The DRS Zone

Author: Christopher Charles

  • 2024 Season Review – Aston Martin

    The Midfield Front Runners

    Aston Martin had a relatively steady 2024, they finished comfortably in 5th place and are easily the team to beat in the midfield. The team however will look upon 2024 and see it as a bit of a failure. They never hit the same heights they hit in 2023 and ended the season without a single podium. One of the main reasons why they were not as successful this season was because the front 4 were that much better than everyone else and in 2023, they were helped by the abysmal first half of the season McLaren had. A 5th place for Alonso in Saudi Arabia would be the best finish they’d achieve.

    The Team

    The most notable change at the team was the announcement that Adrian Newey would be joining the team from March 2025. This is a huge coup for the team, what I did find strange though was the way they announced his arrival. The put on this showcase, like what they put on for the reveal of a new car, this is fine because we all know what Newey has achieved in F1, but at the time he was still under contract at Red Bull. Personally, I found it all a bit odd. This season however will be an important one for the Silverstone based team, they have invested heavily in the infrastructure back at base and with the arrival of Newey combined with demands of Lawrence Stroll, if we do not see some signs of improvements, we could see some heads start to roll.

    The Drivers

    Not much to say for the drivers, we had the same line up of Alonso and Stroll and Alonso scored the lion’s share of the points. I must wonder how long Lawrence Stroll will continue to keep his son in the car, if he really wants the team to be successful, which clearly, he does, then he must reconsider keeping Lance Stroll in F1. If Alonso wipes the floor with him again this season and with the influence of Newey increasing month on month. surely his patience must run out at some stage.

    For 2025….

    They must push on and try to break into the top 4. We won’t really see any influence from Adrien Newey until later this season if at all. It will be 2026 that we really see his influence, but they really need to be more competitive than they were last season else we could see Alonso fall out with the team. Alonso will be desperate to try and make it to 2026 in an Adrian Newey designed car.

    2024 Season Rating 5/10

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  • 2024 Season Review – Alpine

    The gift that kept on giving

    For a large part of the 2024 season Alpine were the gift that kept on giving. A poor start to the season led to early team changes which would continue at other parts of the season and would also include a driver change for the last race of the season. The team would eventually finish 6th in the Constructors, a position that largely flattered and was mainly thanks to a large points haul from the chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix. Let’s look in further detail.

    The Team

    After the team finished bottom of the pile in the first race the sword was wielded for the first time. Technical Director Matt Harman and Head of Aerodynamic Dirk de Beer were the two names to bite the bullet. Shortly after Advisor Bob Bell announced he was leaving to link up with Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin. By the time we got to May, Flavio Briatore, who used to run the team during its Renault days until the Crash Gate saga was installed back into the team as Special Advisor.

    This was a great move in my opinion, Briatore doesn’t suffer any fools and will not be afraid to do what he needs to, to sort out the team.

    Fast forward a couple of months and it was announced that Ocon would not be retained for 2025 and during the Belgium Grand Prix, it was announced that Team Principal Bruno Famin would leave the team with immediate effect.

    The team also announced that for the 2026 season they would not be producing their own engine and would instead become a customer of Mercedes, slightly embarrassing for a manufacturer backed by Renault to admit the engines they produce are not up to the job. I would like to think this is only temporary while they look to rebuild and start from scratch at within the engine department.

    The Drivers

    Alpine started the 2024 season with Pierre Gasly and Estaban Ocon and they ended the season with Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan. There were some questions about the line up back in 2023 as it was well reported that Gasly and Ocon, despite being childhood friends no longer got on. Ocon also seems to have a bit of a history with falling out with his teammate. It happened when he drove for Force India and again at Alpine with Fernando Alonso. That relationship went very sour after initially being quite friendly between the two. Sparks started to fly, after the two made contact in Monaco, however after a 5-place grid penalty by the time they got to Canada, Ocon had taken the blame for the incident.

    Gasly and Ocon, were however the first pairing to claim the team’s first double podium under the Alpine name. They benefited by being in the right place in the right time after a series of unfortunate events at the Brazilian Grand Prix led both drivers to finish 2nd & 3rd. This leaped the team from 9th to 6th in the championship standings.

