2024 Formula 1 Preview & Review.

[Fortitude]

Why the 'persuasive' Lawrence Stroll is actually a strength of Aston Martin.
Since the arrival of Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin has been making improvements. The owner of the Formula 1 team was perhaps the main reason that Adrian Newey decided to join the British team. What makes Stroll so special? Mike Krack explained it in an exclusive interview with GPblog.com.
02 Oct 2024
Tim Kraaij
GPblog.com

"Lawrence's passion and commitment and enthusiasm is very endearing. It's very persuasive. The reality is if you go back 20 years, then what we now call team principles are actually the owners of the teams. Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Eddie Jordan etc. In this modern era, then Lawrence is actually unique in being the only properly active team owner. It's a different feeling when you have somebody like Lawrence involved like that. It's back to the old school model," Newey revealed at the press conference at Silverstone.

"It's fantastic. Especially as I have worked in the corporate world for a couple of years and when you see how quickly we can make decisions without having to prepare a pack or whatever. You can just go there and say this is what we want to do, and within ten seconds, you can go and do it or not," Krack stated in a conversation with GPblog.

"This flexibility came to light when we started a collaboration with Fernando [Alonso]. It was a matter of hours where other structures might take three months to decide. I think in the case of Fernando, his situation was dragging, dragging, dragging and we just made facts. This is only possible with someone at the top like Lawrence, who has a clear mind, a clear vision and he's a strong leader. He just says this is what we're going to do and this is what is an asset of this team."

'Persuasive Lawrence Stroll is actually a strength of Aston Martin’;

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/30439...on-martin.html


‘In my career’: Fernando Alonso has ‘never seen before’ in F1 what’s happened at Aston Martin
Oct 2024
Kyle Archer
F1 Oversteer

Fernando Alonso had ‘never’ seen an owner like Lawrence Stroll in F1 before joining Aston Martin. While Alonso won two titles with Renault, won races with Ferrari and drove for McLaren as a title-contending team and as a recovering outfit, the Oviedo native had never seen the same commitment from a team’s ownership as he has with Lawrence Stroll at Aston Martin.

“I think Aston Martin are the most determined team I have been in in my career,” he stated, via quotes by AS. “The commitment of this team, the vision of our leader Lawrence Stroll, is something I have never seen before. And probably the results that Aston Martin have achieved in three years since it has existed are also unprecedented with eight podiums last year, and now the signing of Adrian Newey.”

“Most determined team I have been in in my career”;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/fer...-aston-martin/


Alonso urges Aston Martin shake-up despite Newey arrival
29 Sep 2024
Nick Golding & Aaron Deckers
RacingNews365

Fernando Alonso has urged Aston Martin to make changes for the 2025 F1 season despite the upcoming arrival of Adrian Newey. Aston Martin is fifth in the table, over 200 points adrift of fourth-placed Mercedes, and a comfortable 52 points clear of RB. It is a shadow of the team which claimed eight podiums last season, alerting Alonso that the Silverstone-based outfit needs a boost for next year before Newey's arrival, albeit with his primary focus on 2026.

"I think 2026 is in our hands for everyone at Aston Martin," Alonso told media including RacingNews365. "The biggest hope with Adrian [Newey] coming, Enrico [Cardile], some of the names. So this is going to be great. The future looks bright, but for 2025 we need to shake things a little bit. I mean, it's not good enough what we are doing right now. 2025 we need to change."

‘Make changes for the 2025 F1 season’;

https://racingnews365.com/alonso-urg...-newey-arrival


Alonso: Third F1 title my "only priority", wants Dakar return over Indy 500
Oct 2, 2024
Filip Cleeren
Motorsport.com

"I attempted Indy 500 three times and didn't succeed. It's the only one missing [from the triple crown]. But at the moment, it's not in my plan," Alonso said at an event of Aston's sponsor Cognizant. "I'm very, very focused [on] Formula 1 now. For the next two or three years, I want to win the third world title. This is my first and only priority at the moment.”

"Only priority";

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/a...-500/10659734/


Villeneuve says "exceptional drivers" can only drive cars designed by Newey
3 Oct 2024
Olly Darcy
GPblog.com

Jacques Villeneuve believes that only "exceptional drivers" can properly compete in cars designed by Adrian Newey. "From my experience, Newey has always built cars that need to be driven very precisely," started the 1997 world champion. "His cars have always had a narrow operating window, but if you found that operating window, the cars were super fast. It is not a car for everyone. He makes cars for exceptional drivers and the exceptional drivers will make a big difference in these cars; the ordinary driver will suffer," Villeneuve indicated to Marca.

