FIA Team Principals press conference – Great Britain

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Zak BROWN (McLaren), Andy COWELL (Aston Martin)

Q: Andy, why don't we start with you? Very warm welcome first of all. You were running an update package on Fernando Alonso's car in FP1. What was he saying about the car?

Andy COWELL: Yeah. New floor, modified top bodywork to go with the floor, running just a series of tests through FP1. We'll add the floor to Lance's car now for FP2, so he gets a comparison between old floor and new floor, crunch through all the data and go from there. Just testing through FP1, doing some runs that perhaps you wouldn't normally do, and we'll work out what to do going forward.

Q: So, it hasn't been decided yet whether you're going to run this package for the rest of the weekend?

AC: End of tonight, we'll work that one out.

Q: Now you said earlier this week that the ‘25 car is no longer in the wind tunnel. So, is that it for development now? Is everything at Silverstone, just across the road, on 2026?

AC: 99% is on 2026. I've got an open mind to the fact that what we learn here this weekend might mean that we drop the ‘25 car back in the wind tunnel just to close the loop. So, we're not saying absolutely no ‘25 model running, because now we've got our own tunnel we can test seven days a week, any hour of those seven days, and it's easy just to slot the model back in and learn a little bit more, so long as it helps us with the learning of creating a Formula 1 car, aerodynamics in CFD, aerodynamics in the wind tunnel, and aerodynamics on the track, and joining those three worlds together. So it will be for the learning in readiness for '26 and '27.

Q: And the world championship position will not be a factor in whether you continue developing this car?

AC: The key thing we're focusing on is our medium-long term and 2026 is a key step for us as we go from a customer team to a works team.

Q: Now, Andy, you were at 10 Downing Street on Wednesday, helping to celebrate 75 years of Formula 1. It was, of course, here at Silverstone on 13 May 1950 that the first race took place. As someone who's been in the sport for 30-odd years, what's the biggest change you've seen during your career?

AC: It is the number of people that are involved and the depth of the detail that we go into. The regulation documents are huge compared with where they were in the early ‘90s when I started in Formula 1. But the level of attention to detail in every aspect, whether it's the detailed design, packaging, materials, coatings, process control, the sophistication of the wind tunnels – everything's just into the minutiae.

Q: Thank you for that. I'm sure there'll be more questions for you in a minute. Christian, if I could bring you in now. Let's start with Arvid Lindblad if we could. 22 laps for him in FP1, half a second off Max Verstappen. What did you make of his performance?

Christian HORNER: I thought he acquitted himself very well. I mean, he's obviously another product of the junior team. He's a talented young guy, only 17 years of age. To jump into the car here at this circuit, which is a tough circuit, and be only within half a second, I thought he acquitted himself very well. His feedback was clear and concise, and yeah, he's definitely a prospect for the future.

Q: Now what about the updates? You had some new bits on the car in Austria last weekend. There's more new stuff this weekend. What was Max saying about it in FP1?

CH: I think it's about you bolt the new bits on the car, obviously you then look to correlate them between your development tools and on track, and then it's a matter of tuning to optimise them. So, the guys and girls are going through that now. It was tricky out there. The wind here is particularly tricky and you can feel how gusty it is. So definitely quite a wind effect, but we got some very good data, some very good knowledge from that session. Now let's see how it comes to play in the session later on.

Q: And in terms of your championship ambitions this year, how defining is the British Grand Prix?

CH: Well, we're at the halfway point. McLaren have done a super job so far this year. They've been very dominant. We've managed to win two races so far. We're a significant gap behind in the Drivers' Championship, so everyone has got to take an eye off that now and just focus on race by race. They're all sort of like FA Cup finals, so you’ve just got to try and optimize every single race and then the points tables tend to take care of themselves. But we're really not looking too far at the championship tables at the moment as opposed to individual races that are coming thick and fast.

Q: Now what about Max to Mercedes? It's still the talk of the town this weekend. What has he said to you?

CH: Look, there's obviously an awful lot of people talking about it, but what's most important is the relationship between the driver and the team. There's an agreement that defines that as well and everybody's very clear on where we're at. Max has been with Red Bull since the very start of his career. All his successes come in Red Bull Racing cars. He's a big part of our team and he has a great deal of faith in the team and the people around him. So, whilst there's always going to be speculation and noise, I think we all sit fairly comfortable with where we're at and what the situation is. We can't control the narrative of others but internally, we know where we're at.

Q: Do you have a plan B in case he were to leave?

CH: You know… Oscar Piastri. It's all as subjective as that. We're very focused on our current drivers and the relationship. Max has got a contract until 2028. He's made it quite clear that he would like to finish his career in a Red Bull car from start to finish. I think that's quite special and unique for him. That's what we're focused on. We're just ignoring the noise and focusing on the areas we know where we need to improve and how to do that.

