Red Bull reveal pit crew shortage in Mexico due to “huge amount of illness”

In brief

Red Bull had pit crew members missing for Mexico

Red Bull were almost without a full pit crew at this year’s Mexican Grand Prix, the team’s sporting director Jonathan Wheatley has revealed. The team typically uses a 21-strong crew and has several reserves.

“This year has been pretty tough for us in terms of illnesses and weddings, funerals, people missing events,” said Wheatley in an interview for the team’s website. “So you need to have quite a few people in reserve as well able to do it.”

But at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, for the 19th round of the 22-race season, even with trackside reserves they nearly” had insufficient crew members.

“We didn’t put a full crew together until Sunday morning, because there was so many people [ill],” continued Wheatley. “We had a huge amount of stomach illnesses in Mexico, and then the crew managed to put it together on the Sunday. I think we had three different people in the crew doing different jobs.”

Star F2 rookie Bearman stays at Prema for 2024

The 18-year-old Ferrari junior, who has appeared in Formula 1 test and practice sessions with Haas, was only beaten on wins and laps led by his team mate Frederik Vesti during the 2023 campaign and his three poles was a feat achieved by only one other driver.

“I’m really happy to be joining Prema again in F2,” said Bearman. “I’ve come a long way as a driver and as a person these two years thanks to them, and I’m excited to continue the work we have been doing into next season.” His team mate will be rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Verschoor returns to Trident’s F2 line-up

Richard Verschoor may have risen up the F2 points table this year by leaving Trident for Van Amersfoort Racing, but he will be back with the former for the 2024 season.

It will be his fourth year in F2, having debuted in 2021 with MP Motorsport. He claimed a win but did not see out the season with the team, leaving with two rounds to go and joining Charouz Racing System for the season finale to secure 11th in the standings. At Trident in 2022 he was fifth in the standings after three rounds, but a run of 19 races without a podium meant even when he finished second in two of the last five races he ended up 12th in the points table.

He got another win this year with VAR, but fewer podiums in total. Improved consistency meant on average he scored more points per race though, which resulted in ninth in the standings.

HDP turns into HRC USA

Honda Performance Development, which is responsible for Honda’s American motorsport activities including supplying engines in IndyCar and building prototype sportscars under the Acura brand, became Honda Racing Corporation USA yesterday as it moves closer to its Japanese counterpart within Honda Racing.

HRC USA, which was launched in 1993, will involve itself in Honda’s future F1 power units that will be used by Aston Martin from 2026 onwards. However it may bring an end to its decades-long presence in IndyCar, after its motorsport manager Chuck Schifsky said “we have great concerns over the costs” associated with the future engine regulations. HRC Japan currently provides support to Red Bull Powertrains in F1, having previously supplied its own power units to the Red Bull team.

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

Invicta Watch Group enters the F2 championship as Invicta Racing (Virtuosi Racing)

'Invicta Watch Group has announced that it has taken an ownership stake in UK-based FIA Formula 2 Team Invicta Virtuosi Racing. As part of the agreement, the team will adopt the brand identity of Invicta Watch Group, including Invicta’s iconic yellow and black branding and be renamed Invicta Racing from the start of the 2024 season.'

Kobayashi: Age main factor in Toyota line-up change (Sportscar365)

'Last month, Toyota revealed that Nyck de Vries would replace Jose Maria Lopez alongside team principal Kobayashi and Mike Conway in the number seven GR010 Hybrid. De Vries, 28, returns to Toyota after a spell as the Japanese marque’s reserve driver from mid-2020 to 2022, after which he joined the AlphaTauri F1 team.'

Applications open for PMH Powering Diversity scholarship (Racer)

'Parella Motorsports Holdings has opened applications for the 2024 class of the PMH Powering Diversity Scholarship. Entering the fourth year of the programme, the scholarship looks to create a more diverse field while empowering drivers from a variety of backgrounds to participate in PMH-owned race series. Scholarship recipients will receive free entries for any of those series, including Formula Regional Americas, United States F4 and the Ligier JS F4 Series. In addition to providing free entry fees, the programme aligns recipients with a team of executives and mentors.'

F3 racer Mansell leads latest additions to FRegional Oceania grid (Formula Scout)

'The grid for the 2024 Formula Regional Oceania grid continues to grow, with Formula 3 star Christian Mansell the latest to sign up. Mansell, 18, was third in BRDC British F3 two years ago then stepped up to the F3-level Euroformula series last year and came third in the standings again. He moved across to the FIA F3 Championship for 2023 and was 12th in the points table.'

Siegel plans to use experience in title pursuit (IndyCar)

'One of the most difficult things for a driver to do in racing is to recognise when a car isn’t capable of winning. For a sport that prides itself on speed and getting to the finish line first, it seems like an oxymoron to slow down to go fast. Nolan Siegel, a driver well-versed beyond his years, has already developed a knack for recognising this.'

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Social media

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

To prepare for Honda’s new F1 participation with Aston Martin F1 from 2026, HRC will start recruiting F1 Power Unit engineers, technicians and staff members in the U.K. from Spring 2024.

More details will be posted as we start recruitment! pic.twitter.com/wIYtFd4HIP

— Honda Racing Global (@HondaRacingGLB) December 20, 2023

What a lot of memories! 🥹
How many were moved by Kimi Raikkonen and his little boy at #MuseoFerrari in front of his #FerrariF2007?#MuseiFerrari #Ferrari #Maranello pic.twitter.com/YUXMPpKw35

— Musei Ferrari (@MuseiFerrari) December 20, 2023

McLaren founder, Bruce McLaren testing at Zandvoort, photographed by a fan called Wolf in 1965. He crossed the Netherlands by bike to be there. The results = priceless! 🤩📷 pic.twitter.com/oJfmy7ZbJ2

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) December 18, 2023

We are pleased to announce Jason Holt has accepted the role of Executive Director for INDYCAR Ministry. In addition to his Director role of leading the ministry, he’ll also continue as a chaplain on race weekends. Join us in praying for the Holt family and this new season! pic.twitter.com/iC5CfkSOJZ

— IndyCar Ministry (@indycarministry) December 19, 2023

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

Comment of the day

Alexander Albon took his Williams to 27 points and 13th in the standings while his team mate Logan Sargeant only scored one point and was eight places lower down the table. He impressed Alesici, particularly with his drive to seventh – his joint best result of the season – in the Canadian Grand Prix.

I was transfixed watching those last 25 laps in Canada from the in-car camera right behind Albon but never getting by. The main race television feed was of no interest to me, as I could observe Albon demonstrating stunningly accurate and consistent precision in his perpetual usage of every millimetre of the track’s width and no more. I’ve never seen this level of driving precision before in decades of watching F1 races.
Alesici

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Dan M, Huhhii and Tony Hamilton!

On this day in motorsport

• Born today in 1935: Lorenzo Bandini