Adrian Newey to drive Red Bull RB17; Mekies lifts lid on denied Verstappen request – roundup
Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey
Wednesday’s fast-paced F1 news includes Adrian Newey driving the Red Bull RB17 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed as Laurent Mekies explains the team’s decision to deny Max Verstappen’s request at the British Grand Prix.
Let’s blast through the day’s main headlines at breakneck speed…
Adrian Newey to drive Red Bull RB17 at Goodwood Festival of Speed
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Red Bull has announced that Adrian Newey, the Aston Martin team principal, will drive the RB17 hypercar at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Newey designed the RB17 during his highly productive stint with Red Bull, which came to an end in 2024.
Newey will reunite with his former employer at Goodwood this weekend, with Isack Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda also set to drive the RB17.
Read more: Final Adrian Newey-designed Red Bull set for Goodwood debut
Red Bull explains why Max Verstappen request was denied
Laurent Mekies, the Red Bull team principal, has explained why the team rejected Max Verstappen’s request of an engine change after qualifying at the British Grand Prix.
Verstappen was willing to take a pit lane start at Silverstone in a desperate attempt to change his fortunes on race day.
The Dutchman was frustrated by Red Bull disagreeing, with Verstappen telling the team during the race: “We should have just done what I said yesterday.”
Read more: Why Red Bull denied Max Verstappen’s request at British Grand Prix
Fernando Alonso plays down Adrian Newey claim
Fernando Alonso has played down Adrian Newey’s claim that Aston Martin’s Hungarian Grand Prix upgrade could prove “very important” for a decision on his F1 future.
Alonso, who will turn 45 later this month, is set to decide whether to continue in F1 beyond 2026 over the summer break.
The two-time world champion, whose Aston Martin contract is due to expire at the end of this year, has been linked with a return to Alpine.
Read more: Fernando Alonso responds after ‘very important’ Adrian Newey claim
Clever Lando Norris idea denied by McLaren in British GP team radio
Untelevised footage from the British Grand Prix has uncovered the moment McLaren shut down Lando Norris’s clever idea to cut through the pit lane.
The race finished under safety car conditions at Silverstone, denying a last-lap sprint to the finish.
With the pit lane a faster route to the timing line at Silverstone, it crossed Norris’s mind to pit on the final lap and steal the win.
His McLaren race engineer Will Joseph warded him off the idea.
Read more: Clever Lando Norris idea shut down in untelevised McLaren team radio
Lewis Hamilton expects Mercedes engine penalties after DNFs
Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes will face penalties as the F1 2026 season develops due to the team’s patchy reliability record.
Kimi Antonelli has suffered technical problems at two of the last three races, with George Russell suffering a catastrophic battery failure in Canada in May.
Mercedes’ customer teams have also suffered problems so far this season.
Read more: Lewis Hamilton predicts Mercedes penalties after worrying reliability trend
