Рубрика: Autosport News

Bouncing has disguised Ferrari’s genuine progress

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari has made genuine progress with updates to its 2024 Formula 1 car, although the side-effect of bouncing has severely masked the improvements to the SF-24.

When Ferrari introduced a new floor to the Spanish Grand Prix, the change in aerodynamic properties of the floor appeared to exacerbate an already-present level of bouncing in the car. This has been at its worst in the higher-speed corners, inducing unpredictability.

Ferrari reverted to the Imola-spec floor for the British Grand Prix to control the level of bouncing around the plethora of medium-high speed corners, and since had introduced a revised underbody for Hungary and Belgium to iron out those issues further.

Leclerc said that, although the outright numbers produced by the aero upgrades earlier in the year were as expected, the bouncing issues meant that these could not be fully reflected in the team’s performances.

«From Spain onwards, I think this was more the turning point where we brought something on the car, which the numbers, as I’ve always said, were there,» Leclerc explained in an exclusive interview with Autosport.

«However, it induced quite a lot of bouncing that we’ve been struggling with. And on my side, specifically, I went very aggressive in the last four races with set-up, especially, trying to find solutions for that.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Ferrari

«I’ve always been [aiming] to go for the last hundredths, and I think this is the approach that pays off whenever things are as they should be.

«Whenever you have a car, that is bouncing, for example, you cannot go too close to the limit because the car is doing more unpredictable things, and you’ve got to keep more margin.

«Which is something that I know I’m a bit… yes, it’s not my approach, and so always, I’m going to pay a little bit more of the price whenever these things happen.

«However, I don’t think that this was the main issue in the last few races. It was more about putting the car in very extreme places in order to get something out of it and to understand. That was the main reason for the lack of performance in the last few races.

«I will put that mostly on bouncing. The bouncing is what created the inconsistencies that we have seen in the last few races, and made us struggle a bit more than before that.»

Leclerc drew parallels to Ferrari’s progress last season, where it elected not to prioritise results to ensure that it had a stronger run-in at the end of the season.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Erik Junius

This led to a phase of experimentation at Zandvoort where Ferrari made a breakthrough with a new floor, leading into a successful second half of the year.

«I remember last year we had two races like that, and it started in Zandvoort where we decided, okay, maybe Zandvoort is not going to be the race for us, but we want to learn as much as possible in order to get better after that,» he said.

«I’m sure that this is the same process we have gone through in the last three-four races. However, the negative point about it is that we’ve lost three, four races instead of two last year.

«But I believe that that gave us a much deeper understanding of what was happening, and I’m confident to say that we’ve learned a lot.»



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The «circle» Ocon needs at Haas after being ignored at Alpine

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Esteban Ocon has lamented the lack of communication at the Alpine Formula 1 team and says he will do his utmost «to not miss any single detail» at Haas.

The Frenchman has spent the last four and a half seasons with the Enstone-based outfit, whose performance over that period of time stagnated then deteriorated. The team went from fourth in the 2022 constructors’ championship to its current eighth position with just 11 points scored – the squad’s worst record since the 2016 campaign, when Renault returned to F1 as a constructor.

With Alpine deciding to part ways for next season — the announcement coming in the wake of his Monaco collision with team-mate and rival Pierre Gasly, which Bruno Famin, then team principal, had warned there would be «consequences» for — Ocon will make the switch to Haas.

Ocon’s time at Alpine was marked by the outfit’s instability, especially at the management level, with the departures of 12 team leaders including four successive team principals and five technical chiefs.

He is particularly aggravated by a lack of communication within the squad, which he sees as the main cause of its current downfall.

Asked in an exclusive interview with Autosport whether he has any regrets about leaving Alpine, Ocon replies: «No, because I gave everything I had to this team.

Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524

Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524

Photo by: Alpine

«Regrets to a point where, you know, it’s not only me: it’s Daniel [Ricciardo], Fernando [Alonso], Pierre [Gasly], myself. All the drivers that have come through this team, we gave feedback to the team.

«Normally there is a circle where, from the drivers to the team, you give some information. Then you have technical [feedback] on either ‘yes, you guys are right, we need to be addressing that’ or ‘no, we can’t, because of this or that’. There hasn’t been any of that.

«The following year, you find out that some of the issues that you talked about haven’t been fixed and have been going the other way.

«I try to guide this team to the best I can, [but] we haven’t always been listened to. And this is why some of the issues still remain after five years in this team.

«There are new people now, inside the team, technically. I wish them the best, and I hope that this team can obviously succeed. But that circle was key from the start and hasn’t been put in place correctly for us to make a step – enough of the step for the future.»

This negative experience will, however, be invaluable for Ocon as he seeks to make the most of his new challenge at Haas, where he will be paired with rookie Oliver Bearman.

Esteban Ocon, Alpine F1 Team

Esteban Ocon, Alpine F1 Team

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Asked whether he will take on the team leader role in the American squad given his team-mate’s lack of experience, Ocon nuances: «I don’t know if ‘the team leader’ is the right thing to say, but I will put commitment, efforts, dedication to not miss any single detail and to share everything that I believe is important to improve – but quickly.

«You need not wait a year for things to come in because things take time to develop, things take time to be created. And if you miss something for the first six months, well, it can be a year and six months until it comes to you.

«I’ve learned that now, that circle is key. And it has to happen. And I will make sure that once I say something I get [feedback] on it and I get an explanation – so we can open a debate. Because if you talk in the air, you know, it dissipates and it doesn’t go anywhere.»

