This Week – 17/11/2024
Hello welcome to another edition of This Week, another week of upheaval as race director Niels Wittich and compliance officer Paolo Bassari leave the FIA the latest in a string of departures from the governing body, what does it say about governance? Also on his way out is Greg Maffei after Liberty opting not to renew his contract. The year has as we often reflected has been as dramatic off track with changes not just drivers but everywhere, teams, Liberty, broadcasters and now the FIA.
This could be one of the most memorable seasons, politically charged and controversial years off track, of course next year is the final year of the current regulation and power unit cycle, when we traditionally and the closest racing. I feel the turbulence is going to continue as all the teams trying to get their house to have the best start in 2026…
General News
The FIA has announced that race director Niels Wittich has left his role with immediate effect. On Tuesday the FIA said in a statement that the German had left his position ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix to “pursue new opportunities”.
The statement said, “The FIA can confirm that Niels Wittich has stepped down from his position as F1 Race Director to pursue new opportunities. Niels has fulfilled his numerous responsibilities as Race Director with professionalism and dedication. We thank him for his commitment and we wish him the best for the future.”
However talking to the BBC on Thursday, Wittich said, “I can confirm that I got fired and it was not my decision to leave F1.”
Rui Marques, who has acted as F2’s and F3’s race director for the past two years, will take over from Wittich from Las Vegas onwards. It added, “Rui Marques will assume the role of Race Director from the Las Vegas Grand Prix.”
“Rui brings a wealth of experience having previously served as track marshal, scrutineer, national and international steward, Deputy Race Director and Race Director in various championships. Most recently, he held the position of Formula 2 and Formula 3 Race Director.”
Wittich was appointed as race director in 2022 following the scandal around then-race director Michael Masi’s handling of the closing stages of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Masi was found to have ‘incorrectly applied regulations.’
But the timing couldn’t be worse after FIA president Mohamed Ben Sulayem admitted the governing body is already struggling to find qualified race directors and criticism about his leadership, the FIA would put together a new Officials Department to help train the next generation of race directors and stewards.
Italian media have reported that FIA F1 compliance officer Paolo Basarri has left his role after Ben Sulayem lost confidence in him. It’s been reported that Basarri is said to have pushed back against or tried to navigate around several requests of Ben Sulayem, who took exception to that approach.
The FIA has declined to comment, while Basarri told BBC Sport: “I cannot comment on this.”
Basarri is the official who compiled a report into allegations that Ben Sulayem interfered in the operations of two races during the 2023 season. Ben Sulayem was cleared of the allegations following an investigation by the FIA ethics committee.
Liberty Media has announced that CEO Greg Maffei will leave his role at the end of the year after opting not to renew his contract. Maffei has been with F1’s owners for two decades and has been its CEO since 2006. Maffei will be replaced on an interim basis by Liberty Media’s chairman, John Malone, and according to the company he will stay on as a senior advisor to help smoothen the management transition.
In his role, Maffei has been a driving force behind the firm’s acquisition of Formula 1 in 2017, helping transform the series into a global and modern entertainment powerhouse. Earlier this year Liberty also announced it would acquire MotoGP and add it to its wide range of entertainment properties.
Maffei said, “The almost twenty years I have spent at the helm of Liberty Media have been incredibly rewarding, stimulating and endlessly eventful. Following today’s announcements at Liberty Media and Liberty Broadband, all the Liberty acquisitions completed during my tenure are now in structures where shareholders can have more direct ownership in their upside.”
“The corporate structure is optimized, and the portfolio companies are in strong positions with talented executive teams in place. While it’s never easy to leave an organization as dynamic as Liberty, I am confident that this is the right time”
The F1 Commission approved several measures relating to next years technical matters, sporting matters and financial regulations matters. On the technical side, they approved a range of technical changes for the 2025 season including the introduction of a driver cooling kit when heat hazard gets declared – following on from “encouraging” test results.
