Not From Chicago, But Close Enough

Preseason Testing has concluded which means its Race Week! A fruitful few days in Bahrain saw all the teams taking their 2024 challengers to track to conduct their preparation for the season ahead with some notable shocks up and down the grid. Covered this week On The Gravel are our thoughts on testing, chat on flow-vis and aero rakes, the dreaded drain covers, as well as the sneaky front wing loophole exposed by Mercedes. Our preseason predictions follow, with some reserve driver talk and our thoughts on the newest season of Drive to Survive. With some touches on WEC, WRC and MotoGP, there is plenty to look forward to in the world of racing as we prepare for the Bahrain GP this Saturday!

Our last dry Sunday in the world of F1 commences On The Gravel this week with our reactions to the final five livery releases, insight into our top five and not five, and a technical dive on new innovations and changes made by some of the teams before preseason testing. On the other side of the racing world, the WRC race in Sweden caught our attention with some notable finishes and the Daytona 500 rain out means green flag racing on a Monday this year. Preseason testing begins on Wednesday morning to keep you on your toes as we’ve made it to the final lap of the offseason.

Our second Sunday in February swiftly arrived with four new livery reveals with a controversial point of similarity between their use of carbon fiber. In other news, Christian Horner has had serious allegations of inappropriate behavior put forth in front of the F1 World, Stake F1 has come across a notable issue of legality in Switzerland surrounding their title sponsorship, and F1 could very well be heading back to Maylasia with Petronas striking a new deal becoming the title sponsor of the Sepang International Circuit. With the British GP locked until 2034, Pete Bonnington failing to follow Hamilton to Ferrari and talk on the upcoming WRC event in Sweden, there’s plenty to catch On The Gravel as we head under 10 days until Pre-Season Testing in Bahrain!

Our final biweekly episode comes on a memorable Sunday as we have a whole off-season's worth of news. Lewis Hamilton has completed one of the biggest driver moves in the history of the sport to Ferrari, but what does this mean for the vacancy he leaves at Mercedes and the departing Carlos Sainz? In other news, Haas revealed their 2024 challenger, along with big contract extensions for Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris with their respectable teams. The new Madrid street circuit has been revealed with a potential new race in Chicago being trademarked by FOM and slinking its way into conversation. Finally, Andretti has unfortunately been denied entry to the sport with F1 citing a lack of potential competitiveness and rumor has it Alex Albon could make his return to Red Bull. With such big news came a myriad of vehement opinions, all of which you can hear with us this week On The Gravel!

Our last episode of January comes with the surprising decision by Haas to part ways with the beloved Guenther Steiner in favor of Ayao Komatsu, talk on the shock drop of McLarens 2024 challenger and our opinions over the rebranding of the Sauber and (potentially) Alpha Tauri teams. The full list of car reveals gives us something to get excited about over the next couple weeks along with seeing our favorite drivers continuing to chase that adrenaline throughout this offseason. Enjoy the show and stick with us, we’re almost there!

2024 kicks off On The Gravel with the contract extension of Red Bulls Helmut Marko, a festive Uncle Fernando, and our opinions on Zak Brown’s view on testing under the budget cap. Williams renewed engine partnership with Mercedes is exciting news along with Red Bulls extensive work on the RB20 and 21, as well as Tim Malyon’s appointment as the FIA’s new sporting director hopefully touting good fortune in the F1 world as we inch ever closer to Bahrain testing.