Рубрика: Autosport News

Ferrari announces d’Ambrosio, Serra signings from Mercedes F1 team

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Serra, formerly the performance director at Mercedes, will take on the head of chassis performance engineering role at Ferrari on 1 October and will report to technical chief Enrico Cardile. The news of Serra’s move was revealed by Autosport last year.

The Frenchman entered F1 as an engineer for Michelin, before joining the BMW Sauber operation when the tyre company left the championship at the end of 2006.

When BMW withdrew, Serra moved to Mercedes and has remained with the team ever since, taking up a series of vehicle dynamics roles at the team before being promoted to performance director.

As revealed by Autosport earlier this year, ex-F1 driver d’Ambrosio also leaves Mercedes to join Ferrari – where he is also set to start on 1 October — as deputy team principal to Fred Vasseur, thus exiting his role at Brackley as driver development director.

The two will reunite with Lewis Hamilton when the seven-time F1 champion joins Ferrari in 2025.

A driver at the Marussia Virgin Racing team in 2011, d’Ambrosio also competed in one race for Lotus in 2012 as a replacement for the banned Romain Grosjean at Monza, in addition to his reserve role at the team.

Jerome d'Ambrosio, Driver Development Director, Mercedes-AMG, Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG, watch the monitors

Jerome d’Ambrosio, Driver Development Director, Mercedes-AMG, Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG, watch the monitors

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

The Belgian then took a brief stint in GT racing before switching to Formula E for the all-electric championship’s maiden season, driving for Jay Penske’s Dragon outfit.

After four years with the American team in which he secured two wins, he switched to Mahindra for the start of the Gen2 regulations in 2018-19. prior to hanging up his helmet at the end of the 2019-20 season.

He then became deputy team principal of the Venturi squad to Susie Wolff, and was promoted to the team principal role when Wolff moved upstairs into a directorial role.

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After Maserati entered into a partnership with the team, d’Ambrosio left to join Mercedes in a directorial role to work alongside Toto Wolff at the team, and with driver development guru Gwen Lagrue.

It became apparent earlier this year that d’Ambrosio was set for a switch away from Mercedes, despite apparently forming part of Wolff’s succession plan at Mercedes and frequently featuring alongside the Austrian in his customary pit garage perch.



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Why Ford feels Red Bull has ace up its sleeve with F1 2026 engine project

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The American car giant is teaming up with Red Bull Powertrains to help develop an engine for the new 2026 regulations.

The ambitious plans, which will see Red Bull produce its own power unit for the first time in its history, have led to suggestions that it could be a step too far and risk the world championship-winning squad falling down the order if it does not hit the ground running.

Recently, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said that while it was on matching its performance targets so far, there was no way it could make up for a lack of experience compared to its key opposition.

«We’re on a steep learning curve where we’ve got 70 years of disadvantage to Ferrari, but we’ve got a great group of people,» he said.

Engine partner Ford accepts that there is a huge learning exercise going on with Red Bull right now, but it also sees some positives from the way things are being approached.

In particular, Mark Rushbrook, Ford’s global motorsports director, thinks that not needing to worry about current engine specs was a big benefit for ensuring everything was thrown at making the 2026 design as good as possible.

Speaking exclusively to Autosport about how much of a challenge he was expecting, Rushbrook said: «It’s Formula 1, it’s always going to be challenging.

«It is absolutely true that at Ferrari they have the knowledge, all the people and all that experience in a system that already works. So yes, they might have an advantage with that.

Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, Mark Rushbrook, Ford and Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner

Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, Mark Rushbrook, Ford and Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

«But I would say that one of the things though where we have an advantage is the team that is working on the power unit for us, for 2026, is only working on the power unit for 2026. They are not working on the power units for today.»

Rushbrook has reiterated recent comments from Horner regarding the engine project being on target, although he conceded that it was impossible to know how they stack up against the opposition.

«Early in any programme you set goals and milestones, and we are hitting our own goals and milestones at the moment,» he said.

«But the pace in Formula 1 is so much faster than in any other form of motorsport that we are in. It is just full-throttle all the way, from the very beginning of the development until 2030, so until we are done racing this set of regulations.»

Asked about recent rumours suggesting the Red Bull engine was behind where it needed to be, Rushbrook said: «What I will say is that we set our own goals for the development of this power unit based upon experience and what we felt that is needed to be successful in 2026.

«We have no idea where the competition is or what their progression curve is. So a direct comparison to the competitors we don’t have. But for the comparison to what we believe is needed to be successful, we are in a good place.»

Ford has been brought on board by Red Bull to help specifically with the development of the electrical elements of the new power unit.

However, Rushbrook says his company has also begun helping out in other areas where its expertise can be called upon.

«We have a technical interface from my team directly with the campus in Milton Keynes to contribute in many different areas,» he said.

