Full story: PlanetF1.com
“An expensive lawnmower” was Max’s humorous take on the close interaction between himself and Lando that saw Lando take to the grass as both drivers were leaving the pit lane and Lando ran out of room.
Aston Martin selling its F1 team
Full story: the-race.com
Aston Martin’s proposal to sell its shares in the Formula 1 team that bears its name is, on the surface, quite dramatic.
That was my first reaction to seeing the news too. Aston Martin though really owns only a minority share of team, so the sale amounts to finding a buyer for a 10% share of the team. That is much less dramatic, and Aston Martin will continue to sponsor, at least in the near-term.
What’s the future for F1 engines
Full story: The BBC
Interesting piece on discussions about what is next for engines in F1 cars, and whether the sport should see a return to V10 engines. These discussions make no sense to me to be happening now. The new regulations kick in next season, and so this cannot be a proposal to rewrite those regulations. Especially given the time, the effort, and the cost that the teams have invested:
Yes, a V10 might be cheaper than a hybrid. But the manufacturers have already spent an estimated collective $400m on the new engines. They are not about to throw that away.
That is a ton of money, and as pointed out in the next paragraph:
And a new V10 would require developing, to the tune of hundreds of millions more.
Especially if the goal is to push that development through in a hurry.
It turns out that Yuki is going to Red Bull!
Full story: The Guardian
Lawson has been replaced by Yuki (somewhat surprisingly this early into the season). It seems though that not all is happy at Red Bull.
Shortly after the announcement that Lawson would be replaced, Verstappen appeared to suggest he was less than impressed with the team’s handling of the situation when he liked a post on Instagram by the former driver Giedo van der Garde, who described Red Bull’s treatment of Lawson as “closer to bullying or a panic move” and that they “gave Liam two races only to crush his spirit”.
Will Yuki be going to Red Bull?
Full story: Sky Sports
Christian Horner said post-race that he would not answer questions about replacing Lawson as that would be the focus of the main headlines whatever was his answer. Lawson has been out in Q1 for each of the three initial qualifying rounds so far this season, but surely it’s too early to consider replacing him? My hunch is the car is heavily optimized for Max, and so others struggle. The setup changes Red Bull made after writing off the start of the race in China will hopefully mean they get useful signal about what works for Lawson. The upside of all of this though is a healthy battle in the constructors championship.
A wild start to the season!
The opening two races to this season have certainly been entertaining. The rain in Australia caused havoc, especially for the rookie drivers, and Lewis, Charles, and Pierre were all disqualified post-race in China!
McLaren have certainly got off to a decent start. George Russell though is consistently there or thereabouts, and Antonelli has had a great first couple of races. Roll on Japan in two weeks!
Predictions for the China sprint qualifying
Josie: Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, George Russell.
Barry-John: Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, George Russell.
RIP Eddie
Thank you for your service to the sport. I loved your humor. I loved your shirts. You’ll be missed.
2025 Australia Grand Prix: pre-race thoughts
Finally – it’s race day! It’s been a long winter break, but we are back in Albert Park and ready to go racing.
I was super happy to see both Williams make it to Q3 in quali yesterday and I hope they can start the season off strong with some points. With this being the last year of the current regulations, I can’t quite call what I think is going to happen today – plus we have five rookies and rain on the radar, which is a recipe for chaos – but I’ve got a feeling it will be Max crossing the finish line first today. He is a monster in the wet; just look at him in Brazil last year. I don’t think he shows any sign of slowing down, either. The Tifosa in me would also love to see Lewis score a podium in his Ferrari debut… but we’ll have to see what happens.
No matter what, I think we are in for a banger. See you all on the other side!
Predictions for the Australian race
Josie got the qualifier predictions spot-on. Barry-John got two of the top three correct, but predicted Leclerc rather than Max. For the race, here are our predictions:
Josie: Max Verstappen, George Russell, Lewis Hamiltom.
Barry-John: Oscar Piastri, Max Versappen, Lando Norris.
The weather will make the rain race unpredictable for sure, especially with so many new drivers.