The F1 silly season is always an interesting time. For those who are less familiar with the term “silly season”, it refers to moves being made for the next season in motorsports. It is usually well-known that people are going long before we get to the off-season. It seems to kick off sooner and sooner in the F1 season as the years roll on. Ferrari always seems to make a big splash, whether it is a driver acquisition or getting a top-notch engineer to come over from another top team. This particular move I will discuss speaks more about other teams than the two parties involved.
Williams Keeps Their Ace
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Williams has resigned as their number-one driver. Alex Albon has signed a “multi-year” deal to stay at the once-gold-standard team. Albon a Red Bull F1 disciple struggled when given his big chance at Red Bull to be Max Verstappen’s teammate in 2020, Williams taking the chance on the young Thai in 2022 has paid dividends scoring 31 points in his tenure with 27 of those coming in last year.
Albon was tasked with replacing George Russell, who was moving on to Mercedes. Russell, a young, talented driver, is the bulk of the points production for the fledgling F1 team. Albon picking up the production left off by Russell. Albon told the media after signing the deal:
It has been a difficult start to the year but since joining Williams we have made significant progress together and I have seen the huge changes happening behind the scenes to take us back to the front of the grid. This is a long-term project that I really believe in and want to play a key role in which is why I have signed a multi-year contract. The journey will take time but I am confident we are building the right team to move forward and achieve great things in the years to come.
It has been a long road for Williams and plenty of road left that needs to be covered. However, the signing indicates that Mercedes has their sights on a driver or has one already locked up. It also indicates Red Bull has a different plan for their second seat as many have speculated that Sergio “Checo” Perez is on the hot seat and may be replaced in 2025.
Lots of F1 Seats Up For Grabs
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As mentioned earlier in the article, Mercedes and potentially Red Bull are looking for a second driver. With Carlos Sainz on the open market, we could be in the midst of a bidding war for the Spaniard. Aston Martin, HAAS F1, Williams, Kick Sauber, and Red Bull’s sister team, RB, are all potentially looking for at least one driver to join their team. After a season where everyone stood pat and not a single change was made over the offseason in the driver lineups, next year, there could be 5-10 changes to the driver lineup.
Not only are drivers making headlines, but Adrian Newey, the head car designer who’s credited with building one of the most dominant cars in F1 history in the RB 19, ran last year, winning all but one race. Rumors have been circulating that a deal is done between Newey and Ferrari. The deal could be announced at Imola, which is in Ferrari’s home country. Lewis Hamilton told reporters:
Adrian’s got such a great history, track record, and he’s obviously just done an amazing job throughout his career in engaging with teams and the knowledge that he has, I think he would be an amazing addition. I think (Ferrari) have already got a great team, they’re already making huge progress and strides forward, their car is quicker this year but yeah, it would be a privilege to work with him.
Whoever picks up Newey will quickly be a major player. Newey has won championships at Red Bull, Mclaren, and Williams. There is a chance Newey goes off into the sunset and calls it a career. Newey will be 66 years old when F1 kicks off the 2025 season, however most believe Ferrari is the front runner and Williams the dark horse. There is also a serious dark horse in Andretti Global who is trying to get into F1 after the Miami Grand Prix. Newey and Mario Andretti were seen in a “deep conversation,” according to the ESPN F1 X account.
Mercedes Trying To Steal Max Verstappen From Red Bull?
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A nice throwback to 2021 with some drama from between Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner and Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff when rumors began to swirl. It is rumored that Mercedes is making a serious push for the three-time F1 champion, which is an unprecedented £128,000 ($162.5 million) a year. Verstappen is currently making $55,000,000 a year with Red Bull, and the deal runs to the end of 2027. Despite all the rumors, Verstappen told the media:
But I also don’t think about it too much, I’m very relaxed. I’m very happy with the team, the performance is there, there is no reason to leave
Money isn’t the only factor in a potential Verstappen departure. His father Jos Verstappen, has been vocal in the aftermath of the Horner investigation to the point that the Senior Verstappen has not been in the Red Bull garage for a number of races after comments to the media about Horner, Jos Verstappen told the Daily Mail:
There is tension here while he [Horner] remains in position. The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can’t go on the way it is. It will explode. He is playing the victim, when he is the one causing the problems.
Jos Verstappen is a major influence on Max, and it is plausible to believe that if Jos lobbied hard in favor to Mercedes Max could be piloting the silver arrow in the near future.
About The Author
Dillon Hildreth is a writer for Total Apex and a lifelong fan of Football with my favorite teams being the New England Patriots and the Georgia Bulldogs. Dillon is also a fan of Motorsports Red Bull in Formula One and William Byron in NASCAR. You can catch Dillon Stream F1, NASCAR, and other video games and sidecasts on Twitch.
