F1 2024 -Watchalong thread

[Brazilianadventure]

Happy New Year.

Thought I would start the 2024 thread given there is more political intrigue with the FIA.

2 resignations and one person choosing to not renew their contract. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/67906883

Plus allegedly another ex-Red Bull employee moving to the FIA. https://x.com/silverarrowsnet/status/1744375322131231089?s=46&t=lJm6-66fq4MtGcwwAsK6Kg

Without seeing the words underneath I honestly thought it was for Verstappen after his "win" in 2021

Apparently it’s under discussion. I think Ferrari would welcome Bono as he knows how to get the best out of Lewis.

I wonder if LH has tested the Ferrari in any way?

No that wouldn't be allowed. They may have shown him wind tunnel or Dyno numbers or something though.

Remember Lewis has spent the last two years racing against the Ferrari’s in their current incarnation. He will have a good idea of what they can and can’t do. Obviously he doesn’t know the 2024 (or 25) car but can see the direction of travel.

From the sounds of it this is about the long term and post his F1 career. I also get the impression Toto put a limit on how many more years he could race for Mercedes.

I read or saw it reported somewhere that Mercedes turned down Lewis being an ambassador for them for 10 yrs and it would have cost them something like $400m for that part of the deal. It would have included his Mission 44 stuff too.
Ferrari was able to offer him this and he grabbed it.

Lewis is very astute. Everybody thought he was loolah when he made the move from McLaren to Mercedes and he showed everyone that he knew what he was doing. He definitely wouldn't have 6 World Driver's Championships to his name had he stayed with McLaren.

I think he's been very wise. With the new regs coming in in 2026, he'll be able to, during the year he's driving under the old regs make lots of recommendations and sculpt the car to his requirements. I think Ferrari will pull out all the stops for Lewis, even more so than what they did for Michael. I think the Scuderia see Lewis more like Michael than Seb and definitely different to Charles.

I just wish they could have handled the situation better for Carlos. He did nothing wrong and he's been shafted (I think). I hope he gets a seat in a decent team because he really would be a massive loss to F1.

I feel like I’m missing something in Carlos. So many people seem adamant he must end up somewhere else because he’s so good, but for me he’s just never set the world alight anywhere in F1.

To me he seems like a good driver, but not one you look at and say “he’s going to win titles”

Yes I agree with that. Very solid and pretty much any team would be lucky to have him.

With Charles you get the feeling that some day the team will give him more confidence, he'll stop over driving and that'll be it, a multiple champion standard driver. He's just not there yet. I don't get that feeling with Sainz.

I think Charles would be a better driver away from Ferrari, and possibly having a break away from Monaco. I think that would allow him to step away from the shadow of Jules Bianchi that seems to be thrown at him anytime he does anything.

I think the pressure on him to do what Bianchi never got the chance to do may actually rob him of his own chance if he doesn’t find the right team/personnel/confidence to just be himself.

I did wonder if Ferrari thought Lewis might help Charles, it takes the pressure off him to lead the team. He will also benefit from seeing how a World Champion operates.

I have always liked Carlos and he is clearly a talented driver, he is also strategic e.g. Singapore. However, I came to the conclusion he doesn’t have that extra 0.1% that Lewis, Max and Alonso have. Audi (sauber) is where Carlos is likely to end up.

I am not yet convinced that Charles, Lando and George etc. have it. Oscar Piastri may have it.

Sainz is a solid dependable driver, who gets on with all his team mates and tries to avoid all the pomp and fanfare of F1. He still lives close to his family in Spain instead of being lured away to Monaco like the rest of them.

But this also means that he's been shafted more times than he deserves. Personally I'd love to see him just swapped to Mercedes for a couple of years but I don't think it will happen.

I don't think an all time great as a team mate reduces the pressure on anyone. I do think Charles could use it to his advantage and learn a lot, just as he did with Seb. He's unusually emotionally intelligent for an F1 driver so he may well manage it.

There is a difference in pressure to perform as a driver and pressure to lead the team. As a driver the pressure is the same, if not more, but as a team leader Lewis has far more experience and could help Charles.

Carlos has actually shown himself to be stronger than Charles and Ferrari on a couple of occasions where he has not followed strategy and it has paid off.

Lewis had the benefit of Niki Lauda who persuaded him to go to Mercedes. Niki was world champion for both Ferrari and McLaren and Lewis mentions him in his latest statement.

Sainz is underrated IMO. He really has shown some mettle in dealing with Ferrari over the past couple of years.

World Champions aren't always generational talents like Hamilton or Schumacher. Sometimes they are the reliable hard grafters like Hakkinen or Hill, Sainz falls into that category. I do feel for Sainz in this situation. Would actually like him to get the Mercedes seat in 2025 but suspect he will be going to Sauber/Audi

@Sulusu That’s a fair point about not all world champions being a generational talent.

I also like Sainz and feel sorry that he is the one to lose out. They don’t call F1 the piranha club for nothing. I am sure he will have a drive for 2025 as he is too good to lose from the grid.

I feel sorry for him too. He's less flashy and exciting than LClerc I guess, but he is generally pretty steady in terms of gathering points. In a better strategic team I can see he would do very very well.

Christian Horner is apparently under investigation for 'inappropriate behaviour'

Whaaaaat?

<runs to google>

Interesting. We are still waiting to find out what went on with Toto, Susie & the FIA.

What did make me smile is that the DM in its headline relegates CH to being Geri Halliwell’s husband. Nice to see a woman having a trophy husband who just manages an F1 team. 😂

Intriguing about Horner.

Really feels like a lot of political manouvering going on. Which is not to say I think CH is automatically innocent - he's my least favourite team princ - but there does appear to be a lot of under the cover stuff happening.

More than usual. Which is sayying something!

There seems to be quite a few knives out for the team bosses atm.

With that and the resignations at the FIA it's definitely seeming like a bumpy period!

Yikes!!

I sort of admire CH just for being fully a pantomime villain and how he pulls off having those cold dead shark eyes and still being vaguely hot in a villainous and dastardly way.

Must admit I can't stand Horner so if he has done something I hope he gets a proper sanction

Sounds like bullying accusations. I could see that tbf.

It’s interesting that this has come not that long after (in the grand scheme of things) the whole “Helmut Marko isn’t a red bull employee so we don’t have to apologise for him” thing with Sergio Perez.

There are unhappy grumblings at Red Bull. I wonder if there’s a bit of a power struggle after the death of Dietrich Mateschitz?