Everything we learned on day one of F1's 2026 US GP
Mysteries and controversies from the last race were tied up as Formula 1 arrived at Austin for the United States Grand Prix, and there was plenty more going on in the paddock including upgrades that did and didn’t arrive, a post-press-conference ‘clarification’ and an unusual admission from a driver heading out of F1.
Mercedes delays ADUO F1 engine upgrade
Mercedes' upgraded Formula 1 engine won't be ready for at least another two races, after its planned introduction for the US Grand Prix was delayed.
The upgrade was initially pencilled in for introduction at Austin this weekend, but that plan has been pushed back because the upgraded power unit isn't ready.
The Race understands it won't be ready for next weekend's Mexican Grand Prix either, meaning the Brazilian Grand Prix that concludes F1's latest triple-header is likely the earliest date it will arrive.
Mercedes only wants to introduce the ADUO engine when it's convinced it's a proper step forward, but that raises further questions for the future development of that team's car and engine package considering the fact it's still working through problems created on the chassis side from the major aerodynamic update introduced in Malaysia that, initially, made the car slower. - Josh Suttill
What's still puzzling Honda after Singapore nightmare
Honda's analysis of the issues that made its Singapore GP so underwhelming, and frustrated Fernando Alonso, point to a clear weakness in understanding how its upgraded turbocharger is working on-track, together with its MGU-K.
Alonso claimed his turbo was "broken" in qualifying last time out - prompting Honda to change the engine as a precaution - and then felt the engine's deployment was erratic in the race.
It's not the first time Alonso has reported strange feelings from Honda's engine, but this was different to him claiming there was a problem that doesn't exist on the data. While nothing was faulty from a mechanical perspective, Honda has found a clear gap between how it expects to manage turbo lag and what happens in reality.
There is "no major issue" with Alonso's engines after inspection at Honda’s Sakura base between races, but Honda is "preparing countermeasures for the future" which relates to how it controls the lag suffered by the turbo spooling up to power the engine.
Evidently, how the turbo works in reality is not matching Honda's expectation from the dyno. This seems to be linked to how Honda's MGU-K works in harvesting energy, and then deploying it on corner exit.
Intense harvesting under braking at energy rich tracks - where the charging limits mean the MGU-K harvests at different levels throughout the lap - make for unpredictable car behaviour for the driver.
It's hard to get a clear read on the details of that right now, beyond Honda's understanding of this complex engine regime clearly not being as mature as it needs to be. - Scott Mitchell-Malm
Ocon got no messages of support from fellow F1 drivers
Esteban Ocon revealed that no one else on the F1 grid, other than his friend Lance Stroll, offered sympathy when Haas elected to replace him for 2027.
"I talked to some of the guys in [my] private life, and Lance came to speak to me, for example, but I didn't receive any message from anyone," Ocon said.
When it was put to him that Stroll and Pierre Gasly were supportive of him in the Malaysia Thursday drivers' press conference - Gasly said Ocon’s Haas exit was "not all down to him" and said Ocon had an F1 career "to be proud of" - Ocon replied: "Pierre didn't text me. He's supportive in the press.
"It's fine. I don't need...it's not the end anyway, so I'm not calling for any support from any drivers or whatever. That's not what I need.
"It's a difficult world for everybody in a way. We are all living in that same thing. If you don't perform for three races, you are the worst. If you perform in three good races, you are the best, suddenly. So, that's the difficulty of the sport."
Ocon remains adamant he deserves to be in F1 still and refuses to entertain the prospect that these are his last races in F1 - "No, don't say that. Don't say that. No, no…I believe that this is not my last year in F1." - JS
Norris avoids McLaren punishment for Piastri Singapore clash
Lando Norris ultimately accepted culpability for his clash with team-mate Oscar Piastri in the Singapore GP sprint race. So why has McLaren chosen to take no further action against its driver?
It's down to the way he's acknowledged his misjudgement - most significantly in the time since the Singapore GP, rather than with his his Sunday change of stance.
Team principal Andrea Stella said at the time of the clash he wasn't interested in apologies, and McLaren parked the issue in Singapore because it still merited further discussions.
Those were less about establishing whether Norris was responsible for the contact and more about McLaren wanting him to understand the move itself was unnecessary.
Norris was quoted in McLaren's press release ahead of the US GP as saying "I take responsibility for my mistakes, and I learn from them", and this is understood to be McLaren's way of concluding the issue. Piastri, for his part, said he was "happy with how things have been dealt with".
