In the round-up: The promoter of the United States Grand Prix has dropped an appeal against a penalty it received from the FIA for a track invasion.
In brief
US GP promoter drops track invasion appeal
After the United States Grand Prix stewards handed the event’s promoter, US Race Management, and the Circuit of the Americas a €500,000 (£414,500) fine – of which €350,000 (£290,185) was suspended – when around 200 fans breached the track while cars were returning to the pits after the race, the promoter has dropped its appeal to the FIA’s International Court of Appeal.
US Race Management lodged its appeal four days after the event, but following a right of review in November, which saw the stewards decide to impose their original sanctions, the promoter requested to withdraw its appeal of the original stewards’ decision, which was granted.
COTA and the promoter will have to pay the remainder of the fine if any further track incursions occur at any FIA championship events held at the circuit before the end of 2026.
Hulkenberg and Bortoleto to run test day
Sauber has confirmed its two drivers for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, will participate in Tuesday’s post-season test day on Tuesday for the team.
Hulkenberg will run for the team in the Pirelli tyre test segment to gain laps on next year’s 2025 compounds, while Bortoleto will take part in the young drivers’ test segment confined to 2024 compounds.
Pulling re-confirmed as F1 Academy champion
After a bizarre situation where the addition of a third race to the final round of the F1 Academy season in Abu Dhabi meant that Abbi Pulling’s championship title was once again mathematically available to win, the Alpine junior driver re-sealed her championship win by taking pole for all three races yesterday.
Pulling set the three fastest times of qualifying on Friday to secure pole for each race and take six bonus points, putting the title mathematically out of reach of Doriane Pin. Chloe Chambers will start alongside Pulling on the front row for today’s two races, with Hamda Al-Qubaisi also third for both.
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Links
Russell v Verstappen – what’s going on? (BBC)
‘On Thursday evening, both attended the traditional annual dinner the drivers share in Abu Dhabi. Russell was last to turn up. There were two seats left, both next to Verstappen, who waved, said ”hi, George” and indicated for him to sit down. Russell said hello but, in what must have been an awkward moment, then took one of the seats and moved it away to sit next to team mate Lewis Hamilton.’
McLaren’s Zak Brown: ‘If you don’t play the game, you get shoved off the track’ (FT)
‘McLaren struggled as Mercedes dominated. Then Red Bull re-emerged as a force in 2021. Ferrari didn’t win championships but remained in the conversation. ‘It drove me nuts when people would say the Big Three, the Big Three,’ Brown said. ‘It was like we’d almost conceded that we’d permanently slipped, and I’m glad that’s out of the system.”
F1 and NASCAR drivers want their voices heard: Only one series is listening (New York Times)
‘ These days, you never get the sense NASCAR officials refuse to listen entirely. If a driver wanted a word with any of the key NASCAR executives, there’s little chance they’d be turned away. Clearly, that’s not the case in F1 at the moment.’
Netflix’s dramatised tribute and the truth behind the legend of Senna (Will McGill)
‘The show’s handling of Senna’s faith also invites scrutiny. Senna was a devout Christian, and his belief in divine guidance often influenced his approach to racing. The series alludes to this but shies away from fully exploring how his spirituality shaped his decisions, both on and off the track.’
New content – Thruxton Circuit (iRacing via YouTube)
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Social media
Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
No action over the Hamilton/Norris incident in practice:
“The stewards conclude that the incident was kind of a misunderstanding between the drivers involved, but does not meet the threshold of being considered as an unnecessary impeding in free practice.”
#F1 #AbuDhabiGP #RaceFans
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet.bsky.social) 6 December 2024 at 11:50
This will be my final year as the @Formula2 commentator.
I’m beyond grateful to have had the chance to call ten seasons of the very best racing.
It’s really not going to be easy to say goodbye – the role changed my life.
I hope you can join our team for the final races. pic.twitter.com/bW5qQKYOyz
— Alex Jacques (@AlexJacquesF1) December 6, 2024
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Stretch and Matiascasali!
