Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says the team is still hoping to avoid taking an engine-penalty grid drop for Kimi Antonelli, but Monza “on paper” looks like a good place to serve one if needed. Wolff said: "In terms of engine penalties, I still very much hope we don't need to take it and we need to decide when that is, when we need to take one and which tracks. There could be one that can be very special for Kimi, but on paper it looks like it's a good place to take an engine penalty, so we need to speak to Marco [Antonelli, Kimi's father] whether we want to take an engine penalty in Monza."

Toto Wolff says he will “not allow” Kimi Antonelli and George Russell’s Mercedes rivalry to turn into a repeat of the Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg situation, and insists he would remove a driver if it escalated. Wolff said: "I will not allow it. That's never going to happen to me again. That's never going to happen to the team again. Simple. I'm just taking a driver out if he does that."
Mercedes deputy technical director Simone Resta says the Formula 1 title fight always “changes” after the summer shutdown. Resta said: "History tells us that the championship always changes after the summer shutdown. The pressure increases on the teams that are leading, but equally it increases on the teams trying to catch up. The environment becomes more intense, and every result carries more weight."


McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says his team need to keep delivering upgrades if they want to fight for wins consistently, with the 2026 pecking order coming down to what he calls a “race of upgrades”. Stella said: "Honestly, I still believe that if we want to be in a position to fight for victories consistently in the future, we need to keep our focus on delivering more upgrades. That is the plan, but we are not naive. We know that this will be the plan for all the teams. So I think, like it's always been in this 2026 season, it's a matter of a race of upgrades."

Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies says the team is not satisfied with its 2026 progress until it has a car with the pace to win races on merit, after ending the first part of the season fourth in the constructors' standings. Mekies said: "Don't count on me to say that we are satisfied, because we are not. We will not be satisfied until we go back to have a race car that has the pace to win on merit. We don't sign for anything else than winning races."

Max Verstappen says Mercedes’ 19-year-old title leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been “rock solid” this season and that it is “really impressive” to watch. Verstappen said: "I think, if you look at the front, Kimi has done a really good job. Really strong, really solid, being the strongest in the team. I think, if he just keeps it going – of course, he's also been very unlucky sometimes, so that's been a bit of a shame – but as a 19-year-old, so far, I think he's been rock solid. That's really impressive to see as an outsider."

Haas returned to Japan’s Fuji Speedway this week for another fan-facing TPC event, running on Tuesday and Wednesday with the grandstands open. The team gave Toyota-backed drivers Sho Tsuboi and Nirei Fukuzumi track time in Formula 1 machinery, with Tsuboi making his second Haas test appearance and Fukuzumi completing his first-ever run in an F1 car.

Oliver Bearman admitted Lewis Hamilton’s improved form at Ferrari is “not ideal” for his own long-term hopes of getting a seat with the Scuderia, but said he is in no rush and is happy to keep learning at Haas. Bearman said: "Things have changed a lot in the last six months. As an F1 fan and a Lewis fan as well, it's pretty cool to see him performing at the level he is, and seeing him on the top step in Barcelona was quite a special moment. Of course, in terms of my future, that's not ideal, but I'm still young. I'm only 21. I'm not in a huge rush, and, for me, staying at Haas for the foreseeable [future] is not a bad thing."

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