In the round-up: Alpine consultant Flavio Briatore says driver choice is not a priority for the team until it improves its car.
Show which drivers and teams you are supporting
Which F1 drivers and teams are you supporting this season? Here's how you can show your support for your favourite on the grid on RaceFans:
- Log in with your RaceFans account (sign up here if you don't have one)
- Select Edit My Profile from the top-right menu
- Select F1 Teams and Drivers
- Make your selections then click Save Changes
In brief
“New Alpine” will emerge in 2025 – Briatore
With Esteban Ocon leaving to join Haas, Alpine only has one driver confirmed so far for next year, his current team mate Pierre Gasly. But Briatore says the team’s priorities are elsewhere at the moment.
“At the moment you need to put the team together, from the commercial side, the technical side, the management side,” he told Formula For Success. “The driver makes no difference now. The difference will be in [2026, ’27, ’28], this should be the difference for the driver.”
“If you have a good car, you need a good driver,” he added. “If the car is not performing… our point in this moment, make sure we put all the energy in the technical side and make sure the car of Alpine is looking better and better and improving for next year. In 2026, I believe, we see the new Alpine.”
Ex-Hamilton McLaren on sale
One of the first Formula 1 cars driven by Lewis Hamilton will go on sale today. Sotheby’s is auctioning a 2006 McLaren-Mercedes MP4-21, which the future seven-times champion tested before making his debut for the team the following year. It is expected to fetch up to $3.5 million (£2.7m).Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Links
Why Kyle Larson thinks he's a better all-around driver than Max Verstappen (Racer)
'There’s no way (Verstappen) can get into a Sprint Car and win the Knoxville Nationals. There’s no way he can go win the Chili Bowl. There’s no way he can go win a Cup race at Bristol. There’s probably no way I can go win a Formula 1 race at Monaco, but I think I’d have a better shot at him (doing what he does than him doing what I do) just because of the car element.'
Engineering change at McLaren (Racer)
'On the timing stand for Siegel at (Gateway) is a prime acquisition for McLaren with 2015 Indianapolis 500-winning race engineer Brian Campe.'
Vettel: Sensations-Comeback für Audi? (OE24 - German)
'Four-times Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel, who tested for the Penske Porsche World Endurance Championship team earlier this year, is now rumoured to be considering a comeback to Formula 1 with another Volkswagen Group brand, Audi, via his connection to newly-appointed chief operating officer Mattia Binotto, whom he worked with at Ferrari..'
Toyota’s Nakajima happy with Miyata’s progress in 'challenging' F2 (Formula Scout)
'To move from Japan, without any experience in racing abroad, he’s adapting pretty well, and I would say it’s in line with our expectations.'
We always endeavour to credit original sources. Got a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport? Please send it to us via the contact form.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Social media
Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
Rocky and a Ferrari race suit: the ultimate 1990s combination 🥊🔴 pic.twitter.com/8XIHqvSrT4
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) August 15, 2024
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
While clamping down on comments which lead to hostility on social media, the FIA mustn’t forget some competitors receive abuse regardless of whether they say anything or not:
Statistically, competing while female without saying anything results in more abuse than most of the things F1 drivers say (though any driver statement involving an identity-based epithet is typically an exception). On a strict reading, the rationale provided by Ben Sulayem would result in women being restricted from racing in high-profile motorsport simply out of a fear of trolls and told to stick to marshalling (where women routinely participate with the same amount of criticism as men).
It does have to be said that officials in many sports are seeing an increase in abuse. It would have been nice to have seen Ben Sulayem put more emphasis on that angle, given that the actions he’s promoting today stand a chance of actually protecting officials (as well as being a useful source of revenue for the FIA). By “officials”, I don’t just mean the stewards who sit in F1 offices around the world. I also mean officials in less-known series, who benefit from the people whose sport they facilitate not learning bad habits from watching TV. It may even encourage more people to start officiating, which would help counter the perennial recruitment crisis at grassroots level. Remember that even at F1 level, the stewards are volunteers and are often wrestling an obtuse regulatory ruleset as well as competitors high on adrenaline and sometimes anger.
@Alianora-La-Canta
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Feline-Fan, Fotache Sergiu and Lapov Onor!
On this day in motorsport
- 55 years ago today Jacky Ickx comfortably won the non-championship Gold Cup race at Oulton Park for Brabham, ahead of Jochen Rindt’s four-wheel-drive Lotus 63
Jay
16th August 2024, 0:49
I get all my self worth from comments from anonymous nobodies online. It’s no wonder the world is in the shape its in. Black Mirror episode Nosedive is where this is all heading. And it’s being cheered on by people who can’t see past their own face.
Vettel to Audi? I’d hate that.
Nick T.
16th August 2024, 4:53
+1
Nick T.
