In the round-up: Max Verstappen explained why he believes McLaren have the most promising driver line-up.
In brief
McLaren pair impress Verstappen
Asked who he would pick to drive for a Formula 1 team – excluding himself – the reigning world champion named McLaren team mates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
“I would take Lando and Oscar,” he told Auto Motor und Sport. “So the McLaren pairing. Both are good.
“Lando is just a little older than Oscar. I think Oscar is a fast rookie. He still has things to learn, such as improving his racing pace. But from what I see, he’s a smart guy. He will win his races.”
De Ferran family pays tribute to Gil
The family of Gil de Ferran has paid tribute to the multiple IndyCar champion and Indianapolis 500 winner who died at the end of last year. His daughter Anna de Ferran wrote in a social media post also thanked those who had sent messages about her father.“It is truly heart warming to see the words respect, champion, intelligent, humble, deep connection and integrity come up so often,” she wrote.
“While my father left us too young, he died the way we believe he would have wanted – driving a race car with my brother at his side. He left us without pain with his last act being to place his foot on the brake so my brother was able to come home safely with us that evening. That story in itself is testament to the level of thought, care, selflessness and love he put into everything he did.”
Ferrari pass crash test, Red Bull not cleared yet
Ferrari have already passed the first crash test for their new chassis, codenamed 676, according to Autosprint. The same publication reports Red Bull’s new RB20 did not pass its test first time. However the development is unlikely to prove a significant setback for the world champions.
Wharton to FREC after Ferrari exit
Former Ferrari Driver Academy member James Wharton will stay with the Prema team as he moves up from Italian Formula 4 to compete in the Formula Regional European Championship. “We have had a great relationship with James so far, and we look forward to having him with us for 2024 as well,” said team principal Rene Roisin. “He always fought for wins and podiums in every championship, so we trust him to be able to do the same in FRECA.
“We know this is a particularly tricky series, but we are confident we will manage to make all the steps we need to maximize our potential together and have a successful learning experience.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
'The stuff I struggle with is, the TV have a lot less data with them than the teams do in general, and a lot less insight than what the teams do, so I struggled initially with sort of feeling like I’d not done my homework, you know, that was the feeling of going there and being not quite sure about a few things.'
No stopping for selfies — or anything — on Strip bridges, Clark County decides (Las Vegas Sun)
'It comes almost two months after the Las Vegas Grand Prix — where pedestrians crowded on bridges to catch a glimpse of the event — and only six weeks before the Super Bowl in February, which is set to draw hundreds of thousands of people for those events.'
Castroneves holds 'big brother' De Ferran close in his heart (IndyCar)
'“That’s so perfect, so Gil. On his last day he was doing what he loved with the son he loved so much. That’s the way any of us would want it to be when it’s our time.'
US prosecutors allege senator Bob Menendez took bribes to help Qatar (Financial Times)
'Members of Menendez’s family were also given tickets to an F1 race in Miami, they alleged.'
Ambitious Aston Martin eager to build on last year’s F1 promise (The Guardian)
'Alonso may have cause to be buoyant once more come testing in February with a team as lean and hungry as the double world champion himself.'
The American Dream: Jake Dennis’ Quest for Formula E Glory - Unplugged Episode 1 ()
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Social media
Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
Great to be back in the MTC after the winter shutdown. Our teams and I are flat out in preparation for the start of our seasons across series.
We enter the year sadly without our beloved friend and colleague, Gil, but he is very much with us in spirit. We'll draw inspiration… pic.twitter.com/T1SNgSWfP4
— Zak Brown (@ZBrownCEO) January 3, 2024
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Alexander Albon has performed well at Williams but does that necessarily mean he deserves the chance to return to Red Bull?
I’m not curious at all to see Albon back in a Red Bull.
In the article the other day, he literally said that with the knowledge and experience of today, he’d now do a better job at Red Bull. I’m quite sure that’s true. It’s also very likely true for (almost) every other driver. What he does not say, is how much better he would be. Which is a wise choice, and somewhat in contrast to what Perez generally vents.
I think, all in all, that Red Bull is not an environment where Albon would thrive. He needs to be at ease within his team.
If he were thrown the opportunity, he might seize it. I doubt it is something he actively seeks himself, though, and I’d rather see him be successful at other teams than lose faith again at Red Bull.
Coventry Climax
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Anne Lambert, Timi, Bosley and Gitanes!
Johnny
4th January 2024, 0:50
He just doesn’t want either of them as his teammates. :)
S
4th January 2024, 1:27
Don’t think it would bother him too much, to be honest – at least while he’s the team leader at Red Bull, consistently having cars tailored to suit him.
However – if he suddenly went to McLaren, where the car is already designed for someone else….
notagrumpyfan
4th January 2024, 12:59
In the interview he says something completely different.
