Cadillac has signed three drivers to join its F1 simulator programme. Former IndyCar driver Simon Pagenaud is one of these drivers. The 41-year-old raced 13 seasons in IndyCar before a high-speed rollover crash effectively ended his professional racing career in 2023. Pietro Fittipaldi is the only driver on the list to actually participate in an F1 race. The grandson of two-time F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi, Pietro has been a Haas reserve driver since 2019, racing twice in 2020 when he replaced an injured Romain Grosjean. The final sim driver is Charlie Eastwood, a sports car driver. He races in the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship in the GT3 category, also working as a factory driver for GM Corvette’s GT3 programme. These three drivers will help Cadillac prepare for their debut season in 2026.
The Cadillac F1 team has signed the former Miami Grand Prix president as its global head of commercial strategy. We announced that Tyler Epp was leaving the Miami Grand Prix in last week’s edition of the Weekly F1 Recap. Epp helped get the Miami Grand Prix off the ground, serving as president since the inaugural race in 2022. Before that, he held various senior roles in various other sports, although most of his recent roles have been motorsport-based.
Red Bull’s chief mechanic will leave the team at the end of the season to take a role at Audi. Matt Caller has been with Red Bull since 2015, being promoted to Max Verstappen’s chief mechanic in 2022. He will complete the season with Red Bull and then move to Audi, where he will take an unknown role. Audi, which is set to make its F1 debut next season, has been recruiting talent from other teams like Ferrari and Red Bull in recent months.
Lewis Hamilton confirmed the passing of his dog Roscoe. He had opted to skip the Pirelli tyre test last week to be with the 12-year-old bulldog in hospital. The Brit adopted Roscoe in 2013, taking him to the paddock on many race weekends. Roscoe was placed in a coma last week after developing pneumonia.
The Singapore Grand Prix weekend started with a surprise, as Fernando Alonso set the fastest time in the first free practice session on Friday. There was pain early in the session for Williams after Alex Albon returned to the pit lane with smoke pouring from his car. He was forced to call it quits without putting a lap time on the board thanks to a brake issue. Alonso set the pace early on, improving his pace towards the end of the session when qualifying simulations began. He was quicker than Charles Leclerc, who had outpaced Max Verstappen and teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Osacr Piastri was on top of an incident-filled second free practice session. George Russell brought out the first red flag after losing his car under braking and heading nose-first into the barriers at turn 16. Liam Lawson was the second casualty of the session shortly after the action resumed, hitting the outside barriers on the exit of turn 17 after a snap of oversteer. Eager to get back into the action, Lando Norris emerged from the garage only to collide with Charles Leclerc, who was also driving out of his garage. This earned Ferrari a €10,000 fine. It was chaotic in the final moments of the session. Isack Hadjar found his way to P2 ahead of Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso, all within 0.163s of the lead McLaren.
Max Verstappen went quickest in the final free practice session, but was only 0.017s ahead of Oscar Piastri in the McLaren. Liam Lawson brought the session to a stop early on, crashing into the barriers in turn 8 after taking too much kerb on the exit. He left his team with a second repair job in under 24 hours. Lewis Hamilton caught the attention of the stewards for a potential red flag violation, but, in an investigation after the session, the FIA determined that he had not breached the rules despite driving marginally faster than the other drivers under red flag conditions. Brushes with the barriers and visitations to the runoff areas continued for the rest of the session, but no more stoppages.
George Russell became the fourth different driver to top a session in the weekend, earning himself pole position for the second time this season. Lewis Hamilton led Q1 despite struggling for grip on the dusty circuit in his first run of the session. Alpine suffered a horrible result, finishing P18 and P20. George Russell surged to the top of Q2 ahead of Max Verstappen and teammate Kimi Antonelli. Williams failed to make it into Q3, but it wouldn’t matter because both cars were disqualified in post-qualifying scrutineering for having a DRS that opened too wide. They started from the rear of the field in the race on Sunday. The top two remained unchanged in Q3, although Verstappen was extremely frustrated, encountering the traffic of Oscar Piastri as he returned to the pit lane from his P3 run.
George Russell converted his pole to a win on race day, never really facing any challenge from the opposition. Max Verstappen had a slow start from the front row, allowing Russell to hold the lead early in the race. There was drama at the McLaren camp as the two teammates bumped wheels in the first sector, causing Oscar Piastri to lose a position. Piastri asked the team to swap positions over the radio, but they refused. There was further frustration when Lando Norris denied his teammate the opportunity to pit first, adding further salt to the wounds. Norris stayed within DRS range of Verstappen for much of the second half as the two made their way through lapped traffic. But he was unable to get any higher than P3. Click here to read our full summary of the Singapore Grand Prix.
Team drama didn’t seem to hamper the post-race celebration for McLaren, though, as they officially secured their second consecutive World Constructors’ Championship title. Now sitting at 650 points, double that of Mercedes, it’s mathematically impossible for any team to beat McLaren. Although the Constructors’ Championship is decided, the Drivers’ Championship remains wide open and, with six races remaining in the season, anything can happen.
Racing action will resume in America for the second time this season. This time, Formula One will be in Texas at the Circuit of the Americas for the United States Grand Prix. It’s a sprint weekend, so there will be a race on Saturday and Sunday on the weekend of October 19.
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.
