Hello, welcome to This Week. As F1 heads into the second half of the 2026 season, attention is increasingly turning toward what comes next. From uncertainty over the 2027 calendar and the ongoing geopolitical situation affecting the sport’s future planning, to an intense development race among the leading teams.
McLaren give their assessment of how the season has gone, and why they aren’t giving up on defending both championships. While championship leader Kimi Antonelli has opened up about the pressures of his rookie season, and why a three-time champion is backing Lewis Hamilton to take his eighth?
General News
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has confirmed contingency plans are in place for the 2027 F1 calendar if the conflict in the Middle East continues next year. The ongoing war in Iran has meant the 2027 calendar, which has normally been announced by the summer break, hasn’t been announced. Though a draft has been circulated online but not been announced by F1 themselves.
Domenicali says a “normal plan” will be announced but is aware of the ongoing US-Israel war with Iran, which already cancelled this year’s Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, and the current season will end in Europe should the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix not take place.
A draft seen by FOV suggests Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will be held in mid-March, followed by a triple header of Melbourne-Shanghai-Suzuka. Portimão will take Barcelona’s slot with Silverstone and Austria swapping places, Istanbul slotting in between Baku and Singapore forming a triple header.
While the two triple headers which have ended the season in recent years will be split into three double headers, there is no change in the order.
Domenicali said, “In case the situation in the Middle East is not solved, we have options, different plans [for 2027]. But the trigger for that, of course, is at the end of the year, so we still have a lot of time to adjust. But if the situation in that region is not solved for next year, F1 is a marginal point on which we should be worried marginally because the situation will be very bad.”
“Just to assure you, we have different plans with different options already in place that will accommodate the fact that we will keep, in any case, the target of twenty-four races also for next year.” It has been suggested that Spa, which enters a rotation deal next year may be added to fill gaps.
Speaking about new races with Rwanda and Thailand, plus returns to Argentina and South Africa, Domenicali confirmed that ‘new’ events apart from replacements will not happen before 2028 at the earliest. While on Germany’s return, he says a change of ownership may lead to Hockenheim’s return as Europe is growing again.
Adding, “Negotiations are progressing very well in Africa. We are having other discussions in South America. We have discussions in the Far East. One thing that I can tell you is that we have more requests in China and Japan, but for the moment, we want to stay with one race in China because we need to consolidate the market before thinking about having other options there.”
Organisers of the race in Austin have said they are open to hosting a second race in late November or early December as uncertainty remains about Qatar and Abu Dhabi. F1 is considering ending the season at Italian circuit Imola if the races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi need to be cancelled, which is looking increasingly likely as the U.S.-Israel war in Iran continues.
Stefano Domenicali said on Wednesday that in that scenario the season would end in Europe, even if it snows, and not in the US. The Emilia-Romagna GP is seen as a likely replacement along with Portimão.
However, in that instance, F1’s teams and cars would already be in America with the Las Vegas Grand Prix 19 – 21 November, a week before Qatar. Speaking in his own media call that day, COTA chief Bobby Epstein said F1 had not reached out to him about the venue standing in.
Asked if COTA could accommodate a race on that timeline, he said: “We’d have to see. I wouldn’t want to see our track get another race and not have the massive crowds in the scene. I think it’s part of what makes it so special.”
“I don’t think logistically, you can put that together in such a short back-to-back with our U.S. Grand Prix. I wouldn’t want people to have to choose between [two races]. I’m very happy with our mega weekend as it is. And that’s the way it should always be. I don’t want it to be less than that.”
Epstein then appeared to suggest he would be willing to change his mind if F1 needed COTA to stand in. “I would say… If it helped F1, we’d be here to do that. And we want to do whatever we can to make them a success and understand that sometimes, just as we saw during COVID, circumstances dictate you do things a little differently than you otherwise think ideal”
The FIA has confirmed the start times for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, which will be held over the weekend of 02 – 04 October in Sepang. Initially, the F1 website listed the session and race times for the Sepang race as the same as the original times at Sakhir, leading to speculation that the race would be run at night.
