🌟 Las Vegas GP Shines in F1

Hey there, podium sitter 👋

Revving up with the freshest updates from the world of Formula 1, post the dazzling Las Vegas GP.

🎰 Vegas Victory Lap: Despite a rocky start, the Las Vegas GP turned into an unforgettable event! Dive into the highlights and data that made this race a true spectacle.

⏸️ Team Time-Out: In a rare show of unity, team bosses rally for a schedule change after the Las Vegas GP. Discover why this glitzy event left the teams needing a breather and what changes they're pushing for.

🏎️ Pirelli's Pause: Pirelli has announced there won't be new tires rolling out in 2024. Find out what this means for the teams and how they're gearing up to tackle the tracks with the existing rubber.

🏁 Las Vegas GP Race Review

Highlights

🏎️ Verstappen's Early Lead: Despite the chaos, Verstappen secured a significant lead early on

🔄 Turn 1 Tension: Leclerc and Verstappen argued about who was ahead at Turn 1

🚦 Penalty for Verstappen: He got a five-second penalty for the Leclerc incident

🌟 Leclerc's Strong Show, But...: Ferrari's pace was on point, but Leclerc lost his tire advantage due to two safety cars and ended up behind.

🔄 Chaos in the Pack: Alonso spun and collided with Bottas, who then hit Perez. Sainz and Hamilton got caught up, too.

💥 Norris's Crash: Norris crashed at Turn 12, bringing out the safety car.

💥 More Collisions: Verstappen and Russell collided, causing more chaos and another safety car.

🔄 Leclerc's Last-Minute Move: On the final lap, he snatched second place from Perez.

🏁 Russell's Recovery: Despite a strong finish, a penalty dropped him down the rankings.

🔄 Other Notable Performances: Ocon, Stroll, Sainz, Hamilton, and Alonso all had noteworthy races, with various challenges and recoveries.

Overtakes

🎉 We saw an amazing 99 overtakes! That's the highest number in a dry race since China 2016

🌟 Lewis Hamilton pulled off an impressive 15 on-track passes

Race Pace

🔴 Ferrari Speed Check: Leclerc nearly matched Verstappen’s pace, just 0.19s/lap slower, even with one less pit stop. He kept up with Perez too.

⚫ Mercedes & 🟠 McLaren had a strong race pace but missed out on big points due to crashes.

🔵 Ocon nailed P4 despite having only the 8th fastest pace.

🏁 Surprising Speed: Stroll outpaced Alonso by a solid 0.37s/lap

💥 Norris's Vegas GP Crash Explained

Lando Norris had a rough time at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. He crashed into a wall early in the race after his car hit a bump. Richard Bradley, a Le Mans winner, explained what happened.

He said that the bump caused Norris's car to lose balance and crash. This happened because the car's floor scraped the ground, a problem known as 'bottoming out.'

Andrea Stella, the McLaren team boss, pointed out that the bump in Turn 11 was the main issue. In races, drivers want their cars as low as possible for better downforce, which can cause problems like what happened to Norris.

Bradley also mentioned how the cold and the slow laps affect the car's tires, making them less inflated and causing the car to run lower.

The team is asking for the track to be smoothed out to prevent similar crashes in the future. Overall, it was a tough situation, but luckily, Norris came out of it without serious injuries. - Read more

⏰ F1 Bosses Demand Las Vegas GP Schedule Change

Formula 1 team principals are rallying together, demanding a change in the Las Vegas Grand Prix schedule. The late hours for this event are proving to be incredibly hard on the teams.

Why It Matters

• This year's event had the latest schedule in F1 history.

• Sessions ran past midnight, with some ending at 4 am.

• Teams struggled with the time change and the end-of-season fatigue.

What We’re Hearing

🔴 Ferrari's Fred Vasseur recognizes the challenge of finding a suitable time for a global audience.

🔵 Red Bull's Christian Horner describes the schedule as "brutal" and suggests running events earlier in the evening.

🟢 Aston Martin's Mike Krack calls for careful consideration before making changes, given the sport's strict timing rules.

🔵 AlphaTauri’s Peter Bayer supports changes, drawing on his experience with street race logistics.

Read more

🏎️ No New Tyres for 2024 F1

Pirelli decided not to introduce any new tire compounds and is actually getting rid of the P0 tyre, which was the P1 compound from 2022. This means that for the next season, we're back to five tire compounds, with C1 being the hardest and C5 the softest. The colors will stay the same, so the softest tire will still be red, the medium yellow, and the hardest white.

Pirelli's Head of Motorsport, Mario Isola, mentioned there will be a test day after the grand prix where each team can run two cars - one for young drivers and the other for tire testing.

For the Abu Dhabi race, Pirelli's bringing the C3-C4-C5 range, the same as they did in Las Vegas and at last year's Yas Marina event. - Read more

🎰 Is Las Vegas F1's New Monaco?

After decades of effort, F1 finally hit the jackpot with a race in Las Vegas, which was spectacular! This raises an interesting question: Has Las Vegas become the new, updated version of the Monaco Grand Prix, ideally suited for the 21st century?

Between The Lines

• Despite its storied history and status as F1's 'jewel in the crown,' the Monaco race hasn't been much of a show for a long time. It maintained its place more for its business value than for on-track excitement.

• You might recall hearing how Monaco was the hotspot for sealing big sponsorship deals. But times have changed. The allure of yacht parties and harbor handshakes isn't what it used to be in today's business world.

