In the round-up: Alpine consultant Flavio Briatore says the team must make up for its power shortfall with a superior chassis next year.
In brief
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Alpine need an extra three-tenths – Briatore
Alpine confirmed yesterday it will switch to using Mercedes power in 2026 after its final season with Renault’s power units. The team leapt to sixth in the constructors’ championship with a strong result in a rain-hit race in Brazil, but Briatore said they will have to be more competitive in dry conditions next year.“In the wet the discussion relating to engine power is reset, so even in 2025 we will have to make up for these three tenths that we are missing by making a better car,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “We must not worry because we know that it is like this and we will have to try to do well using better aerodynamics and studying the tyres. Without feeling sorry for ourselves.”
Stolen Lauda helmet goes on display
The crash helmet Niki Lauda wore when he survived his brush with death at the Nurburgring Nordschleife in 1976, has been displayed to the public for the first time after being stolen.
The helmet was stolen in 1987 and only recently recovered after it appeared at an auction. It was exhibited at the Fiera a Milano event last weekend.
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Links
Wittich mit sofortiger Wirkung weg (Motorsport-Magazin - German)
'When asked, Wittich stressed: 'I have not resigned.''
Grosjean scrambling to stay on IndyCar grid in 2025 (Racer)
'I think last year was probably one of my best seasons, and I may end up not being in the grid next year, just because the marketing has been horrendous for IndyCar, the hybrid has brought the costs to a level that’s unbearable for teams, and that’s the way it is.'
Japanese teams and drivers return to Macau (FIA)
'The formation of the FIA FR World Cup means that from 14-17 November, two of the front-running teams from Japan’s domestic racing scene – TOM’S Formula and TGM Grand Prix (previously known as Sutekina Racing team / Team Goh) will field a total of four drivers from their domestic championship.'
Alejandro Agag: 'We need to return to the level of awareness we had 10 years ago and prioritise climate action once again.'
How F1 cars extinguish fires (Mercedes via YouTube)
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Social media
Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
@garagemdobuda Imagina a Emoção desse Brasileiro ao entregar a Bandeira do Brasil ao @lewishamilton 🥹🇧🇷 história para contar para os Netos e Bisnetos com certeza ! E esse Ronco de pertinho galera que coisa mais linda 😍🥲 Que saudade de assistir você @institutoayrtonsenna @sennabrasil ! #senna #lewishamilton #inerkagos #ayrton
£60 to attend an #F1 event where not only do you see no races, you don't even see the proper cars, just last year's ones with a few different sponsors on them?
No thanks.https://t.co/SewOq3dU53
— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) November 12, 2024
Grosjean scored the team's only podium finish that year at Spa-Francorchamps, where their performance was boosted by what some in the team described as a secret engine mode they 'never saw again' outside of that race:https://t.co/qSM7FTsNSK#F1
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) November 12, 2024
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Formula 1’s plan for a single pre-season launch event will result in less publicity for the series, @Alianora-La-Canta predicts:
This is likely to backfire. Instead of getting press and social media coverage across two to three weeks (as happens when the teams launch separately), it’ll be for one day and then back to struggling to fill time over the winter. (Given the mood in social media, I think any attempt to fill that with more testing and racing would go down like a lead balloon).
@Alianora-La-Canta
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Thenikii, Sid90 and Piotr Zukowski!
On this day in motorsport
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
13th November 2024, 1:01
pray for rain.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
13th November 2024, 5:41
Lol that was one of his best seasons?
Mooa42
13th November 2024, 7:15
best season ever = Lowest number of inter team accidents ever in one season, lowest number of taking team mates out in a season and lowest number of single vehicle crashes while running in good positions = one of Grosjean’s finest years in motorsport. Now he just needs to work on finishing positions …
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th November 2024, 12:36
About that, I saw a crazy comment not many days ago by perez that brazil was one of the best weekends of the season: 1 point in the car that won? Damn, that’s impressive! Including sprint too, I know it’s hard to believe, but can be found on the internet, just came across it accidentally.
Jere (@jerejj)
13th November 2024, 7:42
I doubt Alpine can find the remaining tenths within the current technical regulation cycle anymore.
The final confirmation that Wittich indeed got sacked per se.
SteveP
13th November 2024, 8:41
As I said before regarding the reasons for leaving – likely following “a free and frank exchange of opinions” with MBS
Jere (@jerejj)
13th November 2024, 11:42
I didn’t notice that reference in the original article, but certainly one possible factor.
TheOmega (@omega)
13th November 2024, 10:43
Alpine is sounding a whole lot like McLaren did at the end of their Honda stint, they blamed the Honda engine for all their woes, and only found out their chassis was *censored to prevent Fia punishment* after they changed back to Mercedes engines.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th November 2024, 12:37
Ahaha, I like the censored part! Let’s just call it a disaster!
rprp
13th November 2024, 15:58
They found out their chassis was *(I don’t want community service)* when they switched to Renault. Red Bull were chasing podiums and wins with the same engine.
SPArtacus
15th November 2024, 3:03
Red Bull did not have the same engine AT ALL. This is just absurd historical revisionism. McLaren did have a good chassis with the Honda. All the other teams confirmed how far down they were on power and you could see Alonso eating up or stretching the gap during in the turns and getting absolutely eaten alive in the straights. Then, McLaren made a late switch to Renault, which was not only also a weak engine, but one which their chassis had never been designed for. Think how bad the Honda PU had to be for them to want to switch to the Renault, which RBR had been complaining about so much that it led to their divorce and no one else wanting to use it. The most you can blame McLaren for is them giving Honda overly strict packaging requests, which IIRC, Honda had warned would make their job a lot harder.
Peter707
13th November 2024, 12:13
I still can’t believe this guy is here again.
SPArtacus
15th November 2024, 2:57
Never saw you or anyone else complaining about Pat Symonds or other high level engineers caught in equally egregious scandals. But, for some reason, Briatore is the ultimate boogeyman.