In the round-up: Charles Leclerc expects Lewis Hamilton to push him hard as a team mate in 2025.
In brief
Leclerc expects “big challenge” from Hamilton at Ferrari
Charles Leclerc says he expects to face a “big challenge” from incoming team mate Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari next year.
“Looking forward, Lewis is obviously a seven times world champion, the most successful driver in Formula 1 ever,” Leclerc said on the Box Box Box podcast. “So it’s going to be a big challenge for me, but I’m really looking forward to it.
“On one side, I’ll be able to learn from Lewis in the same car him, which is great. But as well trying to prove what I’m capable of in the same car as Lewis. And this is a big motivation for me.”
Hill to leave Sky’s F1 coverage
Damon Hill has confirmed that this season will be his last as a pundit for Sky Sports F1’s coverage of the sport on British television.The 1996 world champion has been involved with Sky’s coverage of Formula 1 since the broadcaster acquired exclusive rights to show all grands prix live in the UK from the 2012 season.
“It’s been a fantastic 13 years with Sky Sports F1 but all good things come to an end,” Hill posted on social media. “I will miss the most impressive bunch of professionals it has ever been my pleasure to have worked with. Looking forward to new challenges.”
Ugochukwu takes Macau pole in chaotic qualifying
McLaren development driver Ugo Ugochukwu took pole position for the Macau Grand Prix after seven red flags in the qualifying session.
Racing for the R-ace team, Ugochukwu set the best lap time with a 2’19.107, beating Oliver Goethe by just 0.014s. Noel Leon will start third on the grid with Enzo Deligny fourth.
After no fewer than seven separate red flag stoppages for incidents in the session, race control called all drivers to an extraordinary drivers’ briefing to discuss concerns about driving standards in both of Friday’s sessions.
Ugochukwu will start on pole for today’s qualifying race Macau Grand Prix, the first ran with Formula Regional cars, with the main race taking place on Sunday.
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Lee Fedden joins FIA as Digital Director (FIA)
'In his role, Lee will lead the development and execution of digital strategy, ensuring information systems are secure, scalable, and aligned with the FIA's strategic goals. He will focus on advancing data integration, analytics, and digital solutions. Lee brings nearly two decades of experience in digital strategy and transformation, shaped by impactful roles at industry-leading organisations. Most recently, he led Data and Analytics at Williams Racing Formula One team, and prior to that, managed major digital transformation programs at S&P Global.Lee holds an MBA from the University of Westminster and a BEng in Internet Engineering from the University of Essex.'
Scam company which offered fake hospitality packages to British Grand Prix is shut down (Gov.UK)
'Manchester-based Informa Expo Ltd claimed the packages for this year’s race at Silverstone had become available due to a cancellation and were advertised to prospective clients at a heavily discounted price. Customers who paid for the tickets were subsequently unable to contact Informa Expo due to its phone and email contacts being taken down. Insolvency Service investigations identified losses to customers of approximately £230,000. Informa Expo, which traded under the banner of Informa Hospitality Group, was wound-up at the High Court in Manchester on Wednesday 13 November.'
F1 Manager 24 Update 1.9: Feature Deep Dive (Frontier Developments)
'Pitlane starts are now fully supported in F1 Manager 24! Using the real-world regulations as a base, these bring an additional level of authenticity to the game. Parc fermé rules take effect from whenever your car first goes on track during Q1 or SQ1; a strict list of rules is then applied:'
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Williams will continue to run their yellow engine cover at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, with a different sponsor.
#F1 #RaceFans
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet.bsky.social) 15 November 2024 at 11:06
Rumours that Williams might not have two cars ready in Las Vegas are wide of the mark. I'm told the team and its suppliers have been hard at work in the gap since Brazil (where it suffered big crashes) and it's business as usual #F1
— Chris Medland (@chrismedlandf1.bsky.social) 15 November 2024 at 13:37
Ferrari 049 2000 #F1 V10.
3.0 litre, 770hp @+17k rpm., 106kg, 61.5cm long.
#F1Tech— Scarbstech (@scarbstech.bsky.social) 15 November 2024 at 07:56
From November 15th to January 12th, grab your Fan Ticket at Musei Ferrari for a chance to join the exclusive launch of Scuderia Ferrari HP’s 2025 single-seater in person.#FerrariLiveYourDream #MuseiFerrari #Ferrari pic.twitter.com/kiaYcMWEJN
— Musei Ferrari (@MuseiFerrari) November 15, 2024
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Comment of the day
Valtteri Bottas is seemingly off the F1 grid next year, but Ideals feels the Sauber driver has reached the end of the line…
I think it was The Race that said this recently, but if you’re more known for your social media presence than your racing, it’s time to go. I think they were referring to Daniel Ricciardo, but I’d say it applies to Bottas all the same.
