Tag: One

The 2023 Austrian GP marked the first time Red Bull were racing at their home event since the death of co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz; Max Verstappen won the race and Sergio Perez was third; Watch the British GP live on Sky Sports F1 from July 7-9

Christian Horner says Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz was in the back of his mind when deciding whether to pit Max Verstappen for the fastest lap of the race at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Verstappen was dominating Red Bull’s home event and had more than a pit stop’s gap to Charles Leclerc in second place.

Initially, Red Bull were reluctant to pit the championship leader but Verstappen came in for soft tyres and set the fastest lap on the final lap to take the bonus point.

“It was an outstanding weekend. Max has had tremendous pace all weekend. The strategy we took was slightly different to our competitors so it meant he had to make the overtakes on track as well,” said Horner. “I think he was waving at Charles as he passed him! So a stunning weekend.

“It’s the first time we have been here since Dietrich’s passing. It felt very poignant that it was a great team performance today. We decided to go for the fastest lap on the last lap, despite the risk involved of fluffing a pit stop – it was at the back of my mind, his mantra was always, ‘No risk, no fun’.

“The mechanics have been in such great form that it seemed a low-risk thing in the end.”

He added: “Coming into the circuit this weekend it was very weird not to have him with us. You feel his presence everywhere – whether it’s the hotels you stay in or the investment he made.

“I remember the delight he had in bringing this Grand Prix back to Austria and the passion he had for racing. Whilst he’s not here in person, his presence you can feel it everywhere and looking back here today it would be one he really enjoyed.”

Verstappen didn’t see extra pit stop as a risk

Verstappen leads Sergio Perez by 81 points in the championship after picking up every point possible in Spielberg.

The Dutchman says the “car was on fire” and wasn’t worried about Red Bull potentially getting the pit stop wrong.

“To me, it was not a risk but maybe the team were a bit more nervous. I saw the gap and was like, ‘we have to pit. I want to go for the fastest lap’,” he said.

“From the outside maybe it looks like a big risk but when in the car for me it didn’t feel like a risk at all.”

Horner confirmed team manager Jonathan Wheatley and Verstappen’s engineer Gianpiero Lambiase were “up for it” after a discussion.

“There was a bit of a discussion of risk versus reward because we thought let’s cool the tyres down and do it the easier way of not taking a pit stop, in which 400 things can go wrong in,” Horner said. “Max was making his opinion quite clear that the tyres were f****d. He was quite focused.

“Then you start looking at your risk, do we take the risk on a below-par set of tyres? Or is it actually less risk to take the pit stop and put on a set of softs? In the end, we said ‘let’s take the risk’ and he still had three seconds margin over Charles when he came out of the pit lane.”

Next on the F1 calendar is the big one, Silverstone. Don’t miss the British GP live on Sky Sports from July 7-9

Max Verstappen leads Sergio Perez in Red Bull one-two following thrilling battle between team-mates on opening lap of Sprint; Carlos Sainz takes third for Ferrari; watch the Austrian Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 at 2pm on Sunday, with build-up from 12:30pm

Max Verstappen claimed victory in the Austrian Grand Prix Sprint after seeing off the bold challenge of Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez during a thrilling first-lap battle.

World championship leader Verstappen started ahead of his team-mate on the front row but there was almost embarrassment for Red Bull at their home Grand Prix as the duo twice came close to making contact on the opening lap.

Perez got off the line better than Verstappen and passed the Dutchman into the first corner, before Verstappen hit back at Turn 3, with both coming on team radio to express their dissatisfaction at each other’s driving.

Perez, who has been on a dismal run of form since winning two of the first four races in a strong start to the season, lost a place to Nico Hulkenberg on the exit of Turn 3, but would later regain the position to ensure a Red Bull one-two.

Carlos Sainz advanced from fifth to claim the final podium spot, with Lance Stroll holding off Aston Martin team-mate Fernando Alonso for fourth.

Hulkenberg, who was the highest finisher of the cars that chose to switch from intermediate to dry tyres in the closing stages on the drying track, took sixth.

Esteban Ocon held off Mercedes’ George Russell, who benefited from being the first driver to switch to slicks, for seventh in a thrilling battle to the line.

The Brit secured the final point available in the 24-lap contest, with Verstappen taking his world championship lead over Perez to 70 points with victory.

The Dutchman will have the opportunity to further extend his advantage in Sunday’s race, as he starts on pole with Perez only 15th on the grid.

Austrian GP Sprint Result: Top 10
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull (8 points)
2) Sergio Perez, Red Bull (7 points)
3) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari (6 points)
4) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin (5 points)
5) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin (4 points)
6) Nico Hulkenberg (3 points)
7) Esteban Ocon, Alpine (2 points)
8) George Russell, Mercedes (1 point)
9) Alexander Albon, Williams
10) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

More to follow…

Lando Norris was demoted from ninth to 13th at the Canadian Grand Prix after being given a five-second penalty for “unsportsmanlike conduct”; Watch the Austrian GP Sprint Shootout live on Sky Sports F1 at 11am on Saturday, followed by the Sprint at 3:30pm

McLaren have lodged a petition for a right of review against the five-second penalty Lando Norris was given for “unsportsmanlike conduct” at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Norris finished the June 18 race in ninth, but was demoted to 13th after the controversial penalty was applied following the chequered flag.

The Brit was adjudged by stewards to have driven in an ‘unsporting manner’ when a Safety Car was deployed following George Russell’s crash on lap 12.

Norris was behind team-mate Oscar Piastri on track, and was deemed to have slowed his pace in order to avoid losing time as McLaren pitted them both on the same lap.

With Safety Car conditions prohibiting overtaking, Norris was able to back off the throttle but maintain track position over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Williams’ Alex Albon, who were stuck behind the McLaren.

The FIA confirmed on Saturday the first part of McLaren’s hearing will take place on Sunday morning at 8:30am at the Red Bull Ring ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, where the stewards are present this weekend.

McLaren will need to provide a “significant and relevant new element which was unavailable to the party seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned” in order to force a second hearing, which would be at a later date.

Williams have taken up the option of “any other concerned party” to join the hearing, with the team understood to feel aggrieved over Albon being held up by Norris’ actions.

Norris said after the race that the stewards’ decision didn’t “make sense”, while McLaren team principal Andrea Stella accused the stewards of attempting to use the incident to “set a new precedent”.

In a statement confirming their appeal on Friday evening, McLaren said: “We are very supportive of the FIA and the Stewards, and we trust them while they carry out what is a difficult job. We appreciate Stewards need to make decisions in a short timeframe, analysing complex scenarios and often with partial information and multiple elements to consider.

“In Canada, we were surprised by the penalty and uncertain as to the rationale behind the decision. We spoke to the Stewards immediately after the race to help understand the reasoning for the penalty.

“The FIA’s regulatory framework has tools and processes which allow them and the sport to deal with the operational complexity of Formula 1, especially for decisions which need to be made during the race. The “right of review” is one of those processes which showcases the strength of the institution in allowing decisions to be reviewed, should that be in the best interest of the sport and this is something McLaren fully embraces and supports.

“Given this provision, the team took the initial explanation onboard and decided to review the case in a calm and considered manner, performing comprehensive due diligence, which included looking at the precedents. After this careful and extensive review, we believe enough evidence exists to a submit a “right to review” to the FIA, which we have done so.

“We will now continue to work with the FIA closely, in the same constructive and collaborative manner in which we normally do, and will accept the outcome of their deliberations and decision.”

McLaren’s announcement came almost two weeks on from the incident in Canada and just hours after Norris had produced a brilliant performance to qualify fourth for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.

Watch Austrian GP Sprint Shootout live on Sky Sports F1 at 11am on Saturday, followed by the Sprint at 3:30pm. Lights out for Sunday’s race is at 2pm.

Mick Schumacher is Mercedes’ reserve driver for 2023; Schumacher has limited options to secure a full-time drive for 2024; Toto Wolff says other teams are “missing out” by overlooking German driver; watch the Austrian GP on Sky Sports F1 this weekend

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says other F1 teams are “missing out” on Mick Schumacher as the German driver struggles to find a full-time seat for the 2024 season.

Schumacher is Mercedes’ reserve driver this season after being replaced by Nico Hulkenberg at Haas at the end of 2022 following two difficult seasons with the American team.

Schumacher, son of seven-time world champion Michael, was criticised by Guenther Steiner for a series of expensive crashes last season, with the Haas team boss revealing in his book that Schumacher had cost in excess of £1.6m from big crashes in Saudi Arabia, Monaco and Japan.

Wolff, though, feels Schumacher was not in an environment to thrive at Haas and would expect him to perform well at the next team that signs him.

“I think teams are missing out, to be honest. I think he was burned last year,” Wolff said at the Canadian Grand Prix.

“You need to give and provide an environment and framework that is different to every driver, we are all different human beings.

“And whoever gets him will have a very good pilot.”

Schumacher’s hopes of returning to the grid full-time in 2024 are looking slim with limited openings available.

A promotion at Mercedes will not happen as George Russell has extended his contract and Lewis Hamilton is on the verge of signing his own extension.

As things stand, the only openings in 2024 are at Alfa Romeo/Sauber, Williams, AlphaTauri and Haas – with a return to the latter almost certainly out of the question.

Wolff also says he cannot make a Mercedes customer team – Williams, McLaren and Aston Martin – take on Schumacher.

“I’m not even sure that we can facilitate [a seat], because every time we speak highly of him, somebody feels to say something negative,” Wolff said.

