🏁 Mid-Season Memories

🥇Max Verstappen [277]: Helmut Marko said Max had hoped their recent Budapest upgrades would give them a two-tenth advantage over McLaren. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for us, that wasn’t the case. The field remains tight!

🥈Lando Norris [199]: After securing his first win but then none to follow in what is probably the quickest car - David Tremayne expects a “calmer, perhaps more aggressive Lando in the remaining 10 races.” Kinda feels like an oxymoron. But maybe it’s a more zen like, but also ruthless approach. I’m sure theirs a Marvel super hero analogy I could make here but I’m not really familiar with who would fit that description. Not The Hulk, for one.

🥉Charles Leclerc [177]: Looking forward to having Hamilton as a teammate next year for learning purposes, but also “for me to be able to show what I’m capable of.” Sharl is often on people’s short list as one of the top drivers in the game.. will be fascinating to see how he stacks up against Lewis in equal (and hopefully FAST) machinery.

4️⃣ Oscar Piastri [167]: Revealed on social media that he’s been dealing with a broken rib over the past few weeks, battling through the injury during his maiden win in Hungary. He didn’t share details on how it happened, but internet sleuths saw the date on the X-ray was July 8th - the Monday after Silverstone.

5️⃣ Carlos Sainz [162]: With his move to Williams, next year could potentially be a write off as the team looks to turn things around. Vowles’ hopes are pinned to 2026-2027 rather than the next 18 months. With Mercedes expected to produce a top quality engine, they could have a good foundation with the start of the new regulations.

6️⃣ Lewis Hamilton [150]: Predicts “One hell of a second half” as the team’s remain close at the top. “It’s really fantastic, I think, for the sport, to be having such close teams and drivers…The pedigree of drivers at the top today are really elite and amazing.” Upgrades in the third quarter of the season will go a long way to deciding who gets the edge. I do think Merc takes a few more wins though.

7️⃣ Sergio Perez [131]: Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache suggests further upgrades will add performance that both he and Max can make use of, which was also part of the idea behind the Hungary update package.

8️⃣ George Russell [116]: Pumped up for what’s to come this season and into next: “I’m so motivated, so excited for the second half of the season, which is ultimately building up towards 2025. And when you look at the competition now, you know, there’s no reason why we can’t fight.”

9️⃣ Fernando Alonso [49]: Remaining optimistic despite the team’s recent struggles, says they want to be “champions” in the next few years. With Papa Stroll opening up the war chest it sure seems like they’re serious. Newey is all but confirmed to have chosen Aston, and they allegedly are pursuing Max aggressively as well.

🔟Lance Stroll [24]: Former champ Jacques Villeneuve takes a different perspective: “Stroll is one of the most deserving drivers to continue racing in F1 because his dad bought the team. Aston Martin could have gone bankrupt if not for Lawrence Stroll… he’s [Lance] matching Fernando Alonso’s level…Now he needs to show he’s quick.” Ok idk about matching Alonso, but it’s an interesting take in which most people take the opposite side.

11. Nico Hulkenberg [22]: Getting spicy on former Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul: “It’s funny that, five years later, he’s no longer here. I left too, but I came back and I’m still here. That means something.” 😬

12. Yuki Tsunoda [22]: Feels like he’s earned a shot at Red Bull, saying “I’m a more complete driver.” He’s clearly become aware of his reputation for getting a bit heated, adding “I think the radio communications, emotional control was lacking quite a lot.” He’s had a couple slips this season (like everyone else) but he’s definitely shown more composure. We used to be good for an outburst every other race, which I do miss if I’m being honest…

13. Daniel Ricciardo[12]: Has been floated alongside Perez for the remaining Sauber/Audi seat should either of them be jettisoned from the Red Bull zeppelin. Foreshadowing???

14. Ollie Bearman [6]: Eager to learn from Hamilton who will bring a “winning mentality” to Ferrari.

15. Pierre Gasly [6]: He’s on board with the likely move to Mercedes power units in 2026, making it clear he wants the “fastest package” possible - and acknowledges it’s tough for those on the team that had been working on the Renault version to see it come to and end.

16. Kevin Magnussen [5]: Regarding his future, “everything is on the table.” IndyCar and the World Endurance Championship are two potential options

17. Esteban Ocon [5]: Stresses that communication with the team to fix technical issues will be important at Haas - something he feels was not done properly at Alpine. "Sometimes we haven't been listened to the way we should have been, I would say."

18. Alex Albon [4]: On the outlook for the second half: “We haven’t had many, if any, upgrades this season so far, so we’ve been on the back foot…If we can get our first proper upgrade on the car when we come back, I think we can fight for points a bit more regularly.”

19. Zhou Guanyu [0]: Feature on why he doesn’t see himself in F1 in 10 years, getting more rest this summer break, and his love for creativity and fashion. He also named Silverstone as his favorite circuit - ahead of Shanghai and the Hungaroring.

