🏁🏆 The F1 half-season awards | Pit Lane Chronicle

QUICK QUIZ QUESTION – Who is the only driver to have completed every racing lap of the 2026 Formula 1 season so far? The answer is at the bottom of this newsletter.

The main headlines and stories from the Formula 1 paddock this week:

🏆 Kimi Antonelli has a comfortable championship lead as of the start of this summer, though Mercedes don’t plan to prioritise his title charge just yet as deputy team principal Bradley Lord confirmed the constructors’ championship remains their primary objective – Ludo van Denderen, GPBlog

🫷 Mercedes have certainly held some cards back on the upgrades front and boss Toto Wolff said the team will be “selective” in term of when they bring new parts to the track – Sam Cooper, PlanetF1

🏎️ Deputy technical director Simone Resta said the team is planning a “sizeable” update for after the summer break, but did not say exactly when they plan to introduce it – Michael Delaney, F1i

🔴 Ferrari are 72 points off the lead in the constructors’ championship while Lewis Hamilton is 50 behind in the drivers’ standings, though the Scuderia is believed to think the teams’ title is its most likely route to success given the larger potential points swings available – David Comerford, F1 Oversteer

🔨 With that aim in mind, Charles Leclerc said he wants his team to be “aggressive” in its development despite already having brought plenty of upgrades to the car this year – Fleur Rogerson, Motorsport Week

📈 Former F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi thinks Hamilton’s resurgence this year has to do with the new generation of cars, which make it “harder to be fast” and allows for the seven-time world champion’s talent to shine through more than the previous cars – Vanessa Georgoulas, Speedweek

❎ While Ferrari are going well and McLaren’s latest upgrades have pushed them into the fight at the front, question marks remain over Red Bull and former adviser Helmut Marko said he would not bet on Max Verstappen repeating his drivers’ championship comeback from last season when he went from being 100 points down to finishing just two off top spot – Remy Ramjiawan, GPFans

🤔 Isack Hadjar, reflecting on his first half-season with Red Bull, said he felt he started off “doing the easy stuff really wrong” but has found more consistency since, though he admitted team-mate Verstappen remains “on a different level” – Thomas Maher, PlanetF1

👎 Red Bull ambassador David Coulthard said he does not expect to hear any big news from the team this summer regarding Verstappen’s future, nor does he believe the Dutchman will leave – Paul Velasco, GrandPrix247

🚤 Speaking to Coulthard, his former team-mate Mika Hakkinen said he does not think McLaren should try to lure Verstappen away from Red Bull, warning his old team not to “rock the boat” when it currently has a strong and harmonious driver line-up – Lewis Duncan, Crash

🇵🇹 Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and development driver Leonardo Fornaroli were all behind the wheel of their 2023 car at Portimao last week as they took the chance to familiarise themselves with a circuit returning to the calendar next year, while also giving Fornaroli the chance to observe up close how Norris and Piastri go about their business – Formula1.com

💃 McLaren still don’t have an update on when they might finally race with their own version of the upside-down ‘macarena’ rear wing, having abandoned plans to test it in Austria and finally run with it in FP1 in Hungary. Team principal Andrea Stella said it has been “a complex project” – Stuart Codling; Ronald Vording, Motorsport.com

💪 Stella has also predicted we will see “a very strong Oscar” Piastri in the second half of this season after detailing how the Aussie initially found it difficult to adapt to this new generation of cars – Oscar Moodley, News.com.au

📆 Finally for this section, Barcelona could yet host a race in 2027 and also stand in for Bahrain as the site for pre-season testing if things have not calmed down in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the new owners of the Hockenheimring have contacted F1 about reviving the German Grand Prix, though this is though to be a few years away at best – The Express

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There’s only one right answer for this one, in my view. He is 50 points clear at the mid-way point having won six of the first 11 Grands Prix, including a run of five in a row, and stood on nine podiums overall. If it weren’t for mechanical problems in Barcelona and at Silverstone, his podium record would most likely have been perfect. All that at 19 is outstanding and he’s got to be the heavy favourite to smash F1’s all-time record for youngest champion by three whole years – if he can hold his nerve.

Relative to last year, Hamilton’s turnaround has been the most eye-catching. His dream Ferrari move quickly turned into a nightmare and, if I were a bookie, I would probably have given shorter odds last winter on this being his final F1 season than otherwise. But, aided by a Ferrari restructure, he has finally found his groove. His recent run of penalties has halted his momentum a bit, but it’s been great to see Hamilton smiling again and, if he and Ferrari can tidy up a few things operationally and take advantage of any Mercedes slip-ups, he’s still in the fight.

