The silly season goes into overdrive - What you missed at Saudi Arabian GP

There was a real sense of deja vu at the start of the race weekend in Jeddah, given topics at the same venue a year ago. But the competitive picture on track is very different these days, while one of the names included in early silly season rumours in Jeddah was also not on the market last year.

We’ve been here before

Arriving in Saudi Arabia, the Thursday media sessions had one clear topic that was going to be the focal point above all else. Perhaps not quite to the same extent as 12 months ago, but it was still the same item – Max Verstappen’s future at Red Bull.

In 2024, it was strange to think of Verstappen potentially moving elsewhere, such was the dominance he had been enjoying and was continuing to wield over the rest of the grid at that stage. He was about to win his second race in a row from pole position, extending a run of nine straight victories, and a remarkable record of 19 wins from the past 20 races.

The drama then centred around Christian Horner’s position as team principal and the allegations he was facing, and how they were destabilising Red Bull, particularly according to Jos Verstappen. For his part, Max came out and stated he was likely to leave if Helmut Marko was no longer part of the team.

This time around, it was actually comments from Marko that created a repeat talking point, as the Austrian stated “the concern is great” that Verstappen could leave Red Bull at the end of the season based on poor performance. It was a comment that did still seem panicked, even if it was more understandable before track running in Jeddah than after it.

While the driver himself said he was the only one not talking about his future, his manager Raymond Vermeulen was pictured chatting openly with Alpine team principal Ollie Oakes. While Oakes insists it certainly wasn’t driver talk, it’s exactly the sort of image Vermeulen will not mind being circulated as he assesses the potential options open to Verstappen, and tries to get Red Bull to make rapid improvements.

Russell’s future in the spotlight

While there was a focus on Verstappen’s situation at Red Bull, it doesn’t come without a knock-on impact on other teams, and in particular George Russell’s position at Mercedes.

Russell is out of contract at the end of the season, and Toto Wolff has openly courted Verstappen before, but the Mercedes team principal also has a very strong line-up in Russell and Kimi Antonelli.

Reports that a new deal for Russell is on the verge of being signed was news to both the driver’s management and the team, but neither side was overly concerned as they feel negotiations will be simple when the situation is addressed – with talks currently earmarked for closer to the summer.

But rumblings of interest from other teams only serve the narrative that Russell could find himself moved aside at Mercedes for Verstappen, while the team insisting that isn’t the case could also act as a bargaining tool in any discussions with the Dutchman, who is certainly not likely to come cheap.

The pair could be facing intertwined futures and certainly, the respective storylines are going to be interlinked in the coming weeks and months, with potentially two extremely-coveted drivers on the market for next season.

Lindblad breaking records

It wasn’t the most dramatic way to win a Formula 2 race, but Arvid Lindblad’s victory in the Sprint event on Saturday was a significant moment.

Lindblad crossed the line second after a strong opening part of the race, but ahead of him, Richard Verschoor was given what appeared to be a particularly harsh – even if correct by the letter of the law – five-second time penalty for his overtake on Pepe Marti for the lead.

That meant Lindblad became the youngest winner in F2 history, at just 17 years and 243 days, adding to his previous record of being the youngest winner in F3 history last season.

It was another victory on a Good Saturday for Red Bull during the Easter weekend, and while it is Marti who is better-placed in the F2 standings of the team’s junior drivers, Lindblad has been marked out as the one most likely to progress to F1 from the current crop.

The movement among the current four F1 drivers magnified the pressure Red Bull drivers are under, but stability was promised to Yuki Tsunoda alongside Verstappen at least, while Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson are still so early in their own careers. But more wins and a title challenge will put Lindblad in prime position to be knocking on the door later this season.

Drivers get gifts by the bouquet load

On arrival in Jeddah, the drivers were handed a gift as soon as they stepped off of whichever plane they had landed on. And it came in the form of a large bouquet of flowers.

Esteban Ocon accepted his welcome gift gracefully, and proceeded to carry it all the way through passport control – where it then needed to be explained to security so that the flowers didn’t get based in an airport scanner – and to baggage claim.