2024 F1 previews: A new day for Stake F1

January 31, 2024

What’s your next stop for F1 season reviews/previews?

Alfa Romeo.

No, wait, Sauber.

It actually refers to stake.

If you’re wondering what to call the Hinwil-based outlet, you’re not alone. After five seasons as Alfa Romeo, Sauber F1 is in the midst of a transition period, which will be completed for the 2026 season, when it will race as an Audi works team. Alfa Romeo is currently no longer the team’s title sponsor for the 2024 season, and will be replaced by online casino Stake and video streaming service Kick. Therefore, the official name of the team in 2024 will be Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber.

Understood? good.

Beyond the current name change, 2023 has been something of a step backwards for the team. After finishing 6th in the constructors’ championship, 55 points for the season — 49 of them by Valtteri Bottas — they slipped to ninth in the constructors’ standings last season.

They were locked in a fierce battle for seventh place and announced after the August break that finishing seventh was their clear aim for the season. However, finishing seventh became an increasingly tough task for them as Williams pulled away and AlphaTauri (now the Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, more on that later) soon caught up with them.

Heading into the first Las Vegas Grand Prix, Alfa Romeo was in ninth place, 12 points behind Williams and five points behind AlphaTauri. Bottas told me that “perfection” is needed to achieve the goals set by the team. However, no further points were awarded to the team that season, resulting in a 9th place finish.

2023 Highlights: Qatar GP

The 2023 Qatar Grand Prix was a punitive event for drivers. The combination of intense heat and tire management restrictions imposed by his FIA, which imposed a cap of just 18 laps on each set of tires, meant the race pushed the entire grid to its physical limits. Logan Sargent, for example, retired early due to “severe dehydration”, and his Williams teammate Alexander Albon also required treatment after the race.

Alpine driver Esteban Ocon even admitted to vomiting twice during the race.

Although it was a painful event, it was the highlight of Alfa Romeo’s season. Bottas showed a strong performance in qualifying and started 9th, while Chou Guanyu started from last place in 19th. However, Bottas finished 8th, with Zhou just behind him in 9th, and both finished in the points.

“Tonight we were able to achieve the race we had been aiming for for a long time. We knew we had a chance of scoring points but we needed to run a perfect race to bring this result home. The strategy was spot on, the pit stops were perfect, and the drivers showed two solid performances, pushing without mistakes from the first lap to the last. Said Team principal Alessandro Arunni Bravi after the race. “Tonight’s result boosts our confidence and strengthens our belief that if we do our job like we did tonight, we can score points in any race.”

Alfa Romeo’s six points in Qatar moved them ahead of Haas in the constructors’ standings.

This was his only double point finish of the season.

2023 Lowlight: Hungarian Grand Prix

Last year, the Hungarian Grand Prix was probably the best chance for the team to achieve a great result.

In the second practice session that Friday, it looked as if Alfa Romeo had brought a surprise package to the Hungaroring. Bottas was seventh in the second practice session, with Zhou second behind in ninth, but they set their best time on the medium compound.

Everyone in front of them recorded times on soft.

And on Saturday, the result was truly astonishing. Chou set the fastest time in Q1, and both he, Bottas and Chou advanced to Q3. When the dust settled, Bottas qualified 7th and Zhou qualified 5th, achieving their best qualifying results ever.

But that promise and potential didn’t carry over until Sunday. In Zhou’s case, his C43 suffered a brake issue that caused a software override just before the start, which caused him to pull off the line late. He then crashed into the back of Daniel Ricciardo at the first corner and into Esteban Ocon, and the resulting collision caused Ocon and Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly to drop out of the race.

Zhou finished in 16th place, one lap behind.

As for Bottas, he did better, if only slightly. Starting seventh, he was right behind Zhou at lights out, which resulted in Zhou also having a compromised start. He slipped out of the top 10 and was never able to get back into the points, ultimately finishing 12th.

A promising Saturday and a disappointing Sunday.

Outlook for 2024

Now rebranded stakes F1 team Kick Sauber looks ahead to the new season with hopes for a better tomorrow. Of course, it will start with the Challenger for the 2024 season, but according to Bravi, this will not be an evolution of the C43, but a completely new design.

“This year, we [the C43] “The concept was good, but there were limits to further development,” said Arunni Buravi. F1.com analyst Lawrence Barrett said earlier this month. “We have significantly improved the car since its launch, but it was not enough to keep us ahead of the competition, so we have to change the concept of the car and develop certain areas. Fitting a new front suspension However, this is a big step forward for us and this should help the front tire and front axle to work better in all situations. A new monocoque with a different concept is coming. This year’s monocoque is This will be an important step as it was a carryover.

“This will not be an evolution of the C43, it will be a completely new car.”

Will it help with that effort? Mr. James Key joined the team as the new technical director in September last year. Key held the role at McLaren from 2019 until the beginning of the 2023 season, when he was let go by McLaren as part of a reorganization. Mr. Key previously served as Hinwil’s Director of Technical from 2010 until 2012, so this is something of a homecoming.

Like other teams on the grid, Stake expects its 2023 driver pair to return for the 2024 campaign. Bottas is in the third and final year of his current contract, while Chou has signed a one-year extension with the team. However, their upcoming move to Audi will put both drivers, and the entire team, under pressure to close the gap with other drivers.

Person under the most pressure to perform in 2024: Chou Guanyu

There is certainly no shortage of pressure in the stakes, but under Chou that seat will likely be the hottest. He scored six points in his rookie season in 2022 and another six points in 2023, finishing 18th in the Drivers’ Championship for the second year in a row.

A switch to Audi is imminent, and there is a lot of speculation as to who Audi will be looking for in its 2026 driver duo. For a sport as fast-paced as F1, that may seem like a lifetime away, but if Chou wants it to be. To remain in that spot beyond 2025, they will need to improve on their performance from the past two seasons.

Because you can’t browse F1 media without seeing the various drivers associated with Audi for the 2026 season. Probably at the top of that list? Carlos Sainz Jr.’s father is Currently driving an Audi It was featured in the Dakar Rally and is a legend in its own right. Then there’s Nico Hulkenberg. The German driver could be a perfect fit for Audi, which is based in Germany.

Yes, there is a lot of pressure on Zhou this season.