Carlos Sainz has expressed his concerns that inaccurate reports of having signed a new Formula 1 race deal are going “unpunished”, as he is still deciding which team to join after he leaves Ferrari.

Sainz has known for months he will be replaced at Ferrari by Lewis Hamilton next season and is expected to finally make a decision on his next move following the news that Red Bull has re-signed Sergio Perez to partner Max Verstappen in 2025.

The three-time grand prix winner had been holding out for a possible Red Bull or Mercedes seat to keep him at a top team, but that has not paid off.

While Sainz’s representatives have had discussions with all the teams still with vacancies, his choice is understood to have boiled down to Sauber - which will become the Audi works team in 2026 - and Williams.

It was claimed by some outlets in the build-up to the Canadian Grand Prix weekend that Sainz had chosen to join Williams but he has denied that a decision has been made.

Sainz actually went out of his way to correct that misinformation in his media session on Thursday in Montreal, deviating from a question from The Race about whether the opportunities he now has had changed his mindset in terms of wanting more flexibility rather than being tied down longer-term.

“No, the only thing I can tell you is there is nothing locked in,” said Sainz.

“I've seen reports in the media, I don't know if it's in Spain, people saying I've signed [for Williams].

“You look at those things, it makes me laugh because I remember seeing reports three months ago that I had signed for Mercedes, reports that I had signed for Red Bull.

How Williams complicates Sainz's dilemma

Read more

“Now obviously those places are not going to happen. So, it's funny, now people are saying I've signed for Williams.

“It makes me laugh but sometimes this goes a bit unpunished in a way for some media persons. And I'm not talking about you guys, because you guys are deep down within Formula 1 and you know when something's been signed or not.

“I can just tell you that obviously it concerns me that people can get away with that kind of stuff.”

Sainz then continued his answer to return to the crux of the initial question, and indicated he still thought that a long-term project will be the best move rather than engineering in some flexibility with a shorter-term deal that allows him to move elsewhere if a better option arises.

“I'll put everything into perspective,” he said. “I will seriously consider everything inside that contract that I sign.

“I'm still a firm believer that in Formula 1 to be successful, you need a medium-to-long-term project. I don't think you're ever going to be successful in Formula 1 to go one year somewhere to win, and then leave.

Our verdict on 2026 F1 rules package

Read more

“You need a proper project for those things to happen. I think 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028 offers me a good opportunity to find that.

“I’ve said I think 2026 is going to be a lottery. You guys have seen the regs today. When I had a look, it looks impossible for me to predict who's going to be competitive.

“Right now, you guys see it maybe with a bit of a dramatic perspective, not being in a competitive car for 2025 or 2026.

“But I think 2026 is going to be such a turnaround that maybe the future holds something really positive out there for me.”

Sainz declined to answer a question about why a team like Williams would appeal to him, simply on the basis that “whatever I tell you here today, you could put it in a headline and make a story out of it and I don't want to”.

He did say, though, that what he has been presented with are “good options” and he feels “happy and proud” that he has a choice to make when not many drivers have that luxury.

“Everyone I've talked to I felt wanted,” he said. “I felt like people really want me in their team and this makes me feel proud and positive about the future.”

Carlos Sainz was not the only Formula 1 driver Red Bull snubbed in giving Sergio Perez a contract extension. One of its own was also overlooked.

There seems little Yuki Tsunoda can do to force his way into the Red Bull Racing reckoning, based on an increasingly impressive portfolio of work at the sister RB team going unnoticed.

Perez’s new deal was merely confirmation of that fact, with Tsunoda - like RB team-mate Daniel Ricciardo - resigned to accepting that the promised land remains out of reach. Even though Tsunoda is comprehensively outperforming Ricciardo, who also started 2024 with grand designs on pressuring Perez for that seat alongside Max Verstappen.

Red Bull’s disinterest in considering Tsunoda for its main team amounts to a refusal to promote him. Which is, in a way, completely fine. Red Bull’s under no obligation to make Tsunoda Verstappen’s team-mate. Much as this is not in keeping with the second team’s DNA of training drivers for the senior team, it’s been argued for a while that Red Bull wants RB to become a stronger entity in its own right.

Too soon? Our verdict on Red Bull keeping Perez

Read more

The problem is that it leaves Tsunoda trapped. He has no realistic future at the Red Bull team he ultimately wants to race for. And he is of interest to multiple rival teams, with Haas, Alpine and even Sauber/Audi believed to have considered the Japanese driver among its 2025 options - but Red Bull is understood to have an option it can exercise to keep Tsunoda for next season.

So, even if Tsunoda’s the top target for someone else, and wants to leave, he can’t without Red Bull’s permission. A Helmut Marko claim to Kleine Zeitung that Tsunoda is “set” for 2025 would suggest that, as it stands, Red Bull has no intention of letting him go.

On Thursday at the Canadian Grand Prix, Tsunoda didn’t sound like someone aware of that plan - only stating that “hopefully we can have a formal discussion” and stressing he hadn’t signed anything himself.

“Definitely it feels more supportive,” he said of Marko’s comments.

“Normally it [earning Red Bull’s faith] is at the end of the season - which aged me a lot, to be honest! That was a tough last three years.

“It’s a bit different this season, so it's good, and it means I can commit more. Hopefully these things will come out soon, clearly, in any way.”

It may be that Tsunoda finds himself in the same situation as his former team-mate and friend Pierre Gasly, who had a Red Bull contractual option activated when he was at AlphaTauri - only for Red Bull to later accept a buyout from Alpine to sign him. Maybe the Marko/Red Bull play is to keep Tsunoda under contract to release him if one of his suitors is willing to pay for the privilege.

But short-term, being kept where he is would not be the end of the world for Tsunoda. Right now, RB’s clearly better than any of the teams he could move to. He has an affection for Red Bull, which has backed him for a long time, and displays a clear sense of loyalty. Several times now, Tsunoda has stressed that Red Bull is his first priority in securing his future “as soon as possible”.

“This year has been a lot different,” he said. “I got a couple of options from others which is a good thing that I’m able to grow my value as well.

“Especially in this interesting driver market, I wanted to make myself secure to focus on the rest of the races.

“The priority is Red Bull, to make sure we are on the same page, because Red Bull is part of my life and without them I wouldn’t [even] achieve this much.”

But life at RB comes with a performance ceiling, much as it would like to believe otherwise, and it will lose its Honda engines in 2026 - with Honda being a key Tsunoda backer.

This is a team that is not particularly desirable for a driver with ambition to be locked into indefinitely, nor one that seems to be a pragmatic fit long-term either.

The hardest part for Tsunoda is that he clearly does not want to give up all hope of a Red Bull seat one day. He knows, or at least believes, it is the only realistic chance he has of a top F1 drive - at least for a good while.

Even if Tsunoda is not quite at the level required to command a seat at F1’s very top table, he surely deserves more recognition for his performances and his clear advantage over Ricciardo - whose intended career revival has stalled alongside Tsunoda - than year-to-year uncertainty, waiting for options to be taken up or not.

He even hinted at this in Montreal when he suggested that the interest in other teams might be something that triggers a new kind of Red Bull deal with a greater commitment.

“Hopefully Red Bull will understand more or see more my proper potential and performance, and maybe it can change in the future," he said.

“I would like to see in the contract more commitment from them. I'm committing already with Red Bull a lot and hopefully I can add even more commitment from them.

“I’m happy with the Red Bull family. And maybe this year is an interesting year, a bit of value from others will hopefully make room to negotiate something with them.”

Whatever is possible, Tsunoda is performing too well to be stuck in the kind of career limbo he seems to be at risk of, just as his stock in the driver market is reaching an all-time high.

The Arrow McLaren IndyCar team has dropped Juncos Hollinger Racing as a strategic partner after McLaren’s Theo Pourchaire was abused online by fans of JHR and fans of its driver Agustin Canapino.

The two teams - with IndyCar’s two most popular drivers in Spanish-speaking markets in Pato O’Ward and Canapino - joined forces late last year in a bid to capitalise on those fanbases mainly from a commercial perspective. There’s no competition element or sharing of any on-track data, information of equipment in the deal.

IndyCar abuse has turned toxic - and must be stopped

Read more

Last weekend, Pourchaire crashing into Canapino during the Detroit Grand Prix led to death threats towards Pourchaire on social media in the aftermath. 

It’s the third time a driver has received death threats from JHR and Canapino’s fans after two instances for his team-mate Callum Ilott last year.

“Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team has terminated its commercial alliance with Juncos Hollinger Racing, effective immediately,” said a team statement on Thursday.