But F1 has confirmed that was a technical error with the website, and it’s understood that the circuit’s lighting system isn’t up to current broadcast standards. The race will start like all the other traditional start times; 15:00 MST (08:00 BST) with qualifying at 16:00 (09:00) on Saturday. These times were the normal times from 2010 following the abandonment of the 2009 race, which started at 17:00 and stopped on lap thirty-three due to torrential rain.
McLaren
Team principal Andrea Stella is pleased Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have remained a harmonious pairing in the wake of last season’s title scrap and has not yet given up hope of the British driver being able to defend his crown. Norris took the championship with third place in Abu Dhabi, overturning Piastri’s thirty-four-point lead that he held this time last year.
There were several flashpoints and moments of contention in the title run-in, with McLaren’s ‘papaya rules’ put to the test in a bid to ensure a level playing field between their title protagonists. McLaren has not been able to match its form of recent seasons under the sport’s new regulations for 2026, as Mercedes has led the way from Ferrari.
Despite that, Stella has heaped praise on the performance of his drivers and is particularly happy to see peace remains, which he admits was not certain on Piastri’s side of the garage.
Stella told McLaren’s website, “It wasn’t a given that, after last year, when they found themselves battling for the world title right up to the final race, the harmony they’d built would remain intact: yet not only has this not changed, but the relationship between them and with the team has actually become even stronger.”
“And whilst this might, in a sense, have been expected of Lando, given that he was ultimately the one to become champion, it was not quite so predictable for Oscar, who, instead, has relied even more heavily on the team to accelerate his development, both on and off the track.” Norris is the fifth different winner, but the victory didn’t come until round eleven at the last race in Budapest.
Stella is determined to continue that upward trajectory and will not yet give up hope of defending both drivers’ and constructors’ championships. He believes if they can repeat what they did in Budapest, they can achieve a great deal.
Sky Sports’ David Croft believes that Norris is capable of pulling off a stunning fightback to retain his championship title. Norris took his first win as champion in Budapest and is fourth in the championship. After the team brought a significant upgrade package to the Hungaroring has created hope that the Woking squad may have permanently joined the battle for victories, and that the Brit can surge back into title contention.
He said, “One of the big things coming out of the summer break is: can McLaren carry this on? Are they going to put their eggs in a Lando Norris basket? And is it going to come up trumps once again? The Constructors’ Championship, I think, is still very much up for grabs. The Drivers’ Championship, I don’t think Lando is that far behind that he can’t make up a deficit.”
However, being a customer of Mercedes, they have been behind in learning how to exploit the power unit. Budapest won’t have answered, and neither will Zandvoort as these are less power-sensitive circuits, which creates doubts as to whether McLaren can replicate the performance elsewhere.
However, Crofty pointed out that the Hungaroring has similarities to Monaco, where Mercedes was still able to win in early June. Croft said, “We’re eleven races into the season now, and I think McLaren are understanding the power unit way better than they were at the start of the year. Is it a surprise they did so well in Hungary? Well, on past form, no, they were one-two for the last two years in Budapest.”
“But it is a little surprise given how strong Mercedes were in Monaco. I mean, that might be driver-specific in that respect. It might just be that Kimi was exceptional that weekend. But I don’t think the Mercedes are necessarily weak at a track like Budapest.”
Mercedes
Mercedes’ deputy technical director Simone Resta says the team will focus on a “sizeable” upgrade package for its 2026 car after the summer break. During the first half of the season, despite reliability concerns, the team has won eight of the eleven races so far this season.
The team introduced a major upgrade package at the Canadian Grand Prix but has largely focused on smaller updates around that. However, Resta has teased that Mercedes will work on a more substantial upgrade package in the second half of the campaign.
Resta told Crash.net, “Ultimately, I think we tried to have strong development for the first race from the winter test. Then we have had, at almost every race, a little step here and there, and then another big step in Canada. We always try to keep bringing little steps here and there at every race.”
“Of course, we have seen teams bringing more stuff than us, which is great for them, and we are still trying to bring some items at every race. Probably, after the shutdown, we will try to focus on having something more sizeable on the car. So, we are clearly focused on trying to develop the car at every event but also trying to think bigger by bringing another step to the car.”
