Hi friends,
I could probably have done an entire recap just about the news from Tuesday – It’s definitely been a week with lots to talk about.
Top Story of the Week: Alpine Will Switch to Mercedes Engines and Gearboxes From 2026
I think we’ve talked about this in three different editions of the recap already, but we have to talk about it again. Not so much because they’ve announced their switch to Mercedes – we’ve been expecting that for a while – but more because of what that and other recent stories signals about the team.
Why is this important? If we look at the recent developments for the Enstone outfit, things are pointing more and more in one direction: Renault are preparing to off-hand the team.
They’re ceasing their engine programme, they let around 300 staff go from the team, they brought in an external hire for Team Principal and they got Flavio Briatore back – a man known in the paddock as a deal maker.
This is following the corporate acquisition playbook, almost to the letter. If the owners of a company are looking to sell, they will streamline operations, improve profitability (aka cut expenses), secure key partnerships and bring in leadership to handle the change. Renault just did all that.
While they are saying in public that the team is not for sale, they certainly are throwing some heavy hints behind the scenes, that they are open to talking.
And it’s especially interesting if we look at their recent hiring practices. They brought in Oliver Oakes, former Hitech GP Director, and there is talk about Alpine already hiring staff from Hitech26 – Hitech GP’s Formula 1 project, which was among the two applications F1 reviewed for a grid spot in 2026, the other being Andretti.
Speaking of Andretti, they would be an obvious candidate to take over the team and secure their spot on the grid. However, the recent upheaval at Andretti, which saw Michael Andretti step down from his leadership position, casts doubts on their F1 project.
Right now, the arrow is pointing at Alpine becoming Hitech.
The Rest of the Stories This Week:
- F1 will host a shared season launch event in February 2025, featuring all teams and drivers
- Dan Fallows will no longer serve as Technical Director of Aston Martin
- Rotational F1 races coming “very, very soon” according to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali
- The Formula 1 Commission has announced decisions from their latest meeting: Driver cooling kits, new procedures for closing up the grid when a car is withdrawn, post-season rookie sprint race in 2026 and gender-neutral language in the sporting regulations
- Williams has filed with the UK trade authorities for permission to issue and sell new shares of up to £150 million
- Audi could sell a minority stake of Sauber to the Qatari sovereign wealth fund
- The FIA has visited the Red Bull factory to investigate the bib adjustment device, and has cleared the team
- Lewis Hamilton will not be living in Enzo Ferrari’s house at Fiorano
- Monaco will stay on the calendar until at least 2031, and will change dates to the first weekend in June
- Niels Wittich has stepped down as F1 Race Director. Will be replaced by Rui Marques
- Wittich’s departure may not have been as amicable as the FIA wants to make it out to be
- F1 announced a new partnership with Kitkat
- F1 Arcade will open a location in Denver in 2025
- Work on the facilities at Hungaroring is coming along
- Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei will step down at the end of the year
- Liberty Media will split their Formula 1 and MotoGP holdings from their Live Nation holdings
- Joey Logano won his 3rd NASCAR Cup Series title
- The NASCAR pace car had a little oopsie
- Romain Grosjean could be out of an IndyCar seat in 2025
- IndyCar team AJ Foyt Racing parts ways with technical director Michael Cannon
That’s it for this week. Until next time, thank you for being here.
If you want to support me, you can help fuel the snack addition that powers me through compiling these lists and vetting the stories – you can do so on Buymeacoffee or Patreon.
