The days are getting longer and warmer on the Old Continent as spring turns to summer.
In Formula 1 that means one thing: the silly season.
The 2027 driver market is wide open, with almost every driver out of contract at the end of the season, including some of the sport’s biggest names.
Lewis Hamilton denies he’s among them, however — and he says not to expect much news from him anytime soon.
Away from the track, Horner’s F1 comeback plans have taken a detour that could see him back in the paddock in an even more powerful role.
Williams, meanwhile, has been busy pinching staff from rival teams to try to generate some good news from its lacklustre start to 2026.
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton has denied that he’s contemplating retirement at the end of the season, insisting that he will remain in Formula 1 for “quite some time”.
Hamilton turned 41 years old in January and is in the second season at Ferrari, having completed a sensational switch from Mercedes at the end of 2024.
But the Briton, still in pursuit of a record eighth world title, hasn’t enjoyed Mercedes-style success at Maranello. Despite a sprint victory just two rounds into last season, he’s yet to win a grand prix in red, and it took him until this year’s race in China just to stand on the podium, the longest wait for a trophy of any driver in Ferrari history.
Hamilton, however, has been more competitive relative to teammate Charles Leclerc this season and is revelling in the raceability of the 2026 car, having never gelled with the ground-effect machines of 2022–25.
Speaking ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, a race he’s won a record-equalling seven times, Hamilton said he remained motivated to compete.
“I’m still in contract, so everything is 100 per cent clear to me,” he said. “I’m still focused, I’m still motivated, I still love what I do with all my heart, and I’m going to be here for quite some time, so get used to it.
“There’s a lot of people that are trying to retire me, and that’s not even on my thoughts.
“I’m already thinking of what will be next, planning for the next five years, but still plan to be here for some time.”
His year experience with Maranello is also keeping him in good stead in his adjustment to a new working culture after a career working with British teams, though Hamilton says the process is ongoing.
“I’m always trying to learn how I can be a better colleague, a better teammate, to the people around me, how I can extract more from myself but also from the people, from the groups that I get to work with,” he said.
“Teamwork really does make the dream work. It’s a real thing, and when you have a huge group of people, there are so many different energies, and you have to be quite dynamic to be able to integrate into those different sections.
“I feel like we’re in a really good place. I’m in a good place with my team. There’s always going to be teething issues and stuff that you always have to work on. I’m really happy.”
HORNER IN TALKS WITH BYD OVER F1 COMEBACK
Christian Horner’s path back to Formula 1 could be with BYD as the Chinese auto giant weighs up a bid to become the sport’s 12th team.
BYD is open about its interest in grand prix racing, with vice-president Stella Li saying last month that she had been F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.
The Horner connection, however, has emerged more recently and comes after a report from Racer that the Mercedes F1 team is now Renault’s preferred bidder for the for-sale 24 per cent stake in the Alpine team currently held by American firm Otro Capital.
Horner, backed by an investment consortium, had previously been considered a frontrunner for the Alpine shares before Mercedes’s interest became clear.
That may no longer be the deal-breaker it appeared for Horner’s comeback, with The Race reporting the Englishman spent time with BYD on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival last week.
It further reports that Horner spoke with vice-president Li about his “thoughts on F1 and scope for a potential partnership”. Discussions are said to have been positive, and though they didn’t amount to a green light to pursue an entry, momentum appears to be building for BYD to lobby for the FIA to open the grid expansion process.
BYD would have to be approved by both the FIA, the governing body, on sporting grounds and also Liberty Media-owned F1 on commercial grounds.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulaymen has previously expressed a desire to see a Chinese manufacturer involved in the world championship, believing it would meet no resistance from F1 or the teams considering the scale of the Chinese market.
In some respects, Horner rejoining F1 through BYD could be seen as a trade up on the minority Alpine share.
Whereas at Alpine he may have limited executive power at a team that is already fully formed, at BYD he would have the chance to build a constructor from the ground up, similar to the way he rapidly expanded Red Bull Racing from its roots as the flailing Jaguar team.
It would, however, delay his F1 return for several years — Cadillac, in its former guise as Andretti, first lobbied to be granted entry in 2022 and began hiring in 2023 before joining the sport this season.
WILLIAMS POACHES KEY STAFF IN REBUILD
The Williams team has poached senior staff from reigning constructors champion McLaren, Mercedes and Alpine in a signing spree following its disappointing start to 2026.
Williams had set its sights high this season, having abandoned work on its 2025 car very early in an attempt to capitalise on this year’s new regulations, but its car debuted late and overweight after having reportedly failed several crash tests during the off-season.
Having been embarrassed by its underdelivery on its big promises, Williams has sought to bolster its technical structure with new hires from some of the sport’s biggest teams.
McLaren chief operating officer Piers Thynne is the best decorated name, having been part of the Woking operation since 2007, when he joined as a gearbox program manager.
Thynne has been credited by Zak Brown as crucial to the cultural revolution inside McLaren as it turned its negative spiral into a positive trajectory earlier this decade.
He joins Williams as its chief optimisation and planning officer, directly addressing the team’s chief shortcoming this season.
“Williams has clear ambition to be championship level in all areas and set new standards in the sport, and I can’t wait to play my part in that as a member of the senior leadership group,” he said.
“I have enjoyed a fantastic time at McLaren, helping bring the team back to the top, and hope we will be able to do the same at Williams.”
Williams announced three other acquisitions as part of the announcement.
Claire Simpson, formerly Mercedes aerodynamic group leader, will join as head of aero development.
Fred Judd, who led Mercedes’s 2026 engine development program, will become Williams head of performance optimisation.
Steve Booth, Alpine’s chief engineer, will become Williams’s head of vehicle engineering.
The recruitments are a welcome boost to Williams, which sits eighth in the constructors championship with just five points.
