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F1 2024 Season

The Long Winter Break!

After a long and intense 2023 racing season, many drivers as well as their teams said they were looking forward to a much-needed winter break! With freedom finally on the cards for the drivers, here is what they got up to:

Source: F1.com

Lando Norris

Lando Norris went here, there, and everywhere with holiday snaps from all over the globe, including Bali and Australia! He had time to pay a visit to football club Paris Saint-Germain after heading on a ski trip with friends. He has also been working hard on Team Quadrant, announcing a new group of racers and championships they will be competing in!

Oscar Piastri

Oscar Piasti started the off-season by attending the FIA prize giving evening. He attended an NBA game and celebrated his girlfriend’s 21st birthday before enjoying some down-time after an epic rookie season. 

George Russell

Repeating the viral photo from 2023, George Russell and Fernando Alonso teamed up again to see in the New Year in style! There was also time for a skiing trip with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and family! As well as enjoying some much-needed family time, Russell also caught up with some of his other favourite sports, attending a Manchester United football match!

Source: GPBlog.com

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton’s need for speed and adrenaline saw him indulge in one of his favourite hobbies with a skydiving session, before enjoying some quality time with his dog, Roscoe, when he landed back on the ground.

Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc opted for both hot and cold weather over the break as he explored Los Angeles and then went for a wild toboggan ride in the mountains while on a ski trip. He also enjoyed a few rounds of golf before finishing off the winter break by dropped his new EP “DREAMERS”.

Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz swapped four wheels for two with some cycling, before celebrating his father’s success at the Dakar Rally. Although a lot of his break was spent in the gym keeping fit, there was also time for a quick ski tri before the season starts!

Sergio Perez

Alongside Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez paid a visit to the Red Bull factory in Milton Keynes to celebrate the team’s remarkable season, he also became and ambassador for NESCAFÉ sharing where he likes to get his caffeine hit!

Source: X.com

Max Verstappen

After his visit to the factory, Max Verstappen spent a quiet Christmas with his family. Verstappen completed a track day with his father then headed on a trip to Amsterdam before getting back into training for the 2024 season.

Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso was in tough competition with Lando Norris for most packed winter break! He started with a skiing trip, then continued to enjoy multiple track days in lots of different vehicles. He continued to support his karting team and became an ambassador for Arcano Partners. He continued to train with a rally cross team before heading to Bahrain for testing.

Lance Stroll

Lance Stroll had a winter mostly away from social media however he did share a clip of him having fun snowboarding in January!

Pierre Gasly 

Pierre Gasly started his winter break in London with some ice skating before joining Yuki Tsunoda for a karting race! Gasly headed out on a ski trip and also did some promotional work with Arsenal football club.

Source: F1.com

Esteban Ocon

Esteban Ocon spent time with one of his childhood heroes, Zinedine Zidane, the legendary footballer who is now an Alpine ambassador. He then celebrated the New Year with good friend Mick Schumacher.

Alex Albon

Alex Albon headed to Thailand for his winter break, spending the downtime with girlfriend and professional golfer Lily Muni He. Albon also headed to LA for some track time and fun!

Logan Sargent

Logan Sargent headed to Dubai for his break, heading into the desert with dune buggies and friends. He has also been spending time in the gym to make sure 2024 is more successful than 2023.

Source: @Alex_Albon

Yuki Tsunoda

Yuki Tsunoda started the break by meeting Jason Statham and then shared a photo of himself, Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull pair Verstappen and Perez during their appearance at the Honda Thanks Day in Japan. Tsunoda dropped a line of merchandise before playing tennis and karting with Gasly.

Daniel Ricciardo 

Daniel Ricciardo spent some of the winter break back home in Australia with friends and family. He headed to a couple of music festivals after enjoying his time at the Honda thanks day.

Valtteri Bottas

One of F1’s most prolific social media users, Valtteri Bottas’ feed has been full of cycling photos from all over the world, along with the occasional helicopter ride! He also enjoyed some down time in Australia and then headed into the mountains for a ski trip.

