Formula E is planning to race in Spain for the first time since 2021 with plans well advanced to host a race at Jarama next March.

The Race can reveal that a double-header at the former Spanish Grand Prix venue, which hosted Formula E's pre-season test last November, could be confirmed next month when the provisional calendar for the 2025-26 season is communicated by the FIA.

The Jarama plans appear to be part of a stopgap move for a more permanent fixture in Spain that could result in a return to racing at the Montjuïc Park location in Barcelona that held Spanish Grand Prix from 1969-75, before Jarama took over as a venue in F1.

A plan to race at this site is being seriously looked at for 2027.

'Everything at risk' - Formula E's epic 220-mile pivot explained

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Formula E has been looking to add another European race back to its schedule since the Rome E-Prix fell off the calendar after 2023.

Last year's pre-season test was held at Jarama, to the north of Madrid, which was plugged in as a replacement for the usual Valencia location at Circuit Ricardo Tormo following devastating flooding in the region.

The Race understands that a tentative late-March date could be utilised for a first event at Jarama, something that Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds said last week was "definitely doable in the sense that it's a circuit we know".

"It's people we know, and obviously we've got experience of it from doing stuff with them last season. It felt like a good circuit, and the feedback through testing from pre-season from the drivers was really positive," added Dodds.

"Barcelona is also a great location, and Xavi [Serra] and Cupra, it's obviously their home. Cupra, I've got to say, other than being really positive about wanting to have a race there, are massively supportive."

Cupra, which is the title partner for the Kiro Formula E team, has been pushing for a home race for some time and is known to be driving plans for the Montjuich facility to be race ready for 2027.

CUPRA sporting chief Xavi Serra told The Race that the Volkswagen-owned brand is "of course, supporting a race in Spain".

"I think Formula E has been chasing this [a Spanish event] as well for a while and it's something that fits for them and would fit for us as well," said Serra.

"As far as we know, there are options open for Jarama [in 2026]. And Montjuic would be a project, an amazing project, honestly. Let's see what the future brings. Obviously, we will support a race in Spain.

"We are not leading the project and it's Formula E having an assessment. In all the cities they are looking for, because Formula E works with a bunch of cities, including Jarama and Montjuic, they call it the pre-candidate phase.

"They have to have a look whether the place [Montjuic] is suitable. It's in an early stage, as far as I know but it would be a good fit for the length, for the layout, for everything."

What the drivers think

"For driving purposes, it's good," Porsche's Antonio Felix da Costa told The Race in Monaco last week.

"That track was super fun to drive, and we did that dummy race there to kind of test everything out. That was actually good to do. But, you know, they're building some kind of street track in Madrid too. So, I think we should be going there."

That referenced the MadRing, the final layout of which was unveiled last month and is due to host Formula 1's Spanish GP in 2026.

But an event at Jarama presently looks like the most likely return to Spain for 2026, something which Lola Yamaha Abt's Zane Maloney would back.

"It would be cool because the more tracks we go to, the better for the drivers," Maloney told The Race.

"I enjoyed Jarama, it’s a traditional circuit. It's what I've grown up with, I've been used to that. The street circuits, obviously in F2 and stuff we have street circuits, but not quite like Formula E tracks."

Formula E has long since phased itself away from being predominantly a street and city racing series and actually only has Monaco and the Jakarta races this season that are fully 100% sealed off street races on usable public roads.

Several drivers expressed concern to The Race recently that more permanent tracks such as Homestead, Shanghai and Misano in recent seasons are diminishing the challenge of the world championship.

Among them was Mitch Evans, with the Jaguar Racing driver telling The Race that he believed that Formula E was moving too far away from its roots.

"Personally, I prefer the street track vibe and the challenge it presents," he told The Race.

"There were more of them in the past here and I think it has been a shame that some great ones are not around anymore. They present a real challenge for us as drivers and I'd like to see many more of them on the calendar."

The months of uncertainty over Jack Doohan's position and then the abruptness of his exit already put the Alpine Formula 1 team in a negative light. And then - on the evening before Franco Colapinto's long-awaited arrival in Doohan's old seat was actually announced - team principal Oli Oakes quit.

Here are our team's snap takes on the wild events at Alpine.

Jumping ship seems a wise move

Gary Anderson

No change in how Alpine’s top management acts then. It just shows once a team is in disarray, it stays in disarray.

As I said in my earlier verdict on the team replacing Doohan, Oakes had just become a puppet to Briatore’s string pulling and I commend him for not putting up with that and jumping a potentially sinking ship.

The Doohan/Colapinto swap was always going to happen. I’m surprised it is only for five races (according to the media statement anyway). Drivers need a chance to settle in, get their head straight, make a couple of mistakes before they can show their real potential.

Doing it this way - it Alpine really has - just puts more pressure on Colapinto.

I suppose some people never learn.

Will the real architect of Alpine's chaos please stand up?

Scott-Mitchell Malm

The newest instalment of the Alpine soap opera is arguably its most surprising yet - but you can be 99% sure the person ultimately responsible for its situation will continue to pretend he isn't.

Renault CEO Luca de Meo continues to play a key part in a shambolic level of turnover that undermines any effort to restore Team Enstone to its former glories.

Oakes resigns: What we know

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 Oakes’ resignation and a driver change after six races on a supposed trial basis are so far from what any serious F1 project needs, and admittedly a little different to the kind of direct ‘de Meo has fired someone again’ examples of past nonsense. 

But ultimately, it’s de Meo who created the environment for Oakes to feel his position was untenable. Because bringing back Briatore - such a controversial figure with a great track record from past eras of F1 - has caused plenty of new problems for the F1 team to navigate.

One wonders if Oakes may now regret giving his own support when he arrived last year and took a swing at the way de Meo had been criticised for the team’s failings and management turnover. And as de Meo’s man Briatore is at the helm now more than ever, accountability won’t happen any time soon.

It’s been far too easy for Renault leadership to shirk responsibility for the mismanagement of this entity over the last decade. Such a long list of people to leave or be sacked after being appointed directly or indirectly by de Meo is indicative of a total failure of leadership given where the buck is meant to stop. 

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Oakes’ name gets added to a long list of senior team personnel to leave this team, be they team bosses, project leaders, advisors or senior management. Cyril Abiteboul, Marcin Budkowski, Alain Prost, Laurent Rossi, Otmar Szafnauer, Bruno Famin and now Oakes have left for one reason or another. Respected paddock figures like Pat Fry, Matt Harman and Alan Permane have all departed too. 

Not everyone named above was right for this team. But some were, so why were they dismissed or driven away. And those that weren’t right - well, will Renault realise where the real fault in that lies?

Or will there continue to be an unspoken implication that it’s just pure bad luck and coincidence that almost every person who tries to lead this team ends up out the door?

What else did you expect?

Ben Anderson

Although it looks chaotic on the surface, and seems like history repeating itself, what we have now at Alpine is effectively what we always thought we’d have: Flavio Briatore running the team and Franco Colapinto driving for it.

It’s a shame for Oli Oakes that his run as F1’s youngest team principal was so short, and unfortunate for Jack Doohan that his F1 career (for now at least) only lasted six races. But what else did anyone realistically expect?

