Other illegal plank suspects come to light as Lewis Hamilton makes business move – F1 news round-up

Editor 25 Oct 2023 10:00 PM

Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton pictured during the course of the United States Grand Prix weekend.

Think you’ve missed any of the big F1 action? We’ve got you covered with all the major news of the day.

With Wednesday being the final day before the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend gets underway, the focus remained on the fallout from last weekend’s United States Grand Prix.

To make sure you never miss any major piece of news,you can visit our live blog bringing all the updates as they happen.

What other drivers may have fallen foul of F1 plank tests following US Grand Prix?

Given two of the four tested cars after the US Grand Prix ended up being illegal, much has been made of the fact that perhaps a greater sample size of cars should have been looked into.

One of those voices was former Williams team manager Peter Windsor, who took to his own YouTube channel to explain why he believes more cars than just Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc could have been disqualified had the stewards looked at more cars.

Windsor theorised that drivers who ran long first stints could have been the most likely to fall foul of the stringent plank tests.

Lewis Hamilton establishes a new business venture

Having teased a potential new business venture on his social media platforms in recent days, Lewis Hamilton finally spilled the beans as he revealed the unveiling of a new drinks venture he’s got involved with.

‘Almave’ is a non-alcoholic spirit created from real blue agave, a plant native to the Americas and the Caribbean, with Hamilton one of the founders of the new beverage.

Toto Wolff encouraged to keep key focus in Hamilton/Russell battle

With two drivers under his command that have a rivalry on the verge of becoming damaging following their dicing in recent races, team boss Toto Wolff has been urged to remember a key focus in managing his drivers.

前贝纳通车队经理Joan Villadelprat speaking to PlanetF1.com in an exclusive interview, explained that: “As a team principal, what you need to focus is on the hundreds of people you’ve got in the factory. Not on the two drivers. You need to think about how a thousand families eat – that is your responsibility. So that takes priority in everything in your life, not the drivers.”

The Spaniard also revealed that he believes Lewis Hamilton’s hunger for success may no longer match George Russell’s: “Lewis is not slower, but maybe he’s less hungry than what George has got,” he said.

“When you are a seven-time world champion, when you, your friends, and family are rich and everyone’s rich, you lose that hunger that makes you win. George has got that, but Hamilton knows that as well.”

Liam Lawson lifts lid on Red Bull 2024 snub

Having withdrawn to the safety of his reserve F1 driver role, ahead of a year on the sidelines in 2024, Liam Lawson has opened up on how he’s feeling watching on and what he is focussing on ahead of next year.

“Right now, because I’ve kind of raced in most championships, even been in F1, I can’t really go to do F2 again, there’d be no point,” he said.

I can’t do Super Formula again. I could, but there’s less benefit from doing it. So I think it’s full focus on being reserve. That means a lot of simulator, which, for me, I think what helped getting into Formula 1 and adjusting to it so quickly has been [due to] two years now nearly as reserve.

“So I’ve done lots of simulator work over the last couple of years. That will just continue now into next year, and getting to learn and basically absorb, being alongside the best team in F1 right now – I get to sit through all the meetings and learn how they operate.”

Ferrari starts the hunt for new motorsport talent

Ferrari’s renowned driver academy has started the process of vetting some upcoming talents to see whether any of them has what it takes to join for 2024.

Drivers from the Netherlands, Italy, Chinese Taipei, the Philippines, Brazil, and Colombia arrived in Maranello on Tuesday to take part in the Ferrari scouting world finals.

The test will include four days of on-track action at Ferrari’s Fiorano track where they will be judged not just on speed but how they manage the race weekend simulation, their ability to learn and their performance curve.

For the test, they will drive a Formula 4 car provided by the Prema team with Pirelli tyres bolted onto it.