What's new

Formula 1 - 2024 Season

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the pace in practice at the Austrian Grand Prix ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri

McLaren's Lando Norris, who has been Verstappen’s most consistent challenger over the past five races, was on a quick lap but ran wide at Turn Four and ended up 13th.

Norris had set the fastest first sector time before his error, suggesting the Briton will again be competitive.

McLaren have introduced a new front wing for this weekend which they hope will further improve their performance, especially in slow-speed corners.

Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who were quickest in the early part of the session, did not do a run on the soft tyre others late on.

They dropped to fifth and eighth on the timesheets as others did qualifying simulation runs late on.

Verstappen was 0.276 seconds quicker than Piastri, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third fastest and 0.370secs off the pace, just ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz.

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was sixth fastest ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

Behind Russell, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso completed the top 10.

In a hectic session which is the only practice teams get before qualifying for the sprint race later on Friday, Verstappen caused a brief red flag when his engine cut out on the pit straight.

It was a concerning moment for Red Bull as the Dutchman is already on the verge of a grid penalty for excessive engine usage as a result of a failure in Canada two races ago, which took him up to the limit of four engines for a season.

But after he was wheeled back to the pits the team managed to restart the car and he completed the rest of the session without problem.

No final decision has been made on the Canada engine but it is expected to be written off, although some parts may be salvaged from it.

That means a grid penalty at a future race, possibly before the summer break in August, is likely for the world champion.

Source: BBC
 
Max Verstappen edged out Lando Norris by just 0.093 seconds to take pole position for the sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix

Verstappen, the last of the front-runners to cross the line, despite being unhappy with his tyres as a result of a chaotic end to the session and crowded track.

Oscar Piastri made it a McLaren two-three, 0.301secs off the Dutchman, ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

The Spaniard’s team-mate Charles Leclerc failed to get around to the line in time before starting his flying lap at the end of the session and will start 10th.

Lewis Hamilton, who ran off track a number of times during the session, ended up sixth, ahead of another disappointing performance from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who was 1.322secs slower than his team-mate.

The Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were eighth and ninth.

The last two races have devolved into a fight between Verstappen and Norris for supremacy and so it was in sprint qualifying at the Red Bull Ring.

But whereas Norris pipped Verstappen to pole in Spain last weekend, the world champion was fastest in every session in the shortened qualifying session that is held for the sprint and always looked most likely to take pole.

In fact, Norris appeared to struggle through the first two sessions, in which he was only fourth and seventh, but pulled out a strong lap when it mattered.

First Russell, then Piastri set the pace, before Norris moved the goalposts by a large amount for such a short lap, only for Verstappen to re-establish himself at the front with the final lap of the session.

The crowd, a large portion of which have travelled from the Netherlands to support him in their trademark orange tops, cheered him across the line at what is Red Bull’s home race on a track they own.

Verstappen said: “It is great to be first here in front of basically my home fans my home grand prix, it has been a good day so far. It has been nice to drive the car. Immediately it was well balanced.

"Of course you make some small changes before spring qualifying and everything has been working really well.”

Norris said: “I never got quite comfortable until my final lap so I am quite happy with that. Close. It must have been a nice lap by Max and (it’s) a good position for the sprint tomorrow.”

Leclerc suffered an engine problem at the end of the pit lane as the cars went out for the single lap which settles the sprint qualifying session.

His car went into anti-stall and then the engine stopped. By the time he had gone through the process of restarting the car, he did not have enough time to get around to the line before the chequered flag came out.

Hamilton ran off track twice in the first session, first at the first corner and then at Turn Six. The second damaged his floor, which cost him about 0.2 seconds, according to Mercedes’ initial investigations, with more to follow. The seven-time champion ended up 0.216secs off Russell’s time.

He said: “I wasn’t in the mix the whole session. It was pretty disastrous from my point of view. Car felt good, I don't think we had the pace to be on pole but very bad laps.”

Source: BBC
 

Verstappen wins Austria sprint with Norris third​


Max Verstappen fought off an early onslaught from the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to win the sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix

Norris challenged Verstappen hard in the early laps before losing second place to Piastri as the Briton challenged the Red Bull for the lead on lap five.

Norris came back at Piastri in the second part of the race but could not get close enough to mount an attack.

The Australian led Norris in a McLaren two-three ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes.

Russell passed Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari into Turn Four on lap eight but team-mate Lewis Hamilton was not able to follow him through and had to settle for sixth.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took seventh from 10th on the grid after a technical problem in qualifying and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez the final point in eighth.

The first half of the race saw six cars nose-to-tail at the front of the field as Verstappen led Norris, Piastri, Sainz, Russell, Hamilton and Leclerc, who made three places on the opening lap.

The McLarens look threatening behind Verstappen, their pace in the slow corners and long straights of the first sector offset by the Red Bulls in the sweeping faster corners of the second and third.

Norris mounted an attack on Verstappen, threatening him into Turn Four on lap four before his big move on lap five.

Norris attacked into Turn Three, leaving his braking very late, and claimed the lead into the corner only for Verstappen to come back at him and mount a very similar move into Turn Four.

That led to both running wide through the corner and Piastri took advantage to get alongside Norris on the exit.

The McLarens ran side by side towards Turn Six, and although Norris was on the inside, Piastri was slightly ahead on the outside and the Briton backed out to give his team-mate the place.

Norris bided his time and came back at Piastri in the closing laps but with his tyres now beginning to suffer could not quite challenge.

www.bbc.com

Austrian GP: Max Verstappen wins sprint with Lando Norris third

Max Verstappen fights off an early onslaught from the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to win the sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix.
www.bbc.com
 
Last edited:

Verstappen storms to pole position in Austria as he heads Norris and Russell​

Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix after a commanding performance in Saturday’s qualifying, beating closest challenger Lando Norris by four tenths of a second.

Having set an impressive early benchmark in the initial laps of Q3, Verstappen bettered his time on his second effort to a record a lap of 1m 04.314s in the Red Bull. Norris was 0.404s back for McLaren in second, while George Russell slotted his Mercedes into third.

The Ferrari of Carlos Sainz took fourth, ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes in fifth and the other Scuderia car of Charles Leclerc in sixth, who had an off-track moment on his final lap. Oscar Piastri, meanwhile, was dropped down to seventh after exceeding track limits in the McLaren.

Sergio Perez claimed P8 for Red Bull, while Nico Hulkenberg went ninth fastest for Haas but will be investigated after the session for two separate pit lane incidents. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon rounds out the top 10.

www.formula1.com

2024 Austrian Grand Prix qualifying report and highlights: Verstappen storms to pole position in Austria as he heads Norris and Russell | Formula 1®

Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix after a commanding performance in Saturday’s qualifying, beating closest challenger Lando Norris by four tenths of a second.
www.formula1.com www.formula1.com
 

Russell wins Austrian GP after late Norris-Verstappen collision​


George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix after a collision between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris while they were fighting for the lead.

Verstappen was given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Norris after he moved over on the McLaren driver while Norris was trying to pass. The Briton was forced into retirement.

It was a controversial climax to a battle over several laps as each complained about the other’s driving.

Russell’s win was Mercedes’ first since the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix. He was under pressure from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in the final laps but was able to maintain his winning advantage.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took the final podium position ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who finished fourth despite a five-second penalty for crossing the white line on pit entry for his first stop.

Verstappen crossed the line in fifth place, and held it despite his penalty because Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas was 23.7 seconds behind.

Verstappen had appeared to be cruising to victory with a seven-second lead over Norris before his final pit stop, even though the McLaren had been closing in on the Red Bull and the world champion complaining his tyres were losing grip in the final laps of that stint.

But a slow stop for Verstappen as both pitted together for their final stops, and the choice by Red Bull to fit a set of medium tyres which had three laps of use on them while Norris had a new set, set up a grandstand finish.

Verstappen and Norris rejoined the track with the McLaren just 1.7secs behind and the Briton was on his tail within two laps.

They fought hard for several laps. Norris complained that Verstappen made an illegal move under braking when he attacked at Turn Three on lap 55, with 15 to go.

Norris then passed the Red Bull into Turn Three on lap 59, only to run off the track on the exit, which earned him a five-second penalty for abusing track limits because he had already been given a black-and-white flag for the same offence.

After another close run through Turns Three and Four, Norris then came on the radio to say Verstappen was repeatedly moving under braking and responding to his attacks in ways that are not allowed.

The critical moment came on lap 62. Norris attacked on the outside and Verstappen moved back towards him as they approached the corner.

The two cars touched, and both suffered punctures - Verstappen on the left rear and Norris on the right rear and that was the end of their chances of victory.

Verstappen managed to get around to the pits without too much damage as his tyre stayed intact, but Norris’ tyre flailed on the rim and tore his rear body work apart and McLaren were forced to retire the car.

Verstappen scoffed at the 10-second penalty he was given for the incident but former F1 driver Jack Aitken, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Live, said: “It’s very clear to me that Verstappen overstepped the mark. He was pushing the limits and it’s very clear from the rules by the book he was reacting too late.

“It’s a very difficult track to stay clean on but you still have to leave room for your competitors, leave them space if they come up the inside, and he wasn’t doing that today.

“He was lucky not to get a penalty before and the penalty for the incident with Norris was deserved.”

Finishing fifth means Verstappen still extends his championship lead, which is now 81 points over Norris heading into next weekend’s British Grand Prix.

www.bbc.com

Austrian GP: George Russell wins as Norris-Verstappen collide

George Russell wins the Austrian Grand Prix after a collision between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris while they were fighting for the lead.
www.bbc.com
 
What a race can’t believe Max and Lando! Looks like the friendship is over 😂 no way George deserved to win
 
Former Mercedes engine chief Cowell to join Aston Martin

Former Mercedes Formula 1 engine chief Andy Cowell is to join Aston Martin as their new group chief executive officer.

The 55-year-old Briton masterminded the production of the engine with which Mercedes became the most successful team in Formula 1 history from 2014-21.

The role puts Cowell in overall charge of the Aston Martin F1 team under owner Lawrence Stroll.

Cowell is expected to be joined at Aston Martin by Ferrari chassis technical director Enrico Cardile.

A high-level source in F1 has told BBC Sport that Cardile has already signed a contract to join Aston Martin, but the team have refused to confirm his move.

Cowell, whose new role was announced officially on Tuesday, will replace Martin Whitmarsh as Aston Martin CEO from 1 October.

Whitmarsh, 66, a former chief executive officer and team principal of McLaren, will hand over his responsibilities before the end of the year, an Aston Martin statement said.

Cowell will be charged with making the team a success as it enters a new era with engine partner Honda from 2026, when F1 is introducing new chassis and power-unit regulations.

Stroll said: “I am delighted to welcome Andy to our team at a crucial time.

“We are on track to become a world championship winning team. Andy has my full backing and will have every resource available to win.”

Cowell said it was an “exciting time” to be going Aston Martin following the completion of the team’s new factory at Silverstone, which has a new wind-tunnel coming on stream later this year, and the start of the Honda era.

Whitmarsh has a long relationship with Cowell through their shared history when Mercedes were McLaren’s works partner in the early 2000s.

Whitmarsh said: “I have known Andy for many years and brought him to Mercedes High-Performance Powertrains in 2004, where he became managing director between 2013 and 2020, achieving huge success in the business and sport.

“He will be an incredible asset to Aston Martin and will make a significant contribution to the execution of our strategy going forward.

“Andy’s arrival in October and the completion of the AMR Technology Campus will allow me to step away and focus on other projects in my life, knowing that the foundations have been established with an impressive team, inspiring vision and advanced facilities to achieve success in F1.”

On the subject of Cardile, an Aston Martin spokesperson said: “The Aston Martin F1 team is a very appealing project with Lawrence Stroll’s vision, a state of the art new Technology Campus and exciting partnerships.

“Many high-profile individuals across all areas of the team are linked to the project but we don’t have anything to announce.”

Aston Martin leapt from the midfield to be regular podium contenders at the start of 2023 but have suffered a slump this year.

After a relatively strong start to 2024, with several top-six qualifying positions for lead driver Fernando Alonso, they have been struggling to make it into the top 10 in recent races and are fifth in the constructors’ championship after 11 of 24 races.


BBC
 
Alpine sign engineers from Red Bull and Ferrari

Alpine have signed senior engineers from Red Bull and Ferrari as part of a restructure aimed at moving the team towards the front of the grid.

The three engineers started work for Alpine this week in the roles of chief aerodynamicist, head of vehicle performance and deputy chief engineer.

An Alpine spokesperson said: “It is pleasing that an increased number of top talents are joining the team as we continue to enhance our technical structure across our three key pillars: aerodynamics, performance and engineering.

“The team is growing World Championship-winning potential across the board in order to be contenders at the front of the grid once again.”

Michael Broadhurst has joined Alpine as chief aerodynamicist from his previous role as principal aerodynamicist at Red Bull. Before that, he was deputy head of aerodynamics at McLaren.

Head of vehicle performance Vin Dhanani was also recruited from Red Bull, where he was vehicle performance team leader.

Jacopo Fantoni, Alpine’s new deputy chief engineer, was previously at Ferrari’s head of simulation in the design office.


BBC
 
2026 is goona be crazy with the new design. A lot of the lower end teams like Alpine and Williams are investing big $ into development including poaching personnel. The Mercedes era is over sadly.
 
offstump said:
2026 is goona be crazy with the new design. A lot of the lower end teams like Alpine and Williams are investing big $ into development including poaching personnel. The Mercedes era is over sadly.
Click to expand...
Mercedes are quietly confident with the new regulations. They sucked at aero at it showed but new regulations are about engine and electrical power which is Mercedes' strong suit. I expect title challenge between Antonelli and Max. It will be crazy volatile crashes between two hot heads.
 

British drivers praise ‘phenomenal’ Bearman as they share views on F1’s newest signing​


Ollie Bearman has been welcomed with open arms by Formula 1’s British contingent of drivers following the announcement that he will make his full-time debut in the sport at Haas next year.

Ferrari-backed Bearman impressed many in the paddock earlier this season when he stepped in for the unwell Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, almost reaching Q3 and then scoring points on race day.

The British racer, 19, currently competes in feeder series F2, placing sixth overall at the end of his rookie 2023 season with four race wins, and taking his first victory of an up-and-down 2024 campaign last time out in Austria.

A previous ADAC and Italian F4 champion, and third-place finisher in F3, Bearman has been backed by Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Lando Norris to flourish as he makes the next step in his fledgling career.

“He did a phenomenal job earlier on this year,” Hamilton said of Bearman’s showing at Jeddah. “He’s a bright young talent.

“I think it’s great that the UK is pumping out a lot of great, young, talented drivers. I would say Silverstone and the BRDC [British Racing Drivers’ Club] have been a part of that, because they do invest in... a lot of the sport’s younger and up-and-coming drivers.

“I think it’s amazing for the sport. It takes the pressure off all of us [fellow British drivers]. At least hopefully one of the Brits will be up there.”

George Russell echoed his Mercedes team mate’s views as he said: “Clearly Ollie’s a great driver. It’s great to see four Brits on the grid, and I think it just goes to show the strength of British motorsport.

“I think when we raced in karting, the competition was so, so high, and I think that translates into next year; 20 per cent of the grid, obviously Alex [Albon] half-British as well, so it’s great to see him there and I’m sure he’ll do a great job.”

Norris, meanwhile, commented: “I think he showed in Saudi how good of a job he can do, even under the pressure he was [under] to perform and get so much out of the car in his first weekend, so I’m excited to see him on the grid next year and look forward to racing him.”

Hamilton was later asked if he plans to take Bearman “under his wing” next year, given that the seven-time world champion will be joining the Ferrari team who have long supported the youngster’s motorsport journey.

“No, I’ve not been asked to, and it’s not even been a thought,” he began. “I think he’s a sharp enough young lad.

“Naturally, as one of the older drivers here, my door is always open if anyone every has any questions, or any advice that’s needed.”

www.formula1.com

British drivers praise ‘phenomenal’ Bearman

Ollie Bearman has been welcomed with open arms by Formula 1’s British contingent of drivers following the announcement that he will make his full-time debut in the sport at Haas next year.
www.formula1.com www.formula1.com
 
Verstappen & Norris 'both happy to race' after clash

Max Verstappen says he and Lando Norris "agreed with 99% of everything" when they discussed their Austrian Grand Prix clash this week.

The pair, who collided while fighting for the lead at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday, resume battle at the British Grand Prix this weekend.

Verstappen revealed he "cared about maintaining his relationship" with Norris because "we are great friends".

During their talk this week, the world champion said he told the McLaren driver they could trust each other when racing closely.

Verstappen added: "We go at it flat out - that's what we agreed. That's what we like to do and that's what's good for F1 as well."

Briton Norris said: "It's clear how he races. It's tough, it's on the limit, it's what I love. I thoroughly enjoyed the fight I had with him.

"The more I've thought about it, the more I think it's just racing. It was good racing, very close to the edge at times. We've spoken about it and we are both happy to go racing again."

Their battle ended when they touched while Norris was trying to overtake Verstappen around the outside and both suffered punctures, a collision for which the Dutchman was given a 10-second penalty.

Verstappen recovered to finish fifth while the damage caused to Norris' McLaren forced the 24-year-old's retirement.


BBC
 

Norris tops British Grand Prix first practice​


McLaren’s Lando Norris set the pace in first practice at the British Grand Prix.

Norris, seeking his first win in his home race, was 0.134 seconds clear of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in a session that provided little insight into competitive form.

Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri was third, with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull fourth.

The world champion was the quickest driver to set his best lap on medium-compound tyres, while the three drivers in front used softs.

Mercedes’ George Russell was fifth fastest, also on the medium tyres and just 0.009secs slower than Verstappen.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was sixth fastest, ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon completed the top 10 from Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg and Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas.

Piastri suffered a reliability problem late in the session when he stopped in the pit entry with a hydraulics failure.

Briton Olivier Bearman, announced on Thursday as a Haas driver for 2025, was 14th fastest in a practice outing for his new team.

At the back of the field, Alpine reserve Jack Doohan was 17th fastest in his practice outing in the car of Pierre Gasly, who will receive a grid penalty for excessive engine usage this weekend.

Argentine Franco Colapinto was 18th in Logan Sargeant’s Williams and Isack Hadjar 19th in Sergio Perez’s Red Bull.

Yuki Tsunoda was slowest of all after an early spin at Luffield in the RB, which brought out a red flag to stop the session for his car to be recovered from the gravel trap.

www.bbc.com

Lando Norris sets pace in British Grand Prix first practice

McLaren’s Lando Norris sets the pace in first practice at the British Grand Prix.
www.bbc.com
 
Lando Norris headed Oscar Piastri in a McLaren one-two in Friday practice at the British Grand Prix.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was an unfamiliar seventh fastest but digging down into the data from the session suggested he was on the pace as usual.

His team-mate Sergio Perez was third fastest, ahead of Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Mercedes’ George Russell completed the top 10.


BBC
 
Cricket Warrior said:
Lando Norris headed Oscar Piastri in a McLaren one-two in Friday practice at the British Grand Prix.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was an unfamiliar seventh fastest but digging down into the data from the session suggested he was on the pace as usual.

His team-mate Sergio Perez was third fastest, ahead of Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Mercedes’ George Russell completed the top 10.


BBC
Click to expand...
Advantage Mclaren since Miami, but I will still root for Max to show his class and win infront of booing British crowd.
Max is the "fastest driver" of the generation and hopefully people will stop crying that he has the fastest car. Redbull is slower than Mclaren and Mercedes.
 
Mercedes 1-2, great qualifying session. This has got to be the last season for Checo at Red Bull 😂
 

British top three as Russell takes pole at Silverstone​

George Russell led a home one-two-three in British Grand Prix qualifying from Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton and McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Russell beat Hamilton to pole position by 0.171 seconds with Norris, second to Russell after the first laps in the final session, 0.211secs off the pace after failing to complete his second lap.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fourth fastest, struggling with a car damaged by a run through the Copse gravel trap in the wet first session.

It is the first time three British drivers have been at the front of the grid at their home grand prix since 1962, when Jim Clark was on pole from John Surtees and Innes Ireland.

The session started in the rain, and more or less dried progressively throughout despite light rain returning at one point, but Russell, Hamilton and Norris have looked quick all weekend.

The result, despite the mixed conditions and unusually cold conditions of just 14C, is also further confirmation of a Mercedes revival in recent races following a series of upgrades to their car.

Russell, winner in Austria last weekend after Norris and Verstappen collided while fighting for the lead, said: “What a feeling. At the start of this year, I don’t think we could even have dreamt of being on pole there. On pole with Lewis and Lando top three, it’s just mega.”

