Key questions and predictions as F1 returns
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- Kimi Antonelli leads the 2026 drivers' championship by 50 points over Lewis Hamilton in second, with up to 316 points still available across 12 Grands Prix and two Sprints — Karun Chandhok calls it "his championship to lose" in only his second F1 season.
- Max Verstappen sits sixth in the standings and has until October to decide whether to activate a break clause in his Red Bull contract for the end of 2026, with Chandhok saying the driver likely doesn't know his own answer yet and is watching how the car develops.
- Fernando Alonso, who turned 45 in July and became a father earlier this year, will decide over the summer break whether to extend into a record-extending 24th F1 season in 2027 — Chandhok says he'll stay only if Aston Martin and Honda deliver a car capable of reaching Q3.
- Aston Martin has been the clear underperformer of 2026's first half due to chassis and Honda engine issues but arrives at Zandvoort with its first long-awaited engine upgrade after a chassis step in Hungary, with Chandhok calling straight-line pace at Spa "shocking."
- F1 returns to Sepang International Circuit in October for the first time in nine years after Malaysia agreed to host the Bahrain Grand Prix, with Chandhok noting the layout offers strong energy-harvesting opportunities for the new 2026-spec cars.
- F1 broke for summer on a run of five different winners in five races — both Mercedes drivers, both Ferrari drivers and McLaren's Lando Norris — with Chandhok predicting Verstappen could rejoin the winners' circle if Red Bull's upgrades deliver.
Why it matters: Mercedes hold just a 72-point constructors' lead over Ferrari — narrower than their pace advantage suggests after reliability setbacks — meaning the team crown is far from decided, while Verstappen has until October to trigger a contract exit that could redraw the entire 2027 driver market.
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