    Ocon was released of his contract after his DNF in Qatar and was replaced by Jack Doohan for the final race.

    For 2025….

    Doohan will partner Gasly at least for the start of 2025. Alpine however have signed Colapinto as their reserve driver. Colapinto impressed for Williams after he replaced Logan Sargeant. I think there are altera motives for Alpine signing him and unless Doohan is a close match to Gasly, he could be out of a drive sooner rather than later. On a whole though they have to do better than last season, technically the team (as Renault) are former World Champions and they have to start at least pushing to be the best of the midfield and cannot rely on lucky one off results.

    2024 Season Rating 3/10

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  • F1 75 Live Event

    Jack Whitehall presented the F1 75 event at the O2 in London. During the event to celebrate 75 years of Formula 1, the teams were unveiling their liveries for the upcoming season.

    The event was opened by MGK, who is famous in the F1 world for snubbing Martin Brundle a couple of years ago on the grid for the Brazilian Grand Prix. That weekend it was also reported that MGK had left the race before it had even reached half distance. For me, it shows how far away from F1 is from fans and what they want. At an event celebrating F1, surely you want people that are fans of F1? MGK doesn’t really strike me as an F1 fan.

    What followed the opening performance was an evening of some cringey uncomfortable interviews and innuendos about Aston Martins Mike Krack. There we’re some lighter moments however when Jack Whitehall asked Gordon Ramsay about the ban on swearing on team radio.

    “These athletes push themselves to the extreme, so sometimes when it comes out, let them be real, let it go. Come on. They’re risking their life every time, traveling over 200 Miles per hour. So, if the s*** hits the fan..”

    Gordon Ramsay

    The latter part of the comment caused Whitehall’s microphone to mysteriously go off and we didn’t hear what else was said.

    The other thing I didn’t like was the booing. With its pandering to drama, F1 has attracted a whole new fan base to the sport and some of them like to boo. Having been a fan of F1 since 98, watching through the Schumacher dominance and controversies, I never heard regular booing until the last 10 years. Obviously, the booing was mainly reserved for Verstappen and Christian Horner, for me real F1 fans have a respect for all drivers for what they do and what some of them have achieved. If you want to boo, go back to the football terraces because it does not belong in F1. Whilst F1 drivers may not be as gladiatorial as some of their predecessors, they still should be respected. I will add to this that the FIA also got booed which did make me laugh, but it serves them right for trying to control everything.

    One thing I did find interesting was a quick shot of Christian and Gerri Horner at the table, with someone sat in-between them.

    Looking at the liveries, they were revealed in championship order starting from 10th onwards. VCARB won the evening for me and Red Bull was the worst. Although I do like the Red Bull livery, it is absolutely the same as it always is. I was expecting more teams to have more unpainted black carbon fibre so they can save a couple of grams in weight, but most cars seemed to be well covered in paint. Here is my rank of best to worst livery of the evening.

    1. VCARB
    2. McLaren
    3. Williams
    4. Ferrari
    5. Mercedes
    6. Aston Martin
    7. Haas
    8. Stake
    9. Alpine
    10. Red Bull

    It was good to see Hamilton in Ferrari red and I am really looking forward to seeing how he does. I hope F1 doesn’t make this an annual event, it’s a bit much really for a livery reveal. We have seen a couple of the new cars showcased from the teams on their preseason filming days, but the majority of the new cars won’t be shown until we get to testing next week.

    Please let me know what you think in the comments.

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  • 2024 Season Review – Haas

    Early Changes

    Haas finished 2023 bottom of the pile with 12 points, before the start of the 2024 season, owner Gene Haas took the decision to replace long standing and very popular Team Principle Gunether Steiner. He was replaced by Ayao Komatsu.

    Expectations we’re low and the new Team Principal quickly started to downplay their chances for 2024.

