FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem says former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner will return to Formula 1, adding that he remains in regular contact with him after Horner’s departure from Red Bull Racing. Ben Sulayem said: "If you ask me, we miss him in this sport and I do. I keep in touch with him. He was good for the team, good for the sport. We would welcome him back and someone like him will always find his way. As I said, I talk to him regularly and I feel he will be back. When he comes back, it will be like he went for a vacation."

Max Verstappen set the early pace on his Nürburgring 24 Hours qualifying practice debut but ended the opening session third.


McLaren chief executive Zak Brown says the team’s turnaround from the difficult period it faced when he arrived was driven by getting the right people, leadership and culture in place. Zak Brown said: "It's all about people. When I started, the team had definitely gone through tough times. We were ninth in the championship, we didn't have many partners. Our fans were disgruntled, [there were] politics inside the racing team. What was great was our brand - you can't take away the history and the heritage. So I actually felt 'this is very fixable'. We've got great people in the team, that just needed some leadership, guidance, teamwork and transparency."

Former Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer says Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur would struggle to manage a serious intra-team title fight between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Palmer said: "There's a bit of ego there as well, there's ego in everyone. You've got to not be accepting second place, you've got to be thinking, 'I'm the best, this is my title'. Leclerc and Hamilton, you've got a guy that's won seven, you've got a generational talent that hasn't yet won one. I don't think there's a way that Fred could manage it, if they're even on pace and they have the best car like that."


Toto Wolff says Mercedes must keep Kimi Antonelli calm and focused on the “long game” in the Drivers’ Championship fight, after the 19-year-old made it three wins in a row with victory at the Miami Grand Prix. Toto Wolff said: "I think all of us collectively that are close to him, we need to keep re-emphasising and repeating the message: this is a long game. He has a killer of a team mate that is extremely fast. We don't want to stumble now with these huge expectations that will sit on him because the moment he has a bad race – which will happen, where he makes a mistake – people will say maybe Kimi is not the one superstar that we thought."

Oliver Bearman said Haas went into the Miami Grand Prix weekend expecting it to be tough because Alpine had brought a major upgrade package and appeared to have fixed a weakness in high-speed corners. Bearman said: "They had an issue in high-speed, and then it looks like they've sorted that, and they've brought a huge amount of upgrades for this event. We brought zero, so we were anticipating a tough weekend - that turned out to be the case."




McLaren has signed a new sponsorship deal with Intel, bringing the tech giant back to Formula 1 after nearly 17 years away from team partnerships. Intel becomes McLaren’s official compute partner across its F1 and IndyCar programmes with immediate effect, with branding set to appear on Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s cars from next weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix. Intel says it will support McLaren with additional computing power and data capabilities for race-weekend operations.


McLaren has secured planning permission for a factory extension at its Woking headquarters that will house a new in-house Formula 1 test rig. Woking Borough Council planning officers approved updated works covering the rig and an external condenser, with documents submitted by architects tor&co stating the expansion is needed because the current McLaren Technology Centre factory is full.



Oscar Piastri and Sergio Perez have pointed to the “lead-up” to Formula 1 as a major hidden barrier for non-European drivers, with both saying the biggest challenge is reaching F1 rather than succeeding once there. Perez said European drivers have an advantage because they are already based in Europe, while those from elsewhere often need to relocate at a young age, bringing added complications. Piastri, who also moved to Europe during his junior career, agreed, adding that once on the grid opportunities are broadly the same: “Definitely the lead-up into F1 is a little bit more challenging. There are a few more tough decisions to make. But once you're there, it's the same challenge for everyone of being in the right place at the right time and trying to show you're the best."

Toto Wolff says Mercedes is trying to keep Kimi Antonelli “grounded” and play the “long game” rather than fuel Formula 1 title talk after the Italian’s three consecutive Grand Prix wins, including Miami, which has left him 20 points ahead of team-mate George Russell after four races. Wolff said: "There are so many requests for his time from the media, from sponsors, and it's on us to keep the handbrake on that. This is the long game, he has a killer of a teammate that is extremely fast. We want to play the long game, he can hopefully win many championships over 10 years, 15 years, we don't want to stumble now with these huge expectations on him."

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says Mercedes still has the faster car in 2026, especially in high-speed corners. Stella said: "I think there's a few indications... that tell that Mercedes is a faster car. In qualifying, we see that Mercedes don't have any problem with deployment like they had in the sprint qualy. And on average, if we see the behaviour of the car in the corners, they are faster than us. The corners in which they are mainly faster than us are the high-speed corners."



Max Verstappen says dealing with traffic could be one of the toughest challenges he faces on his debut at this weekend’s Nurburgring 24 Hours, with weather and reliability also key unknowns. Verstappen said: "It can be anything really [about the toughest challenge he will face this weekend]: dealing with traffic, you don't know what happens with your car or whatever, [weather] conditions. Is there rain involved or not? That will make it a lot harder. If it's fully dry and beautiful, then it's a bit different. You're just trying to go basically as fast as you can without taking too many risks."
Pierre Gasly says Red Bull’s struggles at the start of the new season have been “quite surprising”, with the team yet to score a podium after the opening four rounds. Gasly said: "After Bahrain, I was sure that they were part of the top four battles. Looking at Australia, they looked pretty strong there. I think they hit the ground in a very good way. But for whatever reason, after that, it was a lot more difficult. It's been quite surprising."

Lando Norris says he will be watching as much of Max Verstappen’s Nürburgring 24 Hours challenge as possible this weekend. Norris said: "I'll be watching maybe not the whole 24 hours, but as much as possible and spotting Max because he's a guy that I respect a lot. I've enjoyed watching him and Christopher Haase racing the last few weeks."




Alex Albon says the Miami Grand Prix has become “enjoyable” for him as the event has improved how the weekend is run, speaking in a Williams video with former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard. Albon said: "But then as time has gone on, I feel like they've improved the structure of the races and just the teams, the way they've sorted themselves out coming to Miami as well. It's enjoyable now. I really enjoy it."

RacingNews365 reports Max Verstappen will miss Wednesday’s opening ceremonial parade through Adenau ahead of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring after organisers advised against his attendance on safety grounds, given the expected crowds. For the same reason, Verstappen is also set to miss the meet-and-greet and autograph session at the circuit later in the weekend, with organisers stressing it is a safety decision rather than unwillingness on his part.

PlanetF1 reports the FIA has confirmed its ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) scheme for the 2026 F1 power unit regulations will come into effect after next weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. The FIA said the first ADUO assessment period has been adjusted to cover the season’s first five races (Australia, China, Japan, Miami and Canada) due to calendar disruption, with results to be communicated no later than two weeks after the Canadian GP.
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