Hey there, Pole-sitters! 👋
First of all, a warm welcome to all 89 of you who decided to join our newsletter since Tuesday.
We’re thrilled to have you in the paddock, ready to rev those engines!
This week, we’ve got a tank full of exciting updates from Formula 1, and even the Qualifying results. Keep scrolling to see them.
Oh, and have you heard the latest pit lane gossip? The folks at Alpha Tauri are shaking things up like a carbon fiber cocktail! They’re changing their name, and we can’t wait to see what modern moniker they’ll be strutting on the grid. In the meantime, we asked ChatGPT had some ideas.
If it were us, we’d be going for APEX Performance. 🥹 But you could say we’re kinda biased.
So, hang on tight! With the second sprint weekend on the horizon, this race promises a high-octane adventure you wouldn’t want to miss.
- Pit Stop Talks – Latest in-depth news ahead of Austrian GP
- In-depth education: The Need for Sprint: Unveiling the F1 Sprint Format
- Fast Lane News – Stay updated with F1 news – this zesty, eye-opening dose of information will satisfy your racing cravings and keep you zooming through the day.
- The Austrian GP – Weekend schedule, track details and more details on tire information from PirelliLights out, and away we go
Pit Stop Talks
Pit Stop Talks🎖 Race Qualifying Results
⛰️ Racing at altitude
Austrian Grand Prix takes place at a track that sits a whopping 677 meters above sea level. That’s higher than your average rollercoaster ride! Now, what does altitude have to do with racing? Well, my friend, the answer lies in the air.
Air gets thinner with altitude, and many things in a Formula 1 car depend on air pressure to work. Less air reduces car performance.
Compared with Canada, Red Bull Ring altitude decreases air density by roughly 7%. This means it also decreases drag and downforce as well.
As a result, teams will use more loaded rear wings despite the frequent straights of the circuit.
🟠 McLaren set for major upgrades ahead of Austrian GP
Oh, McLaren, McLaren… It seems like their season isn’t going according to plan. They had one shining moment, but apart from that, they’ve been struggling to impress the crowd.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could only scrape together a measly 17 points.
But McLaren is ready to turn up the heat in Austria with their first serious updates – a new floor, side pods, and sole cover.
At Silverstone, they will then introduce new wings and, in Hungary, an upgrade of the mechanical part of the car. – Read more
Ultimately for us it is a milestone in terms of possibly turning around the season, not only thanks to what we bring to Austria, but also what will follow in the next races. Our focus then will not be the characteristics of the track but on the car itself, so only if we have one session [before qualifying in Austria], we will be able to validate and then to be in a more competitive situation.
💄 AlphaTauri is getting a fancy makeover for the 2024 Formula 1 season
AlphaTauri, the team known for their bold fashion sense and occasional podium finishes, is shaking things up for the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Franz Tost, the longtime boss of AlphaTauri, is stepping aside at the end of this campaign.
In his place, the Ferrari racing director Laurent Mekies will take the wheel.
However, the changes don’t stop with the management shuffling.
AlphaTauri is also getting a new name! In an interview with Austria’s Kleine Zeitung, the 80-year-old Helmut Marko spilled the pit beans.
He revealed that come 2024, the team will have not one, but two new leaders: Laurent Mekies and the outgoing FIA general secretary, Peter Bayer.
The decision has been made. AlphaTauri will remain fully owned by Red Bull and will continue to be run as a junior team. The cooperation with Red Bull Racing will be closer, also in terms of cost cap and synergies.
So, the family ties are strong, and they’re ready to unleash the full power of their sibling synergy. The team’s goal is clear: to align themselves with Red Bull Racing as closely as possible within the regulations. – Read more
🤷♂️ Is Nyck de Vries Really F1 Material?
Uh-oh, looks like our F1 rookie, Nyck de Vries, is having a bumpy ride in his debut season with AlphaTauri. Poor Dutchman just can’t catch a break in the cutthroat world of Formula 1.
Source
And to add insult to injury, our Nyck finds himself stranded at the bottom of the championship, clutching onto zero points. His best finish so far has been a measly 12th place. That’s a far cry from the high hopes we had for him when the season kicked off.
Nyck, I think he just needs to put it all together. The pace is there, so he probably just needs to find a rhythm because in most of the races, he has struggled a lot for consistency. He will get there because in the past races, the results he has achieved has shown he can do it.
