Hello, This Week following the opening races one question quietly remains though it hasn’t dominated can anyone catch Red Bull on track and when will the off-track drama has died down, but it feels it’s not over. Ollie Bearman’s debut has been one of the talking points with his debut in Jeddah with praise from Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and others, but will that be the only highlight in 2024?
General News
F1 is set to stick with an eighteen-inch tyre size when the new technical regulations come into force in 2026 after a possible switch to sixteen-inches was rejected. The change in tyre size was being considered as part of efforts to reduce the overall weight of the cars
However, the change was opposed by Pirelli both for reasons of practicality and because of the potential marketing impact. F1 switched from thirteen to eighteen inches in 2022, mirroring the trend of the wider car industry, and a reduction is seen as a backwards step in terms of both the image of the sport and technology transfer.
While the outcome has not been announced officially, it was agreed to stick with 18-inch rims, but with a slightly different tyre size and shape. Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola told Motorsport.com, “We are close to the final version of the sizes. Obviously, when you design the wheel, you have to consider all the package, brakes, wheel, suspension, tyre, so I believe we are close to the final sizes.”
“We have to change because the new car is different, and in any case, we have to design a smaller tyre. The discussion is between sixteen and eighteen-inch tyres. And our preference is to stay on eighteen-inch tyres. And I believe that there are valid reasons to stay on eighteen-inch, with smaller tyres, but still the same rim.”
The weight is the big talking point going into 2026, as while we have a moderate success behind Red Bull the pack can follow more closely. I think a lower weight in theory should allow cars to follow closely on track.
Red Bull
Red Bull says it will not force Max Verstappen to stay if the triple world champion decides he wants to leave. The Dutchman is contracted to the team until 2028, however, the turmoil within the team, which is about fractions fighting not just for control of the team but the Red Bull organisation.
at the weekend that the company’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko could be forced out prompted some strong words from Verstappen. He suggested that if Marko went, Red Bull would have a “problem” as that could also leave him deciding that he no longer wished to remain in the team. Speaking in Saudi Arabia, Verstappen said: “I’ve always clearly indicated that he [Marko] has to stay. I can’t continue without him.”
Verstappen’s strong words on the matter were viewed by many as a clear political message to Red Bull’s senior management about the consequences of taking action against Marko.
however, been less equivocal in his support of team principal Christian Horner, whom his father Jos has openly called to be dismissed to avoid the squad tearing itself apart. The Dutchman has, however, been less equivocal in his support of team principal Christian Horner, whom his father Jos has openly called to be dismissed to avoid the squad tearing itself apart.
Horner is well aware of the significance of Verstappen’s public backing for Marko, and his claims that he would not wish to stay if he lost his close ally. However, Horner has made it clear that if Verstappen feels so strongly about not remaining at the team, then he would not hold him blindly to his contract.
Horner said, “It’s like anything in life: you can’t force somebody to be somewhere just because of a piece of paper If somebody didn’t want to be at this team, then we’re not going to force somebody, against their will, to be here.”
That’s a big change from Bahrain when he said he did not doubt that Verstappen would see out his contract with the team. Verstappen is viewed as one of the key pillars in Red Bull’s recent F1 success, it is not impossible that if the off-track angst continues unabated, then it could be viewed as a price not worth paying in making any attempt to keep him if he wishes to go
The gamble Red Bull is taking with Verstappen future and them being the dominant team being the ultimate deciding factor.
All information correct at the time of finalisation on Friday Afternoon
Ferrari
Fred Vasseur says reserve driver Ollie Bearman matched “unrealistic” expectations with a faultless maiden race weekend in Jeddah, despite missing two practice sessions. Bearman replaced Carlos Sainz before FP3 last weekend as the Spaniard was suffering from appendicitis.
He qualified eleventh and only missed out on Q3 by three hundredths after a ‘messy’ final attempt where he hit the wall. It was a great race as he fought for fifth at one stage with fellow Brits Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell before finishing seventh.
Vasseur said that while being on the pace so quickly was an achievement, the fact that Bearman avoided mistakes at a tricky venue such as the Jeddah street circuit was particularly impressive.
he said, “I think in this situation – and we’ve had a couple of times good young drivers into the car, not only at Ferrari, but on the grid – I would say the pace is, I don’t want to say easy to have, but it’s something they can achieve,”
“And the fact he did a short weekend without FP1/FP2 without any mistake, for me it’s unrealistic. Honestly, I was completely impressed by this in Jeddah, between the walls skipping FP1/FP2, directly almost in quali.”
