Charles Leclerc says Madring’s banked La Monumental corner can become one of the most iconic turns on the Formula 1 calendar, after Ferrari’s filming day at the Madrid circuit that will host the Spanish Grand Prix in September. Leclerc said: "It's a very, very special corner. It's a corner where I feel, in qualifying, we'll have to, I'll say it in a polite way, but we'll have to be very brave because it's going to be on the limit. So that's going to be really cool. I do believe it can become one of the most iconic corners of the season, especially once the grandstand is built."

Toto Wolff says McLaren have “definitely done a step” with their MCL40 upgrades but warned against overreacting to their pace in Hungary because the Hungaroring has suited them in recent years. Wolff said: "When you ask the artificial intelligence who would be the favourites in Budapest, the artificial intelligence is going to say McLaren, because they were the dominant team here in the last few years. So definitely one of the good tracks for them, and not very good for us. So we need to be careful not to swing from everyone is suddenly competitive, to a team is suddenly not competitive. I think they've definitely done a step."


Haas driver Ollie Bearman said it was “flattering” to hear rumours linking him with a Red Bull seat, but insisted his focus is on what he is doing with Haas. Bearman said: "First of all, it's quite flattering to hear things like that, to [be linked] with a team like Red Bull who are incredibly successful, and to be connected with them in any way, even if it's just rumours, is very nice. But, like I said, it's just rumours, and I'm fully focused on what I'm doing here with Haas at the moment."
George Russell says he stays calm amid criticism by focusing on what will make him faster and trusting that his recent struggles are down to his Mercedes car rather than his driving. Russell said: "I think what helps me through is focusing on the things that will make me go faster. Reading negative press or social media, or getting frustrated by media questions, yeah, those things don't bother me because I need to put all of my focus on myself and my team, on how I can go faster. I feel very resilient to this external noise. Because I know the reason when I don't perform is that something isn't quite working with the machine, not with my driving."

Valtteri Bottas has qualified for the UCI Gravel World Championship after finishing fifth in his age group at a Gravel World Series event in Hlinsko, Czech Republic, at the start of Formula 1’s summer shutdown. The Cadillac driver competed in the 131km race alongside partner Tiffany Cromwell and joked on Instagram: “Whilst the others are relaxing on their boats… Finished 5th in Men 35-39, and qualified for the gravel world champs.”


Honda chief engineer Shinharo Orihara said reports that Aston Martin’s latest power unit upgrade is worth as much as 50bhp are “not the real number”. Orihara said: "I want to have that number, but that is a quite big number. I can't describe the detail of power, but my feeling with that is just, no, I don't think… not the real number."

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