Formula 1 Racing

RaceFans Round-up: “Another leap” in lap times in 2024

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In the round-up: McLaren team principal Andrea Stella expects teams to continue finding significant performance gains in the third season under Formula 1’s current generation of technical rules.

In brief

F1 cars will get much quicker in 2024 – Stella

While Red Bull dominated the 2023 season, McLaren made the most rapid progress with their car after the championship began. Stella expects to see more of that across this field this year.

“We are not yet at the stage where the development curve is flattening,” he told Auto Motor und Sport. “I think we’ll see another leap in time next year.

“Maybe there won’t be as much in the second half of the season. Looking back, these rules gave us many different geometries and development directions. Before 2022, most people told us that the cars would all look the same. This forecast was wrong. I still see opportunities to find lap time.”

Ferrari confirm unchanged Hypercar line-up

Ferrari’s two works 499P Hypercars will continue with the same driver line-ups as last year in the World Endurance Championship. Le Mans 24 Hours winners Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi will share the number 51 car, while Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen remain in number 50.

The full line-up for a third Ferrari, to be run by AF Corse and featuring Robert Kubica, is yet to be announced.

F1 juniors in action this weekend

Junior drivers from several Formula 1 teams will appear in the Formula Regional Middle East series which begins this weekend at Yas Marina. Ferrari’s Tuukka Taponen and Rafael Camara, Ugo Ugochukwu and Red Bull’s Arvid Lindblad are among the entry.

The 15-race series will take place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix venue and the Dubai Autodrome, sharing a billing with the Formula 4 UAE series.

Red Bull collaborate on bike technology

Red Bull Advanced Technologies has assisted the development of a technology produced by British firm Skarper which claims to be the first device able to transform a conventional pedal bike into an electric one. The drive system attaches to a bike’s disc brake to transmit power.

“This partnership with Skarper demonstrates how F1 expertise can help to improve everyday technology for the benefit of the public,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. “The device is an incredibly clever piece of engineering and we have been able to make it smaller and more powerful thanks to our own talented engineers.”

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