"The key now for Fernando [Alonso] is to 'survive' long enough to get a winning car," Villeneuve continues, knowing that 2026 will be the season that Aston Martin are looking towards. "You don't do that by beating [Lance] Stroll by a second a lap. Part of Fernando's job there is to help Lance improve. His job there is not necessarily to become champion himself, he has to make Aston Martin champion. That's why Newey is joining the team."

"Exceptional drivers";

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/30462...gulations.html


Newey explains why he opted for 'old school' Aston Martin, rather than joining Hamilton in 2025 move to Ferrari
4 Oct 2024
Formula One - Official Site

Adrian Newey has given a revealing insight into why he chose to join Aston Martin for next year, despite having been linked with a move to Ferrari where he could have teamed up with Lewis Hamilton in 2025. Indeed, Hamilton himself stated that it would be a “privilege” to work with Newey, comments that the Briton admitted he was “very flattered” by.

Newey was asked how seriously he had entertained the prospect of signing with Ferrari, as well as being quizzed on why he ultimately plumped for the Silverstone outfit instead. “I think from my part, I was very flattered by the number of teams that did approach me,” Newey explained. “I had discussions with some of those teams, not all of them. In the end, it became a very clear and natural choice, for all the reasons I stated earlier in the conference.”

“Towards the end of April, I decided that I needed to do something different,” the 65-year-old conceded. “I spent a lot of time with Mandy, my wife, kind of discussing what’s next… What do we do? Do we go off and sail around the world? Do I do something different? We took a bit of time out. I felt that I’ve been lucky enough to have achieved what I aspired to from the age of 10 or 12, which was simply to be a designer – I didn’t even know the word engineer – in motor racing.”

‘Opted for 'old school' Aston Martin’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...0Fxi4Uy3neiTqk


Aston Martin 'encouraged' by Honda collaboration: 'They are really pushing'
29 Sep 2024
Toby Nixon
GPblog.com

Japanese manufacturer Honda will supply engines for Aston Martin from 2026. Mike Krack, Aston Martin's team boss, ran media through the latest updates in the project, as he is very excited by the progress that has been made between his team and champion engine supplier Honda. "No, no, the meetings that are coming up are just a sequence of meetings that have been planned since we started the collaboration. There is no, this is not a kick-off or a start, this has been, this goes on for long already," he revealed after the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Aston Martin team boss is very pleased with how things have been going so far. "Very well, very well. It's very encouraging, they are really, they are racers. They are pushing, pushing, pushing and the same goes for the collaboration with Aramco, so we have like a tripartite collaboration there, which works really well", the team principal concluded.

Mike Krack: "But again, you know, it's not the collaboration that matters, it's the result at the end of the day." Concluded Krack. Currently, Aston Martin finds itself in fifth place in the constructors standings with 86 points. The British team are 243 points behind fourth-placed Mercedes but still sits 52 points ahead of closest challengers VCARB.

'They are really pushing';

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/30406...-for-2026.html


Cycling sprint legend Sir Mark Cavendish KBE named Aston Martin’s first High Performance Ambassador
2 Oct 2024
Aston Martin (Press Release)

British sporting legend, Sir Mark Cavendish becomes the first person to take on the new role of Global High Performance ambassador at Aston Martin

‘High Performance Ambassador’;

https://www.astonmartin.com/en-gb/ou...nce-ambassador

[Fortitude]

Lawson reflects on terrible Singapore weekend.
Having just been confirmed as a replacement for Daniel Ricciardo at the Visa Cash App RB outfit, Liam Lawson has reflected on the "terrible" race weekend at the Singapore Grand Prix.
2 Oct 2024
Balazs Szabo
F1 Technical

Speaking to New Zealand's radio station Newstalk ZB, Lawson has opened up on the atmosphere at the Faenza-based outfit during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, revealing that it was strange given the looming announcement. "The weekend in Singapore was not pleasant at all because obviously we all knew what was going to happen.”

“At the same time, Daniel has always been very good to me when I drove in his place last year. And even this season he was a person with whom I never felt that I was in competition for the seat. So, on the weekend the feelings were terrible. On the other hand, the opportunity to drive in Formula 1 comes only once, and for me, it has come now.”

"So I can only be grateful to Red Bull for the opportunity and feel the need to take it with both hands. He also told me the same thing, he told me that I have to get the most out of this chance that was given to me."

