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Jul 28, 2024 | 
gpfans.com | Claire Cottingham
Sunday morning began with a long journey into the track, followed by an hour spent behind cars waiting to get to the track. I have a lot of love for this circuit, but the traffic management makes little sense and filtering through fields becomes time-consuming. Nonetheless, I finally got in and went to Aston Martin for a tech talk with Tom McCullough, the team’s performance director.
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Jul 27, 2024 | 
gpfans.com | Claire Cottingham
After a relatively quiet Friday, the drive-in was uniquely chaotic as always in Spa. Despite only staying 20 minutes away, it took me nearly an hour to get to media parking with road closures and traffic management. Walking towards the track, dark clouds started descending around the circuit and I quickly knew Spa was about to do what Spa does best… rain.
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Jul 26, 2024 | 
gpfans.com | Claire Cottingham
Carlos Sainz has a new headache in the quest for his next Formula 1 seat after being dropped by Ferrari for 2025. Since the moment he was told Lewis Hamilton was taking his drive, Sainz has been the victim of driver market forces that mean he faces a drop down to the unfashionable end of the grid.
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Jul 26, 2024 | 
gpfans.com | Claire Cottingham
Formula 1’s 2024 season has unexpectedly become a Hollywood movie. Not because of the filming of the Brad Pitt-led movie at several grands prix over the past two years, but thanks to a series of storylines so outlandish that even if an ace scriptwriter could squeeze it all into one two-hour cinematic extravaganza, nobody would believe it was plausible.
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Jul 25, 2024 | 
gpfans.com | Claire Cottingham
As many in the Formula 1 paddock gear up for a much-needed break, it felt like the first day of school for me as I skipped through the turnstiles excited for a busy media day. I had not been in the paddock since the end of last season and I was itching to get back into the mix with plenty of exciting storylines thanks to a spicy Hungarian Grand Prix.
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Feb 13, 2024 | 
racefans.net | Keith Collantine |Claire Cottingham
Charles Leclerc says Ferrari were “transparent” with him about their efforts to sign Lewis Hamilton before he committed to extending his contract with the team. Hamilton will join Ferrari at the beginning of next season. Leclerc, whose contract was up for renewal at the end of this year, agreed a deal to remain at the team shortly before Hamilton’s moved was announced. However Leclerc confirmed the identity of his next team mate came as no surprise to him.
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Jan 19, 2024 | 
racefans.net | Will Wood |Claire Cottingham
Aston Martin’s leap to the front of the field behind only Red Bull was a sensation at the start of last year’s Formula 1 season. But despite six podiums in the opening eight rounds of the championship for the team’s new driver, Fernando Alonso, which put them as high as second in the constructors’ championship at one stage, the Silverstone-based team ultimately fell to fifth place by season’s end.
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Jan 6, 2024 | 
racefans.net | Will Wood |Claire Cottingham
Sauber technical director James Key says they aim to introduce “several” major upgrade packages through the upcoming season. Key has returned to the Swiss team as technical director for the first time since 2012 after being released from the same position at McLaren following their disappointing start to the 2023 season. Arriving back at Sauber, Key says the team has notably grown in his decade away from their Hinwil factory. “It’s great to be back,” Key told media including RaceFans.
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Jan 2, 2024 | 
racefans.net | Will Wood |Claire Cottingham
Red Bull driver Sergio Perez says he is confident of being a stronger driver in 2024 after learning “a lot” from his challenges in 2023. Perez took a career best finish of second in the drivers’ championship behind team mate Max Verstappen last year but his season was plagued with mistakes, frustrations and disappointing results. He won just two grands prix all season – both in the opening four rounds – while Verstappen dominated the championship with 19 victories from the other 20 events.
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Dec 28, 2023 | 
racefans.net | Will Wood |Claire Cottingham
Having just celebrated his 50th birthday, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has reached an age where most team principals would only just be starting their tenures as the leaders of their teams. In fact, given that the average age of the ten men in charge of Formula 1’s teams when the 2023 season began was 53, Horner was and remains one of the younger team principals on the grid.
