Welcome to Sunday’s edition of the RaceFans round-up.
Comment of the day
Yuki Tsunoda is 12th in our 2024 Formula 1 driver ranking but some think he deserved to be several places higher:
I would personally put him eighth. He beat Ricciardo 12-6 in qualifying, 23-12 on points. He beat Lawson 6-0 in qualifying and 8-4pts. Apparently both of them are very highly rated by Red Bull. It seems Ricciardo was very close to replace Perez after summer break as well but Horner decided to keep him.
In Montreal he had brake issues. RB split the strategy as usual but this time it made sense as it was damp and they gambled with both drivers having different strategy. He was doing an impressive job on used inters but he missed his braking three times that race due to brake issue. That is how Stroll got pass him and then missed it again and Ocon and then he missed his braking once again when he was ninth only few laps before the end. He definitely missed points there but overall he was pretty good. Miami SQ2 with only one push lap was also a missed opportunity.
Honda
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Stealthman and Weasel Chops!
On this day in motorsport
- Born today in 1990: Sergio Perez
- 50 years ago today Shadow driver Carlos Pace won the Brazilian Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit which was named after him following his death two years later. Emerson Fittipaldi made it a one-two for Brazil in his McLaren
- 35 years ago today Claudio Langes signed for EuroBrun
- 35 years ago today Mika Hakkinen tested for Benetton, completing 50 laps on Silverstone’s South Circuit
- 10 years ago today Lotus revealed their final F1 car, the Mercedes-powered E23, before they were taken over by Renault
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Social media and links
F1 deal puts Tag Heuer on track for watchmaking big league (Financial Times)
'Brands are in a race to claim high-profile sponsorships. The average size of F1’s top 10 sponsorship deals has risen 64 per cent from $23mn in 2019 to $38mn for the 2025 season, according to Nielsen.'
Rossi thinks new approach can bring success to ECR (IndyCar)
'I think there’s the potential to surprise a lot of people at points in 2025. Obviously, nothing happens overnight. We're not going to go from the results that have existed the past couple of years to all of a sudden winning every race, but I do think that everything in this sport is (decided by) very small margins. ... It's about putting puzzle pieces together correctly and executing efficiently, and that can add up to results pretty quickly.'
Silent Auction Prize Draw (Grand Prix Trust)
'The prize draw allows access to the Silverstone Formula 1 paddock for two people and it could easily be you, closing at 4pm (UK local time) on 28 February 2025. Good luck!'
1996 Ferrari F355 GTS (RM Sotheby's)
'Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher’s former F355 GTS. Offered from over twenty years of single enthusiast ownership'
Round three, race one - Formula Regional Oceania (Toyota Gazoo Racing New Zealand via YouTube)
RaceFans always endeavours to credit original sources. Want to share a relevant motorsport link with us? Send it in via the contact form.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free