In the round-up: Red Bull team principal Christian Horner will receive the Commander of the Order of the British Empire honour.
In brief
Horner to receive CBE
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner will be made a CBE as part of King Charles’ New Year Honours.
Horner, who has been team principal of Red Bull’s F1 team since the team joined the grid in 2005, has led Red Bull to six constructors’ championship titles and took Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen to seven drivers’ world titles between them. Red Bull enjoyed their most successful ever season in 2023.
Having already been awarded an OBE (Officer of the order of the British Empire) in 2013, Horner will receive the higher honour of an OBE in the New Year. The honour is noted for Horner’s “services to motorsport”.
Haas “got away” with being slow early on
Nico Hulkenberg says Haas were fortunate that their rivals struggled more for pace then they did in the early part of the 2023 season.Haas rose as high as seventh in the constructors’ championship at the mid phase of the season but fell to finish last for the second time in three years. But Hulkenberg says their earlier success was down to their rivals failing to capitalise.
“The signs were there early in the season and we got away with it because other people were struggling more,” he said. “Once they cleaned up and brought some real developments, that’s when we started to pay the penalty and the second half of the season was really tough.”
Palou doubtful of more dominance
IndyCar champion Alex Palou says he does not expect to have more seasons as dominant as 2023.
Palou won the title with a round to spare after five victories over the season. However, he believes 2023 was an exceptional year.
“I think IndyCar has always been super, super hard,” he said. “Especially nowadays with now the points system – it’s really hard to win it before the last race of the season.
“But we had an excellent season overall. Our worst position was eighth, I believe. We had five wins. We were always running up front. We just felt like it was our year. It was one of those years that everything went well.
“I don’t expect to have a lot of years like that. Hopefully we get some more, but it’s not going to be 10 more years like that obviously.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Ben Sulayem’s mishaps and meddling leave F1 asking if FIA is fit for purpose (Guardian)
'Two weeks before Steve Nielsen resigned, the head of the FIA’s commission for women, Deborah Mayer, quit. Both departures were preceded by what had already had been an embarrassing end to the year for the FIA. It had caused consternation by launching a conflict of interest investigation into the Mercedes principal, Toto Wolff, and his wife, Susie, who runs the sport’s all-female series, the F1 Academy.'
Will Red Bull dominate again in 2024? (Radio New Zealand)
'Rivals, commercial rights holders Liberty Media and millions of fans are all hoping to see more of a battle for the top of the podium when the racing starts again in Bahrain next March. Whether that will happen is the question nobody really has the answer to before the new cars and tyres are put through their paces in testing, and the uncertainty creates some suspense going into the winter break.'
Convention Authority says Las Vegas hotels set record for average daily room rate last month (Fox 5)
'Buoyed by the SEMA tradeshow and the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, the city set a record for average daily room rate (ADR) across its hotels last month. According to a report from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the ADR of $249.31 was an all-time best and it marked a 33.7% increase from the same period one year ago. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) was reported at $204.18, a 34.8% year-over-year rise.'
The 20 most expensive auction cars of 2023 (Car Scoops)
'The first of the modern Silver Arrows F1 cars to be sold outside of the Benz empire, this 2013 car was driven by Lewis Hamilton in 14 of that year’s 19 races, and took first place at Hungary. It’s also the last of the V8 grand prix cars – F1 switched to hybrid-assisted V6s in 2014.'
Formula Scout Top 50 Drivers of 2023: 20-11 (Formula Scout)
'See which drivers charted from 20th to 11th in the penultimate part of our ranking of the most impressive performers in junior single-seater racing in 2022.'
Eddie Jordan and Michael Fassbender got in hot water with BBC for speaking Irish on-air (Balls)
'Jordan would move on to television duties after his team was sold at the end of the 2005 season, and continued to bring an Irish flavour to his broadcasts with the BBC. Speaking on the first episode of Formula for Success earlier this year, Jordan recalled meeting Michael Fassbender on the grid ahead of the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix. Jordan said that he would end up in hot water with the BBC producers for speaking Irish during his live-on-air interview with Fassbender:'
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Social media
Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
I am shocked and devastated to hear of the loss of our great friend and teammate. I’ve raced with Gil all over the world and watched him win some of the biggest races. He’s been a great friend for over 20 years and will be greatly missed and never forgotten. My deepest… pic.twitter.com/vJBbnK650F
— Zak Brown (@ZBrownCEO) December 30, 2023
Truly sad news. Gil, great racing driver but first and foremost, loyal friend since more than three decades. You will be missed. Our thoughts are with your family. RIP. https://t.co/SMqVTWqC4Y
— Mika Häkkinen (@F1MikaHakkinen) December 30, 2023
Toto reflects on Gil de Ferran, a gentleman and out and out racer. He will be deeply missed by the whole Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team.
