Prime Tire Newsletter
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Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we’re wondering if you also forgot Max Verstappen and George Russell got into a little argument at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last year.
happy baku week everyone pic.twitter.com/WYEJomrq4S
— nini (@SCUDERIAFEMBOY) September 9, 2024
That would be, like, the 234th biggest story this season.
Anyway, it’s race week and we have a lot to cover! I’m Patrick, and Madeline Coleman will be along shortly. Let’s get to it.
BREAKING: Pit stops are important
F1 shared some interesting numbers on X over the weekend: Each team’s average pit stop times so far in 2024. A couple of things stood out to me right away:
- Considering Red Bull has mastered the art of the two-second pit stop, it was a shock to see Ferrari ahead of it!
- I knew Sauber had pit stop troubles early in the year, but averaging 6.27 seconds a pit stop has to be some record. Yikes.
The numbers also sparked something in my stats brain. Something that seems both obvious and notable: The average pit stop times seemed to line up with the standings. I ran the numbers, and, yep:
Look, I know. It’s not the pinnacle of sports analysis to point out that teams that do well at pit stops tend to have the most overall success. But it’s one thing to know that conceptually and another to see the alignment in the data! Even if there’s not a one-to-one correlation here.
And some of the outliers are interesting. RB being ahead of most of the midfield and backfield despite averaging slower pit stops must say something good about Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda. Anyway, hope you found that as mildly illuminating as I did.
GO DEEPER
How F1’s Red Bull mastered the art of the 2-second pit stop
And now, let’s pivot to The Athletic’s exclusive interview with Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. Take it away, Madeline!
Inside the Paddock with Madeline Coleman
We may be readying for a street circuit doubleheader, but first, let’s take one last look back at the Italian Grand Prix weekend.
Before the cars hit the track, I sat down with Sainz to talk about his time at Ferrari, his future, and what it meant to be a driver for the team competing at Monza. Ferrari is known for its high-pressure environment, with plenty of eyes watching its every move. Still, when the team is at home, the attention intensifies.=
“Ferrari, when you come to Italy, you understand that it’s a lot more than a team. Some people describe it a bit as a religion and I do agree a bit because there’s news about Ferrari every day in the press,” Sainz said. “The way that people feel about Ferrari is so passionate that when you’re driving for Ferrari all around the world, you feel like you’re not only representing Ferrari, but you’re representing Italy as a country.
Carlos Sainz won’t rule out a return to Ferrari someday. (Sipa USA)
“Italians are very proud of Ferrari and the brand, so it’s something that you need to be aware of, that you’re driving almost for a nationality and not only for a team.”
Sainz is headed to Williams next season but is not closing the door on a potential Ferrari comeback.
“The fact that I’m leaving at the end of the year, I think there is nothing really that is wrong with me and Ferrari. A seven-time world champion happened to want to come to Ferrari in the last years of his career, and I had to move aside and to obviously leave my space to Lewis. I have no hard feelings regarding that.“
“I have probably still five to 10 years of career in front of me. So why would I close the door to a potential comeback?”
GO DEEPER
F1’s Carlos Sainz embraces final races as a Ferrari driver: “No one can take that away”
Thanks, Madeline. It’s race week! Remember, no sprint race this season at Baku. Here are the session times below. You can watch the race on ESPN+ in the U.S. and Sky Sports in the UK.
Friday
- FP1 – 5:30 a.m. ET/ 10:30 a.m. UK
- FP2 – 9 a.m. ET / 2 p.m. UK
Saturday
- FP3 –4:30 a.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. UK
- Qualifying – 8 a.m. ET / 1 p.m. UK
Sunday
- Azerbaijan GP – 7 a.m. ET / 12 p.m. UK
What you loved about the Italian GP
This newsletter being off on Labor Day kind of skewed these results a bit, but that’s okay. Hard to imagine F1 fans not enjoying that race, which had all the right ingredients: A home team delighting its fans, a contender finding a way to lose the race and a championship fight tightening up. That’s the good stuff! Here’s what you had to say:
🐶 “Hooray for Charles and Leo.”
🤔 “Once the field got into a groove, the race became pretty much over. I don’t understand how teams, such as McLaren, can continually make such bad strategic errors that cost them wins.” (Pat note: We tried our best to explain!)
⚠️ “Another overall exciting race marred by another McLaren strategy bungle. We have to be close to a tipping point, right?”
👑 “Maybe we’re getting spoiled with all these close races and different winners but it didn’t seem to have as much drama as other recent races. How great is this season though!” (Pat note: So, so good. We wrote about that, too.)”
❤️ “Endurance battles will always have my heart, and watching Leclerc claw his way to a win on shredded tires in front of his home crowd while McLaren bungles something that should have been a straightforward 1-2 opportunity is the F1 content I live for. Mamma Mia!”
Hrm.
Valtteri Bottas posted this over the weekend.
It triggered a lot of existential thoughts. Here’s a sample:
- Try explaining this to the ancient Romans.
- Have I done enough with my life? Can I say I’m making the most of this one lifetime?
- I canoed off the coast of Hawaii once. Tipped over. Stepped on a sea urchin. Storm rolled in. Almost tipped over again. This picture took me right back.
- Is he pedaling
Not my favorite moment with F1 social media. Good for Valtteri, though, I guess!
Outside the Points
🔗 Just a brief shout here to Luke Smith’s story today on the proposed F1 rookie race in Abu Dhabi in December. I, uh, have mixed feelings about this plan. Let’s regroup on Friday and chat. Have a wonderful week, folks.
(Top photo: Sipa USA)
