Метка: Brazilian GP

Aston Martin uncovers trigger for Stroll and Alonso’s Brazilian GP struggles


Aston Martin has got to the bottom of its troubled Brazilian Grand Prix that left Lance Stroll out on the formation lap and Fernando Alonso battling extreme bouncing.

The Silverstone-based team endured a hugely challenging race afternoon at Interlagos as Stroll spun into the wall on the formation lap after his rears unexpectedly locked, before he managed to beach himself in the gravel.

Then Alonso struggled throughout with similar rear locking issues plus excessive porpoising that left him struggling with back pain at the end, but he was determined to push on and see the chequered flag.

Speaking on the team radio at the time, Alonso, who finished 14th, admitted that something unusual was happening. “This bouncing is not normal,” he said.

With no immediate explanation for what happened on both cars, Aston Martin has spent some time since returning to its factory trying to get a better comprehension of the factors at play.

It now suspects that the problems on both cars were triggered by a super nervous rear-end characteristic that had been introduced as a result of car changes made following the qualifying crashes the team suffered on Sunday morning.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images

Both Stroll and Alonso had hit the barriers in the wet qualifying session, damaging the Suzuka-concept specification floors the team had intended to run for the Interlagos event.

With no spares of that specification available, Aston Martin had to revert to a previous floor version – which was the one it first introduced at the Hungarian GP.

Normally teams cannot change specs between qualifying and the race, as that is a breach of parc ferme regulations and mandates a pit lane start.

However, things are different on a sprint race weekend when allowances are made if there is a shortage of spare parts.

Article 40.4 says at sprint weekends teams can change specification if they can “demonstrate there is a shortage of parts, and provided that the replacement part is of a specification that has been previously used in a qualifying session or a race».

It was this rule that Mercedes used at the United States GP to allow George Russell to go back to an older specification of floor following his qualifying crash.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR24, gets beached in the gravel prior to the start

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR24, gets beached in the gravel prior to the start

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

The complication for Aston Martin, however, was that the change of floor had to be made without it being able to alter the mechanical set-up around it – as suspension settings are totally fixed in parc ferme.

So on a weekend where teams were battling the problems of excessive bumps on the Interlagos track, plus tricky weather conditions, the end result was a car whose aero platform and mechanical settings did not match up.

Speaking about what Aston Martin has found out since Brazil, team principal Mike Krack thinks a combination of elements came together to leave both its drivers with a car that was ultra nervous.

“It was clear that both drivers were battling a car that was incredibly difficult to drive during Sunday’s race,» he said. «Our post-weekend analysis has highlighted several factors that explain this.

“Following both car’s accidents in qualifying, we had to replace a lot of components with a different specification due to availabilities at the end of a triple header. This is allowed by the Sprint Event regulations, and you declare your shortages and replacement options to the FIA before the event.

“[But] you aren’t allowed to change the mechanical set-up of the cars. This meant we could neither check nor adjust the set-up of the cars which negatively affected aerodynamic behaviour and performance.

Mike Krack, Team Principal, Aston Martin F1 Team

Mike Krack, Team Principal, Aston Martin F1 Team

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“Add in treacherous wet conditions, along with an incredibly bumpy track, and you begin to understand that both drivers had the odds stacked against them.

“Both cars were highly susceptible to wheel locking, and we can see in the data that this is what caused the issues for both Lance and Fernando.»

Aston Martin has been experimenting with its floor choices in recent races, with an upgrade it delivered for Austin not delivering the step forward hoped for.

It reverted to the Suzuka spec from Mexico, and may commit to the Budapest version for the next high-speed races in Las Vegas and Qatar.

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Who has won an F1 grand prix from the furthest back on the grid?


The 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix witnessed Max Verstappen deliver a champion-like performance that put him on the cusp of a fourth consecutive Formula 1 world title. 

Verstappen won from 17th as a disastrous qualifying saw him finish 12th, before an engine change penalty dropped him five places. 

But the Red Bull driver delivered a masterclass in the wet to extend his lead over second-placed Lando Norris to 62 points with 86 left available. 

Nobody has won a grand prix from so far back since the 2005 Japanese GP, so where does Verstappen’s win stand in the history books?

22nd — John Watson, 1983 United States Grand Prix West

John Watson, McLaren MP4-1C Ford

John Watson, McLaren MP4-1C Ford

Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch / Motorsport Images

John Watson holds F1’s record for winning a grand prix from the furthest back on the grid, having started 22nd at the 1983 United States GP West.

It was the second round of the season and anger had already kicked off pre-qualifying as teams and drivers were unhappy at the slightly modified Long Beach circuit, which had bumps in the parts that connected the old and new layout. 

Teams were therefore concerned about their suspensions but the problems went deeper for Watson, who struggled with his Michelin tyres in qualifying. He wasn’t the only big name to suffer a poor session though, as team-mate Niki Lauda lined up one place behind.

But with a full load of fuel onboard, both McLaren cars were able to quickly generate heat into their tyres and after Lauda overtook Watson at race start, the pair progressed through the field in tandem as their pace was unstoppable. 

By lap 28, they were third and fourth before Watson overtook Lauda at the end of Shoreline Drive. At this point, the Northern Irishman was 20 seconds off the front which saw a thrilling battle between leader Jacques Laffite and Riccardo Patrese.

However, Patrese slid off as he attempted an overtake, allowing the McLarens through before Watson and Lauda quickly moved past Laffite, who had problems with his tyres.

So McLaren was now remarkably 1-2 and as Lauda struggled with leg cramp in the closing stages, he failed to challenge Watson who claimed a sensational victory that was the fifth and final win of his F1 career — which Autosport also listed as his greatest race.

