Welcome to the British Grand Prix – 2024
Norris wouldn’t change approach to Verstappen
Lando Norris says he would not change what he did in the Austrian Grand Prix, despite his race ending in a collision with Max Verstappen. The two drivers race-long battle came to a head on lap sixty-four when they collided at Turn Three, with Verstappen found by the stewards to have squeezed the McLaren resulting in both getting punchers.
While Verstappen was able to continue, and was later given a 10-second penalty for having caused the collision, McLaren driver Norris had to retire due to the subsequent damage his flailing tyre had caused. Although Norris’s race ended in disappointment, he told the Chris Moyles Show on Radio X on Wednesday that he feels he did the right thing and has no regrets about taking the fight to Verstappen.
He said, “I reviewed everything, we’ve gone over stuff, and let’s say I won’t really change what I did. We’re fighting, we both want to win, and we’re going to push it to the limits – some slightly more than others. At the same time, I’m excited. We’re going to have more fights together, and I look forward to those times.”
The incident has divided opinions about who was to blame, but Norris acknowledged that in the heat of wheel-to-wheel competition, it can be difficult sometimes to be pinpoint sure of where your car is.
He said, “It’s tough. It’s a lot harder to do some things when you’re behind the wheel. It’s never as easy as saying, ‘Why did you do that? Why didn’t you do this?’ Because when you’re in the car and you’re making these decisions…”
“It’s so hard to be as accurate as what it looks like on TV. So when it is those two centimetres that it should be or stuff like that, it’s almost impossible to judge. That’s the competition we’re against, and we love it. We want to go out and race hard and we want it to be easy, because we just want to win.”
Verstappen not bothered by criticism
Max Verstappen couldn’t “give a s***” about criticisms he faced after the Austrian Grand Prix, saying his only care is his friendship with Lando Norris. The three-time champion and the McLaren driver crashed in the closing stages of Sunday’s race.
The incident at AMG AS (Turn Three) ended up with both drivers getting a puncture, and although Verstappen was able to continue after a pitstop and finish fifth despite a ten-second penalty, Norris was forced out with damage. The defensive action has seen the Dutchman heavily criticised with McLaren team principal Andrea Stella in particular suggesting that the Dutchman had only acted in that way because he had not been punished for similar incidents in 2021.
While the crash has triggered plenty of debate, Verstappen said he was immune to any slating he has faced. Instead, he said it was important that he spoke to Norris to run through the events because for him the priority was that the incident did not affect their close friendship. Asked about the criticism over recent days, Verstappen said: “I don’t give a shit about that. I go home, I live my life. And the only thing that I care about is just my relationship to Lando.”
Verstappen confirmed that he spoke to Norris and after running through all that happened, they agreed that they should continue racing in a similarly robust way in the future. He said, “I think we concluded that we actually really enjoyed our battle. We looked at the incident, and it was such a silly little touch that had, of course, great consequence for both of us.”
“But we like to race hard. We’ve done this for many years, not only in Formula 1, even like online racing, where we had a lot of fun together. These things have to carry on, because that’s what we like to do. And I think it’s great for Formula 1 as well.’
With Norris having softened his criticisms of Verstappen ahead of the British GP, the Dutchman suggested that the pair of them saw eye-to-eye about almost every aspect of their fight. He added “I always said to Lando, when you go for moves at the inside, the outside, you can trust me that I’m not there to try and crash you out of the way. It is the same the other way around, because we spoke about that as well.”
Bearman announced as a Haas driver for 2025
Ollie Bearman has been announced as the fourth British driver on the grid after signing a multi-year contract from 2025 with Haas. The Essex-born driver impressed when he stood in for Carlos Sainz in Jeddah when the Spaniard underwent emergency surgery for appendicitis.
Despite not driving the car until final practice, Sainz had driven on Friday, Bearman qualified eleventh and finished seventh in the race. Bearman has been a member of the Ferrari Academy since 2021, it means that a quarter of next years grid will be British born, as while Alex Albon races under the Thai flag, was born in London and has dual Thai-British nationality.
Bearman, who took his first F2 victory this season at last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, said “It’s hard to put into words just how much this means to me. To say out loud that I will be an F1 driver for Haas makes me so immensely proud. To be one of the very few people who get to do the thing that they dreamed of as a child is something truly incredible.”
Bearman’s signing with Haas had appeared likely since the team announced at the start of the season that he would feature in six practice sessions for them during the 2024, the third of which will take place at this weekend’s British Grand Prix.
