Esteban Ocon has been released from the Haas F1 Team. This comes after the Frenchman was replaced by reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa after only a single free practice session at the Mexican Grand Prix. The team has since confirmed that Ocon will not be returning to the team for the rest of the season. It’s unknown exactly what events unfolded, but Ocon has denied rumours of a physical altercation between him and team principal Ayao Komatsu and a Haas press release indicated that the team will not divulge information from internal meetings. Ocon’s premature departure makes way for Rafael Camara to get some racing time ahead of his first full season with the team in 2027. It’s unclear whether the team will allow him to participate in all of the remaining races or if duties will be split with Hirakawa.
Red Bull has retained Alan Permane as team principal for its Racing Bulls team. The new deal will see Permane at the helm until at least the end of 2031. He was a long-time Alpine engineer, climbing the ranks to become the team’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Race Engineer. Midway through 2023, he left Alpine to join Racing Bulls (then RB) as racing director for 2024. He was appointed team principal following the management shuffle triggered by the firing of Christian Horner from the main Red Bull team. In his first full season as team boss, Racing Bulls has performed well and is currently sitting P5 in the World Constructors’ Championship.
Mercedes was fined €5,000 at the Mexican Grand Prix after George Russell skipped his post-race media commitments. The Brit finished P6 after a battery issue saw him drop multiple places on the first lap. He went on to earn a ten-second penalty for a collision with Isack Hadjar. It was also in this race that teammate Kimi Antonelli secured his first World Drivers’ Championship title. After the race, Toto Wolff had given Russell permission to leave the circuit, accepting that the team would be fined.
Brazil will remain on the F1 calendar, as the circuit signs a five-year contract extension. The venue was set to host a race until at least 2030 after signing a five-year deal in 2023, but the new deal has extended this until at least 2035. The Brazilian Grand Prix has been a staple of the F1 calendar since 1973, with Interlagos hosting most of those races, except during the 1980s. The race has since been renamed to the Sau Paulo Grand Prix to better represent the financial support provided by the city council.
The Leclerc family welcomed their first baby girl ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Charles and his wife Alexandra married in Monaco earlier this year. The couple announced the arrival of their baby on social media, naming her Bianca.
Former F1 champion Alan Jones passed away at the age of 80 following a short battle with cancer. The Australian had turned 80 just three days prior. He made his Formula One debut driving a Hesketh privately owned by fellow racing driver Harry Stiller. By the end of the year, he was driving a Hill. 1976 saw him in a Surtees, but he refused to stay with the team for the following year. He was prepared to sit out the 1977 season, but was hired to drive for Shadow after driver Tom Pryce was killed in a freak accident. His performance with Shadow impressed Frank Williams, who hired him for 1978. It was here that Jones experienced most of his F1 success, winning the championship in 1980. He retired from F1 after the 1981 season, returning for a one-off drive with Arrows in 1983. Jones had been contacted by Ferrari in 1982 to replace Gilles Villeneuve, who had been killed in a qualifying crash in Belgium, but Jones ultimately did not take the job. He came out of retirement near the end of 1985 to drive a Lola for Team Haas, staying the following year until the team ran out of money. Outside of Formula One, he participated in a variety of sports car and touring car races. He even joined F1’s Australian commentary team after his retirement. He is survived by his wife and six children.
Lando Norris topped the opening free practice session of the weekend in Sau Paulo. He was narrowly quicker than Kimi Antonelli, who had bested Max Verstappen. There were some unfamiliar faces in the garages as six teams gave rookie outings. The fastest of the rookies was Gabriele Mini in the Alpine, who finished an impressive P7. Some of the rookies had issues, like Freddie Slater, who brought out the red flag after his Audi stopped on the track. Dino Beganovic was another driver to have his running hindered by reliability issues, as Ferrari worked to correct an issue. The rookies were not the only ones to face issues. Alex Albon had his session cut short by a power steering issue.
Kimi Antonelli improved upon his FP1 result, topping Lando Norris in the weekend’s second practice session. There were only 21 drivers on the track, as Audi continued to work to repair an issue on Nico Hulkenberg’s car that had also hindered Freddie Slatter’s running in the morning. It was a relatively orderly session, with Max Verstappen again finishing third fastest. George Russell and Oscar Piastri rounded out the top five ahead of the Ferrari duo, neither of whom seemed super comfortable with the car.
It was Max Verstappen’s turn to claim the top spot in the final free practice session. He finished only just above Kimi Antonelli, who was 0.025s slower. Lando Norris and George Russell were both pretty close to matching the pace of the lead Red Bull, while Charles Leclerc completed the top five. The other Ferrari experienced some problems, with Lewis Hamilton reporting smoke in the cockpit before returning to the garage to end his session. Lance Stroll was another driver to face mechanical woes, retiring after just 15 minutes with an ERS issue.
Lando Norris claimed pole position in an exciting qualifying session. This was the first wet running seen in the entire weekend, despite threats of rain throughout practice. Numerous grid penalties for power unit changes meant that this qualifying session offered a rare chance for some mid-tier teams to qualify higher than normal. Q1 was delayed due to heavy rain. Q2 saw a couple of stoppages, first for a mechanical failure for Arvid Lindblad and the second for Rafael Camara, who crashed in the closing minutes. This final red flag prevented Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri from improving their times, eliminating them from the session. Everyone rushed to set a time at the start of Q3, as the threat of more rain loomed. It came in the latter half of the session, preventing anyone from bettering their times. George Russell finished the session in P2, but was dropped due to a grid penalty for power unit components, leaving teammate Kimi Antonelli in P2 ahead of Liam Lawson and Nico Hulkenberg, both of whom had benefitted from a power unit penalty for Charles Leclerc.
Lando Norris retained the top spot to win the Sau Paulo Grand Prix, although it was a challenging feat in mixed conditions. Earlier rain left the circuit damp and forced everyone to start on intermediate tyres. Kimi Antonelli had a better start from P2 to take the lead into the first corner, with Liam Lawson also sneaking into P2. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen both had stellar starts from well down the grid, gaining more than ten places on the opening lap. Hamilton was first to gamble on the soft tyres after struggling for grip. This proved to be quick, prompting everyone else to pit. George Russell lost places when he spun on the pit exit, and Antonelli suffered a spin at the first corner after changing to slicks, believing there was an issue with the car. The first corner proved challenging for the Italian, as he lost other positions at the same corner in subsequent laps after running wide. More rain fell late in the race, forcing everyone to change back to the intermediate tyres, but Norris kept the top spot ahead of both Red Bulls. A P4 and P5 finish for the Mercedes duo was enough for the team to claim a ninth World Constructors’ Championship. Click here to read a full summary of the action from Sau Paulo.
The teams and drivers will get their final week off before the final stint of the 2026 season. The season’s final triple-header starts in Las Vegas on November 21, takes us to Qatar a week later, and ends with the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
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.
