Glorious Goodwood, watching Wimbledon and maiden Madring laps – what F1 drivers have been up to before Belgium

After a weekend away from Formula 1, the teams are making their way to the Ardennes for the Belgian Grand Prix around the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. With just a double-header left before the summer break, the paddock’s schedule remains busy before they can take a well-earned rest in August.

Whether it was meeting Roger Federer and Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon, driving the coolest cars at Goodwood, or filming the maiden F1 laps at the Madring – the grid have been enjoying themselves in the July heat after Silverstone. Here’s what the drivers have been up to before race week at Spa-Francorchamps...

Good times at Goodwood

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is always one of the most special weekends in motorsport, and this year it went above and beyond – with countless F1 drivers past and present descending on the Goodwood Estate for a busy weekend...

You’ll be hard pressed to find a busier driver over the weekend than Lando Norris. On Friday, the Briton had the privilege of debuting McLaren’s hypercar that will contest WEC next season. He drove the MCL-HY up the hillclimb in front of a huge crowd, and despite saying it was a daunting task – the smile on his face as he hopped out of the car said it all. He later united with his childhood hero Valentino Rossi on the Goodwood House balcony in what must have been one of the most photographed moments of the entire weekend.

On Saturday, Norris celebrated his 2025 title by driving his MCL60 right up to the entrance of Goodwood House before heading up to its renowned balcony for a period of celebration. Joined by McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella and three-time World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart, Norris reflected on his journey to his maiden title and just how much this achievement has changed his life.

But he wasn’t done yet, as the 26-year-old practised his drifting skills during an epic run in the LB-Super Silhouette NISSAN 180SX – and of course, treated the fans to a couple of donuts too. And to wrap up a whirlwind weekend, he even got behind the decks with Rossi for a party!

It was also a landmark moment for the McLaren team, as they ran their 1994 challenger that never was for its first-ever public run at Goodwood.

The team’s MP4/8 chassis was converted to install a Chrysler-Lamborghini V12 engine – and while it was tested by Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen in private, it wasn’t to be. But at the weekend, Senna’s nephew Bruno Senna showed off the car to the crowd, and what a moment it was.

Speaking of Goodwood debuts, Kimi Antonelli made his first-ever appearance at the Festival of Speed on Thursday, with the current championship leader getting behind the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG PureSpeed for his maiden time up the hillclimb, looking as relaxed as he does in his F1 car.

Goodwood often turns back the clock with some iconic displays of legendary machinery from over the years – but one throwback no one saw coming was Adrian Newey back in a Red Bull. The Aston Martin Team Principal took one of his latest creations to the hill for a test run – the Red Bull RB17 hypercar.

Not only did the famous engineer revel in his new creation, but his son Harrison, as well as Yuki Tsunoda, Isack Hadjar and Alisha Palmowski all enjoyed getting behind the wheel.

The Red Bull crew were front and centre of the action all weekend long, and after Tsunoda and Hadjar took the brand-new RB17 for a couple of trips up the hill, they hopped into Sebastian Vettel’s RB9 – the challenger that took the German to his fourth consecutive Drivers' Championship. Meanwhile, F1 ACADEMY standings leader Palmowski also took her race car up the hill for her Goodwood debut.

On top of it all, Hadjar even had time to make some unlikely new friends, including some English aristocracy and Stanley Tucci – only at Goodwood!

Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad both represented Racing Bulls over the Goodwood weekend, and both were living their best lives. They were eager to drive just about everything they could – from Ford Supervans, GT cars, and rally cars to old-school classic racers, supercars, and, of course, some donuts in their VCARB RB8s.

Williams were also in attendance over the weekend, and front and centre of the celebrations was Damon Hill – as the British team restored his title-winning FW18 for an extra-special run for the 1996 World Champion.

Hill then closed out the weekend with an appearance on the balcony to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his unforgettable season. He was joined by his family and Team Principal James Vowles – who also had a bucket list ride in the FW18 – for an afternoon of reminiscing and celebrating his achievements.

Elsewhere, Aston Martin were busy showing off their AMR25 and some other Honda showstoppers with Jessica Hawkins and Jak Crawford – it was great to see the racing green of the British team making their Goodwood debut at last.

Finally, Alpine couldn’t get enough of the hill, sending Pierre Gasly, Franco Colapinto, Paul Aron, Nina Gademan, and Alex Dunne in the Lotus E20 with an Alpine livery, along with the first showing of the all-electric sports car Alpine A110 FUTURE. A hectic weekend all round, but a fantastic celebration of all things motorsport, and we can’t wait until next year!

Wonderful Wimbledon

Wimbledon has always been a favourite pastime for drivers, and with the tournament falling in the middle of the Silverstone weekend, we can always expect some of the grid to make their way to SW19 for some elite tennis. Prior to the race weekend, Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez dressed up for Centre Court, before championship leader Antonelli met fellow Italian and Friend of F1 Jannik Sinner last Monday.

Whatever Antonelli said to Sinner must have done the trick, as the Italian powered his way to the final before defeating Alexander Zverev in four sets to successfully defend his Wimbledon crown. It was his fifth Grand Slam title and an important one after the disappointment of an early exit in the French Open earlier this year – how many more Slams can the 24-year-old go on to claim?

But Sinner wasn’t the only special guest the 19-year-old linked up with – Antonelli enjoyed watching some action with eight-time Wimbledon winner Roger Federer. The Swiss legend even suggested the pair took part in some karting, with Antonelli asking in return for Federer to fix his backhand – those are two sporting crossovers we have to see!

Elsewhere, George Russell and Gasly returned to Southwest London for the Championships – you can always rely on this pair to make a dapper appearance at SW19.

Ready for Madring?

The hype is building for September’s Spanish Grand Prix around the brand-new Madring circuit, with Ferrari having the honour of posting the first laps around the track in an F1 car last week. We saw Carlos Sainz testing it out in a Ford Mustang a few weeks ago, but September 13 feels closer now that we’ve seen the new cars pushing around the new layout.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton took turns sending the SF-26 around the Madring, which blends public roads and permanent sections to produce a challenging 22-turn track – the Monegasque even had a go at driving the filming car. The filming day is only increasing the excitement for the new event and we can’t wait to see the 22 cars flying around the Spanish capital.

Tour de France time

We are already at stage 10 of the most famous cycling race in the world as almost 200 riders take on the daunting Tour de France in the sweltering European heat.

At almost the halfway point, there’s a familiar face in the yellow jersey – four-time champion and friend of Ollie Bearman and Sainz, Tadej Pogacar leads the way as he looks to make history and become the fifth man to win five Tour de France crowns.

Before the event got under way, Sainz took to social media to wish the Slovenian and his training partner good luck – and it must have worked! Pogacar took a masterful win on stage six, regaining the yellow jersey and putting himself in prime position to win his third general classification in a row.

Valtteri Bottas doesn’t need an excuse to get on his bike, but surely the Tour is inspiring the Finn to take his cycling exploits to another level during his week off. The Cadillac man was back in the saddle to enjoy some epic rides in Aspen, Colorado, with his partner Tiffany Cromwell, featuring some breathtaking views of the Rocky Mountains.