I think Bearman has put himself in a good position but he needs to be careful because we saw with Nyck de Vries how his performance at Monza in 2022 got him a seat for 2023. But he didn’t then deliver and was dropped midseason by RB in favour of Daniel Ricciardo.
Vassuer described him as ‘a huge asset for the weekend,’ as he didn’t focus on detail but rather the bigger picture, putting pressure on someone who hadn’t driven the car
Bearman wants to fulfil a “childhood dream” by earning a seat next year. Speaking to his BBC News East of England, asked if he could be a regular on the grid as soon as 2025, Bearman said, “I think so. It depends on how I get on. That’s a childhood dream that I would love to realise. I need to keep pushing in F2 to make sure that I can get that F1 seat – that’s my main goal for this year.”
“I need to keep up the good work and not let any of this faze me because you’re only as good as your last race.” Bearman said the “whirlwind” weekend made him keen to race for Ferrari permanently.
Felipe Massa has filed a lawsuit in the London High Court against the FIA, FOM and Bernie Ecclestone over the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix ‘crashgate’ scandal. Massa believes that comments made by Ecclestone, which he can’t remember making, claims there was sufficient information available at the time for the case to have been investigated and the result was thrown out.
According to a statement from Brazilian law firm Vieira Rezende Advogados, “Mr Massa is seeking declarations that the FIA breached its regulations by failing to promptly investigate Nelson Piquet Junior’s crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix and that had it acted properly.”
“Mr Massa would have won the drivers’ championship that year. Mr Massa also seeks damages for the significant financial loss he has suffered due to the FIA’s failure, in which Mr Ecclestone and FOM were also complicit.”
Massa’s legal team had submitted questions to the FIA and FOM, but replies were delayed by the 2023 season summer break which meant key personnel were unavailable.
This is one of several scandals facing the governing body, with current president Mohammed Ben Sulayem attempting to intervene in the result of the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP to overturn a penalty given to Alonso for his Aston Martin team having prematurely touched the car during a pitstop. It is also claimed that Ben Sulayem sought to prevent the Las Vegas street circuit from being homologated in time for last year’s flagship race.
Massa’s lawyers noted “Recent events naturally demonstrate that issues of transparency and integrity in F1 remain relevant, and it is clear that serious work is needed to restore its credibility and long-term future”
McLaren
Lando Norris says he has no regrets about an “aggressive” strategy call in Jeddah, suggesting that his McLaren team sometimes plays it a “little bit safe”. The Englishman was one of four drivers who opted for track position rather than track position after Lance Stroll’s crash triggered a safety car period early in Jeddah.
Having started sixth, Norris was left in the lead at the restart, and he managed to stay in front of Max Verstappen for two laps. Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc also subsequently got by him. Jeddah’s unpredictably meant Norris, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Hulkenberg and Guanyu Zhou, all gambled on a second safety car which didn’t pay off.
orris was obliged to make an earlier stop than the team had planned to cover Hamilton, who switched to softs in the closing laps. He eventually finished eighth, two places down on his grid position.
when asked by Autosport/Motorsport.com about the call to remain on track and not pit, said Norris, “You never know at the time, and we wanted to try something different, and not just stay behind. We could have gained a lot of points, or we could have lost a few. And in the end, we lost a few. But that’s just the way it is sometimes. So it was a good try, and I think it was the correct call to make.”
“Sometimes I feel like we’re a little bit safe. And it’s nice to be a little bit more aggressive, and try something different. So I’m happy with our decision. It wasn’t the best one, or let’s say the correct one. But that’s in hindsight. So I’m still happy with how we tried to execute it all.”
McLaren locked themselves into following Hamilton’s strategy by switching to soft tyres a lap after the Mercedes driver stopped. If they didn’t its possible that Hamilton would have undercut Norris, but he didn’t manage to catch Bearman while staying ahead of Hamilton.
Team principal Andrea Stella says that the teams first big upgrade will be around Miami or Imola. The team has started the season a lot stronger in the battle for the best of the rest with Mercedes and Ferrari. meanwhile becomes clear that some of its legacy weaknesses have carried over, like its low-speed behaviour and a relatively poor top speed.
