#need lawrence to buy the red bull engineers

[scrollonso]

fernando was literally made to be in aston martin, from jimmy and him being silly together to lawrence welcoming him with open arms and strollonso getting along so well, this is where he belongs.

[dearlexies]

I just had this idea of a batfam × motorsport au, i mean just imagine: Bruce Wayne is a bored millionaire with lots of money and nothing to do, so he sees Formula 1 as a chance for a big investment. he buys his own team, Wayne's Racing. at the beginning no one had faith that it would work (after all, this is not the first time that a millionaire has bought a team in motorsport and thinks it will be a success ((I'm looking at you Lawrence Stroll))) and of course it didn't work. So Bruce starts investing a LOT in this, Wayne Companies manufactures its own parts, he looks for the best engineers and system analysts in the world to work for him, and of course like any millionaire he puts his children on his team (I'll get to this about nepotism and such later, focus on the team) 2025 is when there is a change in the tide of formula 1, the regulations will change and that is great because now the teams are closer to each other Mercedes is no longer the same and is starting to show signs of weakness, Red Bull it's also not the same since Horner was arrested (bc that's something should actually happen) and Adrian Newey left the team. So now comes the chance for a new team to win. At the beginning all eyes were on Ferrari (as always) Aston Martin which has progressed a lot since the last few years and Mclaren, but then suddenly Wayne's Racing starts winning a lot of races. As the championship comes to an end, Lewis Hamilton wins his eighth title, but Wayne's Racing wins the constructors' championship, leaving everyone shocked. This new team that came out of nowhere only needed one year to become champion and now everyone is extremely curious to see what comes next

Well, other day I will talk about Bruce's kids bc Jason is definitely a motogp rider and there's a lot of drama bc he left Wayne's Racing for Al Ghul Team. and Tim oh he's not a racing drive, he never really liked racing but he likes the technical parts, the engineering, the strategies, so he became a sports journalist and lived his whole life in this environment full of racers. And there's also other characters that I've thought like kon, bart, wally, roy, kori etc

[chussyracing]

what has been happening in the world of motorsports lately?

(i am super late with all the news, so i'm putting the massive amount of text under the cut)

DRIVER (and engineer) MARKET

Adrian Newey leaving RBR (there are a lot of question marks like if he will get 12 months of gardening leave since the day he hands in his resignation or if he is hired by the team on external contract as they tried to avoid putting him under budget cap; how much it's linked to the tensions in RBR concerning Horner staying in the lead of the team despite being under investigation - that could mean other team members leaving; there is a rumour that Horner also refused to get paddock tickets for Adrian Newey's partner Amanda last year and the relationship has been broken ever since; he could go to Ferrari and there are reports he was offered 100 million pounds with an ambassador role; Toto Wolff is also interested in him and in Max, he is set to meet with his side and with Ola Kallenius from Merc and Jim Ratcliffe from Ineos after Miami about rumoured 150 million Euros contract; there are also questions about exit clauses for Max, Adrian and Helmut Marko; there are other questions like whether he wants to stay in the UK - although Daily Mail says Amanda is already looking at houses in Italy - and whether he would like to retire from F1 altogether; and final note to this point: Craig Slater said he spoke to Aston Martin insiders and found out Newey declined AM's lucrative offer and they think he is heading to Ferrari)

Nico Hulkenberg is set to leave Haas at the end of the year and joing Sauber on multi-year contract (German media reports it is 3-years contract), it's preparation for the Audi move

Ollie Bearman is rumoured to join Haas instead

Sam Bird injured himself in practice for Monaco Eprix which allowed Taylor Barnard to jump into the car

Kimi Antonelli is still linked to Mercedes and William's seat, he just finished W12 testing in Austria at Red Bull Ring (although his test was hindered by the weather, if you live close you know our weather went from 30 degrees Celsius to snowing and below zero) and today he tested W13 in Imola as well

