Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and seventh, respectively, in the Sprint event at the recent round in São Paulo, Brazil, but neither managed to finish the following day’s Grand Prix after contact with other drivers, although Leclerc was blameless for his race-ending incident. This led to an angry response from the Ferrari executive chairman, John Elkann, who in no uncertain terms told his drivers to “focus more on their driving and talk less.” The outfit’s team principal, Fred Vasseur, also singled Hamilton out for criticism, saying, “I can’t complain about our pace in Brazil – at least as far as Charles is concerned.”

The Maranello-based team has hardly been having the season it had hoped for after attracting Hamilton to its ranks at great expense, and the Brazilian outcome dropped the iconic outfit to fourth in the Constructors’ Championship behind McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull. The message from Elkann was unequivocal, and its current F1 drivers arrived in the USA knowing better was very much expected of them. Hamilton describing his time at Ferrari to date as a “nightmare” no doubt worsened Elkann’s demeanour, especially since he has yet to achieve a 2025 podium finish in a Grand Prix!

Meanwhile, in advance of the Las Vegas weekend, Red Bull revealed that its new 2026 Red Bull and Racing Bulls liveries will be unveiled at its season launch on 15 January in Detroit, Michigan, where new engine partner Ford is based. Red Bull’s highly successful partnership with Honda is about to end next year, and Red Bull Ford Powertrains will replace the liaison with the Japanese company.

The F1 regulations for 2026 represent arguably the biggest changes in the 75-year history of the sport, and the new power units will feature a near 50:50 split between internal combustion and electrical power, with the Red Bull team principal, Laurent Mekies, declaring, “The launch of the Red Bull Ford Powertrains era represents not only a bold step into the future but a powerful expression of what’s possible when world-class engineering, innovation and passion come together.” In due course, it will be intriguing to see who has produced the best new power unit, as this will have a heavy impact on who succeeds and who doesn’t next year.

In other news, the Mercedes F1 team principal and chief executive officer, Toto Wolff, has sold a 15% stake in his holding company for his third shareholding in the Brackley-based outfit, the other two-thirds being owned equally by the Mercedes parent company and the British chemicals giant, Ineos. The purchaser is George Kurtz, who is the founder and CEO of the CrowdStrike cybersecurity company and who will also act as a technology advisor for the team as well as being a sponsor. Interestingly, the deal values the Mercedes F1 operation at a record-breaking £4.6bn.

Ineos bought its third share in the team for £208m back in 2022, with the latest valuation suggesting a third would now be worth in excess of £1.5bn. This dramatic increase simply reflects the significant rise in team valuations as a result of the sport’s ongoing and ever-increasing global success.

Cadillac will become Formula 1’s 11th team next season, and their preparations continued at the Imola circuit in northern Italy during the gap between Brazil and Las Vegas, as the new team, assisted by Ferrari personnel, ran a two-year-old SF-23 car loaned to them by the iconic Scuderia. The car had been given a shakedown two days earlier at Ferrari’s private test track, Fiorano, by its test driver Arthur Leclerc, the brother of race driver Charles.

Behind the wheel at Imola was Sergio Pérez, the Mexican driver dropped by Red Bull at the end of the 2024 campaign, who will race for Cadillac alongside Valtteri Bottas, who is still completing his duties as a Mercedes reserve driver. The car ran in a black carbon fibre livery, and the team insisted that the exercise was mainly about testing its support staff with a real car rather than merely in a virtual world.

Elsewhere, with the German car manufacturer Audi set to appear on the Formula 1 grid next year after its acquisition of the Swiss-based Sauber team, it held an early 2026 launch event in Munich post Brazil and discussed its ambitions and a hope to be challenging for titles by 2030. The scope of Audi’s F1 project is extensive, as it has committed to producing both its car and power unit, and next year it will retain Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto as its drivers. However, team principal Jonathan Wheatley has expressed a desire to attract Max Verstappen to its ranks in the future, having worked closely with the Dutch multiple champion, his father Jos and Max’s manager, Raymond Vermeulen, at Red Bull. An early concept of its potential car livery for next season was also displayed in front of a fine group of other sporty Audi machines.

A UK High Court judge has declared that, after reviewing the evidence provided to date, part of the claim made by the Brazilian former F1 driver, Felipe Massa, against Formula One Management, Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA governing body can now progress to a full trial. It relates to the contentious 2008 season and in particular the Singapore Grand Prix.

On a lighter note, Ella Hakkinen, the 14-year-old daughter of McLaren’s 1998 and 1999 Formula 1 world champion Mika Hakkinen, has joined the team’s well-known driver development programme. The young Finn has had karting success in Europe and understandably aspires to follow her father ultimately into the highest echelon of global motorsport.