Метка: Red Bull Racing

How “a commitment to disruption” has bonded Red Bull and Castore

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Max Verstappen. Ben Stokes. Andy Murray. Adam Peaty. The all-conquering 2023/24 Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen. Just some of the top names who adorn sportswear produced by Castore – a company born on Merseyside in 2015.

The brothers behind the label, Tom and Phil Beahon took jobs in finance to fund their project, learning as they went by conducting market research while planning to take on the established order of athletic clothing manufacturers.

Earlier this year, Castore struck the largest apparel partnership in Formula 1 history as it extended its agreement with reigning champions Red Bull for a deal reported to be worth more than $200million, while also holding a similar position with rivals McLaren.

“I love the saying: ‘You don’t have to be a Harvard student. You’ve just got to have the balls to do it’ and it is so true. That audacity, that big vision,” Tom tells Autosport.

“People, in my experience, whether you’re meeting Christian Horner, whether you’re meeting the CEO of England Cricket, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet Prime Ministers.

“People respect ambition. If you’re passionate and you’re ambitious, people buy into that.

“It was my dream to see elite athletes wearing Castore in competition. But it’s all built around performance and our story about hard work and taking a risk and trying to compete with the big boys is undoubtedly part of Castore’s DNA of ‘better never stops’.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Tom, who previously played football in the youth set-up at Tranmere Rovers, likens Castore’s arrival on the scene to that of Red Bull itself. The upstarts entered the F1 paddock looking to shake things up and to do things differently – and in that it certainly succeeded.

“You’re looking for partners that share your values and that means different things to different people,” he added.

“So of course, with someone like Red Bull Racing, the fact that they’ve had the success that they’ve had – that is unbelievable. We didn’t do the partnership with the guys expecting that to happen, the fact that it has, is an amazing bonus.

“But what you’re looking at is the ambition, the commitment to innovation, the commitment to disruption, that is what makes the partnership a success. How that plays out on track or on the pitch, you’re never going to predict perfectly.

“Logically, what Red Bull did right at the beginning shouldn’t have been achievable, because there’s all of these big, established status quo people that on paper have got all of these advantages; whether it’s in infrastructure or experience or whatever else.

“What Dietrich Mateschitz [Red Bull founder] said was, ‘We’re going to mix up the status quo, we’re going to do it differently and why can’t we win?’ It was a very similar mindset to the one we had, which was — everything on paper says that Castore shouldn’t be able to challenge Nike and Adidas. But we believe that we can and we’re going to think differently.

Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates14th November 2010.Adrian Newey, Chief Technical Officer, Red Bull Racing, and Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing, and Dietrich Mateschitz, CEO Red Bull, celebrate victory. Portrait. World Charles Coates/LAT Photographic ref: Digital Image DX5J5597

Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates14th November 2010.Adrian Newey, Chief Technical Officer, Red Bull Racing, and Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing, and Dietrich Mateschitz, CEO Red Bull, celebrate victory. Portrait. World Charles Coates/LAT Photographic ref: Digital Image DX5J5597

“We’re not going to copy and paste what they do; we are going to try and disrupt and innovate and be creative. If you’ve got that mindset and you refuse to give up and you’re super passionate, you can achieve some pretty exciting things.”

Such an outlook has also held the Beahon brothers in good stead during the inevitable bad times that come with starting a business.

At the start of 2024, a deal with Aston Villa was cut short after players from both the men’s and women’s teams complained about the Castore-designed kit, while rumours suggest the Leverkusen contract will end prematurely at the culmination of the current football season.

With former tennis ace Murray and the Issa brothers among its shareholders, Castore reported a pre-tax loss of almost £29m for the year ending February 2024, despite sales improving.

“There’s going to be mistakes, there’s going to be setbacks,” Tom adds. «That’s part of the journey. Embrace it.

“We’ll go further by having that mindset than we ever will by trying to copy someone else or being cautious.

