Ralf Schumacher advises Horner to resign
Of course, we can’t ignore the “Horner affair” today either. In this context, expert Ralf Schumacher told the (still) Red Bull team boss in a conversation with Sky now advised to resign.
He says it’s “a shame” how the situation at Red Bull has developed and explains that he can imagine that several other people will leave the team if Horner continues to hold on to his job.
This applies to “harmony man” Adrian Newey, but also to world champion Max Verstappen. Schumacher reveals: “We did an interview with Toto Wolff yesterday [über Verstappen] explicitly stated: ‘Everything is possible.'”
For him, that means that Verstappen is “already in negotiations” with Mercedes, which is why the former Formula 1 driver explains: “Christian Horner is now required to really draw conclusions.”
“I think, if you can already see how the mood is against him, that he is not tenable and that he should simply resign now in the interests of the team,” said Schumacher, who emphasizes that Horner is acting “in the interests of everyone.” should.
“I think the Thai side has to do that too [bei Red Bull] “There’s no point in sticking to Christian Horner’s form,” said Schumacher.
Verstappen: RB20 hardly different, but better
The world champion drew an initial conclusion about his new work tool after the start of the season and revealed: “The feeling in the car is pretty similar [wie 2023]”Just a little better.” That was exactly the goal.
“Last year’s car was very good,” recalls Verstappen, and yet they still managed to improve the car a little. “When I [das erste Mal] “When I got in, it didn’t feel like a completely different car,” he says.
“They did their homework,” he praises his team. Nevertheless, it will of course be difficult to surpass last season, when Red Bull won 21 of the 22 races of the season…
The most monotonous Formula 1 seasons
By the way: At least at the top, the 2023 Formula 1 season wasn’t all that monotonous – at least not behind Max Verstappen. Last year, eleven different drivers were on the podium over the course of the season.
Our photo series shows that there have been significantly more boring years:
Photo series: Top 15: The most monotonous Formula 1 seasons
Is there nothing left for the small teams?
Helmut Marko believes that the smaller teams will have a hard time getting into the points in 2024. When asked about the Racing Bulls’ performance in Bahrain, he explains: “In qualifying they were eleventh and 14th and that was a good step forward.”
“In the race we were hoping that they would get some points, but if the first five teams don’t have any problems, it will be really difficult for all the other teams to get points this year,” believes Marko.
“It was a solid performance, but this year it’s really difficult to get into the points. To achieve that, they still have to improve significantly,” said the Austrian about Red Bull’s B team.
In fact, in Bahrain the top ten places all went to the top five teams.
In and out
The Turkish GP, as we just talked about, has already landed on the Formula 1 calendar twice – but has also been thrown out twice. You can read about all the calendar changes from the past few years here:
Photo series: The changes in the Formula 1 calendar in recent years
Turkish Grand Prix before a comeback?
It’s not like Formula 1 is currently lacking interested parties for a Grand Prix! Now Turkey has thrown its hat into the ring once again.
FIA President Mohammed bin Sulayem met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday to discuss the issue.
The FIA President reports: “It was a pleasure to meet with President Erdogan. Our discussions revolved around a number of topics.”
“We have the possibility of a return of Formula 1 and the WRC [Rallye-Weltmeisterschaft] to Turkey,” he confirms.
If they return, racing would again take place at the Istanbul Park Circuit, where Formula 1 competed from 2005 to 2011 and 2020 and 2021.
What does the new DRS rule bring?
This year there is an exciting rule change in Formula 1: In 2024, DRS can be activated after the start of the race from the second lap of the race. So far this has only been the case from round three.
Max Verstappen explains: “You want to push, but at the same time protect your tires. So you have to make a decision.” Because if you don’t move away by more than a second on the first lap, the person behind you will immediately have DRS.
“It will certainly be quite tricky on some tracks because the DRS can be very powerful. So it could lead to some interesting fights or situations,” predicts the world champion.
In Bahrain, for example, Leclerc was in the DRS window “at least once” after the start behind him. In the end it didn’t matter to him, he still won the opener comfortably.
But things could look different on other routes.
Aston Martin: Don’t look at Red Bull
Many team bosses were asked at the weekend whether Red Bull would be in its own league in 2024? Mike Krack also received this question, but he made it clear: “We’re not fighting against Red Bull at the moment.”
So you don’t look at the bulls’ lead, but rather at “the cars that are in front of us and that were [in Bahrain] McLaren and Mercedes. And that is the first gap that we have to close,” said Krack.
We could already get closer in Saudi Arabia, because: “We will bring some small developments to improve the car. And we hope that we can be closer,” said Krack.
With P9 and P10, Aston Martin was at the bottom of the points in Bahrain behind Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren.
Perez: At least not “destroyed” by Verstappen
At Red Bull the demands on the second driver alongside Max Verstappen seem to be decreasing! Helmut Marko said about Sergio Perez after Bahrain: “He has Max as a teammate, so it’s a big achievement not to be destroyed by Max.”
“It was a very good race for him. You shouldn’t forget that he was stuck behind the Mercedes and Ferrari cars for a while. But as soon as he had free rein, he showed competitive lap times,” praises Marko.
In the meantime it seems to be “a very good race” if you are not completely dismantled by Verstappen 😉 In fact, we also saw Perez strong this weekend, as you can read in our photo series:
Photo series: Sachir: The editorial team’s driver ratings
How is Mick Schumacher doing?
Many German Formula 1 fans are of course interested in how things went for Mick Schumacher at the weekend. He completed his first race in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Qatar.
At first glance, Schumacher’s pointless debut doesn’t look like a big success. But such a quick shot falls short, because the numbers show a completely different picture.
In fact, the German sold extremely well on its debut and that of the Alpine A424. You can read in detail why this is the case here!
Vasseur: They’re better, but not good enough
Let’s stick with the numbers and take a closer look at Ferrari. Team boss Frederic Vasseur has “mixed feelings” after the season opener in Bahrain, as he himself says.
Background: “I think a year ago we were eight/nine tenths in the race [von Red Bull] removed. [2024] “We have perhaps made up 50 percent of the deficit,” said Vasseur.
But of course that is not enough. “We are not here to be four tenths behind,” he clarifies. Nevertheless, his conclusion after the first race of the year is rather positive.
Because Vasseur explains: “[Das neue Auto] is also a much better basis for development this year. I think it’s for [die Fahrer] “It’s much easier to feel the car.”
This means we are in a better position than a year ago.
Data analysis: Has nothing changed in 2024?
If you can no longer hear the topic of Horner, we have the perfect counter program here: Kevin Scheuren and data expert Kevin Hermann analyze the facts from Bahrain in this video using Paceteq’s OneTiming.
Has Max Verstappen already shown everything? Why is Alpine so bad? And what can you expect for Saudi Arabia? All the answers are here!
Race week!
It continues straight away! The season opener in Bahrain is just behind us, and the second Grand Prix of the year is coming up in Saudi Arabia next weekend. And with that, hello and welcome to a new edition of our Formula 1 live ticker.
The next media day is scheduled for the day after tomorrow in Jeddah, so we don’t want to waste any time and, as usual, we will provide you with the most important news, voices and information from the world of the premier class here in the coming hours.
Ruben Zimmermann will accompany you through the day today and if you have any questions, suggestions or complaints you can use our contact form. You can also find us on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube, and if you have any questions, you can also use our X-Hashtag #FragMST. Here we go!