Category: Formula 1

• Dutchman to undergo ‘some work of public interest’
• Champion faces difficult weekend at Marina Bay

Max Verstappen has been punished by Formula One’s governing body for swearing in the immediate aftermath of a backlash by the world champion and other drivers against the FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, and his demand that drivers cease to use bad language. It is a dispute Verstappen is expected to vigorously return to as this weekend’s meeting in Singapore progresses.

Early this week Ben Sulayem had said: “We have to differentiate between our sport – motorsport – and rap music. We’re not rappers, you know. They say the f-word how many times per minute? We are not on that. That’s them and we are [us]”.

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• Ben Sulayem says ‘we’re not rappers’ over swearing
• Hamilton: ‘Those are the wrong choice of words’

Lewis Hamilton has expressed disquiet at comments made by the president of Formula One’s governing body, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, that F1 drivers should not swear like rap artists, stating that he was unhappy at the “racial element” implied by Ben Sulayem’s choice of words.

Speaking in the buildup to this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, Ben Sulayem, the president of the FIA, had said he was concerned about drivers swearing on team radio, even though messages are broadcast on a delay so expletives are bleeped out. “We have to differentiate between our sport – motorsport – and rap music,” he said. “We’re not rappers, you know. They say the f-word how many times per minute? We are not on that. That’s them and we are [us].”

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Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman made impressive cameos away from the drama at the front of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Formula One delivered a gripping contest at the front of the field in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix but in the wake of Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc’s compelling battle, two of the sport’s newest competitors made an impression that should not be overlooked, one that indicates F1’s future is in rude health.

In what was a riveting race, Piastri won from Leclerc in Baku and Lando Norris managed to keep his F1 title hopes alive with a strong comeback drive to pass Max Verstappen and take fourth from 15th on the grid. He and Piastri put McLaren into the lead of the constructors’ championship for the first time in a decade, while a dramatic crash between Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz brought the curtain down on a spirited afternoon.

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• Piastri underlines his talent with victory in Baku
• ‘We have two No 1 drivers,’ says Andrea Stella

McLaren’s team principal, Andrea Stella, says they will continue to review the arrangement between their drivers after Oscar Piastri underlined his talent with a thrilling Azerbaijan Grand Prix victory. McLaren came into the weekend fielding questions over team orders after Piastri’s opportunistic first-lap move in Monza a fortnight ago resulted in title-chasing Lando Norris losing two positions.

They decided the team would favour Norris for the remainder of the season but it was Piastri on the top step of the podium in Baku as the British driver finished fourth, having started from 15th after a disaster in qualifying. Piastri’s second F1 win, brilliantly secured over Charles Leclerc thanks to a daring overtake and dogged defence, actually came in part thanks to Norris working to help his teammate stay ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez during the pit-stop phase.

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A superb drive from Oscar Piastri won a superb race, while Lando Norris, who came fourth, cut Max Verstappen’s lead at the top of the driver standings to 60 points

Anthem tme!

It’s nice and sunny in Baku today – and also warm. Excitement is building as the cars gather on the grid.

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• McLaren driver victorious after duel with Charles Leclerc
• Pérez and Sainz crash; Norris beats Verstappen to fourth

Engrossing and impossibly tense, Formula One might consider itself flattered if the final third of this season delivers with the same compelling drama as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. An old-school race of nose‑to‑tail duelling at the front, won by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri from ­Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the streets of Baku hosted an immense struggle.

Moreover it was a race that might be considered by McLaren as a ­pivotal moment when, against the odds and beyond all expectations, Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris also managed to keep his title hopes alive with an exceptional comeback drive from 15th to fourth.

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• McLaren driver forced to back off hot lap for yellow flags
• Verstappen in sixth with chance to open gap to Norris

Charles Leclerc took pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with a dominant lap in Baku for Ferrari but there was a shock for Lando Norris, whose Formula One world championship ambitions suffered a major blow as he qualified in 17th. His title rival Max Verstappen was in sixth for Red Bull, Oscar Piastri second for McLaren, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in third, and Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez in fourth. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were in fifth and seventh for Mercedes.

After closing the gap to Verstappen in recent races, this represents a major setback for Norris and McLaren. The team had taken a chance in not using new tyres for Norris’s first run in Q1. With the track gaining grip as the session opened, it left Norris vulnerable in the drop zone as lap times improved and made his final lap vital.

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• 19-year-old knows he will be under pressure in Haas car
• Red Bull principal insists title race is on a knife-edge

The focus heading into this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix has understandably centred on how the title fight between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris will play out as the Formula One season enters its final third. That competition might yet go to the wire, but in their wake one of F1’s most highly rated young talents, Britain’s Oliver Bearman, has a chance to make his own mark in Baku.

As Verstappen and Norris go head to head, Bearman, the 19-year-old from Chelmsford who will join them on the grid when he makes his full-time debut in F1 next season, will be looking to live up to the hype that has accompanied his rise.

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• McLaren confirm they will give British driver priority
• ‘I want to win by being the best driver on track’

Lando Norris has said he does not expect to be handed victories by his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, and would not want to win a Formula One world championship that way, after the team confirmed they would give the British driver priority in his attempt to catch Max Verstappen and claim his first title.

Norris trails Red Bull’s Verstappen by 62 points with eight rounds remaining and at this point is the Dutchman’s only realistic rival. Until now McLaren have steadfastly refused to impose team orders on their drivers in Norris’s favour. However this week the team principal, Andrea Stella, confirmed the team would “bias our support to Lando”, although he maintained they would not compromise their principles of sportsmanship.

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• Designer leaves Red Bull in deal worth up to £30m a year
• Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll: ‘Adrian is a bargain’

Adrian Newey has said he feels under no pressure having been confirmed by Aston Martin as the head of their technical department, an appointment the team hope will propel them into a position to fight for the Formula One championship in short order.

Aston Martin announced on Tuesday that Newey, Formula One’s most successful designer of the modern era, will join the team next season. Newey has signed a long-term deal, worth what is believed to be up to £30m a year, and will become a shareholder in another bold statement of intent from Aston Martin’s billionaire owner, Lawrence Stroll.

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Red Bull’s car lacks balance and, with the rest of the field gaining on points, both world titles are therefore at risk

Max Verstappen’s frustration and anger at the performance of his Red Bull car at the Italian Grand Prix was almost visceral. The world champion is unafraid to speak his mind and he did so to damning effect in Monza, condemning the car as an undriveable monster that might cost him a fourth title. This might be considered hyperbole were it not for the fact that Verstappen has been warning of this for months and Red Bull still have no solution, which suggests the Dutchman may be right and they do have a real problem.

Verstappen qualified seventh in Monza and finished sixth in a race where the winner, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, and the two McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in second and third were in a different league, more than 30 seconds clear of the Red Bull. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Pérez described their car as handling like a boat, about as damning an indictment as any driver can give to a thoroughbred F1 car.

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The Ferrari driver benefitted from a brave one-stop strategy to hold off the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris

• Report: Leclerc wins for Ferrari after one-stop gamble

1/53 Lando Norris leads into the first corner, Russell locks up and goes down the run-off area. Piastri made sure Russell didn’t get through, and then – amazing – Norris is overtaken by Piastri, then Leclerc came through into second. Norris drops from first to third. Verstappen is up in sixth, and is complaining about Lewis Hamilton

Vroom vroom vroom, out go the lights after a deliberate start…..

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