Marko’s move against Ricciardo as Williams line up Sainz ‘Plan B’ – F1 news round-up

Daniel Ricciardo during pre-season testing.

Formula 1’s never-ending silly season continues to rage on in the headlines as we prepare to enter the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.

Let’s get you up to speed with everything you need to know before the second race of this triple-header kicks off in full force.

Williams eye Felipe Drugovich if Carlos Sainz Jr move fails – report

Current Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jr. has been one of the key players in the current silly season market after it was revealed that Lewis Hamilton would be taking over his seat in 2025. But as the weeks tick by, Sainz’s options have narrowed.

Swiss-German publication Blick has claimed that Aston Martin reserve driver Felipe Drugovich, with Valtteri Bottas also emerging into the picture, are next on Williams’ list should they fail in their attempt to sign Carlos Sainz Jr.

Sainz was expected to announce his future plans ahead of his home race, the Spanish Grand Prix. Instead, his announcement has been delayed, leaving room for growing speculation about his future.

Liam Lawson “has” to be promoted, says Helmut Marko

According to Austrian publication Kleine Zeitung, Helmut Marko has stated that shareholders in Team RB have expressed the wish that the team return to its roots — namely, training and promoting young talent with the hope that said talent will filter into Red Bull Racing. That would mean replacing Daniel Ricciardo with Liam Lawson.

Lawson stepped in to replace Ricciardo last season, when Ricciardo was sidelined with an injury. The young driver impressed with his performances but ultimately fell short when it came time to sign a full-time driver to Team RB for 2024.

Now, Marko has said that, “The goal was that [Ricciardo] would be considered for Red Bull Racing with exceptional performances. That seat now belongs to Sergio Perez, so that plan is no longer valid. We will have to put a young driver in there soon. That would be Liam Lawson.”

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Audi is talking to ‘four race winners’ ahead of 2026 arrival

In 2026, Audi will take over the current Stake/Sauber operation — but there’s still an open seat at the team for 2025. Team representative Alessandro Alunni-Bravi revealed that negotiations are currently open between the team and ‘four race winners.’

Four race-winning drivers currently without a confirmed seat are Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz, and current Stake driver Valtteri Bottas.

Alunni-Bravi stated that the Audi project is looking for “long-term commitment” when it comes to its driver selection; presumably, it would also benefit from the ability to work with a driver of known talent who could help guide the team to success.

The Red Bull Ring changes that could combat its track limits problems

The 2023 running of the Austrian Grand Prix ended with over 1,200 track limits violations that resulted in five hours of scrutineering after the race, 83 lap time deletions, and penalties to eight drivers. In order to avoid making similar mistakes again, the Red Bull Ring has introduced several new changes to keep track limits offenders in line.

First, the track has added gravel traps to the two corners that resulted in most of the offenses last year. If that doesn’t deter any would-be offenders, though, the FIA has also introduced an AI system that should be able to determine whether or not a track-limits violation is worthy of a penalty, without requiring any stewards to make those calls themselves.

Multiple cameras will be trained at a freshly painted blue line marking the limits of the racing surface; AI will then be able to interpret the images in order to determine fault. So, even if those violations continue, the hope is that race stewards will have to spend far less time looking into the problems.