Hamilton said: “Three Brits in the top three is incredible. George did such a great job. We didn’t expect to be on the front row this weekend. This is huge for our team.

"The car felt great, it was just about getting a tyre temperatures in the right place.

“There was still time left on the table, which George managed to find, but with the conditions we can work together to keep Lando behind.”

Norris admitted he had made a mistake which forced him to abort his final lap - he was in the pits when Russell and Hamilton secured the front row.

Norris said: “I’m happy with P3. Three Brits lock out the top three, so pretty cool here. Good laps by George and Lewis both. They did an excellent job.

“A little mistake on my part at the end but P3 is still good.”

www.bbc.com

George Russell takes British GP pole from Lewis Hamilton & Norris

George Russell leads a home one-two-three on the British Grand Prix grid from Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton and McLaren’s Lando Norris.
www.bbc.com
 
Chassis technical director Cardile to leave Ferrari

Enrico Cardile is leaving his role as Ferrari’s chassis technical director, the Italian team have announced.

A Ferrari statement said the move came as a result of Cardile "leaving the company".

BBC Sport reported last week that Cardile has signed to join Aston Martin, where he is expected to become chief technical officer.

Ferrari said team principal Frederic Vasseur would take charge of the chassis design office "with immediate effect, and as an interim measure".

Cardile's switch to Aston Martin, which is yet to be confirmed, is part of a major recruitment drive by the British-based team as it seeks to become a regular frontrunner.

Last week, they announced the signing of former Mercedes engine chief Andy Cowell as chief executive officer, starting work in October, and in 2026 they become Honda's factory engine partner.

Honda currently partner world champions Red Bull.

Cardile's departure coincides with - but is not related to - a difficult run of form for Ferrari, who at the British Grand Prix last weekend removed an upgrade from their cars that had been introduced two races previously in Spain.

Ferrari started the 2024 season as Red Bull's closest challengers but have slipped behind McLaren and Mercedes in recent races.

Lewis Hamilton will join the team from Mercedes at the end of the season.


BBC
 
Formula 1 has announced the six grands prix which will host events in the sprint format in 2025

The races, which feature a shorter race on the Saturday before the main event on the Sunday, start with the second grand prix of the season in China on 21-23 March.

The others are Miami on 2-4 May, Belgium on 25-27 July, the US Grand Prix in Austin on 17-19 October, Brazil on 7-9 November and the penultimate race in Qatar on 28-30 November.

China, Miami, Austin, Brazil and Qatar are also sprint events on this year’s schedule.

Belgium hosted a sprint previously in 2023.

The 2025 F1 season starts in Australia on 14-16 March.

F1 has also released data to demonstrate that audiences are higher for sprint events than for grands prix run to the standard format, which sees two practice sessions on Friday, followed by one on Saturday before qualifying and then the race.

A statement said that live audience figures for the sprint in qualifying and sprint in China this year were 40% higher across F1’s top 15 markets compared to the average practice sessions for the opening two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

F1 chairman Stefano Domenicali said: “The sprint has been a great success for Formula 1, bringing all our fans more action and racing on the track.

“We are seeing the proof of this in our audience data, fan attendance on Fridays and from the promoters and partners.”

F1 will mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the world championship next season and Domenicali said the sprint was “a great example of bringing new elements to our sport in a way that is respectful of the championship”.

There will be no changes next year to the new sprint format that was introduced this season.

F1 bosses discussed making further modifications to the format earlier this year. Those talks will be revisited at a later date but there is no indication of timing or specific changes that might be considered.

The new format this year separated out the sprint from the main grand prix.

There had been a number of different formats before this season, but all mixed together the sprint and grand prix in one way or another - either by having the sprint set the grid for the main race or by having the sprint in between grand prix qualifying and the race itself.

Under the latest format introduced in 2024, a qualifying session that sets the grid for the sprint takes place on Friday afternoon, followed by the sprint as the first track event for F1 on Saturday.

The qualifying session for the main grand prix is run later on Saturday before the grand prix on Sunday.

Source: BBC
 
Leclerc on 'incredible' Hamilton, mindset & Ferrari dip

Charles Leclerc says when Ferrari told him Lewis Hamilton would be joining the team next year, his first thought was: 'What an opportunity.'

Seven-time champion Hamilton will be Leclerc’s third team-mate in what will be his seventh season at Ferrari, following four-time champion Sebastian Vettel and current partner Carlos Sainz.

"For me," Leclerc tells BBC Sport in a wide-ranging exclusive interview, "it's an incredible opportunity. First, to learn from the most successful driver ever. And to prove myself as well against Lewis, who is a benchmark for everybody."

Inside F1, some viewed Ferrari's decision to sign Hamilton last winter as a blow for Leclerc.

For years the team had been making it clear Leclerc was the driver they had invested in to lead them to the World Championship. So to some, signing Hamilton seemed to suggest Ferrari might have lost a little confidence in their protege.

Leclerc, 26, says he never thought of it that way.

"Not at all," he says. "Because Ferrari is Ferrari. And they need the best drivers in their cars. So, for the benefit of Ferrari, it is completely understandable.

"For me, I don't see any negative in that, because it's Lewis Hamilton."

Does Leclerc think he can beat Hamilton?

"Well," he says. "I need to be convinced that I am the fastest driver when I put the helmet on, but I am really looking forward to it, and it will be super-interesting for me.

"I have always said you learn from every single team-mate you have over your career. When I look at the way he drives - because we always look at each other and data - you don't really see any weaknesses. And that's where Lewis is incredible. He's only got strengths.

"So I'm really looking forward to seeing how he works with his engineers, the feedback, and all of these kings of things, to learn and become better."

'I drive a lot with intuition'

The match-up between Hamilton, 39, and Leclerc is especially interesting because it pits the most successful driver in F1 history against the one many in the sport think might currently be the fastest of all over one lap.

Leclerc has compiled a series of spectacular pole positions across his career, and with 24 is already 12th in the all-time list - equal with three-time champions Niki Lauda and Nelson Piquet.

Putting the uncompetitive 2021 Ferrari on pole in both Monaco and Baku, for example, was an outstanding achievement - as was his stunning pole lap in Singapore in 2019.

Does Leclerc agree he is the fastest driver in F1?

"It's a good question," he says. "As a driver, you always have the confidence you are the fastest and I do have that whenever I go for a qualifying lap.

"It's all about that mindset and putting that lap together in qualifying when it is needed and the pressure is super-high. This is an exercise I have always loved."

Why does he think he is so quick over one lap?

"I've always said I drive a lot with the intuition," he says. "I work a lot, of course. But that is where one of my strengths is, that I feel things very, very quickly."

Does he think he takes more risks than some rivals in qualifying?

"I don't think so on most of the tracks," Leclerc says. "On street tracks, I would tend to think that maybe sometimes I take a bit more risk than the others but I don't know.

"You don't tend to do the fastest lap by being the most on the edge as possible. Sometimes, being a tiny bit under the limit is faster than being on the limit, because on the limit you are opening the balance, you get massive snaps and you lose a lot [of time].

"So it's a balance between knowing which corners you can push flat out and extract the maximum out of the car, and some corners where you actually have to take it at 95% and this is a faster way. And that's where it's more probably the intuition that comes out on top."

Leclerc says the offset between his pole tally and his six victories is largely because "we have had very often in the past a car that was very strong in qualifying but then over a race distance we were destroying the tyres" - something Ferrari are "working on and actually changing the tendency now but we've lost a little bit the pace in qualifying".

He doesn’t mention the multiple others he lost to Ferrari's strategy and operational blunders and reliability fallings through the era of previous team boss Mattia Binotto.

'In F1, you need to be flat emotionally'

When Hamilton made his decision to move to Ferrari, it looked an inspired one, because the Italian team had ended 2023 strongly and appeared in better shape than Mercedes.

Despite Max Verstappen's domination with Red Bull, Ferrari took six poles in the final 11 races of last season, and Leclerc three of the last five.

Ferrari narrowly missed out on catching Mercedes for second place in the 2023 constructors' championship, and they started this season as the clear second-best team to Red Bull.

This strong period culminated with victory for Leclerc in Monaco, on the streets where he grew up and first dreamed of becoming an F1 driver. He had finally delivered a win he had threatened in both 2021 and 2022, only for circumstances to intervene.

"A combination of things made this win so special," Leclerc says. "It means a lot to me to be racing at home, and home being Monaco - one of the most challenging tracks on the calendar

"Second, everything that happened in the past that denied us the win even when we were in the best possible place to do that. It was always very difficult to accept. As a driver, you never know when the next opportunity will arrive again on such a track, so it was amazing this year to finally make it."

Since Monaco, Leclerc and Ferrari have been through a difficult phase, just as Mercedes seem finally to have got a handle on their car.

An upgrade introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix last month created problems, and for the last race at Silverstone the team took it off, and reverted the car to a previous specification.

It has rather spoiled what had until then been obvious, consistent progress by Ferrari under team principal Frederic Vasseur, who took over at the start of 2023. But Leclerc believes the team are still on the right track under Vasseur.

"Fred has two very big strengths which are very important in F1 and especially in a team like Ferrari, where the passion is so high that in very good moments there are lots of emotions but there are also very big emotions whenever we are going through a tough time," says Leclerc.

"In F1, you need to be as flat emotionally as possible and Fred is always a little bit the balance.

"Whenever we have very difficult moments, he helps the team to be back at a reasonable level and not be too disappointed. And exactly the same when we win, to not be too high and bring us back down and tell everybody we've got to work because this is only one race."

Vasseur's other quality, Leclerc says, is "to put every single person in the condition for them to work at their best. What has helped us in the last year and a half is that we have had a very clear vision of what issues we want to address in order to be quicker."

'It's very important to be self-critical'

Leclerc has known his team boss for many years. They enjoyed success in the junior categories, and worked together at Sauber when Leclerc made his F1 debut in 2018. As such, Vasseur is also a useful confidant on a personal level.

Leclerc is renowned for his self-criticism, and Vasseur is someone he can bounce off.

"It's very important to be self-critical in F1 because you find yourself in a situation, in a position that people tend to agree with you more often than not," Leclerc says.

"That might feel nice in the first few moments, but I don't think it is a good thing for a driver, just because you don't have that honesty around you any more.

"That's why I have always been very honest with myself, and if anything even harsher with myself than with anybody else. Just to balance it out a little bit with the situation I find myself in.

"It has worked out for me. In the past, it has always been one of my characteristics to be hard on myself. I think it is a bit my father who helped me to understand that it was very important for me to be honest with myself. And I have always kept that.

"When I was younger, it wasn't beneficial because I was too hard on myself and I would actually put myself down. Then I have learned with time that it is very important to be honest, but to still have confidence in yourself and it is the balance of the two that works well for me.

"But now there is also Fred, and we have a very good relationship and he knows me since a long time before F1, so he is definitely not afraid of telling me when I do something wrong or when he thinks that I am saying or doing something wrong. This is a very important person to have by my side."

‘The highest targets are still possible’

Despite Ferrari's recent hiccup in form, Leclerc still believes the team can return to the top this season.

"In the last few races, we are not exactly where we want to be in terms of performance and that is my main priority - to come back to a performance where we are in the fight for poles and wins," he says.

"I would expect us to be in the fight with McLaren and Red Bull as soon as we maximise the potential of our upgrades on the car."

The drivers' championship looks out of reach, realistically - at the halfway point, Leclerc is in third place, 105 points behind Verstappen. As for the constructors' title, Ferrari are 71 points behind with only one Red Bull scoring big points because of the dip in form in recent races by Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez.

What does Leclerc think he and Ferrari can achieve over the remaining 12 races?

"I still believe the highest targets are possible, which means the championship," he says.

Really?

"Yes, I do."

Is that just racing-driver optimism?

"I don't know," he says, "but I think it's important for me to keep that optimism and to keep that motivation very high.

"At the end, we are speaking about 0.2secs. Which, whenever we put everything together, it's not that crazy. We've got to focus on every single detail and the season is still long and so I still believe in that."

BBC
 
Magnussen loses Haas drive for 2025

The US-based Haas team have decided to drop Kevin Magnussen for the 2025 Formula 1 season.

The team's announcement of Magnussen's departure does not reveal who will replace him as the team-mate of Briton Oliver Bearman next season.

However, BBC Sport has been told that Esteban Ocon, who races for Alpine this season, will take the drive.

The information comes from sources close to Haas and Mercedes, who manage the Frenchman's career.

The decision means Haas will have an all-new F1 line-up next year. Magnussen's current team-mate Nico Hulkenberg is moving to the Sauber team as it morphs into Audi in time for the German company's official F1 entry in 2026.

Magnussen raced for Haas from 2017 until 2020, and was re-signed before the 2022 season after they dropped the Russian Nikita Mazepin following the country's invasion of Ukraine.

His best result for the team is fifth, which he has achieved three times. His highest championship finish for them was in 2018, when he was ninth. His career best result is the second place he scored on his F1 debut for McLaren at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix.

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said: "Kevin has truly been a bedrock of our driver line-up over the years.

"Nobody's driven more races for us and we’ve had some memorable highlights together – not least a fifth-place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2022 when Kevin returned to start his second spell with the team.

"He wasn't expecting to be driving a Formula 1 car that weekend, but he put in a remarkable performance that was a tremendous boost to the entire organisation and once again showcased his own talents behind the wheel."

Komatsu added: "I'm hoping we can find a way to keep working together in some capacity. We can hopefully define that in the near future, but his extensive experience in F1 and knowledge of our working operations are undoubtedly of value in our ongoing growth and development."

Magnussen, whose future on the F1 grid is in doubt with only limited options still available for next season, said: “I’m proud to have raced for such a great team of people these last few years.

"In particular I'd like to thank [owner] Gene Haas for his commitment to me, notably in bringing me back once again in 2022 when I thought, at that time at least, my time in F1 had ended. I've enjoyed some great moments with this team – memories I'll never forget."

Haas have extended their engine supply agreement with Ferrari until the end of the 2028 season.

The team are also said to be in talks with car giant Toyota about a partnership from next season.

Insiders say they are negotiating a deal whereby Toyota would have brand exposure on the car in return for engineering support.

Haas would benefit from access to the Japanese company’s vast resources while Toyota would have a way of introducing its engineers and racing drivers to F1.

Haas currently has a small UK base in Banbury and engineers embedded in the Ferrari factory using its facilities, while its car is built by Italian constructor Dallara.

It is planning to move into a new factory as it seeks to improve its performance in future years. Haas and Komatsu were given a tour of the Mercedes factory in Brackley earlier this month as part of a fact-finding mission as they plan their new UK base.

Haas declined to comment on the subject of Toyota.

BBC
 
Schumacher coming out 'sends positive message' - Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton says Ralf Schumacher's decision to come out as gay "sends such a positive message" but that Formula 1 needs to make more progress on inclusivity.

Schumacher, who raced in F1 from 1997 to 2007 and won six grands prix, said in a social media post, external at the weekend that he was in a same-sex relationship.

Hamilton said: "Clearly he has not felt comfortable being able to say it in the past. It is definitely not a new thing.

"But it shows that we are in a time finally when we can take that step and don't have to fear. And hopefully he will be able to say that he's, I think, so far had only positive feedback from people [in F1] and that's because of the time we're living in and the changes we are."

Schumacher's sexuality was known within F1 when he was racing, but the German, the brother of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, had never discussed it publicly and within the sport his privacy was respected.

Hamilton, speaking at the Hungarian Grand Prix before Sunday's 13th round of the F1 season, said that all sports "have a long way to go" before all members of society felt comfortable.

"It is one thing saying it’s inclusive and it’s another actually making sure people feel comfortable in the environments," the Mercedes driver said.

"This is a male-dominated space and as far as I know he is one of the first to at least publicly be speaking in that respect.

"We are very inclusive within our team, but the sport does need to continue to do more to make people feel more comfortable, make women feel more welcome in this space, because I know they have not always been treated well in this space. So we can 100% do more."


www.bbc.com

Hungarian Grand Prix 2024: Lewis Hamilton praises Ralf Schumacher for coming out as gay

Lewis Hamilton says Ralf Schumacher’s decision to come out as gay “sends such a positive message” but that Formula 1 needs to make more progress on inclusivity.
www.bbc.com
 
Norris tops Hungarian GP practice as Leclerc crashes

McLaren’s Lando Norris set an impressive pace in practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashed heavily.

Norris headed Max Verstappen’s upgraded Red Bull by 0.243 seconds, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz third, 0.397secs off the pace.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was fourth fastest, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, whose team-mate Lewis Hamilton was seventh, behind Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.

Leclerc lost control at Turn Four, the fastest corner on the circuit, a snap of oversteer taking him onto the exit kerb, from where he spun into the barrier on the other side of the track.

The Ferrari went into the barriers rear first before the front-left corner also suffered an impact. The car looked relatively undamaged considering the speed of the accident at a 150mph corner.

Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu very nearly had a similar accident shortly after the session restarted following a delay of 16 minutes.

He also spun at Turn Four and as his car skidded down the track towards the hairpin of Turn Five it narrowly avoided collecting Perez’s Red Bull.

Behind Hamilton, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, Williams’ Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso, in an Aston Martin which also features a major upgrade, focusing on the floor, rounded out the top 10.


BBC
 

Norris on Hungary pole in McLaren front-row lockout​


Lando Norris led Oscar Piastri to a McLaren one-two ahead of Max Verstappen in an action-packed qualifying session at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Norris edged his team-mate by 0.022 seconds and Verstappen by just 0.046secs in a session which featured changing conditions and two red flags for big crashes.

The gives Norris his third career pole, and McLaren a first one-two in qualifying since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth for Mercedes behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, while team-mate George Russell was only 17th after he and the team fumbled a wet-dry first session.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez increased the pressure that was already mounting on his future with a crash in the first session that left him 16th on the grid.

The other red flag was caused by RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in the final session, with just over two minutes remaining.

The session did resume, but Verstappen and Fernando Alonso decided there was no reason to go out again and they were proved right as only Daniel Ricciardo improved on the final lap, to leapfrog Tsunoda into ninth place.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took sixth ahead of Alonso, his Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll and the two RBs.

www.bbc.com

Lando Norris on Hungarian Grand Prix pole position

Lando Norris leads Oscar Piastri to a McLaren one-two ahead of Max Verstappen in an action-packed qualifying session at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
www.bbc.com
 
Red Bull need to do better - Verstappen

Max Verstappen says Red Bull “need to do a better job” and that he sees no need to apologise for a series of bad-tempered radio messages during the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The world champion repeatedly criticised his team over the radio, often using swear words, during a race in which he finished fifth following a collision with Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen said: “I don’t think we need to apologise. We just need to do a better job.

“I don’t know why people think you can’t be vocal on the radio. This is a sport. If some people don’t like that, stay home.”

Asked for his response to criticisms that he was too disrespectful to his team, he used a swear word to suggest people should go away.

His anger was directed at the fact that in race in which his Red Bull was already not fast enough to challenge the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who finished one-two, the team made what he considered strategy errors that twice demoted him behind Hamilton - and the second time also behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

His frustrations were enhanced by the fact that Red Bull had a major upgrade on their car in Hungary but they had still not recovered their position as the fastest in the field.

“I already said yesterday maybe some people are not on the same wavelength,” he said. “It’s as severe as it is. I knew it was going to be a difficult race and beating McLaren would be tough but you at least need to get a P3 over the line and even that we couldn’t do.”

The result reduced his championship lead over Norris to 76 points and Red Bull’s over McLaren’s in the constructors’ championship to 51.

Trying to pass Hamilton in the closing stages of the race, the pair collided.

Verstappen, who has been called to the stewards to review the incident, said the Mercedes driver had caused it because he was breaking the rules by changing his line under braking.

Hamilton argued that he was simply turning into the corner on his normal line. The stewards agreed and took no further action against either driver.

Asked whether his frustrations with the race had spilt over to cause the incident, Verstappen said: “I don’t think so. I went for a move that was fully on. But then in the middle of the braking zone when I’m already committed to the move he keeps turning right and if I wouldn’t have turned while braking straight I would have made contact with him.

“So at one point naturally I lock up because he keeps on turning to the right.”

Verstappen was launched over Hamilton’s front wheel, but he managed to carry on to finish fifth in the race, dropping behind Leclerc again.

He made a reference to the criticisms he had been subjected to in his collision with Norris in the Austrian Grand Prix two races ago, for which he was given a 10-second penalty.

“People made a lot about what happened in Austria was not correct, I was moving under braking, blah, blah, blah,” Verstappen said, “but that’s on the initial move and then you hold your wheel quite straight.

