The world of F1 is on a short hiatus, the teams enjoying a break from racing before the season resumes in the Netherlands later in August. Some drivers need a chance to get away after a tricky run of races but others would have liked to keep the momentum going.<\/p>\n
George Russell<\/a> might belong to the former camp, the Mercedes<\/a> man enduring a difficult race in Hungary last weekend that saw him recover to finish seventh. But team mate Kimi Antonelli<\/a> could have continued, such has been his form over the first half of the season.<\/p>\n Those two will renew their rivalry in Zandvoort<\/a>, which is a Sprint weekend no less and thus will be jam-packed with action and an extra chance to score some points. But watching the two Mercedes drivers go head to head is not the only thing to look forward to in the second half of the season\u2026<\/p>\n The title fight looks set to be a thriller<\/p>\n Antonelli leads Lewis Hamilton<\/a> by 50 points, with plenty of racing still to come. He is 59 points ahead of his team mate too, but as Toto Wolff<\/a> pointed out, reliability has not been perfect for Mercedes this season.<\/p>\n As such, this one is very much not done and dusted. Antonelli is in prime position to become the youngest ever World Champion, having won six of the first 11 Grands Prix. His lead in the Drivers’ Championship standings<\/a> is good, but not insurmountable.<\/p>\n Last year, Max Verstappen<\/a> came close to hauling in Lando Norris<\/a> for the title, despite being over 100 points behind then-Championship leader Oscar Piastri<\/a> after Zandvoort. The Dutchman finished just two points behind Norris and ahead of Piastri after the season finale in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n That should give heart to Hamilton and Russell, who are nowhere near as far back. Russell knows he needs to get on top of his machinery, while Hamilton will be buoyed by the fact that Ferrari\u2019s upgrades have been doing the business this year.<\/p>\n And if the seven-time World Champion really goes on the hunt, there are questions as to how much pressure a 19-year-old can absorb, even one as grounded as Antonelli.<\/p>\n The return of Sepang<\/p>\n The Bahrain Grand Prix returns to the calendar and will be hosted in Malaysia<\/a>, with the event scheduled for October 2-4. It is the first time Sepang has hosted a race since 2017, and thus the track will be a new one for many in the field.<\/p>\n Fernando Alonso<\/a> knows how to win around the Sepang International Circuit having done so three times for three different teams. Hamilton has won there too in his Mercedes days, while Verstappen won the last edition in 2017.<\/p>\n The race is often hot and humid, and the drivers might be tempted to put in some extra training into their summer break as a result. It can also throw up mixed weather conditions, with rain storms not unusual.<\/p>\n The Sepang track has had its fair share of dramatic moments too, with Hamilton\u2019s reliability woes<\/a> there in 2016 contributing to Nico Rosberg\u2019s title bid, while it was also the scene of the \u201cMulti 21\u201d moment<\/a> at Red Bull between Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.<\/p>\n But the return of a driver-favourite track also shows the agile nature of the sport, who have managed to find a good alternative following the postponement of the Bahrain Grand Prix from April earlier this year.<\/p>\n A development race for the ages<\/p>\n At the start of a new era of regulations, development is always key. The pecking order has already changed this year, both up front and in the midfield \u2013 and with so many races still to go, there is plenty of time for it to shake up yet again.<\/p>\n Antonelli has said Mercedes have been out-developed<\/a> by their rivals, and certainly some of their early-season advantage seems to have been reduced. Russell was over 18 seconds clear of the next non-Mercedes car in the Australian Grand Prix, whereas Antonelli won in Belgium by less than two seconds from Charles Leclerc.<\/a><\/p>\n McLaren\u2019s latest package looks good, and it helped take Norris to the win in Hungary. They have more parts coming after the summer break, to try and make sure Budapest was not an anomaly but a sign of things to come.<\/p>\n With Ferrari having won two races and Hamilton in the thick of the title fight, the Scuderia need to bring some more parts, and so do Red Bull who last bolted on a big package in Austria.<\/p>\n It is not just about developing for this year though \u2013 the choices the teams make will have an impact on the 2027 season too. Red Bull developed late into 2025 to aid Verstappen\u2019s title fight, which cost them earlier this year.<\/p>\n