🚨 Breaking: Jonathan Wheatley to Aston Martin as Team Principal, replacing Adrian Newey. That shuts the door on the Horner rumours and frees Newey up to focus purely on car design. Big blow for Audi after an impressive start. But money talks. #F1

Steiner suggests Verstappen’s criticism of the rules is down to Red Bull’s current performance struggles. Valid point, or a bit reductive? #F1

Hamilton FINALLY gets his maiden podium with Ferrari! 👏 He’s clearly loving these new cars and looks far more confident. The battle with Leclerc for the rest of the year will be a lot of fun. #F1

Delighted for Antonelli - a superb win. My heart was in my mouth with that late lock-up though. George had some issues, but Kimi did exactly what he needed to this weekend. Does he have what it takes to challenge Russell for the title? #F1

We may have collectively whinged about some of the overtakes in Australia, but the Hamilton-Leclerc battle shows the potential of the new regs. Fantastic racing. Huge respect. #F1

Kimi Antonelli ends Russell’s dominance across the sessions in 2026 and takes the first pole of his career! Great to see - let’s hope he can keep bringing the fight to his teammate. #F1

Love them or hate them, the new rules have made the sprint races far more interesting. #F1

Meanwhile Red Bull are languishing in P8 and P10, 1.7 seconds off the pace. I doubt that’s going to improve Verstappen’s mood.

No surprise Mercedes remain the team to beat over a single lap, and a great effort from Norris to steal P3 at the end. But none of that matters - Ferrari are effectively on pole with Hamilton in P4 and a nice long run to T1. #F1

Trying to get on board with the new cars, but watching drivers lift and coast on push laps is painful. #F1

Things are heating up. George Russell calls Ferrari’s rejection of start procedure changes “selfish”. Compression ratios. Glass houses. #F1

120 overtakes in Melbourne. But did it actually feel like racing? Deployment boosts, strange starts and big questions about F1’s new era. We break down the 2026 regulations after Australia 👇

It’s definitely positive to see a huge increase in overtaking. My only concern is the quality - watching cars blast past on the straights isn’t what drivers or fans want to see. Hopefully as the rules are refined and teams understand deployment better, we’ll get some great racing.

Wow. Just seen that hugely impressive avoidance by Colapinto at the start - but that closing speed is scary. Let’s hope teams sort their starts soon, otherwise I fear we’ll see a big accident.

First race of the new era done. What’s the verdict - like or hate the new regs? #F1

This is one of the weirdest races I’ve ever seen #F1

The talking stops now. Put the sandbags away, turn the engines up. Let’s see who’s nailed the new regs… and just how bad Aston Martin really are. #F1

Great action off the practice start - Hamilton launches down the inside of Antonelli after a rapid getaway. Clearly he’s enjoying the new 2026 cars.

The more I see the Audi on track, the more I like it. Those vertically sculpted sidepods are a thing of beauty. #F1

Verstappen lowers the benchmark in testing with a 1:33.1. The car looks settled - Max riding plenty of kerb without unsettling the RB22. But do they have the power? #F1

Breaking News 🚨 Following the FIA commission meeting, a proposal has been put forward that from 1 August 2026, PU compression ratio compliance must be demonstrated at operating temperature (130°C), not just ambient conditions. Approval would effectively close off Mercedes’ current interpretation.

Red Bull have hit trouble that’s severely limited their running. Hadjar has finally returned to the track - but as the only team running that engine, mileage is arguably even more critical. #F1

FIA commission meeting this morning, plus talks between engine manufacturers - all centered on Mercedes’ PU compression method. Can the FIA really introduce hot tests 11 days before round one? Feels late. Nothing beats F1 politics.

The second official F1 test is underway. Leclerc has already matched Antonelli’s quickest time from last week. More importantly, the Ferrari looks compliant - a few small corrections, but very driveable. Positive signs for the Scuderia.

Mercedes have found something. Ferrari might have nailed the start. Aston look in serious trouble. Compression controversy. Fuel fumbles. Start procedure drama. Testing told us plenty - and nothing at all. Full breakdown ⬇️ backmarkersports.com/playing-game...

I know it’s in every team principal’s interest to play games and point at others as the ones to beat. But how fun would it be if someone like Fred Vasseur just came out and declared: we’re clearly ahead. Mind games #F1

Intriguing development: Red Bull chief designer Craig Skinner is stepping down. No official reason given as to why, but the timing - on the eve of the F1 season - is raising a few eyebrows. Poached? #F1

Extremely sad to hear about the passing of John Virgo. A true legend of the sport and the unmistakable voice of snooker. In tribute, here’s some of his classic humour. RIP. m.youtube.com/watch?v=gA2F...

First look at F1’s new active aero on track during Ferrari’s 2026 shakedown. This will take some getting used to…

Hmmmmmmm

Ferrari’s launch isn’t far away now. Do we trust them to continue the trend of great liveries? Please… integrate the HP logo properly this time. #F1

The sound of 2026 🔊 These cars look fantastic on-track - proper 2000s vibes. youtube.com/shorts/93rdU...

Mercedes continuing the tradition of great F1 2026 liveries - a small hiccup from Audi aside.

Wish Audi had leaned more into black for the 2026 look - something closer to their old WEC livery.

These F1 launch events are getting increasingly elaborate. Just show us the car.

Rumoured leak of Audi’s 2026 F1 venture. Clean and simple - how does it stack up against Red Bull and Haas?

Fighting talk from Red Bull’s Powertrains TD Ben Hodgkinson on the compression ratio controversy: "Any engineer that doesn't understand about thermal expansion doesn't belong in this sport, doesn't deserves to be an engineer, really." This one's going to rumble on. #F1

Adami is no longer Hamilton’s race engineer, moving to a new role within the team. The split makes sense, there was a clear disconnect. Ferrari is making big structural changes, curious to see how it plays out.

What an absolute beauty. Launch season is finally here 🔥 #F1

Red Bull complaining about a works team helping a customer team is just a bit ironic.

Top three in the championship qualify in the top three for tomorrow. Sets things up beautifully - Verstappen is absolutely going to send it into T1.

Pressure lap coming up for Norris. His first time’s been deleted, and he needs a solid lap to make Q3 and avoid creating a headache for tomorrow.

Hamilton just needs to get through the next week and reset over the off-season. The Ferrari move is quickly turning into a nightmare, and I’m not confident the Scuderia can produce a competitive car for 2026. Tough times.

Got to say, I’m not sure these sprint races are bringing anything to the F1.

Pretty uneventful sprint race, but Norris and McLaren won’t care. If my maths is right, a win tomorrow would be enough to seal his maiden championship. Max and Red Bull just don’t have the pace right now.

Aston Martin: “Maybe Horner as Team Principal?” Newey: “No need, I’ll run the show myself.”

McLaren’s Vegas DSQ has reopened the title fight, and Verstappen won’t go down easily. Norris’ lead suddenly looks precarious. …they couldn’t collapse now, could they? Full breakdown 👇 backmarkersports.com/mclarens-las...

It’s official: both McLaren’s disqualified in Las Vegas. 2007 all over again?

Imagine Newey leaves Red Bull to get away from Horner, only for him to be re-installed as his boss. Feels like a move that would only destabilise the Aston Martin project. www.bbc.com/sport/formul...

What Ferrari does to a man… www.bbc.com/sport/formul...