Category: Formula 1

• Mercedes driver revealed tensions boiled over in Qatar
• World champion was ‘going to purposefully crash into me’

George Russell has claimed his Formula One rival Max Verstappen threatened him with violence during the escalating tensions between the drivers at the Qatar Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver said the newly crowned world champion told him “he was going to purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and ‘put me on my fucking head in the wall’”.

The accusations come after the Briton and Verstappen were embroiled in a dispute in qualifying for the race last weekend. The Dutchman lost pole position for blocking Russell during qualifying, with both drivers seeking out the stewards to discuss the incident. Verstappen – who vented his ire on Dutch television, stating he had “lost all respect” for the Mercedes driver – went on to win the race but only after a one-place grid penalty saw him start behind Russell.

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• Son of motorcycle great Mick replaces Esteban Ocon at Alpine
• Esteban Ocon released early to join Haas for post-season test

Australian Jack Doohan, son of motorcycle great Mick, will make his Formula One debut for Alpine in Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after departing Esteban Ocon was released early.

Ocon has signed for Haas and the switch will allow him to take part in the post-season test at Yas Marina next week, while also preparing Doohan for next season when he graduates from reserve to full race driver.

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• British driver sanctioned at Sunday’s Grand Prix
• McLaren chief says rulebook ‘must have dust on cover’

Formula One teams are demanding more from the sport’s governing body after controversy over decisions at the Qatar Grand Prix which have caused criticism within the sport and prompted McLaren to call for a review into the penalty imposed on Lando Norris.

Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, described the governance of the FIA as turning into a reality show and the McLaren team principal, Andrea Stella, suggested it was choosing how to apply its regulations on the hoof.

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• Verstappen: ‘For me, I lost all respect … I can’t stand that’
• Red Bull driver wins race after incident in qualifying

Max Verstappen issued a blunt condemna­tion of his fellow driver George Russell stating he had “lost all respect” for him after the pair were involved in an incident during qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix. Verstappen con­sidered that Russell had tried to “screw me over” with the stewards and the pair exchanged words about it before the race at the Lusail circuit on Sunday.

Verstappen won the race in Qatar but afterwards his anger with ­Russell was direct. After qualifying ­Verstappen had been penalised for driving unnecessarily slowly and impeding Russell. Both drivers had been summoned to the stewards to give their sides of the incident and Russell’s behaviour had left ­Verstappen incensed.

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• Leclerc second, Piastri third as Norris finishes 10th
• Race director failed to remove debris from track

Max Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix for Red Bull with a commanding drive in a race notable for the controversy caused when the new FIA race director failed to deal with debris on track that gave two cars punctures. Charles Leclerc was second for Ferrari and Oscar Piastri third, while his McLaren teammate Lando Norris endured a torrid afternoon, relegated from second to the back of the grid for failing to slow under yellow flags, he came back to finish 10th.

The race had been very much a procession for the first half with Verstappen leading from Norris, the top ten largely circling line astern from one another a laborious exercise in tyre management.

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• Champion penalised for ‘go slow’; George Russell on pole
• McLaren closing on team title after drought of 26 years

Max Verstappen endured exhilaration and then disappointment in qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix, where he took pole position against the odds, his first since Austria in June, only to lose it more than three hours later. With the stewards having taken an exceedingly long look at an incident where he blocked Mercedes’ George Russell, they finally penalised the world champion by one grid place, promoting Russell to pole.

Verstappen appeared determined to close the season hard, having sealed his fourth title at the last round in Las Vegas but his superb lap in qualifying came to naught after a painfully long investigation.

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• World champion says he will maintain ruthless style
• Lando Norris takes pole for Saturday’s sprint race

Max Verstappen has defiantly dismissed criticism of his driving in the aftermath of winning his fourth Formula One world title in Las Vegas last weekend.

Speaking before this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix, the penultimate round, the Red Bull driver bullishly insisted he would not change his ruthless style, which has been both penalised and criticised.

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• Long-time steward Tim Mayer says he was sacked by text
• Reveals meddling by president Mohammed ben Sulayem

The recently sacked FIA race steward Tim Mayer has delivered a stinging rebuke to Formula One’s governing body and the management of its president Mohammed ben Sulayem, with the FIA once again left reeling in the face of very public criticism.

Mayer, a race steward for 15 years, told the BBC in an interview he was sacked by text message on Tuesday and stated Ben Sulayem had involved himself in the decision-making process of the stewards, who are supposed to be independent.

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• GM-owned team will initially be powered by Ferrari
• Sport has enjoyed rapid growth in United States

Formula One is poised to have an 11th team on the grid in 2026 after Cadillac’s proposed entry was rubber-stamped by the sport’s bosses.

Cadillac, a division of American motoring giant General Motors, is expected to be powered by Ferrari before it develops its own engines.

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At times the world champion ground it out on will alone but an unforgettable drive in Brazil turned things back his way

Max Verstappen was clear all season he wanted to win the Formula One world title with a dominant car, just as he had the previous two years. Much as he might have enjoyed more of a canter, the fight for his fourth title, secured in Las Vegas, was not only far greater sport but also showed how complete a driver he has matured into.

Beating him in future is going to be a fearsome task, as his title rival Lando Norris acknowledged.

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• 39-year-old had wanted to quit after Brazil GP nightmare
• Verstappen struggles with unruly Red Bull in desert chill

Lewis Hamilton recovered from his nightmare race weekend in Brazil to complete an impressive practice double at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Having said he wanted to quit Mercedes in the aftermath of his disappointing 10th-placed finish in Interlagos a fortnight ago, Hamilton first saw off team-mate George Russell by 0.396 seconds in the opening running on the Strip, and then McLaren’s Lando Norris by 0.011 sec later in the day, to head both sessions.

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• Japanese driver was on way to Las Vegas Grand Prix
• Officials let 24-year-old go after lengthy questioning

Japanese Formula One driver Yuki Tsunoda said he was interrogated in his pyjamas for several hours by United States border control officials before being let into the country for this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The RB driver told reporters on Wednesday he had no issues on his two previous visits to the US this year for races in Austin and Miami.

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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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