Category: Formula 1

The Mercedes F1 team principal on his struggles with mental health, losing Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari and his frustration over accusations against his wife, Susie

‘I don’t feel pressure as it’s my comfort zone,” Toto Wolff says as he prepares to lead Mercedes into the last three races of another complicated season for his once-dominant Formula One team.

“That’s not a macho sentence because I feel awful and vulnerable at other times, which is more related to life. I’ve always had mental health struggles, but that’s because of my upbringing. That’s why my professional frustration doesn’t come anywhere near those other experiences I went through.”

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• Race remains on F1 calendar after six-year deal agreed
• Contest has been part of motor sport scene since 1950

Formula One’s iconic Monaco Grand Prix will remain on the calendar until at least 2031 after a six-year extension was announced on Thursday, with a date change to June that also avoids future clashes with the Indianapolis 500.

The race around the streets of Monte Carlo was part of the first world championship season in 1950 and has been present since, with the exception of 2020 during the global pandemic.

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• Niels Wittich leaves role with three Grands Prix left
• Follows string of exits of senior FIA officials in recent months

The Formula One race director, Niels Wittich, has stepped down from his post with immediate effect in an unexpected decision announced by the FIA on Tuesday. He will be replaced by Rui Marques, who was previously the race director for Formula Two and Formula Three. Wittich’s departure came as a surprise to F1 and is highly unusual in its timing given there are three races of the 2024 season remaining.

Wittich has made no comment on why he has stepped down during the season, but he is the latest senior FIA officials to leave. In the past 12 months the chief executive, Natalie Robyn, moved on after 18 months in post, as have the sporting director, Steve Nielsen, the technical director, Tim Goss, and the head of the FIA commission for women, Deborah Mayer, in what has been a period of turbulence for the FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

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• All 20 drivers hit out after recent swearing punishments
• Verstappen and Leclerc both received sanctions from FIA

Formula One drivers have demanded the FIA stops treating them like children in a damning indictment of the governing body’s policies and its president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), which represents F1 drivers, issued a strongly worded and highly critical statement on Thursday, addressing the recent controversy over ­swearing. It took issue with the “tone and ­language” used by Ben Sulayem and questioned the financial transparency of the FIA, in a highly unusual and very public critique which puts the FIA in a difficult position.

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Dutchman produced a display in Brazil that all but sealed the title and brought to mind the greats of old

In the wake of Max Verstappen’s victory at the São Paulo Grand Prix from 17th place on Sunday, superlatives lay strewn at his feet like so many battle banners of conquest. These were accolades earned with a performance in the rain that stands as one of the best of his career and worthy of recognition in the pantheon of Formula One’s wet weather drives.

Before the race at Interlagos, damage limitation had been perhaps the best expectation but when the flag fell with Verstappen in front and his title rival, Lando Norris, in sixth, he had not only taken a famous victory but also just about sealed the world championship.

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• ‘I don’t see any British press,’ defending champion notes
• McLaren’s Andrea Stella prioritises constructors’ title

Max Verstappen sniped at criticism from British media pundits after putting himself on the cusp of his fourth consecutive world championship title with a masterclass to win the São Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Dutchman came back from 17th on the grid to take victory at Interlagos, while his title rival Lando Norris fell back from pole to finish sixth. The British driver had trailed by 44 points but is now 62 behind, with 86 remaining on the table. If Verstappen is 60 ahead after the next round in Las Vegas, then the Red Bull driver will be champion.

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• Victory means he can seal fourth F1 title in next round
• Rival Lando Norris says winner ‘got lucky’ with red flags

Max Verstappen revealed he had not believed he had a chance of victory after his remarkable and unexpected win from 17th on the grid at the São Paulo Grand Prix.

The Dutchman described it as an emotional day after opening with a major setback in qualifying before delivering the comeback drive of the season, while his title rival, Lando Norris, noted Verstappen had got lucky with red-flag rules that were largely opposed by drivers.

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• Champion wins from 17th place on grid
• Lando Norris’s title hopes in tatters

When the world championship is finally decided, the moment where it was surely settled was ­appropriately with what must be considered the drive of the ­season from Max ­Verstappen. The ­Dutchman’s ­uncompromising style and ­aggression has come under ­enormous scrutiny of late but with his victory from 17th on the grid at the São Paulo Grand Prix he gave a stark reminder that, for all that, he is an exceptional driver and in so doing left his title rival Lando ­Norris’s hopes shattered.

This was a peerless performance, a masterclass in the rain in Brazil that has deservedly all but clinched Verstappen’s fourth title but a more unlikely win was hard to imagine before the lights went out.

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• McLaren driver prevails in delayed, dramatic session
• Max Verstappen in 17th before potentially defining race

Lando Norris took pole position for the São Paulo Grand Prix in a dramatic and incident-packed qualifying session that could presage a major shift in his world championship battle with Max Verstappen. It puts the McLaren driver in the best possible position to make a huge move in closing the gap to Verstappen, who was unlucky and caught out in qualifying and finished 12th, which will mean he will start the race from 17th with a five-place grid penalty.

Qualifying had been postponed from Saturday after a torrential rainstorm had engulfed Interlagos and instead took place on Sunday morning. When it got going, once more in the wet, Verstappen was unable to finish his final quick lap in Q2 when the session was stopped after a crash by Lance Stroll. The world champion now faces an enormous task in the race.

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• Verstappen drops to fourth with five-second penalty
• Ferrari’s Leclerc and Sainz finish fourth and fifth

Lando Norris won the sprint race at the São Paulo Grand Prix for McLaren with the team choosing to employ team orders to have his teammate Oscar Piastri cede the lead to maximise the British driver’s points advantage over world championship Max Verstappen. The Dutchman finished third but was later given a five-second penalty dropping him to fourth. Piastri was second, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third and Carlos Sainz fifth

Piastri led from pole for the entire race until lap 22 of the 24 when he moved over for his teammate but the team had made it clear early in the sprint, their intent was to switch the two drivers in Norris’s favour and Piastri had been explicit beforehand he would not have an issue doing so.

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• F1 championship leader breached engine rules
• Norris can cut 47-point lead if he takes advantage

Confrontation on the track has dominated the world championship fight between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris for the previous two races but now closing out what has been a tempestuous and gruelling triple-header, Norris has the opportunity to take advantage in a manner that will make the most impact on the Dutchman without so much as a backward glance.

Verstappen will start on the back foot in Brazil with a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race after changing his engine, leaving him in a starting position of at best sixth, and potentially even lower if the Red Bull has not closed the gap to Norris, McLaren and the recently resurgent Ferrari who have dominated the last two races. These are places that matter in an increasingly tight fight. Norris trails Verstappen by 47 points with four meetings remaining. This weekend and Qatar next month both include sprint races, taking the points still available to 120.

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• Verstappen under scrutiny for Austin and Mexico races
• Hamilton: ‘I don’t think you are seeing much difference’

Lewis Hamilton maintains Max Verstappen has continued with an unacceptable driving style since the pair vied for the world championship in 2021. Three years ago the British driver described his rival as dangerous and claimed he drove as if the rules did not apply to him. Verstappen, however, responded bullishly to critics of his driving, labelling them biased and annoying.

Verstappen’s driving has been under intense focus for the previous two rounds in Austin and Mexico where he was involved in controversial incidents with his world championship rival, McLaren’s Lando Norris. In Austin the world champion forced Norris wide, for which the British driver was penalised, although it was considered Verstappen had been carrying too much speed into the corner. Then in Mexico, Verstappen twice pushed Norris off and was penalised on both occasions.

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