Formula 1: The mid-season report

The first half of the 2026 season ended with victory for Lando Norris, his first as reigning World Champion, and he’s followed it up immediately with another superb performance in Holland. I’ll be honest, when I watched the Australian GP at the start of the season, I was concerned we were in for a snoozefest with Mercedes dominating. We have, after all, seen that before. But as the races unfolded, I’ve been encouraged and impressed to see just how much the pack has caught up.

In the last seven race weekends Lando has outscored everyone else, 15 points more than the teen sensation Antonelli who still sits atop of the overall points table. The extent to which this underlines the progress McLaren has made from having two cars not even start round two of the championship in China earlier this year would be hard to overestimate.

At the final Dutch Grand Prix for the foreseeable future, I wondered whether the four-week gap summer break might bring with it a reset in the pecking order. It became pretty clear from the outset that not only were McLaren going to be right in the fight with Mercedes, but that Ferrari also looked competitive. The only disappointment was Red Bull seeming further behind than anticipated.