Pierre Gasly says Alpine’s step to fighting for fifth in the constructors’ championship has made this season “so much more enjoyable” after the team finished bottom of the standings in 2025. Gasly said: "[This year is] so much more enjoyable. It's difficult to describe. Obviously, that's what got me through last year in a way, and pushed me through the season, knowing that on paper we definitely had more exciting and much more potential coming in 2026. But you don't find the same enjoyment putting good laps in and being in 15th or the middle of the pack, not fighting for points."

Zak Brown has written a six-page letter to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem calling for Formula 1 to phase out team alliances and co-ownership, arguing that the sport’s current financial health means such structures are no longer necessary and disadvantage independent teams. In the letter, seen by The Race, the McLaren CEO said: “We need to eliminate any further alliances, whether through ownership, strategic participation or any other equivalent form of control or influence, and we need to work together quickly to start the process of unwinding those already established to ensure that the future integrity of the sport is not compromised.”

Williams team principal James Vowles says the team should be in a position to score points consistently after the summer break in August, based on the development work planned through that period. Vowles said: "What I know is the pipeline of work that we have all the way to, and just slightly beyond, the August break, that at the end of all of that should put us in this comfortable position where we're just consistently scoring points every weekend from then onwards. Until that point, I think we should be able to get closer and closer to a perfect weekend achieving a point score, but not necessarily being the fifth fastest team."







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."

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."




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."



Get the full feed, faster alerts, and the stories worth following on your phone.