In this article we take you through the F1 news of Tuesday 1 September 2026 so you are up to speed again. Monza dominates the agenda three days out, and the biggest change has nothing to do with the cars: Red Bull has already sorted out who replaces Gianpiero Lambiase’s voice on the radio. Ferrari, meanwhile, spends the day being reminded that its history is rather more flattering than its current championship position.
Red Bull turns to Aston Martin for its next head of racing
Red Bull has appointed Tom McCullough as head of racing, poaching the senior Aston Martin figure to help fill the gap left by Gianpiero Lambiase’s move to McLaren. The timing says as much as the appointment itself: this is a team racing to replace institutional knowledge before it walks out the door for good. Aston Martin loses another senior figure just as it tries to build real momentum around Adrian Newey, and the technical exodus at Milton Keynes shows no sign of slowing.
McLaren finally races its rotating rear wing at Monza
McLaren will run its rotating H-Wing upgrade in competition for the first time at Monza, having first tested the concept back at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The design started life on Ferrari’s car and was shelved by Red Bull after it triggered spins for Verstappen, so racing it now says McLaren trusts the idea more than either rival ever did. Monza’s endless straights are exactly the stage built for shaving drag, and Norris will need every tenth of it to make it three wins in a row.
Newey’s Aston Martin stake comes with strings attached
A fresh investigation lays out Adrian Newey’s shareholding at Aston Martin, showing his roughly 4.7 percent stake is worth well over a hundred million but carries voting rights and little else. Compare that with Woody Johnson’s smaller stake, which buys him a seat at the boardroom table, and it becomes clear Lawrence Stroll has built himself plenty of insurance against his star designer ever cashing out and walking. Newey holds the prestige and the paper wealth, Stroll keeps the actual power.
Ferrari turns Monza into a Schumacher tribute weekend
Ferrari has unveiled a special Schumacher tribute livery for Monza and will send Sebastian Vettel out for a ceremonial lap in the F2002 before Sunday’s race. Thirty years on from Schumacher’s first Ferrari win, the nostalgia is a nice touch and also a handy distraction from a title fight the team is currently losing. Barrichello gets the honour of running the car first, on Saturday, before Vettel takes over on race day, and neither lap changes anything about Hamilton’s 59-point deficit.
Vowles admits Williams built this year’s mess itself
James Vowles has openly admitted that Williams’s 2026 struggles stem from a late, overweight, over-budget car rather than bad luck. Last year’s surprise podiums bred false confidence that carried straight into a new rulebook, and ninth in the constructors’ standings is the bill for that mistake.
Herta gets a third Cadillac audition, this time at Monza
Cadillac have confirmed Colton Herta’s third FP1 outing of the season, again taking Sergio Perez’s car for the opening session at Monza. Perez has yet to score a point all year, and every extra lap Cadillac hands Herta looks less like rotation policy and more like a live audition for his seat.
Antonelli takes a grid penalty into his home turf
Kimi Antonelli heads to the Italian Grand Prix weekend facing a power unit change that will drop him to the back of the grid despite his 59-point championship lead. Losing track position at a circuit where clean air is worth a fortune turns a comfortable weekend into a genuine recovery drive, and hands Russell and Hamilton a rare shot at closing the gap on track rather than on paper.
Vasseur concedes Ferrari didn’t give Hamilton everything
Fred Vasseur has confirmed that Hamilton’s list of requests after a miserable 2025 was not fully met, brake material aside. It quietly undercuts the tidy story of a team reshaped entirely around its new signing, and suggests Ferrari’s patience for special treatment has limits even for a seven-time champion.
Norris warns McLaren still can’t win the title as things stand
Lando Norris says McLaren’s slow-corner deficit to Mercedes is severe enough to cost a championship, even after two wins in a row. Flagging a weakness this bluntly days after signing a deal to 2030 is an odd look, but it also puts pressure squarely on Woking to fix the car rather than lean on his form.
Vasseur says Ferrari will keep developing to the wire
Fred Vasseur insists Ferrari’s upgrade programme will continue until the season’s final race, waving away suggestions the cost cap will force a slowdown. It’s a pointed contrast with Mercedes’ admission that its next big package is not due until Bahrain in October, turning the run-in into a straight fight over who can still afford to go faster.
Steiner tells Ferrari to pick Hamilton over Leclerc
Guenther Steiner argues Ferrari should back Hamilton for the rest of the season, pointing out that Leclerc’s championship math no longer adds up. Zandvoort’s strategic muddle backs him up: Mercedes swap their drivers the moment it helps, Ferrari dithers, and dithering is exactly what a team chasing a 59-point gap cannot afford.
Haas finally bring an upgrade after a barren summer
Haas will introduce a fresh upgrade package at Monza, its first meaningful update since the Canadian Grand Prix in May. Two points scored since then tells you how urgent this is, with Audi now breathing down Haas’s neck for seventh in the constructors’ table.
Gasly loses his first session of the year to Paul Aron
Alpine will put Paul Aron in Gasly’s car for FP1 at Monza to satisfy the mandatory young-driver rule before the season runs out. It is Aron’s ninth F1 outing since 2024 across three different teams, and at this rate he has a stronger case for a seat than most official reserve drivers on the grid.
Monza’s action starts on Friday 4 September with practice, qualifying follows on Saturday, and lights out for the Pirelli Gran Premio d’Italia comes Sunday 6 September, full details on the F1 calendar.