Horner is still pushing for Ricciardo to the second RBR seat but highlighted to achieve that, he would need to improve his form drastically, he also suggested that Liam Lawson doesn't have a seat guaranteed if he even gets into F1 to which Helmut Marko remarked that Liam Lawson has an exit clause if Red Bull doesn't find a seat for him for next year in F1

at the start of the month, journalist Joe Saward reported that Logan could get replaced by Kimi Antonelli after Miami (I won't go into detail but there is multiple reasons why this is highly unlikely)

F1 Academy's first champion Marta Garcia tested with ERT during Formula E rookie test in Berlin

there are rumours about Mick Schumacher being in talks with Prema's Indycar seat

Guenther Steiner is rumoured to buy a team (or shares in a team) in F1, because reportedly the main reason he was let go of by Haas was him founding a huge sponsor for the team and offering it to Gene Haas in exchange for shareholding in the team - now he wants to take the money elsewhere

Jessica Edgar in F1 Academy scored American Express sponsorship, so she will be changing race suit into their dark blue color - and possibly also her livery

Marko Helmut hinted they want to extend Checo Perez's contract but they aren't ready to give him 3 years long extension he is asking for

David Croft said that Gasly is in talks with Williams for 2025 seat, Sainz to Audi is probable but the talks are postponed to mid-May (and Yuki and Esteban are also in talks with them) and that he thinks Guanyu will be left without a seat for 2025

McLaren's Indycar team dropped David Malukas after his hand injury (which relates closely to what I previous said about Callum Illot and Theo Pourchaire jumping in for him, I expect Theo to be named their full time driver)

Lawrence Stroll was looking to sell AM to a big name (so probably Aramco) but his condition was to keep Lance and they didn't agree so the deal fell under the table, on the other hand Honda who is set to join them in 2026 and said to immediately target the title are happy with Lance

SPONSORSHIPS AND INVESTORS

Ferrari introduced HP as their new title sponsor making them Scuderia Ferrari HP (the contract is rumouredly between 80 to 100 mil per year which is bigger than ORACLE) 🤢 - the sponsorship is for F1 Academy and Ferrari Esports teams as well

Hockenheim scored new investors who came with 250 mil Euros injection for the circuit for repairs and changes which could help it reclaim its place at F1's calendar (Thailand and South Korea are also looking to get a place on the calendar)

Lawrence Stroll is rumouredly looking to sell 25% shares in AM

Guanyu became ambassador for Beef Burger McDonald's China

this is actually month old news by SportsRush who reported that Dutch media posted it was Helmut Marko who advised Ford to pull out of the RBR sponsorship deal

Mastercard is in talks with 4 F1 teams for a title sponsor deal and apparently McLaren is the strongest candidate at this point

NEWS FOR MIAMI

Ferrari are bringing blue livery, helmets, suits, merch and GT cars to Miami as US heritage of Ferrari (they are two different shades of blue and it could also be a marketing move in preparation for the HP sponsorship that was announced a day later)

trophies by Miami GP were made by Tiffany and they were inspired by the architecture of Hard Rock Stadium

multiple teams are bringing (mostly smaller) upgrades for Miami: RB, McLaren, Mercedes, Williams

Miami GP organizers banned Trump presidental fundaraiser from the paddock

Alex will have Albon Athletics even this Wednesday in Miami in Legends Miami sneaker store

Williams is also opening a Fan Zone with drivers present

multiple teams are are bringing new merch collections: besides Ferrari, it's also McLaren, Red Bull, Williams or official F1 merch

Andretti continues hiring in all areas and are set to meet with F1 Management to discuss their F1 entry in Miami

multiple drivers already showed their special helmets with more probably to follow: Ferrari drivers, Max for all US races and Oscar

Niki Lauda's 1976 helmet from the infamous incident is going into auction in Miami

team principals will meet to discuss jump starts and how they should be judged in Miami