“Wherever I can speak highly and praise Mick, that’s what I’m doing.

“But at the end, it’s every team’s authority to decide on their drivers and I very much respect that.

“Our contracts with the teams, were never ‘you have to take our junior driver’, ‘you have to take our reserve driver’, because when I was at Williams, I also wanted to have my own choice.”

Wolff: Schumacher giving Mercedes tremendous advantage

Wolff also hailed the impact Schumacher is having in his role as reserve driver with Mercedes.

Hamilton and Russell praised the work the 24-year-old had done in the simulator on the Friday night of the Spanish GP which helped the team unlock more pace in the W14 and culminated in a double podium finish on the Sunday.

Wolff says having Schumacher’s experience to do simulator work on race weekends at European grands prix gives Mercedes a big advantage and reiterated he would have no hesitation in having Schumacher step up to cover should Russell or Hamilton be unavailable for a race.

“It’s great to have a mature, successful and experienced Formula 1 driver supporting us,” Wolff said.

“In the simulator with his feedback, that is a tremendous advantage on some of the European grands prix having him in the sim overnight and providing data for the Saturday is a super advantage for us.

“And on the other side is that, if George or Lewis were to have fish poisoning – well, Lewis can’t have fish poisoning, it would be avocado poisoning – then we know we have a super guy that would drive the car well.

“And as much as I like the situation for the benefit of the team, I would every day of the week prefer that Mick sits in a cockpit and actually races.”

Schumacher to drive dad Michael’s Mercedes at Goodwood

Mercedes confirmed last week that Schumacher will drive his father Michael’s W02 car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed next month.

Schumacher said: “It’s going to be spectacular to run in my dad’s 2011 car, the W02, even if it is only a short run.

“Just experiencing this generation of cars will be mega! Knowing that he raced this car makes it extra special, and there will be many emotions coming with it.

“I have been lucky enough to drive one of his Benetton cars and some of the Ferraris he raced, but this will be the first time behind the wheel of a Mercedes he drove.

“I am sure I will get out of it with a big smile on my face.”

The W02 was the second car designed and built by Mercedes after purchasing Brawn in 2009.

Sky Sports F1’s live Austrian GP schedule

Thursday June 29
2pm: Drivers’ Press Conference

Friday June 30
8.50am: F3 Practice
10am: F2 Practice
12pm: Austrian GP Practice (session starts 12.30)
1.55pm: F3 Qualifying
2.50pm: F2 Qualifying
3.30pm: Austrian GP Qualifying build-up
4pm: Austrian GP Qualifying
6pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Saturday July 1
8.55am: F3 Sprint
10.30am: Austrian GP Sprint Shootout build-up
11am: Austrian GP Sprint Shootout
12.40pm: F2 Sprint
2.30pm: Austrian GP Sprint build-up
3.30pm: Austrian GP Sprint
5pm: Ted’s Sprint Notebook

Sunday July 2
7.20am: F3 Feature Race
8.50am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Austrian GP build-up
2pm: The AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Austrian GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook

Red Bull seek to continue their winning run in 2023 as they return to their home track for the Austrian GP – watch live on Sky Sports F1 from June 30-July 2. Get Sky Sports

Lando Norris crossed the line at the Canadian GP in ninth but a five-second time penalty for driving too slowly during the Safety Car period on Sunday in Montreal cost him and McLaren points; F1 returns with the Austrian GP live on Sky Sports F1 from June 30 to July 2

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has suggested Lando Norris’ penalty at the Canadian Grand Prix for “unsportsmanlike conduct” was down to stewards wanting to set a new precedent.

Norris received a five-second time penalty for slowing down too much behind the Safety Car, as he allowed a gap to open up to team-mate Oscar Piastri, therefore backing up cars behind him.

The punishment dropped Norris out of the points as he had crossed the line in ninth after a last-lap battle with Esteban Ocon.

“The driver slowed under the Safety Car to avoid a delay during a ‘double stack’ for his pitstop,” read the stewards’ verdict regarding their decision.

“During the Safety Car period the driver slowed to allow a gap to form between his team-mate in Car 81 [Piastri] and him. In doing so he delayed the cars behind.

“There was a significant difference in speed between Car 4 [Norris] and Car 81 [Piastri] between Turns 10 and 13 (approximately 50 km/h).

“Article 12.2.1.l of the ISC refers to ‘any infringement of the principles of fairness in competition, behaviour in an unsportsmanlike manner or attempt to influence the results of a competition, in a way that is contrary to sporting ethics’.”

Stella says there had been no discussions about clamping down on double stacking in F1.

“We spoke to the stewards after the race because we thought this kind of speed under a Safety Car, or even a Virtual Safety Car, should not be a reason for infringement,” said the McLaren boss.

“There’s the possibility the stewards want to set new references. We will discuss with them. Ultimately, we trust their judgement but we are reviewing the behaviour of Lando because we come out of this race very surprised that this has caused a penalty.”

He added: “It’s one of those where you really need to look into a great level of detail before you express too strong opinions. So let me do the due diligence.

“We understand the position of the stewards. We understand that they may want to set a precedent so that there’s a kind of new way of interpreting the way you have to drive under a Safety Car. If that’s the approach, fine. But it’s a bit of a shame that we are involved in this setting of a new precedent.”

Norris: It doesn’t make sense to me

There have been instances of this incident in the past. In 2017, Lewis Hamilton created a gap to team-mate Valtteri Bottas at the Bahrain Grand Prix during a Safety Car and was given a five-second time penalty as he held up Daniel RIcciardo.

Norris revealed he did not know about his penalty until after the race in Montreal.

“It doesn’t make sense to me. I was three or four seconds behind my delta which everyone quite often is. It was too early to box than what we were planning to do, so I wasn’t planning to box. Then I got a call just before the pit entry. So I’m surprised. The guys didn’t tell me until after the race,” he said.

“You go slow and you speed up. You want to keep the temperature in the tyres, so everyone leaves a gap. It wasn’t like I was 10 seconds behind my delta.

“If it’s because of the delta difference then most people should be given penalties for the last three or four years. So I’m a bit confused. I slowed down to try and warm up the tyres a bit then as soon as they told me to box I pushed and tried to go as fast as I can.”

On the latest episode of the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, Ted Kravitz and Claire Cottingham discussed the incident.

“Lando could have argued, if it had gone to a hearing after the race, that he didn’t want to inconvenience Alfa Romeo-Sauber, who are behind McLaren in the pit box. And if they were going to bring in Zhou or Bottas, then he didn’t want to be in their way,” said Kravitz.

Cottingham added: “The excuse doesn’t matter because he slowed down on track, so he had to take a penalty for that. Remember when Guenther Steiner talked about having consistent stewards in Spain after an incident in Monaco, it’s that question again of inconsistency in terms of how some of the penalties come through.”

Listen to the full podcast to hear Kravitz and Cottingham give their reflections on Red Bull’s 100th F1 win and whether Lando Norris was unsportsmanlike in Montreal.

Don’t miss an episode of the Sky Sports F1 Podcast. Subscribe now on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Spreaker

Red Bull seek to continue their winning run in 2023 as they return to their home track for the Austrian GP – watch live on Sky Sports F1 from June 30-July 2. Get Sky Sports

Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle delivers his expert verdict on the Canadian GP following a landmark weekend for Max Verstappen and Red Bull, which also delivered an intriguing battle between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

On the face of it, the Canadian Grand Prix was simply another Max Verstappen and Red Bull domination, his Ayrton Senna-equalling 41st and Red Bull’s 100th F1 victory both remarkable numbers considering their reasonably short participation in the 73-year history of F1.

The podium was peak F1 at the moment because three great champions in Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen were joined by Adrian Newey representing the Red Bull team, on a day when he was celebrating 200 F1 victories for ‘his’ cars at Williams, McLaren, Red Bull and Toro Rosso.

The only real challenge Verstappen faced was collecting an unlucky bird, which sat alongside a brake duct rather than in it or any other cooling duct, and a trip over a nasty kerb – which earlier had spat out George Russell – which he said on the radio with giggles all round that it nearly knocked him out. He’s on top of his game and things are falling well.

Wet qualifying offers tyre warning

The Montreal circuit usually throws up some special challenges, not least because it’s slippery, bumpy, fast in places, and lined with walls and high kerbs. And the weather can be challenging.

A wet, albeit temporarily almost dry, qualifying served up some thrills and surprises for a nicely scrambled grid. There was a two-lap window to fit dry tyres in Q2 which the likes of Alex Albon in his Williams and a few of the other usual suspects anticipated well, but Sergio Perez in his Red Bull and Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari simply did not.

It was a good reminder for those who want to stop tyre warmers and use F1 cars to heat them up instead, that such moments will disappear if they are banned. Nobody will venture out on cold slicks in anything like those conditions, and nor will they in a race either until it’s certain they can stay on the track and generate heat rather than smash the cars to pieces.

There are better ways to be environmentally friendly rather than fuelling an F1 car for a few extra laps to heat the tyres every run rather than directly applying a very efficient blanket system which heats specifically the tyre and wheel.

Norris unfortunate as stewards face tough weekend

All weekend the race stewards were as busy as the drivers reviewing penalties for blocking and other indiscretions. I feel for the drivers in those conditions, keeping your own car out of the wall and trying to find good speed when every braking zone, corner entry and exit, and even gentle kinks on a straight is a new adventure every lap. To then see other drivers in your mirrors through the spray and get out of the way while trying to find a clear lap for yourself is quite the challenge.

