Author Archives: PressBox

Alpine chief Flavio Briatore accused an FIA International Court of Appeal judge of bias in the Monaco Grand Prix appeal controversy, saying the official was linked to McLaren and had behaved unfairly toward his team. Speaking at Monza after Friday’s opening practice for the Italian Grand Prix, Briatore identified the judge as Filippo Marchino and said Alpine believed the hearing had been unfair, even though it accepted the court’s ruling. He said Alpine had not known about the alleged connection before the hearing and was still considering whether to take further legal action.

The dispute stemmed from Pierre Gasly’s Monaco race, where he initially finished third before being demoted to seventh after two pit-lane speeding penalties. Those penalties were briefly overturned, then McLaren and Red Bull appealed, and the court ruled in their favor on Friday. The decision restored Isack Hadjar to third, moved Oscar Piastri to fourth and left Gasly seventh. Briatore said Marchino had links to McLaren through a 2018 speech in Beverly Hills and work connected to the One Drop Foundation, and described the judge as acting like a prosecutor.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, who was sitting alongside Briatore at the press conference, rejected the accusation and called the remarks “quite insulting.” Stella said anyone making such public allegations had to take responsibility for them and defended the court process as meeting the highest standards. He said McLaren and Red Bull had appealed to seek clarity and consistency in FIA sporting rules, and said the FIA would review judicial procedures, including the right of review system. Stella also suggested reforms to how stewards’ decisions are made, when review requests should proceed and how measurement methods are used.

Formula 1 will return to a season-launch format in 2027 with F1 Live Milan, a three-day event in Milan from February 18 to 20 that the series is billing as a fan-focused festival with music and entertainment. The centerpiece will be F1 The Show on the opening night, February 18, with drivers and team principals from all 11 teams set to appear across the weekend.

Formula 1 said the event was inspired by the success of F1 75 Live at London’s O2 before the 2025 season and aims to be bigger and more immersive. The company said the Milan event is designed to bring fans closer to the sport. F1 75 Live was streamed in 37 territories and drew 7.5 million viewers.

A Milan Fan Festival will run throughout the three days, turning an iconic Milan venue into a fan event ahead of the 2027 season. Formula 1 did not stage a 2026 launch event because teams were dealing with major regulation changes. Tickets are set to go on sale later in 2026, with pre-registration to open because the 2027 race calendar has not yet been released. More details on daily activities and the lineup will be announced in the coming months.

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli unveiled a Valentino Rossi-inspired helmet for his home Italian Grand Prix at Monza, turning a personal wish into a tribute that combines Rossi’s colors with the Italian tricolor. The design, created by Aldo Drudi of Drudi Performance, adapts the helmet Rossi wore to victory at Mugello in 2002 and received Rossi’s approval. Antonelli said racing at home in special colors had been a dream, called the collaboration an honor and thanked Rossi for the opportunity.

Antonelli said he hoped fans would like the helmet when they see it on track. The tribute comes as he enters the weekend with a 59-point lead in the world championship standings.

Antonelli will start from the back of the grid at Monza because of an engine penalty for exceeding his 2026 power unit allocation. He said the setback could ease some pressure and give him a chance to try a different approach, even as he described the race as a big opportunity.

Lando Norris said a third straight Formula 1 victory at Monza is “certainly the plan” as he arrives at the Italian Grand Prix on the back of wins in Hungary and the Netherlands. The McLaren driver is the favorite for the weekend, and he said Monza should suit the team reasonably well because of its high-speed corners, although he said McLaren will not know its true pace until Friday practice and qualifying.

Norris said McLaren’s form remains hard to predict from track to track and that the team is focused on improving what it can control. He said the car needs front-end grip, rear stability and predictability before he feels fully confident fighting for wins. His Dutch Grand Prix victory at Zandvoort, his 13th in Formula 1, came after a difficult start to the race, but he said overnight work with his engineers and a switch to Hard tires made the car “come alive” and allowed him to pressure the Mercedes ahead.

Norris also said McLaren’s upgrades have helped bring him back into title contention after an early-season slump, and the team has brought more upgrades for Monza, including its own version of the Macarena wing called the H-wing. He has committed to McLaren through the end of 2030 and said he stayed because he loves the team and believes it can help him win more races and championships.

Formula 1 teams have backed a plan to shorten Grand Prix race distances in 2027, reducing the standard 305km race to about 290km, or around two to three laps less at most circuits. The proposal was emailed to teams last week and won broad agreement from all 11 teams, with the aim of making races more manageable under the sport’s new power-unit rules.

The move is meant to ease energy and fuel limits created by the revised regulations, which give a greater role to the internal-combustion engine and raise fuel-flow requirements. Teams said some cars can become energy-starved at certain tracks under the new rules, and a blanket reduction in race distance was preferred over cutting only selected events. The shorter distance is being viewed as a 2027 measure, with further power-unit changes planned for 2028.

The plan still needs approval from the Formula 1 Commission and ratification by the FIA World Motor Sport Council, although approval at world council level is expected to be a formality. Monaco, which is already capped at 260km, remains a point of uncertainty, with one source saying it would stay at that distance and drivers would be limited to one sighting lap to the grid, while another said it was likely to be shortened but had not yet been confirmed.

Ferrari’s Monza weekend has become as much a strategy test as a speed contest, with Charles Leclerc saying Lewis Hamilton will have priority in choosing the team’s qualifying run order at the Italian Grand Prix. Leclerc said that could matter at Monza, where the long straights make slipstreaming valuable and Ferrari must get the timing right in qualifying as cars struggle for top speed under the 2026 engine rules. Ferrari will also bring its second and final permitted engine upgrade of the year, along with aerodynamic and power unit updates, as it tries to give both drivers the best chance of winning on home soil. Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli will start from the back after an engine change.

Juan Pablo Montoya said the first corner on Sunday would be crucial because Ferrari’s race strategy is often decided there, and the driver out front can shape how the team handles the stint. He said whoever leads through the first chicane or on the opening lap will have a major strategic advantage. Montoya also said Ferrari wants to make a statement at home with its SF-26 upgrades, but the ongoing team-orders debate between Hamilton and Leclerc could add friction after the Dutch Grand Prix, where Hamilton was stuck behind Leclerc on fresher tires before Leclerc eventually gave up the place.

David Coulthard also warned Ferrari not to repeat the communication problems seen at Zandvoort, where Hamilton complained on the radio about being held up behind Leclerc and team principal Fred Vasseur had not told him the full strategy because he was worried rivals might be listening. Leclerc said Ferrari had been reviewing how it handled strategy after that criticism, and Coulthard said Ferrari should not hide its plan in Italy. He said the fastest car on the day should decide the result.

Lightning McQueen rolled into the Formula 1 paddock at Monza for a special Italian Grand Prix activation that marked 20 years of Disney and Pixar’s Cars. The appearance was the first time a Cars character had been included in Formula 1’s Disney partnership, and McQueen was shown with a new look for the occasion.

McQueen was scheduled to complete an honorary lap around the Italian circuit during the race weekend. Formula 1 also said a Mercedes-AMG safety car would carry a Cars-inspired livery as part of the celebration.

The Monza promotion included a new F1 x Disney and Pixar’s Cars merchandise range with die-cast vehicles, apparel, collectibles and accessories. Liam Lawson was photographed with the full-size McQueen car and a Piston Cup replica. Formula 1 and Disney have extended their Fuel the Magic campaign through the end of 2028, following earlier Disney appearances at the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix.