2024 Formula 1 Season thread

[TheIntruder]

Newey has always been clear he wasn't interested in moving to Italy because he wanted to be around his children and grandchildren etc, and his wife wanted to remain in England. To do such a technical role you need to be regularly at the factory where the cars are developed, which is why John Bernard never suceeded at Maranello when he was designing their race cars. Not sure how true, but Newey was asked about a new challenge at Ferrari and he didn't shoot the idea down like he had previously. If Christian does leave Red Bull and their contracts have that clause, it could be an option. It depends whether Adrian wants the challenge this late in life as he's in his 60's now. There is the option to work with the most successful F1 driver in history though and it would be a very worthwhile role financially I would imagine.

As the star designer of the 80s, part of John Barnard's deal with Ferrari was the establishment of the Guildford Technical Office (GTO) design office. Aside from not relocating to Italy, the way he did things rubbed some people the wrong way.

But the 640 was a pretty car, and ushered in the paddle-shifted semi-auto gearbox.

The GTO facility later served as McLaren's first road car factory, where the F1 was produced.

 

[Pezimak]

Horner under “Internal Investigation” at RBR for allegedly “Crossing Personal Borders.”

This should be interesting……..

Its nothing more then a power struggle, been going on since the founder of Red Bull Dietrich Mateschitz died in 2022, Helmut Marko RB’s director has been trying to push Horner out since Mateschitz’s death as he doesn’t like him and vice versa, despite winning multiple world championships for the team. BUT, the kicker is Horners contract is directly tied to Adrian Newey’s contract…. no Horner then quite possibly no Newey.
Never a dull moment in F1, some of the gutter press have been writing pretty disgusting articles about Horner and his wife though this week I have to say.

 

[laptech]

Its nothing more then a power struggle, been going on since the founder of Red Bull Dietrich Mateschitz died in 2022, Helmut Marko RB’s director has been trying to push Horner out since Mateschitz’s death as he doesn’t like him and vice versa, despite winning multiple world championships for the team. BUT, the kicker is Horners contract is directly tied to Adrian Newey’s contract…. no Horner then quite possibly no Newey.
Never a dull moment in F1, some of the gutter press have been writing pretty disgusting articles about Horner and his wife though this week I have to say.

I've been doing some searching on this issue of the contract of Horner and Newey and all that is coming up is articles all saying the same thing, there is rumor's of such contract existing but there has been no proof such type of contract exists, just rumor's.

The question that is being failed to ask is IF such a contract existed and it turned out Horner was told to leave, why would Newey leave? especially if he is happy working at RBR.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Its nothing more then a power struggle, been going on since the founder of Red Bull Dietrich Mateschitz died in 2022, Helmut Marko RB’s director has been trying to push Horner out since Mateschitz’s death as he doesn’t like him and vice versa, despite winning multiple world championships for the team. BUT, the kicker is Horners contract is directly tied to Adrian Newey’s contract…. no Horner then quite possibly no Newey.
Never a dull moment in F1, some of the gutter press have been writing pretty disgusting articles about Horner and his wife though this week I have to say.

The complaint is separate to the power struggle going on within Red Bull. It may have been leaked as a tactic in that struggle but the woman complaining has done so because of aledged ‘controlling behaviours’, nothing sexual apparently.

I think the danger is her complaint will be lost in the other story, or combined. Hopefully they find a resolution where both parties are happy and Horner can fight the other politics threatening to undermine a HR complaint.

I think Horners input at Red Bull is as important as Newey’s and ousting Horner would potentially change Red Bull for the worst. He’s the architect of building that team and bringing the best people together, along with poaching key engine people from Brixworth.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

The complaint is separate to the power struggle going on within Red Bull. It may have been leaked as a tactic in that struggle but the woman complaining has done so because of aledged ‘controlling behaviours’, nothing sexual apparently.

I think the danger is her complaint will be lost in the other story, or combined. Hopefully they find a resolution where both parties are happy and Horner can fight the other politics threatening to undermine a HR complaint.

