Franco Colapinto will retain his seat at Alpine for 2026, partnering Pierre Gasly. After replacing Logan Sargeant at Williams halfway through 2024, Colapinto was sidelined for 2025. This was until he stepped up to replace Jack Doohan at Alpine. It’s not been an easy road for the Argentine, who currently sits at the bottom of the World Drivers’ Championship standings (only ahead of Doohan), being the only driver yet to score a point (aside from Doohan). This is largely due to a performance slump Alpine has been struggling with over the past few years. However, with a new era of regulations coming in next year and Renault closing its F1 power unit division in favour of the Mercedes engine, the team is optimistic it will soon return to form.
Williams will rebrand itself for 2026, hoping to return the brand to its historic roots. Williams underwent a rebrand back in 2014, after Claire Williams, the daughter of founder Frank Williams, took over management of the team. The new brand changes, though relatively minor, bring the team closer to their original branding. The segmented “W” in the Williams name will be replaced by “W” closely resembles the logo originally used by the team when they were founded in 1977. The team will also be renamed to “Williams F1 Team” from “Williams Racing”. The team is no longer owned by the Williams family, having been sold to Dorilton Capital in 2020.
Aston Martin is reportedly gearing up for a major engineering restructuring, with up to seven senior figures believed to be departing the team or moving to the company’s advanced technologies division. Although the team has remained tight-lipped about the potential restructuring, reports suggest it could include key personnel like Eric Blandin, who joined from Mercedes in 2022. The team has been rapidly expanding its engineering department, recruiting several high-profile team members from competitors. These include people like Dan Fallows from Red Bull, Enrico Cardile from Ferrari, and, most notably, legendary car designer Adrian Newey from Red Bull. The news of this potential restructuring comes as Newey officially began work on the team in March of this year. The team currently sits seventh in the World Constructors’ Championship, ten points behind Racing Bulls but two points ahead of Haas.
Former Italian F1 driver and European Touring Car Champion Andrea de Adamich has passed away at the age of 84. Starting his racing career with touring and sports cars, de Adamich made his F1 debut with Ferrari at the 1968 South African Grand Prix, having competed in the non-championship Spanish Grand Prix with the team the previous year. His Ferrari days came to a premature end when he suffered broken bones in his neck while practicing for the 1968 Race of Champions, leading to a licence dispute and fallout with Enzo Ferrari. He joined McLaren in 1970 and moved to March in 1971, but it wasn’t until he moved to Surtees in 1972 that he scored his first championship points at the Spanish Grand Prix. After the team failed to deliver him a car for the opening rounds of the 1973 season, de Adamich abruptly left the team. He found a seat with Brabham for the rest of the season, although his racing career would come to an end after he was injured in a multi-car pileup at the British Grand Prix. He would make a full recovery but ultimately retire from racing. He continued in the motorsport world in front of the camera, becoming a TV pundit in the Italian media.
The graves of Bruce McLaren and his family were vandalized at Waikumete Cemetery in Auckland, New Zealand. The headstones of McLaren, wife Patricia, and parents Ruth and Les were sprayed with gold paint and toy cars were glued to them. McLaren, the founder of the namesake F1 team, died in 1970 at the age of 32 after suffering a high-speed mechanical failure while testing at the Goodwood Circuit. The Grave Guardians, a volunteer organization, has offered to restore the headstones. New Zealand police are investigating the incident and are seeking information from the public.
Lando Norris led the way in the first and only free practice session of the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend on Friday, narrowly outpacing his teammate and championship contender Oscar Piastri. Yuki Tsunoda had the first off of the weekend, losing control of his Red Bull on the kerbs at the exit for turn four, sending him skidding into the barriers in the opening minutes. It was a busy session as the drivers hustled to find the limits of the cars around the newly resurfaced Interlagos Circuit. The relatively small circuit produced some traffic incidents. Sauber impressed with P3 and P5 led by Nico Hulkenberg, while Ferrari had a lacklustre first session down in P18 and P19. But no one could get close to the McLaren duo, separated by only 0.023s on the timesheets.
