Palmer: Hulkenberg would get more points
Exciting statement from ex-Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer in the podcast ‘F1 Nation’. When asked about the Haas cockpit that is still free for 2023, he says: “In the next year or two, Nico [Hülkenberg] get more points than Mick [Schumacher].”
“He has more experience, the bottom line is that he’s probably faster. As long as he’s motivated and hungry to advance the team, then Hulkenberg is the better choice,” emphasizes the former Reanult pilot.
“He’s extremely talented. Nico is a hard worker. I was his teammate,” he recalls of the 2017 season and explains: “He was incredibly fast, but he always sat with the engineers for a long time afterwards.”
“I’ve had other team-mates before, but with him I got the impression for the first time: ‘Wow, that guy is a real professional!'” reveals Palmer, who adds: “I don’t know if the decision has already been made . But everything speaks for him.”
DISPLAY: Secure Schumi fan articles now!
Exactly ten years ago, Michael Schumacher finally retired from Formula 1 at the 2012 Brazilian GP. In our fan shop we have a very special for you on the occasion of this anniversary!
As a reminder of this special race you will find, for example, “Schumis” helmet from back then as a model in a ratio of 1:2 or 1:4, the cap to say goodbye or a special T-shirt.
Here is the link to the action!
© Motorsport Images
Drugovich debut
The new Formula 2 champion completed his first Formula 1 test for Aston Martin at Silverstone a few days ago. He drove in last season’s AMR21 and covered more than 300 kilometers.
These were necessary to obtain a super license. So he can then in Abu Dhabi on Friday make his GP debut as planned and stand in for regular driver Lance Stroll in first practice.
On Tuesday after the race, he will also take part in the Young Driver Test at the same location for Aston Martin. Impressions of his Formula 1 debut can be found here:
Important weekend for McLaren
A failure of Norris would be particularly bitter because McLaren is still in the middle of the fight for fourth place in the world championship. They are seven points behind Alpine with two races to go. So everything is still in there! And apart from that, there are still some exciting fights in the world championship.
Red Bull is already the champion, but Ferrari and Mercedes are only 40 points behind them. So the Silver Arrows still have the chance to intercept the Scuderia. But with a strong weekend, Ferrari P2 could already bag it early.
Further back, Alfa Romeo and Aston Martin are separated by only four points in the battle for 6th place, and Haas is only one point ahead of AlphaTauri in the duel for P8! Only Williams behind is quite far behind with only eight points in the last World Cup.
That means: With the exception of Red Bull and Williams, there is still something at stake for all teams this weekend with regard to the World Cup!
De Vries would be ready
Colleague Will Buxton reports that Nyck de Vries would actually be the only replacement driver on site who would be available to McLaren. A deployment of the Dutchman is also being prepared, but only as a precautionary measure.
The team assumes that Norris can drive tomorrow.
That Norris can bite through…
… he has already proven this year by the way. In Barcelona he struggled through the weekend with hay fever and tonsillitis and even made it into the points in eighth place!
“He showed a great fighting spirit. Of course, a doctor was also involved in the decision-making process because we would never put Lando’s health at risk,” said Andreas Seidl at the time.
Means: Norris will only drive this weekend if he is really fit.
replacement driver
Of course, this inevitably raises the question of who would replace Norris if the worst came to the worst. In theory, McLaren has access to the Mercedes reserve drivers – but also to Oscar Piastri.
At least an agreement was reached with Alpine at the beginning of the season. But we don’t know if this is still up to date after the developments this year…
Maybe it will be Nyck de Vries again! In any case, he has already secured an entry in our photo series:
Photo gallery: Tops and flops: reserve drivers in Formula 1
Why Norris needs to be fit tomorrow
Normally it’s enough if a driver sits in the car for the first time on Saturday – like Nyck de Vries, for example, who had to spontaneously get into the Williams in Monza in FT3.
Too bad for Norris that he couldn’t “take” Friday off this time. The background is the sprint format this weekend. Article 32.2 of the Sporting Regulations states:
“A change of driver may be made at any time before the start of the qualifying practice session provided any change proposed after the end of initial scrutineering receives the consent of the stewards.”
That means: A driver change may only take place up to qualifying, after that no more. And this time qualifying is on Friday and not on Saturday as usual.
So if Norris couldn’t drive tomorrow, he would have to miss the whole weekend. But let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.