Bearman has raced in F2 for the last eighteen months and won the 2021 Italian F4 Championship and 2021 ADAC F4 Championship, and competed in the F3 in 2022. He also confirmed he would pick with eighty-seven as his race number having used thirty-eight in Jeddah
He explained “I didn’t get to choose my number in Jeddah. And first of all, even if I did, that was the last of my worries! It [#87] is the number that I raced since the beginning and it’s the number that my dad raced with – because I’m born on the eighth of May, and my brother on the seventh of August.”
Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said, “It’s an exciting thing to be able to give a young driver as talented as Oliver Bearman his first full-time seat in Formula One. He’s developed into an incredibly mature driver under the guidance of the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy and the world saw that for themselves when he was called in at the last minute to compete at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.”
Komatsu says that his performance in Jeddah proves he was more than ready and his FP1 outings. Adding that the team were looking forward to further developing him as a driver and reaping the benefits of his talent.
Bearman’s team-mate for the 2025 season has yet to be confirmed, with incumbent Kevin Magnussen fighting to remain at Haas, while Nico Hulkenberg has already agreed a deal to drive for Sauber in 2025, before the team transitions to Audi the following season. It is thought that the team will want an experienced driver alongside Bearman
Gasly given back of the grid penalty
Pierre Gasly is set to start Sunday’s Grand Prix from the rear of the grid after exceeding his power unit allowance for the season. Gasly needed a new battery and set of control electronics for his Renault engine, which will cost the Frenchman twenty grid places.
With that being the back of the grid Renault has decided to introduce a whole power unit which would be his fifth of the year and reduce the number of grid penalties Gasly will need to serve further down the road. Gasly was already on his fourth and final V6 engine, turbo and electric motor components, so being able to take a fifth power unit gives him more breathing space in other areas for the coming races.
Speaking to French broadcaster Canal+, Gasly explained, “We had to change the battery. We had a few little problems earlier in the season which meant that I ended up with a faulty battery, another where we had two or three alerts at certain times.”
“So, we needed to change the battery, which meant a 20-place penalty. We’re taking the opportunity to add an extra engine because I’ll have to start last in any case.” This decision also allows Jack Doohan to make his second FP1 outing making Alpine the first team to fulfil the regulation of each driver missing one FP1 session during the season for a driver with no more than two Grands Prix starts.
the short-term pain it is taking in Silverstone still comes at an unfortunate time as it contends for points with the likes of RB, Aston Martin and the resurgent Haas. In Austria, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen finished sixth and eighth respectively to bank twelve points in one go, leapfrogging Alpine to seventh in the standings.
Speaking about Haas’s points haul last weekend, he said, “That was a tough one in Austria. They scored more points in a race weekend than they scored since the start of the year, so as a team it was far from ideal, but they did a good job.”
“They haven’t been competitive everywhere, but still in Austria somehow they always managed to pull off a very strong performance, and that’s what we’ve got to aim at as a team. We’ve got to maximise, and capitalise on every single opportunity we have. We know we’re going to be in the fight for one or two points because the top eight is out of reach.”
Hamilton Charity teams up with F1
F1 and Lewis Hamilton’s Mission 44 charity have launched an official collaboration with Mission 44, the charity advocates for greater diversity and inclusion in motorsport. Ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, F1 announced that the two organisations were formalising their relationship following years of successful collaboration.
The charity was founded in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by a US police officer and the disproportionate number of BAME people who were killed during the pandemic. Its aims is to improve greater representation, diversity, and inclusion in motorsport to create meaningful change for young people facing social injustice through education, empowerment, and employment opportunities.
This is a formalisation of the partnership, as it seeks to create once-in-a-lifetime experiences for students from underrepresented groups and underserved communities to inspire them to consider careers in STEM and motorsport. Last year, the outreach programme in Austin, Silverstone, and Sao Paulo, positively impacting more than 150 young people.
Formula 1 head of environment, social and governance Ellen Jones said: “Over the last few years, it has been a pleasure to support Mission 44 in its efforts to make our sport more diverse and give students and young people their first taste of the world of F1 and motorsport. We look forward to working with Mission 44 in this new capacity and seeing how many doors we can open together to inspire the next generation.”
Mission 44 chief executive Jason Arthur said: “When Lewis Hamilton launched Mission 44 three years ago, it was with the ambition to create a fairer, more inclusive future for young people around the world. Together with Formula 1, we will be able to increase awareness and access to motorsport career opportunities, so young people, no matter their background, can succeed.
As part of the official link-up, F1 will support Mission 44 in raising awareness of their work and connect the charity with organisations across motorsport to identify apprenticeships and similar opportunities for young people from underrepresented groups.
