Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli believes that its hopes to provide better racing will be helped by the sport’s decision to scrap its proposed ban on tyre blankets from 2025.

Pirelli, which has been F1’s sole tyre supplier since 2011, has been considering changes to its tyres in the hopes of tackling issues of increased thermal degradation as seen this year.

In 2023, drivers struggled to push their tyres to the limit as concerns of overheating limited raceability and the chances of overtakes.

In November, it was confirmed that the F1 Commission had agreed to scrap a proposed ban on tyre blankets which was set to be introduced in 2025.

It was instead agreed that future tyre development “should be focused on reducing issues of overheating and improving the raceability of the tyres”.

The decision eases pressure on Pirelli which can now direct its focus towards addressing overheating issues without creating a new tyre with extra warm-up characteristics as would be required without tyre blankets.

“At least now the target is clear, and clearer compared to previous weeks,” said Pirelli’s Chief F1 Engineer Simone Berra.

“We know that we need to work in 2024 with development tests to produce a new generation of compounds. And this will be the target.  

“We will continue to improve the reliability of the tyres in terms of structure, but the compounds will be the focus for our 2024 development plan, and we will work obviously more focusing towards the overheating.” 

Over the next few weeks, Pirelli will analyse data collected throughout the 2023 season to better understand the source of the concerns.

“We want to try to understand why, from 2022 to 2023, the overheating effect was higher. What was the reason?” Berra continued.

“After this analysis, which we will do at the end of the season, we will try to understand where to work on the compounds to improve this aspect.  

“Obviously, we would like to have drivers able to push as much as possible and not to be managing the tyre temperatures. This is the target from our side.”

Berra denied that the influx in overheating complaints was due to the construction of the tyre, instead suggesting the tyre compound itself was more likely to blame.

“I don’t think it’s a construction issue. I think that sometimes we have overheating comments, but it’s not real overheating,” he explained.

“The drivers just feel a lack of grip or a decaying grip, but sometimes it’s just the tyre that is degrading itself because of wear or graining or for other reasons. 

“It happened in the past that we had overheating comments but it was not really overheating.

“But we have some races where we noticed that we had high temperatures, and especially the rear axle was affected by these high temperatures. So, we need to distinguish which is the real reason.

“I think we need to work more on the compound for what concerns the overheating. Obviously, we can work even with the structure, because if we have a more reliable tyre and if we can decrease a little bit the pressure, this will obviously help even the overheating effect, as this will increase the contact patch and so you distribute more uniformly the temperature. 

“But for sure a compound itself doesn’t change everything. So the compound should work together with the structure and that’s why we need to progress together: structure and compound.”

Ferrari Formula 1 boss Frederic Vasseur is unconcerned by his drivers’ fluctuations in form during 2023, labelling Max Verstappen an exception in an “up and down” year.

Verstappen thoroughly dominated the past campaign, winning 19 of the 22 races to secure a third consecutive F1 Drivers’ title with a record six rounds still remaining.

Meanwhile, Ferrari’s attempt to sustain a challenge was stymied by an unpredictable car that both drivers repeatedly complained about during the opening stages of the year.

However, the Italian marque responded admirably beyond the summer break to end Red Bull’s hopes of a historic clean sweep with Carlos Sainz’s victory in Singapore.

Charles Leclerc had been on the back foot during that period until Ferrari’s introduction of a revised floor in Japan tipped the balance back towards the Monegasque driver, who ended the season with three pole positions and three podiums in the last six rounds.

But Vasseur admits that he is not perturbed about the inconsistency experienced on either side of the garage, insisting that the two drivers compliment each other well.

“We had different momentum through the year. I think it is true that Carlos was very, very strong after the summer break and Charles was flying at the last six or seven events,” Vasseur said in Abu Dhabi.

“But overall, I think the dynamic that we added to the team was a good one.  

“Again, I don’t think we have to keep in mind the race here [Abu Dhabi] for Carlos because overall, he won in Singapore, and in Monza he did pretty well.

“It didn’t work this time and we have to understand why. But I am sure that for Tuesday [the post-season test] it will be fixed. So, overall, the season is not one day.”

Vasseur stressed that every driver on the grid other than Verstappen encountered a rough spell at some stage of the season, which he considers to have been dictated by the closeness of the field behind Red Bull.

“Except Max, everybody on the grid has been up and down this season and it is true because it is very tight, and sometimes with one-tenth or one-tenth-and-a-half because you like the track or you like the set-up of the car on this day, you can move from P2/3 to P10 and it is almost a disaster,” he explained.

“But we have to stay calm to the approach and it is not today that we missed something [in the championship against Mercedes].”  

Nico Hulkenberg believes the initial problems rival teams encountered throughout the early stages of the 2023 Formula 1 season flattered the performance of Haas’ VF-23 car.

Haas opened the season relatively promisingly with a total of 11 points from the first five rounds, including a seventh-place finish for Hulkenberg in the Australian GP.

But that would transpire to be the German’s only top-10 placing in a grand prix during his F1 comeback campaign, with Haas scoring just one point in the remaining 17 rounds.

Consequently, the American outfit slumped to the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship for the second time in three years, having climbed to eighth last season.

McLaren had started the year struggling to escape Q1 before a substantial mid-season upgrade package propelled it into regular podium contention. Meanwhile, AlphaTauri sustained a late development push that hauled it from the foot of the standings.

Reflecting on the 2023 season, Hulkenberg said: “Obviously, it was a process, and signs were there early in the season. But we got away with it early in the season because other people also were struggling more.

“And then once they cleaned up and then brought some real developments, that’s when we really started to pay the penalty.

“The last or the second half of the season has been really tough. I think there was only an opportunity to score a point or two for me in Singapore, which we missed by the wrong strategy call.

