F1 2024

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Guest appearance by Beat Zehnder, the Sporting Director of Sauber.

This guy has not missed a single race since March 1993, some 580'ish races ago!

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Toto Wolff: 'Mad people, see a shrink' as police investigate Lewis Hamilton email

Following a mass email being sent out regarding Lewis Hamilton, Toto Wolff has confirmed the police are now investigating the matter.
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Following a mass email being sent out regarding Lewis Hamilton, Toto Wolff has confirmed the police are now investigating the matter.

On the Monday following the Canadian Grand Prix, a mass email was sent out to hundreds of members of the F1 community in which allegations regarding Mercedes’ treatment of Lewis Hamilton were made.

The email, which was sent from an anonymous Gmail address that referred to Wolff and George Russell in juvenile terms, was sent to the same mailing list as the anonymous email leak regarding Christian Horner back in February.

The contents of this email, which was sent by someone claiming to be working with Mercedes, referred to unhappiness within the team about “systemic sabotage” of Lewis Hamilton, as well as some more serious allegations which PlanetF1.com has opted against reproducing.

Wolff was asked about the email during Friday’s press conference in Spain, in which the Austrian confirmed the police are now investigating the matter as Mercedes is taking a zero-tolerance attitude to the matter of online abuse.

“Yeah, so it’s not from a member of the team,” he said.

PlanetF1.com understands the leading theory within Mercedes is a fan may have used the same email list as the email pertaining to Horner, by using a leaked list published online – the list containing the email addresses of permanent members of the F1 media, as well as leading F1 authorities and bosses.
 
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Flavio Briatore's X-rated response to critics after controversial Alpine F1 return

Flavio Briatore has hit back at his critics after the former Renault team principal returned to the Alpine F1 team as an advisor.
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Flavio Briatore has told his critics to “f**k off” after it was announced that the controversial former team principal has returned to the Alpine F1 squad.

Alpine announced on Friday at the Spanish Grand Prix that Briatore has returned to Enstone as an executive advisor.

Flavio Briatore returns to F1 with Alpine​

Despite overseeing the greatest period of success in the team’s history – including double World Championships with Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso in the 1994/95 and 2005/06 respectively – Briatore is a highly divisive figure in F1 due to his involvement in the infamous ‘Crashgate’ scandal.

The Italian was hit with a lifetime ban – later overturned by the FIA on appeal in 2013 – for ordering Nelson Piquet Jr to crash deliberately in the Singapore Grand Prix of 2008, triggering a Safety Car period that helped team-mate Fernando Alonso to victory.

Asked if he had a message for those unhappy to see him back in F1 in an official capacity, Briatore told Sky F1: “F**k off.”
 
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Carlos Sainz left torn on crucial F1 career choice with 'coin toss' decision imminent

Carlos Sainz is eager to make a decision on his F1 future for 2025 but admitted he's still torn as to his decision with numerous options.
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what decision to make as he has plenty of options.

Sainz is currently the main player on the F1 driver market for 2025, following Ferrari’s decision to remove him from his seat in order to bring in seven-time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton alongside Charles Leclerc.

Carlos Sainz: A decision on my future will be made soon​

With Sainz becoming a free agent off the back of Ferrari being unable to resist the allure of signing Hamilton moreso than dropping the Spaniard due to his performance level, Sainz has become a key figure with so many teams having free seats for next year.

While the door to Red Bull was shut as the Milton Keynes-based squad stuck with Sergio Perez alongside Max Verstappen, and Mercedes talks came to an end as a result of differing perspectives on how long the two sides wanted to make a deal happen, Sainz revealed this week he’s had a contract offer from every team with a free cockpit available.

Spoiled for choice, Sainz has to make the difficult call of who to take a gamble on – particularly with the 2026 regulations being set to tear up the formbook, meaning there’s no team at which he’s guaranteed a competitive car.

“The latest is that a decision will be taken very soon,” Sainz told media, including PlanetF1.com, at the Spanish Grand Prix press conference on Thursday.
 
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‘Social media driver’ Daniel Ricciardo told to retire as scathing criticism continues

Following Jacques Villeneuve's comments on Daniel Ricciardo, Johnny Herbert has agreed with the 1997 F1 World Champion.
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Following Jacques Villeneuve’s comments on Daniel Ricciardo, three-time Grand Prix winner Johnny Herbert has agreed with the 1997 F1 World Champion.

Villeneuve, never one shy of an opinion, found himself getting into a war of words with Ricciardo during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend as the French-Canadian pointed to the ongoing struggles Ricciardo has had to recoup his former glory.