19th — Bill Vukovich,1954 Indianapolis 500 

Bill Vukovich, Kurtis-Kraft

Bill Vukovich, Kurtis-Kraft

Photo by: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Though not technically classified as a grand prix, the Indianapolis 500 was still part of the F1 calendar from 1950 to 1960. The 1954 edition saw reigning winner Bill Vukovich start 19th having struggled in qualifying with his now two-year-old car.

His rise up the order was not as rapid as Watson’s in Long Beach either, as Vukovich first took the lead on lap 61 before very quickly losing it by pitting. But he worked his way through the pack again before reclaiming first on lap 92 until dropping back once more through the pits. 

Yet the two-time Indy 500 winner finally took the lead for good on lap 150, before setting a then-record of a 130.84mph average race speed. But Vukovich tragically died at the Indy 500 the following year after a four-car collision whilst he was leading on lap 57. 

Race winner Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari F1 2000

Race winner Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari F1 2000

Photo by: Motorsport Images

The headlines were often stolen by Michael Schumacher when the seven-time world champion partnered Rubens Barrichello at Ferrari, yet in 2000 the Brazilian grabbed them at his team-mate’s home race. 

That year’s German GP witnessed Barrichello suffer an electrical problem in qualifying leaving him 18th on the grid, but a great start and faultless strategy had him fighting for victory.

The Ferrari driver climbed to 10th on lap one, during which Schumacher retired after a collision with Giancarlo Fisichella, before gaining another five positions over the following five tours in his rapid F1-2000.

Barrichello continued his superior pace and began setting successive fastest laps as he eventually caught up with Pedro de la Rosa, before overtaking him for fourth on lap 12. 

On the 15th lap, the Brazilian was into the podium positions after a move on Jarno Trulli at Hockenheim’s Jim Clark chicane before becoming the first driver to pit two tours later. 

Other drivers opted to pit during the lap 25 safety car, caused by a track protestor, before switching tyres again when rain began falling on lap 35. Yet Barrichello stayed out, as he and Ferrari believed the rain was not enough to fit wet tyres despite it only getting heavier.

But Barrichello held on and eventually took the maiden victory of his F1 career to become the first Brazilian to win a grand prix since Ayrton Senna at Adelaide in 1993. 

17th — John Watson, 1982 Detroit Grand Prix

John Watson, Eddie Cheever, Didier Pironi

John Watson, Eddie Cheever, Didier Pironi

Photo by: Motorsport Images

It was only a year before his incredible win in Long Beach that Watson had produced a similarly spectacular comeback drive to victory in the United States. 

At the 1982 Detroit GP, Watson was caught out by a qualifying collision involving Chico Serra’s Fittipaldi leaving the McLaren driver 17th on the grid.

But that year Watson, who finished third in the championship, was in fine form and rapidly progressed through the field in Detroit before taking second after an incredible lap 30 where he overtook Didier Pironi, Lauda and Eddie Cheever. 

By that point, Watson was 15s behind leader Keke Rosberg but he halved the deficit within two laps and eventually overtook as that year’s world champion started to struggle with his tyres.

As Rosberg eventually fell behind Cheever and Pironi, Watson took a comfortable second and final victory of the season.

17th — Kimi Raikkonen, 2005 Japanese Grand Prix

Race winner Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren

Race winner Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

The last driver to win an F1 race from 17th before Verstappen was Kimi Raikkonen at the 2005 Japanese GP. 

After the early dominance of Fernando Alonso and Renault that year, McLaren came strong towards the end having won five straight heading into the Japan penultimate round.

The run looked in doubt though when McLaren suffered a disastrous one-shot qualifying session that only became wetter as time went on, resulting in the British squad coming 17th and 18th.

In fact, Raikkonen and team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya weren’t the only front-runners to qualify towards the back, as Alonso was 16th with Schumacher in 14th.

But conditions were dry on race day at Suzuka allowing the pace of the Renault, McLaren and Ferrari to shine through, in which Raikkonen overtook the two world champions through the pits.

By lap 30, the McLaren driver was fourth but 17s behind leader Fisichella with 23 tours remaining, yet quickly cut that gap while climbing up to second as Jenson Button and Mark Webber both pitted.

With Raikkonen and Fisichella both pitting again before the end of the race, the gap was nine seconds with eight laps left, but the Renault was struggling on its tyres so the deficit only ever reduced. 

It culminated in Raikkonen taking the lead down the start-finish straight on the final lap to give McLaren its sixth, consecutive victory and the Finn’s seventh of 2005 helping him finish runner-up to Alonso in the championship. 

17th — Max Verstappen, 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, 1st position, takes the chequered flag

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, 1st position, takes the chequered flag

Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images

The 2024 Brazilian GP is the weekend Verstappen all-but confirmed himself as a four-time world champion. Heading into the grand prix, he was very much on the back foot as title rival Norris led a McLaren 1-2 in the sprint race while Verstappen crossed the line in third but was demoted to fourth due to a virtual safety car infringement. 

His misery was compounded in qualifying, delayed until the Sunday morning due to heavy thunderstorms in Sao Paulo, as Verstappen only finished 12th. That’s because he had to abort his final run in Q2 due to Lance Stroll crashing at Turn 3 which initially caused a yellow flag that eventually turned red, while Norris ended up on pole. 

But Verstappen has a reputation of excelling in wet conditions and he delivered on that in the grand prix, by enjoying a fantastic start where he gained seven positions across the opening two laps after finding grip where others could not. The Red Bull driver was simply on another level and he quickly picked off one car after another, Turn 1 being a popular overtaking spot, to end up sixth by lap 22.