“This decision follows actions that occurred earlier this week on social media in regards to an on-track incident at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

“As reflected in the team’s social media community code, Arrow McLaren will not tolerate any form of abuse or discrimination and totally condemns the online abuse directed toward our team and driver.”

In the aftermath of the death threats, McLaren and Juncos released a joint statement on Monday - posted by McLaren - and Pourchaire also posted to social media confirming the incident.

I’m sad I received so much hate and death threats in the last 24 hours for such a small incident in the Detroit GP.

I hope people can understand that we are all humans and we can make mistakes. But it’s not normal to abuse people online..

Please be kind to each other 🙏🏻🫶🏻 https://t.co/JWKU2IYEFF

— Théo Pourchaire (@TPourchaire) June 3, 2024

The next day, Canapino issued his own statement, saying he has “not seen a single death threat directed at those who claim to have received them” and that it's “outrageous” for his support base to be “accused of this so lightly”.

Espero y deseo que sea la primera y ultima vez que tenga que hablar de esto.

I hope and wish that this is the first and last time I have to talk about this. pic.twitter.com/5m6db2ctLS

— Agustín Canapino 🇦🇷 (@AgustinCanapino) June 4, 2024

McLaren has confirmed to The Race that it has screen grabs of the threats made to Pourchaire - which reportedly number well over 20 - and that several of the screen grabs were shared with Juncos Hollinger on Monday. It’s not clear if they were shared with Canapino before he issued his statement.

The threats to Pourchaire have also been verified by fluent Spanish speakers to ensure they are not being poorly translated or misunderstood because of the language barrier.

Canapino and team boss Ricardo Juncos - who likely hold the biggest sway with the team's fanbase and therefore some sort of apology or urging the fanbase to not do this again would hold the most weight - have remained silent publicly on the matter since Canapino's statement, likely being one of the biggest reasons for McLaren severing ties with the JHR team. 

Canapino’s statement has been widely criticised online. He also said in it that he chooses to ignore abuse and hate he receives online, and also liked and replied to tweets which could be seen as mocking the situation in the aftermath.

After McLaren confirmed the end of the partnership, JHR issued a statement that made no reference to last week’s events.

Juncos Hollinger Racing and Arrow McLaren strategic alliance concludes. pic.twitter.com/Syfc9GPIuO

— Juncos Hollinger Racing (@juncoshollinger) June 6, 2024

It’s clear this has been a difficult period for JHR, but while the team’s communications department has been working with McLaren to try to find a resolution, ultimately the team ownership and the driver whose fans are responsible remaining silent as individuals has caused further friction.

IndyCar itself took 17 hours from McLaren's original statement to issue a 47-word response to journalists who asked for comment but hasn't shared anything via its own social media channels in the aftermath.

There appears to have been little in the way of consequences for the people threatening Pourchaire after an on-track incident.

Manx brothers Ryan and Callum Crowe have ensured a perfect end to their 2024 Isle of Man TT by doubling up for a second victory from two starts in the sidecar class.

They took a controlled victory in the delayed and shortened race ahead of former class master Ben Birchall and new passenger Kevin Rousseau.

Able to start Thursday’s race despite missing the opening race due to a practice crash that required extensive repairs to their outfit, Birchall and Rousseau were able to start the 14-time TT winner Ben’s first race without retired brother Tom as his passenger - but, down on experience and still getting to know the Frenchman, the pair were unable to match his previous TT-winning pace.

Instead it was the Crowes who set the pace in the lead, just about breaking the 120mph average speed mark on the last lap to take victory over Birchall and Rousseau by a comfortable 20 seconds after only two laps of the shortened race, which was first moved from Wednesday and then red flagged on Thursday morning after the leaders had completed only three-quarters of a lap.

Third was also something of a Manx surprise, too, as veteran sidecar driver and 17-time TT winner Dave Molyneux returned to the podium for the first time since 2017, with the 60-year-old and his new passenger Jake Roberts finishing over a minute down on Birchall and Rousseau.

The next race was originally scheduled to be the Supersport TT at 1530 local time, but with rain hitting the island shortly after the conclusion of the sidecar race, it has now been delayed until at least 1830.

We give our immediate reaction to the details of the 2026 Formula 1 regulations released by the FIA today in the latest edition of The Race F1 Podcast.

Ben Anderson joins Edd Straw to run through the key changes and explain their potential impact, as well as explaining the reasoning behind them. 

We explain what impact the new power unit regulations have in shaping the rules, as well as the push to make the cars smaller and lighter. 

And the modified aero regs designed to curb aerodynamic outswash further and reduce the extent to which the cars must run stiff and low are also delved into. 

The effect of the new 'manual override' to assist overtake and adjustable aerodynamics are also run through, along with how effective this new package could be in achieving he objectives set by F1.

The Race F1 Podcast is available free to subscribe to from all good podcast suppliers, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

One of the most notable features of Formula 1’s new 2026 rules is that the drag reduction system is being replaced after 15 seasons of use.

The FIA has revealed how the new front and rear wing active aerodynamics will work from 2026, letting any car activate a low-drag mode on the straights at any point – whether they are chasing or following, and regardless of how close to another car they are.

F1 reveals 2026 cars - everything you need to know

Read more

‘Z-mode’ is the standard setting, and the higher downforce configuration the car has for the majority of the lap. ‘X-mode’ is the low-downforce configuration, which will put the front and rear wings into a low-drag setting for use on the straights.

This replaces the simple, retractable rear wing flap that has constituted the DRS for over a decade – and was only usable when a car was within one second of another at a set detection point.

Eliminating the DRS - introduced in 2011 - is a development purists might want to celebrate. It has been a controversial staple of F1 since its introduction and too often it has been overpowered, creating easy drive-by-passes as the chasing car gets a big straightline speed boost and the defending car is left powerless.

It survived various rule changes because it was felt necessary to have something to assist with overtaking. Now new overtaking aids are being created in its place.

As the cars will have 55% less drag than the current ones, they will be going faster on the straights and the benefit of the DRS effect in its current form would be negligible. The low-drag cars are a function of the engine rules as the current drag levels combined with the 2026 engine characteristics would likely mean a severe drop-off in straightline speed.

That required a new solution to encourage overtaking. For 2026, the movable rear wing will no longer be an overtaking aid – it will factor into energy management through the lap and over the course of a race, and this is where the emphasis will go on racing strategy.

“When the power unit has plentiful amounts of energy we will be in the high downforce mode, which gives us the high cornering speeds,” says FIA head of aerodynamics Jason Somerville.

“And where we don't need the grip from the aerodynamics, we deactivate the wings, giving us a low drag mode and that gives us the ability to sensibly use the energy that we have from the electrical systems on board for the duration of the straights.”

Our verdict on 2026 F1 rules package

Read more

The low-drag X mode will be used by default on every straight by every car because less drag means using less energy, and a higher top speed means recovering more energy when braking.

But if all cars are in X mode and therefore faster on the straights, how will overtaking be possible? As previously explained by The Race, a manual override function to use more power from the MGU-K at high speed will be added to help combat how low-drag the cars are.

Once a car hits 340km/h, the MGU-K deployment will taper off, but the override option will give drivers access to more electrical power for longer. When the override is activated, the MGU-K will keep deploying a maximum 350kW power past 340km/h up to 355km/h. 

We still don’t know how long the override function will last or how many times a driver can use it per lap or per race but it will work in principle similar to the DRS, with a requirement to be within a given distance before the end of a lap to the car in front.  

“Overtaking remains a very important parameter for F1. It’s going to be tackled in two ways,” says FIA single-seater technical director Jan Monchaux.

“The first one is to continue to have an aero concept for the car that reduces the losses generated by the car in front and which are negatively impacting the following car. So, you enter the straight and the car is fairly close to the other.

“To help the overtaking, since both cars will have rear wing open and front wing flap open, we are going to allow the car behind to deploy more electrical energy for a given portion of time during that lap.

“Right now with the DRS you are behind a car, within a second, that ticks a box and you are allowed to open your DRS in a straight line.

“This will not be the case anymore. However, the logic will be the same: ‘I'm close enough to another car, I am given an extra amount of energy for that one lap, which I can deploy any way I want’.

“The extra amount of energy is defined and that will give that boost of energy to eventually give the following car a chance to overtake by the end of the straight.”

Formula 1’s 2026 regulations promise nimbler cars, means of restoring some of the overtaking scope lost by teams’ aerodynamic developments and the demise of DRS.

But are they actually on the right lines and will they achieve their goals?

