{"id":838551,"date":"2026-08-01T21:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T21:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/838551\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T21:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T21:38:11","slug":"fia-makes-new-announcement-as-former-mclaren-boss-returns-to-motorsport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/838551\/","title":{"rendered":"FIA makes new announcement as former McLaren boss returns to motorsport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday\u2019s fast-paced F1 news includes former Lotus and McLaren<\/a> team boss Eric Boullier landing a new motorsport role in what the FIA has described as the \u201cdeal of the century.\u201d<\/p>\n

With an update on the German Grand Prix, and Toto Wolff opening the door to a potential pairing of Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes, here\u2019s today\u2019s roundup\u2026<\/p>\n

FIA hails \u2018deal of century\u2019 as former McLaren boss appointed WRC boss<\/p>\n

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a>\u00a0for news you can trust<\/p>\n

Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the FIA president, has hailed the \u201cdeal of the century for rallying\u201d after the World Rally Championship ended its search for a new commercial rights holder.<\/p>\n

It was announced on Friday that Cosmobilis and Park Square Capital has acquired WRC Promoter, the WRC\u2019s commercial arm.<\/p>\n

Eric Boullier, the former Lotus and McLaren F1 boss, has been appointed the new chief executive of WRC Promoter.<\/p>\n

Read more: FIA announces \u2018deal of century\u2019 as former McLaren boss Eric Boullier secures new role<\/a><\/p>\n

Hockenheim opens talks over German Grand Prix return<\/p>\n

Hockenheim has opened talks with Formula 1 over the potential return of the German Grand Prix, Stefano Domenicali has revealed.<\/p>\n

The German Grand Prix has not been held since 2019, with the Nurburgring hosting the one-off Eifel Grand Prix during the 2020 season.<\/p>\n

Domenicali told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets that Germany could return to the schedule in the medium-term future.<\/p>\n

Read more: Major German Grand Prix update as F1 return talks confirmed<\/a><\/p>\n

Mercedes \u2018wouldn\u2019t shy away from\u2019 Max Verstappen, Kimi Antonelli pairing<\/p>\n

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says the team \u201cwouldn\u2019t shy away\u201d from pairing Kimi Antonelli with Max Verstappen in the future.<\/p>\n

Verstappen, who is officially under contract with Red Bull until 2028, has been persistently linked with a move to Mercedes over recent years.<\/p>\n

Despite the rise of Antonelli in 2026, Wolff remains open to signing Verstappen in the future.<\/p>\n

Read more: Toto Wolff makes new Max Verstappen admission after driver demotion warning<\/a><\/p>\n

Mercedes questions real reason behind McLaren step in Hungary<\/p>\n

Mercedes believes McLaren\u2019s return to winning ways at the Hungarian Grand Prix was not purely down to the upgrades to the MCL40 chassis.<\/p>\n

McLaren claimed its first victory of the F1 2026 season in Budapest with Lando Norris.<\/p>\n

The Woking-based team\u2019s win came one week after McLaren switched to the upgraded version of the Mercedes power unit.<\/p>\n

Read more: Mercedes questions true reason behind McLaren\u2019s Hungarian GP breakthrough<\/a><\/p>\n

Analysis: Audi F1 progress review<\/p>\n

The Audi F1 team has enjoyed a respectable start to its debut season.<\/p>\n

The Swiss-based team sits eighth in the constructors\u2019 standings with 12 points at the summer break.<\/p>\n

PlanetF1.com\u2019s Thomas Maher argues that the team, regularly on the fringes of the points, could have scored even more.<\/p>\n

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n

Read more: Audi half-season review: Should midfield rivals start to fear the German giant?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saturday\u2019s fast-paced F1 news includes former Lotus and McLaren team boss Eric Boullier landing a new motorsport role…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":838552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,40856,63,817,837,813,816,818,825,913,945,44,918,85,4703],"class_list":["post-838551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-audi","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-fia","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-home-page","tag-max-verstappen","tag-mclaren","tag-mercedes","tag-news","tag-red-bull","tag-sports","tag-toto-wolff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}