Yet with tyres starting to wear out, and a lap 28 VSC, teams had the dilemma if to pit or not. Ahead of Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris and leader George Russell all came in for a fresh set, but that proved to be the wrong decision as Franco Colapinto’s crash on lap 32 caused a red flag.

This meant the new leader Esteban Ocon, Verstappen and Pierre Gasly, who completed the top three, could all switch tyres without a cost as they fitted new intermediates for the restart. Ocon kept his lead, but then Carlos Sainz’s crash on lap 40 caused a safety car period in which Verstappen immediately overtook the Alpine driver at the restart to eventually take his eighth victory of 2024.



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How Tsunoda’s «P1» gamble was ruined by F1’s red flag rules


Yuki Tsunoda believes he would have led the Brazilian Grand Prix had the safety car and subsequent red flags not been called for at Interlagos.

The Japanese driver was one of a select few to opt for a switch to extreme wet tyres as rain pelted the Sao Paulo circuit, with he and team-mate Liam Lawson at one stage lapping faster than those around them by almost five seconds per lap.

Watch: Can Anyone Challenge Max Verstappen? Your F1 Questions Answered

But with others trying to brave it out on intermediates as the deluge got heavier, race control had no alternative other than to send the safety car out on track, a neutralisation that became a full red-flag stoppage once Franco Colapinto had crashed his Williams catching up to the pack after a pitstop.

Tsunoda, who was running third before his pitstop, lost out with F1’s rules allowing for free tyre changes under red flag conditions and would eventually finish eighth on the road – a result that was upgraded to seventh courtesy of a 10-second penalty for McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who had earlier punted Lawson into a spin at Turn 1.

«I think what we did, switching to extreme, that was good,» explained Tsunoda.

«Just the safety car and the red flag came out, that was the point that went very down. If the red flag didn’t come out, probably I would, at some point, have overtaken a lot of cars and maybe [been] P1, but it just didn’t come towards us.»

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Lawson also scored points as RB locks into a fight for sixth in the constructors’ standings, albeit losing ground to double podium-scoring Alpine.

Having stressed the importance of the result for the Faenza-based team, Tsunoda added: «It wasn’t easy conditions. If you lose concentration, [it can have] a lot of consequences.

«I enjoyed the last stint, good fight with Oscar [Piastri]. I tried to be within 10 seconds. You know, could have done a lot of things wrong, but kept it clean and tried to score P7, which is good.»

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Did a 5mm inter tyre tread difference decide the Brazilian GP?


The rain-affected Brazilian Grand Prix delivered what was perhaps the biggest shock podium of the Formula 1 season so far.

Max Verstappen’s charge from 17th on the grid to the front had been anticipated by very few people, and it marked his first triumph since the Spanish Grand Prix back in June.

Right behind the Dutchman were the two Alpine cars of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, who scored more points for the squad in a single afternoon than they have all season so far.

The joy of the top three was in contrast to the struggles that other teams faced in the wet conditions, with recent benchmark squads McLaren and Ferrari struggling with a lack of pace.

World championship contender Lando Norris was fighting front-locking problems, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc described his SF-24 as pretty horrendous to drive.

«We were just not fast enough,» declared the Monegasque after the race. «The car was extremely difficult to drive and very, very pointy, very digital, very oversteery.»

While Verstappen and the two Alpines were certainly given a helping hand to their result by the red flag that handed them a free tyre change, it would be wrong to say that this was a fluke result won by a roll of the dice.

Even after the red flag resumption, the trio were the fastest cars on track, showing that the end result was certainly more down to how the relative cars performed in the wet.

It is a well-known phenomenon that some cars are more suitable for wet conditions than dry – as multiple elements come together to help drivers overcome deficiencies that are exposed in the dry.

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Photo by: Alpine

One factor that almost certainly helped Alpine was the fact that the wet masked one of its main weaknesses: engine performance. With the tricky conditions more about managing throttle input than simply having the most power, the squad was on a much more level playing field than it is in the dry.

But one other interesting element popped up as a factor that could explain the shuffling of the order in the wet — and that is the aero impact of wet-weather tyres.

The current generation of ground-effect cars are very sensitive to ride height, and just a couple of millimetres of difference in ground clearance can have a pretty big impact in terms of downforce levels – with all the juicy performance coming as close to the track as possible.

So with the diameter of the inter tyre that most teams use being 5mm greater with its tread pattern than the slick (725mm compared to 720mm), there is a direct impact on where the car platform is running compared to where it sits on a slick.

And it must be remembered that teams were already finding that they could not run as close to the ground as they would have liked in Brazil because of the Interlagos bumps, so those cars already falling out of the ideal window will have been further pushed away by running on inters.

But it is not just the minuscule ride-height impact that can make a difference when it comes to the aero impact of the tyres, because sidewall stiffness is perhaps an even more important element.

How the tyre deforms under cornering load, and when downforce is applied, has a big impact on the car’s aerodynamics, which is why teams put a lot of effort into ensuring that their cars are optimised to take the changing shape of tyres into account.

That is why wind tunnel tyres are designed to replicate in perfect scale the sidewall deformation that real-life tyres have.

A change of sidewall stiffness and a subtle impact on ride height is certainly more than enough to alter the aero map of a car, potentially shifting the balance and making what is a benign car in the dry quite pointy in the wet.

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu, whose own team seemed to be worse off on the inter than the slick, said it was not a new phenomenon for his squad – as Spa earlier this year had exposed problems of his car losing rear downforce when put on to rain-weather tyres.

Pirelli tyres on the car of Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

Pirelli tyres on the car of Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

«The amount of aero balance we need to take out just shows the rear of the car is weak on the intermediate tyres, which is a new problem this year,» he said.

