Table of contents for December 2024 in AUTOSPORT

If Brazil turns out to have been a pivotal point in the 2024 world championship then I think most observers – partisan fans as well as we neutrals – have cause to rejoice. Indubitably one of the candidates for the drivers’ title raced like a champion while the other one didn’t. You may lament Max Verstappen’s often prickly off-track demeanour and sometimes questionable etiquette in close combat. You may cavil at his team’s tiresome with-us-or-against-us mentality (and, indeed, his team principal’s cynical foghorn amplification of absurd conspiracy theories). But you cannot dispute the quality of a wet-weather victory for the ages while setting fastest laps as he pleases. Let’s not go down the rabbit hole of trying to rank them in order of quality but Max’s Brazil 2024 deserves to…

I noticed in the pictures people were posting from sprint qualifying that a few of the cars were kicking up quite a lot of sparks as they came through the Esses section of the Circuit of The Americas. So I decided to go there for quali on Saturday, knowing they would most likely be doing it again. As you’d expect from a car with an obviously low ride height and a reputation for bumping and grinding against the track surface, the Mercedes was definitely the ‘sparkiest’. I started off with a rear shot then moved round to get them from the front. Sadly by that point Lewis Hamilton had been eliminated but there was one Merc left… Where Austin, USA When 5.50pm, Saturday 19 October 2024 Details Canon EOS R5…

When Mexico came back to the world championship calendar in 2015 after a 23-year absence there was much muttering in the global fan community about the changes to the infamous final turn, the Peraltada. Sadly they were never going to be able to keep it given the absence of run-off. Now the track’s final sector runs through the Foro Sol baseball and concert stadium. While it’s not a great sequence of corners, certainly for this generation of cars, it’s a marvellous and atmospheric setting, especially as the sun dips over the lip of the roof. The cheers of the crowd even drowned out the editor of this magazine’s complaints about the lack of an apostrophe on the ‘photographers window’ sign… Where Mexico City, Mexico When 4.02pm, Friday 25 October 2024…

Back in 2019, two full years after Liberty Media acquired Formula 1, I received a call from a New York-based investment analyst asking if I thought the sport’s new owners stood a chance of growing the number of official sponsors of the world championship. Bernie Ecclestone had not fully exploited the opportunity, yet Liberty were making positive noises about the prospects for strong growth in that area. “Give it time,” I said, pointing out that Liberty was rather busy with more pressing matters. This included finalising a new Concorde Agreement with the teams and developing a financial model for the sport that worked for all the key stakeholders. Much has happened in the five years since, the new Concorde Agreement being signed in 2020 and quickly followed by the introduction of…

How important is it for you to get an opportunity like the test in the Red Bull car post-Abu Dhabi? Because until now, your contention for a Red Bull Racing seat is based on how you perform in this team [RB]. Do you feel like you need to get in the Red Bull car to show what you can do? Yeah, it will be a very good opportunity. At least I finally can show a bit of my driving. I think it’s very important. It feels great that finally they’re giving me an opportunity. I don’t know if it still happens or not. I’ve tried to maximise my chances. How hard have you been pushing for it? Has Honda been pushing for it? Definitely Honda helped me to push the…

THE END OF RENAULT as an engine manufacturer in Formula 1 will be nothing like the beginning. How could it be when the French firm arrived in the Silverstone paddock halfway through the 1977 season like Del Boy and Rodney turning up at a wake dressed as Batman and Robin? There were jokes about the Renault (nicknamed the Yellow Teapot because of its unfortunate habit of emitting clouds of steam) but, beneath the ribaldry, there was an unmistakable nervousness among British teams fearing the beginning of the end to their decade of uncomplicated running with the Ford-Cosworth DFV. On the other hand, the more technically minded observers were as excited as Mohammed Ben Sulayem spotting a photo opportunity. They were happy to delve into the intricacies of turbocharging thanks to…