There were some very clear blocks which looked unnecessary despite all the above, not least Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari, for which he took a three-place grid drop.

The stewards were being firm with the rules. I often speak to them to understand these things and they always have data and rationale to go with their calls, there’s no shooting from the hip involved. But, as with any referee system, there’s a human judgment call.

In the race, Lando Norris took a five-second penalty for backing off under the Safety Car to build a gap to his team-mate Oscar Piastri ready for a double-stacked pit stop. I felt sure there was a clear rule about that so that a driver can’t disadvantage all those behind while making their own pit stop faster, but the stewards had to use an umbrella rule about ‘unsporting behaviour’ to nail him.

Even rival team managers were telling me post-race that it’s been normal and accepted behaviour to build a small gap behind the Safety Car before a double team pit stop for a few years now, which indeed was Lando’s firm view.

Of course like any sport you need rules and a firm referee otherwise you quickly have chaos and anarchy, but I can’t help but feel our constantly evolved and complex rules are ready for a tidy-up and rationalisation.

Nico Hulkenberg would have felt that way after he lost a remarkable front-row starting position in his Haas because he got caught out in ‘mini sectors’ when judging his speed under red flag conditions, which had just helped him secure that second place on the grid when others had to abandon their laps.

When you see his onboard camera he was being very cautious and reasonable, but he did breach the regulations and for precedent and consistency they have to be applied while also considering his mitigating circumstances. Frustrating, but the stewards were doing their job diligently.

Aston Martin, Mercedes progressing in face of Verstappen excellence

The start of Sunday’s race saw Hamilton pass Alonso and they tried to stay with Verstappen as best they could. Russell in the second Mercedes was just about hanging on in fourth and well behind them a queue was forming behind Hulkenberg’s Haas, which was back to reality in race trim on a dry track.

When Russell collected the wall on lap 12 the resultant Safety Car brought 13 of the 19 remaining cars into the pits for fresh tyres. Those fast cars out of position on the grid, being both Ferraris in the hands of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, and Perez’s Red Bull elected not to pit and to favour track position instead. This would turn out to be the right decision as they finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively from 10th, 11th and 12th on the grid.

It was a very decent recovery although all three cars really should have been in the fight up front. Ferrari had looked very strong in the long runs on Friday and Perez has the same equipment as Verstappen. Perez impressively won two of the first four races this season, importantly with Verstappen second to him each time, but it has all fallen apart since Max came from ninth on the grid in Miami to comfortably beat pole-sitting Sergio.

Perez will need all his maturity and experience, along with team and family support, to turn his head around and start delivering his speed and potential. I suspect only Alonso and Hamilton would have the head to cope with Verstappen at this moment and I doubt Red Bull would want that volatility in their team. The team’s perfect scenario would be Sergio to finish a close second to Max every race, and win when Max can’t.

The trouble is that, as Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon found out, fine young drivers get buried alongside the Dutchman’s speed. At the same time, Red Bull can’t have Perez off form when Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin inevitably home in on them. That’s why they’ll support him all the way.

Russell caught a kerb badly in Turn Eight which directed him into the outside wall with some ferocity, front and rear. He nursed it back to the pits and Mercedes fixed what they could and sent him on his way. That Mercedes rear suspension is mighty strong, as Alonso also proved when whacking the wall in his Aston Martin which uses the same design.

Russell would eventually retire having recovered back to eighth position, ironically not for a reason connected with his crash.

The fans’ deserving driver of the day was Albon in the heavily updated Williams. He had pitted only once on lap 12 and so did a stellar job to coax those tyres home after 58 more laps and keep Esteban Ocon, the two McLarens, Valtteri Bottas and a fast-closing Lance Stroll in his Aston Martin behind for seventh place.

Stroll drove a fine race from 19th on the grid to steal ninth away from Bottas literally at the finish line.

The Ile Notre Dame venue is looking rather tired and left behind by today’s F1, but massive and well-informed crowds line the challenging circuit every day and it often delivers a fascinating weekend.

When Alonso says he had to drive 70 qualifying laps to keep Hamilton behind him that’ll do for me. And he was less than 10 seconds behind Verstappen at the finish despite having to manage what turned out to be a phantom fuel issue, which is progress compared to the early races this season.

On to Austria.

MB

Pierre Gasly was angry after being knocked of Q1 having been impeded by Carlos Sainz; Sainz was later given a three-place grid penalty for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix; watch the Canadian GP live on Sky Sports F1 at 7pm on Sunday, with build-up from 5:30pm

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly has accused Carlos Sainz of “unacceptable and unfair” driving after being impeded by the Ferrari during Canadian Grand Prix Qualifying.

In a dramatic end to the first part of the wet session, Sainz slowed down approaching the final corner, creating chaos as the cars following him were left at risk of not crossing the start-finish line in time to set a final flying lap.

Gasly, who was coming down the main straight – that precedes the final chicane – at full speed, was forced to run off track and lost the opportunity to set a flying lap, which resulted in him being knocked out in 17th.

Sainz finished eighth, but was given a three-place penalty by the stewards for the incident, demoting him to 11th on the grid for Sunday’s race.

“I don’t think any words can express the disappointment and frustration right now,” Gasly told Sky Sports F1.

“You put so much work into free practice, building your weekend, extracting everything out of Qualy. We did everything right, that lap was good enough for top six. Even if I lost a couple of tenths with a bit of traffic it would have been good enough for top 10.

“Carlos did the worst job possible to stay completely on the racing line. For me that’s completely unacceptable and unfair. I have no words to explain what happened.”

Asked if he held Sainz or the Ferrari pit wall responsible for the incident, Gasly continued: “You rely a lot on the team but the whole team, when they come to Canada know it’s a dangerous one.

“We know that last chicane, everyone is bumping into each other and you have to pay extra attention. The bare minimum is to at least be off line. First this was impeding and second it was extremely dangerous.

“If I smash him at 300kph it puts him in danger and also myself. It’s completely unfair.

“Today it ruined my entire day. Tomorrow we will start in P17 so it will impact my race.

“Obviously, there should be something [punishment] but, at the end of the day, it won’t give us back what we should have had and this is what I care the most. I’m just really gutted.”

Sainz: It depends how much you shout on the radio

Sainz appeared to dismiss Gasly’s criticism, suggesting the incident was only highlighted because of the Frenchman’s reaction on radio, which initially saw him call for the Spaniard to be “banned”.

“It was very tight with the flag, it was about to fall,” Sainz said.

“I got impeded seven times today and I’m not shouting on the radio at Turn 13. Other drivers choose to use the radio more than others. Today I was impeded many, many times.

“Some incidents are under investigation, some are not. It depends how much you shout on the radio.

“I had to let other cars go and I couldn’t get out of the way. I did my best to get out of the way and tried to go.

“I had to go, if not I would have missed my qualifying lap also. I was getting impeded at the time too.”

Sainz had endured a challenging final practice earlier on Saturday, slamming into the barrier and leaving his team with a repair job that continued right up until just a few minutes before the start of Qualifying.

During that time Sainz had already been to see the stewards, having been summoned for impeding Williams’ Alex Albon on two occasions on the same part of the track.

Sainz escaped punishment as the stewards take a more lenient approach to practice incidents.

He added: “One of the trickiest (Qualifying) by far in my career, especially coming from the incident (in P3).”

Charles Leclerc says Ferrari were unable to identify the issues in his car that resulted in an early qualifying exit at the Spanish GP; Leclerc doesn’t expect a big step forward at this weekend’s Canadian GP; watch the Canadian GP live on Sky Sports F1 all weekend

Charles Leclerc admits it is “worrying” Ferrari do not know the reasons for the car troubles that led to his Q1 exit in Spanish GP Qualifying.

Leclerc qualified 19th in Barcelona after being blighted by handling problems, especially through left-hand corners.

Ferrari changed the whole rear end of his car ahead of the race – in which Leclerc finished P11 – but the Monegasque revealed ahead of this weekend’s Canadian GP that they had failed to find a cause for his issues.

“Qualifying in Barcelona was a very particular one and I think I wasn’t the only one to struggle. We need to understand these things and for now we don’t have the reasons,” Leclerc said on Thursday.

“This is a little bit more worrying and that’s where we need to push and try to understand the reasons of it because obviously the feeling was really bad.”

Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz had managed to put his Ferrari on the front row in Spain, but he finished the Grand Prix in fifth after Ferrari’s lack of race pace reared its head again.

Ferrari have just one podium finish in 2023 and are fourth in the constructors’ championship, already 187 points behind leaders Red Bull. Leclerc meanwhile finds himself seventh in the drivers’ championship on just 42 points.

The Scuderia were being tipped as title contenders in pre-season, and Leclerc has urged the team to bring updates to the underperforming SF23 as swiftly as possible.

“Overall I think all the team is not satisfied with the performance we are showing at the moment on track and it is very far off expectations at the beginning of the season,” Leclerc said.

“Looking ahead we just need to keep pushing, try and bring upgrades as quickly as possible and regularly which is our aim now to try and close the gap to the guys in front and also close the gap especially in terms of race pace.

“Even though I struggled a lot in qualifying on the Saturday, the Sunday wasn’t great either – and if we look at Carlos he had a great Saturday and then on Sunday we struggled again with the race pace. That’s where we are trying to push at the moment.”

Leclerc reiterated he still had faith in Ferrari’s project, saying: “What gives me confidence though is that there is a clear direction of where we want to work and improve and this is what makes me believe in the project.”