«You design the car with your wind tunnel tyres for dry conditions, obviously. Then, I can’t remember when we first ran the inters or wet, but straight away we lost so much stability.»

On the flip side, the Red Bulls and Alpine certainly seemed to be a step ahead of the opposition in the wet.

What the data says

While teams do not yet have answers as to whether the aero influence of the tyres was decisive in Brazil, analysis of lap times definitely points to some shift in trends.

Most interesting is that the Brazilian GP weekend, with its dry sprint event and wet rain race, offered us a snapshot of performance differences across the two conditions.

And while qualifying comparisons are not totally indicative, because some cars did not show their full potential in the same conditions as others, they do at least show how some teams moved around in the pecking order – with Alpine and RB certainly looking relatively better in the wet and Ferrari dropping back.

The below results show the fastest car from each team in Q3.

Sprint qualifying result — Dry

 

Qualifying — Wet

 

But a more accurate gauge of the pace of the cars, and how things moved around from the dry to the wet, comes from race pace.

Looking at the fastest car from each team, based on clean racing laps — so not including pitstops nor restarts — we get the following data set.

Sprint — Dry

 

Race — Wet

 

Red Bull and Mercedes’ pace was certainly much improved in the wet relative to its rivals, while McLaren and Ferrari fell back.

And Ferrari’s was perhaps the biggest drop-off, as Alpine and RB proved to be quicker over the stints.



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The uncomfortable decision facing Lawrence Stroll


You can build the most impressive factory and fill it with all the latest equipment and computer software. Construct the most sophisticated in-house wind tunnel, boosting the potential of your team’s development rate. You can hire the most successful F1 designer of all time, paying him £30 million a year to design your cars.

But it doesn’t matter one bit if the biggest weakness in the whole of the operation is the person responsible for delivering the results on track.

Lance Stroll’s formation lap blunder at the start of the Brazilian Grand Prix was evidence enough that if Aston Martin is deadly serious — as would seem by Lawrence Stroll’s considerable financial investment in the team’s new Silverstone factory — about becoming world champions, then an urgent rethink about its driver line up is required.

Stroll thudded his AMR24 into the Interlagos on the formation lap. Afterwards, in the media pen, he explained how he “had a huge rear lock” and hinted at a “brake failure problem”. Maybe so, and yes, he could also blame the heavy rain, standing water or even the uneven, bumpy surface, which he didn’t.

What is totally inexplicable is not the fact he hit the barriers (as he also did in qualifying), but his bewildering decision to turn his Aston Martin around and drive straight into the gravel, beaching his car so that he would not be able to start the race.

Such an error could be bestowed upon Oliver Bearman or even Franco Colapinto, who have not even raced in a handful of Grands Prix yet. But Stroll, somewhat incredibly in itself, has knocked up 163 starts across eight seasons.

You could even argue that had he even been driving for Sauber and sat at the very back of the grid, yes, it would have been embarrassing but tolerable. But this is Aston Martin. If you believe the hype, potential world champion in the not-too-distant future.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin F1 Team in the garage

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin F1 Team in the garage

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Stroll sits 13th in the drivers’ championship, having been marooned on 24 points since the Hungarian GP in July when he was 10th. By way of a benchmark, his team-mate Fernando Alonso is on 62 points.

In his inter-team battle with Alonso since the start of 2023, the two-time F1 world champion has outscored the Canadian in 35 races, while Stroll has done the reverse just 10 times.

This is not just a trend with Alonso either. In his first season in F1 with Williams in 2017, Felipe Massa edged the battle 13 to seven. At Force India/Racing Point, Sergio Perez was 26 to 11.

To his credit Stroll, who did win the Italian Formula 4, Toyota Racing Series and European Formula 3 titles to earn his place on the grid, shaded the team-mate battle against Sergey Sirotkin at Williams in 2018 and did in fact beat Sebastian Vettel during their spell as team-mates at Aston Martin, although whether Vettel had checked out or not is a moot point.

There have been flashes of promise. Stroll took his maiden podium at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and repeated that feat twice in 2020, at the Italian and the Sakhir GPs. The same year, he took his lone F1 pole at the Turkish GP, which he led for 32 laps. But the reality is the 26-year-old cannot deliver on a regular basis and is still prone to some inexcusable mistakes — as last Sunday proved.

Then there is his attitude to F1. Stroll’s future in the world championship has long been questioned. It was not that long ago that rumours began to surface that he was considering a career in tennis — something that he quickly dismissed as pie in the sky. But there has always been the widely-held suspicion that his heart is not really in it.

Something more unsavoury was his behaviour at the 2023 Qatar GP where, angry at being eliminated from the first qualifying session, Stroll appeared to push his trainer out of the way in frustration. It did at least show some passion and you could use that to argue that he does care about F1.

To his credit, Stroll showed guts to return to race in Bahrain last year just two weeks after breaking his wrist and toe in a cycling accident. Overcoming the pain barrier, he finished sixth. But last year he scored just 74 of Aston Martin’s total of 280 points.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR23, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60, Esteban Ocon, Alpine A523

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR23, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60, Esteban Ocon, Alpine A523

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Yes, he is the owner’s son, but Lawrence Stroll is an accomplished businessman. So how is it possible that he is willing to ignore the glaringly obvious fallible part of the team? Presumably, his focus is on just how the team that started so positively in 2023 has again managed to take steps backwards with its development to limp over the line.

Aston Martin has rolled out the red carpet for Adrian Newey in the hope his designs can bring a revival of fortune. And it is not just Newey who has been signed, with Lawrence Stroll also recruiting other big names such as Enrico Cardile, who will join as Chief Technical Officer from Ferrari. Former Mercedes AMG HPP Managing Director, Andy Cowell, has taken the position of Group CEO, replacing Martin Whitmarsh in an expensive reshuffle.

