Hello, coming up This Week, Zak Brown speaks about how McLaren is managing the fight for the championship between its drivers, Fred Vasseur admits Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton underestimated the challenge this season, Max Verstappen admits Red Bull is in a rebuilding phase, and why Ollie Bearman believes he has more confidence since Silverstone?<\/p>\n
The FIA says it has been \u201csurprised\u201d by the focus on lap times for the new 2026 cars, which it admitted could be \u201cbetween one and two-and-a-half seconds slower\u201d. With four months to go, the biggest changes to both power units and aero regulations in a generation, with drivers saying they have a \u201cdifferent feeling\u201d based on their first simulator runs, while questions have also arisen whether F1 will become more of an \u201cenergy management championship\u201d.<\/p>\n
There is also another variable which looks to relate to the way cars generate speed, thus lap time. The new cars will be faster on the straights than the current generation, but significantly slower in the corners.<\/p>\n
Its analysis says that the new cars will be slower but not o an extent that fans will notice much. FIA’s single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis said during an interview with Motorsport.com, \u201cFirst of all, I do get a bit surprised by how much emphasis is put on the actual lap times. We’ve had various phases of the sport when cars have been slower or faster, and I think once you are used to it, it’s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you walk out of a simulator or in real life go from one car to another car that is one second and a half slower, you initially think \u2018this is not a good car\u2019, because you feel that second and a half. But I think once you’ve driven that a bit, then it actually doesn’t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Tombazis, this applies not only to drivers but also to fans. \u201cI really don’t think the lap times are going to be a factor once people get used to these cars. I think it’s a comment you make initially when you see the delta, but I don’t think it will be a factor frankly, nor will it be hugely different from now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having watched this sport through several regulation changes, these are the types of stories we get in the year before the changes take effect, while the consensus appears to be the new cars will be roughly two and a half seconds slower.<\/p>\n
Even the FIA doesn\u2019t have the complete picture from data, but Tombazis believes what matters more is close racing rather than pure lap times: \u201cI find it a bit surprising why people actually care. Clearly if we\u2019d make cars as slow as F2 or anything like that, then obviously people will have something to say about it, but that is definitely not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has discussed how the team is managing the intense drivers’ championship battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The American says to avoid conflict between its drivers as they fight for the championship, to ensure full transparency and ensure that upgrades are equally shared.<\/p>\n
Norris and Piastri’s championship battle has, so far, only resulted in one race-ending crash when the former went for a gap in the closing laps in Montreal, forcing him to retire from the race. Aside from that, the pair has managed to keep it relatively clean on track while still racing.<\/p>\n
Brown explained on How Leaders Lead with David Novak, \u201cIt’s all about transparency, being fair, being equitable. When we have upgrades on the car and we can only give it to one driver for a race because two aren’t ready, we tell them why. We don’t let them find out by reading, ‘Oh, he’s got a new front wing, I don’t.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we give them the rationale. We keep scores. ‘Hey, next time we get a new development.’ Or we are in a position where one driver gets the benefit, the other can’t, we keep score.\u201d Piastri currently leads Norris by nine points ahead of the season resuming in Zandvoort next weekend.<\/p>\n
Brown also says the team a fortunate two have the best drivers on the grid who have not only proved they are the fastest drivers, but are \u201creally good guys, they are very competitive, they are very respectful.\u201d He added there is no tension between them and seemed to suggest that as we move towards the end of the season, it might be tougher, but added he still believed the championship wasn\u2019t just between its drivers.<\/p>\n
Norris has spent the last five and a half years racing his childhood heroes Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, but he has revealed that he doesn’t always feel like he is ‘one of them’.<\/p>\n
Norris explained to Quadcast, \u201cWatching Formula 1, Fernando, Lewis, you know, this is like ’07. Fernando, Lewis, Jenson [Button], all of the coolest races that ever happened and like wow, that\u2019s so cool watching them. I would wake up at 3am, 4am, to watch some of these races. And now that\u2019s me. Some of these guys are still racing. It\u2019s such a crazy thought. I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s hard to say in words that that is now me. That\u2019s what I once never even thought was possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
When quizzed on whether he was starstruck when he came out of the pits on his debut in 2019 behind Hamilton and Alonso, Norris explained, \u201cYou still have that little – I was like, ‘Oh my god, it\u2019s Fernando!’ you know? And the thing is, I\u2019m still – maybe not quite as much like that because I\u2019ve grown a bit – but I\u2019m still like that. I\u2019m still like ‘wow, I\u2019m racing Fernando and I\u2019m racing Lewis’.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite Alonso and Hamilton being his colleagues, Norris says he still a \u201chundred percent\u201d looks up to them and wants to beat them, even when they do have on track fights and abuse in the cooldown room, thinking \u201cman, this is cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur says he and Lewis Hamilton \u201cstupidly” underestimated the challenge the seven-time world champion would face in joining the Italian team. The seven-time champion made a blockbuster switch to join Ferrari at the start of the 2025 season after spending twelve years at Mercedes, which he had joined in 2013 having driven at McLaren for the first six years.<\/p>\n
