Former F1 race winner Jochen Mass sadly passed away on Sunday due to complications from a stroke he had suffered in February. The German-born driver made his F1 debut with Surtees in 1973, earning a full-time seat on the team the following year. He left the team before the end of the year to drive McLaren’s third car. He remained at McLaren until 1977, having some successful results, including a race win at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix. After a brief stint with ATS, which ended with him breaking a leg during testing, Mass competed with Arrows for two seasons. His F1 career came to an end in 1982 with March after suffering a heavy crash in the French Grand Prix. At this point, he had begun racing in sports cars with some good results. The highlight of these was winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Sauber in 1989. He moved to broadcasting in 1993, working for German broadcaster RTL. He even appeared in the 2013 film Rush, playing himself. Jochen Mass was 78 years old.
Max Verstappen became a father this week, welcoming daughter Lily into the world with girlfriend Kelly Piquet. The couple have been dating since 2020. This is Verstappen’s first child, although Piquet has another daughter, Penelope, with ex-boyfriend former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat. Verstappen skipped his media duties in Miami on Thursday so that he could be by his girlfriend’s side.
The FIA has appointed Shaila-Ann Rao as a presidential advisor in a surprising return to the organization. Rao served as the FIA’s legal director from 2016 to 2018 before taking a role at Mercedes. She returned briefly in 2022 to serve as interim secretary general for motorsport following the departure of Peter Bayer. Rao’s return to the FIA is a shock, given that the Telegraph reported that she had sent a letter alleging sexist behaviours by president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Sulayem is up for re-election at the end of the year.
The FIA is reportedly looking to make the one-stop pit strategy more interesting, considering increasing the pit lane speed limit at select circuits. Although most circuits have a pit lane speed limit of 80km/h, Australia, Zandvoort, Singapore, and Monaco all have reduced speed limits of just 60km/h. The FIA is considering increasing the speed limits to 80km/h at Zandvoort and Singapore, although “minor adjustments” would need to be made to the pit lanes to ensure it can be done safely. Doing so could decrease the time lost by making a pit stop by six seconds. This is only one of the solutions the FIA are trying this year to improve races that can be completed with only one-stop tyre strategies. At Monaco, where it would be unsafe to increase the pit speed limit, a special two-stop requirement has been added for this year. At both the Saudi Arabian and Miami Grand Prix, softer tyre compounds were selected to increase tyre wear.
The Mexican Grand Prix has signed a contract extension to host an F1 race until at least 2028. This was reported in last week’s edition of the Weekly F1 Recap, but the contract has now officially been signed. As expected, it’s a three-year deal. Since returning to the calendar in 2015, the event has become extremely popular, drawing in a record number of spectators last year. There was some doubt whether the event would remain on the calendar following the departure of home driver Sergio Perez, but the event organizers are confident that interest will remain strong.
The Miami Grand Prix was the scene of an unusual promotion for LEGO that saw all 20 drivers take full-sized LEGO cars around the circuit. Weighing in a 1500kg, nearly twice the weight of a real F1 car, each car consisted of around 400,000 LEGO bricks. Kitted out with Pirelli tyres, the cars were capable of reaching speeds up to 20km/h and included two tandem seats for each team’s drivers. All 10 teams had a nearly 1:1 scale car to drive for a lap around the circuit behind the safety car. According to LEGO, it took a team of 26 specialists more than 22,000 hours to develop and construct these unique racing machines. It was an interesting spectacle.
Cadillac released its first teaser for its upcoming team, which will make its F1 debut next season. The 90-second trailer showed off the team’s new logo. It also showed some branded items, like the team’s transport trucks and merchandise, hinting at a blue and white colour scheme, similar to the colour palette used by the former AlphaTauri team. However, much to fans’ disappointment, the trailer did not provide any clues on the identities of the team’s drivers, which have yet to be determined.
