In this GPFans Recap we take you through the most read Formula 1 news of today. Below you will find the most discussed topics from the premier class of motorsport bundled in one article. This way you will be fully informed of all developments within a few minutes.
The big news of December 28 is that the Italian media reported that Red Bull Racing’s RB20 car failed the crash test. This would involve the frontal impact and therefore the nose may have to be redeveloped. Speaking of developments, Ferrari has explained that it is using the RB19, with which Max Verstappen dominated this year, as inspiration for the red car of 2024. Whether the Italian formation can catch up with this remains the question. It will be a difficult task and the FIA has admitted that this problem has arisen from the budget cap. Timo Glock also discusses the Formula 1 calendar, Max Verstappen has been voted by his colleagues as the best driver of 2023 and former team boss Otmar Szafnauer talks about the situation at Alpine.
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Glock saw ‘only sick people’ in Abu Dhabi: “21 races really the maximum”
Timo Glock, former F1 driver, believes that the premier class calendar has already reached the maximum number of races. What he saw after the last weekend of 2023 in Abu Dhabi proved this, the German said. Glock told BettingSites that he was shocked by how completely everyone was completely devastated after the last race of the season. “The limit should really be 20 or 21 races. Don’t forget that there is also a test in Bahrain before the season. For the mechanics that is just very grueling. I have not met anyone in Abu Dhabi who was not ill. After the problems on Friday in Vegas, which resulted in a long weekend, everyone flew from cold Vegas to Abu Dhabi where it was 30 degrees and everyone had air conditioners in the room.” Read more? Click here!
Colleagues choose Max Verstappen as the best F1 driver of 2023
Like every season, the drivers were able to choose who they thought was the best F1 driver of 2023. The drivers can give their colleagues points, after which a result is drawn. The conclusion this season was not very surprising: Max Verstappen finished in first place. Hamilton would finish P2 behind Verstappen, which is one spot higher than last year. Fernando Alonso ends up in P3, while last year he finished in P6. The top five is completed by Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc. The rest of the top ten: Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon, Oscar Piastri, Pierre Gasly and Sergio Pérez. Hamilton himself did not vote. Read more? Click here!
Ferrari uses RB19 as inspiration for 2024 car: “Red Bull introduced new technology”
Ferrari will take down the curtain on its Formula 1 car for the 2024 season on February 13. With the car, which is still known under the code name 676, the racing team from Maranello hopes to catch up with Red Bull Racing. To improve their own car for the new year, Ferrari will inspect the brake calipers and floor of the Red Bull RB19 with which Max Verstappen dominated in 2023. “Red Bull introduced a new technology this year that differs from what Mercedes and we have been using for years. It may be that these brake calipers provide a weight advantage,” Enrico Cardile, technical director of Ferrari’s chassis and aerodynamics departments, told Auto Motor und Sport. He and his team know what the RB19 brake calipers look like because this is a so-called open source part. Sergio Pérez’s crash in Monaco also turned out well for Ferrari: “These were just extra photos for our database. Although our cars are different, it is interesting to study the Red Bull floor because they do a lot differently compared to the rest.” Read more? Click here!
Szafnauer opens up about Alpine after dismissal: “Millions were under budget ceiling”
Alpine announced in the middle of the Formula 1 race weekend in Belgium that then team boss Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane had to leave the team, immediately after that Grand Prix. On Peter Windsor’s YouTube channel, Szafnauer discussed what the situation was like when he joined Alpine at the start of 2022, discussing how the budget cap rules have helped the midfielders close the gap to the leaders without taking away staff from the top teams, Szafnauer said: “Yes, but that’s assuming you’ve already reached the ceiling. If not, there’s plenty of room to hire. And that was the case with Alpine, because we weren’t at the ceiling. When I got there, we were tens of millions under the budget cap, so we had plenty of room to hire. I’ve always had the philosophy that you shouldn’t just make changes just for the sake of it. the change.” Read more? Click here!
‘RB20 Red Bull does not pass crash test: nose fails in frontal collision’
Many teams are currently preparing for the 2024 season, but these preparations are not yet going very smoothly for Red Bull Racing. A crash test of the RB20 would have failed. The Italian branch of Motorsport.com reported this on Thursday. The nose would not have held up during the frontal impact test. The nose did not absorb the blow well, causing even the chassis of the RB20 to sustain significant damage. Red Bull will now have to adjust the structure of the RB20 to pass the crash test. According to rumors, the team will do this, among other things, with low carbon. Read more? Click here!
FIA sees Red Bull dominate and admits budget ceiling problem: ‘Is not a perfect solution’
The FIA has admitted that Formula 1’s budget ceiling is not perfect. The international motorsport association does not want to restrict the teams too much in what it can do in this technical sport, but it also does not want to give the teams too much freedom. And there would be no perfect solution. “The problem with the financial regulations is that on the one hand someone can’t spend three times more than someone else, which is good, but on the other hand if you’re behind someone you can’t throw everything at them to get an upgrade. development,” Nikolas Tombazis, head of the FIA’s single seater division, told Motorsport.com. “However, the financial regulations limit how many upgrades you can make. So if someone is further behind, it’s quite a long and painful process to recover.” Read more? Click here!
2023-12-28 20:44:58
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