He’s spent five years playing number two to a championship winning driver, I don’t think there’s any more value in giving him a seat for any team that couldn’t go to a skilled rookie that you can build a future with and I’m glad the team chose to go for Gabriel Bortoleto over Bottas.
Ideals
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Craig, Cduk_Mugello, Ashwin and Tomez!
SPArtacus
16th November 2024, 0:47
I mean, what’s Leclerc going to say? “I expect to demolish him” or “I’m afraid he’s going to crush me.”
Joe (@jb784)
16th November 2024, 22:19
I agree. He is only ever going to give one answer, so it’s completely useless information
BenHur
17th November 2024, 8:14
Let’s watch Charles doing the talking on track. Something like Dan Ricciardo did for the benefit of Seb Vettel.
Alonslow
16th November 2024, 2:53
4 Years of Max Verstappen was too much for Damon.
SteveP
16th November 2024, 7:30
Four?
Two years of a dominant car, one year when Max is having to work for it. That seems to be the totality.
Do remember that DH drove against MS.
Gerard
16th November 2024, 12:15
Back in the day when he was still racing, I always thought he was a bit of a sad character. He of all people knows what it is like to race against the level of Senna, Schumacher and Verstappen. Apparently he is still not over it.
Alonslow
16th November 2024, 17:34
More than domination years I meant any year with a non British driver winning, Hill looks dead inside whenever one his boys is not on top.
Illusive (@illusive)
17th November 2024, 9:42
I cant forget the interview he had with Horner after Brazil. Dude looked like he lost a billion dollors in stock. I have said it in the past that some bias is ok and to be expected, but dont be so obvious that it looks bad on TV. He is free to have his own podcast and vent it out there now as EJ does.
Craig
18th November 2024, 9:05
“work for it” is debatable, he’s more or less cruising by dint of enjoying a superior car for the first half the the season to give him an unassailable lead that’s unlikely to be overcome without a lot of exceptional circumstances going against him.
SPArtacus
21st November 2024, 6:19
First half being the first 4 races…AKA 1/6th of the season.
Ankita
16th November 2024, 5:22
As things look now, he shouldn’t expect much more than what he faces with Sainz.
Jere (@jerejj)
16th November 2024, 6:20
I immediately suspected that Williams wouldn’t truly be in danger as they can always re-use older spec parts if necessary, but a team failing to participate even with a gap of two non-GP weekends is unusual & thus, the claims immediately seemed exaggerated.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
17th November 2024, 9:59
@jerejj I’m more concerned about what happens if there’s another crash or two in Las Vegas and/or Qatar, than I ever was about Las Vegas. There won’t be time to turn around a broken chassis, so I hope the preparations include a spare. Not all crashes can be controlled for with savvy driving and careful monitoring of car components.
SteveP
16th November 2024, 7:25
I’d say “finally” but the main character in this seems to specialise in buying companies with a legitimate registration, operating them as shells out of one of a number of run-down houses in Wolverhampton and then parting people from their money. So, unless he’s locked up, he’ll be back.
One company name (Darcella Ltd) was new to me, but the Prive had a few variants used, which the article doesn’t mention, and I’m pretty sure those variants were operating before 2022
I was curious why they seem to have taken action, and…
Always a bad idea, upsetting HMRC. Ask Bernie.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
17th November 2024, 10:00
And Manor, which nearly didn’t get to the 2015 season for precisely this reason.
Diez Cilindros (@diezcilindros)
16th November 2024, 7:53
“With no qualifying race this year, Ugochukwu will start on pole for the Macau Grand Prix”
Then what’s what I’m watching right now from the official FIA YT channel?
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
16th November 2024, 11:08
A fantasy 😂
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
16th November 2024, 11:08
I’m actually expecting Leclerc to beat Lewis hard. I honestly believe this will turn out like Lorenzo going to Honda alongside Marquez and being pushed to retirement.
Ben
16th November 2024, 12:02
+1 I hope I’m wrong as there’d be something very special about Hamilton winning his 8th WDC for Ferrari. But honestly, I just don’t see it. He’s had a couple of fantastic drives this season but 80% of the time he’s been shocking bad.
Is it different treatment from Mercedes? Maybe being blocked from engineering meetings is hurting him. Who knows, but his results have been very poor.
I rate Leclerc higher than Russell and this year has been an utter domination from Russell.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
16th November 2024, 12:11
You can’t possible equate the two situations. I too slightly rate LeClerc above, but let’s remember that it’s Hamilton who’s leading his team-mate and that in his worst ever season. That puts things into perspective a bit more.
In recent weeks Hamilton volunteered to do whatever was needed for the team alluding, that rightly, upgrades etc should go to George. I don’t think the team have done this, but it kind of shows that Hamilton’s mind is not really with Mercedes anymore.
