Welcome back to another edition of Ask Dre, where you the fine Motorsport101 audience ask me your questions on Formula 1, IndyCar, MotoGP, sports in general and just about anything else that tickles your fancy! In this month’s edition, we ponder whether Mick Schumacher’s heading to IndyCar, whether Romain Grosejan had an alterior motive to his F1 retirement test day with Haas, and just how high is the limit for NASCAR prodigy Connor Zilisch? Thanks for your questions and I’ll be back for another next month!
Why is Mick testing for RLL? No, seriously. Does he bring money? Do they think he has the goods? PR? – Nikki Cerulean
Well, you gotta remember Nikki – A test is just that, a test. It’s probably not worth reading too much into at the moment, but even if there IS more to it, I have to ask, what’s the alternative here?
Look at RLL right now. Graham Rahal was their best driver and he was 19th overall in the latest in what’s been a six-year skid for the face of the franchise. Louis Foster was rookie of the year but still underwhelming as a whole, and Devlin… was Devlin. In my opinion, RLL needs to bite the bullet and not bring Devlin back for another year, even if it means leaving cash on the table, because as a team of their size and stature, 19th, 21st and 26th out of 27 full-timers, is a bad look. Either sell a charter and downsize, or use Juri Vips (who is still on the books, somehow?), or, just throw Mick in there and see what he has.
At the end of the day, Mick despite now being a really solid Alpine Sportscar driver in WEC, still wants to drive in single-seaters, and he has never been top of an F1 team’s list ever since Haas let him go in 2023. And, he’s a Schumacher, love it or hate it, he’s got money if he wants to be there that badly. It might just be mutually beneficial for all parties.
Or, it’s just a test. Either or.
What do you think Connor Zilisch’s chances of taking part in an F1 weekend are? He dominated in the Xfinity series this year, won a Karting Championship in Europe and has won in LMP2 Classes at both Daytona and Sebring before the age of 20. Could be the face of a potential Trackhouse move to F1 🤔 – Thomas Andrew Davies (Question of the Month)
As an ex-bookmaker, I’ll give you some fun novelty odds, like when someone thinks their son will play for England or something – 100/1. In non-bookies talk, that’s 1%.
Look, this is nothing against Zilisch himself, he’s an outstanding talent, I watch NASCAR when I can, and he’s a superb all-rounder and to be that good at just 19 is incredibly impressive. For me, I think there’s a much greater chance he mixes his Cup Series run with Sportscar events like a Bathurst 12 Hour or Le Mans. Trackhouse signed Shane van Gisbergen for a reason, and it wasn’t with the intention of winning a Cup Series. It’s a cool all-round look for the brand, after expanding into MotoGP last year as well.
F1 though? Unlikely. First, he needs the Superlicense points, and NASCAR tops out at 15 for a Series Championship. It’d mean Connor would have to have 3 incredible seasons in a row just to be eligible. The odds of that given NASCAR’s horrendous playoff system are slim to none. Not a single Cup Series driver would be eligible for a Superlicense right now.
Furthermore, no – Trackhouse aren’t going to F1. Think about what Cadillac had to be to eventually force themselves onto their grid. $450 million in anti-dilution fees, a collaboration with General Motors, the world’s third biggest car manufacturer with the promise of power-units in 2028. And most importantly, leading Michael Andretti into an empty room with two men in suits behind him. The last part was arguably the hardest.
Trackhouse don’t have anywhere near that level of money and resources, and the MotoGP expansion isn’t exactly smelling of roses at the moment. F1? Ha. Not happening. My advice, hold out for WEC/IMSA opportunities. Besides, it’ll be more fun!
Will Fermin Aldeguer feel hard done by not getting a factory Ducati like he was supposed to? Or will the supposed payment make up for it? – Ciara
Well, this is what I was told – Fermin Aldeguer was signed by Ducati on a 2+2 deal. There’s a clean break clause at the end of next season (2026), where they can just let him go. Apparently, Ducati and VR46 were going back and forth as to whether they wanted two GP26’s in their team next year, given they have priority as their partner team. When VR46 knocked them back, they offered the factory bike to Alex Marquez instead, and rightly so given he’s second in the Championship right now.
When Aldeguer was signed last season, the plan was to give him a factory deal in Year 3 if they kept him on. Now as much as the Spaniard has struggled a little bit out of the Ducati camp, his upside and potential is definitely there, and I don’t think there is a rush to push him into factory spec gear when he’s still only 20 and the lay of the land of MotoGP could look very different by the time the new regulations hit in 2027. These situations are often very fluid and as long as Fermin rides well, I don’t see any reason for Ducati’s insurance policy to be concerned.
If he was to retire today, how do you think history will judge Joan Mir’s career? – Len
That’s a very good question. Joan Mir might end up becoming rather folklore famous given he’s as it stands – a one-win World Champion. That in itself is a cool story. If anything, I’m glad the European sports fans don’t treat the COVID-affected 2020 World Championship like the Americans have for titles won over there. It’s got nothing to do with my fandom of the Lakers and Dodgers both winning and being called “Bubble Rings”.
