Mick Schumacher excited about his Le Mans debut with Alpine later this year

WEC driver for Alpine, Mick Schumacher, expressed his excitement ahead of racing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time.Mick Schumacher raced outside of the open-wheel category for the first time in his career as he debuted in the WEC with the Qatar 1812 KM. In the championship’s opening race, he finished 12th in the Hypercar category, racing with Alpine.
While the team failed to score any points in the first race of the season, Schumacher is looking forward to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, scheduled later in June this year. When asked about racing for the first time at Le Mans, he said, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport:
“Yes, I don’t really know what to imagine and I don’t want to burden my expectations. I just get carried away by the moment.”
“Let’s see how it goes because everyone tells me it’s the craziest event that’s happened in my career. So yes, I’m very excited, it will be days of pure adrenaline.”
Alpine signed Mick Schumacher as their driver for the WEC in November of 2023 after he served a season off racing in F1 as Mercedes’ reserve driver.
Alpine will not provide Mick Schumacher with an F1 test

Despite racing for them in the World Endurance Championship, Alpine will not be able to provide Mick Schumacher with a test in their F1 car because of a clause in the contract.Schumacher has served as Mercedes’ reserve driver since he was dropped by Haas at the end of 2022. Continuing to be with the Brackley team in F1, he was signed by Alpine.It was speculated that the latter might be able to provide him with a test in F1, but as team principal Bruno Famin earlier revealed, it wouldn’t be possible. He further clarified that Mick Schumacher’s contract is only limited to WEC and any testing will be done by their reserve driver Jack Doohan.
“No, we cannot [Provide Schumacher a test in F1],” Motorsport quoted Famin as saying.
“We don’t plan because we have a reserve driver with Jack Doohan, and Mick is the Mercedes reserve driver. The contract we have with Mick is exclusively for endurance.”

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As Lewis Hamilton races in his final season with Mercedes before he leaves for Ferrari in 2025, the contender for his seat has not yet been revealed by the team. Interestingly, Schumacher was thought to be one of the options along with some other drivers.

Red Bull will reportedly introduce a major upgrade package during the Imola Grand Prix later this season to gain more pace.After a strong season-opening race in Bahrain, Red Bull took the lead in the championship with a 1-2 finish as Max Verstappen won the Grand Prix followed by his teammate Sergio Perez. The team looked strong as the only team close to their pace; Ferrari, did not catch up during the race.
This pace could get stronger as Red Bull are reported to introduce a major upgrade package at Imola. The Imola Grand Prix is scheduled to be held later in May this year. When asked, team advisor Helmut Marko only grinned, saying:
“Let’s see.”
The Austrian team has been on a winning spree since the new aerodynamic regulations were introduced in 2022 with Max Verstappen winning three consecutive world championships since 2021.Post the pre-season testing and during the qualifying session in Bahrain, it was expected that other teams might pose a challenge to RBR, however, the race just proved their pace. Verstappen extended his lead by almost a second at the end of the first lap.
Jos Verstappen suggests tension in Red Bull amidst Christian Horner row
Despite their extremely competitive stance on the grid, Red Bull is suggested to be in internal turmoil after team principal Christian Horner was accused of “inappropriate and controlling” behavior by one of his employees.

Although the allegations against him were cleared after an internal investigation, some screenshots of conversations allegedly between Horner and the employee were leaked.Owing to all the drama, Max Verstappen’s father, Jos Verstappen, stated that Red Bull potentially remains in trouble because of Horner. He told The Daily Mail:
“There is tension here while he remains in position.”
“The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can’t go on the way it is. It will explode. He is playing the victim, when he is the one causing the problems.”
The texts in the leaked pictures were reportedly sexually suggestive, but there has been no confirmation yet if the screenshots were real.Horner has served as the team’s principal since its inception in 2005. Under his guidance, the team has won six constructors’ and seven drivers’ world championships.