Once that South American sponsorship money came good, Colapinto was always going to be in that seat - Briatore wanted it to happen and now it is happening. Doohan was always likely to be little more than a stop-gap unless his performances were incredible, which they weren’t. Solid underlying pace, but nothing more really.

And Briatore was always the one actually in charge of the team, ever since he rejoined as executive advisor and sidelined Bruno Famin (who didn’t agree with Briatore's plan to bin the works Renault engine programme and so fell on his sword).

From last year’s Spanish Grand Prix to the summer break, when Briatore’s return was announced until Famin was replaced by Oakes, Famin had the awkward task of being a spokesperson for things he clearly didn’t agree with. 

We don’t know for sure that’s happened again (because Oakes won’t yet comment), but it seems likely the pattern has repeated - given the recent messaging coming from inside the team that Doohan should have been given until the summer to prove himself and then the sudden decision to replace him anyway.

It’s no easy task to be the front for someone else’s decisions, and again just highlights who’s really running the show. Whether Briatore should be running an F1 team again is one thing, but in reality he is - and with Pierre Gasly driving and ex-Ferrari man David Sanchez running the technical side (and Mercedes engines on the way soon) that team still has the potential to do well on-track.

At the same time, I can’t see Briatore doing the day-to-day legwork of being team principal long-term - so he’s going to need to find someone else who’s prepared to be effectively a loyal deputy and front for his policies.

Sympathy for Colapinto

Matt Beer

What a contrast. There was zero pressure of expectation on Colapinto when Williams promoted him to replace Logan Sargeant last year. He had minimal preparation, wasn’t really on F1’s radar, wasn’t in contention for a 2025 race seat - anything he achieved would be a total bonus.

Colapinto's turned a career-long disadvantage into a huge F1 strength

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Now he returns having been at the centre of five controversial months of rumour over when he’d usurp an incumbent driver, with that driver having been kicked aside for him after just six (not terrible) grands prix and with the team boss having quit over the whole saga. And with ostensibly just five events to prove he really does belong on the grid.

I suspect Colapinto needn’t worry too much about the five race deadline - his F1 arrival has enticed the ample sponsor links he never had in his junior career so he’s a financial asset to the team, he’s Briatore’s pick and main threat Paul Aron felt more of an Oakes pick and Oakes has gone.

But there’s still a lot more riding on Colapinto’s F1 return than there was on his debut, and enough evidence that he shouldn’t feel too secure in a team run in this manner. All of which is such a shame given how promising his first few weeks in F1 last autumn were.

Proof Alpine is prioritising financial concerns over sporting

Edd Straw

Any lingering pretence that the Alpine F1 team is doing anything more than prioritising financial concerns over sporting ones has been obliterated by the latest round of nonsense at this once-great team.

Briatore return eroded final bit of Renault F1 credibility

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There are still good people there working hard and chasing on-track results, but it's long been clear that the ownership is either not especially interested in this, or so woefully ignorant about what is required to achieve that it's incapable of doing so.

This is nothing new. How could anyone take seriously a team that operates a revolving-door leadership strategy all the while the real decision makers that are ultimately responsible for the chaos lean back and find others to blame.

And just when you think rock bottom has been, which appeared to be the case when Flavio Briatore returned as what has been proved to be de facto team boss of an outfit that he was a key part of the darkest hour of, it turns out there's another low.

Let's just see Alpine F1 for what it is. It's a sporting asset that retains a high value primarily thanks to the wider state of F1 rather than anything it is doing, and one that the majority Renault Group ownership will cash in on at some point.

As Oakes's resignation proves, any attempt to try and steer the ship with a primary focus on sporting goals is doomed to be frustrated by whatever the next round of nonsense around the corner is. 

Briatore's track record speaks for itself 

Josh Suttill

Twelve months ago, Alpine was going nowhere. Since then, it's removed an underperforming technical head, its own underperforming engine and now an underperforming second driver. 

David Sanchez and customer Mercedes engines will be upgrades on what came before. The jury is still out on Colapinto, but last year with Williams he delivered far more results than Doohan did at Alpine. So I wouldn't be surprised if he produces more than Doohan - who only ever felt like a short-term solution - did.

So it's important to give these seemingly chaotic changes time to unfold before jumping to conclusions that they're a failure.

There's a lot of pragmatism to it, given both the Renault engine and Doohan himself have cost Alpine a lot of points in 2025 so far. 

Briatore's style isn't for everyone, but Team Enstone hasn't won a world championship without him. 

That's not to say Briatore's approach will work in the 2020s, but you can understand why Renault has seemingly gone all in on backing him - and it feels like he'll either lead it back to success or into F1 oblivion. 

Franco Colapinto gets his Alpine Formula 1 race chance with the announcement he's replacing Jack Doohan - for five races at least.

Amid that drama, it might be easy to forget Colapinto's tough route to his F1 opportunity - which he expanded on in this interview with Edd Straw during the winter and first published during February:

It was extraordinary Franco Colapinto reached Formula 1 at all, let alone make the impact he did in last year’s nine-race stint with Williams. Perversely, the very challenges that made becoming a grand prix driver so extreme a long shot better equipped him to seize this career-making opportunity.

Although Colapinto is back on the sidelines as Alpine’s test and reserve driver, it’s reckoned to be only a matter of time before he is promoted to a race seat given Jack Doohan’s precarious position. Regardless of when it happens, he should again be well-placed to make the most of it even if it’s another sudden mid-season change.

The 21-year-old’s rise to F1 was so improbable given he never had much funding. Since heading to Europe at the age of 14 with little backing, budget has always been a struggle – even when in the karting ranks. Often, testing was at a premium and an ongoing race seat was not always guaranteed, instead contingent on results produced every time he got in the car. Colapinto recognised, and likely internalised, the necessity of giving it everything.

That was exemplified when he made his single-seater debut in the final round of the 2018 Spanish F4 championship, winning the final race of the quadruple-header event despite limited preparation. The following year, he won the title.

That capacity to jump into a car in less-than-ideal circumstances while facing an uncertain future and nail it was the critical quality that allowed him to make such a big impact when he took over Logan Sargeant’s seat at Monza last September. He wasn’t overawed and took an attacking approach to his opportunity, which was first showcased by recovering from an FP1 crash in Azerbaijan to finish eighth in only his second outing.

Later in the season, with big accidents in Brazil (twice) and Las Vegas, that proved counter-productive and knocked a little of the shine off his remarkable arrival, but by then he'd already transformed himself from a driver barely on the F1 radar to one widely regarded as having a promising future.

“That’s a pressure you learn to manage when you're quite young and you don't have many opportunities, and you don't have many chances of what you’re doing next if this doesn't go well,” said Colapinto when I asked him in Abu Dhabi last year about what role his limited opportunities on the way to F1 played in his performances for Williams.

“When I was young, I was never sure if I was going to be able to [do] the next race if I didn't perform in that one, or if I had a crash or anything. I didn't used to have crashes - my first ones were in F1, almost!

“It’s part of the process. I’ve been through some moments that were tricky, trying to maximise the car. Brazil was very tough, a lot of rain, the car was almost undriveable for everyone. I see that as my first experience in the wet, my first experience on inters, everything was very new, so I understand that one. The one that hurts me is the Vegas one because I was in control and pushing the limits in qualifying, trying to put a Williams in Q3.

