Motorsport 🏁

🏎 Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has given his strongest indication yet that a return to V8 engines could be on the cards, with the FIA pushing for the idea and F1 supporting the direction.
Asked how likely he considers a V8 comeback, Domenicali said:

“I think [the possibility is] quite big. The president of the FIA really wants that and we support him in that. Of course, everything still needs to be worked out. But I think we are all heading in the right direction in that regard.”

Domenicali also stressed that drivers will have a greater voice in shaping the sport’s future, while acknowledging the influence manufacturers had over the current power unit regulations:

“I always listen to the drivers; they are our crown jewels. I have always said that, and I will always continue to do so. If you look at the current engines now: we must not forget that these current models come from the manufacturers. Years ago, they wanted to go in this direction, and for us, it was essentially take it or leave it. The world evolves, and so does the sport.”

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🇳🇱 Max Verstappen reflected on a difficult home Grand Prix weekend in Zandvoort, admitting that Red Bull lacked the pace to fight at the front and that the team must focus on bigger changes for the future. The Dutchman also revealed that he was not feeling well throughout the weekend and is looking forward to recovering during the break.

“The whole weekend we were just too slow. Unfortunately, we couldn’t say goodbye in the way we wanted to. But that’s life.”

“I’m really looking forward to having a week off and recovering, because I haven’t been feeling great this weekend.”

“We have to be realistic. We are the fourth team in the paddock at the moment, so we cannot perform miracles. Other teams brought upgrades and we didn’t, so we fell even further behind compared to where we were before. It’s not a surprise, but it is the reality we are living in.”

“We are getting closer to the end of the season, so we also have to look at next year. I think there are things on the car that can only be changed next year to really achieve a much higher level of efficiency.”

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🇮🇹 Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vasseur reflected on Ferrari’s strategy decisions after the Dutch Grand Prix, with both drivers questioning different aspects of the team’s approach.

🇲🇨 Charles Leclerc:

“I wanted to stay out and take advantage of the difference in tyre life. I didn’t really understand why we would pit almost at the same time as George, because that basically meant finishing behind him. I felt there was still some life left in the tyres, so I thought we should have stayed out a little longer. Lewis and I were on different strategies, and I felt mine could have worked better. But it is what it is. We were probably a little unlucky with the timing of the Virtual Safety Car. The main issue, though, was yesterday’s qualifying, where we didn’t maximise our potential and therefore started the race too far back.”

🇬🇧 Lewis Hamilton:

“I want to win. I’m here to win, and it’s difficult when you look ahead and see the two Mercedes drivers get the call and execute it straight away. They let Kimi by and let him get on with the race. I was on a different strategy. It’s not the same here, and that’s a little bit difficult, but we just have to take it. We’ll take it offline, and when I go back now, I’ll speak to them about it.”

🇫🇷 Fred Vasseur:

“After the race, it’s always easy to say what we could have done differently. The pace of both cars was good, but we didn’t execute the race perfectly. Charles lost a position at the start, then we had the pit stop issue, and with Lewis there was some misunderstanding. We didn’t want to discuss the details on the radio because we didn’t want to expose our plan to the competitors. At that stage, we expected Lewis to make it to the end and Antonelli was struggling behind, so we decided not to swap the positions, especially as Charles still had to pit. Maybe we could have made better decisions, but I don’t think that’s what cost us a strong result. The bigger issue was Saturday’s qualifying, because our race pace was strong.”

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🏆 Lando Norris reflected on his second consecutive victory, while Kimi Antonelli and George Russell shared their thoughts after Mercedes secured a double podium at the final Dutch Grand Prix.

🇬🇧 Lando Norris:

“Amazing. A tough race. Yesterday I said we needed to put on a bit of a show for everyone for the final race here, so I made it tough for myself today but it was a good race, well-fought. Probably one of my better wins – we had to fight for it well but the pace was strong. We managed things incredibly well today so over the moon, very happy. Nice to win the final race here in Zandvoort.”

🇮🇹 Kimi Antonelli:

“I’m a bit disappointed because we’d led most of that half of the race. But on that last stint on the hard tyre, something just didn’t feel right with the car – I had very little confidence and the pace wasn’t there. Of course it’s a shame, because I really believed in it. But today P2 was the maximum we could have done. I think what really saved us were the starts. Two good starts, and I managed to gain places in both. At the end we managed to finish P2, which is a great result for the team. George did a great job and was a great team player today. Now we look forward to Monza. Of course, as a team we need to find a little bit of time because McLaren have made a huge step. We’ve got to keep pushing.”

