Italian GP: Strategy or Speed?

Explore the Italian GP rundown, Monza curse theory, silly season contracts & F2 car reveal

Hey there, F1 fanatic! 👋

Guess who’s back with some more scorching updates? Yep, it’s me, and if you think the heat’s only on the asphalt, boy, do I have some news for you.

📝 Contract Countdown: Driver seatings for 2024 are looking scarce—only four spots left! Everyone else is locked and loaded with extended contracts. The race for a seat is almost as intense as the one on the track!

🌟 F2 Steals the Show: Don’t look now, but F2 is muscling into the limelight with their brand-new car reveal. If you’re not watching F2, it’s time to start; future F1 stars are strutting their stuff there!

👻 The Verstappen Conundrum: Max is revving up for a 10th straight victory, but could a curse rain on his parade? We’re not superstitious, but we’re a little stitious. Will Max break the spell or the record?

As the tracks heat up and the drivers gear up, remember to keep your passion in the fast lane. See you at the checkered flag!

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In today’s email:

1. Pit Stop Talks – Stay in pole position with the latest updates ahead of the Italian GP!
2. In-depth education – F2 Racing: More Than a Prelude
3. Fast Lane News – Fast track to the latest information you need before the Italian GP kicks off!
4. The Italian GP – Track details, tire preview, and some witchcraft?
   Lights out, and away we go!

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Pit Stop Talks

🤔Who’s going low-drag for speed?

Let’s break down what’s going on with the F1 teams and their wing choices for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, which is the fastest track on the F1 calendar.

To go fast on Monza’s long straights, most teams are using skinny wings to reduce air resistance. The less drag you have, the quicker you go.

Here’s a quick rundown of how different teams are setting up:

🔴 Ferrari is running low-drag wings to get maximum speed.

🟠🔵 McLaren and Alpine are going for something between low and medium-low drag.

🔵 Red Bull is leaning towards medium-low drag, but they’re also testing a slightly “heavier” wing, meaning one with more downforce.

The underdogs have their own strategies:

🔵🔴⚫ Williams, Alfa Romeo, and Haas are going with low-drag setups. However, Haas is using a design that’s not fully optimized; it’s basically a trimmed-down version of a heavier wing.

🟢 Aston Martin is in the medium-low category.

🧪 McLaren, Red Bull, and Haas are also testing a special version of their wings.

They’re “trimming” the top layer of the wing to reduce drag, which is cheaper than designing a new wing but not quite as efficient.

A couple of special cases:

🔵 AlphaTauri is going for a wing design similar to what Williams, which is on the lower end of the drag spectrum.

⚫ Mercedes’ wing is designed so that when DRS is activated, most of the downforce comes from the moveable top layer, making it particularly effective.

📝Hamilton commits to Mercedes, Russell follows

Lewis Hamilton is sticking with Mercedes for at least two more years! He’s been with the team since 2013 and has won six of his seven F1 titles with them.

He tied Michael Schumacher’s record of seven championships but faced some challenges recently, especially since Mercedes has been lagging behind Red Bull.

There were rumors that Hamilton might move to Ferrari, but Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff seemed confident that they’d keep Hamilton on board, even though the negotiations took some time.

Hamilton couldn’t be more excited about the new deal.

“We continue to chase our dreams, we continue to fight no matter the challenge and we will win again. I’m grateful to the team who have supported me both on and off the track. Our story isn’t finished, we are determined to achieve more together and we won’t stop until we do.”

Lewis Hamilton

And guess what? George Russell is also staying with Mercedes through at least 2025. – Read more

🏎️ F2 reveals game-changing 2024 car

Formula 2 has just unveiled its fresh new car for the 2024 season in Monza.

If you don’t know, Formula 2 is basically the last stop for drivers before they jump into Formula 1. I’ll tell you more if you keep scrolling.

This new F2 car isn’t just for show. It’s pretty much identical in design for all teams, and it’s taking cues from the latest F1 cars to make overtaking easier. Under the hood? A 3.4-liter turbocharged Mecachrome engine. Plus, it’s geared up with the latest safety features and is even prepped for a switch to sustainable fuels come 2025.

🔎Differences from the previous model:

🟢 ”F1-Style” front and rear endplates

🟡 Simpler sidepods and floor design.