«The internal combustion engine and the turbo weren’t on the initial list, but there is a lot of knowledge that we have with modelling and testing that can help, so that has been engaged and employed as well. Our main focus though is in the electrification, that is a big opportunity.»



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Tsunoda has made a «huge step» in F1 2024

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Tsunoda scored seventh in last weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, cementing RB’s sixth position in the constructors’ table after team-mate Daniel Ricciardo scored fourth in Saturday’s sprint.

While Ricciardo had been struggling to get up to speed this year in the VCARB01, Tsunoda picked up the baton as the team’s lead driver over the first five races of the season, grabbing six points in Australia and a hard-fought point on home soil in Japan.

And while the team had been hard at work to make Ricciardo more tuned into the car [link to Mekies Ricciardo story], team boss Mekies praised Tsunoda for making major progress in his fourth season.

«Yuki has made a huge step this year. In fairness, he made a step between year one and year two, year two and year three. And I think the step he is making now between year three and year four is massive,» Mekies told Autosport.

«You see a driver now that is able to not only have the raw speed, which we knew, and he elevated it even more now. But he can execute weekends with absolutely zero mistakes from FP1 to the race.

«It was the case in Australia, it was the case in Japan. And it was not far from that in Miami, to be honest.

Yuki Tsunoda, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, on the grid

Yuki Tsunoda, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, on the grid

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

«He has made a massive step forward and I think there is more to come, so we are working very hard to make sure we develop an environment where he is able to make these steps. We are very impressed with his work.

Beyond executing error-free weekends, Tsunoda also impressed with his more level-headed demeanour this year, which was a key area to work on after some of the fiery radio messages that punctuated his first years in the series.

«He is getting better [dealing] with the low points,» Mekies acknowledged. «China was a good example, he approached it in a rational way and we analysed together and he hit the ground running in Miami.

«So yes, it’s a big step forward. It’s played a massive role in our current success and we think there is more to come.

«You can also hear it on the radio. He is improving inside and outside the car.»



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Komatsu «gave everything» to keep me at Haas in F1 2025

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At the end of last month, Hulkenberg inked a new deal with Sauber to join the Swiss-based outfit next year ahead of its takeover by Audi, becoming the German manufacturer’s first factory signing for 2026.

This means his term with Haas will come to a close at the end of the current season, leaving the squad to look for a replacement, who will likely not have the same experience as the veteran German.

Hulkenberg has completed 10 full seasons in F1 since he made his debut with Williams in 2010, and his points-scoring finishes in Saudi Arabia, Australia and China have helped propel Haas to seventh in the standings.

Speaking about his departure, the 36-year-old sang praises for Komatsu and revealed the lengths the engineer-turned-team boss went to to retain him for next year.

“He’s doing well. He was really thrown in at the deep end as the new team boss at the beginning of the year. Out of nowhere,” Hulkenberg said in reference to Komatsu’s surprise promotion following the team’s split with Guenther Steiner.

“In February, he had a driver’s contract in his hands for the first time in his life. That’s also special, and there are a few things you have to know and see first. 

“Up until the announcement, it was great working with him. Also in terms of coordination. I spoke to him openly about it a few weeks ago, that there was a good dynamic and that a decision would probably be made sooner rather than later. 

“He fought, he gave everything. 

“The decision wasn’t a no-brainer for me. I’ve already given it some thought. 

“Haas is the team that made my comeback possible. But at the end of the day, the better sporting prospect for me personally is simply with Audi.”

Although Hulkenberg is moving to a rival outfit next year, he still expects to receive new updates from Haas at the same time as team-mate Kevin Magnussen through to the end of the season.

Asked if Magnussen could now have priority on new parts, he said: “I don’t think so. I think it will continue to be fair and good. 

“The team and I both have a vested interest in finishing the season as well and successfully as possible. 

“We want to try and beat all the other midfield teams, and I don’t think that’s entirely unrealistic given the way things look today. We will continue to work as a team in the right direction.”

However, Hulkenberg understands that Haas wouldn’t want to keep him in the loop with the developments for next year after it begins to focus on developing the successor to the VF-24.

“Yes, definitely, at some point,” he said. “In two, three, four months, I think so.

“Next year, the cars won’t really change radically. So there won’t be any more super secrets to take away. I’m relaxed about that.”



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Verstappen not a fan of F1 superlicence points system blocking Antonelli

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A driver aiming to compete in an F1 race has to accumulate a total of 40 points to be granted a superlicence, a system that was introduced for 2016.

The FIA, Formula 1’s ruling body, decided to introduce the points system after Verstappen made his grand prix debut at the age of 17 years and 166 days at the start of the 2015 season, jumping into F1 straight from European Formula 3.

Some of the other requirements to obtain a superlicence include being at least 18 years old and having completed at least 80% of two full seasons in a single-seater series.