One thing people underrate about Hamilton is that he knows what works for him. It could be that the Ferrari suits his style better.
anon
16th November 2024, 18:35
Ben, it certainly wouldn’t be surprising if part of the problem would be due to the team restricting access to some technical data related to the W15, given that there is also widespread consensus that the W15 has a very narrow operating window and doesn’t always react as expected to set-up changes.
Doh
18th November 2024, 6:44
Toto said fairly recently too that they’re still experimenting since they’re not under any pressure in the championship
MacLeod (@macleod)
18th November 2024, 8:51
Lewis is there when they do engineering talk during the race weekends and he will there with the normal meeting only the meetings with the 2025 car parts he will be not there.
That is normal otherwise Lewis could be beter go on vacation the whole 2024 if he can’t talk to the engineers during the year….
MichaelN
16th November 2024, 15:04
Whatever one thinks of Hamilton, it doesn’t seem a good idea to underestimate him. Even now he’s basically tied with Russell on points.
I expect it’ll be very close, and wouldn’t be at all surprised if Hamilton edges out Leclerc. But Hamilton is obviously not the future, so I hope that being matched with Hamilton will give Leclerc that final nudge to be a true competitor to Verstappen over the remainder of his career.
Illusive (@illusive)
17th November 2024, 9:47
I mean that doesnt paint the true picture, does it. We know Russel had DNF’s and not to forget Spa DSQ. It has be a horrid season for Lewis. I havent seen him struggle so much even in his worst Mclaren years and to say Mercedes is doing fishy is just not accepting that Lewis can do no wrong.
SPArtacus
16th November 2024, 21:23
It’s possible. Leclerc’s just hit his peak prime: a veteran now yet still very young + having the best season of his career so far. But, besides quali, the difference between Lewis and George has been negligible this season and LH has never shone in inconsistent cars. What makes Lewis so special is his ability to raise his performance ceiling so amazingly high when he’s in a good car. So, assuming it is a good car, it should make for an epic duel.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
17th November 2024, 10:01
@fer-no65 It might (I wouldn’t guarantee it, as I suspect Hamilton’s current lull is team-relationship-related and he might therefore get the upper hand in 2025), but it’s not Leclerc’s style to assume that, let alone say it.
Jogo
16th November 2024, 23:19
This is the end for Leclerc, he should leave Ferrari sooner, now they will make some money and ads with Hamilton (so basically Charles isn’t allowed to beat Lewis) and after that I think they’ll just swap Hamilton with Verstappen.
SPArtacus
17th November 2024, 3:54
Paranoid much?
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
17th November 2024, 4:07
I seriously doubt that, I think leclerc will, worst case match hamilton at this point.
SPArtacus
17th November 2024, 5:24
Yes. It seemed an oddly paranoid take to me.
Illusive (@illusive)
17th November 2024, 9:51
Charles is Ferrari’s future believe it or not. Max will either move to AM if there is a serious leadership change and I mean no Stroll around to make decisions because he is the main reason that the team is being held back or he’ll stay at RedBull if the RBPT delivers. Mercedes seems a longshot now but still cant be written off for 26 with active aero.
Jogo
17th November 2024, 16:44
“Charles is Ferrari’s future believe it or not”
After all these years? After signing Hamilton? I mean it’s not 2019. Let’s face it he didn’t make it. Perception is king. That’s why they bring Hamilton. At least he’s useful for business purposes.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
17th November 2024, 10:04
Even if the rest of those things happened, Verstappen will never go there, short of having a total personality change. At this point he’s such a bad fit for Ferrari that I’m not sure he and they would be capable of completing season 1 together (regardless of the results on track). The non-track stuff would be too much for Verstappen, who very much specialises in the on-track stuff and expects the team to protect him to some extent on tasks like unofficial morale officer duties and over-onerous sponsor obligations.
Jogo
17th November 2024, 16:55
Of course he will try to join them at some point of career, don’t even doubt that.
Ajaxn
17th November 2024, 13:48
Let’s face it Leclerc already has the jump on Hamilton. He knows the car, which Hamilton can only discover next season. I’ll be surprised if Leclerc doesn’t run away with it. The real deal will start with the 2026 car.
SPArtacus
17th November 2024, 17:24
I agree, which is why if Lewis within a win’s worth of points at the end of the season, I’ll consider it an accomplishment. 2026 should be more even, but at the same time, Hamilton and Alonso are only handicapped more each season by the inevitable march of time. I wish they could remain young forever.
But might as well wish for a grid made up of Senna, Prost, Schumacher, Alonso, Hamilton, Max, Leclerc, etc. Maybe 300 years in the future we’ll be able to make clones of them all from scraps of DNA and put them on an artificial island where they are made to race endlessly for our entertainment. lol
Haas Khan (@haas918)
17th November 2024, 20:07
Surely there will be a close competition between these two at Ferrari but I feel Leclerc will do better than Hamilton.