Vasseur says Ferrari had to change its car [Picture: @tinnekephotography]
Fred Vasseur says that Ferrari did the right thing in opting “not to fight” the FIA on the clampdown on skid blocks contained in a recent technical directive.
The Italian outfit was one of several teams that has had to make changes to meet the clarification issued by the FIA, and which could potentially oblige them to run their cars higher than the optimum.
Teams wanted the implementation of the change to be delayed until at least Qatar, but the FIA insisted that it be applied in Las Vegas,
Vasseur insists that the SF-24’s plank met the rules, but the team didn’t want to be distracted in the closing races of the season by a technical argument.
“Yes, we had to make the change,” said Vasseur. “But we had also the confirmation before this that the plank was legal, from the FIA.
“I think it was the right attitude for us not to fight because that I want to stay focused on the on the championship, and not on this kind of discussion. But the approach was strange.”
Toto Wolff confirmed that Mercedes was also affected, noting: “Yeah, we had to change the way we run the floor as well,” while Oliver Oakes made a similar comment about Alpine.
However VCARB’s Alan Permane confirmed that his team hasn’t had to change its car.
“It was extremely easy for us because it didn’t affect us at all,” he said. “So we haven’t changed our plank at all.”
Regarding the FIA’s strong stance Permane said: “That’s their job, and that’s a constantly evolving process of teams finding I don’t say loopholes but maybe anomalies in the regulations, and exploiting things, and the FIA closing them off.
“And that isn’t unusual, that process happens in in lots of areas, all the way through the season. So it’s something pretty standard.”
Regarding VCARB’s close rivals he added: “I believe Haas and Alpine were exploiting it. So maybe it’ll slow them down a bit. If it does it will be very small, I’m sure.”
Alonso is upbeat about Las Vegas Picture: @tinnekephotography
Fernando Alonso believes that low track temperatures at the Formula 1 Las Vegas GP should give his Aston Martin team a boost over the course of the weekend.
The AMR24 has been very good at getting temperature into its tyres, which helps to explains why Alonso has often performed better over one lap in qualifying than in races.
That characteristic could prove useful for the team relative to its midfield rivals given the low temperatures associated with the night race.
“I’m optimistic,” said Alonso. “It’s a different track. Tyre temperature is an issue, because it’s very, very cold, long straights, and maybe this year’s car is one of the strengths that we have, we heat the tyres quite quickly, and we are okay in qualifying, where the tyres need to be in temperature very, very fast.
“I hope we can go back to our top of the midfield position, not the top four teams, but if we can be fifth or sixth team here, I think points are available on the race, and that will be the target.”
Aston Martin performance director Tom McCullough agreed that good tyre warm-up could help the team this weekend.
“I think that has been a strength of our car this year,” he said. “We’ve often been able to get the tyres working well in qualifying. Obviously you want to look after the tyres in the race as well, so that those two are normally pretty well linked.
“We did a lot of learning last year. It was obviously very, very low grip last year, a huge track evolution, but still low grip offline all the way through the weekend. There’s a lot of similarities, obviously, to tracks like Baku, as far as circuit efficiency, running low rear wing levels, lots of low speed corners.
“We had a lot of graining with the tyres last year. Obviously, the tarmac should has aged, it should be better. We’ll do a lot of learning this year again. But I thought it was a real technical challenge last year, a good fun track – something a bit different.”
Meanwhile Alonso stressed that the team needs to gain some momentum as it heads into 2025.
“We are all trying to understand the problems of the car and the performance that we need to find,” said the Spaniard.
“And we seem to lost some of the performance that we had at the beginning of the year. And yeah, try to get better in the next few weekends, and especially into next year. A lot of changes in the team, the technical side as well.
“And we need to accommodate, and we need to shortcut all the all the time that is needed, because F1 is racing every two weeks, and we don’t have time to really think too much.
“But yeah, it’s good that the season is also finishing, and we have a little bit of a break to regroup, to reset a little bit, and hopefully next year, learn all the possible things that went wrong this year, and get better for 2025.”
The new floor is just a test item Picture: @tinnekephotography
Scuderia Ferrari ran a new floor on Carlos Sainz’s car in FP1 in Las Vegas on Thursday, but only as a wind tunnel correlation exercise – and it won’t be used for the rest of the weekend.