“And I felt now it wasn’t on the initial move it was after, during the braking. You cannot do that when someone is committed to the inside.”

He laid the blame for the result on the team’s mistakes with strategy.

“We could still have had a P3 but the wrong strategy calls put me on the back foot where constantly I had to fight people and overtake,” he said.

“But the track is really hot and as soon as you get close to cars the tyres overheat.

“Maybe the team didn’t realise what they did wrong or they didn’t see it was so severe but in the car you have also different feelings.”


BBC
 

Haas sign Alpine's Ocon for 2025 season​


The US-based Haas team have signed Alpine driver Esteban Ocon on a multi-year contract for the 2025 Formula 1 season.

Ocon, 27, made his debut in F1 in 2016 and picked up his first and only race win at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Last week Haas announced their decision to drop Kevin Magnussen for next season, meaning they will have an all-new line-up next year as the Frenchman joins Briton Oliver Bearman in their team.

"I am thrilled to embark on this new chapter in my Formula 1 career and join Haas from the start of the 2025 season," Ocon said.

"I'll be joining a very ambitious racing team, whose spirit, work ethic and undeniable upward trajectory has really impressed me."

In 2022, he finished eighth in his best finish in the World Drivers' Championship.

But Ocon, who has had three podiums in his F1 career, has struggled this season and sits 18th in the championship.

Haas principal Ayao Komatsu will link up with the Frenchman again after being involved as race engineer for Lotus - which is now Alpine - during Ocon's maiden run in an F1 car.

www.bbc.com

Esteban Ocon signs for Haas for 2025 F1 season

The US-based Haas team sign Alpine driver Esteban Ocon on a multi-year contract from the 2025 Formula 1 season.
www.bbc.com
 

Verstappen fastest in first practice but takes grid penalty​


Title leader Max Verstappen topped first practice at the Belgian Grand Prix but the Red Bull driver will drop 10 places for Sunday's race after receiving an engine penalty.

The Dutchman has taken his fifth internal combustion engine (ICE) at Spa-Francorchamps - exceeding his allocated number of power units for the season.

His quickest time on the soft tyre was a 1:44.372, with Hungarian Grand Prix winner Oscar Piastri finishing 0.531 seconds behind in the McLaren on the same compound.

The Williams of Alex Albon was a surprise third place for Williams, 0.727secs off the pace of Verstappen, also on the soft tyre.

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were fourth and fifth for Mercedes, with the team running further upgrades to the car for round 14. However, Russell complained during the session he had "no rear at all", while Hamilton highlighted excessive "bouncing".

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc ended his hour in sixth place ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez, who was nearly a second away from team-mate Verstappen's top time in seventh.

Second practice will start at 16:00 BST.

It was a quiet session for Lando Norris after the team orders drama in Hungary last week. The Briton was ninth on the timesheets, 0.512secs off McLaren team-mate Piastri.

Carlos Sainz for Ferrari and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll completed the top 10.

This weekend's race in Belgian is the final grand prix before F1's summer break.

Overnight rain was replaced by sunny conditions for the opening hour of running, but RB's Daniel Ricciardo still suffered an early spin in the RB after taking too much kerb at the exit of the La Source hairpin on the hard tyre.

The Australian's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda has also received a penalty for this weekend's grand prix and will start from the back of the grid after taking new power unit elements.

Esteban Ocon was stuck in the garage with what Alpine said was a suspected water leak. The Frenchman confirmed on Thursday he will be joining Haas on a multi-year deal from the 2025 season.

www.bbc.com

Belgian Grand Prix 2024: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri top second practice for McLaren

McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri seal a one-two in second practice at the Belgian Grand Prix - with Max Verstappen set for a 10-place grid drop.
www.bbc.com
 
Last edited:
Bruno Famin will move away from his role as Alpine Team Principal, the team have announced

The Frenchman had been confirmed as the Enstone-based outfit’s Team Principal before the start of the current F1 season, following an interim period in charge after the departure of previous team boss Otmar Szafnauer at last year’s Belgian Grand Prix.

Now, at this year’s Belgian Grand Prix weekend, it has been announced that Famin will move away from his role by the end of August and will be in charge of all other Motorsport activities of the Renault Group at Viry-Chatillon.

Alpine also said in a statement that “a new Team Principal will be announced in due course.”

www.formula1.com

Alpine confirm Bruno Famin to leave role as Team Principal

Bruno Famin will move away from his role as Alpine Team Principal, the team have announced.
www.formula1.com www.formula1.com
 
McLaren fastest in FP2 as Verstappen takes grid penalty

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri showed the pace of the McLaren by securing a one-two in second practice at the Belgian Grand Prix - with Max Verstappen set for a 10-place grid drop for Sunday's race.

A week on from the intra-team row in Hungary, Norris was the quicker of the two drivers by 0.215 seconds, with reigning world champion Verstappen in third place - all on the soft C4 tyre.

Red Bull's Verstappen has taken his fifth internal combustion engine (ICE) at Spa-Francorchamps - exceeding his allocated number of power units for the season.

The two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fourth and fifth respectively, but the gap to Norris was more than half a second for Leclerc and 0.838secs for Sainz.

George Russell ended his hour in sixth place while Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton was 10th. The Silver Arrows have brought further upgrades for this weekend's race but during the opening session, both drivers complained of balance issues with the car.

Alpine's Esteban Ocon, who only managed one lap in first practice because of a suspected water leak, was seventh fastest, with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez eighth and ninth respectively.

After topping second practice, Norris - who is 76 points behind leader Verstappen in the drivers' championship after finishing second to Piastri at the Hungarian Grand Prix - said he still needs to find "rhythm" with his car.

"I've just not felt very comfortable today with the car, so hopefully I'll just wake up tomorrow and feel a bit more comfortable with it," said the 24-year-old Briton.

"We did try and improve a few things but I don't know, we looked good on the timesheets but I did not feel super-comfortable with going out and doing it."

Norris said McLaren had a "prepared well and had a good set-up on the car", but added: "Just from my side, [in terms of] feeling like I could just go out and nail it, I'm not quite there just yet."


www.bbc.com

Belgian Grand Prix 2024: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri top second practice for McLaren

McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri seal a one-two in second practice at the Belgian Grand Prix - with Max Verstappen set for a 10-place grid drop.
www.bbc.com
 

Belgian GP: George Russell just holds off Lewis Hamilton for win after strategy gamble in Mercedes one-two​


George Russell's bold one-stop strategy trumps Lewis Hamilton's as resurgent Mercedes surge to unlikely Spa-Francorchamps one-two; Max Verstappen recovers from grid penalty to finish fifth ahead of title rival Lando Norris.

George Russell narrowly beat team-mate Lewis Hamilton to a remarkable win on an unlikely one-stop strategy in the Belgian Grand Prix as Mercedes finished first and second to continue their impressive Formula 1 resurgence.

In a race in which other teams had been tipped to be the favourites after a rain-hit qualifying and a penalty for Max Verstappen had mixed up the top of the grid, it was Mercedes who emerged as the team to beat thanks to a storming start from third by Hamilton and then a bold strategy call by "tyre whisperer" Russell.

With long-time leader Hamilton stopping for tyres twice and Russell only once, the divergent strategies saw the Mercedes team-mates run first and second into the tense closing stages with the latter gaining track position but on tyres which were 16 laps older.

But Russell, who had called for the one-stop strategy midway through on team radio as he attempted to improve on what had been a distant fifth place, withstood the late sustained pressure from Hamilton to close out his third career win and second in the last four races.

Having gone 19 months without a win in F1, Mercedes have now won three of the last four races to revive a season which had been threatening to prove a huge disappointment.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri took the final podium place in third just 1.1s behind Russell as the top three finished almost nose-to-nail across the line.

After a lap-one tussle with the eventual race winner, Piastri had also been ahead of Russell but, like Hamilton, stopped twice and so surrendered track position to the long-running Mercedes. The Hungarian GP victor's hopes of consecutive race wins were further compromised at his second stop when he lost time by going long in his pit box.

On his return to the track, Piastri caught and passed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, the polesitter, for third late into the closing laps but ultimately ran out of time to go wheel-to-wheel with either of the Mercedes cars.

Lando Norris had again started ahead of Piastri but, again, left the first corner behind his team-mate after a mistake on the exit of La Source saw him lose ground.

Undercut by the recovering Verstappen at the first stops, Norris couldn't find a way back past his title rival despite appearing to have the quicker car with the Red Bull taking fifth and the McLaren sixth.

Verstappen therefore increases his title lead over Norris by two points to 78 heading into the summer break.

But with under-pressure Sergio Perez dropping from second on the grid to an eventual eighth behind Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, Red Bull's constructors' title lead over McLaren has gone down again with the reigning champions' advantage just 43 points.

Fernando Alonso was a hard-fought ninth for Aston Martin with Esteban Ocon beating RB's Daniel Ricciardo the final point for Alpine after a strong weekend for the Frenchman.

www.skysports.com

Belgian GP: George Russell just holds off Lewis Hamilton for win after strategy gamble in Mercedes one-two

George Russells bold one-stop strategy trumps Lewis Hamiltons as resurgent Mercedes surge to unlikely Spa-Francorchamps one-two; Max Verstappen recovers from grid penalty to finish fifth ahead of title rival Lando Norris
www.skysports.com www.skysports.com
 

George Russell set to be disqualified after winning Belgian Grand Prix​


George Russell is set to be disqualified from Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix in a shock turn of events after his sensational victory.

Russell’s Mercedes car has been found to be under the weight permitted in the regulations, by 1.5 kg, after an initial check following the race.

The matter has been referred to the FIA stewards, with a disqualification likely.

A statement from FIA Technical Delegate Jo Bauer read: “After the race, car number 63 was weighed and its weight was 798.0 kg, which is the minimum weight required by TR Article 4.1

“After this, fuel was drained out of the car and 2.8 litres of fuel were removed. The car was not fully drained according to the draining procedure submitted by the team in their legality documents as TR Article 6.5.2 is fulfilled.

“The car was weighed again on the FIA inside and outside scales and the weight was 796.5 kg. The calibration of the outside and inside scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor.

“As this is 1.5 kg below the minimum weight requested in TR Article 4.1, which also has to be respected at all times during the competition, I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration.” read:

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified from last year’s US Grand Prix in similar circumstances.

www.independent.co.uk

George Russell set to be disqualified after winning Belgian Grand Prix

The British driver took the chequered flag in first place but his Mercedes car was found to be under the permitted weight in a post-race check
www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
 
Hamilton given win in Belgium as Russell disqualified

Lewis Hamilton inherited victory in the Belgian Grand Prix after Mercedes team-mate George Russell was disqualified two and a half hours after taking an unlikely win on the track.

Russell pulled off an unusual one-stop strategy and held off Hamilton’s attack in the closing laps.

But after the race his car was found to be 1.5kg underweight, with his team admitting to "a genuine error".

That saw Hamilton promoted to a victory that had looked likely for much of the race - after he took the lead from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on the second lap.

Oscar Piastri is moved up to second, with Leclerc third and Max Verstappen fourth.

Russell's car was initially weighed at 798kg, which is exactly on the minimum weight limit for car and driver combined.

But stewards found the car had not been fully drained of fuel and when it was, its weight was just 796.5kg.



BBC
 
Sainz to join Williams from 2025 after Ferrari exit

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz is to join Williams next season on what the team calls a "multi-year" contract.

The 29-year-old Spaniard has lost his seat at Ferrari after the team decided to sign Lewis Hamilton, who arrives next year.

Sainz has picked Williams over other opportunities at Alpine and Sauber, which will become Audi's factory effort in 2026.

Sainz said: "I am fully confident that Williams is the right place for me to continue my F1 journey and I am extremely proud of joining such a historic and successful team, where many of my childhood heroes drove in the past and made their mark on our sport."

Sainz, whose hopes of joining another top team from Ferrari were stymied when Red Bull and Mercedes made clear they would be looking elsewhere, added: "The ultimate goal of bringing Williams back to where it belongs, at the front of the grid, is a challenge that I embrace with excitement and positivity.

"I am convinced that this team has all the right ingredients to make history again and starting on January 1 I will give my absolute best to drive Williams forward."

Sainz has won three grands prix since joining Ferrari in 2021, but the team have long been committed to his team-mate Charles Leclerc as their main hope for the future, and Sainz lost out when an opportunity to sign Hamilton arose over last winter.

Red Bull re-signed Sergio Perez until the end of 2026 two months ago, and although the Mexican is at risk of being dropped after a disappointing run of form, the team did not want to put Sainz alongside Max Verstappen.

Mercedes have set their sights on convincing Verstappen to join them from Red Bull, which if it happens is most likely to be for 2026.

And they are poised to promote their 17-year-old Italian talent Andrea Kimi Antonelli to replace Hamilton alongside George Russell next year.

Sainz was left with a choice of three teams who are currently either in the midfield, in the case of Williams and Alpine, or at the very back, in the case of Sauber.

And he has chosen Williams as the most likely to progress in the coming years, even over Audi, who had made him their main target to lead their team.

Team principal James Vowles, who joined from Mercedes at the start of last season charged with turning the team into front-runners, said: "Carlos joining Williams is a strong statement of intent from both parties.

"Carlos has demonstrated time and again that he is one of the most talented drivers on the grid, with race-winning pedigree, and this underlines the upwards trajectory we are on.

"Carlos brings not just experience and performance, but also a fierce drive to extract every millisecond out of the team and car; the fit is perfect."

Sainz will join British-born Thai Alex Albon, who is also on a multi-year contract.

"In Alex and Carlos we will have one of the most formidable driver line-ups on the grid and with huge experience to guide us into the new regulations in 2026," Vowles said.

"Their belief in this organisation’s mission demonstrates the magnitude of the work going on behind the scenes.

"People should be in no doubt about our ambition and momentum as we continue our journey back to competitiveness - we are here, we are serious and with [owner] Dorilton’s backing we are investing in what it takes to return to the front of the grid."

The decision likely means the end of the F1 career of American Logan Sargeant, who has been with Williams since 2023.

Sargeant, who has been comprehensively out-performed by Albon in their 18 months together, looks unlikely to earn another seat next season.


BBC
 
Red Bull keep faith with Perez despite slump in form

Sergio Perez will keep his seat at Red Bull into the second part of the season, the team have said.

The move comes after Red Bull bosses met on Monday to discuss the Mexican’s future after a series of disappointing performances.

A Red Bull spokesperson said team principal Christian Horner told employees in a speech at the team’s base in Milton Keynes that Perez would stay on.

Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported that Horner said: “Checo remains a Red Bull Racing driver, despite all the speculation of late. We look forward to seeing him perform on circuits where he has done well before.”

The spokesperson confirmed to BBC Sport that the report was accurate.

There will be no change to the driver line-up of Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda at second team RB, either, the spokesperson said.

Horner had met with other Red Bull bosses to discuss whether to drop Perez from his seat alongside Max Verstappen after the forthcoming summer break. The RB line-up was also on the agenda.

The season resumes at the Dutch Grand Prix on 23-25 August.

BBC
 
Williams boss 'surprised' rivals did not want Sainz

Williams team boss James Vowles says he rates new signing Carlos Sainz as "one of the top four drivers - if not at times the number two driver on the grid".

The team announced on Monday that the Spaniard, who Ferrari chose to drop after this season, would join them from 2025.

And Vowles said he was "surprised" that neither Mercedes nor Red Bull wanted Sainz next season.

"Look at Carlos," said Vowles. "Look at every team he has been in. They have improved significantly - and I get why.

"After spending the last nine months talking to him at least weekly, what I've realised is he is a performance machine.

"He will do everything in his power to transform himself and the team around him. And that’s powerful. That’s worth more than what he can drive the car at.

"Why wouldn't you want that in your stable?"

Sainz has won three grands prix for Ferrari and finished fifth in the drivers' championship three times.

He has been closely matched with his team-mate Charles Leclerc since joining Ferrari in 2021, beating him in the standings in his first season, but not since.

The 29-year-old lost his Ferrari seat because the team signed Leclerc on a new, long-term contract last winter and then grabbed Lewis Hamilton after he made it clear he was open to leaving Mercedes, just months after signing a new contract with them.

Red Bull preferred to extend Sergio Perez’s contract as team-mate to Max Verstappen into 2025 and 2026, rather than take Sainz.

And Mercedes made it clear to Sainz they were not yet prepared to commit to him - they look poised to promote their 17-year-old protege Andrea Kimi Antonelli alongside George Russell in 2025.

They are also chasing Verstappen, who they believe they can prise from Red Bull for 2026, even though the Dutchman is contracted to the end of 2028.

Vowles, in his first comments to the media since Sainz's signing, said: "Red Bull have a constructors' championship at risk - I would have Carlos alongside Max [rather than Perez].

"Mercedes have more info than I do. It’s more than likely that they are very confident in the direction they will be travelling in. Whether that will be Max or Kimi, I’m unsure - but they’re not fools.

"Red Bull will also have reasons behind it that I won't be aware of, because they are multiple world champions. They don’t make decisions lightly, but I was surprised."

Vowles said Sainz had made it clear he was committed to Williams for at least the next two seasons.

"The message that it was 2025 and 2026 and beyond did not come from us," Vowles said. "It came from Carlos. He wanted it to be abundantly clear to all of you and the world that he is committed and this is where he wanted to be."

Vowles moved to Williams at the start of last year after being part of the Mercedes team that won eight consecutive constructors' titles from 2014 to 2021 and seven drivers' championships from 2014 to 2020.

He said the fact Sainz chose Williams over manufacturer-backed teams Sauber, who will become Audi in 2026, and Alpine, owned by Renault, was "a huge, monumental decision" and "one of the proudest moments of my career".

Williams finished seventh in the World Championship last year but have slipped to ninth after 14 races this season.

Vowles has been trying to modernise the team and this has put unexpected strains on them. He said his attempts to update the team's construction processes had led to the car still being overweight.

Vowles, who said he first approached Sainz at the final race of last season, said: "From the beginning I gave him warts-and-all 'here's what's going to happen'.

"We are going to go backwards. Here's why. Here's what we're investing in. Here's what's coming. Here's why I'm excited by this project, and it's your choice if you want to be a part it.

"But I know we will have success in the future and it will cost us in the short term and I am confident that honesty and transparency has paid off.

"It was worse than I expected it to be in that there was more weight on the car, but the aerodynamic performance of the car is in a reasonable place. We just have to shed that weight off it and we can start fighting at the front."

BBC
 
Mercedes say George Russell was disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix because his car lost more weight than they expected in a number of areas

Russell lost the win because his car was found to be 1.5kg underweight after the race, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton elevated to first in his place.

Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said the car's tyres, underfloor 'plank' and Russell himself all affected the car's final weight.

Shovlin said: "The car can lose quite a lot of weight during the race. You get tyre wear, plank wear, brake wear, oil consumption.

"The driver themselves can lose a lot, and in this particular race George lost quite a bit of weight.

"George's car was the only one that had the problem, and it is because things like the tyre wear was much higher. It looks like we lost more material on the plank.

"We will collect all that data though, look at how we can refine our processes because, clearly, we do not want that to happen in the future."

All Formula 1 drivers lose weight during a race - sometimes as much as 3kg - because of fluid loss from sweating. In Belgium, Russell lost more than he expected to.

In addition, the decision by team and driver to switch to a one-stop strategy, when they had been planning to do two, meant his tyres had done around double the amount of laps expected, so had lost more rubber.

The underbody 'plank' is a device aimed at stopping the cars running too low, and they are measured by officials to ensure they do not wear too much.

Russell's still complied with the rules but it had eroded more than expected.

Russell pulled off an unlikely victory on the road having decided mid-race to stick with the tyres he fitted on lap 10, rather than stop again.

The decision leapt him up from fifth to the lead, from where he defended his position against Hamilton's attacks in the closing laps.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri also finished right on the Mercedes' tails in third place.

Sholvin admitted the lower weight would have given Russell a performance advantage.

"In terms of pace at the start of the race, it is nil because George's car and Lewis' car start the race at the same weight," he said.

"Obviously, as George's car was losing weight faster than Lewis' throughout the race, there is an associated gain with that.

"But you are into the hundredths of a second per lap. It will be very small because when you are talking about amounts like one or two kilos, they do not amount to a lot of lap time."

Shovlin said the outcome of the race was "bittersweet" for Mercedes because Hamilton had still managed to win after the team had looked uncompetitive in Friday practice.

Source: BBC
 
Jonathan Wheatley is to leave his role as Red Bull sporting director to become Audi's Formula 1 team principal

The 57-year-old Briton has been at Red Bull for 18 years and will stay until the end of this season.

