoppages or breakdowns affecting the running, although the first 30 minutes was largely devoid of track action. The field generally gravitated towards running the Medium C3 tyres with only Alex Albon from the morning (C5) and the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly (P1) not setting their fastest time on the yellow-walled tyres.

​

Pos.	Car number	Driver	Team	Model	Best time	Gap	Laps
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	RB20	1’31.344		143
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	MCL38	1’32.484	1.140	72
3	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	SF-24	1’32.584	1.240	69
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB	RB01	1’32.599	1.255	52
5	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	A524	1’32.805	1.461	60
6	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	AMR24	1’33.007	1.663	54
7	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	SF-24	1’33.247	1.903	64
8	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	AMR24	1’33.385	2.041	77
9	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	MCL38	1’33.658	2.314	57
10	24	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber	C44	1’33.871	2.527	62
11	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams	FW46	1’33.882	2.538	21
12	63	George Russell	Mercedes	W15	1’34.109	2.765	121
13	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	RB01	1’34.136	2.792	64
14	77	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	C44	1’34.431	3.087	68
15	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	FW46	1’34.587	3.243	40
16	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	A524	1’34.677	3.333	60
17	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	VF-24	1’35.692	4.348	66
18	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	VF-24	1’35.906	4.562	82

 

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Mercedes’ front wing trick questioned - ‘is it within the spirit of the rules?’​

Question marks have been raised over Mercedes’ unusual front wing design as F1 pre-season testing began in Bahrain. The front wing on the W15 has caught the attention of the whole paddock since it broke cover during Mercedes’ Silverstone shakedown last week amid intense scrutiny over its legality. Mercedes have seemingly found a loophole in the wording of the regulations which F1’s chief technical officer Pat Symonds says is “within the letter of the law”.

However, Symonds has questioned whether Mercedes’ creative solution, labelled as “genius” by F1 pitlane reporter Ted Kravitz, is ‘within the spirit of the regulations’. “That’s a very interesting interpretation,” Symonds said of Mercedes’ unique front wing solution. “I think that what is interesting is that in Article 3 ,which really dictates how the aerodynamic shapes are produced, it’s very clear in the opening statements that the aim of the rules is to ensure we get that close following. When you start to get some things that are starting to produce some outwash, and here I think here what we are seeing is really trying to reinstate a strong vortex to push that very turbulent air that’s coming from the front wheels aside. One questions then ‘is that really within the spirit of the rules?’ It’s within the regulations, it’s within the letter of the law, there’s absolutely no doubt about it. Is it the sort of the thing we want? I don’t know. That’s perhaps more debatable. I think we need to know really how strong is the affect. The FIA now have a really good aerodynamic group that are capable of looking at these things and saying ‘yeah, actually there’s nothing wrong with that’, or ‘no, hang on, this is starting a trend we don’t really want to see’.”

Symonds added: “Everything is worth exploiting on a racing car, if there’s anything to be gained. It’s more a question of ‘what’s good for the sport?’ Rather than what’s good for Mercedes, what’s good for Red Bull. Of course I jumped the fence a couple of years ago, so now I’m trying to look at what’s good for the sport. Without a doubt, what’s good for the sport is good, close racing. Anything that promotes good racing is good and anything that detracts from that ability to race close is poor in my mind.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff revealed that the team have been in constant dialogue with the FIA about their innovative front wing design. "What's been put on a car is always following an exchange with the FIA, all through the process," Wolff explained. "It's not such a thing where you have a clever idea and then you bolt it on to test and you think, 'That could be or couldn't be challenged’. That's a long process of dialogue that happens over the winter. I feel we're in an OK place."

 

[Limejuice]

Hmm...

I can't help but feel that if Adrian Newey came up with a revolutionary front wing, the FIA would have him carried around the paddock in a sedan chair borne aloft by a dozen winsome grid-kids.

 

[Ax^]

hmm red bull another second against the whole field

but Merc front wing

alright fella going to be fun watching races again as long as you don't pay any attention to the race winner all year

 

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F1 Testing 2024: Results from Day 2 Morning Session​

The second morning of F1 pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit concluded abruptly due to a required track inspection following an incident. Charles Leclerc, leading for Ferrari, ran over a drain cover on the approach to Turn 11, leaving debris on the circuit. Lewis Hamilton, making his 2024 testing debut, also struck the debris. After replays showed the incident, a track inspection was initiated, leading to a delay of around 40 minutes. The decision was then taken to end the morning session an hour early and extend the afternoon running, which would now take place from 14:00 to 19:00 local time, 11:00 to 16:00 in the UK.