• From a sporting perspective, F1 outpaced Monaco's narrow streets years ago. If Monaco GP were a new proposal today, would it get approved? Should its long-standing history be its only saving grace?

Go Deeper

When you look at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, it appears F1 has found a contemporary alternative to Monaco. It's in a bustling, affluent area, and teams are already touting its commercial benefits.

Some might find the idea of replacing Monaco with Las Vegas unthinkable. But considering Las Vegas' success, perhaps it's Miami that should feel the heat, not Monaco. Miami's race, despite the hype, hasn't delivered much in terms of racing excitement.

Times change, and sometimes, we must leave beloved traditions behind, no matter how cherished they are. Monaco will always be a significant chapter in F1's history, but is that enough to justify its place in the ever-evolving F1 calendar?

Las Vegas, on the other hand, seems to offer what Monaco can't anymore. - Read more

In the high-octane world of F1 racing, technological innovation is as much a part of the competition as the drivers themselves. Teams constantly push the boundaries of engineering, seeking every possible advantage on the track.

However, this relentless pursuit of speed and efficiency often leads to controversial innovations, some of which have been banned by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Let's take a look at 10 such innovations that were too good for the racetrack.

1. Ground Effect Aerodynamics

When Lotus brought ground effect technology to Formula 1, it boosted the cars' downforce. But this led to a bunch of safety issues and accidents. There was a lot of back-and-forth between the teams and the rule-makers about it.

At first, people didn't want to let go of this tech, but the risks became too obvious, especially with cars going faster around corners and some nasty crashes happening. So, they ended up banning it and switched to flat-bottomed cars starting in 1983. - Read more

2. Brabham BT46B 'Fan Car'

The Brabham team introduced a fan at the back of their BT46B in 1978. This fan was for cooling but primarily created a vacuum under the car, increasing downforce. It won its first race but was immediately banned, as it was deemed to give an unfair advantage. - Read more

3. Active Suspension

Active suspension, innovated by Colin Chapman's Lotus team in the early 1980s, revolutionized Formula 1 by maintaining a car's level ride height for better grip and aerodynamics. Despite initial challenges, the technology evolved, culminating in significant racing successes, particularly with Williams in the early 1990s.

However, concerns over safety, escalating costs, and its complex nature led to a ban in 1994. In 2022, it has been suggested as a way to manage the problem with porpoising, but it was dismissed. - Read more

4. Traction Control

Traction control helped manage tire grip during acceleration, reducing wheel spin and improving performance. Although it was banned in 1994, it snuck back into the sport before being banned again in 2008 to put more emphasis on driver skills. - Read more

5. Mass Damper System

Renault's mass damper system, introduced in 2005, involved a tunable mass in the nose of the car that stabilized the car over bumps. Banned in 2006, the FIA considered it to be a moveable aerodynamic device, which was against the rules. - Read more

6. Twin Chassis Lotus 88

The Lotus 88, designed in 1981, featured a revolutionary twin chassis system, one for aerodynamics and the other for suspension. This innovation was quickly banned as it was seen to contravene the regulations around movable aerodynamic devices. - Read more

7. McLaren’s F-Duct

McLaren's F-Duct, introduced in 2010, allowed drivers to stall the rear wing manually by covering a hole in the cockpit, reducing drag and increasing top speed. It was banned in 2011 as it was considered to be a driver-operated aerodynamic device. - Read more

8. Blown Diffusers

These were clever exhaust layouts that enhanced the car's downforce by channeling exhaust gases over the diffuser. While effective, they were banned in 2012 for creating uneven playing fields and for their impact on engine mapping and fuel consumption. - Read more

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9. CVT - Continuously Variable Transmission

Williams developed a CVT for F1 in the early 1990s. This transmission system doesn't use traditional gears, allowing for seamless acceleration. However, it never raced, as it was banned in 1994 to retain the traditional skill involved in gear shifting. - Read more

10. Double-Diffusers

Used by Brawn GP in their dominant 2009 season, double-diffusers exploited a loophole in the regulations to create extra downforce. Though initially deemed legal, they were banned in 2011 to standardize car design and reduce costs. - Read more

📢 Nyck de Vries has just inked a deal to join Toyota's WEC Hypercar program. - Read more

🕺 Lance Stroll urges caution with the 'F1 show,' saying he doesn't want it to become a weekly dance spectacle. - Read more

🟠 McLaren target Red Bull’s DRS strength with significant MCL60 upgrade - Read more

🕤 Toto Wolff shares one thing he would change for the Las Vegas race. - Read more

🎪 Daniel Ricciardo thinks other F1 drivers overreact to the Vegas 'show' issues. - Read more

🏁 Toto Wolff makes a sharp comment about the 2021 Abu Dhabi race director before the F1 finale. - Read more

⚫️ Mercedes debrief talks reveal Max Verstappen ‘surprise’ at Las Vegas Grand Prix - Read more

🔴 Ferrari plans talks with Liberty Media about Carlos Sainz's crash, citing significant consequences. - Read more

🆓 Brundle advocates for increased independence for F1 stewards. - Read more

💰 Lewis Hamilton's debut Mercedes F1 car sold for an astonishing $18.8 million. - Read more

🇦🇪 Scheduled 24-26 November

Yas Marina Circuit - Abu Dhabi, UAE

1️⃣ Circuit length: 5.281km
2️⃣ Number of laps: 58
3️⃣ Lap record: 1:26.103 Max Verstappen (2021)
4️⃣ Corners & DRS: 16 corners & 2 DRS zone