“The two things, more than anything else, that you need are passion, because it’s going to be so hard, there’ll be so many setbacks and challenges.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“The only thing that keeps you going throughout all of those hardships — factories refuse to work with you because you’re not big enough, banks don’t want to lend you any money… The only thing that keeps you going is passion.

“That is the number one characteristic that you need to be successful. Then the second one is resilience.

“You have to have this ability to keep working hard, to keep going, to have that resilience, no matter how difficult it gets.

“They are always the two big things that I cite, but the third one, and again, I genuinely do believe there’s a lot of parallels with Red Bull Racing in this — you have to dream big, you have to be audacious. You have to believe when no one else believes.”

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Verstappen relieved by vital Brazilian GP win that puts F1 title in reach

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Max Verstappen breathed a huge sigh of relief after his spectacular victory in the rain-hit Brazilian Grand Prix saw him close in on the 2024 Formula 1 world drivers’ title.

While his nearest championship rival Lando Norris faltered, finishing sixth after starting from pole, Verstappen held his nerve with a flawless performance in the wet.

The reigning world champion served up an incredible 17 fastest laps as he powered his way up from 17th on the grid to glory.

Having barely put a wheel wrong, his opponents slid off track and duffed the barriers, making it arguably Verstappen’s most impressive performance in the wet. His victory, plus the bonus point for setting the fastest lap, means he increased his lead on Norris to 62 points.

The Red Bull driver can win his fourth straight title next time out in the Las Vegas Grand Prix, as this year’s drivers’ championship battle fizzled out on lap 43 in Brazil. As Verstappen passed Esteban Ocon for the lead, Norris went wide into Turn 1 and required a positional swap with team-mate Oscar Piastri to retake sixth.

Verstappen’s first grand prix win since the Spanish GP on 23 June all-but kills off Norris’ slim chance of snatching his maiden title.

The Dutchman said: “This was, of course looking at it now, incredibly important, because in a way I was expecting to lose points. From now, I just want clean races to the end [of the season].

“I am not thinking about clinching the championship in Vegas or whatever. I just want clean races. That was important. I wanted to win a bit sooner but it’s been tough for us.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“We always kept pushing. We didn’t really understand why the others were so fast in the race.

“I’ve been trying a lot of things to improve the car. Starting P17 this morning didn’t look like we’re going to win the race again. So, it’s an incredible result for us.

“A massive boost for the team because honestly it’s been tough. But it is also a big strength of the team to stay calm and just try to work on performance and try to improve our situation.

“I’m confident for the last three races, that we can fight again and, especially in the race, that we will be more competitive.”

Verstappen admitted he wanted to “destroy” the team’s garage after an ill-timed red flag in qualifying, coupled with a five-place engine penalty, meant that he would start the race in 17th.

Speaking about his impressive recovery drive, he added: “My emotions went from wanting to destroy the garage to winning the race.

“We had a good start that helped. We had a good first lap and from there on, we just picked off a few drivers here and there.

“I got a little bit stuck behind the train of [RB’s] Yuki [Tusnoda] and then we just stayed calm. It was a very long race and we made the right calls. When some pitted and the rain was coming, we stayed out, which was very sketchy.

Race winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Race winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“I was like, ‘I’m just happy to keep the car on the track’. At one point it was just red [flag conditions]. We needed a red flag.

“It was just undriveable; even on extreme tyres it would have not been possible. It almost felt like I was driving a boat or a jet ski!”

Verstappen’s smile — and the swagger — has clearly returned after he felt hard done by with penalties and subsequent criticism following his performances in Austin and Mexico, where he clashed with Norris. This followed being in the spotlight for swearing during a live press conference in Singapore and getting a community service punishment.

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Verstappen had earlier claimed that he “has the wrong passport» for the F1 paddock, inferring there is a British bias, so he stopped the press conference to hit back, saying: “I have a quick question here. I appreciate all of you being here, but I don’t see any British press. They have to run to the airport or anything?

“They don’t know where the press conference is? You know, that’s a fair question. That’s a fair question.”



