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F1 driver’s secret rally tests amid Audi F1 2025 dilemma – round-up

By Jamie Woodhouse,

7 hours ago

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3l54qn_0ux1WUNc00 — Audi will officially arrive in F1 in 2026 after taking over the existing Sauber team

Strap yourselves in for a fresh round-up of the key Formula 1 talking points, which involves claims of an active driver taking part in rally tests.

Meanwhile, a potential soft landing has been identified for two current F1 stars in the form of Audi, so with all this and more to get through, let’s begin our dive into the headlines.

Mystery F1 driver apparently conducting secret rally tests

With a seat at Mercedes , Alpine, VCARB and Sauber still to fill on the F1 2025 grid, the driver market has potentially taken a major twist with an active F1 2024 driver said to be taking part in secret rally tests.

That is the claim of F1 analyst Peter Windsor, who claims this driver has been impressing for good measure. It is not Max Verstappen.

Could Daniel Ricciardo or Sergio Perez head for Audi?

Who Verstappen’s 2025 Red Bull team-mate will be is also a major talking point of the F1 driver market. Sergio Perez signed a new multi-year deal ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, but amid an alarming form spiral, it was a surprise for some that he will even return to the Red Bull cockpit after the summer break, considering the speculation that Red Bull were fuelling.

But, if Perez loses his seat at the end of the season, and/or VCARB’s Daniel Ricciardo finds himself out of the Red Bull fold, it has been claimed that both drivers could find themselves on Audi’s shortlist if they became available.

Nico Hulkenberg’s Daniel Ricciardo reveal on Renault exit

When Ricciardo originally left Red Bull for Renault after the 2018 campaign, he found himself alongside Nico Hulkenberg, who would head for the Renault exit door after a year of that partnership.

And Hulkenberg has called out ex-Renault F1 team boss Cyril Abiteboul for making strategic decisions that “ended up going wrong for me” when the team signed Ricciardo.

Ferrari reportedly identify new technical director

Since the announcement that Enrico Cardile will join Aston Martin for the F1 2025 season, Ferrari has been on the lookout for a new technical director, with team principal Fred Vasseur having been filling that role on an interim basis.

And it has been claimed that Ferrari’s incoming head of chassis performance engineering Loic Serra, signed from Mercedes, will also take on the technical director role.

Lance Stroll ‘one of most deserving drivers to continue in F1’

Having struggled at times up against two-time World Champion team-mate Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin, the team owned by Lance Stroll’s father Lawrence Stroll, Lance has been no stranger to criticism and speculation about his F1 future over the last season-and-a-half.

But, while some may point negatively to the argument that Lawrence owning the team serves as protection for Lance’s seat, 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, Lance’s fellow Canadian, believes Lance is one of the most deserving drivers to keep his F1 spot due to the investment his dad pumped into the team, as well as due to his recent performance levels.