Hey folks, Dre here. And well, we’ve just one of the biggest days of repeated news drops I can remember in some time, and while not one of them alone would likely be newsworthy, together, I think it’s worth a Newswipe column of its own, especially given we don’t have a Podcast this week. So with that in mind, let’s break down all the news that’s dropped in F1 today!
Niels Wittich Fired as FIA Race Director
Ooft. That was swift. Originally this was relayed like a mutual parting of the ways, but Christian Menath at Germany’s Motorsport Magazin has since now reported that Wittich was fired, straight from the man himself.
Wittich handled the Brazilian Grand Prix rather poorly in my opinion, from the delayed Virtual Safety Car for Hulkenberg in the Sprint Race to Stroll’s red flag in Qualifying, and the weird inactions for penalties to Mercedes, George Russell and Lando Norris post-race. I said he had a lot to answer for after that weekend, but I didn’t think he’d be dismissed that quickly afterwards, which makes me think it wasn’t anything to do with that shoddy weekend. It was bad, but it wasn’t “sackable offence” bad, in my opinion at least.
I wonder if this is another can of kerosene on the fire that is the FIA President’s office of Mohammed Ben Sulayem and *gestures wildly*, just about everyone else. This was mere days after the Drivers Association launched an Instagram account and posted a pretty strong attack on Ben Sulayem off the back of Max Verstappen’s community service and Charles Leclerc’s fine for swearing in the press conferences.
Now you’ve just moved on from your third Race Director in three years after having to immediately deal with the fallout of Abu Dhabi 2021 and Michael Masi, then having WEC Race Director Eduardo Freitas leave in 2022 after Pierre Gasly and the tractor incident at Suzuka.
The general vibe I’m getting is that the FIA isn’t a great place to be around at the moment given the turnover of many of their senior figures beyond the Race Director role, and now more external pressure than ever on the outside. It’s been a 2024 horror show for Ben Sulayem.
Rui Marques, the current F2/F3 race director, is stepping in for Las Vegas next weekend. Given that I’ve not been convinced in junior stewarding (or anyone else’s in Motorsport lately), I’m not exactly jumping up and down about this move either, but someone needs to settle the ship in Paris because none of this is good.
Alpine x Mercedes
The worst-kept secret in F1 manufacturer news went live today that Alpine will be using Mercedes power units and gearboxes as a customer when the new regulations start in 2026. It makes the end of Renault as we know it as a factory team.
It had been coming and hinted at for months in the lead-up to today, and my thoughts on it haven’t changed too much. There are some perks, like the cheaper operational costs across the brand, and it’s a way of escaping what’s been their biggest weakness over the last decade (their poor power units), where they now can divert resources elsewhere like their World Endurance Championship team. But on any level, the willingness to dissolve your factory status is a grand admittance of failure.
It can and will only add risk and fear to the employees of Viry (Who have already protested at Monza earlier this year), and from a management perspective, it’s Renault giving up a huge amount of control in the performance of their car. Mercedes is all over the place on the F1 grid right now, from having a customer set to win the Constructors Championship, to Williams, who are ninth in the standards. It’s hard to get a read on where Alpine fit on that sliding scale.
Alpine still owns 76% of the team after parting with a small chunk last year to Patrick Mahomes and friends. If I didn’t know any better; this smells like a team trying to sell, but Renault CEO Luca De Meo is adamant that they’re sticking around. I sincerely hope for the sake of the people on the ground floor this is the last time I have to wonder: “Something has to give here”.
Dan Fallows Down But Not Out
The latest to come out of Aston Martin’s camp is that technical director Dan Fallows has been removed from his post. He’s not out of the team entirely though, as according to the team’s statement, he’s “still in the group”.
Now obviously, a fair amount of this will be off the back of the hiring of Adrian Newey for early 2025. But in the interim, it’s hard for Fallows not to shoulder some of the responsibility for an Aston Martin team that’s fallen into stagnation since his appointment, even if it seems like a little bit “football” that he’s been demoted by a committee after less than two years on the job.
Aston Martin, I think surprised themselves by being F1’s #2 team to start 2023, but since then have struggled to figure out how to make their initially quick car faster as the teams they were suddenly competing against, figured out their missteps. 2024 has been by far their toughest year since the rebranding, with just 86 points and just one Top 5 finish after 21 races this season, compared to 236 at the same point last year, with eight podiums. We’ve seen the frustration from the drivers, and the reported news of the team rolling back previous specs of floor, as far back as Hungary. That’s not acceptable for a team with massive, title-level aspirations in just under two years.
Let’s not forget, Andy Cowell has just joined from Mercedes and I suspect he’ll be keen to get Aston’s new house in order as the new Group CEO and start laying out a winning infrastructure around Newey and company. This felt like a necessary move, let’s see what Aston can do in the medium term before we truly see the benefits of their new structure.
F1 75, Live!
And finally, F1 announced today, that there’s going to be a 2025 launch event at the O2 Arena in East London next February called “F1 75 Live”. All 10 cars will be revealed during the event, all 20 drivers will be there, as well as special guest presenters and live music promised. Tickets go on sale this Friday, ranging from £58-£113 ($73-$143).
I’m genuinely shocked the teams agreed to this. If modern-day launch seasons have taught me anything, teams want to dictate the terms of engagement, quite literally, when it comes to their launches. From Haas just sharing the pictures of the car via embargo, to Ferrari last year putting on a whole live-streamed event with a live car running at Fiorano, everyone has a plan and they probably don’t want the series itself to interfere with it. Until now, apparently!
As someone with the unique perspective of being a fan and a journalist who’s had to cover launch season – I’m conflicted. As a journalist, I hate it, because instead of being able to stretch some content out over two weeks as teams take their time launching their cars and figuring out if there’s anything new worth covering, it’s now all going to be done in one night. As a fan, I think this is a cool idea to turn something quite corporate and bland into a fun night out and a better overall spectacle.
On the latter, that’s why I find this genuinely promising. Feels like a throwback to the ’90s and ’00s when car launches were treated like a big deal. The Spice Girls and Jamiroquai drafted in, drivers live, all that good shit. This is clearly about the fans, and I think for that reason alone it’s worth at least trying as a one-shot.
I know some have baulked at the price point, but I don’t see the issue here. £58 is reasonable for concert/live sport, which is what the majority will pay. I paid roughly the same for Playoff tickets during Season 2 of The Hundred at The Oval. Even £113 for top-of-the-line, likely floor seats is a pretty solid deal to be up-close and personal to drivers, cars and the show in general. And remember, you’re marketing this in the UK, a market that’s already proven with the British Grand Prix that they’ll pay eye-watering premium prices for one of the sport’s blue-ribbon events. I think tickets for this will get snapped up pretty sharpish.
So yeah, sounds like a fun time and a cool marketing play from the sport, looking forward to seeing how it’s done. He says while drawing up a new content plan…
