Oliver Bearman will get another chance to race in Formula One ahead of his debut season in 2025, replacing Kevin Magnussen for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Magnussen is ineligible to race in Baku after accumulating 12 licence penalty points within the past 12 months, earning himself the first race ban ever under the current penalty system. Bearman, who will take a seat on Haas full-time in 2025, made his debut earlier in the season in Saudi Arabian to substitute for Carlos Sainz during his appendicitis. After narrowly missing out on Q3, the young Brit finished P7 to bring home his first career points in an impressive debut. He will be looking to impress again in Baku, although he faces a greater challenge with the far less competitive Haas car.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix will play host to the Ferrari Challenge series as a support race, having not hosted a support series in last year’s inaugural event. While Las Vegas put on a spectacular show, it was not without its problems. Drain cover issues delayed much of Friday’s practice running and caused huge logistical issues around the circuit. The lack of a support series was a bit of negative feedback provided to the event organizers. Despite a scaled-back weekend of off-track performances compared to last year’s event, an ice rink will be installed atop the Paddock Club building. The event organizers are also planning to address several other pain points surrounding traffic management and vendor availability. Additionally, more general admission tickets will be available compared to last year to make the event “much more accessible”. As the season ticks ever onward, the Las Vegas Grand Prix draws closer each day. The event will be held on the weekend of November 23.
It is believed that the legendary outgoing Red Bull car designer Adrian Newey will be moving to Aston Martin, with an official announcement rumoured to be set for this upcoming week. There has been a lot of speculation about where Newey’s future home lies since his surprise departure from Red Bull. Many teams were reportedly trying to lure him, including Williams, Aston Martin, and Ferrari. It is now believed that he has already signed a contract with Aston Martin and will go public with the information in the run-up to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. At this moment, it is still unclear whether Newey will be able to join the team for 2025 or whether he will need to serve a mandatory gardening leave before joining the team for 2026. Newey has largely stepped back from his Formula One involvement at Red Bull, instead focusing on the company’s RB17 Hypercar project, which was unveiled at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Williams launched an engineering academy alongside technical partner Komatsu, which aims to help the team recruit top engineering talent in the coming years. The Komatsu-Williams Engineering Academy, partially named after the team’s Japanese machinery manufacturing partner Komatsu, will select 10 lucky students from the 2024 F1 in Schools World Final in Saudi Arabia later this year to apply for a place in the academy. The students selected will have a range of perks to help them excel in their careers including career opportunities, mentorship, online learning, and other professional experiences.
Former Mercedes engineer Loic Serra will become Ferrari’s new chassis technical director once he joins the team on October 1, as part of a technical restructuring in the Italian outfit. Serra was hired by Ferrari last summer but has not yet joined the team due to a mandatory gardening leave that will end on October 1. He will replace Enrico Cardile, whose role has been temporarily filled by team principal Fred Vasseur after Cardile departed from the team in July.
Ferrari has revealed that UniCredit, an Italian financial services company, will sponsor the team in 2025. The company is replacing Santander, which announced they would not renew their sponsorship agreement with the team beyond the end of the year. Ferrari has not revealed where the UniCredit logo will appear on the car, but it is believed it will reside where the Santander logos are currently visible.
Santander has signed a multi-year deal with F1 to become one of the sport’s Official Partners starting in 2025, having announced the end of the relationship with Ferrari last week. As part of this deal, the bank’s branding will appear at numerous races. It is also believed that Santander, which has its roots in northern Spain, would be willing to sponsor both the Spanish Grand Prix and Madrid Grand Prix for 2026, should the race be added to the calendar.
Lenovo will become a Global Partner of Formula One from 2025 and beyond, seeing the brand become a title sponsor of two races next season. The Chinese technology giant has already been an Official Partner of F1 since 2022, providing the series with various technical solutions ranging from servers to laptops to software. The enhanced partnership will see the company work closer with F1 in newer areas including artificial intelligence and virtual reality. The company’s smartphone brand, Motorola, will also become the sport’s smartphone sponsor.
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.
