🏁 Testing Underway in Bahrain

Sponsored by

PLP Season 2 Edition 8

6 Days Until the 2024 Season Opening Weekend

We’ve officially got cars on track for 2024! If testing is not your cuppa’ tea, I’m excited to announce something else that can help fuel the hype:

Introducing the PLP F1 Fantasy League! You can join with this link, or enter code C4BIJKL1Y01 when prompted.

It’s free to join and play, you just need a formula1.com account - which is also free to create. A full overview of the rules, including how the game works can be found here. Essentially you set a driver and constructors line up each week under the $100M budget and get points based on quali and race performance. Adds some extra spice to race day - I hope you join!

Note: if you use the link and don’t have an account, you’ll have to make one first. From there, you’ll create a team and then assign it to a league - that’s where the code may come in handy. Send me an email if you get stuck.

We’ll work out some prizes for the top teams at the end of the season - but more on that next week.

Quick Quiz!

Answer revealed at the bottom ⬇

Last Week: Tough one! About 1/3 of respondents got the correct answer of Michael Schumacher winning the 1998 British GP in the pit lane. Everyone left that race confused on the ruling, as is tradition.

Testing 123

Day 3 of testing is underway as we speak - and if it’s before 11am on the east coast then you still have time to tune in. Testing is a time where everyone says to not overreact to the timing sheet, but proceeds to do so anyway. So imagine the chagrin of the internet ruffians when Max blew the competition away by over 1 second on day 1. Here we go again.

But hope again emerged on day 2 when Sainz put up a healthy gap for the top spot. We’ll ignore the fact that Checo was second and Max did not participate in day 2 🙃 . But it must be said again - teams are working out all different kinds of strategies, simulating long runs and different fuel levels, gathering data on tires, testing set ups… we must not get caught up in lap times. Not to mention sandbagging as well, where teams intentionally don’t show their full potential. So let’s at least wait until the race next week until we pre-emptively crown Max and Red Bull champs again.

If you tuned in, your certainly noticed some additional paint jobs and funny looking fence structures attached to the cars:

Both the “flow viz” paint and aero rakes are used to (you guessed it) analyzed aerodynamic properties of the car. The key difference is the flow viz paint shows how air moves on the surface of the car vs. aero rakes that collect data on how air comes off and moves away from specific parts of the machine. The paint can be imaged and inspected by the team, with the rakes collecting data instantaneously via sensors and bending of the fence to measure air pressure and velocity at different points around the car.

Some other takeaways from the first two days:

Day 1

• Only significant reliability issues were seen by Williams, causing 1 yellow flag

• Mercedes wing wasn’t the only differentiator - a variety of different nose shapes made their debut

• Red Bull looked a tad shaky early but settled in, VCARB and McLaren had good days, and Ferrari struggled a bit later in the day. On Red Bull’s aggressive development, Adrian Newey noted that sticking with a copy of the RB19 would leave them vulnerable to teams catching up - hence the changes we’ve seen to the RB20.

Day 2

• Another Ferrari fell victim to a drain pipe - with this time Leclerc striking one and causing a red flag. They need better welders out there. But do seriously need to figure this out before it causing more unfair penalties, or worse. Coincidentally enough - Carlos actually spotted it off track and was trying to flag down a marshal right before his teammate struck it.

• Ferrari looked good and put in the most laps with 138, with many constructors not far behind - except McLaren with 87. Though the papaya people had issues, they still look solid overall.

• Mercedes seems to be troubleshooting more than their rivals, and doesn’t seem quite comfortable yet. Haas has achieved their run plans according to Komatsu, with Stake having a solid day and Alpine yet to show too much. Aston seems a slight step behind the top teams at the moment.

But who says testing can’t be exciting? 5 cars actually started racing each other to close out day 2, to which K-Mag exclaimed on the radio - “They’re actually racing each other, ******* hell!” One more data day to go…

These stories are presented thanks to beehiiv, an all-in-one newsletter suite built by the early Morning Brew team.