Leclerc not expecting miracles this weekend

Leclerc’s troubles in Spain came on the first weekend that Ferrari ran their major upgrades to the SF23, and while he thinks the team will have an improved showing in Montreal on a track that should suit their car better, the 25-year-old is not expecting huge progress.

“On this track we don’t have anything new so I don’t think we’ll have any miracles. But we need to just try and maximise our package, understand more this package, set-up the car in order to maximise it.

“In Spain we were quite easily off the window and then we were losing a lot of performance. We have learnt a lot and pretty sure we will be in a better place for this weekend but I don’t think it will be a huge step forward.

“Last year [when Ferrari finished second and fifth) we were in a very different situation. We expect Aston Martin to be very strong this weekend, we expect Red Bull to be very strong this weekend, we struggle to understand where Mercedes will be compared to us.

“We have to focus on ourselves, try to maximise our package. It’s a very challenging track and with the weather, we don’t really know which side it’s going to go. We’ll just focus on ourselves and see what we can do.”

Sky Sports F1‘s live Canadian GP schedule

Friday June 16
6pm: Canadian GP Practice One (session starts at 6.30pm)
7.45pm: The F1 Show
9.45pm: Canadian GP Practice Two (session starts at 10pm)

Saturday June 17
5.15pm: Canadian GP Practice Three (session starts at 5.30pm)
8pm: Canadian GP Qualifying build-up
9pm: Canadian GP Qualifying
11pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Sunday June 18
5.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Canadian GP build-up
6:55pm: The Grandstand with Daniel Ricciardo and Will Arnett (via red button)
7pm: THE CANADIAN GRAND PRIX
9pm: Chequered Flag Canadian GP reaction
10pm: Ted’s Notebook

Toto Wolff on Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes contract: “It is going to happen soon, and we are talking more days than weeks. We are trying hard [to get it done before the Canadian Grand Prix]. I will see him today and maybe we will talk about it. We have such a good relationship”

Lewis Hamilton’s Formula 1 future could be resolved before this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, according to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. 

Hamilton has six months to run on his £40m-a-season deal with Mercedes, but Wolff said his superstar driver is on the brink of agreeing new terms.

“It is going to happen soon, and we are talking more days than weeks,” Wolff told CNBC’s Squawk on the Street programme in New York when asked about Hamilton’s contract negotiations.

“We are trying hard [to get it done before the Canadian Grand Prix]. I will see him today and maybe we will talk about it.

“We have such a good relationship that we dread the moment that we need to talk about money.”

Hamilton, 38, met with Wolff the day after the last round in Spain, in the hope of rubber-stamping a fresh contract with the Silver Arrows.

It is anticipated that the British driver’s extension will be a multi-year deal, extending his stay in F1 beyond his 40th birthday.

“Lewis is the most important personality in the sport,” added Wolff.

“He is so multi-faceted, not only with the racing, but also off track, so we need to keep him in the sport for as long as possible.

“From a team’s perspective, Lewis and Mercedes have gone back a long time. He has never raced for any other brand than Mercedes.

“We both joined the team in 2013 together, and from a professional relationship, we now have a friendship. It has been a wonderful time.”

Hamilton, who has not won a race since his contentious championship defeat to Max Verstappen at the 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi, is already 83 points off the title pace this year.

But Mercedes’ recent upturn in form has provided Hamilton, who finished runner-up to Red Bull’s Verstappen at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, with renewed hope that his dream of a record eighth world title is not over.

However, Wolff warned: “The result in Spain was a well-deserved reward for everyone’s efforts at Brackley and Brixworth to bring our update package to the track.

“We were pleased with how it performed, and it will provide a new baseline for us to build from.

“But we must also manage our expectations. It was a circuit that suited our car, and we should expect our direct competitors to be stronger in the next races.

“The gap to Red Bull is large and it will take lots of hard work to close that down. Nevertheless, we’re up for the challenge.”

Ferrari dropped more points to Mercedes and Aston Martin in the constructors’ championship after Carlos Sainz finished fifth and Charles Leclerc was 11th at the Spanish Grand Prix; watch the Canadian GP from June 16-18 with all sessions live on Sky Sports F1

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has admitted their 2023 car is “very difficult to understand” after a tough Sunday at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz started on the front row but dropped to fifth behind Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Sergio Perez.

Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc failed to get out of Q1 in Qualifying but failed to finish in the points as he struggled with tyre wear and car inconstancies.

Leclerc told Sky Sports F1 he “didn’t understand” what Ferrari were doing wrong as the car handled differently throughout the race, even when using the same tyre compound.

Ferrari brought a significant upgrade package to Barcelona, including new sidepods, but didn’t appear to go forward.

“You can’t compare Miami and Barcelona in terms of layout, tarmac and energy on the tyres, but I would say that the global picture is the same,” said Vasseur.

“We are there in qualifying, and we are not there in the race. We are still inconsistent on the same car between compounds and sometimes between the same compounds.”

He continued: “We have 1,000 people [working] on this now and it is very difficult to understand and to fix it because it’s not always the same problem.

“It’s true that in qualifying, you are in free air and in the race you are not. I think Charles struggled a lot in the first stint as he was a lot closer to the car in front of him.

“The main issue for us is not the potential on the lap on [high-speed] corners, the main issue is the inconsistency.

“On Charles’ car for example, between the first and third stints with the same compound, one the balance was out of place, and the last one was OK, and with Carlos, he did a decent first stint, and in the middle, he lost 15 or 20 seconds.”

Vasseur: Ferrari can fight Mercedes

Mercedes’ updates did work as their new front suspension and sidepod design saw them take a double podium at the Spanish GP, with Hamilton in second and Russell in third.

Vasseur thinks Ferrari are keeping up with Mercedes in the development race and can beat them once their consistency is solved.

“I think as soon as we will unlock the situation with consistency we can imagine to fight with them [Mercedes] all over the race,” he said.

“With Red Bull, it’s another story, especially with Verstappen. He is still much faster than us in qualy, much faster in the race.”

Are Ferrari going in the wrong direction?

Ferrari are fourth in the constructors’ championship at 32 points adrift of Aston Martin and 52 points behind Mercedes

Damon Hill and Rachel Brookes told the latest Sky Sports F1 Podcast that Ferrari are very difficult to predict.

“It’s a funny season in a way because we have seen quite a lot of disparity between apparent form on one circuit and the same form, or expectations, on another circuit,” said Hill. “Everyone is scratching their heads apart from Red Bull, who are delivering on every track.

“Then what can you say about Ferrari? When one is up, the other is down. It’s like they are running with one leg all the time. So going forward, you have got the development curve and cost-cap restrictions to think about.”

Brookes added: “My worry is Ferrari are going in the opposite direction. They changed their car and we saw a very different Ferrari in Spain, they are now trying to chase that route as well.

F1 returns in Canada from June 16-18 with all sessions live on Sky Sports F1, including race coverage from 5.30pm on Sunday June 18

Fernando Alonso’s last win in Formula 1 came 10 years ago at the Spanish Grand Prix; the Aston Martin driver was narrowly beaten to pole position by Max Verstappen last time out in Monaco and thinks Qualifying at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Saturday will be very close

Fernando Alonso believes just “one or two tenths” will change the grid at the Spanish Grand Prix after a close second practice.

Alonso was 0.170 seconds behind Max Verstappen in the second session on Friday, with the top 17 split by less than one second around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

It was a contrast to Practice One, where championship leader Verstappen was more than three-quarters of a second ahead of the field.

“I think it’s so tight that one or two tenths will put you in a completely different spot on the classification. So don’t bring too much attention on the times,” said Alonso.

“We went through all the programmes that we had before practice, which is a good thing – learning about the tyres, the track is slower maybe than what we predicted, so there’s still more time to find more tweaks on the set-up, but it was a productive Friday.”

Asked if Aston Martin’s upgrades at the Spanish GP worked as intended, Alonso added: “Absolutely. There is not a new part that we put on the car that is not helping the performance. That’s something that has always been the case with the team since Bahrain.

“So, happy with the upgrades and let’s see tomorrow, when everyone goes to full power, where we are.”

Verstappen: The car was in a good window

Verstappen, who won his maiden F1 race at the 2016 Spanish GP, is looking for consecutive pole positions for the first time this season.

The Red Bull driver enjoyed driving through the fast penultimate corner after the slow-speed chicane was ditched ahead of this year’s event.

“It’s been a lot more fun to drive. F1 cars in general feel better in high speed so for me the last two corners are much better to drive,” he said.

“I tried to follow a few cars as well and it seemed quite OK through there as well. Positively surprised for the overtaking and overall we had a very good day.

“The car was in a good window and you try to fine tune a few things here and there but short run, long run everything seemed quite good.

“From my side I felt very comfortable in the car looking after the tyres. I still need to look at the lap times of others but from our side it was a good day. [The bumps] are not too bad. This track has been resurfaced a few years ago and it’s still quite decent.”

Alonso hopes to put on ‘good show’ for fans

Alonso’s popularity in Spain has seen a sea of green fans turn out around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, representing the green of Aston Martin.

The two-time world champion says 67 per cent of the fans at the Spanish GP were wearing the Aston Martin colours on Friday.

“It’s amazing. I think this is going back to the 2005/06/07 years, where everything was in one colour,” added Alonso, who last won in F1 10 years ago at his home event.

“I really feel that support, that special energy. The fan forum this morning was amazing. While driving I cannot hear them, but I feel how enthusiastic they are. So hopefully we put a good show for them.”

