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Welcome back to Prime Tire, where today I’m thinking about pasta and coffee at the Italian Grand Prix — and not for the reasons you’d expect.
I’m Alex, and Luke Smith will be along later.
Puzzling Prizes … for the Monza podium
Once again, the topic I was going to lead this newsletter with (Luke’s story on Ferrari’s homage to Michael Schumacher) got pushed down the running order after an email dropped.
Unlike when Cadillac fired its team principal last month, this topic change is just very silly. And it involves crockery and tires.
You see, F1 tire supplier Pirelli is the title sponsor for the 2026 Italian GP, which is also the company’s home race. As a result, Pirelli has supplied the trophy for the last six years in conjunction with the art gallery that occupies one of the company’s former tire factories in Milan.
In 2026, it has chosen a trophy design F1 fans won’t forget in a hurry.
It’s called FRAGILE (shouty caps not what comes to mind for the definition of that word!) and is the work of artistic duo Vedovamazzei (Stella Scala and Simeone Crispino).
It is a pile of silvery cups and bowls. Obviously.
“The commission was awarded to Vedovamazzei, the duo formed by Scala and Crispino, whose artistic practice combines irony with an ability to capture the contradictions and complexities of reality,” Pirelli’s news release said. “Their works often reinterpret everyday objects, highlighting the world’s paradoxical aspects.
“FRAGILE is precisely a layered composition of household objects — cups and small bowls — that take on an unsteady-looking vertical form when stacked on top of each other.”
The trophy is made out of nylon powder that was “painted, galvanized, and polished until it became reflective,” per Pirelli’s news release.
It continued: “The idea for the trophy stems from the ancient tradition of passing a celebratory cup from hand to hand. It served as a large drinking vessel, creating a sense of shared celebration and festivity.”
I both love and loathe it.
It really pricks the absurdity of F1 nicely and adds a sense of normality that is so often lacking in a world of high-tech machines and big-money deals. Yet it also seems wildly out of place, given F1’s “Piranha Club” ethos is all about lionizing the lives of stars, of which most of us can only dream.
Anyway, myself, Luke, Madeline Coleman and Patrick Iversen will be creating our own versions to include in one of next week’s Prime Tire sends. We look forward to reading your gentle artistic critiques of our creations. (And as a reminder, if you ever have questions about F1, send them to us here!)
Schumacher Special: Ferrari honors its five-time champ
The Monza trophy isn’t the only special-looking F1 thing this weekend, as, for the fifth year in a row, Ferrari is arriving at its home race with unique merch to flog a special car color scheme.
For the Italian team, this annual tradition really got going in 2022 — one year after F1 informally relaxed its rules around teams running special car liveries.
Teams still have to get special permission to deviate from their usual season-long designs, and work around the FIA’s specific rules about logos and driver numbers, but approval is much more forthcoming than it used to be.
The reason why is wrapped up in my struck-through sarcasm about merch above: Both the FIA and the F1 organization recognize the commercial gains from allowing teams to either promote specific sponsors with one-off designs at certain races or bring in more consumer cash around limited releases of accompanying merch.
In 2022 and 2023, Ferrari did this by adding yellow splashes to its cars and driver race kit for the Monza race. In 2024, its Italian GP car looked the same as other races that year, but its drivers were adorned with special black kit.
At this race in 2025, the team ran what is basically its 2026 livery — an homage to legendary Ferrari driver Niki Lauda, with extra white around the cockpit as the team had on Lauda’s 312T car from 1975, on the 50th anniversary of the Austrian’s famous first title triumph that year.
In 2026, Ferrari’s Monza special is honoring one of its other champions with two or more F1 titles: Schumacher. Specifically, the German driver’s victory in the Italian GP in 1996, when he won in front of the tifosi during his first appearance at Monza in Ferrari red.
The 1996 Ferrari was terrible (due to problems with its steering and aerodynamics, plus poor reliability). But its clean livery and gold-colored wheels raise wonderful memories of Schumacher’s heroics to win two more races that year (including a sensational first Ferrari victory in the soaking 1996 Spanish GP) for Ferrari fans.
If you want to learn more about how teams plan and produce one-off car liveries — including clearing space on their regular designs for coming changes that might mean more paint or stickers are needed, keeping in mind strictly controlled car weight — Madeline has an excellent explainer here.
Now, over to Luke for an update on some actual news of consequence in the F1 world today.
Inside the Paddock with Luke Smith
If your social media algorithm looks anything like mine the last few weeks, you may have seen some posts promoting tickets and packages for the final two races of the F1 season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
That’s despite ongoing uncertainty over those events even happening amid the war in the Middle East, which has already forced the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races back in April.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has already confirmed that a further decision on the remaining Middle East races will be made in mid-September. If they can’t go ahead, F1 will return to Europe — most likely Imola in Italy — to conclude its season with just one replacement round.
So why does it seem like business as usual for Qatar and Abu Dhabi? Because, as of right now, nothing’s been said firmly to the contrary. They’ll proceed as planned until told otherwise, and that includes selling tickets.
In a Qatar Motorsport and Motorcycle Federation Q&A, its president, Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Latif Al Mannai, said plans were continuing for both F1 and MotoGP races in late 2026. A report from The Race suggests the latter is already on the verge of being canceled.
“For us, we cannot stop the plans,” said Al Mannai. “We have to be ready. We are taking it one step at a time to see the situation and assess. But so far, everything is good. Everything is a go-ahead.”
The next couple of weeks should bring clarity on F1’s plans for the end of the year.
Back to you, Alex.
Outside the Points
❗Red Bull is hiring former Aston Martin stalwart engineer Tom McCullough to be its new head of racing (essentially chief engineer for its race team) beginning in 2027.
🇬🇧 McLaren’s Lando Norris is the latest big hitter to sign on with his current team for many more years to come. Luke has the full story here.
‼️ And, staying with McLaren, the team is finally set to race its version of Ferrari’s rotating rear wing, which it has dubbed the “H-Wing” to make an airline sponsor happy, but which also evokes memories of its actual “F-Duct” innovation from 2010. Pat tells me there’s already a Star Wars ship called the “H-Wing,” so probably best we leave things at that!
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