Scrutiny will be on the aerodynamic design team and just what is going wrong. But there is a more obvious problem and, while it might be an uncomfortable one, it is looking increasingly like Stroll needs to take his son out of the cockpit if the team is to make good on its potential.

In fact, it might not even prove to be that painful a decision in the end and there is an option that could even save face. Aston Martin is entering the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans Hypercar class with its Valkyrie prototype and Stroll would be well-suited to switch codes and pilot it.

His experience in F1 would be a vital asset in Aston’s fledgling Hypercar project, and provide another perspective currently missing from its stable of GT drivers. It has the potential for considerable success, considering how Ferrari integrated ex-Sauber F1 racer Antonio Giovinazzi into its successful Le Mans project with the 499P LMH.

So who could Aston replace him with? It appears to have missed out on the glut of young talent that has surfaced this season with Bearman, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Colapinto all signed to long-term deals. The team is also poised to miss out on Formula 2 championship leader, Gabriel Bortoleto, who is set to join Sauber next season.

Aston’s current reserve drivers are 2022 F2 champion Felipe Drugovich and Formula E champion Stoffel Vandoorne, both easily capable of filling Stroll’s place in the team. Another option could be Yuki Tsunoda, given that Honda will become Aston’s engine partner in 2026 and the Japanese driver’s chances seem limited at Red Bull.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR24

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images



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Herbert hits back at Jos Verstappen over integrity claims


Johnny Herbert has insisted he is entitled to his opinions on reigning Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen as a response to criticism from the Dutchman’s father, Jos.

The two former F1 drivers are at loggerheads after Herbert initially remarked that the time penalties dished out to the Red Bull driver during the Mexico Grand Prix “would not stop [him] from pushing Lando Norris off the track in the future”.

Jos was livid that Herbert, who was acting as an FIA race steward at the Mexican Grand Prix, was airing his views in public having administered the penalties, insisting that “a steward shouldn’t talk to the press at all and just deliver work all the time”.

The bitterness continued at the Brazilian Grand Prix when Max Verstappen, who was also heavily criticised by Sky F1’s Damon Hill for his manoeuvres on Norris, claimed: “I’ve got the wrong passport for this paddock”.

However, Herbert who was again an FIA race steward in Brazil last weekend, has insisted he is not biased.

And in a barb aimed at Jos, he questioned his position to be critical of Red Bull’s operations, having been outspoken against his son’s team on a number of occasions this year.

“I am Johnny Herbert the steward and the professional during a race weekend and Johnny Herbert a pundit at other times, who expresses what he thinks,» Herbert told SafestBettingSites.co.uk.

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

«When I am a steward, I do not express any opinions.

“Everyone has an opinion. [Sky Sports F1’s] Martin Brundle has an opinion. Why can’t I when I am not at the racetrack? The racetrack has been my world for 50 years. If I don’t quite agree with what I see on the racetrack I will say so. It is not just Max. I’ll criticise anyone if I feel it is warranted.

“I understand it from Jos’s point of view because it is his son. Is there any bias? No, of course not. I wasn’t the only one to think that Max was over the top in Mexico. Lando Norris and [McLaren boss] Zak Brown thought so too.

“When I do speak to people on a Monday or Tuesday that is outside my stewarding responsibilities.

“Jos has always been very outspoken about what is happening at Red Bull. Is that his position to be? It is all very similar. If you have an opinion and you want to make it, then you can.”

Meanwhile, Herbert says that Norris, who trails Verstappen by 62 points in the drivers’ championship with just 86 available in the final three races, will learn from his title fight.

“McLaren and Lando missed out on seven points in Hungary because they let Piastri win and it’s those things they need to be conscious of going into next season,» added the three-time F1 race winner.

“Will they lose the championship this year, no because they were always on catch-up. They could have got more points, but that is racing. Max had the clear lead and then didn’t win after June.

“McLaren will learn for next year and have a stronger mindset. Lando will go into 2025 knowing he can beat Max.”



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McLaren insists Norris title was never main goal following Brazil setback


McLaren says that guiding Lando Norris to the drivers’ championship was never ultimately its main target – as it has always been more focused on the constructors’ crown.

Norris had a golden opportunity to close down Max Verstappen’s points advantage in the Brazilian Grand Prix after starting on pole position and his rival down in 17th on the grid.

But a combination of a lack of pace in the wet, driving errors, brake lock-up problems and a badly timed red flag meant the Briton finished sixth – with Verstappen producing a sensational performance to win.

That result has left him 62 points adrift of Verstappen with only three rounds remaining.

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While the Brazil outcome is a disappointment for Norris in personal terms, McLaren says it changes nothing in its approach, because it was only ever thinking about the constructors’ battle anyway.

Asked by Autosport about how the Brazil result would impact the approach to the final races, and whether or not it would actually take some pressure off Norris, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said: “In terms of the constructors’ championship, I don’t think it changes anything.

“It was always our priority. Even when there was a call to be made to support one driver or the other, it was always secondary to that to maximising the constructors’ championship.”

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

Stella did not feel that the potential of being in a title battle had much of an impact on Norris’s performance at Interlagos, as he felt both team and driver knew it was a bonus to be in the fight in the first place.

“When it comes to the drivers’ championship, I don’t think for Lando there was any particular pressure,” he said.

“We were enjoying this quest, even though sometimes from the outside it may come across like there is an error here or there maybe.

“It is like when we locked the tyres with the car like we had [in Brazil] I am not looking at the driver, I am looking at why the car keeps locking the front tyres in conditions like this. I don’t think pressure was a significant factor at all.

