Sports
Blow for Mick Schumacher’s chances as Alpine declines giving the driver an F1 test
Blow for Mick Schumacher’s chances as Alpine declines giving the driver an F1 test
Alpine team principal Bruno Famin has refused to give Mick Schumacher a chance in the A524 F1 challenger for the 2024 season.
2024 will mark Mick Schumacher’s debut in the World Endurance Championship, where he is set to race with Alpine. With him still serving his duties as a reserve driver for Mercedes, questions have been prompted regarding a test run for him with Alpine during the length of the season.
Clearing any such doubts, team principal Bruno Famin revealed that his contract is strictly for WEC and any F1 testing will be done by their reserve driver Jack Doohan. Speaking to the on-site media, he said:
“No, we cannot [Provide Schumacher a test in F1],” Motorsport quoted him.
“We don’t plan because we have a reserve driver with Jack Doohan, and Mick is the Mercedes reserve driver. The contract we have with Mick is exclusively for endurance.”
Mick Schumacher has not raced in F1 since the end of the 2022 season when his contract with Haas was not extended further. Although Mercedes signed him as their reserve driver later, he did not get a chance to put his foot down during a race.
In late November last year, the French team confirmed that Schumacher would drive for them in the 2024 season of the World Endurance Championship. This is set to be his first racing experience outside of the open-wheel category.
Alpine drivers unamused with the car heading into the 2024 F1 season
It was earlier reported by Auto Motor und Sport that the A524, Alpine’s challenger for the 2024 season, has not turned out to be very reliable. Reports after the end of pre-season testing revealed that the car was “overweight and aerodynamically inefficient,” and was also slow on both long stints and single-laps.
Esteban Ocon, while speaking about the car, revealed that the team is heading into the season on the “back foot.” F1 quoted him as saying:
“We know we’re entering this season slightly on the back foot with the new car concept and the team is working incredibly hard to bring more performance to the car in the coming races.”
READ: Toto Wolff’s ideal Lewis Hamilton replacement plan has taken a major hit ahead of the first race of the season
He added that there is hope for stable improvement of the car during the season:
“The test session in Bahrain was extremely valuable and we learnt a lot about the new car and its characteristics. The car improved from the first to the last day in testing, so we’re hoping to see similar improvements over the course of the race weekend.”
Pierre Gasly, too, spoke about the car’s condition while talking to Sky Sports earlier. He stated that the car didn’t “look great.”
“To be fair I haven’t really focussed on others because there’s been so much going on our side. I don’t think we look great. But at the same time, we still have a couple of days to really understand everything we’ve done. We’ve put the car upside down, and done a lot of tests.”
Alpine had finished behind their competitors in the earlier season. Both McLaren and Aston Martin managed to develop much better and stay ahead of the team.
There is seemingly a lot that needs to be understood about the car because with the reported issues, it can also remain unstable, affecting their results throughout the season.
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Ferrari warned Lewis Hamilton will cause internal drama
A former Ferrari engineer has criticised the decision to bring in Lewis Hamilton and thinks the Brit’s presence will mean “a lot of potential for drama”.
At the age of 40, seven-time Formula 1 champion Hamilton will form a formidable driver partnership with Charles Leclerc. His big switch comes at the expense of Carlos Sainz, who has performed well for the Italian squad but who was axed so they had room for their blockbuster new signing.
But not everyone of a Ferrari persuasion is convinced that it will go well. Ernest Knoors, who spent many years as an engineer at Maranello, specialising in power units, worries that Hamilton’s presence could do more harm than good for a team that is finding its groove under Frederic Vasseur.
“A big name like Hamilton also brings a lot of politics and if politics within Ferrari are not managed well, then there is a lot of potential for drama,” he told Formule1.nl. “Hamilton has the tendency that if things do not work out, he turns his whole car upside down and starts experimenting.
“Ferrari believes very much in the big personalities and will follow him. But Hamilton is just someone you have to guide a little bit and not give the freedom to rebuild the whole car, because then it will go completely wrong. So I do not know if it is such a smart move, but of course it is nice for the sport.”
