F1 2024

[Batgirl]

The 2024 F1 season will begin 3rd March in Bahrain but F1 contracts and driver news are in the headlines today as it is announced that in 2025 Lewis Hamilton will leave Mercedes and join the Ferrari team.

Hamilton signed a 2 year contract with Mercedes due to expire at the end of 2025 but it had a release option available to Hamilton at the end of 2024. Most expected that Lewis would remain at Mercedes until the end of 2025 (and maybe even see out his driving career with them) so this comes as a huge surprise. 

George Russell also signed a contract until the end of 2025 and would be seen as the primary driver for the team now with Hamilton's future departure. I think George will like that a lot. (I must say that I thought that the Mercedes insta had been focusing on George Russell with sight gags and funny pics before Xmas way more than Hamilton - which at the time I thought was a little odd - now it makes sense!)

The pairing of Charles Leclerc with Lewis leaves Carlos Sainz needing a seat in 2025 but I can't imagine he will be left for long.

A large number of drivers will be looking for drives in 2025. When I look at the list I think there is no point me trying to remember who drives for who this year because it will be all different in 2025!

Driver                  Team               Contract End
Max Verstappen    Red Bull           2028
Sergio Perez         Red Bull           2024
Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes         2024 and set for Ferrari
George Russell      Mercedes         2025
Charles Leclerc      Ferrari             "Several more seasons"
Carlos Sainz          Ferrari             2024 and due to leave
Lando Norris          McLaren          "Long-term"
Oscar Piastri          McLaren           2026
Fernando Alonso    Aston Martin     2024
Lance Stroll           Aston Martin     "Rolling"
Esteban Ocon        Alpine               2024
Pierre Gasly           Alpine               2024
Alex Albon             Williams            2024
Logan Sargeant      Williams           2024
Daniel Ricciardo      Alpha Tauri       2024
Yuki Tsunoda          Alpha Tauri       2024
Valtteri Bottas        Sauber             2024
Zhou Guanyu         Sauber             2024
Kevin Magnussen    Haas                2024
Nico Hulkenberg      Haas               2024

In earlier news of course Guenther Steiner was released as the team principal at Haas in January 2024. This was a shock to Haas fans

Haas joined in 2016 and has not had success. They have had plenty of media attention and their marketing team made good use of Steiner's strong personality but they just don't have a competitive car.

His successor is the team's engineering director - Ayao Komatsu. Who? Yes he will likely be a less visible leader than Steiner.

I think Steiner brought good experience and personality to the F1 team. According to the article below the need for more funds to build, test and improve on their cars wasn't met by team owner, Gene Haas.

 

www.the-race.com/formula-1/why-guenther-steiner-left-haas-f1-team/

[Del Boy]

Thank you for kicking off the F1 2024 thread, Batgirl 
Like most of us I lost a lot of interest in the shenanigans of last season. There were a few good races where the interest was the midfield mainly. 
I'm hoping there are good races and a few surprises for us fans during 2024 and its looking like 25 will deliver a lot of change with drivers before the 26 regs changes kick in.  

Enjoy F1 2024 everyone 

P.S I'd love to see Alonso in a Merc or a Red Bull. 

[Dirty Epic]

Sorry for not replying sooner to this.

Hamilton to Ferrari is a major shock as thought he'd be solid Mercedes until the end of his career. Something/someone must've convinced him to join them and seeing how it will go it will either go brilliant or be a horror story and if Ferrari don't sharpen up majorly it will certainly be the latter here.

Sainz has been unfairly sacrificed here considering he was Ferrari's Mr consistent last year and got the Singapore win which stopped a RB cakewalk but I suppose all the parties here know best!

I wish Lewis well with this move it's brave to jump ship from a fairly solid base he's had up until a season or so to a unknown but it has shades of Schumacher's I'll fated 2010 comeback for me.

Who'll get the Merc drive Alonso, Vettel, Sainz or... it'll be tough shoes to fill for someone who was in the DNA of Mercedes F1 this last decade or so.

Let's just hope all round we get a more competitive seasons not Merc or RB dominance we've had recently.

[Dirty Epic]

Rather than post the result here's the highlights of the Bahrain GP.



Case of the more things change the more they stay the same and a win for Verstappen and 1-2 for Red Bull, however the rest of the field were much closer in both practice/quali and this might bode well for less of a RB cakewalk this year.

