✔️ Driver Line Up Complete

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Welcome back to your go-to source for all things Formula 1.

🤔 Alfa Romeo: In or Out? Rumors are swirling like tire smoke in the wind, and the big question on everyone's lips is, "Is Alfa Romeo in or out?" We'll get down to the nitty-gritty and separate fact from fiction in the latest F1 gossip.

🏁 2024 Driver Lineup: Hold onto your helmets because we've finally got the official driver lineup for 2024!

🗣️ Alpine and Andretti: Are Alpine and Andretti back in the conversation? The pit lane is buzzing with talks and whispers, and we're here to bring you the latest on this intriguing development.

🚶🚪 Alfa Romeo to Exit Formula 1

Alfa Romeo is on the verge of exiting Formula 1, and it's looking increasingly likely that we won't see their sponsorship in the sport next year. They ended their partnership with Sauber after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and have been struggling to find a new partner in the world of Formula 1.

Between The Lines

• There were rumors floating around during the Monaco Grand Prix that Alfa Romeo might team up with Haas once their partnership with Sauber expired. However, there hasn't been an official announcement.

• Alfa Romeo had mentioned earlier in 2023 that they wanted more clarity on their motorsport sponsorship by the end of the summer, but as of now, there's still no official word on their return as a sponsor in motorsport for the next year.

• The reason for the uncertainty seems to be stalled negotiations between Alfa Romeo and Haas. They couldn't come to an agreement on the terms of Alfa Romeo's sponsorship with the US-owned team.

• Haas already secured a significant title sponsor this season with MoneyGram.

Go Deeper

With the current boom in F1, teams can demand more from sponsors, and this seems to be where the negotiations hit a snag. Alfa Romeo may have been hoping for a deal similar to their arrangement with Sauber in previous years, but the market value in F1 has evolved, and the negotiations didn't pan out.

As a result, it appears that Alfa Romeo, the iconic Italian car brand, will be leaving Formula 1, as there doesn't seem to be room for their sponsorship with other F1 teams. It's likely that they'll shift their focus to other motorsport categories in the coming weeks, potentially looking at the World Endurance Championship as a sponsor. - Read more

📅 Pirelli's Tire Choices for 2024 Season

Pirelli has revealed its tire choices for the 2024 Formula 1 season with some interesting updates. Instead of introducing a new tire compound, Pirelli will stick with the current ones for next year. This means that teams already have a good understanding of how these tires behave.

For the first three races of the 2024 season, Pirelli has made some specific compound choices. The Bahrain Grand Prix will feature the C1, C2, and C3 compounds, the same as this year. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the second race of the season, will see the C2, C3, and C4 compounds. Again, these are familiar choices.

The real change comes with the Australian Grand Prix, the third round of the championship. Pirelli will bring the softer C3, C4, and C5 compounds to this race.

Why It Matters

• This move aims to address the tire warm-up issues that affected the later stages of the race this year and to create more strategic possibilities for the teams.

• Pirelli decided to stick with the same tires after a mid-season modification in 2023 when a new construction was introduced for the British Grand Prix.

• They did consider making changes to the tire compounds towards the end of the year, with a different C2 tested at the Japanese Grand Prix and a revised C4 in Mexico. However, these changes didn't yield the expected improvements.

Go Deeper

Despite the increasing downforce levels in Formula 1, Pirelli's head of car racing and F1, Mario Isola, is confident that the current tire specification can handle the challenges of the 2024 season.

It's worth noting that the tires will remain unchanged from the previous season due to the lack of tire testing in the Covid-impacted 2020 and 2021 seasons. - Read more

⚙️ Alpine Ready to Talk Engines with Andretti

Alpine's interim team principal, Bruno Famin, has confirmed that they're open to supplying engines to Andretti Cadillac if Andretti makes it onto the Formula 1 grid. Alpine has reached out to Andretti for further discussions about this potential partnership.

Now, Andretti's entry into Formula 1 has been quite the talking point, with Formula One Management looking closely at their application. Despite facing protests from some team bosses and Formula 1 in general, the FIA gave Andretti the green light to join as the eleventh team.

Alpine had earlier discussed an engine deal with Andretti, but the pre-contract agreement has now expired. According to F1 regulations, if a team doesn't have an engine partner, the manufacturer with the fewest customer teams has to step in and supply engines.

Currently, Alpine provides engines exclusively for its own team. However, with new power unit regulations coming in 2026, Audi is set to supply its team, and Honda is coming back in collaboration with Aston Martin.

If Andretti's entry is accepted, they will join F1 alongside General Motors and its Cadillac division. General Motors has already registered as a power unit supplier, but their actual entry isn't expected until 2028, potentially three years after Andretti joins the grid.

Read more

👍 F1 2024 Driver Line Up Complete

Logan Sargeant is all set to continue racing for Williams in 2024.

The rumors had been swirling for a bit, and it's official now. Sargeant is sticking with the British team for another year. He's excited about what lies ahead, and it seems like his boss, James Vowles, had dropped some hints about this extension, too.