The move was initially announced by Red Bull to the surprise of Audi, which confirmed Wheatley's appointment more than three hours later.

Wheatley will have a period of 'gardening leave' next year, according to Red Bull, and Audi said he would join "by July 2025 at the latest".

The wording of the two statements indicates Red Bull and Audi have not yet agreed the terms of Wheatley's move.

Audi has taken over the Swiss-based Sauber team and will officially enter F1 with its own car and engine in 2026.

News of Wheatley's move comes a week after Audi named former Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto as chief operating and technical officer, replacing Andrea Seidl and Oliver Hoffmann.

Audi said in a statement that Binotto and Wheatley would "jointly take responsibility for the success of the racing team" and that there was "a clear division of duties, and responsibilities have been individually defined".

Binotto will lead "operative management" of the team's base at Hinwil in Switzerland and "technical development of the future racing cars".

Wheatley "will focus on the racing performance of the F1 factory team, operational management at racing events and representing Audi at team principal level in matters relating to F1".

Audi chief executive officer Gernot Dollner said: "With the appointment of Jonathan and Mattia we have taken a decisive step towards our entry into Formula 1.

"I am convinced that with the two of them, we have been able to combine an extremely high level of competence for Audi.

"Their experience and their ability will help us to get a foothold quickly in the tough competitive world of Formula 1."

Wheatley, who was not quoted in Red Bull's initial statement, said: "I am extremely proud to have been a part of the Red Bull Racing journey over the last 18 years and will leave with many fond memories.

"However, the opportunity to play an active part in Audi’s entry into F1 as head of a factory team is a uniquely exciting prospect, and I am looking forward to the challenge."

Source: BBC
 
Stella extends contract as McLaren team boss

McLaren have extended the contract of team principal Andrea Stella.

It comes in the wake of what McLaren Racing chief executive officer Zak Brown described as Stella's "profound impact" since taking on the role at the end of 2022.

Stella has overseen the team's transformation from long-time midfield runners into winners and contenders for this year's constructors' championship.

McLaren have not revealed the length of Stella's new deal, but described it as "multi-year".

Drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have also in the past year signed contract extensions that will keep them at the team until at least the end of 2026.

Stella, who joined McLaren from Ferrari for 2015, was appointed team principal in December 2022, and immediately set about restructuring a team that had been struggling for years.

The 53-year-old Italian's impact was first seen in a mid-season car upgrade in 2023 that transformed McLaren from lower midfield runners to the front of the group behind then-dominant Red Bull.

This year, following the team's first upgrade to their 2024 car, Norris won his maiden grand prix in Miami in May and has since been a contender at the front at virtually every race.

Piastri took his own first grand prix victory in Hungary last month.

McLaren are just 42 points behind Red Bull in the championship with 10 races remaining and will catch and pass the reigning champions within a few races if their current rate of scoring continues.

Brown said: "[Andrea's] excellent leadership, expertise and the respect he holds within the team and Formula 1 means we could not have a better person in place to continue the pursuit of consistently fighting at the front of the grid.

"His impact on McLaren F1 in his role as team principal has been profound, not only through our results on track and the trajectory of the team but also in his development of our culture and mindset.

"With multi-year extensions already agreed with Lando, Oscar, and now Andrea, we can confidently continue on our quest to become World Champions. We're all looking forward to the years to come under Andrea's leadership."

Stella added: "It's a privilege to be part of the McLaren F1 team, and I am honoured to continue in my role as team principal.

"We've made great strides forward in the past year and a half and we still have a lot more work to do to consistently fight at the front of the grid, which poses an exciting challenge.

"Success comes through the team working in synergy, and I am enjoying my role, which has allowed me to help unlock individual talent and empower people to work together towards our team's objectives."


BBC
 
McLaren boss Brown on title fight, revival and Newey

McLaren Formula 1 boss Zak Brown says he is "surprised" to find the team in a battle with Red Bull for the world championship this season.

McLaren trail Red Bull by just 42 points in the constructors' championship as the season heads into its final 10 races.

"If I were to sit here and say I'm not surprised, that would be disingenuous," Brown told BBC Sport in an exclusive interview.

"Red Bull had such an advantage over everyone and Mercedes has been so dominant.

"I felt like we'd continue to close the gap. Did I think we would be here at the summer break, one race away from getting the lead?

"That race would have to be first and second and fastest lap, and do I think it's going to happen like that? No. But if we keep the same trajectory we've been on the last six, seven races, we'll be where we need to be by the end of the year.

"I thought we might get where we are now by 2025. I didn't think we would be where we are now in 2024. But I'm not complaining."

McLaren were 115 points behind Red Bull after the sixth race of the season, the Miami Grand Prix, where their driver Lando Norris took his maiden victory.

At least one McLaren driver has been on the podium at every one of the eight races since then, Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri has also taken his first grand prix win, and Red Bull's form has slipped after a dominant start to the season.

But Brown suspects the constructors' race will run all season - and says it's hard to predict because of the form of Red Bull's Sergio Perez, whose recent slump is partially responsible for the closing gap. Perez has not finished higher than seventh since Miami.

"It's going to be tough," Brown says. "I think it's going to come down to the last race. There's not much between the cars. It's gonna come down to how does Sergio Perez perform?

"If he can perform as he's capable of performing, it's going to be a hard fight. If he continues to perform as he has this year, we have a pretty good chance, because we have two drivers constantly performing at the front."

Learning from mistakes

In the drivers' championship McLaren are also second, but winning that is a tougher task - Norris is 78 points behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen, an imposing advantage when the Dutchman performs at such a consistently high level.

McLaren and Norris could be in an even better position had the team and driver not made a handful of small but key errors.

Norris' slips have often come at starts, such as in Spain, Hungary and Belgium. With the team, at Silverstone a couple of strategy choices were also costly.

But Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, says: "We've all made a variety of errors, which to me are learning experiences. I thought [Mercedes team principal] Toto [Wolff] was accurate with his comment. He said: 'Well, sometimes you figure these things out once they've kind of been put on your plate.'

"So if I look at the mistakes we've made - whether those are drivers or us, kinda doesn't matter; we're one team - we wouldn't make these mistakes again. We're learning. And I think maybe because we have got where we are quicker than we thought, it shows we still have learning to do."

Brown admits the British Grand Prix was one that got away. "We probably should have finished first and second at Silverstone," he says.

"And yeah, Lando is trying to fight for a world championship. He's going for it. He's learning, as are we. So I'm not concerned about it."

How McLaren got here

McLaren find themselves in this position because of their remarkable progress since Brown made Andrea Stella team principal in December 2022.

The move was prompted by former team principal Andreas Seidl telling Brown he would be joining Audi in 2025 in time for the start of their F1 programme.

Brown decided to expedite the process. He let Seidl go early and promoted Stella. Seidl's departure was followed by that of James Key as technical director and head of aerodynamics Tony Salter.

Since then, McLaren's turnaround has been nothing short of astonishing. They admitted they would start 2023 slowly, a legacy of design errors made in 2022, but said they could see progress was coming.

The first big upgrade to the car in mid-2023 leapt them from the lower midfield to the leading pack behind Red Bull, where they were competing with Ferrari and Mercedes for the rest of last season.

This year started with them third fastest behind Red Bull and Ferrari, but a major upgrade in Miami - on pretty much the whole of the car - put them toe-to-toe with Red Bull, and they have been there ever since.

Brown points to Stella and the changes he has made to the team's structure and operations as the main reason for this.

"He unlocked the talent that we already had here," Brown says. "We've got approximately 1,000 people here in F1. I changed three. But it was three leaders. So 997 are the same people who gave us the [uncompetitive] car at the beginning of 2023.

"A leader's job is to get the most out of their people and that's what we didn't have previously. We weren't able to let the talent we have in here flourish.

"Andrea communicates very well. He listens very well. He's very hard-working. He's very technical. He leads by example. All the traits you would want in a great leader. He unlocked the potential this team clearly had sitting there."

Stella joined McLaren in 2015 but was not promoted to team principal for another eight years. Why?

"Truth be known," Brown says, "I offered it to him the first time around [when Seidl was appointed in January 2019], and he declined it. He felt he wasn't ready.

"Andrea is someone who knows his capabilities and doesn't overreach.

"The second time around he knew me better, knew the team better, even though he'd been here a while. And still he didn't say yes in the first phone call. It took a couple of days because he's very methodical, very thoughtful."

Brown's own journey

McLaren now find themselves back in the place such a storied team expects to be - at the front. But it has been a long journey to get back here.

Until this season, the last in which they were fully competitive was 2012, when Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were their drivers.

After that, they started a slump that featured major management upheaval, including the ousting by the board of long-time head Ron Dennis, an F1 legend, whose visionary management changed the face of the sport from the early 1980s.

Brown says the state McLaren were in when he joined in 2016, initially as executive director, was something of a shock.

"It was worse than I thought it was," he says. "We were ninth in the championship. We had blank race cars, I think three sponsors. We had upset fans, upset racing drivers and we had a pretty down and out racing team. It was pretty scary."

Brown had previously become a millionaire running a sponsorship acquisition company. His first steps were to sort out the financial side.

"The team needed resources, because we were losing a tonne of money, to be able to invest in drivers and technology and people," he says.

Progress was steady from then on, including changing engine suppliers from Honda to Renault and then to Mercedes, until in 2022 Brown "felt like it was stalled out".

"Put Andrea in charge. He does a little bit of reorganising - a little bit more than a little - does tremendous work, rallies the team, and we've been on fire ever since. But we'll hit some speed bumps along the way."

'I've known Christian for 25 years. We used to get on'

As he's been rebuilding McLaren, Brown has not been shy to speak out on matters he believes are important outside the team. And it just so happens that a number of those have been related to Red Bull, the team McLaren are now fighting for the world title.

First, there was the row in 2022 over Red Bull's breaching of the budget cap in 2021. Brown said this "constituted cheating", much to the annoyance of Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.

And this year, Brown has joined Wolff in calling for full transparency after a female Red Bull employee accused Horner of sexual harassment and coercive, controlling behaviour. Horner has always denied the allegations and a Red Bull internal inquiry dismissed the complaint. A second inquiry, following the complainant's decision to appeal, is ongoing.

Brown says: "I've known Christian for about 25, 30 years. We used to race against each other. I would say we used to get on.

"I believe in transparency. I believe in putting your hand up when you get something wrong. The cost cap, the excuses behind that, I never really heard a 'we just got it wrong'. I heard excuses and not taking ownership.

"When someone breaches the cost cap, and doesn't seem to kind of take it seriously, that's kind of hitting the integrity and core of the sport.

"To me, it's not personal. It's protecting our sport.

"And when I see things not consistent with our values, I'm going to speak up about it because it's important people understand where we're coming from.

"I realise that's not necessarily always going to be popular, or make friends with everyone in the pit lane, but as long as I'm friends with McLaren, our fans, our partners, that's what's most important to me."

No need for Newey?

The Horner situation was a direct influence in design legend Adrian Newey's decision to negotiate an early exit from his Red Bull contract earlier this year.

Like all leading teams, McLaren considered whether to try to sign Newey, but Brown is confident enough in the strength of the team now that he says he is not going to pursue him.

"We're not going to sign Adrian," Brown says. "I'm very happy with the team. Adrian is a great friend, huge talent, resume [CV] second to none. But with what we have in place here, I couldn't be happier. We can get the job done. I'm happy with the race team we have and we're going to try to win the world championship with the team sitting here today."

Can they do it this year?

"It's gonna be a slug-fest. I think it's gonna be a slug-fest between all four teams [Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari]. You're gonna see epic battles. Eight drivers that can show up at almost any track and win, and it's gonna be exciting."

BBC
 
NI driver, 16, to be part of Red Bull Academy

A teenage racing driver from Northern Ireland has been offered a dream opportunity to be part of Formula 1 team Red Bull Racing's academy.

Magherafelt's Fionn McLaughlin, 16, recently came through a hugely competitive evaluation week as one one of 11 invited candidates from the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Lebanon and Mexico.

From this aspiring group, the first drivers selected to join the programme were McLaughlin and Sweden's Scott Lindblom.

The three-day event consisted of prospective young drivers trying and testing open-wheel F4 and GP3 racing cars in a shootout format at the Jerez circuit in Spain.

New talents join the same path as current F1 drivers Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo in taking part in the Red Bull junior driver development programme.

McLaughlin began karting at the age of five, and by the time he was seven was competing in and winning in various championships around Ireland.

He has gone on to compete successfully at British, European and world level and is currently in the OK class, representing Kart Republic as part of the VDK racing team.


www.bbc.com

Fionn McLaughlin: NI driver, 16, selected to be part of Red Bull Academy

Magherafelt teenager Fionn McLaughlin is selected to be part of the Red Bull Racing academy after coming through a testing evaluation week involving nine other drivers.
www.bbc.com
 

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali Teases Major Regulatory Overhaul​


Stefano Domenicali, CEO of Formula 1, has hinted at changes to the regulatory cycles that are causing concern among teams as they look toward 2026. Underpinning these proposed changes are longer periods of static regulations to maintain the closely contested races that we are all enjoying this 2024 season.

Since the introduction of new regulations focusing on ground-effect aerodynamics in 2022, we've seen solid dominance from Red Bull. The Milton Keynes team showed unprecedented levels of dominance throughout 2023, but this season has been a very different story.

The current season has exhibited spicy competitiveness—boasting seven different winners from four teams in 14 races. Domenicali has reassured us that this surge in competition will remain consistent through 2025.

"I'm very pleased to say what I said at the beginning of the year is exactly what is happening, when everyone was believing that I was saying that for political reasons," Domenicali reflected on the success. "This element of sporting action, and sporting drama, is definitely there. This will for sure continue until the end of 2025," Domenicali continued.

However, the 2026 regulatory horizon is poised to introduce substantial shifts in power units, car design, and aerodynamics. And this prospect has stirred apprehension among teams and stakeholders, wary that these changes could unsettle the competitive balance currently being enjoyed.

For this reason, Domenicali is contemplating an extension of the 2026 regulatory cycle beyond the standard four to five years, admitting that with a longer cycle, teams will remain more competitive with each other, giving viewers better racing to watch

"This is a point of: is really now the time to do in 2030 another step change?" he questioned. "We are not in a position to answer today, because we need to wait and see how this new technology will come in and how this will be developed," he noted.

Historically, changes in F1 regulations were driven by the desire to maintain the sport's position at the pinnacle of technological innovation and to prevent any single team's dominance from stifling competition, but it currently looks as though, as teams converge, the racing is becoming better and better.

"The need for change normally is put on the table for two reasons. One is because we are the pinnacle of motorsport, and we are endorsing the top level of technology," Domenicali explained. "The second in the past was that, because it was pretty clear: the objective was stopping a dominance period of cars."

With the successful implementation of budget caps and stricter wind tunnel times, the current regulations have already curtailed dominance and spurred competitiveness. Domenicali suggests that this achievement might reduce the necessity for constant regulatory upheavals.

"But now with the new elements of regulation, budget cap, and aerodynamics restriction, I think that this point is not anymore on the table of discussion," he observed.

"So the real thing is technological challenge in the future. Is it relevant that the change will be in such a short time cycle of five years? That will be the point of discussion for the future," Domenicali concluded.

www.newsweek.com

BREAKING: F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali Teases Major Regulatory Overhaul

F1 CEO teases huge change to regulations as teams express concerns about the future competitive balance in Formula 1 heading into 2026.
www.newsweek.com www.newsweek.com
 
Horner complainant has appeal dismissed

The woman who complained about Red Bull team principal Christian Horner's behaviour has had her appeal against the investigation that cleared him dismissed.

She first lodged a complaint in December that contained allegations of coercive, abusive behaviour and sexual harassment by Horner, 50.

Red Bull cleared Horner, who has always denied the allegations of wrongdoing, in February after an internal investigation conducted by an independent lawyer.

Another independent lawyer has now concluded the appeal against that decision was not upheld.

In a statement, Red Bull said it had "accepted and adopted" the conclusions of the lawyer.

It added: "The company respects the privacy of all its employees and will not be making further public comment of this matter at this time."

The complainant has been suspended by Red Bull since March. BBC Sport has previously reported the reason given to the employee was she had been dishonest.

Red Bull's statement on Thursday did not address her employment status.

The company has not given further details of the case, citing confidentiality, since the investigation came to light in early February.

The day after the complaint was dismissed, a cache of messages purporting to involve Horner was leaked to nearly 150 senior F1 personnel and media.

Horner described the leak as "anonymous, speculative messages from an unknown source" and refused to comment on its contents.

Red Bull design chief Adrian Newey will depart the team in early 2025 after telling them he wanted to leave in the wake of the controversy.

The 2024 F1 season resumes at the Dutch Grand Prix on 23 August after the summer break, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen leading the drivers' championship as he seeks a fourth straight title.

BBC
 
Doohan promoted to full-time Alpine seat for 2025

Australian Jack Doohan will make his Formula 1 debut with Alpine in 2025 after being promoted from his role as reserve driver.

The 21-year-old son of five-time MotoGP champion Mick Doohan will partner Frenchman Pierre Gasly, who has raced for Alpine since 2023.

Doohan replaces Frenchman Esteban Ocon, who has moved to Haas after he and Alpine announced they would split.

Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes, who has been in his role for less than a month, said: "Jack will become the first driver to graduate from the Alpine academy into a race driver position with the team, so that is exceptionally pleasing for the team and its young driver pathway."

Oaskes was previously boss of the HiTech team which ran Doohan in two Asian Formula 3 series in 2019.

"Personally, I have worked with Jack back in 2019 and I am fully aware of his raw talent and potential," Oakes said.

"He is a very hard worker behind the scenes and his commitment is hugely valued by the entire team. Alongside Pierre, we have a well-balanced driver line-up with a good combination between youthful energy, experience, and pure speed."

Doohan said it was "a proud day for my family".

He added: "I am very grateful for the trust and belief by the team's senior management. There is so much work ahead to be prepared and ready and I will give my best in the meantime to absorb as much information and knowledge to be ready for the step up."

Alpine have been going through senior management turmoil for the past year, with Oakes' appointment only the latest example.

He replaced Bruno Famin as team boss, and the Frenchman himself was in the role for just a year following the departure of previous incumbent Otmar Szafnauer.

The team have also lost several other major figures in that period, either sacked or deciding to leave.

Earlier this year, former Renault team boss Flavio Briatore was appointed executive adviser, and the 74-year-old Italian is the de facto power in the team.

Briatore has advised the closing of the Renault F1 engine programme and turning the team into a customer of Mercedes. This decision has not yet been officially confirmed.

BBC
 
McLaren’s Lando Norris headed Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in a first practice session at the Dutch Grand Prix that started in wet and wild conditions and ended under blue skies.

A blustery wind, gusting at up to more than 70km/h, continued throughout the session but the track, wet at the start, was dry by the end of the hour.

Norris was 0.201 seconds faster than Verstappen, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton third fastest, 0.684secs off the pace, his fastest lap time affected by traffic.
 
George Russell said he expected “a close battle” between Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after setting the pace in Friday practice at the Dutch Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver was 0.061secs quicker than McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. The Briton’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton was third, 0.111secs off Russell, and the second McLaren of Lando Norris fourth.

Verstappen - fifth fastest, 0.284 seconds off the pace - said Red Bull were “a bit too slow on the short run, a bit too slow on the long runs - a bit of work to do.

“At the moment, no clear answer as to how to improve that specifically and we will look into things.”

Russell said: “Really difficult out there because it was so windy. But the car was performing really well. It looks to be quite a close battle with the McLarens and Max.”

Verstappen has won all three of the editions of his home race since the seaside Zandvoort circuit returned to the calendar in 2021.

But this season he has not won since the Spanish Grand Prix in mid-June, six races ago, as both McLaren and Mercedes have improved their form.

Red Bull have introduced an upgrade to their car for this weekend and spent Friday with the cars of Verstappen and team-mate Perez in different specifications to try to learn as much as possible.

Verstappen said: “It is where we have been the last few races. It is not a surprise but we will try to find a bit more performance for Sunday.”

Perez was down in 11th, saying a mistake in Turn 12 had cost him about 0.2secs.

McLaren also have an upgrade on their car, their first performance step since the new parts introduced at the Miami race in May transformed the car into a front-runner.

The Briton is 78 points behind Verstappen with 10 races to go and still believes he can overhaul the Red Bull driver in the championship.

Norris said: “Mercedes look a bit quicker but it is close. I don't think there is a quickest. It depends on different factors.