Ferrari best of the rest and interesting Sainz won that battle here. A McLaren/Mercedes sandwich with good results for Russell and Norris and not too bad for Hamilton and Piastri too but they were all had no chance of getting Verstappen/RB unless they dropped a b***ock or had a mechanical still there's encouraging signs - I hope.

Shame Hulkenberg didn't covert his qualifying hope into points for Haas, a repeat of last season when they just seem to fall back into the race. Danny Ricciardo's pratcie promise also didn't really convert in quali and the race either and what the hell is wrong with Alpine two fairly decent drivers in Ocon and Gasly but can't even get beyond the back of the grid, considering the experience and history (Benneton, Renault etc.) that team have they shouldn't be there.

Was it a good or bad race? Leave that to you to decide but F1 is back!

[Gene Hunt]

Time will tell. Bahrain is a high deg track but the next race in Saudi should be a little different but the fact remains - Red Bull are unbeatable and have been for the past 2 seasons. With the added fact that the cars by and large will be similar next year too, I fear genuine F1 fans are going to be switching off from the sport. I don't like Red Bull or anyone in the team. Karen Horner is a hateful bloke and so is Marko. Verstappen I loathe and his old man Jos is also an utter twat. They have cheated along the way, and now there are all sorts of stories about the inappropriate behaviour case against Horner not being dealt with correctly. Jos Verstappen and Horner are at loggerheads with Jos saying Red Bull will be torn apart if Horner is not removed from the team. The whole situation stinks and is bringing the sport into disrepute.

Can't say I'm looking forward to watching another unchallenged year for the Dutchman. Say what you like about Hamilton having had a dominant car in Mercedes, but it was never as dominant as the RB is and at least Hamilton had world class team mates he had to beat (and sometimes didn't with Rosberg or Button). Perez simply isn't good enough and when he is having a good day, he's not allowed to challenge Verstappen or as we saw in Brazil in 2022, after letting Verstappen through, was not allowed to retake the position later on when Max refused to obey team orders.

Gene.

[Three Litre]

Mar 3, 2024 12:26:42 GMT Gene Hunt said:

Time will tell. Bahrain is a high deg track but the next race in Saudi should be a little different but the fact remains - Red Bull are unbeatable and have been for the past 2 seasons. With the added fact that the cars by and large will be similar next year too, I fear genuine F1 fans are going to be switching off from the sport. I don't like Red Bull or anyone in the team. Karen Horner is a hateful bloke and so is Marko. Verstappen I loathe and his old man Jos is also an utter twat. They have cheated along the way, and now there are all sorts of stories about the inappropriate behaviour case against Horner not being dealt with correctly. Jos Verstappen and Horner are at loggerheads with Jos saying Red Bull will be torn apart if Horner is not removed from the team. The whole situation stinks and is bringing the sport into disrepute.

Can't say I'm looking forward to watching another unchallenged year for the Dutchman. Say what you like about Hamilton having had a dominant car in Mercedes, but it was never as dominant as the RB is and at least Hamilton had world class team mates he had to beat (and sometimes didn't with Rosberg or Button). Perez simply isn't good enough and when he is having a good day, he's not allowed to challenge Verstappen or as we saw in Brazil in 2022, after letting Verstappen through, was not allowed to retake the position later on when Max refused to obey team orders.

Gene.

None of the characters in the RB debacle seem very nice people. Can't see it going much longer without some of sort change in personnel. If Horner is forced out he could form his own team, Horny Racing.

[Gene Hunt]

Mar 3, 2024 12:43:32 GMT Three Litre said:

Mar 3, 2024 12:26:42 GMT Gene Hunt said:

Time will tell. Bahrain is a high deg track but the next race in Saudi should be a little different but the fact remains - Red Bull are unbeatable and have been for the past 2 seasons. With the added fact that the cars by and large will be similar next year too, I fear genuine F1 fans are going to be switching off from the sport. I don't like Red Bull or anyone in the team. Karen Horner is a hateful bloke and so is Marko. Verstappen I loathe and his old man Jos is also an utter twat. They have cheated along the way, and now there are all sorts of stories about the inappropriate behaviour case against Horner not being dealt with correctly. Jos Verstappen and Horner are at loggerheads with Jos saying Red Bull will be torn apart if Horner is not removed from the team. The whole situation stinks and is bringing the sport into disrepute.

