After a five-year break, Andrea Iannone is returning to MotoGP – He will stand in for Fabio Di Giannantonio (shoulder surgery) in Valentino Rossi’s team in Malaysia
Helmut Marko: “We can’t afford to have a race like that again”
The disillusionment at Red Bull is great after the Mexican Grand Prix: What Max Verstappen is complaining about and what Helmut Marko’s prognosis is now
Red Bull sports director Helmut Marko has strong words after the Mexican Grand Prix 2024. In an interview with ORF, he says: “We can no longer afford a race like that.” Because World Cup leader Max Verstappen only came in sixth after two time penalties, and his teammate Sergio Perez only came in 17th, one lap behind – as the last. And that at his home race.
Therefore, Marko’s conclusion is not surprising. In Mexico, “everything went wrong,” says the former Formula 1 driver, and Red Bull now urgently needs to “find speed” for the RB20.
Verstappen agrees. The world champion criticizes his team’s “poor race pace,” which “became clear on both the medium and hard tires.”
His chase to catch up after the penalties was only “okay” up to sixth place. “But then I couldn’t even fight with the Mercedes in front of me. I just didn’t have any grip, I skidded a lot, I couldn’t brake,” says Verstappen.
What Red Bull says as an “excuse”
According to Marko, Verstappen was “upset” because “never a real performance” had materialized in the Grand Prix. “In addition, the tire wear was higher than expected and significantly higher than for the competition.” As the “only excuse,” Red Bull had the practice Friday in Mexico, which “went completely wrong due to the engine problems,” according to Marko.
“We didn’t have any attempts at all, neither with medium nor with hard. But even if the race had gone normally, we wouldn’t have been able to match the pace of Ferrari and especially McLaren. Especially the times Lando set at the end were incredible.”
Weak top speed makes Red Bull defenseless
Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Perez, on the other hand, were hampered by a weak top speed that made them vulnerable on the long straights. Verstappen complained right at the start about having no chance against Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz.
Marko says on Sky: “The engine mode was not optimal and he didn’t have full battery power. But we were generally slow on the straights. We were missing three to five km/h.” This was also due to the “very old engine” in the back of the Verstappen car. “And of course, the older the engine, the more performance drops.” That’s why “everything came together” in Mexico.
“But: The main problem was that we didn’t get the tires into the right temperature window,” says Marko. Verstappen therefore rates the Mexican Grand Prix as an “overall weak weekend” that left him with a “somewhat strange” impression. Postscript: “Hopefully we’ll look better in Brazil. Until then, we still have a few things to look at.”
Why P3 hurts in the constructors’ championship
Because with a lead of just 47 points over McLaren driver Lando Norris, the goal must be to “be a little more competitive” in the final Grand Prix in the current triple-header, says Verstappen.
But while Red Bull is still ahead in the drivers’ championship with Verstappen, the team is only in third place in the constructors’ championship behind McLaren and Ferrari. “That hurts,” as Marko admitted on ORF. It is particularly annoying for the employees, whose bonus payments depend on the position in the constructors’ championship, “and for many, for example, that means a new kitchen.”
Marko: Chance of victory at most still in Qatar
And there is no improvement in sight for Red Bull for the time being: Marko himself still sees “two tracks” on the rest of the 2024 Formula 1 calendar where his team can “look better again”, namely Qatar and Las Vegas. In the Sky interview, Marko cites “most likely Qatar” as the place where Red Bull could have a chance of winning.
So maybe P3 will remain for the current Formula 1 world champion team. From Red Bull’s point of view, this would at least have the advantage of more development time in the 2025 season and brings a smile to Marko’s face. Then he says: “The way we are currently performing, everything has its positive sides.”
Furthermore, if the weekend goes normally with “normal setup times”, only an increase can occur at Red Bull. “Then we won’t be as far away from the leaders as we were this time,” says Marko. “But it’s no secret that we are currently losing significantly in slow corners, especially to Ferrari and McLaren.”
The MotoGP comeback is perfect! Andrea Iannone will compete in the premier class again at the Malaysian Grand Prix, which will take place at the Sepang International Circuit from November 1st to 3rd, 2024. The Italian will replace his compatriot Fabio Di Giannantonio in the VR46 Ducati team.
“I feel honored that they thought of me,” Iannone said about the call from Tavullia. “When I was offered this opportunity, I had to accept immediately. The challenge is certainly crazy, complex and demanding.”
Di Giannantonio dislocated his left shoulder in a heavy training crash in Spielberg during the summer. Although he competed in the other races after Austria, he never regained his full fitness.
It was therefore decided to end the season after the Thai Grand Prix so that his left shoulder can be operated on and there is sufficient recovery time before the start of the 2025 season. Then Di Giannantonio will ride the same Ducati GP25 at VR46 as the factory team.
There were several candidates who would have been considered as replacement drivers for “Diggia” in Sepang. First of all, Ducati test driver Michele Pirro. So far this year, the Italian has not competed in a single Grand Prix in the World Championship.
On the one hand, this was because Ducati is not allowed to use wildcards due to the new concession rules. On the other hand, there was no need for a replacement driver so far. Pirro is conducting test drives with the new GP25 in Europe during the Malaysian week and has no time.
Another name was Danilo Petrucci, who offered himself. “Petrux” stood in for Ducati at Le Mans last year to replace the injured Enea Bastianini. Petrucci finished 11th on his comeback with the factory team. Now he has been left out.
There was another candidate in the form of Nicolo Bulega. The Italian impressed in his first season in the Superbike World Championship and was runner-up in the world championship. But Bulega has never driven a MotoGP bike before. Without testing, he could have lost more than he gained.
Why Iannone was chosen
So the choice fell on Iannone, who has not competed in a MotoGP race for five years and will not get a test to prepare either. The 35-year-old will be jumping in at the deep end in Sepang. The bikes have evolved a lot since 2019.
“First of all, Andrea showed that he is in great shape,” said team manager Alessio ‘Uccio’ Salucci, explaining the decision. ”He ended the Superbike season on a high and has always been close to Ducati.”
“He is also a great friend of the VR46 family and also of ‘Vale’. We are very happy to welcome him to the team and to see him back on a MotoGP bike. This is a really great story!”
Iannone made his MotoGP debut in 2013 and rode for the then Ducati junior team Pramac for two years. Although he failed to achieve a podium finish, he was promoted to the Italian brand’s factory team in 2015.
He made it onto the podium in third place in his very first race. Iannone celebrated his greatest success in 2016 at the comeback of Spielberg in the calendar, when he was able to conquer the first Ducati victory since 2010.
Nevertheless, he had to give up his place to Jorge Lorenzo at the end of the season. Iannone moved to Suzuki, but had to leave there after two years. He went to Aprilia. At the time, the Italians were at the bottom of the pile of all brands.
In December 2019, a positive doping test became public. The sample in question was taken in Malaysia in the fall of 2019, of all places, where he is now making his MotoGP comeback. Initially, Iannone was suspended for 18 months.
He appealed, but lost. The suspension was extended to four years. In 2024, Iannone returned to the Superbike World Championship, riding a Ducati Panigale V4 R for the GoEleven team. His biggest success was winning his first main race at MotorLand Aragon in Spain.