Here are our team’s initial thoughts:

HYBRIDS STILL CONSTRAIN EVERYTHING

Mark Hughes

Given the constraints which the insistence on hybrids imposes - cars too big and heavy - and which have been made even more extreme by the big increase in battery size and the concomitant reduction in fuel flow, these are an ingenious set of regulations.

But the cleverness is solving a self-inflicted problem. When you hear F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali thinking out loud about maybe not having hybrids in 2030 now that we have sustainable fuel, it kind of feels like F1 might be feeling its way back to light, agile cars.

SIMPLER AND NIMBLER IS A GOOD STARTING POINT

Scott Mitchell-Malm

Once my initial surprise passed after seeing the apparent front wing offspring of a 2008 and 2022 car, I started to like how pared back this looks compared to the current, swoopy, 'futuristic' concepts we saw being pushed ahead of the current rules era.

Visually there's no shocking departure - but it looks like what it is, a slightly smaller, slightly simplified car designed to be a bit nimbler and with a big emphasis on being able to follow more easily. That's a good start.

Why F1's dropping DRS for its 2026 cars

Read more

We've seen since 2022 how quickly the FIA's best intentions for following and 'raceability' can be undermined by team development. So I'm not holding my breath that these cars will suddenly create spec-series-level racing.

But there are some obviously more aggressive solutions to deal with outwash (assuming that is the best route to go) and the energy management/deployment strategy in lieu of the DRS as we know it is an interesting twist.

It could be quite complex to explain or follow as an energy-based battle plays out over a grand prix, and it's essential that any differences in available energy aren't so drastic that overtaking does end up being super easy - especially with the manual override power boost.

But I'm cautiously optimistic about what might be possible.

REAL 2026 CARS WILL LOOK VERY DIFFERENT

Glenn Freeman

The recent experience of the 2022 rules reveal means we can be sure of one thing: what we're looking at here is a low-res version of what the teams will come up with. 

That's not a criticism of the FIA for the imagery they've released. It's just the natural way these things work. It's not the FIA's job to try to second-guess what a fully-refined, lean and mean version of a car built to these regulations will look like. 

Much like the 2022 show car that was revealed at Silverstone in 2021 (pictured above), all this is doing is giving us some visual cues of what to expect.

So when the real cars start appearing in pre-season 2026, we can expect them to be much more aggressive interpretations of these rules than what we can see at the moment. 

A GOOD STEP AWAY FROM SUPERSIZE CARS

Oliver Card

You only have to watch this generation of F1 cars crawl through the streets of Monaco recently to recognise that the present-day supersized grid is in need of a drastic change to return to the days of cars dancing and dicing for position.

Whilst not overly drastic (due in part to the retention of incredibly efficient but weighty hybrid technologies), in F1 terms these are significant metrics for weight reduction and hopefully an approach which delivers what drivers, teams and ultimately fans desire.

Also, I tend to take ‘road relevance’ with a pinch of salt, but F1 accelerating the development of sustainable fuel into something that could be available to consumers is an exciting prospect that I hope truly comes to fruition.

ENOUGH REVOLUTIONS

Josh Suttill

A brand-new set of Formula 1 car and engine rules for 2026, that's exciting, right? 

Well...my enthusiasm for new F1 rules has somewhat waned over the years. They always promise to shake up the pecking order and more often than not, as in the case of 2009, 2014 and 2022, they do.

The problem is that the novelty factor doesn't last long. Sure you have a fascinating pre-season where testing is actually worth watching every minute of and the anticipation lasts all the way until the first qualifying session.

Then you get your very different pecking order. You have 2009 (Brawn going from backmarker about to close down to dominant force) at the extreme end and 2022 (world champion Mercedes falling to struggling also-ran) at the tepid end of pecking order overhauls.

But then that new, exciting, mixed-up order quickly becomes the norm. And by the end of the third or fourth round, that anticipation has been replaced with the acceptance that the team with the half-a-second per lap advantage is going to win everything for a very long time.

Red Bull catching and (almost) overhauling Brawn in 2009 is only the exception because Brawn had a bare-bones in-season development fund. Without it, its 2009 campaign is a complete walkover and a (stand-down Keanu Reeves) far less compelling fairytale.

In fact 2009 is such an exception that any attempt to replicate the radical shake-up and subsequent feel-good story it produced would be futile.

Usually it becomes a waiting game for fans as the big guns, who tripped over the banana skins that the new rules presented, have to catch up - a lengthy process in F1's cost cap era, and the wait is amplified by having 24 race weekends a year.

What's more painful is that new rules can often stifle a really good, organic development war. The 2021 Mercedes vs Red Bull title fight being replaced by Red Bull domination (via a brief Ferrari renaissance and capitulation) in 2022 is the prime example, but there are plenty of others throughout F1's history.

The initial year of rules reset is often far less exciting than what comes two or three years down the line. Seeing McLaren and Ferrari organically catching up to Red Bull this year has been far more satisfying than if Red Bull's domination was simply ended by it getting the 2026 car and/or engine rules wrong.

The problem for F1 is that even if its 2026 rules are a success (something probably realised in 2027 or 2028), they're going to be ripped up and redone for 2030.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't ever have new rules resets. F1 has always been about innovation and having a stable set of regulations would go against the championship's DNA.

But they could be used far more sparingly or we'll simply be locked in this cycle of throwing away something good every few years in search of something marginally better, forever. 

FOCUS ON ENGINES IS PROBLEMATIC

Edd Straw

The rules package overall looks interesting and well-conceived, but there are legitimate concerns about the extent to which the chassis regulations are defined by the need to suit the power unit package.

While the engine regs are a commercial necessity, and the compromises made are coherent and logical, it doesn't necessarily add up to the best possible package to produce the kind of F1 spectacle and challenge that everyone desires.

F1 reveals 2026 cars - everything you need to know

Read more

There's one obvious contradiction implicit in the direction the rules have to take. Quite correctly, there's a desire to reduce the size and weight of the cars, to make them more nimble. Drivers and fans alike would benefit from a return to those visibly on-edge cars that have that sharpness on turn-in that conveys the sense of speed.

However, the need for hybrid power units works against that lightweight ethos and while the FIA has done a laudable job to squeeze the weight and size downwards, there are baked-in elements it had to work within that means this is only chipping away at the edges of the problem.

A RELIEF FOR MERCEDES

Ben Anderson

The way these rules are headed will surely come as a big relief to Mercedes in particular.

Perhaps no team has struggled more - compared to expectations at least - with the critical emphasis the current ground effect regulations have placed on how intricate floor designs intersect with precise platform control and rideheight sensitivity.

The expectation in 2026 that cars will run higher and less stiffly sprung than they do now, with reduced floor width and diffuser power too, sounds like a recipe made to soothe the sore heads of Mercedes engineers - and the sore backs of Mercedes drivers.

There are still plenty of other potential trip hazards in the regs as they stand I'm sure, and it doesn't look as though Mercedes will be able to count on Adrian Newey to steer a course through those, but it does look as though these new aero rules are moving a bit more towards what Mercedes is still good at - and hybrid engines have always been their strong point anyway.

The first official look at Formula 1’s 2026 car rules has been revealed by the FIA, along with several new key details including dropping the drag reduction system as we know it.

As expected, the next-generation car will be slightly shorter, and slightly narrower, with revised aerodynamic profiling from front to back to create more efficient cars with lower drag, with the aim of making it easier for them to follow each other.

The reduced dimensions are part of an effort to start to reverse how bloated F1 cars have become, having ballooned in mass over the past few rule changes, most notably in the V6 turbo-hybrid engine era that began in 2014.

DRS, which has been used in F1 since 2011, will be replaced with active aerodynamics on the front and rear wing to create a ‘low drag mode’, along with an MGU-K override system that will give chasing cars extra electrical energy to help them overtake.  

There are also changes to the front wing, sidepods and floors to build on lessons from the 2022 rules era.

THE KEY CHANGES

Chassis 

• The FIA is calling this the ‘nimble car’ concept. The total mass of the cars will drop by 30kg, the maximum wheelbase will shrink by 200mm, the total car width will compress 100mm and the maximum floor width will reduce by 150mm.
• 18-inch wheels will remain but the width of the front tyres will reduce by 25mm and the rears by 30mm.
• Front and side impact structures and roll hoops will be revised to improve safety - without adding weight.