Meanwhile, building on sporting discussions prompted by the recent Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend, the commission has confirmed a new protocol for closing up the grid when a team withdraws a car. However, the idea of a rookie sprint race has been delayed until 2026 to allow for more development and an amendment to exclude sustainability initiative costs from the financial regulations for 2025 was approved.
In Section B, revisions to the Sporting Regulations will mean that gender-neutral language is incorporated, highlighting the FIA’s commitment to inclusivity across the board. Section C amendments are ongoing but should be approved before the next WMSC.
The Monaco Grand Prix will remain on the calendar until at least 2031 after the sport agreed a six-year extension of its most famous event. The previous deal with the Automobile Club of Monaco had been set to expire after the 2025 race at the stunning street circuit, it will also mark its hundredth anniversary in 2029.
The last twenty editions of the race have taken place in May but the new deal, starting from 2026, will see the event take place on the first weekend of June each year. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said: “I’m delighted that Formula 1 will continue to race in Monaco until 2031. The streets of Monte Carlo are unique and a famous part of Formula 1, and the Monaco Grand Prix remains a race that all drivers dream of winning.”
Switching the event to a later date could allow the moving of the Canadian Grand Prix – which has traditionally taken place in June – to follow the Miami Grand Prix at the start of the May, preventing two separate trips away from Europe.
Organisers of the Las Vegas Grand Prix have announced plans should Max Verstappen win the championship next weekend for the most memorable championship celebration in its long and storied history. If the Dutchman takes a fourth successive drivers’ championship in Vegas it will be the first since Keke Rosberg in 1982.
Renee Wilm, CEO of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, insisted they would be ready to start the celebrations. She told Motorsport.com, “I’m sure that we would be able to pull some ideas out of our hat, maybe pre-arrange some pretty exciting opportunities. When you consider the properties on the Strip – Wynn and Encore are second to none in terms of the highest class of hospitality.”
“Then, of course, you have the Bellagio further down the Strip, with those iconic fountains, and the level of VIP service that the Bellagio offers. There are so many opportunities to highlight the drivers, and particularly if we actually do have the benefit of being able to get a champion (crowned).”
If Verstappen can take the chequered flag when the chips are down in Vegas, he will once again be world champion, while nearest challenger Lando Norris needs to beat Verstappen by at least three points to keep the title fight ticking over to Qatar. A year ago, Verstappen had taken the title four races earlier with second in the sprint in Qatar.
F1 will begin its 75th anniversary season with an unprecedented and unfamiliar surrounding as all ten teams launch their 2025 liveries alongside one another at London’s O2 Arena and broadcast on TV on 18 February. All the drivers will attend the event before the event before testing in Bahrain and opening race in Melbourne.
While some 2025 car designs are likely to still be under wraps before the show, the liveries will all be revealed simultaneously at an event led by BrianBurkeCreative – the company behind the opening and closing ceremonies at the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix a year ago.
Tickets will range from £58-£113 plus booking fee and go on general sale on Friday morning, with the promise of an “interactive event” including “interviews with key figures from the sport” with drivers and team bosses involved. The event will also be streamed online and F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali is anticipating an evening to remember.
He said “For the first time we will bring together our fans, all 20 superstars of our sport and some very special guests to officially kick-off our new season and mark our 75th year of racing With 2025 set to be a classic season following all the drama so far for 2024, this is a fantastic opportunity for fans of all ages to experience up-close the incredible entertainment spectacle that is Formula One.”
While Brain Burke, the creative director said he was again providing the F1 entertainment. he said, “It’s an incredible honour to continue to partner with Formula 1 creating new entertainment experiences, especially this brand-new launch event of the 2025 season celebrating the 75th anniversary of the sport.”
“Through our collaboration with all ten teams, fans can be assured we’ll be delivering a truly exciting live experience combining the unveiling of the new liveries, interviews with the biggest names in F1, and cutting-edge entertainment.”
