Mercedes chief delivers defiant Red Bull dominance verdict
Mercedes technical director James Allison has said that Red Bull’s dominance in Formula 1 has not ruined his return to the Mercedes fold.
The Brit rejoined the Brackley-based squad back in early 2023, replacing Mike Elliot, who had himself previously replaced Allison as technical director.
Since then, he has witnessed Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez claim every race win bar one, while Mercedes’ two stars Lewis Hamilton and George Russell had to settle for just the eight podiums between them.
Team principal Toto Wolff has already stated that Mercedes’ 2024 car will feature dramatic changes compared to the underperforming W14, changes that Allison will be overseeing in the hope of getting back to winning ways in the upcoming season.
Allison’s Mercedes return
Now, Allison has been talking about his return to the role of technical director, suggesting he enjoys the challenge of attempting to hunt down the dominant Red Bull team.
“You say it’s no fun, actually it’s lots of fun,” Allison told Autosport.
“It isn’t as much fun as winning, that’s definitely true, but you have to sort of love the whole of the sport. It involves taking your licks when you haven’t done a good enough job.
“I think one of the things to admire about Red Bull’s current performance is that they stuck gamely to their task in quite a long period in the wilderness,” he continued.
“They are now enjoying the fruits of that well-placed labour. It’s far from unenjoyable being in that position, as long as the team is collectively confident that it’s making the right moves to try to re-establish itself as a force to be reckoned with. There’s loads and loads of fun to be had in that.”
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F1 chiefs reveal ‘MOST successful race of 2023’
Formula 1’s most successful race has been revealed from the 2023 season but some fans may be surprised by the grand prix that stole the show.
According to reports the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix was a huge winner for the sport, despite the weekend itself going through many highs and lows.
It looked set to be a disaster from almost the opening moments of the first practice session when a loose drain cover that struck Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari curtailed the session and led to fans missing out on the action as well as being turned away for a later session held early in the morning local time.
Yet, the race itself proved enthralling, with Max Verstappen fighting with Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez and Ferrari star Charles Leclerc for victory before the Dutchman crossed the line for just one of his incredible 19 victories during the campaign.
Now, according to KTNV, the numbers make for highly positive ones for Formula 1 in figures revealed by the sport’s chiefs on Wednesday.
American dream for F1
The report claims that F1 sold 316,000 tickets for the grand prix, with each race guest spending an incredible average of $4,100 (£3,200).
To put that into perspective, it is four times the amount that an average tourist spends in Vegas.
F1 have claimed that the Las Vegas Grand Prix was their most watched race last season, with a stunning 2.7 billion global viewers.
“This is particularly unusual because by this point in the season, Max had already won the driver championship and to still have this level of viewership just shows the incredible demand and interest in the Las Vegas Grand Prix,” F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO Renee Wilm is quoted to have said in the report.
When is the F1 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix?
The 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix will take place on Saturday November 23 with the race set to get underway at 10pm local time, and 6am on Sunday for a UK audience.
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