Fornaroli, Hirakawa and Aron in FP1
McLaren junior Leonardo Fornaroli will replace Oscar Piastri in FP1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix, marking his second grand prix weekend outing of 2026. Haas will also run a rookie in first practice, with Toyota's Ryo Hirakawa driving Oliver Bearman’s car, while Alpine reserve Paul Aron will stand in for Franco Colapinto for his third FP1 session of the season. F1 teams must field rookies in four FP1 sessions per year, split two per car.
Piastri, Colapinto, Bearman to skip FP1 as rookie drivers join F1 Hungary weekend
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Norris on McLaren making Belgian GP more difficult
Lando Norris said McLaren could not have made his Belgian Grand Prix “any more difficult” after it kept him out during a virtual safety car and he later had a 7.8-second stop, leaving him seventh. Norris said: "I lost 10 seconds because of that, and I lost another five or six or something in the pit stop. So it's 16 seconds that we just had added to my race time, which just makes my life incredibly tough and the fact I started P13. I don't think we could have made my race or could have made our race any more difficult today. I think the pace was good enough for a podium or even to win."
Lando Norris blames McLaren strategy in bold Belgian GP claim
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Mekies on Mercedes' straight-line and power unit advantage
Red Bull's Laurent Mekies said Mercedes have the most powerful power unit and a straight-line advantage, after Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff made the same claim following the Belgian Grand Prix. Mekies said: "I think Toto is right. I also think they have the most powerful power unit. Certainly they had a sizeable advantage on the straight this weekend again. But it's not the first weekend, they have an advantage on the straight most weekends. This weekend, it was a bit more with the track sensitivity."
Red Bull respond to Toto Wolff's telling Mercedes engine claim after Spa
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Alonso on deciding his 2027 future under new rules
Fernando Alonso says his decision on whether to continue in Formula 1 next year will depend on the rules and how enjoyable the current cars are to drive, not on Aston Martin’s performance this season, with his contract due to expire at the end of the year. Alonso said: "Nothing, because my decision is not about the performance of this year. This year we started on the wrong foot and I cannot base my decision for next year on a performance that is not realistic. I think my decision for next year is more about the rules. Driving these cars in places like Spa today or Silverstone in the last race is not what I'm dreaming of for my future. So, we'll see."
Fernando Alonso: F1 future decision hinges on rules, not Aston Martin's performance
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McNish on Bortoleto's Spa result and Audi's midfield pace
Audi racing director Allan McNish said Gabriel Bortoleto’s eighth place at Spa showed the team can finish ahead of its midfield rivals when it gets itself in position, after running long and using a Virtual Safety Car to make a key pit-stop call. McNish said: "For us it was quite clear we could go long, and we were good on the tyre. So we were in a position to be able to take advantage of that. Obviously, the VSC allowed us to save a bit of time, but I think even then we'd have been able to attack towards the end of the race. But we proved if we can be ahead of them, then we can actually finish ahead of them. He delivered a really cool and clean performance to the end of the race."
'Cool and clean' Bortoleto's Spa P8 proved Audi can challenge midfield
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Untelevised Liam Lawson radio after latest Racing Bulls battle
The incredible Hamilton stat that proves his Ferrari revival is real
Komatsu on Haas upgrades and VF-26 handling limits
Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said the team’s recent upgrades have delivered the downforce it expected, but the VF-26 still has fundamental handling characteristics that mean the performance is not always usable. Komatsu said: "We brought new parts in Montreal. They have delivered mostly on the areas we expected. The issues we have, when you talk about under-delivery, that's not linked to the upgraded package. It's from race one, Bahrain testing. I think the upgrades have delivered the performance, but the issue is something else, the characteristics. The downforce itself is delivered. But is it a usable downforce or not? Not really, depending on circuit."
Haas upgrades are working but the search for performance continues
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Colapinto on Alpine needing to improve a too-slow car
Franco Colapinto says Alpine are “too slow” and need to improve their car, despite him scoring a point at the Belgian Grand Prix to keep the team level with Racing Bulls on 61 points in the midfield battle. Colapinto said: "We need to improve the car a lot, we are too slow at the moment. Even though we maximised the weekend with a good Quali and a good race, the car needs to be quicker and we are just losing quite a lot of lap time in some corners compared to the Audis and the [Racing Bulls]."
Alpine holds midfield lead but drivers admit: “We're too slow”
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