Hi friends
I really wanted to go to Silverstone this weekend, but unfortunately I would have to sell about 8 kidneys to afford it, and I only have 5 in stock. I guess it’ll have to wait until next year.
Top story of the week: Haas sign Ollie Bearman for 2025
A week without Alpine being the top story? That’s a welcome break from things.
Why is this important? This moves the driver puzzle one step closer to being solved. We now know for a fact, that at least one driver will have to leave Formula 1 at the end of the season. Who that driver will be is still up in the air, but if I had to venture a guess, I would point to Magnussen.
Haas has been somewhat resistant to seating Ferrari juniors in recent years, electing to go with experience over youth, so Ferrari have had to seat their juniors at Alfa Romeo – which of course is no longer an option, with the team being sold to Audi. Perhaps the change in leadership with Komatsu taking the reins from Steiner earlier this year, signals a change in the relationship with Ferrari, with Haas taking up the mantle as a learning ground for Ferrari talent.
As for who will partner Bearman at Haas, the frontrunners right now appear to be Ocon and Bottas, assuming the rest of the driver market falls out as expected. But everything can happen in F1.
The rest of the stories this week:
- Williams have reopened negotiations with other drivers, after feeling Sainz is taking too long to make a decision
- Red Bull and VCARB will discuss who to sign for the 2nd VCARB seat over summer break, decision is between Ricciardo and Lawson
- Aston Martin signs former Managing Director of Mercedes High Performance Powertrains, Andy Cowell, as CEO
- Alpine hire three new senior personnel from Ferrari and Red Bull for their technical department
- Zhou may be heading to Formula E
- Puma and Tommy Hilfiger will not extend their partnerships with Mercedes for 2025, will be replaced by Adidas
- Williams announce signing a number of technical staff, among them Matt Harman (Technical Director, Alpine) and Juan Molina (Chief Aerodynamicist, Haas)
- Audi provided an update on 2026 engine development: “The Audi Power Unit has already covered simulated race distances on the test bench. […] Significant milestones and goals have been achieved”
- Jack Doohan will do FP1 at Silverstone with Alpine
- Isack Hadjar will do FP1 at Silverstone in Sergio Perez’s car
- Franco Colapinto will do FP1 at Silverstone in Logan Sargeant’s car
- Silverstone limits fan access to the post-race podium ceremony
- MotoGP to cancel the Kazakhstan GP, will replace it with a 2nd Qatar round
- Lewis Hamilton in talks to buy MotoGP team Gresini Racing
- Arrow McLaren signs Christian Lundgaard to replace Alexander Rossi for the 2025 INDYCAR season
And remember: The shapeshifting lizards are just as afraid of you, as your are of them.
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.