The system was brought into the spotlight again last year when the FIA rejected Red Bull’s request for IndyCar race winner Colton Herta to be granted an exemption for a superlicence.

Recently, it emerged that a request has been lodged with the FIA for Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli to be granted a superlicence before he turns 18 in August.

The Italian, currently racing in F2 with Prema, has been linked with an F1 seat even as early as this year, although Mercedes boss Toto Wolff poured cold water on the speculation, saying it «is not going to happen».

Three-time world champion Verstappen said he opposes the current points system, and he reckons it doesn’t serve the intended purpose.

«That rule was introduced because of me, of course,» Verstappen told Dutch media. «In the end, it doesn’t stop what it’s meant for.

«It’s not specifically about him, but this can stop some talents from getting into Formula 1 quickly because they have to accumulate those 40 points first.

«I’m not a big fan of it, of this entire system. The FIA thinks it’s good, but I’d rather not have it.

«If someone is 17 or 18 years old and has maybe 20 points, but if he is very fast, why can’t he get into Formula 1 then?»

Despite his early debut, Verstappen went on to become the youngest driver to ever score a point, the youngest to finish on the podium, and the youngest to win a race.



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Piastri «more conscious of his strengths» after Miami F1 race

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Piastri had the better start of the two McLaren drivers in Miami, muscling his way past Norris, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez after the latter went straight on in the first corner.

In a McLaren that didn’t receive all the upgrades that Norris’ MCL38 had equipped, Piastri nevertheless showed great pace early on and passed the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc to move up to second behind Max Verstappen.

But it was Norris who vaulted to the top after delaying his only pitstop until a mid-race safety car gave the Briton a free stop, with Norris controlling the race from the restart to take an emphatic maiden win.

PLUS: The three factors that mean Norris’s Miami F1 win can’t be cast as a safety car fluke

In the fight for fourth, Sainz was penalised for contact with Piastri, which forced the Australian to pit for a new front wing and left him down in 13th at the finish.

While his own race ended in disaster, Stella believes Piastri will take courage from his performance alongside Norris this weekend in a less rapid McLaren ahead of receiving the same specification as Norris in Imola.

«I think Oscar comes out of this weekend even more conscious of his strengths as a driver,» Stella said.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

«We knew already how fast he is on a single lap, considering that he didn’t have the full package. Let me pay proper credit to Oscar, the gap he had to Lando in qualifying is smaller than the difference of the package he had.

«So, he was really pulling off strong performance over a single lap in very difficult conditions like all drivers said with the soft tyres.»

Stella added: «His performance in the race was again very strong. Lando said something really nice before, he said by looking at Oscar overtaking a Ferrari, he felt: ‘Wow, we are actually there today’, so it was a realisation for Lando himself.

«He comes away from this weekend with this sort of conviction, especially in terms of race pace, which is something we wanted to improve having looked at Japan, having looked at China. So, for me, he’s in a very strong place.»

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Stella also praised Piastri for not kicking up a fuss when told Norris would get priority on the full upgrade package, which also included a revised floor and sidepods.

«He has proven once again how strong a team player he is, because clearly when I told him, ‘Oscar we are going to give the sidepods and the floor to Lando’, he wasn’t the happiest in the bottom of his heart,» Stella said.

«But at no point he made this decision difficult or asked why. He understood the reasoning and he was immediately supportive, like all the entourage around Oscar.»



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Norris’ ‘haunting’ Russia 2021 F1 defeat can be «put behind us now»

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The British driver had looked on course for his first F1 victory in Sochi in 2021 having secured his first pole position and led from the front, only to make a critical strategy error and stay out on slicks as a deluge of rain hit the circuit in the dying laps.

That error of judgement has stuck with Norris, Joseph and the McLaren team, not least with taunts over social media — though Norris himself suggested he enjoyed and indeed used such jibes to spur him on.

PLUS: Why Norris was right to use his ‘No-Wins’ haters’ goading to right a series of F1 wrongs

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after Sunday’s Miami GP, Joseph conceded: «It feels like a long time coming, especially after Russia. It’s good. It haunts me every time, it haunts me in my sleep.

«I feel like we can put that behind us now. What a fantastic race. We discussed after qualifying the decisions we made and we weren’t so sure. I think I’ll go back to him and say that maybe, they were the right ones.»

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has been adamant since taking his role that Norris’ lack of wins in F1 was more down to the team’s ability to provide machinery good enough rather than his driver’s own ability.

«We were totally convinced that the gap to the victory for Lando,» he said. «It wasn’t on Lando, it was on the team. We needed to provide him with winning material and as soon as we did it, he achieved it.

«So that’s for me a testament to how ready he was, and also if we look at what he delivered in podiums with a car that sometimes wasn’t really a podium finisher on merit, for me Lando is on a very strong journey.»

