Honda’s ominous 2024 warning as Aston Martin post financial losses – F1 news round-up

Henry Valantine 29 Sep 2023 11:59 PM

Aston Martin and Honda logos. — Aston Martin and Honda were in Friday's F1 news headlines.

Friday’s F1 news selection carries a mixed bag from throughout the field, as Aston Martin reported a sizeable pre-tax loss on their 2022 accounts and future engine partners Honda provided a warning for the rest of the field as their current partnership with Red Bull goes from strength to strength.

Elsewhere, a scathing assessment of Sergio Perez’s driving at Suzuka from one ex-F1 driver and Daniel Ricciardo has offered an update on his health as he scrambles to be fit to get back on track.

Without further ado, let’s get into Friday’s selection of F1 news.

Aston Martin finances revealed for 2022

Aston Martin posted a pre-tax loss of around £53m in 2022, in accounts released on Friday – despite the team increasing its turnover.

But with a new factory opening and significant investment continuing to be made elsewhere, the team made a significant loss as it looks to establish itself further up the Formula 1 pecking order.

There are further details regarding a trading relationship the team has with Lance Stroll too, in a deeper look at the team’s finances as a whole.

Honda warn next Red Bull engine could be improved even further

Honda’s Koji Watanabe explained that the Japanese marque are continuing to work on the Red Bull Powertrains units for 2024, with a key focus on durability.

Not only is the Red Bull engine one of the most powerful on the grid, the reliability of the car has been a strong suit throughout the season so far.

But even so, that is not stopping their engine partners from wanting to go even further still and making them even more bulletproof for the years ahead.

Be warned, everyone else…

Daniel Ricciardo offers fresh injury update over Qatar return doubts

Even though his 2024 seat is now secured, that is not stopping Daniel Ricciardo from wanting to get back in the cockpit of his AlphaTauri as soon as he can.

And he has now revealed that an upcoming simulator run with Red Bull will provide an indicator as to how long it will be before he is able to get back going again.

He hopes to be back again “in the next few weeks” after breaking a metacarpal in his left hand at the Dutch Grand Prix, with Liam Lawson doing a sterling job as his stand-in in the meantime.

Jolyon Palmer brands Sergio Perez move ‘hopeless’ at Suzuka

Former Renault driver Jolyon Palmer was less than impressed with Sergio Perez’s driving at Suzuka.

While he has been complimentary about how he has gone about getting back through the field at times this season, his move that ended up with a collision with Kevin Magnussen at the hairpin was labelled as “hopeless” by the driver turned pundit.

“It was a move that was no doubt borne out of frustration at being in the fastest car and stuck for longer than anticipated behind Sunday’s slowest team, while being desperate to recover some ground. But it was also an utterly hopeless move for a driver who seems to have forgotten his racecraft,” Palmer wrote in a column for Formula1.com.

“Coming from behind and dangling a front wheel into the back of the car ahead is a recipe for a collision. You have no right to the inside of the corner coming from that far back, without asserting yourself there on the brakes and getting significantly alongside by the time the car ahead wants to turn in to the apex.

“This latest move was unlike the Perez of old who has been good and committed on the brakes – but it was worryingly the same style he adopted in Singapore, which was already a talking point coming into the weekend.”

Feature: The story of a game-changing Formula 1 car

And finally, inMonty Python-esque terms: “And now for something completely different.”

Our tech writer, Uros Radovanovic, has put together a feature on how the iconic Lotus 78 proved to be the precursor for what shaped modern Formula 1 cars today.

科林·查普曼的团队探索这个想法啊f ground effect aerodynamics for several years, before it paid dividends with the 78 and, latterly, the Lotus 79 – culminating in Mario Andretti winning the Drivers’ title in 1978 and putting the team back on top of the sport at the time.

Uros has taken a deep dive into just how they managed to make the car work in those days, and how it put the rest of the grid to the sword at the time – and it’s a fascinating story of how it came to be.