In addition to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, there was no shortage of F1 headlines this week. The top stories involve another controversy in the sport, big news at Audi, updates on the future of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and even a nearly three decade old crime. Check it out!
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The London Metropolitan Police’s Organised Vehicle Crime Unit managed to recover a stolen Ferrari belonging to former F1 driver Gerhard Berger, closing a 28-year-old case. The red Ferrari F512M was stolen during the weekend of the 1995 San Marino Grand Prix along with teammate Jean Alesi’s silver Ferrari 355. Reports at the time suggested that Berger witnessed the theft and attempted, unsuccessfully, to chase down the fleeing suspects in a friend’s Volkswagen Golf. In January 2024, Ferrari informed the Met Police they had discovered a stolen car being sold by a UK broker to a US buyer. A subsequent investigation by Met Police revealed that the car had arrived in the UK sometime late in 2023, having been previously shipped to Japan shortly after it was stolen. The car is worth an estimated £350,000.
Bob Bell has jumped ship from Alpine to take on the role of Executive Director with Aston Martin. Bell has become the third of high-profile departure from the struggling French team in the last couple of weeks. He has been working with Alpine as an advisor since 2018, having previously worked with the team – then Renault – during their back-to-back championships with Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2006.
Former F1 driver Jerome d’Ambrosio is set to move from Mercedes to Ferrari next year, according to reports. Having previously been team principal at the Venturi Formula E Team, d’Ambrosio joined Mercedes F1 last year as director of its driver development programme. It was suggested that he could have been a candidate for a potential successor of Toto Wolff in the future. Although none of the parties involved have confirmed the move, it has been reported that he will not renew his contract with the team at the end of the year, instead taking a position at Ferrari so that his can live in mainland Europe.
Audi has accelerated its takeover plan for the Sauber team, formally approving plans to take 100% ownership of the team from Islero Investments AG. Sauber is set to become an Audi works team in 2026. Current Sauber CEO Andreas Seidl, who joined from McLaren at the start of 2023, will become the CEO of the Audi team. The head of Audi’s Technical Department, Oliver Hoffmann, has been appointed to the new position of General Representative and will also serve as Chairman of the Board of Director for all Sauber companies.
Drama within the Red Bull team continues as the female employee who made allegations against Christian Horner has been suspended. After the eight-week-long probe into alleged inappropriate behaviour, an independent lawyer cleared the long-standing team principal of any wrongdoing prior to the Bahrain Grand Prix. It is worth noting that Horner was not placed on suspension after the allegations were made against him and it’s understood that both he and the accuser remained actively employed during the investigation period.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is under investigation for two allegations made against him by a whistleblower. The first allegation is that Ben Sulayem pressured the stewards to overturn Fernando Alonso’s penalty during the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Spaniard had been given a 10 second penalty for failing to properly serve a 5 second penalty given to him for starting out of position on the grid. Although the penalty briefly knocked him out of his third place podium finish, his podium finish was later reinstated after the penalty was overturned. Ben Sulayem is also being investigated for attempted to prevent the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The whistleblower claims that he was instructed by Ben Sulayem to “find some concerns to prevent the FIA from certifying the circuit before the weekend of the race”.
The FIA has been discussing a potential return of the Turkish Grand Prix, with the FIA president having met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This comes following a push by the owners of Istanbul Park to reach a new deal to host a Formula One race. The circuit previously hosted the Turkish Grand Prix from 2005 to 2011, but returned temporarily in 2020 and 2021 to help fill the calendar for seasons impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Saudi Arabian tourism project Qiddiya has released digital images of the planned Qiddiya Circuit. The circuit is part a large development project near the capital city of Riyadh and has been designed by ex-F1 drier Alex Wurz and circuit designer Herman Tilke. It will feature 21 corners, one of which will be a 20-storey-high first corner. Parts of the circuit will run parallel with a planned Six Flags theme park rollercoaster set to be the tallest, longest and fastest rollercoaster in the world. But the construction of the circuit is not expected to be done until 2027 at the earliest. It will be replacing the currently used Jeddah Circuit, although the race organizers have previously stated that they are open to hosting two events in the country.