"The risk management was not right, but it’s in my nature to try and maximise every moment I jump in the car, as you said. And I think that was what I was going for, trying to put the car in Q3 and it didn't work. But it's part of the process, part of experience and I'm really happy with what they've done in these nine races."

You therefore can argue the odds of him reaching F1 were slashed by the challenges of his junior career, but this has ironically made him better equipped to capitalise once on the grid. Equally ironically given his struggle to get sponsors behind him in the junior ranks, the lure of F1 opened the floodgates to them and Williams was able to leverage the attention around Colapinto to entice a host of South American sponsors.

While there’s no doubt Colapinto would have preferred to have endless testing and the best machinery, which has its own value, the experience he had has played a part in turning him into a driver capable of dealing with the opportunity of a lifetime coming unexpectedly in the pressure-cooker environment of F1.

He’s certainly confident, or even as some have argued arrogant, which can be a valuable quality in elite sport. Add to the mix the sudden fame in his native Argentina, and the resulting scrutiny, and he’s been hard-cured into a robust driver mentally who is capable of thriving in adversity.

Colapinto had relatively little preparation for his debut, which on paper set him up to be a one-and-done driver in F1 expected to slide away into other categories after his nine-race stint.  Without the chance to rack up miles of TPC (testing of previous cars, which last season was for machinery of 2020-2022 vintage), no pre-season testing and his only previous runs for the team in FP1 at Silverstone and the post-Abu Dhabi GP test in 2023. With no possibility of staying at Williams as a race driver in 2025 given the arrival of Carlos Sainz to partner Alex Albon, he knew he needed to make a big impression. And he did.

“Imagine [going into] F1 when I had no preparation,” says Colapinto. “I only did FP1 at Silverstone and then went straight in at Monza to do a full race weekend, almost with no mileage in an F1 car and I performed almost straight away. That comes with the need of going to the limit straight away and of performing quick.

“That was [the case] in every category I drove before. I know I have it, so it's not as difficult as it looks because it been like this all my life. It just comes naturally.”

The adaptability Colapinto highlights as one of his strengths complements what might be called a ‘seize the day’ mentality, allowing him to deliver. He’s a quick learner, he’s had to be, and proved himself to be a driver who can wring the neck of a car with confidence without endless opportunities to fettle it to perfection.

“Adapting well to these different moments, these tough moments of pressure, of not knowing how it's how it's going to be, I was quite good,” says Colapinto. “It's difficult to come into Formula 1 when everyone is on top of the tyres, on top of the cars, on top of the tools and you suddenly are new and you don't know anything and you just have to sit there and drive the car. Adaptation was key in the very short period of time and lack of track time I had.”

These were the ingredients making Colapinto the sleeper hit of F1 2024. He arrived unexpectedly, amid zero expectations, and used the impregnable self-belief, a mentality sharpened by years of struggle and the knack for adaption developed on his way to F1. He exhibited a good turn of pace, allowing him to score five points and, briefly, even emerge as a candidate for a move to Red Bull Racing. One of the reasons that was considered was the robust mentality he demonstrated.

There will be further tests for Colapinto. Fundamentally, he wasn’t as quick as Albon and if you sort through the various inequalities and problems distorting performance, his qualifying deficit was perhaps somewhere around the two tenths of a second mark. In the circumstances, that was impressive. But he will get quicker with more experience, and it’s only with time we’ll get a final answer on just how quick Colapinto is. Last year, he was plenty fast enough and there is more to come. Potentially enough for a long and fruitful F1 career.

When his Alpine promotion comes, the formative role of very challenges that made him establishing himself in F1 so improbable will again serve him well. Then it’s up to him to build on the foundation he’s built.

Alpine's early-season swap of Jack Doohan for Franco Colapinto and Oli Oakes' subsequent resignation has thrown plenty of attention on Flavio Briatore's leadership of the firm's Formula 1 programme.

Which Briatore's return to the fold was first announced last summer, Edd Straw gave his forthright take on the choice:

Renault’s Formula 1 strategy has always been puzzling. At times half-hearted, only sporadically as successful as it should be and always unstable, the appointment of Flavio Briatore as ‘executive advisor’ is the most extraordinary decision of all.

What does it say about the culture of Renault Group, CEO Luca de Meo and Alpine F1 that the architect of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix scandal is brought in as its saviour?

Briatore is perfectly entitled to work in motorsport and has widespread involvement. It’s no problem that he has worked with F1 itself and there’s no reason why he couldn’t take a role with one of the other nine teams, just as it was perfectly acceptable that Pat Symonds, also a key player in Singapore 2008, went on to work for Marussia, Williams and F1.

But the willingness of Renault to appoint him to a role with its F1 team is absurd. Yes, 15 years have passed since the fallout of Singapore 2008 led to Renault selling the team, but this is the exact same team with the exact same majority ownership. 

What's the point if Renault's F1 team becomes a customer?

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And make no mistake, this is De Meo’s decision because the perfunctory press release Alpine issued made it emphatically clear he had appointed Briatore personally. The advisory role is characterised as touching on the driver market, assessing the current structure and “advising on some strategic matters”.

The problem is not his capabilities. Briatore was key to the team’s rise and his positive contribution to the success of the team in the past should not be erased from history, in fact, when one of Alpine’s regular farragoes erupted 11 months ago with the ousting of the team leadership, I argued that what the team really needed was a Briatore-type figure. But this was with the caveat that it could never be Briatore. 

Incidentally, this put in place the current structure that now needs to be assessed. An honest assessment might turn the glare away from Enstone and Viry itself and lock onto those at the top of Renault who expect success on the cheap and couldn’t strategise their way out of an F1 paper bag 

One thing this team has often been worried about is the optics, which has often shaped decision-making for the worse. For example, the candidacy of Nico Hulkenberg when it needed a driver for 2023 was dismissed primarily because he had previously been dropped and it would look bad rather than rooted in the merits of his recruitment. 

Amid the widespread rumours in the F1 paddock that Alpine is considering closing its engine programme, not to mention the mutterings of concern from the American investment group that bought into the team amid much fanfare last year about the team’s direction, it only makes sense if this is another nail in the coffin of Renault’s F1 programme that’s slowly being constructed.

Renault frequently denies it’s for sale and did so again to the workforce at Enstone yesterday when promises were made that this is not on the horizon for the workforce. For their sake, you have to hope that is true as this is a team that deserves a chance to fulfil its potential and show what it can do. There are many accomplished people there and they have been badly let down by Renault.

The only possible logic for bringing in Briatore in this role is as the facilitator of a sale. Disconnect the team from Viry (which has a role to play still in the wider Renault Group), leave the F1 team as its own separate and easily sellable entity and potentially even throw in your unconvincing Alpine car brand with it. Briatore is enormously capable commercially and would likely facilitate such a sale very effectively of an entity that is apparently not for sale.

But there are others who could do this. Part of the rationale given for this appointment was to give team principal Bruno Famin, a hard working first-in, last-out character, greater support in key areas so he isn't stretched too thin and it may be this is all that is about. But again, it was De Meo that forced the leadership structural change last year and if that isn’t felt to be working, there’s again big questions about the Renault strategy. 