Lando Norris, McLaren

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Erik Junius

Harking back to Russia, Stella added: «That was even a bit of a turning point for Lando himself and for the team in terms of how we have to operate when the pressure rises and in terms of how we have to collaborate to make good decisions by bringing the unique information you have while you are on track and the unique information you have while you are on the pitwall.

«But if I go back to that race, I think the responsibility is on the pitwall because we didn’t enforce the call to pit enough. The driver on track, he doesn’t see if it’s raining somewhere else, we could see it, so it was our limitation in not forcing Lando to pit.

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«So I think even in that case, he was delivering the job but we were not ready in a way as a team to achieve the victory and achieving victories is never easy.»

Norris’ victory means that Red Bull has failed to win two races already this season, having been beaten only once last term.

But with its dominant streak fresh in the mind, Stella insisted: «If we look at what Red Bull have achieved, I never under-evaluate what they have achieved. I always like to take my hat off, because there are so many ways in which it can go wrong and for them to be so successful with such a sequence of victories is just amazing.

«I think we are just started with this kind of journey and hopefully we will have more of these days in the future.»



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RB could catch F1’s top five teams

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The Faenza-based team enjoyed its most competitive outing of the year in Miami last weekend, with Tsunoda scoring twice thanks to an eighth-place finish in Saturday’s sprint followed by a strong drive to seventh in Sunday’s race.

Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo had a strong Saturday as well, qualifying and finishing fourth, before a rather anonymous grand prix in which he crossed the finish line in 15th.
A total of 12 points allowed RB to consolidate its sixth place in the standings behind Aston Martin.

The results left Tsunoda encouraged about his team’s form going forward, hailing the speed of its progress.

«It shows how much we’re pushing, you know, especially the people who work in the background,» Tsunoda told F1.com after the race. «The progress we’re having throughout the year so far is very fast.

«Every race so far we were always at least driving around the P10 and most of the races we’re scoring points, and recently it’s not even just P10, but P8, P9, P7, P4.

«Obviously, it’s not level yet [with] the Mercedes, for example, but today I [was] able to be on the pace or even faster pace compared to one of the Mercedes.
Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team VCARB 01, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team VCARB 01, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

«So obviously, if we continue like this, maybe we at some point catch up the [top five] teams. We never know and that’s what we aim for for now.»

The Japanese, who has scored points in three of the first six races of 2024, had a busy race, with fights against several drivers — including Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton — and a scare when he nearly lost control of his car.

«I kind of peed in my pants when I slid at Turn seven,» he said of the incident.»I kind of had a half-spin there. It was my biggest mistake and it was unnecessary for me.

«But after that, the pace was there. I also enjoyed the battle with Lewis. In the end, he overtook me like yesterday, so kind of deja vu.»



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Bottas F1 race engineer switch down to Audi «anticipating» changes

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Former Ferrari performance engineer Steven Petrik was installed as a replacement for Bottas’ engineer Alex Chan, whom the Finn had worked with since joining the team in 2022.

Bottas noted that the decision was «not in my hands», suggesting that this was part of Audi’s «reconstruction» of the Sauber team ahead of the German brand’s entry as a full works outfit in 2026.

Sauber representative Alunni Bravi revealed that this was largely the case, and that CEO Andreas Seidl had been making changes that would move the team towards its final structure when the rebrand is completed at the end of 2025.

«Andreas Seidl decided to anticipate certain decisions, and start implementing the changes that will bring the current structure towards the final structure that we will have in place in ’26,» Alunni Bravi explained.

«But we needed to start implementing those changes. This is not the final structure of the race team. As in Hinwil, there is not the final structure of what will be the Audi F1 team and the organisational chart.

«We wanted to start, and Andreas Seidl decided to do it immediately. Because we think that we need to bring a bit more experience, but also to bring people that can have know-how from other teams, from top teams and help us to develop our processes, our analysis.»

Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, on the grid

Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, on the grid

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Alunni Bravi added Petrik’s introduction as race engineer to Bottas had started at the Pirelli test following the Japanese Grand Prix, and that the team had let Bottas know the decision after China.

He added that, although the addition of Petrik arrived in the same week as the team’s announcement that Nico Hulkenberg would join the team in 2025, the two signings had «no connection».

«Of course, it’s now up to us to integrate the new engineer, and also, of course, to create, to establish a good working relationship, but also personal relationship between Valtteri and race engineer.

«We discussed this with Valtteri after China. There was a meeting immediately after the race. Steven Petrik was already race engineer of Valtteri in Suzuka during the two Pirelli test days.

«And we decided to anticipate this change. Of course, when you take a decision, you can always take a good or a bad decision — and only time will prove if we have been good in taking this one.

«But this… there was no link between the change of the race engineer and the announcement of Nico [Hulkenberg]. It was just one of the first steps that we wanted to implement, to have a new organisation also in the race team coming into place as soon as possible.»



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