The Miami Grand Prix weekend got underway on Friday morning, with Oscar Piastri leading the opening free practice session. This was the only practice session of the weekend due to the sprint format. The teams were eager to start perfecting their setup. McLaren was a bit too eager, leaving tools in Lando Norris’ cockpit. The Brit had a scare in turn 17 later in the session, nearly colliding with a slow-moving Esteban Ocon. George Russell led the session early on, but Piastri was fastest by the time the checkered flag waved. Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen were decently close behind, while Williams showed some strong performance to round out the top five. Some drivers missed out on soft tyre running when the session was red-flagged late in the session because Oliver Bearman spun into the barriers in turn 12.
History was made on Friday afternoon when Kimi Antonelli became the youngest pole sitter in an F1 event. The 18-year-old beat Oscar Piastri by only 0.045s. George Russell was fastest in SQ1. Yuki Tsunoda struggled in the session, failing to beat the clock to start his timed lap. He was eventually required to start from the pit lane for making changes to the car under Parc Ferme. Some drivers decided to do only one flying lap at the end of SQ2, although that decision would prove costly for Carlos Sainz, who suffered a lockup and ran into the runoff area at turn 11, failing to set a time.
Rainy conditions in Miami provided an entertaining sprint race on Saturday, with Lando Norris leading a McLaren 1-2 finish. After a 30-minute delay due to poor conditions, the 17-lap sprint race began. Kimi Antonelli had a strong start, but lost out on the lead in the first corner when Oscar Piastri forced him out wide. The rookie dropped to P4, and a collision in the pit lane with Max Verstappen would ruin any chance of earning points in the race. Around halfway through the race, the circuit had dried enough to switch to slick tyres. As the laps ticked down, Piastri was given the chance to pit first, which would greatly change the outcome of the race. Luck favoured Norris, as the safety car was deployed just before he was about to pit, allowing him to maintain the lead after making his pit stop. The safety car was for a collision between Fernando Alonso and Liam Lawson that saw the Aston Martin crash into the barriers. There was too much debris for any green flag racing, so the race finished behind the safety car. Click here to read our full summary of this exciting race.
Max Verstappen claimed pole position, his third of the season, on Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session. Kimi Antonelli set the early pace in Q1, looking to repeat his stellar performance from Friday, only to be beaten by Verstappen by the end of Q1. McLaren topped Q2 with Oscar Piastri setting the pace. Further back, Lewis Hamilton was a surprise exit from the session. He failed to make it out of the drop zone, seeming to struggle with his new team. Verstappen set the pace early in Q3, managing to maintain it by the end of the session to secure pole alongside Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli, who continued a great weekend with his best Grand Prix qualifying result.
Oscar Piastri had a much better race on Sunday, leading the way in a dominant McLaren 1-2. There was a threat of rain that never materialized, although this dry race was equally as entertaining as the sprint. Lando Norris tried to challenge Max Verstappen in the first corner, but was run wide and dropped to P6. Kimi Antonelli applied some pressure early on the leading Red Bull, but Piastri soon promoted himself to P2. Verstappen did some good defensive work against the McLaren, but outbraked himself and lost the position. He soon found himself in a heated battle with Norris, who had fought his way back from the start. After many attempts, the Brit finally got by the Dutchman for P2. A virtual safety car during the pit window greatly helped some drivers, notably George Russell, who found P3 as a result. He finished on the podium, although he was more than 30 seconds behind the McLarens. There will likely be some tense meetings at Ferrari after the race. Lewis Hamilton was allowed to swap positions with Charles Leclerc, but swapped back in the closing stages after failing to make headway on Antonelli. Both drivers were quite critical over the team radio, providing some entertainment for listeners. Click here to read the full summary of this thrilling race.
George Russell sat out the post-race press conference in Miami, despite finishing on the podium. Although there were no noticeable issues when participating in the post-race interviews trackside or in the podium celebration, the Mercedes driver missed the press conference for undisclosed “medical reasons”.
After this brief detour to the United States, Formula One will return to Europe for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola. This will likely be the last time the circuit will feature on the F1 calendar, as it is out of contract at the end of the year. The race will be held on the weekend of May 18.
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.
