Hi friends
It’s been weeks. Formula 1 feels like a distant memory. I am forgetting what the teams are called, and who are in the cars.
In reality though, the summer shutdown is an important break from the gruelling in-season cycle of weekend travel and weekday office hours for the teams’ staff. The people in F1 are some of the most hardworking I know, and they deserve any little bit of time off they can get.
Top story of the week: Adrian Newey reportedly heading to Aston Martin
The rumours about where Newey will end up have been going for months, swinging back and forth between Ferrari and Aston Martin, with the occasional mention of Williams or Mercedes. But now it seems that most needles are pointing towards Aston Martin.
Why is this important? It’s been talked about for years, that Newey is one of, if not the most influential and successful designers in modern F1. Whichever team manages to sign him could and should expect their future cars to be awesome aerodynamic platforms, which coupled with the right driver and engine has all the potential to challenge for wins and championships.
But of course, Newey doesn’t do it alone. Aston Martin has made other major signings recently, have invested heavily into new facilities for testing and developing their designs and increased the number of technical staff at their new Silverstone factory. If they land Newey, they could be making a serious run at the top teams. According to the rumours, we could know as early as next month.
The rest of the stories this week:
- McLaren extends contract with Team Principal Andrea Stella on a multi-year deal
- Max Verstappen tested a DTM car at Mugello and stunned the engineers
- CEO of the Canadian GP, Francois Dumontier, will step down after 30 years of organising the race
- Diego Tondi appointed Head of Aerodynamics at Ferrari
- Domenicali talks about the future of F1, part 1 and part 2 (Smaller and lighter cars, V8s, hydrogen power, better sound, reverse grid sprints – all the buzzwords are in there)
- Adidas is closing in on sealing deals with both Mercedes and Audi for next year
- Rwanda wants an F1 race
- Team JOTA will become the Cadillac factory team in WEC Hypercar
- Andretti is looking to join NASCAR
- Juan Pablo Montoya will return to NASCAR at Watkins Glen
- NASCAR could be heading to São Paulo
- MotoGP celebrated the series’ 75th anniversary by having the teams run retro liveries
- During testing for the Nürburgring Endurance Series, there was an explosion in the pit area – most likely a pressure cylinder
- F3 team Jenzer Motorsport will leave the series after 15 seasons
And here’s a little fun fact for you: Lancestroll.com was originally set up to collect RSVPs for his bar mitzvah in 2011.
That’s it for this week. Until next time, thank you for being here.
If you have any feedback, suggestions or questions, send me a message on Twitter or via Buymeacoffee.