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Verstappen takes engine penalty for Sunday’s Brazilian GP

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Max Verstappen will take a five-place grid penalty for an engine change for Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix, as he moves onto his sixth internal combustion engine of the 2024 Formula 1 season.

The championship leader had already taken a new ICE beyond the allowable limit of four at July’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, this being the third successive year that Red Bull had chosen to take the hit at that circuit.

Following a series of power unit issues in Mexico’s Friday sessions, as an air leak kept Verstappen confined to the garage during the final part of FP1 and the majority of FP2, Red Bull has chosen to take another engine from outside its pool.

This means that Verstappen will lose five places from wherever he qualifies for Sunday’s grand prix, although his sprint race qualifying result will be unaffected.

Verstappen will also use a new exhaust system, his eighth of the season, which takes him to the maximum permitted to last the campaign.

The Dutchman has been in an increasingly precarious situation with his engine allowance for much of the season, as a problem with one unit in practice for the Canadian Grand Prix in June led to a lengthy inspection — leading to a fourth ICE being used as early as Spain.

This led to Red Bull taking a new Honda powerplant at Spa, but Verstappen has now lost another from his pool as a result of the issues in Mexico.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko told Austrian broadcaster ORF that the engine eventually used at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez «was no longer intended for the race, and the older an engine gets, the more its performance diminishes.»

He added that the Red Bull was giving up approximately «three to eight km/h on the straights» thanks to the reduction in horsepower.

Asked on Thursday if Brazil was one of the less compromising races to take a power unit penalty, Verstappen responded that it was not a certainty that he could recover ground lost to a penalty.

«That is something that is always unknown. You think that one particular track is the best place to take an engine or whatever penalty, but it’s never guaranteed. But yeah, it’s a possibility.»



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I have the wrong passport for the F1 paddock

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Max Verstappen says he «has the wrong passport» for the Formula 1 paddock amid fierce criticism over his driving tactics in last week’s Mexico Grand Prix.

In Mexico City, Verstappen was handed a double 10-second penalty for two incidents in which he forced McLaren title rival Lando Norris off the track, which caused unease from various colleagues over his aggressive driving style in the title run-in.

Verstappen particularly copped heavy criticism from British pundits, with 1996 F1 world champion and Sky analyst Damon Hill wondering if the three-time champion is even capable of racing fairly.

Meanwhile, Johnny Herbert, who was the FIA driver steward in Mexico, suggested Verstappen drove Norris off on purpose exiting Turn 7 to ensure Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc would make it past, hindering Norris’ title bid by reducing the number of points left on the table for the Briton.

Verstappen initially shrugged off Hill’s comments in the Brazilian Grand Prix’s FIA press conference, but speaking later on to Dutch-language journalists, he was amused by how he seemed to have the wrong nationality to be treated fairly by the media and the stewards.

«I know what most people are like, it’s nothing new,» he said. «Last year was perfect, so it must have hurt a lot for many people that they couldn’t say anything negative.

«Now they’ve got the chance to say something, so they’re all coming out of the woodwork. At the end of the day, I’ve got the wrong passport for this paddock.»

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Verstappen called Herbert’s theory «a pretty extreme accusation» and insisted he didn’t drive Norris off on purpose in Turn 7.

«I didn’t do anything on purpose. They can’t look inside my head,» he said. «It’s a pretty extreme accusation. We just raced hard.»

While questioning the size of the penalty for his Turn 4 incident with Norris, Verstappen did acknowledge the second 10-second penalty for his Turn 7 manoeuvre was fair. But he didn’t feel there was any reason to race differently from now on.

«You win some, you lose some,» he said about the outcome of his Turn 7 lunge. «It depends. Every situation is different and in hindsight, it’s always easy to have another look at it.

«It happened, we just have to make sure we have a more competitive car so we don’t end up in that situation again, because that’s where it starts.»

What is also behind Verstappen’s suggestion of bias is his community service penalty for swearing in Baku’s press conference, while Leclerc hasn’t been slapped on the wrists yet for a similar offence in Mexico.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images

«[Herbert] had big opinions about what I said in the press conference [in Baku], but I didn’t hear him after the press conference in Mexico.

