Just an Inchident

UPDATE (5 March 2026): The FIA has confirmed that Bottas will not serve the grid penalty. Under sporting regulation B2.5.4, unserved grid penalties expire after 12 months. Since the penalty was issued at Abu Dhabi 2024 — well outside that window — it no longer applies. Bottas enters Melbourne with a clean slate. The FIA’s earlier stance that “there is no mechanism to retroactively amend penalties” has quietly been overridden by the regulations themselves. Sometimes the bureaucracy works, eventually.

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The FIA made Valtteri Bottas wait 455 days to serve a grid penalty.

That’s not a typo. Bottas collected a five-place drop for punting Magnussen at Abu Dhabi 2024. Lost his Sauber seat. Spent all of 2025 holding clipboards for Mercedes. Now he’ll finally serve it at Melbourne 2026, walking into his Cadillac debut already five places down.

Australia Quali

It’s the 2026 season start and we’re at the first race of Formula 1 in Albert Park. The two Mercedes head out for Quali. Verstappen and Russell drive out in tandem, Russell bringing up the rear. Whether figuratively or not, Russell bringing up the rear has been the theme throughout the entire practice season after Max signed his 2 year contract with Mercedes after leaving Red Bull. Max doesn’t play second fiddle, he’s a killer, he is in front.

NotFifthGear, a user on X that has 19.2k followers and received engagement when he covered the 2025 Le Mans 24 Hour Rabbit incident has started and squashed a beef with a Professional Race Car Driver in a little under 4 hours.

The rumour mill was churning at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with whispers that Daniel Ricciardo’s days at Red Bull might be numbered. The Aussie driver, once the golden boy of the team, has been struggling to keep pace with his teammate and the rest of the field.

Red Bull's Helmut Marko, known for his ruthless approach to driver management, has hinted that a decision on Ricciardo’s future will be made after the Singapore Grand Prix. The smart money is on Liam Lawson, who impressed when he filled in for an injured Ricciardo last season, to take over the seat.

Carlos sainz is not my favorite driver. I don’t even like him because I think he’s too whiny. Then again he’s no different from the rest with Lando being the worst offender in my opinion. But Carlos didn’t deserve to end the Azerbaijan GP in that way. Especially after that magnificent move he pulled. His moves left Perez flat footed after Charles defended turn 1 like a champion. Carlos didn’t tip toe, didn’t sneak, but strutted confidently past the Mexican. It felt like Checo was slowing down for double waved yellows. Sainz’s confidence was supreme enough that he almost whizzed past his teammate. He only backed out of the move because he didn’t have the room to pull it off. 

David Croft, the voice of Formula 1 on Sky Sports, is conspicuously absent from the commentary box at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The man affectionately known as “Crofty” has been the lead commentator for Sky since 2012, and before that, he held the same role for BBC Radio 5 Live. His absence is notable, as he’s only missed one race in the past 17 years – the 2007 European Grand Prix, when his son was born.

In a shocking move that has sent ripples through the F1 paddock, legendary car designer Adrian Newey has jumped ship from Red Bull to Aston Martin, lured by an eye-watering £30 million annual salary package that includes bonuses and shares. The Silverstone-based team, backed by billionaire Lawrence Stroll, has pulled out all the stops to secure Newey’s services as they aim to challenge for world championships.

Newey’s pay packet is so substantial that it dwarfs the salaries of most F1 drivers, with only the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen earning more. When questioned by the BBC about what justifies his hefty compensation, Newey humbly responded, “Better ask Lawrence… I don’t know. I’m just me. I am in a very fortunate position where I don’t need to work now. I could retire and have a comfortable lifestyle very easily. But I still love the job that I’m doing.”

The FIA, the governing body of Formula 1, has given the all-clear to the sport’s teams after reviewing their 2023 accounts, confirming that they’ve all managed to keep their spending within the prescribed limits. However, the same cannot be said for Alpine and Honda, who have been caught with their hands in the procedural cookie jar when it comes to power unit regulations.

The cost cap, which is about as popular among F1 teams as a vegan at a barbecue, was set at a basic limit of $135 million for the 2023 season. But with the calendar expanding like a waistline at Christmas, teams were granted an extra $1.8 million per race beyond the original 21, bringing the total limit to a whopping $138.6 million.

In a move that sent shockwaves through the Formula 1 paddock like a V12 engine on full chat, Adrian Newey, the mastermind behind countless championship-winning cars, has confirmed his defection from Red Bull to Aston Martin for the 2025 season.

Newey, who has more titles under his belt than Lewis Hamilton has tattoos, will bid farewell to the Red Bull team he’s called home for over a decade, leaving behind a legacy of aerodynamic wizardry that would make even Gandalf jealous.

Max Verstappen began the 2024 Formula 1 season much like he ended 2023: at the top of his game. With Red Bull’s Adrian Newey-designed RB20 car setting new benchmarks in aerodynamic efficiency and power, Verstappen cruised to victory in nearly every race from the season opener through to the Spanish Grand Prix. It seemed almost inevitable that he would claim a fourth consecutive World Championship.

Early Season: Unstoppable Force

By the time Formula 1 arrived in Spain, Verstappen had amassed an astounding 303 points over 16 races, leading his closest competitors by a wide margin. Lando Norris, in second place, had only 241 points—a clear indicator of Verstappen’s superior performance. In the early races, Max was practically untouchable. His confidence behind the wheel, combined with Red Bull’s technical prowess, left rivals scrambling to even challenge him. Up to Spain, Verstappen had won the majority of races, often securing pole positions and fastest laps, extending his lead with each passing weekend. However, as the paddock moved to Austria, the tide began to turn.