There’s an end-of-day feel surrounding the Alpine team in terms of the wider F1 paddock perception and the remains of Renault's F1 credibility have crumbled away with this latest move.  

Franco Colapinto will replace Jack Doohan at Alpine for at least the next five races of the 2025 Formula 1 season.

Alpine has opted to rotate the two “as part of an ongoing assessment of its driver line-up” with Colapinto getting the Alpine race chance he expected after joining as test and reserve in January.

Oakes resigns: What we know

Read more

The short-term deal comprises the upcoming European triple-header of Imola, Monaco and Barcelona, plus the Canadian and Austrian Grands Prix.

Alpine will then re-evaluate its line-up before the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July. 

“I have stayed sharp, and I am as ready as possible with the team’s race support testing programme, as well as on the simulator at Enstone,” said Colapinto, who scored points twice in a nine-race Williams stint last year.

“I will do my best to get up to speed quickly and give it my all to deliver the best possible results alongside Pierre.”

The change follows a difficult first six races of 2025 for Doohan, who has had two first-lap crashes in Australia and Miami, plus picked up penalties in both the sprint and main race in China, and had a big shunt in practice at Suzuka that compromised his weekend.

He is yet to score a point, although he did outqualify Pierre Gasly for the first time in Miami before colliding with Liam Lawson at the first corner and retiring from the race.

The decision has been driven by Alpine executive advisor Flavio Briatore, with Oliver Oakes resigning from his position as team principal the evening before the driver announcement - a clear indication that he wasn't on board with the decision.

“Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races,” said Briatore.

“With the field being so closely matched this year, and with a competitive car, which the team has drastically improved in the past 12 months, we are in a position where we see the need to rotate our line-up.

“We also know the 2026 season will be an important one for the team and having a complete and fair assessment of the drivers this season is the right thing to do in order to maximise our ambitions next year.

“We continue to support Jack at the team, as he has acted in a very professional manner in his role as a race driver so far this season.

“The next five races will give us an opportunity to try something different and after this time period we will assess our options.”

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Briatore’s reference to getting the choice right for 2026 means further changes later in the year are possible.

Doohan remains at Alpine and will be its first-choice reserve during Colapinto’s five-race stint. A return to a race seat has not been ruled out.

“I am very proud to have achieved my lifelong ambition to be a professional Formula 1 driver and I will forever be grateful to the team for helping me achieve this dream,” said Doohan.

“Obviously, this latest chapter is a tough one for me to take because, as a professional driver, naturally I want to be racing.

“That said, I appreciate the team’s trust and commitment. We have long-term goals as a team to achieve and I will continue to give my maximum efforts in any way I can to help achieve those.

“For now, I will keep my head down, keep working hard, watch with interest the next five races and keep chasing my own personal goals.”

Alpine’s desire to evaluate its line-up could also mean not just switching Doohan and Colapinto again, but potentially giving another of its reserves, Paul Aron, a chance.

Aron is highly rated at Alpine and is understood to have impressed with his speed in private testing. 

Ollie Bearman's starring cameos for Ferrari and Haas were proof of how valuable a good reserve driver can be to a Formula 1 team.

So which drivers are ready and waiting on the sidelines for each F1 team in 2025?

Here's the full list of the reserve drivers we know so far for each team in 2024 championship order.

McLaren - Pato O'Ward

McLaren's IndyCar star Pato O'Ward will continue to serve as its F1 reserve driver, having taken part in multiple tests and practice sessions with the team since 2022.

His primary focus will be his IndyCar campaign from March to August but McLaren could also call upon engine supplier Mercedes's reserve driver pool including Valtteri Bottas should it need a stand-in for Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri.

Ferrari - Zhou Guanyu and Antonio Giovinazzi

Having lost his Sauber seat after three seasons, Zhou Guanyu will serve as one of Ferrari's reserve drivers alongside another former Sauber F1 driver Antonio Giovinazzi, who races for Ferrari in the World Endurance Championship.

While not officially a reserve driver, it's likely Ferrari could call Ollie Bearman up from Haas if it needed a sudden stand-in for Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton.

Red Bull - TBC

Yuki Tsunoda had been Red Bull's reserve driver but the decision to put him in the seat full time from the Japanese Grand Prix onwards alongside Max Verstappen has left the team without an official named reserve.

Liam Lawson would be an obvious candidate if it needed someone, as he has switched from the top team to Racing Bulls. Ayumu Iwasa could be another candidate as Racing Bulls reserve, while drivers like Arvid Lindblad could be considered if needed.

Mercedes - Valtteri Bottas and Frederik Vesti

Mercedes wasted little time in reuniting with Bottas when it was clear he'd be left without a race seat for 2025.

He'll be the obvious choice to replace either George Russell or Kimi Antonelli if suddenly required but Mercedes also has Frederik Vesti as its reserve driver - second in Formula 2 in 2023 and popular with the team.

Should Bottas return he will have a five-place grid penalty to serve after he clattered Kevin Magnussen's Haas at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Aston Martin - Felipe Drugovich and Stoffel Vandoorne

The 2022 Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich has eagerly been awaiting his F1 chance on the sidelines at Aston Martin for the last four years.

He serves as Aston's reserve driver alongside ex-McLaren F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne.

Alpine - Jack Doohan, Paul Aron and Kush Maini

Franco Colapinto earned promotion from reserve driver to race driver from Imola, with Jack Doohan going in the opposite direction.

Doohan isn't alone in the reserve pool with fellow Formula 2 race winners Paul Aron and Kush Maini also among its reserve driver pool.

Toyota's sportscars champion Ryo Hirakawa was part of that, too - but he switched to Haas right after making his FP1 debut (and impressing) for Alpine at Suzuka.

Haas - Ryo Hirakawa

Kevin Magnussen lost his Haas race seat but he'll still test with the team in 2025 alongside his return to sportscars with BMW. His F1 experience would make him an invaluable stand-in but he isn't the team's reserve driver.

That role was originally unfilled, but Toyota-partnered Haas announced Toyota driver Hirakawa as its official reserve on the Monday after April's Japanese GP.

Hirakawa - who drove for Haas in the 2024 post-season test in Abu Dhabi - will get four Friday practice appearances as part of that arrangement, starting at the Bahrain GP in April where he will fill in for Ollie Bearman.

Ferrari's Giovinazzi should also be available to Haas if it needs a stand-in for Esteban Ocon or Bearman.

Racing Bulls - Ayumu Iwasa

Ayumu Iwasa - who tested with the team in Abu Dhabi last year - is Racing Bull's reserve driver.

Also in the junior programme pool there's 17-year-old Arvid Lindblad, who is competing in Formula 2 in 2025 and appears to be Red Bull's next big hope outside of F1. He reached the superlicence points threshold by winning the 2025 Formula Regional Oceania Championship (previously Toyota Racing Series) in New Zealand in February.

Williams - TBC

Williams doesn't have a dedicated 2025 F1 reserve driver yet but could theoretically have access to engine supplier Mercedes' reserves if needed.

Sauber - TBC

Sauber doesn't have an official reserve driver yet either, having parted ways with previous third driver Theo Pourchaire at the end of 2024.