Damon Hill has announced his exit from the Sky Sports presenting roster ahead of the 2024 season-ending triple-header. The 1996 world champion and former BRDC president has been a permanent fixture on the Sky Sports team since the broadcaster gained the rights to F1 from the BBC ahead of the 2012 season.
Writing on X, Hill said, “It’s been a fantastic 13 years with Sky Sports F1 but all good things come to an end. I will miss the most impressive bunch of professionals it has ever been my pleasure to have worked with. Looking forward to new challenges.” Hill is the second driver from the 1990s to leave Sky this year after Johnny Herbert announced his departure in January.
Reacting to the news, Bernie Collins, Aston Martin’s former strategy engineer and Sky’s strategy analysis wrote: “I will personally miss you immensely! I’ve loved working with you over these past two seasons. Thank you for all the support. See you soon!”
Mercedes
Mercedes says their focus for the final three races of the season is to understand its slow corner weakness to ensure it doesn’t continue next year. Since summer break both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton have largely struggled since the summer break, with the former claiming the team’s only podium in the last seven races.
This continued following the autumn break as well despite the team introducing significant upgrades in Austin.
Speaking in the team’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix race debrief, trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said: “Where we tend to be weak, it is in the slow speed corners, particularly the ones where you have got one corner following into another. There is a lot of turning of the car, and that is a weakness that we need to work on.”
“We did not expect this update kit to improve that. All we expected was this to just lift the base performance of the car. In terms of what we have seen, we are confident it is doing what was expected.” Mercedes’s slip in form since the summer break has effectively secured fourth in the constructors.
This shift was kind of expected given the situation, though the final three races are twilight/night races the team still think the varied circuits over the final three races provide different challenges meaning good answers. But being night/twilight races it may be more difficult for afternoon races next season and we have two races between Abu Dhabi and Bahrain.
Speaking ahead of what turned out to be a relatively encouraging display from him at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Russell described the W15 as the “most inconsistent” car he had driven during his three seasons with the team. Russell joined a team that had claimed eight successive Constructors’ titles, but their struggles following the introduction of new design regulation at the start of 2022 has seen the Brit claim just two grand prix victories.
Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff says he “likes” that Hamilton chose to leave the team to join Ferrari as it prevented him from having to get rid of the seven-time world champion at a later date. Hamilton kicked started next year’s driver market before the season had even started when announcing in February he would leave for Ferrari at the end of the season.
Wolff admitted at the time that he had been blindsided by the move – which will bring to an end the most successful driver-team partnership in the sport’s history – but says concerns over Hamilton’s “shelf life” meant the prospect of having to force the Briton out of the team was already on his mind. In a book written by Matt Whyman telling the inside story of 2023 and early 2024, Wolff said “I absolutely had it on my radar that Lewis would go.”
“I just couldn’t understand why he’d change to another team before we knew if we were going to be competitive. It also didn’t give me any time to react, I had to emergency call our partners, and I possibly missed out on negotiating with other drivers who had signed contracts a few weeks earlier like Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris.”
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc believes the progress Ferrari has made on its tyre management this year might actually hinder the team’s chances in Las Vegas. Last season was an exception for the team where their strength on tyre warm-up gave them the advantage allowing him and his teammate Carlos Sainz to lock out the front row.
While Sainz took a grid penalty, Leclerc looked on course to take what would have been his only win of 2023 before a badly timed safety car wiped out his lead and allowed Max Verstappen to take the lead and eventually victory. Since last years race, Ferrari has dramatically improved tyre wear issues on particularly street circuits, with victories in Melbourne, Monaco and Singapore.
Leclerc told Motorsport.com, “We were very strong last year, so I hope we can be as strong. It is true also, and I was thinking about that earlier, that this year we’ve done a big step in tyre management, which means that we also left something behind in cold conditions and tyre temperatures just like today [at Sao Paulo] was. Las Vegas is a bit of that scenario as well.”
