Hello! Still no racing of course as the Formula 1 summer break continues, but there was this week news of what, on the face of it, looks like a massively worrying trading update for the sport from a business perspective.
F1 commercial rights holder Liberty Media’s earnings report from the second financial quarter of 2026 confirms a 38 percent drop in revenue compared to Q2 in 2025. That’s a $456million ($337m) decrease from $1.22billion to $764m. That’s obviously still a lot of money, but such a dramatic drop in 12 months is never a good sign. Luckily for F1, there are some pretty clear mitigating factors in play here.
Most significantly, there were only five events held during Q2 this year compared to nine in 2025. F1’s primary source of revenue is race promoter fees and so the loss of four whole race weekends was always going to mean a significant reduction of revenue. The Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races were cancelled due to conflict in the Middle East, while the Japanese GP was held in March this year, pushing it into the Q1 reporting period, while the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix no longer exists after the Imola event was dropped by F1.
Those two Middle East racers account for a large majority of that lost revenue. Hosting fees for individual races are not published, but it is believed upwards of $200m may have been lost through the cancellation of those events. The ‘Bahrain’ event will be revived later in the year and held in Malaysia, which will offset some of that lost revenue for later in the year.
Regardless, Q4’s reporting period also looks increasingly likely to take a financial hit. As it stands, the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix are going ahead but F1 will have to decide by the middle of September whether or not it is safe to race in the Middle East. Unless significant strides are made towards peace in the region over the next four or five weeks, it’s hard to imagine those events being green-lit.
F1 is determined to replace at least one of those races, probably giving us the ‘Qatar Grand Prix of Imola’ or something along those lines. But the other will be lost and, like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, those two events are among the most lucrative for F1 in terms of the promoter fees it charges. So more lost revenue seems to be on the way.
But the good news is that there’s no evidence at the moment to suggest any long-term financial trouble for the sport. Figures put out by the sport suggest its popularity and audience has never been higher. Attendances at most of the races held this year were up, including some new records set, while TV deals continue to be lucrative. The Q2 numbers are not welcome, but no F1 executives will be sounding an alarm over them just yet.
For now, onto the rest of the round up. But quickly, before I start – I’m taking a rare week off all work next week and so next Wednesday’s email won’t be the usual round-up format. Instead, I’ll be scheduling a lengthy interview with Pedro de la Rosa about Aston Martin’s comeback plan to be sent out that day, with the round-ups returning the following week to mop up all the talking points from the Dutch Grand Prix. See you then!
This newsletter looks beyond just the stories about McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull to shine a light on the other seven teams making up the rest of the grid and help make F1 the vibrant sport it is today – and there are dedicated sections for each below. So read on for some of the news covering the homepages of the top F1 sites, but also plenty more content which probably didn’t.
You might notice that this newsletter is now sponsored by Gullivers Sports Travel. I'm really proud of this newsletter and the community we have grown, so thank you for being part of it.