«Actually, what [Leclerc] said is worse than what I said in its context, and it was a much more important press conference with more people watching. But you know, I’m not going to spend time on that. It is what it is.»

Autosport understands the FIA is still considering whether or not Leclerc’s swearing in Mexico’s post-race press conference needs to be investigated further, with a call expected over the Brazilian GP weekend.

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Horner outlines Red Bull’s «biggest challenge» in Brazil after Mexico pain

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has insisted the «biggest challenge» for Formula 1’s reigning constructors’ champions at the upcoming Brazilian Grand Prix weekend will be to match McLaren’s end-of-stint pace.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have consistently outperformed rivals as tyre stints go on in races in recent months, often hanging back and preserving their tyres before going on the attack late in the race.

That again became prevalent as Norris chased down Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari for second in Mexico last weekend, clinching a result that helped slash Max Verstappen’s lead in the drivers’ title race.

The Dutchman complained about his tyres across both the medium and hard stints, with a lack of grip cited for his inability to recover to the top five after a pair of 10-second penalties.

When suggested to him that the race pace was again lacking compared to the one-lap qualifying effort that saw Verstappen take second on the grid, Horner replied: “I think that is the biggest thing that we need to take away from here.

«More so on the hard tyre, we just didn’t have the same pace. Max had no grip, we didn’t feel we could switch the tyres on. So that’s the biggest challenge in the next four days, to understand what caused that.

“Obviously, Brazil is a very different challenge to this circuit, but it’s a pattern that particularly at the end of stints, you see the McLaren is very strong – particularly at the end of grands prix.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz’s victory and Leclerc’s third place to follow up on the 1-2 finish in Austin, as well as Sergio Perez’s poor form, means that Red Bull has been leapfrogged by the Scuderia into second in the constructors’ standings.

Asked how he saw the battle for the team’s title shaping up, Horner conceded: “I think it will be very difficult. We never give up. We’ll fight very hard. We need both cars, obviously, scoring.

“Ferrari had another big score here and as far as the constructors’ is concerned, we’re certainly on the back foot.”

Additional reporting by Erwin Jaeggi and Stuart Coddling



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Why Mexico GP believes it has bright future with or without Perez

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Organisers of Formula 1’s Mexico Grand Prix are bullish that their sold-out event will remain successful regardless of Sergio Perez’s F1 future, and are working on a new deal.

Perez signed a two-year contract extension earlier this year, but his continued difficulties in performing at a consistently high level have Red Bull constantly monitoring the situation for 2025 and beyond, bringing in reserve driver Liam Lawson at its satellite RB team as a potential future replacement.

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Boosted by Perez’s presence, the Mexico Grand Prix made a successful return on the calendar in 2015, with the event selling out for nine straight editions thus far. It is currently in talks with F1 to extend its current deal, which runs out after next year’s race.

And while promoter CIE is naturally Perez’s biggest supporter as he brings in local fans and ensures a pulsating atmosphere to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the grand prix’s director Alejandro Soberon has said the event is well equipped to thrive regardless of having a local driver or not.

«What I can tell you is that the Formula 1 fandom in Mexico is very strong in general, and obviously Checo is a great enhancement for this. But Mexicans are having Formula 1 very, very close in their heart,» Soberon said when asked by Autosport about the event’s future whenever the 34-year-old ends up calling time on his F1 career.

«We have a much better show on the track today than what we had five years ago, so I think competition and quality of the spectacle is going to be enough to sustain the interest in the crowd. As the promoter of the race, we are very excited, trying to figure out a way to extend our contract, regardless of Checo.

«Everybody, of course, would love to have a local driver, because it’s always better to have it. But there are very few races that have a local driver, and this year F1 in general has enjoyed sold-out crowds everywhere, and that’s a reflection of the competition and the quality of the show that we’ve seen on the track.»