Rest in Peace, Gil. pic.twitter.com/bS5MK616Yy
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) December 30, 2023
https://twitter.com/alfaromeostake/status/1741062595702874498
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
After sad news of Gil de Ferran’s death, reader kcrossle shares this personal anecdote…
The toll plaza on the NY State Thruway had about six lanes that narrowed down to two. As I was going through the gate I saw a sleek motorhome in the next lane. With “de Ferran” on the door. As I out-accelerated him, he too hit the gas… racing to the narrowing. No contest but I looked over and we were both laughing.
kcrossle
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Alvink and Bryce Metzger!
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
31st December 2023, 9:07
Thank god Haas got away it.
Marcel
31st December 2023, 10:29
About time Adrian Newey is promoted to KBE, isn’t is? He achieved more in F1 than everybody else that can be named ‘sir’.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage (@davedai)
31st December 2023, 11:58
Can’t see anyone in motorsports worthy of a higher honour than Jackie Stewart. For his demands for driver safety in face of threats, cars impounded,personally sued etc. and even from other drivers.
Now his work on breakthroughs for dementia sufferers.
All while struggling his own severe dyslexia (my last info was still can’t read or write, doesn’t know alphabet etc. ) As he said an iPad or iPhone is useless to me.
Yeah Newey is something else.
Give Jacki a KBE upgrade and a new “investiture” for Adrian.
Now where do I sign up for MP?
Unicron (@unicron2002)
31st December 2023, 13:51
@davedai Arise, Sir Ron Dennis. I don’t know what this is such well hidden news, it’s massive. I thought it would get it’s own story here, yet it doesn’t even appear in the round up!
This Knighthood is about 20 years overdue -love him or loathe him, thean is a colossus of British Motorsport. The heaviest of the heavy hitters, operating at the top for decades.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage (@davedai)
31st December 2023, 14:06
Ok that’s three, now how about hmm I don’t know. Wait! @ Keith Collantine for this site, but I think I read years ago he may say thanks but no thanks!
Ferdinand
31st December 2023, 15:30
My kid got a medal too last week. I guess we shouldn’t get too hung up about these ceremonials fossils. Signs of an era long gone
A
31st December 2023, 23:49
I think it was lost in amongst the Red Bull love-in.
anon
1st January 2024, 16:11
@unicron2002 it probably depends quite heavily on which part of his career you are looking at and how you evaluate his contributions as a whole.
Most posters here seem to be focussing on the period from the early to mid 1980s to the early 2000s, with a tendency to gloss over the more difficult periods in that era – people do tend to skip over the slump in form in the mid 1990s, for example. There is also a tendency to skip over the latter part of his career, where there are some difficult questions to be asked about the way he managed the team.
The falling out between Ron and Mansour Ojjeh, which ultimately resulted in Ron being pushed out of the team, seems to have had a corrosive effect on McLaren as a whole, causing problems that Zak Brown subsequently had to tackle (e.g. demoralisation of staff, a loss in leadership for both the technical and financial sides of the team etc.).
Meanwhile, the return of Honda, which harkened back to earlier glories and was meant to be Ron’s great triumph, turned into an acrimonious disaster that epitomised the way in which Ron’s final years saw him progressively alienate everyone who had helped him build McLaren up in the first place – from engine partners like Mercedes and Honda, to his co-investor Mansour Ojjeh and the technical partnership with the TAG Group, through to long term sponsors like Hugo Boss cutting ties after more than 30 years with the team.
Similarly, whilst some point to Ron founding the automotive division of McLaren and boosting the prestige of the company and team, McLaren Automotive has been struggling financially for some time and is currently proving to be a financial burden for the wider McLaren Group.
McLaren Automotive generated a loss of £139 million in 2021 and £349 million in 2022, and has only been kept afloat so far thanks to it’s shareholders injecting £225 million into the company in 2022 and another £370 million earlier this year. The longer term situation also looks concerning – the director’s report earlier this year admitted that the need for more funds (£600 million in the next few years) and development problems with the Artura “indicate a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt over the Group’s and the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern”.