“Mathematically we are still in the [drivers’] championship, but I think for Lando and for Oscar, we will go to the next races trying to win the races.

“The last two venues should be quite good. Vegas will be potentially more of a Ferrari track, and then we will see. It is all to play for, and the constructors’ championship remains and has always been our priority.”

Norris himself has always played down thoughts of the title, thinking it was ultimately a long shot to come from so far back.

Asked how hard the Brazil result was to digest now that the title dream was all but over, he said: “Quite easy. I did all I could today. That’s all. Max won the race. Good on him. Well done, but it doesn’t change anything for me.”

While Norris lost ground in the drivers’ championship in Brazil, McLaren managed to extend its constructors’ advantage over Ferrari by seven points to 36 points – which makes it increasingly likely that the battle will go all the way to the final round in Abu Dhabi.

Watch: How the Right Calls Led to Verstappen’s Incredible Comeback — F1 Brazil GP Race Reaction



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Alonso reveals back pain and brake “nightmare” that he would not let beat him


Fernando Alonso has opened up on the back pain, emotions and mystery brake problems that he battled to drag his Aston Martin to the finish in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard had been struggling throughout last weekend with the new bumpy Interlagos surface, but matters reached a peak in the race as the repeated impacts were felt in his spine.

But despite the pain, a far from competitive car that had been repaired after his qualifying crash, plus brake issues that kept trying to pitch him off the track, he said there was no way he was going to simply give up.

During the race, Alonso came on the team radio to tell his team why he did not want to retire the car.

“I will finish the race for the mechanics,” he said. “They did a very good job today. But my back is hurting, man. This bouncing is not normal.”

After being consoled and hugged by a mechanic as he gingerly got out of his car after the race, Alonso explained that his situation had been getting worse and worse – but at no point was he ready to retire.

“There was a lot of bouncing, a lot of porpoising in the second half of the race,” he said. “I don’t know why, but it was a tough race. We were out of the points.

“I think in any other circumstances, probably I would have stopped. But the mechanics did an incredible job before the race to put the car ready on the grid, so I had to finish it for them.”

Alonso said he had been aware before of the challenges his back would face in the race and that was on top of the other issue of an intestinal infection that had prompted a trip back to Europe after Mexico and his late arrival in Brazil.

“It was painful, for sure. The lead-up to this race, it was a lot of preparation from my side, a lot of checks, a lot of work, a lot of physio and doctors in order to come here in Brazil,” he said.

“So it was a lot of effort from everybody: the same effort as the mechanics put in today.

“It was not comfortable in the car. But there are people worse than me, also in Valencia, we have these terrible images and people struggling. So I had to struggle a couple of laps for everybody.”

Brake issue

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

As well as battling the pain barrier, Alonso also had to overcome huge challenges in staying on track in the race – with his Aston Martin car suffering from brake problems.

In what appears to have been a repeat phenomenon to what pitched Lance Stroll off on the formation lap, Alonso said the rears kept locking after the restarts.

“I think Lance had the brake problem in the formation lap, and I had the brake issue after all the restarts, where all the brake balance goes completely rearwards,” he said. “It was like braking with a hand brake.

“So all in all it was a nightmare out there. We need to get better for the next three.”

Stroll, who compounded his formation lap spin into the barrier at Turn 4 by getting beached in a gravel trap that he tried to get across at low speed, said there was no immediate explanation for the brake issue.

“Yeah strange,” he said. “As soon as I touched the brakes, I just had a huge rear lock, and then I was a passenger from there.

“I never felt that in the car [before]. So maybe there was a brake failure problem. We have to look into it.”

The brake issue across both cars could be a consequence of the team’s brake mapping for wet restarts, aimed at warming the rear tyres by shifting the balance backwards, not resetting.



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Seven things we learned from the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix


We were due a mad one, weren’t we? There’s usually at least one Formula 1 race per year which goes off-script, usually thanks to a few lashings of rain, and Brazil gave us this year’s instalment of a break with the usual competitive order.

Despite the trials and tribulations of qualifying — held on Sunday morning thanks to the Saturday downpour — Max Verstappen transcended the conditions to eclipse his own 2016 triumph at Interlagos with a drive that has given him the match point and the advantage in this year’s title fight.

PLUS: The 10 unseen factors critical to Verstappen’s Brazil F1 rise

The rain also gives the lesser lights a chance to shine, and the likes of Alpine and Yuki Tsunoda produced assured drives in Brazil — albeit with varying degrees of pay-off. Let’s delve into what we learned at this year’s Brazilian race.

1. Verstappen pulls out one of his — and F1’s — greatest drives to dispel recent furore

Verstappen was in a league of one as he rose from 17th to victory

Verstappen was in a league of one as he rose from 17th to victory

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Simply lovely. Verstappen’s trademark (literally and figuratively) phrase perfectly encapsulated his Sunday afternoon endeavours in the rain, which concluded with a victory that enters the pantheon of great wet-weather drives.

There’s Ayrton Senna at Donington 1993, Damon Hill at Suzuka ’94, Michael Schumacher at Barcelona ’96, Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone 2008, Verstappen’s earlier Brazil entry in ’16 — now, Brazil 2024 must be included among them. Does it surpass them all? That’s up to you, dear reader — it’s entirely subjective.

Personal opinion, but the continued pre-weekend debate about Verstappen’s Mexico actions was getting tiring. He’d got his penalties and responded defiantly to the questioning on Thursday, but sometimes it’s better (albeit in a desperately cliched phrase) to ‘do the talking on-track’. That’s where a wet Brazil race washed away the sour taste of the previous weeks.