Lando Norris continued his time on top, earning the pole position during sprint qualifying on Friday afternoon. Norris led SQ1 but was pipped by Fernando Alonso in SQ2, having a strong showing in his Aston Martin. Alonso would qualify in P5 at the end of SQ3. Carlos Sainz was the surprise exit from SQ1, setting the slowest time after locking up on his flying lap. Lewis Hamilton failed to make it out of SQ2, finishing P11. The Brit was investigated after the session for failing to slow for double-waved yellow flags thrown when his teammate spun. Hamilton escaped a grid penalty, as he claimed he hadn’t seen the yellow warning lights, which was corroborated by the onboard footage. Kimi Antonelli did a good job to secure a spot on the front row of the grid, missing out on pole by only 0.097s.
Overnight rain made for a slippery sprint race on Saturday, but that didn’t stop Lando Norris from converting pole position into a victory. It was not without pressure from Kimi Antonelli behind, especially in the closing laps, although the rookie would fall short. Oscar Piastri’s day collapsed on lap six when he spun after hitting a wet patch on the turn three kerbs. He was not alone, with Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto spinning on the same wet patch on the same lap. This brought out the red flag. Overtaking proved difficult on the damp circuit in the closing half of the race. Antonelli was within DRS range of Norris in the closing laps, but couldn’t get close enough to mount an overtake. The race ended in dramatic style when Gabriel Bortoleto slammed into the inside barriers when trying to launch a dive into the first corner on the final lap. His Sauber sustained heavy damage. Click here to read our full summary of the sprint race.
Qualifying saw Lando Norris retain his reign of dominance in Brazil, earning pole position again ahead of Kimi Antonelli. Only 19 cars participated in Q1 because Sauber hadn’t managed to make the necessary repairs to Gabriel Bortoleto’s totalled car. Max Verstappen suffered greatly in Q1, failing to advance after only managing a time worthy of P16. The Dutchman would start from the pit lane on Sunday, as the team opted to replace the power unit and make some setup changes outside of parc ferme. Oscar Piastri initially secured provisional pole in the opening runs of Q3, besting Charles Leclerc by just 0.002s. But by the end of the session, he finished in P4 behind Leclerc. Antonelli managed to repeat his qualifying performance from Friday, earning his first career front row start in a grand prix.
Conditions were dry on Sunday afternoon, giving fans a dry race that would again be won by Lando Norris from pole position. The safety car was deployed after the opening lap when Gabriel Bortoleto crashed into the barriers on the outside of turn ten, after being forced wide by Lance Stroll. Lewis Hamilton also had a bad start, being bumped wide in the first corner by Carlos Sainz and then suffering some self-inflicted front wing damage after misjudging an overtake on Franco Colapinto. He would eventually retire after trundling around the circuit with floor damage. There was further drama on the race restart, as the leaders went three-wide into the first corner. Oscar Piastri was stuck on the inside of Kimi Antonelli, clipping the rear tyre of the Mercedes rookie. Charles Leclerc suffered the most on the outside, breaking his front suspension and being forced to retire. The double retirement was devastating to Ferrari, which now finds itself dropped to P4 in the World Constructors’ Championship battle. It was a two-stop race for most drivers, with no team wanting to touch the hard tyres. Max Verstappen, who had started the race on the hard tyres, had to pit during the virtual safety car due to a slow puncture from debris, but this completely opened his tyre strategy possibilities. After doing two medium tyre stints, the Dutchman was leading the race with 15 laps to go, but Red Bull, worried about the performance degradation of the mediums, opted to pit Verstappen for a third time for softs. In the closing laps, he overtook George Russell for the podium, but, although he got close, he was unable to overtake Antonelli, settling for a strong P3. Click here to read our full summary of the race.
Next up, Formula One will head North to the United States for the final time this season. This time it will be a night race on the Las Vegas Strip, which will be held on Saturday night local time on November 22.
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.