Norris misses media day
Bad news from McLaren: Lando Norris is not feeling well and has to skip today’s media day. The team suspects food poisoning, which is why Norris will be staying at the hotel today.
After all: “We expect him back at the track tomorrow,” reports the team. We keep our fingers crossed!
Speaking of engines…
Engine manufacturers originally had until October 15 to register for Formula 1 participation in 2026. Some plants, including newcomers Audi, did this on time. But now it has been announced that the deadline has been extended again.
You can find out which deadline now applies and the background to the topic here!
That’s why Formula 1 will be louder again in the future!
Since Formula 1 introduced hybrid engines in 2014, many fans have criticized the dull turbo sound. This could finally change from 2026 due to a rule change!
In this video, Kevin Scheuren explains why the engines have become quieter, what bizarre attempts the F1 makers have made to cover it up and how the sound could get better again in the future.
Incidentally, without any artificial interventions in the sound architecture of the state-of-the-art and extremely efficient power units…
Explained: That’s why Formula 1 is getting louder again!
Since Formula 1 introduced hybrid engines in 2014, fans have criticized the dull turbo sound. This could change in 2026 due to a rule change. More Formula 1 videos
Fittipaldi can imagine Vettel’s comeback
Is Sebastian Vettel really driving his last Formula 1 race in Abu Dhabi? Emerson Fittipaldi can imagine that the German will return at some point. “He loves the sport,” says the Brazilian opposite ‘Vegas Insiders’.
“I am sure that he will miss racing very much,” he explains, drawing a comparison: “What happened to Fernando Alonso can happen to him.” Vettel could become “boring” without Formula 1 after a year or two.
“He’s at an age where he can come back and compete,” Fittipaldi said. The difference, however, is that after his Formula 1 retirement at the end of 2018, Alonso has continued to pursue motorsport at the highest level.
Before he returned to the premier class in 2021, he competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indy 500, among others. Something like this is currently not planned at Vettel.
weather
Mercedes sees its chances of winning this weekend rather low. However, the weather could help, because starting tomorrow it’s supposed to rain on all three days in Sao Paulo!
Means: qualifying, sprint and the race could get wet – and cause a few surprises. Our complete weather forecast can be found here!
All the best!
Congratulations go out to former Formula 1 drivers Eddie Irvine and Brendon Hartley, who are celebrating their 57th and 33rd birthdays respectively. The successes of the two in the premier class are quite different.
While Hartley only scored points three times in 25 starts for Toro Rosso and never got better than P9, Irvine celebrated four Grand Prix victories for Ferrari and even became vice world champion in 1999.
In addition, after his time at Scuderia, he made quite a bit of money at Jaguar…
© Motorsport Images
movember
Do you know “Movember”? It is a mixture of the English words “Moustache” and “November”. According to this, men grow a mustache in the month of November.
But what is behind it? The campaign was originally introduced to draw attention to the male diseases prostate and testicular cancer. A good thing! Valtteri Bottas is definitely participating this year.
Let’s see if other drivers follow suit…
AlphaTauri: 2023 fewer parts from Red Bull
AlphaTauri obtains many components from Red Bull. This is absolutely legal in the current Formula 1 regulations. Nevertheless, the team will purchase fewer parts from “big brother” in the future. But why? That explains Jonathan Eddolls opposite ‘auto motor und sport’.
“For example, we like to base our aerodynamics on certain parts underneath. But when we take components from them, we don’t get information about the final design until very late,” says Eddolls.
“That can then have an impact on our aerodynamics again, because we expected different shapes,” he explains, adding: “After a year we’ve gained a lot of experience with the new cars.”
This will help to build some parts yourself.
Ecclestone believes Verstappen can win 16 times
Max Verstappen currently has 14 wins this season. This is already a new record. And Bernie Ecclestone poses in conversation with ‘RTL’ clear: “There is no reason why he shouldn’t win the next two races as well.”
“Max doesn’t play games,” he insists, explaining: “He’s there to win races and to win the world championship and he’s doing exactly that. There’s nothing stopping him from doing what he wants to do.”
“Whether he will win more titles depends on whether the team really improves. All the guys who win the World Cup have to rely on the team,” said Ecclestone.
“If he keeps that up, the team will continue to support him and there’s nothing stopping them from continuing to win. Everything is good at the moment and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t get better,” said the former Formula 1 boss .