Motorsports
Home Run Hunt
Max Verstappen arrives at Red Bull’s home Austrian Grand Prix looking for a season reset, with the team bringing a major upgrade package to the Red Bull Ring this weekend.
The four-time world champion has not won since last year’s Abu Dhabi season finale. A strong result in Spielberg would help revive his title bid and give Red Bull a clearer read on whether its latest updates can address the performance issues that have slowed the team this season.
Verstappen has a strong record at the venue. He won the Austrian Grand Prix in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023, and also took the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix at the same circuit during the pandemic. No other driver has more than one Austrian Grand Prix victory.
“Austria is a home race for the team and it’s been great for me in the past,” Verstappen said. “We have good memories there. It’s an interesting challenge. All the corners are quite different so balance is really important.”
He said the Red Bull Ring demands a car that works across different conditions, from high-speed sections to slower corners. Verstappen also pointed to traction, energy management and power deployment as key factors.
“We have a new package this weekend so I’m hoping we can be closer to where we want to be,” he said.
The short and fast circuit in the Styrian Alps is expected to produce close racing. It could also extend a run of changing fortunes in the championship after Lewis Hamilton ended Mercedes’ six-race winning streak with his first Ferrari victory in Spain.
Hamilton’s win in Catalunya was the 106th of his Formula One career and strengthened his bid for an eighth drivers’ title. He sits 41 points behind Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli, who remains on top of the standings despite recording his first retirement of the season in Spain.
Mercedes will also bring upgrades to Austria, where George Russell won in 2024. Ferrari is set to introduce an engine update as it targets a historic 250th Formula One victory.
McLaren is also expected to contend. Defending Austrian Grand Prix winner Lando Norris won from pole last year, while the team will test an experimental rear wing during Friday practice.
Charles Leclerc returned to the top step of the podium at Silverstone, ending a winless run that stretched back to 2024 and delivering Ferrari its 250th Formula 1 victory.
The Monegasque controlled the closing stages of the British Grand Prix and secured the ninth win of his career after a late Safety Car period froze the race order for the final five laps.
Ferrari had been running first and second before the intervention, but its decision to pit both cars reshaped the podium. Leclerc retained the lead, while Lewis Hamilton dropped behind Mercedes driver George Russell, who stayed out and took second place.
Hamilton finished third and recorded his 16th podium at Silverstone, extending his record at the circuit. He congratulated Leclerc and welcomed Ferrari’s progress despite missing out on a possible one-two finish.
Leclerc said the result followed a breakthrough in his understanding of the car. He found improvements during qualifying and confirmed them during the race, allowing him to recover the feel he had been searching for.
The Safety Car was deployed after Max Verstappen crashed his Red Bull. Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli also suffered a damaged wheel shield, ending his late challenge and leaving him outside the points.
Antonelli had started from pole but made a poor getaway. He recovered through the field and appeared capable of fighting for victory before the mechanical problem dropped him to 16th.
The result tightened the drivers’ championship. Antonelli remains in front with 179 points, helped by his earlier run of five consecutive victories. Russell moved to 154 points after finishing second, while Hamilton climbed to 147.
Ferrari’s second victory of the season also reduced Mercedes’ advantage in the constructors’ standings. Mercedes remains ahead with 333 points after seven wins, while Ferrari moved to 255.
Hamilton said Ferrari still needed to improve its outright pace, but described the team’s recent results as encouraging. He also accepted responsibility for his own race, which included a yellow-flag infringement and a jump-start incident.
Leclerc’s victory gave Ferrari its first British Grand Prix win since Carlos Sainz won at Silverstone in 2022. It also revived the team’s title hopes after Mercedes had controlled much of the early season.
Ferrari leaves Silverstone with another win, a double podium and renewed momentum as the championship battle moves into its next phase.
Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation (TMP) is bringing the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Philippine Cup back to Clark International Speedway from July 9 to 11, with Race Weekend 2 doubling as a live test platform for low-carbon biofuels.
The second of four race weekends planned for 2026 follows the March opener at Riverpark in Cavite, where more than 6,000 spectators watched the series debut the Tamaraw Racing Class using the locally made Tamaraw one-make race car.
