Author Archives: PressBox

Aston Martin is treating its 2027 AMR27 as a clean-sheet project, with chief technical officer Enrico Cardile saying every part of the car will change even though it will conceptually follow the direction set by the 2026 machine. The team is using the rest of 2026 to gather information for the new chassis, with the aim of turning those learnings into more downforce, less weight and sharper wind-tunnel concepts.

The push comes as Aston Martin sits 10th in the Constructors’ standings with three points after a difficult 2026 season. A B-spec car introduced at the Hungarian Grand Prix helped Fernando Alonso finish ninth, the team’s best result of the year, and a Honda engine upgrade at Zandvoort also played a part. Cardile and Adrian Newey both pointed to the 2027 regulation changes, especially the revised front-of-floor or bib area, as a major aerodynamic challenge.

Even so, Aston Martin ambassador Pedro de la Rosa said the team believes it can rebound in 2027 after learning a great deal from the first season of Formula 1’s new regulations. He said the Hungary upgrade worked as expected and improved the team’s understanding of how the rules translate into lap time, and added that the Honda power-unit partnership and the underperforming AMR26 chassis have contributed to the slump. De la Rosa said those lessons leave Aston Martin well positioned for the next rules cycle, with Newey working behind the scenes with 2027 in mind.

Formula 1 will move the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to Saturday, September 26, 2026, in Baku so it does not clash with Azerbaijan’s Remembrance Day on Sunday, September 27. The change, requested by the Azerbaijan promoter and government stakeholders, makes it the first time the race has been held on a Saturday since the event joined the calendar in 2017. Remembrance Day commemorates those killed in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.

The Baku weekend is set to run from September 24-26, with media duties on Wednesday, practice on Thursday, final practice and qualifying on Friday, and the 51-lap race on Saturday. Qualifying is scheduled for 1 p.m. UK time, and the race is due off at 12 p.m. UK time, which corresponds to 3 p.m. local time. Formula 1 has staged Saturday races before, including in Las Vegas since 2023 and in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in 2024.

The early forecast points to sunny, warm conditions, with temperatures in the mid-20s Celsius. Forecasts call for 27C on Thursday, 24C for Friday qualifying, and about 25C for race day, with strong winds expected on Friday. In the UK and Ireland, coverage will be shown live on Sky Sports F1 and the Sky Sports app, with streaming on NOW for non-Sky customers, while BBC coverage will be available on Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app. Highlights will follow shortly after the race.

Sebastian Vettel said Formula 1 can keep the excitement of its past while moving toward a more sustainable future, arguing that the sport does not have to choose between responsibility and spectacle. At Monza during the 2026 Italian Grand Prix, he drove Michael Schumacher’s 2002 Ferrari before saying sustainable fuels are the next step for Formula 1 and a better path than the current hybrid power units.

Vettel said performance, responsibility and concern for the future can coexist in the sport, even though he is not fully aligned with the current regulations from a driving point of view. He said the current generation of Formula 1 cars still represents performance, precision, discipline and responsibility. He also pointed to classic cars powered by sustainable fuels, including Nigel Mansell’s 1992 Williams FW14B and Ayrton Senna’s 1993 McLaren MP4/8, as examples of what the technology could support.

He said sustainable fuels could benefit Formula 1, other racing series and future road cars, and could inspire other categories as well. Vettel said Formula 1 is preparing future engine rules that could bring back louder V8 engines around 2030 or 2031, and he described that timeline as part of the challenge of combining what fans love with technologies that can have a wider impact. Vettel retired from Formula 1 after the 2022 season but has remained active in the Race of Champions, including an entry for ROC New Zealand in January.

Nico Rosberg said Kimi Antonelli’s biggest challenge in Mercedes’s 2026 title fight is mental, warning that pressure can create a fear of mistakes if rivals close the gap. Antonelli leads teammate George Russell by 81 points with nine rounds left, and Rosberg compared the run-in to his own 2016 championship campaign. Antonelli has won eight of the first 14 races, taken the championship lead after the Japanese Grand Prix in April, and built a 66-point cushion during a five-race winning run that included victories in Madrid and at Monza, where he came from 19th on the grid to first.

Russell’s season has moved in the opposite direction. He entered 2026 as a title favorite, but Antonelli’s surge has pushed him back in the standings. Russell has won only two races, in Melbourne and the China sprint, and finished fifth in the Spanish Grand Prix, where Antonelli claimed his eighth win of the year. Russell said his teammate had simply done a better job, and he has suggested the Mercedes W17 does not suit him.

Former drivers David Coulthard, Nico Rosberg and Johnny Herbert all said Antonelli has handled the season better than Russell. Herbert said Antonelli has been the more consistent Mercedes driver, while Russell has been up and down. Coulthard praised Russell for openly admitting Antonelli is outperforming him and for fronting up to the media. Antonelli now leads Lewis Hamilton by 101 points and Lando Norris by 106, with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday opening the final nine rounds.