Each of the 10 current Formula 1 teams relies on one individual to run the show day-to-day - whether that's rallying staff on the shop floor, hiring and firing drivers and technical staff, fighting the team's corner in commercial and regulatory discussions, or facing the world's media.

The job titles might be slightly different in each case, but here's a quick-fire way to get to know each of the team principals in F1 right now.

Andrea Stella - McLaren

Stella became McLaren team principal at the start of 2023, replacing Andreas Seidl.

Stella made an immediate impact by restructuring McLaren's technical department, before leading the team to the 2024 constructors' championship - McLaren's first such success since 1998.

Prior to his promotion, Stella was McLaren's racing director and has also held posts as the team's performance director (2018) and head of track operations (2015-17).

Stella was also a very successful race engineer at Ferrari, winning world championships with Michael Schumacher (2002-04) and Kimi Raikkonen (2007), before guiding Fernando Alonso to near-misses in 2010 and 2012.

Fred Vasseur - Ferrari

Fred Vasseur became Ferrari team principal ahead of the 2023 season, replacing long-serving Ferrari engineer Mattia Binotto.

Prior to that, Vasseur had stints in charge of the Sauber/Alfa Romeo F1 team (from mid-2017-22) and Renault's works F1 team (in 2016).

Vasseur is an engineer by trade - his Spark company builds the chassis used in the FIA's all-electric Formula E championship - and also a highly successful junior single-seater team boss who has worked with multiple F1 world champions - including Lewis Hamilton, whom Vasseur convinced to join Ferrari for 2025 in place of Carlos Sainz.

Christian Horner - Red Bull

Horner is F1's longest-serving team principal, spearheading Red Bull Racing since it was founded in place of the works Jaguar team in 2005.

Prior to his F1 career, Horner was a race-winning driver in Formula Renault and B-class Formula 3 in the UK, before founding junior single-seater team Arden, for which Horner himself raced in Formula 3000 before retiring from driving ahead of the 1999 season.

Toto Wolff - Mercedes

Wolff is currently F1's most successful team principal, having overseen seven world drivers' championship wins and eight consecutive constructors' championship titles for Mercedes from 2014-21.

Wolff is also an equal co-owner of the team he runs, alongside Mercedes parent company Daimler and major sponsor INEOS (a British chemicals company).

He too was a racing driver (in Formula Ford) before becoming a business student, an investor in Williams (from 2009-16) and executive director of the Mercedes F1 team in 2013.

He's effectively been Mercedes F1 team boss since Ross Brawn left at the end of that year.

Andy Cowell - Aston Martin

Ahead of the 2025 F1 season, Aston Martin moved Mike Krack out of the team boss role he'd held since replacing Otmar Szafnauer who left to join Alpine ahead of the 2022 season.

Krack moved to a new position as chief trackside officer with Aston CEO Andy Cowell - a linchpin of Mercedes' hybrid engine domination - replacing him as Aston F1's team principal.

Cowell served as Mercedes' F1 engine chief from 2013, helping the team scoop every F1 title between 2014-2019, before departing in June 2020.

He arrived at Aston in July 2024 as group CEO before adding his new team boss role in Jan 2025.

Flavio Briatore - Alpine

Oakes started the season as F1's youngest team principal, having taken over from interim boss Bruno Famin at Alpine during the summer of 2024.

But Oakes, 37, resigned in May 2025 on the eve of the team choosing to drop Jack Doohan for Franco Colapinto.

His responsibilities have been taken over by returning executive advisor (and former Renault team principal) Flavio Briatore.

Ayao Komatsu - Haas

Komatsu replaced charismatic founding Haas team boss Guenther Steiner in January 2024, after team owner Gene Haas decided not to renew Steiner's contract in what turned out to be a successful pursuit of lifting the team off the bottom of the constructors' championship.

Komatsu has been with Haas since its F1 debut in 2016, serving as its head of trackside operations.

He began his F1 career with BAR-Honda in 2003 before joining the world champion Renault works team in 2006 as a tyre engineer.

Komatsu later enjoyed stints race engineering Vitaly Petrov and Romain Grosjean, helping both become F1 podium finishers. He stuck with Renault during its transition to becoming the privateer Lotus team in 2012, but left when Renault resumed ownership at the end of 2015.

Laurent Mekies - Racing Bulls

Mekies took the helm at Red Bull's second team at the start of 2024, after the veteran boss of the outfit formerly known as Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri, Franz Tost, stepped back into semi-retirement.

Mekies is a qualified mechanical engineer, who began his F1 career working on Asiatech engines for Arrows in 2001 before joining Minardi - the original version of the team he now leads - as a race engineer in 2002.

When the team morphed into Toro Rosso under Red Bull's ownership, Mekies became chief engineer and later head of vehicle performance, before leaving to take up a safety director role with the FIA in 2014.

He left F1's governing body - where he also enjoyed a stint as deputy race director to the late Charlie Whiting - to join Ferrari, first as sporting director (2018-20) and later as racing director (2021-23).

James Vowles - Williams

Vowles left a long and successful career with Mercedes to become Williams team boss at the start of 2023, replacing Jost Capito.

In fact, this was the first time since he began his F1 career that Vowles had switched teams. He joined what was then BAR in 2001 and stayed with the outfit as it transitioned to Honda, then Brawn GP, then Mercedes.

Vowles developed his F1 career as a strategist, but is using his vast knowledge as latterly a key pillar of Mercedes' record-breaking F1 success in the hybrid era to lead a cultural transformation of Williams in his first team principal role.

Jonathan Wheatley - Sauber

Jonathan Wheatley will depart Red Bull to become Sauber's new team principal from April 1.

Sauber hasn't had an official team principal since Fred Vasseur left in 2022, with Alessandro Alunni Bravi - who used to manage Robert Kubica - acting as the 'team representative' since 2023. Effectively an interim manager.

Bravi's departure was confirmed in January 2025 with him leaving at the end of that month.

Wheatley's impending arrival is part of a shake-up instigated by ex-Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto, who became Audi's chief operating and technical officer in the summer of 2024.

Binotto effectively replaced ex-McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl who, along with Oliver Hoffmann, was purged from Audi's F1 leadership structure following disagreements between the two men, and concerns at Audi board level that the project wasn't making sufficiently speedy progress.

If they make a mistake, Formula 1 drivers can be penalised by the stewards and rack up penalty points on their racing licence.

A total of 12 points accrued results in a ban, something which happened in 2024 when Kevin Magnussen had to sit out the Azerbaijan race for Haas.

Here's a full list of the amount of penalty points each 2025 F1 driver has, and the date of expiry of those points.