So, while Stella implied there could be consequences coming when he said he was not interested in the drivers apologising, the priority was being satisfied Norris actually understood his error rather than getting a 'sorry' for the sake of it. - Jack Cozens
What really happened with Hamilton's Singapore pit call
With an unwell Lewis Hamilton skipping post-race media duties and Ferrari somewhat imprecise in its explanations, the mystery of why Hamilton didn't pit when Ferrari asked him to late in the Singapore GP - and consequently tumbled from a podium to sixth as his tyres faded - lingered until day one of the following event.
Once quizzed at Austin, Hamilton had no qualms about admitting he'd simply ignored Ferrari's order to pit.
"I was coming towards the pitlane entry, and I didn't know Charles [Leclerc] was coming in because I think just recently he had stopped," explained Hamilton."In a split second decision, I decided to stay out. And as soon as I was alongside the pitlane, I realised it's probably the wrong decision. But I owned up to it, took responsibility for it, and you move on."
Hamilton defended his decision to ignore team instructions and try a unilateral strategy on the basis that similar calls had paid off during his ultra-successful career.
"I truly believe my job is rather than to follow suit always, is to continuously challenge the team and myself including, and just constantly challenging the norms, and that's ultimately how I've got to where I am. I will not shy away from that," he said. "Sometimes it doesn't go well, and that was one of those." - Matt Beer
Sainz speaks out on F1's Middle East races, then walks it back hours later…
Regarding F1's planned season-ending races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, drivers have mostly toed the line of 'we trust the FIA/F1 and leave any decision over racing in the Middle East to them'.
Even when Max Verstappen initially told Viaplay F1 shouldn't race there in late September, he clarified his comments that he "trusts that F1 and then the FIA will take the right decision", even if that is to race there.
But as F1's now just over a month away from Qatar and Abu Dhabi, there are fresh signs of drivers being uncomfortable about racing there, given the incredibly volatile Israel/US-Iran conflict.
Grand Prix Drivers' Association director Carlos Sainz was the most vocal on Thursday at Austin, saying "on my personal side, I'm not speaking as a GPDA, it's very difficult to be convinced right now" because so much can change "very suddenly" in the next month and a half.
Those comments were significant enough for Williams to issue a fresh statement from Sainz a few hours later.
"Following some reporting of my comments in the press conference earlier today about ending the season in the Middle East, I want to be clear that I know the FIA and Formula 1 will put safety first and completely trust them to make the right decision," the statement read.
"We look forward to racing in Qatar and Abu Dhabi." - JS
Ferrari versus Red Bull versus the media over who has the quickest car
Isack Hadjar managed to throw the cat amongst the pigeons at Austin on Thursday when he suggested Red Bull won the recent Singapore GP despite not having the fastest car.
In reference to his team's run of success, while Hadjar acknowledged it was the best of the field in Malaysia he felt it was a different story in Singapore last time out.
"I don't think in Singapore it was the fastest car. That's what I believe," he said about the RB22. "I think if you put Max in the Ferrari, he would have won the race with more margin."
It was a comment that did not land well a few doors down at Ferrari, as Charles Leclerc thought it rubbish to make such a claim.
"Well, first of all, I think it's nonsense to start saying these kinds of things," replied Leclerc. "I mean, Isack has no idea what kind of car we drive, and I have no idea what kind of car he drives."
Hamilton said he had a "different opinion" to Hadjar too as he said Red Bull had proved him wrong by creating such a strong car and engine package this year.
"They're just as quick through all the corners as us in the last race, and that's been our strength. So, they've matched us now through the corners, and they're three or four tenths quicker down the straights…"
It was left to Verstappen to have the final word though - and he had a similar stance to his Ferrari rivals.
"We're stressing about something that doesn't matter, right?" he responded to a question about Hadjar's comments.
"You shouldn't always need to put it forward to the other driver or the other team, whatever. You're constantly trying to agitate people with it instead of just letting it be. That's what I normally do. I'm like, whatever. Life goes on. Tomorrow is another day." - JN
Why Bearman's 2027 Haas drive hasn't been confirmed yet
Ollie Bearman is basically certain to be racing for Haas in Formula 1 in 2027, and the reason that hasn't been made official by the team yet is because Bearman's management team is busy thrashing out terms with Ferrari over what happens after then.
