🏁 M4X Makes it Four

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PLP Season 2 Edition 49

Race Weekend

Hope everyone’s not too sleepy from that tryptophan yesterday (myth?) because remember we’re in the middle of the season ending triple header. Only two GPs and one Spring left in the 2024 campaign.

Max did what he’s been known to do and took down another WDC. But there’s still plenty to be decided in the remaining races with the Constructors’ up for grabs, and a very tight midfield battle with big bucks on the line.

Here’s the schedule for this weekend in EST:

• FP1: Friday, November 29th @ 8:30am

• Sprint Quali: Friday, November 29th @ 12:30pm

• Sprint: Saturday, November 30th @ 9:00am

• Quali: Saturday, November 30th @ 1:00pm

• Grand Prix: Sunday, December 1st @ 11:00am

Quick Question!

Max Wins 4th Straight World Driver’s Championship

There ya have it folks. In what has been an incredibly compelling season where the majority of races were unpredictable going into the weekend - the one who was predicted to have the best chance to stand on top of the season podium has done it again. Max Verstappen takes his 4th WDC in a row.

As impressive (and admittedly, a bit boring) his dominance was in 2023, the 2024 Max Verstappen Championship is perhaps even more remarkable. Having the far and away best car is one thing, but there were very few races for the RB20 where that was the case. The skill, strategy, and execution necessary to win without the best machinery was on full display.

If the title today didn’t make sense - the Red Bull squad could be seen dawning t-shirts with “M4X” printed on them, to represent his fourth title. Decent logo. I like. There should be more available in December, but looks like you can pick up an extra small size at the moment here if you want to buy one for your dog or something.

If Max had it his way he’d still be winning every race by 20+ seconds: “I think in a way, of course, I still prefer last season; I enjoyed it a lot, but I think this season, definitely again taught me a lot of lessons. I’m very proud of how we handled it also as a team. So in a way of course that makes it also very, very special, and a beautiful season.” Christian Horner added: “I think this has been his best and hardest championship and he’s shown maturity, he’s delivered on the days when the car wasn’t quite there and there’s no one more deserving of this championship than Max.”

Celebration Scenes:

• Watch Max get progressively drunker during the post race press conferences

• Dancing to his signature EDM song before the team picture. Have we talked about this song yet? It’s a banger.

• Fellow drivers pay tribute to the champ on socials

Insert any superlative here, what else can you say. Max is the best in the world right now, and cementing himself as one of the GOATs. Seven different multiple race winners this season and he still stands on top. Incredible performance, gotta just sit back and appreciate the greatness.

Las Vegas GP Recap

🥇 RUS - 🥈 HAM - 🥉 SAI

DNF: GAS - ALB

Fastest Lap: NOR

DoTD: HAM

So besides Max’s ‘ship, what else happened in Vegas?

George Russell stepped up and put in a mighty drive, securing a convincing victory from pole over the feuding Ferraris, the disappointingly slow McLarens, and a charging Lewis who couldn’t quite make up the deficit he found himself in after a quali mistake saw him start P10. Cold weather once again proved the anti-kryptonite for Mercedes, who admitted that even they themselves don’t know why they’re so fast when the temperature drops. Lewis was kicking himself, saying after the race that “if I did my job in quali, the race would have been a breeze.”

I believe him, he was FLYING up the field last Saturday.. would have been a good show between him and George since no one else could keep up. But props to George for making zero mistakes and being super quick himself.

Leclerc challenged Russell early after moving into P2 on turn 1, but ended up pushing his medium tires a bit too hard. When seeing Carlos on his heels after being told there wouldn’t be a challenge he referenced the assumed team orders over the radio and said “Maybe try in Spanish.” He was HEATED after the race.