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

The race’s general director Federico Gonzalez added that the make-up of the race’s 400,000-strong crowd had changed over the years and had raised a new generation of race fans that enjoy the series in general, partly driven by the Netflix series Drive to Survive.

«I think that the audience has changed a lot, it’s not the same audience as in 2015,» Gonzalez remarked. «A lot of things happened, like more competition on the track, Drive to Survive… and the work that we have been doing for these many years has changed the audience also. We have educated a new generation of race fans. Of course, we cheer for Checo, but also for the spectacle, for the race itself.»

The Mexican promoters have adhered to a conscious marketing strategy of targeting local, national and international fans, aiming for an even three-way split between them. That ensures the race connects with the Mexican capital and its citizens, while also aligning with the government’s wider tourism objectives.

Last year the tourism ministry reported that around 232,000 people travelled to Mexico City for the event from the rest of Mexico and overseas, with an estimated economic benefit of $175 million USD.

«Part of the strategy is to try and achieve a split of 33% international, 33% local Mexico City and 33% national Mexico ticket sales,» Gonzalez said. «That ensures a healthier grand prix in terms of attendance and that is going to give us the peace, hopefully, that even if we don’t have Checo, we can continue being sold out.»

Fans

Fans

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Soberon added: «We have one more year, and we already started conversations with Formula 1, with the city and with government officials to form the right coalition to make this happen and get an extension. We’re fairly optimistic that we’re going to have a race for many, many years.»

He pointed out that the 2024 edition of the race sold out in just two hours, despite ticket sales opening soon after Perez’s calamitous lap 1 crash during the 2023 edition, showing how strong the local support is for the lively event itself.

«It was a major blow for everybody, there was a sensation of a funeral,» he said. «The fans couldn’t watch him even for one lap. We decided to go on sale for this race 15 days after that, and there were a lot of people questioning if we needed to give people more time to forget about what happened. And we sold out in two hours for this year’s race.

«We have seen better times for Checo, he has made the Mexican fans very, very happy for many years. But I’m an optimistic guy, I think he could still give us some more.»



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FIA stewards reject McLaren’s Right of Review petition over Norris’s Austin penalty

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McLaren has had its request for a Right of Review into Lando Norris’ Austin penalty rejected by the FIA stewards for last weekend’s Formula 1 race in Austin.

McLaren had argued that the stewards made an incorrect statement – and overall call – in handing Norris a penalty in Document 69 (from the FIA timing system) of the Austin weekend.

It was this that the Woking team submitted as a “significant and relevant new element that was unavailable to McLaren at the time the stewards took their decision” to penalise Norris.

McLaren tried to argue that Norris had successfully got ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the scrap at Turn 12 late in the United States Grand Prix and so became a defending car and not an attacker when Verstappen shot back to reach the apex of the corner ahead before they both ran wide and Norris overtook in the wide run-off area.

In order for the Right of Review procedure to get to its second stage, which here would have been a new case assessing if Norris’s penalty would be rescinded, all teams initiating this process must prove to the stewards what they are arguing as new evidence is ‘significant’, ‘relevant’, ‘new’ and ‘unavailable at the time of the decision’.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

The hearing in the Mexican GP paddock – with the Austin stewards joining via video – lasted just 25 minutes, as McLaren team boss Andrea Stella and team manager Randeep Singh made their case.

Red Bull representatives, which included sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, FIA officials including head of single seater matters Nikolas Tombazis were also present – with Wheatley outlining Red Bull’s arguments in the case.

Singh argued that McLaren believed ‘Document 69’ was a significant and relevant new element because “The document for the decision contained a statement that was incorrect and that [therefore] evidenced an objective, measurable and provable error had been made by the stewards” – per the FIA document announcing the Right of Review had been rejected.

McLaren said “that the statement [in ‘Document 69’] was that “Car 4 was overtaking Car 1 on the outside but was not level with Car 1 at the apex” and that “the above statement was in error because McLaren had evidence that Car 4 had already overtaken and was ahead of Car 1 “at the braking zone”.