F1 Testing 2024 – Day 2 Morning Session Results

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:31.750	36
2	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.578	35
3	Logan Sargeant	Williams	+0.828	30
4	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+1.129	20
5	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+1.303	31
6	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+1.475	39
7	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber	+1.965	38
8	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+2.054	33
9	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	+5.759	31
10	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	+6.324	40

Leclerc finished the session just over half a second clear of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with the Williams of Logan Sargeant, the Red Bull of Sergio Perez, and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso completing the top five. Perez, making his first appearance of the week, experienced a couple of wild moments as he got to grips with the RB20, locking up heavily into Turn 8 hairpin and then just about managing to hold a slide through the high-speed Turn 7.

 

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Everything that happened on day two of F1 testing​

Carlos Sainz put Ferrari on top on the second day of 2024 Formula 1 pre-season testing in Bahrain with a new fastest time of the week.

Key moments
Ferrari 0.7s up on Red Bull with tyre offset
Norris's running restricted
Perez, Hamilton and Sargeant all clear 100 laps

Sainz's best lap, a 1m29.921s, ensured the Ferrari stayed on top after team-mate Charles Leclerc headed the truncated morning session in the SF-24. But his 0.758-second advantage over Sergio Perez's Red Bull was not quite as it appeared, as Perez's best time of 1m30.679s - set in the final five minutes of conventional running - was set on the mid-range C3 tyre, one step harder than the C4 used by Sainz. Perez was only due to be in the car in the morning session but he had only completed 20 laps by its conclusion, a consequence of that running ending early while a loose drain cover was repaired and time lost after his first installation laps when his right-front brake caught fire. Red Bull therefore adjusted its plan and gave him the full day in the RB20, with Perez adding a far more convincing 109 laps to his tally in the extended five-hour afternoon session.

Ferrari also made a slight adjustment to its plan, giving Leclerc - who dislodged the drain cover in the morning session - an extra half hour in the car before he handed over to Sainz, who completed 84 laps. Like Perez, Lewis Hamilton spent the entire day in the Mercedes. He ended up third fastest, four tenths behind the Red Bull on the same compound of tyre. Hamilton, who also cleared the 100-lap marker, attempted one final qualifying simulation on the C3 tyre late on in the session but ran wide exiting the Turn 13 right-hander that leads onto the back straight, meaning a personal best in sector two ultimately counted for nothing.

Lando Norris was limited to just 52 laps in the afternoon session but did return to the cockpit of the McLaren for the final part of the session after the team investigated a fuel system issue. He ended up fourth-fastest, two tenths behind Hamilton and one tenth up on former team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who was the fifth and final driver to beat Leclerc's morning benchmark. That Ricciardo effort was set on the softer C4 compound towards the end of the session but although that 1.4s gap to Sainz looked solid if unspectacular, the pace of the RB on long-run simulations using the mid-range C3 - which will be the soft tyre at next weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix season opener - appeared impressive.

Lance Stroll was seventh fastest for Aston Martin with the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, who spent much of the afternoon running on the harder C1 compound, eighth after an improvement on the C3 later in the session. Valtteri Bottas (Sauber) was ninth ahead of Oscar Piastri. Williams's Logan Sargeant was the third driver to spend all of the second day in the car and clocked 117 laps, setting the 11th-fastest time. The final 15 minutes of running was dedicated to checks of the FIA procedures.

Thursday test times
1 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 1m29.921s, C4, 84 laps
2 Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +0.758s, C3, 129 laps
3 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +1.145s, C3, 123 laps
4 Lando Norris (McLaren) +1.335s, C3, 52 laps
5 Daniel Ricciardo (RB) +1.490s, C4, 88 laps
6 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +1.829s, C3, 54 laps
7 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +2.108s, C3, 96 laps
8 Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +2.140s, C3, 78 laps
9 Valtteri Bottas (Sauber) +2.306s, C3, 97 laps
10 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +2.407s, C3, 35 laps
11 Logan Sargeant (Williams) +2.657s, C4, 117 laps
12 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +3.132s, C3, 31 laps
13 Zhou Guanyu (Sauber) +3.794s, C3, 38 laps
14 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +3.883s, C3, 33 laps
15 Kevin Magnussen (Haas) +6.690s, C3, 93 laps
16 Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) +7.588s, C3, 31 laps
17 Yuki Tsunoda (RB) +8.153s, C2, 40 laps

 

[1%er]

Harry Benjamin is set to replace Sky Sports lead commentator David Croft for the three Formula 1 races he will miss this season. He will replace Croft at Imola in May, Austria in June and Azerbaijan in September.

 

[Limejuice]

Harry Benjamin is set to replace Sky Sports lead commentator David Croft for the three Formula 1 races he will miss this season. He will replace Croft at Imola in May, Austria in June and Azerbaijan in September.

I understand progress and so on.

But if they ever replace Ted, I'm going to stop eating mini-pork pies during Grands Prix, and nothing, nothing will make me change my mind!