The appearance of a revised floor on the FIA’s list of new aero parts for Vegas suggested that the team might been attempting to find a valuable performance boost for the final three races, but that is not the case.
The fact that the team made the effort to design and construct the floor for use in a single session is a good indication of how valuable the information that it provided is deemed to be.
It was not supposed to provide any performance gain, and Sainz finished the session in sixth place, two-tenths behind team mate Charles Leclerc.
“It’s simply a development part, and actually it’s a correlation process,” said senior performance engineer Jock Clear. “So it’s a floor that we only have one of, and Carlos will run it in FP1.
“And basically it’s not bringing more performance. It’s just specifically different in one certain area, and that area is the area we want to look at in terms of correlation with what the tunnel is telling us.
“So it’s a bit like when you have these issues on the car, and you’re trying to work your way around which bit of the floor is affecting corner entry, or mid corner/apex understeer, or whatever, you need to really be very specific about which parts of the floor are going to make the difference.
“And actually, that’s quite a difficult process. So one of the things that it’s quite valuable to do occasionally is to bring a part that’s specifically very, very targeted, and say, ‘Okay, does that do what we think it’ll do?’
“So it won’t make the car any quicker, it won’t give him any more downforce, but we need to look at the numbers and say, yes, when we did that, that’s the result we’ve got. And that’s a correlation process for the tunnel.”
Clear conceded that by helping to hone the wind tunnel the new floor will feed into the 2025 development programme.
“I think next year’s cars, obviously there’s not a great big rule change, nothing particularly dramatic,” said Clear. “So they will, to a large extent, be a development of what teams already have. And that’s probably the case for us as well.
“So everything you’re doing at the moment is obviously enhancing your learning for what will probably end up on a ’25 car.
“And again, which probably comes back to this floor that we’re bringing for FP1 here, there are things that you specifically are thinking, okay, we’re going to run out of time.
“We’ve only got three races left, and we really need to understand this particular aspect, because we think that’s important for next year.
“So there are these things that you can target in these last three races to say this is our last opportunity. It’s not like we have a winter of testing like we used to do 20 years ago.
“Testing won’t arrive until February, so we’ve really got to identify on this car the areas that we think are going to be very pertinent for next year. So that’s part of our process.”
Expanding on the effort required to bring the floor to Las Vegas he said: “I think we’ve been quite open in effectively being public about the fact that we brought this floor, and I think you’ll probably find teams do this all the time.
“Obviously a floor is a big part, and actually you have to make a commitment, because it’s an expensive part as well. So it’s not the kind of thing you’re going to do every week.
“But there are bits on the car that are developments and correlating things that are on the car every week, little sensors and little fins on the front brake ducts and things like that.
“So the fact that we’ve obviously put some effort into bringing a floor here, it’s an important correlation, and we certainly think if it gives us the information we want, then yeah, it’s worth doing. That’s why we’re doing it.”
Leclerc says Ferrari is ignoring distractions [Picture: @tinnekephotography]
Charles Leclerc says that the Ferrari Formula 1 team’s collective mindset is the key to the Italian outfit’s strong form in 2024.
Leclerc believes that under Fred Vasseur the team has learned to ignore “outside noise” and work in a more disciplined way.
The team has won five races this season, and is chasing McLaren in the battle for the constructors’ World Championship.
“I think the mindset is a big part of why we are much stronger as a team now,” said Leclerc. “In F1, and especially around Ferrari, there are always rumours, there are always things that are being said.
“There’s obviously very deep analysis on why we are not performing at this race, or why we are really good at this race. And all this outside noise in the past used to affect us a little bit, and in the way we worked.
“And I think since Fred got within the team there’s been a big step forward in that, and I think that helps the whole team to work better, to work in a more disciplined way, without being affected by the outside perception, which is very, very important. So that was a that was a big step forward.”
Leclerc remains confident that Ferrari can still catch McLaren in the championship fight.
“I think the target is to beat McLaren, and we really think that we have a shot at it this year,” he said. “We’ve been particularly strong in the last three races, but we are also aware that we cannot rely on the good results of the last three races.
“We’ve got to focus step-by-step, as I was saying. And the mentality is super important in those times, and not let yourself be carried away with the positive environment we are in at the moment, and just work as hard as whenever we were in a tough time.