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How RB wants to pick up Red Bull’s baton as F1’s fun team

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Following its first Hollywood tie-up with the blockbuster Twisters, Red Bull’s sister team RB hopes to go much further to mix sport and entertainment, with the lofty goal of democratising access to the series.

Its name change from AlphaTauri to RB, Racing Bulls or VCARB was not without controversy, with its new moniker confusingly similar to the main team despite the aspirations to carve out its own image.

Red Bull was F1’s original fun team when it first joined F1 in 2005, known for its lavish parties and memorable PR activations. That includes its pit crew dressing up as clone troopers at the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix to promote Star Wars Episode III, and one year later David Coulthard donning a Superman cape to promote Superman Returns.

Formula One World Championship

David Coulthard, Red Bull, retires from the race

Since then, Red Bull has grown into a winning machine, keeping most of its stunts away from the paddock while the race team gets down to business.

But in its new guise, sister team RB is trying to pick up the baton and run with it, after seeing the popularity its drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda enjoy among young F1 fans and landing blue-chip partners Visa and CashApp as title sponsors.

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As the team unveiled its new identity in a Las Vegas launch, CEO Peter Bayer announced the outfit would try and use its young and fresh identity to marry F1 with off-track entertainment.

It held a car wash event at the Miami Grand Prix in Miami’s art-friendly Wynwood neighbourhood to launch a colourful one-off livery, and ahead of the Silverstone Grand Prix it landed a deal with Warner Bros. to promote the blockbuster Twisters, in the tradition of its parent team.

This is just the first step of Bayer’s off-track ambitions with the team, not just to give its partners value for money, but also to expand the team’s own following among the younger and more diverse demographic F1 as a whole is actively pursuing.

«The car wash in Miami was probably – really – the best example of what we’re trying to achieve,» Bayer tells Autosport.

«We want to make sure that we democratise the sport with activities where everybody is invited to join, which is a combination of Formula 1 content mixed with music, art, culture.

«We continued with the movie Twisters and we have a couple of other movie partnerships coming, but we will also keep pushing on everything that’s music, because we believe it’s one of those universal languages that everyone understands.

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team, Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team, Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

«We try and do things outside of Formula 1 because a lot of people cannot come to the races, either because it’s sold out or because it’s too expensive. So we believe there is that young target group that is not yet served to the extent that I think we should.

«We have young female fans joining us and that’s exactly what we believe is a huge opportunity.

«I actually spoke to Daisy Edgar-Jones, the lead actress from Twisters, and she told she meets with all her friends to watch the Netflix series, and follow the results and the drivers.

«That’s something which, honestly, a couple of years ago was unheard of. Formula 1 would have been guys like me with five friends and a couple of beers!»

So why does Bayer believe RB – or VCARB, as he prefers the team to be called – has been so attractive for sponsors and Hollywood activations?

«I think it’s because there is a new kid on the block, doing things differently and trying to reach out to different audiences we have,» he explains.

«Formula 1 is giving us all these insights and data and from what I remember, we are the team with the most balanced fan base between male and female, we have the youngest time base. And that is the perfect target audience for the movie as well.»

Yuki Tsunoda, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, signs autographs for fans

Yuki Tsunoda, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, signs autographs for fans

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

When pointed out to him that this kind of partnership would have been a Red Bull one just a few years ago, not one for its sister team, he nods: «Yeah, it’s true. Obviously, it’s part of that Red Bull DNA. Red Bull could have done the partnership, but it simply fits better with us.

«We always refer to Red Bull as the bigger brother, which is true in many ways. They’re fighting for the world championship. They have a couple of big corporate partners as well and they probably have, in some areas, less freedom to accommodate this.

«Also everything had to happen very quickly [in Silverstone] and we still have that space, not only physically on the car, we also have the ability to adopt to a partnership like Twisters, which is a win-win situation.»

«A lot of people were talking about the synergies and how we can help each other and work together. The truth is, on the technical side there is not that much to gain, but on the communication and marketing side there are lots of opportunities to collaborate in a very meaningful way.»

The initiatives the team has taken on a commercial level have also impressed F1 and its CEO Stefano Domenicali, Bayer says, as it is exactly where Liberty Media wants to take the series.

«We’ll continue with our off-track activities, we have a couple of exciting livery changes and launch events coming,» he added.

«Formula 1 has been extremely supportive and appreciative of what we do. I speak a lot with Stefano. He loves it because it’s exactly how he and Liberty Media see the sport growing.

«Look at the event in Silverstone, where you have the fan fest that’s simply incredible. You have live bands and there’s more and more that’s coming.

«A grand prix is so much more than just a race weekend nowadays.»

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Why Haas is investing now with unprecedented recruiting spree

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Ayao Komatsu says Haas is currently enacting a recruitment drive “never seen before” in its Formula 1 history, after convincing owner Gene Haas and his key lieutenant to make fresh investment.

Komatsu was appointed team principal of the American squad at the start of 2024, after Gene Haas opted to axe former team boss Guenther Steiner in a surprising move.

This was after Haas had finished last in the 2023 constructors’ championship and its owner did not want to provide more capital until the team had shown it could improve with what it already had – an approach that frustrated Steiner.

Komatsu, however, always insisted that Haas should be able to do exactly this, and with its VF-24 challenger, the team has gone on to already score 56% more than its points haul in 2023, with 10 races left in the current campaign.

