Alpine confirmed that Jack Doohan will compete with the team next year, leaving only three seats unclaimed on the 2025 grid. After announcing that Esteban Ocon’s contract would not be renewed for 2025, the French team began evaluating numerous options including Mick Schumacher and Carlos Sainz. They landed on Doohan, who is currently in his second season with the team as their reserve driver and has been given free practice outings this year and last. The 21-year-old, a former Red Bull Junior Team member, raced in Formula 2 for two seasons with Virtuosi, finishing third in the 2023 championship. He did not participate in this year’s Formula 2 championship to focus on earning a Formula One seat for 2025. He will partner with current Alpine driver Pierre Gasly.
Haas’ dispute with former Russian sponsors Uralkali continued this week, with the team’s assets being seized by Dutch authorities pending payment of a legal settlement. After Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, Haas terminated their sponsorship agreement with Uralkali, a Russian chemical company. The issue was brought to the courts, with Haas being ordered to repay most of the money Uralkali had already paid for their 2022 sponsorship deal. Uralkali claims the American F1 team failed to meet the payment deadline in July and worked with the Dutch courts to seize Haas’ assets at the Dutch Grand Prix on Thursday. While it did not impact Haas’ ability to participate in the race weekend, they would not be allowed to remove any equipment from the circuit until the outstanding balance, believed to be roughly $9m, was paid. In a statement, Haas said they did not dispute the amount due to Uralkali and were willing to pay. However, they blamed the delay on extra precautions to ensure they were not violating any active sanctions against Russian companies. According to the team, a payment was made on Friday but the equipment cannot be moved until the payment is confirmed on Monday.
Mercedes hopeful, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, will participate in his first free practice session at the Italian Grand Prix. The youngster, who turned 18 this week, is on the shortlist of drivers in the running to take over the vacant seat left by Lewis Hamilton, who will be moving to Ferrari at the end of the year. Mercedes has yet to confirm their plans for 2025, but it is understood that Antonelli is a favourite.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed the team was talking to Max Verstappen during the summer break, but that the three-time World Champion would not be joining the team in 2025. While Red Bull was suffering from management conflict and controversy at the start of the year, it appeared that Verstappen could have become available for 2025 thanks to a clause in his contract allowing him to leave Red Bull if Helmut Marko left the team. This seemed like a possibility, as he was involved in a conflict with Christian Horner, but Marko has since had his contract extended until at least 2026. With Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes at the end of the year for a Ferrari seat, Mercedes saw this as a potential opportunity. Wolff confirmed that the team will be announcing their 2025 lineup very soon but that it will not include Verstappen, although he did hint that a 2026 seat for the Dutchman was still possible.
Mercedes has promoted Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer Pete Bonnington to head of race engineering, confirming his place on the team for 2025. He will be working double-duty, remaining as Hamilton’s race engineer until the end of the season. Having worked with Hamilton since the Brit joined the team from McLaren in 2013, some people questioned if Bonnington would follow Hamilton on his shocking move to Ferrari in 2025.
Liberty Media is selling over 10 million shares in Formula One to help fund their acquisition of MotoGP. The shares (stock ticker FWONK) are priced at $77.50 each, expected to give Liberty Media more than $800m towards the $4.2b MotoGP deal. Liberty Media announced in April that it will acquire 86% of Dorna Sports, the Spanish company that has owned MotoGP since 1992.
Teams and the FIA are reportedly exploring options to tighten potential loopholes in the regulations for testing previous cars. Teams are currently allowed to test “previous cars”, defined as cars that comply with the technical regulations from any of the three previous seasons. Some teams have used this as an opportunity to train upcoming drivers while others have used it as additional testing for their current drivers. Teams have brought this to the attention of the FIA, as some teams are planning to run full test programmes with a dedicated team of engineers in 2025. Potential solutions being discussed include a ban on testing at circuits 60 days before their race weekend on the calendar, allowing only four days of testing for currently competing drivers, and a 20-day limit on previous car testing. A final decision is expected to be made in the coming weeks, at which point it will be presented to the F1 Commission for approval.
After nearly a month without Formula One, the drivers were back in action on Friday for the first free practice session of the Dutch Grand Prix. Lando Norris topped the session to give himself the early lead in the weekend, finishing ahead of rival Max Verstappen. Early rain meant a slow start to the session and a few spins for Nico Hulkenberg and Max Verstappen. These off-track moments continued for others as the track conditions dried and slick running became possible. Formula Two driver Robert Shwartzman participated in his first practice session of the year with Sauber, finishing P16.
Conditions improved in time for the second practice session of the weekend, which was narrowly topped by George Russell. The session was not free of drama, thanks in part to windy conditions. Nico Hulkenberg brought out the red flag when he spun into the gravel at the first corner, adding to his growing incident tally so far in the weekend. Oscar Piastri set a fast time when the session resumed, but was eventually beaten by the Mercedes. Overall, FP2 proved that the teams are still extremely close after the summer break, with 0.284s separating the top five drivers.
The weather was back to its old ways for Saturday’s final practice session, soaking the circuit and causing a shuffled order on the timing charts. Pierre Gasly was the fastest in the session ahead of Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas. Nico Hulkenberg had yet another off-track adventure this weekend, locking up under braking and crashing into a barrier. He was able to return to the pit lane but retired from the session due to damage. Logan Sargeant brought out the red flags later in the session, suffering a heavy crash into the barriers. He dipped a wheel on the grass at the exit of turn three, giving his mechanics an impossible challenge ahead of qualifying, forcing the American to skip qualifying.
After the myriad of weather conditions throughout the weekend, qualifying was held under dry conditions, allowing Lando Norris to secure pole position ahead of Max Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton landed himself in hot water during Q1 for impeding Sergio Perez, earning himself a grid penalty. This would force him to start in P14 on the grid, being knocked out in Q2. Carlos Sainz was also another surprise exit from Q2 when Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda improved their times near the end of the session. It was a close battle for pole position in Q3, with Verstappen taking the early lead before having his time bested by Norris in the closing stages. Alex Albon had an impressive qualifying to set a time worthy of P8 on the grid but was disqualified from the session for an illegal floor.
In the race, Lando Norris managed to beat Max Verstappen at his home circuit, ending the Dutchman’s record of being undefeated at the circuit. Both McLaren’s had a poor start, allowing Verstappen to take the early lead. But the Red Bull appeared to struggle with grip and Norris quickly retook the lead just before the pit window opened. Ferrari made a good strategy call to pit Charles Leclerc at the right time to take P3 in the race. Oscar Piastri did apply some pressure but wasn’t able to challenge the Ferrari. George Russell was running in P5 in the closing stages of the race, but made a second pit stop, dropping him to P7. Norris was very much in a league of his own, finishing well ahead of the rest and earning a bonus point for the fastest lap as an added extra. Click here to read a full recap of the race.
Next on the schedule, Formula One will travel to Italy for the second time this season. This time it’s for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on September 1.
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.