    The Team

    Aside from the early changes at Team Principal level, Technical Director Simone Resta also left. There would also be some turmoil and off-track issues the team would have to deal with. At the Dutch Grand Prix Bailiffs and Police entered the Haas paddock area after a Swiss court ruled that the team owed former Russian sponsor Uralkali $9m. This also meant that the team would not be allowed to leave The Netherlands and head for the Italian Grand Prix. With the clock ticking down the payment was made, and the team were allowed to leave for Italy.

    Aside from the off-track issues, the team generally had a positive season, and they started off strongly defying expectations. Strong showings in Austria and Britain, set them up for a strong second half of the season, where from Italy they would score points in every race apart from Brazil. They would have finished above Alpine, had it not been for the large points haul in Brazil.

    The Drivers

    Haas started the season with the same drivers as 2023, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen. Hulkenberg scored the lion’s share of the points, but some excellent team driving from Magnussen made sure that whilst he didn’t score points, Hulkenberg did.

    For 2025….

    It is all change however for 2025, Hulkenberg moves to the Stake team before it becomes Audi and Magnussen did not have his contract renewed. A new driver lineup of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman making his debut in F1.

    2024 Season Rating 6/10

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  • 2024 Season Review – Racing Bulls

    Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) RB VCARB 01. 23.02.2024. Formula 1 Testing, Sakhir, Bahrain, Day Three. – http://www.xpbimages.com, EMail: requests@xpbimages.com © Copyright: Bearne / XPB Images

    Early Changes and Criticism

    Before the 2024 season started Alpha Tauri changed their team name to Visa Before the 2024 season started Alpha Tauri changed their team name to Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, VCARB for short and then just RB. Absolutely ridiculous. The team also came under fire again, from Zak Brown for being Red Bulls “B” team. I kind of feel as though the criticism is a bit harsh and undeserved. If RB we’re up there alongside Red Bull every weekend, then I could understand and you might be able to say that there is a much closer relationship than is allowed but the team is a firm and consistent midfield challenger and have never matched Red Bull on the track so I think it is safe to say they are not really benefiting from any extra relationship with Red Bull.

    There were some early changes for the team with long running Team Principal Frans Tost leaving at the end of 2023. It’s not always ideal to prepare for a season after losing such a long serving figure head. New people come in with new ideas and can upset the apple cart. They did, however, start the season with the same driver line up of Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda. Something which would change after Singapore.

    The Team

    On paper it wasn’t a bad season for the Red Bull Junior team, although they finished in the same position as they did in 2023 (8th), they did score almost double their 2023 tally with Tsunoda scoring the majority of the points. They leap frogged Williams, but also lost ground to Haas. They could have however finished above Alpine, if they hadn’t had a very fruitful Brazilian GP.

    In terms of in-season developments, like most midfield teams there wasn’t too many, however what they did bring, worked and didn’t affect their performance in a negative way too much.

    It’s always hard to judge the midfield teams because they are so closely matched and fight for only a handful of points.

    The Drivers

    We saw what as potentially the end of Daniel Ricciardo’s career as an F1 driver. He was a bit of a conundrum for me really. I have always felt that he ran away from Red Bull and shied away from the challenge of Verstappen. He never really seemed to hit the heights or consistency he had when he was at Red Bull and just as he started discovering some form he ditched Renault for McLaren, which turned out to be a disastrous move and start the beginning of the end for him. He was lucky to return to F1 in 2023, however from the start he was regularly outperformed by Tsunoda.

    Daniel Ricciardo would eventually be replaced by Liam Lawson after the Singapore Grand Prix. He seems to be the chosen one at the moment. For those six the races they had together Lawson out qualified Tsunoda once and didn’t really outshine him in any of the races, with Tsunoda scoring the more points. I personally don’t think Lawson has really done anything to earn the drive at the main Red Bull team, but it will be interesting to see how he gets on.

    For 2025..

    2025 will see Hadjar join Tsunoda. I personally think he will outperform the rookie and so he should. I also have a feeling this will be Tsunoda’s last season at RB, I think he will be looking elsewhere for 2026. The team however need to push on and move forward in that midfield battle, it will be hard however with a rookie. Hadjar needs to find consistency first over speed, else RB might be finding themselves with a lot of repair bills.

    2024 Season Rating 5/10

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  • Should F1 Revise its Point Scoring Positions?

