Track-specific or a worrying trend? What happened to McLaren's 2025 F1 advantage

The post-qualifying fuel weights ahead of the European Grand Prix this weekend suggest that Sebastian Vettel should be worried, that Rubens Barrichello is arguably in the box seat - and that Jenson Button could just be about to get his faltering championship challenge back on-track under the Spanish sun.

It's that time of year again. The F1 circus is off sunning itself on its mid-summer break, drivers and teams alike are taking a much-needed and well-deserved breather from the frenetic nature of one grand prix after another - and everybody seems to be talking about who will be driving where in 2010. Here at Crash.net there is no exception, so we have put together a list of likely options and moves between this season and next, who is in favour and who is likely heading out of the door. The drivers have been listed in order of present championship position.

Global music superstars Beyonce, The Black Eyed Peas, Simple Minds, ZZ Top and N.E.R.D have all been lined up by F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone to rock the weekend of the Singapore Grand Prix next month - though ticket sales for the island city-state's second race are still struggling to get off the starting grid.

BMW has dropped hints that it may be willing to follow fellow German manufacturer Mercedes-Benz in supplying 'customer' versions of its engines to other F1 teams - with suggestions the Bavarian marque has Red Bull Racing as its prime target.

Flying in the face of the opinions expressed by both Ferrari and BMW over the past week, Ross Brawn has thrown his support behind the FIA's new optional ?40 million budget cap in Formula 1, warning that without it the top flight risks 'turning [engineers] into Swiss watchmakers' - but equally underlining that it will only be workable if it is embraced by all.

With each passing week, Shane Van Gisbergen is becoming more of a well-rounded product and now comes the Charlotte Motor Speedway where he is once again the favorite to win a Cup Series road course race.And despite his first round elimination from the playoffs, ‘SVG’ continues to show rapid improvement on ovals with his first career top-10 and upper-level passing statistics at Kansas, even ...Keep reading

After Friday's practice sessions, George Russell had never really factored in the discussion for pole at the Singapore Grand Prix pole - particularly after his FP2 shunt.Thus, a day made all the difference, as he reeled off two laps that were ultimately good enough to start from the front in tomorrow's Formula 1 race. The initial 1m29.165s he'd set was a colossal statement of intent despite ...Keep reading

Williams Formula 1 team principal James Vowles has released a statement after both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz were disqualified from the Singapore Grand Prix qualifying session. The Briton confirmed that the Grove outfit has launched an urgent investigation into how this happened.After Albon and Sainz initially qualified in 12th and 13th on the grid at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, the FIA ...Keep reading

McLaren only needs to score 13 points in Singapore to wrap up its second consecutive constructors' crown with five rounds to spare, but if you were looking for any lingering signs of that early season dominance you wouldn't have been able to spot it over the last few weekends.Championship leader Oscar Piastri and team-mate Lando Norris were well beaten by reigning world champion Max Verstappen ...Keep reading

“You can’t be afraid to fail, and that’s what it feels like at Ferrari.”

When your team-mate is sitting on pole position and you aren't at least alongside them, you will have questions to answer – even in the modern era of convergence when the gaps are that much tighter.Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli turned that scrutiny on himself as he qualified fourth in Singapore, 0.379s off polesitting team-mate George Russell."My emotion took over," he explained after ...Keep reading

When your team-mate is sitting on pole position and you aren't at least alongside them, you will have questions to answer – even in the modern era of convergence when the gaps are that much tighter.Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli turned that scrutiny on himself as he qualified fourth in Singapore, 0.379s off polesitting team-mate George Russell."My emotion took over," he explained after ...Keep reading

Williams Formula 1 drivers Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz have been disqualified from the Singapore Grand Prix qualifying session for a DRS technical infringement.Albon and Sainz qualified 12th and 13th respectively at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, but a breach of F1's technical regulations was spotted in parc ferme by FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer following the session.The stewards have ...Keep reading

The starting grid for the 2025 F1 Singapore Grand Prix.

Both Williams drivers have been excluded from qualifying for the 2025 F1 Singapore Grand Prix

Lando Norris has hit back at Max Verstappen following their qualifying spat.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has lamented a poor Singapore Grand Prix weekend so far, having qualified seventh at a Formula 1 track where he is a two-time polesitter.Leclerc was second-fastest in Free Practice 1 but dropped to ninth and 10th in the next two sessions, before taking eighth, sixth and seventh across the three qualifying segments.“We got off to a good start in FP1,” ...Keep reading

Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso claimed that the changes Aston Martin made to the set-up ahead of qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix "made the car slower".The Spanish driver was left disappointed after securing P10 on the starting grid for the race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit."Yes, FP3 was concerning and also Q1 we were 14th and 16th I think, so definitely not the ...Keep reading