🏁 Summer Swoon

🥇Max Verstappen [277]: First four race winless spell for the team since before he became a World Champion. With a bunch of other drivers winning however, he’s been able to increase his WDC lead (albeit very slightly) in that timespan.

🥈Lando Norris [199]: Looking to “reset” during the summer break. “I've given away a lot of points over the last three, four races just because of stupid stuff, mistakes and bad starts.”

🥉Charles Leclerc [177]: Currently sees the team as fourth fastest and hopes to see post-break upgrades “as soon as possible.” Me too Sharl, me too.

4️⃣ Oscar Piastri [167]: Fun Fact: His race engineer Tom Stallard took home a silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics representing the UK in rowing.

5️⃣ Carlos Sainz [162]: Accepts his Ferrari departure due to the circumstances: “You’re being replaced by the best driver in the history of this sport. If I have to be replaced by someone, it’s him [Hamilton].”

6️⃣ Lewis Hamilton [150]: Spotted at the Olympics in Paris supporting his friend Miles Chamley-Watson in the fencing event. Lewis always looks cool, but idk about that bucket hat.

7️⃣ Sergio Perez [131]: Helmut Marko thinks Red Bull needs to help their struggling #2, which will likely include reverting to an earlier spec of the RB20 he is more comfortable driving.

8️⃣ George Russell [116]: Eager to step into his new role as team leader with Hamilton’s departure next year: "But 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, there's no reason why we can't fight."

9️⃣ Fernando Alonso [49]: Check out this animation showcasing his 20+ year career that looks like this: Minardi - Renault - McLaren - Renault - Ferrari - McLaren - brief hiatus - Alpine (so technically a 3rd Renault stint) - Aston Martin.

🔟Lance Stroll [24]: He’s had a better first half of this season competing against Alonso compared to last season - though Fernando still has the edge in all major categories.

11. Nico Hulkenberg [22]: On leaving Haas for Sauber/Audi next season: “Most of the time, it feels bittersweet leaving a team, because you build relationships, you like working with the people in most cases. You change for a reason, there's a strategy behind it and then a reason. That's the way it is." That’s just the way it is…. things will never be the same… 🎵 

12. Yuki Tsunoda [22]: Check out his beer can shaped suitcase. I guess it could be soda.. definitely see him as a big Dr. Pepper guy.

13. Daniel Ricciardo[12]: Spoke positively about the team’s strides after arrival of new leadership this year, saying he “wouldn’t feel comfortable” if they still felt like a “junior team.”

14. Ollie Bearman [6]: Hoping that current F2 teammate Kimi Antonelli joins him on the F1 grid. “One day I hope to fight for a world championship with him because I think that’s the trajectory that we’re both aiming for.” I think you’ll see those two names in F1 for quite awhile..

15. Pierre Gasly [6]: Faced “problems on problems” in last three races before the break. In Belgium, he lost .7s per lap on the straights due to an engine temperature issue. That’s 31 seconds over the full race distance. Ouch.

16. Kevin Magnussen [5]: Surprised by the team’s P7 in the Constructors at the break when they expected to be last. “Last year, especially in qualifying, we were able to be good, but every time on Sunday, we'd just fall to pieces… it's actually almost the opposite now – we look better in the race than we do in qualifying often.”

17. Esteban Ocon [5]: From The Race: How Gasly wrestled control of Ocon’s team, as he stays with the outfit next year and Ocon moves to Haas.

18. Alex Albon [4]: Feels that now is the time for the team to get “experimental” and “make mistakes” while embracing some bigger risks as they look towards being competitive in the 2026 new regulations.

19. Zhou Guanyu [0]: Spa “sums up our season”, after losing power and breaking leading to a DNF in the race.

20. Logan Sargeant [0]: Without a seat for next season, he’s currently unsure of his plans: “I’ll try and get a bit of direction. In the end, I think it’s important for me to take a bit of time off as well. So I’ll put a bit more weight on [my manager’s] shoulders to figure it out. I’m sure conversations will be had. Just what, I don’t know yet.”

21. Valtteri Bottas [0]: Think the team is “getting closer” to the first points of the season, adding “we just need to keep bringing upgrades.”

Constructor’s Corner

🥇Red Bull [408]: Development budget for the RB20 is limited due to $3.6M in damage from Perez so far this season. That’s a big number halfway through the season. Rounding out the top 3 are Albon with $2.4M and Zhou with $1.4M.

🥈McLaren [366]: TP Stella after his recently signed multi-year contract extension: “We’ve made great strides forward in the past year and a half and we still have a lot more work to do to consistently fight at the front of the grid, which poses an exciting challenge.”

🥉Ferrari [345]: Working hard to introduce upgrades soon after the break (but not working during the break, right?), TP Vasseur thinks Monza-Singapore-Baku will suit the team better than the first race back at Zandvoort.

