Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey says the team began the season “on the back foot” and it felt like “everything that could go wrong, did go wrong” after power unit problems left it short of meaningful running before the Australian Grand Prix. Newey said: "Melbourne was the wake‑up call. Because of various power unit challenges, our first proper running was actually Free Practice Three at the Australian Grand Prix. Before that, in Barcelona and at the two Bahrain tests, we spent too much time in the garage just trying to get the power unit to run correctly with the chassis and gearbox. You know the idiom, 'it never rains, but it pours', and this is one of those classic cases where it felt like everything that could go wrong, did go wrong."

Aston Martin managing technical partner Adrian Newey says the team will bring its first upgrade package of 2026 to the car in Hungary, with a major aerodynamic revision and significant weight reduction. Newey said: "We plan to introduce our upgrade in Hungary on both cars. The main structural elements remain the same – the chassis and gearbox architecture don't fundamentally change – but we've taken weight out of both, which required re-homologating and crash testing the forward chassis. We've developed a new nose and substantially revised aerodynamic surfaces. So, while the core structure is similar, it's a big aerodynamic package coupled with significant weight reduction."


Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says Ferrari’s rate of chassis and engine upgrades this season has raised questions about how it fits within Formula 1’s cost-cap framework. Wolff said: "Between McLaren, Red Bull, and ourselves... you can see we have had one big one [upgrade package] that we introduced in Montreal; we have small parts that have come in between. I think it's the same for Red Bull and McLaren. It's just Ferrari, who seems to be limitless in that way. And then on top of that, they were expecting ADUO, and have come with a new engine already, so they must have started development six months ago. Same rules for everyone, hopefully."

Williams team principal James Vowles says the team is waiting until the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for an “almost entirely new car”, with smaller upgrade steps planned before then. Vowles said: "Our upgrade plans, we've got what I call a medium-sized for Silverstone, so just in one week's time. And then slightly bigger elements, including weight reduction to Zandvoort. And then really for us, it's almost an entirely new car for Baku. So that's really the time period that we're waiting for."




Oscar Piastri says McLaren’s MCL40 does not have a “specific area of weakness” and instead needs more overall pace to challenge consistently, after he finished fourth at the Austrian Grand Prix. Piastri said: "However, we still need to find more pace if we want to be up there challenging the top three consistently. We don't have a specific area of weakness; we just need more overall performance and grip to take that next step. We'll keep chipping away at it, and we'll focus on carrying this momentum into the next few races..."

Toto Wolff says George Russell got caught in a “spiral of overthinking” during a dip in form. Wolff said: "I think every top athlete, you can kind of get yourself into a spiral, not of negativity, it is more a spiral of overthinking. 'What can I do more? What do I need? Where do I need to optimise?', and then sometimes, you can forget about the core essence, and this is just driving the car."

Lewis Hamilton says he is confused by the FIA’s apparent ADUO assessment of Formula 1 power units, insisting Mercedes has the “best” engine. Hamilton said: "For some reason at the end of the straight, ours just tails off, and the Mercedes just keeps going. Mercedes for sure has the best power unit, and I don't know how the ADUO came out the other way around. They've got serious power at the end of the straights, far more than anybody else [in Austria], so I don't know where that's coming from. Is it coming from the battery, or ICE or the smaller turbo?"

Sky F1 pundit Anthony Davidson says the FIA should bring in safety protocols after Haas FP1 driver Ryo Hirakawa hit a mechanic in the pit box during opening practice at the Austrian Grand Prix. Davidson said: "When you've got more of a rookie, say, in Formula 1, certain protocols I think should be put in place. Like every mechanic should be wearing helmets, for example. I'm glad he's fine, but it so easily couldn't have been, and we could have been saying something completely different today."




