This week in Formula 1: one driver won a Grand Prix and made every son on earth look bad. Two drivers proved that EasyJet is actually aspirational. One relationship went from speculation to confirmation in the time it takes to complete a formation lap. A four-time world champion visited a rival team’s motorhome and called it nothing. Welcome to your weekly F1 Off The Track bulletin. The cars, as always, are just the warm-up act.

Verstappen visits the McLaren motorhome and the paddock goes wild

If the paddock was buzzing before the Belgian GP, it absolutely erupted when Max Verstappen was spotted visiting the McLaren motorhome at Spa. In Formula 1, where everyone sees everything, a visit to a rival’s motorhome is never just a casual cup of coffee. The internet exploded. McLaren played it cool. Red Bull said nothing. Verstappen was Verstappen, blunt, non-committal and thoroughly unbothered.

When pressed for answers about his future, Verstappen said simply: “There is nothing to announce.” He acknowledged being “really good” with Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies, but crucially stopped well short of any commitment to staying.

Meanwhile, Mekies made a remarkable admission, confirming that “many good drivers” are already enquiring about seats at Red Bull should a vacancy arise. The door is open. Whether Verstappen walks through it on the way out remains the biggest storyline in sport.

In an interview published on 18 July, Max Verstappen gave an unusually emotional insight into being separated from his one-year-old daughter, Lily, born in May 2025. He described the heartbreak of leaving her behind each race weekend, saying he tries to “return home as quickly as possible” after every race. He has also revealed that Lily will not be in the F1 paddock yet, he is raising her differently from how he himself was raised. A rare, deeply human glimpse of the man behind the helmet.

At the Belgian GP itself, Verstappen recovered to finish third, 11.586 seconds behind the winner, after his problematic rear wing, which had been under FIA investigation, was replaced before the race.

Hadjar: The unsung hero of Red Bull’s Belgian weekend

While Verstappen’s future dominates the headlines, it is his teammate who is winning the hearts of the paddock. Isack Hadjar has been hailed as “one of the men of the year” by former F1 driver Timo Glock, and the Belgian GP showed exactly why.

The young Frenchman has embraced the enormous challenge of partnering the four-time world champion without a flicker of fear. At Spa he played a crucial role in Verstappen’s podium result, his tow putting Verstappen on the front of the Spa-Francorchamps grid. In a team surrounded by uncertainty and noise, Hadjar has been a quiet, composed revelation.

Kimi wins and dedicates it to Dad

Starting from pole position, Kimi Antonelli won the Belgian Grand Prix on 19 July, his sixth victory of the 2026 season, finishing 1.952 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc. The 19-year-old is beginning to look less like a future champion and more like a current one.

But it was what happened after the chequered flag that truly captured hearts. Antonelli celebrated with a deeply personal tribute, signing the post-race bottle of Moët & Chandon champagne with the message: “Happy Birthday, Dad.” His father, Marco, a former racing driver who runs Antonelli Motorsport, was celebrating his birthday on race day, and Kimi made sure the world knew it.

Fans were quick to react on social media. “He is setting unrealistic standards for regular sons,” joked one admirer. He really is. 🍾🥂

The intra-team drama, however, was impossible to ignore. George Russell was wiped out on the opening lap after Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari snapped to oversteer at Les Combes, making contact with Russell’s Mercedes and spinning him into the gravel. Race stewards found Hamilton at fault and handed him a five-second time penalty, which he served under a Virtual Safety Car. Hamilton recovered to finish fourth. Russell, however, was out on the spot, describing it as a “racing incident” while admitting he was already vulnerable after a battery deployment issue had cost him positions on the straight before the collision. A brutal day for the Briton, whose title challenge took a significant blow.

The silly season time bomb as 17 drivers out of contract

Here is the number keeping every team principal awake at night: 17 drivers on the current grid are out of contract at the end of 2026. Only five hold contracts beyond this season, Verstappen (theoretically), Norris, Piastri, Leclerc and Gasly.

The summer break is now viewed as the most explosive period for the driver market in years. Expect a cascade of announcements the moment the paddock goes quiet in August.

Key confirmed statuses:

Lewis Hamilton, confirmed at Ferrari for 2027. “100% clear” on his future

Lando Norris, locked in at McLaren long-term

Oscar Piastri, committed to McLaren, publicly shut the door on any Verstappen swap

Charles Leclerc, contracted beyond 2026

Max Verstappen, still the biggest question mark in the sport

Carlos Sainz, after flirting with an early Audi exit, has indicated he will stay at Williams for 2027

EasyJet’s newest brand ambassadors Lawson and Lindblad

Formula 1 is typically associated with luxury travel, VIP hospitality and private jets. Nobody told Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad.

The Racing Bulls teammates, along with several team staff members, flew home from Spa on a budget EasyJet flight, sitting among regular passengers. Lawson shared a selfie on his Instagram Story with the caption: “Shoutout easyJet.” Lindblad reposted it with his own perfect response: “Stay humble.”

“Oh man, what are the odds of meeting two F1 drivers on a commercial flight?” marvelled one fan on Reddit. “I’m all for more of this. Good on both these boys,” added another.

In a sport that can sometimes feel impossibly remote, two drivers queuing for a middle seat is exactly the kind of content that makes Formula 1 feel wonderfully human.

Arvid’s hard launch: One less bachelor on the grid

The Racing Bulls rookie has also been making headlines off the track for an entirely different reason. Lindblad went public on social media with his relationship with Isla Lough, what the internet is gleefully calling a “hard launch.”

The couple had previously been spotted together in Monaco, but this week’s post made it official. It was seen, screenshotted and shared approximately one million times. The F1 fanbase has a new couple to follow. 

Lando Norris opens up about the dark side of fame

During the Belgian GP press conferences on 17–18 July, Lando Norris gave a remarkably candid interview about the personal toll of his Formula 1 World Championship success. He revealed feeling “violated” by paparazzi who followed him for 40 minutes through London, unable to live normally or move freely.

“It doesn’t feel as though private life is private,” he said. The incident came after being photographed sprinting to his car outside The Twenty Two private members’ club in Mayfair following the British Grand Prix. For a naturally private young man, the explosion of F1’s global popularity has come with a very personal cost.

Sources:

PlanetF1 / GPFans / Motorsport Week

GPToday.net

Motorsport.com / Crash.net / GPFans

Instagram / Reddit / TikTok