In a performance that saw the largest margin of victory this season, Lando Norris overcame another sketchy launch to bring home his second career victory and edge ever closer to Verstappen and Red Bull in the standings. Verstappen, who was careful to temper expectations heading into the weekend, led the race briefly, but never looked in danger of challenging Norris, finishing P2. Leclerc finished a surprising P3, despite both Ferraris lacking pace earlier in the weekend. Piastri, though clearly frustrated with his P4 finish, did further lift his team in the Constructor’s by finishing ahead of Sainz (P5) and Perez (P6). Mercedes will have mixed feelings about their weekend with Russell managing P7 and Hamilton recovering from a grid penalty to finish P8.

Christian Horner may say there is no reason to panic, but Red Bull has failed to win the last five races while McLaren continues to close the gap in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships. From fiddle brakes to development failures; there are no shortage of theories as to the cause of Red Bull’s decline. When you pile on the recent departures of Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley, Horner can hardly fault the media for having questions. As our friends at The Race elegantly lay out, a variety of factors have led to an undeniable swing in pace McLaren’s direction. None of this changes the growing risk of Red Bull losing both titles if they are unable to find an answer to McLaren’s progress.

While early announcements from Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon made for a quieter than expected summer break, the run up to Zandvoort proved there is some silliness left this season. Alpine kicked things off by making up for Jack Doohan’s “mediocre dinner” with a promotion to F1 in 2025. Mercedes squashed any further rumors of Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer, Bono, following him to Ferrari, with a well-deserved promotion. Wolff was less effective squashing the rumors swirling around Kimi Antonelli, seemingly letting slip confirmation of the teenager joining the Mercedes in 2025. After a massive crash in FP3, rumors began to swirl about Williams replacing Logan Sargeant for Monza. Alleged replacements included Antonelli (denied by Wolff), Liam Lawson, and Mick Schumacher. On Tuesday, Williams announced that F2 Academy Driver, Franco Colapinto, will replace Logan for the remainder of the season.

• Bono Promoted To Mercedes Head Of Engineering (Trackside)

• Jack Doohan To Drive For Alpine In 2025 (ESPN)

• Wolff Seemingly Confirms Antonelli For Mercedes Seat (Trackside)

• Schumacher and Lawson main options if Williams replaces Sargeant for Monza (Trackside)

• Haas Leave Zandvoort After Uralkali Payment Clears

• Liberty Media Selling Stake In F1 To Buy MotoGP

• Albon Disqualified From Dutch GP Qualifying

Liberty Media seemingly spent their summer vacation targeting content creators with cease and desists, specifically for utilizing “F1” in their branding. While this was only picked up recently by more mainstream media, and framed as a more acute directive, Toni Cowan-Brown gives a more nuanced breakdown. With examples dating back months, this appears to be a longer-running initiative focused specifically on creators who Liberty believed to be benefitting from their use of Formula 1 branding. F1, under Liberty’s guidance, has made progress from the days of going after their own drivers with “stacks” of legal paperwork for sharing race clips. As Toni points out, Liberty has yet to learn from the likes of the NBA, who have built a wave of growth for themselves and content creators with their more liberal policies.

Many left Zandvoort feeling the results represent a shift in power heading into the back-half of the season. McLaren have made the shift from potential challenger, to setting the pace while Red Bull and Mercedes showed troubling steps back in form compared to their rivals in papaya. After a poor showing in practice and qualifying, Ferrari surprised with their pace on Race Day. Leclerc managed to hold off Piastri for a podium finish and Sainz never seemed truly bothered by Perez. At the bottom of the table, Gasly continues to improve, showing Alpine may have some life left in them.

The big news of the weekend is Lando Norris cutting a further 8 points into Max’s lead atop the Driver Championship. With 70 points between them, Lando is now a real threat to Max’s hopes of a fourth consecutive title. If Norris can turn his Zandvoort pace into further wins and Max is unable to consistently finish on the podium, Lando’s first Drivers’ Championship may still be in reach. Elsewhere, Ferrari showed better than expected pace allowing Leclerc to fend off Piastri’s charge for P3 in the driver standings. Gasly’s strong performance finally see’s the Alpine driver move into P14 ahead of one-off Ferrari stand-in Ollie Bearman.

In the Constructor Championship, McLaren narrows the gap to Red Bull to just 30 points, putting McLaren in legitimate contention for the title. Mercedes failed to keep their momentum from the last few races, with Ferrari extending their lead to 94 points. At the bottom of the table, Gasly’s points finish sees Alpine cut into Haas’s lead in seventh.

We’re back in Italy for the second time this season, this weekend for the Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza! While McLaren are expected to be well-suited to Monza, this is also a track where Red Bull traditionally has been strong. Ferrari, who always aim to win at home, are already setting us up for one massive disappointment. This leaked merch colorway for the Italian GP may trigger any PTSD you harbor over that blue Ferrari. While Hamilton previously stated a black Ferrari wasn’t in the cards, it may still be more likely than Logan Sargeant starting another race this season for Williams!

Until Next Time,

We’re Listening!
[email protected]