The philosopher’s stone or the elixir of eternal life are just a few examples of how much humanity has fantasized about the idea of finding that element or substance capable of turning everything into gold or giving the greatest possible power to one person. And that, for now, transferred to F1, would be the ‘anti-Max formula’. Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin have been on an ‘expedition’ for several months in search of something that seems impossible to achieve today: that their cars can live up to the level that Max Verstappen managed to take from in his Red Bull.
How long will Max’s massive dominance last? While maintaining a regulation over the years, things tend to be even on the grid. In 2023, the second year of the current rules, this trend began to occur. All the cars were tight and finished the year with anyone capable of crashing in Q1 or Q2 if they made a mistake and there was a lot of variation in performance depending on each track. All, except Verstappen, who continued on to another planet.
The most worrying thing for all his rivals is that Max won the last event of the year by a margin of 17 seconds with a car that Red Bull has already warned it has not developed since the middle of the year. They allowed themselves the luxury of focusing on the 2024 car while others continued to spend energy and time improving their car for this year. Therefore, Hamilton’s reflection makes a lot of sense: “Red Bull won by 17 seconds and they haven’t touched the car since August or July, so I can predict where they will be next year.”
However, his pursuers will try. Alonso is confident it can repeat the astonishing leap in performance that Aston Martin made last winter. And the green team must also improve its progress during the course. Mercedes also believes in improvement after two years. And Sainz is confident in Maranello, stressing that if McLaren makes a big step in the middle of this season, from the tail to the fight for the 2nd car, Ferrari can also turn its situation around this winter. Everyone dreams, but only one thing is clear: Verstappen will once again be the clear favorite
Format changes in the 2024 sprint
With no changes to the current F1 driver grid, although Logan Sargeant’s continuation at Williams remains to be officially confirmed, the main change for next year concerns the calendar. In 2023 there were 23 races, but 22 were held due to the cancellation of Imola due to severe flooding. Next year there will be 24 tests. Among them, we have to see what will be the sprint format of the GPs.
The teams are requesting changes in this regard. The idea of an inverted starting grid in sprint races is gaining momentum. It may take the order of the World Championship as a reference, but it remains to be seen whether the points from the sprint races will be added to the Drivers’ World Championship or to a new side competition.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