🇬🇧 George Russell:

“With the new tyres, he would have overtaken anyway, so it was the right decision. I’m just happy to be standing on the podium. It’s been a little while for me and it’s been a strong weekend overall.”

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🇬🇧 Lando Norris on taking pole at the Dutch Grand Prix:

“We had to try something because what we had before wasn’t going to be enough.

So we made some small changes, nothing that was going to make us gain two tenths or even one tenth, but enough to maybe give me a bit more confidence.

The lap was good enough for pole, so I’m very happy with that. The team did a great job.”

Norris will start Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix from pole after beating George Russell by 0.102s in an incredibly tight qualifying session.

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🏆 Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris shared their thoughts after the Sprint at Zandvoort, with Leclerc taking P2 after overtaking Norris in the closing laps.

🇲🇨 Leclerc credited Ferrari’s strategic gamble and revealed that he knew Norris had limited activations available on the main straight, allowing him to make the decisive move. Norris, meanwhile, admitted that McLaren simply lacked the pace to challenge Ferrari.

“When you take an unconventional strategy, it can either work very well or completely fail. This time it worked, which shows the good work the team did already in FP1.”

“I knew Lando didn’t have many activations left on the main straight, so I tried to use that advantage. We arrived at the braking point almost side-by-side, and I managed to make the overtake.”

🇬🇧 Norris was less satisfied with McLaren’s pace:

“The result is not too bad, but it could have been better. Charles was just too quick for us. It’s probably not really the tyres — we simply didn’t have enough pace.”

“The car works well in the high-speed sections, but we’re still lacking in the slow corners. We’re trying to optimise everything we can, but for now it’s not enough.”

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🇬🇧 George Russell on his Dutch GP Sprint victory:

“A great start to the weekend. If there was one more lap it would have potentially been a very different end to the race, so I was glad the rain came when it did.

I knew if there were going to be any overtakes, they were going to be towards the end of the race. So, I knew I just wanted to manage my tyres a bit through the high-speed corners and have a bit more in the tank come the end of the race.”

Russell also acknowledged Ferrari’s pace ahead of qualifying, with Charles Leclerc finishing just 1.360s behind him.
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🇬🇧 George Russell reflected on taking pole position for the Sprint at the Dutch Grand Prix.

“It’s really nice to be back. I think the summer break was really good for me personally, and I came back feeling refreshed and ready to go again. Zandvoort is one of my favourite circuits, so it’s great to start the second half of the season with pole position.

The lap was really strong. It’s always difficult in Sprint Qualifying because you have very little time and, in SQ3, effectively just one lap on the soft tyres. The track was improving throughout the session, so you have to get everything right at exactly the right moment.

McLaren and Ferrari were very quick, and we knew it was going to be incredibly tight. I’m really pleased that we managed to put the lap together when it mattered and get the pole.

But it’s only Sprint Qualifying. There are still points to fight for tomorrow and, of course, the main race on Sunday is what really matters. We’ll take the confidence from today, but we need to keep pushing and see what we can do over the rest of the weekend.”

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“This has been the most different summer break that I’ve ever had in all my championship seasons and my career actually.

Normally, you go away and take a week or two off. There’s a bit of partying and all that sort of stuff. I really took this as an opportunity to level up, so I trained for three weeks.

I’ve come back the fittest I’ve ever come back in summer in the 20 years I’ve been here.”

— Lewis Hamilton

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🇳🇱 Max Verstappen extends Red Bull contract until 2030

Max Verstappen has committed his future to Red Bull, extending his contract with the team until the end of the 2030 Formula 1 season.

“I am really pleased with the contract extension. We have the best people and I’m excited to keep working together with everyone to get back to the top again. This remains the ultimate goal that all of us have been working towards and will continue to pursue. I want to thank Red Bull, Laurent and everyone at Oracle Red Bull Racing for the trust they put in me.”

— Max Verstappen

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⚡️ BREAKING: Carlos Sainz is staying with Williams after signing a multi-year contract.

