Formula One News — December 2024

Nico Hulkenberg, ninth

The four rookies that will take part in the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship have already notified the FIA about the race numbers they will want to have.

Sérgio Pérez’s days as a racing driver may have come to an end when he prematurely retired from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Having now negotiated his departure from Red Bull Racing against a generous finantial packake, the Mexican knows he’ll never get a chance to race for a top Formula 1 team again and has always sounded like a man who didn’t fancy going back to the midfield, after four years driving a car capable of winning Grand Prix and championships.

Yuki Tsunoda, tenth

Theo Pourchaire and two other drivers have been dropped by Sauber’s young drivers’ program, as the structure of the Swiss team will soon be completely under Audi’s control.

Christian Horner has finally admitted Red Bull could let Yuki Tsunoda go at the end of 2025 if a promotion of the Japanese driver to the company’s main team isn’t secured for the following year. For the last two years, aware that his chances of being promoted to the Milton Keynes-based team weren’t great, Tsunoda has been trying to get a release from his contract with Red Bull but his requests have been always denied by the team’s management.

Frédéric Vasseur showed total confidence in Lewis Hamilton’s ability to return to his winning ways with the Scuderia, during his traditional media Christmas dinner in Maranello, earlier this week. The Frenchman also revealed that the veteran driver had been dreaming of a move to Ferrari “for at least 20 years”, adding that “there’s tremendous respect between Charles and Lewis” and that’s why he doesn’t expect any issues in this new partnership.

Pirelli’s intensive in-season testing seems to have brought the results the Italian tyre manufacturer was hoping for. Having been surprised by the amount of downforce generated by the 2024-spec cars – and, therefore, by the lap times achieved – already in the first race of the season, Pirelli decided much stronger constructions were going to be needed for 2025, the final year Formula 1 will race with the current set of technical regulations.

Andrea Stella is clearly the face of McLaren’s amazing turnaround of form in the last couple of years, but the Italian continuesto refuse to take all the credit for the improved performance of the historic British team, pointing out that the new culture that has made the papaya orange cars into winning machines, comes all the way from the top, with McLaren CEO Zak Brown embracing a new way of motivating his staff.

Reacting quickly to the Rwandan president’s announcement his country has now made a formal bid to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix in the near future, the South African government has put together a new committee that will evaluate all the potential bids to become the home of their own Grand Prix before putting its full backing behind the best one.

Daniel Ricciardo has quickly shut down all the rumors that were linking him with a return to Formula 1 in 2026 with the new Cadillac team, the Australian making it clear that his time as a Grand Prix driver came to an end in Singapore and that he may be entirely done with motor racing in general.

Valtteri Bottas has never been known for venting his anger or settling problems in public, the former Sauber driver being a typical Finn, who keeps himself to himself, even if his wicked sense of humor has progressively come to the surface since he left Mercedes and felt free to express himself in his own, unique, way.

The president of the FIA has decided to open another battle front against the Formula 1 drivers, telling that if they want permanent Stewards in Grand Prix racing, “they can pay for it.” There’s been no love lost between Mohammed Ben Sulayem and the Formula 1 drivers, especially since the start of this year and his latest salvo is unlikely to start mending fences between the Emirati and the GPDA.

Yuki Tsunoda "would have deserved" a promotion to Red Bull Racing, but lost out to Liam Lawson in key areas.

Valtteri Bottas intends to use his new job at Mercedes as a launching pad to return to the Formula 1 grid.

The Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 team announced that French driver Isack Hadjar will join the team to drive alongside Yuki Tsunoda for the 2025 season.

Frederic Vasseur says Ferrari's car for the 2025 season will be "completely new".

Sergio Perez's next move in motorsport could already be imminent, sources have told an authoritative Spanish sports newspaper.

A probe that could stall F1 owner Liberty Media's plans to also acquire MotoGP has now been officially launched.

After the announcement yesterday that Sergio Perez is to leave the Red Bull team, today the team announced that New Zealand driver Liam Lawson will switch from the Red Bull second team to partner four-time World Champion Max Verstappen as second driver at the senior Red Bull Racing team.

Today the Mercedes GP team signed Valtteri Bottas to serve as it’s reserve driver for the 2025 season.

Sergio Perez has "no plan B" after losing his Formula 1 race seat at Red Bull, his father reveals.

Max Verstappen says he has no hard feelings after 2024 title rival and friend Lando Norris retracted a controversial comment.

Max Verstappen has denied he has ever considered a move to Aston Martin.

Ferrari isn't setting a precise date for Lewis Hamilton's first test at the wheel of a red Formula 1 car in January.