Sky Sports F1’s live Spanish GP schedule

Saturday June 3
9.25am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Spanish GP Practice Three (session starts 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Spanish GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: Spanish GP Qualifying
6.15pm: IndyCar – Detroit GP Qualifying

Sunday June 4
8.50am: F3 Feature Race
10.20am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Spanish GP build-up
2pm: THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag Spanish GP reaction
5.45pm: Indy NXT – Detroit GP
8pm: IndyCar – Detroit GP

Will Red Bull’s winning run in F1 2023 continue at the Spanish GP? Watch all the action live on Sky Sports F1, with Qualifying at 3pm on Saturday and the race at 2pm on Sunday. Get Sky Sports

In a TV first, three young F1 fans will present the Hungarian Grand Prix alongside Natalie Pinkham, Nico Rosberg, and Danica Patrick; You can tune in to the F1 Juniors broadcast on the 23rd of July live on Sky Sports

Young Formula 1 fans are set to present the Hungarian Grand Prix live on Sky Sports in a TV first.

Sky Sports F1 presenters will be joined by three young fans who will commentate, present and interview drivers at the event, while regular coverage will be available as usual on Sky Sports F1.

Over the course of the race week, the young recruits will try their hand at various broadcasting roles including interviews with their favourite drivers and other big names from the paddock, co-hosting with Natalie Pinkham and the Sky Sports F1 team, and commentating live during the race.

The F1 Juniors will also showcase their knowledge on all things F1, presenting their analysis and punditry after the race as with traditional F1 coverage.

Zac, a young go-kart racer, and Braydon and Scarlett who present Sky Kids show FYI, will join F1 world champion Nico Rosberg and former NASCAR and IndyCar racer Danica Patrick as they present F1 Juniors, live from Budapest’s Hungaroring.

Formula 1 will provide a dedicated international feed, including bespoke graphics, sound effects and special features such as 3D augmented graphics on specific camera angles that will enhance the broadcast for younger audiences in the UK and Germany.

Sky Sports F1‘s Jenson Button said: “We are really excited about giving the next generation of F1 fans a platform to show their passion and excitement for the sport as F1 continues to grow in popularity amongst younger audiences.

“We may just find our next Crofty or Naomi Schiff!”

Ian Holmes, Director of Media Rights and Content Creation at Formula 1 said: “We want to ensure that our fans of all ages can enjoy and fall in love with Formula 1, so working with our long-standing partners at Sky on this project to target younger audiences is really exciting.

“This is a first of its kind in motorsport and I am excited to see the broadcast come to life and to watch the next generation of presenting talent!”

F1 Juniors follows December’s Premier League Juniors which saw young football fans join Kelly Cates as they took on similar roles during the Premier League fixture between Brentford and Liverpool.

Young F1 fans can tune in to the F1 Juniors broadcast on the 23rd of July live on Sky Sports

After weeks of speculation, Mercedes’ long-awaited upgrades to their W14 car are finally set to arrive for this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in Imola.

The Silver Arrows realised as early as the beginning of March at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix that they had made an error by sticking with their design concept from the previous year.

There had been hope that untapped potential remained in the eye-catching ‘zero-sidepod’ look first seen on their previous W13 model, but it quickly became clear the new car would be unable to challenge Red Bull, who in 2022 emphatically ended Mercedes’ eight-year streak of constructors’ titles and have won all five races to start the new campaign.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton said as early as Friday practice in Bahrain that they were on the “wrong track” before team principal Toto Wolff conceded that the W14 design “didn’t work out”.

Since then, it has been a case of damage limitation with Mercedes battling Aston Martin and Ferrari to finish behind the Red Bulls, and seven-time world champion Hamilton admitting he has been “counting the days” until the upgrades arrive.

There have already been repercussions in Mercedes’ senior leadership team, with James Allison returning as technical director in place of Mike Elliott, who moved into the broader chief technical officer role.

With the waiting almost over, we have collated the most notable comments coming from the Brackley outfit to answer the key questions ahead of the upgrades being unveiled at Friday practice in Imola, live on Sky Sports F1.

Why have the upgrades taken this long?

Given Mercedes realised they needed to make major changes at the first race of the season, some may wonder why it has taken them two-and-a-half months to have them ready.

Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin last week explained: “If we go all the way back to the test and race in Bahrain, that was where we realised that we didn’t have a package that was going to allow us to fight for a world championship – if we continued on that same development direction, we wouldn’t end up in a position where we felt we could challenge Red Bull.

“It was around that time that we took some decisions on how we develop the car, how the car works aerodynamically, and how we shape the characteristics of the car. In essence, how it is in terms of handling for the drivers to drive.

“What we are going to be bringing to the track in Imola is the first step of that work. This takes quite a long time to develop in the wind tunnel and you can’t just do these things overnight.”

Discussing upgrades on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, Karun Chandok added: “They take as long as they take. I think that’s what people don’t understand – you can’t just think of an idea and just put it on the car for the next race.

“There’s a six-to-eight week lead time. You come up with an idea, design it in CFD (computational fluid dynamics) in the virtual world, then once you’re happy with that, you make a model which goes in the wind tunnel – there’s x amount of testing that has to happen with that.

“Then it goes to the composite department to make the parts and get them to the actual race, and that whole process is six-seven weeks at least.”

Are Mercedes ditching their ‘zero-sidepod’ concept?

When Mercedes unveiled their 2022 W13 model in Bahrain last year, the car’s lack of sidepods stunned the paddock.

Given the team’s incredible streak of titles and reputation for excellence, most assumed it was another moment of genius that would ensure more success.

While the sidepods aren’t the only reason Mercedes haven’t reached the level they aspire to, they are undoubtedly a key element and appear set for a radical change in Imola.

As early as the Bahrain GP, then technical director Elliott said of new planned sidepods: “It won’t be the same as other people’s and it won’t be the same as we’ve got, it’ll be different.

“We have got a very different sidepod coming – I say very different, a different sidepod that’s coming.”

So yes, we can be pretty sure the sidepods are going to look different, but plenty of mystery remains around exactly what form they will take.

What other changes will there be?

Speaking at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in March, Hamilton made it very clear that changing the sidepods alone wouldn’t solve Mercedes’ issues.

“People keep talking about getting the new sidepods on the car but it’s not as simple as that,” the Brit said.

“You put the Red Bull sidepods on our car and it won’t change a thing, it literally won’t change a thing, it might even go slower.

“It’s about aero characteristics, it’s how the car is balanced through the corners. There’s so many different elements that people of course would not know because they’re not aerodynamicists and you can’t see it – there’s a lot more to it.”

Aside from the sidepods, Mercedes had largely been reluctant to share much information about what would be changing, but Wolff gave his most detailed answer at the Miami Grand Prix earlier in May.

“What we are doing is we’re introducing a new bodywork and we’re introducing a new floor and we’re doing a new front suspension,” he said.

“That’s a pretty large operation, a large surgery and so there is going to be a lot of learning.”

Will the upgrades enable Mercedes to challenge Red Bull?

Red Bull have won all five races this season in dominant fashion, with Max Verstappen topping the drivers’ standings as he seeks a third successive title.

Given the stunning pace of the RB19, it’s difficult to see anyone closing the 122-point lead Red Bull have already opened up in the constructors’ standings, but just competing with them for wins would undoubtedly be a triumph.

Asked in Miami what he is expecting from the upgrades, Wolff said that in the “virtual world” the car is producing a “good lap time” but has repeatedly warned that suddenly challenging Red Bull is highly unlikely.

“We need to manage our own expectations,” Wolff said. “Because we are bringing an update package that is going to consist of new suspension parts and bodywork and some other things but I have never in my 15 years in Formula 1 seen a silver bullet being introduced where suddenly you unlock half a second of performance. I very much doubt this is going to happen here.

“What I’m looking for is that we take certain variables off the table where we believe we could have introduced something that we don’t understand in the car and to have a stable platform. We shall see what our baseline is and what we can do from there.”

While Wolff is keen to manage expectations, Hamilton’s revelation that he’s been “counting the days” until the upgrades suggests that there is internal confidence of significant improvement.

While it must be noted that Ferrari are also expected to bring major upgrades to Imola, Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok believes Mercedes are hoping to establish themselves as Red Bull’s nearest challengers.

“I believe there’s a decent upgrade coming to the Mercedes in Imola, and I’m really intrigued to see where that moves them,” Chandhok said.

“I don’t think it will move them into Red Bull territory, but I think they’re hoping it will clear them ahead of Aston and Ferrari, that’s their ambition I think, but we’ll see.”

Will more Mercedes upgrades follow?

Once upon a time, Mercedes would have quite literally been able to build a completely different ‘B-spec’ car, but Formula 1’s budget cap and the sliding scale of aero testing allowed puts limitations on what they can do.

Despite those measures, Wolff confirmed that Mercedes have enough funds remaining to continue on the path they will reveal in Imola.

Wolff said: “Yes we do, because if you embark on a new development direction it’s that one project you concentrate on so that should be fine.”

While Wolff has said he believes Mercedes can win races this season, the ultimate aim of the concept change is to ensure the Silver Arrows can get back to competing with Red Bull over a full campaign.

Shovlin explained in his Miami GP review: “We do hope that it is quicker, we hope that it’s better in terms of qualifying and race pace.

“The key thing though is that we are not just looking to bring a lap time update, we are looking to head off in a different development direction. One that we think gives us a better chance in the long term of being able to challenge for race wins and world championships.”

Formula 1 returns to Imola for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix from May 19-21. Watch every session live on Sky Sports F1 including the race from 2pm on Sunday May 21.

