Daniel

In recent years the Haas F1 team has undergone many changes. Staff got replaced and drivers were swapped like it was nothing. However, since the 2023 season, it looked like the team finally had some stability back! When everything starts to improve for the team, they decide to change it all up with a completely new driver lineup for the 2025 season!

Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen have been the Haas F1 drivers for the 2023 and the current 2024 season. After their struggles in 2023, both drivers have shown that they still have what it takes to compete in the pinnacle of Automotive racing. With this in mind, Haas still decided to swap both drivers for others for the 2025 season!

The New Driver Lineup for Haas F1 from 2025

At the beginning of “silly season”, Haas confirmed they signed a contract with Oliver Bearman, who finished 7th in his F1 debut when he filled in at Ferrari for Carlos Sainz. This already meant that one of the current drivers would lose their seat in the F1 sport for the next season. However, last week the team announced their second driver for the 2025 season. Unfortunately, it’s neither Kevin nor Nico. Haas signed a multi-year contract with French Alpine driver Esteban Ocon!

Potential Seats for Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg

The signing of Ocon means that both current Haas drivers will lose their spot in the sport if they don’t find a team that is willing to give them a contract. However, with these changes, there are a few potential seats that opened up for Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg.

Since Ocon is leaving, the Alpine F1 team is now 1 driver short. This gives Kevin and Nico the potential to show their skills during the rest of the 2024 competition to secure a contract with Alpine to stay in the sport. There is also a spot available at the Mercedes formula one team. That spot previously belonged to Lewis Hamilton, who will be driving for Ferrari from 2025! If either of these drivers fails to get a new contract with a different team, they won’t be able to compete in F1 anymore!

The Belgian Grand Prix was the last Formula 1 Grand Prix before the summer break. A lot of teams needed the odds to be in their favour to collect some of the points in the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. However, George Russell’s unique strategy allowed him to win the grand prix! The celebration was short-lived since George got disqualified from the race victory. Read on to learn more about what George did to get disqualified.

George Russell’s Strategy Gave Him The Win!

During this Grand Prix, most drivers and teams decided to go for a 2-stop race. Meaning that the drivers would make two pit stops to get new tires and better chances at winning the race. This was the case for Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and Lando Norris. There was one driver in the top teams, who made a quick suggestion to the team and benefited from it by taking the lead. George Russell’s choice to ask his race engineer to go for a 1-stop race changed the outcome of it. This meant that there were some cars on newer rubber behind him, but he was sure that he could keep it up.

This quick decision let him pass multiple drivers on the grid, including his teammate Lewis Hamilton and gain first place. This ended up being the best decision that was made during the race and led to him winning the Grand Prix! It was a One-Two podium finish for Mercedes with Lewis just milliseconds behind George!

George’s Car Was Disqualified For Being Underweight

Before a Formula One race starts, racers have to meet a minimum weight requirement to be allowed to compete. George’s combined weight with the car was the exact limit of the weight restrictions. However, since the sport is so intense the racers will lose weight during the race in sweat and other fluids. To prevent teams from cheating, there are rules on the minimum weight a driver or the car can have right after the race.

When the car was weighed after the race, it was not completely drained of fuel. This made it look like it was perfectly within regulations. However, when the fuel was drained, the car was 1.5kg underweight. It might not seem like a lot, but it is quite significant in a sport where every kilo counts!

Mercedes Boss Toto Wolff Claims it was a genuine mistake from the team. He also apologised to George and is sad that they have to give up the one-two finish. The team still won with Lewis Hamilton getting awarded the victory after this conclusion.