Being the only rookie on the grid always puts you in a good position to get this honour, but credit to Lindblad for grabbing this opportunity with both hands. I was a little worried after he followed up a very impressive points-scoring debut with a run of uninspiring performances and results, but he found his rhythm at the start of the European season and is on a streak of six consecutive top-10 finishes. It’s been a very impressive start to life on the F1 grid for the Brit, who is still only 18 years old, and seems to have a bright future ahead.

Lindblad’s team-mate Liam Lawson was a strong contender for this one, having also displayed impressive consistency and really begun to flourish for the first time in F1 with 43 points scored. But Hadjar just edges it for me given just how many of his predecessors have struggled in that second seat at Red Bull. At no point has he looked over-awed by the challenge of being Max Verstappen’s team-mate and I think that has served him really well. After a slightly rocky start, Hadjar went into the summer on the back of seven top-six finishes in a row in a difficult car and that has to be applauded, even if Verstappen is still clearly top dog there.

I’m sure eyebrows will be raised over Aston Martin not getting this dubious honour, having invested so much in this regulations change only to flop. Hard. But the fact they decided early to wait to upgrade their rubbish car and, when they delivered in Hungary, actually took a big performance step, helps. There is also optimism around their next upgrades and a new Honda engine, while there is just none of that at Williams right now.

They don’t expect their Baku upgrades to have the same sort of impact and all the messaging coming from Grove is that the focus is now on 2027. It’s a sorry state of affairs given all the progress they made under James Vowles, but the harsh reality is that they have missed the target by a country mile in this new era. And it could come at the cost of a very good driver as Carlos Sainz has made no secret of the fact he is considering looking elsewhere.

Haas have lost out badly in the development race up to now which has hampered Ocon’s recent efforts, but that does not mask the fact he failed to capitalise when the car was strong and his much less experienced team-mate Oliver Bearman was shining in the early rounds. Just three points scored when Bearman has 18 is not good enough. Add into the mix the fact that Haas are not short of options and you come to the conclusion that Ocon is running out of time to save his F1 career.

Here are the main stories around F1’s seven midfield teams this week:

⚠️ With Alpine in danger of being left in Racing Bulls’ dust, Pierre Gasly has said it is “critical” the team nails its Zandvoort upgrades, otherwise they can kiss a fifth-placed finish goodbye – Ed Hardy; Ronald Vording, Motorsport.com

🗣️ Flavio Briatore has done a big interview on many topics including the business side of the Alpine team, Gasly’s worth on track, the rationale behind his 24 Sprints per year idea and how he once enlisted the help of Donald Trump in a failed attempt to bring F1 to… New Jersey – Darren Cox, The Race

🎂 This week also saw the fourth anniversary of Oscar Piastri’s infamous public denial that he would race for Alpine, just a couple of hours after the team had announced his promotion to a race seat, entirely unaware that he had already signed a deal with McLaren – Ben Waterworth, Speedcafe

🕯️ Some terrible news this week as Aston Martin confirmed the death of long-serving tyre technician Mick Fern, known in the paddock as ‘Biscuit’. The team said over the Hungarian GP weekend that he was fighting for his life and sadly he lost that fight on Wednesday, July 29. Rest in peace, Biscuit – Cameron Winstanley, Daily Star

🏎️ Honda’s upgraded engine has had its first real-world test, having been used on a 200km filming day run at the Hungaroring with reserve driver Jak Crawford behind the wheel – Franco Nugnes, Motorsport.com

👋 After 12 years with the Aston Martin squad, having joined in 2014 when it was still racing as Force India, engineer Tom McCullough is set to depart the organisation, around 18 months on from the reorganisation which took him out of the F1 team where he was previously performance director – Thomas Maher, PlanetF1

❌ Mattia Binotto has confirmed he is not looking to change Audi’s driver lineup, despite others like Carlos Sainz being linked with the team. Though he feels the fact other drivers are being linked with a move to Audi is proof that their F1 project is “credible” – Jake Nichol; Sandor Meszaros, RacingNews365

📝 Gabriel Bortoleto has made it clear his place is not up for grabs, telling reporters he will be with Audi “for many years” without specifying the length of his contract – Jaden Diaz-Ndisang, LWOS