Formula 1’s drivers were introduced to the grid at the Miami Grand Prix by musician LL Cool J in a ceremony that lasted more than seven minutes; Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and several others offered a range of opinions on the event

Formula 1 drivers have offered a split verdict after the sport tried out a new look with musician LL Cool J introducing the drivers onto the grid ahead of Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix.

The 20 drivers were introduced one-by-one in a ceremony that lasted more than seven minutes, and required the usual pre-race schedule to be altered.

Formula 1’s rapid growth in recent years has motivated those running the sport to maintain an innovative approach, as they seek to continue to extend its reach.

Along with LL Cool J’s appearance, fellow musician Will.i.am released an F1 inspired single on Sunday to coincide with the race.

The proceedings appeared to have little negative impact on the drivers, with an extremely clean race playing out as Max Verstappen caught Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez to extend his world championship lead.

However, the consensus after the race appeared to be that drivers feel like too much is being asked of them as they prepare to deliver an elite performance.

Here’s what they had to say:

Max Verstappen, Red Bull:

“Personally, I think it is just a personality thing. Some people like to be more in the spotlight, some other people don’t. I personally don’t, so for me I think that naturally what they did today is not necessary.

“I prefer to just talk to my engineers then put my helmet on and drive but of course I understand the entertainment value.

“I just hope we don’t have that every single time because it is a long season so we don’t need an entry like that every time but it also depends a bit on the crowd I think in terms of what you want.

“I think it is just a personal preference as well from the drivers.”

Sergio Perez, Red Bull:

“I think as long as we don’t do it on too many occasions.

“I think it is nice to do it once for the crowd but we also have to be very respectful of the drivers.

“We need our own time to get ready and it is just minutes before the race starts and I think as long as it doesn’t happen very often it is ok.”

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin:

“I understand the point of view of everybody but I am not a big fan of those things just before the race.

“If we have to do it, I think we need to remove some of the other stuff we are doing like the parade lap or something like that because it is really in the middle of the preparations and the strategy meeting.

“I disagree a little bit with if we do it we don’t have to do it everywhere because I don’t think the Miami fans are better than the Italian fans in Imola or in Spain or in Mexico or in Japan.

“I think we need to make everyone with the same rules and the same show before the race.”

George Russell, Mercedes:

“We spoke about it as drivers on Friday night. Everybody has got different personalities, I guess it is the American way of doing things and doing sport.

“Personally, it is probably not for me but that is just my personal opinion because I am here to race. I am not here for the show, I am here to drive and I am here to win, but I guess we have to roll with it.

“It is distracting because we were on the grid for half an hour in our overalls in the sun and I don’t think there is any other sport in the world where 30 minutes before you go out to do your business that you are out there in the sun, all the cameras on you, making a bit of a show of it.

“I can appreciate that in the entertainment world but, as I said, we only want the best for the sport and we are open to changes but we wouldn’t want to see it every weekend.

“I don’t think it will be at every weekend, I think it will be at the big races.

“The thing I love every single race is the national anthem. That sort of pumps you up and is respectful to the country you are racing at but I have mixed feelings on the additional show.”

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes:

“I think it is cool that the sport is continuously growing and evolving and they are not just doing the same things they have done in the past.

“They are trying new things, they are trying to improve the show and I am in full support of it.

“I grew up listening to LL Cool J and then he is there, that was cool.

“You have got Will.i.am, who is an incredible artist. You have got Serena and Venus (Williams) standing there. It was cool.”

What’s next?

There’s a brief pause for breath before Formula 1 returns to Europe for a triple-header of back-to-back races.

The first of those is the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in Imola from May 19-21, with Mercedes and Ferrari expected to bring significant upgrades which they hope will move them closer to Red Bull.

All eyes will be on Ferrari at the first of their two home races this season, with the team’s inconsistent start to the campaign likely to come under major scrutiny in front of the tifosi.

Charles Leclerc crashed at Turn Seven in the closing stages of Q3 at the Miami GP having hit barriers at same corner in practice; Leclerc to start Sunday’s race from seventh; watch Miami GP live on Sky Sports F1 at 8:30pm Sunday

Charles Leclerc admits his crash in Miami GP Qualifying was “unacceptable” after also hitting the barriers in the same place during Friday practice.

Leclerc was pitched into a high-speed spin after losing control of his Ferrari at Turn Seven during his final Q3 run. The crash brought out the red flag and prevented anyone else getting in a second lap as Sergio Perez took pole.

It was a case of déjà vu for Leclerc after his Friday practice had been curtailed by a crash through the same corner.

Having also made an error on his first Q3 run, Leclerc will start seventh on Sunday and he could not hide his anger at himself afterwards.

“More than the track, I think what’s unacceptable is doing twice the same mistake in the same corner. I am really disappointed with myself,” Leclerc told Sky Sports F1.

“You can always find excuses in those situations, the wind was really strong, it was really tricky, the set up of the car was really tricky also but I put myself in this condition. I wanted this set up and I knew it would be tricky, but I thought I would be able to extract the maximum out the car in Q3, which is normally one of my strong points.

“I know that I’m also taking more risks than others in Q3, which is why most of the time why I’m doing good Q3s but this is too much.

“Very disappointed with myself, I did the same mistake yesterday and this shouldn’t happen.”

Asked if he was putting too much pressure on himself in Q3 sessions, Leclerc replied: “I don’t think so. It’s paying off most of the time, but this weekend I did too much and I cannot hide my disappointment.”

There is the possibility of rain affecting Sunday’s race, and Leclerc says his initial focus is just on staying out of trouble.

“Now looking forward to tomorrow we are starting seventh, weather looks to be quite tricky so hopefully we’ll have a clean race and be able to come back to the front,” he said.

“The Astons look strong in race pace so I don’t know exactly where we are going to be, a podium would be a really good finish tomorrow considering our race pace.”

Brundle: Leclerc doing a lot of damage at key times

As well as his crash on Friday, Leclerc ended up in the barriers of the Sprint Shootout at last weekend’s Azerbaijan GP when trying to improve his SQ3 time.

High-profile crashes have littered Leclerc’s F1 career, and Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle thinks the 25-year-old is too often pushing beyond his limits.

“Leclerc was just totally lit up through there, too hard. We see that a lot with Charles, he doesn’t seem to quite know where the limit is,” Brundle said on commentary.

“His determination and his speed is so incredible, but there’s no cut off point until he hits something, we’ve seen it a lot through his career and a lot lately as well.

“He’s just got to take a quarter of a per cent out of it somewhere. He’s doing a lot of damage to that Ferrari and at critical times.”

The Formula 1 season continues with the Miami GP – watch Sunday’s race live on Sky Sports F1 from 7pm, lights out at 8.30pm. Get Sky Sports

Lewis Hamilton says it was a “kick in the guts” for Mercedes to be so far behind Red Bull at the end of Friday practice and is going into qualifying day at the Miami GP with no expectations.

Signs had initially looked promising for Mercedes after George Russell led Hamilton in a surprise one-two in Practice One, albeit their times being set when track conditions were at their best.

But Friday afternoon saw Mercedes’ difficulties return as Hamilton finished the session seventh, 0.928s off Max Verstappen’s leading time and behind Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris as well as the two Ferraris and Red Bulls. Russell, meanwhile, ended up 15th.

“We’re not particularly quick and it’s a struggle out there,” Hamilton said on Friday evening.

“We’re trying lots of different things. P1 looked quite good and then to come into P2 and the true pace came out – it’s a kick in the guts.

“It’s difficult to take sometimes but it’s OK, we’ll keep on working on it and we’ll regroup tonight and see if we can make some set-up changes and get the car in a sweeter spot.”

He added: “I’m trying to stay positive with it and we’re working as hard as we can. It’s just we’re dying, desperately need those upgrades for sure.

“Just got to keep our head down for one more race and then hopefully we’ll start a new path next race.”

A year ago, Mercedes topped a Friday practice session at the inaugural Miami GP before Russell suffered a Q2 exit and Hamilton could only manage sixth in qualifying on Saturday.

And the seven-time world champion is just hoping to be part of Q3 given the difficulty he is having with the W14 this weekend.

“I don’t have expectation. The car I just hope I can get it into a better place tomorrow. I hope we can be in Q3 and if we can be mid-bunch of that top 10 that would be great,” Hamilton said.

“Melbourne was night and day difference, much much nicer to drive there. Baku felt better than here also. Maybe it’s the heat or maybe it’s the balance we have at the moment.

“I’m going to stay optimistic and I’m going to stay hopeful that we can get the car in a better place tomorrow and maybe be a couple of steps up.

“But it feels like, apart from last year we had large-scale bouncing, it generally feels like we’re racing pretty much the same car and that’s the difficult thing.”

Russell: We can still get ahead of Ferraris, Astons

Russell’s difficult second session saw him at one point complain that his car felt like it was “three-wheeling” through Turn Two.

The 25-year-old believes he and the team understand why he struggled on his soft tyre attempts on Friday and retains hope that Mercedes can still get ahead of the Ferraris and Aston Martins come race day.

“It’s fine margins,” Russell said.

“If we get things right, there’s no reason why we can’t be ahead of Ferrari and Aston Martin – that’s the aim.

“I think we’ve seen in these first four races now it’s really tight between those three teams, so if only that was for the win and pole position, it would be exciting. But it’s good because it shows if we can get things right, we can be rewarded and jump ahead of them.

“I think we need to make some improvements overnight. We know we’ve got the potential because we saw it in FP1 and we saw it at the start of FP2, but for sure we just need to get things aligned.”

