During the days leading up to the Canadian weekend Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was universally praised for his outstanding performance during his Nürburgring 24 Hour race debut on the previous weekend and particularly for raising global awareness of and interest in endurance racing. This will without doubt form part of his motorsport legacy come the end of his racing career, and he has already indicated that he hopes to return to the Ring next year for another attempt. What fun it would be if only other F1 drivers sought to follow in his footsteps too.

Meanwhile, Red Bull is still fully aware that most drivers, including Verstappen, are unhappy with the technical changes introduced this season to significantly increase the electric hybrid element of the engines and alter how F1 pedallers need to go racing. Conscious that its lead driver could either stay or join another team, take a sabbatical or simply retire from Formula 1 despite still being only 28 years old, Red Bull has suggested that McLaren’s Oscar Piastri could be its preferred replacement for the Dutch four-time world champion if need be. If so, with Red Bull’s Gianpiero Lambiase already set to join McLaren by 2028 at the latest, a Verstappen/Piastri driver swap between the two teams could potentially make sense, although Mercedes’ Toto Wolff still has real ambitions to sign Verstappen should he become available.

The controversial technical regulations, introduced at the start of the current campaign and tweaked ahead of the previous round in Miami, are set to be amended again from the start of the 2027 season, with the allowed power output from the internal combustion petrol engine increased and the electrical output from the onboard hybrid battery decreased by a similar amount. The changes would result in a 60/40% power split between the former and the latter compared to the current 50/50% split, which is proving so unpopular with both drivers and fans. Looking further ahead, Verstappen has suggested that an additional transition to an 80/20 split in favour of sustainably fuelled internal combustion engines would be an ideal solution, and many agree.



In other news, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has been the home of the Spanish Grand Prix from 1991 to 2025, but this year the event will take place in September at an all-new facility named the MADRING being constructed within the boundaries of the city of Madrid. This has been a logistical as well as a financial challenge, but it will benefit from being very fan-friendly in terms of public transport to and from it, which is a key priority for any new Formula 1 venues. Circuits like the UK’s Silverstone and Belgium’s Spa now seem old school and less attractive in this respect due to their lack of any significant public transport links and a reliance on private cars. An unusual aspect of the new track in Madrid will be that its layout will include a long, high-speed banked hairpin. The existing Barcelona venue will also still host an F1 round this year, though in June, being called the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.



Elsewhere, Sky will be the home of live F1 coverage for the UK and Ireland until at least the end of the 2034 season following an extension to its existing contract, which was due to end in 2029. The deal is worth £200m a year from 2030 to 2035, giving it a total value of £1bn and making it one of the most expensive TV rights deals in history. Sky currently pays £129m a year for the same privilege. This all simply reflects the still growing global interest in Formula 1 from commercial, sporting and human perspectives.



Lastly, the future of the former Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, continues to attract speculation, particularly after he held talks recently with the global Chinese car manufacturer, BYD, which has expressed a keen desire to become Formula 1’s 12th team. We can but await further news in due course as to whether BYD will join the F1 grid with or without Horner at the helm and as a potential part owner.