Author: Miles Fast

Halfway through a miserable 2026 campaign, Aston Martin and Honda have finally placed a firm date on their first major attempt to change course. Honda plans to introduce an upgraded power unit at the Dutch Grand Prix, with the race scheduled for August 23 at Zandvoort. Fernando Alonso has scored the team’s only point. He secured it by finishing 10th in a chaotic Monaco Grand Prix after starting 21st and gaining positions through late penalties. Every other weekend has exposed how far Aston Martin remains from the midfield. At Silverstone, Alonso and Lance Stroll locked out the back row. Both…

A 66-point lead can disappear quickly when the car stops reaching the finish. Kimi Antonelli built his advantage with five straight victories from China through Monaco, turning the opening phase of the 2026 season into a Mercedes showcase. Since then, mechanical trouble has taken away two major points hauls in three races. Spain cost him a likely P2. Silverstone cost him a possible victory. George Russell has used those losses to cut the gap to 25 points, while Lewis Hamilton sits only 32 points behind the championship leader. Antonelli has not suddenly lost his pace. He won the Silverstone Sprint,…

For months, Charles Leclerc had been fighting his Ferrari under braking. At Silverstone, the car finally responded when he attacked the pedal. Starting second, Leclerc beat polesitter Kimi Antonelli into Turn One and quickly opened up a gap at the front. His advantage reached 2.6 seconds by lap nine and grew to four seconds by lap 20. Pressure returned after the pit stops, but Leclerc managed his tyres and stayed composed as Antonelli closed in. A mechanical problem eventually removed the Mercedes driver from contention before Max Verstappen’s crash at Stowe brought out the Safety Car on lap 48. The…

Max Verstappen wrestling an unsettled Red Bull toward the podium while McLaren searches for the pace that carried it to both 2025 titles has sharpened the biggest question in the paddock. What could the four-time world champion do in papaya machinery? The answer is obvious enough to keep the rumour alive. Verstappen remains Formula 1’s hardest reference point when races become fights over tyre life, battery deployment and changing grip. McLaren has modern facilities, championship pedigree and the technical depth required to build another title contender. Reality offers far less room for fantasy. McLaren already employs reigning champion Lando Norris…

Nine races into the 2026 season, Mercedes and Ferrari are no longer waiting for McLaren or Red Bull to join the fight. They are building a gap while the two teams expected to challenge them keep losing time to problems that cannot be solved with a quick setup change. Mercedes leads the constructors’ standings with 333 points. Ferrari has 255. McLaren sits on 179, while Red Bull has fallen to 128. The numbers leave McLaren 154 points from the lead and Red Bull 205 behind. McLaren entered the year as the defending constructors’ champion. Red Bull still has Max Verstappen,…

George Russell reached the Silverstone podium after a weekend that repeatedly pushed him away from it. Kimi Antonelli beat him to pole after already winning the Sprint, while Russell spent most of the weekend searching for the same confidence in his Mercedes. Sunday brought another setback when the team detected a slow right-rear puncture shortly after half distance. Russell needed an extra stop and rejoined in P7 with his hopes of a home podium fading. The race changed with 4 laps remaining. Max Verstappen spun into the gravel at Stowe and triggered the Safety Car. Ferrari pitted Lewis Hamilton, but…

Dark clouds are gathering over Spa-Francorchamps, both literally and figuratively, for Kimi Antonelli’s title campaign. The Mercedes driver still leads the championship, but his advantage has collapsed from 66 points over Lewis Hamilton before Barcelona to just 25 over George Russell. Hamilton is only 32 points behind. Antonelli still has the speed that carried him to five consecutive victories. Reliability now threatens to undo that work. Mechanical trouble has cost him two likely podium finishes across the past three races, while Ferrari has finally found enough pace to punish every Mercedes mistake. Spa adds another layer of risk. Rain remains…

Kimi Antonelli’s grip on the 2026 championship is slipping, and Mercedes knows it. The early dominance that produced 5 consecutive victories has given way to reliability trouble, missed opportunities, and growing pressure from George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. Silverstone showed how quickly the season can turn. Antonelli had the speed to challenge for another win, but a wheel guard failure ended his hopes. Charles Leclerc took the victory for Ferrari, while Russell recovered to finish 2nd after a difficult afternoon. Max Verstappen left Britain with a more alarming concern. Another rear wing failure sent his Red Bull through the gravel,…

Picture a driver launching out of La Source, staying flat through Eau Rouge and Raidillon, then charging onto the Kemmel Straight with the battery pouring 350 kW into the rear wheels. Before Les Combes, that electric shove begins to disappear. The throttle remains pinned, but the car stops accelerating with the same force as a rival begins closing rapidly from behind. That is the problem awaiting Formula 1 at Spa. The 7.004-kilometre circuit contains long full-throttle sections but only a handful of major braking zones. Cars cannot recover enough electrical energy to attack every straight at full power. Drivers must…

Rain at Spa always raises the pressure inside a Formula 1 garage. This weekend, the familiar setup questions come with a more basic concern. Nobody yet knows exactly how the 2026 cars will behave through a fully wet competitive session. Drivers have raced almost entirely on dry asphalt through the opening nine rounds. Montreal brought a few drops, but the track never became wet enough to force the field onto proper rain tyres. Spa now threatens to end that fortunate run, with unsettled weather possible across the Belgian Grand Prix weekend. Speaking on the Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show before…