“And that’s what we are trying to do, to try and put everything together, to first of all focus on this race and try to maximise everything. There are still lots of points to grab this weekend, but in Qatar, there will be a sprint weekend as well, so quite a lot of points. So we’ve just got to stay on it and stay focused until the end.”
Ferrari is expected to be strong in Las Vegas this weekend in terms of its overall aero and mechanical package.
However Leclerc acknowledges that tyre warm-up could be a problem in the cold conditions.
“I do still think that this could be the case,” he said. “However, we don’t exactly know how much that did change from last year. I mean, it’s very difficult to compare obviously a completely different car.
“However, we know that we are better on tyres, that we are less aggressive on them, which means that the temperature builds up a little bit slower, and on track like this, where tyre warm up is going to be an issue, it was the an issue for everybody last year, I expect it to be a bit more of an issue this year.
“Don’t get me wrong, I still think that is going to be a positive weekend for us. I think on paper, it seems that our car characteristics are fitting this track, and I think we should be fast.”
Gasly hasn’t sustained any damage thus far in 2024
Pierre Gasly says his record of not sustaining any crash damage with his Alpine A524 Formula 1 car this season is “a great stat” and important for the Enstone team.
Damage has become a key factor in the budget cap era as teams have to account for all parts used over the season, and resources put into making replacements can have an effect on car development.
Crashes have had a huge impact on Williams, with the team having five major incidents over the Mexican and Brazilian GP weekends.
Gasly’s statistic became a talking point on social media in recent weeks, and the Frenchman is keen to maintain the record to the end of this season.
“It makes it easier to insure my cars back home!,” he joked when asked by this writer about his feat. “It’s a great stat, and at the end of the day, it’s also a very, very, very important for the team, because this money is also something which goes into the budget cap.
“So it does play a factor in the development throughout the year, and what it offers the team in terms of parts and money available.
“So obviously, we’ll try to keep it that way until the end of the year. You go into every race trying to fight at the limit. And I must say, on a season like this year, I was most of the year in the middle of the pack, so I’m not too sure, but I managed to keep it clean.”
Asked how he’s managed to stay out of trouble he said: “I think you’ve got to have a look at when is it coming from a driver mistake and error from a driving point of view, and sometimes it’s just racing incidents, and you’re not so much involved.
“At the end of the day, since the budget gap came into play, this is something we discuss a lot with the team, because it does play a big factor into the resources of the team. So I think it’s actually very positive and important to keep it that way.”
Gasly noted that Alpine’s double podium in Brazil had had a positive effect on a team that had been struggling in ninth in the championship and has now jumped up to sixth.
£I was very pleased just to see the impact of such a result on the motivation, the energy,” he said. “I spent a couple of days back at the factory, and just the smiles on everybody’s face, and just the feeling of the pride of all the guys of achieving such a result on such a difficult season.
“So big motivation, especially going into next season. I think we needed it after the season we’ve had. And I mu say every single person I came across at the factory was absolutely buzzing. So great to see.”
Gasly qualified fifth in Las Vegas last year, before dropping out of the points with tyre issues in the race. He’s hopeful that that can be addressed.
“I think last year was a fantastic quali,” he said. “The first stint, I was fighting with George [Russell] for top three, and then I fitted the hard and I had a terrible graining on the hard, and I just dropped back the order the last 30 laps.
“So I know exactly what I need to work on for this weekend. It’s a track I like, it’s a street track, it offers the usual challenges of a street track. Obviously we’re coming here with some confidence, and at the same time knowing on my side what I need to really work on.”
Norris has accepted that the title is now a long shot
Lando Norris says he has “less to lose” now that the gap to Formula 1 World Championship leader Max Verstappen has grown to 62 points.
At the last race in Brazil Verstappen won while Norris fell back to sixth place, having started from pole.
The McLaren driver says that with his chances of beating the Dutchman now mathematically much slimmer he can “enjoy a little bit more” the final races of the season.
“I kind of know the position I’m in now, and probably I have less to lose now,” he said when asked about his mindset ahead of the Las Vegas GP.
“For the first time, probably when I’ve looked at the gap myself, and had the realisation of where things stand, and I think post-Brazil was a tough one for me because it was the first moment realistically when I’m like it’s tough to achieve first position now.
