Paddock insider teases 'absolutely massive' announcement as silly season hits

Formula 1 is braced for a “big announcement” that will be “absolutely massive”, and it should hit the headlines before the week is over.

That’s according to F1 journalist Will Buxton.

Just one month into the new year and January has already seen several huge announcements from the Formula 1 paddock with Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris re-signing with Ferrari and McLaren respectively, while on Wednesday the sport’s bosses officially rejected Andretti’s bid to become the sport’s 11th team.

What’s next on the list of Formula 1 announcements?

But apparently, there’s more big news around the corner with Buxton taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, to reveal this.

“Hearing a big announcement is on the way before the end of the week. If it is what I think it is, it’s absolutely massive,” he wrote.

That followed on from a post he’d made a few days prior, saying: “At this rate F1 silly season will be over before testing’s begun.”

Fans commenting on his post guessed it had something to do with either Fernando Alonso retiring or Sergio Perez and his stay at Red Bull.

But while Buxton did not confirm that it was a driver announcement, his “silly season” comment hints at that.

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Carlos Sainz to Sauber? Alex Albon to Ferrari?

And because he’s billed it as “absolutely massive”, don’t expect it to be ‘Carlos Sainz re-signs with Ferrari’ as that won’t shake up the paddock.

Could it be he’s off to Sauber, who’ll eventually become Audi, next season? The Spaniard is out of contract with the Scuderia at the end of this year and has been linked to a move away from Maranello.

But while it was widely speculated that would only happen in 2026, it has been suggested in recent days that it could happen sooner with Sainz replacing either Valtteri Bottas or Zhou Guanyu next season.

That would open the door for Williams’ Alex Albon, despite having a contract in place through to the end of 2025, to take his Ferrari seat with the Thai-British racer reportedly high on Ferrari’s wish list.

And, of course, it could also relate to Perez with the under-fire Mexican driver set to race for Red Bull this season with his expected replacement when the time comes, Daniel Ricciardo, at VCARB. Red Bull could mix that up.

Watch this space…

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