“Apart from that we just never had the pace to do it. Even when there were a lot of cars dropping out, we were just too far away from it.

“So of course that’s not great. That’s why we need to do better.”

In a bid to cure its tyre degradation issue, Haas became the final side to converge to the downwash sidepod solution pioneered by Red Bull at the United States GP in October.

However, the revised car failed to inspire the immediate upturn Haas hoped and Hulkenberg elected to return to the old-spec car for the remaining two rounds of the year.

“I don’t think there’s a huge difference between them,” Hulkenberg rued. “Minor differences. Last weekend [Las Vegas], I felt actually the new package had an edge over the old package on a low downforce configuration.

“This weekend, obviously I didn’t do the Friday, but from Saturday, I felt quite okay. Kevin didn’t feel so happy. I mean, both are similar.

“But that’s in itself obviously is not good enough. An update is supposed to be better, and fix some of your issues, and unfortunately that didn’t happen. So, we need to try and do better there next year.”

Hulkenberg, who denied that the team’s ties with Ferrari were responsible for its slump, has urged Haas to ensure that it assembles a better car and upgrade route next season.

“We just need to pick up our feet, and do a better job, we need to work hard, because we want to do better,” he added.

“I want us to do better ultimately, and I think everyone in the team wants to do better. So we just have to try and come up with better solutions.”

Oscar Piastri credited McLaren’s remarkable mid-season turnaround for him achieving “a lot of highlights” during his rookie Formula 1 campaign in 2023.

Following a stellar junior career which saw the Australian score three titles in succession as a rookie all eyes were on Piastri to see what he could do in his first F1 season.

Piastri certainly delivered – with a Sprint win in Qatar and two podium finishes in Japan and Qatar – earning him FIA Rookie of the Year Honours in a prizegiving ceremony on Friday.

Rewind the clock to post-race in the F1 season finale at Abu Dhabi and Piastri credited McLaren’s ability to take an uncompetitive MCL60 from the start of the season into a podium contender for giving him such a great rookie season.

“Yeah, it’s definitely been a great season,” Piastri said.

“A lot of highlights that I wouldn’t have been able to do without the team improving the car the way we did. So I have to give a lot of credit to them.”

Piastri also gave time to commend himself for being able to perform to the upgraded MCL60’s potential once he received the upgrades from the British Grand Prix.

“But also I guess to pat myself on the back, I had to deliver in those moments too,” the Australian added. “I think to me that’s probably the proudest moment.

“Silverstone where we rocked up with the car that was competitive, I was able to get the most out of it. Japan, not my finest race, but did enough to score my first podium.

“And Qatar – we had one opportunity really in the whole year to actually win something and we managed to take it. So yeah, for me I can be very proud of that.”

Looking at what he can improve, Piastri admitted a more consistent approach and ironing out mistakes will benefit him moving forward, a lesson he learnt en route to title glory in the junior formula.

But with McLaren proving to be a competitive package in the second half of 2023, the focus will be to hit the ground running from the get-go in 2024.

“I think we’re fully expecting next year to go into the year fighting for more or at least making our good weekends that we’ve had this year every weekend,” Piastri issued.

“But I’m sure Mercedes and Ferrari have the same idea. So we’ll try our best, definitely try and start it a lot better than we did this year.

“But for myself, I feel like I’ve got much more experience under my belt and I hope I can use that for whatever position we find ourselves in.”

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner admits it has both internal and external options when it comes to who will drive for the side in Formula 1 beyond the end of 2024.

Max Verstappen is currently tied down through 2028, but the future regarding who his team-mate will be for the duration of that contract remains undetermined at this stage.

Sergio Perez retains the drive and upholds a deal that covers next season. However, his position has come under intense speculation amid an alarming slump in form during 2023.

Despite Red Bull winning all but one of the 22 rounds to be held, Perez only took two victories – both within the first four races – and lagged 290 points behind Verstappen.

The pressure has been ramped up on Perez by the return of Daniel Ricciardo, who marked his F1 comeback with Red Bull’s sister outfit – AlphaTauri – earlier this year.

Horner confirmed that both drivers were in the frame for the vacant Red Bull seat in 2025, but also revealed that the team retain options outside of its motorsport stable.

“As a team you want to field the most competitive pairing you can,” he told Sky Sports News. “You want the right dynamic in a team and Max and Checo have been a successful pairing.

“Checo in his three years with us has finished fourth, third and second. He’s on a good trajectory. Daniel is well known to us.

“It’s great to have him back in the Red Bull fold. Everything is open for 2025 onwards, so for us to have options internally and externally is no bad place to be.”

One such name that has been persistently linked is Lando Norris, with the Briton even conceding that talks took place before he extended with McLaren until the end of 2025.

However, McLaren’s resurgence into regular podium contenders over the past campaign has reinforced Norris’ belief that the Woking-based squad is back on the “right track”.

Horner has reiterated that stability in the regulations will lead to the grid converging up, meaning that Red Bull won’t enjoy the same advantage as it did in 2023 next year.

“The RB19 has been the most successful car in the history of the sport so you can imagine that it’s a pretty attractive car to have been in,” Horner added.

“I think we’ve got great drivers – what will happen with stable regulations, it’s going to get a lot closer, we’ve got some great teams that we’re competing against. With stable regulations, 2024 is not going to be like 2023.

“We’re expecting a lot more competition from McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari and all of the drivers who are competing for them.”

Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff has ramped up the pressure on his team by insisting that it must deliver a title-contending car that can bring Lewis Hamilton “alive”.

Hamilton is currently tied with Michael Schumacher on seven F1 Drivers’ titles, having capitalised on Mercedes’ domination of the turbo-hybrid engine era from 2014 to add to his 2008 success with McLaren.

