As F1 heads to China for this weekend’s race, the driver market rumour mill continues to turn. Ever since Lewis Hamilton announced his sensational move to Ferrari for 2025, we’ve known it would be a high-stakes silly season.
Much of the focus now is on Carlos Sainz, the man who will lose his seat at the Scuderia to make room for Hamilton. Despite winning the Australian Grand Prix last month, he could end up dropping down to Williams or Sauber.
Mercedes, in need of a driver, have held talks with the Spaniard, but they’re currently at odds over contract length. Instead of Sainz, they could well promote academy driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
At Red Bull, meanwhile, Max Verstappen is ostensibly committed to a long-term contract, but his future is uncertain as Mercedes try everything to lure him away. Sergio Perez is fighting for his seat ahead of the expiry of his deal.
There could be a hectic reshuffle in F1’s midfield, where drivers like Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly are out of contract. After the field remained exactly the same over the winter for the first time in the sport’s history, many outsiders will welcome the uncertainty.
One driver who’s going nowhere, though, is Fernando Alonso. Aston Martin confirmed last week that the Spaniard had signed a new deal that runs until at least the end of 2026.
Craig Slater shares how Aston Martin staff reacted to Fernando Alonso news
Alonso could have held out for an offer for Mercedes or a possible vacancy from Red Bull, but in the end he decided to commit his future to Aston Martin. The Spaniard has scored eight podiums since joining from Alpine in 2023.
Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, reporter Craig Slater revealed how staff had reacted to the news on their flight to Shanghai. It seems to have only heightened excitement about the team’s trajectory.
He said: “I was on the plane with some of Bernie’s old colleagues who are really excited about Alonso re-signing. I think they see that as a real declaration of his faith in where the team is going.”
Alonso is one of the most decorated drivers on the F1 grid and is only one of three (alongside Hamilton and Verstappen) to have won a championship. Across a record 381-race career, he’s scored 22 victories and 106 podiums.
Honda set to become Aston Martin engine supplier in exciting future
Aston Martin’s billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll appears determined to make the team world champions rather than reside comfortably in the upper echelon of F1’s midfield. And Alonso clearly has confidence in the team’s direction ahead of the 2026 regulation changes.
At the end of next year, Aston’s long-running partnership with Mercedes will come to an end, and they will instead race with Honda engines in an exclusive deal. Stroll will see that as key to their prospects.
But he isn’t stopping there. It recently emerged that he’d ‘upped the ante’ in his efforts to sign Red Bull designer Adrian Newey, which would be a mighty coup.
The Canadian is, however, under increasing pressure to drop his son Lance amid concerns that he isn’t maximising the potential of the car. During their time as teammates, Stroll has scored 85 points to Alonso’s 230.
The post ‘I was on the plane’: Reporter says F1 team staff were ‘really excited’ on Chinese GP flight after big news appeared first on F1 Oversteer.
