There was no time to rest this week, as we witnessed part two of a triple-header. This time it was the Austrian Grand Prix, which provided two times the action thanks to it being a sprint weekend, but also thanks to the drama in the closing stages of the race. There were also a lot of developments off the circuit, including police activities, driver lineup confirmations, information on an upcoming F1 team, and more.
A father and son were arrested by German authorities over the attempted blackmail of the Schumacher family. The duo allegedly contacted representatives of the family, demanding “payment in the millions” to prevent sensitive documents from being published on the internet. They also transferred “individual files” to the family as proof to back up their threats. Authorities traced the suspects using “technical measures” and the extortionists were arrested in Wuppertal, Germany. The investigation is still ongoing but, if convicted, they could face up to five years in prison.
The police have concluded their investigation into emails making sabotage claims against Mercedes, but determined “no criminal offences were found to have been committed.” The investigation was conducted by the Northamptonshire Police after Mercedes reported anonymous emails that had been forwarded to the media accusing the team of “systematic sabotaging” of Lewis Hamilton’s car. Although the email sender claimed to be a member of the Mercedes team, team boss Toto Wolff quickly denied that was the case and rejected the validity of the claims. The police did provide Mercedes with advice on handling any future emails.
Aston Martin announced that Lance Stroll will remain with the team “for 2025 and beyond”. The announcement is largely a formality, with the Canadian believed to have a rolling contract with the team due to his father’s involvement with the team. Lawerance Stroll led a consortium of investors who purchased the Force India team, moving his son to the team the following year in what was called a “long-term deal”. While it was largely agreed that Stroll would be sticking with the Aston Martin squad for 2025, a volatile driver market did place doubts in some minds.
A new multi-year contract will see Pierre Gasly stay at Alpine until at least the end of 2026. Although the exact details of the contract have not been made public, Gasly says it was always his plan to “build a long-term project with the team”. Gasly joined the team’s all-French driver lineup in 2023 alongside Esteban Ocon, who will leave the team at the end of the season. Although the team suffered a rocky start to the season, they have since seen an improvement over the most recent race weekends.
Mick Schumacher will participate in a Formula One test with Alpine next week at Paul Ricard as the French outfit continues to evaluate potential replacements for Esteban Ocon in 2025. Schumacher joins a list of drivers believed to be in contention for the vacant seat, which includes Jack Doohan and Carlos Sainz. Although he has been working as a Mercedes reserve driver since losing his seat at Haas at the end of 2022, Schumacher has connections to Alpine through their Hypercar programme in the World Endurance Championship.
Williams has snapped up a variety of new technical staff in a huge hiring spree. Former Alpine technical director Matt Harman, who resigned from Alpine at the start of 2024, will be stepping into the role of design director after the summer break. He will be joined by 25 other new hires, including ex-Alpine head of performance Richard Frith, former Haas principal aerodynamicist Juan Molina, Ferrari’s past head of performance analytics Fabrice Moncade, and chief designer of composites and structures at Red Bull Steve Winstanley.
Audi has revealed its 2026 power unit has already “covered simulated race distances on the test bench”. The German manufacturer is set to convert Sauber into a works team in 2026 with a brand-new Audi power unit. Despite hitting “significant milestones” the new power unit is still far from complete, currently consisting of only a combustion engine, electric motor, battery, and electronics. Race simulation allows the engineers to see how the engine performs at a variety of different circuits, allowing them to make improvements to their package.
Max Verstappen will make his debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, becoming the first reigning Formula One World Champion to drive in the event. He will drive the RB16B, which helped him earn his first World Drivers’ Championship title in 2021. The increased presence at the event is to help promote the new RB17 Hypercar, which will be unveiled during the event. Sergio Perez will drive the RB19 from 2023 with team principal Christian Horner climbing behind the wheel of a 2012 RB8. Former Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo, Mark Webber, David Coulthard, and Christian Klien will also drive other Red Bull cars of the past.