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As a result, the ex-Lotus chief engineer approached his bosses about starting a new recruitment drive – something that Autosport understands had previously been rejected – after the 2024 Australian GP, where Haas had scored its first double points finish since the 2022 Austrian GP.

Haas plans to grow its team staff size, which is currently around 300 people, considerably less than the multi-thousands employed at top F1 squads, by approximately 10%.

Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1 Team, Nico Hulkenberg, Haas F1 Team, and Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team, with engineers

Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1 Team, Nico Hulkenberg, Haas F1 Team, and Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team, with engineers

Photo by: Mark Sutton

“[We showed] we can improve the performance,” Komatsu told Autosport in an exclusive interview.

“Then what we need to convince [the] owner is performance. He’s always looking at, ‘We want to get better, how can we go quicker?’

“So, if we can show baby steps that if we work together, even with the same resources…

“Now, even though we are on a huge recruitment [drive] that we’ve never seen before in the history of Haas F1 Team, we haven’t actually got those people on board yet, so we are largely still the same size.

“But when you’re working together, it’s just the atmosphere is so much different. And when the atmosphere is so much different, when there’s so much positivity, of course people function better, people produce performance. That’s the biggest difference I think.

Komatsu also credits the “massive” impact of bringing Haas Automation CEO Bob Murray to the team’s Banbury base, winter testing and several races for making the case that having shown what was possible with the same resource level it had in 2023, the Haas team could do even better with more.

As well as the recruitment drive, next year Haas will get a new motorhome for the first time in its F1 history, which the team feels is important for increasing squad morale and improving facilities for guests and sponsors.

“My strategy was to get people like Bob, who has been Gene’s right-hand man for 38 years, onboard, and Gene onboard, get them involved, get them to realise what it takes to be successful in Formula 1,” Komatsu explained.

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team, Gene Haas, Owner and Founder, Haas F1 Team, on the grid

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team, Gene Haas, Owner and Founder, Haas F1 Team, on the grid

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

“The previous strategy might have been the opposite. But my strategy from day one is, ‘If the owner doesn’t understand the reality, then of course he’s going to get annoyed because he would expect the result that we cannot achieve’.

“But to get his expectations right, I really needed him to understand more about what it takes to be successful in Formula 1. And then Bob is a very key part of that. So, it’s great.

“And then what I’m really pleased about, is Bob made that commitment as well when he signed me. He said, ‘Ayao, I’m going to support you, I’m going to work with you’.

“It just goes to the show from Gene and Bob, our parent company, there’s commitment. And then Bob 100% is backing it up by his actions. I’m really grateful about that.”



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Alpine F1 2024 concept change was the right choice despite struggles

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Pierre Gasly says he understands and supports Alpine’s decision to completely revamp its F1 car concept this year despite a disappointing campaign so far.

Before undergoing a major technical reshuffle in recent months, Alpine chose not to develop the main ideas of the A523 any further in an attempt to open up a new avenue offering greater scope for development with this year’s A524.

Fourth in the constructors’ championship in 2022, the Enstone-based team slipped to sixth place last year.

But after the first half of the season, the results have left Alpine with only 11 points scored and in a very distant eighth place in the championship.

But Gasly continues to believe that the decision taken at the time was justified.

«I think it’s performance-related. Last year the team felt that it got to the end of the development with their car concept,» Gasly told Autosport.

«As we missed our targets, they’re like, ‘do we want to go for another year where we know we’ll probably be stuck to where we are?’ And they said, we want more than that, so, we’ll try something else.

«Which to me, I think was the right choice. We’re not in Formula 1 to be satisfied with the sixth place in the constructors’.»

Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524

Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Alpine’s hopes have been dashed and, for the time being, even Haas’ seventh place seems illusory.

However, Gasly is counting on the work done at Enstone and on the margin for improvement to do better in the months to come and, above all, to have a more solid base when it comes to 2025.

«Unfortunately, it didn’t pay out with the directions that you know they took with the car concept we have this year, but nonetheless, I still think the way the team’s operating is at a better level than when I arrived,» he said.

«So, it’s a matter of bringing that performance onto the car, which is obviously not easy, but I know we’ve got good directions already for next season, which will put us in a better place and with the sort and processes and the people and what they’ve built and kept working, I can feel that there’ll be something good coming out of it.»



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Who is currently winning the intra-team battles in F1 2024

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Fans and journalists love to assess drivers, discover who is starring, who is underperforming and how team-mates with the same machinery compare. With Formula 1 in its summer break, now seems like a good time to look at the crop of 2024.

There are, of course, plenty of ways to compare drivers, but one of the key ones is raw speed. Without it, no driver will be successful, and qualifying is, in theory, the least complicated indicator of pace.

Below you can see how the 2024 F1 team-mates stack up after 14 rounds, based on their qualifying performances for grands prix (not sprints). We’ve excluded sessions in which one driver in a team could not record a representative time for reasons outside their control, explaining why not all add up to 14.

Qualifying head-to-head

1. Leclerc 8-5 Sainz
2. Ocon 8-4 Gasly
3. Alonso 9-5 Stroll
4. Tsunoda 9-4 Ricciardo
5. Russell 10-4 Hamilton
6. Hulkenberg 10-2 Magnussen
7. Norris 11-3 Piastri
8. Bottas 13-1 Zhou
9. Albon 13-0 Sargeant
10. Verstappen 14-0 Perez

Although a fine gauge of assessing who is getting the upper hand in the intra-team fights, this metric is rather crude. Clearly, if a driver is consistently just a few thousandths of a second away from their team-mate, they are still doing a good job and are very close to maximising their car, while another could regularly be half a second off but on a similar head-to-head score.