Aerodynamics 

• Downforce levels will reduce by 30% and drag by 55%. 
• Active aerodynamics will replace DRS with moveable front and rear wings. Drivers will be able to switch from the standard ‘Z-mode’ (higher downforce) to ‘X-mode’ (low-drag) to increase straight-line speed. 
• The front wing will be 100mm narrower with a two-element active flap. A three-element active rear wing will be adopted, with the lower beam wing removed and the endplates simplified. 
• The teams’ ability to ‘out-wash’ airflow and disturb the cars following will be limited by mandated pieces of bodywork that ‘in-wash’ the airflow instead.
• Floors will become partially flat and diffuser power will be neutered, reducing the ground effect and the reliance of the cars on ultra-stiff and low set-ups.

Engine 

• The MGU-H will be eliminated. ICE power will reduce from 550-560kw to 400kw. MGU-K power will increase from 120kw to 350kw.
• The amount of energy recovered under braking will double, resulting in a total recuperable energy of 8.5 MJ per lap. 
• A ‘Manual Override’ mode will taper the recovered energy deployment of a leading car after it reaches 290km/h, dropping to zero at 355km/h, while the following car will benefit from MGU-K override providing 350kW up to 337km/h and +0.5MJ of extra energy. 
• The 2026 engines will run on fully sustainable fuel - a key reason Honda is returning to F1, Audi is coming in and Ford is joining up with Red Bull Powertrains.

THE RATIONALE

The FIA devoted a lot of research and development time trying to improve the wake characteristics of the current cars, so the chasing car retained more downforce to make it easier to follow.

But the rulemakers realised quickly that the teams’ car development since 2022 had slashed those gains, and the FIA opted to wait until the 2026 rules to address this.

Why F1's dropping DRS for its 2026 cars

Read more

The FIA’s head of aerodynamics Jason Somerville even claims that “re-establishing following car performance” has been the main goal of this 2026 aero rules package. 

The desire for such low drag is partly because that’s more sustainable - it requires less energy and fuel to be used - but also because the 2026 engine characteristics are such that the current drag levels would result in what the FIA calls a “severe drop off in speed” on the straights. 

The narrower front wing with a distinctive new endplate arrangement goes much further than the current cars in trying to eliminate outwash - where airflow is forced around parts like the front wheels, to avoid a disruptive airflow being channelled through the rest of the car. 

The FIA sees this as crucial to improve the wake characteristics and make it easier to follow, as in simple terms, teams love creating outwash for performance reasons but it’s a killer for racing. 

The fact an override function is being introduced to boost the electrical energy deployed at the end of the straights by the car behind compared to the car in front -  provided (as with the current DRS) they are within a certain unspecified distance of the car in front - suggests the profile of the new cars will still inherently make overtaking difficult.

The emphasis on cars with much lower drag than before will create a much-reduced slipstream effect, so what the new car and engine regs are trying to achieve, in combination, is an emphasis on energy management and deployment that offsets this - to make sure that overtaking is still possible, but not too easy.

THE NEXT STEPS

More details will be shared later in the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. However, the full regulations are not expected to be published until later in June, as the FIA World Motor Sport Council still needs to sign off on them.

Finalising the car rules means other key details will soon be locked in, such as the usage of the new ‘manual override’ system that will deliver an electrical power boost at high speed.

The override function will only be available at certain points on the track, in defined conditions, but we still don’t know how long the override function will last or how many times a driver can use it per lap or per race.

Our verdict on F1's 2026 car package

Read more

The engine rules themselves have been locked in for several years. The move from around 80/20 to something closer to a 50/50 split between internal combustion engine power and electrical power from an uprated MGU-K has been the source of controversial debate about the new rules.

Red Bull, which is preparing to run its own in-house F1 engine for the first time in collaboration with Ford, has been the most vocal opponent of the package.

It has been argued that the sizeable increase in the significance of the hybrid element will cause bizarre tactics and utilise the V6 mainly as a generator to charge the battery, with the chassis rules compromised to try to make the car workable around this. However, this has been emphatically refuted by the FIA. 

Milwaukee BMW racer Davey Todd has defeated Peter Hickman in one of the closest-fought races of recent times at the Isle of Man TT, to take his first-ever victory at the historic event in the delayed and shortened opening Superstock TT event.

Todd managed a tiny lap of at times well under a second on the final lap of three to win from Hickman, with Michael Dunlop in third.

Hickman started only the second 1000cc race of the event (after significant weather delays pushed the schedule back) as the clear favourite given his dominance of the class in recent years - and despite Todd taking an early lead there was no real cause for concern in his FHO BMW team given Hickman’s usual steady starts.

However despite his best efforts, 15-time TT winner Hickman was never really ever able to close down the gap that Todd had established early on.

Drawing it down to only half a second halfway around the final lap, Todd then responded across the Mountain section of the course to stretch it out to 2.207 seconds at the chequered flag on Glencrutchery Road, setting an average speed of 135.092mph on the final 37.73-mile lap.

“The feeling is incredible,” he said after the race. I’m really struggling for words right now. It literally feels like a dream. 

“I really owe it to the Milwaukee BMW guys because they put their faith in me. Getting the first one was always going to be special, and to do it in this way, battling with Hicky and Michael, is unbelievable.

“Everyone is so strong right now, everyone is so close, and the laptimes are insane. That makes it all the more special.”

Two-time winner this week Dunlop, who became the most successful TT racer of all time on Wednesday, came home in third, 17 seconds down on Hickman.

Thursday morning’s schedule originally saw the Sidecar TT get away first, before red flags came out for an incident involving TT newcomers and reigning world champions Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement at Waterworks. 

Both were reported as OK, and the rescheduled race will run over two laps at 1400, followed by the second Supersport TT at 1515.

The Homestead facility best known as a NASCAR venue and a new track in northern Thailand are set to feature when Formula E announces its 2024/25 calendar next week.

Homestead is in line to become FE’s fifth United States track, after a purpose-built Miami circuit (2015), an adaptation of IndyCar’s Long Beach street track (2015 and ‘16),  the Red Hook track in Brooklyn (2017-22) and the Portland road course that made its debut last year and will host FE again at the end of this month.

Formula E would use the majority of Homestead’s infield road course, a sometime Grand-Am circuit more recently used for national junior single-seater and one-make GT racing. The Homestead oval was a long-time IndyCar track and has been on the NASCAR Cup calendar since 1999, spending many years at its season finale.

An April 2025 date is likely, although it may initially appear as a ‘TBA’ when the calendar is publicly issued.

The Race revealed last month that talks between Formula E and the Homestead facility had intensified in recent months and a site visit is already believed to have happened.

The possibility of two US races is believed to have been considered but ultimately discounted, mainly for logistical reasons. It last happened when Miami and Long Beach ran back-to-back in Formula E’s inaugural season.

THAI DEBUT TOO

Prior to Homestead, which will likely be a single-header event, Formula E is expected to confirm a planned race in the Thai city of Chiang Mai, thus becoming the first international single-seater championship to race in the country. Formula 1 recently made it clear it is also looking at racing in Thailand in the near future.

The possibility of a race in Chiang Mai is believed to have recently crystallised, with an agreement in place for an early March date.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin had already announced during a tour of Northern Thailand in March that the Chiang Mai province was planning to host Formula E in 2025.

The race is expected to be tied to a major environmental festival which will aim to highlight sustainability drives in the country, including the issue of air pollution and the promotion of electric vehicles.

Formula E is believed to have an element of cover for next season with the Tempelhof event in Berlin able to be moved to the early spring should either Chiang Mai or Homestead run into difficulty.

Earlier this year the Hyderabad E-Prix in India was cancelled just six weeks before it was due to run after regional political complications scuppered the race.

Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds told The Race in March that “a lot of the conversation we're having now is ‘do you accept disruption is part and parcel of having street circuits?’ or instead, do you say, ‘well, look, there's options, we could pre-book fixed circuits, on certain dates and pay small holding deposits if something goes wrong?’”

ANOTHER WEC CLASH?

Berlin Tempelhof is expected to move to a July date but could be used with floating intentions and be moved earlier in the year should it need to. Its recent FE dates have been in either April or May.

What happens with Berlin could ultimately dictate whether there is a clash with the World Endurance Championship, which is believed to have an event already confirmed for mid-July 2025. Its calendar is expected to be announced next Friday during the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Another FE/WEC clash would have a big impact on the FE driver market, which is currently in a state of fervour, given the traditional overlap of drivers between the two series.

Some FE teams are now stipulating exclusivity from drivers, many of whom already have 2025 WEC contracts in place which themselves have priority clauses.

