Mercedes technical director James Allison says the team's decision to keep developing its 2026 Formula 1 car late has put it "out of phase" with the other teams around it, causing a leapfrog effect as in-season updates produce large performance gains.
The W17 has been the class of the field so far, starting out the year with a 1-2 finish in Australia and going on to claim eight wins in the ...Keep reading

The FIA has revised its emergency measures to lift restrictions on Russian and Belarusian drivers and no longer binds them to a commitment of 'neutrality', walking back on the measures placed on them following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. 
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the FIA introduced a series of sanctions against Russian and Belarusian organisations and drivers. No ...Keep reading

For long-time Audi stalwart and Le Mans winner Allan McNish, becoming Audi's first racing director in Formula 1 feels like the natural progression of his storied career on both sides of the pitwall.
After climbing the UK single-seater ladder in the late '80s and early '90s, McNish's road to the top took a number of strange turns, with a McLaren F1 test role that ultimately didn't lead to an F1 ...Keep reading

More than a week before the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, the Formula 1 world was abruptly awakened from its summer break.
At 3pm UK time, Cadillac decided the time was right to make a shock announcement: Graeme Lowdon had been replaced as team principal with immediate effect by Marcin Budkowski.
Two elements of that news are not particularly strange in themselves. For many in the paddock ...Keep reading

The Cadillac Formula 1 outfit has confirmed that Graeme Lowdon’s dismissal as its team principal “wasn’t a mutual decision” - adding he was only told on the morning.
Cadillac made a shock announcement on Wednesday that Lowdon had been replaced by ex-Alpine executive director Marcin Budkowski for the rest of the 2026 campaign and beyond.
It came during the summer shutdown of the ...Keep reading

The Cadillac Formula 1 outfit has hired a new team principal, appointing Marcin Budkowski to the position instead of Graeme Lowdon.
Budkowski, 49, has held a myriad of roles in the world championship over the past 25 years, working as an aerodynamicist at Prost, Ferrari and McLaren before heading the FIA’s F1 technical department.
Following his FIA stint, Budkowski joined the Renault ...Keep reading

The complaints have been rumbling since before the start of the Formula 1 season. Periodically they intensify, especially at so-called ‘energy-starved’ circuits where the ratio of corners to straights, and the type of corners, mitigate against the new-generation cars being able to recharge their batteries through the lap.
A tweak to the regulations implemented ahead of the Miami Grand Prix ...Keep reading

Few topics in the Formula 1 paddock have generated as much political debate during the first half of the season as ADUO, the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities.
The system was introduced as a safety net for a manufacturer that falls behind, partly in response to Honda's situation under the previous regulations, but in practice it has turned into a political battleground.
Toto ...Keep reading

While Aston Martin introduced its first major upgrade package for the AMR26 in Hungary, Honda will bring its first update of the 2026 Formula 1 season to Zandvoort.
With Adrian Newey’s first upgrade package of the year, the deficit on the chassis side has been reduced considerably. Aston Martin is still a long way from where it wants to be, but figures from Paceteq show that its deficit in ...Keep reading

Cadillac Formula 1 team principal Graeme Lowdon has given an update on the outfit’s current infrastructure, which is still being developed.
F1’s newest squad operates from several locations, mainly its Silverstone hub, while it makes the most of General Motors facilities in North Carolina and Michigan, and uses Toyota’s wind tunnel in Cologne.
Cadillac has been building a new F1 ...Keep reading