Ahead of this weekends race they hosted a networking event that will bring together scholars from the Formula 1 Engineering and Mission 44 MSc Motorsport Engineering scholarship programmes to knowledge share and help with the students’ professional development.
Cowell appointed Aston Martin CEO
Former Mercedes powertrains managing director Andy Cowell will replace Martin Whitmarsh as Aston Martin’s group CEO from 1 October, the team announced on Tuesday. Cowell is best known for overseeing Mercedes era of dominance between 2014 and 2021, winning seven drivers and eight constructors under the previous regulations.
The former Cosworth and BMW engineer said at the time he was leaving Mercedes he was exiting to “seek a new engineering business challenge”. Joining Aston represents Cowell’s first F1 management role since his Mercedes departure.
A statement from Cowell said, “I am thrilled to join Lawrence [Stroll, Aston chairman]’s exciting project and look forward to working with the talented group of people that has been assembled.”
“F1 has always been my competitive passion, and I am joining Aston Martin at an exciting time with the imminent completion of the AMR Technology Campus and our transition in 2026 to a full works team with our strategic partners Honda and Aramco.”
Whitmarsh will “be handing over responsibility before the end of the year”, according to Aston’s statement.
Whitmarsh leaves the team after two and a half years, his brief was to diversify the British sportscar manufacturers’ F1 and road car technology across key industry sectors. The Aston F1 team is a subsidiary of AMPT, but Cowell’s title does not include a reference to this.
Whitmarsh said, “I have known Andy for many years and brought him to Mercedes HPP in 2004 where he became managing director between 2013 and 2020, achieving huge success in the business and sport. He will be an incredible asset to Aston Martin and will make a significant contribution to the execution of our strategy going forward.”
“Andy’s arrival in October and the completion of the AMR Technology Campus will allow me to step away and focus on other projects in my life, knowing that the foundations have been established with an impressive team, inspiring vision and advanced facilities to achieve success in F1.”
Stroll said: “I would like to thank Martin who has been instrumental in our growth phase as a business. In the last three years, he has developed the team and has helped us achieve some significant milestones, including fostering our relationship with Honda and delivering our state-of-the-art AMR Technology Campus at Silverstone.”
The announcement came ahead of the teams home Grand Prix, but they are struggling to match the performances they had last season.
Talking Points Silverstone
Round twelve marks the halfway point in the season at the place where F1 began Silverstone, following last weekend’s collision between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris the championship is well and truly alive. Despite the incident and Verstappen’s ten-second penalty, he leads the championship by eight-one points.
That allowed George Russell to take Mercedes first win of the season with four teams winning the first eleven Grands Prix of the season, but Red Bull and Verstappen have won the majority of them. The other McLaren of Oscar Piastri earned his fourth podium, alongside Carlos Sainz racking up his fifth of the year.
The battle between Verstappen and Norris looks set to continue this weekend at Silverstone, the last of the triple header, before a break, and the two drivers did finish one-two last year. But the common conclusion from the last few races has been Red Bull are now under pressure. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes the collision was a legacy of the Dutchman’s driving style going unpunished during his title battle with Lewis Hamilton in 2021/
George Russell said he nearly crashed out of the lead when Mercedes’ team boss Toto Wolff screamed his encouragement to him over his pit-to-car radio.
Silverstone is as old as F1 itself hosting he inaugural grand prix in 1950. Nino Farina won the race for Alfa Romeo, and took a clean sweep of pole, race win and fastest lap. The circuit has had many changes over the years, but the iconic corners of Maggots, Beckets, and Abbey remain favourites of fans and drivers alike.
Of course a year ago it was a race where Verstappen and Norris fought for victory, following McLaren’s revival with Norris taking a maiden win two months ago. While Oscar Piastri looked on for a first career podium until a late safety car took him out of contention, while Silverstone specialist Lewis Hamilton capitalised to finish third.
If Hamilton does take victory it will end a two-and-a-half-year wait for a win, it would also be a record breaking one as he would be the first driver to win a Grand Prix nine times but he has an opportunity also at the next race in Budapest.
Five winners from four teams across the first half, but again Verstappen and Norris are the favourites but the friends turned rivals opens the door for not only their teammates but also Mercedes and Ferrari. Hamilton and Russell will also fancy their chances of snatching a win if there is more drama out in front, given the steady improvements the team has been making.
Mid-season aero testing reset
Earlier this week the aero testing rules were reset, with Mercedes gaining 10% extra aero testing time thanks to its F1 constructors’ position, with Haas and RB the biggest losers thanks to 2024 improvements.