    I was talking to a friend the other day about the point system that is in F1 currently. In this post, we will discuss points for the main race and will ignore the sprint and the point awarded for fastest lap.

    The Current State of Play

    If you don’t know this is the breakdown of the current points scoring positions:

    1st – 256th – 8
    2nd – 187th – 6
    3rd – 158th – 4
    4th – 129th – 2
    5th – 1010th – 1

    Is Anything Changing for 2025?

    In short, no. There was a discussion earlier on in 2024, to increase the points scoring positions from 1st-10th to 1st-12th. However, when it was put to a vote, it was unanimously decided by the F1 Commission to not make any changes.

    What Is My Opinion?

    For 2025 it means that the midfield teams will continue to struggle to make any headway in the championship. Whilst its right to reward success, it’s also right to not reward failure. It’s a hard line to take but let me explain my why I think that way.

    Firstly, I remember watching a Practice Session on Sky and hearing David Croft say he thinks all cars that finish should score points. I don’t agree with this because if all cars finish the race, I do not believe you should reward a driver/ team for finishing dead last. The whole aim of the game in F1 is to push the boundary and try to make your way up that grid. In my opinion if you have point’s all the way down the finishing positions, for me it gives teams less of an incentive to improve and it gives them less of a target to work towards.

    On the flip side however, the reliability of the cars in F1 now, particularly from the top 4 teams is almost bullet proof. I had a quick look through last season’s results and for a large part of the season (save for the odd occasion) the top 8 scoring positions were taken by drivers from Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes. That means 60% of the F1 grid are fighting for 2-point scoring positions. The reliability in F1 now is the highest it has been for as long as I can remember, and this might partially be down to the way the cars are driven these days. It feels that 90% of races these days are more of a time trial than a race, the drivers are more focused on saving tyres and fuel than they are racing. Obviously, technology has also come a long way since I started watching F1 in 1998 when you’d regularly see engines or gearboxes let go, but I also feel this generation of cars are not pushed to the limit of tolerances as often as they used to be.

    The midfield is so tightly packed that I personally think the points positions should be extended out to 12th or 13th, it would give the teams more fruits for their labour without rewarding someone for finishing last 30seconds behind the car in front and it could also lead to some more interesting battles in the middle of the pack. It’s an interesting topic of conversation and I would love to be able to see what others think. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

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  • 2024 Season Review – Williams

    A Season Full of Mistakes

    It was a difficult season for Williams, they finished lower in the championship and scored less points last season than they did in 2023. Unfortunately for the team the tone was set early on when Albon destroyed his chassis in Practice 1 in Australia. The team had no spare and were forced to make the decision to take Logan Sargeants chassis and gave it to Albon.

    In financial terms, it was a costly season for Williams, all three drivers blighted at some point with some heavy accidents, and some occurred more than once in the same weekend. In the cost cap era and a team with a much smaller budget they cannot afford to keep wasting their budget on car repairs. I don’t know if the car was particularly hard to drive last season, but they could really do with a cleaner 2025.

    The Drivers

    As for the drivers, we saw Logan Sargeant replaced from the Italian Grand Prix onwards. I think you could say this is fair from Williams, having never beaten his teammate in qualifying and only scoring 1 point, his time was up. He was given a season and a half, which I think is a decent amount of time, given how long the seasons are these days. Formula One is a result driven sport and the step up, sometimes is a step to far for some. I would be surprised if we saw Sargeant in an F1 car ever again.

    Franco Colapinto was brought in from the Italian Grand Prix, becoming the first Argentine F1 driver since 2001. Initially he impressed, scoring points in Baku and Austin, however after that he started to struggle. He had a torrid time in Brazil having a heavy crash in qualifying and then the following weekend in Las Vegas he had another heavy crash. He would then retire from the remaining 2 races. For 2025 he is off to Alpine to be their reserve driver for the season, with eyes on a race seat for 2026.

    Albon, usually a competent consistent driver had his struggles last season. Maybe his confidence in the car was shaken by that crash in Australia. He did however show glimpses of his normal self with some decent qualifying performances that he couldn’t turn into more points finishes. He remains at the team for 2025 and will have a tougher competitor next to him in the other car so it will be good to see how he handles that additional pressure.