Q: Okay. Christian, thank you for that. Zak, let's bring you in now. You weren't in Austria. Given what happened in Canada at the previous race, what did you make of the wheel-to-wheel racing between your guys at the Red Bull Ring?

Zak BROWN: It was very exciting. It was a great race. They raced each other very hard, very clean. I think that's what everyone was looking forward to seeing – finally, that epic battle. Of course, anytime you have your two cars near each other, it's a bit of a nail-biter, but I thought they did a great job and it was a great race and it was good to see.

Q: You have a 207 lead in the Constructors’ Championship. That’s nearly double any other team. Does the extent of your lead affect the rules of engagement for the drivers?

ZB: No. It's the same rules. Race each other hard, race each other clean, and try and get as many points on the board for the team. Then it's up to them to decide who is in front of who.

Q: Okay. Let's talk performance quickly. You had new parts in Austria. You're trialling a new floor this weekend at Silverstone. Is that it? Is this the last bit of development for this car, or are you still pushing back in Woking?

ZB: Well, I mean, you're always pushing, but I think as Andy said, everyone's pretty much wrapping up their ‘25 cars. We still have some bits that we've developed that haven't been produced yet or put on the car, but pretty much 2026 is the focus. But we do have a few more updates.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Adam Cooper – Adam Cooper F1) For all three of you. Tim Mayer has announced his bid for the presidency of the FIA. Firstly, are you pleased for the good of the sport that there's going to be a contest, a democratic process? And secondly, what are your thoughts on Tim's credentials for the job? Zak, why don't we start with you?

ZB: Yeah. I read it this morning. I'm just kind of getting back online myself. So, other than seeing the headline, I like Tim. Obviously, he's got some family history with McLaren. But I like Tim.

CH: Yeah. Likewise, I read it this morning. Ultimately, it's nothing to do with the team. It's all to do with the different motoring clubs. So yeah, there's a process and obviously we'll follow with interest.

AC: Yeah. Likewise. He's got racing heritage, racing in his blood, and the FIA process will carry through and we'll find out in December.

Q: (Ian Parkes – RacingNews365.com) Question for you, Christian. You talk about the speculation and noise around Max, but Max over these past two weekends has fuelled that himself. He's twice been asked directly, ‘will you be at Red Bull in 2026?’ On both opportunities, he’s decided not to nail his colours to the Red Bull mast. So can you just clarify, will Max be at Red Bull in 2026?

CH: Look, the contracts between the drivers and the teams are always going to remain confidential. With any driver's contract, there is an element of a performance mechanism, and of course that exists within Max's contract. His intention is that he will be there and driving for us in 2026. It's inevitable that he's of huge interest to any other team in the pit lane. Actually, probably George triggered all this speculation, probably trying to leverage his own situation and force clarity, which you can understand because he's driven a very good season as well this year. But inevitably, there will always be speculation about it. I think the most important thing is the clarity that exists between Max and the team, and that's very clear.

Q: (Jake Nichol – RacingNews365.com) Another question for you, Christian. You mentioned earlier that you had a plan B jokingly, you mentioned Oscar, but I don't think that's going to happen. Would George be a realistic candidate should Max decide to leave, in a direct swap potentially?

CH: Well, it's remarkable that George is still on the market. We haven't engaged in any discussion with George. So, he's obviously pretty confident that he's going to get to retain where he is. But look, we've got strength in depth within our team. You can see the Racing Bulls drivers, you can see Lindblad that we're running today, and '26 is going to be a transformational year. It's the biggest rule change in Formula 1 probably in the last 50 years where both chassis and power unit are being introduced at the same time. Nobody, with hand on heart, can know what the pecking order is going to be. It could be either one of these gentlemen either side of me. It could be Ferrari. It could be Mercedes. It could be anyone. There's an awful lot of subjectiveness to 2026, and it'll only be really this time next year that you'll have a clear indication of what that pecking order is. So, there are no guarantees that jumping into a Mercedes car would automatically be a better proposition.

Q: (Diletta Colombo – Automoto.it). A question for Andy. How have your new facilities in Silverstone changed the way you work on upgrades and on 2026?

AC: The new facilities just help us have everything at our fingertips. Having the aerodynamicists a short stroll away from the model build area and the wind tunnel section just helps speed everything up. Having Adrian join us since March, firing up the drawing board, and the machine that is required downstream of that, has just added some extra impetus to what we're doing for '26. At the start of this week, we had both Fernando and Lance in the wind tunnel section with the model and Adrian. Adrian was talking about the features on the model. Adrian, as I'm sure Christian remembers, he pushes the boundaries. He packages ten things into the space where only one would normally fit, and all the engineers see that as a challenge. It's not just the engineers. It's the whole group of people within the aerodynamics development area. The pace with which we're creating changes on the '26 wind tunnel model is quicker than we've ever done before. It really is very impressive. It is like watching 100 people all run 100 metres sub-ten seconds, with perfect baton passes. It's very exciting to see and all of that is enabled by having the facilities, and the people and the methods. So yeah, it's an exciting journey into '26.

