Mercedes have promised a “substantial” final upgrade of their 2024 car when the Formula 1 season resumes at the United States Grand Prix in late October for the season’s final six races.

The Silver Arrows’ inconsistent campaign suffered what team boss Toto Wolff described as a “painful” Sunday in Singapore last weekend when promising second-row grid positions gave way to a struggle in the race which saw them finish fourth and sixth, one minute behind Lando Norris’ winning McLaren.

Having registered only one podium finish in the four races since the summer break, Mercedes appear to have lost out on a realistic chance of salvaging a top-three place in the Constructors’ Championship – where they have ended every season since finishing fifth in 2012 – having now dropped back to 112 points behind third-placed Ferrari.

Nonetheless, the team are aiming to finish the campaign on a high with another big upgrade planned to debut on the W15 at the Circuit of the Americas on October 18-20.

Asked in the team’s Singapore GP debrief video how the team planned to spend the three-week break to Austin, technical director James Allison said: “We will be trying to figure out how to mitigate what ailed us this weekend, how to figure out how to make the tyres run better on these overheating circuits.

“We’ll be also doing quite a lot of work to bring our last upgrade of the season together.

“We’ve got quite a fairly substantial set of new clothes for the car coming for Austin that we hope will give us a decent weekend there.”

After a difficult race in which the team’s car struggled for performance in gruelling humid conditions, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton missed their usual post-race media engagements on doctor’s advice after suffering from what Wolff said was “borderline heatstroke”.

Allison said while the British pair quickly were quickly able to recover from the excursions of the race after taking on fluids, the frustration about the W15’s lack of pace lingered for longer.

“I think like the rest of us they’re feeling fed up that the car was not particularly competitive in race trim,” conceded Allison.

Ryan Blaney once called out his longtime friend Chase Elliott for repeatedly declining invitations to vacation together. Blaney explained that Elliott playfully gave them a hard time in front of the media, insisting he had never been invited in the first place.

After the conclusion of the 2019 season, Blaney and his friends, including fellow NASCAR drivers Bubba Wallace, William Byron, and Daniel Hemric, jetted off to Turks and Caicos for a sunny vacation. Elliott commented that he hadn’t been invited, creating some banter.When NASCAR action resumed in 2020, Ryan Blaney clarified that the #9 Hendrick Motorsports driver was invited on the trip but kept turning down their invitations. Blaney suggested that his longtime friend enjoys giving them a hard time in front of the media, knowing that NASCAR fans tend to side with Elliott, the most popular driver.

“He’s [Elliott] always invited, he just never wants to come. And then he likes to go to the media and say that we didn’t invite him and didn’t tell him. He always denies us, denies wanting to come for some reason. I don’t know why, I don’t know what he’s got. I think he just likes riding that train of giving us a hard time of not inviting him and he can spew it out there because everyone’s gonna believe what Chase Elliott says,” he said in an interview with Andrew Kurland. [1:07 onwards]

Chase Elliott told Kurland that he had been invited to Turks and Caicos but chose to spend the winter months in Georgia, working on a few home projects. Blaney hoped Elliott would join them for a vacation in the future.
“I’m waiting for him to come to one of them. They’re a lot of fun Chase, and if you ever want to come, we have a good time and a lot of sunshine and a lot of beers drank out there during that week and a half. I’m waiting for him to come, I hope he accepts my invitation one of these days,” he added.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently teased what he intends to do more of in the coming year as a racecar driver. Following his appearance in the Bristol Xfinity race, the former Hendrick Motorsports driver refused to commit to more one-off NASCAR starts in the future.

And on the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt, who has a net worth of $300 million (according to celebritynetworth.com), spoke about his preference for driving in the Late Model cars over those in the Xfinity Series. He said that if he’s prioritizing being a racecar driver, his first preference is Late Model over NASCAR.
“For me, that’s a selfish thing, whatever, but I want to drive that (Late Model series) car more. And if giving up an Xfinity race gets me another late model race, I’m going to do that, if I can” [53:25].

However, Dale Jr. added that if there was a scenario where someone offered to sponsor his JR Motorsports cars for a multiple race deal if it meant he had to race again, he would do that. But unless that happens, Earnhardt said, he’d be happy to “mess with” his Late Model Stock car.Earnhardt also teased an announcement, saying,

“We’ve got a really cool announcement I think coming around the corner with the Late Model stock car I’m excited about. There are some really, really cool things in the future that’s going to be announced, not just about late model stock cars, but I’m excited. I can’t wait to get this news out.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. found “perfect” blend of family and racing in CARS Tour weekend in April this year
Earlier this year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took part in the CARS Tour race at New River All American Speedway and finished in 14th place. After the race, Earnhardt pressed on the importance of qualifying well and him not being able to extract the maximum out of his car in the qualifying sessions.