Formula 1’s August mid-season break is just about within sight, which means the silly season must be upon us.
Already Lewis Hamilton’s future with Mercedes has become the subject of intense questioning following denied rumours in the British media that he could be contemplating a Ferrari switch.
Red Bull Racing has also denied any speculation that Sergio Pérez’s recent form slump could put his two-year contract in jeopardy.
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Nyck de Vries has been put on notice, though whispers that Daniel Ricciardo could be in line to replace him have been rebuffed.
And Mick Schumacher is desperate to find his way back into a full-time seat after impressing as the Mercedes reserve, though his options look painfully limited.
But we might finally have the season’s first actual contract confirmation — though the market remains very much status quo as a result — via George Russell’s Mercedes seat.
Meanwhile, Ferrari has finally tasted some 2023 success, albeit in a completely different category.
And Alpine has cashed in a bet with Jeremy Clarkson after Esteban Ocon nabbed a Monaco podium.
RUSSELL GETS MERCEDES CONTRACT EXTENSION
George Russell will be a Mercedes driver until at least the end of 2025 following the activation of an option on his contract to keep him at Brackley for a fourth season.
Russell joined Mercedes last season on what was described as a “multiyear” deal, believed to run for three years to the end of 2024.
But according to Sky Sports, the team has triggered an extension clause in his contract to extend his stay into a fifth fourth year in 2025.
The 25-year-old joined Lewis Hamilton at German marque in 2022 following a three-year apprenticeship with the backmarker Williams team and has been immediately on the pace.
‘Just solid?’ – Russell brags about move | 00:34
His maiden season returned eight podiums, including his first Formula 1 victory at the São Paulo Grand Prix, and he ended the campaign 35 points and two places ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton
He’d likely have two podium appearances to his name already had his engine not failed at the Australian Grand Prix after qualifying on the front row.
Sky Sports has reported Mercedes doesn’t intend to make a formal announcement about the extension given the Briton is still racing under the terms of his original deal.
An announcement would also ramp up pressure on the team to agree terms with Hamilton on his contract, which expires at the end of this season.
Hamilton and team boss Toto Wolff met on the Monday following the Spanish Grand Prix to thrash out final details on a new deal, which both sides have described as inevitable despite speculation late last month that Ferrari was in talks with the seven-time world champion about a switch to Maranello.
Hamilton has denied talks with any team other than Mercedes and has said he expects to have his deal done in the coming weeks.
LECLERC’S LE MANS PLANS AFTER HISTORIC FERRARI WIN
Charles Leclerc must have been watching Ferrari’s Le Mans victory at the weekend wondering why it can’t translate that kind of success to Formula 1.
The Scuderia won the famous 24-hour race at the Circuit de la Sarthe from pole at its first attempt following a 50-year absence from the top class.
Former Sauber driver Antonio Giovinazzi, along with co-drivers James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi, took the chequered flag almost 90 seconds ahead of Toyota’s Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa after 342 laps.
The success contrasted starkly with Ferrari’s ongoing struggles in Formula 1, where there tam has just one podium after seven rounds of racing and is a distant fourth in the title standings.
Leclerc was in attendance for Ferrari’s history-making victory in Le Mans, and the five-time grand prix winner said he was pleased to see his team taste success in another arena.
Alonso has fun with crowd, while racing! | 00:34
“It feels absolutely amazing, obviously especially having a Ferrari winning,” he told Eurosport. “It’s incredible after a return after so many years. A very special edition.
“I’m just extremely proud of what Ferrari has done today, it’s been crazy.”
Leclerc said he was eager to enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans one day, though he wouldn’t commit to racing during his F1 career.
“I mean, why not? I would love to, it’s an incredible event,” he said. “For sure one day in my life I want to tick that box. When will it be? I don’t know.”
Le Mans is one leg of the informal motorsport ‘triple crown’ along with the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500.
Despite taking two poles in Monte Carlo, Leclerc is yet to finish higher than fourth at the blue-riband grand prix.
CLARKSON MAKES GOOD ON ALPINE BEER BET
Jeremy Clarkson has made good on a bet to buy everyone at Alpine a pint if Esteban Ocon finished on the podium at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Clarkson has previously singled out Alpine for personal support given the team is based in the Chipping Norton district of England, where he both lives and operates the Diddly Squat farm made famous in his television series Clarkson’s Farm.
Ocon enjoyed a particularly competitive weekend in Monte Carlo, qualifying fourth and starting third, a position he held as the late rain arrived and threatened to shake up the order.
“Come on [Alpine], I’ll buy you all a pint if you get a podium here,” he tweeted.
Alpine managed the switch to wet weather perfectly, and Ocon held on ahead of Lewis Hamilton to claim third at Formula 1’s most famous race.
True to his word, Clarkson arranged a visit to Alpine this week, after the team had returned from the Spanish Grand Prix, to deliver cases of his own Hawkstone beer along with a presentation of Ocon’s third-place trophy.
Alpine has turned around its chaotic and wasteful early-season performances to return strong results in the last three rounds to move up to fifth in the constructors championship on 40 points.
The team is still 60 points behind fourth-placed Ferrari but has developed a comfortable 23-point buffer ahead of 2022 rival McLaren.
