Hello, welcome to another edition of This Week, a week where McLaren\u2019s drivers promised to obey team orders until the constructors’ is resolved\u2026 Ferrari pleased with the much-needed boost last weekend for Lewis Hamilton, why Ford believes Max Verstappen is an \u2018important pillar\u2019 of their engine project\u2026<\/p>\n
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have stated they would still obey any McLaren team orders in the potentially title-deciding final races of the season following their late swap at the Italian Grand Prix. In last Sunday\u2019s race in Monza, Norris was on course for second place behind race-winner Max Verstappen, but a slow pit stop put him behind team-mate Piastri, who undercut him.<\/p>\n
Piastri was told to let Norris back through and replied on the radio: “We said a slow pit stop was part of racing, so I don’t really get what’s changed here.” But he did move over for the British driver, which means his advantage in the Drivers’ Championship is thirty-one points.<\/p>\n
McLaren’s \u2018Papya Rules\u2019 have been tested several times over the last eighteen months, but they have maintained a culture of the team coming first, which the drivers have so far stuck to. Asked if they would still swap positions if asked in the closing stages of the season if their title battle remained close, Norris said: “Yes. Because that’s what we’ve agreed as a team.”<\/p>\n
Piastri simply added: “Yep.”<\/p>\n
This comes ahead of next Sunday\u2019s race in Baku, where the team can seal a second consecutive constructors ‘ title with a record seven race weekends to go, if they outscore Ferrari by at least nine points and are also not outscored by Mercedes by twelve points or more and Red Bull by thirty-three points or more.<\/p>\n
While team principal Andrea Stella says there will be a “review” of the principles with the drivers as part of their ongoing “foundation of pursuing excellence”.<\/p>\n
Adding, \u201cIf you think that whatever you do is good and you are not going to have an individual or a team review of anything you do, even the things you do perfectly, simply you’re not going to progress. For me, reviewing doesn’t mean like, ‘oh, certainly we will have to change it’. Potentially, we will review them, and we will further align on them and we will confirm them.<\/p>\n
Later in the week, Piastri ruled out taking a more ruthless approach to this year’s title fight if it comes at the risk of jeopardising his long-term success with the team. Speaking to ESPN on Friday, he said the team had constructive talks over the Monza incident had already taken place and that he fully trusts McLaren’s handling of the situation.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cWe have had very good discussions this week about what went on and what can be made clearer, what can be improved. That’s always kind of a learning process, I guess. But yeah, ultimately, I know that the team would have my best interests at heart. Ultimately, I want to protect that because I can’t have my own success without the team having success. So protecting that is a very important thing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if he would take a more ruthless approach over the remaining eight races to ensure he is crowned champion, Piastri added: “Not at the cost of future success. Definitely not.”<\/p>\n
The team is, I think, managing this well, as it could have created friction and messy situations, as we have seen in the past, teams favouring drivers. But they created this situation, which for them is working as their has only been one potential \u2018serious\u2019 flash point in Montreal when they collided, but they got through it.<\/p>\n
Team principal Fred Vasseur says he expects Lewis Hamilton to get to the podium in 2025 after seeing encouraging signs in recent races. Despite his win from pole in the sprint in Shanghai, the season hasn\u2019t delivered the success that he had expected, with it taking longer than anticipated to adjust to a vastly different setting compared to his long-time Mercedes home.<\/p>\n
The British driver was particularly disconsolate with his qualifying form before the summer break, but while he is still trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc in qualifying and suffered a rare crash in Zandvoort, he has also shown signs of getting much closer to the Monegasque driver on pure speed.<\/p>\n
According to team boss Vasseur, that upturn in raw performance will result in a breakthrough grand prix podium sooner rather than later. He told Motorsport.com, \u201cYes, because he was able to fight with [George] Russell in Zandvoort, and [he was able] to come back from P10 to the gearbox of Russell [in Monza]. Russell was a couple of times on the podium. Yes, we can expect him to be on the podium.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vasseur thinks the Ferrari tifosi’s passionate reception for Hamilton in Maranello and Monza certainly hasn’t hurt, but feels the Briton’s turnaround had already been in the making. Adding, \u201dIt’s difficult to say because the outcome of the weekend was not positive for him. But at the end of the day, the pace was better from the beginning compared to Charles. The mood was better.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Frenchman believed that the energy he received in Milan was very special for him, and he believes it gave him an extra boost throughout the weekend.<\/p>\n
Ford CEO Jim Farley says Max Verstappen is “one of the most important pillars” for the success of Red Bull-Ford’s power unit in 2026. Red Bull Powertrains and the world’s fourth biggest car manufacturer have formed a technical partnership to build an engine for the new 2026 regulations, which will almost certainly shake up the pecking order.<\/p>\n
