There was no on-track action this weekend, but there were big headlines off the circuit. These mostly surrounded the Andretti F1 team, Fernando Alonso, and the 2025 season calendar. Unfortunately, there was also some sad news this week as well.
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Despite still not having an entry in Formula One, Andretti is charging full steam ahead as they begin moving to a base in Silverstone. The operation currently works in a temporary facility at the Silverstone Park estate near the circuit that hosts the British Grand Prix. The team is moving to a 40,000-square-foot facility nearby, where the aero department is already in place. Eventually, the team plans also to take over a 70,000-square-foot adjacent property. In addition to running Formula One out of these buildings, Andretti intends to run Formula E, Formula 2 and Formula 3 programmes and potentially a sports car team. This is all despite the team’s application to join F1 for 2026 having been denied by Formula One Management earlier this year.
Alpine has denied rumours that the struggling French team is up for sale. Some sources have speculated that the parent company, Renault, has been seeking a buyer as the team has started the 2024 season near the bottom of the field. A slew of management changes in the past year have not helped the team performance improve, actually appearing to have the opposite effect. One rumoured stipulation to a sale was that the team must continue to use Renault power units until at least 2029. However, Alpine has labelled all these rumours as “false.”
Fernando Alonso has ended all speculation about his F1 future by signing a multi-year contract extension with Aston Martin. The new deal will see him behind the wheel of an Aston Martin until the end of 2026, keeping him with the team for the new technical regulations, during which the team will become a Honda works partner. Alonso has been at the top of many peoples’ list of candidates to take over the vacant seat at Mercedes or Red Bull.
Repairs to the Shanghai International Circuit have been completed ahead of the first Chinese Grand Prix since 2019. Since the modern generation of Formula One cars are so sensitive to bumps on the racing surface, special care was taken to smooth out any bumpy areas of the circuit.
The schedule has been released for the upcoming 2025 season. It will be another busy season, with 24 races. The most notable change is that the season will start again in Australia. The past few seasons have started with the Bahrain Grand Prix, but Ramadan prevents any Middle Eastern events from being held until mid-April. The full calendar is as follows:
| March 16 | Melbourne, Australia |
| March 23 | Shanghai, China |
| April 6 | Suzuka, Japan |
| April 13 | Sakhir, Bahrain |
| April 20 | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| May 4 | Miami, USA |
| May 18 | Imola, Italy |
| May 25 | Monaco |
| June 1 | Barcelona, Spain |
| June 15 | Montreal, Canada |
| June 29 | Spielberg, Austria |
| July 6 | Silverstone, UK |
| July 27 | Spa, Belgium |
| August 3 | Budapest, Hungary |
| August 31 | Zandvoort, Netherlands |
| September 7 | Monza, Italy |
| September 21 | Baku, Azerbaijan |
| October 5 | Singapore |
| October 19 | Austin, USA |
| October 26 | Mexico City, Mexico |
| November 22 | Las Vegas, USA |
| November 30 | Lusail, Qatar |
| December 7 | Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi |
The motorsport world lost Ted Toleman this week at the age of 86. Toleman ran the family transportation company with his brother Bob, sponsoring a variety of motorsport. Following the death of his brother in a racing accident, Ted continued his passion for motorsport. He hired Rory Byrne to create a Formula 2 car. After some success, Toleman stepped up to the big leagues of Formula One, most notably giving Aryon Senna his racing debut. After five seasons in Formula One, the team left the sport. Outside of motorsport, Ted Toleman also enjoyed powerboat racing.
The Weekly F1 Recap on Racing Clothesline is a series published every Monday. Each article breaks down the previous week's Formula One headlines into bite-sized pieces, perfect for casual fans to keep themselves in the loop.