This list will be updated throughout the 2025 F1 season

McLaren

Lando Norris

Qatar GP 2024

Reason: Failing to slow for double-waved yellow flags
Expiry: December 1, 2025
Points: 3

Current penalty points: 3

Oscar Piastri

Brazilian GP 2024

Reason: Causing a collision with Liam Lawson
Expiry: November 3, 2025
Points: 2

Abu Dhabi GP 2024

Reason: Causing a collision with Franco Colapinto
Expiry: December 8, 2025
Points: 2

Current penalty points = 4

Red Bull

Max Verstappen

Austrian GP 2024

Reason: Collision with Lando Norris
Expiry: June 30, 2025
Points: 2

Mexican GP 2024

Reason: Forcing Norris off track
Expiry: October 27, 2025
Points: 2

Brazilian GP 2024

Reason: VSC infringement
Expiry: November 2, 2025
Points: 1

Qatar GP 2024

Reason: Driving unnecessarily slowly in qualifying, impeded George Russell
Expiry: November 30, 2025
Points: 1

Abu Dhabi GP 2024

Reason: Collision with Oscar Piastri
Expiry: December 8, 2025
Points: 2

Current penalty points = 8

Yuki Tsunoda

Current penalty points = 0

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc

Current penalty points: 0

Lewis Hamilton

Current penalty points = 0

Mercedes

Kimi Antonelli

Current penalty points = 0

George Russell

Qatar GP 2024

Reason: Failed to maintain 10-car length distance behind safety car
Expiry: December 1, 2025
Points: 1

Current penalty points: 1

Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso

Austrian GP 2024

Reason: Causing a collision with Guanyu Zhou in the sprint race
Expiry: June 29, 2025
Points: 2

Current penalty points: 2

Lance Stroll

Qatar GP 2024

Reason: Causing a collision with Alex Albon
Expiry: December 1, 2025
Points: 2

Current penalty points = 2

Alpine

Franco Colapinto

Mexican GP 2024

Reason: Causing a collision with Liam Lawson
Expiry: October 27, 2025
Points: 2

Current penalty points = 2

Pierre Gasly

Current penalty points = 0

Haas

Ollie Bearman

Brazilian GP 2024

Reason: Causing a collision with Franco Colapinto
Expiry: November 3, 2025
Points: 2

Current penalty points = 2

Esteban Ocon

Monaco GP 2024

Reason: Causing a collision with then-team-mate Pierre Gasly
Expiry: May 26, 2025
Points: 2

Current penalty points = 2

Racing Bulls

Isack Hadjar

Current penalty points = 0

Liam Lawson

Qatar GP 2024

Reason: Causing a collision with Valtteri Bottas
Expiry: December 1, 2025
Points: 2

Bahrain GP 2025

Reason: Causing a collision with Lance Stroll
Expiry: April 13, 2026
Points: 1

Reason: Causing a collision with Nico Hulkenberg
Expiry: April 13, 2026
Points: 2

Miami GP 2025

Reason: Causing a collision with Fernando Alonso
Expiry: May 2, 2026
Points: 1

Current penalty points = 6

Williams

Alex Albon

Qatar GP 2024

Reason: Causing a collision with Kevin Magnussen
Expiry: December 1, 2025
Points: 2

Current penalty points = 2

Carlos Sainz

Bahrain GP 2025

Reason: Causing a collision with Kimi Antonelli
Expiry: April 13, 2026
Points: 2

Current penalty points: 2

Sauber

Gabriel Bortoleto

Current penalty points = 0

Nico Hulkenberg

Austrian GP 2024

Reason: Forcing Fernando Alonso off-track
Expiry: June 29, 2025
Points: 2

Italian GP 2024

Reason: Causing a collision with Yuki Tsunoda
Expiry: September 1, 2025
Points: 2

Current penalty points = 4

Full list

Max Verstappen: 8
Liam Lawson: 5
Nico Hulkenberg: 4
Oscar Piastri: 4
Lance Stroll: 4
Lando Norris: 3
Esteban Ocon: 3
Carlos Sainz: 2
Fernando Alonso: 2
Alex Albon: 2
Ollie Bearman: 2
Franco Colapinto: 2
George Russell: 1

Alpine's Formula 1 team has been plunged into fresh chaos sparked by executive advisor Flavio Briatore's controversial driver decisions.

The shock, immediate resignation of team principal Oliver Oakes on Tuesday evening comes as Alpine is expected to announce Franco Colapinto will replace Jack Doohan from the next race at Imola.

Oakes resigns as Alpine team principal amid driver change controversy

Read more

It is understood that Briatore informed Doohan on Sunday in Miami that he would be replaced, despite previously indicating that Doohan would be kept on until the summer.

And there was no indication that Oakes's exit was coming, so his resignation seems to be a direct reaction to that.

But it is also known that Briatore's driver dealings had already caused friction in the past, and left Oakes compromised.

It was Briatore who courted Colapinto late last year during his Williams part-season, even though Alpine had already signed Doohan to partner Pierre Gasly for 2025.

And it was Briatore's call to pull the trigger on finally signing Colapinto as test and reserve driver, with a view to giving him Doohan's seat either this year or in 2026.

This caused inevitable friction given the leadership dynamic at Alpine, which is reminiscent of the peak Red Bull era where Helmut Marko had almost unlimited decision-making power and Christian Horner was the public face of the team.

Oakes's role as team principal meant it was him rather than Briatore who was forced to rationalise decisions in public he did not make. Oakes became the frontman for things that were either put in place before his arrival (like the decision to axe the engine project and stop being a works team) or were moves that he outright did not agree with.

This included Esteban Ocon's shock early exit at the end of last year before the season finale, another brutal decision taken by Briatore, and of course the fallout as Colapinto's arrival meant Doohan was placed under instant scrutiny.

Our verdict on Alpine's brutally early driver change

Read more

There was a difference of opinion between Briatore and Oakes over what to do on drivers, with Oakes a staunch supporter of Doohan even if he had some doubt over his ultimate potential - and was himself a fan of Paul Aron, who drove for Oakes's Hitech team in junior categories and became an Alpine junior late last year.

Primarily, though, Oakes was known to feel that the Colapinto saga had undone some of the work that had been undertaken to turn things around at the Enstone team.

Alpine has been beset by self-inflicted chaos and controversy for years and Oakes had been committed to settling it down upon his arrival last August, a few months after Briatore was drafted in by Renault boss Luca de Meo as the most senior figure.

Want more on why Alpine is dropping Doohan? Hear from the man who broke the story, Scott Mitchell-Malm, in The Race Members' Club on Patreon. Head to this post and sign up now, 75% off your first month!

But as the team worked to prepare Doohan for his rookie season, and even put him in for his debut in the 2024 finale in Abu Dhabi, efforts were effectively undermined by Briatore identifying Colapinto as a necessary signing.

That was in no small part due to the significant potential backing from Latin America that could accompany Colapinto, with Mercado Libre already joining Alpine in early 2025 even when he did not have a race seat.

With Colapinto now set to be announced as Doohan's replacement - albeit with Doohan still kept on as a reserve driver - Briatore has pushed through with his intentions. Oakes's exit cannot be a coincidence, leaving the obvious conclusion that this was the final straw.

In his absence, Briatore will supposedly take on his responsibilities. And this is now a sliding doors moment for the team as while Oakes seemed to have little total decision-making power, he was clearly trying to mould it more to his liking and had made changes to the senior trackside team for the start of 2025.

Briatore led Enstone to world titles in the past. His methods are controversial but his track record is strong - although it comes from a very different era of F1.

And right now, with Alpine no more than a credible midfield team, which seems to be par for the course regardless of who is in charge, its new chapter is just as dramatic, divisive and potentially self-defeating as those that came before.

Oliver Oakes has resigned as team principal of the Alpine Formula 1 team, amid an expected switch of drivers from the next grand prix at Imola.