I think Horners input at Red Bull is as important as Newey’s and ousting Horner would potentially change Red Bull for the worst. He’s the architect of building that team and bringing the best people together, along with poaching key engine people from Brixworth.

Strongly agree, if Horner has to go, I think that will damage the team considerably, and it could all fall apart. Sure, if he crossed lines that shouldn't be crossed, then he has to go, no argument about it, but the effects will be severe. In an ideal world no one person is bigger than the team, but in my experience in a high pressure top team dynamic the departure of a strong leader will cause a rift and is not easily restored. Also, let's not forget that in this sport we are talking about the smallest margins that have a major effect on the outcomes.

 

[laptech]

This post is just for pure entertainment only, for laughs and giggles nothing more. Basically that means do not take it seriously

Lewis Hamilton announced his move to Ferrari and he wants the legendary Newey to be in the team with him because of just how good Newey is but how does he get him out of RBR? During a night out with friends who are involved in and around the F! circuit he hears about a situation at RBR involving an employee and Horner. The contract of Horner and Newey being tied together has been known about for some time but there has been no proof of it. Lewis thinks he see's an opportunity here to get Newey to join him at Ferrari. So, one late night, he borrows a friends mobile phone and texts the BBC F1 correspondent about a developing issue within RBR involving Horner. The news breaks, it does the rounds across the world media where talk about this binding contract comes up between Horner and Newey. Lewis away on a sunny holiday, looks at the news on his mobile phone whilst having a lazy day by the hotel pool and a big smile comes across his face.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

This post is just for pure entertainment only, for laughs and giggles nothing more. Basically that means do not take it seriously

Lewis Hamilton announced his move to Ferrari and he wants the legendary Newey to be in the team with him because of just how good Newey is but how does he get him out of RBR? During a night out with friends who are involved in and around the F! circuit he hears about a situation at RBR involving an employee and Horner. The contract of Horner and Newey being tied together has been known about for some time but there has been no proof of it. Lewis thinks he see's an opportunity here to get Newey to join him at Ferrari. So, one late night, he borrows a friends mobile phone and texts the BBC F1 correspondent about a developing issue within RBR involving Horner. The news breaks, it does the rounds across the world media where talk about this binding contract comes up between Horner and Newey. Lewis away on a sunny holiday, looks at the news on his mobile phone whilst having a lazy day by the hotel pool and a big smile comes across his face.

All roads lead back to Toto and Suzy They want super Max on their team, first they got rid of Lewis, now they just need to make the RBR team break apart to make Max want to move. 😀

 

[laptech]

All roads lead back to Toto and Suzy They want super Max on their team, first they got rid of Lewis, now they just need to make the RBR team break apart to make Max want to move. 😀

That could possibly be Ferrari's dream team, hire the sacked (if sacked) Horner and the resigning Newey. They already have Lewis and sign up Max.

Now which dream sequence is this? hehehe

 

[Pezimak]

I've been doing some searching on this issue of the contract of Horner and Newey and all that is coming up is articles all saying the same thing, there is rumor's of such contract existing but there has been no proof such type of contract exists, just rumor's.

The question that is being failed to ask is IF such a contract existed and it turned out Horner was told to leave, why would Newey leave? especially if he is happy working at RBR.

Newey is 65, he was talking about retirement last year, I doubt he needs the money, and if silly power struggles are in the team he may very well say bye bye. I would, have better things in life to do that play the games.
So he may just retire from the sport, if Horner is kicked out.

 

[Pezimak]

The complaint is separate to the power struggle going on within Red Bull. It may have been leaked as a tactic in that struggle but the woman complaining has done so because of aledged ‘controlling behaviours’, nothing sexual apparently.

I think the danger is her complaint will be lost in the other story, or combined. Hopefully they find a resolution where both parties are happy and Horner can fight the other politics threatening to undermine a HR complaint.

I think Horners input at Red Bull is as important as Newey’s and ousting Horner would potentially change Red Bull for the worst. He’s the architect of building that team and bringing the best people together, along with poaching key engine people from Brixworth.