Max: I always felt good | Perez: I’ve not driven well

Friday saw contrasting fortunes for the two Red Bull drivers and title rivals.

Verstappen, who leads Sergio Perez by six points in the championship heading into the weekend, had dominated Practice One until the late laps from the two Mercedes and Charles Leclerc usurped him, but still finished over a second ahead of his team-mate.

The Dutchman was then nearly half a second ahead of Perez in the afternoon session as he stamped his authority on the weekend.

“I think it was a good day. Initially I think it was getting used to the track a bit with the new tarmac, I think it was ramping up a lot throughout the day,” Verstappen said.

“I always felt good in the car and we had good balance.

“Most importantly today I think we had a good balance in the car to start with, so I felt happy. There’s still a few little things we want to look at.”

Perez admitted he needed to improve over the remainder of the weekend.

“I haven’t had the greatest of Fridays but my lap was also pretty bad where I locked up on the final corner,” Perez said.

“I think there is quite a bit to come together with my driving. I don’t think I drove well today, so if I can improve my driving and get myself a bit more comfortable I’ll be all right.”

Leclerc on P2 crash: I pushed too much

Leclerc finished third in both of Friday’s practice sessions, but his afternoon running was curtailed 10 minutes early in the second of those when he crashed into the barriers after losing control at Turn Seven, bringing out the red flag.

Ferrari are running an upgraded floor and diffuser in Miami but the rear of the car escaped undamaged in the crash.

Leclerc said the crash was due to pushing too hard and struck a defeatist tone about the chances of reeling in Red Bull on Sunday.

“I pushed a bit too much lost the rear, tried to recover from it, but I had no grip to recover the car. There was no damage to the rear of the car, which is the most important, and tomorrow is another day,” Leclerc said.

“Apart from that I think the feeling is pretty good over one lap, but over the race we are so far behind. Red Bull is again in a league of it’s own, but very far in front so in the race we have a lot of time to find. In qualifying, we are more or less there.”

Sky Sports F1’s live Miami GP schedule

Saturday
5.15pm: Miami GP Practice Three (session starts 5.30pm)
8pm: Miami GP Qualifying build-up
9pm: Miami GP Qualifying
10.45pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Sunday
7pm: Grand Prix Sunday Miami GP build-up
8.30pm: THE MIAMI GRAND PRIX
10.30pm: Chequered Flag Miami GP reaction
11.30pm: Ted’s Notebook

The Formula 1 season continues with the Miami GP this weekend. Watch qualifying at 9pm on Saturday with lights out at 8.30pm on Sunday. Get Sky Sports

The inaugural season of F1 Academy, the new all-female racing series, gets under way in Austria this weekend.

The drivers and teams have had four days of pre-season testing in Barcelona and at Circuit Paul Ricard, with British driver Abbi Pulling topping both days of testing in France.

F1 Academy will race at seven locations in 2023, with the season concluding at Formula 1’s US GP in October. Three races will be held at each venue over the course of the weekend.

Here Sky Sports F1 breaks down the new series.

What is F1 Academy?

F1 Academy was launched in November 2022 by Formula 1 and aims to prepare and develop female drivers to progress to higher levels of competition.

The category is designed to “give more access to track time, racing and testing, as well as support with technical, physical, and mental preparations”.

It is hoped the F1 Academy will provide the experience to progress to Formula 3, and help Formula 2 and Formula 1 opportunities in the future.

Susie Wolff, the former Williams F1 development driver and most recently team principal of Formula E team Venturi, was named managing director of the series in March.

Who are the drivers and teams?

F1 Academy features five teams – ART, Campos, Rodin Carlin, MP Motorsport and Prema – each entering three cars to make up a 15-strong grid.

All five teams also race in Formula 3 and Formula 2 and have pedigree for bringing through young talent: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are ART alumni, Lando Norris was given his F2 debut by Campos before racing for Carlin, Charles Leclerc and Mick Schumacher both won the F2 title with Prema while MP Motorsport had last season’s F2 champion Felipe Drugovich.

A number of drivers have joined F1 Academy having previously raced in W Series. Among those is Pulling, who finished fourth in last season’s W Series standings.

Speaking to Sky Sports about her ambitions for her first season in F1 Academy, Rodin Carlin’s Pulling said: “I want to win races and show consistency and show that I can be a front runner.

“I think I showed that at times last year (in W Series) and I just want to solidify that. The team have got a really good package. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes and I think it will all add up and amount to success.”

Prema’s Marta Garcia is a former winner in W Series while Campos’ Nerea Marti was on the podium three times.

And some of the youngest talents on the F1 Academy grid are British with 17-year-old Chloe Grant, 18-year-old Jessica Edgar and 16-year-old Chloe Chong joining Pulling on the grid.

Pulling is one of two drivers on the grid affiliated already to an F1 team, with the 20-year-old part of Alpine’s academy. Lena Buhler is part of the Sauber Academy.

What car will they be driving?

F1 Academy will see all drivers race in identical cars – a Tatuus T421 chassis that is also used in Formula 4.

The cars are powered by turbo-charged engines supplied by Autotecnica and capable of 174 horsepower, while Pirelli will supply tyres.

The cars will have a top speed of 240 kph (149mph).

Where will F1 Academy be racing?

F1 Academy will race at six European tracks in its inaugural season before its finale at the US GP in October.

The season begins with a two-day event at the Red Bull Ring this weekend, April 28-29.

Spain will then host two events at Valencia and Barcelona in May before summer stops in the Netherlands (Zandvoort), Italy (Monza) and France (Le Castellet).

While only the season-finale is part of an F1 weekend in 2023, F1 president Stefano Domenicali has already confirmed F1 Academy will be held exclusively at Formula 1 race weekends in 2024.

What is the weekend format?

Each race weekend will feature seven sessions of track action.

They will begin with two 40-minute practice sessions before two qualifying sessions later in the day, each lasting 15 minutes.

Qualifying 1 will set the grid for Race 1 while Qualifying 2 sets the grid for Race 3.

Race 2’s grid will be set by reversing the top eight drivers from Qualifying 1.

Races 1 and 3 will both be 30 minutes long plus one lap. Race 2 is a shorter, lasting 20 minutes plus one lap.

“The format is huge for development,” Pulling told Sky Sports. “I’ve been fighting to get some seat time and this year it looks like it will be really good.

“Seven weekends with three races per weekend – two 30-minute and one 20-minute reverse grid race so that throws some race craft into the mix as even if someone is driving away with it, they’ll have to go back.

“The testing that they provide…is great for developing drivers at a young age.”

What is the points system?

F1 Academy will have the same points scoring system as Formula 1 for Races 1 and 3, with 25 points being awarded to the winner and points being awarded down to P10.

The points in descending order will be: 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1.

The shorter Race 2 will see 10 points awarded to the race winner and points being awarded down to P8.

The points in descending order for Race 2 will be: 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

In all three races, a driver will receive an additional point if they set the fastest lap, provided they finish in the top 10.

The driver who claims pole position in each qualifying session will also be awarded two points.

After a chaotic Australian Grand Prix, won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, how are each of the 10 teams feeling as they fly home from Melbourne?

The sold-out Albert Park crowd were treated to a thrilling race of crashes, battles and a sprinkling of controversy. While Max Verstappen fought back to win Red Bull’s first race in Australia since 2011, he was joined on the podium by Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Reliability, collisions and penalties caused pain for many, including George Russell and the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Ted Kravitz delivers his verdict on all 10 teams…

Red Bull – ‘Super-duper DRS is half their advantage’

It was a weekend of mixed fortunes for Red Bull, who have often struggled in Australia as Verstappen won, while Sergio Perez limited the points lost to his title rival after a horrible Saturday that saw him crash out of qualifying after three corners.

TED’S VERDICT: Max Verstappen P1 – it was a terrible lap one with Verstappen down to P2 – the Mercedes got past him, Lewis pushed him off.

But Max eventually breezed past Hamilton with the magic DRS.

What word shall we think of to describe this DRS? ‘Super-duper DRS’.

It is an advantage – the engineers in the pitlane estimate that it’s worth two-tenths or three-tenths of a second on that lap compared to another car with DRS.

So, this Red Bull super-duper DRS is worth rather a lot.

When you consider that Red Bull’s entire advantage is two-tenths or three-tenths, that’s quite a handy advantage to have.

I don’t think it is their entire advantage – there’s a great car, it’s aerodynamically efficient, it’s engineered well and all the rest of it, but it could be half of their advantage that is down to their super-duper DRS – food for thought for the other teams.

Sergio Perez pitted twice under the first Safety Car, got the hard tyres out of the way, got boxed in at the start – that was his problem, and then, after that, it was a quieter weekend for Checo.

He made his way through, but it’s a missed opportunity – I think after qualifying and after the problems they had on Saturday with the brakes, it is a missed opportunity for Red Bull and Perez – he should have been P2 or higher.

Mercedes – ‘They’re happy around here’

Despite Russell’s fiery end to the race, Mercedes will be generally pleased as they appear to have made progress, taking the fight to Aston Martin and Ferrari in the competition for the second-quickest car – only three-tenths off Verstappen in qualifying, will future developments help them fight for future wins?

TED’S VERDICT: They should be happy at Mercedes because Lewis Hamilton was second.

George Russell DNF, it’s an engine failure – went pop, apparently it wasn’t a leak.

Poor George had already been done over by the red flag caused by gravel.

Lewis Hamilton got Max Verstappen at the start, stayed out before Max got him back.

