F1 British GP live commentary and updates - media day

Lewis Hamilton wants his "DNA" in 2026 Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton, a nine-time winner here, has opened up about his difficulties with the 2025 Ferrari, which has yielded a sprint pole and win in China but has otherwie been tricky to get in the sweet spot. "It's a tough balance to drive, and it's not a comfortable one," he said.
 
"It's not one that I want to have in future. So, I'm working with Loic [Serra] and with all the guys at the factory to make sure that the next car will have naturally some of my DNA in it. And hopefully we'll be able to get some of the characteristics that I'm hoping to have in it for next year."

Meanwhile, the seven-time champ says he has moved towards team-mate Charles Lecerc's set-up direction because his attempts just haven't worked. "He's found one way in which the car works and I've tried all the other directions that should work, but they just don't, for whatever reasons," he added. "And I've slowly migrated to the place where Charles does run the car."

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images

Max Verstappen latest

Max Verstappen said little of note on his future, as one would expect. But here are a few nuggets of wisdom from the Dutchman.

- "No one can say 100% sure that they will be pretty comfortable next year" amid rumours that Mercedes is ahead of the game with its power unit

- He is "for sure not" taking a sabbatical year from F1

-  Red Bull won't "win a race on pure pace" before the summer due to the gap with McLaren, even though tracks like Silverstone and Spa might suit the car a bit better. 

Hadjar curious about Red Bull seat

Meanwhile, impressive Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar is on everyone's lips as a future Red Bull driver. Rightfully so, but if you are in the Frenchman's shoes, how do you look at what Yuki Tsunoda is going through, and Liam Lawson before him, and not be filled with a healthy amount of dread?

Turns out Hadjar is obviously still aiming for the seat, but he is a bit wary of the prospect. "I don't know what's going on over there, obviously, but the only thing I can tell is that Yuki is very fast," he said.

"I would obviously love to, out of curiosity, go and have a look for myself. Mentally, I know I'm strong, so I'm not very worried about that. Do I have Verstappen's skills? I don't know. I don't know yet. That's the thing."

Yuki Tsunoda has been straight-forward about his disastrous Austria race pace. What was the problem? "Me. I was the problem in Austria."

But he says he's still enoying the full support of Christian Horner and Helmut Marko. There clearly doesn't seem much point in making yet another driver switch. Isack Hadjar is looking the real deal, but as we understand it Red Bull doesn't want to burn the Frenchman by promoting him too soon.

Paging George Russell, who is being grilled about the subject in the second part of the FIA press conference.

"Toto has never let me down, but he's also got to do what's right for the team. But I don't think I'll be going anywhere."

Fernando Alonso is naturally asked what he thinks about Max Verstappen potentially moving to Mercedes. What's his advice?

"No. No advice. Well, I can be a consultant but they need need to pay a huge amount of money!"

Knowing the Spaniard, he's only half joking there! But let's face it, not all his career moves have worked out, have they?

An amusing moment when Lando Norris is asked what the red line is at McLaren as he and Oscar Piastri continue to race wheel to wheel.

"Uhh, I'd say Canada?"

Norris and Piastri were at it again in Austria with a thrilling battle for the lead, which Norris got on top of. This time Piastri was told off for locking up into Turn 4 and nearly hitting Norris, the opposite of which happened in Montreal when the Briton took himself out of the race.

Red Bull's recent struggles have prompted the debate of whether or not the squad's car is really that much quicker than its sister team Racing Bulls.

Yesterday McLaren chief Zak Brown told Sky: "Red Bull would be behind Racing Bulls [without Verstappen]. They have done a great job and have a great racing car. I think Max is carrying them at the moment."

Liam Lawson has driven both this season, and it's safe to say he doesn't agree.

"I don't think Zak Brown understands, honestly," he replied when asked about it by our own Mark Mann-Bryans. "It's easy to comment on stuff when you're not involved and you're outside of the picture, so I don't think he understands."

Lawson took sixth place last weekend in Austria, which quietened a few doubters. "The best way to respond to anything is by performing well and that's what we obviously set out to do every weekend," he added. "There's a lot of variables in Formula 1 and quite often you can have all the right ingredients, you can have speed and everything and I think we've had that for quite a while.

"It just never came together when it needed to and in Austria it did, which is great but we need to continue doing that."

Sainz on Verstappen - Mercedes rumours

Renewed talks between the Max Verstappen camp and Mercedes dominated the news agenda last week in Austria, although that was mainly triggered by  George Russell speaking about it in public rather than any major developments.

Carlosa Sainz was also asked about them just now, especially in case a seat opens up at Red Bull, but the Spaniard has given a firm commitment to Williams.

"I think at the moment it looks like it's rumours, I don't know how much truth is going on. But Williams knows that it has my commitment for the next two years and beyond, if the situation allows. I believe in the trajectory we're on and I am very confident with the choice I made."