4️⃣ Mercedes [266]: Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin reveals the 2025 car will be a “close cousin” of the current W15. Performance gains seen this over the last handful of races have given the team confidence to carry their current approach into next season. A far cry from their commitment to the zero sidepod design of 2022 and 2023.

5️⃣ Aston Martin [73]: TP Krack admits pressure is mounting on the team after failed Imola upgrades. “The perception inside is huge pressure because [the Imola upgrade] doesn't deliver what you were expected… and trying to solve this as quick as possible [is now the aim] and in that point, I understand also that there is less patience.”

6️⃣ VCARB [34]: Danny Ric points out the team is still struggling in the high-speed. “I think real, real high speed, we still got to work on a bit. But all the kind of tighter, twistier stuff, we seem to be all right. Just now load and yeah, load is our friend. So maybe I put on some weight over the break and that’ll help.” Also be sure to not get appendicitis.

7️⃣ Haas [27]: TP Komatsu on what some feel was sandbagging early in the year, saying they’d be slow when they’ve actually surprised this season: “It's pretty simple. We are 300 people. The next smallest team there is about three times as much. We started [thinking] like, 'we wasted some time [on failed upgrades last year], how are we going to be better, right?' So, if I said, 'loading out of door in Bahrain, we're going to be P8', either I'm stupid or arrogant, one or the other.”

8️⃣ Alpine [11]: Renault factory dubs the team’s switch to Mercedes engines “a stab in the back, a betrayal.” In less contentious news, new TP Oliver Oakes says about the task ahead: “The team has talented people and excellent resources at its core, and I am confident that we can accomplish a great deal together during the remainder of this season and the longer term.”

9️⃣ Williams [4]: Head of vehicle performance Dave Robson expects the Sainz signing to be “a little daunting” as looks for him to “shake us up”, noting the driver’s reputation for driving everyone around him to get everything they can out of the car.

🔟Kick Sauber [0]: Bottas and former F3 champ and current #2 in the F2 standings driver Gabriel Bortoleto are reportedly the two finalists for the remaining seat.

• Top 3 Tech Updates (so far): F1’s Tech Weekly columnists Mark Hughes and Giorgio Piola list their most significant developments of the first half:

  • 1) McLaren’s bodywork introduced in Miami, including a new floor and improved low-speed corners

  • 2) Mercedes’ front wing debuted in Monaco to improve the benefits of flexibility at speed

  • 3) “Invisible developments”, meaning the experimentation with front wing flexibility, different flap adjusters, or the now-illegal asymmetrical breaking which was outlawed by the regulation update for the second half of the year.

    Ok Mark and Giorgio, that last one was a bit of a cop out. It’s interesting though - did the FIA have to add the rule to stop teams who were already using asymmetrical breaking, or was it to prevent future development in that area? The authors note that “Asymmetric braking would be a very useful tool in addressing the conflict between the low-speed understeer and high-speed oversteer these cars tend to suffer from. Having greater braking force on the outside rear than on the inside would help pivot the car, reducing the understeer.” Hmmm…

• Aero Restrictions: An interesting thread from @dr_Obbs on X regarding the Aerodynamic Testing Restrictions and how they’ve closed the pack this year. He points to the effect of clean air on the competition this year: While only 6 races have seen a pole sitter win, 12 have been won by the driver who led the most laps (therefore had the most time in clean air). Two exceptions are Miami where Max took damage, and a wet/dry Silverstone that saw Hamilton only have four less clean air laps than Lando. Suggests that dirty air is still a problem, making close following + overtaking more difficult.

• Lost His Marbles: A side by side of George’s tires after the Belgian GP and what a normal post race tire looks like. With no cool down lap after the race, he didn’t have the chance to add weight via “marbles”, by purposefully driving over discarded rubber on track 🔽 

• Obligatory Newey Update: Some outlets are reporting Adrian Newey has signed the 4 year $100M offer with Aston Martin, to be announced in September. There’s been a lot of reports that suggest this is credible - however we’ll hold off with a feature until it’s actually announced. Still a chance it’s not real. But who wouldn’t take that bag? To add to the silliness, rumor is Papa Stroll isn’t stopping with Newey and is also courting Max to join the team. I don’t see it, but imagine…

• Dancing Guenther: Ever want to see Guenther Steiner do a tik tok dance to Charlie XCX with his daughter? Well, you’re in luck. He never looked this happy on the Haas pit wall.

• Olympic History: There’s been several F1 drivers over the years who’ve competed in the games, with the most popular events being bobsled and sailing. Makes sense as the choices without actual motorsports appearing in the Olympics. Maybe one day…

• Olympic Doppelgangers: Social media participants keep adding to the collection of current F1 drivers they’ve spotted secretly competing in the 2024 Olympics. Some of these are pretty good… Can you name the driver for each twin below? 🔽 

Quick Question (My Answer)

I read (write) every word of course. Somehow doesn’t prevent typos though…