20. Logan Sargeant [0]: Finishing the 2024 campaign with Williams is still not guaranteed, says Vowles. The TP says he had shown good form in Silverstone and in Budapest, but fell off the pace in Belgium. “It’s hard to pinpoint why. He’s just found that the car’s been very unpredictable to him from lap to lap, fundamentally.”

21. Valtteri Bottas [0]: On his “greatest race” in Australia kicking off the 2019 season, taking a 20 second victory after a tough 2018.

Constructor’s Corner

🥇Red Bull [408]: Pierre Wache on changing the RB20 concept off the RB19’s dominance: “We assumed the competition would catch up quickly that's why we wanted to use the advantage to take the concept a step further in order to optimize the aerodynamics. We took some risks here, now it looks it hasn't paid off as we had hoped.” And we all were better off for it. Does anyone find themselves kinda rooting for Max to get a win again? Nah.. def not me..

🥈McLaren [366]: TP Stella on team’s “surprising” competitiveness given lack of big upgrades so far (besides Miami), saying in the second half there will be “at multiple times some new parts.”

🥉Ferrari [345]: Targeting a new floor for Monza. TP Vasseur says they’re bouncing issue is now under control after identifying a metric that suggests when it becomes prominent.

4️⃣ Mercedes [266]: Made the most progress since the start of the season, with the W15 gaining 4 tenths in qualifying pace, plus 7 tenths in race pace compared to Red Bull. Yuuugeee. One of the biggest surprises of the season imo, considering where they started.

5️⃣ Aston Martin [73]: TP Krack acknowledges team “expected more” in 2024, but remains confident they’re on the “right path.” "The updates that we fitted in Hungary are working. It's not just a case of this making the car faster for the rest of this season, it's also having the knowledge that we understand our platform and know how to develop it.”

6️⃣ VCARB [34]: How they’re trying to pick up Red Bull’s baton as F1’s “fun team”, so far through Miami’s “car wash” and colorful livery and promoting the new Twisters movie at Silverstone. It’s hard to believe now, but in the mid naughties when Red Bull entered F1 they were known for lavish parties, numerous publicity stunts, and really shaking up F1’s culture. 🎉 

7️⃣ Haas [27]: This year’s success has lead to owner Gene Haas deploying additional resources, with the team currently on a recruiting spree “never seen before” in it’s history according to TP Komatsu. They’re looking to grow by 10% from their current size of about 300 people.

8️⃣ Alpine [11]: With poor development, managerial instability, and even giving up on their own power unit in favor of Mercedes, there are fears Alpine’s struggles could continue even into 2026.

9️⃣ Williams [4]: TP Vowles thinks the tightness of the field, not dirty air, is making overtaking more difficult this season: “A field where there isn’t tenths between cars, but rather milliseconds…when that happens, overtaking is just a lot more tricky. You need a lot more tire delta in order to make it happen.

🔟Kick Sauber [0]: Can changes at the top of the team guide them to their first points of the season? Notably, Mattia Binotto joined as COO and CTO after the departure of CEO Andreas Seidl and Audi executive Oliver Hoffman, with Red Bull’s Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatley set to become the Team Principal of the Audi team.

• High Drag: As fast as F1 cars are, they produce incredibly high drag. A Bugatti Veyron has a 60-100km/h (37-62 mph) higher top speed while using the same amount of power. Since power required increases with the cube of speed, the RB19 would need 1000 horsepower to reach 301km/h while the Bugatti would only need 404hp. While speed is necessary in F1, lap time is the focus - using downforce and drag to take corners fast will be beneficial to lap time.

• Mercedes Unlocking Secrets: A more conventional front wing to add high-speed downforce, a revised floor geometry and edges to help with low-speed understeer, additional techniques to increase load on the front of the floor, and an improved diffuser to increase pulling power have all contributed to their recent success.

• Red Bull Rumor: Remember the asymmetric braking rule change from last week? There is speculation this was targeted at Red Bull, and investigated when Max’s brake went kaboom in Australia (possibly due to greater hydraulic pressure directed at a given side of the rear axle). This was not technically illegal given the wording of the regulations at the time - but has now been outlawed for the rest of the season. A possible explanation for Red Bull’s struggles? Very interesting…

• Ready to Rock the Sphere: OneRepublic, Alesso, and Ludacris are set to headline the Sphere Stage during the Las Vegas GP Weekend Nov 21-23. Seen two out of those three. Alesso during my “boom-tsk-boom-tsk” EDM days and Ludacris who gave a free concert at my college. Not typically my cup of tea but he was pretty “dope” as the kids say.

• Grill the Grid: Drivers are challenged to name a driver who has had 100 or more starts for every letter from A-Z. The best Grill the Grid performance I’ve ever seen: Watch Sebastian Vettel name every Driver’s Champion in F1 history, in order. Yuki could only name two 😂

• Porsche Out: The brand’s F1 aspirations are officially a “closed chapter” after it had thought about exploring a potential partnership with Red Bull.

Quick Question (My Answer)

It’s so hard to choose… I think the Max/Lando collision in Austria was the most jump out of your seat crazy moment, I’ll remember that one for awhile. So many good finishes this year though.