Are you sure it's separate? The MD doesn't like Horner, Horner doesn't like the MD, Horners protection was the RB founder. Pure speculation to claim it isn't as much to say it is as we do NOT know any details of the complaint.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Are you sure it's separate? The MD doesn't like Horner, Horner doesn't like the MD, Horners protection was the RB founder. Pure speculation to claim it isn't as much to say it is as we do NOT know any details of the complaint.

Its just as much speculative to suggest Horner was protected by DM and this whole HR issue is connected with a powerstruggle within Red Bull. The whole story about Horner and DM's son not getting along is just reported in the media too, neither have commented. Everything connected with this is speculation.

 

[Don Quixote]

dang can't get the pics on here

 

[Apple fanboy]

Truth is under UK employment law (I assume it’s similar in Europe), no one from any side is going to comment to the media. It has to go through the due process.
Similar to the Newey and Horner contracts. No one is going to share who has what clause in their contract with the press. I certainly wouldn’t!

 

[CWallace]

What I have read is that the Head of Operations at Red Bull wants Horner gone because of how high his compensation package is, but the Thai co-owners are hesitant to toss a man who has led the team to so much success.

I suppose if this fellow thinks Horner is expensive, he probably thinks Newey is expensive, too, and might not fight to keep him if he wants to go to Ferrari should he succeed in ousting Horner.

And then if Horner and Newey go, what of Max? He is on contract through 2028, but if RBR starts to collapse from the turmoil, he assuredly has an "escape clause" in his contract he might exercise.

 

[Apple fanboy]

What I have read is that the Head of Operations at Red Bull wants Horner gone because of how high his compensation package is, but the Thai co-owners are hesitant to toss a man who has led the team to so much success.

I suppose if this fellow thinks Horner is expensive, he probably thinks Newey is expensive, too, and might not fight to keep him if he wants to go to Ferrari should he succeed in ousting Horner.

And then if Horner and Newey go, what of Max? He is on contract through 2028, but if RBR starts to collapse from the turmoil, he assuredly has an "escape clause" in his contract he might exercise.

By 2028 who know what will have happened. I think the press are making more of all this because they know 2024 will be another bore fest.

 

[CWallace]

F1 has released changes to the 2024 Sprint Format...
I presume that teams will only have FP1 to perform setup before the cars go into parc fermé, which I find annoying and a bit unfair.

So nothing official from F1, but I have heard suggestions that parc fermé will not come into effect until just before Grand Prix Qualifying, so if true, that would mean the teams could use what they learn from the Sprint Qualifying and Sprint Race to help setup the car for the race qualifying and race itself. Not as good as three FP sessions, IMO, but at least it is better than just one FP session.

 

[Glideslope]

The meeting between Horner and RBR GmbH will take place tomorrow. Should know something soon ?

 

[laptech]

The meeting between Horner and RBR GmbH will take place tomorrow. Should know something soon ?

I think you will find it is the main company Reb Bull doing the investigation and subsequent meetings. Red Bull Racing (RBR) is a subsidiary of Red Bull and if you look at articles written about the issue you will see that Red Bull took the allegations so seriously that they took on the investigation themselves, basically taking it away from RBR.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

The rumours suggest Jos Verstappen leaked the story to the Dutch media and neither him or Horner like each other. Could Jos be looking to get a more controlling stake in the team and conspiring with Horners opposition to get him out? Good luck to Red Bull I say if Horner leaves, I don't like him personally, but he is a good team principle in terms of maintaining growth and success. His HR issue needs to be dealt with correctly if true, but not every outcome needs people losing their jobs, for both parties in this case.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

I think you will find it is the main company Reb Bull doing the investigation and subsequent meetings. Red Bull Racing (RBR) is a subsidiary of Red Bull and if you look at articles written about the issue you will see that Red Bull took the allegations so seriously that they took on the investigation themselves, basically taking it away from RBR.

I'm not sure whether the english version of 'took ... so seriously ...' can be traced back to the original reporting, or whether there is a language/translation marginal error inbetween. In a corporate structure like they run; there are many, many companies separating out parts of the organisation, it was already setup to protect the whole of the organisation. And then there is an added benefit when a parent organisation investigates are it creates a legal layer of impartiality by default, and thus can add more weight to the findings and outcomes.

