Mark Thompson
The Formula One paddock is always awash with ample gossip, but 2024 seems to be an exceptionally tea-filled year. Why? A slew of driver contracts end at the season’s conclusion, and this riveting game of musical chairs will definitively leave a few F1 veterans without a seat. Plus, with the departure of Adrian Newey, one of the engineering keys to Red Bull’s success, a host of competitors are frothing, vying to snap the venerable race car designer up. And, for the first time in what seems like eons, there’s actual racing going on, with more than six different Grand Prix winners over the past seven Grand Prix races. (This, of course, leaves Red Bull’s notoriously caviling team principal Christian Horner extra whingey. More on that in a second.)
Ahead of the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix, let’s dive into seven interesting Formula One rumors bubbling at the moment.
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Is Adrian Newey Going to Aston Martin?
Image Credit: Dan Istitene – Formula 1 Fun fact: Jeremy Clarkson and Adrian Newey went to school together. So when strolling the grid ahead of this year’s British Grand Prix, the former Top Gear presenter dropped a bombshell on TV about his old chum’s next F1 gig. “Do you want an exclusive? I know Adrian Newey is house-hunting in Oxfordshire, not Maranello,” Clarkson told a Dutch TV reporter. This means that Newey jumping over to Ferrari is unlikely, despite prior reports. Bolstering this are reports that Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna was “spooked by the salary Newey requested,” and feared Newey would be too powerful to manage. A stone’s throw from an estate in Oxfordshire, though, is Silverstone, where Aston Martin’s F1 team is based. Newey has reportedly been spotted at several secret factory visits there, though his relationship with the British carmaker is deep due to designing its Valkyrie hypercar.
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Christian Horner Believes McLaren’s Recent Success Is Due to Cheating
Image Credit: James Bearne Another season, another series of complaints by Christian Horner. This time, the Red Bull team principal takes aim at McLaren, lodging an official complaint with the FIA over McLaren’s brake covers. Red Bull spied a hole on McLaren’s MCL38 brake cover and believe this is helping McLaren with tire management and degradation. These holes, allowed to place sensors during free practice sessions ahead of an official race, must be covered after that Friday stint. Red Bull alleges McLaren’s not been doing that. According to a report, McLaren’s shrugged off Horner’s grousing and placed tape over the holes.
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Daniel Ricciardo Has a Chance of Keeping His Red Bull Drive
Image Credit: Rudy Carezzevoli “Why is [Ricciardo] still in F1?,” questioned former Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve on a live TV broadcast during the Montreal Grand Prix earlier this season. Whether or not you agree with the blunt query, there’s less debate that Daniel Ricciardo has been struggling to find his footing—and race pace. While he hasn’t been offered a contract extension for 2025, there’s a belief that Ricciardo can hang on for another season with Visa Cash App RB. Reports are that the Aussie driver’s direct boss, Laurent Mekies, is giving Ricciardo a lengthy leash to prove himself and that top execs within the Red Bull org still believe in him. Though, not as much as they believe in Ricciardo’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda. After outperforming Ricciardo for much of the 2024 season, Tsunoda was offered a one-year extension.
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Mick Schumacher Believes an F1 Comeback Is Imminent
Image Credit: Peter Fox – Formula 1 Mick Schumacher, the 25-year-old son of Formula One legend Michael Schumacher, thinks a return to F1 looks “pretty good,” given all the driver tumult within the paddocks. With Ocon departing Alpine, Schumacher was among the small crop of drivers invited to complete a test stint in a two-year-old F1 car at Circuit Paul Ricard. (Alpine’s reserve driver, Jack Doohan, also logged ample time behind the wheel at the same test.) Schumacher, currently serving as the reserve driver for Mercedes, is also competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship series with an Alpine Hypercar.
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Haas Is Expected to Announce Esteban Ocon’s Signing This Weekend
Image Credit: Mario Renzi – Formula 1 After the red mist repeatedly kept creeping in, Esteban Ocon was released from his seat at Alpine earlier in the season. The final straw? Ocon racing—and smashing into—teammate Pierre Gasly in a disastrous Monaco Grand Prix showing in May. Now, reports from BBC Sport state that Ocon’s already found a home at Haas for the 2025 season. “Esteban Ocon has signed to join Haas next season, and this is expected to be announced imminently, quite possibly in the run-up to this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix,” F1 journo Andrew Benson said, citing sources close to Haas and Mercedes.
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Kevin Magnussen Is Out of a Seat, Perhaps Out of F1
Image Credit: Bryn Lennon – Formula 1 If Ocon does jump Haas, Haas’ current driver, Kevin Magnussen, will be out of a drive for 2025. Earlier this season, Haas announced it signed British wheelman Oliver Bearman. Given that Magnussen has only managed to score a scant eight points over the last two seasons, finding another team to give the Dane a shot seems unlikely. Perhaps Magnussen will jump to IndyCar or endurance racing?
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Might Valtteri Bottas Head to IndyCar?
Image Credit: Bryn Lennon – Formula 1 As of now, the 10-time Grand Prix winner doesn’t have a seat in 2025. “I feel like things are starting to progress and get closer, I think in a good way, hopefully. But, still have nothing to announce here and nothing has been signed but progressing,” Bottas said. (Many point to Carlos Sainz’ protracted 2025 seat search after being ousted by Ferrari as a bottleneck to the remainder of the drivers seeking a team.) While Bottas is undoubtedly most interested in sticking to F1 circuits, buzz that he could jump to IndyCar persists. He’d follow the likes of Takuma Sato, Alexander Rossi and Marcus Ericsson, as well as Romain Grosjean, who all decamped to the open-wheel series after F1 stints. Incidentally, Bottas has previously praised the IndyCar series, too.
Authors
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Sean Evans