1 Heaven from 17th for Max It’s difficult to find enough superlatives to describe Max Verstappen’s performance in the São Paulo Grand Prix. Given his frustration on race day morning, it would have been all too easy to let his emotions get the better of him and slip off the rain-soaked Interlagos track. As Max digested the prospect of starting from 17th on the grid, with title rival Lando Norris on pole, his mood – and that of the Red Bull team – was one of exasperation. After a slew of penalties from the stewards in recent races (including a five-second VSC infringement in Saturday’s sprint), they publicly questioned Race Control’s officiating in qualifying. Yet, in the face of these odds, Verstappen showed precisely why he is on the brink…

@Nauckas facebook.com/gpracingonline The Silverstone mistakes, Oscar Piastri’s Monza muscle, the Baku Q1 yellow flag misfortune. These moments did not cost Lando Norris his long-shot 2024 Formula 1 world title. This is mathematically still on, though Max Verstappen’s brilliant drive to win the São Paulo Grand Prix from 17th on the grid when Norris had started from and lost another pole has made the prospect more remote. But the fact is the real damage was done in the first five rounds, where the MCL38’s early long-corner weakness and lack of DRS efficiency set up a 52-point deficit Norris has been trying to claw back ever since. Max is just too good to let such an advantage slip, even when his formerly dominant squad was crumbling around him. Heading to the bright…

ANDREW BENSON The BBC’s Formula 1 correspondent delves into the whys and wherefores of Adrian Newey’s switch to Aston Martin (p54) ALEX KALINAUCKAS Alex analyses what’s going on with Red Bull’s driver programme as the conveyor belt of talent seems to be at a stop at the moment (p32) DAMIEN SMITH The TS14 was the last serious throw of the dice for John Surtees as an F1 contructor/owner but, as Damien explains, it didn't pay off (p66) JAMES ROBERTS Our former associate editor has been busy this month supplying our race reports (p84-95) and regular Pro Profile (p30) Thanks to Jess Borrell, Cameron Kelleher, Roman De Lauw, Rebecca Leppard, Sara Malocco, Kevin Tee, Fabiana Valenti…

Although there are now three races in the United States this remains one of my favourites because not only is the Circuit of The Americas a great track, it’s rewarding to photograph. It often throws up unusual races, too. While I could see from trackside that the Ferrari was quick and looked stable, you would still have expected a Max Verstappen or Lando Norris win… until the first corner. The big flags in Austin are great photographic sighters for the event, really giving it a sense of place. This one is at the top of the hill outside Turn 1. Add in some glorious late-afternoon sun, a wind and some big Texas clouds and you’ve got all the elements you need. Where Austin, USA When 3.20pm, Saturday 19 October 2024…

01 FOUR AND DONE? Why Red Bull is facing a windrought 02 SWISS WATCH Bottas clocks out of Sauber/Audi WHY IT’S MAX OR BUST FOR RED BULL 01 Max Verstappen’s spectacular drive in Brazil – from 17th on the grid to victory – will go down in history not only as one of his most remarkable wins but also as a decisive knock-down for 2024 title rival Lando Norris. With a 62-point lead and three races remaining as this issue of GP Racing arrives on the shelves, only something extraordinary can prevent Max securing his fourth consecutive title with Red Bull. And yet there are reasons to believe this could also turn out to be the last title for the dominant force of recent years. Credible doubts remain over Verstappen’s appetite to…

A challenging year for the Alpine team has been tough for French connections in Formula 1. Based in the UK yet owned by the Renault Group and with power delivered from the southern side of Paris to provide two French drivers with opportunities to shine, it hasn’t delivered results. In a period when the nation that hosted the first motorsport events in the 1890s no longer holds an F1 race, it feels as though there is a gap developing. Perhaps I’m biased; the first road car I drove as a teenager on the family farm was a Renault 4. I was also taken to Silverstone to watch the 1979 British GP two weeks after Renault had scored its first F1 win at Dijon in France with Jean-Pierre Jabouille. Renault missed…