After the first round of the 2024 F1 season as well, RBR is seemingly ahead of the rest of the grid. Although Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari seemed like he could pose a challenge to Sergio Perez, he finished the race behind him as the latter had pitted for the softer compound.
Edited by
Luke Koshi
F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain – Qualifying

Daniel Ricciardo comments on Yuki Tsunoda’s behaviour post-Bahrain GP race
By
Niharika Ghorpade
Modified Mar 03, 2024 23:41 IST
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Daniel Ricciardo believes Yuki Tsunoda will calm down after the race debrief post the Bahrain GP. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda, the Australian felt that his RB teammate’s reaction to the swap on track was a result of his short-tempered nature but not a conflicting situation in the team.The Japanese driver was unhappy on his team radio and after the race because Daniel Ricciardo was asked to pass him. The 34-year-old was on a fresher set of soft tires with twenty laps left in the race and was quicker than his teammate.
Towards the end of the race, the team initiated a swap to let the former Red Bull driver pass in a final attempt at a points finish. The swap angered his teammate, who displayed it on track during the cooldown lap.Daniel Ricciardo admitted not talking to his teammate after the race at Parc Ferme as he preferred to have a conversation when the Japanese driver was calmer. Despite the optics of the conflicting situation, he felt it was better to have a discussion in the race debrief when Tsunoda would understand that he could have swapped earlier.Asked if he had spoken to Tsunoda at Parc Ferme, Daniel Ricciardo replied:
“No, I’ll let him cool down I mean we know, we know what he’s like, he’s obviously during the moment. He’s very.. that’s again Yuki, but I think once we get back to the room and that he’ll be completely completely fine and look I’m not I’m okay. Like it’s, of course, again, I’m, I’m thinking long term, this is a long season. So we need to be able to work together. So I’m not going to come in there with a, an angry attitude. It’s just, we have to be very honest and realistic that it should have happened when, when they called it.”
He added:
“It’s yes there was a little bit of a conflict today. But I don’t want that to set the tone. I think we talk about it now in the briefing honestly and hopefully once he’s calmed down he can say okay I should have moved to lap early.”
Daniel Ricciardo believes Yuki Tsunoda swapped too late which cost them time
Apart from the two Red Bull drivers, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo was the only other driver to opt for a soft tire for the final stint of the race. The intention behind the strategy was to have an advantage over other drivers who were on a harder tire compound.Effectively, the strategy would have paid off if RB had swapped their drivers earlier but the swap was initiated two laps late. According to Ricciardo, his Japanese teammate swapped two laps after the call was made, cutting down the significant advantage he could have had to finish in the points.
Asked if the move to swap drivers was effective, Daniel Ricciardo said:
“Yeah, so to be honest, I would say being fully transparent from my side, I think the call was already maybe one lap too late and then he reacted later than that. So I, you know, obviously when there’s soft tires like this, every lap is crucial.
“So I think I already lost probably two and a half good laps of the tire and that was maybe the difference. Could we have caught Stroll? I guess it was maybe in 10th or whoever was in 10th, no I think maybe at best we got Zhou. But so yeah points were still tricky but we had to try something.”
Asked how late Tsunoda let him pass, he said:
“It was more than a lap yeah I think it was I can’t even remember where he let me by in the end.”
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Explaining the strategy to swap drivers, Daniel Ricciardo said:
“Yeah we, uh, that was really it. We talk about it as well, obviously before the race. You know, this is, we go through strategy and it’s, we’re also, we have a few plans of what strategy we might do. But it was highly likely that me starting on the new soft, I would say, was gonna finish the race on a new soft and have an attacking last stint. So yeah the call was quite expected.”
“So yeah it’s just look I know when you’re in the race you’re a little bit more emotional and it’s a bit more intense but this call is came at no surprise and obviously every lap counts. When you’re on this tire and you’re trying to get that little bit of grip out of it. So you need need to you need to react to the team call and also we’re not in we weren’t in a points position yet so there’s really nothing to lose just let me go and see if I can do something about it.”
Daniel Ricciardo said Tsunoda was aware of the strategy to swap prior to the race. The Australian felt that his teammate’s heated reaction was an impulsive one, but that the Japanese driver should have expected it. It is understood that the strategy was discussed before but a late swap affected the advantage the former Red Bull driver could have had towards the end of the race.Daniel Ricciardo eventually finished 13th ahead of his younger teammate, who finished 14th in the Bahrain GP.
Edited by
Luke Koshi
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