In order to become a major player in F1, Stroll believed the team’s Silverstone facility – which has changed little since the Jordan days – needed a revolution. And so he bought land surrounding the current base and devised a three-building campus that he estimates will cost between £150 million and £200 million.

One option for Red Bull is for Verstappen to double-up his penalty with another one in order to install a necessary fourth Honda power unit.

"That has not yet been decided," Marko insists. "But I do think that you can overtake rather well in Sochi.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has explained that Alex Albon’s Williams contract has been designed to protect their power unit information.

After losing his Red Bull seat at the end of the 2020 season, Albon was retained as a test and reserve driver, but with the line-ups at Red Bull and AlphaTauri set for 2022, the team had to look outside of their programme to get Albon back on the grid.

And they have done so after striking a deal with Williams, though it was a matter complicated by the Grove outfit’s ties to Mercedes.

As a Mercedes engine customer, Williams signing Albon it was feared would put that intellectual property at risk, since Red Bull Powertrains has now been formed.

And so, Wolff confirmed that Albon’s contract protects Mercedes and their IP.

“We always respected the authority of choosing its drivers for a team,” said Wolff, as quoted by Autosport.com.

“I was at Williams, and I would have not wanted anybody to interfere in our driver decision. And in the same way, we have no contractual rights that we could have or would have utilised, because I don’t think it’s right to meddle with the team’s decision on drivers.

“What was important for us is if a driver from another power unit manufacturer joins the team then there is very strict and clear IP confidentiality clauses.

“That was always in great harmony with Williams, they know exactly where we are coming from and what is important to protect.

“He is basically a Williams driver for the next 12 months. He has no links to Red Bull during that time.”

Ultimately, Red Bull principal Christian Horner said that the dealings with Williams were “very straightforward”, and while Albon now leaves their programme, they do retain an option on the Thai driver for 2023.

Wolff though would be very happy to see Albon remain with Williams beyond the 2022 season.

“To be honest, I absolutely am supportive, even though it’s none of my business, of Alex Albon,” Wolff confirmed.

“He deserves to be in F1, he’s a great guy, and I’m happy for him that he’s in the car.

“He’s there, he didn’t get a place in AlphaTauri or in Red Bull, but he’s at Williams now and hopefully stays there for a long time.”

One-time grand prix winner Kubica has made two appearances for Alfa Romeo this season, deputising for Kimi Raikkonen at Zandvoort and Monza after the Finn contracted COVID-19.

Kubica linked up with Alfa Romeo as its reserve driver in 2020, having spent the previous season racing full-time with Williams, and his primary backer, Orlen, is the team’s title sponsor.

Alfa Romeo appears to have the final free seat on the F1 grid for next season, and has a shortlist of around five or six drivers to partner Valtteri Bottas, who will join from Mercedes.

Among those in contention are Formula 2 driver Guanyu Zhou and the team’s incumbent driver, Antonio Giovinazzi.

While Kubica felt you could “never say never” about a possible F1 comeback, he was aware there were many more drivers higher up the list than him to get the seat.

“I have learned from my life that everything can happen from day to day, positive or negative,” Kubica said.

“So never say never. But realistically, I think there are some other drivers who are probably higher on the list.

“I don’t know, you have to ask Fred [Vasseur].

“I have my racing programme with endurance racing, which of course normally I’m focused on all the attention there.

“This has been a bit different since Zandvoort, because I am here.

“I don’t know what [the future] will bring. But whatever it will bring, the future, I just have to wait and see.”

Kubica raced in DTM last year and has spent 2021 in the European Le Mans Series with Team WRT. He also made his debut at the Daytona 24 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, coming within a lap of victory in the latter before a late car failure.

The Pole felt people underestimated the challenge of jumping into an F1 car at the last minute and getting into the rhythm again, having only got the call-up at Zandvoort ahead of final practice.

“I would say most other people don’t realise how big and difficult it is to get back into F1 rhythm,” Kubica said.

“I liked my approach to be honest. Probably my experience - I don’t want to say my age, because I’m getting old! - I think this has helped me also to keep calm, go step by step, raise the game when I felt comfortable.

“When I didn’t have confidence, which I think was quite obvious, I was taking it on the safe side.”

Neale originally joined McLaren as its Formula 1 operations director in 2001, before moving up to become the team’s managing director in 2005.

He helped play a part in the evolution of the squad as it grew stronger in that period before it helped Lewis Hamilton win his first F1 drivers’ championship in 2008.

Neale remained in that role for several years, through many changes of team principals, before he became acting chief executive in 2015 as the team embarked on its new partnership with Honda.

At the time, his senior role meant he often represented McLaren in team meetings, including in F1’s Strategy Group.

As team boss Ron Dennis’ second tenure came to an end in 2016, Neale stepped away from any direct involvement with the day-to-day running of the F1 outfit as he became chief operating officer of the entire McLaren Group.

He has continued in that role, which encompasses McLaren Racing, McLaren Automotive and McLaren Applied Technologies, until now.

McLaren has confirmed, however, that Neale will be stepping down at an unspecified point later in the year.

The change comes with McLaren having undergone major business changes over the past few years in a bid to shore up its finances.

In July this year, the McLaren Group announced that it had been given a £550 million boost of fresh investment from Saudi Arabian backers.

It comes on the back of McLaren Racing selling a stake in its operation last year to a US-based consortium led by sports investment group MSP Sport Capital.

MSP acquired a 15 percent stake in McLaren initially, but could increase its shareholding to a maximum of 33 percent by the end of 2022.

As well as attracting new investors, McLaren also agreed this year a sale and leaseback deal for its McLaren Technology Centre to provide it with a boost of capital.

The £170 million sale was agreed with Global Net Lease, with the transaction due to be completed in the next few months. It will include a 20-year lease deal for McLaren.