🏁 Drake Announces Stake

PLP Season 2 Edition 1

55 Days Until the 2024 Season Opening Weekend

According to Larry David you can only wish people Happy New Year until January 3rd, so… hope you’re having a great first week of January! A mental hurdle has been surpassed and we can now say we’ll have racing next month (The first race weekend starts Feb 29th, so technically the first race is in March… but please just let me have this). That also means it’s a new season here at the Pulse and we’ve wiped the points clean, keeping the order for driver and constructor finishes until we start racing again. It’s the same order we’ll see when the new intro drops, for which we are super jazzed. Does anything else get you hyped like the F1 intro music? It’s not even underrated. Everyone knows it’s fire. Here’s to hoping that George Russell is doing another memeable pose in the 2024 version.

Quick Quiz: If you laid out the distance driven by all drivers in 2023, how many times could you circle the earth?

Find out below ⬇

Sauber’s New Take: Drake Makes a Stake

Rapper and frequent wager-er on crypto gambling platform Stake, Drake released on Instagram video on New Year’s Day announcing Sauber’s new identity as the Stake F1 Team. Drake has been partnered with the brand since 2021, frequently posting pictures on social media of his astronomical sports wagers made on the platform. It’s been estimated that he’s wagered over $1 billion on Stake in total… my goodness. While the name is certainly different, keep in mind this is only for the next two years as Sauber will rebrand as Audi in 2026 when the new regulations go into effect.

With the rebrand announcement, many have raised the question.. what happens when the F1 calendar lands in a country that has bans on gambling advertising? Maybe become the Steak F1 team? I’d root for them. About a third of the hosts in 2024 have these restrictions, including Qatar, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Bahrain, China, and Brazil - with Stake itself banned from advertising in Australia. The reason for the ban down under? Although the company is registered in Curacao, it was discovered that the company is actually operating out of Melbourne - where a loophole allows this to happen as long as they don’t allow Australians to use the site.

Sounds sketchy to me… but it is crypto after all. Remember all those crypto ads at the Superbowl two years ago? How many of those companies and celebrities who endorsed them have found themselves in hot water? When approached by crypto sponsors from now on maybe these public figures should hit the… brake.

Remembering Gil de Ferran

On a somber note, sad news this week in the race world on the untimely passing of current McLaren consultant and Indy 500 winner Gil de Ferran. De Ferran was racing with his son on a private track in Opa-Locka, Florida when he felt unwell, pulled over, and suffered a fatal heart attack. His daughter Anna praised his car for her brother during the incident, saying “While my father left us too young, he died the way we believe he would have wanted-driving a racecar 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.” 💔

De Ferran was active in various racing series since the early 90’s, and Indy Car from 1995-2003 where he scored 12 wins in 160 starts, peaking with his Indy 500 win in 2003 with Penske Racing. He was sporting director at McLaren F1 from 2018 to 2021, recently returning in May 2023 as a consultant overseeing their restructuring process.

Former and current colleagues were saddened at the news, with Fernando Alonso saying “I am at a loss for words. Thank you for the moments we shared, for wholeheartedly teaching me how to race on ovals, and for the countless memories we created together. We will miss you Gil.” CEO Zak Brown said, “The news of Gil’s passing leaves us devastated. Gil was not only a dear friend but a fearless racer whose passion and determination on the track inspired us all…His time with us here at McLaren Racing has been pivotal… particularly this past year and the turnaround of our F1 team’s performance and results. His legacy will continue to shape our team’s future.”

Alpine: Year in Review

Ask any member of Alpine (AKA Team Frenchie) and I bet they’d admit that a P6 finish in the Constructors’ was a disappointment this season, where they looked to build on a P4 finish in 2022. Outshone by thought-to-be closest competitors McLaren and Aston Martin, they were the definition of inconsistent this season. With incredible highs of P3 finishes in Monaco and Zandvoort for Ocon and Gasly respectively, it seemed like every other race the former was suffering a DNF (or another penalty.. a funny anecdote I heard was that a new F1 fan thought “Ocon penalty” was a type of infraction after hearing it so much the first race 😂) and the latter was coming up just a bit short. Team struggles ultimately left to the team parting ways with team principal Otmar Szafnauer after Spa this year.

The Ocon/Gasly pairing was one of the closer battles all year, with Gasly ultimately taking the edge in quali and total points. There was also some underlying teammate tension, undoubtedly sparked by the Alpine on Alpine crash that took them out of the points in Australia the third race of the season. It’s something to watch for next year, though overall I don’t think there is too much of an issue there, it’s more typical intra-team driver competitiveness. The necessity of which is always a fine line to straddle in this sport.

The team only walked away pointless in 6 weekends this year, albeit only managing single digit points in some races - a true midfield team in every sense. Ocon put on a cracker of a lap in Monaco qualifying and ultimately locked down the podium finish, with Gasly’s Zandvoort podium a masterclass in dry/wet strategy execution. It was back and forth between the two drivers all year with Gasly’s surge at the end of the season enough to overtake Ocon for a P11 and P12 finish in the Drivers Championship respectively.

We’ll see if team personal turnover and Deadpool investment can help the team take a step forward in 2024. If I had to guess, I’d predict a 2024 campaign pretty similar to what we saw in 2023.

• Highs: Monaco/Zandvoort podiums

• Lows: Friendly fire in Australia, DNFs, Management turnover

• “There have been some positives… but on the flip side, there were way more challenges than we expected and haven’t been able to match the ambitions and targets that we’ve set ourselves at the start of the year… I wouldn’t say we had a bad season. I would just say others had a better season and did a better job than we did. That’s the way I look at it” - GAS

• “Not the best of seasons for us but the motivation is higher than ever to come back stronger. Thank you to those who stuck with us this season, I know it hasn’t been easy at times. We will work harder than ever to get back up to where we belong.” - OCO

Down the Grid

Tech Talk

• FIA wants to avoid weight haggling with 2026 regulation to avoid cars getting too bulky. A lot of the added weight in the past decade or so has come from the move to hybrid power units and additional safety features. Historically there’s also been pressure from teams to increase the minimum weight to make rooms for new car elements - something the FIA wants to avoid going forward.

• Alpine drifts despite inventive solutions

• A great read on tire stats from f1technical.net. Inspired this week’s trivia question as well. Interesting that the C2 eeked out the longest stint only being offered 1/3 as many times as the C3 in 2023 (although it is harder after all).

Off the Grid

• A look back at Michael Schumacher’s top three races in honor of his 55th birthday this past Wednesday, January 3rd.

• Best meme-worthy moments of 2023. Piastri watching the jet-pack guy crash is already a classic. Shades of Jim from the Office, if you’re familiar.

• Danica Patrick will remain part of Sky Sports’ F1 presenting team in 2024

• Team sponsorship changes leaving you feeling confused? Join the club. A nice graphic from racefans.net lays out the history behind the current teams on the grid:

That’s the first edition of Season 2 down, 51 more to go in 2024. Or is it 74 more to go in 2024??? Stay tuned for the answer later this month… and see you next Friday.

Hope your New Year’s Eve looked something like George and Fernando’s (who celebrated together for the 2nd year in a row no less) 🔽

Questions? Comments? Did we get something wrong (never 😁)? Let us know ▶ [email protected]