Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of the RaceFans round-up.
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Preview: The 2026 Belgian Grand Prix (McLaren)
Technical director for applied engineering Neil Houdley: ‘We’re arriving at Spa with a new rear wing assembly, an upgrade we’ve had in the pipeline as part of the car’s development pathway. We’re confident that this update will add a bit of performance to our car, but we are fully aware that after a difficult British Grand Prix, mainly in terms of pure performance, even this round won’t be that easy, so we won’t be expecting any big change in terms of competitiveness.’
‘Spa is one of the great challenges’ – Toto Wolff’s Belgian GP preview (Mercedes)
‘Reliability issues have cost us points, and in a championship this competitive, that is something we cannot afford. There is no value in having the pace if we don’t bring home the result.’
Belgian Grand Prix: Race preview (Haas)
Ayao Komatsu: ‘It’s important we maximise every session from Friday onwards. This is especially the case following two challenging race weekends, where our cars were ultimately not fast enough to challenge for the points-scoring positions. We have a clear test plan in mind, not only to get the best out of the car at Spa, but also to provide valuable feedback to the factory for future development of the VF-26.’
Andrew Flintoff’s Top Gear crash passenger sues BBC Studios (BBC)
‘A racing driver who was in the car with Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff when he crashed while filming Top Gear in 2022 is suing BBC Studios. Paul Rees gave the presenter expert driving advice from the passenger seat, and is now seeking up to £150,000 for personal injury, according to court documents.’
2026 Belgian Grand Prix – Preview (Audi)
Allan McNish: ‘We have been consistently operating at or near the front of the midfield battle and being back in the points after a couple of races finishing just outside of them was a deserved reward for all the work that’s been going on behind the scenes. Most importantly, there were encouraging signs to take from the weekend as a whole: we have been moving in the right direction over the last few events, and now the challenge is to keep delivering at that level consistently.’
RaceFans always endeavours to credit original sources. Want to share a relevant motorsport link with us? Send it in via the contact form.
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to JV and Ridzki!
On this day in motorsport
- 25 years ago today Michael Andretti won the 10th round of the Champ Car IndyCar series on the streets of Toronto, closing within 11 points of championship leader Kenny Brack
- 65 years ago today Wolfgang von Trips won the British Grand Prix at Aintree as he and Ferrari team mates Phil Hill and Richie Ginther swept the podium places
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Social media and links
Preview: The 2026 Belgian Grand Prix (McLaren)
Technical director for applied engineering Neil Houdley: ‘We’re arriving at Spa with a new rear wing assembly, an upgrade we’ve had in the pipeline as part of the car’s development pathway. We’re confident that this update will add a bit of performance to our car, but we are fully aware that after a difficult British Grand Prix, mainly in terms of pure performance, even this round won’t be that easy, so we won’t be expecting any big change in terms of competitiveness.’
‘Spa is one of the great challenges’ – Toto Wolff’s Belgian GP preview (Mercedes)
‘Reliability issues have cost us points, and in a championship this competitive, that is something we cannot afford. There is no value in having the pace if we don’t bring home the result.’
Belgian Grand Prix: Race preview (Haas)
Ayao Komatsu: ‘It’s important we maximise every session from Friday onwards. This is especially the case following two challenging race weekends, where our cars were ultimately not fast enough to challenge for the points-scoring positions. We have a clear test plan in mind, not only to get the best out of the car at Spa, but also to provide valuable feedback to the factory for future development of the VF-26.’
Andrew Flintoff’s Top Gear crash passenger sues BBC Studios (BBC)
‘A racing driver who was in the car with Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff when he crashed while filming Top Gear in 2022 is suing BBC Studios. Paul Rees gave the presenter expert driving advice from the passenger seat, and is now seeking up to £150,000 for personal injury, according to court documents.’
2026 Belgian Grand Prix – Preview (Audi)
Allan McNish: ‘We have been consistently operating at or near the front of the midfield battle and being back in the points after a couple of races finishing just outside of them was a deserved reward for all the work that’s been going on behind the scenes. Most importantly, there were encouraging signs to take from the weekend as a whole: we have been moving in the right direction over the last few events, and now the challenge is to keep delivering at that level consistently.’
RaceFans always endeavours to credit original sources. Want to share a relevant motorsport link with us? Send it in via the contact form.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free