Audi F1 drivers emerge
Reports out of Germany have claimed that Audi has decided the drivers it wants to race for it in 2025, ahead of the German car company formally entering F1 in 2026.
Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz are the two names connected to the Hinwil squad, leaving Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu seemingly without a seat.
Hulkenberg is currently on a one-year deal with Haas but looks likely to lose that seat in favour of Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman.
Sainz meanwhile is out of contract after Ferrari opted to replace him with Lewis Hamilton. Linked with a move to both Mercedes and Red Bull Racing, he’s arguably the hottest property on the driver market.
Sauber currently sits ninth in the constructors’ championship, while Audi has recently announced its intention to assume complete control of the organisation.
Where this leaves Bottas and Zhou is unclear, though many other drivers remain unaccounted for.
Championship-winning Ferrari under the hammer
A Ferrari 312 T4 driven to the 1979 F1 world championship by Jody Scheckter will go under the hammer in Monaco next month.
It’s part of an extensive collection from the South African driver which includes a host of other F1 machinery.
The ‘Jody Scheckter Collection’ includes a McLaren M23, Tyrrell 007, Tyrrell P34, Wolff WR1, and a number of junior formulae cars.
The championship-winning Ferrari is the centrepiece, however, and is expected to fetch between AUD $8.6 million and $10.7 million.
Other cars set to go under the hammer include a 1954 Ferrari 625, a 1981 Porsche 917 K-81, and a 1999 Prost AP02.
Williams going back to the future
Williams has announced plans to launch a sister-company to its racing team to leverage the innovation and technology from F1 into other sectors.
It’s a curious move given Dorilton Capital, which now owns Williams, sold Williams Advanced Engineering in 2022 to Australian mining magnate Andrew Twiggy Forrest.
That deal was worth approximately AUD $309 million and saw WAE fall under the control of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), of which Dr Forrest is the founder and chairman.
The newly created Wiliams Grand Prix Technologies bills itself as offering “resources, assets, skillsets, technologies and talent available to the racing team to unlock new performance and potential.”
The new organisation will be based alongside the F1 team at its Grove headquarters.
FIA chasing support for F1 race director
The FIA is looking to add support to Formula 1 race director Niels Wittich in a key position based in its Geneva head office.
Motorsport’s governing body is looking for a ‘head of remote operations centre and future regulations (sporting)’ who will work alongside Wittich and have other responsibilities.
The job would see the individual take control over the FIA’s remote operations centre (ROC), a facility set up in the wake of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
It was one of the outcomes of a report into that event which found, in part, that the systems in place to support then-race director Michael Masi were inadequate.
The ROC works alongside race control to offer support and capacity for Formula 1, Formula 2, and Formula 3 trackside activities.
However, the job is not limited to that. The role is also set to work alongside Tim Malyon, the FIA’s sporting director, within its single-seater department.
The position will develop and deploy simulation tools to form future regulations and prepare concepts, proposals, and amendments to current regulations.