“We have been in good form since Miami but not brought any updates since Miami. This weekend’s our first time trying to make a bit more progress with the car.

“(I’m) optimistic, but have no idea whether it’s working or not how it’s performing at the minute.

“Today was a reasonable day and we are there or thereabouts. A little bit more to find tonight hopefully and we can challenge the Mercedes.”

Norris looked impressive on the race-simulation runs at the end of the session, comfortably quicker than the other drivers who also focused on the medium tyre, Hamilton, Verstappen and Leclerc.

On the soft tyre, Verstappen and Norris lapped at about the same pace.

Hamilton said: “It was OK today. A big, big difference compared to last year so the car is feeling more alive and we’re right up there at the front.

Source: BBC
 
Lando Norris became the first person to beat Max Verstappen to pole position at the Dutch Grand Prix with a stunning lap in his McLaren.

Verstappen has monopolised this race since it returned to the calendar in 2021 after a 36-year gap but Norris beat him by 0.356 seconds.

Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri was third, 0.499secs slower than the Briton, with Mercedes’ George Russell fourth.

Lewis Hamilton will start 14th - he was knocked out in the second session after a mistake at the penultimate corner on his final lap, then received a grid penalty.

The seven-time champion faced a stewards' investigation into whether he impeded Red Bull's Sergio Perez and was given a three-place penalty, dropping him down from 12th to 15th.

But he then moved back up a place as Alex Albon - eighth fastest in the upgraded Williams - was disqualified from qualifying as the floor on his car was found to be "outside the regulatory volume".

The decision came after an upgrade on the car, including the floor, for this weekend, and means Albon will start the race from the back.

Norris, on a strong run of form but still seeking a second win to add to his maiden victory in Miami back in May, said: “An amazing day, nice to be back and start with a pole.

“It was a nice lap. The qualifying was always pretty smooth and put in some good laps especially the one at the end.

“I felt comfortable. The car was feeling amazing. We have some upgrades on the car for the first time in a while and everything is working well.”

Verstappen, who has never been beaten in a grand prix at Zandvoort but has not won since the Spanish Grand Prix six races ago, said: “The whole qualifying [session, we] just lacked a bit of pace. I’m still very happy to be on the front row.

“We have these gusts of wind coming in, every lap is different, so you can’t build.

“But after yesterday this is a good result. Hopefully the car will be OK in the race. We will give it a good go but when you are more than 0.3secs behind in qualifying you have to be realistic.”

Piastri said: “Just didn’t do a good enough job with the lap. The second lap wasn’t quite what I needed. The car has been very quick this weekend so a bit disappointed.”

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was fifth, 0.387secs slower than team-mate Verstappen after some driver-coaching at Silverstone this week as part of Red Bull’s attempts to improve his form.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took sixth ahead of an impressive showing from Fernando Alonso in seventh in the Aston Martin.

Source: BBC
 

Norris, McLaren score crushing Dutch GP win​


Lando Norris dominated the Dutch Grand Prix to lead home local hero Max Verstappen to claim his second GP victory in Formula 1.

It was the first time Norris has converted pole into a win in his F1 career, though it came after the Briton lost the lead to a fast-starting Verstappen immediately off the line. It was the fifth time in a row he’s failed to hold top spot at the end of the first lap after starting from P1, but the Briton was undeterred in an upgraded McLaren he knew had the pace to fight for victory.

Norris bided his time for the first 15 laps before unleashing ferocious pace to reel in Verstappen, closing the gap to nothing on the front straight at the beginning of lap 17.

“My tires are just numb,” Verstappen radioed. “They don’t grip.”

Norris took advantage of the Dutchman’s problems on the following tour, when a superior launch out of the last corner easily blasted him past Verstappen with the assistance of DRS, propelling him into the lead.

Verstappen attempted to fight back with DRS on the next lap, but Norris was too quick. The gap blew out by more than three seconds after just five laps as Norris stamped his authority on the race.

“I can’t go faster,” Verstappen radioed. “The car doesn’t respond to my inputs.

Red Bull Racing wasted little time heeding the complaints, hauling Verstappen in for his sole pit stop at the end of lap 27. Norris, by then with a lead of more than five seconds, covered on the next lap and rejoined with that advantage barely diminished.

It was the race won for Norris, who even on fresh hard tires continued to wield a decisive performance advantage over Verstappen, allowing him to cruise to the checkered flag. His gap grew to an imperious 22.9s at the flag, with Norris setting the fastest lap of the race on the final tour to underscore his domination.

“It feels amazing,” he said. “I wouldn’t say a perfect race, because of lap 1 again, but afterwards it was beautiful.

“From probably lap 5, 6, 7 I expected Max to start pushing and get a bit of a gap, and he never did, so from that point I knew we were in for a good fight.

“He seemed to keep dropping off and my pace was getting better. It’s a nice feeling inside the car, and especially when I got past. The pace was very strong. The car was unbelievable today.”

Verstappen was sanguine about losing his home race for the first time since it returned to the calendar in 2021, conceding his car didn’t have the pace to compete.

“We had a good start, so we tried everything we could today, but throughout the race I think it was quite clear we’re not quick enough, so I tried to be second today,” he said. “I just tried to do my own race… and that was second today.”

Charles Leclerc held off a fast-finishing Oscar Piastri in the battle for the final podium place in a well-executed race by team and driver.

Leclerc moved up to fifth on the first lap behind George Russell and Piastri, the former snatching third form the latter at the first turn. The Mercedes was markedly less competitive than Norris and Verstappen in the lead but was quick enough in a straight line to make it difficult to pass, bottling both Piastri and Leclerc behind as the top two broke away, cementing this as a battle for third.

The Ferrari pit wall was alive to the challenge and astutely called in Leclerc for fresh tires on lap 24. Dramatically faster on fresh hards, Russell had no hope of covering the undercut when he stopped on the following tour, earning Leclerc the place.

Rather than commit to a losing fight, McLaren extended Piastri’s stint to lap 33, allowing him to take advantage of the clean air ahead of him. Immediately he demonstrated similarly devastating pace as Norris had shown in overcoming Verstappen.

Piastri dropped to fifth behind Leclerc and Russell but easily reeled in and passed the Mercedes in just seven laps. He was on Leclerc’s tail within another 10 laps, but by now the best of his tires had been used, making the Ferrari a far harder proposition to pass.

Leclerc, typically disciplined despite his uncompetitive Ferrari, didn’t put a foot wrong, executing a perfect defensive drive to hold onto the podium.

“Very, very surprised,” he said. “I’m not very often happy with P3, but I think with today’s race we can be extremely happy with the job we’ve done on a difficult weekend for the team. I’m really happy to start the second half like this.”

Piastri finished fourth ahead of Carlos Sainz, the Spaniard finishing fifth thanks to a rapid final stint highlighted by a long duel with Sergio Perez, who he overcame with a late-braking move into the first turn on lap 47. The pass had him set his sights on Russell, who he looked certain to get by easily before Mercedes pitted the Briton for a set of softs.

It was a curious strategy from Mercedes, dropping Russell behind Perez and forcing him to pass the Mexican just to retake sixth. Russell started the stint with formidable speed that had him on track to get ahead of the Red Bull, but his red-walled tires ran out of puff long before he caught Perez, leaving him 5s adrift after the bungled call.

Sixth for Perez was a decent return despite losing a place to Sainz, the Mexican having demonstrated similar pace to Verstappen but with the additional handicap of being bottled behind the Russell-led train in the opening stint.

Lewis Hamilton recovered six places to eighth with an aggressive two-stop strategy that started and ended with sets of the soft tire, doing most of his passing in the opening stint.

Pierre Gasly held his grid spot to finish ninth ahead of Fernando Alonso, who collected the final point of the race for Aston Martin.

Nico Hulkenberg finished 11th ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Lance Stroll, who battled for the final point in the final stint.

Alex Albon led home Esteban Ocon, Logan Sargeant, Yuki Tsunoda, Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.

racer.com

Norris, McLaren score crushing Dutch GP win

Lando Norris dominated the Dutch Grand Prix to lead home local hero Max Verstappen to claim his second GP victory in Formula 1. It was the first time Norris has converted pole into a win in his F1 …
racer.com racer.com
 
Renault staff to strike at plans to end F1 engine programme

Renault motorsport employees will go on strike on Friday in protest at plans to end the company's Formula 1 engine programme after next year.

A statement from a staff committee at the Renault motorsport base in Viry-Chatillon, near Paris, said the "vast majority" of employees would refuse to work.

A group of staff have also travelled to the Italian Grand Prix, where they will stage a demonstration.

Renault, which owns the Alpine team, started its F1 engine programme in 1977, when the company pioneered turbo engines in the sport. It has won championships with Williams, Benetton and Red Bull.

It is widely expected that the company will abandon its F1 engine project and, from 2026, buy engines from Mercedes for the Alpine team instead. Employees at Viry-Chatillon will be moved on to other motorsport projects.

The plan is based on saving money, and the fact that Renault's engine is the least competitive on the grid. The company has struggled ever since the introduction of hybrid engines in 2014.

Alpine say dialogue with staff "is important to management and will be pursued in the upcoming weeks".

The team added: "The transformation project is still being evaluated and no decision has been taken yet by Alpine’s management."


www.bbc.com

Renault staff to strike at Italian Grand Prix over Alpine engine decision

Renault motorsport employees will go on strike on Friday in protest at plans to end the company's Formula 1 engine programme.
www.bbc.com
 
Kimi Antonelli confirmed as Mercedes’ replacement for Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes have confirmed that 18-year-old Italian driver Kimi Antonelli will join the team to replace Lewis Hamilton for the 2025 Formula One season. Antonelli will partner George Russell when Hamilton joins Ferrari next year.

Antonelli, who has been a Mercedes junior driver since 2019, had long been expected to be promoted to the team and his new role was confirmed in a statement issued on Saturday morning by Mercedes at the Italian Grand Prix.

“It is an amazing feeling to be announced as a Mercedes works driver alongside George for 2025,” said Antonelli. “Reaching F1 is a dream I’ve had since I was a small boy; I want to thank the team for the support they’ve given me in my career so far and the faith they’ve shown in me. I’m also really excited to become George’s teammate. He came through the team’s junior programme just like myself and is someone I have a huge amount of respect for.”

The young driver crashed out of his first competitive run in an F1 car, in practice at Monza after just five laps but the team principal Toto Wolff said he would rather have the problem of slowing down a fast driver than vice versa.

Antonelli, who was born in Bologna, is still very young having only turned 18 last Sunday and has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks. He has taken titles in karting, where he caught Wolff’s attention then in single seaters in the Italian and German F4 series and then the Formula Regional Championship, from which he made the remarkable step of moving up past F3 direct to F2 this season. He has taken two wins in F2 this year and is seventh in the championship.

“Our 2025 driver lineup combines experience, talent, youth and out-and-out raw speed,” said Wolff. “We are excited about what George and Kimi bring to the team both as individual drivers, but also as a partnership. Our new lineup is perfect to open the next chapter in our story. It is also a testament to the strength of our junior programme and our belief in homegrown talent.”

When asked about Antonelli prior to the announcement, Hamilton felt he would make a strong choice for Mercedes. “I said a long time ago that I think that’s who the team should choose moving forwards,” he said. “He’s one of those young, super-talented kids that’s come through. He’s got a bright future ahead of him. I’m really excited to see and watch his progress. I saw a picture earlier on of us, back in, I think, 2018, and he was one of the grid kids. I’m shaking his hand at the front of the grid. So it obviously reminds you how old you are when you have those experiences. I’m looking forward to seeing his growth and his journey through into Formula One.”

Antonelli had an inauspicious opening as he took to the track at Monzalasting only five laps across 10 minutes of the session before he lost the rear at Parabolica. Apparently having problems with tyre temperatures, he flew off to crash into the barriers at approximately 160mph.

He emerged unhurt but it ended his run and left mechanics with work to do on George Russell’s car to prepare it for second practice. They went flat out and the British driver was able to take to the track approximately 20 minutes into the hour of the session.

On track, the day opened well for Max Verstappen. The defending world champion leads McLaren’s Lando Norris by 70 points in the championship but was beaten by the British driver at the last round in Zandvoort by almost 23sec as the McLaren demonstrated a fearsome turn of pace. Verstappen was hopeful his Red Bull would be more suited and better balanced on the low-downforce, high-speed blast at Monza and he was quickest in the first session, 0.228sec up on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with Norris in third.

In the second session, truncated when Kevin Magnussen crashed out after 35 minutes, Hamilton was quickest for Mercedes, but only three-thousandths of a second in front of Norris, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in third, while Verstappen made an error on his hot lap and backed out of it, finishing 14th.

THE GUARDIAN
 
Charles Leclerc wins in Monza! with Piastri and Norris finishing in 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.
 
Complaints about McLaren and Mercedes front wings rejected

Formula 1's governing body has rejected complaints from Red Bull and Ferrari about the legality of the front wings on the McLaren and Mercedes cars.

Red Bull and Ferrari believed the front wings flexed excessively and were not compliant with the rules.

But the FIA said on Tuesday: "All front wings are currently compliant with the 2024 regulations."

Red Bull and Ferrari have not responded to requests for comment.

Neither team has formally objected to the wings on the McLaren and Mercedes.

But the FIA was aware of their concerns and issued its statement in response to comments after Sunday's Italian Grand Prix from Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, the team's motorsport adviser Helmut Marko and Ferrari's Frederic Vasseur.


www.bbc.com

Red Bull complaint over McLaren and Mercedes front wings rejected

Formula 1's governing body rejects complaints from Red Bull and Ferrari about the legality of the McLaren and Mercedes front wings.
www.bbc.com
 
Jordan 'not prepared' to discuss Newey future

Adrian Newey's manager Eddie Jordan has refused to discuss reports that the Formula 1 design legend is to join the Aston Martin team next year.

Jordan, who in April negotiated an early exit for Newey from his contract as Red Bull chief technical officer, told BBC Sport: "I am not prepared to answer - I will not be forthcoming in any shape or form."

Aston Martin have scheduled a news conference for 10 September, where Newey's recruitment is expected to be announced.

Team owner Lawrence Stroll said in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday: "Adrian and I have been talking not only for months but actually for years.

"Adrian is clearly the most talented and gifted individual in F1 based on his track record and history.

"So I'd be very excited for Adrian to join our team, as I think every other F1 team on the grid would feel exactly the same."

Asked if Newey would join Aston Martin, Stroll said: "I certainly hope so."

An Aston Martin spokesperson said: "Adrian has been linked to many teams and would be an asset to any team, but we don't have anything to announce."

Newey, 65, is regarded as the greatest F1 designer in history, and has been part of 12 drivers' championships and 13 constructors' titles for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull since 1991.

Aston Martin moved into a new factory last year and a new wind tunnel on the site at Silverstone is about to come on stream. Newey was given secret tour of the site in the summer.

The team have been on a recruitment drive in recent times aimed at turning them into world championship contenders.

In July, they announced that former Mercedes engine chief Andy Cowell would join in October as their new chief executive officer, replacing Martin Whitmarsh, the former McLaren team principal who has been performing the role since 2021.

Aston Martin have also signed former Ferrari chassis technical director Enrico Cardile as chief technical officer.

Aston Martin's technical director Dan Fallows, who joined the team in April 2022, is a former colleague of Newey at Red Bull, where Fallows was head of aerodynamics before taking on his current role.

Aston Martin are starting a new partnership in 2026 with engine manufacturer Honda, which has supplied Red Bull since 2019.

The team are fifth in the constructors' championship this year. After leaping to the front in the first half of the 2023 season, when Fernando Alonso secured a series of podium finishes, they have slipped backwards in the past 12 months and are struggling to qualify and finish in the top 10.

In April, Jordan negotiated for Newey an early exit from his contract as Red Bull chief technical officer which allows him to start work for another team from March next year.

Newey has talked to Ferrari, McLaren, Alpine and Williams as well as Aston Martin since his decision to leave Red Bull was announced in May.

Talks with Ferrari evaporated quickly and McLaren pulled out of the race in the summer. Alpine executive adviser Flavio Briatore made a late bid for Newey, according to sources, but Aston Martin are said to be the only option he is still considering.

Newey decided to leave Red Bull in the wake of the allegations of sexual harassment and coercive, controlling behaviour made against team principal Christian Horner by a female employee.

Horner has always denied the allegations and two separate internal Red Bull inquiries have dismissed the complaint.

Newly had also grown frustrated with tensions within the Red Bull team as to who deserved credit for their domination of the sport in 2022 and 2023.

His contract, which expired at the end of 2025, would have prevented him from joining another team until 2027.

But Jordan and Newey secured an agreement that freed him up in time to start work for another team in time to have a signifiant impact on their design for the new regulations that are coming into force in 2026.

Moving to Aston Martin would give Newey the chance finally to join forces with two-time champion Fernando Alonso, who he told BBC Sport in an interview last November was the one driver with whom he would most like to have worked.

He said: "That's a regret that that never happened because I have a tremendous respect for Fernando."

Alonso, 43, this year signed a new contract with Aston Martin that will keep him at the team at least until the end of 2026.

BBC
 

Newey commits to £30m Aston Martin deal​


Leading Formula 1 designer Adrian Newey will join Aston Martin next year.

An Aston Martin source told BBC Sport that Newey has made a long-term commitment to the team, said to be a five-year contract worth up to a possible £30m a year, including bonuses and add-ons.

The deal will be announced at a news conference organised by Aston Martin at their F1 base at Silverstone on Tuesday.

Newey, who in April negotiated an early exit from his contract as Red Bull chief technical officer, will start work in early March.

The 65-year-old's manager Eddie Jordan refused to discuss the situation when approached for comment by BBC Sport.

An Aston Martin spokesperson said: "Adrian has been linked to many teams and would be an asset to any team, but we don't have anything to announce."

Securing Newey is a coup for Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll after investing heavily in the team with the ambition of turning them into world championship contenders.

Stroll has funded a state-of-the-art new factory, including a wind tunnel, employed a series of top engineers and secured Honda as a works engine partner from 2026.

The team also have two-time world champion Fernando Alonso under contract until the end of 2026.

Newey has built a reputation as the greatest F1 designer in history after winning 12 drivers’ championships and 13 constructors’ titles in a career that spans the Williams, McLaren and Red Bull teams.

In particular, he has a reputation for stealing a march on rivals at the beginning of a period of new regulations.

The deal he negotiated to leave Red Bull, to whom he had been under contract until the end of 2025, frees him to join another team in time to have a significant impact on the design they produce for 2026.

F1 rules forbid teams from starting design work on the aerodynamics of their 2026 before the start of next year.

Newey will be the design lead for a team who have invested heavily in engineering talent in recent years.

Former Mercedes engine chief Andy Cowell joins as chief executive officer on 1 October.

Aston Martin have signed former Ferrari chassis technical director Enrico Cardile, who will start work in his role as chief technical officer at an unspecified point in 2025.

Aston Martin's technical director is Dan Fallows, who joined in April 2022 after working as an aerodynamicist under Newey at Red Bull from 2006 until 2021.

www.bbc.com

Aston Martin: Adrian Newey will join in £30m-a-year deal

Leading F1 designer Adrian Newey will join Aston Martin in a deal worth up to £30m a year.
www.bbc.com
 
F1 design great Newey joins Aston Martin

Adrian Newey says he has joined Aston Martin to help lead them to the Formula 1 World Championship.

The 65-year-old designer's new contract, with the title of managing technical partner, was announced on Tuesday at the team's F1 base at Silverstone.

Newey, regarded as the greatest F1 designer in history, has also become an Aston Martin shareholder.

The team did not initially reveal the length of the deal, but BBC Sport has been told it is a five-year contract worth up to a possible £30m a year, including bonuses and add-ons.

That figure, barring Dutchman Max Verstappen and the British pair of Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, is believed to be more than all the drivers are earning.

And according to business magazine Forbes, Newey would only be behind Anthony Joshua, Rory McIlroy and Tyson Fury in terms of other British sporting figures.

Newey said he was "hugely inspired and impressed by the passion and commitment" of team owner Lawrence Stroll.

The Canadian billionaire has already invested hundreds of millions in a new factory, including a state-of-the-art wind tunnel, and secured a factory engine partnership with Honda from 2026.

The Japanese company have supplied Red Bull, the current world champions, since 2019.

Aston Martin also have two-time world champion Fernando Alonso under contract until the end of 2026. The team's other driver is Stroll's son Lance.

Stroll described Newey's arrival as "a huge day, the most exciting day in the team's history".

