With only six races left this season, the world of Formula 1 is not slowing down. Here are some of the biggest stories this week.
Antonelli Beginning To Impress
Mercedes Team Principal, Toto Wolff, has commented that he has been impressed by rookie Kimi Antonelli’s performance in recent races. In Azerbaijan, Antonelli finished in fourth position, and then at the Singapore Grand Prix he got another good points haul ending the race in P5. This good run of form comes after a disappointing European leg, which saw him retire four times. Wolff has spoken positively about recent races, praising the young driver’s turn around.
No Deal For Russell
On the other side of the Mercedes garage, George Russell is having some issues despite amazing performances. He is yet to sign another contract with Mercedes. There is little doubt that he will be racing for the team next season, but seemingly there is difficulty with the negotiations. It is speculated that the issues surround the length of the contract, with Russell desiring a longer contract than Mercedes are willing to offer. His recent victory at the Singapore Grand Prix, as well as great form over this season generally, only work in his favour.
What’s Next For Alpine?
Discussions over who Alpine will select as their second driver have become popular. Pierre Gasly will remain at the team, being contracted until 2028, but it is not clear yet who will join him in the driver line up. Many have raised currently Alpine driver Franco Colapinto as the correct choice despite an underwhelming season so far. He has scored no points this season. Other suggest current Alpine Reserve Driver Paul Aron, stating his solid performance in Formula 2 is evidence of his potential. Alpine has not announced when a decision will be made, but as the end of this season gets closer, it will most likely be sooner rather than later.
No Points For Slowness
Both Kick Sauber drivers described their disappointing performances at the Singapore Grand Prix in post race interviews. Having suffered damage from a lap one collision, Gabriel Bortoleto said that was to blame for another non-points finish. His teammate, Nico Hulkenberg had a slightly different approach, noting that while he also suffered damage, he thought that they were simply too slow to bring any real challenge to their competitors.
Victory and Tension At McLaren
At Singapore, McLaren became the 2025 Constructors’ Championship champions. This is the team’s tenth constructors’ win. However, a lap one incident between the two drivers is what stole attention. Lando Norris overtook Oscar Piastri, a move that resulted in contact between the drivers. Piastri emplored his team to take action against his teammate, stating that the most important part of their ‘Papaya Rules’ framework is do not collide with or crash into the other McLaren driver. This comes at a bad time for the McLaren team, following closely after Piastri was made to let Norris through in Monza after a slow pit stop dropped Norris’ position. These incidents have led to a wider discussion online among fans and journalists alike. Some say that these rules seem to unfairly affect Piastri, who they say often gets the short end of the stick when the team gets involved. Others say that they were right to not get involved, outlining that McLaren were wrong to get involved in Monza so that should not be used as the judging standard for incidents and their rule system. Now that the two drivers are the main title contenders, balancing the team and the individual is proving to be a lot to handle.
Written and edited by Alexandra.
Featured image credit: mclaren.com
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