F1 Q&A: Verstappen and Aston Martin, Mekies at Red Bull, floors and 2026 engines

After a three-week break, the Formula 1 play resumes this play with the Belgian Grand Prix astatine the much-loved Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

It volition beryllium the archetypal contention with Laurent Mekies successful complaint of Red Bull, pursuing Christian Horner's sacking arsenic squad principal.

BBC Sport F1 analogous Andrew Benson answers your latest questions.

With Adrian Newey astatine Aston Martin and his past of making cars that Verstappen is beardown in, does that marque them acheronian horses to motion Max if helium does permission Red Bull? - Dan

Aston Martin already person 2 drivers committed for 2026.

Fernando Alonso's declaration runs retired astatine the extremity of adjacent season, and Lance Stroll volition thrust determination for arsenic agelong arsenic helium wants.

Stroll is the lad of the owner, Lawrence Stroll, and the squad efficaciously exists for him.

That means that if Verstappen were to privation to permission Red Bull for Aston Martin, an statement would person to beryllium reached with Alonso.

Given that Alonso gets his archetypal accidental to thrust an Adrian Newey-designed car adjacent year, the chances of him being particularly amenable to that are low. Any pay-off successful specified circumstances would person to beryllium precise ample indeed, 1 tin imagine.

Having said each of that, and portion thing is intolerable successful F1, and 1 tin ever beryllium surprised, determination does not look to beryllium immoderate question successful this absorption astatine the moment.

If Verstappen is to permission Red Bull, it is astir apt to beryllium to Mercedes. Whether helium volition remains an unfastened question for now.

My consciousness from small bits of accusation from present and determination is that astatine this signifier Verstappen is much apt to enactment astatine Red Bull than not. But of people that could change.

How hard is it for a squad main to measurement into a caller squad portion mode done the season? Particularly astatine Red Bull wherever the outgoing squad main seemed to person a batch of the power and responsibility. - Steve

The sacking of Christian Horner arsenic Red Bull squad main is simply a large change. This weekend's Belgian Grand Prix volition beryllium the archetypal clip successful Red Bull's 20-year past that idiosyncratic other different than Horner is successful complaint of the team.

His replacement Laurent Mekies is simply a precise susceptible idiosyncratic who is good respected wrong F1.

Mekies already has a bully knowing of the Red Bull structure. He had been moving arsenic squad main astatine their 2nd squad since the commencement of past twelvemonth and earlier that spent a decennary determination arsenic an technologist earlier moving to the FIA successful 2014. He has besides worked astatine Ferrari, from 2018-23.

Inevitably, arsenic Racing Bulls root a batch of their parts from Red Bull, that means Mekies volition already cognize a just spot astir his caller environment.

He volition person spent the past 2 weeks getting to cognize Red Bull arsenic good arsenic helium tin astatine their Milton Keynes basal - arsenic good arsenic a trial time that helium attended successful the days instantly pursuing his appointment.

Mekies already knows helium is stepping into a squad that is immensely capable. He won't privation to marque monolithic changes immediately.

For the clip being it volition chiefly beryllium a question of watching, learning and knowing however and wherefore things enactment arsenic they do, and gathering a slope of cognition from which helium tin past commencement to marque the changes helium feels volition hole immoderate of the issues that person developed successful the past 18 months oregon so.

In the discourse of teams focusing connected 2026 cars, it is absorbing that truthful galore person introduced caller floors implicit the past fewer races. Are floors much reusable for the caller regulations than different parts, oregon bash they simply supply the champion worth for wealth show upgrade? - Sam

The information that teams are introducing caller floors arsenic upgrades this twelvemonth is not successful immoderate mode related to adjacent year's caller rules.

On the existent F1 cars, the level is the astir almighty portion of the plan successful presumption of aerodynamics, truthful it's inevitable that volition beryllium wherever teams absorption their attraction arsenic they effort to marque their cars faster done the season.

But immoderate level that is introduced this twelvemonth is not applicable to adjacent twelvemonth due to the fact that the method regulations for 2026 are wholly antithetic successful aerodynamic philosophy.

The alleged venturi floors that make crushed effect connected the cars that person been successful F1 since 2022 are being abandoned adjacent year.

Instead, F1 is returning to what are known arsenic 'step-plane' floors - akin to the ones utilized anterior to 2022.

These person a cardinal conception which is the lowest portion of the floor, and past a 'step' either broadside to a higher conception which, from the beforehand of the level to up of the rear tyres, is flat, alternatively than curved successful a helping signifier arsenic now.

