The story of the 2024 season so far has been all about Red Bull, with the reigning constructors’ champions cleaning up on track and enduring turbulence off it. Max Verstappen is already away and clear in the race for his fourth consecutive individual world title after picking up comfortable Grand Prix wins in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
It’s Australia up next in just over a week’s time, and Red Bull will hope to have shaken off their behind-the-scenes tension involving team principal Christian Horner, motorsport advisor Helmut Marko and Verstappen’s dad, Jos.
The fight between the rest of the F1 pack has become something of a side note, although Ferrari are best-placed in that regard after picking up 49 points in their first two races – 21 more than McLaren and 23 more than Mercedes.
in 6 hours13:59 Harry Smith
Daniel Ricciardo ‘needs a result’ after underwhelming start to 2024
Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan believes that Daniel Ricciardo ‘needs a result’ if he is to keep his name in the conversation for a seat in 2025.
“He needs a result more than anyone perhaps,” Jordan said on the Formula For Success podcast. “He needs to get it together because otherwise he’s going to be replaced. He can understand why he would be replaced because the performances are not just there.
“He shouldn’t be spinning the car, he shouldn’t be putting himself out of sequence in a pit stop. You don’t see Max doing that, you don’t see other people doing that. Daniel, as much as we adore him and I think he’s a huge asset for F1, the stopwatch never lies.
“The stopwatch in terms of Daniel, the question marks are out there. When we see people like Oliver Bearman coming like the way he did, people like Daniel will need to look over his shoulder and think ‘How much time do I have left here?’”
in 5 hours12:55 Harry Smith
Steiner ‘would hire’ Oliver Bearman after Saudi Arabian GP heroics
Guenther Steiner has admitted that he would sign Oliver Bearman for next season if he was still the Haas team principal.
“Based on his performance in Jeddah, after what I saw from him at Haas, I’d put him in a race seat,” he wrote in an F1.com column. “Obviously, it depends on the circumstances and what seats are available. You need to see the whole landscape, but he would be a candidate.
“Obviously, it is not 100% that he will succeed. It’s still a risk. But the way he handled himself in qualifying and the race in Jeddah, having just had one hour of practice, suggests the risk is so much smaller.”