As the season trudges on, the doubts surrounding Nyck’s racing abilities are growing faster than weeds in an untended garden. Rumors are swirling like a tornado in the paddock, suggesting that potential replacements might be looming on the horizon. – Read more
🔝 Perez is the king of overtakes
Sergio Perez became overtaking maestro of the track. This guy is a force to be reckoned with as he’s left a trail of dust behind him while zooming past a whopping 25 cars!
Haas has been experiencing a few hiccups when it comes to race pace and strategies. They’ve been in a bit of a turtle race, with Magnussen and Hulkenberg being overtaken over 30 times this season, which is more than any other driver on the grid.
And now, let’s shift our attention to Max Verstappen, who took over Checo’s Minister of Defense title as he’s the only driver who hasn’t been overtaken this season.
Season overtakes as of Canadian GP – Source:@TracingInsights
The Need for Sprint: Unveiling the F1 Sprint Format
The Need for Sprint: Unveiling the F1 Sprint FormatAlright, buckle up, and let’s dive into the world of Formula 1 Sprints! Whether you’re a die-hard racing fan or just casually curious about what all the hype is about, I’ve got the scoop on how these zippy events work.
Fast Lane News
Fast Lane News🌳 Green is the new fast! Formula 1 is unleashing an energy generation system creating a jaw-dropping 90% carbon reduction in the Paddock, Pitlane, and F1 broadcast area compared to last year’s Austrian GP. – Read more
🚫 Hamilton suggests a ban on early F1 car development work. Verstappen disgreees – Read more
💪 Verstappen backs compatriot De Vries after Marko’s criticism. – Read more
🏎️🏎️ Fernando Alonso has led calls from drivers to bring back one-shot qualifying as a solution to traffic problems around shorter grand prix tracks. – Read more
✋ Last year’s Austrian GP was marred by sexist catcalling, inappropriate touching, and racist abuse. Lewis Hamilton hopes for a better, more inclusive race this weekend. – Read more
🔮 Alex Albon focuses on a long-term future with Williams in Formula 1 rather than running after Red Bull. – Read more
♻️ Lewis Hamilton welcomes the possibility of environmental protest at the British GP, but only if done in the right way and participants stay clear of the track. – Read more
💸 Toto Wolff has called for Formula 1’s cost cap audit process to be completed “very early” to avoid a repeat of Red Bull in 2022. – Read more
THE AUSTRIAN GP
THE AUSTRIAN GP🇦🇹 Scheduled June 30th – July 2nd
Red Bull Ring at Spielberg, Austria
TLDR;
1️⃣ Circuit length: 4.318 km
2️⃣ Number of laps: 71
3️⃣ Lap record: 1:05.619 Carlos Sainz (2020)
4️⃣ Corners & DRS: 13 corners with 2 DRS zones
Fun Fact: It’s been 353 days since Ferrari’s last win (2022 Austrian GP)
Schedule
Friday
17:00 – 18:00 Qualifying
Saturday
12:00 – 12:44 Sprint Shootout
16:30 – 17:00 Sprint
Sunday
15:00 Race
Tire preview from Pirelli
🌟 Just like in Montréal, the softest trio of tires in the Pirelli F1 range will be in the spotlight. We have the C3 compound in P Zero White (hard), C4 in P Zero Yellow (medium), and C5 in P Zero Red (soft).
🏎️ Sprint format is spicing up the number of sets of tires given to the teams. Pirelli will once again bring two sets of the hard tire and four sets of the mediums but just six sets of softs.
🏎️💨🕑 With only 10 corners, this circuit holds the record for the shortest lap time in the championship. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz blazed through lap 68 of the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix in an impressive 1m05.619s. He accomplished this feat by driving a Renault-powered McLaren on those trusty P Zero soft (C4) tires.
🔄 Last year, most drivers went for two pit stops, starting on the medium compound before switching to the hard. resulting in plenty of wheel-to-wheel action in the midfield.
Source
🎖 FP1 – Highlights
🕐 Practice final times – top three:
1) Verstappen 1:05.742 (M)
2) Sainz +0.241 (S)
3) Leclerc +0.279 (S)
❌ Hamilton picked up a penalty for exceeding the speed lane limits
😲 Flare landed near the track
