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Welcome back to Prime Tire, where a single video of World Endurance Championship cars taking practice at Imola has made me very excited for Formula 1 racing to begin again. It’s been 24 years! Or something.
I’m Patrick, and Madeline Coleman will be along shortly. Let’s get straight inside the paddock!
Inside the Paddock with Madeline Coleman: Russell talks drivers’ biggest concerns
F1 is still two weeks away from the Miami Grand Prix, the only race in eight weeks after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs were canceled due to the Middle East conflict. But that doesn’t mean work has completely stopped.
The teams have kept their heads down as they work to develop their cars, and drivers have mixed in relaxing with time back at their respective factories. But conversations have also been ongoing between the FIA and technical experts from the engine manufacturers and F1 teams regarding possible changes to the technical regulations. Multiple drivers have raised concerns with the current ruleset, including around safety.
According to the FIA’s statement earlier this month, “a high-level meeting” among the stakeholders’ representatives is set for April 20, and “it is anticipated that preferred options jointly proposed by the technical teams will be considered and a consensus sought on the way forward.”
In a media session earlier today, George Russell discussed “two headline points” that the drivers want changed in the current ruleset: reducing the rapid closing speeds and having “flat out” qualifying,” so drivers don’t have to lift and coast. He went on to reference Ollie Bearman’s high-speed wreck at Suzuka.
“The closing speed of the Bearman-Colapinto crash was twofold,” Russell said. “One was Bearman was on his boost button and giving himself 350 kilowatts, so he had an abundance of power in an abnormal part of the track. And on the flip side, Colapinto used his boost on the main straight, half a lap before, and was low on his battery, so he had a lack of power.
“So that is, at least in my eyes, where these closing speed differences are coming from, and I think the FIA are definitely very much aware of that.”
Russell went on to point out that Bearman’s crash happened at a part of the track that wasn’t designated for Straight Mode, and he said, “If there’s a straight that isn’t an SM mode, that means it’s because it’s a corner.”
Thanks, Madeline! Here is the most recent photo of Russell on Getty Images (dated April 15), presented without context:
Remy Steiner / Getty Images for IWC
Anyway. Moving along:
Williams Woes: Is 5 weeks enough time to save the season?
Here’s a fun thing to do: Imagine spending all of 2025 building a car for 2026 — actively sacrificing last season to get ahead of the sport’s biggest regulation change in years.
Now imagine that car shows up overweight.
Three races in, Williams is ninth: tied with Audi on two points, ahead of only Cadillac and Aston Martin.“Realistically,” Alex Albon says, “we’re not in the midfield fight.”
As Madeline wrote this week, the solution exists! But the rulebook may stand in the way. Read more here, and learn why this month is a race against time for the team.
Ocean’s F1: We have ideas for the ‘Ocean’s 11’ prequel
Did you know there’s a prequel to “Ocean’s Eleven”?
(For the Gen Z’ers in the audience: “Ocean’s Eleven” was a wildly popular heist film starring Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Matt Damon. It was a remake of a 1960 film. A film is like 70 long TikToks spliced together.)
Well, there’s a prequel to “Ocean’s Eleven” in production. Margot Robbie and Bradley Cooper will star … and the heist is set around the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix. This got my brain working: What will the heist involve?
First, some context: The 1962 Monaco Grand Prix is already a dramatic day. Graham Hill dominated until his engine failed with eight laps to go, handing victory to Bruce McLaren. Meanwhile, Monaco was heaving with royalty, shipping magnates and old money. With that in mind, I’ve come up with three scenarios for the movie. I expect royalties.
The Hill Distraction
Everyone’s eyes are on Hill’s blown engine, including the two guards on the royal family’s private vault beneath the paddock. Robbie’s character has exactly eight laps to crack it.
The Monocoque
Lotus debuted a revolutionary new monocoque chassis at Zandvoort two weeks ago, and every rival team wants the blueprints. Surely someone will pay handsomely. The drawings are locked in team boss Colin Chapman’s hotel safe. Cooper’s character is the locksmith Chapman called that morning about a sticky deadbolt. Chapman should have asked for references.
The Tunnel Dangle
The building atop the Turn 9 tunnel is a casino, where the protagonists steal a rare jewel from a patron. The thieves have hired a demolitions expert to blow a hole in the casino basement floor for their getaway — not realizing it opens directly over Turn 9. Cooper drops the stolen jewels into McLaren’s car as it drives by, and the last half of the movie is the team desperately trying to break into the paddock and celebrations to retrieve them from his cockpit.
More big news up next.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Lewis Hamilton is a fellow nerd
Lewis Hamilton is opening trading card stores worldwide.
Sorry, I’ve buried the lede: He has 500 Pokémon cards and an unopened Neo Destiny box from 2002.
Sorry, I did it again: HE SAYS HE IS FRIENDS WITH GEORGE LUCAS.
So Hamilton is a co-owner of my Denver Broncos and might have George Lucas’ number. We’re perilously close to me having a conflict of interest here. We’re one “I’ve seen every ‘Mission Impossible’ twice” away.
Anyway, our collectibles team has the full story here.
Outside the Points
🔧 Red Bull reshuffled its engineering department today, promoting from within and pulling Andrea Landi over from Racing Bulls. Alex has the full breakdown, but the short version is: Red Bull needs someone who knows how to build a car drivers actually want to drive, and Landi’s junior team has been doing exactly that for years.
🏎️ Max Verstappen is at the Nurburgring this weekend for the 24-hour qualifiers.
📺 Colton Herta had “visions” of racing in both F2’s Montreal feature and the Indy 500 on the same day in May. It didn’t work out — Madeline has the full story on why and what he’s doing instead. (Sidenote: Imagine how different “Dune” would have been if Paul Atreides had similar visions.)
💸 Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is reportedly preparing to pull funding from LIV Golf, and the ripples may reach other sports the kingdom is involved with (which, at this point, is many). The Athletic’s staff ran through what it means for those sports, including F1.
🕰️ Niels Wittich, former F1 race director, has said Michael Masi was “essentially a scapegoat” for the infamous Abu Dhabi 2021 result. We are five years on, and the takes remain warm.
And, finally, most clicked last time: Lando Norris + golf!
See you Tuesday for more.
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