“So, let’s hope we can work in those two weeks to prepare it properly and be at a good level in Las Vegas. We were very strong last year; the characteristics of the track are better for our car. However, think it might be a bit trickier for us to put those in the [right] temperatures.” However, they are still expecting Lusail to be more difficult because of its high-speed corners.
Lewis Hamilton’s first appearance for Ferrari looks set to be in its 2022 car at the start of next year, with an appearance in the post-season Abu Dhabi test now ruled out. According to Motorsport.com negotiations for Hamilton to drive in the tyre and young driver test have failed to reach an agreement because of sponsor commitments.
Hamilton’s lack of availability for the Abu Dhabi test means that Ferrari will have to wait until the start of next year to be able to get him behind the wheel of one of its cars. That means he will be unable to drive a current car until the Bahrain test.
However, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said that the provisional idea is to make use of one or two of the squad’s ‘Testing of Previous Cars’ days to give Hamilton his first run, which he thinks will be more than enough to get him up to speed.
Vasseur told Motorsport.com, “I’m not sure that he needs tons of hours of acclimatisation. He is experienced enough to be quick on the first day, or at least very soon. We’ll have one or two TPC days, plus the test in Bahrain, and that will be enough.”
F1’s TPC rules allow teams to run cars that were “designed and constructed in order to comply with the Technical Regulations of any of the three calendar years falling immediately prior to the calendar year preceding the year of the championship.”
This means that since this year, teams have been able to run their 2022 cars, the first generation of machinery built for the new ground effect regulations. Ferrari would most probably hand an outing to Hamilton in its 2022 car, the F1-75, at its own Fiorano test track, which is right next door to its Maranello factory.
Aston Martin
Aston Martin technical director Dan Fallows has left his role with the team but will remain within the car manufacturer. Executive director Bob Bell, a highly regarded and experienced design engineer who joined the team in March, will fill in temporarily.
Fallows’ departure is a move driven by new chief executive officer Andy Cowell. The former head of Mercedes’ F1 engine programme started at Aston Martin in October. It follows a slump in performance from Aston Martin after a promising start to the 2023 season when lead driver Fernando Alonso scored six podiums in the first eight races.
Aston Martin fell back in the second half of last season as the team failed to develop the car successfully. That trend has been repeated this season, but they have signed Adrain Newey who will join the team early next year as technical managing director and Enirco Cadile chief technical officer. There is no plan to appoint a new technical director until Newey starts his new role
Fallows, who joined from Red Bull on a salary in the region of £1m, said in a statement: “It has been a joy and a privilege to guide the technical team on their journey towards being race and championship winners. It is time for me to pass on the baton, but I look forward to watching the team’s future success, which I am sure will come soon.”
Alpine
Alpine are to return to Mercedes power for the first time since 2015 when the team were called Lotus, following the controversial decision by parent company Renault to end its own works programme at the end of next season. It was widely understood Renault CEO Luca de Meo, and his advisor Flavio Briatore had a deal lined up to become a Mercedes customer team instead, an arrangement which the team officially confirmed on Tuesday.
As part of the deal Alpine would be switching to Mercedes gearboxes instead, which will help smoothen the integration of the German marque’s power units into the rear of Alpine’s 2026 chassis. A statement said, “Alpine, Mercedes-AMG High-Performance Powertrains, and Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix have entered into power unit and gearbox agreements from the start of the 2026 world championship.”
“The multi-year agreement will see Mercedes-Benz supply Alpine with power units for the duration of the new regulation era, from 2026 until at least 2030. Alongside the power unit, Alpine will also be supplied with Mercedes gearboxes from the 2026 season.” The deal follows a shock double podium last time out in Sao Paulo which moved them from ninth to sixth in the constructors.
Motorsport.com understands Alpine intends to return to producing its own gearboxes from 2027 onwards, rather than fully abandoning its transmission programme as part of a wider overhaul commissioned by its new management.
