Author: Giles Richards

Less than a decade ago, the British GP was on the brink of disappearing but this July it will break the record for the biggest ever with 570,000 through the gates

The scale of change at the British Grand Prix in recent years will be writ large come July when the meeting is poised to become the biggest in Formula One history.

This year’s race is expected to sell out its new capacity of 570,000 over four days, which will be a record-breaking 50,000 increase on the previous highest attendance of 520,000 at the Australian GP in 1995. Only Wimbledon, across two weeks, will boast more numbers in the UK summer with Silverstone the largest event on F1’s calendar.

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• Changes will address energy management issues

• Verstappen one of most outspoken critics of current rules

The key players in Formula One have come to an agreement to settle the proposed changes to the sport’s engines for the 2027 and 2028 seasons. These have been seen as crucial in addressing widespread driver dissatisfaction with the current formula, not least for the four-time champion Max Verstappen who has repeatedly threatened to leave the sport owing to how unhappy he is with the current engine rules.

Verstappen has been particularly outspoken, declaring the rules “anti-racing”, but he has been far from alone. The FIA, teams, engine manufacturers and F1’s owners have since been in discussions looking at ways to address the issue. Notably their resolution does not reach the minimum scale of improvement Verstappen believed was needed until 2028.

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• ‘It has always been more than just a team to me’

• Driver is third in this year’s standings

Charles Leclerc has signed a new multiyear deal to remain driving for Ferrari, with the 28-year-old Monegasque extending his relationship with the team which began in 2019. He will continue to drive alongside Lewis Hamilton, who also has a long-term contract with the team.

Ferrari announced their decision to continue with Leclerc on the eve of his home grand prix at Monaco this weekend. He has been a staunch Ferrari driver for almost all of his career and has competed in 155 races for the Scuderia, a tally second only to Michael Schumacher’s enormously successful tenure with Ferrari between 1996 and 2006.

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Engine failure in Canada is latest setback for British driver, who is 43 points behind teenager Kimi Antonelli after five races

George Russell was left wondering quite which deity he had offended as he despairingly contemplated his retirement from the Canadian Grand Prix with a mechanical failure. Fortune, for good or ill, will always play a part but what also became clear in Montreal is that Russell’s teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli is going to be fearsomely hard to beat this season, whatever the circumstances.

Russell ground to a halt on the circuit Gilles Villeneuve on lap 30 after a thrilling battle with his Mercedes teammate Antonelli that had ebbed and flowed. The British driver deserved better, the two had been exchanging the lead and going side by side repeatedly, inches apart and trading paint on one occasion, only for Russell’s efforts to count for naught as he went out not with a whimper when the systems on his car shut down due to battery failure.

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• British driver enjoys best finish at Ferrari

• ‘I am much, much happier in the car’

Lewis Hamilton was thrilled with his second place at the Canadian Grand Prix in what he called “the greatest job in the world” after a great fight with his old adversary Max Verstappen and expressed how excited he was to be back in a wheel to wheel contest, enthused with his and his Ferrari team’s performance.

“I love this job it’s the greatest job in the world, I never take that for granted,” he said. “To have a good battle with Max finally, I’m really, really grateful. I am so, so happy. It’s good day of racing, overall, a solid weekend. I felt the whole team have done an amazing job.”

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• Mercedes teenager claims fourth consecutive victory

• Lewis Hamilton second; Max Verstappen third

It is too early to be decisive yet but without doubt George Russell was left cursing his damnable luck as his world championship ambitions took a body blow in Montreal. The British driver was left angry and disconsolate as his Mercedes ground to halt on track at the Canadian Grand Prix and his teammate and title rival Kimi Antonelli powered to a record-breaking victory.

Russell must be wondering what he has to do to catch a break in what increasingly looks like a two-way title fight with his Italian teammate. He had claimed victory in the sprint race, then pole and then had an absolutely gripping, toe-to-toe fight with the 19-year-old for the opening 29 laps on the Île Notre-Dame.

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• Mercedes lock out front row; Russell fastest by 0.068

• McLaren’s Norris third and Piastri fourth; Hamilton fifth

George Russell took pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix to set up a fascinating battle with his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli who was in second in Montreal, after the pair endured a feisty flashpoint having clashed with one another on track in the sprint race that preceded qualifying.

Russell put in an inch-perfect lap of the circuit Gilles Villeneuve, as the very last of the cars on track to steal it in what was a gripping session, ultimately beating his teammate by just six-hundredths of a second to ensure Mercedes maintain their unbeaten record of five poles from five races this season.

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• Mercedes pair clashed with both drivers out in front

• Toto Wolff tells Italian to ‘stop the radio moaning’

George Russell won the sprint race at the Canadian Grand Prix but only after his championship battle with Kimi Antonelli reached an angry flashpoint. The Mercedes pair clashed for the lead on track and the teenage Italian was left demanding the British driver should be penalised.

Such was the febrile atmosphere that their team principal Toto Wolff intervened, telling Antonelli to “stop the radio moaning”.

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Upgrades for the grid’s leading team will be unveiled in Montreal, where wet weather could also play a part

Four races into what has been a disjointed opening to the Formula One season, the sport is still in a period of rapid adaptation and adjustment as drivers and teams come to grips with their new cars. While this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix may offer some indication of the form to come and championship ambitions, it is also something of an outlier.

The focus in Montreal will be of twofold interest centred largely on Mercedes. The team have opened the new season with a dominant car that has claimed all four poles and all four wins. Yet with the new regulations offering enormous scope for improvement, a fierce development fight will define 2026. McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari all brought their first major upgrades to the last round in Miami; Mercedes bring their opening salvo of major parts to Quebec.

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• Fast-tracked redesign will reduce electrical energy use

• Max Verstappen has been a vocal critic of new engines

Formula One has agreed to make engine design changes for the 2027 season in response to the unhappiness of many leading drivers at the way this year’s new-generation engines have affected how they race.

At a meeting on Friday, the FIA, F1, teams and engine manufacturers reached an agreement, subject to formal approval, to fast-track changes to the regulations to allow fresh engines to be used next season.

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Before her first Miami Grand Prix in charge, Nowak opens up on F1’s boom time in the US and flying the flag for women in the sport

There is an air of buoyant confidence about Katharina Nowak that is striking but also understandable given the robust state of Formula One in the United States and at the Miami Grand Prix, where the 29-year-old who is at the helm of the race believes the sport only has more to come.

“F1 is at its strongest right now that we’ve seen, the interest in F1 is still going up and will go further,” she says in the buildup to this weekend’s meeting in Florida. “From my seat at the table, we are seeing the interest continue to grow.

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Foundation set up by F1 great is beginning to address the lack of representation of black people and those from disadvantaged backgrounds in motorsport

Sports people can be more than the sum of their athletic achievements. Lewis Hamilton stands unquestionably as one of the greatest drivers in the history of Formula One having delivered records and outstanding performances that will be hard to surpass. Yet it is indicative of his character that the seven-time world champion rates them all as sitting only alongside what might ultimately be his most significant and long-lasting legacy. His Mission 44 foundation is making an indelible impact on the makeup of motorsport.

“Talent is everywhere, opportunity isn’t and that’s what we’re here to change. Setting up Mission 44 is one of the things I’m most proud of,” Hamilton says, reflecting on the foundation he created five years ago. “I’ve been working in F1 for 20 years and I know first-hand how important it is to have representation in our sport, and how difficult it is for young people to get an opportunity.”

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• World champion expects Dutch rival to fight for fifth crown

• ‘It would be a miss for the sport’ if he acts on dissatisfaction

Lando Norris has said he believes Max Verstappen will continue to race in Formula One but that it would be “a miss” for the sport if the four-time world champion did decide to leave owing to his dissatisfaction with the way this season’s new regulations have affected how drivers race.

Verstappen has been outspoken in his dislike of the new regulations and their focus on electrical energy management that now makes up almost 50% of the car’s power output. He has intimated he might leave the sport but, with the rules having been adjusted by the FIA in an effort to address concerns of all drivers this week, Norris felt the Dutchman would remain in F1.

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• Tweaks to rules address energy management issues

• ‘Safety and fairness remain the FIA’s highest priorities’

The FIA has confirmed rule changes for the ongoing Formula One season as the sport reacts to driver dissatisfaction and safety concerns with the new regulations. The adapted rules address the energy management issues that have proved controversial across the opening three meetings this year.

Technical and sporting considerations had been discussed twice since the last round in Japan and on Monday senior representatives, including the FIA, team principals and their chief executives, the power unit manufacturers and F1’s chief executive, Stefano Domenicali, formally agreed the changes. They remain subject to ratification by the world motorsport council, a formality expected to be concluded before the next round in Miami on 3 May.

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• Mercedes driver doesn’t want to lose four-time champion

• ‘Natural’ for lack of competitiveness to start taking its toll

George Russell has said he would understand if Max Verstappen chose to leave Formula One after the four-time champion recently cast doubt on his future in the sport because of his dissatisfaction with current regulations.

Russell, who is currently second behind his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli in the world championship, insisted Verstappen had nothing left to prove.

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