The main headlines and stories from the Formula 1 paddock this week:
💰 This piece is good for further reading if you want to know more about the significance of F1’s latest financial report – Jon Noble, The Race
🔮 F1 anticipate much more growth in the future and this extensive interview with Liam Parker, Stefano Domenicali’s de facto right-hand man and chief communications officer delves deeply into where the sport is looking to go from here – Thomas Maher, PlanetF1
🇩🇪 Meanwhile, Domenicali has said a return to racing in Germany will “definitely” happen down the line, after bosses of the Hockenheimring began talks with F1 over what it need to do in order to get the circuit ready to host races again – James Phillips, Motorsport Week
💍 Congratulations to George Russell and Carmen Montero Mundt on their engagement after six years together! – Gina Kalsi, People
😡 As for Russell’s chances of success on track this year, former F1 racer Juan Pablo Montoya thinks his task is made much harder by Kimi Antonelli being “a very likeable guy”, as it makes it tough for the Brit to “build the rage” needed to “destroy him” – Michael Delaney, F1i
🇮🇹 Both Mercedes drivers are likely to have to take at least one engine penalty before the end of the season, and team principal Toto Wolff has hinted Antonelli could take his at Monza, despite it being his home race, because it is a good place to overtake and also “maybe take the pressure off” – Valentin Khorounzhiy; Jon Noble, The Race
👀 Wolff has also called out “whinging” rivals Ferrari for repeatedly saying their engine is down on power, claiming that the top teams are “pretty much all on par” on that front – Fergal Walsh; Sandor Meszaros, RacingNews365
🔴 A new Ferrari engine is coming, as are more bits for the chassis and Charles Leclerc has made it clear he wants to see his team to continue to be “aggressive” on that front – Kada Sarkozi, GPBlog
👏 If it’s not to be for Leclerc and Ferrari in the title race this year, the Monegasque has said he would like to see Antonelli become world champion because the Mercedes star's “enthusiasm… reminds me of myself when I made my debut” – Jamie Woodhouse, PlanetF1
🤝 Leclerc also reflected on his changed relationship with Max Verstappen, admitting they each thought the other was “a bad guy” for a long time when they were karting rivals, but that they have since worked out their differences and get along much better these days – The Express
📈 Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur says his team need to improve their execution and also on the engine front if their push for championship glory is to be successful this year – Sky Sports
🟠 McLaren signalled their intention to join the title fight with a win in Hungary thanks to upgrades that worked, and technical director of engineering Neil Houldey has confirmed there will be more where that came from with “smaller upgrades” coming for the next few races before “something more substantial” for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in late September – McLaren.com
🏎️ Team principal Andrea Stella said he is confident McLaren can keep developing this year’s car without compromising their 2027 plans, as the improvements they make this year can be applied to next season’s car – Kada Sarkozi, GPBlog
🤔 Oscar Piastri has found it tough to adapt to this new generation of F1 cars, but feels he made significant progress on that front across the last few race weekends before the summer break and said he has “definitely discovered more about how the car needs to be driven” – Fleur Rogerson, Motorsport Week
❌ Over at Red Bull, technical director Pierre Wache insists there is no giving up on this season just yet, declaring the team is still targeting victories in 2026 rather than just cutting their losses and moving on to what they hope will be a less temperamental car next term – Samuel Coop, RacingNews365
🔧 Max Verstappen wants his team to find more performance overall, but also address the ongoing issue that sees their car degrade over the course of a race weekend and, sometimes, even during a single session – Sam Cooper, PlanetF1
👋 And finally for this section, after last week’s newsletter reported that Red Bull have signed Gwen Lagrue from Mercedes to become the new head of their driver development programme, the Frenchman posted on LinkedIn to confirm the end of his 11-year stay with the Silver Arrows – The Express
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Here are the main stories around F1’s seven midfield teams this week:
🤷 Flavio Briatore says Alpine have all the pieces they need to succeed and said “we don’t know why we don’t beat McLaren and Ferrari”. My guess is because their car is not quick enough, but I’m no expert – Michelle Foster, PlanetF1
⏪ Alpine uncovered the original Benneton Formula 1 team sign at the entrance of their Enstone base, which had been hidden for more than two decades behind other signs for Renault, Lotus and Alpine as their branding has changed over the years.
