Yuki Tsunoda is now under new management after failing to secure a Red Bull promotion. The Racing Bulls driver severed ties with his previous managers, Mario Miyakawa and Luis Alverez, in December. With Sergio Perez seemingly constantly on the bubble in 2024, Tsunoda lost the opportunity to be promoted to the main Red Bull team. The team instead opted to promote Liam Lawson, who had been at RB for the last six races of the season. In fact, Tsunoda never really appeared to be in the running for the job, struggling to even get the chance to run a test session in the Red Bull machinery. This is despite a fairly solid 2024 campaign that saw him finish P12 in the championship. Tsunoda has hired Diego Menchaca as a new manager, insisting that Menchaca has already worked to build a relationship with Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko. Menchaca is a driver himself, having previously competed in European open-wheel racing before switching to GT racing in 2018. Menchaca plans to put his own driving career on hold to focus entirely on his driver management work. He also manages Noah Stromsted, who will be competing in Formula 3 with Trident this year.
Former F1 race director Niels Wittich broke his silence for the first time since his sudden departure in the closing stages of the 2024 season. Wittich, who was appointed as race director after the controversy surrounding his predecessor Michael Masi, was dismissed from the FIA ahead of the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix. Although the FIA’s official statement said he had “stepped down” to “pursue new opportunities”, Wittich’s latest comments suggest the move may have not been as consensual as was implied. “I saw no indications that anything wasn’t working or that there was any reason to make a personnel change,” he explained while serving as a guest commentator on Sky Germany’s coverage of pre-season testing in Bahrain. “So, in that sense, it all came as a complete surprise. To this day, no reason has been given to me. And the last time I spoke with the FIA president was last year in China. So I can’t say that we had any kind of falling out or a negative relationship. I had relatively little contact with him.”
Two members of the FIA World Motor Sport Council were barred from participating in Wednesday’s council meeting after refusing to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). The two members were Robert Reid, retired rally co-driver turned FIA Deputy President, and David Richards, former F1 team principal currently serving as chairman of Motorsport UK. The NDA, which is believed to be a stricter measure by FIA President Ben Sulayem to prevent leaks to the media, would prevent members from discussing the meeting in public. A spokesperson for the FIA defended the NDA, saying it was “routine in all organizations” and that “unauthorized disclosure of confidential information undermines our ability to fully fulfil our mission.” They insist these measures have been supported by a “super majority” of members.
The FIA World Motor Sport Council has confirmed that drivers must make at least two pit stops at the Monaco Grand Prix. This news was revealed last week, although it was unknown how many pit stops would be required. These two pit stops are even required during wet conditions. There have been no changes to the tyre requirements, with drivers only required to use two different compounds of dry tyres. This new rule will impact this year’s race around the streets of Monaco.
Additional pre-season testing for the 2026 season is planned for January at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The modern era has seen teams get only three days of pre-season testing before the season opener, but an overhaul of the technical regulations will mean teams could benefit from additional track time. A five-day shakedown session is planned behind closed doors in Barcelona between January 26 and 30, with teams allowed to participate in any three days of their choosing. This will give teams more flexibility to adapt their testing programmes around weather conditions and technical issues. It’s expected that an additional six days of pre-season testing will be held in Bahrain after the shakedown on February 12-14 and 18-20.
The first proper on-track action of 2025 happened this week with three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain. The first was delayed by an hour due to a circuit-wide power outage, which extended the day’s running by an hour. All 20 drivers were piloting their cars on the first day, performing driver swaps during the lunch break. Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli was at the top of the time sheets in the morning session but was beaten by Lando Norris by the end of the day. Esteban Ocon logged the most laps of the day, with 88, as Haas appeared to focus on long runs.
Carlos Sainz set the fastest time on the second day of the test, which would be the fastest of the three days. He also logged an impressive 127 laps, pulling double duty with his new Williams team. Red Bull was the only other team to run a single driver in the morning and afternoon, giving Liam Lawson full control over the car for the day. Lewis Hamilton had led the morning session with a time that still stood in P2 by the end of the day’s running, with teammate Charles Leclerc close behind. The session was slightly hindered by light rain during the day.
The final day of testing saw George Russell set the fastest lap of the day in his Mercedes. Charles Leclerc had set the fastest lap in the morning session, although Lewis Hamilton struggled with the Ferrari in the afternoon. He only completed 47 laps before Ferrari called it an early day. Alex Albon managed to beat his teammate in the highest number of laps recorded in a day, touring the circuit 137 times. But he couldn’t beat his teammate’s time from the previous day, having to settle with P3 on the timesheets behind Max Verstappen. Esteban Ocon was the only other driver able to break the 100-lap mark with 103, which was impressive given he had to share the car with teammate Oliver Bearman.
It can be challenging to figure out where the teams stand based on pre-season testing alone since the teams all run different programmes and none are particularly eager to show their hand this early in the season. When looking at mileage, Mercedes tallied up the most laps of the test with 458, only one lap more than Haas. The Racing Bulls were not far behind with 454 laps completed, with Alpine being the only other team to record more than 400 laps with a total of 405. Laptimes are not normally representative of a team’s true pace, although the fastest times were comparable to the times set in 2024 qualifying at Bahrain. Alpine and Williams both made huge improvements on their fastest times from 2024, while Sauber was the only team to set a fastest lap slower than last year. It seems that both Red Bull and McLaren have made good progress over their rivals while Mercedes, Ferrari, and Racing Bulls all appear to have made less progress than the average. But we will have to see how things pan out when the season gets underway in Australia.
The final graph aims to show how much each team has improved relative to the rest of the teams using a statistical measure called z-score. This analysis was conducted using the fastest overall time of each team in 2025 and 2024. The average fastest lap in 2025 was faster than 2024, which is to be expected given each team typically makes their car faster year-over-year. Zero marks the average that all teams have improved. Teams with a positive value indicate that the team has improved more than the average, while a negative value indicates the team has progressed less than the average. However, many factors can impact this measure, since teams rarely push their cars to the true limit during testing. Because of this, this measure may not accurately reflect the car’s true performance during the 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.
