FIA issue Red Bull statement as Max Verstappen names potential decisive future factor – F1 news round-up

F1 news, FIA and Max Verstappen.

It’s testing week, we’re almost out of off-season and there’s lots of F1 news to bring you from Monday – so here’s a look at the best of it.

In honourable mentions, the FIA are bringing AlphaTauri back to the grid (but not as a team name, rather as their clothing partners for the next three seasons), while Max Verstappen said there’s “only one” Adrian Newey when asked if the Red Bull design guru was irreplaceable in an interview with German media.

But for Monday’s selection, here’s our pick of F1 news from the day.

FIA issue Red Bull statement as Christian Horner investigation continues

Following statements from Ford and Formula 1 in recent days, the FIA have issued a statement of their own regarding the internal investigation taking place at Red Bull into team principal Christian Horner over alleged inappropriate behaviour, which he denies.

The statement read: “In relation to the independent investigation currently being undertaken by Red Bull GMbH, the FIA reiterates that until such time as the investigation has concluded and the outcome is known, we will not be commenting further.

“The FIA remains committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, fairness and inclusivity within the sport.”

Max Verstappen to wait on 2026 power unit enjoyment for F1 future

Max Verstappen is contracted with Red Bull all the way through until 2028, but has voiced his concerns on multiple occasions about the heavily-changed 2026 power units that are coming to the sport.

He’s worried about the driving experience that will come with a much higher emphasis on electrical power compared to internal combustion, and when asked by Germany’s Motorsport-Magazin if these engines may be a factor in him not renewing his stay in Formula 1 past 2028, his response was: “Yes, possibly.”

‘Exciting’ Mercedes W15 design under the microscope

Romain Grosjean has taken to his YouTube channel to look at the recently launched Formula 1 cars and has done some early technical analysis, based on what we can see on the outside of the cars.

Having driven many a Formula 1 car in his time, he is better placed than almost anyone to comment on how different design solutions may work in practice, and he liked the look of what he saw in Mercedes’ initial renderings.

“I think it’s the most good-looking car. I’m glad to see the Silver Arrow back on the track,” he said.

“I think it is the car, with the Red Bull, I’m the most intrigued to see on track. I think there’s some very bold moves. There are some very bold decisions made on the car.

“They went for very small entry to get as much  flow as they can under the sidepods.

“But I’m very excited about that front wing, very excited about that sidepod entry, the front wing design, with a lot of very different plate sizes, flap sizes…”

What to look out for from pre-season testing this week

Now, pre-season testing is getting underway on Wednesday, with three full days on track in Bahrain to get the teams prepared for the season ahead.

That’s far less time than there used to be but, with more races than ever, there will be plenty of practice time to fine-tune the cars as the season goes on.

But if you’re new to Formula 1 or haven’t watched pre-season testing before and need to know a bit more, we’ve put together a handy guide for what to look out for this week as it all unfolds.

Plenty of familiar faces entered into Le Mans as 2024 entry list unveiled

Away from the current grid, a total of 16 former Formula 1 drivers appear on the entry list for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Hypercar class in June.

The top tier of endurance racing is growing enormously in its new era, with 23 cars in the Hypercar class alone on the 62-car entry list – with 2009 World Champion Jenson Button among them.

Nyck de Vries has taken up a factory drive with Toyota after his dropping by AlphaTauri last season, with plenty of familiar names also appearing on the list in its provisional form with several months to go before the iconic Triple Crown event.