🚓 Franco Colapinto has had his holiday in the Lake Como area disturbed by thieves who stole some of his belongings, including his clothes and a kit to make Mate tea – Harry Brent, The Express
🤝 In last week’s newsletter you would have read that former Aston Martin performance director Tom McCullough was set to leave the company. It’s now been widely reported that he’s set to join Red Bull as their new head of race engineering, replacing the McLaren-bound Gianpiero Lambiase – Shanna Lutgert, GPBlog
🏆 Fernando Alonso has yet to make a decision over his future, but engine suppliers Honda say they are desperate to give the veteran one last title shot before he retires from Formula 1 – Eleanor Cooper, Motorsport Week
💥 Honda are bringing their first engine update at the Dutch Grand Prix when the season resumes. Shinto Orihara, Honda’s chief engineer, has confirmed the main focus has all been on improving combustion engine performance, before they look at the battery side – Ronald Vording, Motorsport.com
📈 Allan McNish said the first half of Audi’s maiden season has gone “better than expected”, but admitted ongoing issues including reliability problems mean they need to get their “house in order” before they think about going after rivals – Nick Golding, RacingNews365
🧠 Gabriel Bortoleto said the transition from Sauber to Audi has made a huge difference behind the scenes, in terms of both resources and also the “mentality” of the workforce – Michael Delaney, F1i
👶 This is a good feature looking into the early months of Audi’s new Driver Development Programme, including the line that current Formula 3 championship leader Freddie Slater sees McNish as “a bit like a second dad”, which I’m sure won’t make him feel old at all – Alasdair Hooper, Formula1.com
👷 Cadillac’s under-construction new base in Fishers, Indiana, is set to come online “in broad terms” next year, team principal Graeme Lowdon has confirmed, adding that there is also construction going on in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Silverstone in the UK too as they continue to expand after debuting in Formula 1 – Ben Vinel; Stuart Codling, Motorsport.com
🎉 Lowdon has also said it is one of his priorities to make Cadillac an attractive team to work for so they can continue poaching strong minds from up and down the paddock and also retain talent – Nick Golding; Sandor Meszaros, RacingNews365
🔮 Valtteri Bottas feels his best years in F1 are still to come as he works to establish both Cadillac and also himself back on the grid after some time out – Alasdair Hooper, Formula1.com
🤔 With Lewis Hamilton now firing for Ferrari, Martin Brundle has told Oliver Bearman to consider a ‘Plan B’ in case he is otherwise stuck with Haas for years waiting for a race seat to open up at the Scuderia – Fergal Walsh, RacingNews365
🍵 Meanwhile, away from F1, Bearman revealed he has opened a bike shop and cafe in Monaco “with a few friends” – Lydia Mee, Motorsport.com
👀 Rafael Camara responded to heavy speculation linking him with a Haas drive next year by stating “the dream is close”. That said, he’s one of about five drivers thought to be under consideration should Haas decide to make a change – Formula2.com
🦵 Ninth in the drivers’ standings and ‘best of the rest’ across the first half of the year, Liam Lawson said he feels he and the team are “in a very good place” as he looks to kick on further in the second part of the season – Ben Waterworth, Speedcafe
🔃 Any mistakes could cost Lawson his place to Formula 2 title chaser Nikola Tsolov who has impressed Red Bull chiefs and could be in line for a promotion to F1 if the opportunity arises – Jamie Woodhouse, PlanetF1
💪 Arvid Lindblad is keen for the team to keep pushing so they can see off any late-season challenge from Alpine or another emerging midfield rival and make sure they end the year as fifth fastest – Sam Hall, Crash
🗣️ In this new interview with the Williams team principal, James Vowles said he remains determined to leave the team in a better state than he found it, and owned up to the mistakes that have been made which have pushed Williams further down the competitive order – Ludo van Denderen, GPBlog
🤷♂️ Carlos Sainz’s future has been the subject of much debate. I asked former Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya about the situation, to which he said “there’s nowhere else he can go” and advised Sainz to use this scenario to negotiate the best new contract he can get with Williams – The Express
🐐 Alex Albon has been called the “karting GOAT” by Jos Verstappen, revealed by David Coulthard who said Albon’s potential was second-to-none when he was racing in karting as a child, even when going up against his son Max – Jamie Woodhouse, PlanetF1
❌ Luke Browning has had a couple of free practice outings for Williams this year, but their other reserve and development driver Victor Martins said there are no plans in place for him to also get some time behind the wheel in current machinery, admitting he is restricted only to testing of previous cars in terms of his real-world opportunities in F1 – Ben Vinel, Motorsport.com
Here are some of the F1-related posts I enjoyed elsewhere on Substack this week:
✍ This piece from Fiscal Frontier goes into more depth about the economics of Formula 1 and how the sport makes money.
✍ I enjoyed this debate topic posed by Katie Fitzsimmons who asks if the constant F1 paddock rumour mill sustains or detracts from the sport.
✍ I like learning how people come to love F1 and this piece, explaining how Considered Architect was left fascinated by young children setting their sights on the world championship, is a fun one!
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.
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