Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff says the team feels 'relief' after a positive pre-season test with their new car, a stark contrast to recent years. Drivers are pleased, and the data suggests they are within striking distance of the front, potentially putting them back in the mix with the top teams as the new season begins.
Oscar Piastri says initial simulator runs of F1's 2026 cars show they won't be 'super wacky' to drive, despite radical new regulations. He describes them as a 'slightly different version' of a normal race car, with increased focus on energy management but familiar core driving techniques.
Red Bull hosted a unique three-discipline 'Rural Rumble' featuring F1's Liam Lawson, NASCAR's Shane van Gisbergen, and drift star Mad Mike Whiddett. Competing in truck racing, drifting, and lawnmower racing on a farm, Whiddett emerged victorious after a decisive final race, while Lawson finished last in the unconventional challenge.
Thirty-five years after a near-fatal crash ended his Formula 1 career, Martin Donnelly will return to the cockpit of an F1 car at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival. The emotional drive represents a quest for personal closure at the circuit he missed racing at in 1990, defying past medical predictions and concluding a story that recently intersected with the *F1* movie.
Honda has found the primary cause of the reliability issues that hampered Aston Martin during pre-season testing. In other news, McLaren settled a major financial lawsuit, Cadillac named its 2028 F1 car 'Project Phoenix', and Max Verstappen faced rebuttal over his criticism of the sport's future direction.
Liam Lawson says the new Racing Bulls F1 car can be 'inconsistent' but has no single major flaw. The team is experimenting with setups to improve predictability ahead of the season opener in Melbourne, which Lawson warns will be a completely different challenge.
Aston Martin's troubled pre-season testing, plagued by Honda power unit reliability issues, highlights a key challenge: the 2026 Honda project is a completely new operation, not the championship-winning team from 2021. This rebuild phase means early struggles were anticipated as engineers get up to speed.
Cadillac's new Formula 1 team has named its 2026 car the 'MAC-26' after American icon Mario Andretti, linking its debut to his championship legacy. The Ferrari-powered car has completed pre-season testing as the squad gears up for its first race in Australia, with realistic goals for its inaugural season.
Lewis Hamilton is pushing his physical training to unprecedented levels ahead of the 2026 F1 season, aiming to be stronger than ever for a crucial championship bid with Ferrari under new technical regulations.
Lewis Hamilton vows to come back "stronger than ever" in 2026 after a dedicated winter training block. This follows a nightmarish first season with Ferrari in 2025, where he failed to score a podium. Encouraged by the new SF-26 car in testing, the seven-time champion has publicly warned his rivals of his intent to return to the front.
Formula 1 achieved a record $3.87 billion in revenue for 2025, a 14% year-on-year increase. The financial success is driven by three core pillars: media rights deals ($1.21B), fees from race promoters ($1.03B), and a growing portfolio of sponsors ($840.4M). The results highlight the sport's robust global growth and diversified business model under Liberty Media.
Honda's 2026 F1 power unit has been damaged by severe 'abnormal vibrations,' crippling pre-season testing for Aston Martin. The issue, which harms the battery system, is a complex resonance problem with no quick fix, leaving the new partnership with a major performance deficit heading into the season opener.