Oakes took over as Alpine team principal in August last year, replacing Bruno Famin, and has worked with the team's executive advisor Flavio Briatore.

Alpine has told Jack Doohan he won't be racing at Imola, and during the aftermath of that, Oakes has resigned.

A team statement confirmed Oakes had "resigned" using that wording, and that it had been accepted with "immediate effect".

More on Alpine's latest saga

What we know about shock Alpine resignation + fresh chaos
What made Doohan/Alpine unworkable and a change inevitable
Our verdict on Alpine's brutally early F1 driver change
Doohan informed of Alpine change, set to be replaced immediately

"As of today, Flavio Briatore will continue as executive advisor and will also be covering the duties previously performed by Oliver Oakes," the statement continued.

"The team would like to thank Oliver for his efforts since he joined last summer and for his contribution in helping the team secure sixth place in the 2024 constructors’ championship.

"The team will not be making any further comment."

Franco Colapinto is expected to replace Doohan after being signed as a reserve from Williams for this season, although the team is yet to confirm its driver plan for the rest of the season.

Want to quiz Edd Straw about his F1 driver rankings after every 2025 Formula 1 race?

Those of you on The Race Members' Club on Patreon can do so - and there's never been a better time to join with 75% off your first month.

You'll be able to ask questions for our podcasts, get exclusive bonus podcasts and videos from our F1 team on the ground as well as ad-free access to all our podcasts and videos. Plus of course the chance to ask Edd whatever you like about his driver rankings.

For a taste of what to expect, below you'll find a preview of Edd's latest driver rankings Q&A. Sign up to Patreon and head to this post to see the full thing.

Is Fabio Quartararo the first truly elite MotoGP rider to be trapped in the series' midfield for as long as he has been?

Valentin Khorounzhiy discusses this with Simon Patterson on the latest edition of The Race MotoGP Podcast - which is also available in video form - ahead of Quartararo's home race at Le Mans that comes on the heels of a best-in-years weekend at Jerez.

The show also delves into Quartararo's decision to stay put at Yamaha for 2025, the chances of him doing so again in 2027 - and the question of whether his lack of championship opportunities as he enters his theoretical prime as a rider, now 26, is weighing on him.

Finally, Val and Simon talk about the rest of Yamaha's line-up, discussing whether Jack Miller should count on a 2026 extension, whether Alex Rins's disappointing-so-far Yamaha tenure is likely to improve, and whether it would make sense for Yamaha to try to bring in Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Join The Race Members' Club for your chance to have your questions answered on our MotoGP podcast, and get plenty of exclusive bonus and ad-free content too

You can also listen to our podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Multiple checks by the FIA, including a more detailed inspection after Formula 1's Miami Grand Prix on Sunday night, have given McLaren's under-the-spotlight rear brake design the all-clear as a clever but legal concept. 

McLaren's advantage in the way it can manage rear tyre temperatures better than any other team has prompted plenty of intrigue about what the squad is up to.

Rival teams have been trying to work out exactly where its advantage is coming from, with the focus having narrowed down to the way that McLaren is cooling the outer surface of its rear brake drum - which then helps in stopping the wheel rim and tyre that sits over it getting too hot.

The inability of rival teams to fully understand what McLaren is doing has prompted some to question whether it may be operating in a grey area of the regulations.

It is understood that thermal images Red Bull had obtained from an outside party, which revealed some intriguing cold spots on the McLaren rear brake drums, had been shown to the FIA as part of an ongoing dialogue on the matter.

But despite repeated chatter on the matter, and even some suggestions that McLaren had been forced to change its design, the squad insisted that there was nothing untoward happening.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown, who teased rival Red Bull with a 'tire water' bottle stunt in Miami, was adamant last weekend that his team had not had to alter anything.

Asked by The Race in Miami if the FIA had asked the team to change anything on its car regarding tyre or brake temperature management, Brown said: "No. Nothing."

FIA checks

The Race understands that following questions posed by McLaren's rivals, the FIA has duly taken a closer look at the McLaren brake design at recent races to find out for itself what is going on.

Sources have suggested that after McLaren secured a 1-2 in the Miami GP, a more thorough inspection of the braking system, ducts and drums was conducted by FIA personnel on Sunday night in a bid to finally put the matter to bed. 

There has been no formal documentation about the results of that inspection yet, and if this was part of the extra "extensive physical inspections" that the FIA does on a selected car after each race, then that will not be officially confirmed until the eve of the Emilia Romagna GP later this month.

However, with there being no notification to the team or officials on Sunday night about any problems having been found, then it is almost certain that any forthcoming note will give it the all clear.

And that would mean, as was the case in previous inspections the FIA has conducted, McLaren's design fully complies with the regulations - and that it is simply a clever design.

Targeted gains

After McLaren's dominant result in Miami, with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in a class of their own as George Russell's third-placed Mercedes came home 37 seconds adrift, team boss Andrea Stella made some pointed references to the job his team had done in working on tyre temperature management over the winter. 

"I just want to take the opportunity to praise the work that has been done by the engineers at McLaren," he said.

"This is in terms of identifying these factors, and designing these factors in a way that is practical, to actually cash in this kind of benefit.

"And then master one of the matters that still in F1 looks like it's a little bit of a black art, which is dealing with tyres. So very proud of the team."

Stella also explained how McLaren had made some specific efforts over the winter to deliver improvements in tyre management.

"It's a result of some very targeted engineering work," he added. "If you had asked me before the season, I would say like, we have invested in improving the interaction with the tyres.

"But I wouldn't have said that the extent would have been the one that we see in this kind of race."

Mercedes is one of the teams that does not have an answer as to how McLaren is so much better with its tyre temperature management.

But team boss Toto Wolff was emphatic on Sunday night that McLaren's advantage was down to it simply doing a better job than anybody else - rather than operating outside of the regulations.

"The team around Zak, Andrea, Rob Marshall, these are good people with integrity," said Wolff.

"If in the past we may say, 'Let's look whether there's something borderline', I have no doubt that these guys stay within the rules.

"It's just really a good development, that car. They've understood how to manage the tyre much better than everyone else. In my opinion, it's totally legit.

"From a team management point of view, when someone is doing a better job than you, we should not look at that and say, 'They're cheating' because that's not the right attitude. We just need to come better and eventually not be 30-35 seconds behind over 55 laps."

While Red Bull has paid close attention to what McLaren is doing, team principal Christian Horner didn't feel there was anything illegal on McLaren's car.

Asked on Sunday if the team had ever considered protesting McLaren, as it did with George Russell's car after the Miami race, Horner said: "We're not reporting or suggesting there's anything illegal on the car, we felt George Russell has done something which is in breach of the regs..."

He added: "McLaren is the standout car. They have the kind of advantage we saw a couple of years ago.

"They're obviously doing a very good job in managing temperatures and particularly, if you look at the end of the medium stint, that was probably where they were the most competitive. That's what we need to focus on.

"I think we had brake issues that have compounded the problem in the race, but that's what we need to understand moving forward."

There's been much hype about KTM's superstar young MotoGP rider Pedro Acosta - hype that he lived up to in his rookie season in 2024 by routinely being the fastest of its four riders.