However, despite all the hype around the move and the pole and sprint win in Shanghai, it has largely been an underwhelming season with him yet to finish on a Grand Prix podium. Hamilton hit a new emotional low in the final round before the break in Hungary, as he declared himself “useless” and said Ferrari needed to change driver, after qualifying twelfth when his team-mate Charles Leclerc – who has five grand prix podiums this season – claimed pole.<\/p>\n
Vasseur told The Race, \u201cLewis and I, we collectively, probably underestimated the change of environment, and the fact that he spent, for me, twenty years in the same team. McLaren was Mercedes, and then he moved to Mercedes, an English team [based in Brackley], same engine guys, that same culture and so on. So, he spent 2006 to 2024, eighteen years, in this environment, and then he arrived at Ferrari. And we were stupidly expecting that he will have everything under control.”<\/p>\n
Even before qualifying in Budapest, Hamilton admitted there would “be some tears” during the summer break as he attempted to come to terms with “a real battle” of a start to life at Ferrari.<\/p>\n
A week earlier in Belgium, Hamilton revealed he had been submitting documents to Ferrari bosses and holding meetings with key figures across the team in an attempt to ensure the partnership is more successful in 2026. While there have been occasional bright spots, most notably a Sprint pole and victory at the second round of the season in China, Hamilton has largely struggled to get to grips with the SF-25.<\/p>\n
Vasseur also explained why he thinks the Brit might be finding it more challenging than the driver he replaced at Ferrari, Williams’ Carlos Sainz, to switch teams. The seven-time champion is in his third team of an eighteen-year career, while Sainz is at his fourth team in ten years. Also, he believes there’s a bigger culture difference \u201cbetween Ferrari and Mercedes than between Mercedes and McLaren. And this we underestimated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Max Verstappen has claimed that Red Bull faces a rebuilding phase before it can return to its championship-winning form. For the first two and a half years of this regulation cycle, they dominated the sport, before they fell to third during the second half of last season a trend which has continued this season.<\/p>\n
Red Bull sits fourth in the constructors’ standings behind McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes. In addition to the dip in performance on track, there have been significant off-track changes in the team. Red Bull announced on 9 July that Christian Horner had been replaced as Red Bull Racing CEO and team principal by Laurent Mekies.<\/p>\n
Although the specific reason for his departure was not revealed, it is thought that the departures of several key personnel, including Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley, contributed to the decision. Verstappen told F1.com, \u201cThe team has gone from, of course winning championships before I arrived, to when I arrived, a bit through a rebuilding phase, and then we really hit the peak again of winning championships.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I feel like [it’s a] slight rebuilding. We’re still of course, a very strong team, but I do think that to make again a step up, there’s slight rebuilding or restructuring maybe, and understanding a little bit more what’s going on, and that of course takes a little bit of time, but hopefully not too much time.\u201d<\/p>\n
I think that is right, the team are in this rebuilding phase, you need to ask, I feel like Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes, indeed Red Bull themselves, how far they need to fall before they can start rebuilding.<\/p>\n
Motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has said that Max Verstappen staying with Red Bull is the logical move for the driver, given the unpredictability of the 2026 regulations. This comes after talks between the four-time champion and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff were confirmed earlier this year as the team struggled to maintain the dominance it had shown over the past few years.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the F1 Insider podcast, the Austrian said that it was always clear to him that the four-time champion would always remain at Red Bull. he said, \u201cFrom his statements it was clear that he wanted to stay, and it makes sense, even if the exit clause had become actionable. No one knows what the situation will look like in 2026. On the engine side, Mercedes declare themselves the class leader, but there is no proof.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next season sees the biggest overhaul of both power unit and aerodynamic regulations in a generation and Red Bull joins as an engine manufacturer in partnership with Ford. The biggest challenge for the team since taking over Stewart-Ford in 2003-04, Despite this added pressure on the team, Verstappen has confirmed his future, at least for now.<\/p>\n
Marko added, \u201cMax is a very important part of our team. He has achieved his successes with Red Bull Racing; in his Formula One career he has only ever driven Red Bull cars, and beyond his driving potential he is simply a very important family member for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
George Russell has spoken of there being \u201cno rush\u201d for himself and Mercedes to agree on a new deal, with the Briton\u2019s future beyond 2025 yet to be settled. Although it looks to be a formality that the Englishman will stay with the team, over the last month, it has appeared his future is now in his hands.<\/p>\n