The Briton was set for a record-breaking eighth championship in 2021 but was denied when ex-FIA race director Michael Masi contravened the FIA Safety Car restart rules.

Amid Mercedes’ ongoing struggles since the regulations overhaul last season, Hamilton has not been able to reignite his intense rivalry with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

The Brackley-based squad has only amassed one victory during F1’s return to ground effect machinery via George Russell, leaving Hamilton winless since December 2021.

However, Wolff underlines that he’s certain Hamilton, who re-signed with Mercedes through 2025, can battle for the title again with the right machinery underneath him.

“From Lewis’ perspective he had a bad weekend,” Wolff reflected in Abu Dhabi after Hamilton exited in the second stage of qualifying and then trailed home ninth.

“That doesn’t do anything on him being the greatest driver in the world, and if we are able to give him a car, he will be fighting for a World Championship. I have no doubt.

“It’s clear when you have a Formula One car like we have now, you are never at ease with it and you have good weekends and bad weekends.

“But whenever we have seen that Lewis has someone in his target in front of him and it was about winning the race, then the real Lewis comes alive. We just need to give that to him.”

Mercedes’ absence at the top has enabled Red Bull to assume responsibility as the dominant entity in F1, with the Austrian outfit winning all but one of the 22 races in 2023.

The German marque is set to press ahead with a revised car philosophy for 2024 as it bids to return to championship contention against Red Bull and Verstappen next year.

“Somebody told me a funny sentence about a long-term perspective: we have a board in our factory that shows all the Constructors’ World Championships since 1958 and the table goes until 2050 and we have the logos and badges of the different years,” Wolff added.

“There is 27 open with empty badges, and I would like to look back in 20 years and say there are many more Mercedes stars.

“When you are retrospective, and I hate retrospective views, but when you look back 20 years and consider that decade it was second, first, first, first, first, first, first, first, first, third, second. When you look at it from that perspective, you kind of say that was OK.

“Now, from a micro view there is one guy [Verstappen] who won 19 races [in 2023]. So that is of course not good enough.”

Plans continue to push forward for IndyCar to stage an exhibition race in Argentina following the conclusion of the 2024 championship season.

Series leadership has been working out the logistics needed for the Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo to host a non-points-paying event, and the arrangement seems closer than ever to being given the green light.

Argentina has a large IndyCar following that would surely sell out such an event, largely on account of Ricardo Juncos and his JHR team hiring popular national stock car champion Agustin Canapino to drive in IndyCar starting this past season.

That level of support almost guarantees that an exhibition outing in the country would be a success, as long as all the various pieces are worked out to put it all together.

While not ready to announce a final commitment to the event, Penske Entertainment President and CEO Mark Miles teased that over half of the agreements are now in place to make the event happen following the 2024 season.

“I don’t know if we’re in the red zone or just inside the 50 yard line, but I think it’s quite feasible,” said Miles, equating progress to field positions in American Football. “Even for the offseason, the post-championship part of the 2024 calendar [is feasible].

“The [Argentinian] presidential election happened, and by all indications that has not presented any new challenges to us. We have a promoter who is putting together the components to organize a great event. We’ve got a fantastic facility that’s available to us.

“I think the international expansion, that opportunity comes as we end the season pretty early in September. So we’ve got three plus months off. And I think there are important reasons we take that approach.

“I also think that opens up the possibility of some international event or events where the right conditions come together. First of all, we want to go places where we think we’ll have a really dynamite, intense, popular event. And there are places where we think we have that sort of fanbase.

“I think [Argentina] could be an example of the kind of thing that we could do. So we’ve just got to get all the I’s dotted and T’s crossed, and hopefully it can happen. It could be formalized and made public in the early part of the first quarter of next year.”

If the event goes ahead, it will be the first time since 1971 that IndyCar has completed anything more than a demonstration run in Argentina.

The 2024 IndyCar season officially wraps up on September 15, giving the series a couple months before the holidays to fit in the South American event without disrupting the championship schedule.

Fernando Alonso has admitted that he was pleasantly “surprised” by the “commitment and levels of motivation” Lance Stroll showed during the 2023 Formula 1 season.

Alonso capitalised on Aston Martin’s early resurgence to claim eight podiums and conclude his debut year with the team classified fourth in the Drivers’ standings.

Despite breaking both wrists in an accident on the eve of testing, Stroll also began the campaign encouragingly with fifth in Bahrain before improving to fourth place in Australia.

However, the Canadian was unable to build on that momentum as Aston Martin’s competitiveness started to fall away, ending up a sizeable 132 points behind Alonso.

But after enduring a torrid run of six straight Q1 exits, Stroll rebounded impressively with successive fifth-place finishes in both Brazil, having qualified third, and Las Vegas.

Alonso has commended his team-mate’s “dedication” to reversing his mid-season slump, conceding that Stroll’s application shocked him in their debut season together.

“It has been very good,” the Spaniard reflected when asked about the relationship with Stroll prior to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

“I think we have a very unique relationship, I think in any team that I was working for and any team that I know in the current paddock.

“We talk a lot, we are in contact every week on the telephone, at the factory, at the races, and we try to make sure that we are following the same direction, and we share many things.

“He’s been through some difficulties this year, the car was just changing the behaviour a little bit and he was just struggling a little bit more than me. Now we fixed few things in the car and he’s back to the top form. It was impressive to see his dedication and his motivation in the highs and in the lows.

“At the beginning of the year with the broken hand. And then midway through the season with some difficulties, he was so determined to put things back in place again and eventually he did, after I think Mexico and then the race in Brazil, the race in Vegas.

“This was a surprise to me, to be honest, the level of commitment and the level of motivation that he has, so this is only good news and good things for the team.”