Kimi Antonelli has shared an insight into how he was affected by the struggles he experienced during his 2025 rookie season, with the Italian feeling that he let the pressure “destroy” him, whilst also admitting the experience made him “learn a lot” about himself.
Though his debut season started well, his European leg was let down by mistakes and poor results, with him believing he let those who supported him down. Asked during an appearance on SAP’s Significant Figures podcast if he felt pressure when he arrived in F1, he explained: “I think mostly last year I felt this, because obviously I’ve had a good start of the season, then I’ve had a difficult period, the European season, where I really struggled.
“In that moment I felt… I let the pressure kind of destroy me as well during that period, because I felt like I was letting down so many people who had believed in me… especially Toto [Wolff], because he was the main one who took the decision.”
“I didn’t feel good in that period… I wasn’t doing well, but then I had a big meeting with the team after the European season, and it kind of allowed me to reset and just start again. I slowly found my way back, and then I had a good second half of the season.” Antonelli says those moments gave him the confidence to overcome those difficult moments, as well as learning about himself.
Antonelli went on to reflect on just how much he had to learn during 2025, leaving him feeling “drained” at the end of the year. Explaining, “I feel like obviously the team did an incredible job on trying to protect me, but the learning curve… I think I’ve learned much more than if I would have gone in a smaller team. I felt the learning curve was incredible; it felt like doing three years at once, and it was overwhelming, physically, mentally, because I’ve had so many new experiences as well.”
Red Bull
Technical director Pierre Wache has revealed the “limitations” in the team’s 2026 package it is currently having to manage. The team hit the ground running in the previous ground effect generation of cars, with Max Verstappen winning the F1 title in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
However, has struggled to do that with the current aerodynamic regulations and is also trying in partnership with Ford, to develop their first power unit. Red Bull is fourth in the constructors’ standings at the summer break and is the only one of the top four teams which hasn’t won a race this season. Speaking at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Verstappen finished second, Pierre Wache was asked about the limitations of the current Red Bull package and the problems it faced in the early races.
He explained. “I think, as with every racing car, you see some limitations in how the driver can use the car and the load of it. The characteristics limit what you can do in terms of balance and trying to rebalance the car.”
“Clearly, we have some limitations, like every racing car, in terms of stability on entry and mid-corner understeer, and we try to avoid those aspects by using some mechanical tools to achieve it. On your second question, regarding the issue with the car at the beginning, clearly we were missing some load compared to some others.”
This has been one of the Dutchman’s biggest complaints as he hasn’t been able to drive the car how he likes; they are also lacking downforce and performance with I think cannot be wholly put down to the power unit. Wache appears to accept that, saying that the drivers couldn’t feel the car through the steering, but this was on top of overall performance and potential of the car.
Red Bull pushed development of last year’s car late into the season, as it went up against McLaren for the world title. Asked if that had an impact on the 2026 project, Wache replied: “It’s difficult to say. At the end, I think some others just did a very good job.”
Adding, “For sure, we fought until the end, and like the other team, McLaren, I think we are a little bit behind, both of us, based on what we did last year.”
Ferrari
Two-time champion Emerson Fittipaldi says he is thrilled by Lewis Hamilton’s resurgence at Ferrari, sharing that he hopes the British driver can mount a serious championship challenge in the second half of the season.
After a difficult first year with Ferrari, there were questions about whether the seven-time champion could continue at this level, but he has proved his doubters wrong, beating teammate Charles Leclerc and currently sits second in the championship. Fittipaldi told F1.com, “I was so happy to see Lewis and Ferrari going fast. I remember last year… it happened to me in IndyCar, and in F1, when you get older people start saying, ‘Well, he cannot drive’, and everybody last year criticised Lewis.”
“’He cannot beat Leclerc, he’s too old’. Now he’s going strong. For the sport it’s good, for the fans it’s good. Seeing Ferrari winning again, and Lewis winning again, is fantastic. One thing that nobody talks about a lot is the new car. It’s smaller, with less downforce, and to me it makes it harder to drive fast. It brings out more talent.”
“That’s one of the reasons why Lewis improved, because of his car control, his feeling for the car – he’s an extremely talented driver. He’s working in his second year with Ferrari, he knows the engineers, and he knows the system.” Fittipaldi says that he is hoping that Hamilton manages to take the fight to Mercedes to the final race of the season.
