Formula 1 2024 – WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

Charles le Clerc would be seriously pissed if Lewis came in and won the title in his team! Wonder how he’s feeling now!

implies that this year’s Merc W15 hasn’t improved much on the W14.

Hamilton was quite vocal about the fact that Mercedes didnt listen to him last year, so it feels quite likely that’s the case.  I think I may have said it earlier in last years thread that I wondered whether his current contract had a get out clause if it wasn’t a championship capable scenario at Mercedes.

Charles giving Lewis a tour of Maranello pic.twitter.com/MhewDmAx7o

— Mahir ???? (@ScrewderiaF1) February 1, 2024

No matter which way you look at it, that’s a brave move.

Lets see if Mercedes keep the zero pod philosophy for the W15 or have gone the same route as RedBull/everyone else.

Lets see if Mercedes keep the zero pod philosophy for the W15

What, you mean the zero pod concept they ditched last year?

Interesting that Norris will have heard about what was happening but still decided to sign long term McLaren deal rather than wait to see about a move to Merc. Seems like it’s all a bit BAT at Merc again….

Interesting that Norris will have heard about what was happening but still decided to sign long term McLaren deal rather than wait to see about a move to Merc. Seems like it’s all a bit BAT at Merc again….

It’s interesting isn’t it? It suggests that either no one in the paddock was aware of Lewis going to Ferrari until the last minute, or that if everyone already knew about the move, that the paddock knows that the new Merc car is a dog and Lando has decided staying where he is will be better long term.

Wonder if Lando has any escape clauses in his new contract. Seeing as Merc are McLarens engine supplier, they could potentially do a deal with heavily discounted engines in exchange for Lando…

Wonder if Lando has any escape clauses in his new contract.

There will be, but I think he will want to wait and see how competitive the teams are before deciding. That’s what surprised me about Hamilton – I assumed that he might have signed a tentative contract, but would wait until they saw how competitive the cars were on track before making a final decision. My guess is that he’s fairly sure that neither the Ferrari nor the Merc will win the championship this year, but that Ferrari are better positioned to improve over the next two or three years.

I would love to see Alonso get a year or two in a competitive Merc before he retires. He’s a difficult person to like, but only two titles really does not do him justice.

I would love to see Alonso get a year or two in a competitive Merc before he retires. He’s a difficult person to like, but only two titles really does not do him justice.

It would be perfect timing for Alonso – leave a team on the rise for one on the fall! 🤣

He deserves x2 titles due to his arsey attitude towards team mates and teams.

I think I’d fancy my chances in either a Ferrari or Maclaren over Mercedes right now. Did Verstappen say at the end of last seasons that the car that they worried about the most was the MacLaren after its updates after the summer break.

I wonder if Toto will go at the same time….. He was muttering about leaving a couple of years ago.

Some good news

Some pleasant news to wake up to this morning. Suzuka until at least 2029! Always wondered though why there’s only 1 figure of 8 track that F1 races on? Not sure why more weren’t designed ??‍♂️??‍♂️ https://t.co/K7VfyTYU1l

— David Croft (@CroftyF1) February 2, 2024

Alonso was eight points away from being a five-times world champion.

Useless fact.

Even more more useless fact, I had a dream last night where Hamilton and Verstappen were racing in one of those Bronco tracked vehicle things which the army use, Verstappen was in the back one but couldn’t overtake because they were joined together, although the towing arm was long enough to allow them to crash into each other. It was quite funny to watch

One of these, painted bright blue

I wonder if Toto will go at the same time….. He was muttering about leaving a couple of years ago

He recently extended his contract to 2026 so doubt this changes much for him.

…and he owns a third of the team. So he’s not really an employee! 🙂

Anyway, it was funny watching every single  F1 journalist lose their shit yesterday. I’ll bet they’ve never had to write so much in an afternoon before 😂

Wonder if Lando has any escape clauses in his new contract. Seeing as Merc are McLarens engine supplier, they could potentially do a deal with heavily discounted engines in exchange for Lando…

McLaren aren’t Williams though so that wouldn’t work.

Also McLaren now have a seat at the table at Mercedes power trains, they get the same development information as the main Mercedes team does, advanced news on cooling and other efficiencies. Brown apparently negotiated it as part of the contract when they renewed with Mercedes. Quite a strange move on Mercedes part a lot of people thought.

