Australian Jack Doohan will make his Formula 1 debut with Alpine in 2025 after being promoted from his role as reserve driver. The 21-year-old son of five-time MotoGP champion Mick Doohan will partner Frenchman Pierre Gasly, who has raced for Alpine since 2023. Doohan replaces Frenchman Esteban Ocon, who has moved to Haas after he and Alpine announced they would split.
Read more
Jonathan Wheatley is to leave his role as Red Bull sporting director to become Audi’s Formula 1 team principal. The 57-year-old Briton has been at Red Bull for 18 years and will stay until the end of this season. The move was initially announced by Red Bull to the surprise of Audi, which confirmed Wheatley’s appointment more than three hours later.
Read more
Alpine has confirmed Oliver Oakes will take over from Bruno Famin in charge of its Formula 1 team at the end of August. Oakes, 36, will become the youngest current principal of a Formula 1 team. The former racing driver currently runs Hitech, which he founded in 2015, and now competes in Formula 2, Formula 3, GB3 and British Formula 4.
Read more
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz is to join Williams next season on what the team calls a “multi-year” contract. The 29-year-old Spaniard has lost his seat at Ferrari after the team decided to sign Lewis Hamilton, who arrives next year. Sainz has picked Williams over other opportunities at Alpine and Sauber, which will become Audi’s factory effort in 2026. Sainz has won three grands prix since joining Ferrari in 2021 and was the only non Red Bull driver to win a race last season.
Read more
Lewis Hamilton inherited victory in the Belgian Grand Prix after Mercedes team-mate George Russell was disqualified two and a half hours after taking an unlikely win on the track. Russell pulled off an unusual one-stop strategy and held off Hamilton’s attack in the closing laps. But after the race his car was found to be 1.5kg underweight, with his team admitting to “a genuine error”.
Read more