Alpine will effectively take over the supply line currently in place for Aston Martin, which will shift from Mercedes to Honda power units in 2026. With Aston taking over the works Honda deal from Red Bull and RB which have a joint production deal with Ford. Mercedes will continue with its current deals with McLaren and Williams, Ferrari continuing with Haas and Sauber being taken over by Audi.
Team adviser Briatore told Sky Italia: “This year we have done a lot of cleaning up and we will continue to do so. We have just taken a real evolutionary step so as not to hinder the 2025 project, and the step we have taken is clearly in the direction of 2025.”
Incoming team principal Oliver Oakes added that the biggest changes at the team will take place ahead of next year and into 2026’s crucial regulations reset. Oakes said, “I think, at the moment, there’s nothing that’s going to change drastically between now and the end of the year,”. “I think the real journey is sort of how we go through these next phases.”
“There’s a lot of support there with Luca and Flavio, and actually, I think that’s actually something I’m kind of quite excited about. I’m just realising it takes a lot of time. Nothing’s as quick as you hope.”
Williams
Williams has announced that Carlos Sainz has received Ferrari’s permission to appear in the season-concluding Abu Dhabi tyre test to get an early sample of his new team’s car. Sainz will partner new teammate Alex Albon after it was announced he would be replaced by Lewis Hamilton in 2025, Ferrari has granted permission for him to drive in the test.
In a statement released on Friday afternoon, Williams said it is “pleased to announce today that Carlos Sainz will join the team for the upcoming Abu Dhabi end-of-season test, marking the first steps in his preparations for the 2025 season”.
The statement added: “This early opportunity will allow both Carlos and Williams to begin building their relationship. The test session will provide a valuable chance for Carlos to begin integrating into his new team environment, and he will drive the FW46 for the first time. Carlos will drive for Williams alongside Alex Albon in 2025, forming one of the most formidable driver line-ups on the grid.”
The Abu Dhabi test is run by Pirelli, with F1’s rules requiring each participating team to field both its cars, but with only one filled by a regular driver or new signing (such as Haas will do this year with current Alpine driver Esteban Ocon). But it is unclear who Williams will get to test the other FW46 alongside Sainz.
Sauber
Audi is on the verge of selling its stake in the team to Qatari investors, according to Autosport and the journalist Joe Saward. They are reporting that despite only buying a stake in March and taking full control in recent months for €650m, Volkswagen has changed it mind because of uncertainties in the global economy.
In Germany, there is talk of plant closures and the loss of up to 30,000 jobs. A crisis that is also leaving its mark on the Audi brand, which is facing similar challenges on the world market. Audi and industry insiders are saying privately that it is currently very difficult to justify the expenditure of a large-scale F1 development programme with the group, which is necessary if the company wants to be competitive in the medium-to-long term from 2026.
When asked, the company merely referred to a statement made by CEO Gernot Dollner at the Italian Grand Prix. There, Dollner said that now is “the right time” for Audi to enter F1: “The decision was well prepared two-and-a-half years ago and re-evaluated last year. We firmly believe that F1 and Audi are a perfect match. It’s in line with our strategy, and while it’s ambitious and will take time, it’s also perfectly aligned with the way we’re reinventing ourselves on the corporate side.”
But one thing is also clear: the timing is difficult to argue within the group that Audi may be able to invest less money given the crisis surrounding Volkswagen AG. Fresh capital from Qatar would therefore be welcome, helping to push ahead with the development of the F1 team without the money having to leave Ingolstadt.
Qatari investors could put €1bn into the project and already have a 17% stake in Volkswagen and is the majority shareholder of its Porsche brand, it has invested heavily already in the sport since 2021 with investment in Lusail’s redevelopment and state-owned Qatar Airways becoming the official airline partner in 2023.
Even though talks are already at an advanced stage, there is currently no clear information on exactly how Qatar intends to join Audi’s F1 programme. There are suggestions it could be a minority investment without significant changes to the team’s public image. Its German rival Mercedes, only owns 33.3% of its team with the other two 33.3% split between CEO and team principal Toto Wolff and INEOS.