16th August 2024, 5:01
And, as for Vettel, I’d like to see him do it just so the people who still drop his name for ridiculous things like an MB seat finally get closure when he re-retires a week into his return.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
16th August 2024, 8:18
I wouldn’t want vettel to take a seat away from a more deserving driver, even temporarily, like he did with perez at force india.
An Sionnach
17th August 2024, 0:05
Audi could be a good project for Vettel. He’d be going there as a development driver, a bit like what Schumacher did with Mercedes (whether he realised it or not). He need not even race for them. If F1 wasn’t a closed shop, there’d be plenty of room for him to drive, though. A few of us could set up a team and enter it for 2026 after a bit of jibber jabber. How hard could this F1 lark actually be?!? If Ferrari is close to the front and they’re incompetent, what could another team that’s incompetent, but a shade less so achieve?!?
JMDan (@danmar)
18th August 2024, 17:26
I’m in! :-)
anon
16th August 2024, 7:40
Jay, that sounds like the sort of statement from somebody who isn’t constantly on the receiving end of such abuse, and instead get to sit back and gloat at the pain of others.
Nick T.
16th August 2024, 13:44
Uh, no, it sounds like someone who is aware that reading online comments about one self is optional and the idea that someone’s self-esteem is more valuable than freedom of speech is downright Orwellian.
BTW, it’s a huge jump from his comment to “gloating at others pain.” Sounds like you could be guilty of the very thing you want to persecute.
notagrumpyfan
16th August 2024, 14:26
If a keyboard warrior wants to hide behind ‘freedom of speech’ then (s)he should use his/her real name, be open to receiving alternative view responses, and act within the law (some of the universal human rights can be conflicting).
Jay
17th August 2024, 1:36
Sure thing ‘notagrumpyfan’.
Practice what you preach, my friend!
Nick T.
17th August 2024, 16:45
Nick Talbot @nicktalbotsm on IG
Jay
17th August 2024, 1:39
You get it Nick! I wish more people were outspoken about alternative views, ie opinions, shouldn’t be censored. It’s basic humanity, because someday someone will come for your speech!
anon
17th August 2024, 8:39
Nick T., which means that, rather than taking responsibility for being abusive, you force others into self-censorship by telling them to not interact with others.
You and Jay don’t want freedom of speech – what you really want is to be freed from is the consequences to your behaviour.
Jay
17th August 2024, 13:54
Self censorship is not being allowed to express OPINIONS on certain subjects. We’ve seen this numerous times in the last, just few years.
Right or wrong, who’s to say your opinions are the truth, or even accurate. And who gets to decide that? Because a truth teller to one is a misinformation expert to another. More speech, not less.
I have a lot more to say about the issues but this is an F1 site. I support drivers or teams saying anything they want. I also reserve my right to as you say ‘freedom of consequences’ to stay away from any companies that don’t align with my world view.
I wish you well, truly!
Nick T.
17th August 2024, 16:48
Wow, you and Grumpy make some amazing leaps in logic to assume that because I don’t support censorship, I want to be free to abuse others on social media. This is illogical, ad hominem and frankly, absurd.
Nick T.
18th August 2024, 0:33
So, I’m not anonymous. What are all your names and tell me how you’ve been forced into self-censorship?
Ludewig
16th August 2024, 0:55
Not so smart to call out the driver that spends his free time racing all kinds of series in simracing, for being a one-trick pony.
Chris
16th August 2024, 4:17
Umm…I think I would give the edge to the person the who spends all his free time *real* racing the edge in this situation.
Nick T.
16th August 2024, 5:03
Max would utterly smash Kyle Larson. It wouldn’t even be close. Max could easily be competitive in NASCAR with normal testing and prep. As we’ve seen, the opposite isn’t true for coming to F1.
Craig
16th August 2024, 7:57
You’d be surprised, F1 and NASCAR aren’t even vaguely comparable so you can’t just jump from one to the other as easily as you think. As Alonso showed in his attempts at Indy, merely being good in another sport isn’t enough, especially when you’re up against people who’ve been doing this sport for years and know it’s intricacies.
Jay
17th August 2024, 1:40
Wasn’t Alonso 6th at Indy500, and on a good strategy, before his engine blew?
Nick T.
17th August 2024, 16:54
@Jay Alonso led 27 laps and qualified 5th in his first Indy 500 despite an overboost issue on his quali lap.
It’s true like Craig says that racing is now a specialist job. I don’t think Max could rock up to NASCAR or Indy with zero prep and smash the field. However, I think Max WOULD smash Larson in terms of how each would do showing up in each other’s sport or if they both tried 5 different disciplines.
MacLeod (@macleod)
16th August 2024, 8:02
You mean Kyle Larson is racing 18 hours a day? because Max is doing that on a common day. *real* racing cost time a LOT of time and I don’t think Kyle is racing each day.
