Red Bull and Mercedes Dates Announced plus McLaren Goes All In on 2024.
We are officially in the exciting part of Formula 1’s Winter Break.
To this point, Red Bull is saying there is room to improve on last years RB19. There have also been rumors that they have stopped focusing on the 2024 car and have already turned their attention to the 2025 car.
Mercedes is talking about great feedback from simulators and McLaren is deleting every instagram post but dropping two hype videos. All we are missing now is Ferrari putting news out there that their car has unprecedented speed yet again.
The offseason in Formula 1 always delivers.
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - NOVEMBER 26: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB19 takes the chequered flag during the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit on November 26, 2023 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202311260239 // Usage for editorial use only //
Red Bull share launch date for latest F1 challenger ahead of 2024 title defence.
Reigning world champions Red Bull have followed swiftly in the footsteps of Mercedes and Alpine by confirming the launch date for their 2024 challenger.
Red Bull are preparing for their 20th season in Formula 1, having debuted back in 2005, and will show off the car they will use to contest it on February 15.Following F1’s move to ground effect regulations in 2022, Red Bull have dominated proceedings to rack up both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles for the last two seasons.
It was a particularly commanding display from the Milton Keynes squad last year, who won 21 out of 22 races, with Max Verstappen taking 19 of those.
Verstappen will be pushing to make it four drivers’ crowns on the bounce in 2024, having also claimed the 2021 title after a fierce battle with Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton, while team mate Sergio Perez is looking to build on a personal best P2 in the standings.
Red Bull’s announcement means just McLaren, AlphaTauri and Haas are yet to confirm when they will launch their 2024 cars.
Season 20 💪 Launching 15.02.2024 🔜 pic.twitter.com/kosnvO509i
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) January 15, 2024
Mercedes and Alpine latest teams to confirm 2024 launch dates.
Mercedes and Alpine are the latest teams to confirm their launch plans ahead of the 2024 season, meaning more than half of the F1 grid have now done so.
Slotting in a couple of days after the Williams and Kick Sauber outfits, Alpine will stage what they have described as a ‘motorsports season launch’ for their F1 and World Endurance Championship operations on February 7.
Alpine, who finished sixth in the 2023 constructors’ standings, will be adding to their F1 programme with an assault on the hypercar class of the WEC – Mick Schumacher having been signed as one of their drivers.
One week later, and coming just after Aston Martin and Ferrari, the Mercedes W15 is set to break cover on February 14 via a digital launch event broadcast live from Silverstone.
It is a car the Silver Arrows hope will bring them back into contention after their run of eight successive constructors’ titles came to an end in 2022, with just one race victory recorded over the last two campaigns.
14.02.24. Meet the W15 🖤 pic.twitter.com/6XRmjiJC1N
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) January 15, 2024
F1 🤝 WEC
Join us on the 7th of February for an Alpine Motorsports Season Launch. pic.twitter.com/wtEm5R6SNT
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) January 15, 2024
Toto Wolff to remain as Mercedes team principal until 2026.
Mercedes F1 co-owner Toto Wolff will remain in his role as team principal for at least three more years.
Wolff is one of three equal shareholders in the F1 team, holding a third of the company alongside the Mercedes car company and chemical company INEOS.
After two difficult seasons, in which the team scored just one victory and saw Red Bull replace it as the dominant force within the sport, there was speculation over whether Wolff would remain in his day-to-day role as team principal or take a step back.
But after holding conversations with INEOS owner Jim Ratcliffe and Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius, Wolff said the three agreed that he remain in charge.
“I think the most important thing between the three of us is that we trust each other," Wolff told the Daily Telegraph on Monday. “At the end of the day, as a shareholder myself, I want the best return on investment. And the best return on investment is winning.
“I’m not going to try to hang on to a position that I think somebody is going to do better than me. I make sure that I have people around who can tell me otherwise. In the end the three of us decided: ‘Let’s do it again’."
Wolff has been a Mercedes shareholder and team boss since he joined from Williams in 2013. During that period, Mercedes has won seven drivers’ titles and eight constructors’ titles in the longest period of single-team dominance in F1’s history.
He said he is still motivated to remain in his role and confirmed his shareholding in the team had not been in question.
“I’m part of this team in various functions," the 52-year-old added.
“I’m a co-shareholder. I’m on the board. These are things which will not change whatever executive, or non-executive, role I have. But I feel good.
“The risk for me is always more bore-out than burnout. And that’s why I embrace the challenges we have today, even though they sometimes feel very, very difficult to manage."
The new deal will also see him stay as team principal into the first year of F1’s next regulation change in 2026.