I don't think it is an indication of the serious nature, more best practice to ensure impartiality.

The rumours suggest Jos Verstappen leaked the story to the Dutch media and neither him or Horner like each other. Could Jos be looking to get a more controlling stake in the team and conspiring with Horners opposition to get him out? Good luck to Red Bull I say if Horner leaves, I don't like him personally, but he is a good team principle in terms of maintaining growth and success. His HR issue needs to be dealt with correctly if true, but not every outcome needs people losing their jobs, for both parties in this case.

Who knows, but yes I've seen those rumours as well. If true, they are in more trouble, and in my opinion, Jos would have torpedoed Max's career by such a move.

 

[CWallace]

The rumours suggest Jos Verstappen leaked the story to the Dutch media and neither him or Horner like each other. Could Jos be looking to get a more controlling stake in the team and conspiring with Horners opposition to get him out?

I admit that in such a scenario, I struggle to think what Jos would gain. If he thinks he has a shot at the Team Principal role if Horner is sacked he's delusional and I also don't see him getting a "senior advisor" role where he would have actual input into team decisions/operations.

And I could see it frankly causing not a small amount of strife and bitterness within the team as staff who supported Horner will feel betrayal not just from Jos, but from Max (who is said to support his father and Marko Helmut in the fight) and I can't see that being a positive.

Honestly, the only benefit I see from Horner getting sacked is it will probably throw Red Bull off their game at the start of the season so that means it could make the early races more entertaining/competitive, but I cannot see it in the end derailing their winning the WCC and Max the WDC.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I admit that in such a scenario, I struggle to think what Jos would gain. If he thinks he has a shot at the Team Principal role if Horner is sacked he's delusional and I also don't see him getting a "senior advisor" role where he would have actual input into team decisions/operations.

And I could see it frankly causing not a small amount of strife and bitterness within the team as staff who supported Horner will feel betrayal not just from Jos, but from Max (who is said to support his father and Marko Helmut in the fight) and I can't see that being a positive.

Honestly, the only benefit I see from Horner getting sacked is it will probably throw Red Bull off their game at the start of the season so that means it could make the early races more entertaining/competitive, but I cannot see it in the end derailing their winning the WCC and Max the WDC.

Jos is quite an unpleasant bloke and has flown off the handle when Checo has won in the past because he wants the team 100% focused on his son. The leak is all rumours but was leaked in the Dutch press, so I can see why the assumption has been made. I have no idea what he would gain, but I have no idea what Red Bull Austria would gain either by getting rid of the guy who built and managed the team into the success it is either? F1 teams are not easy to run and there is a reason Red Bull and Mercedes are the most successful and have the 2 longest serving team principles. Other teams have a culture of disappointment and throwing a new one into position every couple of years which doesn’t seem to work.

 

[pachyderm]

Jos is quite an unpleasant bloke and has flown off the handle when Checo has won in the past because he wants the team 100% focused on his son. The leak is all rumours but was leaked in the Dutch press, so I can see why the assumption has been made. I have no idea what he would gain, but I have no idea what Red Bull Austria would gain either by getting rid of the guy who built and managed the team into the success it is either? F1 teams are not easy to run and there is a reason Red Bull and Mercedes are the most successful and have the 2 longest serving team principles. Other teams have a culture of disappointment and throwing a new one into position every couple of years which doesn’t seem to work.

agreed.. he comes off as a pr*ck on the tv. lol.

Also, I don't feel like Jos and Max have that great a relationship simply based on how they are around each on the telly during Gp weekends...

 

[pachyderm]

AT04

AT03 (top) compared with AT04 render (bottom) suggests that the floor inlet has been moved further back. Previously it aligned just ahead of the front of the cockpit. Now it appears to align just behind it. This would move the centre of aerodynamic pressure further rearwards, albeit at the expense of the floor’s tunnel length. The top of the sidepod also begins further back, suggesting that the radiator air intake has been moved back in parallel.

 

[pachyderm]

A524