To get a clearer view of the drivers’ actual speed, we’ve looked at supertimes. Supertimes are based on the fastest single lap by each driver at each race weekend, expressed as a percentage of the fastest single lap overall (100.000%) and averaged over the season.

Qualifying is one helpful yardstick, but the supertimes can paint a much clearer picture of team-mate comparisons

Qualifying is one helpful yardstick, but the supertimes can paint a much clearer picture of team-mate comparisons

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

This normally means qualifying and also has the benefit of largely (though not entirely) eradicating a driver struck with a problem or misfortune in a given session because it takes into account the whole weekend. It’s not perfect – it gives us no steer on how consistent a driver is over a race stint, for example – but for raw speed, it can be enlightening.

Supertimes gaps for the 10 team-mate pairings so far in 2024

1. Gasly-Ocon 0.015s
2. Russell-Hamilton 0.101s
3. Leclerc-Sainz 0.134s
4. Norris-Piastri 0.185s
5. Tsunoda-Ricciardo 0.196s
6. Alonso-Stroll 0.211s
7. Hulkenberg-Magnussen 0.426s
8. Bottas-Zhou 0.643s
9. Albon-Sargeant 0.675s
10. Verstappen-Perez 0.953s

The first thing to note is how remarkably close Alpine drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon are. It’s the equivalent of a 0.015-second gap around a 1m40s lap. It’s a similar gap to that between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso at McLaren in 2007 (0.019s in Hamilton’s favour) and between 2015 Toro Rosso rookies Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz (0.067s).

Oscar Piastri has slightly narrowed his 2023 gap of 0.227% to 0.185% against Lando Norris, but there’s a feeling that both can perform even better if they can cut out small errors

The Frenchmen are close on just about every metric you can look at: Gasly has six points to Ocon’s five, Gasly has averaged 6.2 to Ocon’s 6.1 on our Driver Ratings, and both have scored an average of 5.7 in our reader scoring. The partnership has hardly been harmonious but it underlines the fact that driver performance is not Alpine’s key problem in 2024…

PLUS: The 2024 F1 half-term driver grades

The gap between George Russell and Hamilton at Mercedes is also small. Hamilton is 10-4 behind, which has led to some suggesting the seven-time champion has lost interest ahead of his move to Ferrari. But being 0.101% behind a hungry driver 13 years his junior hardly suggests he’s fallen off a cliff.

Hamilton’s race pace has also remained strong, particularly in the most recent races, and he currently leads Russell in the championship – and would narrowly be ahead even if the younger Briton was handed back his Belgian GP victory.

Some have suggested Hamilton's performances have dipped this year but it remains incredibly close between the two Mercedes drivers

Some have suggested Hamilton’s performances have dipped this year but it remains incredibly close between the two Mercedes drivers

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

The Ferrari pairing can be viewed in one of two ways. Either it’s a fine effort by Sainz to be so close to established one-lap star Charles Leclerc, or it’s impressive Leclerc is still ahead given he has arguably had a more tumultuous season so far!

As one might expect, Oscar Piastri has slightly narrowed his 2023 gap of 0.227% to 0.185% against Lando Norris, but there’s a feeling that both can perform even better if they can cut out small errors as they get used to competing right at the very front of F1. How that gap changes over the rest of the campaign – and seasons to come – will be a fascinating subplot.

Yuki Tsunoda’s gap over Daniel Ricciardo backs up the Japanese’s claim that he should have been in the (ultimately futile) discussions about replacing Sergio Perez, though it should be noted that the gap has been closing in recent GPs.

Alonso’s recent slump is also revealed by a modest 0.211% advantage over Lance Stroll. The gap between the Aston Martin pair across 2023 was 0.753%, one of the biggest in the field, so we would expect the margin to increase again over the final 10 races.

The bottom four pairings show significant gaps and it’s surely no coincidence that all four contain a driver who will either be out of F1 at the end of 2024 or whose position is under threat.

Nico Hulkenberg has been a star of 2024 and has a Sauber/Audi contract in his pocket. His 0.426% gap over Kevin Magnussen is even bigger than his 0.330% advantage in 2023 and he has 22 points on the board compared to the Dane’s five.

Zhou Guanyu’s deficit to Valtteri Bottas at Sauber is more than double what it was last year, 0.643% to 0.299%. Bottas has a good history on one-lap pace – he was only 0.116% behind Hamilton across their five seasons together at Mercedes – but the magnitude of the 2024 gap so far puts China’s first F1 driver in a weak position.

The supertimes also point out who is most under pressure on the grid

The supertimes also point out who is most under pressure on the grid

Photo by: Mark Sutton

Logan Sargeant has chipped away at the gap to Alex Albon at Williams, but it is still a sizeable 0.675% behind in what seems set to be his final season in F1. Which brings us to the biggest deficit…

Much has been said and written about Perez’s struggles at Red Bull alongside Verstappen, but it’s worth putting the current 0.953% gap into context.