Formula E will start its 2024/25 campaign on the first Saturday of December at the specially constructed Anhembi Stadium track that has hosted a Sao Paulo E-Prix since March 2022. That will then be followed by the traditional early/mid-January date at the Mexico City E-Prix, again held at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Pre-season testing will take place in the first week of November and as revealed by The Race will include an all-female period of testing time during the three days of running.

The provisional calendar for 2024-25 is set to be ratified next week at the FIA World Motorsport Council meeting.

Returning for the fourth time, The Race Media Awards are back to celebrate outstanding achievements across the motorsport industry from 2024.

They remain the only Awards dedicated to excellence in motorsport marketing, communications and PR, and are free to enter for all applicants. 

In 2025, the Awards will be bigger than ever, with three brand-new categories added. The 10 categories open for entries are as follows:

• Race Promoter of the Year – NEW FOR 2025
• Best Documentary – NEW FOR 2025
• Rising Star – NEW FOR 2025
• Brand of the Year
• International Agency of the Year 
• Boutique Agency of the Year 
• Best Live Experience
• Best Social Media Activation
• Creative Content of the Year 
• Most Inspiring Campaign

For a full list of entry requirements for each category, please click here.

Entries are welcome from commercial rights holders, agencies and brands across all forms of motorsport. All work entered must have been launched or be current from 1st January 2024 to 30th November 2024.

To allow recognition for the amazing diversity of work distributed over recent years, the ‘Best Documentary’ category will allow submissions for works released between 1st January 2023 and 30th November 2024. 

Organisations may submit entries on behalf of themselves or others. Entries can be submitted into more than one category, and you can enter as many times as you wish.

Any information submitted will only be seen by the independent judging panel and will remain private and confidential.

The closing date for entries is December 13, 2024.

Entry to the Awards is free, and all successful shortlisted entrants will receive complimentary tickets to the Awards ceremony.

The date of the event, host and venue will be released in due course.

To submit your entry, visit theracemediaawards.com/submit.

Somewhere between Enea Bastianini's on-track protest at his cascading penalties at Barcelona and his Ducati team-mate Pecco Bagnaia's incandescence over being penalised for impeding at Mugello a week later, the criticism of MotoGP stewarding jumped the shark.

The FIM stewards panel led by Freddie Spencer, premier-class champion in 1982 and 1985, does not have a high approval rating among the MotoGP grid.

Riders have been openly rebellious over perceived inconsistencies and what some of them see as an overly informal approach to decision-making. Some of them see it as not worth their time to weigh in on stewards' rulings because they see them more like acts of ancient gods, entities beyond our comprehension to whom all you can do is pray in hope of a plentiful harvest. Others take a similar stance because they feel it's all been said before.

And truthfully, even at Mugello last weekend there was a real head-scratcher of a decision in Miguel Oliveira avoiding sanction for taking Fabio Quartararo down with him from the sprint - a decision that drew wordy but righteous irritation from the Yamaha rider.

💥 A double clear-out in the #TissotSprint 💥 @FabioQ20 and @_moliveira88 found themselves tangled up in a collision going into Scarperia ⚠️#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/Ctg00iL2zT

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 1, 2024

But the cause is being co-opted.

If Bastianini's Barcelona defiance was at least understandable from a logical standpoint - he did have a case to argue he had been forced off track - if not particularly defensible in terms of the form it took, Mugello featured two more cases of aggrieved parties going over the line between 'valid questioning of the stewards' and 'just objecting to every penalty your side receives'.

The Bagnaia case

The first example of that was the three-place grid drop Bagnaia received for the impact the stewards felt he'd had on a flying lap of Alex Marquez's in the closing minutes of Friday practice.

Marquez aborted the lap and spent a good few seconds giving Bagnaia a piece of his mind afterwards, which led to Bagnaia derisively calling him a "showman".

Ultimately, the showman did get later himself into that crucial top 10 to guarantee a Q2 spot - although that is an irrelevance, given the aborted effort was still a valid push lap during a qualifying-like session, which is not something you're allowed to compromise as a rival regardless of its actual quality.

👀 @alexmarquez73 and @PeccoBagnaia almost collide in Practice! 🤯

The incident is being investigated by the Stewards that will make a decision soon but as you can see the Ducati riders have completely different opinions on what happened 🔎#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/bPtrX8wBGz

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 31, 2024

Ducati appealed the penalty but said it accepted the decision once that failed. Bagnaia, though, certainly didn't sound accepting.

"I'm still frustrated because I think it's ridiculous," he said after his sprint win. "We demonstrated clearly what happened, and they just decided to issue the penalty when I was speaking with them. When I was speaking, trying to help them understand with the telemetry data, what was happening, the announcement of the penalty was out.

"This is s**t. This is s**t. And not anyone is happy. We have no consistency in terms of penalties.

"In Portimao I crashed with Marc [Marquez], we both crashed. They said to me: 'If you didn't crash, you were getting a long-lap'. But today what happened with [Jorge] Martin and [Enea] Bastianini. Was it the same dynamic, no? No penalty.

"Or Oliveira/Quartararo. Or yesterday Oliveira/Martin. We have no consistency, and like this you are starting to set a precedent that next time, if someone will ruin a bit my lap, I will start to do some show to try to get them a penalty. It's the only way possible. But not anyone is happy."

A dream start followed by a premature end to @Bestia23's #TissotSprint on home soil 💔

The Italian crashed out after a contact with @88jorgemartin 💥#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/3Y1xelDGwI

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 1, 2024

Two different things are being conflated here - if Bagnaia's claim about the stewards' assessment of his crash with Marc Marquez at Portimao is accurate, it is a valid concern, given that the corner dynamics between that and the Jorge Martin/Enea Bastianini incident were similar.

HIGH HIGH DRAMA! 💥@marcmarquez93 and @PeccoBagnaia make contact and they're both on the ground! 😱#PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/CzHJM7Jfx9

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 24, 2024

Although, in that same vein, "similar" does not mean "identical", as there is a marked difference in both the initial lunge that created the circumstances for the collision and the profile of the corner. It points to a pervasive suggestion in current MotoGP that similar incidents have to always yield similar verdicts, which is practically unfeasible.

But the relevant case here is Oliveira baulking a Martin lap in that same session.

Getting frustrated here 😤@88jorgemartin is definitely not happy with @_moliveira88 💢#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/EKncFAsuEe

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 31, 2024

Oliveira stayed on the racing line throughout, leading to an animated reaction from Martin, and it was never placed under investigation.

But we can at least have a good idea as to the stewards' logic - Oliveira was on an out-lap and winding up his pace and was already at something resembling push lap speed when Martin arrived to him.

The tyres are sensitive, so Oliveira would've had a solid excuse as to why he didn't want to just slow down and speed up again in the second half of his out-lap, even if it's something that potentially warranted a closer look.

Bagnaia was on what by then had become an in-lap. His argument for his innocence was that he had already gone wide by the time Alex Marquez arrived behind him to the Correntaio racing line - but it seems unmistakable from the footage that his presence in the vicinity of the racing line, while at low speed, had a material impact on the younger Marquez's lap. It was, at the very worst, a 50/50 call, hardly worthy of being described as a "clown penalty" the following day.

The Holgado case

Exhibit B - perhaps the more striking one - is Tech3 team principal Herve Poncharal excoriating the stewards' panel, in the team's official press release no less, for a double long-lap penalty issued against Moto3 title contender Dani Holgado in the category's Mugello race.

The penalty came as a consequence of an incident that took Jose Antonio Rueda and Stefano Nepa off their bikes at the race restart (following a red flag for Xabi Zurutuza's crash and injury). It contributed to Holgado finishing down in 14th, while main championship rival David Alonso won the race.

"At the restart, Dani took off well, and did nothing wrong in Turn 1 as he was just squeezed with other riders," said Poncharal of the incident. "Unfortunately another rider [Rueda] touched him, crashed, taking down another one [Nepa].

"We reviewed that incident a few times in slow motion, it was obvious that it was just a race event. We were incredibly shocked when Dani received a double long lap penalty, it ruined his race, and it will have a big impact on his title challenge.

"We went to the race direction [stewards] and could not get any other explanation than a simple 'ambitious/irresponsible riding manoeuvre'. I invite everyone to re-watch this incident, and explain to me how this deserved a double long lap penalty.

"We did not get any other explanation, and I think that when a championship is at stake, it is a true disgrace and a lack of respect coming from the race direction [the stewards].

"I feel really sorry for Daniel Holgado and his crew who are working so hard to fight for the title."

The explanation for Holgado's penalty, though, can be found elsewhere in the Tech3 press release. As it says, Holgado "struggled braking arriving into Turn 1".

