Wolff delivers bad Verstappen news as F1 2024 calendar confirmed – F1 news round-up

Henry Valantine 05 Jul 2023 11:00 PM

F1 news round-up July 2023, Toto Wolff and Austria race start.

It’s been another busy day of F1 news as the 2024 schedule has been confirmed, Oscar Piastri has been brave enough to stick his head above the parapet to discuss *that* Ashes moment and more.

托托沃尔夫坏消息了马克斯Verstappen房颤ter the reigning World Champion spoke not-too-kindly about the 2026 F1 regulations, and Mercedes have confirmed what they will be bringing to Silverstone as part of their newest upgrade package.

让我们看看what’s happened in the world of F1 today.

Record-breaking F1 2024 calendar announced

If you really like Formula 1 (we hope you do, if you’re reading a site devoted to it), then we have good news – you’re getting more of it than ever next season, with 24 races scheduled in for the 2024 calendar.

The year will start with two Saturday night races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia respectively at the start of March, out of respect the Islamic festival of Ramadan, before the season winds its way all the way through to 8th December in Abu Dhabi.

Opinion is split on how many races are too many races in Formula 1 (and we’ll have our own thoughts on that for you on Thursday morning on that very subject), but in the meantime, China is back on the calendar, Japan has had a big move in the calendar and the year will end with not one but two triple-headers.

Oscar Piastri weighs in on Ashes controversy

A childhood photo of Oscar Piastri with Aussie cricketing hero Ricky Ponting emerged in the build-up to the Ashes, so in the wake of the controversy surrounding the stumping of Jonny Bairstow that got the community of an entire sport talking, the McLaren has given his views on the incident.

While Bairstow was stumped in the laws of the game, critics of the move (which took place with the last ball of the over having been bowled), felt it went against the spirit of the game – well, it’s just not cricket, to put it another way.

Piastri, himself a big cricket fan, pointed out England have not exactly been angels in this regard in the past either.

He told Sky Sports: “It’s obviously a controversial moment. I think in the laws of the game, the umpires decided it was out.

“There’s always moments like that for and against. I remember England and Broad in particular had their fair share of spirit of cricket moments too.

“It’s always a controversial topic for every team. But yeah, the umpires decided it was out. So we’ll move on to the next game and see what happens.”

Toto Wolff delivers bad Max Verstappen news on F1 2026 regulations

It’s safe to say that Max Verstappen has not taken too kindly to the cars of 2026 from the early simulations he has tried back at Red Bull, with the sport moving in a more sustainable direction with the future regulations.

Talk is of lighter, louder and smaller cars, but the way they handle on simulations is not impressing the double World Champion at this moment at all.

Toto Wolff has taken a dim view of any chance of the regulations being tweaked further, given how much work has gone into designing the regulations to try and bring more manufacturers on board.

“That’s not going to happen,” Wolff said when asked if the regulations will be changing. “Zero chance. Capital letters. So, I don’t know why these things are coming up.

“We’ve developed the regulations over many years with all the auto manufacturers being involved, it was a compromise that attracted Audi to finally join the sport. For Honda to stay in there.

“It’s the best possible case that one could imagine for Formula 1.”

Mercedes confirm what Silverstone upgrades will entail

Wolff teased previously that a “big” upgrade would be coming to the British Grand Prix, and Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has now revealed a new front wing will be adorning the W14 this weekend.

Ferrari and Aston Martin have been among the teams to debut new front wings in recent wings themselves as part of wider upgrade packages, so while Mercedes confirmed that was a new part of their car, don’t be surprised if we see more than just a new front wing this weekend.

Brad Pitt gets his own garage at Silverstone… kind of

And finally, the filming of Brad Pitt’s Formula 1 film that’s due to take place at Silverstone is ramping up its preparations, with pictures having emerged of a garage being branded with Pitt’s character, ‘Sonny Hayes’.

The film, being produced in collaboration with Lewis Hamilton with the hope of it being the most accurate racing film ever made, will see the Hollywood legend take in laps of Silverstone in what is thought to be a modified Formula 2 car throughout the weekend to get the shots needed to cut into the movie later on.

More details about the potential plot have emerged along with it, and fans at Silverstone could well catch a glimpse of Pitt as he takes on the likes of Copse, Maggotts, Becketts, Stowe, Abbey and more for the big screen.