Cadillac officially announced Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez as its driver lineup for its inaugural 2026 season. This was initially reported in last week’s edition of the Weekly F1 Recap, but had not been confirmed yet. This gives Cadillac an extremely experienced driver lineup, which will help them to develop the car. Perez has raced 14 seasons in Formula One, spending most of his career with Force India before pairing with Max Verstappen at Red Bull. Bottas has 12 seasons of F1 under his belt. After starting his career with Williams, he partnered with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes before finally moving to Alfa Romeo. Neither driver managed to obtain a seat for the 2025 season, being forced to sit out the season.
Cadillac will be working with Ferrari to complete a Testing of Previous Cars programme ahead of its debut season. The current regulations allow for up to 20 days of testing using cars that are at least two years old. However, since Cadillac will be new to the grid in 2026, they don’t have any cars that can meet the requirements. The team will loan a car from Ferrari, which will be providing their power units until 2029, allowing the team to give Bottas and Perez some extra mileage. This is particularly important since neither driver is racing in F1 this year.
Mastercard will become the title sponsor of McLaren from 2026 onwards. The financial company has already been working with McLaren as a sponsor, but is now strengthening its partnership with the team. McLaren will be rebranded as the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team. Additionally, Mastercard will launch a fan rewards program, dubbed ‘Team Priceless’, that will allow fans to unlock a variety of opportunities.
The Dutch Grand Prix marked a milestone for Pirelli, being their 500th Grand Prix. Pirelli’s heritage in the sport dates all the way back to the very first race of Formula One, way back at the 1950 British Grand Prix. On that day, the podium consisted of only Pirelli runners. After leaving the sport in 1958, Pirelli returned between 1981 and 1991, excluding 1987 and 1988. The Italian tyre manufacturer returned in 2011, taking over from Bridgestone as Formula One’s sole tyre supplier. To commemorate this achievement, all cars and tyres were fitted with a special “500 GP” logo.
Formula One returned to action this week, with Lando Norris setting the fastest time in the first free practice session of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. It was a busy session, with heavy rain forecast for later in the day. Kimi Antonelli brought out the session’s only red flag, beaching his Mercedes in a gravel trap at turn nine. Max Verstappen also got himself stuck in the gravel at the first corner, after completing a practice start at the end of the session. Norris outpaced his teammate by 0.292s, with the two Aston Martin drivers having an excellent performance to put themselves in P3 and P4.
Lando Norris continued his reign in the second free practice session, narrowly beating Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri by 0.087s and 0.089s, respectively. There was a threat of rain during the session, but only minor raindrops appeared. Lance Stroll prematurely ended his practice session early on, locking up at the banked turn three and hitting the barriers hard. Isack Hadjar was another driver with limited running in the session, stopping his car with a technical issue on his out-lap. Alex Albon was responsible for the second red flag of the session, locking up into the first corner and becoming beached in the gravel. There are multiple issues with traffic, including a pit lane incident between Oscar Piastri and George Russell. Piastri was turning into his pit box, but was instructed by the team to go around as the box was blocked by equipment and personnel. Piastri turned back into the fast lane, forcing Russell to take evasive action. McLaren was fined for the drama €5,000.
Lando Norris completed his clean sweep of the practice sessions on Saturday morning, setting the fastest time in the final practice session. Overnight rain had left the track damp, leading to a slow start to the session. Isack Hadjar was the first driver on the circuit, exploring the conditions with intermediate tyres, but other drivers soon emerged on the slicks. Qualifying simulations late in the session gave a better glimpse of where the drivers stand heading into qualifying. The two McLaren drivers appeared to be in a league of their own, with George Russell in P3 0.088s off Norris’ pace. Russell had another pit lane incident in FP3, nearly collecting Fernando Alonso at the pit entry. The Brit was entering the pit slowly when Alonso tried to pass on the right, forcing Russell to abort his entry.
Oscar Piastri managed to topple his teammate’s weekend dominance, claiming pole position. It was by the narrowest of margins, with only 0.012s separating the two cars. It was another tough day for Lance Stroll, as the Canadian suffered another crash in qualifying. Getting a tyre on the grass under braking caused his Aston Martin to spin through the gravel and into the barriers. He was able to limp back to the pit lane, but failed to set a time in Q1. Having set the time to beat in Q1, Oscar Piastri came second to Lando Norris in Q2, with only the McLarens managing to break the 1:08 barrier. Max Verstappen would also set a time in the 1:08 zone in Q3, but would only manage a P3 result. He would line up alongside Isack Hadjar on Sunday, as the Racing Bulls rookie secured his best qualifying result.
Oscar Piastri converted his pole to a win on raceday, leading from start to finish, but that doesn’t tell half the story. Lando Norris was overtaken by Max Verstappen at the first corner, the Dutchman nearly spinning as he pushed for the lead. Verstappen started on the softer compound tyres, which gave him performance at the start, but the tyres quickly declined, allowing Norris to retake the position. Lewis Hamilton was the first Ferrari driver to crash in turn 3, suffering a snap of oversteer late in the corner. Charles Leclerc also crashed in the same corner later in the race after being hit by Kimi Antonelli, making it a double retirement for the Italian squad. The Monegasque driver had already made a controversial overtake on George Russell, barging his way through at turn 11. Things turned sour for Norris, as his car packed up in a cloud of smoke six laps from the end of the race. This left Piastri to win the race relatively uncontested ahead of Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, the rookie making his podium debut in only his 15th race. Unfortunately, he went on to accidentally break the glass trophy while taking photos with the team. Click here to read a full summary of the action.
Lewis Hamilton will start the next race on the back foot, earning a five-place grid penalty for a yellow flag infringement. It was the cherry on the top of a bad day for the seven-time World Champion, who retired from the Dutch Grand Prix after a crash. But before the race had even started, Hamilton had already caught the attention of the stewards. During the pre-race reconnaissance laps, drivers were informed that the final corner of the circuit would be waving double yellow flags, requiring drivers to “reduce speed significantly”. Although telemetry revealed Hamilton had slowed by 20km/h and braked 70m earlier for the pit lane, the stewards felt this was not a “significant” reduction in speed. Although this violation would typically earn a driver a ten-place grid penalty, the stewards decided to apply a reduced penalty because Hamilton had made some effort to reduce his pace.
Next on the calendar is the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, home of the Prancing Horse. The race will be held on the weekend of September 7.
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.