Source: @Valtteribottas

Zhou Guanyu

Zhou Guanyu took a trip home to China and visited the Shanghai Disneyland Park for a particularly magical winter break. He also adopted a cat and did several magazine photo shoots!

Nico Hulkenberg

Nico Hulkenberg had a quiet family Christmas with his wife and daughter as well as their new puppy Zeus! A lot of time was also spent in the gym preparing for the new season. 

Kevin Magnussen

Magnussen was one of the least active drivers on social media during the off-season but found time to pay tribute to former Haas team boss Guenther Steiner. Having recently welcomed his second child to the world, some family time was probably on the cards for the Magnussen’s.

Whose winter sounded the most fun to you? Leave a comment below!

Written by Cesca.

Categories
Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday- Russia 2017

We’re back with another installation of flashback Friday to keep you occupied during the summer break. This time we look at Valtteri Bottas’ first F1 win which he claimed at Sochi in 2017.

The three practice sessions before qualifying were topped by the usual Ferrari and Mercedes, who were far ahead of the rest of their competitors.

Source: thenewswheel.com

Qualifying

When it came to qualifying there were a couple of crashes from Palmer and Wehrlein which disupted the sessions. But in Q1, that duo failed to reach Q2, along with Vandoorne, Ericsson and Grosjean.

In Q2, Lance Stroll was looking for the opportunity to make Q3 for the second time but failed to do so. The Force India pair of Perez and Ocon were solid enough to find themselves in the top 10. But the struggles continued for McLaren as Alonso could only take P15. Following him out of Q2 were Sainz, Stroll, Kvyat and Magnussen.

Source: motorauthority.com

There were only really four cars in contention for pole. The two Ferrari and the two Mercedes. On provisional pole was Kimi Raikkonen who was ahead of Valtteri Bottas, his Finnish counterpart. Meanwhile, Vettel and Hamilton were third and fourth after first runs.

It was to be Vettel’s day as he claimed his first pole position since Singapore 2015. Next to him was Raikkonen, getting Ferrari their first front row lock out since 2008 in France. The Mercedes of Bottas and Hamilton had to settle for P3 & P4.

The top 10 was: Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Massa, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Perez, Ocon.

Race

Source: Express.co.uk

An extra formation lap was needed at the start of the race as Fernando Alonso’s McLaren stopped on track before lights out. A great start from Bottas saw him jump Raikkonen but some more amazing race craft from the Finnish driver then saw him take the lead of the race going into the first corner ahead of Vettel.

The deployment of the safety car came about when Grojean and Palmer tangled up together. Lap 4 saw them get back to racing but immediately Ricciardo reported that his brakes were on fire for and had to retire for the second time in the season.

A pitstop for Bottas on Lap 28 saw him drop to second place, with Ferrari doing the opposite with Vettel and staying out for longer. Vettel stopped on Lap 34 while Bottas went wide in Turn 13, majorly flat spotting his tyres. This gave Vettel the solid belief that he could really hunt Bottas down for the win, with just three laps to go.

Source: syndication.bleacherreport.com

Running into traffic on his final lap, giving him DRS, allowed Bottas to keep his distance from the Ferrari. Vettel was unable to clear Massa in the Williams fast enough, giving Bottas the breathing space he needed.

Bottas secured his first F1 win in Russia that day, proving he could cope under an intense amount of pressure. His brilliant start and composed attitude throughout the race got him the victory.

Although Vettel had to settle for second place, Raikkonen’s third place gained Ferrari a nice chunk of points with a double podium.

Source: thetelegraph.co.uk

Elsewhere, Hamilton took fourth, over half a minute behind his teammate. Verstappen, after his good start took fifth, finishing ahead of the Force Indias in sixth and seventh who claimed a double top 7 finish for the first time since Belgium the year before. Hulkenberg, Massa and Sainz completed the top 10.

“I knew I could do these results, I always trusted my ability, but this result confirms it.”

Valtteri Bottas

If you enjoyed that Flashback Friday be sure to stick around for more; and if you have any requests you’d like to see of the page, be sure to drop a comment below!

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