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Verstappen was incensed by the situation he was placed in during qualifying. He’s right in that it took an exceedingly long time for race control to show the red flag after Lance Stroll’s Q2 shunt at Curva do Sol, although it was only to the detriment of a position or two; the five-place penalty for an engine change dangled precariously over the Dutchman’s head like the sword of Damocles. And, after the frustration of an aborted (not abandoned) start and the glacially slow formation laps, Verstappen was charged up and ready to pounce.

He reeled off the moves on the first lap, earning Christian Horner’s subsequent comparison with Senna’s opening gambit at Donington over 31 years ago. The Turn 1 moves on Hamilton, Pierre Gasly, and Oscar Piastri were also excellently judged; he had a perfect feel of his Red Bull’s adhesion on the intermediate tyres, and a post-restart move on leader Esteban Ocon put the inevitable beyond all doubt. This was Verstappen at his very best and, in the context of the title fight, it was a significant victory against Norris.

2. Norris’ title chances are all but over

Norris needs a huge turnaround in the points standings to become champion

Norris needs a huge turnaround in the points standings to become champion

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Verstappen now has a 62-point advantage in the drivers’ championship over Norris. Furthermore, he simply needs to retain a 60-point advantage by the close of the Las Vegas weekend to sew up his fourth title on the spin. Outscoring Norris in Vegas will do the job adequately, without the need for various permutations going forward (and to save a title being decided in the Qatar sprint race).

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Norris’ outside chance at a title perhaps looked a little more solid when the grid lined up at Interlagos — the McLaren driver had, after all, sat on pole; Verstappen was mired in 17th. A decisive swing in the title action looked possible, and indeed one came to pass, but in the other direction to the earlier run of play. Norris sunk to sixth, Verstappen won by 19.5s, and there’s several factors involved here.

Firstly, Norris encountered an old enemy: the start. We’ll get onto the aborted one in a bit, but the ‘proper’ start was defined by the McLaren driver’s poorer getaway versus that of George Russell, who vaulted into the lead.

Subsequently, the key turning point emerged when the rain had worsened, and the virtual safety car was called for Nico Hulkenberg’s beached Haas. Norris and leader Russell received the call to pit for new inters, calls timed just as the VSC was ending. They emerged behind the Ocon/Verstappen/Gasly pack, although there was enough time for Norris to finally pass Russell before Franco Colapinto produced a red flag.

On the restart post-red flag, Norris went off at Descida do Lago and let Russell scamper past again. Carlos Sainz’s shunt injected the safety car back into the race and, on the restart here, Norris again overcooked it at Turn 1 for Charles Leclerc and Piastri to steal past.

Piastri gave up the place to help Norris, but the damage was already done; some can be attributed to tyre-change luck but, equally, Norris simply made too many mistakes on the day.

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3. Alpine only needed one race for a P6 swoop

A disastrous season got a whole lot sweeter for Alpine with a double podium

A disastrous season got a whole lot sweeter for Alpine with a double podium

Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images

A week ago, Alpine was celebrating the point that Pierre Gasly had scored in Mexico to bring the beleaguered French outfit to three points of Williams. The British team was holding onto eighth in the constructors and hoping for a big pay-day in, say, a wet or wild affair that could help it keep tabs with Haas and RB.

Instead, James Vowles’ squad took a seven-figure sum out of its yearly budget for accident damage; Alex Albon’s car was too heavily damaged in qualifying to continue with the weekend, while Colapinto’s chassis was repaired for the start after his own Q1 prang.

Colapinto then added more work for the mechanics when he crashed at Turn 14 on the 32nd lap, producing the red flag and ensuring Williams was not going to get points. This was a prime opportunity for Alpine to leapfrog it in the constructors’ championship.

And yet, there was more — Haas and RB perhaps did not expect to be collateral damage in Alpine’s day of days, but finishing second and third (plus Gasly’s seventh in the sprint) yielded a 35-point haul that hurled it above the two teams battling over sixth in the constructors’ championship.

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RB at least lessened the damage through Yuki Tsunoda’ seventh-place and Liam Lawson’s ninth-place finishes, but it nonetheless sets up a three-way scrap between the teams all looking for the extra winnings that come with better championship placings.

It was also the result that Alpine needed after a dismal year, another one defined by driver clashes, managerial upheaval, and the added uncertainty over the Renault powertrain project for 2026. The battle for sixth is not won, however; Alpine has 49 points, Haas has 46, and RB is on 44. It’s a closely contested and lucrative battle, as there’s around $20 million difference between sixth and eighth…

4. FIA’s rulebook forgotten as stranded Stroll sets up start shenanigans

A shambolic opening to the race eventually saw Norris and Russell fined

A shambolic opening to the race eventually saw Norris and Russell fined

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Chaos is often known to transform F1’s biggest brains into melted camembert, and keeping one’s own grey matter cool — and not let it degenerate into an oozing mess — can often be the decisive factor between victory and defeat. When Lance Stroll attempted to recover from a languid off at the Descida do Lago by driving straight into a gravel trap, the subsequent events descended into farcical scenes on the grid.

The race director called for an aborted start, rather than an abandoned one. Both Norris and Russell went around again; confused, the other drivers on the grid tentatively followed the leaders around again — even though the protocol is to remain on the grid and shut the engine off.

Moderately confusing nomenclature aside, the clue should have been in the flashing amber lights. That Norris and Russell escaped with financial penalties rather than sporting ones can be considered lucky; Lawson, Ocon and Tsunoda were let off the hook as they’d just copied the front row occupants.