News of Hamilton’s planned move broke on February 1, coinciding with football’s Transfer Deadline Day. That the back pages of many newspapers were dominated by the decision of Hamilton to swap Mercedes for Ferrari was testament to the magnitude of the announcement.
Sainz was not surprised as he had been informed by his team of the plan ahead of it being made public. But the Spaniard responded well with two victories to date this season and five further appearances on the podium, on the way to what looks likely to be a fifth-placed finish in the championship – two spots and 54 points ahead of Hamilton.
Sainz has signed for Williams next year and, after several years of running at the front of the grid, will focus on his new challenge of helping restore one of the grid’s most historic teams to its former glory. But Knoors believes he should have been kept on by Ferrari instead.
The Dutchman added: “I see Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari more as a PR move. With all due respect, Hamilton is not going to take that Ferrari from P6 to P1. He will get the most out of it, but what Ferrari has to do is make that car faster. And if you make that car faster, you can easily drive at the front with the current line-up.
“Besides, as a team you have to look further on the horizon. If Hamilton becomes champion in the coming years, he and Ferrari will become immortal. But if you want to build a team with talent for the next five years, are you going to build on Hamilton? No, because he will really be finished after two or three years. That is why I would have kept the very strong line-up that Ferrari has now.”
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Listen to Chase Elliott, No. 9 team react to pace car crash at Phoenix in 2024
Chase Elliott had a front-row seat for one of NASCAR’s most bizarre moments of the 2024 Cup Series season. At the start of Stage 2, the pace car dove onto pit road in front of Elliott; however, it was a tad too late. The pace car made contact with the sand barrels at the entry of pit road and caused a red flag for cleanup.
Initially, there was some speculation on the NBC Sports broadcast, even from the No. 9 team, that Elliott made contact with the pace car. Fortunately, the pace car didn’t slide across the No. 9 car’s nose, but it undoubtedly provided one of NASCAR’s craziest red flag moments in recent memory.
Below, you can listen to Elliott and the No. 9 team react to the pace car crashing into the sand barrels on pit road at Phoenix during Championship Weekend!
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. Exposes NASCAR’s Hidden Truth: The Pressure Turns Champions Miserable
Reflecting on the recent retirement of 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., Earnhardt didn’t mince words about the toll NASCAR takes on its drivers. Speaking candidly, the two-time Daytona 500 winner admitted that the pressure to perform every week left him feeling miserable for most of his racing career—a sentiment he believes is shared by many of his peers.
“Right or wrong, racing made me a miserable person 90% of the time,” Earnhardt confessed. “And him too. I mean, ask Kyle Busch, ask anybody—unless you’re winning, you’re not happy.”
For these elite drivers, the sport is a relentless grind. A podium finish might bring temporary relief, but anything short of victory is often a source of frustration. The immense effort poured into preparation and execution rarely feels like it pays off unless the checkered flag is theirs.
Earnhardt highlighted the mental toll of falling short, explaining how the relentless focus on winning can overshadow the joy of simply competing. Even a solid performance feels hollow compared to the euphoria of a win.
“Unless you’re winning, you’re not happy at all,” he said. “You’re okay with a good run, but for the most part, all the effort it takes just to run good—it doesn’t weigh out.”
For drivers, the stakes are sky-high every week. Sponsors, fans, and teams demand nothing less than excellence, leaving little room for error or personal satisfaction in anything less than a dominant performance.
Earnhardt also shared insights into his friendship with Martin Truex Jr., who recently announced his retirement. While the two often spend time hunting together during NASCAR’s off-season, Earnhardt noted that the stress of racing even creeps into their leisure activities.
“When I’m with him during hunting season, it’s always in the back of his mind,” Earnhardt said. “It’s that stressful part of the year when he’s as miserable as he’s going to be.”
Now, with Truex stepping away from the track, Earnhardt looks forward to seeing a lighter, happier version of his long-time friend. Without the weight of weekly competition hanging over him, Truex might finally be able to relax and enjoy the outdoor lifestyle he cherishes.
“It’ll be fun to see him loosen up,” Earnhardt added.
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