OTHER MOTORSPORTS SERIES

Mitch Evans won the Monaco Eprix and the team achieved 1-2 with Nick in p2

Formula E also launched GEN3 Evo before the Eprix

6 hours of Imola in WEC was won by Nyck de Vries' team although it was Ferrari 1-2-3 during quali (then Ferrari strategy strategied)

F1 Academy in Zadvoort and F2 in Barcelona finished their in-season testing (Abbi Pulling was fastest in F1 Academy and Isack Hadjar was fastes in F2)

the first Autonomous Racing League race = AI took place in Yas Marina (and you need to read it for yourself because my report wouldn't do it justice)

THE FUTURE OF F1

F1 is discussing revised point system where two more people could score (so points from p1 to p12), but the introduction was delayed and they will report on this more towards the end of the year after they collect more data

F1 commision agreed on introducing rear facing cameras from Spain onwards

Aston Martin exposed a grey area in rules when they protested Carlos stopping on track in China and FIA is exposed to clear it up to probably set a time limit when the driver has to restart the car, otherwise they won't be able to continue in the session

Domenicali told FormulaPassion that if drivers are complaining about the number of races and sprints, they are not mandatory to race (it was also a response to reports that he wants to add more sprints to the calendar)

F1 introduced new free streaming station in the US which should allowed viewers to follow F1 and junior series as well as some exclusive content

F1 reduced its carbon footprint by 13% since 2018 as per their 2023 impact report and they want to continue towards zero emissions promise by 2030

WHAT HAPPENED OFF TRACK

Irish Sun says that the victim of Horner's inappropriate behaviour hired a new legal team, she has been questioned a lot for the appeal these days, but she could get peace soon as it should get sorted by the middle of May

Grill the Grid team posted a new F1 video "Anything but F1"

Max was named one of the 100 most influential people of 2024

EA Sports released F1 24 and F1 24 Champions covers

Vogue Italy's new issue features a photoshoot including Irina Shyak and Ferrari drivers and engineers

Mercedes became the first F1 team to reach over 500m pounds turnover

Imola will be remembering Senna and Ratzenberger this week for their 30th anniversary

Valtteri the chaotic king he is, qualified for a cycling championship

Lando was apparently celebrating King's Day in Neatherlands so hard that he cut his noce on a broken glass

[formula-what]

Team Principal Crash Course

I know someone’s probably done one of these, and I’m sure they are much prettier than mine. I’m going through a divorce with PowerPoint rn

But I’ve always wanted to do one of these!!! Also I needed an excuse to not sleep / do any actual productive work

This is for @landobviously and any new people to f1, although I’m not sure this is actually very helpful

Mercedes: Toto Wolff

Team principal and CEO

low key hot, has the floofiest hair.

His name is actually Torger Christian Wolff which I love even more than Toto.

Austria business man who personally owns 30% of Mercedes stock?? He originally owned shares for Williams but has sold them all :(

I think he’s pretty much unproblematic? But I’m a Mercedes Hoe so probably biased.

He’s married to Susie Wolff who used to be a racing driver. She did DTM, Formula Renault + F3 and was also a development/test driver for Williams (becoming the second woman to ever take part in an f1 weekend, 22 years after the first) She is now the team principle of a Formula-E team, Venturi Racing which is co-founded by Leonardo DiCaprio??

RedBull : Christian Horner

This is the fucker they interview All. Of. The. Fricking. Time.

Someone will breathe and they be like “let’s go to the pit lane to get Christians thoughts on this”

But he’s pretty funny and all of the other guys tend to shy away from the cameras so I’m not that pissed about it but like, sky Sports love him.

Has donkeys named after Max and Daniel

He fell in love with Sebastian Vettel and is still low key pissed that he abandoned them. Also his daughters favourite driver is Seb

Has major beef with Cyril (Renault team principal)

Married a Spice Girl, some of the RedBull boys go with him sometimes to her concerts and they wear her merch

Okay usually I would go Ferrari next, but they’re a midfielder now so..