Williams
Alex Albon conceded that Williams will endure a tough end to 2026 with priority now shifting to building a fast car for 2027. The team has fallen short of its expectations and is ninth in the championship, having not scored since Monaco in June. Last time out was its worst result yet, finishing seventeenth and eighteenth with Carlos Sainz and Albon both out in Q1 having been leapfrogged by Audi and Aston Martin, which recently fitted upgrades.
There is hope that the upgrades Williams has planned for Baku in September will improve the situation, with team boss James Vowles previously labelling it “almost an entirely new car – but Albon isn’t so optimistic.
He said, “We know the weaknesses of the car, we know the directions. I think as a team, this year, the work that’s being done at the factory, it’s the biggest effort I’ve seen from the team to really fight these genetic DNA problems that this team has.”
“I appreciate it. I think we’re doing exactly the right things to get back on track. It’s a shame that we’re here in the first place, but I do believe we’re doing the right thing. If it’s cured by Baku? I doubt it. I think a lot of the Baku stuff has happened. That upgrade was planned quite a long time ago.” Albon to me is suggesting a much bigger problem with the car, which won’t likely be resolved by these upgrades because they were planned a long time ago.
The Williams is overweight, and with the Hungaroring being a high-downforce circuit, those problems were exacerbated for Williams in Budapest. It is now at the point where Albon doesn’t even feel confident enough to showcase his full abilities, the level he managed to reach last year with points in seven of the first eight rounds.
This means the drivers can’t drive the cars how they would like, with Albon describing it as ‘under-driving the car’
Aston Martin
F1.com says it understands that Long-time Aston Martin engineer Tom McCullough is set to leave the team at the end of the season. McCullough has spent more than a decade with the team through their various names, Force India, Racing Point and Aston Martin – working in a variety of roles including focusing on trackside performance.
McCullough began his career in F1 when he joined Williams in 2002 as a data engineer before evolving into a race engineer, working with the likes of Nico Hulkenberg, Rubens Barrichello and Bruno Senna. He then moved to Sauber as head of Track Engineering in 2013, now Audi, for three years before joining the Silverstone-based team in 2016.
Haas
Ollie Bearman has admitted Lewis Hamilton’s return to race-winning form with Ferrari has complicated his own aspirations of securing a seat at the team. The Haas driver has been touted as the successor to the seven-time champion, but the likelihood of that being sooner rather than later has died down after Hamilton, who is currently second in the championship, returned to form.
During an interview on the F1 Beyond The Grid podcast, Bearman addressed the changes at Ferrari. Bearman said “As an F1 fan and a Lewis fan as well, it’s pretty cool to see him performing at the level he is. Seeing him on the top step in Barcelona was quite a special moment for British F1 in general. It was three Brits on the podium, with the best driver we’ve ever seen in P1. That’s something pretty special.”
“Of course, in terms of my future, that’s not ideal. But I’m still young. I’m only 21. I’m not in a huge rush, and for me, staying at Haas for the foreseeable is not a bad thing. I feel like there’s a lot to learn at this team. There’s a lot to still achieve.” Over the last year and a half, he has consistently outperformed his more experienced teammate, with his goal of becoming a Ferrari driver.
Speaking about the success of his main rivals in F3 and F2, Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar, who thrive at the front of the grid, gives him a “huge amount of confidence” for his own future. Haas has lost ground to its midfield rivals through the development battle. Bearman was asked if Antonelli’s strong year provides reassurance that he merely requires the right car to fight at the front. The 21-year-old confirmed that watching his former peers succeed offers a benchmark for him.
Bearman explained, “I take a huge amount of confidence in that, and that’s probably why I can sleep well at night. Knowing that Kimi, even Isack, you know, these are guys who are performing incredibly well in cars that are also very fast.”
“It proves to me that I have what it takes because I’ve raced these guys throughout my junior career and have stacked up positively against them. That tells me that it’s just a matter of time. I’m not in a rush, but when I get the car that can win races, I’m going to win races.”
