Thursday the 15th was dominated by a major development for Brazil in Formula 1: Rafael Câmara was confirmed by Haas as a full-time driver for 2027. The announcement places the country back on the grid with two representatives, alongside Gabriel Bortoleto, while Max Verstappen also drew attention by revealing he had seriously considered quitting the sport.
Câmara will take a seat at Haas after a rapid rise through the junior ranks. Champion of the European Formula Regional in 2024 and of Formula 3 in 2025, the Pernambuco-born driver currently leads Formula 2 in 2026 and impressed the American team during tests with cars from previous seasons. The Brazilian chose the number 50 for his debut and will be the first driver from the Northeast to hold a full-time F1 seat in the history of the sport.
The arrival of Câmara also ends an 11-year stretch without two Brazilians occupying full-time seats on the grid simultaneously. The last occurrence had been in 2016, with Felipe Massa at Williams and Felipe Nasr at Sauber. Câmara and Bortoleto, who have crossed paths as rivals in European karting, will now share the track again, this time in the sport’s premier category.
Another highlight came from Verstappen. The four-time champion revealed that his dissatisfaction with the 2026 regulations reached a point where he seriously contemplated leaving Formula 1. Despite Red Bull’s recent resurgence and the wins secured in the latest rounds, the Dutch driver also admitted he wasn’t certain he would stay in the championship through 2030.
In the title race, Kimi Antonelli expressed relief at Verstappen being 119 points adrift. The Italian stated that facing the Red Bull driver more closely would be “very, very scary” and arrives in Austin with a mathematical possibility of clinching the crown, contingent on the results of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
Behind the scenes, Christian Horner also revealed that he had attempted to bring Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc to Red Bull before 2025, only to encounter internal resistance. Meanwhile, McLaren admitted that they feared the updates introduced in Azerbaijan might have worsened the car, a doubt that began to be resolved after the Singapore Grand Prix.