Although Alonso returned to the podium for only the second time since July at the penultimate round in Brazil and Stroll added 22 points across the final three events, Aston Martin was unable to overturn its deficit to McLaren for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship, missing out by 22 points.

Pierre Gasly is expecting stronger performances from Alpine next year after a ‘challenging’ maiden season with the French outfit.

2023 marked Gasly’s first season away from the Red Bull umbrella having been first drafted into a Formula 1 seat with Toro Rosso towards the back end of the 2017 campaign.

An infamous spell alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull in 2019 saw the Frenchman demoted back to Toro Rosso midway through the campaign where he emerged as an admirable team leader for the Faenza outfit over the following years.

Gasly made the switch to Alpine for 2023 to replace the Aston Martin-bound Fernando Alonso to form an all-French line-up alongside Esteban Ocon.

The Enstone-based squad had high hopes to improve on fourth in the Constructor’s last season, however, a turbulent 2023 campaign saw Alpine resign to sixth overall with a points tally 53 points down on the previous campaign. A total of 120 points is also the team’s worst performance since 2019.

Asked to analyse his maiden campaign at his new stable, Gasly detailed a season of ‘two sides’.

“On one side, it’s been a challenging year because we were clearly not at the pace that we expected as a team,” the 27-year-old said.

“We thought we would be fighting for better positions but, on the other side, I’m very pleased with the way we’ve worked with the team.”

Alpine found itself somewhat in no-man’s-land in the final Constructor’s order trailing Aston Martin by 160 points and almost 100 points clear of seventh-placed Williams.

The Australian Grand Prix proved a notable missed opportunity for the team when Gasly’s fifth-place position after the second red flag was only to be rewarded with a double retirement when the team-mates collided at the first chicane. The side was also hit by consecutive double retirements at the British and Hungarian Grands Prix.

While the A523 lacked the consistency and raw performance to regularly battle towards the front of the field, both Ocon and Gasly were able to steal podiums away from the top teams.

Ocon grabbed third in Monaco, whereas Gasly managed the same in a chaotic Dutch Grand Prix just one round after the team’s dramatic and unexpected senior management cleanout.

“New Year, my first season with Alpine, I came to Bahrain [pre-season testing] not really knowing how the team works, into a new car, and it takes a bit of time before you find your feet inside a new organization,” Gasly continued.

“When I look back, I’m feeling so much better now in the car, in the way we’re working, in the understanding with the guys.

“I’m really pleased with the evolution we have had throughout the whole season, and I’m definitely confident we’ll start with much better foundations from next year onwards.”

Seven-times Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton has labelled the conduct of the FIA as “unacceptable” and says the governing body’s behaviour “has to change.”

Hamilton was speaking during the mandatory press conference ahead of Friday evening’s FIA Gala, which is being held in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.

Hamilton must be present at the ceremony after finishing third in this year’s championship.

The FIA said on Tuesday that its Compliance Department was looking into suggestions that information of a confidential nature had been passed between a Formula 1 team boss and an employee of Formula 1.

While the FIA did not name the individuals it is understood it was a reference to Mercedes chief Toto Wolff and F1 Academy head Susie Wolff.

Both Wolffs, along with Mercedes and Formula 1, angrily denied the suggestions, while the following day the other nine Formula 1 teams outlined that they had not made any complaint.

On Thursday the FIA confirmed that there is no longer an ongoing investigation into any individual.

Mercedes issued a statement from Toto Wolff on Friday outlining that legal options are being explored while Susie Wolff vowed to find out who instigated the initial investigation.

“It has been a challenging week, I think, a disappointing week, really, to see the governing body of our sport has [sought] to question the integrity of one of the most incredible female leaders we’ve ever had in our sport, [in] Susie Wolff, without questioning, without any evidence,” said Hamilton.

“Then just saying ‘sorry’ at the end, that’s just unacceptable.  

“We’ve got lot of great people in the sport that are doing amazing work, there is a constant fight to really improve diversity and inclusion within the industry, but it seems there are certain individuals within the leadership of the FIA that every time we make a step forward they’re trying to pull us back and that has to change.

“This is a global sport and we have a such an incredible opportunity and a natural responsibility to be leader of change, travelling to all countries around the world we have a responsibly to make sure we are pushing the right direction. 

“I do want to acknowledge there are a lot of people doing great work but we need to make some change to make sure we are pushing in the right direction.”

Hamilton also queried the decision to hold the end-of-season gathering in Azerbaijan.

“Whilst I really like Baku, it’s really a beautiful place, [there are] questions in my mind of whether the FIA is really actually thinking about sustainability because so many people flew out here and the FIA is in Paris and it just would have been easier to stay there,” he said.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has warned the team won’t have everything “fully maximised” in time for the 2024 Formula 1 season, adding it needs “a bit more time”.

The Woking-based squad endured a torrid beginning to the 2023 campaign, having admitted it had missed development targets over the winter period with its MCL60 car.

But after struggling to avoid Q1 eliminations early on, the introduction of a substantial upgrade package in Austria in July elevated McLaren into front-running contention.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri combined to amass nine podiums in total – with the latter landing a breakthrough win in the Qatar Sprint race – to inspire the team to fourth.

Having been Red Bull’s most regular challenger in the second half of the season, McLaren has been tipped as one of the sides that could mount a title charge next season.

McLaren’s bid to challenge at the top in 2024 will be bolstered by the team’s state-of-the-art wind tunnel facility and the addition of two marquee technical arrivals in January.

The British outfit secured the return of David Sanchez (Car Concept & Performance) from Ferrari, while Rob Marshall (Engineering & Design) has traded Red Bull for McLaren.