Alpine
Pierre Gasly believes that the team’s upgrades for Zandvoort are “critical” for it to maintain pace in the midfield as it has been out-developed by rivals. The French manufacturer is currently leading the midfield thanks to its successful overturning of Gasly’s speeding penalty in Monaco.
It was also just nineteen points off fourth-placed Red Bull at the time, but in the five grands prix since, Alpine has slipped five points behind Racing Bulls with no upgrades since round four in Miami. It has also come under pressure from Audi during July and Aston Martin in Budapest.
Alpine will be hoping its “pretty big new aero parts” for the next race brings them back into the fight. Gasly said after Budapest, “Standard of Formula 1, I think if you bring upgrades you expect it to definitely get better. On my side, I’m not doubting that it’s going to do what the team expect.”
“But as you say it’s important because Aston Martin improved by two seconds this weekend, they have another engine coming [in Zandvoort], Racing Bulls improved by seconds in the start of the year, Audi as well. We just didn’t do much steps, so I think it’s critical for us if we want to keep the hope for that fifth place in the championship.”
In the first year of a new regulation cycle, upgrades are important; this was something they struggled with under the previous regulations. Over those four years, they went from fourth fastest to last. They are keen not to repeat this.
Cadillac
Sergio Perez says that he is frustrated by the lack of development by the team, which he says must ‘rethink its processes’. The American team made its debut this year, but Cadillac is bottom of the standings and without a point at the summer break after scrapping with Aston Martin at the back of the pack.
Though that was expected, the teams upgrades haven’t seen it close the gap to Aston with it remaining around two and a half seconds. The upgrades haven’t had the impact those brought by rival teams have, namely Aston, which leapfrogged Cadillac with its B-spec chassis in Hungary last time out.
Perez had already predicted that the team would be overtaken, speaking in Budapest, the Mexican told Motorsport.com, “It has been very tricky, it has been very difficult for us to develop. I think we haven’t developed basically enough.”
“We obviously have to rethink all our processes to make sure that we are able to develop a lot stronger, because in Formula One it is all about developing. I think it is what we are lacking a bit. Obviously, being a new team, we haven’t developed as much as we would have liked.” The team have been a bit hamstrung at this stage in its development as a team because it is still relying on buying some parts from other companies rather than making everything itself.
Adding, “It is a little bit of inefficiency and obviously a lack of development because a lot of it is done through third parties, so we don’t control much of it. So, there is a lot of work done behind the scenes to try to get on top of all of that. We don’t have a clear process in place, with a lot of the teams established, they know their process on development. They have a very clear line [on] how to do things backwards and forwards.”
Perez also revealed that the team are looking to use the rest of its in-season development to be in a good place for 2027.
Valtteri Bottas has used the start of the break to secure qualification for the UCI Gravel World Championship, finishing fifth in his age group at the qualifying event in the Czech Republic. The Finn and partner Olympic cyclist Tiffany Cromwell took part in a 131km off-road cycling event.
Posting on Instagram, the Cadillac driver joked about the differences between his break and the relaxing holiday choices of his F1 colleagues.
He wrote on Instagram. “Whilst the others are relaxing on their boats. 131km UCI Gravel World Series @ Hlinsko. Finished fifth in Men 35-39, and qualified for the gravel world champs. Thank you for the huge support on the tough course yesterday. Loved it! Always nice to explore events like this together with Tiffany Cromwell.”
Bottas has had a challenging first half of the season, alongside former Red Bull driver Sergio Perez. The American team joined the grid in 2026 and has, understandably, been taking time to adjust to the championship. It currently sits eleventh in the constructors’ championship with no points, one point behind the struggling Aston Martin.
The Last Lap
A unique helmet, produced in collaboration with Disney and signed by twenty drivers from the 2026 grid, has shattered auction records after raising £151,000 for Make-A-Wish International. The bespoke helmet, dubbed “Fuel the Magic”, was sold via the F1 Authentics platform, operated by Memento Exclusives.
The final winning bid of £151,000 (approximately $201,000) officially establishes a new benchmark as the highest publicly recorded sale for an unworn replica F1 helmet at auction. The sale has broken the record for a single charitable item sold through F1 Authentics. The previous record was held by Max Verstappen’s race-worn overalls from the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix, which sold for £112,000.
