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New York Times
15-04-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
An F1 driver of the day quibble. Plus: Early championship standings takeaways
Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic's twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday. Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we're wondering for a friend how to say 'I have a great car' in French. That friend is Oscar Piastri. my multilingual king — نور (@81sprmanager) April 13, 2025 We've never met. Anyway, after another McLaren win in Bahrain, we have ourselves a three-way fight atop the standings. (Catch up with our race briefing.) I'm Patrick, and Madeline Coleman will be along shortly. Let's dive in. For my money, George Russell pulled off one of the coolest/most impressive drives by an F1 driver in some time in Bahrain. From Madeline's story: Russell admitted during the post-race news conference that he was pleased to see the checkered flag. The Briton had essentially driven in the dark (no pun intended, considering the Bahrain GP is a night race). Advertisement That's right — Russell's car was starting to shut down as he drove. As the race unfolded, Russell experienced a brake-by-wire failure, lost GPS functionality, and encountered DRS issues that required his race engineer to guide him via radio on when to use the system. And he still managed a defensive clinic, holding off Lando Norris for P2. Here's a video of the end of Russell's race: If it feels like Russell has hit his stride lately, you're not imagining things: He's finished in the top five in the last nine grands prix. For more on Russell's drive in the dark, read here. F1 fans voted Lewis Hamilton as Driver of the Day for the Bahrain GP, with the Ferrari driver receiving 29.6 percent of the vote. That surprised me. He may have secured his season-best finish after navigating from ninth to sixth, but his drive is not one of the ones that caught my eye on Sunday. I'd argue Pierre Gasly, Ollie Bearman or even George Russell deserved the acknowledgement more. Gasly did receive 6.5 percent of the vote after an impressive weekend, capping it off with scoring Alpine's first points of the season. The Frenchman qualified fifth and that turned into starting fourth after Kimi Antonelli's penalty. He battled largely in the main pack, and while Max Verstappen did take sixth from him on the last lap, the Alpine driver finished seventh. Bearman had a rough qualifying, but he pulled it together come race day, navigating from last place to a 10th-place finish as a rookie. The Haas driver had a solid start and navigated his way to his third consecutive points finish. But what was impressive was how he kept Mercedes' Antonelli behind him. (If you haven't yet, make sure to give his end-of-race radio a listen, as there is a special appearance from Bearman's father and brother.) Advertisement And then there's the case of Russell, who did everything right as his car experienced a series of failures. His one-place grid penalty was due to a team mistake, just like Antonelli's, and he jumped to second after nailing his start on Sunday. Second is realistically the maximum he could have achieved in a fully functioning Mercedes given McLaren driver Oscar Piastri's pace. We're only three races into the season and a pattern is emerging. The pole sitter has won each race, and the championship battle is much closer than in recent years, with Verstappen trailing Norris by just a point heading into Bahrain. But it would be too early to call this a three-way title fight. There are still 21 grands prix and five sprint races remaining, with the season lasting into December. As Verstappen said, 'A lot of things can happen, right?' Norris pointed out how Charles Leclerc 'was not that much slower,' noting that 'his second stint on the Hards was just as quick as mine,' and George Russell was also quick during the weekend. The Mercedes driver secured consecutive podium finishes in Australia and China before bringing home fifth in Japan. There may have been a notable gap between the top three finishers in Japan and Leclerc and Russell, as the Ferrari driver was 16 seconds off of Verstappen. But Piastri also isn't writing off Mercedes and Ferrari. 'Mercedes looked very threatening at times this weekend,' he said. 'Ferrari — people forget that Charles' race in China he did with, essentially, half a front wing. So if anyone else had tried to do the race he did in China, they would have had to box pretty quickly.' McLaren currently leads the constructors' standings with 111 points, while Mercedes has 75 and Red Bull 61 (entirely thanks to Verstappen). While McLaren is the most complete team right now, between the driver lineup and strong car, the margins are thin. 