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What next for Lewis Hamilton?
Juan Pablo Montoya has always had an interesting take on things Formula 1 and he clearly follows it closely even though he left it mid-season 19 years ago. His views…
MPH: Can Red Bull do a 'McLaren' and turn F1 on its head again?
F1
One year ago McLaren scored a shock Miami win, but it proved a changing of the F1 guard – can Red Bull do the same to fight back in Florida this weekend, asks Mark Hughes
Will Red Bull re-enter the picture in Miami as it chases McLaren?
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It’s Miami and we’re coming up to the one-year anniversary of the breakthrough win for Lando Norris and McLaren. The one which established that there was a new performance order in F1 after almost three years of runaway Verstappen/Red Bull success.
It happened very suddenly. Just a couple of weeks earlier in China as Verstappen had scored his fourth win from the first five races, having qualified on pole almost 0.5sec ahead of the best non-Red Bull, it didn’t look much like the end of anything. Just a continuation of ’23 and those 19 wins from 23 races.
Then just like that, McLaren turned up in Miami with the fastest car. It was no fluke either. For much of the rest of the season the papaya cars out-paced the field and the constructors’ title reflected that.
McLaren’s title challenge took off in Miami
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But what had happened? Was some radical new technology introduced to the car in Miami? No. It had an extensive and very effective aero update kit on it (notably with more flexibility in the wings) and a new set of front brake ducts which did a great job of better controlling tyre temperatures. But nothing revolutionary. In fact, it remained a simpler design than the Red Bull but the more the Milton Keynes team tried to respond to McLaren’s speed with aero development, the more it imbalanced its car.
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The Woking squad had perfected how it integrated its simulation tools – the tunnel and CFD – with track reality with a generation of car where that correlation was notoriously capricious. There was no mad rush to be forever bringing new development parts. Just a few focused update packages through the year, with nothing being made until the tunnel and CFD agreed. Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes all comfortably out-stripped McLaren in the number of upgrades they brought to their cars. If the tunnel was giving a green light but the CFD not, then it wouldn’t be made. If everything looked good in CFD but not the tunnel, no dice.
It was about making the two tools agree as closely as possible. Which took time. Because once into the gains made at the incredibly low ride heights these cars run, things can easily go exponential. It became clear that the previous expectation of tunnel and CFD agreeing was no longer always valid. It had become incredibly easy to head up the wrong development path and McLaren’s main rivals all did so as they added forever more new parts.
Verstappen has compensated for the Red Bull’s deficiencies over the past season
McLaren carefully introduced some innovation with the ’25 car, with a front suspension running even more anti-dive, allowing them the platform control these cars need to achieve consistent through-corner balance but without the extreme stiffness of others. That and an aero boost to the underfloor.
It’s taken Red Bull a few wrong turns with a difficult old wind tunnel to reverse out of its response to McLaren’s breakthrough at Miami last year. But might Miami this weekend again be the venue for a new performance order, as Red Bull brings an all-new floor based upon its new understanding? Or will it still be left relying on the genius of its driver to pull a rabbit out of the hat? This weekend might be a crucial inflexion point of the season.
Mark Hughes: All the latest from the finest F1 analyst of his generation
F1
Mark Hughes: Tyre-wrecking Sepang threatens an F1 upset
Mark Hughes dissects how Sepang’s brutally abrasive surface and restricted tyre allocation are turning this weekend into a strategic gauntlet where the right compound choice could matter more than raw pace
Mark Hughes
MPH: Will Ferrari dare to hire Horner AND fix its biggest issue?
Ferrari’s latest leadership rumour ignores two decades of history: swapping team principals won’t work until Maranello hands real power to the person in the role, says Mark Hughes
F1
Mark Hughes: Epic Baku battle a flashback to when F1 was flat-out
George Russell had it his way for most of the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, thanks to an underwhelming McLaren and rare error from Kimi Antonelli. But then came the late safety car
F1
There’s an F1 phenomenon on track at Baku… but nobody has noticed
2026 Azerbaijan GP practice sessions were dominated by analysis of the frontrunners and Arvid Lindblad’s spectacular crash. But under the radar, writes Mark Hughes, one driver is shaking up the midfield with sensational lap times
F1 Show
Podcast: Charles Leclerc vs 21 F1 drivers. His back-of-the-grid challenge in Baku
Motor Sport F1 Show with Mark Hughes
Formula 1 has already seen one heroic drive to victory from the back of the grids this season. What are the chances of a second this weekend in Baku?
F1
MPH: Charles Leclerc could win in Baku – even though he’s starting at the back of F1 grid
Charles Leclerc has four poles but no wins at Baku – a circuit where he excels. Mark Hughes wonders if the Ferrari driver can finally claim victory – despite having to start at the back of the grid
F1
MPH: Lando Norris’s F1 magic deserves more appreciation
Lando Norris’s soaring confidence and an improved McLaren mean we’re witnessing a Formula 1 driver at his outer limits, Mark Hughes argues
F1
Mark Hughes: Too fast to win. How Norris lost Spanish GP to slow-driving Antonelli
Fast enough to build an unassailable lead, Lando Norris was too quick to catch the VSC pit window. And so his flawless F1 Madring weekend ended cruelly, as even the winner acknowledged, Mark Hughes says
F1
Mark Hughes: Super-smooth Madrid circuit is an F1 minefield
With a brand new surface and a tyre-punishing banked Turn 12, Madrid’s inaugural Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix weekend could reshuffle the Mercedes-McLaren-Ferrari pecking order once again, writes Mark Hughes
F1
MPH: Did Piastri really sabotage Norris’s lap? The paranoia of F1’s towing game
A perfectly executed tow gave Pierre Gasly pole at Monza, but behind it lay a familiar F1 story of team-mate distrust, which is sometimes justified, as Mark Hughes explains
F1
Mark Hughes: The new Jim Clark? Antonelli’s Monza win was one of the greatest F1 has seen
The power unit, the passing zones, the red flag – strip them all away and what’s left is still one of the greatest drives in F1 history. Mark Hughes analyses Kimi Antonelli’s Monza masterclass
F1
Mark Hughes: Monza tow is worth a massive 1.5sec – prepare for F1 qualifying controversy
Under 2026’s energy-starved rules, Monza’s tow is way too valuable, and that, Mark Hughes writes, is set to make controversial qualifying shenanigans for the 2026 Italian Grand Prix almost inevitable
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