Mercedes sign ex-Ferrari chief as Valtteri Bottas breaks the internet…again – F1 news round-up

Henry Valantine 20 Mar 2024 10:00 PM

Mercedes made a key signing as their former driver, Valtteri Bottas, starred in a viral advert, in Wednesday's F1 news.

Happy International Day of Happiness, everyone – and if you’ve missed any of the F1 news from it, we have you covered with the best headlines.

We’re all getting set for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne this weekend and Valtteri Bottas has definitely got into the spirit – let’s take a look at the main stories from Wednesday.

F1 news round-up – 20 March 2024

Mercedes sign ex-Ferrari designer Simone Resta

Mercedes have reportedly penned a deal for the arrival of former Ferrari designer Simone Resta, who is set to join the team in 2025.

Resta is set to take on the role as strategic development director and will begin his work at Brackley next season, having left his role as Haas technical director in January just the hours before Guenther Steiner’s exit was confirmed.

Exclusive: The final part of Mika Hakkinen’s second title-winning season

The fourth and final part of our exclusive extended interview with Mika Hakkinen, recounting the drama of his 1999 title-winning season is now published with the man himself.

Having had 25 years to reflect on such an achievement after a unique season, Hakkinen was able to discuss each race in distinct detail, but also was left in no doubt about his feelings about Michael Schumacher at the time.

“I don’t think Michael ever wanted Eddie to win the Championship, why would he? Absolutely, no way.”

Red Bull warned ‘Christian Horner show’ must end

Johnny Herbert has weighed in on the ongoing saga at Red Bull, believing “the Christian Horner show is something that’s got to come to an end.”

While an internal investigation into Horner was dismissed by parent company Red Bull GmbH, latest reports that the employee in question has appealed is the latest turn this case has taken.

Conversations around the team principal have continued and three-time grand prix winner Herbert believes Horner sticking around could end up proving detrimental in the long term, regardless of the outcome.

“If Christian is fighting this which he seems to be doing, he might force their main star out of the team,” he told news.com.au, per BetIdeas.com.

“It seems to be the wrong way of going about it. You want to keep what you’ve got. You want to keep Adrian [Newey] and you want to keep Max [Verstappen].

“To try and arrogantly stay put, you’re going to force your main man out of the team. That just seems to be the wrong thing to do from a team perspective.”

Oscar Piastri gets Lewis Hamilton vote of confidence, according to Mark Webber

Having had a couple of moments of contact with Lewis Hamilton last season, Oscar Piastri revealed that the seven-time World Champion apologised to him after their touch at Monza.

Within that, claimed manager and long-time Hamilton on-track rival Mark Webber, was a sign of respect – or so he thinks.

“I think it was Mark actually said to me, after Monza, ‘If he didn’t think much of you, he wouldn’t have come and said anything,’” Piastri told the Beyond the Grid podcast. “I’m going to trust Mark on that one. I feel like it’s a good bit of advice or wisdom.

“Lewis has not had that many incidents in his life so it could be easy for him just to brush it off but he had a lot of respect. Of course, I wish that we didn’t crash in the first place, but I had a lot of respect for him being like that.”

Valtteri Bottas breaks the internet, again

And finally, aside from his on-track exploits, Valtteri Bottas has made something of a habit of going viral over recent years, be it through photos of his rear, new hairstyles or otherwise.

This time, he has starred in a new advert for Uber in Australia ahead of his ‘home’ race Down Under, in a video that’s better watched than merely talked about.

We’ll leave the opinions up to you, but we’re fans.

Mercedes Red Bull Valtteri Bottas