What seemed like a throwaway comment from FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem ahead of pre-season testing has evolved into a serious talking point, with team bosses and power unit manufacturers asked about their opinions on running V10 engines via a sustainable fuel.
There are some fierce opposers, but the FIA and some teams appear keen to explore it, to the extent that there will be a meeting held in Bahrain next week between the governing body, power unit manufacturers and team representatives to discuss the idea further.
One team boss called the meeting “a waste of time”, while another is particularly supportive of such a change in the coming years, and such widely varying opinions tend to lead to fireworks at some stage.
Antonelli learns from The Doctor
No, this time I’m not talking about Doctor Marko.
Before making his Formula 1 debut, Kimi Antonelli was described by his former Prema team principal Rene Rosin as pane e motorsport — meaning he only eats bread and thinks about motorsport — as a sign of his remarkable commitment and love of racing.
Antonelli arrives at Suzuka with a head full of Valentino Rossi’s lurid tales
Mercedes-AMG
That was on display when he decided to spend some of the time between long-haul trips to China and Japan at a go kart track. And he wasn’t just with any driver, but motorcycle racing legend and now GT racer Valentino Rossi.
Antonelli said it was cool to spend such time with an Italian icon, with the pair getting on well despite their 28-year age gap, as they bonded over their love of speed.
The teenager did admit, however, that part of the day saw him hearing about stories from the MotoGP years that he could not repeat in any setting… I went digging for more but he was sworn to secrecy.
Cowell hints at future movement
Up to now, after so much movement at the end of 2024, if you try and talk to anyone about potential drivers they could sign for their team, it’s generally only been Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon who would openly discuss it.
Lowdon was in Japan again to be able to take part in multiple meetings, and says there are numerous experienced drivers on his radar for a seat in 2026, with the likes of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas both strong options, but also young American talents such as Jak Crawford and Colton Herta remaining on what is a very long list of names.
Aston boss Andy Cowell is already looking ahead to 2027
Aston Martin
But speaking to F1 TV on Saturday, Aston Martin team principal Andy Cowell was not in the mood to close the door on some interesting names that could move to Silverstone. In fact, he openly stated that all options were on the table for 2027, when both current drivers will be out of contract.
He was directly asked about both of the current Red Bull drivers having previously been linked with: both Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda, and was happy to leave their names on the table when looking towards the future.
A Honda-powered Adrian Newey design is always going to be attractive to most drivers on the grid, and Cowell knows Aston is likely to be in a strong position over the coming 12 months when it comes to the driver market.
Hadjar is starting a trend
While all of the focus at Red Bull was on the other three drivers in its stable for so much of the Suzuka weekend, there was something about Isack Hadjar’s fortunes that looked vaguely familiar.
It might be tenuous, but if we take the embarrassment of his formation lap crash at the Australian Grand Prix and praise him for bouncing back with an impressive qualifying performance a week later in China, then there were two less-than-ideal situations that he responded to with aplomb in Japan.
Tokyo drift proved too much for Hadjar
Red Bull
The first came during a Red Bull show run in Tokyo, where the layout called for drivers to spin their machines round a pull a U-turn on a city road. Yuki Tsunoda did so with style, while Liam Lawson didn’t light the rears enough and had to be pushed back by team members. But that was clearly the plan given where the mechanics were stationed, and Hadjar leant on them once, too.
But another time he encountered such a situation, Hadjar didn’t quite get it right and damaged the front wing on his show car. Oops.
The Frenchman did take it in good humour and made a joke about it on Thursday, but by Saturday he was facing more awkward questions after having seatbelts that were too tight between his legs in both FP3 and qualifying. Still, if anyone found that embarrassing, Hadjar was totally unfazed once it was resolved and duly secured P7 on the grid.
His first points followed on Sunday after a hugely impressive weekend, but I imagine he’s going to want to avoid the other mishaps moving forward.