Lewis Hamilton ended his podium drought with a third-place finish for Ferrari at the Chinese Grand Prix. The seven-time champion was also pleasantly surprised by a newly upgraded pre-podium waiting room, calling it a "proper upgrade" and praising its fresh, new design.
Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur said canceling the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds adds a month of development before Miami, moving the planned upgrade to that race and tightening championship fight.
Anthony Davidson suggests Lewis Hamilton's recent podium in Spain is a crucial confidence boost for the driver and a promising sign for Ferrari, indicating he will join the team in 2025 still operating at a championship-contending level.
Red Bull's Isack Hadjar and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli have put their Shanghai Sprint race clash behind them. After Antonelli's apology was initially rejected in the heat of the moment, the two drivers settled their differences a day later, demonstrating the professional respect that typically follows on-track incidents in F1.
Lewis Hamilton says a first Ferrari win is closer than ever after scoring his maiden podium for the team in China, ending a poor first season. He credits a transformative winter of training, a positive mindset, and collaborative car development for the turnaround, though acknowledges Mercedes still holds a significant performance advantage.
Haas F1 Team has announced a groundbreaking, season-long partnership with Toho's Godzilla. The deal includes a special monster-themed livery for the Japanese GP and activations in Austin, aiming to fuse F1 with global pop culture and attract new fans.
French broadcaster Canal+ has gone viral with a trailer for the Japanese GP that edits real F1 footage to look like a Mario Kart game, satirizing the new regulations. The clip amplifies criticism from fans and world champion Max Verstappen, who recently compared the sport to the Nintendo game, signaling mainstream discontent with F1's current direction.
F1 will not alter its new technical regulations before the Japanese GP, opting for a patient, data-led review despite a clear split among drivers. While Lewis Hamilton praises the close racing, critics like Max Verstappen voice concerns over artificial energy management. Toto Wolff and F1 cite strong fan engagement as a reason to avoid knee-jerk changes.
Ferrari will use a permitted filming day during F1's long April break to test its SF-26, with the high-speed Monza circuit a potential venue to focus on understanding and improving its power unit performance relative to Mercedes.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris's criticism of F1's latest technical regulations has been backed by former driver David Coulthard, who argues the champions' concerns about car driveability are valid and should not be ignored, despite the rules successfully creating more on-track action.
Toto Wolff says Max Verstappen is in a 'horror show' at Red Bull, calling the RB22 'horrendous to drive' as the champion struggles early in 2026. Wolff argues the issue is car-specific, not solely the new rules Verstappen has criticized as 'fundamentally flawed.'
Audi’s first race with its own power unit produced a points finish, and former Ferrari chief Mattia Binotto used a L’Équipe interview to starkly contrast Audi’s structured approach with Ferrari’s lack of recent success, sparking a pointed rivalry.
