Join Jonny Reynolds for a quick-fire round-up of the stories dominating paddock chatter in the build up to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, including the latest on Norris and Verstappen.
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The Athletic. Hello and welcome along to the Race F1 Briefing for Thursday the 4th of July 2024, brought to you by the Singapore Grand Prix, home of Formula One Night Racing. I'm Johnny Reynolds and for the third week in a row, it's Race Week! On today's episode, we'll be looking ahead to the final race in this whirlwind triple header, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. I'll be bringing you up to speed on all of the big stories doing the rounds in the paddock on Thursday, so let's get into it with the story that broke just after breakfast time. Yes, we started the day with a bit of news that we've been expecting for some time. The British rookie Ollie Baerman will drive for half the next season, after the American team made him their first confirmed 2025 driver. 19-year-old Baerman, who debuted so impressively for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, standing in for a sick colour science and finishing a hugely impressive 7th, is currently racing for Prema in F2, and took his first win of a tricky second season in the series in Austria last weekend. He's been part of Ferrari's young driver academy since 2021 and Dovetails' F2 Race program with his role as reserve driver for Haas and Ferrari in Formula One, which also includes completing six FP1 appearances with Haas, the third of which is happening this weekend at his home circuit in Silverstone. Speaking of the deal, Baerman said, "It's hard to put into words just how much this means to me. With Haas' team principal Iokamatsu adding, "It's an exciting thing to be able to give a young driver as talented as Oliver Baerman, his first full-time seat in Formula One." And exciting is the right word. According to the race's Ed Straw and Scott Mitchell Mound, Baerman is Ferrari's biggest hope of producing another star for his own team since Charles Leclerc. In fact, he's considered one of the brightest prospects ever to come through the Ferrari driver academy. When asked about the prospect of following in Leclerc's footsteps and one day racing full-time for Ferrari, Baerman said, "That's the dream." Although perhaps understandably, his initial focus is on performing in 2025. The Britain says neither he nor Ferrari have got into expectations at the moment. That will be determined by who his team mate is and what kind of car Haas ends up producing. However, while a touch-cliched, Baerman's assertion that nothing Ferrari sets for him can be tougher than his own expectations is also a nod to the mindset that brought him this far. So, Baerman is locked in at Haas for 2025, something that, if we're honest, had looked likely even as far back as last year. But the identity of who his team mate will be is harder to work out. Nico Halkenberg is, of course, leaving for Salba / Audi, and the future of Haas's other current driver Kevin Magnussen is far from certain. As Scott Mitchell Mound reports from Silverstone, there has been a lot of expectation in the paddock that Esteban Okon will join Haas, but Valtteri Bottas has also been in contention. It may depend on the man everyone's waiting on to decide, Carlos Sainz. That's because where Sainz goes determines which seats are left for Okon and Bottas, and they're not fighting for exactly the same options. Okon's obviously not a contender at Alpine, the team he's leaving at the end of the year, and Bottas seems quite determined to move on from Salba / Audi. They're both in the mix at Williams, but Bottas is considered the favourite there. And even Salba / Audi, which is short on alternatives if it misses out on Sainz, does not seem in a major rush to lock Okon down as a backup. That is why Haas keeps emerging as Okon's likeliest destination. But if not, if Bottas, Sainz and Okon slot into the vacancies at Alpine, Audi and Williams between them, then Haas may well have no choice but to stick with Magnussen. Given the race-winning options on the table, this would be a disappointment for Haas, as the others are in an upgrade on a driver the team knows very well. And who partners Bemann matters to both driver and team, because the Britain ideally needs a teammate to learn from, who is constantly pushing on him to ensure the car is being maximised, week in, week out. Let's wait and see who he ends up with. The race, F1 briefing. Now regular listeners will know that our last episode was, how shall we put this? Absolutely dominated by Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, and I've got to warn you that the rest of this episode is too, because the big talking point in the Silverstone paddock on Thursday was still Max and Lando's controversial tangle in last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix. As you'll no doubt recall that duo were disputing the lead at the Red Bull Ring when they made contact at the turn three hairpin leaving both drivers with punctures. Norris ended up retiring from the race while Verstappen, who was found guilty of causing the clash and given a 10 second time penalty by the stewards as a result, limped over the line in P5. Norris said after the race that if Verstappen says he did nothing wrong, then, in Lando's words, I'd lose a lot of respect for that. Spicy stuff and with both drivers facing the media in the Silverstone on Thursday, everyone was desperate to hear whether the two drivers, who were good friends away from the track, had spoken in the days following Austria. And Norris, speaking first, was quick to confirm that they had. Based on whether Max had apologised, Norris chuckled nervously before saying, "Honestly, I don't think he needed to apologise. I think some of the things I said in the pen after the race were more just because I was frustrated at the time." Norris added that he'd had "a lot of adrenaline, a lot of emotions" and that he probably said some things he didn't necessarily believe in, especially later on in the week. He finished by saying, and I quote, "I don't expect an apology from him. I don't think he should apologise. I thought it was, as we reviewed, good racing. At times may be very close to the edge, but we've spoken about it, we've talked about it and we're both happy to go racing again." So that was Lando's view, but how was Max feeling about things a few days on? We'll get to that in just a moment. To Max Verstappen then, as promised, who spent much of his media session on Thursday stressing that his sole priority in the aftermath of the incident in Austria has been to preserve his friendship with Lando Norris. As Scott Mitchell-Mann reports, seven times in ten minutes in his session with written media, Verstappen emphasised that the only thing he cared about after Austria was "maintaining my relationship with Lando" for words to that effect. It is, by any standard in F1, unusual to hear a driver talk like this about another. And given Verstappen has bloody the noses of several rivals and rarely showed contrition when they feel he is wrong with them, he might be the last driver that some would expect to prioritise such a personal dynamic, but the Verstappen Norris relationship has always been unique for F1 circles. They are friends, they have sim-raced with each other extensively, spent a lot of time away from the track together, party together, and professionally Verstappen has big Norris up at every opportunity. When he says they are great friends, when he speaks to Norris's character and describes him as a great guy and a really nice person, he means it. As Scott says, for the first time Verstappen sounds genuinely bothered what his opponent thinks, that is new, and who knows, maybe it will impact how things play out on track. So Verstappen and Norris appear to have patched things up, but given the two drivers could well be dicing at the sharp end with one another on Sunday, have the rules of engagement change between them? Will either approach a battle differently? Both drivers had their say on those questions on Thursday, with Verstappen indicating that he won't veer far from the uncompromising approach that has served him so well throughout his career. Everyone knows that, Verstappen said, Lando knows that, and I expect that as well, so that's absolutely fine. He added later, "We go at it flat out, that's what we agree to, because that's what we like to do, and that's what is good for Formula One as well." In the same press conference as Norris, Lewis Hamilton, who has gone toe to toe with Max Verstappen more than most, would categorically not be drawn on either the incident in Austria, or how Norris should approach things with the Dutchman in the future. And to be honest, it didn't sound like Norris was looking for advice, insisting things between him and Max would be, quote, "biz this as usual." And for all of us who love watching the best of the best battle it out on track, that can only be "a good thing." Well, that's about it for this episode. The cars will be back on track tomorrow, which will probably come as a relief to Norris and Verstappen as they look to put last weekend behind them. I'll be back with another episode of the Race F1 Briefing tomorrow, when I'll bring you up to speed on everything meaningful from Friday's action. Until then, goodbye. [Music] The Athletic. (dramatic music) [BLANK_AUDIO]