    The Team

    Since James Vowles took over, Williams have been on a slow trajectory up the grid. There seems to have been a decent amount of stability within the team, and they have, until 2024, improved year on year. The problem Williams have is the midfield is so tightly packed, and the front 4 teams are so reliable, it is hard for them to score regular points and then when they have a bad weekend it can be a double whammy. Look at what happened in Brazil for example, Alpine were in the right place at the right time to get a double podium, that enabled them to leapfrog several teams in the championship, whilst Williams came away with nothing.

    For 2025..

    Looking forward to this season, Williams should be looking to push themselves back up the grid, they have to good quick drivers now so there is no excuse for only having the one driver scoring the points. The only issue I have with the lineup is I think Sainz always has a mistake in him lurking below the surface. He’s had some hefty crashes in a Ferrari, but these can be more costly to a team like Williams. I do have a feeling that they will have one eye on 2026, but for me they can’t afford to slip down the grid any further this season.

    2024 Season Rating 3/10

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  • 2024 Season Review – Kick Sauber

    Zhou Guanyu (CHN, Kick Sauber)

    It was a year to forget for Sauber not only did they have issues on the track, but behind the scenes not everything appears rosy.

    After Audi bought what was then the Alpha Romeo Sauber team, they installed Andreas Seidl to be the head of the project. At the time I thought it was a strange move because Seidls time as McLaren Team Principle was very inconsistent. Yes, he took the team from the back of the grid up to 3rd in the Constructors standings, but the following season they started to fall back again into the mid pack. Fast forward a couple of years and now he has been replaced by Mattia Binotto, formerly a Ferrari Team Principal. Binotto has since revealed that when he joined Sauber the team seemed to be stagnant with no direction.

    Due to the issues in the background, there were very little in season updates to the car and as a result they finished the season with 4 points, all scored by Zhou. A season to forget for Bottas, a poor car combined with some terrible luck, he ended the season with no points and no place on the grid for 2025.

    Looking ahead for 2025, you can’t see them faring much better to be honest, they will be in full preparation mode to become the Audi team in 2026, and one would assume prepping for the rule changes that come in 2026 also. They do however have 2 new drivers in the shape of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto. A good move in my opinion on Hulkenberg, one of the more experienced drivers on the grid, he will help them develop the car during the season and help them going into 2026 also. Bortoleto will be in his rookie year having impressed as a McLaren junior in F2, he will also no doubt learn a lot from Hulkenberg. However, can’t see the team improving much.

    2024 Rating 1/10

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  • Colapinto to Alpine

    The Background

    Rumours circulated for a while that Franco Colapinto was going to land himself a last-minute grid slot for the 2025 season. He impressed in his short stint at Williams when he replaced Logan Sargeant, this despite smashing the car to bits on several occasions. It was announced Thursday 9th January that he would be leaving Williams and joining Alpine, not for a race seat however but as reserve driver.

    It might seem like a strange decision to go from Williams’ reserve driver to Alpine’s reserve driver, however I think there is more at play here. Let me explain.

    Firstly, Alpine appointed Flavio Briatore as “Executive Advisor of the Formula One Team”. Basically, he is the Team Principle in all but name. Briatore has been out of F1 since the crash gate scandal, he returned in 2024 to the team where he was Team Principle for many years. He runs a tight ship, doesn’t take any crap from anyone and is not afraid to wield the sword if needs be. If people think Helmut Marko is ruthless, Briatore eats him for breakfast.

    Secondly, Alpine have made a gamble this season by making Jack Doohan their second driver. Whilst Jack has impressed in F2, that does not mean he will be able to cut it in F1. We only need to look at Nicholas Latifi and Logan Sargeant, who both did reasonably well in F2 but then really struggled in F1. Alpine also have Pierre Gasly in the other seat, it’s a big year for Gasly, I will explain more in a minute, but he is up against an Alpine junior driver who will almost very much be the “favoured son”.