GP Racing: You’ve had a long association with motorsport, including a stint in Red Bull’s young driver programme. How did that journey begin? CoIin Fleming: My father runs Fleming Racing Engines, building power units for go-karts. Naturally, I was around the sport and started to race from the age of eight. After winning national titles I moved to Italy and raced for a factory team. That’s when [Red Bull driver advisor] Helmut Marko picked me up. I was about 18 and joined other Red Bull juniors at that time such as Scott Speed, Sebastian Vettel and Daniil Kvyat. I raced in World Series by Renault, and one day got an email from Helmut and that was it. So I went back to the USA and raised almost $20m in personal…

Travel Working in F1 gives you a taste of many different countries. You have a good opportunity between races, when you’re somewhere in the world, to do trips to nearby countries, new and exotic destinations. But I also like to travel independently, away from racing. And with a family we’ve had to choose our holidays a bit different in the past few years. I like the mountains but I’m more a beach guy – shorts, flip flops, sunglasses, it’s just easy, casual. Family My family is young and still new. Noemi [Nico’s daughter] just turned three at the end of last month, and it’s great. It’s fun. She’s much more daddy, much less mama. That’s quite cool, and I enjoy being a father. Of course, I miss them while I’m…

1 Title battle gets ugly After a weekend of mudslinging, it was perhaps inevitable that the sentiments of the simmering feud between Red Bull and McLaren would be reflected on the racetrack. While Max Verstappen and Lando Norris didn’t actually make contact at the United States Grand Prix, their wheel-to-wheel dicing took them both off the track twice: at the first corner of the race and, more controversially, four laps from the chequered flag. The war of words began almost as soon as the teams touched down in Austin, as a row erupted over the so-called ‘bib’ or ‘tea tray’, the leading edge of the RB20’s floor. Adjusting the height of the front of this is not allowed in parc fermé (between qualifying and the race) but it had come…

One of the signature features of the Mexican event is the way the podium finishers stop their cars in the Foro Sol stadium section rather than pulling into the pitlane. All the track graphics are set up to provide a strong background and it’s easy to get up amongst the crowd and shoot from an elevated perspective. As the great Ansel Adams once said, photography is all about knowing where to stand. So I positioned myself for where I thought the cars would park up at the end of the race. Actually they stopped much further out so I had to run and dodge a few beer sellers before Carlos emerged from his car and acknowledged the crowd! Where Mexico City, Mexico When 3.47pm, Sunday 27 October 2024 Details Canon…

OK, so according to Forix the actual number of starts Fernando Alonso had accumulated before the Mexican Grand Prix was 396 rather than 399. Nevertheless, according to Fernando’s audit he was reaching the 400 point in Mexico City and who am I to argue? I paint with light, I don’t count races… The team was really energised to celebrate Fernando’s milestone, with special decals for the garage floor and a run of pin badges to give to VIPs and hospitality guests. Gathering for a photo was a good excuse to get in early on Sunday and beat the worst of the traffic outside the circuit. Sadly the race itself didn’t go well for Fernando but it’s still an impressive feat – 21 years on the grid and he’s as competitive…

At a macro level the change in competitiveness this season has been obvious. From early domination, Red Bull found itself regularly challenged by McLaren with Ferrari always there or thereabouts. Mercedes too built on its ever-increasing competitiveness, at times being the class of the field. However, taking a more microscopic view there are considerable swings from day to day and even from session to session. It appears that this is more prevalent this season than ever before – so what could be causing these apparent inconsistencies? Of course, the closeness of the field perhaps amplifies the effect. A few years ago a couple of tenths cost very few grid positions – today it can be catastrophic. Nevertheless, there are some factors that can play a part. For example, if a…

1 Max crosses a line in title defence Seven days on from the US GP, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen’s on-track behaviour was again under scrutiny as the pair continued their fight in the high altitude of Mexico City. This time, it was the championship leader who accrued two 10-second penalties for his car positioning and control. The post-Austin brouhaha (see p16) provided further emphasis of the flaws in the current guidelines the stewards work from, which will be urgently revised in consultation with the drivers ahead of the Qatar GP. Chiefly the question of which driver is overtaking and who is being overtaken being defined by the position of the front axle line at the apex is too easy to exploit. One driver or the other can over-commit to…