Sauber's success is an F1 anomaly as teams switch focus to 2026

SILVERSTONE, England (AP) — Sauber celebrated a rare podium finish with Champagne donated by its Formula 1 rivals. After all, this wasn't meant to be its year.

Mercedes sent over a staffer to Sauber bearing bottles of Champagne and a message of congratulations after Nico Hülkenberg's surprise third place at the British Grand Prix on Sunday. It was his first podium as a driver and the team's best finish in 13 years.

Sauber personnel jumped and sang as the sparkling wine was sprayed around the team's hospitality site.

Not bad for a “building year,” as Hülkenberg put it in February. Sauber was one of the teams eyeing 2026 opportunities before 2025 even began.

The biggest rule change in a generation brings smaller cars with movable front and rear wings and more electrical power. Teams who have been also-rans in 2025 have the chance to make a big step forward.

At the halfway point of the 2025 season, Aston Martin, Williams and Sauber — to be rebranded Audi next year — all have ambitious plans for 2026.

Development work at Aston Martin's brand-new wind tunnel across the road from the Silverstone circuit is 99% focused on next year's car, team principal Andy Cowell said Friday.

It's the first Aston Martin overseen by design great Adrian Newey, who's created title-winning cars for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull over nearly 40 years in F1 and is the star signing of the team's new era.

“He pushes the boundaries," Cowell said. “He packages 10 things into the space where only one would normally fit.”

It's been a quiet 2025 on track. Aston Martin had its first double points finish of the season Sunday, with Lance Stroll seventh and Fernando Alonso ninth.

At Williams, driver Alex Albon was testing out 2026 ideas in the simulator before the 2025 season began. The team has invested heavily in behind-the-scenes reforms to recapture its glory days as a serial title-winner in the 1980s and 1990s.

Turning Sauber into the Audi works team brings a new level of expectation, while General Motors joins F1 in 2026 with its Cadillac brand.

Top teams in particular face a tricky question to judge when to stop developing this year's car and go all-in on 2026.

Red Bull was the big winner from the last major changes in 2022 as Max Verstappen won four straight titles. There's big change this time without Newey and with a new engine partnership between its Red Bull Powertrains unit and Ford.

Verstappen's future is unclear amid speculation he could leave for Mercedes. It would be a “disaster” for Red Bull to lose him, McLaren boss Zak Brown told the Associated Press on Saturday.

“Sport goes in cycles," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said last week. “We’ve had two incredibly successful cycles in Formula 1, and what we want to do is build towards the next cycle.”

"Of course we want that to be with Max but we understand the pressure that there is next year, with us coming in as a new power unit manufacturer.”

The last time the rules changed, McLaren showed it's possible to start a new F1 era slowly but evolve into a title contender. It took over two years until the breakthrough win, though.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll of Canada leaves the pit lane during the British Formula One Grand Prix race at the Silverstone racetrack in Silverstone, England, Sunday, July 6, 2025. AP Photo/Andrej Isakovic, Pool)

Kick Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg of Germany steers his car during the British Formula One Grand Prix race at the Silverstone racetrack in Silverstone, England, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Kick Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg of Germany holds the trophy as he celebrates 3rd position during the British Formula One Grand Prix race at the Silverstone racetrack in Silverstone, England, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Kick Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg of Germany, right wearing helmet, celebrates with his teammates for his 3rd position during the British Formula One Grand Prix race at the Silverstone racetrack in Silverstone, England, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

HONG KONG (AP) — Fireworks are typically a celebratory centerpiece of Hong Kong's New Year celebrations. Not this year.

The territory will ring in 2026 without spectacular and colorful explosions in the sky over its iconic Victoria Harbor after a massive fire in November that killed at least 161 people.

The city’s tourism board will instead host a music show Wednesday night featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in Central, a business district that also is home to the famous nightlife hub Lan Kwai Fong. The facades of eight landmarks will turn into giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.

Fireworks have long been part of the city’s celebrations for the New Year, Lunar New Year and National Day. The pyrotechnic displays against Hong Kong’s world-famous skyline of skyscrapers typically draw hundreds of thousands of people including many tourists to both sides of the promenade.

Rosanna Law, the territory's secretary for culture, sports and tourism, acknowledged Tuesday that having no fireworks would affect some hotel and restaurant businesses.

The financial hub’s worst blaze since 1948 broke out at Wang Fuk Court, in the northern suburban district of Tai Po, in late November. The apartment complex was undergoing a monthslong renovation project with buildings covered by bamboo scaffolding and green netting.

Authorities have pointed to the substandard netting and foam boards installed on windows as contributing factors in the fire’s rapid spread. Thousands of affected residents have moved to transitional homes, hotels and youth hostels, struggling to recover from the loss of lives and homes that took them years to buy. The casualties pained many residents across the city.

Past tragedies in Hong Kong have forced similar cancellations of fireworks. They include the 2013 National Day festivities following a vessel collision that killed 39 people on Oct. 1, 2012, and the 2018 Lunar New Year celebration after a bus crash that left 19 dead. During the 2019 anti-government protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple displays also were scrapped.

The origin of fireworks is believed to date to China in the second century B.C., when someone discovered bamboo stalks exploded with loud bangs when thrown into fire, creating the first natural “firecrackers,” according to the American Pyrotechnics Association, a U.S. trade group.

The Guinness World Records organization says the first accurately documented firework, the Chinese firecracker, was created by Li Tian, a monk from China’s Tang dynasty dating to around 618 to 907 C.E. Li discovered that putting gunpowder in enclosed hollow bamboo stems created loud explosions and bound crackers together to create the traditional New Year firecrackers to drive out evil spirits, Guinness said.

People gather at Lan Kwai Fong to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

People attend the New Year countdown event to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

People take selfies at Lan Kwai Fong to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

People pose for photographs at Lan Kwai Fong to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

FILE - Fireworks explode over Victoria Harbour to celebrate the start of 2025 at Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei, File)