Haas has recently announced the departure of Ocon at the end of 2026 and F2 championship leader Rafa Camara as his replacement for 2027, but there's been no official word yet on Bearman - from either Haas or Ferrari.
When asked about this in the Austin F1 paddock on Thursday, Bearman said of Haas: "We're very sure that we want to continue working together, and the only sticking points are kind of out of my hands, more contractual points.
"I'm leaving it to my management and of course Ferrari as well."
Given Leclerc's long-term deal with Ferrari and Hamilton's improved form this season alongside him, plus Hamilton's obvious commercial appeal, it's difficult to see how Bearman forces his way into that picture for 2028, as things stand.
And so there's every chance his people are pushing for some kind of escape clause that allows him to pursue other opportunities if there's no movement within Ferrari or a clear pathway put in place for him to progress.
"I'm happy to be in F1, but of course, looking into the medium long term, I also feel like I'm ready to fight for podiums and fight at the front," Bearman said.
"In terms of a midfield team, Haas is the team that I want to be with and I see my future with, but at some point as well, I feel like I've earned the opportunity to go out and look for for a top four team - and of course with my link with Ferrari that would be my ultimate goal." - Ben Anderson
Verstappen raises fresh F1 back injury fears
The Circuit of the Americas has been resurfaced and smoothened out in a few key places once again - but not to the satisfaction of Verstappen.
COTA, built on expansive clay-like soils, has had a long running problem with the shifting ground causing bumps in the track. Turn 9-11 have been resurfaced this year while bumps have been removed at the entry of Turns 12 and 19.
While it will not be until FP1 that drivers get a true sense of the challenge of a notoriously bumpy track, Verstappen felt he'd seen enough from last month's World Endurance Championship to deliver a pretty scathing review of a situation he called "out of control".
The Red Bull driver made it clear he loves this circuit, and the grand prix as a whole, but feels it has become an extreme example of a growing F1 problem relating to driver discomfort.
Verstappen even revealed he has had some checks done on some spinal damage suffered over the course of the recent ground-effect era and said his lower back "doesn't look that great".
Interestingly, Verstappen explained that the 2026 cars are actually worse than their ground-effect predecessors were, because the way they rise in ride height in straight mode then reduce aggressively as the front and rear wings reattach under braking mean they bottom out worse than before - and are running at a lower ride height through the corners too.
So while the ground-effect did some damage to drivers' backs, Verstappen said: "If we continue finding this acceptable to drive on you are going to suffer with that much more.- SMM
Ferrari's Austin upgrade isn't worth much
Ferrari has an updated floor for Austin, but it's not going to add much performance according to its drivers.
"We have a very, very small upgrade this weekend. It's less than a tenth. It's like half a tenth," Hamilton said.
"I don't think that propels us forward enough to necessarily challenge that deficit [to Red Bull]."
Asked about Ferrari’s "major Austin upgrade", Leclerc said: "Well, actually, they are not that major upgrades that many…I mean I've heard quite a lot about them, but they are not as big as maybe what's going around.
"It's a small step in the right direction, obviously, as always, that's the target. Then we still need to put it on the car and do the first few laps and see whether the step we expected is there.
"There are other teams bringing big upgrades, and so we'll have to see how it is compared to them. But I don't expect anything hugely significant. But I hope it can help us just do that little step forward and help us win the race as well."
The upgrade had been rumoured to include modifications to the floor, sidepods and upper bodywork. - JS
Haas's multi-million dollar parts problem
Haas has been plagued all season by unexplained performance variations between seemingly identical parts - and the consequences of that go beyond on-track results.
Team principal Ayao Komatsu revealed more about just how much the problem was costing Haas as he answered a string of questions on the topic at Austin.
"You just waste a session. You cannot waste a session," said Komatsu.
"Sometimes you waste a weekend. Like in Budapest, Ollie’s car, again, it never got right. We managed to improve a little bit, but that car wasn't performing all weekend. The same goes for Esteban’s car in Monaco.
"So that's a huge issue. So we have been putting effort in, because what's the point of upgrading the car when you suddenly lose 10 points [of downforce], right? To find 10 points of performance, that's a lot of effort and money spent in the CFD and windtunnel and production, right? So that is like a multi-million dollar issue. It's that big."
Komatsu added that Haas is no closer to finding out what is causing the problems, with its research so far - including laser scanning of relevant parts - not revealing anything that explained the variation seen on track.
He suggested that set-ups, "certain ride height sensitivities" and how parts were mounted on the car could be factors. - MB