But maybe you know more than he does.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
4th January 2024, 16:35
The problem isn’t the team. Or Verstappen. Or the car. It’s the fans. You probably don’t want your fave to drive alongside Verstappen, nor Alonso, or Hamilton for that matter. Because these drivers will end up beating your fave no matter which team they’re paired at.
Verstappen suddenly went to Red Bull mid-season where the car didn’t get build for him and when he was a young teen with almost no experience and we know what happened. Why would things be any different multiple years, experience, and three world championships later?
S
5th January 2024, 5:36
It probably is – for people who have any kind of bias in their perception of F1.
Of those three names listed, only Alonso has a clear record against all team-mates in F1 (by points) with the nearest challenger/s being a draw (including where both drivers finish with 0 points).
Indeed we do. He spent the first two years spinning and running off track a lot.
And even at that point, Red Bull management (mostly Helmut) couldn’t say a bad word about Verstappen – even when he was crashing into Ricciardo…
But then, they didn’t say anything negative about Vettel in the same circumstances either, no matter how many ‘supposed’ team orders he disobeyed.
They aren’t.
Ferdinand
7th January 2024, 13:31
The car is not catered to Max. Max is above average able to adjust himself to any material thrown at him. And he then consistently distracts the maximum. It wouldn’t matter much which team he drivers for or what team mate he would have. I do agree with him McLaren has the strongest pairing out there of all teams. 2nd place I would put Ferrari and third Mercedes.
notagrumpyfan
4th January 2024, 8:22
Actually, in the interview he picks Lando as his ideal teammate because “he is still young, with a full career ahead. And he can also be very, very fast.”
Ludewig
4th January 2024, 8:36
I’ve never seen any lack of confidence on his part when it comes to his potential or actual team mates; or evidence at all that he ever tried to interfere with who was chosen.
He does seem to like Lando a lot and also rate him highly as a driver.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
4th January 2024, 17:24
Yes, so far he always pushed to improve his team mate, however those he had when he said it were terrible, or at least performing terribly at red bull, like albon; he also said he’d have preferred ricciardo to stay, who is so far the most competitive team mate he had.
Jay
4th January 2024, 3:00
I like Bernie Collins a lot. She brings a technical perspective that is far superior to Croft and to a lesser extent Brundle. She should have a bigger presence on the broadcast, especially during quali.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th January 2024, 3:44
I agree
MichaelN
4th January 2024, 9:22
In relation to the Guardian story, it’ll be interesting to see how Aston Martin does, especially if McLaren can build on their revised 2023 car, and assuming that both Ferrari and Mercedes will be able to take a bigger step now that they’re no longer tied to their compromised 2022 based concepts.
The investment made by Stroll in this team is an example to the teams languishing in the midfield with seemingly neither a plan nor a desire to do better. Maybe there will be more engagement there if F1 introduces a long overdue point system that puts a point value on all places, and reduces the guaranteed pay out.
slowmo (@slowmo)
4th January 2024, 12:42
Verstappen’s picks seem solid.
While I think Hamilton is better than Norris right now, he’s not got a very long shelf life left and Norris will only get better where as Hamilton will decline. I think Piastri is the only questionable pick as I think Leclerc, Hamilton, Alonso and Russell have him beat at present. If you take out Hamilton and Alonso due to their shelf life then look between Leclerc and Russell and I think I’d personally take Leclerc out of the 3.
Of course we may see Piastri stun everyone with his performances next year now his rookie year is done. I certainly hope that’s the case as it’s good for the sport to have more top tier drivers.
MacLeod (@macleod)
5th January 2024, 8:12
@slowmo while i agree with you Oscar Piastri has to improve his race pace a lot (Not that he is slow but handle his tyres rather bad)
bosyber (@bosyber)
5th January 2024, 11:46
But @lowmo, and @macleod, given the others mentioned are considerably further into their careers than Piastri, I do get the ‘most promising’ part of their pairing. No guarantee promise will be fulfilled of course, and some clear things that could be improved, but also still possibility to do so too.
Coventry Climax
4th January 2024, 13:10
COTD; thanks RF.
Came rather unexpected, I must say.
Must be lack of competition. ;-)
Haven’t Lando and Verstappen already paired in virtual teams? I guess they know first hand how good they both are.
Googled Bob Menendez. He’s a bit of an enigma, but politically, he’s basically democratic. Backs the LGBTI+ community for example. He’s also backed a number of (other) things I’m sure the Republicans aren’t happy with, as well as not supported things they would have been happy with.
He’s been indicted before too, but then also had all charges dropped before. So we’ll see, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if this all turns out to part of certain bigger plan, harming reputations. If we ever get to hear the entire truth, and from both sides, that is.
MacLeod (@macleod)
5th January 2024, 8:13
Lando and Max are teammates in Redcline the online racing team so Max knows Lando very well.
Coventry Climax
5th January 2024, 10:25
Have you ever heard of the concept of a rethoric question? That’s a question you ask or write down, even though you already know the answer to it: