Adrian Newey’s career future was set in stone this week, officially announcing his move to Aston Martin for 2026. This has long been the expected home of the legendary car designer who announced he was parting ways with Red Bull at the end of the year. He has been responsible for designing many Formula One cars that have won championship titles, including the car that Sebastian Vettel piloted to his four championship titles. Newey is just one of the many changes at Aston Martin as the team strives to become more competitive. Newey will start working with the team in March 2025 on the critical 2026 car under the brand new regulations.
Formula Two driver Gabriel Bortoleto has emerged as a likely candidate for a seat at Sauber for 2025, one of only two vacant seats still available on the grid for next year. Sauber has already confirmed Nico Hulkenberg as their driver but has yet to pick an option for next year, with Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas out of contract at the end of the year. Bortoleto is currently leading the Formula Two championship with only two weekends remaining. He is also a member of the McLaren Driver Development Programme, completing his first F1 test at the Red Bull Ring earlier this month. Sauber would need permission from McLaren to either loan him or release him from the programme. With Lando Norris committed to McLaren long-term and Oscar Piastri showing great promise, it’s unlikely that McLaren would stand in the way of Bortoleto’s shot at F1. However, Audi, the future owners of Sauber, have yet to decide which option is best for them, with a more experienced lineup potentially looking good for a growing team.
Both Honda and Alpine were found to have breached the 2023 cost-cap regulations following the completion of an administrative audit of all teams and engine manufacturers by the FIA. However, the FIA has clearly stated that the breaches were not related to overspending and that all teams and engine manufacturers stayed below the spending limits for 2023. Engine manufacturers were required to stay within a $140.4m budget for the first time in 2023, although additional money was added to the cap to account for the cancellation of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix due to flooding in the region. While it is not clear what these “procedural breaches” are, likely referring to some minor infraction like failing to meet deadlines in the reporting process, both parties will be offered an Accepted Breach Agreement that will probably include a small fine. The first review in 2022 saw Aston Martin and Williams suffer a similar situation, settling the matter with an Accepted Breach Agreement that saw both teams fined.
The FIA will review the penalty points system for potential revisions over the winter break, although no substantial changes are expected. This news comes in the aftermath of the first-ever race ban for exceeding the maximum of 12 points over 12 months. This honour was given to Kevin Magnussen after a shunt with Pierre Gasly at the Italian Grand Prix. Although it appeared to be only a minor incident, it was the last straw thanks to the impressive collection of penalty points Magnussen had earned earlier in the year. Gasly was quick to jump to the defence of his fellow competitor, calling the decision unfair and pushing the sport to make changes. The Sporting Advisory Committee is expected to review the system at the end of the year since they avoid making mid-season regulation changes.
The motorsport world remembers multi-team co-founder Alan Rees, who died at the age of 86 after a long illness. Along with some success in Formula 2 during the ’60s, Rees is more widely known for his involvement with three F1 teams during the ’70s. The first of these teams was March, which he co-founded with Max Mosely, Graham Coaker, and Robin Herd in 1969. The team built a variety of F1, F2, F3, Formula Ford, and Can-Am cars. It also participated in Formula One with moderate success with Rees as team manager. In 1971 he joined Shadow as team principal, where he stayed until leaving in 1977 to co-found Arrows. Arrows also had moderate success and he maintained part ownership until the founders sold the team to Tom Walkinshaw in 1996.
McLaren team boss Andrea Stella has revised the team’s rules of engagement to better protect Lando Norris’ championship hopes. This comes after an embarrassing intra-team battle at the Italian Grand Prix lost both cars a race victory. Going forward, McLaren’s bias would lean towards Norris, should it help his championship hopes. It is understood that the team will review this again ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix to give the team the best chance at victory. The team will go into the Singapore Grand Prix leading the World Constructors’ Championship for the first time since 2014.
The Formula One teams were left without their usual suite of weather forecasting technology at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix due to political tensions in the region. The French government advised French citizens not to travel to Azerbaijan due to conflicts related to each country’s involvement in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. As a result, numerous French F1 team members opted to sit out the weekend. This included Meteo-France, the France-based weather company that provides F1 with weather radar equipment. Fortunately, teams were not left blind, as some equipment was deployed by on-track staff and remote support was offered by Meteo-France. However, only one of the usual four weather radar stations was set up for the weekend. Luckily, aside from some scattered showers during practice, the weather was relatively stable during the weekend.
The first free practice was underway on Friday in Baku, with Max Verstappen setting the benchmark for the weekend. It was a session filled with incidents as a light morning rain washed away the rubber laid by the Formula 2 cars. The first of three red flags came early in the session for metal debris at turn 12, causing only a short delay. The second was for Charles Leclerc, who crashed in turn 15 after getting on the dirty circuit. The Monegasque had only recently set a time faster than current session leader Verstappen. The third, and final, red flag was flown in the closing stages after Franco Colapinto crashed in turn 4. This was the rookie’s first time racing at the circuit. Lewis Hamilton’s fastest time stood as the benchmark until it was topped by Verstappen at the end of the session.
Friday’s second free practice session was the scene for a tight battle over the top spot in FP2, with Charles Leclerc managing to beat Sergio Perez by just 0.006s. The session, which was much less chaotic compared to the morning session, saw Perez, Leclerc, and Max Verstappen swapping positions throughout the duration. Lewis Hamilton also joined the fray, finishing just 0.066s off the pace in P3. The session was not incident-free at the Mercedes garage, with George Russell’s running hindered by power unit issues.
George Russell recovered from a disappointing FP2 to narrowly top the final free practice session on Saturday by just 0.013s over FP2’s winner. It was not an easy session for the Brit, complaining about power unit noises and handling issues throughout. The session started slowly due to some light rain reported around the circuit. Esteban Ocon’s car stopped on the circuit, further increasing the delay in proper flying laps. Oscar Piastri set the first time to beat of the session but it was quickly beaten by Max Verstappen and then by Alex Albon in the Williams, which was looking strong around this circuit. After another red flag for Oliver Bearman, who collided with the barrier in the first corner, a slew of flying laps continued until the end of the session. Leclerc was investigated after the session for a yellow flag violation but was given a warning.
Charles Leclerc returned to the top on Saturday afternoon to claim pole position ahead of Oscar Piastri. The shock of the session was Lando Norris, who, due to yellow flags for a slow-moving Esteban Ocon, failed to make a final flying lap attempt before the session ended and was knocked out of Q1. Q2 saw Ferrari favour the clean air rather than running in sync with the rest of the field. Oliver Bearman nearly made it into Q3 in only his second outing with Haas but was narrowly pipped by Alex Albon in the Williams. Albon had to settle for P10 in Q3 though after he left the garage with an airbox fan still attached to his car. He stopped his car and threw the fan to the marshals. By the end of the session Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz, Perez, and Russell made up the top five.
Numerous penalties were applied to the starting grid for technical infringements. Zhou Guanyu was dropped to the back of the grid for using his allocation of power unit components before qualifying, while Lewis Hamilton and Esteban Ocon were both required to start from the pit lane for making power unit changes under Parc Ferme. Finally, Pierre Gasly was disqualified from the session after it was discovered that a technical fault allowed the car to exceed the maximum permitted fuel flow rate. The FIA agreed this was due to a fault as opposed to an intentional act and the team claimed the fault did not give them a performance advantage. Despite this, the car was disqualified from the session, and forced to start the race from the back of the grid.
On Sunday, it was Oscar Piastri who finished on the top step of the podium after hosting a masterclass in defensive racing for more than half the race. Charles Leclerc got away well from pole position, building a strong gap in the first stint. After the pit stops, Piastri took the lead with a bold dive late on the brakes in the first corner. Leclerc tried to make a similar move, but Piastri was too strong in that corner. It was a hard-fought battle at the front of the field, with Leclerc clinging to DRS range for most of the race. In the closing stages, Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz joined the battle for the lead, which ended with a collision between these two drivers on the penultimate lap. Piastri took the victory ahead of Leclerc and George Russell, who was promoted to P3. With a strong victory and a decent recovery from Lando Norris, McLaren now leads the World Constructors’ Championship for the first time since 2014, showing that Red Bull may be in trouble. Click here to read a full summary of the race.
Next on the calendar is another street circuit, although very different from the Baku City Circuit. This time it will be the Singapore Grand Prix on September 22.
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.
