F1's summer break 2024 | 5 talking points

Pérez safe – for now

We thought he was done. Over the Spa weekend and after another underwhelming race, in which he faded from second on the grid to eighth past the chequered flag, it appeared that Sergio Pérez might well have run his last grand prix for Red Bull. But following a crisis meeting on the Monday after, the team made it clear against most expectations that ‘Checo’ will remain in his seat when F1 resumes on the 25^th August at Zandvoort.

But is it a stay of execution? Certainly the speculation isn’t about to dry up, with some suggesting he isn’t necessarily safe until the end of 2024, never mind next year – whatever his contract might say. He was probably lucky that neither of Red Bull’s two alternatives, Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson, looked certain to perform better. Still, Pérez’s destiny in both the short and long-term is considered to be fluid and that will remain the case for as long as Red Bull’s bid for a fourth consecutive world constructors’ championship looks under threat from McLaren, which is now only 42 points in arrears with 10 races to play.

Perhaps in confirming he will continue, there’s a tacit admission that the team has also been complicit in the driver’s failings. Even Verstappen finds the knife-edge RB20 a handful. Is there more the team can do to help Pérez find the sweet spot? Also, races such as Baku and Singapore are coming up, venues where he has won in the past. The team has acted out of character by giving him another chance – now he must show the character to make the most of it.

Pieces fall into place in the driver puzzle

Big pieces in the final shape of the 2025 grid remain missing – who will join George Russell in the other Mercedes being the most obvious, along with the thorny Pérez case. But moves in the past days and weeks have started to give the picture for next year a little more focus. Finally after months of speculation, we know Carlos Sainz Jr. will move to Williams and not Sauber (soon to be Audi) or Alpine, while Esteban Ocon is heading from Alpine to Haas, joining rookie Oliver Bearman. That leaves Kevin Magnussen out in the cold – perhaps for a return to sports car racing? 

Binotto to shape Audi programme

On the teams front, Audi is still a year and a half away from its formal entry into F1, but has already experienced major upheaval at the top. Ex-McLaren chief Andreas Seidl and Oliver Hoffman’s tenure is already over, with former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto set to assume command. Now Jonathan Wheatley, mainstay of Red Bull, has been recruited for his first crack at a team principal role, too. It’s hard to know what to make of the task he and Binotto face. Hülkenberg certainly seemed surprised that Seidl, the man who hired him for next year, has now departed. In its current Sauber guise, the team is the only one not to have scored a point this term and appears to be running on empty – but can we really take anything from that form as an indicator for Audi’s future? Sainz’s decision to choose a customer team over a mighty manufacturer squad doesn’t bode well, but perhaps he will come to regret that call. Then again, perhaps he won’t.

Audi has built a formidable reputation over 40 years in rallying, touring cars, sports cars and most recently on the Dakar Rally. It should never be underestimated. But F1 people tend to have a superiority complex and can be dismissive of achievements ‘below’ the pinnacle. The scale of everything in F1 is another story entirely, they say. In the wake of the apparent turbulence surrounding the project, and rumbling suspicion over the ultimate commitment of the Audi board to its F1 entry, there’s plenty of room for scepticism. The clock is ticking for the team’s full transformation in 2026.

New chief at Alpine, too

Another summer, another new boss at the helm of Alpine’s troubled F1 team. Last year Otmar Szafnauer found himself ousted, with Peugeot veteran Bruno Famin stepping in – first on an interim basis, later confirmed as a permanent replacement. Not that permanent, as it turns out. Famin has now returned to Viry to focus on the Renault-owned brand’s other motor sport activities. Its World Endurance Championship campaign will, in truth, be much more familiar ground for the veteran engineer.

In his place comes Oliver Oakes, former racer and founder of the Hitech team that is well-established in Formula 3 and Formula 2 – and intriguingly recently pitched for a place on the F1 grid. At 36, Oakes will become the second youngest F1 team principal yet and will find himself working with Flavio Briatore, controversially brought in by Renault top chief Luca de Meo as a consultant. Briatore appears to be encouraging the team to abandon its own engine programme based at Viry-Châtillon in favour of a customer deal with Mercedes.

Utterly baffling and downright embarrassing for Renault, is it not? You’d think so. But under de Meo, the Enstone team currently operating under the relatively obscure Alpine brand has gained an unfortunate reputation of rarely making much sense. Oakes, like Wheatley, has a seriously difficult job on his hands.

McLaren rewards Stella for success

In contrast, life at McLaren is looking up. No wonder Zak Brown has acted to secure team principal Andrea Stella to his post with a new contract extension for an unspecified “multiple year” duration. Stella has worked wonders since being thrust into the spotlight at team principal in December 2022, taking over the foundation work of revival from Seidl and pressing on to coax McLaren back to the sharp end of the grid. The 53-year-old ex-Ferrari engineer’s growing status will only solidify if McLaren can overhaul Red Bull and win its first constructors’ world title since 1998. The chase is on – once F1 has taken its much-needed breather.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images