Little has changed on track at the beginning of the 2024 Formula One season; Max Verstappen is winning the races when his car makes it to the chequered flag and the focus for excitement is again on the chasing pack. Ferrari look the strongest of Red Bull’s pursuers while McLaren appear to now have the edge over Mercedes.

The big excitement has been taking place away from the racing, with Red Bull and the FIA both facing difficult times. The other big news of the season was the bombshell announcement that Lewis Hamilton was leaving his career long sponsor Mercedes for Ferrari  next year. This leaves the somewhat under rated Carlos Sainz without a drive going forward, but the Spanish driver has responded stoically, winning the last time out in Melbourne and beating his team mate in Bahrain.

 

 

 

Audi project picks up speed

Of course the Hamilton move has unlocked a range of potential moves amongst other drivers who are out of contract this year. Sainz has already been linked as a replacement for Hamilton at Mercedes, for Perez or Verstappen – should the world champion fulfil his threat to quit Red Bull Racing – and even a possible team mate for Aston Martin should Lance Stroll call time on his son’s patchy F1 career.

Yet with the big new rules era coming in 2026, long before the Ferrari management captured the services of Hamilton Carlos Sainz was linked with the new Audi F1 project. His father has connection with the German marque since joining their Dakar team in 2021 and claiming his fourth victory in the endurance event earlier this season.

It appeared in December Ferrari would offer Sainz a one year contract extension which would see him through to the new FIA rules in 2026, but the Hamilton move scuppered that Carlos must now decided on his immediate future.

Audi stepped up their preparations for their F1 debut buy acquiring a majority stake in the team at the turn of the year, yet their technical director James Key has revealed all is not well in terms of current progress.

Huge Haas F1 break through

 

 

 

Sauber TD cautious over results

Speaking in January about the Audi integration progress Key was managing expectations claiming, “I think ultimately, we’re probably not going to be the final product that we’re aiming for until about ’27 time really, because there is a lot to do.”

Even then Adam Baker, the CEO of Audi Motorsport, claimed the manufacturer only expects to be competing to wins by its third season in Formula 1. “We want to be competitive in three years,”Baker told AS. “It is a realistic goal. We want to compete for wins in the third year.”

The Sainz to Audi rumours have been percolating for some months and even had the Spaniard stayed one more year at Ferrari, he would have been joining the project when the team itself admits it will not be competitive.

TJ13 has regularly questioned whether Sainz next move would be to the future Audi team before they have proved they can challenge for wins and honours. Now Audi appear to be upping the anti in their eagerness for certainty moving forward.

Vettel calls on Horner for “clarity”

 

 

 

Audi signs Hulkenberg

German publication Bild is reporting today that Sauber’s CEO Andreas Seidl, “wants planning security,” and according to AMuS has given Sainz a two month deadline to decide whether he will be driving for the Swiss based team next season.

It appears highly unlikely Sauber, currently switching between the sponsor names ‘Kick’ and ‘Stake’ will land the services of Carlos despite the connections with his father. Currently the team are struggling to design a proper wheel and nut mechanism for their car, costing their drivers lengthy pitstops in the opening rounds of this season.

The same German publication claims it will be all change next year and that Sauber will be ditching both Valterri Bottas and Zhou Guangu and that Nico Hulkenberg has agreed terms for race for the team when his contract with Haas F1 expires in December.

Carlos Sainz Sir has been accompanying his son to the F1 races this year and is believed to be assisting in negotiations for his son’s next race seat.

Vetell’s old strategist predicts his F1 return

 

 

 

Sainz Snr says Ferrari playing fair

“It’s difficult to say where my son will be in 2025,” Sainz Snr told Sky Italia. “I hope to see him in a car that can fight to win.

“Everything that happened (with Ferrari) was a surprise, we didn’t expect it and now we’re trying to understand what to do and where to go. In the meantime, Ferrari seems to be allowing both drivers to push and the feeling is good.

“Red Bull is still the favourite, but Ferrari is closer now,” Sainz snr added.

Not everyone in the F1 world believes the top brass at Ferrari have made the right decision ditching the promising Carlos Sainz for the ageing Lewis Hamilton, who has just one pole position and no race wins in over two years since his epic battle with Verstappen in 2021.

McLaren disappointed with 2024 car

 

 

 

Mario Andretti questions Hamilton future

Former world champion and motorsport legend Mario Andretti admitted the Ferrari move was “a risk.” The American racing legend believes Hamilton is passed his best and the height of his powers diminishing.

“Hamilton seemed to be an extraordinary driver, but now we see that he is also just human,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “That was also the case with Michael Schumacher when he returned.

“It makes me a bit sad that Sainz is being sacrificed to make room for Hamilton,” Andretti added. “Compared to Charles (Leclerc), Carlos seems to immediately have a better feeling with the 2024 car.”

Following Carlos lightening recovery from an Appendix operation in Jeddah, he fought back beating his team mate easily at the Australian GP and is the only reason Ferrari have two races wins in the last 12 months.

Ricciardo jibe backfires as Lawson lined up for Miami

 

 

 

The Italian media were scathing at Ferrari’s decision to sack Sainz following his F1 victory down under. Long time Italian F1 journalist, Maro Canseco, questioned the politics behind the Hamilton/Sainz decision suggesting Formula One’s most famous team has dropped the ball by engaging a driver “in clear decline.”

“In the offices of Maranello, or rather Turin, they made a decision to do without their currently best driver, already in 2023 ahead of Charles Leclerc, to place a driver in clear decline not so much in talent or morale and of lacking in attitude, as the seven-time champion has been demonstrating in recent times,” penned Canseco.

“It is not based on sporting values, but on marketing. May God preserve their sight,” Canseco concludes.

Ferrari may well have done Carlos Sainz a favour by not extending his drive for another season, given the sheer number opportunities with more than half the F1 field out of contract this year.

 

McLaren admit bizarre mistake

 

 

 

Horner complaint includes “sexual harassment” – confirmed toda

Since the turn of the year, the Formula One Red Bull team has been engulfed in drama initiated by a compliant made against team boss Christian Horner by a female employee. The accusation was lodged in December and included allegations of “inappropriate and controlling behaviour” but the team have steadfastly refused to confirm whether there was any element of a sexual nature.

Red Bull engaged a Kings Council barrister to independently manage the complaints process and in the days before the Bahrain opening race they revealed the allegations had been dismissed. Within hours an anonymous email was sent to 149 senior paddock individuals claiming to contain documents and evidence which had formed part of the complaint… READ MORE