F1 Today | Andretti and Brown go into business, Hamilton makes a statement

Brown and Andretti together in a new company

Michael Andretti has stepped down as owner of Andretti Global, it was announced on Friday. His former partner Daniel Towriss, the CEO of insurance and financial service company 'Group 1001' and chief investor of Andretti Global, has taken over leadership of the company with immediate effect. Now, Andretti appears to have set up a new company called Acquisition Corp II.

On 5 September 2024, Brown joined the board of directors of the new company, together with Michael Andretti and Mario Andretti, among others. In his role, he can directly influence decisions on acquisitions or mergers. The McLaren CEO is also able to get their deposited money back if they are not interested in the acquisition or the merger the company would be about to enter.

Hamilton addresses difficult Singapore weekend

Lewis Hamilton experienced a difficult Singapore Grand Prix, after the team's decision to start him on soft tyres cost him three places. The Brit started the race in P3, and finished P6 after making an earlier pit to switch to hard tyres. On Instagram, the seven-time world champion addressed the situation, and also cleared up any rumours after people in social media thought he was critical of his team. "Make no mistake though, things are cool with the team," he added. 

Marko addresses exploring Russell as option

With Christian Horner previously expressing that the team is looking at drivers for 2026, he made it no secret that George Russell could be an option for the team. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko weighed in on the discussion, stating to Motorsport-Total: "George Russell is as fast as, if not faster than, Hamilton in qualifying. But George Russell is of the Mercedes brand." Marko also said Franco Colapinto has been impressive this season, but the team must also look at their junior drivers. 

Steiner jokes about 'emptying' Red Bull

With three key figures recently announcing their departures from the Austrian team, former Haas team boss Gunether Steiner has had his say. On the Red Flags podcast, he joked: "Sooner or later, no one will be left at Red Bull. The empty offices because everybody's going." He added: It's a little bit more than normal. Because you just need to go back to last year, how many people were leaving there, nobody, noone was leaving last ten years, and all of a sudden this year, they're leaving left, right and centre." Nonetheless, Steiner believes McLaren have made a good decision signing Will Courtenay, who he employed during his time with the team.