Aston Martin has vowed that they no longer need a no.1 driver. This follows the well-publicised altercations between Lance Stroll and veteran team-mate Sebastian Vettel this year.
Team principal Mike Krack is prepared to manage the working relationship between Stroll and two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso next term.
Stroll had a number of entanglements with the retiring Sebastian Vettel, which included the controversy on the first sector of the Interlagos circuit. Four-time world champion Vettel was forced onto the grass in an unnecessary defensive manoeuvre at the Brazilian GP.
With Stroll under contract until the end of next season, it appears that if his father continues to write huge cheques, he should be with the team longer than that unless he clashes with Alonso.
Securing the services of Alonso from Alpine within a week after Vettel announced that he would retire after 15 seasons has been quite a coup, with Krack ready to step in to keep the harmony.
Krack admitted that the team doesn’t want to show any preferential treatment. So from next year, their drivers are equal with no one named as the no.1.
The team have brought in reigning Formula E champion Stoffel Vandoorne as a test and reserve driver for next season, who has been a reserve driver with Mercedes since 2019. He will share duties at Aston Martin with F2 champion Felipe Drugovich, who only joined the team’s driver development programme in September.
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – NOVEMBER 19: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing prepares to drive in the garage during final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit on November 19, 2022 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
The FIA will test a decrease in allocated tyre sets from 13 to 11 at two races in 2023, designed to see if the sport can make tyre usage more sustainable in the future. If the weather is dry, then hard tyres will be required in First Qualifying, medium tyres for the Second Qualifying and soft tyres for the Third Qualifying.
The online betting in Australia for the 2023 F1 season sees Max Verstappen (+1.90), Lewis Hamilton (+4.50) and Charles Leclerc (+8.00) streets ahead of the other drivers to clinch the F1 World Drivers’ Championship.
Could Verstappen win a third successive world title in a row, or can Hamilton triumph for a record-breaking eighth F1 crown?
Verstappen, who penned a mega bucks contract to…
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