New addition inbound at Sky F1 as Abu Dhabi 2021 myth debunked – F1 news round-up

Thomas Maher 02 Jan 2024 10:00 PM

Danica Patrick and Alex Albon, pictured in 2023.

Sky F1 presenter Danica Patrick has been retained for 2023, and Alex Albon has cleared up one particular misconception about Abu Dhabi '21.

With 2023 fading rapidly into the history books, the stirrings ahead of F1 2024 begin to make themselves known – catch up on Tuesday’s F1 news!

Tuesday didn’t quite live up to January 1st’s revelation that we have a new F1 team name to get used to, but there are still some 2024 changes and confirmations for us to get our heads around!

Catch up on Tuesday’s action in our second F1 news round-up of the year…

Danica Patrick is retained at Sky and new name presenter on the way…

Sky F1 has confirmed to our very own Sam Cooper that controversial presenter Danica Patrick will be on TV screens for at least seven races in 2024, with the full presenting line-up now set in stone.

Intriguingly, a new name will be added to the roster of presenters and pundits Sky use throughout the season but, for now, Sky are keeping their lips sealed as to who the new signing is.

Alex Albon debunks Abu Dhabi ’21 misapprehension

“Oh my lord, Max! Oh my god!” – We all remember the infamous radio message shouted over team radio as Max Verstappen crossed the line to win the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

It was, for quite a while, believed to have been Alex Albon issuing the message – then Red Bull’s test and reserve driver – but the British/Thai racer has cleared up that little misunderstanding, and confirmed for definite just who really was shouting down the radio…

Ross Brawn ponders what might have been for Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher has been at the forefront of everyone’s minds recently, with the 10th anniversary of his life-changing accident coming and going.

Ross Brawn – a titan in Schumacher’s career at Benetton and Ferrari before hiring him as a driver for a career resurgence at Mercedes – has shared his thoughts on what he believes Schumacher would have done, had his accident not occurred.

“I can well imagine that Michael would have a team today,” the former Formula 1 managing director said.

“There were already discussions at Mercedes about whether he could act as a shareholder at some point.

“The first stage already existed: He acted as a brand ambassador in 2013.”

Gerhard Berger recounts prank he played on Eddie Jordan

Appearing on the Formula for Success podcast alongside Eddie Jordan, notorious prankster Gerhard Berger – who once threw Ayrton Senna’s briefcase out of a helicopter – remembered a particularly long-winded wheeze he pulled on the Irish team boss.

Coming home on a long chartered flight from Japan, Berger managed to put in motion an extended prank that had Jordan calling him a ‘nasty ba***rd!’ straight to his face during the interview!

But what exactly had Berger done? Well, it involves a briefcase, a press conference, and a single, planted sheet of A4 paper…

The game-changing engine technology that Renault refined

In our latest technical piece, Uros Radovanovic has looked back over the revolutionary technology that was the turbocharger when Renault introduced it to their ‘Yellow Teapot’ RS01 in 1977.

Now it may be unthinkable that such technology was seen as unnecessary or incredibly problematic, but it took quite a while for the technology to come good…