We're still more than a week away from Baku, but F1 teams are already making promises that hopefully they can keep.
The disappointment over the uneventful race at the Madring is still raging, at least for the media and the organizers. But for the F1 teams, they're already preparing their upgrades for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which is more than a week away.
Newey looks forward to improving Aston Martin's performance
It was business as usual for Aston Martin at the Spanish Grand Prix, with Lance Stroll retiring early due to brake issues and Fernando Alonso not finding enough pace to fight for points. But the team's outlook for the upcoming race at Baku remains positive.
Adrian Newey, Aston Martin's team principal and technical director, said that the team will bring upgrades to the AMR26 at the Azerbaijan GP. He hinted that the package would reduce the weight of the car, which has been a nagging problem for both Stroll and Alonso.
Williams "expected" to improve at Baku
Back in June, Williams team principal James Vowles said that they will introduce a "major change" to the car at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Recently, former F1 driver and current racing analyst Juan Pablo Montoya mentioned that Williams is indeed poised to take a "huge step" at Baku.
And yet, we can recall Williams driver Carlos Sainz Jr suggesting that the team should just focus instead on 2027. He doesn't believe that the upgrade package in Baku will be enough to fight for points.
Plans to change Madring's layout are under way
The new Madring circuit wasn't able to fulfill the hype, but its organizers might be listening to drivers' inputs already. Spanish GP organizers say that they are "ready to make tweaks" to Circuito de Madring, in an effort to make overtaking easier (and actually possible) for 2027.
This is an exciting development for the Madring circuit, as it holds a 10-year contract to host Formula One races. You don't want racing drivers and even team principals like McLaren's Andrea Stella to say that overtaking is impossible in a sport called motor racing.
We already have a new F2 driver for 2027
Despite losing the Formula 3 season championship to Ugo Ugochukwu, Freddie Slater is poised to move up to Formula 2 in 2027. Invicta Racing has officially announced that they've signed Slater, who had an impressive rookie campaign with Trident.
Slater has already won championships in the Italian F4 and Formula Regional European Championship. His runner-up finish in F3 should help him gain the attention of more motorsport leaders.