However, with those two not set to start work at Woking until January, Brown has cautioned that McLaren won’t be exploiting its full potential from the outset next season.

“We have everything we need, but we need a little bit more time,” Brown said.

“The upgrades were not done with some of our latest technology, and we’re now in our wind tunnel, we have our new simulator, our new manufacturing unit, so that is quite exciting for us because we haven’t benefited from those [before].

“We’ve got great people back at McLaren but we do have a couple of big hires that start in early January but of course, our 2024 has already been started.

“We will have everything in place come January but 2024 has already started, so I think it will be 2025 before we’ve fully maximised everything, but I feel good about the ’24 season.

“It’s been an awesome effort by Andrea and the entire team. The upgrades have been fantastic.

“The drivers are doing a great job, we’ve got great power coming out of our Mercedes power unit, so it’s been a wild ride.”

Meanwhile, Brown recently lauded McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella for pioneering the side’s remarkable revival into a genuine recognised threat once again in F1.

“Andrea has done a fantastic job – he’s a tremendous leader,” Brown added.

“He’s a great communicator, he empowers the team, he listens, he gives great direction – I can’t say enough great things about him.”

“The proof is in the pudding [in terms of results]. Look at what he inherited at the start of the year, which was kind of the ninth-quickest car.

“We’ve been in the second half of the year kind of the second, third-quickest car, [scoring] a pole, lots of podiums, so it’s credit to Andrea and everyone in the racing team. It’s a team effort, which is great to see.”

Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone have expressed how “delighted” they are to have been approved as Formula E’s tyre supplier from the 2026/27 season, with Wednesday’s announcement falling at the same time as the company celebrating their 60th anniversary in motorsport.

For the first time since departing Formula 1 at the end of the 2010 season, Bridgestone will return to a single-seater World Championship in 2026, after the FIA approved their application to be Formula E’s sole tyre supplier for Gen4. It means that Hankook will leave the all-electric series after three more seasons.

Bridgestone’s Formula E approval comes not long after their application to become F1’s tyre supplier was unsuccessful, as Pirelli were offered a new deal.

The announcement was made at a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Baku, Azerbaijan, with Bridgestone’s deal lasting from the start of the 2026/27 season (season 13), to the end of the 2029/30 campaign (season 16).

Through arrangements with the FIA, Bridgestone will continue to work on developing sustainable technology, as part of their push to be at the forefront of targeting a more sustainable future through their products and their sustainable global motorsports initiatives.

For Formula E, Bridgestone are set to produce two compounds, marking the first time in the all-electric championship’s history that two compounds have been available.

The most used compound will be the ‘baseline’ rubber, which’ll be a grooved all-weather tyre that “must guarantee sufficient grip to ensure safe racing in light rain”. A ‘typhoon’ rubber will also be produced by Bridgestone and will be “mandatory in heavy rain”.

Bridgestone are extremely pleased to be returning to an FIA World Championship as it continues the company’s “60-year legacy in motorsports”, with the manufacturer “looking forward” to getting started.

“Motorsports is Bridgestone’s passion. Always has been, and always will be. I am delighted to be able to announce our return to an FIA World Championship this year as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of our motorsports activities,” said Shu Ishibashi, Global CEO and Representative Executive Officer, Bridgestone Corporation.

“Carrying on our 60-year legacy in motorsports, we are very excited about being the FIA’s sole tyre supplier for Formula E from the 2026-2027 season.

“Sharing the passion to race and passion to win, Bridgestone has empowered the best performance of cars, drivers and teams in racing conditions by repeatedly taking on the ultimate challenges while ensuring safety and peace of mind based on our fundamental principle ‘tyres carry life.’

“This ‘ultimate challenge,’ as we call ‘challenge for excellence,’ is our origin as a tyre manufacturer and shaped the foundation of our premium tyre business. As we face our next stage, Bridgestone aims to evolve sustainable global premium motorsports products with our enduring passion to embrace the ultimate challenge and to pursue excellence in every moment.

“The core of our supply arrangement with the FIA will be the expansion and enhancement of ‘ENLITEN®’ tyre product technology, enabling ‘ultimate customization’ that we define our ‘new premium in the EV era.’ I am looking forward to starting our activities in the Formula E from the 2026–2027 season.”

Both Toto and Susie Wolff have released statements demanding “transparency” over the “unfounded” FIA investigation into the pair’s alleged conflict of interest.

The sport’s governing body announced on Tuesday that the FIA Compliance Department was looking into a supposed case of confidential information being exchanged.

According to the report by BusinessF1, Toto Wolff made a comment in a recent meeting that could only have been made based on information handed down by the FOM.

While the FIA reframed from listing specific names, the wording clarified that it involved an active Formula 1 team principal and a member of FOM personnel.

Toto Wolff is currently the team boss of Mercedes’ F1 team, a position he has held since 2013, while Susie Wolff is the Managing Director of the all-female F1 Academy series.

F1 and Mercedes both denounced the allegations in swift statements while equally criticising the FIA for failing to notify either party about its pending investigation.

Meanwhile, the other nine teams on the F1 grid put on a united front by posting a collective statement that denied the notion that any of them had prompted the FIA’s action.

The FIA then put out a statement detailing there is no investigation in progress, citing that it is satisfied with the procedures in place to avoid conflicts of interest in F1.

On behalf of Mercedes, Toto Wolff has posted a statement revealing that the couple is currently in legal talks with the FIA and want to understand why the episode occurred.

“We understand that there is significant media interest in the events of this week. We are currently in active legal exchange with the FIA,” Wolff said.

“We await full transparency about what took place and why, and have expressly reserved all legal rights.

“Therefore we ask for your understanding that we will not be commenting officially for now, but we will certainly address the matter in due course.”