🚦#Moto3 race, take 2!🚦

Alonso maintains the lead, Rueda and @stefanonepa82 have gone down! 😱💥#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/tImXnnrip2

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 2, 2024

It is fairly evident from the broadcast angles but particularly clear from the helicopter footage. Holgado's bike is squirming under him, all out of shape as he slams the brakes into San Donato. He narrowly manages to arrest the bike's momentum to avoid hitting David Munoz up ahead, but as Rueda comes up from behind, Holgado's bike is unmistakably moving laterally relative to the racing line, with it impossible for Rueda to react.

Could Holgado be let off? Sure. Was it better as a single long-lap penalty than a double sanction? Probably. Was it an inexplicable miscarriage of justice? No.

A matter of "respect"

Two examples in one weekend of the MotoGP stewards' work being called "s**t" and a "true disgrace" over incidents that were at worst 50/50. By itself, that isn't so notable - referees get grief in every sport - but with MotoGP in particular in something of an identity crisis regarding the policing of its incidents, things like these do not help.

After all, why would an outsider take the constant complaints about the stewarding crew led by Spencer (above) seriously if even relatively conventional decisions are met with a barrage of rage? Why would the powers that be contemplate changes when there's an excuse to wave things away as simple competitive angst.

Unsurprisingly, it was perhaps Aleix Espargaro who put it best during the weekend, putting forward his suggestion for how to improve things (while agreeing with the Bagnaia penalty but expressing his disbelief that Oliveira/Martin hadn't gone the same way).

"For me, it's difficult because I don't want to talk bad about them," he said of the stewards. "Because I'm sure that they're doing their best. But they are 20 years removed from today's racing. We need somebody there that has been racing recently.

"We need somebody who's been racing recently - not last year or two years ago, but not 25 years ago. [Somebody] that knows MotoGP, that knows today's riding styles, that knows the tyres, that knows... they need somebody there. Maybe they can keep doing their jobs, but they need another person there who knows more about MotoGP in 2024."

Espargaro made it clear that person wouldn't be him, but he also said: "On the other hand, you need to respect. It's like when they gave me a fine for my mistake to [Franco] Morbidelli [with the slap in Qatar]. I made a big mistake, I had to pay 10,000.

"It's like if I said 'I will not pay'. No, you have to. For me, it was a black flag in Barcelona for Enea [for ignoring penalties].

"If you want that they respect us, you have to respect them as well."

"Respect" doesn't mean keeping things as they are, nor agreeing with every decision or even most of them. But "respect" at least covers not using an overall crisis of legitimacy in the stewarding to push back against every single penalty.

The 2024 Formula 1 campaign is now one-third done and most teams have brought significant upgrades to their cars, all of which were already efforts to address their predecessors’ weaknesses.

As ever in the F1 development race, it’s been about trying to fix problems without compromising existing strengths in the process. Looking at the performance traits of a team’s current car compared to what they had in 2023 can reveal much about the development direction.

A team losing out in the short-term isn’t always down to everything being worse - sometimes it’s part of a process that requires taking an immediate step backwards to allow big gains in the future, and that’s clearly the case for some of the current grid.

But performance is what matters most in F1. So here’s our quickfire guide to who has won and lost in F1's 2024 development war - so far.

Winner: McLaren

Improving its weak point

You get very different answers to the question of how the McLaren has changed this year depending on what point of comparison you use. That it has improved is an irrefutable fact given its performance is better and it has racked up a massive 167 points more than at this point last season.

The early-season McLaren in 2023 was lacking in downforce and pace, but a series of upgrade packages turned it into a consistent podium finisher.

McLaren ended the season with a car that was outstanding in fast corners and struggled in slow turns, particularly long-duration ones.

But that weakness has improved this year, particularly with the upgrade introduced in Miami last month that led to a leap forward after a solid, but unspectacular, start to the season.

Team principal Andrea Stella admits that’s come as something of a surprise and points to an effect the team doesn’t yet fully understand.

“The car seems to be well behaved in low-speed [corners],” he said recently, before adding: “Slightly more than we anticipated.”

Getting to the bottom of the reasons for that could point McLaren in the right direction on a journey to produce a strong all-round car that Stella previously said will take at least one year to complete.

Loser: Alpine

Everything is worse

Alpine has pretty much traded all of the modest strengths of last year’s car for weaknesses. There are at least signs of progress, but it’s all about recovery and damage limitation with a car that was supposed to lay the foundations for big gains into 2025.

The A524 started the season overweight, a legacy of the monocoque failing the lateral crash test, but that problem has at least now been tackled.

It was also lacking in downforce and weak on traction. Unquestionably, it was the slowest car in the field early in the campaign.

Things have improved a little since then and it’s now, on average, only the second-slowest car, having moved ahead of Sauber. The worst of the troubleshooting is done, and team principal Bruno Famin says it’s now time to switch to what he calls the “second phase of development”.

The car is generally stronger in the faster corners than the slow-speed ones. It’s also understood that the arrival of new executive technical director David Sanchez has led to some new ideas being incorporated into the upgrade plan that it is hoped will accelerate the team’s recovery.

Winner: Haas

Tyre-chewer no more

The Haas has gone from a tyre chewer last year to a car that works very well over race stints.

While that’s partly down to the team’s intense focus on how to optimise the way it runs the car, fundamentally it’s down to the aerodynamic characteristics.

Last year’s Haas VF-23 suffered from aerodynamic instability at the rear. This year, the downforce created at the rear is vastly more consistent. According to technical director Andrea De Zordo, that’s the main improvement.

“It is a lot more stable and an improvement for the feeling of the driver and [on] traction,” he said.

There’s still a need to make the car a little stronger in the fast corners, as well as to improve the front end downforce.

And that will only enhance a car that’s been strong enough to make Q3 four times and score seven points already in 2024.

Loser: Aston Martin

Tricky to drive

Last year’s Aston Martin was strong at the start of the season, picking up six podiums in the first eight events. The car was very quick in the slow stuff in particular and was also a consistent, predictable machine.

However, this year that’s changed. In fact, that process started last year with upgrades that created some unwanted characteristics. The car is not so good in the slow corners - and, worst of all, it seems to be sliding down the order.

Lance Stroll refers to “balance issues” - specifically “entry oversteer, mid-corner understeer” - and a car that’s “not good over the kerbs”.

Fernando Alonso complains that the cars this year have become more critical in the search for downforce, making every team’s car “a little bit more difficult to drive for everybody”.

But the Aston Martin seems to suffer from this issue more than most.

That’s a lot of problems, and reflects a team that is struggling to add performance to the car consistently without impacting the characteristics negatively.

Loser: Williams

Now an all-rounder

The 2024 Williams is a classic case of the need to go through some short-term pain for long-term gain. What’s a loser right now looks set to be a big winner on a longer timeline.

The main strength of last year’s Williams was that it was low-drag and therefore a rocketship on the straights. It’s given away that advantage this year, but for good reasons.

It now has a car with the amount of downforce needed to be a serious midfield contender everywhere. That’s reflected in the fact Alex Albon is a Q2 ever-present - as well as reaching Q3 and scoring two points in Monaco.

The Williams FW46 is a less peaky car, but one that’s now a decent all-rounder.

As its head of vehicle performance Dave Robson puts it: “Fundamentally, being more consistent is the right way to go.”

Crucially, Williams has also ironed out one of the main weaknesses of last year’s car: the tendency to lock front wheels under braking for slow corners.

However, it’s still suffering from a long-term Williams problem of being overweight. In the early stages of the season that cost as much as four and a half tenths of a second per lap.

All of this adds up to a car that is decent, but the winter car-build troubles and series of accidents have combined to knock back upgrades.

Winner: Ferrari

Peakiness banished

Last year’s Ferrari was aerodynamically inconsistent. That meant that for much of the season it had too lively a rear even for Charles Leclerc, meaning understeer was dialled in to calm that down. That instability also made it very hard on its tyres.

That started to change last year and is no longer a weakness in 2024, with the Ferrari now a good, consistent and predictable car that’s generally kind on its tyres.

It has also sacrificed a little of its qualifying performance for race pace, which makes for an all-round gain given at times the Ferrari last year was able to be quickest over a single-lap but slid to a distant second- or even third-fastest in the race.

This year, the Ferrari has at times been the best in races in terms of tyre management.

As Monaco showed, it is also strong over the kerbs and is perhaps the best in the field on this score.

Ferrari is just lacking that final edge of pace to challenge Red Bull consistently. But while its average single-lap performance is fractionally worse than last year, it’s now in an all-round better place - as proven by it having 130 points more than at the same stage in 2023.