 

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F1 testing Day Three
The final day of F1 pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit is complete. 19 of the 20 drivers were in action on day three as teams completed their final preparations for the new campaign. Like on day two, running was been curtalied by a loose drain cover on the approach to Turn 11. This cost teams over an hour of track time as the circuit was repaired, however, it was decided that the lunch break would be abandoned, ensuring no time would be lost, giving everyone the full eight hours as a result.

In a bid to ensure drain holes don't impact next week's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, it's been reported that they will be filled with concrete ahead of the race weekend. In terms of the on-track action, Charles Leclerc rounded out testing by topping the timesheet on the final day. Leclerc pipped Mercedes' George Russell and Sauber's Zhou Guanyu, both of whom set late improvements on soft tyres.

2024 F1 Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 3 Results

Pos	Driver	Nat.	Team	Time	Laps
1	Charles Leclerc	MON	Scuderia Ferrari	1m30.322s	74
2	George Russell	GBR	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	1m30.368s	67
3	Zhou Guanyu	CHN	Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber	1m30.647s	85
4	Max Verstappen	NED	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1m30.755s	66
5	Yuki Tsunoda	JPN	Visa Cash App RB F1 Team	1m30.775s	53
6	Alex Albon	THA	Williams Racing	1m30.984s	121
7	Oscar Piastri	AUS	McLaren F1 Team	1m31.030s	91
8	Fernando Alonso	ESP	Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team	1m31.159s	75
9	Carlos Sainz	ESP	Scuderia Ferrari	1m31.247s	71
10	Sergio Perez	MEX	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1m31.483s	53
11	Nico Hulkenberg	GER	MoneyGram Haas F1 Team	1m31.686s	89
12	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	1m31.999s	49
13	Lance Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team	1m32.038s	46
14	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren F1 Team	1m32.108s	20
15	Pierre Gasly	FRA	BWT Alpine F1 Team	1m32.149ss	47
16	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	MoneyGram Haas F1 Team	1m33.053s	80
17	Esteban Ocon	FRA	BWT Alpine F1 Team	1m33.079s	55
18	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber	1m33.528s	28
19	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	Visa Cash App RB F1 Team	1m37.015s	70

 

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Teams' reaction after the three-day pre-season testing​

With the sole three-day pre-season testing done and dusted, teams and drivers are now fully concentrated on analysing the data they have gathered over the course of the short running in Bahrain. F1Technical's senior writer Balázs Szabó delivers the reaction from the ten teams.

Ferrari
Ferrari have heavily revised their 2024 F1 car, albeit their SF-24 does not feature any evident technical innovation aside from the bridge that connects the halo with the chassis of the car. However, the Scuderia appear to have made a solid job over the winter, and they might carry over their late 2023 form which would cement their status as a contender for pole positions on certain tracks. The new car is clearly a step forward in terms of wind sensitivity which has provided the drivers with a much more stable and reliable platform to work with. Moreover and more importantly, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc performed a race simulation on Thursday and Friday respectively which clearly indicated that the new SF-24 looks after the tyres much more than its predecessor which could mean that the Scuderia's single-lap and long run performance could converge in 2024.

"Charles Leclerc: We’ve wrapped up our third day of testing, having put in a solid number of laps and completed a lot of different tests, which is positive. The car is reacting the way that we wanted it to, but it is still difficult to assess its level of competitiveness right now. The feeling is better than the base we started from last year. Now, it’s full focus on the race and I can’t wait to be back on track next week."

Carlos Sainz: "One last push here in Sakhir, maximising these final laps before we move on with the proper Bahrain GP next week. Overall, it has been a good day, despite the red flag that disrupted the running a bit but I enjoyed every single lap in the car today. We tested a lot of different configurations to collect as much data as possible. The car seems to be in a decent place and I’m proud of the work that the team has done to complete such a solid test programme."

Mercedes
Having completed a quite pre-season preparation, Mercedes engineers and drivers appear to be fairly delighted with the team's heavily-upgraded 2024 F1 car, the W15. The car looked nervous in the hands of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, particularly on a single hot lap. It is therefore no wonder that the Brackley-based team is expected to struggle for one-lap pace compared to the field-leading Red Bull and even to Ferrari, but long run pace analysis indicates that the W15 could emerge as second fastest in race trim right behind the reigning champion and just ahead of the Scuderia.

George Russell: "We’ve had a solid three days here in Bahrain. We managed to get through all of our planned programme, despite the stoppages. The car has been handling well and correlates to the feeling we had on the simulator ahead of coming here. We’ve got a very good base to build from. We’re aware that there’s a lot more lap time to find. We knew that would be the case ahead of the test, and Red Bull are looking very strong once again. Nevertheless, I’m confident that we’re in a much better place than we were 12 months ago. The team at Brackley and Brixworth have done a great job to get us into this position and with a car that is a step in the right direction. We now need to focus on firstly getting the most out of the package we have and secondly, adding more downforce and trying to close that gap."

