Everything Else that Happened in F1 at the Belgium GP—Including Ferrari’s New Sporting Director’s Debut

Ferrari has appointed Diego Ioverno as its new Sporting Director following the departure of Laurent Mekies. The Frenchman was announced as AlphaTauri’s successor to the retiring Team Principal Franz Tost for 2024 back in April but stayed on in his role at Ferrari in the short-term.

Mekies formally left Ferrari prior to the Belgian Grand Prix and Ioverno, a Ferrari lifer, has now been promoted to the role of Sporting Director. It is the latest managerial change undertaken since the appointment of Frederic Vasseur as Team Principal at the start of the year.

Mekies’ start date in his new surroundings has not yet been confirmed by AlphaTauri.

Pierre’s Run for Anthoine

Alpine driver Pierre Gasly organized a “Run for Anthoine” on Thursday evening in memory of his friend, Anthoine Hubert, who was killed during a Formula 2 race at Spa-Francorchamps in 2019.

A large portion of the Formula 1 paddock gathered on the start/finish straight to remember Hubert, with Gasly carrying out a short speech, accompanied by some of the drivers who had been part of the Renault driver academy (now the Alpine scheme) of which Hubert was a member.

Gasly went on to lay flowers at the scene of the accident—as he has done each year since—while some of the participants went on to run a whole lap of the 7 km circuit despite torrential rain pummelling the track.

F1 Strengthens F1 Academy Ties

Formula 1 has strengthened its ties with its F1 Academy for 2024. The new-for-2023 series, which features five teams and 15 female drivers, has been racing at European venues but without TV coverage, in a deliberate move to build up the championship in a less-pressured environment.

Next year each of the 10 Formula 1 teams will support one of the drivers and her respective car’s livery will replicate the scheme of the accompanying Formula 1 team. The remaining five drivers will be supported by yet-to-be-confirmed partners.

“We created F1 Academy to bring about real and lasting change to ensure young female talent have the right system in place to follow and achieve their dreams,” said Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.

“This is a very important moment as it shows the impact the project is having and the support it is receiving from across the F1 community. [F1 Academy CEO] Susie [Wolff], the teams, and everyone involved are working tirelessly to ensure we go from strength to strength and continue to deliver on the important objective we have set out together.

“In 2024 the F1 Academy will join our race calendar, raising the awareness and profile of the series globally and to have the F1 liveries on the grid will be something very special.”

Vandoorne Gets Home Outing

Stoffel Vandoorne will return to Formula 1 machinery for the first time since 2020 as part of the post-race Pirelli tire test. Vandoorne competed for McLaren across two seasons (2017-18) and has remained affiliated in Formula 1 roles since losing his seat in the championship.

Vandoorne, the 2022 Formula E champion, has this year taken on a role of Aston Martin’s reserve driver, alongside last season’s Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich. Belgian Vandoorne will drive at his home circuit, Spa-Francorchamps, across Tuesday and Wednesday’s tire test, with Drugovich also set for time behind the wheel of the AMR23.