Having previously branded the allegations “baseless” and rooted “in intimidatory and misogynistic behaviour”, Susie Wolff has condemned the FIA’s latest response.

“When I saw the statement issued by the FIA yesterday evening, my first reaction was: ‘Is that it?’” Wolff said on social media.

“For two days, insinuations have been made about my integrity in public and through background briefings, but nobody from the FIA has spoken to me directly.

“I might have been collateral damage in an unsuccessful attack on somebody else, or the target of a failed attempt to discredit me personally, but I have worked too hard to have my reputation called into question by an unfounded press release.”

Wolff also expressed gratefulness to the other F1 teams for their collective show of solidarity, adding that she intends to hold accountable those who instigated the incident.

“We have come a long way as a sport. I was extremely thankful for the unified support of the Formula 1 teams,” she continued.

“I have worked with so many passionate women and men at F1 and the FIA, who have the very best interests of our sport at heart.

“However, this episode has so far taken place without transparency or accountability. I have received online abuse about my work and my family. I will not allow myself to be intimidated and intend to follow up until I have found out who has instigated this campaign and misled the media.

“What happened this week is simply not good enough. As a sport, we must demand, and we deserve, better.”

Formula 1 steward Derek Warwick admits it “felt wrong” having to hand Carlos Sainz a 10-place grid penalty at the Las Vegas Grand Prix for circumstances outside his control.

The first practice hour at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit last month was abandoned after Sainz ran over a water valve cover and sustained extensive damage to his Ferrari.

With his power unit requiring a change, Ferrari asked the FIA for dispensation for the use of a third energy store outside of Sainz’s penalty-free allowance for the campaign.

Despite acknowledging the “highly unusual and unfortunate circumstances”, the stewards dismissed Ferrari’s appeal, ultimately costing Sainz a front-row start.

An exasperated Sainz declared he was “upset” with the entire sport for the decision, while Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur branded the whole episode “unacceptable”.

Elsewhere, Max Verstappen, who benefitted from Sainz’s grid drop that weekend, sympathised with the Spaniard, insisting “the rules have to change” for such situations.

Warwick, who was part of the steward’s panel that weekend, concedes that the rules had to be applied as they’re defined despite acknowledging the outcome was unsavoury.

“It’s a difficult job for a steward, the same as a referee, and we’ve got to be impartial, we’ve got to be strict and we’ve got to be hard sometimes even when it hurts us,” he told Reuters.

“The penalty we had to give Sainz in Vegas, it felt wrong, it was wrong, we worked very hard for it not to happen but they’re the rules.”

The International Sporting Code contains 11 references to force majeure for an “unpredictable, unpreventable and external event”, but none of those relate to penalties.

That prompted suggestions that F1 should implement a clause to prevent a repeat of the incident, but AlphaTauri CEO Peter Bayer revealed teams had previously rejected this.

“Having been on the other side we had plenty of discussion on whether should we have that sort of force majeure clause,” Bayer, formerly of the FIA, revealed to Autosport.

“And, in fact, it was the F1 teams in their drive to perfection and but also their absolute maximised paranoia that they thought that if somebody would be able to trigger force majeure, that person will have a lot of power because a lot of people would probably claim force majeure on many occasions.

“Which is why they said, ‘Let’s not open Pandora’s box’. But having said that, honestly, in this case, if we would have been asked as a team, we would have supported Ferrari. It’s really not their fault.”

Sergio Perez admits that he is using Max Verstappen’s record-breaking performance the past season as a reference in his bid to compete for the 2024 Formula 1 championship.

The Mexican had started the season positively with two wins inside the first four races to close to within only one point of Verstappen at the top of the standings.

However, despite starting from pole position with his team-mate 10th, Perez was beaten in Miami by Verstappen, who triumphed to commence a streak of 10 straight victories.

A costly crash early in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix triggered a torrid run for Perez that witnessed him fail to progress into Q3 on five consecutive occasions.

Although he would secure a career-best second in the standings, Perez only amassed two podiums beyond the summer break and wound up 290 points adrift of Verstappen.

But while he suffered a third successive comprehensive defeat at the hands of the Dutchman, Perez is still intent on gunning for a maiden F1 title with Red Bull next season.

“That’s the main target for me, because I’ve already finished second,” he said. “I have my main interest is to do one better and I’m aware of the challenge that it is.

“You know, we got to really take this winter time to try to start the season on a high and be able to maintain that level of consistency throughout the season.”

Earlier in the season, Perez had attributed his troubles with Red Bull’s all-conquering RB19 challenger to the team’s development path drifting the car away from his driving style.

“I think it’s about the car, about how I was making use of it and how I can make better use of it through the weekends, through different circuits and all of that,” he noted.

“I think I made a lot of progress together with my engineer in understanding how to maximize the performance of the car.”

Following his defeat in Baku, Verstappen prevailed in 17 of the remaining 18 races to beat his record from last season for the most victories in a season with a total of 19.

Perez, who insists his relationship with Verstappen remains strong, reveals that he is analysing the three-time champion’s approach to drive his own title ambitions.

“I think it’s been a good year. I think our relationship, it’s really good,” Perez addressed.

“I think the whole engineering, when we are in all those briefings through so many races, I think it’s been good and we’ve been pushing at times in different directions, but at the same time we’ve been strongly asking for the same stuff. So that also has been positive for the team.

“I think it’s been a lot better, well, I think it’s been always good, you know, this is our third season together. So it’s been a good one.”

“Definitely there are things that you learn from him,” the 33-year-old added. “I have the best reference out there because he was the one who was so competitive.

“So I think there’s no harm in looking at what he’s doing, how he’s doing it and try to learn and improve, see what works for you that he’s doing differently to you.