Loser: Mercedes

Slow-corner struggles

The troubles of Mercedes have been a recurring theme in this rules era, but despite a difficult start to the season there are signs that it could turn from loser to winner in the not-too-distant future.

Last year, Mercedes struggled badly for rear stability in the faster corners. It’s a characteristic the drivers have complained about since 2022.

This year, that’s turned on its head. The problem now is front-end grip in slow corners. As Lewis Hamilton says: “The slower you go the less the car wants to turn.”

And when the team makes changes to improve the front end for slow corners, as it did for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in March, that sacrifices high-speed performance.

Team principal Toto Wolff claims Mercedes knows what it did to solve the high-speed problems and what made last year’s car good in the slow stuff. Now, he says Mercedes just needs to “bolt a car together that does both”.

That’s easier said than done considering that making the car work across a range of ride heights and attitudes is the big challenge of these regulations. But Mercedes does now have a clear direction.

It’s now about steady development gains rather than searching for magic bullets to unlock performance - and that’s a new experience for Mercedes under the current regulations.

Winner: RB

Midfield leader

Last year’s AlphaTauri battled corner-entry instability in medium- and low-speed corners. That improved in the closing stages of the season.

This year, what’s now called the VCARB01 has, according to racing director Alan Permane, proven to be at its best in slower corners.

It has been the class of what’s considered the second group in F1. So much so that it’s been ahead of Aston Martin of late and racked up a healthy 24 points so far - 22 more than at the same stage last year.

Another problem that RB is working on is the fact the car isn’t great off the line. But given it shares kit with Red Bull Racing, that’s more about operation and preparation than the hardware.

Loser: Sauber

Lacking in grip

Audi’s future works team started the season with a car that could have scored points but for the pitstop disasters that have been eliminated by wheelnut and axle modifications. But it’s been slowest for the past three events in Miami, Imola and Monaco.

SAUBER - LAPS IN TOP 10

Bahrain: 14
Saudi Arabia: 14
Australia: 1
Japan: 0
China: 2
Miami: 6
Imola: 0
Monaco: 0

Last year’s car was too draggy and unstable in the fast corners. Sauber has less of a drag problem this year, but still the main strength is seen as the slower corners with the big deficit to the frontrunners in the fast stuff.

The fundamental problem appears to be a lack of aerodynamic load. There have been times recently, for example at Imola, where the balance has been good but the overall grip has been lacking. Even in low-speed Monaco the drivers struggled for confidence.

This car needs some significant upgrade progress, and fast.

Loser: Red Bull

Battling old problems

It seems absurd to call the team that has won five out of eight grands prix and taken seven out of eight pole positions a loser.

But it’s a relative game and given its supremacy last year and the inevitable improvement by rivals, it was almost impossible for Red Bull to be classified as a winner right now.

While the results suggest that Red Bull created problems with the new RB20 given how dominant its predecessor was, the reality is that its strengths and weaknesses are much the same. It’s just that the competition has sped up and therefore these weaknesses are exposed.

“When you’re not improving your weakest point, you get found out” is how Max Verstappen summarises that situation, the bumps and kerbs of Monaco having made the car difficult to drive.

So what exactly is the problem? Well, the rear suspension is not that compliant in roll - so when under load in corners - thanks to high lateral stiffness. This is combined with a car that is compliant vertically, which works well with the complex underfloor design and minimises the aerodynamic bouncing problems.

However, in Monaco Red Bull was suffering from mechanical bouncing. And this couldn’t be eliminated without sacrificing far too much downforce and making the car much slower.

This means, as Verstappen says, “any track that is bumpy or you have to ride kerbs will be tricky”.

As Monaco was the worst-case scenario for Red Bull the car will still thrive at the majority of tracks.

It could still mean that at circuits such as Baku and Singapore’s Marina Bay, and perhaps even more conventional tracks with a lot of kerb-riding such as Montreal and Monza, Red Bull might face more of a challenge.

But when you start on top, you have to make rapid progress just to stand still and although Red Bull has lost out in the development war, it’s still on course to win a lot more races than it loses.

When asked if he was interested in signing Josef Newgarden, McLaren’s Zak Brown replied: “I think he's an awesome racing driver. But no, I'm set with my 62 drivers!”

As Newgarden is now off the market after signing a contract extension at Team Penske, attention turns to McLaren - which has already been the busiest team in the driver market this year in arranging stand-ins for the injured David Malukas, hence Brown's "42 drivers" quip - and the future of its line-up.

With Malukas dropped after a pre-season wrist injury that ended up keeping him out for the first four races of the IndyCar season, Callum Ilott stepped in for the Indy 500 before Theo Pourchaire took over that car full-time starting at Detroit. The pair had shared the stand-in duties for Malukas before his axing.

So the team has already had five drivers across three cars this year, and only Pato O’Ward is definitively signed beyond 2024 with his mega contract extension brought on in part by Alex Palou deciding not to join the team for this year - a move which still has Palou and McLaren embroiled in a UK commercial court battle.

With two competitive seats alongside O'Ward theoretically up for grabs, you can see why there’s so much attention surrounding McLaren.

Asked just before the Indy 500 when McLaren would be making a decision on its drivers, Brown told a small group of reporters including The Race: “Soon.

“Obviously, the Alex [Palou] situation took us by surprise. The David Malukas situation took us by surprise, obviously we didn't see that coming.

Fun or embarrassing? IndyCar's Detroit chaos

Read more

“The very early reports were he [Malukas] could be ready for the start of the year.

“And then, of course, Alex is out of contract. I think he's doing a great job. He's had an awesome Indy so far [it then culminated in a solid fourth-place finish], so I really rate Alex Rossi.

“It took a while to get settled on - is David in, is he not, Callum's got his other conflicts. Theo was racing in Japan, by the time we made that decision, is he the best one to be prepared for Indy?

“So now it's like 'catch our breath, focus on Indy, and turn our attention to what we're going to do with our driver line-up after this race, those conversations will come real quickly'.

“We've got a shortlist, as you can imagine.”

Its current drivers are top of that shortlist so let's start with them.

A third season with Rossi?

The Race expects Rossi to be signed to an extension by McLaren, although paddock sources indicated no deal has been concluded yet.

Rossi had a very strong Indy 500 month, and has largely gone under the radar as McLaren's most consistent performer in race trim this year.

A host of things outside his control have robbed him of some seriously strong race results, and the only complaint of his season so far can be that he hasn’t qualified well enough, with an average start of 11.83 compared to an average finish of 9.67.

Speaking of average finish, while Rossi is 10 points behind team-mate O’Ward in the championship, Rossi’s average finishing position is almost a whole position higher per race. A season littered with errors for O’Ward is only saved by his St Pete win - inherited after the Penske push-to-pass disqualifications - and finishing second at Indy.

While the peaks Rossi is capable of aren’t going to come from a 9.67 qualifying average, his race performances have been strong. In the top 10 at every race bar Barber where a wheel fell off after a pitstop, he's even salvaged strong results at Long Beach (hit by O’Ward) and Detroit (caught in Will Power’s Turn 1 crash).

Rossi is a real under-the-radar star of 2024 so far.

His Indy 500-winning experience and his status as a safe pair of hands have established him as a no-brainer to keep around, with the hope his qualifying performances can be elevated through getting a better car underneath him.

The new kid on the block

In terms of things inside his control, Pourchaire’s year has gone pretty well so far. An incredible 11th on debut at Long Beach, having never driven an IndyCar before that weekend, was followed up with a small blip at the Indy GP before a strong 10th at Detroit - although it did come with an error in hitting Agustin Canapino.

The big thing for Pourchaire is going to be doing enough across the last 11 races to persuade Brown, team boss Gavin Ward and McLaren that he is better than its other options like Ilott.

Asked if it was a two-person fight for the third seat between Ilott and Pourchaire, Brown replied: “Not necessarily.”

Pourchaire is yet to make his oval debut, so there’s still loads to learn. As things stand, though, you’d have to make him the favourite for the third seat - because if he does well, he’ll be freshest in McLaren’s memory when it’s making the decision.

Ilott is racing in the World Endurance Championship and fundamentally only has had two races and an exhibition event with McLaren to impress it.

His two years at Juncos in IndyCar offered plenty of signs of how good Ilott is, but are always tempered by the fact that Juncos was a smaller team and not capable of fighting near the front regularly. His results were brilliant in many cases but you have to do some digging to understand why.

Pourchaire has plenty of time to make this seat his own and if he doesn’t, he’ll be the only one to blame. He has a phenomenal opportunity and is already doing a good job.

