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Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we wonder when Ferrari will stop teasing us with photos of its drivers I’m wearing awesome azzurro blue gear And already reveals its blue livery for the Miami Grand Prix.
There is a lot to discover today in the world of Formula 1. My name is Patrick and Madeline Coleman will be here shortly. Let’s go.
Nico Hülkenberg seeks new pastures
Lewis Hamilton leaves for Ferrari. Fernando Alonso returns to Aston Martin. And this morning we received more news from the driver market: Nico Hülkenberg leaves Haas for Sauber in 2025. It is a multi-year contract for the 36-year-old which will see him part of the team when it becomes Audi in 2026.
AthleticismLuke Smith’s the full report and analysis here, including this bit on what this means for some of the drivers on the grid:
Hulkenberg’s signing means at least one of Sauber’s current drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, will leave the team at the end of the season. This also opens up a seat at Haas for next year, which currently features Hülkenberg alongside Kevin Magnussen.
The hot favorite to join Haas is young Briton Oliver Bearman, who made a surprise F1 debut in Saudi Arabia for Ferrari after Sainz withdrew due to appendicitis.
Hülkenberg has enjoyed something of a renaissance since joining Haas in 2023. He has 13 points in 27 races and has started in the top ten 11 times – enough to pique the interest of Sauber, where he will be number two if the team completes its pursuit of Carlos Sainz.
How a new points system could affect F1
Luke last wrote about F1 considering whether to change its points structure. The proposal would extend points payout to 12th place – from the current 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 structure to a 25-18-15-12-10-8- structure 6-. Structure 5-4-3-2-1.
Naturally, this made me wonder two things. What would the previous five F1 Constructors’ Championships look like with the new points system? And what kind of change would this have made to the backline or midfield battles?
It is important to note that this change is not as imminent as it seemed earlier this week. On Thursday, the F1 Commission met and issued a statementstating: “It was agreed that further analysis of the proposed changes was required with a view to a proposal to be presented at the F1 Commission meeting in July.”
Too late, I was already drowning in spreadsheets and my own choices! I applied the proposed points system to the last five F1 seasons (2019-2023). Here are some takeaways from my calculations.
- Yes, there are clear winners thanks to the points awarded to P11 and P12 over the last five seasons. And it’s precisely who you’d expect: the same late teams pushing for this change.
- This did not have a significant impact on teams’ progression in the rankings (thus increasing their prize money). Actually, just two seasons would have seen several positions in the final ranking change hands. In 2020, with the new points, Racing Point overtakes McLaren for P3 and Williams overtakes Haas for P9. And in 2022, Aston Martin takes P6 from Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri overtakes Haas for P8.
- Otherwise, the new points system only changed the final ranking once per season, and it was almost always around P7-P9. That’s no reason to sneeze smaller teams trying to win as many prizes as possible.
- Consistently, the P7 or P8 in the championship have collected the most points under the new points system. In other words, this new system really tends to help the best of backmarkers rather than the “worst cars on the grid” in a given year. That said, Williams gained 15 points in 2020 under the new system, when she actually gained none. So this is it.
- Yes, the new points system would have allowed Ferrari to finish ahead of Mercedes in P2 last season – but only by two points. And no, this new system does not magically win Lewis Hamilton’s eighth title.. He still loses the title to Max Verstappen in 2021 – this time by 12 points instead of ten.
TL;DR: I can understand why backmarkers want a chance at more points. Battles for P11 and P12 could result in at least one championship position swap per season – and bigger prize money for smaller teams.
Alright, friends. Ring low! Oh wait, you already did it – 239 of you, and some were still arriving as I wrote this on Thursday. Here is a sample of reactions to the Chinese GP from youour Prime Tire Changers (I know, I know, I’m still working on the name for y’all).
It was amazing!
“Beyond (behind!) Verstappen, it was another great strategic race. The midfielders put on a great show!
“Lots of excitement with moments of surprise throughout the race. THE moment of recognition at the end for Zhou as the first/only Chinese F1 driver, and at his home race, it was an emotional and special moment to witness in this legendary sport.
It was good!
“A lot of fighting all over the field. As long as you avoid seeing Verstappen completely dominate the front of the field, you’ll have a great time watching this race. Lots of overtaking, excessive braking and fluid movements inside the corner line. It’s nice to see a lot of friction and place gains outside of the DRS sections.
It was me !
“If you need a long safety car period and then a sloppy restart to make the race theoretically interesting, ‘meh’ is as high as it gets.”
“As my wife said Sunday morning as we prepared to eat breakfast here in Texas and watch the recorded race: ‘Well, let’s settle in and see who comes in third.’ So true.”
It was bad!
“I had high hopes for a new track (for me) that had a lot of interesting elements and higher hopes when the race started with a suggestion of rain and Alonso’s wild pass, but when the broadcast showed us As the fierce battle for last place continued, it was clear that it wasn’t going to be everything I hoped it would be.
It was horrible!
“So annoying to see Max win in the second round. I’ve pretty much stopped watching racing now. I go to a speed of 1.5.
Red Bull caught the public’s attention at the Chinese Grand Prix, and it wasn’t (just) because Verstappen won by 13 seconds over Lando Norris. The team based in Milton Keynes made two seamless double-stack pit stopsthe first taking 4.18 seconds and the second 3.95 seconds, by DHL.
A double stack is a big challenge for a team as the pit crew prepares for both cars to stop back to back. More and more people are involved in this type of pit stop, as four more team members take out the second set of tires. Red Bull’s Callum Adams, a drive-by shooter, said earlier this year that these types of pit stops are “a situation of memorizing and following your procedures and routines to get it right.”
Within seconds of the first pit stop, crew members must return to position, the individuals steering wheel must have the second wheel in hand, and the steering wheel puller must reset their equipment to undo it.
It’s important to remember that more than 20 people are involved in pit stops and any number of things can go wrong. As Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley said: “Your perfect pit stop involves everyone having those perfect two seconds.” If you haven’t read our latest article for Between the Racing Lines, our guide to F1, here’s more information on the art of a pit stop.
GO FURTHER
How F1’s Red Bull Mastered the Art of the 2-Second Pit Stop
Outside of points
Thank you Madeline. Definitely check out our Between the Racing Lines series, our guide to help any fan navigate the pinnacle of motorsport. We also dropped our watch how F1 safety car periods work (what is a virtual safety car, anyway?) and whether there is room for improvement in the system.
Finally, news broke on Thursday that Red Bull’s global technical director, Adrian Newey, could leave the team. Newey is considered one of the greatest automotive designers in F1 history and helped design the RB19 which led to the team’s historic dominance in 2023.
GO FURTHER
How Red Bull built the RB19, F1’s most dominant car
Clive Mason/Getty Images, Mark Thompson/Getty Images