Its time for Formula 1s risk-taking drivers, overworked engineers and harried team principals to relax. At least in theory.
With four weeks until the next race, including a mandatory 14-day shutdown of all racing operations from next week, the F1 season is on hold.
Its what F1 calls silly season, the time when contract talks and rumors fill the vacuum.
It often seemed like silly season started early amid feverish speculation about a move from Red Bull to Mercedes for four-time champion Max Verstappen. Now that Verstappen has confirmed hes staying with Red Bull, other decisions such as contract renewals at Mercedes could speed up.
Russell at Mercedes
Most F1 teams saw the sweeping rule changes coming for 2026 and tied down key drivers to long contract extensions last year, or even the year before.
The idea was to lock in experienced drivers who could help with development throughout 2025, so the very different 2026 cars wouldnt come as a surprise.
Mercedes does things a little differently.
As well as checking out a potential Verstappen move, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has waited on contract extensions for George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, who arent confirmed beyond 2025.
Both went through Mercedes young driver program, which helped them through the junior series and seemingly gives the team more control over their careers.
Mercedes manage me as well, so its not really a deadline in my hands as such, four-time GP winner Russell said last month, adding hed had no talks with other teams. Antonelli started his debut F1 season strongly but the 18-year-old drivers performances have dipped in recent months.
Red Bulls other seats
Verstappens decision has taken a lot of pressure off, but the broader Red Bull organization still has three seats to fill one at Red Bull and two at Racing Bulls. Its not clear who will take the final decision, and when, after longtime team principal Christian Horner was fired .
If the logic behind dropping the underperforming Sergio Perez last year was that any Red Bull replacement would do better, its been proved wrong.
Liam Lawson lasted two races as Verstappens teammate and Yuki Tsunoda has only scored points in three of 12 race weekends since his promotion. The teams engine partnership with Honda ends this year, which could affect Honda-backed Tsunodas place.
French rookie Isack Hadjar at Racing Bulls has outscored both Tsunoda and Lawson this season and might be the frontrunner for the Red Bull seat.
F1s governing body, the FIA, made an exception to grant Red Bull-backed Formula 2 driver Arvid Lindblad its super license in June before his 18th birthday.
Cadillac is coming
Thats actually a nice seat... I wouldnt mind. Valtteri Bottas comments in a social media skit in June fawning over a Cadillac road car went viral and cemented him in many fans minds as the front-runner to join the new General Motors-backed team for 2026.
Bottas and Perez are both F1 race winners, popular with fans, who had underwhelming seasons in 2024 and arent racing in 2025.
Their experience might be a boost to a new team, though other reported options include Ferrari reserve Zhou Guanyu, an ex-Sauber driver who could unlock big sponsor backing from China, or ex-Haas driver Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher.
The Alpine carousel
Ruthless? Yes. Successful? No.
Alpine benched the departing Esteban Ocon for Jack Doohan for the last race of 2024, then dropped Doohan for Franco Colapinto six races into 2025.
Given that neither Doohan nor Colapinto has scored a point for Alpine, its perhaps no wonder the team hasnt confirmed wholl partner Pierre Gasly next year.
One option is Alpine reserve Paul Aron, whod be the first Estonian in F1. Hes had two practice drives with Sauber this year but was unlucky last week when his car broke down Friday after just eight laps.
