The big retro 2024 AUTOhebdo: our rants

Jérémy's rant

Lack of consideration towards Theo Pourchaire

It didn't take me long to find the nature of my annual rant. How could Théo Pourchaire, with his incredible track record and lap times, have been so ignored by the world of motorsport in recent months? Rather than welcoming his ability to win the Formula 2 at the age of 20, the stables F1 and especially Sauber, of which he was a member of the academy, preferred to remember that he had won only one race during his victorious campaign and that he had needed three years to achieve the title. The feeling of waste would undoubtedly have been somewhat reduced if McLaren had not played a bad trick on him in IndyCar. First leaving for Japan to do Super Formula, the Tricolore abandoned this project to respond to the opportunity he was given to join McLaren in IndyCar. Four times in the top 14 and even once 10th in his six races, the Grasse native was on an upward curve before the general staff took away his steering wheel, for "reasons not related to the sport" according to what was said to Théo and his entourage. Such a decision necessarily has an impact on the image of a driver. Seeing him without a steering wheel for a large part of the year, to finally see him announced for 2025 in Endurance as a simple reserve was quite strange in my eyes. Without wishing to insult the other quality drivers forming the lion's line-up, it is quite strange to note that the best in-house driver is the one who will sit on the sidelines. The question is no longer whether Théo deserves F1 or not, but rather whether someone will offer him a project worthy of his talent and his junior career, which it is perhaps worth recalling: F4 champion, vice-champion of F3, and F2 champion. That says it all…

© Javier Jimenez / DPPI

Valentin's rant

The maneuvers of Max Verstappen in Austin and Mexico

Max Verstappen is an undisputed and indisputable champion. A total driver with a gargantuan appetite leaving only crumbs to his rivals. Absolute, the Dutchman is also absolute on the track and does not accept any challenge. Capable of being a metronome and exemplary manager of his tires, the number 1 becomes again a monster of defense on the track beyond the limit. In Texas and Mexico, the driver Red Bull showed his muscles against the only driver who could hope to contest his fourth world championship: Lando Norris. Taking advantage of an opponent who was still a little tender for these high-altitude battles, the native of Hasselt (Belgium) dove without intending to take the rope, taking his opponent off track for the first time. At the end of the race, he repeated the same maneuver to defend against his runner-up, penalized for overtaking off track. A week later, near Mexico City, he repelled an attack by Norris outside the track limits at turn 4 before attacking him at turn 8 without, once again, having the slightest intention of taking the turn correctly. A double unsportsmanlike maneuver for which he was heavily penalized and above all unworthy of his status.

© Eric Alonso /DPPI

Gonzalo's rant

The transition from Formula 3 to Regional Formula in Macau

One of the monuments of the car made a major change this year. For the 71st edition of its history, the Macau Grand Prix no longer hosted the Formula 3 races that were the main part of the World Cup, to make way for the Regional Formulas. A decision aimed at " make the event even more accessible than ever, opening it up to a wide range of drivers competing at the regional level ". A change in regulations that indirectly had consequences on the field entered. Some leading teams such as Trident or even the title holders Hitech GP were absent. This opened the doors to younger drivers and consequently impacted the overall level. Also contested in tricky weather conditions, the event was marked by numerous accidents both solo and in the pack, such as the 7 red flags raised during the 40 minutes of qualifying. A situation that forced race director Rui Marques to call an exceptional briefing to remedy the problem before the races. It didn't improve afterwards and Ugo Ugochukwu, who certainly put in a very solid performance, took advantage of the numerous neutralizations to succeed Luke Browning on the list of winners. The most prestigious victory of his young career but an edition that will not go down in the annals of the Macau Grand Prix. A reaction is expected in 2025.