Ilott's IndyCar prospects

When asked if Ilott was under consideration, Brown offer a simple one-word reply that was followed by a lengthy silence - which indicated he didn’t really feel the need to say much else.

“Yes" was the answer. And again, this was Brown speaking before the Indy 500 - saying McLaren was already "very happy with what we saw on the street race and road course" from Ilott and that he was "definitely under consideration".

It’s hard to imagine that IIott’s stock didn’t rise as a consequence of his 500, though. An extra run would have likely boosted him higher in qualifying, but in the race he was nothing short of spectacular.

He had to give up his 15th starting spot before the race begun to pit with an issue, which turned out to be a jammed-on weight-jacker. With the downforce cranked up to the maximum on the front wing and the car being almost undrivable, he raced back through to 11th from the back of the pack.

Unfortunately he likely won’t be back in IndyCar for some time now as he focuses on WEC and its flagship event, the Le Mans 24 Hours.

If McLaren doesn’t sign him up, I expect a host of other teams to be interested. Equally though, with the chip off his shoulder IndyCar-wise, Ilott would likely be just fine staying in sportscar racing - already a race winner in the WEC and impressing for the Jota squad, which runs a Porsche 963 prototype.

What about Malukas?

Malukas is another name that will enter the silly season fray as soon as he is cleared to race.

He spent the Month of May working for IndyCar’s content creation team and interviewed the likes of movie stars Austin Butler and Jodie Comer. But even that isn’t as good as racing an IndyCar.

While fans need to remain patient and allow Malukas to recover in good time, as soon as he’s available he’ll start courting interest.

McLaren has said that no bridge is burned and both sides have refused to rule out a future reunion. But it looks for now that the uncertainty surrounding Malukas and what he’ll be like post-injury means McLaren is likely to have made its driver decisions before he is ready to race.

Who else is on the market?

Christian Lundgaard has long been the second name on the silly season buzz list after Newgarden, so now he jumps to number one.

Yet some improvements by his current team Rahal, combined with not a lot of better options on the table, might mean he stays put.

His stock is high as a series winner who has comfortably outperformed experienced team-mates in his two and a bit seasons in the series.

Could top IndyCar drivers really 'rock' F1?

Read more

He’s unlikely to move because McLaren looks set to stay the same, Andretti looks set, Ganassi looks more likely to downsize from five cars than to expand, and Penske is likely set, too.

That covers the teams consistently better than Rahal. Meyer Shank is ahead in the championship with Felix Rosenqvist, but was poor last season, so how much faith do you have that it has permanently turned a corner? It’s a tough one.

The spanner in the works for silly season might come with Prema. Although the team will be new to the grid in 2025, could its junior single-seater gravitas help persuade someone like Lundgaard or Ilott to make a move? That question won’t be answered until later in silly season.

Of course, the seats lower down the grid will come further down the line, so the attention for now is on McLaren, Lundgaard and whatever Meyer Shank chooses to do.

It has dropped rookie signing Tom Blomqvist for two races after a difficult start to the year and a mistake on the first lap of the Indy 500. Although it said Blomqvist remains part of the Meyer Shank set-up, it’s hard to see him slotting back into that car.

But it's McLaren and Lundgaard who represent the next big domino pieces to fall, and it won’t take long before next year's IndyCar grid takes a fairly concrete shape.

Formula 1 had the unprecedented situation of every starting 2024 line-up being identical to the one each team finished 2023 with.

But the driver market kicked in early this year, and we're already guaranteed plenty of changes for 2024.

Two drivers have already confirmed switches for 2025, one has announced he'll leave his current team at the end of the year, and others have committed to staying put.

Even so, there's still nine seats to be filled before everything is in place.

Below is the 2025 F1 grid as it currently stands.

Red Bull

Max Verstappen
Sergio Perez

Red Bull is sticking with the same driver line-up for a fifth-successive season for 2025, having announced Sergio Perez will continue to partner three-time champion Max Verstappen, whose contract runs until 2028.

That announcement made mention of a two-year contract extension for Perez, but also included team principal Christian Horner quoting only that now was an important time for Red Bull "to confirm our line-up for 2025".

That could indicate that Perez's deal is a one-year-plus-one, with the option for the second year on the team's side. There is also uncertainty over Verstappen's future beyond the end of 2025 amid Red Bull's internal struggles.

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari's audacious and successful move to lure Lewis Hamilton away from Mercedes kicked the 2025 F1 driver market into gear before the 2024 campaign had even begun.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton joins Charles Leclerc at the team, Leclerc having been announced on a deal covering "several more seasons" in January.

Mercedes

George Russell
TBC

Hamilton's departure means George Russell is at present the only confirmed Mercedes driver for 2025, after which his contract expires.

The team is keen to promote its 17-year-old protege Kimi Antonelli - currently competing for Prema in Formula 2 while conducting a private F1 testing programme - to fill the space vacated by Hamilton.

McLaren

Lando Norris
Oscar Piastri

McLaren was the first team to have its 2025 line-up locked in.

F1's most recent first-time race winner Lando Norris is contracted at the team he's spent his entire top-level career with until at least the end of 2026, as is his team-mate Oscar Piastri - who will be part of an unchanged line-up for a third year in a row in 2025.

Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso
Lance Stroll

Aston Martin is one of three teams that will boast an F1 champion in its 2025 line-up, as 42-year-old Fernando Alonso ruled himself out of the silly season early by committing his future to the team with which he scored eight podiums last season.

We've listed his team-mate Lance Stroll because although his place hasn't been formally confirmed and the details of his contract aren't made public, so far neither Aston nor Stroll are showing any sign of their partnership ending anytime soon.

Alpine

TBC
TBC

Neither of Alpine's drivers for the 2025 season are confirmed.

Pierre Gasly is expected to remain at Alpine beyond the end of this season but Esteban Ocon, who has driven for the team since his return to the grid in 2020 following a year out, will be leaving after 2024.

Ocon, who gave the Enstone team its first and so far only win in its Alpine guise, said in confirming his departure that he will announce his 2025 plans "very soon".

Williams

Alex Albon
TBC

Williams has tied down Alex Albon - who's scored all but five of the team's 38 points in the ground effect era - to a new contract as team principal James Vowles outlines his vision for the team's revival in the coming years.

Who will partner Albon is less clear, but it looks increasingly unlikely to be current team-mate Logan Sargeant - who faces an uphill battle to preserve his place on the F1 grid.

Instead, Vowles has made a compelling enough case - with the financial reward to accompany it - for Williams to be the only serious option for Carlos Sainz beyond the Sauber-run Audi project the outgoing Ferrari driver has long been linked with.

RB

TBC
TBC

The second Red Bull team still has two vacancies for 2025.

Perez's new deal marked the official end of Daniel Ricciardo's chances of returning to the main team, though his hopes have gradually faded during what has been, a starring fourth in the Miami Grand Prix sprint race aside, a flat start to 2024.

Red Bull is believed to have an option on his services for 2025, as is the case with his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda. But it also has to find Liam Lawson a drive, otherwise he is - in the words of Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko - "contractually free to race for another team if he doesn't get a seat with us in 2025".

Sauber

Nico Hulkenberg
TBC

Nico Hulkenberg's career revival at Haas has been impressive enough to catch the eye of Sauber and its CEO Andreas Seidl, with Hulkenberg the first driver signed for the transitional 2025 season ahead of the team's rebirth as the factory Audi team for 2026.

The identity of his team-mate isn't yet known, but it seems all but certain it won't be either of Sauber's current drivers, Valtteri Bottas or Zhou Guanyu. Bottas seems the more likely to stay on the grid and is a candidate - albeit not the top one - for Haas, Williams, and Alpine, while Zhou's options appear slimmer.

Instead, the team is holding out for Sainz's signature to spearhead its project as he moves closer to making a decision between Sauber and Williams.

Haas

TBC
TBC

Hulkenberg's exit means Haas currently has two vacancies for 2025, with his team-mate Kevin Magnussen out of contract at the end of the year.

Ferrari protege Ollie Bearman, who starred when standing in for Sainz at the Scuderia back at the second round of the season, seems near-certain to make an F1 graduation for 2025 despite a fairly ordinary F2 season so far with Prema. He will have six FP1 outings with Haas this year.

Should Haas decide not to retain Magnussen for an eighth season, as appears likely, Ocon and Bottas are among the contenders to complete its line-up. Tsunoda, who has been in excellent form so far in 2024 and is 10th in the 2024 drivers' standings, is also known to be of interest to the team.