Tsunoda surprised how quick AlphaTauri have been in recent races

In brief

Tsunoda enthused by AlphTauri’s late-season momentum

AlphaTauri were 18 points behind Williams and bottom of the Formula 1 constructors’ standings after the Qatar Grand Prix, but three rounds later are now seven points behind and have a serious chance to take seventh place from them in the remaining two races of 2023.

“The last three races have been really good, scoring points at each of them, so the team has momentum right now,” said Tsunoda. “It’s very positive to see how much we have closed the gap to Williams. A lot of that comes from the upgrades we brought to Austin, which gave us extra confidence and pace.

“To be honest, I hadn’t expected this level of performance like we saw in Brazil, and now we need to take that positive feeling into the next two races to fight aggressively and get enough points to hopefully make it to P7 in the constructors’ championship for the end of the year.”

However he admitted this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix could be difficult for the team “as we tended to struggle at circuits that have long straights.”

Details of Motorsport Games-IndyCar split revealed

New documents have shed light on the reason for IndyCar’s termination of its deal with Motorsport Games to develop a video game based on the series, which was disclosed by the publisher last week.

“On November 8, 2023, IndyCar, LLC (“IndyCar LLC”) delivered a notice to Motorsport Games Inc. (the “Company”) to terminate the two license agreements, each dated July 13, 2021, by and between IndyCar LLC and the Company (collectively, the “IndyCar License Agreements”), effective immediately,” a court document confirmed.

“IndyCar LLC stated that its decision to terminate the IndyCar License Agreements was due to the Company’s alleged failure to satisfy certain of its obligations under the IndyCar License Agreements, including making IndyCar racing series video gaming products available in the United States and facilitating a minimum number of IndyCar racing series esports events.”

Motorsport Games has also recently lost the licences to produce a game based on the British Touring Car Championship, which had been in development for three-and-a-half years, and NASCAR.

Button and Ericsson join Andretti

Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti has added 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button and 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson to its 2024 Daytona 24 Hours driver line-up.

Both will race Acura ARX-06s in the IMSA’s top GTP class of prototype sports cars. Button will share driving duties in the number 40 car with Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz and Colton Herta, while Ericsson will team up with Filipe Albuquerque, Brendon Hartley and Ricky Taylor in the number 10 car.

Ericsson will race for Andretti in IndyCar next year and drove for Cadillac in the 2022 Daytona 24 Hours, and Button made his IMSA debut last month by driving a Porsche 963 to fifth place in Petit Le Mans.

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2024 Mexican GP tickets already sold out

Tickets for the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix, scheduled for 25-27th October next year, have already sold out according to the event organiser. This year more than 400,000 fans attended the grand prix, a record for the event since it returned to the F1 calendar in 2015, with a capacity of 109,245 for each day. The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez features a stadium section which has seating for 25,000 people.

Mahindra sign Maini as FE reserve

Formula 2 racer will be Mahindra’s reserve driver in Formula E next year. He joins the Indian team to replace F2 rival and fellow Indian driver Jehan Daruvala, who is moving into a race seat with Maserati in FE.

This is the third big announcement Maini has made in just over a month, as in October he became a protege of two-times Formula 1 world champion Mika Hakkinen and then 11 days later was signed to the Alpine Academy. He is currently 11th in the standings in his rookie F2 season, with one podium, and is set to stay in the series for 2024. He will attend non-clashing FE events as Mahindra’s reserve, with Jordan King taking on the role when Maini is not available.

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

This is what the future of Formula 1 looks like! (AMuS)

'The F1 car for 2026 is taking more and more concrete forms. We asked around the paddock and gathered information about the planned changes.'

F1’s external demands ‘sometimes a little bit too much’ for drivers (Racer)

'Fernando Alonso says the external demands put on drivers to promote F1 is 'sometimes a little bit too much' ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Alonso says while there’s an awareness of the importance of promoting the sport he doesn’t always feel the right balance is struck.'

Marko: ‘Surviving Max’ an achievement for Perez (Speedcafe)

''Checo is a very good driver, but I have to go a little bit back.' Marko said. 'Max dominated all his team-mates, and partly he destroyed them. So Checo survived already the third year, which is an achievement.''

Macau F4 winner Lindblad 'gutted' he can’t join this weekend’s F3 races (Formula Scout)

'Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad is 'gutted' he cannot join this week’s Formula 3 races on the streets of Macau. The non-championship F4 South East Asia round in Macau last weekend marked his first time on a street circuit, and he took pole by 0.549 seconds then claimed lights-to-flag wins in the qualification and main race for the Prema-run Theodore Racing team.'

Carlos Sainz and Justin Thomas score victory at the inaugural Netflix Cup in Las Vegas (F1)

'Carlos Sainz – and his partner Justin Thomas – scored victory at the inaugural Netflix Cup last night ahead of this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix. The Wynn Golf Club in the Nevada city played host to the first ever Netflix Cup golf tournament on Tuesday as the stars of the streaming platform's behind-the-scenes sports shows Drive To Survive and Full Swing came together to battle it out in a highly entertaining affair.'

Toto Wolff fuelled by ‘personal anger’ to help Lewis Hamilton win eighth title (Independent)

''We have to look forward, learn from the past, and the push now is to make Lewis win quickly again. I have a personal anger, and drive to make him win the eighth title because he should have had it. As a team principal, it is important to be fair and open with both drivers. But there is a big part of us that will always want to be a part of that story in undoing and overcoming 2021.''

F1 helps Vegas expand efforts to become a destination for sports with international appeal (Associated Press)

'The transition from a city that no pro leagues would touch to a global sports destination has its roots in the 1950s, when Las Vegas began hosting major boxing matches that attracted fans and media from all over the world. In more recent years, Las Vegas has added NHL and NFL franchises with international appeal and hosted more international competitions, including soccer, rugby and now F1.'

Column: F1 learns it overestimated fan demand for Las Vegas, the most expensive race of the year (Star Tribune)

'Well, the big race has finally arrived and tickets are still available, both directly and on a dramatically reduced secondary market. Hotel prices along the Strip have plummeted and all signs suggest first-time F1 race promoter Liberty appears to have grossly overshot the price point for drawing in new fans and spenders.'

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Social media

Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:

Check out all 20 #F1 drivers' graphics on the Sphere overlooking turns six to nine at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.#LasVegasGP #RaceFans pic.twitter.com/DJp1nz1vy1

— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) November 15, 2023

Track preview. Introducing the iconic Guia Circuit, home of the FIA F3 and GT World Cups.
Make sure to watch the event live on FIA YouTube channel.#FIAF3WorldCup | #FIAGTWorldCup | #MacauGP | #Pirelli | #Fit4GT pic.twitter.com/k8aU9xqlF9

— FIA (@fia) November 15, 2023

Well that didn’t last long 😅 @Carlossainz55 #LasVegasGP 🇺🇸 #F1

pic.twitter.com/ZahGB9e4SQ

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) November 15, 2023

This might not be cool to anyone else, but it amazes me: A look at one of the temporary bridges they had to build over the track to keep traffic flowing. #LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/2hPCh8Lmnw

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) November 14, 2023

The latest Scenario Event is available in #F123, taking on the #LasVegasGP Strip Circuit! 🤩

Get behind the wheel of the @MercedesAMGF1 W14 and take on the challenge to unlock new rewards 🎁

Event is live now and runs until Monday, November 20 🎮 pic.twitter.com/E2zTz1SpK0

— EA SPORTS™ F1® (@EASPORTSF1) November 15, 2023

When in Nevada 🏜️🇺🇸

A heli trip for Nico up to the Grand Canyon today! 🚁 #HaasF1 #LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/CeKvBekNsm

— MoneyGram Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) November 15, 2023

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• Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory

Comment of the day

There is a trend in design with each of the new street circuits that F1 has added to the calendar in recent years, with Las Vegas being the latest example and set to feature a section of track that could rival the speeds achieved in Mexico City and Monza.

Baku, Jeddah and now Vegas are all trying to create a ‘spectacle’ – and apparently this can only be achieved with high-speed street circuit layouts – that are accident prone on purpose. For all the work on safety standards the F1 and FIA now seem to be willing to push their luck in the name of big cash and an unparalleled experience.
Streydt

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Craig, Cduk_Mugello, Ashwin and Tomez!

On this day in motorsport

• 10 years ago today a last-gasp effort by Vettel secured pole position at the Circuit of the Americas