Stella argued that “the case for McLaren was a ‘legally sophisticated explanation’ and urged the stewards to recognize that this was a substantive case especially compared to previous Right of Review cases”.

Wheatley said Red Bull felt none of the four Right of Review criteria had been met in this case and said, also per the relevant FIA document, that “in view of the “very high bar” that is set (in Article 14 of the FIA International Sporting Code) for a successful petitioning of a Right of Review, it is “extremely onerous” to establish the existence of the new element”.

McLaren, however, believed its evidence presented met the high bar required and also “stated that he felt there needed to be another way to correct decisions taken in a race”.

Having adjourned the hearing, the Austin stewards decided to only focus on one of the Right of Review elements – relevance – and declared that “the concept that the written Decision (Document 69) was the significant and relevant new element, or that an error in the decision was a new element, is not sustainable and is therefore rejected”.

The Austin stewards also explained that “McLaren appears to submit that the Stewards finding that “Car 4 was not level with Car 1 at the apex” was an error and that Car 4 had overtaken Car 1 before the apex (and therefore that Car 1 was the overtaking car) and that this asserted error is itself, a new element.

The statement continued: “This is unsustainable. A petition for review is made in order to correct an error (of fact or law) in a decision. Any new element must demonstrate that error.

“The error that must be shown to exist, cannot itself be the element referred to in Article 14 (of the ISC).”

At the end of their petition rejection document, the Austin stewards also commented on the “high bar” element of the Right of Review rule in the ISC.

They determined to draw the FIA’s attention to how “The current ‘high bar’ that exists in Article 14 and the fact that it appears to have been designed more for decisions that are taken as a result of a hearing where all parties are present, rather than in the pressurised environment of a race session, when decisions are taken, (as is allowed under the International Sporting Code), without all parties being present.”

This is an element of how Norris’s penalty was applied in Austin – without hearing his or Verstappen’s point of view – that had frustrated McLaren last weekend.

Following the decision, McLaren issued a statement which read: «We acknowledge the Stewards’ decision to reject our petition requesting a Right of Review.

«We disagree with the interpretation that an FIA document, which makes a competitor aware of an objective, measurable and provable error in the decision made by the stewards, cannot be an admissible “element” which meets all four criteria set by the ISC, as specified in Article 14.3.

«We would like to thank the FIA and the stewards for having considered this case in a timely manner.

«We will continue to work closely with the FIA to further understand how teams can constructively challenge decisions that lead to an incorrect classification of the race.»



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McLaren instigates right of review over Norris’s US GP penalty racing Verstappen

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McLaren has instigated a right of review request into Lando Norris’s penalty in Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix – the first step in trying to get the sanction overturned.

Norris was hit with a five-second penalty for overtaking Red Bull’s Max Verstappen off the track as they duelled late in the race at Austin.

The right of review hearing will take place at 1430 Mexico City time on Friday, ahead of this weekend’s race in the Mexican capital, where McLaren will have to show the FIA that there was new, significant and relevant evidence that had not been available at the time of the decision.

Such rights are enshrined in the FIA’s International Sporting Code, where Article 14.1.1 states that if “a significant and relevant new element is discovered which was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned, the stewards who have given a ruling or, failing this, those designated by the FIA, may decide to re-examine their decision”.

Any of the parties involved in a stewards’ decision – plus the FIA – can instigate a right of review hearing, which in this case is what McLaren has done.

The Austin stewards will reconvene via video conference for the right of review hearing, which will take place in two parts – although the second will only go ahead if they determine there are grounds for the penalty decision to be reassessed.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

This right of review bears similarities to Mercedes’ attempt to get the FIA to examine if Verstappen broke F1’s racing rules when battling Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 Brazilian GP.

Mercedes argued that as the onboard camera from Verstappen’s car had been broadcasting backwards during the live event, with the forward-facing footage only available once the race had finished and been downloaded in parc ferme, the additional view of the incident created new, significant and relevant evidence that was not available when the stewards were making their original decision (in that case, not to even investigate Verstappen’s driving).

