Author: Giles Richards

• Gianpiero Lambiase set to join McLaren after 2027 season

• Verstappen has worked with Lambiase since 2016

Max Verstappen’s engineer Gianpiero Lambiase is to leave Red Bull to join McLaren in a shock move that throws further doubt on the four-time world champion’s future in Formula One.

Lambiase has worked with Verstappen since the Dutchman joined Red Bull in 2016 and has been at his side through the driver’s four titles, with the pair forging a close bond. Their radio interactions during races have been closely followed in what has been an enormously successful professional and personal relationship, sharing great joy and some blunt exchanges.

Continue reading...

As talks begin over fixing the controversial regulations, the FIA’s Nikolas Tombazis says changes to ‘specific aspects’ are needed, not a total overhaul

Formula One has endured a somewhat turbulent opening this season under the sport’s new regulations. Amid the sound and fury of some driver dissatisfaction with the new formula and safety concerns brought sharply into focus by a huge accident at the Japanese Grand Prix, three races in there is now an opportunity to propose changes, with the man who has been at the heart of the process since it began quietly confident that F1 can adapt successfully.

Nikolas Tombazis is the single-seater director for F1’s governing body, the FIA, and has been with the organisation since 2018. He was there when the very first discussions of the 2026 regulations took place in January 2021 and has been central to their evolution since. In his calm and articulate fashion, Tombazis says the noise around the new regulations is overstated.

Continue reading...

• Jonathan Wheatley set to make switch to troubled team

• Arrival would allow Adrian Newey to change focus

Jonathan Wheatley has left his role as Audi team principal, the Formula One team have confirmed, paving the way for his anticipated switch to the same role at Aston Martin.

Wheatley’s arrival would allow the current Aston Martin principal, Adrian Newey, to return his focus to the technical and design areas in which he excels after the team endured a disastrous start to the new season.

Continue reading...

So severe is the vibration problem caused by the car’s Honda engine that the team principal feared his drivers suffering permanent nerve damage

The next round of the Formula One world championship in Japan will be the home race for the Aston Martin team’s engine manufacturer, Honda, at the Suzuka circuit. A celebratory affair, however, is not expected amid painful days for Honda, whose return to F1 has been marked by a failure to make the grade.

Their engine’s shortcomings were exposed for the second successive race at the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday. Fernando Alonso retired after 32 laps because the vibration from the engine was so severe he was losing feeling in his hands and feet. Hit teammate Lance Stroll had retired after 10 laps with a battery issue, an element of the hybrid engine that has plagued the manufacturer from day one.

Continue reading...

• Mercedes chief points to number of overtakes in China

• ‘All the indicators say that people love it’

Toto Wolff has dismissed criticism of the new Formula One regulations from Max Verstappen as a result of the “horror show” Red Bull car the four-time champion is having to drive.

Verstappen has not been alone in his outspoken criticism of the new rules and after he was forced to retire from the Chinese GP on Sunday he delivered his most damning condemnation yet of the emphasis on electrical energy deployment and recovery.

Continue reading...

• Hamilton ends long wait for top-three finish with Ferrari

• Max Verstappen says new rules make F1 like ‘Mario Kart’

Lewis Hamilton said he is “back to his best” after he finished third at the Chinese Grand Prix to claim his first podium at Ferrari.

The 41-year-old Briton beat his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc after a thrilling duel and praised Formula One for delivering what he claimed was the best racing he had ever experienced.

Continue reading...

• 19-year-old beats Mercedes teammate George Russell

• Chaos as McLarens of Norris and Piastri fail to start race

Teenage dreams so hard to beat, and what a moment when realised for Kimi Antonelli as he took his first Formula One victory at the Chinese Grand Prix.

There were tears from the 19-year-old Mercedes driver who delivered on his enormous promise in Shanghai, but behind them no little steel as the youngster demonstrated he is in the world championship fight.

Continue reading...

• Bahrain circuit only 20 miles from targeted US base

• Races unlikely to be replaced because of logistics

Formula One has cancelled the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia grands prix because of the war in the Middle East.

The races were due to take place on 12 April in Bahrain and 19 April in Saudi Arabia but the sport was approaching the point at which a decision on cancellation needed to be made to prevent more freight being sent to Bahrain.

Continue reading...