© Prema

Michael's rant

IndyCar misses the boat in Mexico

Pato Who? This slogan, which Zak Brown has regularly worn on his cap at the end of the season in IndyCar as in Formula 1, is above all symptomatic of the problems that have been affecting IndyCar for a long time now. Because unfortunately, even if you have been following the championship for twenty years, you have the feeling of continually seeing the same problems come back to the forefront. But this time, the malaise has never been as present as when the arrival of the NASCAR in Mexico in 2025. IndyCar, which has a top driver in Pato O'Ward, has failed to organize a race in Mexico, which would have certainly sold out? According to president Mark Miles, this would be due to the lack of popularity of the young O'Ward at home. The first days of the Mexican Grand Prix, where he was a real rock star before his stint in Free Practice 1, should convince him otherwise... If discussions with the Central American country have resumed, it is difficult to imagine that the single-seater championship will be seen as anything other than a third choice for spectators, after F1 and NASCAR...

© IndyCar Media

Dorian's rant

Part-time pilots in WRC

How can we explain to new (and even older) WRC spectators that out of the thirteen rallies held in 2024, eight were won by drivers with a part-time programme? How can we explain that Kalle Rovanperä, despite a programme reduced to seven rounds, won four of them without competing for the title? This season, part-time drivers have taken up far too much space in this championship. Whether it's Kalle Rovanperä, Sébastien Ogier or Esapekka Lappi – not to mention the newcomers Sami Pajari and Martins Sesks – all took advantage of the system on the Friday starting order to place themselves as well as possible for the rest of the weekend and thus, play for victory more “easily”. A phenomenon amplified by the points scale introduced in 2024 – and fortunately, replaced for 2025 – where the real players in the championship focused more on Sunday’s points than on the overall victory. The WRC and its dramatic state of health did not need that… To prevent such a scenario from happening again, we will have to think about handicapping those who do not participate in the full season. A revision of the starting order during the first stage, by placing the part-time drivers first before the full-time ones, could be a viable solution… but the players in the discipline still have to accept it.

© Nikos Katikis / DPPI

Jean-Michel's rant

The end of the F1 program Renault

It is not an engine program that Luca de Méo, CEO of Renault, has suspended, it is French F1 that he has shattered. It is a beacon that will definitively go out at the end of 2025. For fifty years, Viruses-Châtillon gave Renault its letters of nobility and allowed national motorsport to shine on the international scene. Viry was innovation, passion, resilience too. There were victories galore, the turbo, V10, V8 years. There were also a few desert crossings from which it emerged stronger each time, but not this time. Luca de Méo did not give it the time, did not give it the opportunity to transform the difficult hybrid period experienced for ten years, into an era of prosperity. 2026 offered it this chance which was taken away from it when the hardest part had been done. It was without the slightest hesitation that it turned its back on this technological flagship of Renault, and requested the services of an executor of the dirty works of sinister memory, Flavio Briatore. Forgotten the "crashgate" of 2008 in Singapore where the reputation of the diamond-shaped firm was forever tarnished, thanks to his friend the president, the Italian manager is reborn from his ashes while the "French Touch F1" is buried.

© Florent Gooden / DPPI

Medhi's rant

Audi's departure from rally-raid

Audi has been very secretive about the 2024 Dakar. The German giant knew full well that its rally-raid program would not go beyond the 12th and final stage concluded on the shores of the Red Sea. Why did it let people believe that it would compete in the entire 2 World Rally-Raid Championship (W2024RC), if it was to pull out after the first round? Officially, Audi Sport claimed a lack of spare parts for its three RS Q e-tron E2s, but it is hard to believe that such a powerful manufacturer would not keep its stocks up to date. In reality, the Ingolstadt firm was only interested in the Dakar's sounding board. In three years, it has only competed in two other competitions (Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2022, Rallye du Maroc 2022 and 2023), and even then, only to get in shape (in Morocco, the Audis were out of the rankings) in preparation for the January meeting! Audi has not done rally-raid any favors by not competing in any season of the W2RC, unlike Toyota or Prodrive at that time, when it could have helped to improve the reputation of this latest addition to the world championships. Instead, it simply took the profits for its own benefit via the great victory of Carlos Sainz at the Dakar and packed up and left. Audi also had the good game of filing an appeal with the FIA ​​concerning a hefty fine of 750 euros for not respecting its annual commitment in W000RC. Finally, the Rings quietly withdrew their appeal, a quarter after the Dakar, when everyone had forgotten about this story.

© Marcin Kin / DPPI

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