Source : ABC NEWS
Formula 1’s mid-year hiatus ends this weekend, as the racing series returns to action with the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort.
The five-week break has given drivers and teams a chance to refresh ahead of a long and gruelling run to the finish line, with the drivers’ and constructors’ championships well and truly alive in 2026.
While there has been no action on the track, there has been news off it during the break.
Ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, here are a few stories you may have missed during the hiatus.
1. No contract announcements
The first news is no news.
The mid-year break usually signals the start of F1’s silly season, where teams and drivers formalise contracts for future seasons.
The 2026 silly season is set to be busy, with as many as 14 drivers off contract at the end of this year.
And there are big names who are yet to finalise deals for 2027 and beyond, including Mercedes drivers’ championship leader Kimi Antonelli, and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin).
There has also been wild speculation of a potential driver swap between McLaren and Red Bull, with Australia’s Oscar Piastri and four-time world champion Max Verstappen changing teams as early as next year.
But, thus far, there have been no announcements.
This will change in the near future, and just because no contracts have been announced does not mean no work behind the scenes.
2. Piastri confident McLaren can ‘make that step’ back to the top
After the highs of the previous two seasons, McLaren’s 2026 campaign has resembled more of a yo-yo.
McLaren have won the previous two constructors’ championships, while Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both won seven grands prix last year, a campaign where Norris became drivers’ world champion.
But in 2026, with a new era of regulations, McLaren has had mixed results.
It started the season poorly, with Oscar Piastri failing to start the opening two grands prix of the season (Australia and China), while Norris also failed to start the Chinese Grand Prix.
Both drivers have been plagued by reliability issues, but have also produced promising results.
Piastri has twice finished on the podium (Japan and Miami), while Norris won the Hungarian Grand Prix — a race Piastri led before being hit by a backmarker and then suffering an issue that forced his retirement.
Despite not being in the championship picture thus far in 2026, Piastri is confident McLaren will return.
In an interview with the team during the break, Piastri cited McLaren’s early struggles in 2023 before their rise up the grid to become back-to-back champions.
“When you look at the previous experience of what we’ve been able to achieve as a team, and how we’ve been able to make progress through the year, it’s good,” the Australian said.
“In 2023, we were in a much worse position than where we are now, and we were able to really jump up the order to fight for podiums.
“The way that Lando and I worked together during that period to try and focus on making the car quick, so that we could then fight for the results that we wanted, hasn’t changed. It’s still strong, with productive conversations together with the team — we are all pushing toward the same goal.
“I feel like for me I’ve already seen it play out more than once. I think that’s a real strength of the team. Yes, things are different, the cars are different, maybe the way we will make that step will look different. But we’ve made that step before, and I’m confident we can do it again.”
3. Bahrain Grand Prix back on calendar, in Malaysia
While the official mid-year break is coming to an end, F1 had an unofficial hiatus earlier this year when the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia weekends were called off due to unrest in the Middle East.
That left an unexpected gap between the Japanese Grand Prix and Miami Grand Prix weekends, with F1 holding onto hope that they would be able to bring those races back onto the calendar.
Well, they have brought one back, in a different country.
The Bahrain Grand Prix will be held in 2026, but thousands of kilometres away in Malaysia.
Sepang International Circuit will host the event from October 2-4, between the grand prix weekends in Azerbaijan and Singapore.
F1 is no stranger to Sepang, first racing there in 1999, while the last F1 race held there in 2017 was won by Max Verstappen.
“We are delighted to confirm that Malaysia will host the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2026. Once again, the sport has demonstrated its ability to adapt, find solutions, and deliver, creating an exciting moment for everyone who follows Formula 1,” F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said.
4. Cadillac has a team principal change
While there was no change in the driver market, F1’s newest team made a change on the pit wall.
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Cadillac announced Marcin Budkowski would become the American squad’s new team principal, replacing Graeme Lowdon.
Lowdon was the team principal from 2024 and an instrumental figure in preparing Cadillac for its debut season in 2026.
Budkowski has been around F1 for many years, and was once the executive director at French outfit Alpine.
“Marcin’s appointment marks another important step in the continued evolution of the Cadillac Formula 1 Team,” said Dan Towriss, CEO of the Cadillac team.
“As we enter this new era for the Cadillac Formula 1 Team, Marcin brings exceptional F1 experience, technical expertise and strategic leadership that will strengthen our organisation and help us develop the winning mindset, tools and processes required for long-term success.
“We’re grateful to Graeme Lowdon for his leadership and the role he played in forming the Cadillac Formula 1 Team from the ground up. His contributions helped establish a strong foundation in our build-up phase, and we thank him for his commitment and wish him well.”