Russell was in further strife, as Mercedes changed the pressures of his and Lewis Hamilton’s intermediate tyres while still on the car when the aborted start was properly aborted. Per the sporting regulations, the tyres need to be off the car for pressures to be adjusted, but Mercedes got away with a €5000 fine for each car owing to the time constraints — particularly as the access gate to the grid was not opened in a timely manner.

F1’s rules are complicated and arguably arcane in places, but each team employs people to know them inside-out. «All sorts of procedures have been breached here, Max,» Gianpiero Lambiase told his driver — demonstrating a) that ‘GP’ was very aware of the situation, and b) why he’s one of the people to be promoted to replace the out-going Jonathan Wheatley.

5. Hulkenberg produced F1’s first black flag in 17 years

Hulkenberg's return to action after a push by marshals earned him an early finish

Hulkenberg’s return to action after a push by marshals earned him an early finish

Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images

Nico Hulkenberg has past grievances with the apron of run-off at Interlagos’ opening corner. It was here that, after a clash with Lewis Hamilton in 2012, his best chance of an F1 win went begging. And 12 years later, the German found himself in a bizarre position where he was perched upon a slight lip in the run-off; the Haas’ rear wheels were off the ground as the skidblock sat on the asphalt.

The marshals gave the German a push to ensure he could free himself, but relying on outside assistance to get the car back on track is a bookable offence. Indeed, Hulkenberg got shown the black flag — the signal of an instant disqualification — while the cars were parked up in the pitlane during the Colapinto-induced red flag period. The Haas driver would not be allowed to resume.

A waved black flag is a rare sighting, and its most recent fluttering emerged 17 years ago at the Canadian Grand Prix. In that race, following Adrian Sutil’s crash at Turn 4, the pitlane was closed for the safety car and later re-opened, but it took time for the red light at the end of it to turn green. Both Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa defied the red light and took to the circuit anyway, both earning disqualifications on the spot.

«[The marshals] came out, they pushed me off and they were really happy with themselves,» Hulkenberg said. «They were partying and pushing me on and saying, ‘come on, go, let’s go, this race isn’t finished’. In that moment, you don’t really think and you don’t care, to be honest as well. You just continue and you deal with the consequences later.»

6. RB isn’t changing its name, but it’s changing its name

Pick a name, any name - RB will be Racing Bulls next year

Pick a name, any name — RB will be Racing Bulls next year

Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images

When Minardi was sold to Red Bull GmbH, it became Scuderia Toro Rosso and the name stuck for almost 15 years. A simple translation of Red Bull into Italian, it was a cool name and showed the lengths that the energy drink giant’s higher-ups went to in keeping the team’s heritage and Italian identity alive.

It was rebranded for 2020 to AlphaTauri, as Red Bull wanted to market its own clothing range to the wider world. Although it was a slightly more cynical name change driven by marketing over prestige, there were at least examples of fashion houses renaming F1 teams; Benetton took over the Toleman squad in the 1980s, for example, although we’ll spare the story of Andrea Moda’s purchase of Coloni here…

PLUS: The salvation story behind Benetton’s emergence as an F1 team

After four seasons, the name changed again. Wishing to sell its identity to the highest bidder, AlphaTauri became RB: these were two letters that could be appended onto any title sponsors to retain some degree of consistency (although the team preferred VCARB as the official acronym for Visa CashApp RB). Perhaps it’s realised that, if its title sponsors absconded, VCARB might not work long-term…

When the team revealed its new identity, it was keen to point out that RB definitely did not stand for Racing Bulls. Even though the holding company is «‘Racing Bulls S.p.A», RB was just a couple of letters that defined a through-line for each future naming deal.

It has backtracked now. After much soul-searching, and one imagines Peter Bayer and Laurent Mekies wistfully skipping rocks upon a still, sunset-lit pond here, RB DOES stand for Racing Bulls. From next year, you’ll see the Racing Bulls branding become a bit more prominent — even if it does sound like a little bit of a Pro Evolution Soccer rendition of the lead Red Bull team’s name.

But allow me to ask this: what was wrong with Toro Rosso?

7. Rain remains the great leveller — unless you’re a superstar or a rookie

Haas stand-in Bearman had a number of offs, but wasn't immune

Haas stand-in Bearman had a number of offs, but wasn’t immune

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Wet weather has long been considered to be the ultimate test of a Formula 1 driver. The performance disparities between the cars largely subsides; there are still key differences, sure, and outright downforce is one of them. But the engineers can mitigate that to a degree with set-up and wing levels, and then it’s up to the driver to switch on the range of wet-weather tyres and drive to the limit.

Of course, Verstappen was a cut above. Ocon and Gasly were also hugely impressive; although Gasly’s sole F1 win didn’t come in wet conditions, it did occur in weird circumstances. Both are a dab hand when the going gets tough.

But it also shows the disparity between the experienced runners and those new to the game. Liam Lawson is the exception here; he was thrown into wet-weather running on his Zandvoort debut last year, so he’s got knowledge of what it takes to hustle an F1 car around a wet track. For Franco Colapinto and an unwell Kevin Magnussen’s replacement Ollie Bearman, however, it was a much more difficult afternoon.

Colapinto dropped his car in Q1, and then produced the red flag in the race for his Turn 14 crash after recently stopping for new tyres. For his part, Bearman was involved in an early prang with Colapinto and then had to extricate his car from the barrier on the exit of Ferradura after sliding wide.

The two have built up enough good will to be largely excused in their impressive performances this year, particularly as more experienced drivers (Sainz and Stroll among them) endured their own slip-and-slide moments throughout the weekend.

Colapinto crashed in qualifying and did so again during the race to bring out red flags

Colapinto crashed in qualifying and did so again during the race to bring out red flags

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images



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