September 29th Throttle 🏎️💨

What’s up Throttle Heads 😎. Welcome back to another newsletter.

Daniel Ricardio Set To Leave Formula 1 as RB Sacks Him For Remaining Six Races

NOOOOOOOO 😭😭😭😭. Daniel Ricardio, aka the Honey Badger, has been announced to be leaving Formula One. RB has announced he will leave the team immediately and be replaced by Kiwi Liam Lawson for the season's final six races. Ricardo returned to F1 last year in Hungary with AlphaTauri and stayed on this year when they became RB. RB is a backmarker and Red Bulls B team, yet Ricardio still managed to score points in five races and is sitting 10 points behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda. It is unclear what the future holds for Ricardio but it is unlikely we will see him return for the 2025 season 😔.

Ricardio has had an amazing career in Formula racking up 8 wins, 32 podiums, and 1329 points across 258 grand prixs spanning 14 seasons. The Aussie has raced for HRT, Torro Rosso, Red Bull, Renault, McLaren, and RB which is honestly a very impressive list of teams. Ricardo is beloved by fans and is known as F1’s “funny man”. Honestly, it would not surprise me to see him move into a commenter role with the likes of Sky or ESPN. Ricardo seemed to be taking this very well, reflecting on his time in F1 on Instagram and expressing his faith in Liam saying he would like to get the chance to work with him. Regardless, it is truly sad to see one of F1s most beloved drivers leave the sport.

McLaren Confirms the W1 as the P1 Successor

McLaren has just confirmed the W1 will be the successor to the P1 hypercar and will be revealed to the world in a matter of days‼️‼️‼️ McLaren has not revealed much information other than its name but we can expect more information to be released in the coming weeks. McLaren did explain the meaning behind the name comes from the McLaren World Championship mindset as they publicly revealed that will mark the 50th Aniversary of McLaren winning its first Formula 1 Constructor’s World Championship and Emerson Fittipaldi winning the 1974 Drivers’ Championship at McLaren. It is also really fitting McLaren looks like it will win the 2024 Constructors Championship if they continue their pace.

The W1 is probably going to look nothing like McLaren’s F1 cars but it will be one of the most advanced road-legal hypercars ever built. Perhaps it might even be the product of the company’s collaboration with Lockheed Martin Skunkworks 🤷‍♂️. McLaren will reveal the W1 to the world next Monday, October 6th at 8:00 am. ]

Recaro Bankruptcy Reportedly Responsible For Ineos Greandadier Production Halt

The Ineos Grenadier has quickly stolen the hearts of car enthusiasts across the world. However, hopefully, buyers were disappointed to find the company has paused production of the Grenadier SUV and Quartermaster pickup. A report from Automotive News Europe suggests this may be due to Recaro’s recent bankruptcy. Ineos has not named the supplier as the reason but their bankruptcy in July has reportedly prevented Ineos from procuring the seats needed to build the car. After all, it would be pretty awkward driving a car with nowhere to sit.

The production of these cars may be paused for months to come as Ineos CEO Lynn Calder told AN Europe it could take the brand until early 2025 to fix the issue. This may be because prospective buyers will have to wait months to take delivery of their new vehicles while the demand for second-hand models will skyrocket. Ineos will likely have to switch suppliers given the uncertainty surrounding Recaro’s future. This process takes time as they have to set up production for the seats.

Ford’s Newest BlueCruise Update Lets Drivers Go Hands-Free

Hands-free driving sounds like an amazing idea and a horrible one at the same time. While it can allow you to relax through Los Angeles traffic jams or long open stretches of highways, it could lead to drivers getting distracted resulting in the system crashing the car. Currently, the tech does exist as Tesla is piloting its Full-Self Driving Solving and for brief moments in Ford’s BlueCruise 1.3.

Now, version 1.4 is out which Ford says will allow a driver to stay engaged for five times longer than version 1.2. The update will also make vehicles more stable in the lane thanks to a new motion controller. it will also allow drivers to change lanes on their own as in 1.3 but the driver will need to activate the turn signal. BlueCruise 1.4 is available on the 2025 Ford F-150 and the redesigned Lincoln Navigator. It is expected to expand to other Ford and Lincoln models in the coming months. Ford has also said selected models will be able to access it through an update.