• Four-time world champion eighth in qualifying

• Failed to finish in the points in sprint race

Max Verstappen condemned his Red Bull’s performance as having reduced his efforts to a matter of “survival” in merely trying to complete a lap in Shanghai.

From the off the four-time champion had not been happy in the buildup to Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix, dismissing his car on Friday as undriveable and saying: “We have never had anything this bad.”

Continue reading...

• Italian takes advantage of Mercedes teammate’s technical trouble

• Lewis Hamilton third in qualifying and sprint race for Ferrari

There was an inescapable sense of joy and satisfaction for Kimi Antonelli as he became the youngest pole sitter in Formula One history. Tellingly, there was an air of vindication from his Mercedes principal, Toto Wolff, as the teenage protege came good when it mattered by claiming the top spot for the Chinese Grand Prix.

The Italian took pole by beating his older and more experienced teammate George Russell into second, albeit after the Briton endured a technical problem in Q3 and had time to set only one quick lap.

Continue reading...

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli took a one-two win in Australia and team’s ability to master dark art of energy management is paying off

As Formula One grapples with its new, controversial regulations, there is consensus at least that Mercedes are expected to be on top once more in the second race of the season on Sunday in Shanghai. The team have a fearsome car but most importantly in a formula dominated by the engine, appear to have also stolen a march in optimising the dark art of energy management.

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli claimed a one-two at the opening round in Australia last weekend. In qualifying Russell was eight-tenths quicker than Mercedes’ nearest rival, the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar and in the grand prix itself finished 15 seconds in front of third-placed Charles Leclerc having eased up in the final third of the race.

Continue reading...

• Verstappen describes Red Bull as ‘undriveable’ on radio

• Bahrain and Saudi GP decision due after China race

George Russell laid down a further marker as the man to beat in the new Formula One season with a dominant run in qualifying to claim pole for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix. He sealed another front row lockout alongside Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli with Russell finishing more than half a second clear of their nearest rival.

The first sprint weekend under the new regulations is a journey into the unknown for teams and drivers and they had only the single hour of practice to understand how best to optimise their cars for energy deployment before qualifying.

Continue reading...

• ‘I don’t enjoy the car but I do enjoy working with the team’

• Meeting with drivers brought forward amid disquiet

Max Verstappen has once more expressed his discontent with the new Formula One regulations. Amid a clamour of unhappiness from many drivers, the four-time champion also reiterated his warning that he would leave the sport if he ceased to enjoy it, which is clearly the case at the moment.

After the first round of the season in Melbourne last week, Verstappen showed disdain for how the new rules had affected driving, and speaking before this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, he belittled the new formula with another reference to the videogame Mario Kart, which has swiftly become a go-to reference across the grid. A drivers’ meeting to discuss the new regulations, originally planned for after the Japanese Grand Prix at the end of the month, has now been brought forward to take place after this weekend’s race, the Guardian understands.

Continue reading...

Get to grips with active aero, boost mode and super-clipping as the adoption of new hybrid engines shakes up the sport before the new season begins next weekend

In a week’s time, a new era will begin in Formula One as a major shift in regulations brings with it an air of unpredictability when the Australian Grand Prix gets under way in Melbourne.

The cars have been made smaller and lighter with the intent of making them more nimble, better to drive and to facilitate improved racing. The wheelbase has been reduced by 20cm to 340cm and the width by 10cm to 190cm. Across changes in the chassis and to the engine, the overall weight has been reduced by 30kg. Drivers such as Lewis Hamilton have declared themselves generally pleased with the improved handling characteristics of the more sprightly rides, which will operate with approximately 40% less drag, but they will not enjoy the same downforce or the same pace as last year’s models and are expected to open the season around one to two seconds a lap off last year’s times.

Continue reading...

Briton overcame crippling self-doubt to become F1 world champion and is determined not to relinquish his crown

Lando Norris recalls being rendered speechless with joy when he was given his first contract with McLaren. Sitting in the cramped office of a paddock truck, the confirmation that he had made it to Formula One left him “very smiley for a long time”. Seven years on, he enters the new season having achieved his lifelong ambition of becoming world champion and is wearing an equally irrepressible grin as he sets about defending his title.

Claiming the championship after a monumental season-long tussle that went to a thrilling three-way fight at the finale in Abu Dhabi was the defining moment of the 26-year-old’s career and perhaps something of a turning point.

Continue reading...