“We were on such a good run of form, little by little, you know, it’s hard to get any big points on Max, because he didn’t have any bad races, but I had a tough week, because things just didn’t go our way, and my kind of real fight for the championship was slimmed by the biggest margin of almost of the whole year, so a tricky one.
“But it doesn’t change my approach. My approach has been correct. My approach has been the right approach for the last few weekends. I’ve been performing well. I’ve been doing a good job.
“So from my side, I need to not change anything, but I think I can probably just go out and enjoy a little bit more.”
Norris insisted that whatever happens in this year’s championship he’s proved to himself that he’s capable of fighting for the title in the future.
“I think it’s the first time in the last six years of F1 when we’ve had a chance to fight at the front,” he said. “We’ve not been able to do that for the last six years.
“So this is our and my first opportunity to do so, and my first opportunity to see where I stand. And I definitely was not at the level I needed to be at the beginning of the year, and even the Miami point of the season.
“Since the summer break, I feel like I’ve done a very good job and performed very, very well, by far some of my best performances that I’ve done. So I’ve been very happy, actually, with how the last few months have gone, honestly. I wouldn’t change many things that have happened.
“But I still need to make tweaks. I still need to improve on things. That’s clear. I’m not completely satisfied with how I’ve done. I definitely know I need to make improvements.
“But for the first time, I’m confident to say that I have what I think I need to fight for a championship.
“Doesn’t mean I’m complete, doesn’t mean I’m perfect, that’s for sure. And when you’re competing against drivers who are close to that, like Max, you have to be close to perfect if you want to challenge him, you know, and challenge the teams we’re around.
“So I’m confident and I think the main thing I can take away is I have faith that I have got what it takes to fight for a championship.”
Norris admitted that while McLaren has a 36-point advantage in the constructors’ championship, it is still wide open.
“It’s close,” he said. “I mean, Ferrari have been strong for a long time. They have two very good drivers. They’re a very good team. They’ve clearly improved their car a good amount and found a better direction to head down.
“And they’ve become, probably with us, and some races a bit better, some races a little bit behind, some races the same, as a competitor.
“Red Bull are close at the same time. So it’s more who can just do a better performance on the weekend. But we do know that Vegas is probably a track that will suit the Ferraris a bit more. It suited them well last year. But Qatar we know maybe will be more favourable to us again.”
Russell says that the FIA hasn’t yet replied to the GPDA statement
GPDA director George Russell says that the FIA has not responded to a statement that the organisation recently issued under the heading “driver misconduct.”
The statement focussed on the FIA’s reaction to issues such as swearing in press conferences, and the drivers’ interactions with President Mohammed ben Sulayem.
It also followed up on earlier queries regarding how fines collected by the FIA are spent.
“I think everybody felt with certain things that have happened over the course of this year that we wanted to sort of stand united,” said Russell.
“At the end of the day, we just want to be transparent with the FIA, and have this dialogue that is happening, and I think the departure of Niels [Wittich] is also a prime example of not being a part of these conversations.
“And ultimately, we only we want to work with the FIA to make the best for the sport that we all love.
“So, I think it’s kind of us now putting the pressure back on them to work with us and work with everyone, including F1 as well, just to maximise this opportunity, which F1 is in at the moment, which is an amazing time to be a part of.”
Asked if there had been a response from the FIA he said: “No. Not at the moment, which I’m a little bit surprised about, to be fair. But maybe there’ll be something to come. Who knows?”
Russell indicated that the drivers felt that going public was the best way to get their message across.
“I think we’ve probably learned from the past that whenever we have spoken up, let’s say internally, it hasn’t gone anywhere,” he admitted. “And as I said, as drivers, we only want the best for the sport.
“We want to improve it, especially on safety grounds, but whenever it comes to, you know, decisions in the race, we only want to help. And it’s been a couple of years now that not much has changed when we have sort of given some views forward.
“And I guess we all wanted to show that we are collectively united. And maybe that will show how seriously we feel as a whole on the subject.”
Regarding the Wittich firing Russell confirmed that the drivers hadn’t been informed before the media announcement.
“We definitely weren’t aware,” he said. “It was a bit of a surprise, I think, for everybody. And it’s a hell of a lot of pressure now onto the new race director. Just three races left.