Looking back at 2023, it was a bit of a rollercoaster ride for Sargeant. He had his fair share of tough moments as a rookie, especially when going head-to-head with his teammate, Alexander Albon. But there were some shining moments, such as his strong debut in Bahrain and his home race in Las Vegas, where he grabbed his first Formula 1 points. - Read more

🟢 Fernando Alonso Assesses Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso shared his thoughts on Aston Martin's performance in Formula 1 this season, and he didn't mince words. Despite his successful first season with the team, he acknowledged that Aston Martin wasn't quite ready to compete with the top F1 teams.

At the start of the year, Aston Martin looked promising, with Alonso even securing six podium finishes in the first eight races. This was a significant improvement compared to their seventh-place finish in the Constructors' Championship in the previous year.

However, as the season progressed, Aston Martin gradually fell behind the top contenders and ultimately finished fifth in the standings. Alonso, though, remained positive about the experience.

Read more

The relentless pursuit of speed in F1 often leads to groundbreaking innovations, but sometimes, certain technologies must be shown the red flag for safety and competition. One such case is the ban on ground effect.

What is Ground Effect in F1?

Ground effect is all about using aerodynamics to glue the car to the track without relying heavily on external wings and stuff.

Here's how it works: the car's underside is designed so that as it speeds along, it channels air underneath it in a specific manner. This design makes the air move faster under the car than over it. Faster-moving air means lower pressure. So, the higher pressure above the car and the lower pressure below create a suction effect. This literally sucks the car towards the track.

The Birth of Ground Effect

Ground effect first popped up in Formula 1 in the late 1970s. Colin Chapman’s Lotus 79 was a game changer as the first car to fully embrace ground effect right after they tested it the year before. With Mario Andretti driving, the Lotus clinched the championship that season.

F1 cars have been using ground effect way longer than you might think. It's not just about the fancy tunnels under today’s cars. Even simple parts like the front wing rely on it. When the front wing is close to the ground, it creates more downforce, thanks to ground effects.

Technically, ground effect was never outright banned. What really changed was how they could be used. So, it's more about the 'ground effect cars' of the 70s and 80s, rather than saying ground effect was banned. The FIA actually outlawed pushing this effect to the extreme in the 1980s.

In the '70s and '80s, the underside of the car’s sidepod was shaped like an upside-down wing. They didn't have Venturi tunnels like the cars we see today. This design made air zip through a narrow space under the car, speeding it up and creating a low-pressure area. This low pressure pretty much glued the car to the track. The lower the car, the stronger this sucking effect and the more downforce they got.

Why Was Ground Effect Banned In Formula 1?

It's actually because it was too good but with a dangerous catch. When cars zoomed around corners super fast, they relied on a suction effect from these ground effect tunnels under the car. The problem was, if anything went wrong like the skirts breaking or hitting a bump, the car would suddenly lose a lot of downforce. 

The teams added skirts along the car's sides to max out the ground effect. These skirts kept the air from escaping and made the wing shapes underneath super effective at sticking the car to the track. But, if something went wrong with these skirts, the car would lose its downforce in a flash, which could lead to serious crashes.

Why Did Teams Start Using Ground Effect? 

Back then, aerodynamics wasn't as advanced as it is now. Teams had to use skirts to seal the car floors because they didn't know a better way to do it. Unfortunately, these skirts were pretty easy to damage, and if they got messed up at high speeds, it could mean a sudden loss of downforce and control.

Ground effect cars were eventually phased out through rule changes, like banning skirts in 1981 and requiring flat floors from 1983. This didn't totally stop the use of ground effects, but it limited how much they could be used.

Even up to 2022, F1 cars still used ground effect, especially under the floor, for much of their downforce. Estimates suggest that about 50-60% or more of a car’s downforce came from this area between 2017 and 2021.

In 2022, ground effect made a big comeback in F1. It had been almost 40 years, but they were reintroduced with today's better understanding of aerodynamics and safer design approaches. This time, they ditched those risky skirts and used smart aerodynamics to seal the car floors. Teams now use things like vortices created by the car's design to achieve a similar effect, which is safer since it can't get physically damaged like skirts.

Why Bring Back Ground Effect? 

It's all about making overtaking easier. Recently, F1 cars have become bigger and relied heavily on large wings and complex parts for downforce, which created a lot of dirty air behind them. This dirty air made it tough for a following car to keep up. The new approach was to reduce this dirty air by changing how downforce is generated, hopefully making it easier for cars to follow and overtake each other through corners.

🗣️ Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the president of FIA, has spoken out against accusations of sexism. He strongly denies these claims and believes that he's being unfairly targeted in a smear campaign that he describes as 'inhuman'. - Read more

🤑 Despite his mother's worries, Bottas' calendar, featuring him in the nude, managed to raise an impressive $150,000 for charity - Read more

👩‍💼 Stephanie Carlin has just joined the McLaren F1 team as their new director of business operations. - Read more

📈 Christian Horner says that Max Verstappen and Red Bull's strong performance boost energy drink sales. - Read more

⭐ Adrian Newey shared that there's a current F1 star he wishes he could have worked with but never got the chance. - Read more

📱Toni Cowan-Brown talks about breaking stereotypes in F1, the impact of social media, and the F1 Academy. - Read more

⚖️ Check out which driver is the best value for money. - Read more

🏆 A bit different F1 2023 awards. - Read more

🤔 In a candid admission, Lewis Hamilton revealed that he had pondered the idea of retiring from his racing career. - _{Read more}