In a bid to lighten car weight, discussion is ongoing about whether to reduce wheel and tyre sizes as part of the new 2026 regulations. This could be a complication for Bridgestone (which together with Pirelli has applied to be the single tyre supplier 2025-27) as it would require it to create two sets of moulds, one for the existing sizes which will run in ’25 and another for whatever new size might be decided for ’26 onwards.
Pat Fry has been recruited from Alpine to Williams where he will fulfil the same role of chief technical officer. He accepted the position some weeks before it was announced, around the time of the Miami Grand Prix. Williams team principal James Vowles has emphasised that he will also be recruiting a technical director to work with Fry.
On the eve of the Belgian Grand Prix Renault boss Luca de Meo moved Alpine boss Laurent Rossi from the F1 team to ‘special projects’. A few days later, during the race weekend, it was announced that team principal Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane would also be leaving, the latter after serving 34 years at the team. Former Renault Sport boss Bruno Famin has taken over as chief of the combined engine and chassis groups. Acting sporting director is Julian Rouse, son of touring car legend Andy Rouse.
Talking about future Red Bull partners for Max Verstappen, Helmut Marko recently commented: “With Norris, I could imagine that. It’s harder for me [to imagine] Hamilton. We as a team prioritise the world championship and it’s better if you have a certain hierarchy. I don’t want to say ‘a No1 driver’, but that it’s clear who is faster. The atmosphere cannot suffer. If we look at something like Senna and Prost, you’d have two superstars who only look at each other and put the team in second place.”
