An update for PlanetF1.com readers

Dear reader,

Who would have thought at the start of the year that we’d have no racing in April?

It’s an extraordinary state of affairs we find ourselves in, one in which sport naturally has to take a back seat for.

At least we’ve now got our first taste of F1 2026 and it’s certainly different! If nothing else, it’s given us some fascinating storylines, headlined in my opinion by the breakout performances of Kimi Antonelli.

While F1 is on hiatus, I wanted to take the opportunity and offer an update on where PlanetF1.com is.

In January, I wrote an open letter in which I laid out where we’re going as a publication. As part of that, I promised to continue delivering original and accurate news and delve into the big stories, all while being fair and honest in our coverage. I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made.

Editorially, we have broken several key stories already this year, some bigger than others, and delivered insight, analysis and opinion more than we have in the past.

In terms of breaking news, we’ve had our share of scoops, too:

• Multiple senior staff exit Red Bull Racing in major administrative shake-up
• Andy Cowell to depart Aston Martin after role shift under Adrian Newey
• F1 2025 prize money payouts revealed: McLaren crowned champions as Ferrari steal the spoils
• Jonathan Wheatley emerges as lead candidate in Adrian Newey’s Aston Martin team principal search
• Why F1 is poised to cancel Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix without replacements

PlanetF1.com has also been a leading voice in several other storylines, such as the power unit compression ratio saga and the impact of the F1 2026 regulations.

Our commitment to having journalists on the ground continues. Our permanently accredited journalist, Thomas Maher, was in Bahrain for pre-season testing, where I joined him for the six days of running. I backed that up with the Australian Grand Prix.

Following the break, Thomas will be on the ground again for PlanetF1.com at the Miami, Monaco, Barcelona, Austrian, British, Belgian, Hungarian, Dutch, Italian and Spanish grands prix at least.

We’ve tightened our editorial processes and improved the consistency of our output. We’re more deliberate and considered with the stories we write, and I hope you’ve all noticed the change in tone; we’re now more measured and considered.

We’ve not got everything right, but I believe we’ve made strong strides in the right direction. And there’s more to come, with some exciting stuff in the pipeline as PlanetF1.com takes its next step forward.

Alongside my January letter, I wrote in the comments underneath that we would be paying close attention to that element of the site.

This is an ongoing effort, but moderation is more active, and we’re working to be quicker and firmer where behaviour falls short of the standards we expect. There’s still improvement needed and we’re continuing to refine how we manage it within the constraints we have.

We want PlanetF1.com to be a place for informed, respectful discussion and high-quality coverage of Formula 1. That’s the standard we’re working towards every day.

We’ll continue to be open about what we’re doing and where we need to improve, and I welcome your feedback via the comments section below – I will jump in and do my best to respond to everyone.

This isn’t a finished job. It’s an ongoing one.

Best,

Mat Coch

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