Lance Stroll says Aston Martin’s major upgrade package in Hungary will be the key test of whether the AMR26 can improve, and that even the next Honda engine updates due at Zandvoort will not solve the team’s issues if it is still slow there. Stroll said: "I think Hungary is a good test. It's not a very power sensitive circuit, it's a chassis circuit, so that's the test. If we're still very slow in Hungary, then just the power that's coming in Zandvoort is not going to fix all our problems."

RacingNews365 reports Mercedes has fitted Kimi Antonelli’s fourth power unit for the Belgian Grand Prix after spotting a potential issue in the data from the unit he ran at Silverstone. The championship leader is now on the final power unit in his allocation, so he has avoided an immediate grid drop at Spa, but any further change later in the season would trigger a penalty. Mercedes hopes to resolve the suspected problem and bring the swapped-out unit back into use to avoid needing another new engine.

Haas driver Ollie Bearman says Formula 1's current regulations have left him preferring to race at tracks such as the Hungaroring rather than Spa-Francorchamps, ahead of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix. Bearman said: "If you asked me last year where I'd prefer to race, it would be here. This year I would tell you probably Hungary and Austria, as opposed to Silverstone and Spa, which sounds crazy, but that's what it is."

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli said Roger Federer advised him to focus on “one race at a time” and control his emotions after they spoke during Antonelli’s visit to Wimbledon’s Royal Box. Antonelli said: "About pressure, he just told me to really focus on one race at a time, just focus on what you can control, and also to control your emotions, especially the ones that can make you make mistakes, so those were the main [pieces of] advice."

Max Verstappen says his Red Bull future will “work out naturally” and that he feels no pressure from team boss Laurent Mekies to make a decision. Verstappen said: "No, but you know, I'm just busy making sure we take the right steps... it'll all work out naturally. It's always been that way."

Esteban Ocon has been given a suspended €5,000 fine by the FIA after arriving around a minute late to Thursday’s drivers’ press conference ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. The stewards said Ocon was delayed moving from a team meeting and “underestimated the time it would take to get there”, with Haas’ team representative apologising and promising to allow more time for FIA media duties. The fine is suspended for 12 months unless there is a similar breach.







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