The same case occurred at Austin, with Verstappen’s live-car feed only broadcasting backwards.

However, it is not yet clear if this is the new evidence that McLaren intends to submit in its right of review hearing on Friday.

Mercedes’ 2021 request was denied because the stewards determined that although the footage was new evidence, it was not significant to make them consider continuing the review and examining whether a new decision to penalise Verstappen was needed.

If the stewards were to rescind Norris’s penalty in the second part of the right of review hearing, it would swap the results of the two 2024 title protagonists around in the Austin classification.

Pole man Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, celebrates in Parc Ferme

Pole man Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, celebrates in Parc Ferme

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Norris would be reinstated to the third place he took going around Verstappen’s outside when they were both in the runoff at Austin’s Turn 12 and held to the flag – a contentious move that the stewards’ determined needed punishing, rather than Verstappen’s defence.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella had originally said in the aftermath of the Austin race that “I don’t think new and relevant evidence exists”, when questioned on whether his squad would seek to initiate a right of review process.

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“Because the only evidence we have used so far to assess our interpretation, which is in disagreement with the stewards, is already available,” Stella continued.

“So, if you open up the right of review, I don’t think it will ever be successful because you don’t need new evidence, it is just a matter of interpretation.”



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What we learned from Red Bull and McLaren’s Austin F1 upgrades

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Red Bull’s renewed challenge at the front of the grid in Austin suggests the team has begun to better understand the issues that it faces in finding performance from the RB20 on a week-by-week basis.

However, there are other factors to consider, with its handle on the tyres when compared with the opposition a glaring difference at the United States Grand Prix.

Seemingly able to find and better hold onto the performance sweet spot that’s necessary for lap time and longevity over a stint was undoubtedly a factor throughout the race weekend and something which has been lacking throughout much of 2024, exacerbated by its struggles with car balance.

However, we cannot dismiss the fact that the RB20 was also furnished with a smattering of new parts, perhaps helping Red Bull unlock the balance it’s sorely been missing for several races.

This included a revised layout at the rear of the edge wing, with the rear quarter of its surface not only being reshaped but also cambered more than its predecessor. There’s also a change in the profile of the vertical tab at the rear of the edge wing, as it’s reconfigured along with the shape of the edge wing’s tail, which is now more upturned than before.

There were also changes to the sidepod and engine cover bodywork on the RB20 in Austin, with the rearward sloping surface steepened as the overall length of the sidepod has been shortened. This change coincides with the belt-line contouring also being adjusted to provide a better passage for the airflow to travel to the rear of the car.

McLaren was one of several teams to declare a raft of changes for the United States GP, as it looks to continue its ascent through the pecking order and provide a step up in performance for the MCL38 in the remaining five grands prix of the season.

McLaren MCL38 front wing comparison

McLaren MCL38 front wing comparison

Photo by: Uncredited

As has been the trend during this regulatory era, the front wing and front suspension fairings have been altered in tandem, such is their aerodynamic kinship. The alterations to the front wing were subtle though, as the team adjusted the size of the upper two flaps in the outboard section, with the uppermost now a more continuous height across the span of the element (green arrows and comparison with older specification inset)

This has also constituted changes to the suspension fairing’s shapes, with the geometry of the front leg of the lower wishbone altered. Also, the shape of the cricket bat-shaped outer portion of the front leg of the upper wishbone has been reconfigured, along with the shape of the inboard attachment fairing.

McLaren MCL38 beam wing comparison

McLaren MCL38 beam wing comparison

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Despite having announced the introduction of a new single-element beam wing arrangement to compliment its higher downforce rear wing configuration in the car presentation document, McLaren opted for another beam wing variant seemingly already in its pool.

The twin element, bi-plane style arrangement, was still a lower downforce version than the one used in Singapore and was likely chosen by the team as it was a known quantity, rather than pursuing an untested solution with just one practice session, especially as the team had so many other components to field test in just one session ahead of sprint qualifying.

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