George Russell says mis-calibrated Mercedes power unit settings were likely behind his straight-line speed problems across the British and Belgian Grands Prix. Russell said: "Effectively, it was numbers on a screen that were not quite calibrated properly, and so it's not like the hardware is wrong, or there was a problem with the hardware. It was all linked to the same calibration not being quite right and now we know which numbers potentially were not correct. We can rectify that, recalibrate things, and get the power unit to perform at its full potential."


Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin’s B-spec AMR26 upgrade is not going to wipe out the two-second deficit the team faced at Spa, as the revised package makes its debut in first practice at Budapest. Fernando Alonso said: "I think we had the guy in front of us 2.1 seconds ahead, so there is no package in the world that will give you that amount of time. Probably the position would not change if you ran the updated car in Spa one week ago, so that's how we need to treat it. It will change circuit by circuit. I'm more interested in understanding the direction of the car, whether we are on a good path and whether we finally unlock the performance."
Max Verstappen says Fernando Alonso “deserves to be in the top five” in Formula 1, arguing the Aston Martin driver’s current position in the order does not reflect his ability. Verstappen said: "As a real racer, it's tough, especially when you're not enjoying the regulations and you're not competitive at the moment. It's a tough one, because Fernando, of course, doesn't deserve to be in P21. Fernando deserves to be in the top five, minimum."

Isack Hadjar admitted he felt “doubt and pressure” about stepping into Red Bull’s second seat alongside Max Verstappen. Hadjar said: "Obviously, you come in and you're aware of where you landed, so I definitely had a few doubts because it's Max. It's undeniable, he's great. There was a bit of doubt and pressure, but so far it's been going pretty much like I wanted. It was definitely on my mind."

FIA stewards have accepted they should have penalised Charles Leclerc for his collision with Oscar Piastri in the Belgian Grand Prix, after the incident was debated in a drivers-and-stewards meeting at the Hungarian Grand Prix. It is understood the stewards now believe Leclerc’s squeeze at Les Combes was likely worthy of a five-second penalty, having originally judged it a racing incident.

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