“I think I’ve always had a very open approach and I think it’s something that works well. 

Just over a month until they start their defence of the Formula E Teams’ Championship, Envision Racing have unveiled their new livery for season 10, which has been created in collaboration with Professor Ed Hawkins.

Envision have embraced their new partnership with the climatologist by incorporating the stylish Climate Stripes on the front-wing of their 2024 car, with the stripes resembling historical temperature changes of countries across the world.

It’s been done to show the intensifying threat of global heating, with several parts of the world having experienced record temperatures over the last couple of years. Envision have launched their new livery on Youth Day at COP28, with the idea of including Climate Stripes being that it’ll raise awareness of the ongoing climate crisis.

The Climate Stripes themselves were actually created by Professor Hawkins in 2018 as a visual representation of the globe heating up. As well as featuring on Envision’s 2024 challenger, the Climate Stripes will also be used in the team’s Race Against Climate Change fan pledge programme.

The award-winning fan pledge programme was created in Glasgow in 2021 and encourages fans to try and reduce their carbon impact, whether this be by reducing waste or possibly sourcing local food. To-date, nearly 250,000 fans have pledged to reduce their carbon impact.

Team Principal Sylvain Filippi is “delighted” that Envision are now working with Professor Hawkins and are going to be running the Climate Stripes, to further promote the seriousness of climate change.

“We are passionate about using our status as a leading sports team to further the conversation on climate advocacy in our industry,” said Filippi.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Professor Hawkins and believe that by showcasing the Climate Stripes on our race car, we can not only draw attention to the critical issue of climate change but also encourage a broader discussion on the role that sports and businesses can play in driving positive environmental change.”

Similarly to Envision, Professor Hawkins is “thrilled” with the partnership and has stressed that there is “no time to waste” in fighting the climate crisis.

“Climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time. Every country, region and city is warming. There is no time to waste,” stressed Hawkins.

“Collaboration across different sectors is essential for addressing this issue and providing solutions to reduce the effects of global warming. I’m thrilled to partner with Envision Racing, and together, we will engage new audiences in conversations about climate change and the urgent need for collective action.”

Mercedes Technical Director James Allison admits the team got into a “destructive pattern” after it suffered a crisis of confidence during its surprise slump in 2022.

The Brackley-based squad had dominated Formula 1 since the turbo-hybrid era began in 2014, winning an unprecedented eight consecutive Constructors’ Championship.

However, Mercedes dropped to third in the standings behind Red Bull and Ferrari upon F1’s return to ground effect machinery last season, only accruing a solitary race victory.

Despite progressing up to second place, Mercedes ended an F1 campaign winless for the first time since 2011 having switched car concepts midway through the season.

Reflecting on the team’s troubles under the latest regulation cycle, Allison, who returned to his current post in April, reveals how the unexpected downturn impacted Mercedes.

“When a team has been, as we were, on a very high plateau for quite a large number of years, for quite a long period of time, and then takes a dip, it’s very disorientating,” he told the Performance People podcast.

“It’s very unpleasant to suddenly feel that what you had previously felt about yourselves as a group, the foundations of that have been loosened by the reality of the stopwatch and being beaten by other teams. It shakes the confidence of an organisation and it also puts a lot of very short-term pressures on a company that’s been used to thinking further ahead.”

Allison has addressed how the internal urgency to overturn Mercedes’ woes early in 2022 contributed to the working environment within Brackley becoming “fragmented”.

“The short-term pressures are that the car is poor and the results are poor and they must improve,” he explained. “And the call of that is very loud, completely natural, but very loud nevertheless, and it rouses people to action.

“But the action can tend to be that all the disciplines in the company – the aerodynamics, the vehicle dynamics, the drawing office, all the specialisms that are necessary that work together to create a good car – that each of them can sort of scatter on the four, five, six winds to their individual corners to do what they can do or contribute in the way that they think is best, driven by this very loud call that the car needs to improve.

“If you’re not careful, then those groups can stop talking to one another because they’re all head down trying to fix what they see as their part in making the world a better place. Probably the most destructive pattern that we as a group got into over that difficult period from when our crown first slipped, was that we fragmented more than we should have done.”

Following its breakthrough victory in Brazil at the end of last year, Mercedes opted to retain faith in its ambitious ‘zeropod’ solution.

However, the squad swiftly abandoned the concept at the Monaco Grand in May ahead of expansive plans to launch a revised philosophy with its 2024 W15 F1 challenger.

The team’s sluggish start prompted an internal restructuring that saw Mike Elliott and Allison swap positions, allowing the latter to reorganise the technical division.

“If I’ve had any effect that’s been a positive thing, it’s to try to draw that back together, to try to get the main engineers who are leading the main divisions in the company to talk to one another more, to try to take off their shoulders some of the immediate pressure and just dampen down the shout that is coming from the car and just to focus on coordinating our work,” he added.

“Just bring those important folk together and ask a few questions of them, the answers to which are only possible if they spend a bit of time talking to one another. And the fact that they then spend that time talking to one another automatically means that they will coalesce around a jointly-agreed programme of activity to get those answers.

“It doesn’t take too long before people fall back in the habit of leaning on each other rather than working individually, because actually it’s way more fun that way. And if someone’s giving you permission to do it because those are the questions that need to be answered, then that’s what happens.”

Allison is hopeful that the changes he has already orchestrated will enable Mercedes to be in a position to return to competing at the sharp end from the outset next season.

“I hope that we have put in place enough of a programme of work that we have put ourselves in with a shout to be back to winning ways,” the British engineer issued.

“Does that mean winning a race? Does that mean winning a championship? In my head, it’s only ever about championships. That’s what F1 is. It’s a constructors and a drivers championship. So I hope we will have done enough to give ourselves a shout of being in the championship fight in both championships.”