Most drivers started on quickly degrading mediums and had to pit early, as Verstappen and Hamilton made some early moves up the field. Sainz had a bizarre moment where he aborted a pit stop late after he had been advocating to come in. He ended up stopping a couple laps later, which ultimately may have cost him P2. Like his teammate, he wasn’t happy with the team’s strategy calls. Checo had a stellar move on both Lawson and Magnussen on turn 14 on lap 38, salvaging something from the weekend. Max was in podium position with single digit laps remaining, but chose not to fight the faster Ferraris and cruise to his championship winning P5 since he was10 seconds ahead of Norris at the time. Hulkenberg and Yuki to P8 and P9 respectively, continuing to jockey for position in the tight midfield.

What else:

• Watch George jump directly on the scale-placing-guy after hitting the victory T-pose.

• Red Bull actually cut part of their rear wing to reduce downforce after bringing the wrong one to Vegas

• Checo roasts himself from the Las Vegas sphere after being eliminated in Q1

• Vegas had the most overtakes of the season at 77 - beating second place Spain which had 55.

Not quite the fight for first we saw last year, but still a solid race. Especially if you’re a Mercedes fan.

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Andretti’s Revenge: GM/Cadillac Set for 2026 Debut

In what looked like a near impossibility only a few months ago, we’re set for an 11th team on the grid starting in 2026. This one seemed to come together quickly from our (fan) perspective, lending credibility to what some are saying were certain conditions: Michael Andretti stepping back from the bid as well as Greg Maffei stepping down as CEO of F1 owner Liberty Media to get this deal finalized.

Michael Andretti tweeted “The Cadillac F1 Team is made up of a strong group of people that have worked tirelessly to build an American works team. I’m very proud of the hard work they have put in and congratulate all involved on this momentous next step. I will be cheering for you!” While Michael has stepped back, Mario Andretti is set to serve in an ambassador role for the team. Maybe they’ll still be able to slap their name on there somehow. We don’t know what their exact branding will be at this time.

The team will likely use Ferrari engines for their first two years, before developing their own starting in 2028. The move doubles the amount of U.S. based teams in F1 - as the sport continues to expand their foothold in the country that consumes 41% of all turkey meat consumed per year (though Israel holds the title in terms of turkeys (birds) consumed per capita).

Early speculation has Ricciardo and Bottas being contenders for one of the seats, as the team looks to possibly pair a veteran alongside a rookie for their debut season - with the rookie contender being Colton Herta at the moment. But a lot can change in the next year..

Qatar GP Preview

The penultimate race of 2024 heads to the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar - originally built for motorcycle racing. We’ve got a night race this time, so the conditions should be way less punishing than last year.

It’s a fast, flowing track with mostly high and medium speed corners. Even the hardest tire compounds brought this weekend will suffer under the high lateral load this track requires. Look for overtaking opportunities at turn 1 after the tracks only DRS zone along the main straight.

According to @brakeboosted on X, Trouble controlling tire temps here will lead to struggles over the full race distance. Teams must balance rear tire load to prevent slippage while avoiding any excess load that could overheat the tires. Red Bull could be strong since stiff suspension and high downforce are rewarding here. Expect a better performance from McLaren, a worse performance for Ferrari, and perhaps a decent quali but questionable race pace from Mercedes.

Jolyon Palmer adds: “The kerbs can be quite punishing, so drivers will need to be careful there. But conversely, as it’s a night race, that will help the tires a little bit compared to the afternoon heat.”

What else to watch for:

• Ferrari looks to further close the gap on McLaren for the Constructors’ battle

• Haas, Alpine, and VCARB will continue to fight for midfield supremacy

• Perez has a lot to prove.. can he finally bounce back in the two remaining weekends?

• F1 Academy and F2 titles are coming down to the wire. Abby Pulling is looking to seal the deal in the women’s series, while Bortoleto and Hadjar are fighting in out in the F1 feeder series.

Down the Grid

Constructor’s Corner

Tech Talk

Off the Grid

“Nothing to see here. Totally just a GM/Cadillac team you guys.” 🔽 

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