Speaking at the recent Italian Grand Prix, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said a project is on the table for F1 to organise a rookie sprint race at the post-season Abu Dhabi test.Our F1 writers weigh up the practicalities of the proposal.Jonathan Noble – The idea’s practical issues are not insurmountableWhen talk of a rookie sprint race after the Abu Dhabi test first popped up, it seemed to be one of …Keep reading
There’s a joke that’s been going around the Formula 1 paddock since the start of the season: Britain has never had such well-kept gardens!It’s a reference to Formula 1’s ‘gardening leave’ – the informal name for that period after an employee ends his time working at a team but before he is contractually free to join someone else.After all, if someone has signed for a rival competitor, it is …Keep reading
After introducing a significant car upgrade package, McLaren dominated the Dutch Grand Prix straight out of the 2024 Formula 1 summer break. That’s a familiar story for the championship, but the details of this case are actually quite different.McLaren’s brake, suspension, wings and floor edge update introduced at Zandvoort was its biggest package since it’d rather transformed the MCL38 with …Keep reading
Max Verstappen is currently enjoying a period of F1 world championship dominance, winning the last three drivers’ titles.The Dutchman is also leading the 2024 standings and could claim a fourth straight crown which would make Verstappen just the fifth driver in F1 history to achieve said feat.So, who are those drivers?5 – Michael Schumacher (2000-04) Michael Schumacher, Ferrari …Keep reading
In a year when so many Formula 1 teams have hit different upgrade problems, there is one common theme among them: car balance headaches.From Max Verstappen complaining his RB20 has turned into a ‘monster’, to Ferrari’s return of high-speed bouncing, to the Mercedes becoming nervous in qualifying and Aston Martin losing its way for a bit.Each team has experienced a near identical scenario of …Keep reading
“The future is his.”McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, again, saying exactly how it is. In this case, regarding the coming years of Oscar Piastri in Formula 1.Specifically, Stella was answering a question regarding how Piastri might react to the expected team orders push from McLaren to support Lando Norris’s 2024 title bid.“I think it will be [OK],” Stella said at the end of his …Keep reading
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are struggling to understand why optimal performance eluded Mercedes over the Italian Grand Prix, as Formula 1’s pecking order looks unpredictable.Hamilton topped both the second and third free practice sessions at Monza, as well as Q2, but he and Russell ended up qualifying sixth and third respectively, before finishing the Monza race only fifth and seventh in …Keep reading
Ferrari is still seeking answers on whether its latest floor upgrades have turned its 2024 Formula 1 season around until heading to higher-downforce circuits.The Italian squad brought a new floor to June’s Barcelona round that induced bouncing problems in high-speed corners, which meant it had to revert to an older specification before applying some temporary fixes to mitigate the problem, seeing …Keep reading
Williams Formula 1 team boss James Vowles says he was impressed with how the team’s rookie driver Franco Colapinto managed a mid-season debut in Italy.Williams academy driver Colapinto was promoted to a race seat at the expense of Logan Sargeant in between a busy double-header of Zandvoort and Monza, making his debut at the Italian Grand Prix on the back of just a single free practice session in …Keep reading
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says that its Formula 1 results since the summer break have been impacted by its car being more “on the edge”.The German manufacturer had gone into the shutdown period buoyed by three victories in four races – with George Russell having triumphed in Austria and Lewis Hamilton adding wins in Britain and Belgium.But since F1 returned to action in the Netherlands …Keep reading