Johnny Herbert: Jacques Villeneuve’s comments ‘spot on’​

Appearing as a pundit on Sky F1’s coverage in Montreal, Villeneuve said: “Why is he still in F1? We’re hearing the same thing now for the last four or five years, we have to make the car better for him. Sorry, it’s been five years of that.”

Ricciardo’s response was terse.

“I heard he’s been talking s**t,” he told the media. “But he always does. I think he’s hit his head a few too many times. So I don’t know if he plays ice hockey or something.

“I won’t give him the time of day but all those people can suck it. I want to say more but we’ll leave him behind.”

The back-and-forth has now resulted in Johnny Herbert weighing in on the topic, with the occasional FIA steward saying that he agreed with Villeneuve’s assessment.
 
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FIA reach verdict after Lance Stroll non-attendance at Spanish GP fan activity

Lance Stroll went to the stewards after "non-attendance" at a fan engagement activity at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.
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Lance Stroll went to see the FIA after an alleged breach of the sporting regulations, for “non-attendance at [a] fan engagement activity” in Barcelona.

The Aston Martin driver saw the stewards with a team representative after an alleged breach of Article 19.2(c) of the sporting regulations, in which drivers have to be made available for fan engagement prior to FP1, and the result was a team reprimand for Aston Martin, after Stroll had a medical appointment.

Aston Martin reprimanded after Lance Stroll misses fan obligations​

Drivers are contractually obliged to take part in fan and marketing engagement activities through their deals with their respective teams, as well as through Formula 1 and the FIA.

As a result, Stroll was called to the stewards for his reported non-attendance as required by the regulations in Barcelona.

The relevant regulation states: “Within a one (1) hour period finishing no later than one and a half (1.5) hours prior to the scheduled start of P1, ten (10) drivers must be available for fan engagement activities for a maximum period of thirty (30) minutes each (this window includes the time required to travel to and return from the fan activity) within the one (1) hour period.”

​

 
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Spanish GP: Lando Norris tops FP1 as Charles Leclerc laments 'horrendous' Ferrari

McLaren and Lando Norris made the perfect start to the Spanish Grand Prix by setting the pace in the opening practice session.
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McLaren and Lando Norris made the perfect start to the Spanish Grand Prix by setting the pace in the opening practice session.

Max Verstappen brought the fight with 0.024s splitting the pair on the soft tyres, while the old-spec Ferrari was not giving Charles Leclerc much joy.

McLaren biggest threat to Red Bull at Spanish GP?​

After the wet/dry conditions which dominated the Canadian Grand Prix, drivers were greeted by glorious sunshine in Barcelona for the start of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend.

There was just the one driver change for this session, as Oliver Bearman took over from Nico Hulkenberg at Haas for his second FP1 outing of the season.

The Ferrari SF-24s started decked out in flow-vis paint on the rear wing, the team having introduced a higher downforce model for this round, along with sidepod, diffuser and floor upgrades.

Sainz was using the new package for FP1 and Charles Leclerc the old spec for a direct comparison, though Sainz was soon reporting “no power” over the radio, Ferrari soon finding a mode to sort that.

But it was Red Bull’s Verstappen setting the early pace with a 1:15.424 on the hard Pirelli tyres, while team-mate Sergio Perez – in desperate need of a stronger showing this weekend – was told “we’ll have a talk in the garage” after querying the health of his throttle pedal due to understeering on exits.
 
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Red Bull and Ferrari upgrades revealed ahead of crucial Spanish GP test

Red Bull and Ferrari are the leading teams to introduce upgrades at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, a track to offer an all-round test.
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Red Bull and Ferrari are the leading teams to introduce upgrades in Spain, including a sidepod tweak on the RB20, with the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya set to give the challengers an all-round examination.

Red Bull has experienced sterner competition from Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes over recent rounds, but all eyes are now on the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, a track regarded as one of the most complete tests of Formula 1 machinery and therefore a strong indicator of the overall pecking order.

Red Bull revise sidepods and floor for Spanish GP​

Max Verstappen returned to winning ways at the wheel of the Red Bull RB20 in Canada, fighting off McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ George Russell, but with struggles over the kerbs highlighted as the cause of absence for their dominant ways in recent rounds, rivals are looking to Barcelona as the true test of their progress.

And the FIA has now confirmed the list of upgrades across the grid for the Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull revising their sidepod inlet geometries in a circuit-specific move for “greater cooling efficiency”, while modifying the engine cover side panels and floor to accommodate the changes.

Red Bull has also introduced a pair of performance-focused upgrades, revising the rear wing endplate and beam wing.
 
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