Allan McNish says he has felt “more nervous” on the Audi pit wall than at any point in his driving career, after his first race weekend as the team’s racing director in Miami. McNish said: "Well, I'm actually more nervous now than any time before!"
Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin are right to hold off on bringing small upgrades during their struggling 2026 campaign because marginal gains would not change their position until the team can unlock a much bigger step with its Honda-powered AMR26. Alonso said: "I'm at peace because I understand the situation. The team explained to me that if we bring one or two tenths every race, it doesn't change our position, we are P20 or P19 and the next car is one second in front. So, even if we bring two tenths every race, it doesn't change our position and it's a huge stress in the system, in the budget cap and things like that. Until we don't have one second and a half or two second improvement, it's better not to press the button in production because we waste money."
F1 TV presenter James Hinchcliffe says Mercedes driver George Russell could end team-mate Kimi Antonelli’s winning streak at the Canadian Grand Prix because Russell has been “very competitive” at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Hinchcliffe said: "Nothing lasts forever in Formula 1, right? And we're going to a track next that we know George Russell is very competitive at. He won there last year. It'll be interesting to see how he handles it if George goes there and is able to get the momentum back on his side. How does he handle that wave ebbing and flowing?"
Colton Herta says he has a “weird” cockpit habit of pushing the pedals with his toes rather than with his heel planted, which is why he does not like using a heel rest as he prepares for his Cadillac Formula 1 debut in Barcelona FP1. Herta said: "The only thing that's weird about me is I don't like to run a heel rest, and that's because when I push the pedal, instead of going on like this, I actually push with my toes, and so my heel comes up. And so if I run a heel rest, then I can't get forward with my heel. It kind of stops it."
2025 F1 Academy champion Doriane Pin says racing in Formula 1 is now a goal rather than a dream after testing a Mercedes F1 car. Pin said: "But from when I was nine until a few years ago, it was a dream - Formula 1. And now it's a goal. It's a bit different. And now I have proved to myself that I can be fast in a Formula 1 car, I don't know what to say to my nine-year-old Doriane, but I think that it's important to follow what is inside your heart, and your gut."
Guenther Steiner says Formula 1 should introduce a time limit for post-race penalties after stewards at the Miami Grand Prix took about two and a half hours after the chequered flag to begin issuing verdicts. Steiner said: "The stewards because I was sitting in the airplane already going back home when I heard that there was still penalties going around. So I'm just thinking, we need to decide it after the race, but I think there needs to be a time limit. If you don't know, guess what? Don't give a penalty."
Toto Wolff says Mercedes is open to a future return of V8 engines in Formula 1 as long as it keeps a meaningful level of electrification, with the Mercedes team principal setting out a hybrid “mega-engine” idea. Wolff said: "From a Mercedes standpoint, we are open to new engine regulations. We love V8s, that has only great memories, and from our perspective, it is a pure Mercedes engine. It revs high [but] then how do we give it enough energy from the battery side to not lose a connection to the real world? Because if we swing 100% to combustion, we might end up looking a bit ridiculous in 2031, or 2030. So we need to consider that and make it a mega-engine. Maybe we can extract 800 horsepower from the ICE and put 400 on top of it, or more, in terms of electric energy."
Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies says the company would welcome Formula 1 switching from turbo hybrids back to normally-aspirated V8 or V10 engines for the next engine cycle, after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said the change could happen in 2030 or 2031 with battery systems in place. Mekies said: "As Red Bull Powertrains, we are pretty cool with it. So we are quite excited to have another challenge, and we are probably a bit more flexible and independent. We don't have the background history, but we are quite excited about the new challenge."
Lando Norris says Formula 1 cannot fully fix the current energy-management issues for drivers as long as the regulations are dominated by battery management, despite describing the Miami deployment tweaks as a “small step in the right direction”. Norris said: "It's a small step in the right direction, but it's not to the level that Formula 1 should still be at yet. If you go flat out everywhere and you try pushing like you were in previous years, you still just get penalised for it. You still can't be flat out everywhere... So honestly, I don't really think you can fix that. You just have to get rid of the battery."
Carlos Sainz said Williams is “not where we want to be”, as he pointed to the end of the year as the target for the team to get back to its expected level after finishing ninth with Alex Albon 10th in Miami. Sainz said: "Still, I expect everyone at home to know that this is still not where we want to be, even if it feels to everyone that it's a bit of a relief because of getting two cars in the points. Even if it's on merit, it's definitely a good step, but we need to keep on pushing because it's not where we expected to be at the end of last year when we were hoping for 2026. Hopefully, by the end of the year, we can get back to where we want to be."
Williams boss James Vowles said delays on the team’s 2026 FW47 build – and the car ending up overweight – came down to planning and software mistakes, with “hundreds” of small issues adding up once Williams pushed a more aggressive programme. Vowles said: "We made a lot of changes a few years ago, putting in different ways of doing planning, different ways of structuring, different ways of working, and this was the first proper car build where all of those were brought into account. I think we have made some mistakes on some of that software that we've been using. And when we went through effectively a global review of all of that, it's tiny, small details, but hundreds of them starting to add up."
Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin’s vibration issue from its Honda power unit is now “gone” after extensive testing at Honda’s Sakura base and confirmation on track in Miami. Alonso said: "Gone, I would say gone. So it was a relief to see the vibrations that we measured in Sakura are confirmed on track [in Miami]."
Guenther Steiner says Aston Martin have “no excuse” for their poor start to the 2026 season, with the team last in the constructors’ standings on zero points after the first four rounds despite extensive investment and high-profile hires including Adrian Newey. Steiner said: "Nobody expected them to come to this season as ill-prepared as they came. Because they've got everything in place. They've got the people, they've got the facility, they've got the money. So, there is no excuse for them to be in this position."
Oscar Piastri said he was surprised by Red Bull’s pace at the Miami Grand Prix, after Max Verstappen was able to run near the front. Piastri said: "I would say yes. It wasn't a big surprise to see Mercedes and Ferraris — and especially Charles [Leclerc], who looked good [in Miami] — be competitive. I think to see Max up there was a bit of a surprise. So I think it just goes to show that, at the moment, things are very random, depending on who gets it right, who gets it wrong."
Kimi Antonelli says Mercedes cannot afford complacency and must keep pushing its development after McLaren’s big step with its upgrade package at the Miami Grand Prix. Antonelli said: "I have really good confidence in the car. Obviously, we're in a great momentum. Hopefully, the package is going to work as we hope, but also McLaren is bringing another package, and the step they made [in Miami] was very big. So, we just have to keep pushing, keep raising that bar, because we saw this weekend how much it flipped compared to the first three races. So, we just got to stay on top of the game."
Franco Colapinto says he was surprised by how much Lionel Messi knew about Formula 1 after they met in Miami. Colapinto said: "It was something I've always dreamed of, and just having the opportunity of meeting him and having his time was a very special moment. He actually knew quite a lot. He surprised me, and he was asking questions, and I was very surprised, and asking about the roadshow."
Charles Leclerc says Ferrari must be “perfect” in development to keep pace with rivals in 2026, after admitting other teams’ upgrade packages in Miami were “probably a little bit better”. Leclerc said: "The upgrade package is working. The thing is, others are pushing as well, and probably their upgrade package was a little bit better. We've got other things coming soon, and hopefully that will help us to get back a little bit in front. It's fine details, but with this generation of cars, especially on this first year, it will all be about the development. So we have to make sure we do everything perfect in terms of development."
Juan Pablo Montoya said Formula 1 races in the V8 era were “so boring” as the prospect of V8s returning is discussed, after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said: “It’s coming.” Montoya said: "People say, 'Oh, your time was so good', I say, 'Watch a race, it's so boring.' It was sometimes like a short test session."
Lando Norris says Mercedes have the edge over McLaren in high-speed corners, which he felt prevented him getting close enough to challenge Kimi Antonelli for victory at the Miami Grand Prix. Lando Norris said: "I don't believe we were as quick as the Mercedes in outright [pace]. I'm not taking anything away from Kimi, he did a very good job. There were just moments and certain places; like the high speed, where we know they're a bit better, and that never gave me an opportunity to get close enough on the back straight and start something."
Oscar Piastri says Mark Webber has “less and less” to do on the racing side of his career as Piastri gains experience in Formula 1, after Webber stepped back from a trackside role ahead of the 2026 season. Piastri said: "And I think just with experience, we're always learning every day, but now starting my fourth year, I have either the answers to a lot of those kinds of questions that I wouldn't have had in the first couple of years, or I know the questions to keep asking, which just comes with experience. There's naturally less and less for Mark to do on the racing side of things the more experienced I become."
David Coulthard says Max Verstappen would be a better fit at Ferrari than Mercedes if he leaves Red Bull. Coulthard said: "I think that Max actually, as a shoo-in, fits better to the Ferrari world than the Mercedes world. I know that they have this good relationship and I know that he's racing a Mercedes in the GT3 events that he does. But the freedom to be Max, I think would be a more comfortable fit at Ferrari because you would just turn up, drive quickly, presumably win the races and then head home."
Martin Brundle says he "took a bit of stick" for leaving the BBC to join Sky ahead of the 2012 season, but felt Sky’s commitment to a dedicated Formula 1 channel showed it was serious about the sport, after the broadcaster agreed a new deal to keep the UK and Ireland rights until at least 2034. Brundle said: "I joined in 2012 and took a bit of stick at the time for daring to leave the BBC, but I saw a commitment from Sky to Formula 1 for the future. My goodness, [the new] deal means there'll be at least 22 years of that. As soon as they told me they were going to do a dedicated Sky F1 channel, I thought: 'Right, this is serious. I need to be part of this.'"
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