According to team boss Stella, the first major upgrade kit to make further improvements to those characteristics is set to follow “around race six or race seven”, meaning Miami or Imola.
He explained, “We have some minor things that will come for Australia and hopefully for Japan, but they will be [delivering] a few milliseconds, and then hopefully, within the first third of the season, we will have a major upgrade. It’s going to be for around race six or seven.”
Suzuka and Shanghai’s mix of low- and high-speed corners as well as a long straight, is going to give a picture of where the tight pack behind Red Bull are.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso says that Aston Martin team is still “two or three tenths” off McLaren and Mercedes on race pace despite a strong performance in Jeddah. Last weekend he qualified fourth, but he soon lost a place to Oscar Piastri’s McLaren.
He then remained in fifth place for the duration of the race, successfully staying in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and finishing thirty-five seconds behind Verstappen. After a disappointing race form in Bahrain, Alonso agreed that Jeddah represented a step forward.
he said, “I think it was better. We did introduce a new part on Friday that worked really well. And I think we made a step forward in terms of performance. But we still miss maybe two or three-tenths compared to McLaren and Mercedes, and we will keep chasing that kind of performance. It is challenging, but it’s a nice challenge and an interesting season ahead.”
He added: “Happy with the race result, in front of both Mercedes, one McLaren and one Ferrari. It’s the maximum I think we can wish at the moment. We saw again in the race that we still miss two or three-tenths compared to Mercedes and McLaren, maybe a little bit more compared to Red Bull and Ferrari.”
Aston aren’t as strong as they were at the start of last season, with Alonso admitting that he hadn’t expected to be able to stay ahead of Russell, believing that the W15 had better pace
RB
Team principal Laurent Mekies says the team will move into its new aerodynamics facility next to the Red Bull campus in Milton Keynes by the end of 2024. While the team’s HQ will remain in Faenza, in Emilia-Romagna the teams aerodynamic department will move to Bicester, Northamptonshire.
It is hoped that the improved UK infrastructure will attract more staff in England, and Mekies reckons the Milton Keynes site will be up and running by the end of the year.
In an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com’s Italian edition, Mekies said: “I will start by saying that we have not asked any engineers to move to England. Faenza is the historic home of the team and is also a fairly modern facility, which has also enjoyed fairly recent investment. We have very good production tools here and a large part of the design office.”
“In Bicester, we have the aero department, concept design and part of the design office – all in a location chosen to be close to the wind tunnel. Fifteen years ago, the team was smaller than it is today, and Bicester made sense. Today, the aero department has tripled in size; we no longer use this tunnel because we have another one, and the location is no longer suitable.”
There may be more difficult questions about the relationship between the two around whether this should be allowed as it could be a way around the cost cap.
Sauber
Valtteri Bottas says that the team needed a “wake-up call” in Jeddah following a frustrating start to the season. In the first two races, Bottas and teammate Guanyu Zhou both have had costly issues with pit stops, on top of that the car is struggling to put energy into the tyres in both qualifying and races.
Speaking about the disappointing start to the season, the Finn told Motorsport.com, “I think it needs to be a wake-up call. Obviously, it’s only race two out of twenty-four and we’ve got things coming in the pipeline. But we definitely need to improve, not just the pace, but also operationally, now we’ve had both drivers having big issues on pitstops in two races.
“I think we’ve got some bits coming for Australia. Now we have two weeks to try and solve the pitstop issue. It was the same issue with Zhou with a cross-threading. So that’s something we need to fix, because even if we make the car faster, if we have long pitstops then it’s not ideal.”
Bottas was one of only two drivers to start on the soft compound in Jeddah, along with Oliver Bearman. The early safety car period sent most of the field into the pits, and having switched to hard tyres Bottas began to struggle. Later he made an extra unplanned second stop to return to softs, and he eventually finished seventeenth, beating only the delayed Zhou.
I think while Sauber thought that was the best strategy it didn’t pay off because they took over a quarter of the race for the tyres to get into the operating window, and Bottas admitted that the car feels difficult to generate temperature which then leads to a lack of grip.
Team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi said there were some positive signs in Jeddah despite the tyre issue experienced by Bottas, with Zhou’s potential disguised by failing to set a lap time in qualifying due to an FP3 crash and then both the pitstop delay and an engine temperature issue in the race.
