Formula 1’s competitive order was shaken up in 2026 with the roll out of sweeping new regulations across the chassis, aerodynamics and power units. Mercedes came out on top, with it now leading the constructors’ standings and Kimi Antonelli is on top in the drivers’ championship.
But the team hasn’t been bulletproof this year, and strong performances from drivers up and down the grid ...Keep reading

During Formula 1's summer break, Max Verstappen finds himself no fewer than 110 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
Last season, the four-time world champion launched a spectacular comeback from Zandvoort onwards and finished on the podium in every grand prix during the second half of the season, but this time he is absolutely not expecting that scenario.
Red Bull's problems ...Keep reading

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