Permane sends ‘Red Bull Austria’ message as Marko makes driver admission – round-up

Following the recent announcements in F1, Red Bull may face challenges in maintaining dominance, making betting on rival teams like McLaren an enticing option for punters ahead of the upcoming Belgian Grand Prix.

Your Monday dose of F1 news is here, as we begin another race week after a moment to reset following the British Grand Prix.

Red Bull and Racing Bulls made the headlines, along with McLaren confirming some new parts are set to come in Belgium this weekend. Let’s take a look.

Moving up to become a team principal for the first time in Formula 1, Alan Permane wanted to “deeply thank” those responsible for putting him in charge of Racing Bulls.

“I had many reactions to the news, some shock, some pride,” Permane told Motorsport.com. “It’s amazing that they feel I’m capable and have the potential to lead this team. I deeply thank the Red Bull Austria senior management, Oliver Mintzlaff and Helmut Marko, and, of course, Laurent for recommending me, pushing me forward, his belief in me as well. It’s been a great week.”

Helmut Marko admitted that, such is the strength of Max Verstappen relative to his team-mates, all to try and overhaul him have been “retired, failed, [and] crushed” in his wake.

“My contract runs until the end of 2026, and at the moment the main focus is on getting the team back to winning ways,” Marko told Kleine Zeitung. “A lot is down to the technology, even though we had a relapse in the pit stops. But that was explainable, the last stops worked, and the strategy was also good again. Everything has to be one hundred per cent right for us to have a chance against McLaren.

“But that’s not easy because we practically only have one driver. And it doesn’t matter who you pick: since 2016, since Max has been in the car, sooner or later every other driver has retired, failed, been crushed by Max.”

Having run a “test floor” at Silverstone, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the team is likely to roll it out soon, potentially as soon as the Belgian Grand Prix.

“With the new floor in FP1, the plan was always going to be that the floor was a test floor,” Stella said. “We are actually pretty pleased with what we have seen in FP1. All the indications are leading us to introduce this new floor at upcoming events.”

Adrian Newey hopes to see Aston Martin build a “winning mentality” by establishing a pattern of success, but having “self-belief” to do so.

Newey is currently overseeing the team’s 2026 challenger, with plenty of changes coming in Formula 1 next season. “Winning mentality is always a difficult one,” he said.

“If it’s a team that hasn’t had much success over the years, then not winning becomes the norm. It’s important to create the self-belief that we have the collective abilities to succeed. This is all part of trying to drive things forward.”

Guenther Steiner was at the helm of Haas when Mick Schumacher lost his Formula 1 seat, but the former team boss has backed his ex-driver to be in the running for a Cadillac drive next year, when they join the grid.

“I think Mick has a good chance,” the former F1 team boss told RTL. “Cadillac needs a driver with experience in Formula 1, and there are currently not many drivers who don’t have a job but have already driven Formula 1.”

Going on to say that Schumacher is a “hard worked” and “very nice person,” Steiner added: “When he was a test driver at Mercedes, he didn’t race, but he learned a lot about a good big team. This knowledge of how a successful team works could help Cadillac.”

New Racing Bulls boss Alan Permane thanked senior figures at Red Bull for his promotion, while Helmut Marko made an admission about their drivers.

Planet F1