Author Archives: PressBox

Aston Martin’s recent upgrades have lifted the AMR26 in race trim, but the team is bracing for tougher weekends on circuits with long straights. Chief trackside officer Mike Krack said Fernando Alonso’s ninth place at Zandvoort, after starting 18th, was helped by the car’s upgraded chassis and the Dutch track’s short straights. He said the package has been stronger since the Hungarian Grand Prix, but the Honda power unit still lacks power and that weakness is likely to be exposed at Monza and Baku.

Alonso’s result gave Aston Martin its best finish of the season and two points, with the team switching from a planned two-stop strategy to a one-stop race after traffic limited its pace and clean air allowed better use of speed. Alonso said the team brought four or five new components during the break, improved the Hungary package and made another step forward in the Netherlands, with the biggest gains coming from the chassis and setup work. He said the B-spec AMR26, which debuted in Hungary and returned in Zandvoort, still had drivability, downshift and engine-braking issues, and that Honda needed more work before the Italian Grand Prix.

Krack said Aston Martin is still learning how to get the most from the new chassis and engine package and will need a few more races to optimize it. He said the car also showed better cornering performance and that the team had a good setup in Zandvoort. Alonso said Monza would likely not suit Aston Martin, although he still expected chances to score at other circuits, while Carlos Sainz said the team is now “in a different league” from Williams after the recent upgrades.

Ferrari’s Monza preparation centered on its second 2026 Formula 1 engine upgrade, but the package was still in bench testing and had not yet been cleared for use. The team had planned to debut the ADUO-permitted power unit at next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix if reliability checks this week were passed. The revised package included a new combustion chamber and turbocharger, with Ferrari expecting about 15 horsepower more, better torque delivery and improved electrical-energy distribution. A larger turbocharger was also understood to be part of the upgrade, and Ferrari hoped new Shell fuel would add more straight-line speed.

The engine change was meant to be paired with track-specific aerodynamic updates for Monza, including a more efficient version of the Macarena rear wing and possible blown-exhaust tweaks to reduce drag. Ferrari also planned to race in a special Michael Schumacher tribute livery and had already shown one-off race suits for Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Ferrari’s first ADUO upgrade came in Austria in June after the FIA ruled its internal combustion engine was more than 4% behind Red Bull’s, which gave Ferrari two upgrade tokens for the season along with Honda and Audi.

Ferrari hoped the home race would restart its title push after back-to-back non-podium finishes. The team trailed Mercedes by 87 points in the constructors’ standings, and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was set to start from the back after a full power-unit change, with George Russell facing a later penalty. Team principal Fred Vasseur said Ferrari’s chances would depend more on execution than on pure potential.

Williams team principal James Vowles said the team should share blame for the late collision between Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon in the closing stages of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Vowles said both drivers had a responsibility not to hit each other, but Williams also erred by leaving Sainz out on worn tires during a virtual safety car period. The crash came as the two Williams cars were fighting outside the points, with Sainz defending the inside of Turn 1, locking up and striking Albon as he tried to pass around the outside.

Stewards gave Sainz a 10-second penalty and found him wholly at fault for the incident. Sainz apologized, said the penalty was fair, and said he was surprised by a bump at Turn 1 before the lockup. Albon’s car suffered floor damage and he retired on lap 66 of 72 after the team decided he could not continue. Sainz had to pit for repairs and went on to finish 16th, two laps down.

Albon said there was no lingering tension after the crash and that he and Sainz cleared the air over breakfast on Monday. He said they later shared pancakes during their debrief in Monaco and described the incident as something to move past rather than a major conflict. Albon also said the clash was not at the level of the Verstappen and Ricciardo crash.

Mercedes defended its Dutch Grand Prix team order that told George Russell to let Kimi Antonelli pass in the closing stages at Zandvoort, saying the call was the right one and had been discussed in a strategy meeting before the race. The move helped Mercedes secure a double podium, with Antonelli finishing second behind Lando Norris and Russell third. Juan Pablo Montoya said Russell should immediately “cash in” on what he called a favor Mercedes now owe him, describing the swap as unfair to Russell and saying the team should return the favor later.

Mercedes said Antonelli had taken a free stop under a virtual safety car on lap 55 and was on fresher soft tires, while overtaking at Zandvoort was difficult. Russell had qualified second, lost the place to Antonelli on the opening lap, then regained it after the pit stops before being instructed to yield again and focus on securing third. Deputy team principal Bradley Lord said Mercedes would have made the same call if the drivers’ positions had been reversed, and Russell initially questioned the instruction before understanding it.

Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said Mercedes also rejected a more complicated plan to help Russell defend with energy deployment because the gain was too small and the risk was too high. Montoya praised Russell for handling the situation well, saying that was part of why Mercedes values him. Russell’s third place moved him up to second in the drivers’ championship, level on points with Lewis Hamilton but ahead on wins countback.