Apex F1 cars being filmed on-track for forthcoming movie

Hamilton admits work on F1 movie has been “delayed a lot” by strike

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In the round-up: The strike which delayed work on many films including Lewis Hamilton’s forthcoming feature about Formula 1 has finished, but the driver admits it has had a significant impact.

In brief

Hamilton expects 2025 release date for F1 film

Seven-times world champion Hamilton said his film, which stars Brad Pitt, won’t reach cinemas until 2025 at the earliest following the disruption caused by a strike earlier this year. Members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists voted earlier this week to agree a deal with studios after ending their strike.

There have been multiple setbacks for the F1 film, on which Hamilton is a co-producer. Plans to film a scene at the Las Vegas Grand Prix had to be scrapped. The prolonged production schedule means more filming will now take place through the 2024 F1 season.

Hamilton said the completed film will appear “probably early 2025, I would imagine, with the post-work they’d have to do. So it’s been delayed a lot.”

F1 teams to spend less time on grid

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The FIA World Motor Sport Council has met in Baku for a meeting to confirm rule changes for various series that will be introduced in 2024.

The earlier pre-race pit lane opening time which was introduced this year to allow driver introductions to take place at some rounds will be reverted. Drivers will now arrive on the grid 40 minutes prior to the start instead of 50.

Bridgestone signs Formula E tyre supply deal

At the WMSC meeting it was also decided that Formula E will switch tyre supplier from Hankook to Bridgestone in 2026. Spark Racing Technology is to continue as the chassis supplier and will be responsible for the fourth-generation car to be introduced that year.

FE champion Dennis confirms Andretti stay

Jake Dennis, Red Bull, Yas Marina, 2023
Formula E champion Dennis tested for Red Bull
Reigning FE champion Jake Dennis has extended his contract with Andretti Global to keep himself in the championship for several more years.

Dennis has already spent three seasons with Andretti, and claimed the 2023 title by taking two wins and nine other podiums from a 16-race campaign. His existing contract already included the 2024 season so he could defend his crown, and now he has tied himself to the team for 2025 and beyond.

“I began my FE journey with Andretti, and I’m excited to continue working with the team that has supported my career in this series,” said Dennis. “I’ve got immense respect for this team, and it will be an honour to continue as a driver for Andretti Global.”

He is also a development driver for Red Bull in F1, which Andretti intends to join from 2025.

Schumacher concludes Pirelli’s final F1 test of 2023

Mick Schumacher completed two days of running in Mercedes’ 2023 car as Pirelli’s final F1 tyre test of 2023 came to an end on Wednesday.

The test took place in cold, wet conditions, meaning Schumacher spent the day on intermediate and wet compounds. He matched his Tuesday tally of 90 laps, and his fastest lap on the full wet tyres was a 1’37.893, four seconds faster than the day before.

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Comment of the day

James Allison says Mercedes found it “very disorientating” last year when their era of domination in F1 came to an end, and when he took over the technical director role this April he chose not to exert his own technical expertise onto the design team but rather get the departments within the team more freely sharing ideas with each other about how to make the next car an improvement on the current once, which was the first since 2011 not to win a race.

I thought the most interesting part of the article was Allison talking about he he is trying to bring the various groups back into harmony more. When Michael Schumacher, Ross Brawn and co. went to Ferrari and turned them around, the culture problem they solved was that previously Ferrari’s engine department was considered the be-all and end-all.

The car was built around the engine, and things like aero, balance, driver input, were all secondary. The engine department didn’t talk to aero, and vice versa. Drivers were there just to drive the car. After Jean Alesi ran out of fuel from using too rich a mixture, they solved the issue by taking the fuel mixture control out of the cockpit and putting it in the engine bay where it had to be adjusted by an engine mechanic. That was how little trust they put in their drivers pre the Schumacher years.

So yes, I can see how Allison might be thinking about bringing the team back into synergy rather than tinkering with the designs himself.
AlanD

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Stretch and Matiascasali!

On this day in motorsport

Author information

Ida Wood
Often found in junior single-seater paddocks around Europe doing journalism and television commentary, or dabbling in teaching photography back in the UK. Currently based...

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12 comments on “Hamilton admits work on F1 movie has been “delayed a lot” by strike”

  1. Profile Photo

    Jere (@jerejj)
    7th December 2023, 6:00

    Take all the time you need & want.

    I.e., back to green light turning on at 20 past & red at 30 past on most circuits.