IndyCar announced today that it has further delayed the implementation of its new hybrid system, with the components not seeing racing action until after the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500.

The most recent plan was to have the hybrid system fitted to all roughly 27 cars from the first race at St. Petersburg on March 10.

Even that plan was a later rollout than initially envisioned, however, as the hybrid implementation has suffered multiple delays throughout its development cycle.

Originally developed by Mahle, work on the hybrid system was effectively brought in house with experienced engine providers Honda and Chevrolet working to tailor the initial design to the rigors of IndyCar’s demands.

Recent iterations of the system has been tested on all major track types throughout this past year, and IndyCar has worked closely with its engine partners to get it ready for use for the full season.

The latest delay is thought to be a combination of lingering reliability issues and concerns that a finalized system could be produced quickly enough to give each entry a working unit and a backup before the first race weekend.

“The partnership between Chevrolet and Honda has been phenomenal,” IndyCar President Jay Frye reiterated in the release.

“The IndyCar-specific hybrid power unit is dynamic and an engineering marvel, and we’re completely committed to its successful introduction next season.”

In the past three months, IndyCar has overseen 15,256 miles of on track running with the new system. This includes a four-car test at high speed around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Multiple drivers have given their input and the series is well on its way to deciding exactly how the system will be used on track. Varying options revolving around manual versus automatic regeneration and deployment of the supercapacitor have been evaluated.

Although many milestones were passed, the fact that some teams were still waiting on delivery of their first units in early December started to cause worry around the paddock.

Then a planned 10-team test at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which was scheduled for this week, was cancelled on late notice, and hope of a full rollout by March faded fast.

IndyCar is still planning to host a slew of off-season testing this winter and will attempt to give teams that have not yet run the system a chance to familiarize themselves with the new hardware.

Regardless of progress on a workable system, redesigned bellhousings and gearboxes will be fitted to all cars for the full 2024 season, making it easier to install the actual hybrid components once they are ready for competition.

The Indy 500 is the fifth race on the 2024 calendar, meaning full implementation will not come until at least June.

Rodin Cars has began the testing and development phase of their bespoke, track-only hypercar which is set to rival the likes of Aston Martin’s Valkyrie, Gordon Murray Automotive’s T.50S Niki Lauda and others.

The New Zealand manufacturer has turned its first laps on their FZERO hypercar prototype at their facility near Mount Lyford, on South Island, where they house three purpose-build circuits.

Billionaire, owner and FZERO designer David Dicker took to the wheel of his track-only machine which utilises a 4.0 twin-turbo V10 engine, producing 1013 hp – as a naturally aspirated variant of the ‘RC.TEN’ powertrain is in the works – which will push it to a 360 km/h top speed.

After their bid for an F1 team was rejected earlier in the year, Rodin has focused their project to enter the niche market of track-only hypercars – having unveiled the FZERO last year – with a prototype incorporating race car design properties like a single-seat and closed-cockpit combination.

Dickers said: “While there’s a long road ahead of testing and development, running the FZERO for the first time gives me immense pride in what everyone at Rodin Cars has achieved in bringing this programme to life.

“The test went very well and we were able to work through our programme.

“We’re excited as the FZERO project enters its next phase.

“It really is a car like no other.”

Emma Duncan, Rodin Cars General Manager, added: “Seeing the FZERO effortlessly take to the track was an inspirational moment.

“The car represents engineering excellence and is truly a masterpiece.

“This is a pivotal development for the future of Rodin Cars.”

The FZERO took on its debut track outing after a several installation laps, and Rodin continue its initiated track testing and development phase of the prototype.

Two prototype engines were initially built in the UK by Neil Brown Engineering, before the RC.TEN development process moved in-house at Rodin Cars.

Furthermore, they intend to offer the RC.TEN as a crate motor for motorsport applications.

The FIA has announced that there is no ongoing investigation into any individual amid the recent allegations made against both Toto and Susie Wolff.

The sport’s governing body announced on Tuesday that the FIA Compliance Department was looking into an alleged case of confidential information being exchanged.

Although the FIA reframed from listing names, the wording clarified that it involved an F1 team principal and FOM personnel, arousing suspicion it was related to the Wolffs.

Toto Wolff is currently the team boss of Mercedes’ F1 team, a position he has held since 2013, while Susie Wolff is the Managing Director of the all-female F1 Academy series.

The FIA’s statement addressed that the compliance investigation had been triggered by “media speculation”, which related to a piece posted by BusinessF1.

According to the report in the magazine, Toto Wolff made a comment in a recent meeting that could only have been made based on information handed down by the FOM.

F1 swiftly declared “complete confidence that the allegations are wrong” and “would caution anyone against making imprudent and serious allegations without substance.”

Mercedes also denounced the claims by releasing a lengthy statement that branded them “unsubstantiated allegations”, with Susie Wolff labelling them “baseless”.

Elsewhere, the other active teams on the F1 grid put on a united front by posting a collective statement that rebuffed the notion that any of them prompted the FIA’s action.

The FIA has since put out a statement detailing there is no investigation in progress, citing that it is satisfied with the procedures put in place to avoid conflicts of interest by F1.

“Following a review of Formula One Management’s F1 Code of Conduct and F1 Conflict of Interest Policy and confirmation that appropriate protective measures are in place to mitigate any potential conflicts, the FIA is satisfied that FOM’s compliance management system is robust enough to prevent any unauthorized disclosure of confidential information,” it read.

“The FIA can confirm that there is no ongoing investigation in terms of ethical or disciplinary inquiries involving any individual.

“As the regulator, the FIA has a duty to maintain the integrity of global motorsport. The FIA reaffirms its commitment to integrity and fairness.”