Five years is a long time to wait for a promise to be kept. Honestly, in the world of Formula 1, five years is a lifetime. Drivers retire, teams change names, and the cars themselves become entirely different beasts. But today, at the Mugello Circuit in Italy, one of the sport's most emotional "to-do" list items was finally checked off.
Formula 1 News Today September 26 2025: An Emotional Return at Mugello
The big story dominating the paddock today isn't about championship points or 2026 engine parity. It’s about Romain Grosjean. Most fans remember that terrifying night in Bahrain back in 2020—the fireball, the split chassis, and the miracle of him walking away with only burns to his hands. Mercedes and Haas both promised him a proper send-off test so his last memory of an F1 car wouldn't be "the crash."
Well, it finally happened.
Grosjean spent the day at Mugello behind the wheel of the Haas VF-23. It wasn't just a PR stunt. The guy was actually putting in laps, looking remarkably sharp for someone who hasn't touched these controls in half a decade. He wore the special helmet his children designed for his "final" 2020 race—the one he never got to wear. Seeing that splash of color coming down the main straight was enough to give anyone chills.
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Why the Grosjean Test Matters Now
You might wonder why Haas did this in the middle of a frantic 2025 season. Basically, it’s about culture. Ayao Komatsu, the Haas Team Principal, was actually Romain’s race engineer back in the Lotus days. They’ve got history. Komatsu was there on the pit wall today, coaching him through the radio just like old times. Even Fred Vasseur from Ferrari showed up to watch.
The test took place on a damp track, which Romain joked was "happy weather" for a homecoming. By the time he finished his final stint, the pit lane was a mess of emotions. Mechanics from Ferrari, Red Bull, and Pirelli all came out to give him a standing ovation as he rolled back in. He admitted later that he kept his visor down so nobody could see him crying. Can you blame him?
The 2025 Title Fight: Where Do We Stand?
While the Mugello test provided the heart, the standings are providing the heat. We are currently in that weird "calm before the storm" gap before the Singapore Grand Prix on October 5.
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Lando Norris is sitting on a razor-thin lead in the championship with 423 points. Max Verstappen is breathing down his neck at 421. Two points. That’s it. One mistake in the Marina Bay humidity next week could flip the entire season on its head.
The McLaren Dilemma
McLaren is currently the team to beat, but they’re also their own worst enemy. We saw it at Monza earlier this month—Oscar Piastri is no longer just a "number two." He’s third in the standings (410 points) and has shown he’s willing to fight Norris for every inch of tarmac.
Zak Brown has a headache. Does he force team orders to protect Lando’s lead against Max, or does he let them race? After the Italian Grand Prix drama where Piastri was told to hand a position back, the tension in that garage is thick enough to cut with a front wing endplate.
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2026 Silly Season and The Cadillac Arrival
Looking ahead is basically a full-time job for F1 fans right now. The big news circulating today is the confirmation of the 2026 grid, and it’s a bit of a shake-up.
- Max Verstappen has a new teammate for the 2026 regulations: Isack Hadjar. The rookie has been stellar this year at Racing Bulls, and Red Bull finally pulled the trigger on promoting him.
- Yuki Tsunoda is currently the "odd man out" for 2026, though rumors are flying that he's in deep negotiations with the new Cadillac F1 team.
- Cadillac has already done a shakedown of their 2026 car at a damp Silverstone. Seeing an American manufacturer on track is shifting the business landscape of the sport.
The 2026 rules are a massive reset. We're talking 1,000 bhp with a 50/50 split between the combustion engine and battery power. The cars will be 30kg lighter and narrower. It's supposed to make the racing "nimbler," but the engineers are currently pulling their hair out trying to figure out the "active aerodynamics" that will replace the current DRS system.
Actionable Insights for Fans
If you're following the Formula 1 news today September 26 2025, here is what you need to keep an eye on over the next ten days:
- Singapore Prep: Watch the tire wear data coming out of the simulator sessions this week. Singapore is notorious for "thermal degradation," and if McLaren can't keep their rears cool, Verstappen will pounce.
- Grosjean Content: F1 TV is releasing a full feature on today's Mugello test. It features James Hinchcliffe driving the same car and an in-depth interview with Romain about the closure he finally got.
- Tsunoda's Future: Expect an announcement regarding Yuki before the Japan/Asia leg of the season ends. If he doesn't land the Cadillac seat, we might be looking at a year on the sidelines for one of the grid's most popular drivers.
The 2025 season is peak F1. We have a three-way fight for the title, a legend finally getting his goodbye, and a massive technological shift looming on the horizon. It's a good time to be a fan.