Lewis Hamilton: "Overall, it’s been a really good test. I’m really proud of everyone trackside and those back at the factory. Every single woman and man has been working tirelessly, both at Brackley, Brixworth, and here in Bahrain. It’s massively encouraging and great to see everyone working so well together. The focus, determination, and communication is the best I’ve ever seen. We know we’ve got work to do and we’re not yet where we want to be. We knew that would be the case coming into the test though. We’ve got a great platform to build on. We’ll go away and work hard over the next couple of days to go through all the data from the test. I’m really excited for the start of the season next week and we’ll be heading into it in good shape."

Red Bull
Max Verstappen: “Overall it was very good today. We focused on the long running to get more of an understanding of the car and it was good to see the performance of the car was very strong. We made the plan to not focus on pure lap time and tried different compounds, so I am happy with the laps that we did today. As we head into the race weekend it is all about fine tuning the car and also seeing what the race throws at you when you push the car to the limit. We now need to look into the data a bit more and try to come up with a plan for the week ahead. We’ve had a really positive test and we have learned a lot from everything we changed, so we are looking forward to next week."

Sergio Perez: “It has been a good start to the year for the Team, we have got plenty of mileage over the last few days. The run programme that we put together was very good and meant we really made the most out of the days. Now it is time to look forward to the race next weekend, I have a good feeling in the car, so let’s see once we get to race it, but the feeling is very positive."

Visa Cash App RB
Yuki Tunoda: "Testing went fairly smooth. We didn’t exactly follow our run programme as there were some issues with the track, but we responded well to them. I felt the car has made a good step forward compared to last year, so I’m happy with it so far. The balance has improved, and especially the front felt strong. We still have to find more with the rear, but it’s moving in the right direction. I completed many laps over the last couple of days and it was a good experience that allowed us to collect good data and help find the limit of the car. Looking at the timesheet, we’re not last, but it’s difficult to know where we are compared to the rest of the field, so I’m excited to start racing again next week."

Daniel Ricciardo: “I think testing has been good and we’ve definitely developed the car from last year. I completed plenty of laps and feel pretty fit. Unfortunately, there were some issues on track with the drain, and we were worried we wouldn’t get our race run in, but luckily, we did. I did some short runs on Day 1 and 2 and race simulation this morning. In terms of performance, I think we’re where we expected to be. We’re aiming to fight in the midfield group and we’ll try to make the most of what we got. Overall, it was a smooth test, so I don’t think we leave here with any concerns. We made some gains and know where we are, but if we want to make sure to fight for Q3 and points consistently, there’s certainly a bit more we need to find.”

Stake F1
Valtteri Bottas: “Today was a bit more challenging as the red flag cost us quite some running time. Ending the session with some precautionary checks resulted in a few missed test items and laps, but we still managed to get through our planned priorities. We were able to learn more about the C44 and we feel reasonably prepared for next week’s race. It’s still quite difficult to evaluate the true performance and the competitive field, but we are confident in the data we collected. Now, it’s all about analysing, learning and improving ahead of the race weekend.”

Zhou Guanyu: “We had another good day where we focused a lot on our long runs and managed to complete a second full race distance. We got through our programme and experimented with various setups and configurations to draw our conclusions. It’s challenging to evaluate the full potential, especially with a completely new car, and we’ll continue working and making strides over the next few days to be ready for the upcoming weekend. However, the true performance and how we rank compared to the other teams is yet to be seen until the first qualifying and race. We feel good and will use the remaining days to learn and find margins for improvement.”

Aston Martin
Lance Stroll: "It's been great to be out in Bahrain for testing – I'm especially pleased to be here after missing last year's pre-season test. Time in the car is so valuable for all of us: we've been gathering data and learning about the AMR24 with every lap we've completed. We've made good use of these days to run a lot of parts and setups – the car has felt better every day - and we've not had any reliability issues. It's still too early to make any big predictions, but I'm looking forward to first race of the year next week."

Fernando Alonso: "We have tried to learn as much as possible during this test and focused on ourselves. It would be nice to have the predictions and knowledge of where everyone is but that is not the case in testing. The AMR24 is a step forward from last year and we just have to see how big of a step forward against everybody else. We will know more next week after Qualifying. It was good to get a number of laps on the board over the three days and I feel fit and ready to go for the start of the new season."

Williams
Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance: "We had a good day to complete the pre-season test. We did another 120 laps and this time without any car issues. Alex was able to build on the work done by Logan yesterday and continued to evolve the FW46. Across a range of fuel loads, the car was behaving well, and Alex was able to complete a decent race simulation using two of the tyre compounds that will be available next week. Inevitably at this time of year, there is a lot of scope to push the FW46 harder and to develop it quickly. We have a few days to analyse the data from this week and decide how we build the cars for FP1 and how we look to introduce the first round of car updates. There is a lot to do but we have made a solid start and have a good foundation to build on."