The deal is rumoured to run until the end of 2028, with a €30 million salary excluding bonuses. It reportedly also includes performance-related exit clauses that could allow Sainz to leave Williams early.

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🇩🇪 Mercedes technical director James Allison believes reliability could prove more decisive than upgrades in the second half of the season.

“Everyone is looking at upgrades, but a single retirement can cost as many points as a team might gain through several races of successful development. That is why it is especially important for us now to eliminate the reliability problems and operational errors that have already cost us points. We will continue improving the car, but if we can also execute cleanly and increase reliability, we will enter the decisive part of the season in a much stronger position.”

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⚡️ Confirmed: Hadjar to Miss Dutch GP

Isack Hadjar will miss the Dutch Grand Prix. Liam Lawson will replace him at Red Bull, with Yuki Tsunoda taking Lawson’s seat at Racing Bulls.

“Isack Hadjar sustained a wrist injury during the summer break that will prevent him from taking part in the Dutch Grand Prix,”

Red Bull said in a statement.

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BREAKING: Alex Albon will remain with Williams for 2027
#F1 #williamsf1team #alexalbon

🇫🇷 Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has revealed how much ground the team has made up on Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren since the start of the season.

“In Melbourne, we were around 1.2 seconds off the pace. Part of that deficit came from the chassis and part from the power unit. Now, halfway through the season, we are probably about three tenths away.
Red Bull Racing is incredibly strong when it comes to development, and over the past few months we have recovered most of that gap. But we know very well that the final three tenths will be the hardest to find. Only time will tell whether we can close them and reach the ultimate pace.”

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🇧🇷 Gabriel Bortoleto has dismissed speculation over a possible move away from Audi, insisting his future remains firmly tied to the team.

“I have a long-term contract with Audi, and as far as I know there are no clauses that could change the situation. I will definitely race for the team next season and I expect to stay here beyond that.

“From the very beginning, we said this was a long-term project. Mattia Binotto is planning at least until 2030, so I see my future with Audi.”

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🇺🇸 Cadillac owner Dan Towriss has revealed that the decision to replace Graeme Lowdon with Marcin Budkowski was his alone.

Towriss said Lowdon was only informed this morning, explaining that in Formula 1

“there’s no way to make a change like this otherwise, because the information will leak somewhere anyway.”

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🇬🇧 Adrian Newey says Aston Martin’s partnership with Honda has made significant progress after a difficult start to their collaboration.

“Our collaboration started almost catastrophically, but that actually helped us become much closer as a working team. We are now constantly developing our interaction with Honda in every area, and I’m very pleased with how our relationship is evolving. Usually, when relationships improve, the results improve as well. So I hope our progress will continue on track.”

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🇺🇸 Sky Sports commentator David Croft on Cadillac’s brake problems:

“I spoke to some people from Cadillac on the way home, and they were absolutely gutted by what happened with Bottas’ brakes in Budapest. They thought they had solved the problem, and now the attitude is: ‘No, we need to get right to the bottom of this. This is unacceptable.’ They are not thinking, ‘We’re a new team, so cut us some slack.’ They are thinking, ‘No, we need to roll our sleeves up and fix it.’”

🇬🇧 Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon has also outlined the philosophy behind the team’s long-term push towards the front of Formula 1:

“We want this to be the team that everybody wants to join, that people are proud to be part of and want to stay in. If we can achieve that, we will attract the best people, build the best team, and the results will follow.”

Cadillac has already demonstrated what Lowdon describes as bold ambition and a constant desire to improve. Red Bull chief engineer Paul Monaghan is set to join the project, and Lowdon believes that building the right environment will help attract more top-level talent:

“People like being part of something new and taking on a big challenge. We are building a high-performance environment, and that is the foundation of the best teams in the world.”

As for Formula 1’s cost cap, Lowdon is unfazed:

“I’ve spent my entire career working with constrained budgets, whether through regulations or simply the funding available. That is how 99% of motorsport operates. With unlimited resources, it becomes a completely different game.”

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🇮🇹 Kimi Antonelli has responded to the speculation surrounding his chances of becoming the 2026 Formula 1 World Champion.

“I try not to think about the championship at all. I’m quite superstitious and I don’t like being called the main title contender. In motorsport, you can’t look that far ahead, so I prefer to focus on each race individually. I simply enjoy racing and winning — that’s the only thing I’m thinking about right now.”

@motorsportg