Yuki Tsonoda was fined for using an offensive slur over the team radio during qualifying. Frustrated with a queue of cars in the pitlane, an annoyed Tsunoda said “these guys are f****** r*******” over the team radio. He was summonsed to the stewards after the session for breaching Article 12.2.1.K of the FIA International Sporting Code for driver misconduct. “During the hearing the driver was very apologetic and explained that because English is not his first language he was unaware until after the session what the meaning of the words used is in the English language,” documents from the FIA explained. Tsunoda agreed to issue a public apology and was fined €40,000. Taking into account Tsunoda’s genuine remorse, the stewards decided to suspend half of the fine, meaning he will not need to pay it unless he commits a similar violation in 2024.
Max Verstappen topped the Austrian Grand Prix sprint weekend’s only free practice session, despite a stoppage for an “engine fault” at the halfway point. This stoppage brought out the only red flag of the session when his Red Bull came to a halt on the main straight. The Red Bull engineers sorted it out quickly, allowing Verstappen to return to action with minimal impact on his running. Oscar Piastri set the second-fastest lap ahead of both Ferraris, showing that the McLaren pace is still strong.
It was another close session on Friday afternoon for sprint qualifying, which saw Max Verstappen narrowly earn pole position ahead of Lando Norris by just under 0.1 seconds. Mercedes started strong in SQ1. George Russell set the early time to beat while Lewis Hamilton’s lap time was deleted for track limits. Verstappen soon set the pace in SQ1. SQ2 saw a tight battle in the elimination zone in which Kevin Magnussen lost out by less than 0.1 seconds to Pierre Gasly. Aston Martin appeared to struggle in the session, resulting in both cars being eliminated. It was a slow start to SQ3 as everyone tried to time their one-lap attempts until the end of the session. Verstappen was on top by the time the checkered flag fell. Charles Leclerc failed to set a time in the session.
The sprint race was won by Max Verstappen, despite momentarily losing the lead to Lando Norris in the opening laps. Verstappen got away well from pole position and was able to break free slightly while the two McLaren teammates battled side-by-side in the opening corners. Once DRS was enabled, Norris caught up to the back of the Red Bull and dove up the inside in turn three on lap five. He got by but Verstappen retook the position the following corner. Oscar Piastri took the opportunity to promote himself to P2. Further down the field, Mercedes was able to put real pressure on Ferrari, which have not been in form in the past couple of races. Click here to read a full recap of the sprint race.
Qualifying on Saturday afternoon was not quite as close as sprint qualifying, as Max Verstappen beat Lando Norris by more than 0.4 seconds. With such tight margins this season, every driver gave it their all. Oscar Piastri briefly came closest to Verstappen’s time in Q3 but had his lap time deleted by the stewards for track limits and dropped to P7. Charles Leclerc took an off-track detour through the gravel in the penultimate corner on his final flying lap, forcing him to settle for P6. Verstappen was investigated after the session for driving slowly when exiting the pits, but no action was taken against the pole sitter.
The feature race provided a shock result as George Russell inherited the win in the closing laps. The first half of the race was relatively orderly, but things heated up after the second round of pit stops. Max Verstappen, who had built up a solid lead over Lando Norris, suffered a rare slow pit stop, bringing Norris back into contention. With a set of new tyres at his disposal, Norris quickly closed the gap. Over the laps that followed, Norris would try multiple overtaking attempts at turn three, which were defended by Verstappen. This angered Norris, who felt that Verstappen’s moves were made under braking, which is not allowed. On one of these overtaking attempts, Norris locked up and ran wide. He gave the position back to Verstappen, but would ultimately earn a five-second penalty for track limits, having already used up all of his warnings. With less than ten laps remaining, Norris again tried overtaking in turn three, but this time on the outside. Verstappen moved to the edge of the circuit at corner entry and the two drivers collided, with both cars suffering a puncture. Both cars crawled back to the pits, with Verstappen managing to pick up a P5 finish. Perhaps overshadowed by the controversy that has surely sparked a debate that will keep fans entertained for the days to come, Oscar Piastri managed to overtake Carlos Sainz in the closing laps to promote himself to P2. Click here to read a full recap of the dramatic race.
The Austrian Grand Prix was only the second in a triple-header, meaning fans will have lots of action to look forward to next week for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on July 7. That race will mark the halfway point in what is shaping up to be a thrilling and unpredictable season.
It can be challenging for even the most avid fans to keep up with the fast-paced world of Formula One. The Weekly F1 Recap is a series published each Monday that breaks down the action, both on and off the circuit, into bit-sized pieces. It's perfect for casual and experienced fans alike.