⏳ Having made modest gains on their engines with an upgrade at the Barcelona race in June, Audi have decided not to bring “anything big” on the power unit side until 2027, with one eye on their budget cap spend – Phillip van Osten, F1i

🔥 Explaining Cadillac’s fiery problems, Valtteri Bottas said the team has struggled to figure out how to get enough airflow to the brakes and that is why they keep catching fire – Sam Hall, Crash

🇲🇽 Speaking of being burnt out, that’s how Sergio Perez described himself as he reflected on his year out of F1 following his Red Bull exit and admitted he had doubts about returning before he accepted the Cadillac drive, in this new interview – Chris Medland, RACER

💰 Ayao Komatsu has said Haas need more investment if they are going to compete properly in the midfield as they are still the only outfit on the grid unable to reach the budget cap – Ben Vinel, Motorsport.com

🟠 McLaren junior Leonardo Fornaroli, last year’s Formula 2 champion, has his management team “actively working” on a deal for him to join Haas for 2027 with under-fire Esteban Ocon in line to be replaced – Ludo van Denderen, GPBlog

🫸 Oliver Bearman knows he will most likely be sticking around, admitting Lewis Hamilton’s resurgence at Ferrari is “not ideal” for his own promotion hopes, though he said he is loving seeing his idol performing well again – Nate Saunders, ESPN

🤷 Liam Lawson says he currently has “no idea” what his future holds but anticipates contract talks will begin with Red Bull “around the summer break” – Samuel Coop, RacingNews365

⏪ Lawson has also reflected on his start to life in F1, admitting he had growing doubts that he would make it to the sport until Daniel Ricciardo’s crash at Zandvoort in 2023 gave him a five-race cameo which set him up for a full-time drive the following year when the Australian lost his seat permanently – Lawrence Barretto, Formula1.com

🗣️ This is a very detailed interview with Arvid Lindblad, including the line that he does not like the idea of living in Monaco like most other Formula 1 drivers, because he is “uncomfortable with the idea of living in a place that represents the ultimate symbol of wealth”, reflecting on how both his parents came from very modest backgrounds – Roberto Chinchero, Motorsport.com

🚫 Alex Albon has admitted Williams’ big Baku upgrade is unlikely to deliver the sort of impact Aston Martin’s new car had in Hungary and admitted the focus now has to be on building for better in 2027 – Jack Cozens, The Race

🔙 Albon also said he feels their overall issues have taken Williams “two or three years back” in terms of their progress, having initially believed that he and the team could be challenging for podiums and race wins by next season – Fergal Walsh; Pepijn van der Hulst, RacingNews365

🔮 Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz has said he does not know what his future holds and that he will be sitting down with his management this summer to decide whether to stick it out with Williams or look for something new – Doris Ivandic, Motorsport Week

Here are some of the F1-related posts I enjoyed elsewhere on Substack this week:

✍ This deep dive from the excellent Ruth Buscombe offers a very compelling argument explaining why Red Bull might have been wrong to ignore Max Verstappen and choose not to address the problem on his car. It would have meant a pit lane start but, as Ruth points out, not a whole lot of points lost compared to his eventual P2 result. And it would also have given Red Bull some answers that they are still missing.

✍ Chris Deeley is always good for a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun and this piece looking at the possible alternatives for a season finale venue is no different. As much as I too would love the idea of an unexpected Fuji return, it’s looking more and more likely that Imola is the only truly viable option.

✍ It will most likely be called the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna, or something of that ilk, to follow the rescheduled Bahrain race that will now be taking place… 3,750 miles away from Manama, in Malaysia. This is a timely look back at some of F1’s more unusually-named races from Craig Woollard.

QUICK QUIZ QUESTION ANSWER – Lewis Hamilton is the only driver who has completed every racing lap so far in 2026. He is also the only one to have scored points on every single race weekend!

Thanks so much for reading this week’s edition of Pit Lane Chronicle. This newsletter is FREE for all to enjoy. Please do let me know what you think, with any tips, comments and suggestions always welcome!

✍ My name is Daniel Moxon and I’ve been an F1 fan since I was old enough to listen to my dad’s tales about Ayrton Senna and Damon Hill. I clearly caught the bug as I now work as the senior Formula 1 correspondent across Reach PLC’s titles including the Daily Mirror and Daily Express. I live in Merseyside, in the north west of England, with my fiancée Abby and our two-year-old daughter Eve, who likes to watch races while sat in her ride-along Mustang.