McLaren: Zak Brown

Gets treated like team principal but is actually CEO

American, says duuuude a lot

Used to be a professional driver and I think he was actually good?? But idk

I hated him at first but honestly he seems pretty chill?

Gives the biggest bear hugs

Andreas Seidl

Is actually Team Principal

Falls under the radar

Just kinda hangs around looking judgy all the time

When he does speak I can never understand a word he says

Renault: Cyril Abiteboul

The Frenchiest French guy to ever French

Sacked Hulk for Ocon (who’s French) although that’s completely unfair of me since Hulk has entered 179 gps and yet has never gotten a podium (which is a record by the way!!!)

Will find beef in anything, and then yell at you for it. Or give you evil eyes from across the room

Cyril fuckers do not deserve rights you know who you are

Got scammed by Daniel Ricciardo

Hates Christian Horner

Brought Alonso back??

Doesn’t deserve to have any junior drivers

Renault Lotus used to be a pretty popular engine supplier in f1 but aftee this year they will be the only ones on the grid using it. Yeah this isn’t about Cyril at all but it makes him yell which makes me laugh so

Racing Point: Lawrence Stroll

Part owner of Racing Point, and invested £182m in Aston Martin?? Hence the name change next year

Pretty sure he owns a private island, put I have zero proof

Bought the team when it’s owner went to jail for fraud and the team went into debt. But for whatever reason they couldn’t actually buy the shares so instead they just had to rename it and pretend they’re a new constructor. Midway through the season.

Daddy Stroll but NOT because of his looks. He’s just rich as fuck and promoted his kid Lance Stroll into one of the seats (who is actually a pretty good driver and doesn’t deserve any hate at all)

Otmar Szafnauer

Team Principal

Low key thought he was the one that went to jail so... yeah I know nothing about this guy

apparently he is litterally in the Hall Of Fame

Ferrari: Mattia Binotto

Fun fact, he actually used to run a circus I’m kidding.

he runs one now though

Looks like an older and more permanently confused Chal Lelerc

Last year was his first season as a team principal and boy can you tell

Is the parent that says he doesn’t have favourites but then always takes the youngest’s side and thinks that they’re an angel child that can never do anything wrong

Alpha Tauri: Franz Tost

Looks so soft

I know nothing about him, but I’m pretty sure he’s in love with Seb

Ummm I don’t think he’s problematic? But it’s red bull so who knows

Has the exact same vibes as beans and sausages on toast and I will not expand on that it’s probably because of the name tbh

Haas: Guenther Steiner

Is the 🤬 emoji personified, every second word that comes out of his mouth is a swear

“We look like a bunch of fucking wankers”

I’m not exaggerating when I say I’m scared of him

Literally the most terrifying man alive

Will yell ALL THE TIME about literally ANYTHING

Keeps putting KMag and Romain together even though they spend more time crashing into each other than actually racing?? And yet is equally surprised everytime???

“We’ve got two fucking idiots driving for us” and have done for FOUR YEARS. Haas have only been a team for five years, and they’ve only ever had one other driver

But I love them both

Fell for whatever the fuck Rich Energy was

Alfa Romeo: Frédéric Vasseur

Team Principal and CEO

I’ve never seen this man in my life

Used to be team Principle of Renault???2016-2017??? Whaaaa????

Williams: Sir Frank Williams

Founder and team principal

Old as fuck

a big name in motor sport

Used to be a long distance runner, now has a wheel chair because he got into a car accident on the way to a fun run :(

Literally built Williams from the ground up (and they used to be very good I swear)

Claire Williams

Deputy team Principal (but actually does all of the stuff)

the only important woman

Doesn’t deserve any of the hate she gets (and she gets a lot)

She’s trying her best okay

The ‘this is fine’ meme personified