Mercedes dominated the early seasons of the last power unit change from 2014 and is understood to be confident about next year’s engine. Red Bull currently uses Honda engines, but the Japanese manufacturer will solely supply Aston Martin from 2026. \u00a0Verstappen has a Red Bull contract until the end of 2028, and Farley, who attended last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, has been impressed by the four-time world champion.<\/p>\n
Farley told Sky Sports, \u201cI think this is one of the most important pillars of foundation for the PU (power unit) success. Talking to Max, we at Ford really have grown our respect for Max, watching him this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way he has provided stability without drama in an environment where we’re all just trying to do our jobs. I can really see that in his eyes today versus last year. It’s one of the great things about Laurent and his team. They all have this deep commitment to each other.\u201d Following months of speculation including talks with Mercedes, in July, Verstappen announced he would be staying with Red Bull.<\/p>\n
Laurent Mekies replaced Christian Horner as Red Bull CEO and team principal during that period, and the Frenchman says Verstappen is “doing everything he can” to have a fast car in 2026. Adding \u201cMax is doing a lot more than just asking for the numbers. You would be surprised. Max is giving so much to the projects also outside of the car. He’s not just asking the numbers. He’s testing the car in the simulators, he’s working with engineers on both sides of the fence to understand how do we develop these 2026 cars\u201d<\/p>\n
Farley also believes Mekies is the right person to lead the team, coming from an engineering background because he is a believer in understanding things with your eyes and ears. He says that Mekies is the right person to lead Red Bull, and Ford to lead the team.<\/p>\n
Renault CEO Francois Provost says that Alpine \u201cstaying in F1 for a long time” after making his first visit to the F1 paddock at the Italian Grand Prix. Provost took over from Luca de Meo in July; the outgoing CEO made the controversial decision to end the French OEM’s in-house F1 power unit programme at Viry-Chatillon, with the Alpine-branded team becoming a Mercedes customer from 2026 onwards instead.<\/p>\n
It also comes at a difficult time for Renault after a \u20ac11bn loss for the manufacturer over the first half of 2025, including a \u20ac9.3bn write-down of its investment in ailing Japanese brand Nissan. Also, the US tariffs on car imports from the EU and Japan imposed by President Donald Trump, are currently at fifteen per cent.<\/p>\n
In mid-July, its share prices dropped by as much as eighteen percent over a surprise profit warning. The rumours of complete withdrawal has never truly gone away. He told Canal+, \u201cMy visit aims mainly to reaffirm we\u2019re staying in F1. We\u2019re staying in F1 for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Provost pointed to Alpine lead driver Pierre Gasly signing a new contract until 2028 as an important step towards bringing stability to the Enstone-based team. Meanwhile, acting team principal Flavio Briatore has brought on board long-time ally Steve Nielsen as managing director, with Nielsen having taken up his role on 1 September.<\/p>\n
Speaking about Gasly\u2019s new contract was a \u201cvery positive sign\u201d as they enter a new era, \u201cwhich will be a performance era, but above all a stability era.\u201d Alpine has struggled for performance this year, languishing in last place of the constructors’ table after swiftly halting in-season development and focusing on the 2026 rules change.<\/p>\n
Team principal James Vowles believes the team needs to “lift” Carlos Sainz back up after his disappointing Italian Grand Prix. The Spaniard just missed out on points last weekend finishing eleventh just under six hundredths behind Isack Hadjar, following another frustrating weekend.<\/p>\n
So far this season, he has scored sixteen points, six top-ten grand prix finishes and one top-ten sprint race finish. Following the race, where his teammate Alex Albon secured a seventh-place finish, Vowles argued that a ninth-place finish was achievable for Sainz.<\/p>\n
In his vlog, Vowles said \u201cReally well done to Alex on his seventh place. It was hard fought, brilliant first stint on hards. And Carlos, really playing the team game and helping along that journey as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what it demonstrates is what we’ve been saying: we have a fast car, but we’re not getting it right in qualifying. We’re just on the edge of getting the tyres to work, and we have to maybe do that, and fast, in order to pick up more points in the future. But irrespective, to have a Mercedes and a Ferrari in sight ahead just tells me we’re doing a good job overall.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Carlos, I’m sorry, he did a good race. He was effectively in the right, overtaking [Oliver] Bearman on a charge on the way to get good points today. I’m confident at least P9, if not more.\u201d Vowles says its frustrating to walk away with nothing, adding that it was the teams job to lift the team up.<\/p>\n
At the time of editing on Friday, there was no news over the protest over Sainz\u2019s penalty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dive into the latest buzz in the world of F1 with our comprehensive analysis and round-up of this week’s top stories. Discover the strategic moves by top teams, and what it all means for the season. Stay ahead of the curve with insights on and off the track. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2250,664,754,2213,1996],"class_list":["post-15017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-analysis","tag-2250","tag-f1","tag-formula-one","tag-news-analysis","tag-this-week"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15017"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15021,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15017\/revisions\/15021"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}