Author Profile: Leopold Pleijsier

Leopold Pleijsier

Leopold Pleijsier

F1 Journalist

30310 published articles
11 Oct 2026 latest publication

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

Latest story: Verstappen's daughter is changing his plans for the future

Verstappen pushes GT3 plan as Ford-Red Bull tension grows

Max Verstappen wants 'as much' endurance racing as F1 will allow, and Coulthard now thinks Ferrari, not Mercedes, is where the four-time champion best...

4 comments  | 
8 May 2026

Friday rules talks loom as 2026 power crisis deepens

After Miami's tweaks, F1's 2026 power deficit is back on the table. McLaren wants bigger batteries, Alpine wants answers now, and Ferrari is keeping...

11 comments  | 
8 May 2026

Cadillac stays patient as Aston Martin shadow looms

Cadillac is the only team alongside Aston Martin yet to score in F1 2026, but Mark Reuss, Bottas and Perez insist progress is real...

0 comments  | 
8 May 2026

Newey sidelined as Aston Martin's Honda crisis bites

Adrian Newey's first season at Aston Martin has been broken by illness, and a Honda vibration crisis serious enough to redesign steering parts and...

0 comments  | 
7 May 2026

Ralf Schumacher tells Hamilton to make way for Bearman

Ralf Schumacher's verdict on Hamilton's Miami struggles: enough is enough. The German wants Ferrari to install Oliver Bearman alongside Leclerc, and Russell may be...

7 comments  | 
7 May 2026

Sky lands £1bn F1 renewal as Apple TV looms

Apple's F1 ambitions are stirring panic in European broadcaster boardrooms. F1 has answered by tying Sky's UK rights to 2034, a £1bn lock-in on...

5 comments  | 
7 May 2026

FIA eyes Turkey return if Gulf races stay cancelled

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are already gone. Now Mohammed Ben Sulayem has floated Istanbul as a 2026 contingency if the Iran war eats further...

7 comments  | 
7 May 2026

Switzerland ends 71-year ban on circuit racing

Seven decades after the 1955 Le Mans tragedy outlawed it, circuit racing returns to Switzerland on 1 July, but a Swiss Grand Prix remains...

1 comments  | 
7 May 2026

Canadian GP 2026 Preview: Odds, Stats and Main Contenders

The 2026 Canadian Grand Prix arrives at a point where the Formula 1 season still feels unusually open. The early calendar has already been...

1 comments  | 
6 May 2026

Mercedes asks McLaren for clues as Ferrari eyes ADUO

Mercedes' Miami problem just became a Mercedes-McLaren conversation. The reigning power-unit supplier is reportedly chasing its own customer's software answers.

2 comments  | 
6 May 2026

Krack puts Aston Martin upgrades on the table for Canada

Aston Martin is sending mixed messages on its Canada upgrade plan: Mike Krack is promising changes, days after Fernando Alonso flagged the real fix...

0 comments  | 
6 May 2026

Audi reliability crisis greets McNish on Miami debut

Audi's reliability crisis just upgraded from inconvenient to publicly damaging, and Allan McNish's first weekend overseeing trackside operations couldn't have been worse.

1 comments  | 
6 May 2026

Binotto urges patience on 2026 rules as V8 push grows

A V8 revolt is gathering pace inside F1, but Audi's Mattia Binotto is sitting it out: he says the 2026 hybrid era is doing...

1 comments  | 
6 May 2026

Briatore's faith in Colapinto vindicated by Miami P7

Franco Colapinto's verdict on Drive to Survive's Briatore explosion: he was probably right. After a career-best Miami P7, Alpine's faith in the Argentine looks...

1 comments  | 
6 May 2026

South Africa enlists Ramaphosa for F1 return push

South Africa is taking its F1 return bid past press releases and into the paddock, and Cyril Ramaphosa's ticket is the diplomatic upgrade Kyalami's...

1 comments  | 
6 May 2026

Saudi Arabia refuses to abandon F1 return push for 2026

Saudi Arabia is refusing to let the cancelled Jeddah race die quietly, and F1 is reportedly still trying to fit a replacement into the...

3 comments  | 
6 May 2026

Rosberg warns Wolff: Antonelli vs Russell clash now inevitable

Nico Rosberg's warning to Toto Wolff: the Mercedes flashpoint between Kimi Antonelli and George Russell is coming, and the playbook from Hamilton-Rosberg is sitting...

0 comments  | 
6 May 2026

Mekies says Red Bull must keep climbing to keep Verstappen

Mekies cuts through the relief at Red Bull's Miami step forward: the team must keep delivering, not just to chase Mercedes and McLaren, but...

0 comments  | 
5 May 2026

Ford and Cadillac join V8 chorus as F1 momentum builds

Detroit weighs in: Ford and General Motors openly back F1's V8 revival, joining Wolff, Mekies and Vasseur in giving Ben Sulayem's idea unstoppable momentum.

4 comments  | 
5 May 2026

Wolff cools Antonelli mania as Italy crowns its new hero

Three wins from three poles has set Italy aflame for Kimi Antonelli. Toto Wolff is trying to stop the country burning out its first...

3 comments  | 
5 May 2026

FIA's Ben Sulayem expects Horner return amid Alpine stake battle

Mohammed Ben Sulayem says Christian Horner is 'welcome back', and the available 24% Alpine stake could put him head-to-head with Toto Wolff once again.

1 comments  | 
5 May 2026

Montreal and F2 in talks to make emergency debut permanent

F2's emergency Montreal stand-in, born from cancelled Bahrain and Saudi rounds, is on track to become a permanent Canadian fixture, says boss Bruno Michel.

1 comments  | 
5 May 2026

Hadjar under fire as Red Bull's 'second seat curse' looms

Laurent Mekies stays in Hadjar's corner, but the four-points-to-26 gulf with Verstappen is already reviving talk of Red Bull's notorious 'second seat curse'.

1 comments  | 
5 May 2026

Vesti recalls Bahrain drone chaos that scrapped his F1 test

Frederik Vesti's first proper run in Mercedes' 2026 car was scrubbed by an actual war. The reserve's account of three hours stranded on a...

0 comments  | 
5 May 2026

Why F1 watch parties matter more than ever in 2026

Race day is no longer a solo Sunday, it has become a shared ritual. How F1's expanding fan base is reshaping the way the...

0 comments  | 
5 May 2026

Hamilton wants ADUO engine boost for Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton has put Ferrari forward for F1's ADUO engine concession, insisting the team has 'perhaps the best' car on the grid, only the...

4 comments  | 
4 May 2026

Brown and Mekies meet to defuse Lambiase row

Zak Brown and Laurent Mekies have settled their Miami spat over Gianpiero Lambiase, with the Red Bull boss flagging him as a future TP...

0 comments  | 
4 May 2026

FIA's Ben Sulayem says V8 return 'will happen' in F1

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has put a date on Formula 1's V8 comeback, 2030, even as Carlos Sainz urges drivers to 'stop criticising'...

4 comments  | 
4 May 2026

Zanardi to be laid to rest in Padua on Tuesday

Alex Zanardi will be buried at Padua's Basilica of Santa Giustina on Tuesday, with his mother Anna telling La Repubblica how the 59-year-old's final...

0 comments  | 
4 May 2026

Wolff demands Mercedes' Canada upgrade 'has to work'

Toto Wolff has said the Canada upgrade 'has to work', as Antonelli's three-from-three pole-to-victory record leaves Mercedes scrambling and Russell 20 points adrift.

0 comments  | 
4 May 2026