'We have a small advantage,' Piastri said Sunday, 'but this weekend has really shown that any small mistake and there's a lot of competition there to capitalize.' Thanks, Madeline. Now it's time for … It's been a minute since we glanced at both championships. Here is where things stand after four rounds and after McLaren's latest win on Sunday. Some thoughts: Verstappen said 'everything went wrong' for him in Bahrain after a sixth-place finish. It was something to see the F1 juggernaut get overtaken by rookie Kimi Antonelli early on and have to battle his way past a Haas for position. On Monday, Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko admitted that 'the concern is great' about Verstappen's future with Red Bull due to its current car struggles. It'll be the storyline to watch on Thursday when media day gets underway in Jeddah. 📚 Kimi Antonelli is making F1 history with Mercedes, while still trying to finish high school and prep for final exams. 🏎️ Hamilton is struggling to find his groove at Ferrari, qualifying ninth in Bahrain and admitting he's 'just not doing a good enough job' despite believing the car is capable of better results. Advertisement 🤦♂️The FIA admitted they 'got it wrong' in Bahrain qualifying when they sparked controversy about track limits enforcement. 🔥 And, finally, Oscar Piastri's flawless Bahrain GP win while teammate Lando Norris made several costly mistakes shifted momentum in the title battle 📫 Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters. (Top photo of Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty Images)
New York Times
04-04-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
A scary F1 rookie mistake in Japan. Plus, Yuki Tsunoda's solid Red Bull debut
Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic's twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday. Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we have a lot of Formula One to cover: A big rookie mistake, Japanese Grand Prix practice and an ominous portal. I'm Patrick, and Luke Smith will be along shortly. Let's dive in. We had barely begun FP2 from Suzuka last night when Jack Doohan had a frightening crash. Doohan, the 22-year-old Alpine rookie, built up speed for his first push lap. He flicked his Drag Reduction System (DRS) on to build speed. He barreled down the main straight, approaching Turn 1 at more than 200 mph. And … A post shared by FORMULA 1® (@f1) First off, the important bit: Alpine and Doohan confirmed after the session that he's okay. But what happened? Folks … he didn't turn his DRS off before he entered the corner. Don't believe me? 🧐 COMPUTER, ENHANCE! 🧐 So here's the deal: DRS works by opening a flap on the rear wing that reduces drag and gives drivers more straight-line speed. It's fantastic for overtaking on straights. But in speedy corners, you need downforce (the magical thing pushing the car into the ground so you can actually turn). When DRS opens, you sacrifice a huge chunk of your rear downforce for more speed. This means: (Check out our DRS explainer here.) When Doohan entered the high-speed Turn 1 with the DRS flap open, it made the rear of the car really excited to become the front of the car. Bam. Into the wall. Let's not mince words: That is a scary, scary crash at super-high speed. This why F1 cars automatically close the DRS flap when drivers brake or release the activation button. But the driver has do do those things. Advertisement So what does this tell us? I don't think Doohan forgot to close DRS. Doohan was pushing — in the simulator, he might have learned he could carry a little more DRS speed into the corner. In real life, he misjudged. (He's never raced an F1 car at Suzuka before.) While it's natural for any F1 driver to push his car to the limits on any given lap, Doohan is under some extra pressure. We've written on it before: As we've learned in the past 10 days with Liam Lawson and Red Bull, windows to prove yourself can shut quickly in F1. In trying to make the most of his yesterday, Doohan instead made a costly mistake. Some takeaways from FP1 and FP2 … McLaren is looking terrifyingly quick around the figure-eight track, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri trading places at the top of the timesheets. The papaya cars are absolutely rapid right now. Charles Leclerc became the latest to say McLaren is 'on another planet' compared to everyone else. FP2 was basically a mess of red flags and brief bursts of actual driving: Oh, you wanted to see the fire. THE GRASS IS ON FIRE (yes, again) — Holiness (@F1BigData) April 4, 2025 Told you there was a portal. Mercedes is lurking dangerously close to the front, too, with George Russell particularly quick. (Luke wrote why he needs a new contract — more