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AP auto racing:
现在是时候让一级方程式赛车中那些敢于冒险的车手、过度劳累的工程师和疲于奔命的车队领队们放松一下了——至少理论上是这样。
距离下一站比赛还有四周时间，包括从下周开始所有赛事运营必须暂停14天，F1赛季因此暂告中断。
这就是F1所称的“疯狂转会季”——合同谈判与流言蜚语充斥赛事的空窗期。
在关于四届冠军马克斯·维斯塔潘可能从红牛转会梅赛德斯的狂热猜测中，今年的"愚蠢季"似乎提前到来。如今维斯塔潘已确认留队红牛，其他决策——比如梅赛德斯的合约续签事宜——或将加速推进。
拉塞尔加盟梅赛德斯
多数F1车队预见到2026年将迎来全面的规则改革，因此在去年甚至前年就与核心车手签订了长期续约合同。
此举旨在锁定经验丰富的车手，使其能在整个2025年协助研发工作，从而确保2026年截然不同的赛车不会令人措手不及。
梅赛德斯的行事方式略有不同。
在考察维斯塔潘潜在转会可能性的同时，梅赛德斯车队领队托托·沃尔夫也在等待与乔治·拉塞尔和基米·安东内利完成合同续约，这两名车手的合约目前仅确认到2025赛季。
两人均参与了梅赛德斯的青年车手培养计划，该计划不仅助力他们完成了初级系列赛的历练，似乎也让车队对其职业生涯拥有了更大的掌控权。
“梅赛德斯车队也在管理我的事务，所以严格来说截止日期并不完全由我掌控，”四届大奖赛冠军拉塞尔上个月表示，并补充称他尚未与其他车队展开谈判。安东内利的F1新秀赛季开局强劲，但这位18岁车手近几个月的表现有所下滑。
红牛车队的其他席位
维斯塔潘的决定缓解了巨大压力，但红牛集团仍需填补三个席位——红牛车队一席，赛牛车队两席。在长期担任领队的克里斯蒂安·霍纳被解雇后，最终决策者及时间表仍不明确。
如果说去年红牛车队弃用表现不佳的塞尔吉奥·佩雷兹的逻辑在于，任何替补车手都能表现得更好，那么这一逻辑已被证明是错误的。
利亚姆·劳森（Liam Lawson）作为维斯塔潘的队友仅出战了两场比赛，而角田裕毅（Yuki Tsunoda）自晋升以来，在12个比赛周末中仅有3次获得积分。车队与本田的引擎合作将于今年结束，这可能会影响本田支持的角田裕毅的席位。
效力于Racing Bulls车队的法国新秀伊萨克·哈贾尔（Isack Hadjar）本赛季积分已超越角田裕毅（Yuki Tsunoda）和利亚姆·劳森（Liam Lawson），或将成为红牛车队席位的有力竞争者。
国际汽车联合会（FIA）作为F1赛事的管理机构，破例在6月为红牛车队支持的二级方程式车手阿尔维德·林德布拉德颁发了超级驾照，当时他尚未满18岁。
凯迪拉克来了
这座椅确实不错……我倒不介意。 瓦尔特利·博塔斯在6月一则社交媒体短剧中盛赞凯迪拉克公路车的言论迅速走红，并让许多车迷认定他是2026年加入通用汽车支持的新车队的头号人选。
博塔斯与佩雷兹均为F1分站冠军得主，深受车迷喜爱，但二人在2024赛季表现平平，且将无缘2025赛季赛事。
他们的经验或许能为新车队注入活力，但据报道其他候选还包括法拉利替补车手周冠宇——这位前索伯车手可能为中国市场带来巨额赞助支持，以及前哈斯车手米克·舒马赫——七届冠军迈克尔·舒马赫之子。
阿尔卑斯旋转木马
冷酷无情？确实。功成名就？未必。
阿尔派车队在2024赛季最后一站比赛中用杰克·杜汉替换了即将离队的埃斯特班·奥康，随后又在2025赛季进行六场比赛后弃用杜汉，转而启用弗朗哥·科拉平托。
鉴于杜汉（Doohan）和科拉平托（Colapinto）至今尚未为阿尔派车队（Alpine）取得任何积分，车队尚未确定明年谁将与皮埃尔·加斯利（Pierre Gasly）搭档也就不足为奇了。
一个选择是阿尔派车队预备车手保罗·阿隆（Paul Aron），他将成为首位进入F1的爱沙尼亚车手。今年他已为索伯车队完成两次练习赛，但上周五他的赛车仅跑完八圈便发生故障，运气欠佳。
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