Ferrari CEO makes F1 rival admission; Ex-Williams boss considers career change – round-up

Henry Valantine 04 Nov 2025 10:00 PM

Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna appears in the F1 news headlines.

Tuesday’s F1 news sees a multitude of different stories, as we get closer to the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend at Interlagos.

Let’s not keep you waiting, here’s our selection of the best of the day’s headlines.

F1 news: Ferrari CEO admits others ‘seem to run more smoothly’

Ferrari chief executive Benedetto Vigna has ensured the Scuderia is still working together with unity, but did acknowledge some of the team’s rivals do seem to execute weekends in a different way.

Vigna said: “There are other teams where everything seems to run more smoothly than it does for us, so we need to make sure that all the ingredients necessary to win are functioning properly.

“We will continue to work in a united and cohesive way because there are still four races to go, and we must give our best to see how things end.”

Claire Williams MP? Maybe

Claire Williams, former Williams team principal and graduate of a politics degree, has revealed she has considered running for public office in the UK, potentially looking to become a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party.

Williams told Motor Sport magazine: “Yes – then see what that might lead to.

“I’d like to drive positive change, to make life better for people.”

Zhou exclusive: How Bottas compares to Hamilton, Leclerc

Zhou Guanyu spoke of the way Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc work in a “very similar” way to his former Sauber teammate, Valtteri Bottas, and how he is looking to learn from Ferrari’s current driver line-up while acting as the team’s reserve.

“I feel like the way all three of them, the way they work, are very similar. Of course, everyone have their own way of working, but overall, I don’t see a big difference in the overall picture. So it was nice,” Zhou told PlanetF1.com.

“In the first year with Valtteri, it was kind of a little bit of a shock for me, because I understand how important he is in terms of just building up a team and also giving a boost for the people in the factory.

“Since the beginning of last year, I was able to adapt that pretty well, and now understanding the way Charles and Lewis work, there are always things you can look up to and to be learning from, and that’s what’s also very important for me.”

Red Bull admit ‘price to pay’ by going all-in on 2025

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies acknowledged the team’s approach to this season, by carrying on bringing car improvements later than their rivals, could potentially bring a penalty with it for next season, but he hopes the processes put in place now will be of benefit once 2026 gets going.

“We are doing it this way because we think, for us, let alone the other guys, it’s a net gain,” he told the media, including PlanetF1.com, after the Mexico City Grand Prix.

“We validate our approaches. For 2026, if we thought it would compromise it, we would not be doing it.

“We know there is a price to pay, we think it’s reasonable, and we think it’s worth it.”

Aston Martin hires simulation consultant

Former Ferrari simulations guru Marco Fainello has returned to F1 as a consultant to the Aston Martin team, PlanetF1.com understands.

Adrian Newey had previously mentioned the shortcomings in Aston Martin’s simulation structures, which may be helped by this new arrival.

Newey said previously: “It’s fair to say that some of our tools are weak.

“Particularly the driver-in-the-loop simulator needs a lot of work because it’s not correlating at all at the moment, which is a fundamental research tool.”

Williams