on that in a second.) Don't sleep on them for qualifying — they could absolutely spoil McLaren's party if the wind changes direction (which it's predicted to do). Max Verstappen and Red Bull still have things to sort — he said 'a lot of things are not clicking.' On a track where you need complete trust in your machine to attack those sweeping esses, that's a problem. Meanwhile, there's the whole Tsunoda-to-Red Bull drama playing out. For more on that, here's Luke. All eyes were obviously on Yuki Tsunoda for his maiden on-track appearance as a Red Bull driver on Friday at Suzuka. And so far, he's been doing a good job. I wrote about his first days at the team this week. The remit from Red Bull team boss Christian Horner to Tsunoda was to get as close as possible to Max Verstappen. In FP1, Tsunoda lapped just one-tenth of a second off Verstappen, getting closer than Liam Lawson did at any point in the opening two race weekends. Advertisement I spent most of FP1 tuned in to Tsunoda's radio, and the chatter back and forth with his race engineer was fascinating. They regularly exchanged comments about the car setup and balance when Tsunoda wasn't on a hot lap. Tsunoda said at one stage, he didn't want to change anything on the car as he wanted to keep the reference point he had, but he was quite specific in terms of balance changes, particularly at the rear of the car. For Tsunoda to be on the pace immediately compared to Verstappen is an encouraging sign for Red Bull. But the way he has handled getting the seat — basically, owning it — is perhaps an even better sign of the fit he will be. We'll only know for sure come qualifying tomorrow just how close he is, but so far, so good. Lawson spoke to the media this week about Red Bull dropping him to Racing Bulls after two races. It was fascinating to watch his body language in the news conference. Madeline Coleman wrote: 💬 Asked whether the demotion was in his best interests or whether it had damaged his confidence, Lawson's response reflected a self-assured attitude as he continued to navigate the tricky topic. By contrast, his responses to other questions were mixed with 'uh' and 'uhm.' She did a good job sifting through his (and Red Bull's) assessments of the situation this week. And asked the important question: Can Lawson return to Red Bull? Read it all here. F1's long history with champagne Ever wondered why F1 drivers spray champagne after making the podium? Luke went inside the tradition, which is back this year. That's right — the last four years, drivers were spraying sparkling wine! George Russell is out of a contract after this season, but he's off to a terrific start so far. Astute observation by Luke this week that, until he re-signs, fans will wonder whether the 'Verstappen to Mercedes' links will resurface. No live blog from us, as the race will be at 1 a.m. ET on Sunday. But you should still bookmark our track breakdown! Finally, if you were wondering why Red Bull is in white this weekend, here's the backstory. 📫 Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
New York Times
21-03-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
A Ferrari bounce-back in China. Plus, don't count on F1's return to V10 engines
Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic's twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday. Welcome back to Prime Tire. I went to bed at 4 a.m. CT. This is the inside of my brain: HELP 😭😭😭 — clara (@leclercsletters) March 21, 2025 But it's all good because it's Chinese Grand Prix weekend. We've got our first sprint race of the year at 11 p.m. ET and a surprising (?) pole-sitter. I'm Patrick, and my writers are asleep. Let's dive in. Remember when I reviewed week one F1 overreactions this week? And I said judging Hamilton on his Australian GP would be a huge overreaction? Hamilton just nabbed his first pole as a Ferrari driver. See, sometimes I'm right! This is exactly the kind of bounce-back Hamilton needed. But that's the thing about F1, isn't it? Just when you think you've got a narrative locked in ('Hamilton struggling at Ferrari!' or 'McLaren will dominate!'), the sport throws you a curveball. Hamilton's laugh over team radio said everything. 