I hope if Mir retired tomorrow, people would see him as an S-Tier prospect who had one of the greatest Moto3 seasons ever, shot to the top quickly and won a World Championship via strong performances, consistency and closing the door with a win when it mattered most, for a Suzuki team that had promise and finally reached the mountain top. Without question, both he and Rins have had their careers compromised by the Japanese manufacturers’ shock departure too, and I hope fans are sympathetic towards that.
Do you think Romain’s outing with Haas is well timed with his rumours to Dale Coyne’s second seat or just a happy coincidence? – Formula Bills
It never hurts to keep your name in the news cycle. Even if that probably wasn’t the direct intention given Haas was in a Pirelli tire test that was established months ago, and Grosjean’s been owed a test for years now. (Cheers, Toto.) It was just a wholesome gesture from the former Race Engineer of Grosjean in Ayao Komatsu, who is now Team Principal given that Gunther Steiner’s off to be a podcaster, influencer, MotoGP team owner, pundit and… is he still producing that sitcom?
I’ve heard the rumours of Grosjean and his desire to get back on the IndyCar grid, ala Dale Coyne or whoever else could still make room. But he didn’t cover himself in glory on the way out of Andretti, falling out with senior members of staff and allegedly having a contract extension torn up as a result. That, combined with the fact he’s 40 in April is probably not a great mix of reasons you’d want Grosjean coming into 2026, when there’s younger, more recently established talent in the free agent pool right now.
So yeah, it’s nice that Grosjean still wants to keep racing and that he wants to come back to IndyCar. But like me and hoping for that date with Salma Hayek, you can’t have everything you want in life.
Have people forgotten what a normal F1 champion is after almost 10 years of Verstappen and prime Hamilton before him? – Geoff
I think you’re probably right Geoff. If nothing else, F1 fans were probably spoilt without even realising. By the time it’s all said and done, we could say we had 10 out of an 11 years stretch where the two best drivers in F1 history won titles in their respective primes. Takes Senna and Prost and pisses all over that bonfire, even if the more recent rivals only really competed for a title once (And we all know how well that ended.)
The Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri title fight of 2025 has been in some ways a breath of fresh air. Both drivers are very skilled, and both have their own stories. Norris was the next great British hope for the British team after Hamilton’s prime faded and has been the face of McLaren as it became a contender.
Versus the unconventional Australian, whose career started as a literal meme, and has exploded into a genuine force while remaining a genuinely calm, introverted and witty character, the opposite of how we typecast the macho world of F1. Add in a team that is determined to call things as down the middle as they can to an almost obsessive degree, and I think some of us as fans don’t know how to act.
As I’ve said before, a part of me respects Zak and Andrea’s “Kill them with kindness approach”, trying to defy the Racing Gods. If you can, why not try? But I also think in a world that probably isn’t ready for that kind of title fight, it’s going to get a reaction out of people, especially when we’ve had our titles defined by dominance and toxicity since the turn of the decade.
Final thought: Is either McLaren driver a pound-for-pound Top 3 driver on the grid right now? Because I’m honestly more impressed with Verstappen, Leclerc and Russell myself…
What is your take on insider leaks within the Motorsport World? – Kieran
They make the news cycle go round, it’s where we journalists really make our bread. Once upon a time, I tried applying to be an F1 journalist for The Daily Express. They threw my application out once they realised I had no insider sources within the paddock. Because that’s the game these days, people wanting exclusives and details that no-one else has.
Most of the heavy-hitting F1 journos you can name have at least two people in a team that can tell them information “off the record”. And a general rule of thumb in journalism, if two sources give you the details, run it. A lot of places don’t follow that rule, or are getting their information from second or third hand sources in a race to be first on socials for the sake of clout farming and getting attention.
It is the inevitable world of sports journalism these days. The conventional outlets trying to bring the exclusives to make you want to visit, while aggregators, bad faith merchants, influencers and others all want their slice of the pie. It’s not the nicest environment to be in, but nothing that makes money ever is.
As a casual IndyCar fan, are the Honda and Chevrolet engines equal or do they have their own strengths? – Jaeden Cadogan
At their core mate, they’re the same. Twin-Turbo 2.2 litre V6’s with 550-750 horsepower depending on the type of track they race on, with ovals being the least and street tracks the most, as well as how much boost they’re using. Since 2024, they’ve been hooked up to small hybrid supercapacitors as well.
In terms of hardware, they’re virtually identical. Now with the hybrids it’s a general battle of software where both Chevy and Honda are trying to win the engine battles, alongside the obvious reliability fight. There’s very small differences here and there, but they’re more or less the same in terms of performance… even if Honda crushed it in the manufacturers standings in IndyCar this year. Having that damn Spaniard helped.