Former Formula One driver Heikki Kovalainen will undergo open-heart surgery after a recent medical diagnosis. The 42-year-old Finn has been diagnosed with an ascending aortic aneurysm, which is a weak spot in the main artery near your heart that could tear causing potentially life-threatening injury. After leaving Formula One, Kovalainen has raced in many motorsport categories, most recently rally. Despite “having no symptoms”, he has elected to take time off of racing to address his health.
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz was forced to sit out the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix for medical reasons. The Spanish driver, who was classified third in the World Drivers’ Championship after finishing on the podium in the season opener in Bahrain, was diagnosed with appendicitis after the second free practice session on Thursday and had to undergo surgery. He was still present in the Ferrari garage during the race, cheering on his replacement Formula 2 driver Oliver Bearman. Bearman joined the lineup of three reserve drivers ahead of the 2024 season, serving on both Ferrari and Haas in addition to his Formula 2 duties. He became the first driver to make his Formula One debut with Ferrari since Arturo Merzario in 1972.
Williams introduced a temporary steering wheel fix to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that would correct the glitch suffered by Logan Sargeant during the Bahrain Grand Prix. The brake bias of the American’s car had been unexpected set all the way forward, causing too much braking pressure to be applied to the front wheels, resulting in a big lockup. Sargeant managed to limp back to the pit lane and replace the steering wheel, allowing him to finish the race in a distance last place. The fix used in Saudi Arabia was only temporary, with a permanent solution expected for the Australian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen topped the first free practice session of the weekend. George Russell had a narrow lead midway through the session, but he dropped to P4 as the lap times improved. Fernando Alonso found himself between the two Red Bulls when the clock hit zero, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz rounding out the top six. The top five were covered by less than 0.4s.
With a strong showing on Thursday morning, Fernando Alonso managed to set the fastest time of the second free practice session on Thursday evening. The start of the session was delayed by ten minutes. Lewis Hamilton landed himself in hot water for impeding Logan Sargeant’s fast lap. The stewards blamed the team for not notifying Hamilton of the approaching Williams and decided to issue a fine. Alonso’s fastest lap from the start of the session stood as teams transitioned into long runs at the end. George Russell was second fastest ahead of Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, and Sergio Perez, all of which were within 0.5s seconds of the pace set by Alonso.
Max Verstappen was back on top at the end of the final free practice session on Friday, with Charles Leclerc being the only other driver to set a time close to the reigning world champion. Zhou Guanyu caused a red flag during the session when he lost control of his Sauber and slammed into the barriers at turn 7. Many eyes were on Oliver Bearman, who finished P10 in his first session in the Ferrari, as he temporarily replaces the ill Carlos Sainz. Sergio Perez, George Russell, and Lando Norris completed the session top five.
During qualifying on Friday evening, it was Max Verstappen who repeated his success last weekend to grab his second pole position of the 2024 season. In Q1, a frustrated Valtteri Bottas was on course to make it into Q2, but encountered traffic during his fast lap. In Q2, the red flag was briefly waved to clear the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg which had lost power due to a fuel system issue. In the Ferrari garage, Oliver Bearman was not able to make it into Q3, but earned a respectable P11 starting position. In Q3, Fernando Alonso was able to hold on to the pace of the leaders, but had to settle with a fourth on the starting grid. Charles Leclerc earned a position alongside Verstappen on the front row of the grid, followed by Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso, Oscar Piastri, and Lando Norris.
Come Saturday, drama began before the start of the race, with Pierre Gasly’s Alpine suffering a gearbox issue on the formation lap. He retired after the first lap of the race. Lando Norris was lucky to avoid a penalty for a jump start, while Kevin Magnussen did not have as penalty-free race, racking up a stunning 20 seconds of time penalties. The penalties came from two relatively minor incidents: causing a collision with Alex Albon and then overtaking Yuki Tsunoda off the circuit. This didn’t stop him from battling hard in the mid-field, offering some entertainment for fans but not helping his relationship with Tsunoda. At the front, by not pitting during the early safety car for Lance Stroll’s crash, Lando Norris found himself at the lead of the race. Despite a good effort, Max Verstappen was able to overtake the Brit and take his second victory in 2024, with Sergio Perez making it a second Red Bull 1-2. Charles Leclerc completed the podium. Click here to read a full recap and results of the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Weekly F1 Recap on Racing Clothesline is a series published every Monday. Each article breaks down the previous week's Formula One headlines into bite-sized pieces, perfect for casual fans to keep themselves in the loop.