'I can't believe we got a pole for the sprint,' Hamilton said afterward, clearly shocked himself. That's also the thing about growing pains, as we called them this week. One weekend, you're sore. The next weekend, you're tall enough to try out for the basketball team. (Or at least I hear that's what it was like for some people. ☹️) Some takeaways from FP1 and sprint qualifying: The sprint will tell us a lot about the grand prix, but for now, I think it's fair to say that McLaren are the favorites again to win, regardless of whether they take pole for Sunday's race. You can find the weekend schedule here! Formula One's latest debate isn't about aero packages or tire compounds — it's about sound. Until 2005, F1 cars featured V10 engines, with 10 cylinders arranged in a V-formation. The sound they made produced a signature scream. (Imagine if a swarm of caffeinated banshees decided to throw a rave inside a blender.) Nowadays, F1 runs quieter V6 hybrid power units to improve fuel efficiency and align with automotive industry trends. But many fans and drivers lament the loss of F1's distinctive soundtrack. (For instance, many of you still resent me for calling V10 sounds overrated. I saw the unsubscribe numbers on that post!) Advertisement So, if V10s are old news, why am I talking about them? Because people in the sport are, including FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Even hybrid-era star Verstappen admitted this week that, 'for pure emotion of the sport, V10 is definitely much better than what we have now.' The dream faces practical obstacles, however. It's a choice between environmental progress and recapturing some visceral appeal. Plus, it's pretty late to change course before the new 2026 engine regulations. Here's a gem of a quote from Christian Horner: 'It's 10 past midnight and Cinderella has left the building.' F1 Academy is about to drop the clutch on its third season with a completely revamped grid and calendar. The all-women racing series is expanding to six teams with 17 full-time drivers plus a wild card entry at each round. Only six drivers return from 2024! (And you thought the F1 grid was fresh.) Oh, and Las Vegas hosts the season finale. But hey, here's the headline: The return of reverse grids! Race 1 will flip the top eight qualifiers, creating the chaos we love. This format change aims to prevent another Abbi Pulling-style dominance while creating more wheel-to-wheel action. Look, if watching talented racers like Doriane Pin and Maya Weug battle from P8 to the front doesn't convince you to tune in, nothing will. Hey, this has me thinking! Maybe it's time to start calling your representatives to demand that F1 adopt reverse grids for sprint races, too. Let's be honest — sprint races are already a bit of a gimmick that F1 invented to add more action to race weekends. Why not just go all in? (Yes, yes, because top teams wouldn't like it much. I know.) Reverse grids would deliver what sprint races promised but haven't consistently delivered: actual passing, unpredictable results, and mid-field teams getting rare podium chances. Until then, at least we'll have F1 Academy, which seems to be doing a lot of things right. Check out our season preview here. The Athletic's motorsports team is doing a fantasy league this year. I'll share the standings every four races, but here's where we stand after the first week: George Russell says that McLaren's advantage could be better than Red Bull's was at its best. 👀 Don't forget to bookmark our Chinese GP track breakdown this weekend! And, finally, former F1 team principal Eddie Jordan passed away this week. Luke wrote a lovely tribute to Jordan, one of F1's more colorful characters. 📫 Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
New York Times
14-03-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
McLaren emerges as Australian GP favorites. Plus, Bearman's rookie mistake
Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic's weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox. Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we're happy to announce that Formula One is back. It wasn't official until we said that. The Australian Grand Prix weekend is well underway. I'm Patrick, and Luke Smith will be along shortly. Let's dive in. There's no use predicting F1 right now Our 2025 season predictions are out today. And I have a confession to make. Midway through the second practice session (FP2) in Melbourne, I wrote this in our Slack channel: i'm already convinced i have the worst predictions ah well I remember feeling the same way about last season's predictions. We write these before cars hit the track for the first practice sessions of the season (again, preseason testing doesn't telegraph much). Once you start to see most of the cars unleashed during the first weekend of the year, it's pretty easy to feel silly about your preconceived notions. At least, it is for me. For instance: So, I don't know what's real anymore, and won't until Sunday. (And even then, it's supposed to rain.) After FP2, 'that's where you start to understand whether you are fifth team, eighth team or 10th team or seventh,' Sainz said on Thursday. He's right, and I'd also argue that even now is too early to tell. Remember, Norris and McLaren didn't emerge as title contenders last season until the Miami Grand Prix in