🟣 The DRS plane is closer to the design ‘Super Formula’ cars

And here’s something cool: the new car has F1-style power steering, which makes it more accessible for a wider range of drivers, including women, who may have found the lack of power steering in older models a bit challenging.

F2 consistently delivers excellent racing and acts as an important training ground for future members of the Formula 1 grid, and by bringing the design philosophies of the two cars closer together, we will support this development further.

Stefano Domenicali, the chief executive of F1

Bruno Michel, the big boss of F2, says this new car is powerful, safe, and promises tons of great racing action. – Read more

FIA cracks down on flexi-wings

Big news: the FIA is ending the use of flexible wings. They think some teams are bending the rules—literally. This comes after they’ve been closely watching how wings flex during the first half of this season.

Why does it matter?

The FIA has now officially laid down what it considers to be shady design techniques when it comes to flexible car parts. Essentially, they believe teams are using design tricks to improve aerodynamics, something that goes against the official F1 Technical Regulations.

 

In short, the rule says that all car parts affecting aerodynamics should be “rock solid.” They shouldn’t move or flex in any way that’s not obvious during the regular tests.

The FIA has spelled out four key things that they won’t allow anymore:

👉Wings that move up and down or side-to-side relative to the car body.

👉Wings that can rotate on their fittings.

👉Using flexible materials or thin laminates that let the wings bend or twist.

👉’Soft’ edges on the wings designed to avoid cracking.

Only some minor exceptions will be made, mainly around the car’s floor assembly and front wing flaps.

New Testing Protocols

In the past, the FIA usually just amped up their garage load tests to catch rule-breakers. But now they’ve realized that teams are getting too clever. So, they’re changing their approach.

Starting soon, teams have to send in detailed drawings showing how their front and rear wings are attached. This will help the FIA understand if any team is taking aerodynamic shortcuts. – Read more

🟢 Stroll stays with the team in 2024

Aston Martin F1 Team’s principal, Mike Krack, wants to set the record straight: Lance Stroll isn’t going anywhere. He’s confirmed to race for the team in 2024.

Lance Stroll has had a rough season compared to his teammate Fernando Alonso, but it’s not all on him. Team decisions, like keeping him on the wrong tires during a rainy Dutch Grand Prix, haven’t helped.

Krack also pointed out that the gap between Alonso and Stroll isn’t as big as their point totals suggest.

There is not a marked gap in performance, there is a marked gap in points and then it’s important to separate between the two. We as a team are analysing the season, from both perspectives, from both drivers.

Mike Krack

Rumors are swirling that Stroll is reconsidering his future in F1, but he’s laughed off any suggestions of switching to tennis.

And while Aston Martin CEO Martin Whitmarsh has been exploring other top drivers, that’s standard practice for planning ahead to 2025 and beyond. It might also help having your dad as the ultimate team boss. – Read more

🔴 Leclerc dismisses exit, aims for title

Charles Leclerc really wants to stick with Ferrari, even though they haven’t yet talked about renewing his contract. Contrary to rumors that he signed a huge new deal, he says there’s been no movement on that front. Both sides plan to chat after this season about keeping him on past 2024.

 

Things haven’t been great for Ferrari lately—they didn’t perform well at the Dutch Grand Prix, and teammate Carlos Sainz feels they’ve slipped in the rankings.

There’s been some talk about Leclerc maybe considering other teams like Mercedes and Aston Martin, but both of those options seem off the table now.

None of that seems to bother Leclerc, though. He’s pretty clear that he wants his future to be with Ferrari.

I have always loved Ferrari and I would love to stay. I’ve always made it very clear that my goal is to try to be a world champion, but firstly with Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc

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F2 Racing: More Than a Prelude

THE ITALIAN GP

 

Bad luck at Monza?

Max Verstappen is on a winning streak, with 9 race victories in a row. But to make it 10, he has to break the so-called “Monza curse””

Recently, the winners at Monza haven’t had much luck the following season. Take the last three winners, for example.

• Charles Leclerc won in 2019 but crashed the next year.
• Pierre Gasly, the 2020 winner, had a disastrous Sprint weekend in 2021.
• Daniel Ricciardo, won for McLaren in 2021 but had to stop near the end of the race last season.

 

MEME OF THE DAY