Lewis was challenging Russell before Russell pitted, but I thought Lewis managed it all very well and secured P2, so I think they are happy around here.

Aston Martin – ‘They got a bit of luck today’

Aston Martin were rare in that both drivers had good days, finishing third and fourth – something they may not have seen coming after the second restart, which saw Alonso spin out and Lance Stroll off into the gravel.

TED’S VERDICT: Fernando Alonso’s got his third podium in three races and he got a bit of luck even if it was the correct interpretation of the rules.

Alonso stays P3 and Lance Stroll stays P4, and both benefited from the gravel red flag.

Alonso challenged Max Verstappen in race two and then he chased Lewis Hamilton, but he said it was difficult to get close.

It was a disastrous red flag too – Alonso spun, but they got that reinstated.

Solid race from Stroll, [as he] got stuck behind Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz’s fight.

McLaren – ‘Woo! Gravel!’

McLaren leave Melbourne with their local boy scoring his first F1 points as a rookie at his home race and the team moving off the bottom of the table after two torrid races in the Middle East.

TED’S VERDICT: They have scored their first points of the year, so well done McLaren – 12 points and that puts them straight into P5 in the Constructors’ Championship – Lando Norris P6, Oscar Piastri P8.

I’ve got ‘Woo! Gravel’ here.

They were very much advantaged by the red flag for gravel, both into ninth and 10th with the free pit stop.

Oscar Piastri lost out at the restart, dropped to P12 and then he got up to P11 ahead of Yuki.

Lando was really quick, did so well – well done McLaren.

Haas – ‘That was scary’

At one stage, it looked as though Nico Hulkenberg was going to score his first F1 podium, but despite their protests, he moves back to seventh to at least score points after his team-mate’s wheel came off – it was that sort of crazy day.

TED’S VERDICT: DNF for Kevin Magnussen with that spin and it’s Hulkenberg with P7.

Hulkenberg nearly hit Alex Albon when he span – that was scary, he said.

Magnussen lost out at the red flag and restarted last, he then ran brilliantly, Lando Norris then challenged him and got P8, then Magnussen spun and crashed, putting wheel-rim debris all over the track.

Alfa Romeo – ‘Would have been much more than it was’

Safety Cars and red flags can cause teams to roll a dice hoping for double sixes, but Alfa Romeo came away missing out – Valtteri Bottas’ mullet in Melbourne clearly was not the lucky charm they were hoping for.

TED’S VERDICT: Let me tell you the sorry tale of Alfa Romeo’s race because after pitting early on the first Safety Car, they could have been set for many points, so they are frustrated at the red flag for gravel.

They don’t really know why the red flag happened and they were always catching up from that point on.

Valtteri Bottas P11 and Zhou Guanyu P9, so well done Zhou Guanyu, he’s got two points.

Both benefitted from the gravel early on [when they pitted under the Safety Car] but then lost out when there was a red flag [the second of the three] – it would have been much more than it was.

AlphaTauri – ‘This is what we have, I’m sorry’

It’s been a tricky start to the season for AlphaTauri with an uncompetitive car, but Yuki Tsunoda managed to score the Red Bull junior team’s first points of the season.

TED’S VERDICT: They got a point, Yuki Tsunoda had a point and I think that’s AlphaTauri’s first point of the season.

Yuki restarted P8, Nyck de Vries got clonked on the restart too by Ocon.

Yuki struggled with the set-up of the car, the balance of the car, the engineer said ‘this is what we have, I’m sorry’.

De Vries was struggling with the car for the whole race, after that clonk, he said that the car was not right, he pitted, Yuki also pitted on the Magnussen safety car and lost out because of the red flag – he would have been much further up.

Ferrari – ‘Groans, a thunderous face but a little bit of pace’

Leclerc crashed out on lap one and Sainz was taken from fourth [to] out of the points due to a controversial penalty that he called “unacceptable” – Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur reportedly has a bad back and these race results will only add to the pain.

TED’S VERDICT: It’s Sainz P12 and Leclerc DNF.

Carlos Sainz, [his penalty was] very unfair I think he believes, and by the look on his face, which is worse than thunder, I would imagine he knows that that result is not going to be adjusted.

It was never going to be adjusted – let’s face it – but they had to give it a go and test the theory.

Charles Leclerc, a real fan favourite, groans in the grandstand when he has had the incident with Lance Stroll.

And when you qualify badly in P7 and you’re in the carbon-fibre zone, this kind of thing can happen.

As for Sainz, it was a good fight on lap one, pitted under the Safety Car before the gravel caused the red flag, and that sunk him to P11, then he got stuck behind Gasly for quite a while, but got through and was going to be P4 but then got the five-second penalty for clonking into Alonso, which he thought was a racing incident.

But at least Ferrari had some pace, and that’s an interesting little upside for Ferrari going forward.

Alpine – ‘A costly result’

To quote Sky Sports’ Sam Johnston, who was reporting from Australia, Alpine were looking “frisky” and were set to score points with both of their drivers, but the French team was one of the biggest losers as both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly got caught up in the manic final restart.

TED’S VERDICT: I hope dinner’s good because they’ve ended up with two wrecked cars and no points.

Not their fault – it was the first time that the drivers had come together – we always thought they would, but actually it wasn’t a thing because they were just innocent with each other.

Ocon pitted at the end of lap one, Gasly benefited from the red flag.

It was all going well, and then Gasly went wide, rejoined and clonked into his team-mate, so you’ve got to feel sorry for them because that is a costly result from a race where they should have had 10, 11, 12 plus points down here at Alpine.

Williams – ‘Alex absolutely gutted’

Alex Albon was flying during qualifying, and looked like scoring points in his low drag and low downforce car – it was the lack of downforce that may have caused his huge crash and that left Williams pointless.

TED’S VERDICT: It’s a DNF for Alex Albon, it’s P16 for Logan Sargeant.

Alex Albon absolutely gutted – it had been a great weekend, he was P6 when the rear let go, he spun it into the wall and out.

Logan Sargeant pitted under the first Safety Car, put on the hard tyre and then he went onto the medium, he said ‘this tyre is terrible, we have to get off it’, and then he had some more fruity words on the radio and they said ‘careful on the radio Logan, we don’t like those kind of words’.

There you go, another lesson for Logan in his Formula 1 debut season

Max Verstappen claims his first Australian GP pole position: Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez crashed out in Q1; Mercedes’ George Russell second ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton; watch the Australian GP live on Sunday at 6am on Sky Sports F1, with build-up from 4:30am

Max Verstappen held off a surprise Mercedes charge in Australian Grand Prix Qualifying to beat George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to pole position.

The reigning world champion became an overwhelming favourite for pole when his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez crashed out in Q1, but in challenging cool and windy conditions at Albert Park, Mercedes posed an unexpected challenge.

Hamilton was just nine thousandths of a second off Verstappen after the first set of runs in Q3, but the Dutchman was able to pull out a clear 0.2s advantage as he delivered a 1:16.732 in the closing moments.

It was Russell who was able to snatch a place on the front row, edging out Hamilton by further tenth and out-qualifying his seven-time world champion team-mate for the third time in as many races this season.

Fernando Alonso, who has finished on the podium behind Red Bull one-twos in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, was only able to finish fourth for Aston Martin, while his team-mate Lance Stroll was sixth.

Carlos Sainz split the Aston Martins in fifth, pulling off a rare Qualifying triumph over his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, who was seventh.

Alexander Albon produced a hugely impressive performance to take eighth, as a Williams driver reached Q3 for the first time this season, finishing ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, who continued his strong start to the campaign.

Australian GP Qualifying Result
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) George Russell, Mercedes
3) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
4) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
5) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
6) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
7) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
8) Alexander Albon, Williams
9) Pierre Gasly, Alpine
10) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

What happened to Perez?

Having delivered a hugely impressive performance to beat Verstappen in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago, Perez’s hopes of mounting a world championship challenge had been a hot topic coming into the weekend in Melbourne.

However, the Mexican endured one of the worst days of his Formula 1 career, initially struggling badly in final practice on Saturday morning as he went off track several times after missing the beginning of the session while his mechanics worked on his car.

Light rain in the moments before Qualifying meant conditions remained challenging as the session began, with Logan Sargeant’s early spin in his Williams at Turn 13 a clear warning to other drivers.

However, Perez didn’t learn, and as he had done in practice, locked up on the way into Turn 3, before running into the gravel and becoming beached in mud just before the barrier.

While Verstappen was able to fight back from 15th on the grid to finish second in Saudi Arabia, Perez faces a huge task to extend Red Bull’s streak of one-twos to start the season.

Mercedes come from nowhere to create Q3 drama

It has been all doom and gloom so far this season at Mercedes given Red Bull’s dominance, with team principal Toto Wolff confirming the implementation of major changes to their design philosophy are under way.

Russell and Hamilton said after Friday practice that the third row of the grid was the best they could hope for in Qualifying, but as the pole position shootout played out – with Perez absent – it became clear the W14s were Verstappen’s biggest challengers.

Verstappen was only able to knock Hamilton off provisional pole by the narrowest of margins as the first runs concluded, and the prospect of a first pole since December 2021 for the 38-year-old suddenly seemed realistic.

However, with time left for only one flying lap after the field pitted for fresh tyres, Verstappen delivered a stunning lap which would be enough to seal a first pole at Albert Park for the two-time world champion.

Russell was able to get within 0.3s, with Hamilton a further half-tenth behind his team-mate having had his preparations for his lap hindered by Hulkenberg, who didn’t leave a clear path for the Mercedes to pass.