This quick episode will focus on the biggest headlines in Formula One from the past 4 months, including maiden wins, new driver contracts, rookies and replacements. It’s F1 turned upside down.
[Retro Lounge plays]
Olivia: Hey everyone, Welcome to Back on Track, a podcast discussing the wonderful and fast-paced world of Formula One. I am your host, Olivia Teeter, and I am a sophomore here at Northwestern. I am also an avid F1 fan, as many of my friends can attest to. And wow, wow, have things changed since May. So, this episode will be shorter, mainly focusing on what has happened in Formula One the past four months. And let me tell you, so much has happened. So strap in, get ready for the ride and let’s get back on track.
[F1 cars driving by at full speed in the distance]
Okay. Where to even start? So I guess we’ll just go team by team.
Over at RedBull, they seem to be struggling. Max has not won a race in months, Sergio Perez’s performances are even worse, and, despite these poor performances, the team chose to offer him a new multi-year contract, which just confused journalists and fans alike. RedBull has also seen many senior staffers leave and move to other teams, which just perpetuates the rumor that RedBull is a very toxic work environment. So, it is very possible that these departures are hurting the team in the current stage that they are in.
[F1 cars driving by at full speed in the distance]
In the biggest surprise of the season, McLaren are now the fastest car on the grid and have seen their drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, both win their first and second races of their careers, with Lando Norris’s third win coming from the Singapore Grand Prix. Lando Norris’s first win came in Miami after four long years of being on the grid, and Oscar Piastri’s first win came in Hungary. But it was also accompanied with a lot of controversy, as McLaren forced Lando to give him first place after they screwed up their pitwall strategy. And this has many journalists saying that McLaren could be getting in their own way to win the Constructors Championship and win the Driver’s Championship for Lando Norris. So, we will have to see if their “papaya rules” will actually end up hurting them.
[Jacques Villeneuve interview with Sky Sports F1]
As for Ferrari, they have been off and on. But the most exciting races for the team have come from Charles Leclerc’s win at his home race in Monaco, and at his win at Ferrari’s home race in Monza, Italy. So, very exciting. They routinely place on podiums but still have a lot of kinks to work out. The other biggest news from the team is that fellow Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz, announced that he will be moving to Williams for next year, following Hamilton’s surprise contract with Ferrari ousting him from his seat.
Speaking of Williams, they made massive headlines when they decided to fire Logan Sargent in the middle of the season and replace him with F2 driver Franco Colapinto. It was a very harsh decision and a very sad decision, but honestly, I think it was the right decision for Williams. Logan Sargent still hadn’t found his footing, and so, if you don’t perform in F1, you’re out. And I think Logan Sargent learned that. Colapinto, though, has scored points in multiple races, along with driver Alex Albon. So, together, they’re setting Williams up for a very solid end to the season. And people are falling in love with Colapinto, and many are calling for him to be offered a permanent seat in F1 next year.
Luckily for him, there is a seat open for him at Sauber, who announced this summer the signing of Nico Hulkenberg from Haas earlier this Summer. But there is no word on their second driver yet, which is why many think that Colapinto will be the second driver.
[F1 cars driving by at full speed in the distance]
Over at Haas, Hulkenberg’s replacement will be none other than Ollie Bearman, who had a stellar performance racing a Ferrari earlier this season as Carlos Sainz’s replacement during his appendix surgery. He will be joined by Esteban Ocon from Alpine next year in an all new driver line-up for the team. So they’re going in kind of a different direction. They’re no longer going with experience. They’re going with someone who has experience, and then a rookie. So, we will see how that strategy plays out for them.
[F1 cars driving by at full speed in the distance]
Mercedes also is employing a similar approach after announcing that young F2 driver–very young F2 driver– Kimi Anonelli will be replacing Hamilton for the 2025 season and beyond. However, that’s not even the biggest headline to come out of Mercedes this season. That would go to Hamilton’s win at Silverstone. Hamilton won his home race; he won the British Grand Prix in his last year at Mercedes. It was a very emotional moment, a very nostalgic moment, and you really couldn’t hate that moment. It was very sweet; it was very nice. But then also kind of more comically or ironically, Hamilton’s second race win this season came after George Russell was disqualified in the Belgian Grand Prix for being too underweight. So, that was a little bit different to his emotionally charged win at Silverstone.
[Lewis Hamilton’s radio message after his win]
Switching gears to Aston Martin, they announced the signing of Adrien Newey, genius engineer who left RedBull earlier this year. With their driver lineup staying the same for the foreseeable future, will this addition create any major changes? I don’t know. Only time will tell for that one.
[F1 cars driving by at full speed in the distance]
Then at Alpine, Esteban Ocon’s replacement was announced to be their reserve driver Jack Doohan, who will be looking to score some major points for the team with Pierre Gasly after a pretty lackluster season, for lack of a better word.
[F1 cars driving by at full speed in the distance]
Lastly, we are ending with RB, RedBull’s junior team. So, Yuki continues to score points here and there, but the real sad news comes from the dismissal of beloved driver Daniel Ricciardo after the Singapore Grand Prix. RB announced that he will be replaced by reserve driver Liam Lawson, who briefly drove for Daniel Ricciardo last season after he broke his hand. And many fans are disappointed to see Ricciardo leave the sport after a very solid, long career that saw him win Monaco, 7 other races, top hundreds of podiums, gain thousands of points. It’s a very solid career to be proud of, and I think Daniel Ricciardo should leave with his head held high— which he did. I am very sad to see Daniel Ricciardo go, he will be missed on the grid. At least by me. So, many fans are disappointed, like me, to see him leave the sport because many thought Ricciardo was supposed to replace Sergio Perez over the Summer at Red Bull, but of course, this was ended when Perez announced his contract renewal. So, Lawson is expected to sign a contract to become the permanent driver for RB soon. That is just a rumor, but it is, of course, the expectation. So, very sad news, but again, if you don’t perform in F1, you’re out. And Daniel Ricciardo knew this. I think he knew that this was coming. He knew he wasn’t living up to expectations. So, I don’t think it came as a surprise to him. But it definitely shocked many fans, and it definitely saddened many fans.
[Daniel Ricciardo speaking about his leave]
Wow, okay, so that was a lot of names, teams, words, so if you’re interested to know more about these brief headlines I talked about, definitely go on the Formula One website or the Formula One app! They have tons of analysis and breakdowns of F1 news. But the main takeaway from this episode is that Formula One has been turned on its head. New rookies, new dominant teams, new contracts, team moves are making this season— and definitely next season— whole new territory for F1 fans. There are no more expectations. All this just goes to show how truly fast-paced Formula One can be, so get ready for a fast and furious end to the season (pun intended? Yes). Alright, that’s all I have for you today, and I will see you for the next race in the one and only Austin, Texas.
[Retro Lounge plays]