PLUS: How Spa showed exactly why Red Bull must ditch Perez

Firstly, it’s the biggest gap between the two we’ve seen since they became team-mates for 2021, the closest being 0.545% in 2022. That suggests that whatever the root of Perez’s problems are, they are not improving.

Supertimes aren’t everything, as Button scored more points than Hamilton across 2010-12, but that is not a consideration when it comes to Verstappen-Perez. Perez is currently seventh in the championship, 146 points behind his team-mate

The closest a Red Bull team-mate has got to Verstappen across a full season is 0.138% and 0.186%, which Ricciardo managed in 2018 and 2017 respectively. Perez is currently even further behind than Albon was in 2020 (0.784%).

During his tricky second stint at Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen was on average of 0.284% behind Sebastian Vettel across their four seasons together, while the gap between Hamilton and Jenson Button at McLaren was 0.306% in 2010-12. That serves to remind us that supertimes aren’t everything, as Button scored more points than Hamilton across those seasons, but that is not a consideration when it comes to Verstappen-Perez. Perez is currently seventh in the championship, 146 points behind his team-mate.

If we look at more obvious number one/number two line-ups in recent history, we see a 0.390% gap between Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello at Ferrari across 2000-05, and a 0.277% margin separating Vettel and Mark Webber at 2009-13 Red Bull.

It should be noted that the various qualifying format changes of 2003-09, including cars running on the fuel load they had to start the race with, skews the data. Interestingly, Barrichello tended to be closer to Schumacher when the Ferrari was dominant.

The gap the size of Verstappen to Perez at a frontrunning team hasn't been seen since Schumacher and Irvine were partners at Ferrari

The gap the size of Verstappen to Perez at a frontrunning team hasn’t been seen since Schumacher and Irvine were partners at Ferrari

Photo by: LAT Photographic

To find a gap between two frontrunners that is similar to that between Verstappen and Perez, you have to look at Schumacher-Eddie Irvine at Ferrari. Across their three full seasons together, the average was 0.908%, though it should be noted that Irvine got closer each year after starting a whopping 1.286% behind in the difficult F310 of 1996.

Riccardo Patrese was 0.999% behind Nigel Mansell in 1992 but, such was Williams’s advantage with the FW14B, the Italian still finished second in the drivers’ championship. That gap can also be largely attributed to one driver gelling with the gizmo-laden, active suspension car and the other not, given the margin was a mere 0.111% with the more conventional FW14 of 1991.

The Verstappen-Perez disparity is genuinely unusual in the modern era, which helps to explain the surprise of Autosport – and others – that the Mexican has so far held on to his drive.

In summary, Gasly-Ocon are the most evenly matched, the gaps at Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and RB are all sensibly close, Alonso is probably underperforming given his previous gap to Stroll but is still ahead, and the remaining four teams all have serious deficits that put constructors’ points at risk and F1 careers in the danger zone.

Can Perez turn around his fortunes at Red Bull after the summer break?

Can Perez turn around his fortunes at Red Bull after the summer break?

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images



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The remarkable story behind an 80-year-old driving Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Alongside David Coulthard’s demo runs, the Ferrari 310B turned out to be one of the main attractions at The Racing Day in Assen. It is the Formula 1 car in which Michael Schumacher won the 1997 Monaco Grand Prix .

Nowadays, the car is owned by 80-year-old Erich Zech. The German was already in Assen last year, but back then the car was not ready for action. Earlier this month, the 310B could finally be seen on track.

«It was phenomenal,» admitted Zech. «What I loved the most and what touched me was the reaction of the fans. They stood up and applauded, which was great to witness.

«What I love most is being able to show this car to the people again. My main goal is to make the experience as close as possible to what it was back in the day with Schumacher.»

Part of that experience includes Zech driving with a replica of Schumacher’s helmet. The combination of car and helmet is very reminiscent of what it looked like decades ago, with the man behind the wheel being the main difference.

Schumacher drove this car at the age of 28. Zech is 80. «Sadly so!», he laughs while talking to Autosport. «But that’s special, isn’t it? Driving such a car is a challenge, but I still feel incredibly fit. I had to get the official [racing] licence to drive it and, for that, I had to pass a health check. It was also a surprise to me that I am still so fit.»

Even more striking than the age is that until last year, Zech had never driven a single-seater.

«I only started driving race cars in May last year, but I always said: if I buy a Formula 1 car, then I would like to drive it one day. In that respect, I owe everything to Ingo Gerstl,» the Austrian Boss GP driver who holds the lap record at the TT Circuit Assen with his Toro Rosso STR01.

«He got me this far and said ‘We’ll do a health check and if it goes well, then we’ll go for it’. I bought a GP2 car from him and that is my training car now.

Erich Zech, Ferrari 310B

Erich Zech, Ferrari 310B

Photo by: Angelo Poletto

«I started in that car and in May I drove Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari for the first time. Last year, we already presented the 310B here in Assen, but it wasn’t moving back then.

«Many data appeared to have been erased. Ingo Gerstl has great contacts in Italy and thanks to him the car could run in his own workshop for the first time in March. That was a phenomenal moment for all of us. This is the only historic Ferrari that is running without ‘F1 clienti’ support from Maranello.»

There is also a special story behind the purchase of Schumacher’s 1997 Ferrari.