Q: (Mark Mann-Bryans – Autosport) Another one for you, Andy, if that's okay. Christian just mentioned his surprise that a driver of George's calibre is still not signed up for next year. A few weeks ago, a story emerged that he's been linked with you guys at Aston. Is there anything in that? But also, does it just align that a driver of that calibre is being linked with your team?

AC: We're super fortunate. We've got this exciting run into '26. As Christian mentioned, changing the power unit – we're working with Honda on that – changing the aerodynamics, we've got Adrian working on that, we've got new facilities. But the stability that we've got in having Lance and Fernando signed up for next year means that they're not only helping us now develop the tools that we're using for '26, '27 and beyond, but they're working directly on the concept of the car. The discussions in the wind tunnel are about the aerodynamic shape, but they're also about driver environment. How much space is there in the cockpit? Adrian tends not to leave much space in the cockpit. Everything's exceptionally tight. But that stability of having two drivers signed up through into '26 is really helping us.

Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) I think I've got another one for Christian, but concerning your second seat. Yuki's had a bit of a tricky time in the Red Bull so far. When you guys come to think about that seat, you mentioned the strength in depth. Are you looking outside of the Red Bull pool at all when you think about that seat, or is it all going to be within the Red Bull set-up of Liam, Isack, Arvid even, and the game of who goes where in terms of where those drivers end up for next year?

CH: Obviously, our priority will be to look at what we have within our pool of talent. Yuki has got until the end of the season to demonstrate that he's the guy to remain in the car. We have Isack also doing a good job and Liam finding his form as well. So, within the Red Bull pool, we have talent. But of course, you're always open to what is outside of that. We want to field the best line-up that we can for next year. We've gone outside of that pool in recent years. If we feel the necessity to do so, we wouldn't be afraid to do so again.

Q: (Jack Smith – Motorsportweek.com). Question for Andy. Felipe Drugovich is going to be making his Formula E debut next week with Mahindra. How do you feel he's going to get on? And do you feel that it could be a potential Formula 1 audition for him, whether it's with you or with another team?

AC: Felipe is an exceptionally strong driver. We're lucky to have him as our reserve driver. He helps out in the simulator, doing work for '26, and I'm sure he'll do very well in all the other racing categories that he's performing in.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) A question for Christian and Zak on the subject of drivers. Christian, I know you half joked about Oscar earlier. But with whatever you need to do on the driver front, have you looked at the situation McLaren's in and thought that if there's two drivers butting heads there, that could be an opportunity for you to swoop for one of them in the future? And Zak, I know that your drivers are under contract, but have you looked at what's going on at Red Bull and seen if Max's availability could be something you could take advantage of?

CH: I think we've always taken a position of respecting the contracts that drivers have with their existing teams. They've got two great drivers. They're pushing each other hard, and they're managing to maintain a healthy relationship, which is always a significant challenge when you've got two very competitive drivers fighting for the ultimate prize in Formula 1. But every team is different. I wouldn't expect either of those guys… why would they be wanting to step out of what currently is the fastest car at the moment? That's the way it goes when you're at the front of the field and leading the pack. So, I'd be astounded if there was any change to what they've committed to.

ZB: Yeah. Our drivers aren't going anywhere. They're very happy, we're very happy, so there's no need to look at any other drivers on the grid.

Q: (Leonid Kliuev – Grande Premio Brazil) Question for Zak and Christian. You are two very different teams also in terms of how centralised your team is. At McLaren, there is you, Zak, of course, there is Andrea, and other people in charge, while at Red Bull, it seems like it's more centralized around Christian. Is there a possibility of Red Bull becoming less centralised and McLaren more centralised?

CH: Well, look. I think every team structure is different. The role of a team principal in different teams, whilst the job title carries the name, the definition of the role is very different. McLaren have activities in IndyCar, in sports cars, across a whole host of different activities. At Red Bull Racing, I have a clear structure that reports into me, similar to probably Andy does or Toto Wolff does, where you have the main faculties that report into me. Pierre Waché probably performs 80% of the role that perhaps Andrea does at McLaren. It's just a different job title, different functions, different set-up. It's a set-up that's worked incredibly well for us on track and off track. We have a very tight senior management, a very strong structure. We got strength in depth. We don't feel, and I certainly don't feel, that there's a need to change or tune it. Of course, you're always tuning as an organisation and optimizing, but our structure, the way it is positioned, is very, very clear.

ZB: Yeah. We're very happy with our structure. It's working. You're always, like a race car, modifying, tweaking, and enhancing, but we haven't had any senior leadership change in a couple years and definitely don't anticipate any moving forward. What we're doing is working, and we just want to keep our head down and keep doing what we're doing.

Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Question for you, Zak. Historically, it doesn't usually end well between team-mates when they go toe to toe for the World Championship. Do you envisage that Lando and Oscar will be able to stay friends, or do you think at some stage it's inevitable that they'll fall out in the heat of battle?

ZB: No. I think the relationship they have is fantastic. We've put a lot of time and effort into building our team and having a chemistry within the team, and that starts with the drivers. I think you saw how they handled Canada, how they've conducted themselves, and I see no reason why they can't have a big battle all the way to the end. May the best man win, and I'm sure they'll shake hands and congratulate each other. Obviously, both of them want to win, but I see no reason why, knowing the personalities and the way they race, that they can't remain very good team-mates.

Q: (Isabel Barker – The Sun) Zak, obviously at the British Grand Prix, Lando goes into it as the favourite British driver. What do you think is his most British quality? Would you say is he too polite? Does he eat too much mushy peas or what is it?

ZB: Well, he's very polite. I'm not sure he's too polite, but he is a very polite gentleman. I haven't really paid too much attention to his eating habits other than I know he doesn't like fish. So, I guess that would rule out fish and chips. But no, he's a great guy. He's very excited. We just had a big event in Trafalgar Square and it was a packed house, a couple hours to get in, and what was cool is that the cheers for Oscar were almost as loud. So, I think both our drivers are very excited to be here, as are we. The British Grand Prix is always an awesome race.

Q: (Simon Abberley – Nevis Radio) Open question to all three of you really. In recent times, Fred Vasseur at Ferrari has been under a lot of pressure, and there's talks of him being replaced. In similar positions for yourselves as team principals and the pressures that you perceive, you've already mentioned about stability. What's your thoughts on that? And would it be something you would consider in the future, working in red?

CH: Well, look, I think in any organisation, stability is tremendously important. We've had 21 years of stability and that has borne the kind of results that we've achieved. I think Fred is a very capable manager. He's obviously managing what effectively is a national team in Ferrari, and with that comes expectation and pressure. He's still relatively new to the role, and it takes time to put the right processes in place, the right people, the right culture. There are no silver bullets in this business. It's about collectively getting a group of people to work towards one objective. And with Ferrari, there is the added pressure of national expectation.

ZB: I'm a Fred fan. I've known Fred for a long time, as we all have. I find him to be very sporting, so I enjoy racing against him. He's very technical. He's a racer. He's in multiple disciplines of motorsports. He was one pass away from winning the World Championship last year. So, I think the results, they're winning races. It's hard to see from the outside looking in, but I'm a Fred fan. I think he does a good job and almost won the World Championship last year.

Q: (Niharika Ghorpade – Sportskeeda) Question for Christian. You mentioned that there's an understanding between you and Max. But if it were to come to pass where Max were to leave for any other team, how detrimental is it towards Red Bull as a camp and going into the future? How damaging would that be for the team at large?

CH: Well, of course, Max is a key part of our team and has been for pretty much ten years now. The intention is to keep that going. But one day, whether it's the year after or the year after, there will be a day that there is no more Max. You always have to have that in mind, that the team always has to keep looking and investing in the future. Hopefully that won't be for several years to come, but you never know. So, you're always investing in young talent, you're always giving opportunities like we did today with Arvid Lindblad, to see the next generation coming through. Because one thing for sure in this business, nothing stands still.

Q: Christian, would it be a similar impact to when Sebastian Vettel left the team?

CH: I mean, Sebastian left after there was a significant regulation change. Obviously 2014 and its engine, smashed all of us, and he got a dream offer from Ferrari and decided that that was his future path. I remember Dietrich Mateschitz telling me at the time, we don't need the best driver if we don't have the best car. At that stage, it was about building a team and building… Things go in cycles and sport goes in cycles. We've had two incredibly successful cycles in Formula 1, and what we want to do is build towards the next cycle. Now, of course, we want that to be with Max, but we understand the pressure that there is next year, with us coming in as a new power unit manufacturer. The challenge of that is enormous. But we've got a hugely capable group of people. We've invested significantly. We've got a great culture within the team. Who knows? To expect us to be ahead of Mercedes next year is… It would be embarrassing for Mercedes if we were, or for any manufacturer. But I think we're going to be in a competitive position, potentially even to where we are today relative to our other PU manufacturers. There's everything to play for. What's great is having it all under one roof, chassis engineers sitting next to engine engineers. That shouldn't be underestimated when you're talking about the packaging, like Andy was talking about earlier. When you've got the ability to have those groups communicating and talking with each other directly over a cup of coffee and within the same facility, that is priceless, and that will pay dividends. Maybe it won't be in '26, but '27, '28, and beyond, long term for Red Bull, 100% it is the right thing.