Who, if anyone, will challenge Red Bull and Max Verstappen this season? We asked that question 12 months ago but Aston Martin would not have been many people’s first (or second) answer. That the Silverstone-based team is now regarded as one of the main chasers says a lot about the big leap it made in 2023.
There were still two problems, though. The first was that, like everyone else, Aston Martin was still a significant chunk behind Red Bull. And the second was that it fell off the development pace during the campaign and ended up fifth in the constructors’ championship when second had seemed possible early on.
This week, Alex Kalinauckas hears why the team in green is cautiously optimistic for 2024, as well as Fernando Alonso’s inevitably forthright (or should that be cheeky?) views about Lewis Hamilton’s headline-grabbing move to Ferrari for 2025.
As usual at this time of year, we bring you news and views from the F1 launches ahead of the Bahrain test next week, plus we’ve got our traditional Big Questions article with Karun Chandhok. The hard-working Sky pundit has had to redraft the piece more than once thanks to all the recent breaking news, but it’s beginning to become clear what the key stories will be…
Beyond F1, Marcus Simmons talks to impressive rising star Arvid Lindblad ahead of his rookie F3 campaign, Tom Howard takes on the challenge (and appeal) of the gruelling Roger Albert Clark Rally, and we pick out the main themes of the 2024 NASCAR season ahead of the Daytona 500 blue-riband season-opener this weekend.
There’s also plenty of news on the National motorsport scene, including the arrival of successful Lynk and Co racers in TCR UK, David Brabham’s new campaign in the GT Cup and an unusual winner on the Riponian Stages Rally.
Look out for our bumper 100-page F1 season preview special on 29 February. As well as all the analysis from Bahrain testing, we’ll assess each team and driver, plus there’ll be our 19-page World Endurance Championship guide.
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