Alex Albon: "Firstly, we’ve got a decent car to go racing with. I do think we struggled a little bit with the car across day one and two with just how different it is, struggling to rebalance it, but we made some big headway in making the car more driveable. With the changing car characteristics, we shifted some of our historical problems to different areas. Still, we’ve been able to fix some of these but unfortunately in the process, we’ve picked up a few things we didn’t like. Despite this, we did a bit of a radical set-up today and this worked out for the better. Looking at the rest of the grid, the midfield has closed up a lot with everyone making a big jump from last year, so it’s all quite equal throughout the field. This year is going to be all about the fine details and potential tracks that better suit others, so there are going to be lots of interesting battles."

(continued below)

 

[1%er]

McLaren
Lando Norris: “Final day of testing done. I’m happy with what we’ve achieved over the last three days and feeling ready for the start of the season. We encountered one or two setbacks here and there, but that is to be expected during pre-season testing. The important thing is we have a good understanding of the car now, we have plenty of data to go over and will come back stronger for the race next weekend. Overall, positive signs and we have a better understanding of the work we have to do. Bring on race week!”

Oscar Piastri: “That’s the end of testing. We had a smooth, fun session today and got plenty of laps on the board, which was good. We’re in decent shape and more or less where we expected to be, but we still have some work to do. It was useful to get some race sim work done today, we rarely get to practice doing races in testing, so it was nice to have that opportunity. We’ll see what everybody’s got next week and that will give much more of an indication as to where we are. I’m excited and ready for the first race.”

Haas
Kevin Magnussen: “You never get all the answers you need and you always want more time, as three days of testing – and splitting those days with two drivers – is limiting. Given the limited time, I think we’ve done a lot, got some good impressions of the car and the focus is trying to be good on Sunday. We’ve been doing a lot of high-fuel race running, trying to address that issue, and I think we’re going somewhere. We haven’t fixed the issue completely but hopefully it’s enough to make a difference on Sunday. I expect it to be very close between all teams again this year.”

Nico Hulkenberg: “Today we got through the program and did what we wanted to do, so that was good. We completed a race run as well - I haven’t seen it compared to anyone else’s – but now we’ve got lots of impressions after three days of testing, lots of data and things to analyze. We’ve been able to do some experiments like most, as that’s what you do in testing, and it’s been good, positive. I have no idea where we stand, or what it’s worth, but we’ll get that answer in a week. It’s early days, but from in the car, from where I sit, if I compare the car to last year, it does feel better and like we’ve made a step in the right direction.”

Alpine
Esteban Ocon: “Overall, it was a productive three-day test for us, probably one of the strongest during my time at the team. Since I jumped in the car, from Day 1 everything has been faultless and strong from an operational standpoint. The car has been working reliably and we managed to complete our testing programme. We improved the car and made progress from the first day to the last day. But we have a lot of work to do and it’s going to be interesting now to go through all the data and understand where we can make improvements. Three days of testing is short for a new car, so there’s still a lot to learn and extract from our package. Thanks to everyone at the team here, at Enstone and Viry for the long hours over the winter. Now it’s time to go racing.”

Pierre Gasly: “We did a lot of testing this week and now we have an important week coming up where we will go through all the data and continue our understanding of this new car concept. It’s vital to learn all about the entire package and understanding how we can optimise it. On my side, it’s been quite tricky at times especially as we missed out on some running both yesterday and today. The red flag was unfortunate on Day 2, then this afternoon we had the wheel brow coming loose from the car and that meant we missed a couple of laps at the end. Still, it’s been a productive test for the team across the last three days and that is most important. I’m definitely excited for the first race.”

 

[1%er]

Drive to Survive season 6 all 10 episodes for those of you who don't have Netflix. You need an ad blocker I think or you'll need to close some adverts.

Enjoy

 

[spitfire]

Looking forward to reading those posts above tomorrow. Am currently watching Ferrari thanks to you 1%er.

 

[Limejuice]

Well, here comes the first GP of the season. Still in Bahrain, and with the added quirk that the race is on Saturday. (So will the following week's race in Saudi Arabia.)

So throw aside your usual Saturday habits of jig-saw puzzling, cataloging your egg-cup collection, and crocheting dolls' socks, and get the snacks in.

Here are the telly times in the UK:

Thurs 29 Feb
FP1- 11:30
FP2 - 15:00

Fri 1 Mar
FP3 - 12:30
Qual - 16:00

Sat 2 Mar
Race - 15:00

Let's hope this season has more jeopardy and excitement than last year's bore-fest.

 

[Lord Camomile]

What in the chucklefuckery are some of these team names?? I honestly thought they might be joke nicknames!