May. We've got a long road ahead, folks. It's Schrödinger's prediction season. We're all simultaneously right and wrong for the next month or so. (At least, that's what I'll be telling myself.) Based on the first two practices, the top teams to beat in Melbourne look like: Race preview round-up: If you thought I was kidding about the ducks, I wasn't. But there's no moat — just ducks. George Russell almost hit a flock of them in practice, and then Luke had a run-in during his post-practice track jog: Ollie Bearman's inevitable, important error The hype around Bearman has all tracked one way — upward — since his last-minute debut for Ferrari in Jeddah last year. But there was always going to be a moment he came back down to earth. That arrived on Friday in Australia when Bearman, 19, crashed at the exit of the high-speed Turn 9-10 chicane after running wide through the gravel, causing him to lose control of his car. Although he got out of the car unaided and was physically fine, the damage to the car meant he could take no part in FP2. A post shared by FORMULA 1® (@f1) Bearman explained the mistake as 'just wanting a bit too much too soon,' noting that he had to change his approach from Formula Two, where there was just a single, short practice session before qualifying, and build things up more gradually with the F1 car. 'Maybe I overdid it slightly, but it's totally on me.' Advertisement Speaking to Bearman, he was clearly downbeat about the mistake and the work it had left his Haas mechanics. But this kind of error was both inevitable — as it is for all the rookies this year — and important. He's learned the hard way how costly these mistakes can be. Now it's about ensuring it does not happen again. What's at stake for Hamilton and Ferrari? For all the optimism and hype around Lewis Hamilton's debut with Ferrari this weekend, the fact remains: Only results matter, and the 40-year-old is running out of time to win his record-setting eighth world championship. As Luke wrote this week: 'F1 rarely deals in fairytales. Many of the previous greats who have driven for Ferrari came with the same hope and promise. Yet when the results did not materialize and the wait for a championship continued, frustration set in, bubbled over and led to their departures in sour fashions.' It's a good reminder that a lot rides on 2025 for Hamilton. I had no idea the 'world's best croissant' (per The New York Times) was made by an ex-F1 engineer. I do now! Read about it here. Psst: There's still time to learn about the five rookies on the grid this year. Finally, two contract extensions to read about: Oscar Piastri at McLaren, and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali. 📫 Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
New York Times
21-02-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Why F1 will be so ‘tough' in 2025. Plus: Haas drivers on Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari debut
Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic's weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox. Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we're wondering what the big deal is about Racing Bulls' livery. It's mostly white. Bleh. Also, the sound of V10 engines is overrated. Happy Friday! I'm Patrick, and Madeline Coleman will be along shortly. Let's dive in. Why the grid will be tight in 2025 On Tuesday, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri said he thinks 'it's gonna be a tough season for everyone from the front of the grid to the back.' There's actually a lot packed into that casual observation, which was echoed by quite a few drivers leading up to F1 75 Live. With F1's current regulations now in their fourth year, the performance gaps that gave front-runners comfortable advantages are shrinking fast. Teams that were once struggling to keep pace have had enough time with these cars to catch up on the learning curve. (See: Ferrari and McLaren's surge last year.) The regulations change in 2026. When teams reach the limits of what's possible under current rules, finding those precious tenths of a second becomes a serious headache. So 2025 is a sweet spot for F1 competition: Innovation is starting to plateau and, as Madeline wrote today, 'all teams must shift their focus before the season's end' to the 2026 cars. The grid has been gradually tightening, but 2025 could be when we finally see margins compress up and down the grid. Driver performance and strategy could make even more difference this season, especially at the top. *touches earpiece* I'm sorry, I'm hearing from the future that Max Verstsappen won every race. Forget everything I've just said. Let's move on to one of F1's lesser-known teams. That's the feeling this week out of Maranello, where Ferrari ran a