“Often as drivers, we probably feel like we’re the last to find out this sort of information. And when it involves us kind of directly, it would be nice to be kept in the loop and just have an understanding of what decisions are being made.
“So, yeah, time will tell. I’m sure the new guy will handle the position just fine, but definitely not an easy race for a new race director.
Russell stressed that despite some dissatisfaction with decisions made by Wittich the drivers didn’t necessarily want to see him replaced.
“I can only talk on behalf of myself here as opposed to any of the other drivers, but I think there’s no secret that some were not happy with what was going on in terms of the decisions that were being made,” he said.
“But at the end of the day, I think if they worked together with us, that we could have helped improve the matter.
“And I think sometimes just hiring and firing is not the solution. You kind of need to work together to improve the problem. So, let’s see what this new era is going to bring, but every time there is a change, you have to take one step back before you make the two steps forwards.”
Russell also said there has been no word from the FIA regarding the GPDA’s enquiry about where the money collected in fines is spent.
“I think ultimately for us, when we were hearing from the FIA a couple of years ago, when it came to the Presidential elections, they were talking about transparency, talking about where the money is going to be reinvested into grassroots racing, which we’re all in favour for,” he said.
“And of course, when it comes to some of these large fines, there’s a number of drivers on the grid who can comfortably afford these fines. There’s maybe some rookies on the grid that if they’re handed a $1 million fine, you know, they can’t afford this.
“But if we know where that’s being sort of reinvested and if it’s going into grassroots or into some training programs, then we get it. As I said, I think we just want the transparency and understanding of what was promised from the beginning.”
Franco Colapinto has paid tribute to the Grove staff
Franco Colapinto says that the Williams Formula 1 factory staff are “the heroes of the week” after they manged to get two FW46s ready for the Las Vegas GP following the team’s disastrous Interlagos weekend.
In Brazil Alex Albon failed to make the start after his crash in qualifying, while Colapinto went off in both qualifying and the race.
The damage sustained, which came right after two incidents for Albon in Mexico, left the team scrambling to get two race cars and spares ready for Vegas.
“It was a tough weekend in Brazil,” said Colapinto. “I think over these past six races, I have had five very good ones. It’s been full of new challenges, like every weekend I’ve had something new.
“Brazil was an exception. It’s just that I didn’t really manage well the race. In the wet it’s sometimes like a switch. The tyres were not fully in. There was a lot of aquaplaning, and the situation was always more tricky.
“Unfortunately for the team we left the race with a lot of damage. But the boys in the workshop have been working so hard to get the cars back here in Vegas in the latest spec. The cars are looking great.
“The guys did a fantastic job in the in the factory. So very proud of them. They are the heroes of the week by far. So, yeah, very grateful.”
Asked by this writer about the tight spares situation is he said: “You can imagine that after a triple header, where we had a lot of, a lot of damage in Mexico – Alex had a lot, in Brazil, we had a lot with both cars – it’s going to be tough. But I think the cars are fully ready for it, and the team is doing a great job to get the spares ready.
“And we are looking strong, we are looking strong as a team. Maybe it looks worse than what it is. I think we are in a good position, and we have to be aggressive.
“We lost eighth place in the championship, so we are going aggressive now, and trying to recover points, race to race, and until Abu Dhabi there is always an opportunity, so we’ll try until then to do our best.”
He added: “It is very important that both cars have a clean last few races. It is important always to close the year in a right way, to close the year with points, hopefully.
“You are only as good as your last race. And our last race was not great. So we have to recover from that. I’m sure we can do. We have a good car for this track as well. So looking forward to it.”
F1 has now formally confirmed that the Canadian GP will move from its traditional June date to the third or fourth weekend in May from 2026.
As previously reported here switching the Monaco GP to the first full weekend in June has allowed F1 to slot Montreal in after Miami as part of a drive to improve the sport’s sustainability credentials.
F1 says that the “move will allow the European leg of the season to be consolidated into one consecutive period over the European summer months and is planned to remove an additional transatlantic crossing by the F1 community each year, with significant associated carbon reductions.”
Both changes required considerable concessions by the promoters and other stakeholders, in Canada’s case the Octane Racing Group and the Quebec and Montreal authorities.
The new date will mean a tighter schedule in terms of preparing the venue, with work compromised by the hard Montreal winters.