The regulations dictate the amount of wind tunnel time and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) capacity that can be used for an “aerodynamic testing period” (ATP) of two months, based on championship position. This is a sliding scale, where the team that finishes first in the championship starts a new season with 70% of the baseline allowance, in 5% increments up to the 115% multiplier for finishing tenth, in an effort to create closer grids.
It is then reset on the 30th June based on whatever the championship order is, in 2024 the order after the Austrian Grand Prix. Mercedes is the biggest gainers as it started the year with 75% of the baseline allowance of aerodynamic testing for the first three ATPs, but its slip to fourth in the constructors’ standings lifts the team to 85%.
This means that the Brackley team receives 32 more wind tunnel runs, eight more hours of “wind-on” time (when airspeed exceeds 15m/s), 200 more allowable geometries, and 40 hours more of wind tunnel occupancy. The team also received an increase of 0.6MAuh in the metric used for CFD computer resource used.
Red Bull remains at the 70% multiplier as it continues to head the constructors’ championship, while Ferrari and McLaren move up to the 75% and 80% brackets. Its sister team RB, has moved up into the 95% bracket thanks to its improvements this season, while Haas has lost the most. After finishing last in 2023’s championship, the American team was working to the 115% allowance, but it has now moved to the baseline after taking seventh in the championship from Alpine at Austria.
Alpine and Williams have both gained 10% of their previous allocations, as Sauber has gained 5% as it sits bottom of the constructors’ standings so far.
Bottas “in a good position” to secure a drive
Valtteri Bottas insists he’s “in a good position” to secure a drive for 2025 despite a lengthy wait for Carlos Sainz to make a decision. The driver market has stalled in recent weeks with it hinging on which of the three options, Alpine, Williams or Sauber, Sainz takes. That will have huge ramifications on the likes of Bottas, Esteban Ocon and others as the final seats on the grid are filled.
Bottas is reportedly in contention to join either Alpine or Williams, with Sainz’s decision playing a major role in where the Finn will end up. Speaking to the press at Silverstone Bottas said he remains confident about his F1 future.
Adding “Yes, but I feel like things are starting to progress and get closer, I think, in a good way, hopefully. But, still have nothing to announce here and nothing has been signed. I think I’m in a good position, I feel like some people in the paddock still, luckily, know what I can do, what are my strengths to be part of a team. But it takes time finalising things.”
Bottas dismissed the suggestions that he was frustrated by Sainz stalling the driver market saying it was exciting, and that he has been in this situation before. But if it got to October then it might then start to get frustrated, and
On waiting for Sainz, he added: “Yes, sometimes that’s how it goes. And I think I mentioned last week, and it’s in this sport, it’s not always about pure performance, either. There’s many elements that decides the team’s priorities. So, it’s part of the game.”
The Weekend Ahead
The big talking point I feel is seeing how Lando Norris bounces back from the collision with Max Verstappen, this will show us what he would do in a championship fight. It will be interesting to see where Red Bull are at the halfway stage I think we are reaching the conclusion that they are still the team to beat but they aren’t as what was described as ‘scarily dominant’ earlier in the season.
Silverstone, however, should play to their strengths so I wouldn’t completely rule anything out as this has long straights and flowing corners. The most consistent challenger looks to be McLaren who a year ago joined the chasing pace and following Austria they all have one win each, each race you go to you don’t know who is going to fight Red Bull.
Silverstone is an airfield circuit, which means unpredictable weather and wind can blow around the circuit. The long straights, largely based on taxiways, means drivers need high downforce and straight-line speed, the corners are quite open which creates opportunities for overtaking. Similar to Barcelona and Spielberg, an old-school grassy circuit which punishes big mistakes and where unpredictable weather can play a huge role
Qualifying could again be tight here given the factors above, and we have seen even the bigger teams on the edge of being knocked out. It is close, as we saw very close times in both qualifying sessions last weekend, while the Red Bull Ring magnifies that gap, we know that teams at the front are needing to be careful
Lewis Hamilton I think wants one more win with Mercedes before going to Ferrari, what a place to do it an eighth home win would be a little bit of history, the first driver two win two different races eight times. They were quick last weekend but they got lucky with the Norris-Verstappen incident so can challenge for victory. Its election day in the UK, it feels like those winds of change are blowing through F1 as well.
Ferrari need to bounce back they haven’t been as strong in the fight for best of the rest in recent races that haven’t been able to fight for victories but maybe Silverstone brings that opportunity they are the only team after Red Bull to have won more than one race this year. They are the most successful team at this race.