«My daughter has been living in Dubai for 20 years. The following happened there: they were building a completely new Ferrari garage in Dubai. I went there with my daughter to see which cars they had. We were talking German in the showroom and suddenly I was approached by a young man who said ‘Oh, you are German?’ He said that he spoke German as well and was chief of sales for Ferrari Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

«He asked if I am a Ferrari fan and which cars I have. When I told him what I have — including two La Ferraris, two SF90s and an 812 — he looked at me with surprise. I invited him to dinner at the Burj Al Arab hotel and during that dinner he told me that five months earlier he had sold a Formula 1 car, one without an engine.

«My response was that I was interested in something like that as well, but not in a car without an engine…

«He knew about a Ferrari collection in Europe, a collection of which the owner had died. All those cars would go to Sotheby’s to be auctioned. He remembered that there was a Michael Schumacher F1 car among them, although I said ‘A Michael Schumacher F1 car? I can’t buy that because it’s way too expensive’.

«Anyway, he would gather information, check whether the car was sellable at all and what the costs might be. Four weeks later, he called me again, reported that it was indeed a 1997 Schumacher F1 car and said he could arrange the deal for me.

«I asked what the car should cost and if he could send me a picture. Based on that photo, so without seeing the car in real life, I bought it. Three days later, Schumacher’s car was in my garage…. That’s how it came about.»

After all the efforts to get the 310B running again, Zech drove it for the first time at the Jim Clark Revival in Hockenheim earlier this year. «That was like Easter and Christmas fell on one day, so beautiful!» he smiles.

«Hockenheim is like a home event for me, as I live only 30 kilometres away. After Hockenheim, we took the car to Spielberg (where the pictures in this article were taken) and then the weekend in Assen was the third time we drove it. I honestly enjoyed Assen, especially the fans.»

Zech would like to return to the TT Circuit during the Classic GP in September and again next year during The Racing Day. «I hope so! I’ve reached an age at which you can’t say what tomorrow brings, but if everything goes well, I’d love to come back.»

Zech has fulfilled his boyhood dream at a respectable age. «I used to watch Schumacher’s races and also went to the grand prix when it was still in Hockenheim. I remember that well, those were good times in Formula 1, also with the sound.

«When the races were abroad, we would be watching television and keeping our fingers crossed that he would win.» Decades later, Zech himself drives around in a car of one of motorsport’s all-time greats. «It’s quite a cool story…»

Erich Zech, Ferrari 310B

Erich Zech, Ferrari 310B

Photo by: Angelo Poletto



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When is the next race after the summer break?

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The F1 summer break is underway, and fans will be anticipating the return of an action-filled 2024 season. The first 14 races have seen seven different race winners, with both drivers from Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren claiming wins alongside Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

When is the next Formula 1 race?

The next F1 race is the Dutch Grand Prix at the Circuit Zandvoort. The race is the 15th of the 2024 season and marks the start of the second half of the year.

Date: Sunday 25 August 2024
Start time: 2pm BST / 3pm CEST / 9am ET / 11pm AEST

The Dutch Grand Prix will take place between 23-25 of August, with Sunday’s race starting at 2pm BST – 3pm local time – on 25 August.

What are the timings for the Dutch Grand Prix?

Here are the full timings for the Dutch Grand Prix:

Friday 23 August:

FP1 – 11:30am BST / 6:30am ET / 8:30pm AEST
FP2 – 3pm BST / 10am ET / 12am AEST

Saturday 22 June:

FP3 – 10:30am BST / 5:30am ET / 7:30pm AEST
Qualifying — 2pm BST / 9am ET / 12am AEST

Sunday 23 June:

Race – 2pm BST / 9am ET / 10pm AEST

News heading into the Dutch Grand Prix

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What are the Pirelli tyre compounds for the Dutch Grand Prix?

Pirelli announced that the tyre compounds available to the teams for the Dutch GP will be three of the hardest in their catalogue due to the hotter and more abrasive track.

The chosen compounds are:
Hard — C1
Medium — C2
Soft — C3

The C1 was introduced in 2023 to offer a mid-range hard tyre between the previous C1 and C2, to fill the performance gap between the two compounds. The old C1 is now C0, and is the hardest compound offered by Pirelli.

The C2 is now the third hardest compound available to the teams and is best suited to faster and hotter tracks. Both the C1 and C2 will be the preferred choice of tyre by the teams as they should last a significant proportion of the 66 laps.

The softer C3s could potentially be used during the race but are more likely to be seen during Saturday’s qualifying session. This is the third time this combination of Pirelli tyres has been used during the European leg of the 2024 season, with the C1, C2 and C3 tyres also being chosen for the Spanish and British grands prix.

Where is the Dutch Grand Prix being held?

The Dutch GP is held at the Circuit Zandvoort, which has hosted the event on and off since 1952. It returned to the F1 calendar in 2021 after being removed from the schedule in 1985 due to concerns surrounding noise pollution for the local people.

A newer circuit was finished in 2001, with a redesign which slightly lengthened the track to 2.646 miles (4.259km). In 2019 it was confirmed that the Circuit Zandvoort would return to the F1 calendar in 2020, but the return was delayed until the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Formula 1 track record is held by Lewis Hamilton when he set a time of 1:11.097 in 2021.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W14

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W14

Photo by: Erik Junius

2023 Dutch Grand Prix results

Liam Lawson made his F1 debut with AlphaTauri at the 2023 Dutch GP after Daniel Ricciardo broke his hand during one of the practice sessions. It was a dramatic start to the race when rain began to fall during the formation lap.

