F1 news: High-profile Ferrari exit rumoured as Stake F1 tease potential livery colour – Planet F1
Saturday’s F1 news round-up is upon us, and there’s a selection to look back on from the day as F1’s off-season rumbles on.
Reports from Italy suggest big gains for Ferrari on their 2024 car but also hint at big changes behind the scenes, while Stake F1’s colour scheme on their social media hint at what their 2024 challenger might look like.
All that and more in Saturday’s F1 news headlines.
Ferrari reportedly find big performance gain, with strategy chief set to leave
Ferrari strategy chief Iñaki Rueda is set to leave the Scuderia in the coming season, according to a report from Italy’s Corriere dello Sport, having been in the role for three years.
The same report also claims the team’s 2024 car, supposedly codenamed ‘Project 676’, has been found to be up to seven tenths per lap faster than its predecessor, the SF-23.
Read more: Eye-opening Ferrari pace gains with another high-profile exit on cards – F1 rumour
Black and green to arrive on the F1 grid?
Stake F1, who have taken on the exclusive naming rights for Sauber for the next two seasons, have rebranded their social media accounts following their takeover from Alfa Romeo, and it has people talking.
With the striking black colour scheme, along with tinges of bright green, that has people wondering if that could be the team’s colour scheme on their 2024 car.
It would certainly be a striking look for their arrival on the grid, which they have promised will break the mould for teams in years gone by.
Read more: Stake F1’s all-new livery hint with notable social media change
Nyck de Vries opens up on AlphaTauri exit
After making it through just 10 races with AlphaTauri, it would be easy for Nyck de Vries to be bitter about the experience of being a Formula 1 driver.
Not the case, with the Dutchman having already lined up drives in Formula E and with the all-conquering Toyota team in the World Endurance Championship for 2024.
He received plenty of support after his abrupt sacking, and he’s not holding any grudges about his half-season before his replacement by Daniel Ricciardo.
“I think I was able to put it into perspective very quickly,” he said to Dutch publication De Telegraaf.
“I’ve been hugely supported, altogether I think I’ve received about 4000 messages. That has done me good. I can sit in a corner and cry, but that won’t help anyone.
“Of course, it hurt. I don’t think that’s surprising. But everyone experiences good times and more difficult times. And yes, pain is also part of life.”
Read more: Fired Red Bull driver’s frank admission: ‘I’m not naïve, it just didn’t work’
‘The better Oscar Piastri is getting, the more it affects Lando Norris’
F1 analyst Peter Windsor believes the improvements on show from Oscar Piastri may have an adverse effect on Lando Norris at McLaren, despite the myriad strengths he has.
Norris had a comfortable advantage over his rookie team-mate in the Drivers’ standings come season’s end, but the improvement Piastri showed as the season progressed was enough for McLaren to tie him to a long-term deal.
As such, the former Williams and Ferrari team manager believes Norris may not perform at his best with higher pressure coming from the other car at McLaren.
“The better Oscar is getting, on any given weekend, the more it affects Lando Norris, as I’ve been saying ever since Oscar Piastri signed to drive for McLaren,” he said on his YouTube channel.
“It’s not going to get the best from Lando Norris, this isn’t what he needs in the other car. And I’m sure McLaren don’t even think about that, because they think, ‘Wow, we’ve got two great racing drivers, Lando is our guy and Oscar is our guy’, but they’re not getting the best from Lando Norris with Oscar there for sure.”
Read more: McLaren warned they ‘won’t get the best of Lando Norris’ with Oscar Piastri pressure
An unusual anniversary for an unusual event after an infamous Michael Schumacher moment
Michael Schumacher caused uproar at the end of the 1997 season for seemingly trying to deliberately run title rival Jacques Villeneuve off the road by crashing into him at Jerez.
This not only got him into trouble with the FIA, but a complaint from a citizen in Germany meant he almost ended up in trouble with the law.
Here’s the story of how Schumi was almost investigated by the police because of that incident, on criminal charges as serious as attempted murder, 26 years ago today.
Read more: 26 years ago: The Michael Schumacher racing incident that almost landed him with criminal charges
