Kimi Antonelli says he did not expect to be leading the drivers’ championship at the summer break and wants to keep learning and pushing when the season resumes at Zandvoort in late August. Antonelli said: "Well, for sure, I did not expect to find myself in this position. But the car has been extremely good, the team has done an incredible job and, on my side, I try to maximise every opportunity I have. Of course, there's still lots of work to do, lots to learn, but it was a good first half of the season. Now I'm looking forward to the second half, and we're just going to keep pushing."

Aston Martin reserve driver Jak Crawford says Adrian Newey and chief technical officer Enrico Cardile are listening in to his simulator sessions and keeping tabs on his work behind the scenes. Crawford said: "Yeah, yeah, it is [a privilege]. We have great people on the team and I think, always my favourite part is when I do my simulator sessions. I know that all the top engineers on our team, you know, Adrian and Enrico, they're all listening in to the simulator sessions, seeing what I've done and [that] makes your work is being seen and paying off."



Arvid Lindblad said he could “smell” that the Hungarian Grand Prix was going to be a two-stop race and that his view helped team-mate Liam Lawson switch from a planned one-stop strategy on the way to eighth place. Lindblad said: "I don't know what Liam was asking, but I was saying I think it's going to be a two. So maybe I helped him out. Even before the race, I was telling them that I think it's going to be a two… I could feel before the race; I just smelled it… then it's 20 degrees hotter [for the race], and I just don't feel that these tyres are very good when it gets hot."

Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson said Max Verstappen’s move to pass both him and Lewis Hamilton at Turn 1 in the Hungarian Grand Prix was “a good move”, even though it cost Lawson time. Lawson said: "I was just trying not to get in the way and be too much involved. I wasn't getting lapped, so I didn't have to let them go. I didn't expect him to go by. Obviously, I saw the late lunge. It ended up costing me so much time behind them, which at the time was a bit stressful, but it was a good move."






Oscar Piastri said his sarcastic McLaren team radio at the Hungarian Grand Prix was down to being "very, very pissed off". Piastri said: "In the moment, I was upset that I lost the lead of the race through no fault of my own, and I felt maybe the team could have not pitted Lando if it was a two-car race. But I know it's not a two-car race. So that's happened; it's fine. I was just very, very pissed off in the moment about what happened."

Circuit of the Americas chief Bobby Epstein said the Austin circuit would be willing to stage an extra race if Formula 1 needed a stand-in because of possible cancellations in the Middle East, although he believes it would be difficult to organise another event close to its scheduled United States Grand Prix. Epstein said: "We'd have to see... I don't think logistically, you can put that together in such a short back to back with our U.S. Grand Prix. But I would say... If it helped F1, we'd be here to do that."
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