shakedown of its 2025 car in front of fans and Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc spoke to the media. If you're wondering how the two are getting on as teammates, well, consider the fact they were playing chess during F1 75 Live. (My initial thought: So proper F1 drivers play chess and reserve drivers play Candy Crush?) If you're wondering who the better chess player is, Luke Smith's story has all the details. Advertisement Hamilton's switch to Ferrari has breathed new life into the seven-time world champion. After 12 years in Mercedes silver, Hamilton is embracing the iconic Ferrari red with renewed enthusiasm. The move has clearly energized him after a frustrating final season with Mercedes. 'Every day, I'm experiencing something new, which actually is really exciting,' Hamilton said after his first test in Ferrari's new car. The adjustment has been significant – from the vibration of the Ferrari engine to different steering wheel functions – but Hamilton is embracing the change wholeheartedly. And, yes, Hamilton is learning Italian. But what about the man in the next garage over? While all eyes are on Hamilton's Ferrari debut on March 16 in Australia, his teammate Charles Leclerc shouldn't be overlooked. The 27-year-old Monegasque driver has been with Ferrari since 2019 and has consistently outperformed his teammates. With three wins and 13 podium finishes in 2024, Leclerc came within 18 points of Lando Norris in last season's championship battle. Now, he faces perhaps his greatest challenge yet — going head-to-head with the most successful driver in F1 history. Leclerc calls it 'a huge challenge and probably one of the biggest of my career.' Interestingly, the two drivers have discovered they share similar driving styles, which could benefit Ferrari's development direction. 'We have a very similar driving style, which is a really good thing because I'm pretty sure we will need similar things from the car,' Leclerc noted. Haas drivers on Hamilton's debut in red For weeks (and months), people have discussed their thoughts about Hamilton's blockbuster move to Ferrari, but what do the people within the sport think now that Hamilton has started at the Prancing Horse? Haas driver Esteban Ocon was at Maranello on the simulator the same day Hamilton did his test in January. Advertisement 'It was insane, honestly,' Ocon told The Athletic. 'I got to feel the atmosphere that there is with the tifosi. I was not out on track. I was in the simulator, but when I came out of the factory, there was a lot of people. I'd been able to spend some time with fans out there and to be able to live what was happening there was incredible. You really feel the passion for Formula One, for Ferrari of course, but every year it's growing, and it's fantastic to see.' But will it take some getting used to seeing Hamilton in red, after the lengthy stint at Mercedes? Not for Ocon. 'I'm not in a way surprised or shocked. It feels quite normal, which is weird,' Ocon said. 'Some of the people that I know have said it's gonna take time for them to adjust, and they said the same thing for me as well (at Haas), which they say, 'It feels odd to not see you with the Alpine anymore,' but I guess we will get used to it very quickly.' Haas driver Ollie Bearman grew up a fan of Hamilton's and described it as 'amazing' to see him in the iconic Ferrari colors. 'Actually, I managed to see him in Ferrari quickly. But also seeing the photos and stuff and the driving on track that he's done, how interested and how much traction it got, it's quite incredible,' Bearman said to The Athletic. 'It's the biggest move, I think, in the history of F1 and it's great to see two monumental forces kind of joining together. I can't wait to see what they can achieve.' Thanks, Madeline. Now it's time for … On Wednesday at the Fiorano track, Ferrari fans (or maybe just one) were upset that trees were blocking their view of Lewis Hamilton driving the new Ferrari. How upset? This upset: Some takeaways from me, a fan of nature/not doing vandalism: By the metrics put out by F1, it seems so. The sport says: '1.1 million concurrent viewers watched live on Formula 1's YouTube channel, with 4.6 million total viewers on YouTube across the live broadcast.' Good numbers! And reactions from fans certainly lit up our live blog and social media. But was F1 75 Live a success? Did it work? That's a different sort of question, one our writers tried to answer in their review here. Advertisement Elsewhere, Hamilton says he definitely thinks an eighth championship is in the cards this year at Ferrari. And finally, it looks like Guenther Steiner's legal case against Haas has been resolved. Five days until preseason testing. 📫 Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