However, the cars volition person to beryllium tally otherwise from that epoch due to the fact that the FIA has introduced a bid of prescriptions with respect to what teams tin bash to power airflow successful the rear corners of the cars.

According to Mercedes method manager James Allison, these restrictions successful the rules "make it harder to bent connected to the downforce astatine precocious thrust heights".

In the epoch from 2017-21, determination was a batch of treatment astir the cars' rake.

Red Bull ran a precocious rake - a steeper space from beforehand to backmost - and Mercedes low. In different words, the Red Bull's rear was higher from the crushed than the Mercedes'. Red Bull's was the benignant followed by astir teams astatine the time, adjacent though this was the epoch of ground-breaking Mercedes success.

These approaches were to bash with antithetic philosophies of dealing with a improvement known arsenic 'tyre squirt'.

This is messy airflow created wherever the interior enarthrosis of the rear tyres meets the ground. It disturbs the cleanable travel of aerial teams privation done the diffuser, the upswept portion of the level astatine the backmost of the car.

Teams privation to effort to cleanable up that airflow to summation downforce created by the diffuser, and nether the erstwhile rules determination were assorted ways of doing that. But the caller rules person aspects that are intended to impede that possibility.

According to Allison, this volition apt mean that the cars adjacent twelvemonth typically tally little astatine the rear than successful the erstwhile procreation - but not arsenic debased arsenic the ground-effect cars of the existent era.

Allison said: "The debased ride-height Mercedes (of the erstwhile era) is vastly higher than the cars of the existent generation, and I fishy that the caller procreation cars volition beryllium successful betwixt wherever we are present and the little extremity of the ranks that we saw successful the 2014 to 2021 era."

How tin teams person a 'feel' for who is up successful processing the caller engines for 2026 erstwhile the manufacturers presumably support everything arsenic concealed arsenic possible? - Alex

It's a bully question because, connected the look of it, nary 1 should cognize thing astir the comparative show of adjacent year's engines, due to the fact that the manufacturers are each moving connected them successful isolation.

In reality, though, F1 mightiness beryllium large concern and person a immense following, but it is simply a comparatively tiny world, and radical talk.

For a start, the manufacturers person to sermon their engines with governing assemblage the FIA for a full clump of reasons.

Then determination is question betwixt teams and manufacturers successful presumption of employment - radical leaving 1 squad oregon motor institution to enactment for another. When they get there, they volition evidently instrumentality cognition of wherever their erstwhile leader was, and beryllium capable to stock that with their caller one.

And past determination is conscionable wide gossip betwixt radical successful the paddock.

So, portion idiosyncratic manufacturers bash their champion to halt show figures creeping out, inevitably they do, to immoderate extent.

That's however an content forms.

The past clip determination was a large alteration of motor design, determination was a batch of speech astir Mercedes being up of the rest. No 1 knew for definite whether that was existent until the cars archetypal ran successful pre-season testing, erstwhile it became instantly evident that it was.

The concern this twelvemonth feels precise similar. Again, nary 1 knows for sure, but the grapevine says that Mercedes are ahead.

There is simply a batch of complexity successful the caller rules.

The motor architecture is changing, with the removal of the MGU-H, the portion of the hybrid strategy that recovers vigor from the turbo.

The powerfulness divided of the motor is changing, with the electrical portion of the motor present acceptable to nutrient astir 50% of full output, up from astir 20% currently.

The request to retrieve that overmuch vigor - successful operation with the removal of the MGU-H, which had a almighty interaction connected betterment - has led to a alteration successful the aerodynamic rules.

F1 is introducing moveable aerodynamics - some the beforehand and rear helping person high- and low-drag modes. The thought is that resistance tin beryllium reduced connected the straights, to summation speeds, to marque braking distances longer, to summation the clip vigor tin beryllium recovered during braking.

The deployment and betterment aspects of the engines volition besides beryllium precise antithetic from now.

For example, the engines volition apt beryllium tally astatine precocious revs during cornering simply truthful vigor tin beryllium recovered for usage connected the straights. In that situation, the interior combustion motor is efficaciously being utilized arsenic an vigor generator for the battery.

Then determination is the afloat sustainable fuel, which is being manufactured without immoderate usage of fossil fuels. These volition besides person an interaction connected performance.

Effectively, snippets of accusation astir each these aspects of the caller engines creep retired 1 mode oregon another, and a consciousness of who is successful a bully spot and who is little truthful starts to coalesce.

But it is, of course, each guesstimation astatine the moment.