Having started the season in dramatic style with the Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari bombshell announcement, the Formula One driver market has ground to a halt. Carlos Sainz was expected to announce for Williams in Spain. Yet a late bid from newly appointed Alpine consultant, Fabio Briatore, threw a spanner in the works while the Spaniard’s advisors consider the myriad of exclusion clauses they may need should a top team’s seat become available.

Carlos is the cork in the bottleneck as Valterri Bottas explained in Austria. “I was hoping there would be decisions made earlier this week, but deadlines got pushed back again. So, that’s the situation, nothing new from last weekend,” said the Finn. “So obviously, kind of waiting for one piece to fall into place. And then it should all happen pretty quick.”

 

 

 

Perez “worse” than last year slump

Sainz has multiple options, but his decision affects Bottas more than most. With Williams keen to recruit an experienced driver alongside Alex Albon, the ten times Grand Prix driver currently at Kick Sauber is a perforce fit should Sainz reject the advances from Grove.

Should Carlos, as was expected sign for the historic British racing marque, then this throws a lifeline for the Sauber/Audi driver who would most likely be retained alongside the incoming Nico Hulkenberg.

Of course the one thing holding up the line of dominoes is the shocking performances of Sergio Perez since he signed his new contract with Red Bull. The Mexican driver has averaged less than three points a round since Miami which is six races ago and after Lando’s maiden win he was just 33 points behind his team mate and in second place in the championship.

	Pos.	Driver	Points
	1	Max Verstappen	136
	2	Sergio Pérez	103
	3	Charles Leclerc	98
1	4	Lando Norris	83
1	5	Carlos Sainz Jr.	83

Post Miami standings

 

 

 

Checo sliding down the championship

Now Perez is clinging on to P5 some 117 points behind Verstappen and on current form by the end of the British Grand Prix weekend, Checo could easily be behind Oscar Piastri and George Russell who sit just 6 and 7 points respectively behind the Red Bull driver.

As Sergio’s inevitable slide down the championship leaderboard continues, all the time Sainz is eyeing up his seat at Red Bull Racing.

While Christian Horner continues to defend his driver due to the “closeness of the pack” a time will come when the brilliance of Max Verstappen will not be enough to outscore say the McLaren pair, who look comfortably in range of the world champions.

Red Bull have been saved the blushes of dropping out of First place in there team championship only due to others inconsistency. At the start of the year it looked as though the Ferrari pairing would hold Max to account, then in Montreal and Spain it was the Mercedes pair in P3/P4 in both races. Lando Norris is knocking on the door, but like Verstappen has not always had the backup of his Aussie team mate Piastri.

Ricciardo hits back at “unfair criticism”

 

 

 

F1 Constructors’ title more important

Despite a win and third place in Monaco, Ferrari’s challenge has crumbled as the 42 point lead following Miami has grown to now 64 points with McLaren also now hot on the tails of the Scuderia.

Perez form was compared to his results mid last season by Sky presenter Naomi Schiff, yet the reality is far worse than Checo’s dip in form which saw him recover to claim P2 in the drivers’ title race at the end of the 2023.

Red Bull no longer have the pace advantage on their car this season which is demonstrated by there being five different winners in the eleven rounds this year so far. Further Perez only qualified outside the top six in 20 finishes on three occasions in 2023, despite shocking qualifying results. 

This season the Red Bull driver is currently on a run of five races without making the top six. As much as the paddock observers believe Sainz is a ‘no no’ for Red Bull, Horner et el are eyeing up the history of the team he co-created and the constructors’ championship is equally if not more important.

FIA regulations need ‘beefing up’

 

 

 

Horner “no individual is bigger than the team”

Much has been made of Verstappen not wanting Carlos as a team mate, but as Christian Horner said when threatened with Max’s possible departure in Jeddah, “no individual is bigger than the team.”

Another driver in Limbo is William’s Logan Sargeant who James Vowles has made clear will not be driving for the historic British racing marque next season. “Carlos is are number on target,” the Grove team boss declared in. Montreal, and with Alex Albon signed for next season this means just one thing for the young American.

The FIA recently changed their rules on the minimum age limit an F1 driver can be and the only possible reason is to accommodate Mercedes academy rising start Kimi Antoneli. The young Italian qualifies during mid-august for the original 18 years minimum age limit, so there’s clearly a possibility Antonelli is to do more than just an FP1 before the F1 summer break.

Ted Kravitz said of the hapless Sargeant who finished the race in Spielberg in P19 – only Lando Norris had retired so Logan was de facto last, “A terrible lap one ran into Lance Stroll, pitted onto the hard tyre with a new nosecone. Again, on lap 22, finished last and apologised to the team on the radio afterwards.”

Friction between Wolff and Russell

 

 

 

Sargeant benched

Sargent apologised on team radio stating, “I messed up at turn three, I apologise, you deserve it more.” Kravitz cast doubts on whether Sargeant will be in the Williams seat much longer, stating: “Poor Logan, it’s a matter of opinion as to whether he’s actually going to see out the season with Williams, he seems to be doing a lot of apologising to the team and results which are beyond his undoubted ability,” said the veteran pit lane reporter.

Williams have benched Sargeant for FP1 to accommodate Franco Colapinto and Williams Sporting Director, Sven Smeets, added: “Franco has had a very encouraging start to his debut season in F2 and we are delighted to reward his performances over the past two years with his first FP1 session.”

Colapinto is having a strong F2 season with a win in Imola and podium positions in Barcelona and Austria. The young Argentine has won two races at Silverstone previously, during his time in F3.

Norris faces most important decision yet

 

 

 

Analysis: What went wrong for Hamilton

Underbody damage and penalty meant a disappointing performance at Spielberg for Lewis Hamilton in Austria. At the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring near Spielberg, Lewis Hamilton suffered a series of setbacks that led to a rather disappointing performance.

Despite scoring points, Hamilton and his Mercedes team found little comfort in the final result. Team boss Toto Wolff described the day as “bad”, highlighting the many problems that plagued Hamilton from the outset… READ MORE