  2. Profile Photo

    Zann (@zann)
    7th December 2023, 9:03

    why is it an ‘admission’?

    1. MichaelN
      7th December 2023, 9:18

      Hamilton had previously been quite up-beat about the impact of these issues, saying it wouldn’t really be a big issue. It probably still isn’t, and admit is a bit strong in terms of phrasing, but that’s probably why.

      1. Profile Photo

        Zann (@zann)
        7th December 2023, 15:17

        oh, you mean they caught Lewis out being wrong? Have to give credit to the usual accounts tbf, resisting the bait, so far :)

  3. Tristan
    7th December 2023, 10:31

    GTA 6 and the F1 movie could be coming out around the same time then :D

    Sidenote: I wonder if something like F1 will show up in GTA being a Miami spoof and all. I could totally imagine infiltrating the paddock to give a driver food poisoning or something like that.

  4. Profile Photo

    DB-C90 (@dbradock)
    7th December 2023, 10:46

    10 minutes? And just the drivers?

    Can’t see that meaning F1 teams will spend much less time on the grid.

    Seems ridiculous to tout this as a great improvement.

  5. Profile Photo

    DB-C90 (@dbradock)
    7th December 2023, 10:54

    While we’re talking about long seasons and demands on teams, it’s great to see at least one sport (albeit in Australia) recognise that less is more and that it’s rush to monetise more and more events has backfired.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-07/big-bash-league-season-13-less-is-more/103050854

    1. S
      7th December 2023, 13:51

      That’s because it’s cricket – with its very limited audience (it’s not global – only a handful of countries participate and can see it.)
      And the BBL is just a niche within that already limited cricket-viewing market. Actually, it’s the equivalent of an independent F1 sprint championship, running alongside the normal F1 championship – but at completely separate events and on separate calendars.

      Nobody wants that much cricket – especially not in such a short time.

  6. Profile Photo

    Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
    7th December 2023, 14:05

    I disagree with the COTD.

    While the engines undeniably hold a special place at Ferrari, especially with the old man in charge, the shift from the V12 to the V10 architecture wasn’t primarily driven by cultural factors or the arrival of Ross Brawn. Jean Barnard played a crucial role in fostering a mindset focused on the optimal packaging and installation of mechanical components into the chassis, ultimately enhancing the car’s dynamics and aerodynamics.

    For example the Ferrari 640, Barnard’s design of the chassis intentionally prevented midseason modifications to revert to a manual gearbox. What a genius ! This forced the team to focus on enhancing the reliability of the semi-automatic gearbox. It’s worth noting that even before Barnard, with Forghieri, the engine and chassis were already designed in tandem.

    The story of the V10 Ferrari traces its roots back to Alfa Romeo. The first ever F1 V10 engine was designed at Alfa Corse by none other than Pino D’Agostino, a familiar figure among the tifosi, and Gianni Tonti in 1986, during Alfa’s preparation to reenter F1 after a failed deal with Ligier. Despite promising results in the initial tests, the project was abandoned when Fiat acquired Alfa Romeo, prompting a shift in the racing program from F1 to Indy. Nevertheless, the V10 found its place in the Alfa 164 Pro Car, driven by Patrese at Monza in 1988.

    The choice to adopt the V10 engine in 1996 season was made by Paolo Martinelli and his team, including Pino D’Agostino, following an extensive investigation that started with appointment as head of Ferrari engine department in 1994 to determine the optimal architecture among V8, V10, and V12. The V10 emerged as the better compromise.
    Ross Brawn joined Ferrari in late 1996.

    1. MichaelN
      7th December 2023, 15:20

      Thanks for that @tifoso1989. It’s always interesting to hear how ideas that seemed new at some point often have a compelling history that allowed them to be considered as viable options.

      1. Profile Photo

        Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
        7th December 2023, 19:06

        MichaelIN,
        You’re more than welcome mate ! I knew the Alfa Romeo 164 procar did have a F1 engine just like the Renault Espace V10 but I didn’t know that it was one of the reasons behind Ferrari’s renaissance till I came across this article few years ago in Autosprint :

        Here’s the man himself Pino D’agostino talking about the V10 engine and also Michael Schumacher (with English subtitles):

        https://youtu.be/0jBsFRvKJPc?si=6R8aXy_ipueQyVeQ

  7. Profile Photo

    stefano (@alfa145)
    7th December 2023, 16:09

    you mean FE champion in the caption of picture @keithcollantine

Comments are closed.