Max Verstappen secured a top-level Nordschleife licence after making his GT4 racing debut in the 4 Hours of Nurburgring. Although his first entry in the #89 Cayman did not start the race due to qualifying damage, Verstappen managed to complete the required 14 laps in the #980 Cayman alongside Chris Lulham. Although this fell short of the expectations to qualify for a Category A DMSB Permit, the DPN Committee granted Verstappen’s licence after reviewing the circumstances. This now clears Verstappen to race in GT3 at the iconic German track, allowing him to participate in the Nurburgring 24 Hours. He will return on September 27 to race a GT3-spec Emil Frey Ferrari.
The FIA overturned Carlos Sainz’s penalty from the Dutch Grand Prix, removing the penalty points from his licence. Williams submitted a right of review with the FIA after the stewards gave Sainz a ten-second penalty for a turn one collision with Liam Lawson. Sainz was driving on the outside of Lawson when the two collided, giving both drivers a puncture. Under the racing guidelines, Sainz was not entitled to space on the outside line, as he was not ahead of Lawson at the apex, penalizing the Spaniard. However, during the review, the FIA noted that “no driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for that collision” because the collision had been caused by “a momentary loss of control” from Lawson. They deemed the collision a racing incident. The race results remain unchanged because Sainz had served the ten-second penalty during the race, but the two penalty points that had been awarded to him have been removed from his licence.
Pirelli conducted another tyre test in Monza, with rain allowing them to run the intermediate tyres in realistic conditions. Four teams participated in the test – Red Bull, Aston Martin, Williams, and Racing Bulls – helping to test the 2026 tyres. With rain forecast for the second day, the opening day of testing was extended to compensate, focusing on the slick tyres. Pirelli started with performance tests before switching to durability tests. Early-morning rain on the second day of the test allowed Pirelli to get data on the intermediate tyres in real conditions, having previously tested the tyres on an artificially wet circuit. As the track dried, they gathered valuable data about the crossover phase of their new tyres. Despite the reduced running on day two, a total of 467 laps were completed.
Cadillac’s F1 programme is “on schedule” according to team principal Graeme Lowdon. Lowdon confirmed that the team is working on their race chassis after their prototype chassis passed testing. “We’ve already built the prototype, went through all those tests. We are probably the first team that has done as well, because obviously the other teams have got learnings from their ’25 cars and ’24 cars and everything,” he told F1.com. “We wanted to do that to give ourselves confidence that when we’re building the race chassis, we’ve got a high degree of confidence that we should pass the homologation tests. But now we’re actually laying up the actual race chassis and it’s on schedule and it’s really cool to see.”
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.
