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Vote: Autosport Best of the Month for June 2026

General
Vote: Autosport Best of the Month for June 2026

Why similar Williams and Aston Martin failures are oddly reassuring

Feature
Formula 1
Austrian GP
Why similar Williams and Aston Martin failures are oddly reassuring

McLaren still to investigate why it's losing to Mercedes on the straights, despite same PU

Formula 1
Austrian GP
McLaren still to investigate why it's losing to Mercedes on the straights, despite same PU

Explained: The factors behind WRC’s big 2027 transition and the hurdles it still faces

Feature
WRC
Rally Greece
Explained: The factors behind WRC’s big 2027 transition and the hurdles it still faces

Marquez admits he "didn't want to walk into the paddock" because he "associated it with pain"

MotoGP
Dutch GP
Marquez admits he "didn't want to walk into the paddock" because he "associated it with pain"

Top five roles on Motorsport Jobs this week

General
Top five roles on Motorsport Jobs this week

Autosport Retro video: Remembering the 1987 British GP

Formula 1
British GP
Autosport Retro video: Remembering the 1987 British GP

Williams plans “almost entirely new car” by Azerbaijan GP

Formula 1
Austrian GP
Williams plans “almost entirely new car” by Azerbaijan GP

Abu Dhabi GP: Ferrari says Friday upgrades 'promising'

Pat Fry has described the performance of the upgrades tried by Ferrari in free practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as "promising"

Ferrari ran a modified front and rear wing, among other tweaks, and although Fry admitted that the team had yet to decide whether or not to continue running the parts, he is optimistic.

Fernando Alonso ended the second free practice session in seventh, just over eight-tenths off .

"There are a few new developments on the car and we worked through our programme this morning and this afternoon," he said.

"It's looking promising, but we need to analyse all the data before we decided what to run tomorrow."

For an analysis of the upgrades and development tweaks trialled by the teams during Abu Dhabi practice, click here.

Fry admitted that the priority is for Ferrari to raise its game in qualifying.

Fernando Alonso has not started higher than fourth in the seven grands prix since he took pole position in the wet in Germany.

"We are trying as hard as we can to improve the qualifying performance," said Fry.

"Obviously our race pace is quite reasonable, as last weekend [the Indian Grand Prix] showed.

"We need to work on our qualifying, so we will keep on trying, keep on pushing."

Fry admitted that the team's push to win the drivers' championship in the closing stages of this season has had a knock-on effect on next year's car.

"I suppose we are a little bit later this year than we were last year with the new car, but development on that has been going strongly for quite a while," he said.

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