[Other Sport] F1 2024

[Audax]

Albon has signed a new multi-year contract with Williams. Exactly what "multi-year" means remains to be seen; so far they've only confirmed it keeps him there through 2026, but heavily implied it's longer.

 

[Audax]

Well well well ... Max and Red Bull under a bit more pressure. Both McLaren and Ferrari much closer.

 

[Audax]

Well well well ... Max and Red Bull under a bit more pressure. Both McLaren and Ferrari much closer.

So, let's expand on this a little.

Qualifying: max on pole yet again. Equals a long standing record for the most consecutive pole positions. But let's look a little deeper: Max had to work hard for it, and managed either a stroke of luck or a very smart piece of timing to get a big tow off Hulkenberg to start his pole lap. Without that tow, both Piastri and Norris would have been faster. That upgraded McLaren continues to be strong.

In the race, again it needs a little deeper analysis. Piastri was taken out of the equation due to his team failing to notify him of a another car on a fast lap in Q1, leading to an impeding penalty that dropped Piastri back 3 places. He'd end up stuck behind Sainz, and then Leclerc, and unable to help McLaren use two cars strategically against Max. Norris stalked Max initially, before dropping away a bit at the end of the stint. The latter half of the stint on hards, though, he came alive - Max forced to work very, very hard to retain his lead and the gap was less than a second at the chequer.

So McLaren appear to be close enough to make Red Bull sweat now. And the upgraded Ferrari isn't far away either, with Leclerc a strong 3rd not too far back - there's more to come from that upgraded Ferrari as they get to understand it better. The rest of the season might just be worth watching.

 

[Creaky]

Makes you wonder what the result would have been with Max in the Ferrari, the McLaren or even the Mercedes.

Claims that Max only wins races because of a superior car are being shown up as ridiculous.

Lando is starting to get the best out of the McLaren, good to see. His confidence level must be running high at the moment.

 

[A1X]

Also worth noting that once again when he was needed, Sergio Perez put in a dud qualifying and took himself out of contention, Red Bull will need someone who is able to step up and help out if Max is going to start being under pressure on a regular basis

 

[Audax]

Lando is starting to get the best out of the McLaren, good to see. His confidence level must be running high at the moment.

I think if Piastri had started in the 2nd place he'd earned with a fantastic qually lap, McLaren would have won the race. Have both Piastri and Norris hanging onto Max in the first stint, gives McLaren the opportunity to split strategy and force Red Bull into covering only one of them. Instead Piastri gets stuck in behind Sainz, who just didn't have the pace, and wasn't close enough to put the RBR strategists under any pressure. Likewise Leclerc in the first stint just didn't stay close enough.

I think we'll see a couple more McLaren victories this season. The Red Bull has been out of sorts two races running now and the upgraded McLaren looks to be much closer. I think we'll see certain circuits that play to the strengths of the McLaren result in Max being knocked off his perch. At the start of the season I thought this year *and* next year could be written off as Red Bull's. Not so sure now. This season is still max's to lose, I think, but we could see RBR miss out on the WCC if Perez slumps again, and next season could be close.

 

[Audax]

Time to update the 2025 (and beyond) driver changes tracker:

Red Bull
1. Verstappen (contract to 2028; but if Red Bull implodes he'll go early)
2. Perez (out of contract after 2024); Ricciardo (needs to up his form at VCARB); Sainz

No new rumours at Red Bull. Perez still, for now, appears the favourite. Ricciardo will fall out of the picture very soon if he doesn't start trouncing Tsunoda. Sainz is waiting to see if he gets a chance.

Ferrari
1. Leclerc (long term contract)
2. Hamilton (multi year contract)

All settled here.

McLaren
1. Norris (multi year contract)
2. Piastri (multi year contract)

All settled here.

Mercedes
1. Russell (not sure on contract at time of posting)
2. Antonelli (Merc junior in F2); Sainz

Pretty quiet at the moment. Antonelli isn't setting the world on fire in F2, but apparently had a very good F1 test session with an old car. Hamilton has backed Antonelli.

Aston Martin
1. Alonso (multi year contract)
2. Stroll (ugh)

All settled here.

VCARB
1. Tsunoda (contract expires end of 2024?); Lawson
2. Ricciardo (contract expires end of 2024); Lawson

Other than Lawson almost certainly getting one of these seats, not much has changed. Tsunoda has been the quicker driver, but apparently his improvement this season has mostly come about thanks to Ricciardo's input.

Sauber / Audi
1. Hulkenberg (new contract)
2. Bottas; Sainz; Zhou

Williams
1. Albon (contracted through at least 2026)
2. Sargeant (rumoured to be on race-by-race contract); Antonelli; Gasly; Bottas

The latest to add to the list to drive alongside Albon in 2025 is Bottas.

Haas
1. Magnussen; Ocon
2. Bearman (rumoured)

Ocon has now been mentioned as a possibility at Haas.

Alpine
1. Ocon
2. Doohan; Martins; Gasly; Mick Schumacher

Mick Schumacher has been named as a candidate at Alpine. Martins is struggling in F2 this season, so his star may be waning at just the wrong time. For Mick Schu to be a prospect at Alpine would suggest to me that they are expecting *both* incumbent drivers to leave, because I can't see them taking Mick over Doohan.

 

[Flounce]

Makes you wonder what the result would have been with Max in the Ferrari, the McLaren or even the Mercedes.

Claims that Max only wins races because of a superior car are being shown up as ridiculous.

Lando is starting to get the best out of the McLaren, good to see. His confidence level must be running high at the moment.

Are you suggesting Max could have won in a Merc?