Alonso said: "It's an incredible day for the team. Lawrence's vision is taking shape with this building, Honda, Adrian - this is definitely the team of the future and for me it is going to be an incredible opportunity professionally to work with Adrian."


www.bbc.com

Adrian Newey: Aston Martin confirm signing of Formula 1 designer

Adrian Newey says he has joined Aston Martin to help lead them to the Formula 1 World Championship.
www.bbc.com
 
McLaren ask Piastri to back Norris title bid

McLaren are to prioritise Lando Norris over team-mate Oscar Piastri in their bid to win both Formula 1 world championships this year.

But team principal Andrea Stella said any actions taken to back Norris in the drivers' title chase would happen only within the team's principles of sportsmanship and fairness.

Stella told BBC Sport: "The overall concept is we are incredibly determined to win, but we want to win in the right way."

Norris heads into this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix 62 points behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the drivers' championship with a maximum of 232 still available.

Piastri is in fourth place in the championship, 86 points behind Verstappen.

Stella, speaking in an exclusive interview, said: "We [will] bias our support to Lando but we want to do it without too much compromise on our principles.

"Our principles are that the team interest always comes first. Sportsmanship for us is important in the overall way we go racing. And then we want to be fair to both drivers."

Until now, McLaren had allowed Norris and Piastri to race each other without interference from the team.

The shift in policy towards finding ways to boost Norris' chances of beating Verstappen to the drivers' title comes after a series of meetings between McLaren bosses and their drivers following the Italian Grand Prix.

In Monza, Norris and Piastri qualified first and second but the Australian overtook the Briton on the first lap and the incident led to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc getting between the two McLarens. Leclerc went on to win the race, from Piastri and Norris. Verstappen finished an uncompetitive sixth.

Stella said: "What we don't want to see any more is a situation like in Monza in which we enter a chicane P1/P2 and we exit P1/P3. Because that is a detriment to the team.

"The team interests comes first and these are the situations that above all we need to fix because eventually, as a matter of fact, the way we entered the race in Monza left the door open this situation.

"After Monza, three objectives: we need to make sure that anything that happens on track is not to the detriment of the team.

"Second objective, how do we win both championships, both drivers committed to help?

"But what we don't want to do is win in a reckless way.

"Those are the three topics and they define the way we go racing in Baku. This will be updated after Baku."

Both drivers on board

Verstappen dominated the first part of the season, and has taken seven victories, when no other driver has more than two wins.

But the Dutchman has not won for six races, since the Spanish Grand Prix in June, and Red Bull admit they are lost in understanding why their car has fallen back in terms of performance compared to McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes

Stella said both McLaren drivers had bought into the shift in philosophy.

"The conversations have been very collaborative," he said.

"Even when I said to Oscar: 'Would you be available to give up a victory?' He said: 'It's painful, but if it's the right thing to do now, I will do it'.

"Every driver is hard-wired to go for a victory. So I am always very impressed by the level of team spirit and maturity and collaboration that we found in this period."

Stella refused to give details of the sort of choices that might be made in Norris' favour but said decisions would be made on an ad hoc basis as to whether any interference between the two drivers was "worthwhile".

And he emphasised that Norris was on board with the idea of not going all out in acting in his favour in every way.

"Lando wants to win because he deserved the victory on track," Stella said.

"It's OK to be occasionally supported by your team-mate, but you don't want to use, systematically, ways of adjusting the race just for the sake of the points when your team-mate is scoring in a way that he deserves. This is not the way McLaren want to win, or the way Lando wants to win.

"If I ask Lando, he would say: 'I am comfortable if in Abu Dhabi [at the end of the season] I miss a few points that I could have got with some actions, but if those actions were not right at the time, then, you know what? We keep strong as a team, the team is stable and cohesive, we will give it a go next year'."

Prime focus on constructors' title

In the constructors' championship, McLaren are just eight points behind Red Bull and could take the lead this weekend. Ferrari are in third place, 31 adrift of McLaren.

Stella emphasised: "We need to be careful that while we focus the conversation and the attention on to the drivers’, we don't lose sight on the fact that the constructors’ is at least a three-headed quest."

Stella said this changed approach from McLaren was distinct from the so-called "papaya rules", a phrase used by Norris’ engineer Will Joseph over the team radio in Italy as a shorthand for the drivers' rules of engagement with each other on track.

Stella said: "The 'papaya rules' only have to do with racing with no risks, no contact between the two McLarens and respectfully. That's it.

"It's just a quick way to remind our drivers, 'Guys, don't take too much risk in fighting each other'."

BBC
 
Norris wants title win 'by fighting and beating' Verstappen

Lando Norris says he wants to try to earn the world title on merit, despite McLaren asking his team-mate Oscar Piastri to support the Briton if necessary.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella told BBC Sport the team would "bias" their operations towards Norris as they seek to win the drivers' title as well as the constructors' championship this season.

Norris said he was "thankful" for the team's decision but said: "I don't want to be given a championship.

"Yes, it would be great to have a championship, and short term you feel amazing, but I don't think you'd be proud of that in the long run. It's not how I want to win a championship."

Norris heads into this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix 62 points behind championship leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull, with a maximum of 232 points available in the remaining eight races.

McLaren are just eight points behind Red Bull in the constructors' championship, with Ferrari a further 31 adrift.

Norris added: "I want to win it by fighting against Max and beating Max, beating my competitors and proving I'm the best on track. That's how I want to race."

Stella made it clear that McLaren had not decided to ask Piastri to back Norris under any circumstances.

"The overall concept is we are incredibly determined to win, but we want to win in the right way," he said.

"We [will] bias our support to Lando but we want to do it without too much compromise on our principles.

"Our principles are that the team interest always comes first. Sportsmanship for us is important in the overall way we go racing - and then we want to be fair to both drivers."

Piastri said: "The team have asked me to help out, and I've said for the last few races that if I was asked, then I would.

"Of course naturally, as a driver, it's never an easy thing or a simple thing to agree to. But again, there's a much bigger picture in play than just myself."

Both Norris and Piastri played down the idea the Australian might be asked to sacrifice a win for his team-mate.

Norris said: "Probably not. In general, probably for lower positions, but if he's fought for a win and he's deserving of a win, then he deserves to win.

"Oscar is still fighting for his own racing, he's still going out and doing his stuff. And it could be that there's no time this year that he needs to help me.

"It's more that I've got Oscar's help when needs be, but he's still going out with that intent of every session of fighting for himself."


www.bbc.com

Lando Norris: McLaren driver wants to earn F1 title on merit, despite new team orders

Lando Norris says he wants to try to earn the world title on merit, despite McLaren asking his team-mate Oscar Piastri to support the Briton if necessary.
www.bbc.com
 
Verstappen fastest in Azerbaijan as Leclerc crashes

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen pipped Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to the fastest time at the end of a first practice session at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix punctuated by three red flags.

Verstappen replaced Hamilton at the top of the timesheets with his final lap of the session, moving 0.313 seconds clear of the seven-time world champion.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez also set his fastest time on his final lap, moving up to third place, 0.376secs off the pace.

McLaren’s Lando Norris, Verstappen’s closest challenger in the championship, was fourth, 0.481secs behind the Dutchman.

One of the red-flag stoppages was caused by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who had been consistently fastest in the first half of the session until he slid straight on at Turn 15 midway through the session.

The Ferrari’s front suspension was damaged but Leclerc’s car should be repairable in time for the second session, from 14:00 BST.

The first red-flag period was caused by debris on track and the final one a crash for Argentine Franco Colapinto in the Williams.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fifth fastest from the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Mercedes’ George Russell and Leclerc, whose time on medium tyres before his crash was still good enough for ninth fastest time.

All the times ahead of him were set on soft tyres.

Verstappen and Red Bull appeared at this early stage to be in better shape than they were during a difficult weekend at the Italian Grand Prix last time out.

The Dutchman is facing an onslaught from Norris and McLaren in the championship, and is 62 points clear with eight races remaining.

McLaren have decided to ask Piastri to back Norris’ bid to overhaul Verstappen if the circumstances arise.

Norris has been able to close in on Verstappen over the last two races. But after struggling in Monza, Verstappen was quick every time he was out on track in the first session in Baku.

Red Bull have introduced a new floor for this weekend that they hope will begin to address the problems with inconsistent balance, of which Verstappen has been complaining in recent races.

BBC
 

Leclerc beats Piastri to pole in Azerbaijan as Norris suffers shock Q1 exit​


Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc made it four successive pole positions at the Baku City Circuit by beating Oscar Piastri to the top spot during Saturday’s qualifying session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while there was drama for the other McLaren of Lando Norris in the form of a Q1 elimination.

Leclerc produced a blistering lap of 1m 41.365s to finish some three-tenths clear of Piastri in the final Q3 phase, adding to his 2021, 2022 and 2023 poles at the venue, with team mate Carlos Sainz rounding out the top three positions.

Red Bull showed flashes of pace throughout qualifying but ultimately had to settle for fourth and sixth, with two-time Azerbaijan winner Sergio Perez getting the better of Max Verstappen, while George Russell put his Mercedes in fifth.

Lewis Hamilton seemingly faced a battle to get his tyres up to temperature en route to seventh place, as Fernando Alonso took eighth for Aston Martin and Williams drivers Franco Colapinto and Alex Albon completed the Q3 order.

In what was an otherwise excellent day for Williams, and especially rookie Colapinto, Albon’s efforts were hindered when the Thai-British driver was sent out for his final lap with an airbox fan still attached.

While Albon stopped on track, managed to release the fan and throw it to the waiting marshals, the time he lost in doing so meant he could not get another lap in – with stewards set to investigate the incident post-session.

Ollie Bearman just missed out on a spot in the pole position shootout, having finished a tenth down on Albon in Q2, prompting a frustrated radio message from the Briton on his return to the pits despite out-qualifying experienced Haas team mate Nico Hulkenberg.

RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly had to settle for respective P12 and P13 places, the former being hit with a fine for speeding in the pit lane, while Hulkenberg and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll were the slowest of the runners in the second qualifying segment.

It was a disastrous session for title challenger Norris, who will start in 17th position – just behind RB driver and former team mate Daniel Ricciardo – after his Q1 elimination, having run wildly over the kerbs and encountered a slow-moving Esteban Ocon in the final sector.

Kick Sauber pair Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu placed 18th and 19th respectively, the latter facing a back-of-the-grid start in any case, while the aforementioned Ocon wound up 20th after his Alpine slowed once again in the closing stages of the opening phase.

www.formula1.com

Leclerc beats Piastri to pole as Norris suffers Q1 exit

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc made it four successive pole positions at the Baku City Circuit by beating Oscar Piastri to the top spot during Saturday’s qualifying session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while there was drama for the other McLaren of Lando Norris in the form of a Q1 elimination.
www.formula1.com www.formula1.com
 
Norris 'still hopeful' of good result in Baku

McLaren's Lando Norris says he is "still hopeful" of a good result in Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix despite starting the race down the field.

The Briton will start nine places behind title rival Max Verstappen's Red Bull after coming across yellow flags at the wrong moment in qualifying, which meant he did not progress beyond the first session.

Norris qualified 17th but gained a place when Alpine's Pierre Gasly was disqualified for a technical infringement - and another when Mercedes elected to start Lewis Hamilton from the pit lane and take a new engine.

The aim for Norris is to close a 62-point gap to Verstappen over the remaining eight races of the season.

"It is what it is but there is a long race ahead," Norris said. "We have got some good tyres in the bank, so yeah, try and be hopeful and see what we can do."

But Norris acknowledged that making progress would depend on strategy choices in the race, because overtaking is difficult on the Baku street track despite the two-kilometre pit straight.

He said the fact that the slower cars in front of him had chosen to run low downforce to boost their speed on the straight would make it even more difficult.

Norris said he was "disappointed and frustrated" with the result of qualifying but insisted that there was "nothing I could change".

"Everything is going to have to be done with strategy because you can't overtake," Norris said. "There are a plenty of cars at the back who have taken the wing off and hope for the best.

"That makes it impossible for a lot of cars to overtake them.

"The car is quick and we hope that will come into our hands and at some point I can get clean air.

"But on a street circuit everything gets backed up and you kind of get forced into a position and you can’t do a lot at times.

"We will hope for the best but I don’t expect anything much at all unless strategy comes into play."

The other McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who has been asked before the weekend to help Norris' title bid, qualified second, behind the pole position Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was third on Saturday, ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, Mercedes’ George Russell, Verstappen and Mercedes' Hamilton.

Can Leclerc finally win in Baku?

Leclerc’s pole was his fourth in a row at this track but he has yet to convert any into a win.

The Ferrari driver, who won the Italian Grand Prix two weeks ago, said: “Looking back on the three years I have done pole, one we had the car to be pole, but the 2021 and 2023 were particularly good laps and we were out of position, so I did not expect to win those years.

“In 2022, the engine blew up when leading - unfortunate. And tomorrow I hope the pace we have seen all weekend will still be there, but it is a completely different thing because with high fuel, tyre degradation will be a big thing so we need to be on top of this and if we are hopefully we can bring the victory home.”

Norris’ best hope for a good result is for a chaotic, incident-packed race of the kind that have been regularly seen in the past.

Sainz said: “The biggest challenge of Baku normally is when there are red flags because that breaks the rhythm of the race. I remember one year there was two or three red flags on the same race, and then you have to wait while they clear the track, and obviously that is the biggest thing.

“Then the safety cars. Here it's very difficult to keep temperature in the tyres, so whenever there's a safety-car restart, it's very easy to front lock, very easy to go wide into the first three corners.

“So yeah, all these aspects make Baku an unpredictable race, because as soon as there's one curve ball, like a safety car or a red flag, it actually generates even more chaos after, as a snowball effect.”

Verstappen, for his part, is not optimistic of coming through to challenge for victory, saying the car’s behaviour did not give him confidence to attack in qualifying.

"The way the car feels now is not good,” Verstappen said.

BBC
 
Chequered flag

What an end to the race.

Oscar Piastri crosses the line and takes victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix!

Charles Leclerc, four-time polesitter in Baku, is denied the win once again.
 
FearlessRoar said:
Chequered flag

What an end to the race.

Oscar Piastri crosses the line and takes victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix!

Charles Leclerc, four-time polesitter in Baku, is denied the win once again.
Click to expand...

F1: Piastri wins in Baku as McLaren take over at the top​


Oscar Piastri has won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and sent McLaren to the top of the constructors’ standings in a race that finished with a virtual safety car after a penultimate lap collision between Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.

Ferrari’s pole-sitter Charles Leclerc, who was overtaken by Piastri on the 20th of 51 laps and then battled nose-to-tail before his tyres faded, came second with George Russell inheriting third for Mercedes after the Sainz-Perez collision.

Red Bull’s Formula One leader Max Verstappen finished fifth, just behind his closest title rival Lando Norris, who started 15th for McLaren and ended up fourth with a bonus point for the fastest lap.

Triple champion Verstappen’s lead over Norris, who reeled in a 15-second gap and passed the Dutch driver on lap 49 thanks to his fresher tyres, was cut from 62 points to 59.

McLaren are now 20 points clear of Red Bull in the standings with seven rounds remaining.

“That was probably the most stressful afternoon in my life,” said Piastri, after soaking up relentless pressure from Leclerc to take his second career win. “It definitely goes down as one of the better races of my career.”

The top two had duelled for lap after lap, with the Ferrari driver trying in vain to use the DRS drag reduction to get past Piastri until he faded and fell into the clutches of Perez and Sainz.

Fernando Alonso was sixth for Aston Martin with the Williams team benefitting from the late crash to see Alex Albon finish seventh with Argentine rookie Franco Colapinto following him home in eighth.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was ninth for Mercedes, after starting in the pit lane, and British rookie Oliver Bearman collected the final point for Haas as a stand-in for suspended Kevin Magnussen.

Bearman has now scored points for two different teams in his two races after making his race debut with Ferrari as a stand-in for appendicitis-stricken Sainz in March.

Perez tried and failed to pass Leclerc for second place on the penultimate lap and then found himself fourth as Sainz seized the opportunity to go past.

As the Spaniard and Mexican battled for third at turn two, the cars collided and went into the wall.

“What happened there?!?” exclaimed Sainz, with Perez asking the same thing in more colourful language.

www.aljazeera.com

F1: Piastri wins in Baku as McLaren take over at the top

Oscar Piastri wins F1’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix from second on the grid as McLaren move 20 points clear of Red Bull.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com
 
MAX VERSTAPPEN and three other drivers avoided punishment for overtaking after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix had finished

Verstappen, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg were all issued warnings after they were spotted overtaking under the Virtual Safety Car.

Despite the race having already been won by Oscar Piastri by the time the overtaking was completed, drivers still have to avoid overtaking while the VSC is in place - which it was.

The VSC had been brought in following an astonishing crash on the penultimate lap of the Baku City Circuit that saw podium chasers Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez crash out of contention.

Fortunately for the four drivers caught overtaking, the decision was taken to issue warnings rather than offering up penalties.

However, the stewards have warned that any repeat offending "may lead to significant penalties".

A statement read: "While passing after the chequered flag is not unusual, it is prohibited in the case of yellows, Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car procedures.

"While the drivers were aware of where the incident was, they could not have known if emergency equipment or marshals were being dispatched onto the track, and so have to proceed with caution.

"The Stewards are aware that this has happened earlier this season and was not noticed at the time.

"We are therefore warning the driver concerned, along with all other competitors. Further breaches may incur significant penalties."

Fans were confused at first by the warnings and took to social media to react.

One wrote: "But the race was over, right? I don't understand where the infraction was committed there? Maybe I'm stupid, but I don't understand…"

While another added: "If Verstappen gets penalised for this I'm suing the FIA."

Others sided with the FIA, reiterating that rules are rules and the drivers need to follow them for everyone's safety.

One posted: "The point is, the hazard is still on the road. It is not a video game where you cross the finish line and all sudden the road is clean. There was still two cars crashed into each other."

And a second reiterated: "VSC is VSC.. rules still apply even if its after the race."

The chaos in Baku meant George Russell jumped into third place behind Charles Leclerc in second.

While Oscar Piastri upstaged Lando Norris as McLaren soared into the lead of the Constructors’ Championship.

The result means McLaren now boasts a 20-point lead in the constructors' standings over Red Bull.

www.thesun.co.uk

Max Verstappen handed warning for overtaking after F1 race had FINISHED

MAX VERSTAPPEN and three other drivers avoided punishment for overtaking after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix had finished. Verstappen, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg were all issued war…
www.thesun.co.uk www.thesun.co.uk
 
The era of Verstappen is over. It was a very dominant era but very short-lived. This is why Hamilton is the GOAT. Because that kind of longevity at the top is simply unprecedented.

Finally, it feels like McLaren's glory days are returning. McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull fighting at the top with Mercedes and Aston Martin just below. F1 hasn't been this exciting in years!
 

Piastri ready to 'help' Norris in title battle​


Oscar Piastri says McLaren are ready to use him to help Lando Norris’ championship bid if the circumstances arise at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Australian said his win in Baku last weekend has “not really changed anything” in McLaren’s approach.

“Lando is still ahead in the championship and just being honest has a more realistic chance of winning the championship,” Piastri said.

"If I am in a position to still win races, that’s what I want to do. But naturally if there are times I can help out for Lando’s championship bid, then I’ll be happy to help if I can.”

Norris, who beat Red Bull's Max Verstappen in Baku despite starting nine places behind him, heads into the Singapore weekend 59 points behind the Dutchman.

Piastri is a further 32 points behind Norris.

McLaren went into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix saying they would “bias” their approach towards Norris, as the driver closest to championship leader Verstappen.

In the end, Piasti was unable to help because Norris was caught by a yellow flag in qualifying and lined up only 15th on the grid. The Briton eventually finished fourth with Verstappen fifth.

Team principal Andrea Stella had said McLaren’s approach would be “reviewed” after Baku.

Piastri, speaking on media day in Singapore before this weekend’s grand prix, pointed to Norris’ assistance on his way to victory in Baku as an example of how McLaren want to go racing.

Norris backed up Red Bull’s Sergio Perez on the lap before Piastri made his pit stop to ensure his team-mate rejoined the track still ahead of the Mexican.

Piastri then overtook Charles Leclerc for the lead three laps later and held off the Ferrari driver for the rest of the race to win.

Piastri said: “Lando was definitely a factor in the race. He helped with some ‘tyre saving’ with Checo.”

But he said it was impossible to discuss how things might develop between the McLaren drivers in Singapore.

Piastri said: “Until you arrive in a specific situation it’s difficult to discuss apart from demonstrating it on track.”

Verstappen has not won for seven races as Red Bull’s competitiveness has declined and said he was expecting a difficult weekend in Singapore, where last year he finished fifth after qualifying 11th.

