Every Formula 1 Story You Might Have Missed In The Off Season

It feels like only yesterday that the checkered flag was waving and we were all celebrating a record-breaking season for Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing. But now, Formula 1 cars are back on track and testing in Bahrain ahead of the start of a brand new season, so what's happened in the 88 since we last saw F1 cars drive in anger?

It turns out, quite a lot! And with so much drama surrounding the Formula 1 circus, it's easy to miss some of the biggest stories to have broken. But don't worry, we're here to help and have rounded up all the big news from the F1 off-season, all in one handy place.

So throw out your Mercedes cap, don a Ferrari tee and settle in to uncover some of the biggest F1 news you might have missed from the past 88 days.

The Formula 1 calendar will expand to 24 races in 2024, and the steady increase in the number of events hasn't gone unnoticed by drivers. After a grueling end to the 2023 season, which saw F1 host seven Grands Prix in nine weeks, Mercedes driver George Russell came out in favor of reducing the number of races that individual, non-driver members of the team should attend.

Is Russell right to look out for the health and well being of his teammates in this way? Find out what he had to say Right here.

One of the highlights of the 2023 Formula 1 season was the sport's jubilant return to Nevada for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which took over the iconic Vegas Strip. During the race, our man on the ground Ryan Erik King was embedded with the Alpine team to share in its lows when driver Esteban Ocon totaled his cars, through to a triumphant fourth-place finish.

Find out just what it takes to rebuild an F1 car in record time by heading over here to read more.

Alongside his Mercedes teammate, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton had a stinker of a year in 2023. Despite placing third in the World Drivers' Championship, Hamilton saw just six podiums from 22 races and had his second ever win-less season in the sport.

This performance clearly look its toll on the greatest F1 driver of all time, who found himself doubting his own talents over the course of the 2023 season. Find out more about what he had to say, right here.

Opinions were divided earlier this year when Formula 1 announced that it was adding yet another street race to the calendar when the Spanish Grand Prix would relocate from Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to a new street circuit in Madrid, the country's capital.

It turns out that Formula 1's bigwigs forgot to notify the Spanish officials who organise the Grand Prix, as we explained right here.

You know the feeling when you turn up at the rental desk at an airport to pick up an AMG GT you've rented to drive to a race track with your pals, only to be turned away 'cos you don't quite meet the rental requirements. Wait, that doesn't happen to you on vacation? My bad.

Well it's exactly what happened to Red Bull F1 driver Max Verstappen during the winter break. In the end, he had to settle for a BMW estate instead of the monster from AMG, as we explained right here.

"Drive to Survive" fans shed a shared tear when they learned the show's main character was departing earlier this year. As Bradley Brownell explained, teh Haas F1 team bid farewell to enigmatic team principal Guenther Steiner, who had led the American side since its inception.

Sadly for Steiner, the Haas team had a rough 2023 season, when it scored just four points-paying finishes. Head here to read more about the departure.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix was back in the news in January, when it transpired that several local businesses hadn't been able to make their share of the estimated $1 billion in revenue that the event brought to the Sin City.

In our post, which you can read here, we dug into the local Las Vegas businesses that had missed out on a part of the Las Vegas Grand Prix's "success."

While officials in Spain were arguing over who had and hadn't been told about the switch in venue for the Spanish Grand Prix, insiders on the other side of the world were throwing around corruption charges relating to the Singapore Grand Prix.

In a rare first for the Republic of Singapore, Transport Minister S. Iswaran resigned after being charged with corruption. Read more about the case right here.

Not content with three races in the United States, Formula 1 went on a trademark filing frenzy that strongly hinted at the potential of a Chicago F1 race.

Fans were buzzing at the possibility of F1 racing in the Midwest, find out more about the reaction by heading here.

Formula 1 management rejected Andretti Global's entry to join the world championship in 2025. Many thought the move echoed the sport's attitude towards America as a whole, where the sport is happy to host lucrative races, find big sponsorship deals and huge television audience but actual American involvement is a non-starter.

After the Andretti news, Ryan Erik King went on to dig deeper into the team's bid to join the grid and F1's thoughts on America. Read more on that right here.

When February rolled around and the start of the new season was in sight, F1's biggest story of the year broke when Lewis Hamilton announced he was leaving Mercedes to race for Ferrari in 2025.

The seven-time world champion's move was a shock, and is sure to kick off the start of a frantic driver market that will no doubt rumble on well into the 2024 season. Find out more about Hamilton's move to the red team right here.

Formula 1 rejected Andretti Global's Cadillac-backed application, claiming, among other things, that the sport didn't believe Andretti-Cadillac would be competitive. However, it sounds like the American side may also have messed with its own chances at securing a spot on the grid.

F1 reportedly sent Andretti an email about an in-person meeting, which might have been missed in Andretti's spam folder, as we explained right here.

Red Bull Racing were red faced earlier this month when allegations of inappropriate behavior made by team principal Christian Horner overshadowed its 2024 season launch.

The 50-year-old team boss was accused of inappropriate behavior by a female colleague and Red Bull has launched an internal investigation to look into the claims. Find out more about the case by heading here.

While driver lineups have remained pretty constant this year, the lineup of teams was mixed right up with AlphaTauri announced it was changing its name to Visa CashApp RB and Alpha Romeo woould become the Stake F1 Team. However, newly-named Stake, which is operated by Sauber Motorsport, is facing some legal trouble regarding its 2024 title sponsor.

The team is sponsored by online crypto casino and sports betting house Stake, which is causing it some headaches in its home country, as we explained here.

Formula 1 is always looking to mix up its rulebook to shake up the grid, but as far as Bradley Brownell is concerned the sport needs just one firm rule. Head this way to find out what he thinks that one regulation should be.

Everyone's favorite dramatic retelling of the past Formula 1 season is back, back, back! Ahead of the new series of "Drive to Survive" premiering on Netflix, we got a glimpse at what to expect from the latest season.

The 48-second teaser trailer released earlier this month offered a hint of the storylines that will likely be the focus of the show's sixth season, find out what could feature and read more here.

When the car launches finally rolled around, you could be forgiven for being exhauseted of all the F1 news we'd had so far. Thankfully, Ferrari rolled out another pretty red car to remind us all why we're here.

At the launch, Ferrari said its car has been completely overhauled during the off-season. You can find out more about the changes it made right here.

Aston Martin racer Fernando Alonso was in the news earlier this month after claiming that he thinks he'll be fit enough to race in Formula 1 until he's 50 years old. The 42-year-old will line up alongside Lance Stroll this year, who's 17 years Alonso's junior.

It's been nearly 50 years since anyone has started an F1 race past their 45th birthday, can Alonso keep it up past then? Head this way to find out more.

Then, just as Formula 1 testing was about to begin, we finally got a glimpse at every 2024 F1 car that's set to brighten our sunday mornings throuought the year. Some of them look wonderful, others look a little lackluster.

So with a full crop of 2024 Formula 1 cars, we decided it was time to rank them on the things that really matter: their looks. Head here to find out which team came out on top.