McLaren to have ‘more influence’ with new Mercedes PU deal

There’s a car launch today BTW – just in case anyone can be arsed looking at renders of the slowest car on the grid! 🙂

Not a surprise to hear Lewis is off. He’s sulked his way round the tracks for a couple of years now, clearly needs a change of scene. Let’s be honest the journey from Monaco to Maranello will be a lot nicer that going to MK.

I assume he’s done it for the upgrade to the company car.

Ooooh look – a black F1 car!…

Calm yourselves people – I know an F1 car launch is an exciting thing but steady-on with the posting frenzy!! 😂

the-muffin-man
Full Member

Calm yourselves people

😁

TBH i assumed it was just a livery launch but over on F1technical, they think it’s (at least some iteration of) the real car.

New front wing inspired by the Merc W14, and quite different around the sidepods (now similar to mclaren) and the cannon (see the louvres behind the engine)

Ecco le prime modifiche della nuova Haas, per l'analisi completa questa sera torna Effe1 garage !!!
Se volete usare la foto citate la fonte grazie https://t.co/KMai6BSigv pic.twitter.com/tlESrrMyIG

— Salvatore Asero (@Graftechweb) February 2, 2024

Their conclusion so far: ‘nothing drastic’/’the first of many RB clones’

Their conclusion so far: ‘nothing drastic’/’the first of many RB clones

aka convergence under relatively stable rules.

One year they should all just roll out renders of the same car but with different liveries to see what design features the “experts” spot

thepurist

aka convergence under relatively stable rules.

One year they should all just roll out renders of the same car but with different liveries to see what design features the “experts” spot

Well it’s all a bit academic anyway given the magic on these cars is underneath! Besides nobody will be revealing anything spicy before testing, at least not on purpose 🙂

So Andretti didn’t attend the meeting with FOM because the invite went into a spam folder 😅

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/andrettis-fresh-f1-rejection-rebutal/

and the cannon

I didn’t realise they were allowed heavy munitions. Hispana 404 or something more modern?

So Andretti didn’t attend the meeting with FOM because the invite went into a spam folder 😅

…I use that excuse at least once a week!! 🤣🤣

Part of me wants Hamilton’s move to be more about career wishlist fulfilment than an attempt to buck the trend of Ferrari making a bollix of everything.  I can’t allow myself to get too invested in this.

And what of Sainz?  IMO he’s pretty bloody good.

Its being reported Hamilton’s Ferrari deal will go beyond normal F1 duties and include things like supporting his 44 race team and him being a brand Ammbasador for Ferrari after he reitres, which apparently is something Merc declined doing in his latest round of contract agreement talks

For this Ferrari will pay him a paltry $446 million/£353 million pounds

For actual driving its reported he will be on $87 million for 2025 with the option to extend for 2026!

And what of Sainz?  IMO he’s pretty bloody good.

Off to Audi/Sauber/Alfa Romeo…whatever they call themselves next week. By all accounts

I know it’s not going to happen but I’d quite like a certain German multiple world champion to follow in the footsteps of another German multiple world champion and make a comeback with Mercedes 🤞🏻🤞🏻

Either that or Alex Albon but there are a few rumours that he’ll be going to RB when Checo gets the elbow.

Sadly I think Ocon is the most likely outcome 😕

This is what happens when you sternly tell staff they can’t have an extra sandwich anymore! 🙂

? BREAKING: Red Bull has launched an independent investigation after allegations of inappropriate behavior by the team’s boss Christian Horner.

[@ErikvHaren]#F1 pic.twitter.com/hZBrukd65W

— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) February 5, 2024

Sadly I think Ocon is the most likely outcome

I think Sainz is probably top of the list, Albon has a shot, Alonso isn’t out of the question, neither is Ricciardo. Problem is, Red Bull has the same list and hard to see them keeping Perez for 2025.

Vettel’s name is being chucked around too – and a youngster at 36 compared to Lewis and Fernando! 🙂

Williams livery reveal livestream
https://www.williamsf1.com/live-experience/633fdfe9-cc4b-4f25-9e47-1fcc444ad2ee/2024-season-launch

Nothing too exciting, couple of new sponsors though.

New sponsor for Williams – should give them a lift for the 2024 season…

Aiui they’re just showing new paint on an old car – actual car reveal will be when testing kicks off. So guess that today is an event for the Williams PR team and the sponsors, not really for the fans.

Edit – but as new paint goes, that’s actually quite nice.

New sponsor for Williams – should give them a lift for the 2024 season…

Might be digging a hole for themselves though.