Aston Martin has agreed a £550m financing package that involves selling majority control of the Aston Martin brand for non-automotive businesses, transferring 50.1% of related intellectual property rights to US brand management group Authentic Brands. The package is led by HPS Investment Partners and includes a £450m secured term loan plus a £100m facility that can be drawn later. The company said the deal does not affect the Aston Martin Formula 1 team, which operates separately.


Mercedes driver development advisor Gwen Lagrue has posted a farewell message after ending an 11-season spell with the team, confirming the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest was his final race weekend at Brackley. RacingNews365 reported last month that Lagrue is set to join Red Bull, with Mercedes making his departure official last week, before he was named director of the Red Bull Junior Programme from 2027. In his message, Lagrue wrote: “People often remember the championships, the victories and the records. I will personally remember the people.”

Max Verstappen says he signed 15-year-old Belgian driver Dries van Langendonck to Verstappen Racing because he believes the British Formula 4 racer has the potential to reach Formula 1, but wants to avoid putting pressure on him. Verstappen said: "Scouting? Yeah. I watch a lot of racing myself. So, yeah, and then, of course, I have my dad and my manager, Raymond. I have people everywhere, so if I need information, I can ask them as well. But at the end of the day, I need to feel that it's someone I think is capable of doing it. At the same time, I don't want to put too much pressure on him. He's 15 years old."

Max Verstappen says he never doubted Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli would make a big step forward in his second Formula 1 season and become consistently competitive, as the 19-year-old leads the championship after taking six wins so far this year. Verstappen said: "Of course, when you're driving for a top team, it's always highlighted a little bit more. But for me, there was never a doubt that he would make a jump the year after and already be a lot more consistently competitive. It's normal in the progression of a driver. In your rookie season it can be quite tough, but at the moment, of course, he's doing an amazing job."

Charles Leclerc says his relationship with Max Verstappen has changed over the years, admitting he once thought the Red Bull driver was a “bad person”. Leclerc said: "Our relationship has matured over the years; I was convinced he was a bad person and he thought the same of me. But now our relationship has changed."

Lewis Hamilton says he rates his 2026 season so far as "slightly above average" and is not getting drawn into talk of a title battle. Hamilton said: "I'm not thinking about the second part [of the season]. I'm thinking about just this weekend, one race at a time. I'm just trying to figure out how I can maximise each weekend. I'm genuinely not thinking about [future] races from here."
Flavio Briatore says he does not know why Alpine are not beating McLaren or Ferrari, insisting the team has “everything” it needs to win grands prix. Flavio Briatore said: "We have everything to win, because, you know, the agreement we've done with Mercedes is a super agreement, because we picked up the right partner. And we're investing in CapEx a lot of money in the factory. We need to put the pieces together... take more risk than what we take now. But I'm sure this team… I don't know why we're not winning. I don't know why we don't beat McLaren. I don't know why we don't beat Ferrari."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have become even closer as team-mates despite fighting each other for last season’s world title until the final race. Stella said: "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."
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