It’s also why McLaren had to sell off a sizeable chunk of their historic racecar collection to Mumtalakat in return for the injections of cash in 2022, and why the S&P and Moody’s credit rating agencies both rate McLaren Automotive as “extremely speculative” bonds – or a long, long way into the category more popularly known as “junk bonds” (to put that in perspective, they basically rate McLaren Automotive as only one tier above “in default”, and both companies have a negative rating on the future of McLaren Automotive).
Tommy Scragend
31st December 2023, 23:47
Jackie Stewart was knighted over twenty years ago. What “upgrade” are you asking for? A SuperSir?!
rprp
1st January 2024, 0:16
I presume they meant KGC
Ferdinand
1st January 2024, 10:13
KFC ?
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
31st December 2023, 11:03
Will RBR dominate again in 2024? Be pretty hard to bet against it given I doubt they showed their full hand at any point during the 2023 season.
Absolutely superb car driven by a top class driver – no reason to suspect 2024 will be any different. Could be even worse if Sergio finds his mojo again and takes 2nd in most of the races.
Coventry Climax
2nd January 2024, 1:34
We’ll see.
As far as Perez is concerned though, I seriously doubt the guy ever even had a mojo to misplace in the first place.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
31st December 2023, 15:35
I’m pretty surprised Dennis’ knighthood was omitted from the round up but Horner’s CBE is included. Both are behemoths of their eras, thrust into leadership at a relatively young age and flew the flag for Britain on an international stage for decades.
Dennis’ recognition is long overdue and too many of our greats don’t receive the attention they deserve. Over the course of F1’s history who has made a more significant impact? Ferrari, certainly, Chapman possibly, Williams, perhaps. I don’t think it’s much of an exaggeration to reflect on Dennis’ achievements as akin to Ferrari. The growth of the team, sport and industry are all a reflection of his forward thinking. Short of building his own engine, I’m not sure what more Dennis could have achieved from a sporting standpoint and McLaren motor cars are clearly an impressive expansion. Factor in Le Mans success and if McLaren had been renamed Dennis in 1980, he’d surely be considered a national icon. I can’t really understand how the round up missed him being awarded the highest order in the land.
Pat Pepper
2nd January 2024, 12:55
I agree, RBAlonso. Whatever one thinks of the honours system, it is quite extraordinary that this site should report on Horner’s CBE and ignore Dennis’ knighthood. Either report them both or ignore them both, but like this it’s bizarrely incinsistent. I only hope it’s not yet another example of figures from the sport’s past mattering less and less in the sport’s contemporary media – an affliction which is to be fair less evident usually on Racefans than in many other motor sport media, but it’s still at least a puzzling oversight.
Nikos (@exeviolthor)
31st December 2023, 16:57
Can someone explain to me how the knighthood system works please?
I see articles mentioning Sir Lewis Hamilton, but Christian Horner does not get the “sir” in front of his name.
Hamilton is an MBE whereas Horner is an OBE which according to wikepedia is a higher rank.
What am I missing?
Severin (@severin)
31st December 2023, 19:22
Hamilton got an MBE first (2008) then also awarded a Knighthood (KBE) in 2020. Only a Knighthood grants the official title of ‘Sir’
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/awards-and-accreditation/content/103372#:~:text=KBE%20or%20DBE%20(Knight%20or,Order%20of%20the%20British%20Empire
Nikos (@exeviolthor)
1st January 2024, 8:04
Thanks a lot!
KentWalker3
31st December 2023, 19:12
And this is the reason why those like Ron Dennis and Christian Horner will always be a shadow of people like David Bowie, Rudyard Kipling, Peter O’Toole, Aldous Huxley, and, surprisingly….. Bernie Ecclestone. Some people think that they’re worthy of a pedestal. Others are wise enough to know that it’s all completely absurd.
Pat Pepper
2nd January 2024, 12:34
The row over Bernie’s bung to Blair has long been cited as a major reason why any chance of him getting knighted was already off the agenda… and that was twenty years ago, before his subsequent convictions in courtrooms around Europe on various major financial charges certainly finished off any lingering possibilities completely.
Pat Pepper
2nd January 2024, 12:45
To clarify, I think @KentWalker3 you make a good point. I just think it is more valid with regard to David Bowie etc than it is to Bernie, for whom it was very easy to say when he got to 90 that he would refuse a knighthood (and indeed to claim he’d done so years ago) when it had become obvious for the reasons listed above that he was never going to be offered one anyway.
Coventry Climax
2nd January 2024, 1:44
As far as I know, there’s no such thing as ‘hybrid-assisted’: It’s the electrical and electronic items plus the ICE which collectively makes it hybrid.