What he means because of he raced in several (American) series he thinks Max can win none of them….
We know Max finds some series for old men and he isn’t old enough to do that………
But I would like to see Kyle trying Monaco but he must give it 100% not tuff around so top 5 should be ok I would bet on which corner he is going to hit the wall (grin) as the swimming pool is the first where people would think.
Personaly i think he would crash coming out of the tunnel and had to brake for the chicane…..
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
16th August 2024, 12:36
If I have to imagine what Max can and can’t do. I remind myself he was ranked 14th in the world on FIFA whilst driving for Torro Rosso. He did that competing on a game played by millions, he was in the top tiny fraction of a percent. You can say FIFA, Sim racing, Nascar, F1 bear little to no correlation – but that’s kind of the point, he seems to be able to apply himself to most things and be good at them.
Also the more ‘fiery combative’ nature of Nascar might suit him. He could call people names, swear, punch, yell. Whether he’d win anything I don’t know, but I’d like to see it. Shout out to Scott McLaughlin, if he ever made it to F1 it would be one remarkable racing career.
MichaelN
16th August 2024, 17:25
One might ask: why does he feel the need to invoke Verstappen’s name?
Does Verstappen ever win a race and say, I bet that Larson guy from NASCAR could never do that!
Of course he doesn’t. That says it all.
Rick Gomez (@rgomez13)
16th August 2024, 18:10
Suddenly we all know who he is and that is a great way to get publicity. Invoke Verstappen’s name and you get headlines. I live In the USA and I’d never heard of him.
The NASCAR fans are primarily a very close minded, USA is best crowd. His antics are exactly what they want to hear. He’s playing a game to make more $$
BTW- if Montoya was able to perform in American races, I’m sure Max would destroy the competition.
Josh (@canadianjosh)
17th August 2024, 15:55
Larson is one of the best talents that has ever driven a race car and he’s still fairly young. Max is also a generational talent who is at his top level in F1. It’s impossible to know who has more skill. If I had to choose 2 drivers for my 2 car team in any series in the world it would be Max and Kyle.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
16th August 2024, 2:57
Disagree with Flavio as experienced drivers can help a team build a car. Drivers do matter.
Nick T.
16th August 2024, 5:08
He’s clearly trying to put the most positive spin he can on a situation in which they can’t grab a marquee name. He knows as soon as the car is good, the drivers will come. I hope they sign Paul Aaron or Zane Maloney.
Jere (@jerejj)
16th August 2024, 6:23
Nick T. Jack Doohan has been more or less all but confirmed since Sainz’s Williams announcement, just like Antonelli has been all but confirmed to become Hamilton’s direct successor for 2-3 months.
Nick T.
17th August 2024, 16:55
Good for Doohan. Just saying who I’d put in the car. Doohan is really nice. Glad to see him get a shot.
MacLeod (@macleod)
16th August 2024, 8:04
I always disagree with cheaters and will ignore what he says. (as react on your comment not his)
Dex
16th August 2024, 10:19
I think you’d be disappointed to find out that almost everyone in F1 is a potential cheater. He’s been caught and was a bit too obvious when he did what he did, so it was a slam dunk (and well deserved) punishment. I wouldn’t bet that people like Wolff or Horner are any more honest and abiding by the rules at all cost. They all push the limits of the rules and ethics too, lie, cheat… And longer they are in F1, more obvious it is; you don’t even have to be that good judge of character to feel something is off.
I dislike Flavio as a character more than most of the others, but I don’t see any of them as good or evil. F1 is not a place for people with rigid moral standards, I don’t see how they could survive there.
I do think Renault is crazy to bring this guy back, all things considered, but I struggle to remember any sane move from their team in recent years. They run a parody team.
Nick T.
17th August 2024, 16:58
It’s funny how almost everyone else who been involved in cheating scandals, including the Brits who were involved in crashgate have been forgiven, but Flavio is the sole person who many believe should never be forgiven. F1 is a sport where the better question to ask is not “who has cheated?” but rather who hasn’t.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
16th August 2024, 23:27
I’m glad Falvio is back. While I agree a good driver can help build a car, when you’re faced with a limited budget then maybe a cheaper driver can be worth more than a more expensive one because the price difference enables you to spend a bit more developing the car.
Nick T.
16th August 2024, 5:32
RF really put themselves in a no win position doing a 1-20 driver mid-season ranking in a year when, aside from Max, the best of the rest are putting in highly inconsistent performances and looking incredibly human.
notagrumpyfan
16th August 2024, 7:45
The inconsistency of most drivers, and therefore debatable ranking, creates more interactions (3x more).
What else can an online forum wish for? RF is winning and might even beat Kyle.