Once the five lights had gone out, Verstappen pulled away and led the grid around an increasingly wet circuit. Heavy rain began to fall during the last sector of the track with a handful of drivers pitting for intermediate tyres, including Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc.

More drivers pitted for the wet weather tyres on the second lap, with Mercedes and McLaren opting to leave their drivers out on their slick compound tyres. The two teams opted to bring their drivers in slightly later than others, resulting in those who had come in first now leading the race.

Tyre strategy continued to be difficult for the teams after 10 laps when many had returned to the pitlane for slicks despite the threat of further rain.

On lap 62 a further heavy rain shower resulted in all the drivers returning to the pits for intermediate tyres but slippery conditions saw Perez, Yuki Tusnoda and Zhou Guanyu all sliding off the track. The race was briefly red-flagged due to the weather, with Fernando Alonso chasing first-placed Verstappen.

Three drivers received penalties during the 2023 Dutch GP — Tsunoda was given a five-second penalty for causing a collision, Perez was given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane and Kevin Magnussen was given a five-second penalty for falling more than 10 car lengths behind the safety car.  

The fastest lap point went to Alonso who finished second. 



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F1 young drivers to have driven in FP1 during the 2024 season

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


F2’s Oliver Bearman has driven several FP1 sessions for Haas this year as preparation for his move to the American squad in 2025, which will be his first full campaign in F1.

The 19-year-old is not the only rookie to have completed an FP1 session this year though, due to the young driver rule which was implemented for 2022 to speed up the development of those in the junior categories.

FIA rules stipulate every F1 driver must skip an FP1 outing for somebody who has no more than two grand prix starts.

It also says that F1 drivers in their rookie campaign are exempt from this rule, but as every team kept the same line-up for 2024 that does not apply to anybody this year.

So, here is a rundown of where each team stands for this season and who still has to run a rookie in practice.

F1 team

First Young driver and grand prix

Second Young driver and grand prix

Red Bull

Isack Hadjar at the British Grand Prix

N/A

Mercedes

N/A

N/A

Ferrari

N/A

N/A

McLaren

N/A

N/A

Aston Martin

N/A

N/A

Alpine

Jack Doohan at the Canadian Grand Prix

Jack Doohan at the British Grand Prix

Williams

Franco Colapinto at the British Grand Prix

N/A

RB

Ayumu Iwasa at the Japanese Grand Prix

N/A

Sauber

N/A

N/A

Haas

Oliver Bearman at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Oliver Bearman at the Spanish Grand Prix

Red Bull

Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing RB20

Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Drive 1: Isack Hadjar — British GP — 19th
Drive 2: Not yet run

Red Bull ran its first young driver at the British Grand Prix, as Isack Hadjar replaced Sergio Perez and finished 19th, approximately 1.5s behind team-mate Max Verstappen at Silverstone.

The F2 championship leader also had a hair-raising moment at Turn 2, as Lando Norris locked up into the grass after almost hitting the back of a slow Hadjar, who was contesting an FP1 session for the third time.

Red Bull is yet to run a second rookie in 2024, but last season it took a unique approach by fielding then-28-year-old Jake Dennis in Abu Dhabi, who was the 2023 Formula E world champion.

Mercedes

Drive 1: Not yet run
Drive 2: Not yet run

Mercedes is yet to run any young driver in 2024, but that does not come as a surprise as last year the Silver Arrows waited until the season’s 19th round, the Mexican GP, to field its first rookie. That was the team’s reserve driver Frederik Vesti, who finished 19th in FP1 but still impressed Mercedes boss Toto Wolff after completing a low-speed testing programme where 26 laps were completed.

Vesti next stepped into Lewis Hamilton’s car for the Abu Dhabi GP, where the then-21-year-old finished 12th, 0.743s off team-mate George Russell, amid a promising 2023 as the Dane finished second in the F2 championship.

It is unclear if Vesti, who now competes in the European Le Mans Series, will again take up both young driver slots this year due to Mercedes hotshot Andrea Kimi Antonelli, 17, who will likely move to F1 in 2025.

Ferrari

Drive 1: Not yet run
Drive 2: Not yet run

Ferrari is another team that is yet to field any rookies in FP1 this year, but a lot of the squads wait until after the summer break to do so. The Scuderia was one of them in 2023, as reserve driver Robert Shwartzman’s first practice session was August’s Dutch GP where the then-23-year-old replaced Carlos Sainz before finishing 19th in a difficult session.

Shwartzman, who also competes in the World Endurance Championship, then replaced Charles Leclerc in practice for the Abu Dhabi GP where the six-time F2 race winner came an impressive eighth finishing just 0.027s behind Sainz.

It is likely that Ferrari will opt for a similar approach with Shwartzman starting two FP1 sessions this year, especially when its other junior driver, Bearman, has now signed for Haas.

McLaren

Drive 1: Not yet run
Drive 2: Not yet run

McLaren entered 2023 with one of its mandatory slots already filled, as Oscar Piastri was competing in his rookie F1 season. But now that the 23-year-old is in his sophomore campaign, the British squad will have to field a young driver in two FP1 sessions this year.

It is likely that the opportunity will be given to IndyCar’s Pato O’Ward, who drove for McLaren in FP1 for the 2022 and 2023 Abu Dhabi GPs. The 25-year-old finished 15th in last season’s session and considering his IndyCar commitments for Arrow McLaren, it is likely O’Ward will not feature in FP1 until later this year.