 

[1%er]

Christian Horner investigation now 'complete'​

The investigation into Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has been completed and a decision on his future will be communicated in the next 48 hours, according to reports. The 50-year-old is being probed over allegations of inappropriate behaviour, which he denies, following a complaint by a female employee to Red Bull's parent company in Austria. The saga has cast a dark cloud over Red Bull, who have been forced to deal with no shortage of controversy ahead of the new season, but it seems as though a resolution is finally in sight. The process is likely to be wrapped up before this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix, according to reports, with a final decision expected to be revealed on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The external investigation into Horner carried out by a specialist barrister is now said to have been completed. An extensive report, thought to include over 100 pages, is now in the hands of the company's board who will ultimately have the final say on whether Horner stays in his role or leaves the team. It is also said that Red Bull are not expected to provide 'major detail' when announcing their decision on Horner's future despite the saga having been played out in public over the last few weeks. It comes after Red Bull were urged to speed up the investigation process by Ford CEO Jim Farley, who reportedly wrote a letter to the company to make his feelings known. According to AP News, Farley wrote that Ford, who will enter into a partnership with Red Bull in 2026, were "increasingly frustrated by the lack of resolution or clear indication from you about when you anticipate a fair and just resolution of this matter. "We are likewise frustrated by the lack of full transparency surrounding this matter with us, your corporate partners, and look forward to receiving a complete account of all findings."

It followed similar calls made by other organisations hoping to see a swift resolution to the matter, with Formula One making its first public comment on the Horner investigation last week. A statement read: "We hope that the matter will be clarified at the earliest opportunity after a fair and thorough process. We have noted Red Bull has instigated an independent investigation into internal allegations at Red Bull Racing. We will not comment further at this time." Horner is one of the most successful team principals in the sport's recent history, having led Red Bull to seven Drivers' Championship titles and six Constructors' Championship triumphs during his 19 years in charge. In recent weeks, he has continued in his role as normal in spite of the investigation, with Red Bull opting not to suspend him pending the outcome.

 

[1%er]

F1’s mega contract year explained and the one move set to blow-up the grid​

Never before in Formula 1 history has the same set of drivers from the last round of a season lined up again for the first round of the following year. The driver market for the 2024 season was exceptionally sedate. The status quo reigned. But the 2025 market promises to be anything but stale. In fact it’s already started popping off.

Lewis Hamilton’s blockbuster decision to move to Ferrari next season, made one year in advance, has guaranteed this will be a silly season of jeopardy and intrigue. At least 12 drivers are out of contract at the end of the year or 13 if you include Lance Stroll’s rolling contract with his father’s Aston Martin team. What makes it particularly exciting is that one team Mercedes, second in last year’s championship is required to go to market to fill Hamilton’s vacated seat.

Drivers out of contract
Red Bull Racing: Sergio Pérez.
Mercedes: None — but with one vacant seat.
Ferrari: Carlos Sainz — but with no seats available.
McLaren: None.
Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
Alpine: Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon.
Williams: Logan Sargeant.
RB: Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo.
Sauber: Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.
Haas: Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen.

But it’s not just that 65 per cent of the grid could be free agents in just a matter of months. There’s a wealth of young talent pushing through the ranks and threatening to snatch seats from the old guard. Unlike last season, you’d be brave to bet how this driver market shakes out.

Mercedes
So much of the market hangs on Mercedes’s vacant seat. The fact Brackley must go to market means its decision will almost certainly have knock-on effects for the rest of the grid. You can almost guarantee several drivers will be waiting to see what Mercedes decides before pulling the trigger on alternative plans. Though Mercedes isn’t the sought-after destination it once was — it’s conceivable several potential targets will be racing for teams that finish higher in the constructors championship this year — that doesn’t necessarily matter if George Russell steps up. Russell is clearly immensely talented, but his second year with the team last season wasn’t the strong follow-up campaign he’d hoped for. If he can put that behind him and return to matching Hamilton, Mercedes will feel secure in targeting a young gun for the second seat knowing they’ll have the chance to grow into the role. Junior star Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been tipped for a potential meteoric rise into the seat. If Russell were struggle, however, snatching an older head — say, Carlos Sainz of Fernando Alonso — could be imperative.

Red Bull Racing
This is the most competitive seat in Formula 1, but unlike the wide-open Mercedes situation, this is something of a closed shop. Sergio Pérez has it in his hands to secure a contract extension, and retaining him is the path of least resistance. At his best he’s exactly what the team wants: a driver who can finish directly behind Verstappen, win the odd race when the Dutchman is indisposed, finish second in the drivers championship and, most importantly, secure the constructors crown. His car and Verstappen’s domination ensured he ticked those boxes last year, but a tighter field will put the spotlight on his capacity to meet his KPIs. The alternative would appear to be obvious: Daniel Ricciardo. So long as the Aussie is performing strongly at RB, he’ll be allowed to accede to the senior team. Things become more complicated if both Pérez and Ricciardo underperform. Does the perennially underrated Yuki Tsunoda get the nod? Does Liam Lawson go straight in? Or does Red Bull Racing again test the market?

