IGNITION
Russell showed his class in
2024, including leading Hamilton in a fine Mercedes
1-2 at the Las Vegas GP
IMAGES
MAUGER/MOTORSPORT
Is it now Russell’s time to really shine?
Much of the focus last year was on the title battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, and Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari. But George Russell also made his presence felt in Formula 1 in 2024. Not only did he win two grands prix, but he beat Hamilton in the championship and clashed with Verstappen off-track at the end of the year in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Now de facto Mercedes team leader, Russell talks to Ben Hunt in this issue about the opportunities for a Mercedes revival, working with rookie team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and how Hamilton’s departure should provide a fresh start for all involved (see page 24). A lot will depend on the car Mercedes can provide, of course, but the signs are that Russell is ready to take on the best.
There are plenty of other storylines to look forward to in 2025, and F1 pundit Karun Chandhok takes on the big questions in his traditional pre-season piece, after a bit of back and forth with Autosport. Turn to p34 to see if you agree with his answers!
Haas newcomer Ollie Bearman opens up to Alex Kalinauckas in this month’s other big interview as the Briton prepares for his first full season in F1 (p44), but it’s not all about looking forward. In our ‘Now that was a car’ series, Stuart Codling charts the strange story of the final machine to win a world championship GP in private hands (p50), and a book extract recalls the lost talent of 1960s rising star Chris Bristow (p58).
The rebooted Autosport Awards kicked off our 75th anniversary celebrations on 29 January at London’s Roundhouse (p16). For full details on the winners, please head to autosport.com, but the awards voted for by fans went to Max Verstappen (International Racing Driver presented by Pirelli and Moment of the Year presented by Bahrain International Circuit for his Brazilian GP masterclass in the rain), Lando Norris (British Competition Driver), McLaren’s
MCL38 (International Competition Car), Sebastien Ogier (International Rally Driver) and Jake Hill (National Driver). Our thanks to all of you who voted and congratulations to the night’s winners, particularly Deagen Fairclough for scooping the 2024 Silverstone Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award (p74), following in the footsteps of Russell and Norris.
Outside of F1, the biggest motorsport story of 2025 – at least for British and Le Mans fans – is probably Aston Martin’s return to the top flight of endurance racing. Gary Watkins talks to the key players of the Valkyrie LMH programme, which is arguably Aston’s most serious effort to repeat its 1959 Le Mans and sportscar world championship successes (p92), and picks out other things to look forward to in this season’s World Endurance Championship (p98).
The American motorsport season is really kicking off, so Jake Boxall-Legge speaks to Prema Racing boss Rene Rosin about the European powerhouse’s IndyCar challenge (p80), and Nick DeGroot is your guide to NASCAR, kicking off with the Daytona 500 (p118).
More Daytona action comes with our debrief on the 24 Hours (p86), which not only provided another win for Porsche but also allowed former Young Driver finalist Nick Tandy to complete his 24-hour set and become the first person to take outright victories in the Le Mans, Daytona, Spa and Nurburgring endurance classics.
M-Sport and Ford took on the gruelling Dakar Rally last month and Tom Howard picks out what went well – and not so well – in this issue’s rally feature (p108), plus explains how Ogier took an astonishing 10th victory on the Monte Carlo Rally (p104), while Stephen Lickorish investigates where UK club motorsport could be in 10 years’ time (p130) as part of our 17-page National section.
The next issue will be our F1 season guide, covering all the teams and the big names. It will also include in-depth analysis of Bahrain testing, so please keep an eye out for our April issue from 11 March.
Kevin Turner Chief Editor kevin.turner@autosport.com
4 AUTOSPORT.COM MARCH 2025
