In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton admits it has been hard to put thoughts of the conflict in Gaza from his mind as F1 returns to the Middle East.
In brief
Difficult to know children are dying in Gaza – Hamilton
Following speculation this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix could be affected by the conflict in Gaza, Hamilton says he is acutely aware of how much of a “bubble” Formula 1’s paddock is.
The multiple world champion has previously expressed his sadness at the deaths of civilians in Israel and Gaza since the latest increase in violence in the region. Asked about racing just hours away from the conflict, Hamilton admitted it has been on his mind.
“I think it’s been a very strange period for us, because we are in such a bubble here,” he said. “We arrived in all these different places and there’s so much positivity in our little bubble and I think it’s difficult to wake up each day knowing that there are thousands of kids dying and there’s nothing you can do about it. And the rest of the world just goes on as it is and it’s massively disappointing to see how countries and governments are handling it.
“Just to think where we are in 2023 with everything through history – it doesn’t look like we’ve learned anything. So to be able to compartmentalise that and just go ahead with your job I think is difficult. I mean, it’s all over social [media]. There’s not a moment, there’s not a day that you don’t see something pop up on the news. You’re just trying to remain positive through the darkest time.”
O’Ward named McLaren reserve for 2024
IndyCar racer Pato O’Ward has been named as one of McLaren’s reserve drivers in Formula 1 next season.
The McLaren IndyCar driver will share reserve driver duties for the F1 team with Ryo Hirakawa in 2024. The 24-year-old will also run in today’s first practice session in Lando Norris’ car.
Rain light test
A test of a new rain light system will be run immediately at the end of today’s opening practice session. Following the session after all cars have taken the chequered flag, the ‘low grip’ track condition setting will be activated for 20 seconds to allow for a test of the cars’ rear lights used in wet conditions.
Hausmann named Aston Martin’s F1 Academy driver
Aston Martin have revealed Tina Hausmann will race in their colours during next year’s F1 Academy championship. The 17-year-old will run in the team’s British Racing Green colours while competing for the Prema team.
Ocon unwell
Esteban Ocon was excused from participating in the traditional pre-race weekend media day on Thursday after Alpine confirmed that he had been recovering from “flu-like symptoms” and had been encouraged by doctors to rest. He is expected to participate in second practice as planned after sitting out of the first session for Jack Doohan. His team believe the symptoms were brought on by the stresses of F1’s schedule over the final rounds.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Adrian Newey: Inside the mind of record-breaking Red Bull’s design genius (BBC)
‘Weight loss was part of it. We never managed to get down to the weight limit last year. By the end of the season, we were still significantly over, so much more detail through the winter to get the weight off, and then the rest was primarily aerodynamic refinement.’
Some businesses near Strip disappointed with turnout from F1′s Las Vegas Grand Prix (Fox 5)
“Jimmy Singh, the manager of Las Vegas Souvenirs and Gifts on Koval and Flamingo, estimates that they lost at least 90% of their business during F1 week. ‘Last week was very slow, totally dead. I didn’t get like maybe 10 or 15 people, that’s it,’ he said.”
Red Bull’s rivals still have something to play for (Straits Times)
‘Verstappen, who secured his third championship with six grands prix to spare, will be hoping to check out with an unprecedented 19th win of the season and Red Bull’s 21st of the campaign. That would leave the 26-year-old, who has won in Abu Dhabi for the past three years and is on a roll of six successive victories, solo third in the all-time list of winners with on 54 race wins.’
Paddock legend Josef Leberer to become Sauber Motorsport Ambassador (Sauber)
‘Most famous for being the physical trainer of Ayrton Senna from 1988 to 1994, Leberer worked with some of the biggest names in the sport over an incredible career that started at McLaren in 1988. Alain Prost, Mika Hakkinen, Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel – some of the leading drivers from many eras of motorsport have put their well-being in Josef’s capable hands; the list includes all Sauber and Alfa Romeo drivers since 1997, when the Salzburger joined the Hinwil squad, providing support to the team crew as well.’
Race Replay season wrap up (F1 Manager via YouTube)
F1 Manager looks back at the various real world scenarios from the 2023 season that
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Social media
Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
come and show your love for Franz Tost! 🫶
anyone in the paddock for the #AbuDhabiGP can come and leave a personal message at the back of our garage for Franz during his final race weekend as Team Principal for the team. we have pens at the ready, so come on round! ✍️ pic.twitter.com/DJq6sJZW4Q— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) November 23, 2023
Final race of the 2023 season. We are excited to give it our all as a team. Despite challenges, it’s been full of learnings to uncover future opportunities. Thank you to everyone in our team for all the hard work. Let’s bring absolutely everything we can going into this last… pic.twitter.com/SuBHUy02G4
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) November 23, 2023
Team dinner in Abu Dhabi. 🧡#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 pic.twitter.com/JwC4rnzVqU
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) November 23, 2023
🥳🥳🥳🥳😇😇😇😇 https://t.co/S2UmL91lDi
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) November 23, 2023
Ready for one more time in 2023 – and one more time with @alfa_romeo as our partner 🍀
Determined to get some points!#VB77 #F1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/ze5zG8hBw6
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) November 23, 2023
|@LandoNorris tried to keep an eye on @OscarPiastri‘s progress in the #LasVegasGP even as he was taken away from the scene of the crash:
“I tried watching as much as I could from the hospital. Even in the heli when I was leaving, I was trying to watch.”#F1 #RaceFans pic.twitter.com/ms9Ro97ZuD
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) November 23, 2023
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