Nick T.
17th August 2024, 16:59
Exactly. It’s a traffic driven exercise.
SteveP
16th August 2024, 8:39
Including Max, being incredibly human and not winning when his car wasn’t the fastest by far – that’s the sentence you were looking for.
I do wonder whether RBR can fix whatever the car issue is, if they can’t the rest of the season should be interesting.
Patrick (@paeschli)
16th August 2024, 10:35
I’d argue Verstappen has won plenty of the races this year having a car that was either just barely faster than the opposition, equally fast or at times even just a tad slower. Just look at where Perez is with the same machinery.
SteveP
16th August 2024, 18:41
If your “just barely faster” car is the description of a car that was so fast relative to others that even Perez could put it on the podium in the first five races (just off in the sixth) then I’m not sure what counts as fastest by far.
I would suggest that the “just barely faster” and “equally fast or at times even just a tad slower” descriptions are what you should apply to the last few races or so, and of the last five the only one he did win was more due to Lando being inept than any talent from Max.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
16th August 2024, 15:56
they can’t fix something that had to be restated in the rule book as being banned.
SteveP
16th August 2024, 18:44
Assumptions, assumptions. If true, then the races for the back half of the season will be interesting.
Jere (@jerejj)
16th August 2024, 6:21
A rather brave statement by Larson.
While Seb has occasionally said never say never, he’s made clear he isn’t truly intending or considering to return, given he stopped with a clear intention like Nico Rosberg, & nothing will change on this front as long as he doesn’t say he definitely wants to return, so all pointless speculation without foundation by some third parties.
For the time being, I still think Bottas will stay put & not mainly because of that image featuring an Audi R8 with his race number, although if Binotto had already decided to sack him, such a reference wouldn’t have been made in the first place.
In any case, I’m surprised about this delay as Sainz hasn’t been on the driver market for two weeks anymore.
I assumed the remaining pieces would get filled quickly, but perhaps the summer shutdown as well as Binotto’s appointment have impacted matters.
Miyata did compete in the 2017 & 2018 Macau GPs + a single WEC round last year, so some marginal previous racing experience outside Japan.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
16th August 2024, 7:20
Seb, do youself a favour, and race with Porsche in Le Mans instead…
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
16th August 2024, 7:47
Rocky is a good choice of picture to go with yet another Vettel comeback story.
notagrumpyfan
16th August 2024, 8:09
I wonder what The Expendables would look like in F1. Vettel, Rosberg, Button, Mansell.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
16th August 2024, 15:58
Aston Martin didn’t deserve Vettel, and it’s a shame his career was cut short because of scheming political garbage, but it is what it is.
Moi
17th August 2024, 10:00
Vettel’s career was cut short by Vettel, by getting outperformed by Leclerc despite enjoying clear #1 status in the team.
Jeffrey Powell
16th August 2024, 9:07
Well there Kyle you certainly have proved you are one Racing’s leading clowns. You obviously think Monaco is a real test of driver ability and a Win there puts you as No. 1. I have a few American friends most of them highly educated and worldly wise, but they would be the first to admit most Americans wouldn’t know where Monaco was perhaps Canada or Mexico duh! . Stick to going round Ovals in old bangers .Please note guys I am not a great fan of Max excepting that is undoubtedly supremely talented and the absolute best at the moment.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
16th August 2024, 12:47
+ 1. Because this comment made me laugh. Put him in his place haven’t you.
David BR (@david-br)
16th August 2024, 12:29
TP kicked out of F1 for race fixing returns to F1.
Great.
Moshambles (@moshambles)
16th August 2024, 15:30
Is Flavio tied with George for 3rd or Lando for 2nd?
FlyingLap (@flyinglapp)
16th August 2024, 15:54
Flavio looks like a homeless person who found a leather jacket. What the heck does Alpine need him for?
MichaelN
16th August 2024, 17:07
Facilitating the sale.
SteveP
16th August 2024, 18:46
Ebay have a fairly open policy, why employ someone to push the buttons?
MichaelN
16th August 2024, 17:09
Vettel to rejoin with, or because, Binotto?
Did someone make that rumour up by looking at Wikipedia and seeing both were at Ferrari?
Why would Vettel want to be reunited with Binotto?!
Why would anyone, for that matter?
bull mello (@bullmello)
16th August 2024, 18:14
Sorry to see Briatore being on a team in F1.
What is Alpine’s game plan to use him for?
Get cheap drivers?
Find an engine? (Not making their own.)
Help the sale of Alpine?
Heap more distress on Alpine?
JMDan (@danmar)
18th August 2024, 17:23
Flavio is spending too much time in the sun. He’s looking like a well-aged prune. Why is he even there. Could the team not find someone more attuned to today’s F1?