“Our car is generally not very good on bumps and kerbs and that’s what we have here,” Verstappen said.

“We have to try and stabilise it. I am confident we can do a better job than last year but the competition has improved quite a bit. I am definitely targeting Q3 but let’s see where we end up.”

Verstappen said that he was content with a plan from Red Bull to promote his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase into a role with wider responsibilities.

Following sporting director Jonathan Wheatley’s decision to move to Sauber/Audi in 2025, Red Bull will promote Lambiase to head of racing after the end of this season. He will continue to be Verstappen’s race engineer while taking on his wider role.

Verstappen said: “He already did more than being just my race engineer. It’s about spreading the load. For me, that’s fine.”

www.bbc.com

Singapore Grand Prix: Oscar Piastri says he is 'ready' to help Lando Norris in title battle

Oscar Piastri says McLaren are ready to use him to help Lando Norris’ championship bid if the circumstances arise at the Singapore Grand Prix.
www.bbc.com
 
Leclerc fastest in Singapore GP first practice

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the pace ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris in first practice at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Leclerc was 0.076 seconds quicker than the Briton, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz third ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Norris heads into the weekend 59 points behind Verstappen in the championship and needing to keep eating into the Dutchman’s lead to keep his title hopes on track.

Singapore was the only race last year where Red Bull failed to win, and the team have come into the event this year expecting a difficult weekend.

Verstappen complained of understeer during the session and ended it 0.334secs off the pace.

After the session, the world champion was ordered to report to the stewards for an alleged breach of the sporting code, following his swearing in the official news conference on Thursday.

Verstappen’s swearing came after the FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem had said in an interview that he wanted F1 not to broadcast swearing from drivers during on-track sessions.

Team radio transmissions are always vetted before broadcast and are transmitted on delay so swearing can be bleeped.

Several drivers, including Verstappen, pushed back against Ben Sulayem’s comments, and Lewis Hamilton accused the Emirati of “stereotypical” language that had a “racial element”.

There were no crashes during the session on the demanding Marina Bay street circuit but Norris and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso both rescued major moments on the exit of Turn Eight.

Both drivers slid on to the exit kerb and fought to keep control, Alonso’s incident so large that he accidentally pressed the button saying he would pit while correcting it.

RB's Yuki Tsunoda was fifth fastest, ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Australian Piastri, the winner of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last weekend, had a delayed start to the session when his car suffered a failure on its left-rear corner during pit-stop practice.

It was repaired in time for Piastri to join the track after about 15 minutes.

He had a brush with the wall during the session without major damage to the car and ended it 0.606secs off Leclerc’s pace.

RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, whose future in the team is in doubt, was seventh fastest, from the Williams of Alex Albon, Alonso and Alpine's Esteban Ocon.

The second session starts at 21:00 local time (14:00 BST).

BBC
 
Norris sets pace as Verstappen has 'difficult' day

Title rivals Max Verstappen and Lando Norris had contrasting days in Friday practice at the Singapore Grand Prix as the McLaren driver set the pace with the championship leader down in 15th.

Norris was 0.058 seconds clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in his McLaren while Verstappen was 1.294secs slower than the Briton.

Norris, looking to close his 59-point deficit to Verstappen this weekend, said his car was “feeling good”. The Dutchman said his day was “difficult”.

Mercedes were also off the pace. George Russell, seventh fastest overall, crashed at the end of the second session, while team-mate Lewis Hamilton said the team were “a little bit lost”.

Norris said: “Pace is good. It was also a nice lap. We're doing what we expect, I guess, to be up at the front and together with Ferrari but it was a very nice lap and Charles is just behind.

“I was a hoping to have a much bigger gap which means they’re quick. Ferrari are very, very fast.”

Verstappen said: “Difficult. Not having the grip that we would like. We have a few things to look at.

“I was not really struggling with the bumps or kerbs just general grip so we have to look at the trade-off between the two.”


www.bbc.com

Singapore Grand Prix 2024: Lando Norris heads Charles Leclerc in practice as Max Verstappen struggles

McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc establish themselves as pace-setters in practice for the Singapore Grand Prix.
www.bbc.com
 
'Awesome' to fight Verstappen and Hamilton – Norris

McLaren's Lando Norris says it is "pretty cool" that he is facing a battle for victory in the Singapore Grand Prix with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

Norris, who has taken pole for the race ahead of title rival Verstappen and Hamilton, is 59 points behind the Red Bull driver in the championship and aiming to close the gap.

Briton Norris said it was "awesome" to be "trying to fight against them".

"There's World Championships, I mean, there's 150 wins or something between them," Norris said.

"So, yeah, I've got nothing on them and nothing comparing to them. Respect them a lot. I've looked up to both of them for a long time, both literally and mentally, you know, so it doesn't change what I do and how I go out and drive."

Hamilton has an all-time record 105 grand prix victories and Verstappen is third in the list with 61.

Norris needs to close on Verstappen by just over eight points a race - more than the gap between the points for first and second place - to beat the Dutchman to the title. He is going for his third career victory, following wins in Miami and the Netherlands this season.

"I probably know what to expect a bit more from them because I've seen them drive and I think they both drive with respect and they both want to drive as clean racing drivers," he said.

"That's something I always look forward to.

"I just know that they'll try and play more tricks, or you know they're just smarter than probably the other drivers and know how to play the longer game or the shorter game more than probably other drivers too.

“I probably just respect it more and enjoy being here with two greats of the sport."

Englishman Norris has not converted any of his four previous pole positions this year into a lead at the end of the first lap, something that could be crucial on Sunday as overtaking is notoriously difficult at the Marina Bay track.

Norris beat Verstappen to pole by 0.203 seconds in a dramatic qualifying session, with the Mercedes of Hamilton and George Russell in third and fourth places.

Their times came in a one-lap shootout after Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz forced the session to be stopped with a crash early on at the start of his first flying lap.

Verstappen was pleased with a strong performance on a track where Red Bull struggled last season and were expecting to do so again in 2024.

Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri, winner of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last weekend, could manage only fifth.

And it was a poor session for Ferrari, for whom Sainz won in Singapore last year.

In addition to the Spaniard’s crash, team-mate Charles Leclerc had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits and will start ninth.

Leclerc had in any case only managed to set seventh fastest time, slower than the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg, who took an impressive sixth place ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda.

Norris said: "I was finding it tough to progress much and the guys around me were getting quicker and quicker putting me under pressure. But it was good enough for pole. I felt confident all weekend. Maybe not so much in qualifying, but we got the job done."

Verstappen, who had been unhappy with his car in Friday practice, said: "The whole of qualifying went quite well. We managed to improve the car.

"I am happy to be on the front row if you look at where we came from yesterday. Everyone only has one lap so you don’t want to overdo it. I take second, I’m happy with that."

Hamilton’s third place is his best qualifying since he was second on the grid at the British Grand Prix.

He said: "Qualifying has been a disaster for me all year long and I have just been working and working and working trying to get myself back up there and all of a sudden the car came to me for the first time in a long time in qualifying.

"We have been moving up and down on balance. We have changed everything and the mechanics have been faultless and I hope we are in a good position to fight for the front tomorrow."

Hamilton edged out Russell by just 0.026secs, while Piastri ended up 0.428secs slower than Norris.

The Australian has promised to help Norris in his title fight with Verstappen if he can, but starting three places behind the Red Bull will make that difficult.

Leclerc had vied with Norris for fastest time throughout Friday but said that Ferrari had a problem with the blankets which are used to heat the tyres to the correct temperature.

"A very bad job is our result today," Leclerc said. "For whatever reason, I don’t know if it is our mistake or a component mistake but the blanket was not working properly.

"We had completely cold tyres on the fronts and never really recovered the temperature. Got into Turn One, braked, locked the front wheels, did track limits and that was it.

"Considering how important it is in Singapore, all the work we have done to be ready in Q3, I consider it quite crazy we do something like this."

But team principal Frederic Vasseur said that, while the tyres had lost some temperature in the pit lane, they were in the right window by the time Leclerc started his flying lap.

Vasseur added of Leclerc running wide at the first corner: “You know that you only have one lap, you have to push, you are on the limit, and he crossed the line by a couple of centimetres. It is part of the game.”

Sainz, meanwhile, was fined 25,000 euros (£21,000) for crossing the track and pit lane without permission after his crash.

BBC
 
Red Bull strategy chief Courtenay to join McLaren

Red Bull head of race strategy Will Courtenay has decided to leave the team after 14 years in the role and join McLaren as sporting director.

The move makes Courtenay the third member of Red Bull senior management to leave the team in the past five months, and is the latest development in an ongoing restructure at McLaren.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said: “Will’s experience, professionalism and passion for motorsport make him the ideal candidate to lead our sporting function.

“We are now entering a key phase in our journey as a team, and we are confident that he will be a great addition to our strong leadership team as we strive to continue challenging for wins and championships.”

Courtenay will report to racing director Randeep Singh, with the aim of “helping grow the team’s sporting operations”, said McLaren.

Red Bull declined to comment officially on the move, but a source at the team said: “After a long and successful service, being with the team since the Jaguar days, we are sad to see Will go but wish him all the best in this step up.

“Will continues to be part of the team, seeing out his contract until mid-2026.”

Although Red Bull’s position is that Courtenay will see out his contract, typically in such situations teams enter into a period of negotiations leading to a compromise deal that allows the employee to move sooner.

McLaren’s restructure dates back to the appointment of Andrea Stella as team principal in December 2022.

It started with the departure of former technical director James Key in March 2023, coinciding with a series of changes that included the return of Peter Prodromou, who had been sidelined under Key, as technical director in charge of aerodynamics.

Two months later, McLaren signed Rob Marshall from Red Bull as chief designer. He started work in January this year.

Under Stella’s leadership McLaren have progressed from the back of the field at the start of last season to title contenders this year.

McLaren driver Lando Norris is 52 points behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the drivers’ championship with six races to go, while McLaren lead Red Bull by 41 points in the constructors’ championship.

Another departure from Red Bull

Courtenay did not respond to a request for comment on his move.

His decision to leave Red Bull follows those of chief technical officer Adrian Newey and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley.

Newey negotiated an early exit from his contract in April and is to join Aston Martin from March next year.

Wheatley’s departure was announced last month - he is joining the Audi team, which is currently racing as Sauber, as team principal in 2025.

The departures at Red Bull come in the wake of allegations of sexual harassment and coercive, controlling behaviour made against team principal Christian Horner by a female employee.

Horner has always denied the accusations, and two separate Red Bull internal inquiries have dismissed the complaint.

Courtenay was at Jaguar’s F1 team when it was taken over by Red Bull at the start of 2005 and stayed ever since, working first as a strategy engineer, then senior analyst, before being promoted to his current role in June 2010.

Working alongside principal strategy engineer Hannah Schmitz in recent years, Courtenay has helped make Red Bull the acknowledged standard-setter in this area of operations.

Red Bull revealed a reorganisation this month as a consequence of Wheatley’s decision to leave.

In it, Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase was made head of racing, while senior strategy engineer Stephen Knowles moved into a new role of head of sporting regulations, with responsibility to liaise with governing body the FIA on non-technical rules matters.

No information was released about any changes to the strategy team at the time.

BBC
 

Ricciardo to leave RB with immediate effect as team get set for mid-season driver change​


Daniel Ricciardo will leave RB with immediate effect, bringing his second stint in Formula 1 to an end. He will be replaced by New Zealander Liam Lawson for the final six races of the season.

The Australian returned to a Formula 1 race seat last year in Hungary with AlphaTauri and stayed on when they became RB for this campaign.

Ricciardo scored points on five occasions, including a superb fourth in the Sprint in Miami, and sits 14th in the drivers’ standings, 10 points behind team mate Yuki Tsunoda.

However, his form hasn’t been enough to convince the Red Bull family to keep him on. That makes last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix – where he ended up 18th with the fastest lap – his final race.

It remains unclear what the future holds for Ricciardo, but it’s unlikely to involve a race seat on the 2025 Formula 1 grid.

One vacancy remains at Sauber/Audi, however, it is believed no talks have taken place with Valtteri Bottas the favourite to retain his seat.

This could spell the end of Ricciardo’s time in Formula 1, the Australian having clocked up eight wins, 32 podiums and 1329 points across 258 Grands Prix.

His career has spanned 14 seasons, with P3 in the drivers’ championship in both 2014 and 2016 his best finish.

During that time, he drove for HRT, Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Renault, McLaren and RB.

Red Bull reserve Liam Lawson is expected to be named as Ricciardo’s replacement for the rest of the season, starting with the upcoming United States Grand Prix in Austin.

www.formula1.com

Ricciardo to leave RB as team get set for driver change

Daniel Ricciardo will leave RB with immediate effect, bringing his second stint in Formula 1 to an end.
www.formula1.com www.formula1.com
 
Daniel Ricciardo has been replaced at RB by Liam Lawson for the remainder of the 2024 season.

The 35-year-old Australian has been dropped with six races to go because Red Bull management have been unconvinced by his performances.

Giving Lawson the seat allows him to be assessed over the remaining races before Red Bull finalise their plans for 2025.

RB team principal Laurent Mekies said: "Daniel has brought a lot of experience and talent to the team with a fantastic attitude, which has helped everyone to develop and foster a tight team spirit.

"He has been a true gentleman both on and off the track and never without that smile. He will be missed, but will always hold a special place within the Red Bull family."

Lawson, 22, came in for five races last season after Australian Ricciardo broke his wrist in a crash at the Dutch Grand Prix.

The New Zealander scored two points with a ninth-place finish at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.

Mekies said: "Liam drove for us last season, and coped well under difficult circumstances, so it’ll be a natural transition."

RB's statement made no mention of RB’s 2025 line-up. Japan's Yuki Tsunoda already has a confirmed seat but the team have not announced who will be his team-mate.

Source: BBC
 

Liam Lawson faces 10-place penalty at first F1 race after replacing Daniel Ricciardo​

Liam Lawson will start the United States Grand Prix next month with an unfortunate handicap with VCARB set to take a new power unit, giving him a 10-place grid penalty.

The New Zealander's return to the F1 grid was confirmed on Thursday with Daniel Ricciardo making way for the final six races of the 2024 campaign. Lawson is then expected to return full-time in 2025.

The 22-year-old will face an uphill battle when he takes to the grid in Austin in October. "The first [race], I think, won't be relevant because he has an engine penalty," Helmut Marko told Autosport. "10 places in the sprint race, so that doesn't exactly make life easier in Austin."

Lawson has been forced to wait for his chance to shine. The Hastings-born racer impressed in his five-race stint deputising for Ricciardo in 2023 and many expected him to drive full-time for VCARB in 2024, but he was resigned to a test and reserve role instead.

Now, he is back in the spotlight. While the rest of the F1 community was shocked by the rumours regarding Ricciardo's future in Singapore, Lawson already knew that his return to the grid was beckoning.

“Obviously I knew about it for the last sort of two weeks,” he explained after Thursday's announcement. “But until it’s out there to the world it obviously doesn’t really feel set and it’s not like I could tell anybody.”

He added: “It had been the plan for a long time now, this was sort of where it was leading at least. Obviously, I had a contract date that needed to be sort of fulfilled.

www.express.co.uk

Liam Lawson faces 10-place penalty at first F1 race after replacing Ricciardo

Liam Lawson will return to the F1 grid at the United States Grand Prix next month with an unfortunate handicap.
www.express.co.uk www.express.co.uk
 
Liam Lawson gets F1 chance to replace Pérez alongside Verstappen at Red Bull

The Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, has indicated Liam Lawson has an opportunity to make his case to replace Sergio Pérez and line up alongside Max Verstappen for the team, potentially as early as next season.

Horner said they dropped Daniel Ricciardo for Lawson at their sister team RB, because the Australian had failed to prove he was in good enough form to step up, leading the team to give the young New Zealander a chance for the rest of this season.

Ricciardo, who had a successful stint with Red Bull between 2014 and 2018, had been placed at RB with a view to proving he was up to speed and ready to replace Pérez should the Mexican’s poor form continue.

However, while Pérez remains well off the pace, Red Bull did not believe Ricciardo had done enough to warrant replacing him, so Horner opted to look to new young talent to potentially step up.

The 22-year-old Lawson was the Red Bull reserve driver and will join RB, alongside Yuki Tsunoda, for the final six rounds of this season, beginning at the US Grand Prix on 20 October. Speaking to the F1 Nation podcast Horner explained why the team chose Lawson, in an indication that Pérez is now on his last chance with the team.

“All the drivers are under pressure to deliver but the reason why Daniel was in that car was to get himself back into a position to ultimately be there to pick up the pieces if Checo [Pérez] didn’t deliver,” he said. “We need answers for the bigger picture in terms of drivers. It’s the perfect opportunity to line Liam up alongside Yuki, to see how he performs over the remaining six grands prix.”

Daniel Ricciardo’s form had been criticised by Red Bull’s director of motorsport, Helmut Marko. Photograph: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images

Despite Verstappen leading the drivers’ world championship by 52 points from McLaren’s Lando Norris, Red Bull have been passed by McLaren in the constructors’ championship and trail by 41 points, largely because Pérez failed to score sufficiently in what was a dominant car at the start of the season.

Red Bull extended Pérez’s contract earlier in the season in the vain hope it would give him the confidence to deliver. He has not taken a podium since China, in April, and is eighth in the championship. That contract is understood to include a clause that allows the team to drop him if he is not within 100 points of Verstappen, which he remains well short of. However, despite an expectation he would be dropped in the summer break, Red Bull opted to continue with the Mexican.

Red Bull’s director of motorsport, Helmut Marko, had made his feelings clear after another poor run for Pérez in Spa. “Sergio had the opportunity to take a good result from second place,” he said. “Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Especially in the last stint, he completely collapsed.”

Horner confirmed that Marko had also been critical of Ricciardo’s form leading the team to explore other options, although that Tsunoda has not been promoted already indicates the team do not consider him a candidate.

Instead Red Bull have opted to put their faith in younger drivers with Horner also mentioning the Red Bull juniors Isack Hadjar and Arvid Lindblad, as well as being hugely impressed by the performances of the youngsters Oliver Bearman, for Ferrari and Haas, and Franco Colapinto, for Williams, this season.

“Obviously we’ve got a contract with Sergio for next year,” Horner said. “But you’ve always got to have an eye out in terms of what comes next. Is that going to be Liam? Or do we need to look outside the pool? Or will one of the other juniors step up in the fullness of time, whether it’s Isack Hadjar or Arvid Lindblad?”

THE GUARDIAN
 
Michael Schumacher 'seen in public for first time in 11 years' at daughter Gina's wedding

Michael Schumacher is said to have been seen in public for the first time in many years, having attended the wedding of daughter Gina-Maria.

The 27-year-old tied the knot with new husband Iain Bethke last Saturday in a glamorous ceremony at the family's villa in Majorca. And media outlets in Germany have reported that stricken Formula 1 legend Michael was there to witness the festivities.

Schumacher continues to require round-the-clock medical care after his life-changing skiing accident more than a decade ago. He crashed while carving through the snow in the French Alps, hitting his head on a rock.

Though he survived, the seven-time F1 champion spent months in a medically induced coma. Since he was allowed to return to the family home on Lake Geneva in September 2014, he has been cared for by his loving wife Corinna and a team of medics.

Fiercely protective of her husband's privacy, Corinna has allowed only a select few trusted friends and relatives to visit him and only a handful of people within and without the Schumacher family are said to know the details of his condition and care.

But Michael's attendance at his daughter's wedding may signal a change in the family's attitude. Though he has been flown from the family home to their Majorcan villa before, this time it was different as he appeared in front of all the other invitees at the wedding.

Measures were still taken to ensure the stricken F1 legend's privacy - all guests reportedly had to leave their mobile phones at the door so that no-one could take pictures of the 55-year-old. But a first appearance for many years in front of members of the wider family, and others, is a sign that Corinna's approach may have softened.

Michael's brother Ralf, also a former F1 driver, is one of those who has largely been excluded from details of his elder sibling's care. But he is said to have been among the invitees to his niece's wedding, hinting at the building of bridges between the Sky Germany pundit and his sister-in-law.

Majorcan news outlet Ultima Hora reported that the ceremony lasted for around half-an-hour and that the newlyweds said "I do" at around 4pm. The villa which hosted the ceremony was bought by Corinna in 2017, who is said to have paid around £27million to purchase the property from Florentino Perez, the long-serving president of Real Madrid.

