Category: Formula 1

The 52-year-old reflects on the pain of being sacked after two decades turning Red Bull into an F1 powerhouse, questioning his purpose in life and dealing with panic attacks

Christian Horner should be in steamy Singapore, preparing for another grand prix victory, but here he is, at home on an autumnal morning in genteel Highgate as his wife, Geri Halliwell-Horner, welcomes me with a cheerful hug. Horner smiles as the former Spice Girl produces an impressive imitation of my South African accent which echoes her old headteacher at Watford Girls.

After the most controversial man in the recent history of Formula One says hello, Halliwell-Horner and I discuss the fact that my two daughters also went to her school and that one of their history textbooks had her name printed on the inside page – while the ex-Ginger Spice talks about gritty old Watford, grammar school education and Nelson Mandela.

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• Italian can win title in Texas with win and other results

• Verstappen led race at Marina Bay from start to finish

Kimi Antonelli said he can finally dare to dream about winning his first Formula One world championship after he finished in third place at the Singapore Grand Prix and put himself in a position where he could secure the title at the next round in Austin.

Max Verstappen won with a dominant drive at the Marina Bay circuit but behind him, Antonelli’s podium means he could become F1’s youngest champion at the age of 20, in two weeks’ time. Antonelli leads his Mercedes teammate, George Russell, by 102 points and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton by 111. With six meetings remaining and 150 points to play for, the Italian will take the title if he wins in Austin and Russell finishes ninth or lower and Hamilton fifth or lower.

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Max Verstappen led from start to finish, with Charles Leclerc second and Kimi Antonelli – who has an outside chance of clinching the title in the next race – third

Zak Brown of McLaren confirms he has had a stern one with his drivers after they go in each other’s way yesterday. “I didn’t say please,” he laughs. “It’s an order.”

Our race comprises 62 laps and the relatively long track means it’ll last roundabout two hours. It’s hot, too, meaning a proper physical struggle for our drivers.

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• Red Bull driver claims second victory in a row

• Kimi Antonelli third and extends championship lead

Max Verstappen won the Singapore Grand Prix with a commanding run from pole to flag to take his first victory at the Marina Bay circuit on the occasion of his 250th race.

He comfortably beat the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc into second place with championship leader Kimi Antonelli third. Defending world champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were fourth and fifth for McLaren and Lewis Hamilton sixth for Ferrari. Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate George Russell came through to take ninth place, having started 19th on the grid.

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• Hamilton qualifies third with Antonelli fourth

• Russell crashed out of sprint when leading on lap one

While Red Bull and Max Verstappen were very much on a roll at the Singapore Grand Prix with victory in the sprint and then pole position, Britain’s George Russell was left having to roll with the punches. His vanishingly slight title hopes took another blow after he crashed out of the sprint race on the streets of the Marina Bay circuit.

Verstappen’s pole was a mighty lap to beat the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc into second by five-hundredths of a second as the Dutchman enjoys his best form of the season. A 50th pole, his first in Singapore coming on the back of a pole and win at the last round in Malaysia and pole and victory in the sprint at Marina Bay.

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• Principal denies bias towards Antonelli over Russell

• Verstappen takes pole in sprint qualifying in Singapore

Toto Wolff has condemned accusations of bias in how he has managed his drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, with the Mercedes team principal describing those positing such theories as better off watching “Teletubbies or Mickey Mouse” rather than Formula One.

With Antonelli leading Russell by 84 points in the world championship as they go into this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, the Italian’s first title is within his reach. The 20-year-old has driven superbly in only his second season in F1 but Russell has struggled with poor fortune and reliability issues that have stymied his championship challenge.

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Improvements to the car are paying off as the team look to lay the groundwork for renewed success next season

The importance for Max Verstappen of emerging triumphant from the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia was writ large in the Dutchman’s pleasure at finally being able to drive a competitive car. In a ride with which he was comfortable and able to take to a dominant victory for Red Bull, Verstappen was in his element. With it came a sense of what might have been had he not been long out of the championship fight, but also what might be to come next year.

The transformation was so marked because for so long this season the car has been a handful – the reason Verstappen’s title hopes faded long ago. That the team have come back to deliver a win in such emphatic fashion was no little achievement.

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Review is under way, but there will be no quick fix for misconceived regulations that resulted in cars being unable to run in the rain

Formula One has gone to no little pains this season in insisting the new format is more popular than ever, despite overwhelming disapproval from the drivers regarding engine regulations. In short, there is nothing to see here.

But the farcical scenes that accompanied the opening to the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on Sunday were all too visible and left some drivers expressing open mockery.

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• Antonelli and Hamilton led the criticism in Sepang

• Race delayed after software problems in wet conditions

Formula One drivers issued a damning condemnation of the sport’s current engine regulations that caused the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia to open with farcical scenes of cars stopping on track and unable to accelerate because of software problems in the electronics that control the engines.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won in Sepang but only after F1 suffered the embarrassment of a host of cars barely able to complete two ­formation laps in the wet as they were making their way to the grid.

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• First win of season for Dutchman after long rain delay

• Heartbreak for Russell as power units struggle in weather

Max Verstappen won a chaotic Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia with a dominant drive for Red Bull, his team’s first win of the season, beating the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli into second. The Italian’s teammate and title rival George Russell was forced to retire with five laps to go leaving the British driver’s title hopes shattered and Antonelli within touching distance of the championship.

Lewis Hamilton was third for Ferrari, making a remarkable comeback after a torrid afternoon, starting on the slick rubber tyres in the wet which dropped him as far back as 17th before reviving with a superb drive, including a late pass on Isack Hadjar who finished fifth. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth after a race marked by farcical scenes before it was even underway. This season’s engine formula was found sorely wanting the first time it was tested in wet conditions.

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• Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton starts second on the front row

• Kimi Antonelli in fourth, George Russell down in eighth

The wait has been long for Max Verstappen but when the Dutchman finally claimed his first pole position of the year he did it in no little style. Taking the top spot for Red Bull at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, Verstappen was all but untouchable.

However, what was of greatest import for the Formula One world championship was the gulf between the title leader, Kimi Antonelli, and his Mercedes teammate, George Russell. The latter, somewhat floundering in Sepang, is now in danger of losing further points he can ill afford in pursuit of the Italian.

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Title rivals bring upgrades to first Grand Prix in Malaysia since 2017 on a demanding but well liked circuit

While the byzantine nomenclature of this weekend’s “Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia” will have Formula One’s statisticians muttering darkly under their breath for years to come, the import of the sport’s return to the Sepang circuit remains all too straightforward at the sharp end. Complicated only perhaps by a Red Bull resurgence and an enthused Max Verstappen, determined to make his mark on the championship run-in.

The return to Malaysia for its first race since 2017 has been welcomed in F1. It is a much-liked circuit among drivers, albeit the high temperatures and humidity make for an enormous physical challenge.

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• Team principal under scrutiny after underperformance

• ‘Fred is the guy to take this team in the right direction’

Lewis Hamilton has backed his Ferrari team principal, Fred Vasseur, as the best person to lead the team, but believes the leadership structure above and around the Frenchman could be overhauled.

Hamilton was speaking before this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, with the race being held at the Sepang circuit but branded as a replacement for the meeting that was cancelled earlier in the season because of the war in the Middle East. Ferrari go into the race with Vasseur under scrutiny, given the team have been underperforming and with the former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner having stated last week that taking over at Ferrari would be his dream job.

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