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Welcome back to Prime Tire, where I’m looking forward to this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix — a Formula 1 race where something always seems to happen.
Austria’s Red Bull Ring has been the scene of plenty of drama over the years — from teammate crashes, to title contenders colliding, fires, a deer that found its way onto the track and plenty of first-lap shunts.
But today, drama is on my mind because of a little spat involving a former F1 driver at last weekend’s NASCAR race in San Diego.
I’m Alex, and Luke Smith will be along later.
Magnussen vs. Gragson: An actual ‘Talladega Nights’ moment
Kevin Magnussen, the veteran of 185 F1 starts (mainly for Haas), one podium for McLaren and the pole position winner at the 2022 Brazilian race, has been popping up quite a bit in this newsletter as of late.
It’s impressive, given he last raced in F1 back in 2024.
Ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in mid-June, the Dane was in good spirits when I interviewed him. Then things didn’t go terribly well when Magnussen started the No. 15 BMW car on pole position for the race the next day (he quickly lost a lot of places) and his car was eventually withdrawn after a crash, a puncture and a mechanical issue.
But K-Mag was quickly back in racing action, making a first NASCAR Cup career appearance at last weekend’s race in San Diego for Trackhouse Racing’s all-star Project 91 team (pictured below).
He ultimately finished 21st and set the race’s fastest lap. But this outing will mainly be remembered for the expletive-laden post-race exchange between Magnussen and Front Row Motorsports driver Noah Gragson. They clashed several times on-track before Magnussen punted Gragson out around the race’s halfway point.
You can watch the video of the clashes here, but it’s clear that Gragson didn’t take too kindly to being wrecked, and Magnussen didn’t appreciate the altercation afterward.
It all got a bit “Talladega Nights” — Ricky Bobby versus Jean Girard.
Remove the swearing, and it’s actually just a weirdly tense encounter between two fired-up sports people. At least in comparison to Gragson being punched by Ross Chastain at the Kansas Speedway three years ago.
This was no unbelievable sass from Magnussen, compared to his famous interaction with Nico Hülkenberg at the 2017 Hungarian GP (that pair eventually got over themselves and made up even before they became teammates at Haas for 2023-2024).
Anyway, the reasons for recapping this in your inbox today are twofold:
It shows how F1 lacks a character like Magnussen these days. One always ready to deliver the unexpected on- and off-track.
The 2026 season could really do with some sort of spice.
Don’t get me wrong, there have been good stories this year so far. There’s Kimi Antonelli’s sudden rise, which so far seems to be one for the ages, while George Russell’s run of misfortune is certainly captivating. Then there was Max Verstappen’s early-year complaints against the new rules, and Lewis Hamilton’s return to form has been engaging.
But a little bit of behind-the-scenes work has played a huge part in some of F1’s greatest stories, from the stunning mistrust between Enzo Ferrari and Juan Manuel Fangio in 1956, through the decades of warring McLaren teammates in 1988 and 1989 and the Mercedes duo crashing into each other at the 2016 Spanish GP.
Antonelli versus Russell in Canada came close, but this season would feel invigorated by a bit of proper beef.
Let’s see what Austria brings.
Now, over to Luke for an early look at an upcoming new race.
Inside the Paddock with Luke Smith: Is this F1’s coolest corner?
Last week, I got the chance to visit the new Madring circuit in Madrid, which will host its first Spanish Grand Prix in September after taking over that race moniker from Barcelona.
You can read a fuller feature in the coming days on The Athletic about my thoughts on the track and the final race preparations, but one thing that really stood out from my trip was the Madring’s headline corner: La Monumental.
It’s 547 meters long and has 24 degrees of banking — the steepest permitted under the FIA’s track regulations. Standing on the corner, it was genuinely a challenge to stay upright and to walk all the way up to the barrier at the top.
I dropped my bottle of water at one point and could only watch helplessly as it rolled down the steep slope.
Luke Smith / The Athletic
We also had a brief scare on entry to the corner when the bus taking the assembled media on a tour of the track started to tip to the right as the camber began to increase, prompting the driver to slow down and drift to the flatter, lower line.
I think on the steepness alone, La Monumental can stake a claim to already be one of F1’s coolest corners.
It’ll be a high-speed sweep just about wide enough for drivers to try different lines, similar to the Hugenholtzbocht at Zandvoort (Netherlands), in their battles. It should look spectacular when the cars are at full speed come September.
I can’t wait.
Back to you, Alex.
Cadillac’s Big Upgrade: American squad to bring new parts to Austria
The Cadillac squad was certainly one of the stories of the 2026 preseason, ahead of its debut campaign.
Things have been quieter since then — other than random rumors cropping up about Valtteri Bottas’ seat and the bizarre story of the Finn’s hire car being stolen in Miami — as the team has settled into life in F1, at the back of the grid.
Cadillac has, however, been introducing regular aerodynamic developments to its MAC-26 car, which included rear wing and cooling changes in Monaco and Barcelona.
In Austria, it will have a “major aerodynamic update” to show off, according to the team’s official pre-event preview:
“(The update will feature) revised bodywork and a new floor. Alongside these performance developments, the team’s livery also evolves this weekend, reflecting a natural refinement of its visual identity as the brand continues to take shape on track.”
All of this sounds intriguing to me — except the corporate speak babble at the very end.
Aero developments should help lap time, and Cadillac should also gain speed when it gets Ferrari’s upgraded engine around the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities allowances, as the Italian manufacturer supplies Cadillac with its F1 engines.
These upgrades could see the team finally edge toward points, which it should’ve done back in Monaco, if it wasn’t for Sergio Pérez’s baffling inability to start in the right spot that day.
The livery change has piqued my interest too, as Cadillac has one of the most interesting color schemes in 2026, with its novel split of white and black across the two sides of the car.
I guess we’ll find out more on Friday, when the MAC-26 hits the track for the first time in FP1, which takes place at 7:20 a.m. ET.
Outside the Points
🏎 Luke looked at the key factors in Hamilton’s recent Ferrari revival, which include improved training, his new engineer and his new relationship.
📣 And, to celebrate International Women in Engineering Day, the official F1 website has this great interview with Laura Müeller, who has been Esteban Ocon’s engineer at Haas since the start of the 2025 season.
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