Before the summer break at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Russell stated that there were \u201cno updates\u201d regarding his contractual situation with Mercedes, but he did say things were moving \u201cin the right direction\u201d.<\/p>\n
He told F1.com, \u201cTo be honest, now, with the time of the year that we\u2019re in, there\u2019s no time pressure from my side. There\u2019s no major time pressure from the team. The truth is, we\u2019ve been in contact a lot this week, but nothing about contracts or the future, because we need to get the car back on track.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, we\u2019re having conversations about the future. Things are going in the right direction, but it\u2019s not like we need to get this done right here and right now.\u201d This suggests two things to me, that these talks are more serious as he is at the of his career where he needs to make the right decision if he wants to be a champion.<\/p>\n
But he says he is less anxious than he was six months ago, and suggested it was more important to be in the right team.<\/p>\n
Ollie Bearman says it is \u201ccrazy\u201d how much his confidence has changed since Haas brought an upgrade package to the British Grand Prix in July. The American outfit fitted a revised floor and new sidepod inlets, which made an immediate impact as Bearman recorded his highest qualifying position of the year with eighth.<\/p>\n
Although he was unable to translate that eighth into points after a ten-place grid penalty for ignoring red flags in practice, he was able to make up eight places in the race, missing out on points by nearly a second and a half. He then ended his pointless run in the Spa Sprint and before missing out again by four tenths in the Grand Prix, partly due to strategy and power unit issues.<\/p>\n
The Englishman continued his fine form into Hungary, where he outqualified veteran team-mate Esteban Ocon – but a mechanical failure then ended Bearman\u2019s race.\u00a0 Yet the improvement of the rookie across the last three race weekends is evident after a tough start to the year, which left Bearman bottom out of the drivers that have raced since Melbourne.<\/p>\n
In the mid-season review I wrote, \u201cI think Bearman has delivered what we expected following his stand-in drives last season, given where Haas are. Bearman is often just outside the points, so his championship position doesn\u2019t reflect his season, which has been consistent, and he is pushing Ocon.\u201d<\/p>\n
He explained to Motorsport.com, \u201cI haven’t found my confidence until we brought the Silverstone upgrade to the car. Since then, I’ve had a really good feeling, and I’ve been able to replicate that feeling – and that’s crazy. You can’t describe it, but you chase it, you chase it, you chase it, and when you can have it, it’s very special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if \u00a0he thinks the upgrade is a \u201cproper start\u201d to his campaign, Bearman agreed that it was and is optimistic about what he can achieve across the final ten weekends. he added, \u201cIt’s a car that I feel fully comfortable in. Of course, I tried to feel as comfortable as possible in the previous car, but it’s difficult when the balance is tough. Now we’ve managed to replicate that and from now, I think we can do a lot with this car.\u201d<\/p>\n
Team principal Jonathan Wheatley insists that any pressure he under will be \u201csomething positive,\u201d as the team enters the final phase of the transition to the Audi works team in 2026. The former Red Bull sporting director has spoken of feeling \u201cre-energised\u201d by his new role, while he has also enjoyed some on-track highlights, most notably Nico Hulkenberg\u2019s long-awaited maiden podium at the British Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Wheatley also suggested that he was anticipating a greater level of responsibility than he was used to when the German manufacturer arrives into the sport. Wheatley explained to Sky Sports, \u201cI don’t think so, I think you take these things in your stride. I feel very comfortable in the role I’m doing at the moment, it’s an amazing opportunity. I’m so excited about the project.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust saying Audi Formula One project sounds like the most incredible thing to be part of. Pressure is part of the job, it’s been part of my job for the last thirty years. I turn it into something positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that he was approaching his new job by absorbing and immersing himself in the team. Saying it’s important to listen to everyone and work out why decisions have been made, adding you can rarely bring procedures and processes across from one team to another as \u201cit just doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adding, \u201cBut what you can bring is a philosophy, you can bring a cultural philosophy as well. There’s low-hanging fruit, there’s been some of that to be had. It’s a very young team and I think people forget that. A lot of people here only started in January or February so we’re knitting together the team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dive into the latest buzz in the world of F1 with our comprehensive analysis and round-up of this week’s top stories. Discover the strategic moves by top teams, and what it all means for the season. Stay ahead of the curve with insights on and off the track. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,18],"tags":[2250,664,754,2213,1996],"class_list":["post-14936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-analysis","category-this-week","tag-2250","tag-f1","tag-formula-one","tag-news-analysis","tag-this-week"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14936"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14938,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14936\/revisions\/14938"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}