O’Ward shares his reserve driver role with Ryo Hirakawa, who joined the McLaren programme in September 2023. The following month he tested an F1 car for the first time, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the 30-year-old, who has won both the WEC and Super GT titles, also drives an FP1 session this season.

Aston Martin

Drive 1: Not yet run
Drive 2: Not yet run

Aston Martin is the fourth of five teams who are yet to run a rookie in FP1 this season. Like many squads, it ran the same driver in two FP1s last year as 2022 F2 champion Felipe Drugovich first replaced Lance Stroll at the Italian GP.

The then 23-year-old finished 18th at Monza but was praised for doing a solid job after completing 24 laps. He then drove Fernando Alonso’s car at the Abu Dhabi season finale, where Drugovich finished a very impressive second and was only 0.288s off Russell in a session that featured 10 rookies.

Drugovich is still Aston Martin’s reserve driver, a role he holds alongside a campaign in ELMS, so it is likely that he will compete in two FP1 sessions again this year.

Alpine

Jack Doohan, Alpine A524

Jack Doohan, Alpine A524

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Drive 1: Jack Doohan — Canadian GP — No time
Drive 2: Jack Doohan — British GP — 17th

Alpine is one of two teams to have already fulfilled the young driver obligation for 2024. That is because the French squad first ran its reserve driver Jack Doohan in FP1 for the Canadian GP, yet the ex-F2 driver failed to set a time in the red-flag affected session which was also delayed because of rain.

Technically that had no impact on the rule though, because it states a young driver must at least be entered for FP1 — not that they have to set a competitive lap.

Doohan endured much better luck at Silverstone though, as he was finally able to set some lap times and he finished 17th, approximately eight tenths behind team-mate Esteban Ocon.

That was the 21-year-old’s sixth FP1 session of his career, but his two in 2024 potentially mean more because there is a seat available at Alpine for 2025 due to Ocon’s impending departure.

Williams

Drive 1: Franco Colapinto — British GP — 18th
Drive 2: Not yet run

Williams junior Franco Colapinto made his grand prix weekend debut at this year’s British GP, as the 21-year-old finished 18th in FP1 after replacing Logan Sargeant. That came amid Colapinto’s first full F2 campaign, where the Argentinian is currently sixth in the championship and Williams sporting director Sven Smeets said the FP1 call-up was a “reward” for his promising start.

Unlike 2023, Williams must run a rookie in a second FP1 session this season because Sargeant is now in his second year. It is unclear if Colapinto will contest the second session, because last year the team ran fellow Williams junior Zak O’Sullivan in Abu Dhabi practice, where the then 18-year-old finished 18th and was approximately seven-tenths behind Sargeant after replacing Alex Albon.

O’Sullivan, who won the 2021 Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award, is currently 10th in F2 after finishing runner-up of the 2023 F3 standings.

RB

Drive 1: Ayumu Iwasa — Japanese GP — 16th
Drive 2: Not yet run

RB has already run one young driver in an FP1 session this year, as Super Formula’s Ayumu Iwasa replaced Daniel Ricciardo to drive in front of his home crowd at the Japanese GP.

It was Iwasa’s grand prix weekend debut and the Red Bull/Honda protege, who finished fourth in F2 last year, came 16th in an error-free session having gone nine-tenths slower than Yuki Tsunoda as part of an all-Japanese line-up.

The Italian outfit still needs to fill its second slot though and if it isn’t Iwasa, it may be Hadjar who finished 17th in FP1 for the 2023 Mexican GP. RB only had to field one young driver in FP1 last season, as Liam Lawson made his grand prix debut in the other car driving at five rounds.

Sauber

Drive 1: Not yet run
Drive 2: Not yet run

Sauber is the fifth team yet to run any young driver in FP1 this year, as part of a disappointing season for the Swiss squad who sit bottom of the championship with zero points. In 2023 it entered Theo Pourchaire for two FP1 sessions, and the Frenchman first endured a disruptive outing in Mexico where he failed to complete a competitive lap, before finishing 14th in Abu Dhabi practice on the weekend he clinched the F2 crown.

However, it is unclear if Pourchaire will contest an FP1 session for the team again this year, with Zane Maloney serving as Sauber’s other reserve driver. The 20-year-old is fourth in his second F2 season and is yet to partake in a grand prix weekend.

Haas

Oliver Bearman, Haas VF-24

Oliver Bearman, Haas VF-24

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Drive 1: Oliver Bearman — Emilia Romagna GP — 15th
Drive 2: Oliver Bearman — Spanish GP — 19th

Haas is the second team to have already filled both young driver slots, as it continues to prepare Bearman for his F1 drive next year. The 19-year-old, who finished seventh on his race debut for Ferrari in Jeddah, has so far contested four FP1 sessions for Haas this year, beginning with Imola where Bearman finished 15th.

It was a solid session for the Briton who replaced Kevin Magnussen, while Nico Hulkenberg failed to set a representative lap time. Bearman’s next session came in Barcelona where, despite finishing 19th, he was only 0.2s off Magnussen and by the time of his next FP1, he had been announced as a full-time Haas driver for 2025.

The news came just a day before he contested FP1 at the British GP, where in front of a home crowd Bearman finished a solid 14th, half a second off Hulkenberg, meaning he was quickest of the four rookies who took part in that session. Bearman’s last FP1 to date came in Budapest, where he was slowest and just 0.076s behind Magnussen in 19th.



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