Jenson Button says George Russell’s Austrian Grand Prix win has turned the 2026 world championship into a “proper” title fight with Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli, after Russell cut Antonelli’s lead to 40 points. Button said: "It's good for us as fans, for the championship fight, that George got the win because it gives him confidence and it means that there's a proper fight between him and Kimi now, especially at the British Grand Prix. I think it's lining up to be a pretty epic weekend."
Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin made a breakthrough with its energy deployment in qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix. Alonso said: "The deployment has been a little bit inconsistent for the first part of the year, so we got to qualifying, and every lap had a different speed on the straights approaching the corner, and we put a lot of emphasis here to improve that. I think it was the first qualifying of the year where I had the same deployment for all three laps, and that allowed me to push the limits in the corner, because I knew the approach speed to the next corner."

Toto Wolff says Kimi Antonelli will not repeat the mistakes he made in qualifying and the opening laps of the Austrian Grand Prix, after the Mercedes driver bailed out of his final Q3 lap because he mistook a single yellow flag for a double and then ran wide repeatedly while trying to attack early in the race. Toto Wolff said: "The first few corners, this is where the race got lost. Full attack mode, missing braking in Turn 1, missing braking in Turn 3, missing braking in Turn 4. But, as I said, this is exactly what I expect from him. Like yesterday [in qualifying], the yellow, that's never going to happen to him in his life again. To not see whether it's a double yellow or a single yellow."


Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says Ferrari must be “running out of money soon” under Formula 1’s 2026 cost cap, after being surprised by how many major updates the team has been able to bring to its SF-26. Wolff said: "On the chassis, we're always bringing small enhancements here and there, because simply we're always a little bit surprised that Ferrari can throw these huge updates at the car in the way they do. In my opinion, they need to be running out of money soon, cost cap money, because we can't do that, simply lacking the buffer and cost cap to be able to bring so many parts in the way they do."

Claire Williams says George Russell is capable of beating Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli in the “psychological battle” for the world championship. Williams said: "From my experience of George, I think he is perfectly capable of winning that psychological battle when it comes to trying to win a world championship, competing for that against your team-mate, who is invariably going to be the hardest competitor or rival that you have, because you're in the same equipment. In those championships, where team-mates are racing one another, it's the psychological battle that wins the war. And I think George, because he's got a layer of maturity, perhaps, over Kimi at this stage, that's where he will win the fight."


Max Verstappen said Red Bull’s seven-part upgrade was a “very big step forward” after he finished second at the Austrian Grand Prix and was able to run closer to the front. Verstappen said: "But for us, this has already been a very big step forward compared to the previous races. I mean, look at the last race. In the race, I was just by myself, really not challenging anything. So, on a track where the tyres are deg-ing, that's a good sign."

Valtteri Bottas says Cadillac must improve its reliability after both he and Sergio Perez retired early from the Austrian Grand Prix with brake fires. Valtteri Bottas said: "If we don't finish the races, then we can't really learn much out of the car and the package either. The priority is now pretty clear in Silverstone. We have to finish the race. That's when we can learn."

Audi boss Allan McNish said he would not back Gabriel Bortoleto’s suggestion that Audi’s R26 chassis could be “fighting for the top three” with a more powerful engine, insisting the chassis and power unit have to be judged together as a complete package. McNish said: "I think it is quite clear in the numbers where we are in medium and high-speed corners, and we are very good. We can still improve a little bit in the low speed, and there are a few other bits and pieces, but for the top three, top four, I wouldn't go for it. It is a car and a power unit, and that is the important thing. So it is a complete package, and that's what we talk about, a complete package."

Lando Norris says McLaren are “two, three months behind” their rivals in car development and will need a series of upgrades to close the gap. Norris said: "One good upgrade, no [is not enough]. We need three, four, five, but it depends. Sometimes you take one little piece at a time, sometimes you try and make something so everything goes together because it's a new philosophy. We're like two, three months behind. That's not one upgrade; that's a lot of bits. I don't think we're going to be quickest anytime soon but hopefully over the next three, four, five months we can catch up."

Liam Lawson says his partnership with Arvid Lindblad at Racing Bulls has been “working well so far” amid rumours linking Red Bull Academy driver Nikola Tsolov to his seat for 2027. Lawson said: "Yeah, it's been working well so far, but a long season to go, so at the moment we're in a good groove, and I'm very happy, just trying to keep the momentum rolling."



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