But with a challenging bike in 2025 and his motivation seemingly at an all-time low, he has slumped in relative form within KTM's new-look line-up.

That's prompted questions - including plenty from The Race Members' Club on Patreon - about whether Acosta was overhyped in the first place.

So why has he actually been overshadowed at KTM by Maverick Vinales in particular lately?

When he first joined MotoGP as part of KTM's satellite squad Tech3 last season, Acosta made an immediate impression, battling against Marc Marquez for the podium places early in his very first race.

It didn't matter that he was unable to maintain that pace all race - he had shown the outright speed required to live up to the reputation he had established by winning the Moto3 and Moto2 titles within three years. He was on the MotoGP podium next time out at Portimao and again one race later at Austin.

And while his form might have come and gone as the season progressed - something you'd expect of a rookie - Acosta nonetheless just missed out on ending the 2024 season as best KTM, finishing the year sixth overall in the championship standings and a mere two points behind the much more experienced Brad Binder.

Coming into 2025, much of the same was expected from him. No longer a rookie and lining up against two new quasi-team-mates (Vinales and Enea Bastianini) at Tech3 who had a very different bike to learn, it was expected that Acosta would be able to clearly establish himself as KTM's number one rider with a season of experience under his belt.

That, so far, hasn't really been the case though. Sure, he's still KTM's top rider in the standings, but only by one point from Binder. Bastianini, who's been struggling the most so far on the 2025 bike, is only five points back - and it's only thanks to his Lusail tyre pressure infringement that Vinales isn't well clear of all three other KTM racers.

So what’s gone wrong so far for Acosta? Well, one thing is very clear: he's deeply unhappy with the state of things at KTM. Lurching from one financial crisis to another this winter and seemingly seeing development suffer as a result, it's clear that the bike isn't up to spec right now, and he's been loudly vocal about that.

That, of course, has been somewhat countered in recent races by strong performances from Vinales in particular, and Acosta's rather lacklustre ride to third of the KTMs behind Vinales and Binder in last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix somewhat negates his ability to moan too loudly about the performance of the RC16.

Added to all of that is the constant speculation about what his future holds, as he openly discusses whether it lies elsewhere. It wouldn't be hard to think that perhaps right now, his heart isn't quite in the KTM project anymore.

We can't ignore his physical condition, as Acosta revealed after Jerez that there were ongoing complications regarding arm pump that he'd kept quiet since the Termas de Rio Hondo race six weeks earlier. That situation was serious enough to prompt immediate surgery after the Jerez race last week.

But that doesn't wholly explain either his form or his attitude of late. Clearly, he's unhappy with KTM, and while there are other offers under his nose despite his 2026 KTM contract, it's perhaps no surprise that he's somewhat distracted.

Perhaps the best thing that can happen now for Acosta's season is a quick resolution over where he's likely to end up next season so that he can get on with the task in hand.

His Honda options are, according to The Race's sources in the paddock, looking increasingly thin, while it remains unclear whether a satellite Ducati team has the financial ability to buy him out of his current deal - despite the constant chat about a move to VR46.

That means at least another year and a half on the KTM, something that Acosta might need to accept sooner rather than later.

Formula 1 had the unprecedented situation of every starting 2024 line-up being identical to the one each team finished 2023 with.

That's not going to be the case in 2025 with a huge amount of changes from top to bottom.

Below is the complete 2025 F1 grid.

McLaren

Lando Norris
Oscar Piastri

McLaren was the first team to have its 2025 line-up locked in.

F1's most recent first-time race winner Lando Norris is contracted at the team he's spent his entire top-level career with until at least the end of 2026, as is his team-mate Oscar Piastri - who will be part of an unchanged line-up for a third year in a row in 2025.

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari's audacious and successful move to lure Lewis Hamilton away from Mercedes kicked the 2025 F1 driver market into gear before the 2024 campaign had even begun.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton joins Charles Leclerc at the team, Leclerc having been announced on a deal covering "several more seasons" in January.

Red Bull

Max Verstappen
Yuki Tsunoda

Although it gave Sergio Perez a contract beyond 2025, the Mexican driver left the team in December.

Ultimately his dip in performance likely cost Red Bull the constructors' title, and Perez his job.

Liam Lawson was confirmed for a promotion from Racing Bulls - ahead of Yuki Tsunoda - after just 11 grand prix starts. But he was dropped after just two races for Tsunoda.

Verstappen was already signed until 2028.

Mercedes

George Russell
Kimi Antonelli

Hamilton's departure prompted Mercedes to put its faith in its teenage protege Kimi Antonelli, whose long-anticipated 2025 deal was announced at the Italian Grand Prix in September after months of private testing in older-spec cars.

He'll line up alongside incumbent George Russell, whose deal runs through 2025.

Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso
Lance Stroll

Aston Martin is one of three teams that will boast an F1 champion in its 2025 line-up, as 42-year-old Fernando Alonso ruled himself out of the silly season early by committing his future to the team with which he scored eight podiums last season.

At the end of June, Aston also confirmed a new deal for Lance Stroll that will keep him at the team through the first year of F1's next rules cycle in 2026.

Alpine

Pierre Gasly
Franco Colapinto

Alpine confirmed a "new multi-year" deal for Gasly - that should extend beyond the end of 2025 - just before the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix.

He started the year with Jack Doohan alongside him, but Alpine dropped him in favour of Franco Colapinto after just six races.

Williams

Alex Albon
Carlos Sainz

Williams tied down Alex Albon to a new long-term contract as part of team principal James Vowles outlining his vision for the team's revival in the coming years.

That vision has clearly impressed Carlos Sainz, who eventually picked Williams as his post-Ferrari destination.

Racing Bulls

Liam Lawson
Isack Hadjar

Red Bull officially exercised its option to keep Yuki Tsunoda at Racing Bulls for 2025 ahead of the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix.

With Lawson earning promotion to Red Bull Racing, Isack Hadjar has got the nod to make his F1 debut in 2025.

Though that line-up changed after the Chinese GP with Tsunoda earning promotion to Red Bull and Lawson returning to Racing Bulls to partner Hadjar.

Sauber

Nico Hulkenberg
Gabriel Bortoleto

Nico Hulkenberg's career revival at Haas has been impressive enough to catch the eye of Sauber and its CEO Andreas Seidl, with Hulkenberg the first driver signed for the transitional 2025 season ahead of the team's rebirth as the factory Audi team for 2026.

The identity of his team-mate is current F2 points leader Gabriel Bortoleto, who beat Valtteri Bottas to the second seat after months of negotiations.

Haas

Ollie Bearman
Esteban Ocon

Hulkenberg's exit left Haas with two vacancies for 2025 as his team-mate Kevin Magnussen is also out of contract at the end of the year.

But it announced on the eve of the British GP weekend that Ferrari protege Ollie Bearman, who starred when standing in for Sainz at the Scuderia back at the second round of the season, will make his F1 graduation in 2025 despite a fairly ordinary F2 season so far with Prema. He will have six FP1 outings with Haas this year.

Haas then confirmed prior to the Hungarian GP that Magnussen would not be retained, meaning a relationship spanning two multi-year stints - and close to 150 grands prix come its conclusion - will end later this year.

One week later it confirmed Ocon will replace him on a multi-year deal with the team.