Sauber
Sauber might not look like much from the outside, but the historic Swiss team is entering the late stages of its metamorphosis into the Audi works team, and it’s crunch time for the final pieces of that story to come into place. Audi won’t take control of Sauber until its official entry year in 2026, but team CEO Andreas Seidl is preparing the ground for the German marque to make as fast a start as possible. Part of that equation is the driver line-up. Ideally the Audi line-up will be in place in 2025. Work on the 2026 car — built to all-new regulations — is allowed from next January, and the input of the presumptive franchise driver or drivers will be important to a competitive launch. There have long been rumours Audi would like at least one German driver, but the only one on the grid is Nico Hülkenberg, who will likely struggle to shine at Haas. He might be easier to sell alongside an established star. Carlos Sainz has long been rumoured to have a connection to Seidl and to Audi, with whom his father won the Dakar Rally this year.

(continue below)

 

[1%er]

THE KEY PLAYERS

Daniel Ricciardo
Ricciardo is one of the most intriguing free agents on the market because he may not a free agent at all. He said last year, upon making his full-time comeback, that he’s committed to the Red Bull family for the rest of his career. Red Bull Racing is clearly the aim. While he’ll need Pérez to trip up, he could also force the issue with the power of his own form. But there’s also the prospect of him staying long term with RB. The blueprint for Faenza is for it to move into the frontrunning group in the medium term, but to get there it will need an experienced driver to buy in. Nine-time winner Ricciardo can be that driver — plus his marketability clearly works for a team that has no fewer than two big-money external title sponsors.

Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz is perhaps the grid’s only true free agent, displaced from Ferrari by Lewis Hamilton. The race-winning Spaniard will have more than 200 starts by the end of the year and will be coming into his prime. His technical nous was crucial to Ferrari hanging in there in the middle of the season, and his tactical victory in Singapore was superb. There isn’t a team on the grid that wouldn’t be considering Sainz, yet at the same time it’s hard to see where he best fits in. Mercedes? If it doesn’t pick young gun Antonelli, Sainz would have to accept he’s there as a stop gap — or he’d have to smash Russell to usurp him for the senior seat. Red Bull Racing? He would need to cop the tacit number two role in a team dominated emotionally and politically by Verstappen. Aston Martin? He would need circumstance on his side. Perhaps his best bet is the future Audi team, where his former McLaren boss Seidl has long been rumoured to have prepared a space for him. At only 29 years old, he has time to make Audi work, and Sauber is the only team where he might be able to make himself the undisputed lead driver — something he sorely deserves.

Fernando Alonso
Not only do Fernando Alonso’s credentials and ability precede him, but as F1’s de facto villain, you get the sense he’d love to be involved just for the sake of it. At the start of the year Alonso said Aston Martin would get the right of first refusal if he decided he wanted to race beyond 44 years old. But he’s also repeatedly emphasised that he’s the only world champion not contracted next year and would be in a “good position to negotiate”. It’s not certain he’ll want to move. If Aston Martin maintains forward progress, it might be the most competitive seat available to him. But if Mercedes were to recover form and needed a short-term solution while Antonelli prepared himself for F1, Alonso would surely jump at the chance.

Alex Albon
Contrary to popular belief, Alex Albon is on a three-year deal ending next season, and Williams boss James Vowles has been clear that he wants to convince the Thai driver to stay as the central pillar of the team’s rebuild. But he added he wouldn’t stand in his way if the right deal came along. “I have the responsibility of Williams on my shoulders, that’s the most important thing to me,“ he said, per Autosport. “So should any decision go that way, it’s because I’m very clear in my mind that I’ve made decisions that are correct for the team’s long-term goals and not the short term.” Rumours are rife that Albon has been contacted by Red Bull Racing about a potential reunion now that he’s found his feet in F1. A Mercedes drive has also been floated. All that’s clear is that Albon’s stocks are very high in the paddock. Though his contract might set a high price for him, he could yet come into play.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli
You’ll be hearing much more about 17-year-old Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli this season. By all accounts the Mercedes junior is F1’s next big thing. He’s a multiple karting champion, double F4 champion and double Formula Regional champion. Now Mercedes has had him skip Formula 3 to make his Formula 2 debut for Prema this year. He’s talked about as the next Max Verstappen — maybe even a Max Verstappen beater. If he wins the title championship, he won’t be able to compete in F2 again. Mercedes is clearly leaving the door open to a sensational promotion directly to the works team. If he were to dominate the series, the dream promotion would be in play. If he were to take until Abu Dhabi to wrap it up, the German marque could prefer a Williams apprenticeship for its star rather than wait until the end of the F2 season in December to make a call.