And it may not be the last family event in the coming months which could see Michael make another appearance in front of people. While no engagement has yet been confirmed, Danish model Laila Hasanovic hinted that long-term boyfriend Mick Schumacher, the F1 legend's son, has popped the question by showing off a diamond ring on her finger in an Instagram post.

www.mirror.co.uk

Michael Schumacher 'seen in public for 1st time in 11yrs' at daughter's wedding

Michael Schumacher's fiercely protective wife Corinna has guarded details of his condition for more than a decade since the Formula 1 legend's life-changing skiing accident
www.mirror.co.uk www.mirror.co.uk
 
'Rookie race' plan delayed by Formula 1 bosses

Formula 1 bosses have delayed a plan to host an end-of-season race for aspiring drivers until at least 2025.

The idea, dubbed the 'rookie race', was to host a sprint-type event at the post-season test in Abu Dhabi to give young drivers a better opportunity to demonstrate their qualifications to race in F1.

But a meeting of the F1 Commission on Wednesday decided that more time was needed to ensure the idea worked as effectively as possible.

A statement from the FIA said: "While the concept received widespread support, it was determined that, due to timing and organisational constraints, the event would not take place in 2024, and discussions would continue to formulate a potential concept and plan for 2025."

Teams, governing body the FIA and commercial rights holder Liberty Media - the three parties that comprise the F1 Commission - agreed that there was a feeling the plan was being rushed.

Among the concerns was the load imposed on team members who will already have done the longest season in history and would be forced to stay out in Abu Dhabi after the final race for this new event.

There are also implications on freight and other logistics, as well as how the event would be televised, and ensuring it was appealing for any audience.

There is no guarantee that the event will take place in 2025 but the intention is that it will.

The idea for the race arose out of general concern that young drivers get little opportunity to prove their worth in F1 machinery because of the limitations on testing that have been imposed in recent years on cost grounds.

A race for young drivers in contemporary cars just days after the final grand prix of the season in there could provide an effective way for teams to assess the abilities of drivers.

The latest idea had been that would be that there would be a shorter qualifying session and race of similar length to those added into the format for 'sprint' weekends.

Among other subjects discussed at the F1 Commission, it was agreed to revise the 2026 regulations, which feature major changes to both chassis and engines, to increase the cars' expected aerodynamic performance.

This comes after teams expressed concerns that the 2026 cars would be too slow, and follows collaboration work between the FIA and the teams.

In addition, revisions to both the sporting and financial regulations were agreed - on the sporting side "seeking to simplify their structure" and on the budget cap rules to "provide a competitive balance between sporting fairness and financial sustainability".

No details were provided.


BBC
 
FIA wrong to make big story out of swearing – Steiner

The FIA was wrong to "make a big story" out of the Max Verstappen swearing controversy, says former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner.

The three-time world champion has been given community service by Formula 1's governing body for swearing in a news conference at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Steiner, who became famous for his bad language on the Netflix Drive to Survive series, said: "Max didn't swear at anybody. He used the f-word about his car.

"So nobody got offended by it, in my opinion."

Verstappen was told by stewards in Singapore that he would have to "accomplish some work of public interest" as a punishment for his language.

The Dutchman then twice restricted his answers in official FIA news conferences and instead spoke to the media elsewhere outside the room.

He called his penalty "ridiculous" and said the rest of the drivers backed him and he intimated that it was the sort of situation that would shorten his time in F1.

Steiner said: "The best way [to handle it] would have been not to make a big story of it. Sit down with the drivers, they have a meeting every weekend, and say: 'Hey, guys, can you tone it down a little bit? We are the FIA, we don't really like this.'

"But don't say: 'If you do, you get a fine, a penalty, whatever.' Because you know these guys, they've got an ego as well. And they say: 'I don't want to do that.' And then what do you create? All this controversy - for nothing."

Steiner did acknowledge that F1 drivers should be careful of their language in public forums.

"You have heard me a lot in press conferences and interviews like this, I don't swear," he said. "I swear when I am in the battle. And that's why I made these comments.

"When you are in the heat, and adrenaline is going and emotions are going, you do it. When we say, 'Oh, the children, we have to look after our children.' But they hear it everywhere. Swearing has changed from what it was 20 years ago to now.

"When you swear at somebody, that's a different story. But swearing at somebody in the race I understand because you're doing 350km/h and somebody cuts you off, you're not saying: 'Hello, buddy, you shouldn't be doing this.'"

Steiner was talking to BBC Sport in an interview to mark a new book, Unfiltered, which recounts his 10 years in charge of the Haas team. He was fired last winter after a disagreement with owner Gene Haas.

In the book, Steiner is critical of the leadership of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, saying: "His era in charge has been chaotic so far and he's managed to upset just about every team and every team principal."

Abu Dhabi 2021 a mistake of ‘biblical proportions’

Steiner also brings up the controversy of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when former race director Michael Masi misapplied the rules during a late safety-car period and made decisions that led directly to the world title changing hands from Lewis Hamilton to Verstappen.

Steiner writes in the book that Masi's actions were a mistake "of biblical proportions".

Masi replaced as race director the late Charlie Whiting, who ran grands prix as part of his wider role as F1 director and died on the eve of the 2019 season.

Steiner writes: "We all know what Charlie would have done - had he been at the helm, Lewis would now be an eight-time world champion."

He also said that post-Whiting the FIA had "ceased being culpable for their mistakes and have lost their humility".

The Abu Dhabi controversy happened while Ben Sulayem's predecessor Jean Todt was FIA president, but the FIA's inquiry into the race was overseen by the Emirati, who took office a few days later.

The FIA concluded in a report there had been "human errors" but also claimed that there "could be different interpretations" of the applicable rules.

Steiner told BBC Sport that he did not understand why the FIA simply did not admit at the time that it had made mistakes.

"I have no idea why they didn't say it," he said. "We all came to the conclusion that a mistake was made. I respect Michael Masi a lot. Michael is a friend as well, and we all make mistakes.

"A mistake was made. It was very difficult decisions. The wrong [one] was taken. Sometimes you have to stand up and say: 'This was wrong but it was done. Over and out.' Instead of going into a controversy."

Steiner said that once Masi had made his errors, the result of the race or championship could not have been changed.

"You couldn't do anything any more," he said. "But saying: 'Hey, if we had to go back, we would decide different', I think that would have been enough. It wouldn't make it right because you cannot change the result of the World Championship because of one race.

"But at least say, 'Hey, it wasn't the ideal situation. We got in a situation where it was very difficult to decide, there was a lot going on.' You don’t even have to say we did it wrong. 'We could have done better.'"

Norris has '60-40' chance of title

Steiner also discussed the championship fight between Verstappen and McLaren's Lando Norris, who heads into the final six races of the season 52 points behind the Dutchman.

Steiner said he gave Briton Norris a "60-40 chance" of winning the title.

"He just needs a little bit of, I wouldn't even say luck," Steiner said. "As long as Ferrari gets in the way of the Red Bull, because the Ferrari is better at the moment.

"In Singapore, they were faster, they just couldn't get there because they messed their qualifying up. If they don't mess anything up, Lando will win it.

"Max is like, 'I cannot win the race, I am going to win the championship.' I think he changed tone there. In the beginning, he wanted to win every race, now I think he realised 'I can't win the races, there is no point to take risks. I need to score as many points as possible.'

"Lando needs to stay clear now, not making mistakes or anything."

BBC
 
Williams 'not out of woods', says team boss Vowles

Team principal James Vowles says Williams are "not out of the woods" despite an upturn in form in recent races.

Williams, who finished seventh in the constructors' championship in 2023, had a difficult start to the season, scoring points only twice in the first 15 grands prix.

Their problems were a consequence of Vowles' decision to "break so many systems" that had been in place at the team, to try to improve their performance after years of underachievement.

Since an upgrade was put on the car at the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August, Williams drivers Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto have scored points three times in three races and quadrupled the team's previous tally.

Vowles said: "Are we past the worst of it? Yes. Are we out of the woods? No.

"This isn't success today. It's just better than where we were before. Success is really being at the sharp end of the grid and we are nowhere near the end of that journey. We’re really starting it, I'm afraid.

"But I would also say that everything we have gone through has built a set of foundations that mean we won't go back there again."

Williams' upturn in form has led to a seventh place for Albon in Azerbaijan and a ninth in Italy, and an eighth in Baku for Colapinto, who replaced Logan Sergeant when the American was sacked after the Dutch race for lack of pace and too many accidents.

At the start of the season the team were short of parts as a result of structural and operational changes at the factory that delayed the car-build process, and a series of accidents for Albon and Sargeant.

Vowles says: "A disaster would be a strong word but an adequate word for describing where we were. We weren't scoring points. We moved backwards relative to our position in 2023.

"We did not do a good enough job. I knew there were risks involved. But we are here to develop our journey in the way we are not going to make baby steps any more. We are going to make large leaps and bounds and we are going to trip ourselves up on the way."

The biggest issue slowing Williams early this year was that the car was overweight, as a result of compromise car-build decisions that had to be made over the winter because of the impact of the changes being imposed on the team.

"The main thing is that the set of decisions that led to us being in that awkward situation at the beginning of the year are the same set of decisions that led us to where we are today, which is making sure we're challenging everything in the status quo, making sure we are developing the car at a scale we haven't done previously," Vowles said.

"So it would be surprising to say that where we are today is no different to where we were in the winter in terms of decision-making, it's just the set of outcomes are different as well.

"The car is competitive. It has been all season long, it's just the weight hid it. A lot of [the progress] is weight being taken out of the car. The second is, the way we are developing the car aerodynamically, I can't tell you for a fact is different to other teams up and down the grid, but what I can say to you is when we add performance to the car, it is translating."

Dropping Sargeant for Colapinto

A key influence in Williams' recent turnaround is the decision to sack Sargeant and employ Colapinto, a member of the Williams driver development programme who previously had been having a decent but not outstanding season in Formula 2.

Vowles had considered replacing Sargeant after an unconvincing debut season in 2023, but gave him a second chance.

But after lagging behind Albon all year, a poor weekend in Zandvoort proved the final straw. Sargeant crashed the car in free practice having put a wheel on wet grass on the straight, writing off all its upgrades, and then was uncompetitive in a rebuilt car in the race.

Vowles said that Sargeant had been warned "multiple times" not to damage the car before his crash.

"First and foremost, I think rookies get a hard time in our sport," Vowles said. "They're very easily judged by individuals.

"My job in all this, as it is with every team member, is for me to have their back so they can perform at the absolute best they can. And I will be the last person pushing them down. I'll make a decision when you absolutely categorically have to make a decision.

"Once we had delivered a car to what I consider is a good-enough standard in F1, now you look to make sure that we have other elements that we change. And that case in point was Logan.

"Logan was given an opportunity with all the updates, with the clear brief that went into it. Both drivers had that brief. But at the point where it was very abundantly clear to me that we are not going to hit our targets this year, that's the point at which I’m OK to make a change."

Vowles' decision to promote 21-year-old Colapinto was questioned in some quarters, but he says he always believed the Argentine would vindicate it.

"There is a reason why we put him in the car," Vowles said.

"It was based off tens of thousands of simulator kilometres. It was based off a decision actually made much earlier to put him in the car (in practice at) at Silverstone, and based on the fact he, the right word, is he shone.

"And his attitude. Speak to him in the car and he's talking like you and I are talking now. There is zero pressure of the world on his shoulders."

Vowles does say that Colapinto's consistency has surprised him - he says he expected him to be close to Albon when he made his debut at Monza, but that he would "step back just a little bit" in Baku and Singapore before "flying across" the forthcoming events in the US, Mexico and Brazil.

He says the fact Colapinto was so competitive with Albon in Azerbaijan and Singapore was "impressive".

William cannot give Colapinto a race seat next year because they have already signed Carlos Sainz from Ferrari to partner Albon.

Vowles is trying to get his protege a seat at Sauber, which is morphing into Audi in 2026, and said: "What I can say is should he not get a drive, he'll be kept very close to us, run in our historic car, keep him up to speed. We'll have the best reserve driver on the grid while we build him into a situation for the future."

The 'best line-up on the grid'?

When Williams announced they had signed Sainz, Vowles said he believed he now had the best driver line-up on the grid.

The claim raised eyebrows, considering that next year Ferrari have seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, who has proved superior to Sainz in their four years as team-mates. A case could also be made for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at McLaren, while Red Bull have the sport's acknowledged current number one in Max Verstappen.

How does Vowles justify that statement?

"I will put it into the context of, what do we need here?" Vowles said. "I need drivers, two of them, who will be decisive and strong within the team in order to find performance. Not within themselves; not fighting each other but actually moving the team whole.

"That means no politics. It means what you do in the car is what you do in the car but you work together as one unit. And I think you'll find that same lack of politics doesn't exist in a lot of the other teams you've just mentioned.

"So the best driver line-up, often individuals will go straight to performance or number of championships. But I think it's a lot wider than that when you are in a team that needs internal leadership without in-fighting to move forward."

He says he sees next season as a building year towards 2026, when new rules come in on both chassis and engines and which Williams hope will mark the beginning of their real quest to return to their glory days of the 1980s and 1990s.

"The owners are some of the most supportive I could ever ask for," Vowles said of US finance company Dorilton. "They have not put a timeline on my shoulders of 'you must fix it by then'. The clear objectives are forward progress and making sure we're investing in the right areas. Those are the key targets.

"The top three teams, top four now, are of such a high standard that it would be naive to think you can spend the same money as them and be in the same position as them. Many of them have been in that position for many, many years.

"What I have said externally is: 'Expect good results as we get towards '28.' That's a sensible period of time in front of us. '26 we'll move forward, I have no doubt about it, but the real infrastructure starts kicking in in '27, '28."

McLaren progress 'inspirational'

That list of top teams now includes McLaren, who have performed a remarkable turnaround from having pretty much the slowest car at the start of last season to leading the constructors' championship going into the climax of this year.

Has that made Vowles' life more difficult?

He says: "It's interesting that you’ve taken the time line of '23 to '24. Their real journey started about six years ago and what you’re seeing is the fruits of the labour that come six years later. Well done to them.

"They have done incredibly well. But it's not the work of one year, it's the work of many, many years building up. As it always is in sports where you have teams competing for milliseconds over each other.

"It is about the same timescale as I'm aiming to achieve things on. It's about the same methodology that we're going to go about doing things.

"You have a team, McLaren, that is leading the constructors' championship, without necessarily some of the resources of some of the teams around it. That for me is a beacon on the hill that I look forward to joining.

"What it shows you is that even with infrastructure that is not necessarily at the level of some of the greats in the sport, you can achieve well. And for me it's inspirational and that's how I treat it."

BBC
 
Verstappen & Norris third & fourth in US GP practice

Title rivals Max Verstappen and Lando Norris ended the only practice session at the United States Grand Prix in third and fourth places.

Carlos Sainz set the pace ahead of Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Sainz was 0.021secs ahead of Leclerc and 0.253secs quicker than Verstappen, whose time was set earlier in the session than those of Ferrari and McLaren when the track would have been slower.

Norris, who starts the weekend 52 points behind Verstappen in the championship, was 0.013secs slower than the Dutchman.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who had a high-speed spin at Turn Four earlier in the session, was fifth, ahead of team-mate George Russell, who himself spun at Turn One.

Mercedes are among the teams with a significant upgrade on their car, along with Red Bull, McLaren and Aston Martin.

The weekend has started with a controversy over a device on the Red Bull that can be used to adjust the height of the front of the floor.

Red Bull have responded by pointing out that McLaren have made changes to their rear wing - an extension of the conversations they had with governing body the FIA after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where it was seen to flex on the straight.

A McLaren spokesperson said: "As previously mentioned, McLaren proactively offered to make some minor adjustments to our rear wing following the Azerbaijan GP. We have made minor adjustments to all our rear wings since Baku to varying extents to ensure no further issues in this area."

Liam Lawson, who has replaced Daniel Ricciardo at RB, was 13th, 0.130secs behind team-mate Yuki Tsunoda in 10th.

This is a ‘sprint’ weekend, with a shorter race on Saturday. Qualifying for this is at 22:30 BST on Friday, with the sprint on Saturday at 19:00.

BBC
 
Brown 'still has questions' about Red Bull device

McLaren Racing chief executive officer Zak Brown says he "still has questions" about a controversial adjustment device on the Red Bull.

Formula 1’s governing body the FIA has put a seal on a device in the Red Bull’s cockpit that can be used to adjust the height of the car’s front floor.

McLaren are concerned that the device could be used to adjust the car's settings between qualifying and race, when changes are not allowed.

Brown said: "Being able to run the car lower is a competitive advantage. From what we can see, it is the only team that has the ability to adjust the ride height from inside the cockpit, and that raises questions.

"It’s very clear that if you modify your car without permission, it is against the regulations, so they have decided to put a seal on it."

McLaren discovered the existence of the device from open-source documents that contain information on each team’s cars that have to be submitted to the FIA and to which all teams have access.

Red Bull have agreed with the FIA to make changes to their car for a future race, expected to be the Brazilian Grand Prix in two weeks’ time. The detail of these modifications has not been revealed.

Red Bull say the device is "inaccessible once the car is fully assembled and ready to run".

But the parc ferme period extends from the start of qualifying to the end of the race, and teams are allowed to assemble and disassemble their cars during this period, as long as they are not modified.

Brown said: "I have heard that you can’t adjust it when the car is fully race-prepped, but the car isn’t always fully race-prepped when it's in parc ferme. That needs to be unpicked.

"Why do you need to put a seal on something that you can’t access? So I still have questions."

He added: "I have confidence the FIA will resolve the issue. I understand they are having to modify and change their car for upcoming races. Our questions are a bit more around what has historically happened.

"If it’s used in an inappropriate manner, then it is definitely a performance advantage. If it's not, then there is no performance advantage and that’s what we want to discover."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told Sky Sports: "Every car has a tool that they can adjust the front of the bib, what we call the front of the floor being called the bib.

"Ours is located at the front of the footwell. It’s been there for I think for over three years, you've got to have the pedals out, other panels out and pipework out to be able to get to it.

"It's like any other adjustment on the car, it would be easier to adjust the rear roll-bar than it is to get to that component. It’s all part of the packaging in the front end of the chassis."

FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis said: "At the previous race, it was pointed out to us that certain designs could allow a change of the height of the front of the car, which some people call a bib, in parc ferme, and we didn't have any indication or any proof that anybody was doing something like that.

"That would be clearly illegal under parc ferme regulations.

"So we said from this race onwards, there must be no possibility to do such thing at all. If there'd be a design that allowed a quick change of that height, then it would have to be sealed so they wouldn't have access in parc ferme, and all teams have adhered to that and as far as we're concerned, everything is under control.

"It's certainly not a story from now on. We've done all that's needed to stop there being any accusations. And of course, it is a title championship and people get rather excited about each other's cars."

Red Bull in turn have raised questions about McLaren’s rear wing.

These stem from modifications that McLaren chose to make following consultations with the FIA after Red Bull raised concerns about how much it was flexing during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Brown said: "Our rear wing has passed every single test. We have had to make some small modifications as have some others. So that’s a non-issue."

Brown also criticised Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko for comments he made about McLaren driver Lando Norris.

Marko said that Norris, who has narrowed the gap on Red Bull driver Max Verstappen in the championship to 52 points with six races to go, had "some mental weaknesses", adding: "I've read about some of the rituals he needs to do to perform well on race day."

It appears Marko was referring to remarks Norris made at the Italian Grand Prix when he described his nerves on race days and said he "barely eats anything on Sundays. I struggle to drink on Sundays. Just because of nerves and pressure."

Brown said he was "disappointed but not surprised" by Marko’s remarks.

"Lando has been kind of an ambassador for mental health. Toto [Wolff, the Mercedes team principal] has spoken about mental health, so I think it's a serious issue that we've tried to talk about and bring to the forefront.

"Poking at that situation I think is pretty inappropriate and kind of sets us back 10-20 years.

"It's all fun and games in how some people go racing and what tactics they use from a sporting perspective, but I thought that one was in pretty poor taste."

BBC
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

FearlessRoar
Chelsea FC | 2024/25 Season
Replies
47
Views
1K
FearlessRoar
FearlessRoar
FearlessRoar
Liverpool FC | 2024/25 Season
2
Replies
112
Views
2K
KingKhanWC
KingKhanWC
FearlessRoar
Aston Villa FC | 2024/25 Season
Replies
23
Views
658
Amjid Javed
Amjid Javed
FearlessRoar
Tottenham Hotspur FC | 2024/25 Season
Replies
20
Views
509
BouncerGuy
BouncerGuy
FearlessRoar
Manchester City FC | 2024/25 Season
Replies
73
Views
1K
FearlessRoar
FearlessRoar
Back
Top