Fully equipped with built-in growth and monetization tools, no code website and newsletter builder, and best-in-class analytics that actually move the needle.

The top newsletters in the world are built on beehiiv, and yours can be too. It's the most affordable option in the market, and you can try it for free — no credit card required.

Get started →

Time for a DTS Binge

I featured the teaser in last week’s edition, but it’s worth another mention here because Drive to Survive officially drops today.

According to the full trailer, it looks like we’ve got some Guenther screen time (enjoy the farewell tour 😭) , Lawrence Stroll being intimidating, an appearance from Bottas’ mullet, Checo’s turn 1 crash in Mexico, drama at Team Frenchie (Alpine obv), a Vegas feature, and Ricciardo’s return. Deadpool himself even makes an appearance at the end. Seems like that guy is everywhere lately. No sign of Rob McElhenney though. 

There’s episode synopses available online but I think I’ll avoid it to keep the actual content a surprise until my inevitable binge this weekend.

2024 Bold Predictions: Surely These Will Age Well

Time to drop some predictions for this season that will surely fall apart faster than the dreams of anyone not named Max.

1. Grid Finish: See above. I think McLaren is the 2nd best team this year with Lando P2 and Oscar surprising with a P7. Unfortunately I think Aston takes a step back and Alonso/Stroll take P8/P12 respectively. VCARB drivers will come right in the middle of the pack, with a disappointing year for the Alpine and Haas boys.

2. Constructors: Based on how I’ve sorted the drivers, predicted order will be: 1. RBR 2. McLaren 3. Ferrari 4. Merc 5. VCARB 6. Aston 7. Williams 8. Alpine 9. Stake 10. Haas

3. Lando will get his first win - and more: Calling multiple Lando race wins this season. I think they’ll have the car, and he’s due after being on the precipice last year.

4. VCARB will score multiple podiums: Danny will take a champagne shower, perhaps 2, with Yuki sneaking on one as well.

5. The fight at the top will be tight: Disclaimer: This excludes Max. He will still win handily, but not by as wide a margin as last year. I’m aware that part is not bold in the slightest. The next 6 finishers will all be within striking distance of each other in Abu Dhabi, with Lando and Checo holding on for P2/P3. With Leclerc down 2pts to Hamilton, he’ll score a podium to edge his future teammate by 1 point - setting up an epic battle at Ferrari in 2025.

Ya heard it here first, that’s how 2024 will go down. Got any bold predictions? Let us know! ▶️ [email protected]

Down the Grid

Tech Talk

• F1 Explains podcast with Aston Martin Technical Director Dan Fallows covers how new cars are designed, from sketches to shakedowns. Discussions on the 2025 cars will start shortly, with heavy design happening by the Summer break. Must be challenging to bring upgrades to the current car while simultaneously working towards the new one.

• What the 2024 launch season tells us about 2024 trends so far: With teams moving closer to the Red Bull design - the two teams that had been the furthest away (Ferrari and Mercedes) have made the most fundamental changes.

• Mercedes front wing has been deemed legal by the FIA. Some might argue it goes against the spirit of the regulations.

Off the Grid

• Charles Leclerc took his second career to the next level last week, launching a 4 song EP in collaboration with French pianist Sofiane Pamart. Give him a search on Spotify for some magnificent and moody Monegasque melodies.

• Additional news swirled in the Christian Horner saga after last Friday’s edition, with some reports saying a settlement of 650K pounds was offered to the victim who had evidence of sexual impropriety. Since, Helmut Marko has come to Horner’s defense, the FIA made a statement (which basically said nothing), and Toto Wolff called for transparency in the investigation. There will be a lot of speculation until the truth comes out.. right now it’s hard to know exactly what to believe.

• Announcer David Croft will miss races for the first time since 2007 to manage his workload - skipping Imola, Austria, and Azerbaijan. If there’s no “It’s lights out and away we go” then does the race even count?

Back next week with 2 practice recaps and a RACE PREVIEW BABY. WOOOOOOO!

Lastly, here’s GP’s reaction to Max’s times in Day 1 of Testing 🔽 

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