This time, TMP is putting sustainability closer to the racing action. The company will use the series as a “rolling laboratory” to test low-carbon biofuels in its two one-make race vehicles, the Vios OMR and Tamaraw OMR.
The Vios OMR will run on a 20 percent bio-ethanol blend, or E20, while the Tamaraw OMR will use a 5 percent coco-biodiesel blend, or B5. Racing conditions will allow TMP to assess performance, efficiency and reliability under high-demand use.
TMP said the program supports its fuel flexibility push. Three-quarters of Toyota and Lexus gasoline models are already E20 compatible, while all Toyota diesel models are B5 compatible.
“Motorsports has always been a testbed for progress, and this season, TGR Philippines will take a step forward by actively exploring alternative fuels in competitive racing conditions. Testing biofuels in motorsports allows us to evaluate performance, efficiency and reliability in high-demand environments, so this will be a pivotal moment for the wider adoption of low-carbon biofuels in the Philippines,” TMP First Vice President for Vehicle Sales Operations Elijah Marcial said.
TMP Vice President for Government and Industry Affairs Elvin Luciano said the use of biofuels in motorsports fits Toyota’s wider multi-pathway approach to carbon neutrality.
“As a company committed to reducing carbon emissions, we recognize that every activity must contribute meaningfully to a more sustainable future. Alternative fuels help reduce dependency on non-renewables like petroleum, so using biofuel for our motorsports events aligns with our multi-pathway approach, which includes diversifying our energy sources to contribute to our broader goal of carbon neutrality,” Luciano said.
The TGR Philippine Cup has been bringing Toyota’s motorsports program to Filipino fans since 2014. Race Weekend 2 will be open to the public on July 11, with free admission.
The event is backed by GT Radial, Petron RevX, Petron Blaze Racing, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Academy and other partners.
Silverstone, United Kingdom (AFP) George Russell heads into the British Grand Prix chasing a home victory that could sharpen his title challenge after a timely return to form in Austria.
The 28-year-old Mercedes driver cut into the gap to team-mate Kimi Antonelli with victory at the Red Bull Ring last Sunday, his second win of the season after back-to-back pole positions.
Russell remains 40 points behind the 19-year-old Italian after eight rounds of the 22-race championship, but his Austria win ended a difficult run and restored the momentum that made him a pre-season title favorite.
Antonelli still leads the Mercedes charge after winning five straight races earlier in the season, but Russell’s latest result has reopened the intra-team contest before one of the biggest weekends on the calendar.
Mercedes enters Silverstone in strong shape after winning nine of the last 13 British races and seven grands prix this season. The Brackley-based team is expected to be well suited to Silverstone’s high-speed layout, where its car and power unit package have been among the strongest on the grid.
Russell said he would welcome a wider fight involving more teams and drivers as the hybrid era continues to deliver unpredictable racing.
“I’d love a big fight,” said Russell.
“To be honest, you want the best drivers with the best teams all fighting and, of course, Max is very much one of the best – with Lewis, Charles, Lando, Oscar…
“The more the merrier. It feels like when we all raced in go-karting… That’s how it should be.”
A win for Russell would extend a recent run of British success at Silverstone after Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris won in 2024 and 2025. Russell, Hamilton and Norris also delivered the first all-British podium since 1968 when they finished first, second and third in Catalunya.
“I’m so looking forward to it,” said Russell. “It’s the atmosphere, the fans. I’m sure it’s going to be great.”
Mercedes, however, is unlikely to have a clear path. Defending champion Norris of McLaren, Ferrari’s seven-time world champion Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen are all former Silverstone winners.
Hamilton, who won his first Ferrari race and the 106th victory of his career in Spain three weeks ago, is chasing a record-extending 10th British Grand Prix win. But he admitted Ferrari still has work to do after its power disadvantage showed in Austria.
“There’s no magic fix in racing,” he said. “It’s a lot of small steps.”
Verstappen, who finished a close second in Austria with Red Bull’s revised car, played down his chances at Silverstone, saying the circuit’s high-speed demands leave little room for energy recovery.
“You barely have any battery around the lap – it’s just constantly flat out,” he said.
The British Grand Prix will be the fourth sprint weekend of the season.