“Not pleasant at all”;

https://www.f1technical.net/news/25556


Marko: Red Bull will consider its juniors, not Russell, for the future
Despite Russell’s Mercedes contract ending in a year’s time, Marko says Red Bull is focusing on its proteges
4 Oct 2024
Ben Vinel
Motorsport.com

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko says the Austrian brand will mainly look at its junior drivers for the future, rather than established Formula 1 stars. "George Russell is on a par with [Lewis] Hamilton in qualifying, if not faster," Marko admitted in an interview with Motorsport.com's sister publication Formel1.de. "But Russell is Mercedes-Benz-affiliated, and now we are focusing on our juniors.”

"We see this with [Franco] Colapinto, for example, he was relatively inexperienced and not very successful in the junior series, although it has to be said that he never had the best teams, but what an incredible performance he is putting in now.”

"And now let's see what our juniors or even a Yuki Tsunoda can do. He can also be described as a junior. But as I mentioned earlier, how does he compare to a Lawson?"

‘Mainly look at its junior drivers for the future’;

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/m...ture/10660016/


Report: Why Pierre Gasly had a ‘reputation for being difficult’ within Red Bull before Helmut Marko sacked him
4 Oct 2024
David Comerford
F1 Oversteer

Pierre Gasly felt the full force of Red Bull’s notorious ruthlessness in 2019. He would last just half a season alongside Max Verstappen before a demotion back to Toro Rosso. The Frenchman had impressed at the junior team, scoring 29 of their 33 points in 2018 – his first full season. With Daniel Ricciardo making a shock move to Renault, Red Bull continued their policy of promoting from within.

The ‘excessive’ requests Pierre Gasly made that annoyed Red Bull management. According to The Race, Red Bull staff found it ‘difficult’ to work with Gasly during his brief stay. This may have contributed to his swift exit. He apparently demanded extremely specific tweaks to the configuration of his car. And perhaps most significantly, he ‘publicly’ challenged the team’s leadership over their issues.

‘Extremely specific tweaks to the configuration of his car’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/why...ko-sacked-him/


Tsunoda forced to end his demo run in Taiwan with engine issues
05 Oct 2024
Balazs Szabo
F1 Technical

Completing his first demonstration run in Taiwan last weekend, Visa Cash RB driver Yuki Tsunoda was forced to end his on-track activity with engine issues.

Tsunoda's day took a premature end as he was forced to abandon his donuts in the Red Bull early in a fiery moment. The Red Bull crew needed to run over to extinguish the smoke and flames which were emerging from the RB8. Speaking of his experience behind the wheel of an V8-powered F1 car, Tsunoda noted: "That was amazing. Thank you for a lot of support.”

“I saw a lot of people waving their flags, waving their hands. Definitely I saw every single moment and I hope you guys enjoyed the first Formula 1 [event] in Taiwan. I tried my best. I’m sure you guys enjoyed V6 [sic] sound! Actually first time me as well driving a V8, so yeah, it was amazing. Thank you for the support. It was a nice, successful event.”

‘Extinguish the smoke and flames’;

https://www.f1technical.net/news/25564


Marko slates 'outdated' philosophy of F1 rivals
Red Bull has made a habit of promoting its junior drivers. Why, questions Helmut Marko, have other teams not done the same?
4 Oct 2024
RacingNews365 Staff
RacingNews365

Helmut Marko has derided the philosophy of Red Bull's F1 rivals as 'outdated' when it comes to the promotion of junior drivers. Red Bull has made a habit over the years of giving drivers who have climbed the ladder via its Red Bull Academy an opportunity in F1, with some notable examples such as Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo, amongst others.

It has to be said, however, that Red Bull has long been in the fortuitous position of having its 'sister' team - Toro Rosso, AlphaTauri, and now RB - to trial young blood before promoting to the senior outfit, unlike other teams. Nevertheless, Marko has applauded Mercedes boss Toto Wolff for giving Kimi Antonelli a shot at F1 next year after his remarkable rise, whilst Williams has blooded Franco Colapinto this season after axing Logan Sargeant, although the Argentinian does not have a full-time drive for next year.

Marko's comments stem from the fact Liam Lawson is being given the final six grands prix of this year to prove himself after a decision was taken to drop veteran Daniel Ricciardo. "We will evaluate how he compares to Yuki Tsunoda and then we will see what happens," said Marko, via his Speedweek column.

'Outdated';

https://racingnews365.com/marko-slat...y-of-f1-rivals