In the round-up: Max Verstappen has defends team mate Sergio Perez despite his ongoing struggles.

In brief

Verstappen defends Perez’s performances

Verstappen defended Perez’s performance amid growing speculation over his future at Red Bull. “Our car from the start has not been the easiest to drive,” said Verstappen. “We were still dominant in the beginning, but then I think with some upgrades on the car, it made it even more difficult to drive. Of course, also for me, but I think even more for Checo for his driving style.

“I can tell you that in the middle of the season, especially, our car has been a bit all over the shop. Sometimes quite positive and again, very difficult. And even for us, it was just very hard to find the direction. And for sure, that also didn’t help Checo in general.

“I have to say he’s always been a great team player, and I’ve always enjoyed working with him every single grand prix, even when we had tough times. I think he was always there to try and get the best possible result out of it. So for me, there’s nothing negative at all to say about him.”

FIA shortens one DRS zone for Yas Marina

The first DRS zone for this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix along the back straight between turns five and six has been shortened by 50 metres compared to last year’s event.

The activation zone for the first DRS zone will be located 260 metres after turn five compared to 210 metres beyond turn five in 2023. The second DRS zone on the following straight between turns seven and nine is unchanged.

Goethe to run full F2 campaign with MP

MP Motorsport has announced that Oliver Goethe, who has raced with the team in F2 since the Monza round to fill the seat vacated by Franco Colapinto, will run a full season campaign with the team next year.

Goethe scored his first points for the team in the Losail feature race last weekend, finishing fourth.

“Oliver fitted right back in as soon as he rejoined our team and we look forward to repeating the strong results we gained in our time together in Spanish F4 and, of course, only recently at Macau in the FIA Formula Regional World Cup [Macau Grand Prix],” said team principal Sander Dorsman. “Along with Richard [Verschoor], we have two very familiar faces in our team, and we aim to build on their close bond with the team to finish this season on a high and come out strong in 2025.”

Hyundai confirms first Genesis hypercar drivers

Genesis Magma Racing has been unveiled

Hyundai has announced the first two drivers for its new hypercar programme, Genesis Magma Racing. Multiple Le Mans 24 Hours winner Andre Lotterer and Pipo Derani will share development duties for the new GMR-001 ahead of its debut in 2026 and will form part of the team’s race lineup.

Genesis will also partner with IDEC to run a LMP2 car in next year’s European Le Mans Championship. Former Williams F1 driver Logan Sargeant will race the entry alongside Jamie Chadwick and Mathys Jaubert.

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Social media

Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:

Lando Norris posted a picture of the drivers at their end-of-season dinner.

“And yes, the two [you’re] thinking about were sat as far away from each other as possible,” he adds…

#F1 #AbuDhabiGP

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— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet.bsky.social) 5 December 2024 at 19:57

George Russell suggests that, had Max Verstappen been the victim of Michael Masi’s error at Abu Dhabi in 2021, the race director might have “feared for his life”.

But he already had cause to: Masi said he received “death threats” for months afterwards.

www.racefans.net/2022/07/31/m…

#F1

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— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine.bsky.social) 5 December 2024 at 21:06

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