Can't say I'm looking forward to watching another unchallenged year for the Dutchman. Say what you like about Hamilton having had a dominant car in Mercedes, but it was never as dominant as the RB is and at least Hamilton had world class team mates he had to beat (and sometimes didn't with Rosberg or Button). Perez simply isn't good enough and when he is having a good day, he's not allowed to challenge Verstappen or as we saw in Brazil in 2022, after letting Verstappen through, was not allowed to retake the position later on when Max refused to obey team orders.

Gene.

None of the characters in the RB debacle seem very nice people. Can't see it going much longer without some of sort change in personnel. If Horner is forced out he could form his own team, Horny Racing.

The Horner/Marko set up was never going to be harmonious. As much as I dislike Horner, Marko is a hateful twat. Throw the Verstappen father & Son duo into the frame and it's a wonder it hasn't all imploded long before now. RB are still reaping the rewards of the overspend cheating they did. They broke the regulations pure and simple and it paid dividends for them for the next 3 years in succession at least. The penalty they had slapped on them for the infringement had zero implications for them no matter how much Horner Spice claims it left them at a disadvantage. 

Gene.

[Sam Tyler]

Mar 3, 2024 17:21:07 GMT Gene Hunt said:

Mar 3, 2024 12:43:32 GMT Three Litre said:

None of the characters in the RB debacle seem very nice people. Can't see it going much longer without some of sort change in personnel. If Horner is forced out he could form his own team, Horny Racing.

The Horner/Marko set up was never going to be harmonious. As much as I dislike Horner, Marko is a hateful twat. Throw the Verstappen father & Son duo into the frame and it's a wonder it hasn't all imploded long before now. RB are still reaping the rewards of the overspend cheating they did. They broke the regulations pure and simple and it paid dividends for them for the next 3 years in succession at least. The penalty they had slapped on them for the infringement had zero implications for them no matter how much Horner Spice claims it left them at a disadvantage. 

Gene.

I'll admit just as I have done before that F1 is completely soured for me. MV's first championship was complete bullshit and I still consider it to be Hamilton's eighth world championship. RB and Horner have f**ked up F1 more than Briatore, Alonso ("in all innocence") and Piquet Jr ever did. I thought that was corrupt then but not like now and I haven't bothered with any of the lead-up or the race itself, which is a shame because I used to love watching it back in the days with Mansell, Hill, Coulthard, Herbert, Irvine, Senna, Prost, Schumacher et all.

And as for this latest hoo-ha about Horner and his "inappropriate texts", is it to sensationalise and to draw more attention to RB ahead of the season? Let's see what Geri has to say about it...

Now for me it is rallying, bikes, drop in from time to time on BTCC. and reminiscing on car and bike GPs of old.

Sam.

[Del Boy]

I had high hopes that the rest of the field would up their game and open up the championship but it was definitely more of the same. Got a feeling that I might not bother with some races this season after that showing yesterday . 
When one team is totally dominant it does detract from the sport. I was desperate for the Schumacher years to end even more so with the unchallenged Hamilton gimme championships, and now its happening again at Redbull. First race and it looks like Verstappen will win a fourth title. Forget Perez he won't be a credible challenge.
As for the race It was a snoozefest for much of the GP TBH. F1s current regs were supposed to open up the racing but really that only lasted for a season and half. They have failed in their ambition to improve the racing . People will move away from the sport if this carries on. 

[Dirty Epic]

Totally agree with all of the posts, guilty or innocent these allegations against Horner stick, they broke the rules and have had a level of domination Ferrari (2000-04) and Mercedes (2014-20) never ever had.

Like Sam said it's not the F1 of the days of Mansell, Prost, Senna, Piquet and even as loved and loathed as he was Schumacher it's all staged and show these days and the show demands a bit of controversy like last lap title deciders, rule breakers, staged heroes and villains and "other issues" that have been in the news recently. The Liberty Media/Sky influence hasn't really helped here either.

I'm certainly not a fan of RB or as well to be fair Mercedes personally just hope Ferrari and McLaren who had decentish starts can build on it and be a bit closer than in 2023... if not as Sam said it's the BTCC for me but that's not on until late April   but you do get 'racing' there.

Here's to a closer next race - I hope!