Hi friends
I know it’s not technically race week, but the world of Formula 1 doesn’t take breaks, and this newsletter would be far too long if I waited until next week to send it out – so here’s the Race Week Recap for Canada (Part 1).
The top story of the week: Flavio Briatore may be returning to Renault / Alpine in a supervisory position
The controversial former team boss looks set to return to F1.
Why is this important? It’s no secret that the Renault / Alpine plan of returning to the front of Formula 1, following their 2016 buyout of Lotus, hasn’t worked out. They’ve had substantial leadership and driver turnover, and have failed to reach the goals set by both the team itself and owner Renault.
Now it’s looking likely that Briatore will return to the French team in a supervisory role to try and change that.
Briatore first came to prominence in the 90s when joining Benetton, signing Michael Schumacher and securing the drivers’ championship in 1994 and 1995. He later joined Renault, where Briatore is credited with brining Fernando Alonso to F1, the pair going on to winning the titles in both 2005 and 2006.
But he’s perhaps best known for his involvement in both the 2007 Spygate and 2008 Crashgate controversies, the latter of which earned him a ban from Formula 1 and caused his subsequent departure from the sport as a whole in 2009.
The rest of the stories this week:
- Stroll says he’s committed to Aston Martin and “for the future that’s where my head’s at”
- Teams don’t think Andretti is taking the correct approach to joining F1, points to Audi as “the right path to come to F1”
- FIA President Sulayem advises Andretti to “buy another F1 team” rather than pursuing a brand new entry
- Global Director of Ford Performance says “we’d love to welcome GM into the sport”
- Stewart-Haas NASCAR team will sell charters and cease operations at the end of 2024
- Teams push for Concorde agreement to include new formula for the anti-dilution fee (setting it at $600 million in 2026, $700 million in 2028) and no prize money for a team’s first season in F1
- Perez looks set to extend his contract with Red Bull
- F1 drivers pushing for no tyre changes during red flags after the Monaco GP
- F1 working towards more distinguishable liveries for 2025
- Red Bull Chief Engineer Paul Monaghan signs new contract that will keep him at the team “for the long term”
- Sky turns around and decides not to air the Indy 500 for free on YouTube in the UK, after announcing they would
- Lewis Hamilton will be on Hot Ones
That’s it for this week – and signing off, I just wanted to share one more thing. It’s not news, but this is just something I love to see: Past Indy 500 winners react to seeing videos of their victories.
Until next time, thank you for being here.
