After a few weeks of silence, Formula 1 roars back with the Dutch Grand Prix.
This week, the grid heads to Zandvoort, as the Summer Shutdown draws to a close and the sport gears up for the second half of the campaign. Here are the major storylines as F1 returns to action.
The title fight between McLaren teammates
At the top of the list is the Drivers’ Championship battle between McLaren teammates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. The gap between the two is down to just nine points, thanks to a phenomenal stretch from Norris, who won three of the four races before the summer break.
Of course, the fourth was won by Piastri.
Just how tight has this battle been? The biggest margin between the two McLaren drivers this season was 23 points, and that came after the opening race of the year.
Norris captured the win in the Australian Grand Prix to begin the season, while Piastri finished ninth. While Piastri’s result highlighted his determination to remain in the fight this season — he slid off the track during a stretch of wet weather and resorted to putting his MCL39 in reverse to get back onto the track before he could go forward again — it left him 23 points behind his teammate in the standings.
That gap closed to just ten points after the Chinese Grand Prix, when Piastri finished second in the F1 Sprint race (with Norris in eighth) and then won the Grand Prix (as Norris finished second). Things remained tight between the pair until the Canadian Grand Prix, when it grew to 22 points.
On that Sunday in Montreal, the highly anticipated on-track fight between the two teammates materialized. As they battled for fourth in the closing stages of the Canadian Grand Prix, Norris made contact with the rear of Piastri’s MCL39, knocking himself out of the race.
But while Piastri enjoyed a 22-point lead as the grid left Montreal, Norris closed that gap to nine with those three wins in four races. McLaren locked out the front row with Piastri and Norris during all four of those race weekends.
This graphic, courtesy of Flourish, illustrates the battle between the McLaren teammates this year:
These two renew their battle at Zandvoort this weekend.
But by the trajectory so far, this battle likely goes down to the wire.
All eyes on Lewis Hamilton
Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images
To hear Lewis Hamilton tell it, there was perhaps no one more excited for the Summer Shutdown to arrive than Ferrari’s newest driver.
But that break is now over, and it is time for Hamilton to get back to the grid.
The Hungarian Grand Prix was a house of horrors for Hamilton, despite the Hungaroring being a track he has dominated over his career. Hamilton has won the Hungarian Grand Prix eight times and been on pole position nine times, both of which are event records.
But this year Hamilton qualified 12th — after which he referred to himself as “useless” — and he finished 12th in the race, following which he indicated that he would be back after the Shutdown.
“Hopefully,” was the clarification he added.
Those remarks opened the door to speculation over Hamilton’s future, a doorway former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone was more than happy to walk through. Speaking with The Daily Mail, Ecclestone made the case that Hamilton is “tired,” and that “he should stop now.”
Lewis Hamilton is not stopping now.
The man who changed a sport and defined a generation has more to give to Formula 1.
The love of racing is still there. The ability to see a gap and the willingness to go for that gap are still there. Hamilton has shown flashes this year, notably with his win in the F1 Sprint race in the Chinese Grand Prix and his P3 in the F1 Sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix. There is also his charge through the bulk of the field at the Belgian Grand Prix, when he started on pit lane and roared into the points, mastering the back half of the field as well as the changing weather conditions.
He may have sounded defeated at the Hungarian Grand Prix, and that resignation is going to be a massive storyline during the Summer Shutdown. But a driver with seven titles under his belt, and the burning desire to secure the eighth (described as his “unfinished business” by Toto Wolff), is not going away like this.
Lewis Hamilton starts that fight this week at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Putting aside the top of the Constructors’ Championship standings, a fascinating fight for second is shaping up between Ferrari and Mercedes.
And that fight also resumes this week.
Right now, Ferrari has the edge in that battle, leading the Silver Arrows by just 24 points. But with bragging rights and millions of dollars on the line in this fight, do not sleep on the battle for second down the stretch.
And if Red Bull can get more production from the second seat alongside Verstappen, maybe keep an eye on them in this fight. Right now, Red Bull trails Ferrari by 66 points, but much can change over the final few months of the season.
Here is how the battle for second has played out this season, courtesy of Flourish:
The fight in the midfield
Now we can talk about the fight for the midfield.
After 14 races, Williams leads the way in that battle, as they sit fifth in the Constructors’ Championship standings with 70 points. But the four teams in this fight are not separated by many points in the standings. Thanks to a strong result at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Aston Martin is now in sixth with 52 points, just one point ahead of Sauber.
Visa Cash App Racing Bulls are currently eighth in the standings with 45 points, ten points ahead of ninth-place Haas.
That means the gap from Williams in fifth to Haas in ninth is just 35 points.
If that seems like a huge gap, just remember what the team in tenth place did a year ago. After the Belgian Grand Prix last season (the 14th race of the schedule), Alpine had only 11 points. But they finished the year with 65, up in sixth place, thanks to a dramatic double podium at the São Paulo Grand Prix.
This battle will be fascinating to watch over the second half of the season.
Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Is this the week we, finally, get some actual news on the driver transfer market?
When the Summer Shutdown began, several drivers were without a contract for next season: Franco Colapinto at Alpine, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes, Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson at Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, and Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull.
Those drivers remain without new deals as the break comes to an end, and the second half of the season begins.
Let’s start with Mercedes. It is widely expected that extensions for Russell and Antonelli are going to be announced in due time. While Toto Wolff admitted “conversations” were taking place with Max Verstappen, Russell’s form combined with Antonelli’s promise makes this a likely lineup for the near term at Mercedes.
As for the three drivers in the Red Bull family, Hadjar and Lawson seem to be in the best position right now. Lawson has shaken off the early-season struggles that led to his demotion from Red Bull, and Hadjar has been perhaps the best rookie this season, although Gabriel Bortoleto has made a late charge at that title.
Tsunoda might be the most under threat of the three for next year. After earning his long-awaited promotion to Red Bull, he has scored just seven points, and while the RB21 is not the dominant force on the grid, that is not the level of performance the team is hoping for.
As for Franco Colapinto, there have been rumors of Alpine moving in a different direction before the season ends, given the lack of production since he took over for Jack Doohan.
Of course, two other seats need to be filled, and perhaps we will finally get confirmation of Cadillac’s choices for next year. According to various outlets, the team has settled on veterans Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas for next season. Mario Andretti, an advisor to the incoming Cadillac team, cautioned fans and media members alike recently to only “believe what we communicate” when it comes to their driver lineup for next year.
Perhaps we will receive some communications on that front this week.