    The Future

    What I think has been done here is a shrewd move by Briatore and I think that Colapinto has signed with a guaranteed race seat for 2026. Why else move? You must imagine that from Williams’ point of view it is highly unlikely that in 2026 they will not have Albon or Sainz driving their cars. So, If my theory is correct, who loses their seat at Alpine? Colapinto is also now in a great spot for this season, should Doohan not meet expectations and struggle significantly, we could well see Colapinto in that race seat after the summer break. This is also why I think this is a massive yea for Gasly. If Doohan outperforms him, Gasly could well find himself without a seat for 2026. Personally, I think Briatore is planning on a Colapinto/ Doohan lineup for 2026. Watch this space and let’s see how the season pans out.

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  • Happy New Year

    A Round Up Of The Gossip

    I hope if you are reading this you had a good Christmas and New Year and took the time to recharge and indulge. Since my last post there has been a few items of gossip worth talking about, so let’s get straight to it.

    Cheerio Checo

    Red Bull confirmed the departure of Sergio Perez from the team with Immediate effect and as expected announced Liam Lawson as his replacement. You must feel for Checo as he comes across as being a nice guy but ultimately you can’t be surprised at his departure given his form last season. F1 is a ruthless sport and Red Bull are known to be one of the more ruthless teams and arguably his results this season, or lack of them, potentially cost RB the Constructors Championship. Red Bull did however shoot themselves in the foot and made it harder by giving him the new contract just before the Canadian GP, I personally think they should have tried to go after Sainz, but I understand that Sainz Snr and Jos Verstappen don’t like each other, shock.

    He is replaced by Liam Lawson, getting the drive over Yuki Tsunoda, despite Tsunoda comfortably beating him in their head-to-head last season. For me the jury is still out on Lawson, I personally don’t think he’s shown anywhere as much as some of the other drivers that have had that second seat, but time will tell, and I may be proved wrong. I can see however, that he will likely cause sparks within the team and will possibly get his collar felt by Helmut Marko and Jos Verstappen.

    One wonders what Tsunoda must be thinking, he has done everything they have asked of him, and he has improved massively since he first entered F1. Unless Lawson fails spectacularly and gets the early axe, I think he will look elsewhere for 2026. Hard to know really where he would go, however. His best options might be Haas or trying for one of the spots with the new Cadillac team.

    What next for Checo? There is a strong possibility that we may not see him as a driver on the grid again. As with Tsunoda, spots for 2026 are already looking slim and unless there are any significant driver swaps/ moves the only real place I could see Checo ending up is either Haas or Cadillac, both teams would certainly benefit from the financial backing he brings.

    Isack Hadjar Takes The Last Seat

    With the promotion of Lawson, the young Frenchman takes the last spot on the grid. Again, for me I don’t really think this is a particularly strong choice. I have seen him in several F2 & F3 races over the last couple of years and whilst he has flashes of brilliance, he does have occasions where he goes missing or makes a lot of mistakes. For example, he had the chance to win the 2024 F2 Championship and stalled on the grid, then he had the audacity on team radio to blame the team! Time will tell and we will see how ruthless RB will be next year if he does not perform.

    Bottas Returns To Mercedes

    Another one to lose his seat at the end of 2024, Bottas is returning to Mercedes to be their reserve driver. Smart move for me, he did well when he was alongside Hamilton and will bring some experience that Antonelli can learn from for next season. He is also in prime position should Antonelli fail to deliver anything but the car back in bits.

    Hamilton Starts At Ferrari

    Finally, as its the start of a new year, that means that Hamilton has officially now joined Ferrari, despite the hoopla that surrounded him in Abu Dhabi he has not left the sport and will be donning the red overalls this season.

    What’s To Come?

    For F1 next up is the fancy multi-team reveal of their 2025 cars/ liveries in London. It’s more likely to be a livery reveal than an actual car launch.

    For me over the next couple of weeks I will be releasing my review and thoughts of 2024 team by team. I will start from the back of the grid and move forward. Looking forward to starting to add more now we are in 2025, evolving and hopefully growing. To stay up to date please subscribe (its free) and drop a like on the post.

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