The driver market hangs on Mercedes, and Mercedes appears to be is hanging on Antonelli.

THE JUNIORS
Aussie Jack Doohan is foremost in the market among drivers without full-time experience. He’s Alpine’s reserve driver this year after two race-winning seasons in F2, and his simulator and private testing program — as well as FP1 sessions — will make him the most experienced junior on the market. Alpine would appear to rate him highly enough to have not set him to another racing category this year, keeping him close to the F1 program instead. Both Alpine drivers are out of contract this season.

Ferrari-backed Oliver Bearman will drive in six FP2 sessions for Haas this season. If that’s not an F1 preparation program, nothing is. Assuming he doesn’t take a step backwards in his second F2 campaign, he’ll be in the frame for a full-time Haas debut in 2025.

Williams-sponsored Zak O’Sullivan is a GB3 champion and was runner-up in last year’s F3 campaign. With Logan Sargeant on notice and Albon potentially on the market, a good year from the Briton could swing him promotion to F1.

Kiwi Liam Lawson is surely part of Red Bull’s grand plan, the brand having opted to keep him on reserve duties this year rather than do a deal with another team after his super impressive stand-in work for Ricciardo last year.

THE OTHERS ON THE MARKET
Yuki Tsunoda faces a potential career-deciding year at RB with Lawson waiting in the wings. If he were to be beaten by Ricciardo but the Aussie weren’t to make it to Red Bull Racing, Tsunoda could find himself on the outer.
His long play is to keep the door open to following Honda to Aston Martin in 2026.

Both Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon face contract years with what some are tipping as a disastrous car that could see the French squad plummet to the back of the grid. Alpine’s recent managerial bombast means there are no guarantees for either if the Renault-owned team’s season goes badly.

Neither Valtteri Bottas nor Zhou Guanyu was especially impressive in admittedly thoroughly underwhelming machinery last year. Some will wonder whether Zhou has done enough, others will wonder whether Bottas can still do enough given Audi’s looming entry.

Williams boss Vowles says Logan Sargeant must be “the surprise of the season” to keep his seat — unsurprising with the potential opportunity to field superstar junior Antonelli or homegrown O’Sullivan.

Haas’s driver line-up was far from its biggest problem last season, but if it finds itself on surer footing his year, Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen could find themselves in a shootout to keep their seats — assuming both are intent on staying.
Lance Stroll is nominally on the market, but with his father owning the team, it’s difficult to imagine him being let go without a truly catastrophic decline in form.

 

[Limejuice]

1%er So much information.

I shall read it all later. Promise.

 

[souljacker]

RB1 vs RB20

 

[a_chap]

RB1 vs RB20

View attachment 413832

Christ! They will be racing double-deckers next...

 

[Limejuice]

I call steroids!

 

[1%er]

Christian Horner cleared by Red Bull after allegations of inappropriate behaviour​

Christian Horner has been cleared of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ after Red Bull Racing concluded a high-profile investigation into allegations. Horner travelled to the Bahrain Grand Prix for the season opener to discover his fate, and has now been cleared of misconduct. A statement from Red Bull read: “The independent investigation into the allegations made against Mr Horner is complete, and Red Bull can confirm that the grievance has been dismissed. The complainant has a right of appeal. Red Bull is confident that the investigation has been fair, rigorous and impartial. The investigation report is confidential and contains the private information of the parties and third parties who assisted in the investigation, and therefore we will not be commenting further out of respect for all concerned. Red Bull will continue striving to meet the highest workplace standards.”

Formula 1‘s longest serving team principal has been at the helm of the current world champions since 2005, later being named CEO. On February 6, the F1 world was rocked when De Telegraaf revealed Red Bull had launched an independent investigation into the 50-year-old. According to a female employee of Red Bull, Horner had displayed ‘inappropriate behaviour over a long period of time’. Horner has received no punishment, but it remains to be seen if he keeps his position as team principal. Horner strongly denied the allegations when they emerged, and was present at Red Bull’s launch of their 2024 challenger, where he told talkSPORT it was ‘business as usual’.

The Royal Leamington Spa-born executive later attended pre-season testing with Red Bull, and is now set to arrive for the season opener. Red Bull used an external barrister to review the evidence, and a team statement is now expected to confirm his exoneration imminently. Providing more detail on a so far secretive story, The Times claim a female employee accused Horner of ‘controlling behaviour’ and both parties have continued to work in the same Milton Keynes base. De Telegraaf’s original report claimed that the case extended beyond controlling behaviour and there were allegations of sexual conduct based on messaged allegedly sent by Horner. However, no such evidence was submitted in the complaint itself.

[This story isn't over, with "allegations of sexual conduct", papers will be all over this. There is a spice girl involved so the tabloids will be throwing cast at the accuser for her story.]