Hi friends,
Welcome to the 2nd to last Spanish GP in Barcelona (this time around). From 2026 onwards, that race moves to Madrid and a new street circuit. We’ll still go to Barcelona in 2026, but they’ll have to find a different name for the GP. Gran Premio de Catalunya perhaps?
Top story of the week: Alpine could abandon Renault engines and become a customer team
There have been persistent rumours of Renault wanting out of the F1 engine supplier business for a while now, and they’ve just intensified, with sources indicating that it’s now a real possibility and that talks have already happened.
Why is this important? Thinking back to the time I spent with Renault F1, we were told in no uncertain terms, that the team would be built on the back of the engine. Granted, that was in 2016 and the car that year was essentially just a painted Lotus E23. But this marks a major shift in the mentality from Renault’s side.
A lack of results and no customer teams means that the engine supply and development has to be carried entirely by Alpine – a costly operation, especially with no short term prospects of adding a 2nd team, after Andretti was rejected. It could be that Renault has finally decided to call time on their engine investment, after seeing that customer teams like McLaren and Aston Martin can be competitive, despite not having factory team status.
The rest of the stories this week:
- Arrow McLaren INDYCAR Team signs Nolan Siegel, who replaces Theo Pourchaire for the remainder of the season
- Alonso: “I know that soon the time will come again when I say goodbye to F1 one hundred percent, and I don’t know exactly what I’ll do”
- Sainz: “All the teams that haven’t signed their drivers for next year have me on their list and have offered me a contract”
- Wolff hints that Sainz is not on their list, points to Antonelli
- Domenicali says F1 will change the red flag rules that affected the Monaco GP
- The 2026 regulations could be the final regulations using hybrid engines
- The FIA changed the super license requirements, so drivers can be granted one at age 17
- Ollie Bearman will do FP1 for Haas in Spain, borrowing Hülkenberg’s car
- Ferrari wins the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans
- Williams appoints Adam Kenyon as Head of Aerodynamics
- Stroll says his future with Aston Martin will be confirmed soon
- The Las Vegas GP introduces new “General Admission Plus” tickets, priced at $1350
- Liberty Global acquires a controlling stake in Formula E
- INDYCAR announces a new media rights deal that will put the races exclusively on FOX Sports in the United States
- Apple produced Formula 1 movie starring Brad Pitt will premiere in theatres and IMAX internationally on 25 June 2025, North America on 27 June 2025.
And remember: The Dutch national anthem is actually about the King of Spain.
If you have any feedback, suggestions or questions, send me a message on Twitter or via Buymeacoffee.
That’s it for this week. Until next time, thank you for being here.