“I am incredibly grateful to the promoter and all of the government stakeholder partners involved in the Canadian GP, from the local, to the provincial and national government,” said F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.
“We applaud the tremendous effort from all involved to accelerate the temporary build of the event, to be ready to host the F1 community earlier than in the past.
“The change will make the future flow of our calendar not only more sustainable, but logistically more sensible for our teams and personnel. Our Net Zero by 2030 commitment continues to be a priority for us as a sport and it is thanks to changes like this that we are on track to hitting our goal.”
F1 says that the “move will allow the European leg of the season to be consolidated into one consecutive period over the European summer months and is planned to remove an additional transatlantic crossing by the F1 community each year, with significant associated carbon reductions.”
Octane Racing Group CEO Jean-Philippe Paradis said: “This change in the schedule is a major step in our commitment, as well as F1’s, toward a more sustainable future. It demonstrates our desire to combine sporting performance and event organisation with environmental responsibility.
“We are determined to offer our fans, our communities, and our loyal audience a unique and enriched experience, in addition to extending the summer season for Montreal.
“The date change thus fully integrates into the dynamic strategic vision put in place by our team, with the collaboration of our stakeholders, which is fully focused on delivering an amazing Canadian GP experience in a more sustainable and inclusive environment.”
Bottas wasn’t able to turn a good grid position into a result in Brazil
Sauber team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi admits that the chaotic wet Sao Paulo GP represented the “greatest opportunity” that the Swiss Formula 1 outfit has had to score points this season.
Valtteri Bottas qualified 11th at Interlagos, and the Finn was ninth on the grid for the start as both Alex Albon and Lance Stroll were missing.
However rather than convert that into a priceless points finish Bottas slipped down the order due to the car’s inherent lack of pace and a struggle to get temperature into the tyres.
The team even made the right call under the VSC, keeping Bottas on track – but while others who made that choice made the podium the Finn slipped back to 13th at the flag. His team mate Zhou Guanyu finished 15th and last.
Sauber has yet to score a point in 2024, and remains last in the World Championship.
“It’s very difficult to say and to admit, but I think we lost the greatest opportunity that we had this season to score points,” Alunni Bravi told me. “Because of the excellent qualifying session done by Valtteri, and the position that was a P9 for us at the start.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t have the pace to keep the position. The biggest problem for us was to have proper temperatures in the tyres at the beginning of each stint.
“And this, of course, jeopardised all the opportunities and the possibility for Valtteri and Zhou to defend and attack any position.
“We have seen in the second part of each stint that the situation was improving, and when the tyres were working in the correct range of temperature, we were competitive.
“But this doesn’t cancel the big disappointment, because it was a very tough day for us. Of course, we have mixed feelings, qualifying was very positive, especially with Valtteri. But at the end what matters are points, and the race result on Sunday.”
Alunni Bravi admitted that it the outcome was even more frustrating after the team made a good strategy call.
“The only opportunity to recover position was to wait,” he said. “According to the weather forecast, the rain after this intense period that led to most of the car pitting would decrease significantly.
“So we opted to stay out with Valtteri and to wait for a possible red flag, because the situation was extremely critical. So we remained on track on inters, and as predicted that the red flag came out, because the conditions were simply too critical.
“So that was the right call. We recovered four positions, so Valtteri was P12, we could change tyres, and avoid the pit stop.
“But this was not enough, because at the restart, the pace was not there. So Valtteri immediately lost other positions. And for Zhou, it was even more difficult, because starting from qualifying, he didn’t have confidence with the car.
“We went to extreme wets, because for him, it was impossible to drive the car, and then he simply was never able to attack. So a difficult race in a difficult season.”
Regarding Alpine’s double podium he said: “I think that we need to pay tribute to what they’ve done. They were exactly on the same strategy as us. But of course, they showed have more performance.
“And I think that we knew that the track, in that condition, could bring us opportunity, and they’ve been able to grab everything and to maximise everything.
“I think this is what we need, a good result for the motivation of the people, because we have people that are working really hard back in Hinwil and at trackside, and they deserve like Alpine to have good results. It’s never easy to have such a season.
“We keep developing. We are we will have upgrades coming for the remaining three races. We don’t give up, but we have to do more.”
Adam Cooper F1 