Formula 1: Articles & News Reports.

Will Piastri’s new qualifying pace give him a title edge?
Piastri worked over the winter to improve his one-lap form, and it appears to have paid dividends. The team mate qualifying battle now stands at 3:2 in his favour, including the Shanghai sprint.
APRIL 19, 2025
Adam Cooper's F1 Blog

Since then the Aussie has scored two wins from pole position, and he’s shown beyond all doubt that his one-lap pace has taken a big step since last year, when Norris was dominant.

“I think the hard work we’ve been putting in definitely has been making a difference,” he says. “I think I’ve felt comfortable in qualifying, and felt like I’ve taken a bit of a step up. I think last year it wasn’t much that I often missed out by.

“But this year I’ve had a couple qualifying just on the wrong side of that gap still, but also more qualifyings on the right side of that gap now. So it’s been a lot of hard work in a lot of different areas, trying to get those last few hundredths of a second. And I think it has been paying off.”

‘3:2 in his favour’;

https://adamcooperf1.com/2025/04/19/...-a-title-edge/


Lando Norris makes surprising confession after topping FP2 at F1 2025 Saudi Arabian GP
The McLaren ace admitted he spent Friday working on himself and his driving style.
19 Apr 2025
Brandon Sutton
Total Motorsport

“It was a decent first day,” Norris told F1 TV at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. “It always feel chaotic around here, because it’s so fast. A lot of walls; a lot of near misses. “I think today has really been a day off, trying to work on my driving and trying to work on myself more than probably trying to work on the car.”

“And I’ve been getting more confident. It’s a good start to the weekend, productive. Gaining confidence, gaining feeling. From what I wanted to achieve today, I think I’m on the right track.”

‘Surprising confession’;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/mcl...di-arabian-gp/


ANALYSIS: Ferrari elect to run the most loaded rear wing in Jeddah
19 Apr 2025
Balazs Szabo
F1 Technical

Among the top teams, Ferrari appear to have mounted the most loaded rear wing in Jeddah. The Scuderia has brought an upgraded rear wing to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, introducing a modified, decambered, shorter chord top rear wing flap element. Interestingly, Leclerc used the new rear wing in both practice sessions while Hamilton's SF25 was equipped with the new configuration for the second hour of running.

Even by trimming the top edge of the flap, Ferrari's rear wing is still the most loaded among the four top teams due to its loaded V-shaped mainplane. Despite the higher rear wing, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc achieved top speeds of 332kph and 331kph respectively.

Commenting on its new rear wing, the Scuderia noted: "Adapting to the peculiarities of the Jeddah circuit aerodynamic efficiency requirements, this option is adding granularity in the available downforce level options on the baseline rear wing."

‘Most loaded rear wing’;

https://www.f1technical.net/news/26643


'Works perfectly': Lewis Hamilton seriously impressed by what he saw in Charles Leclerc’s onbord before Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
18 Apr 2025
David Comerford
F1 Oversteer

Lewis Hamilton can’t yet replicate Charles Leclerc’s ‘really impressive’ driving style. Leclerc will take part in his 131st race for Ferrari this weekend, which puts him fourth on the team’s all-time list. Only Michael Schumacher (180), Kimi Raikkonen (151) and Felipe Massa (139) are ahead.

Clearly, that gives him an advantage over newcomer Hamilton. But speaking to Sky Sports on Thursday, the seven-time world champion praised Leclerc’s command of a recalcitrant Ferrari. Hamilton has, as is routine, been studying his teammate’s onboard as he looks to close the gap. He also wants to emulate his engineering approach – settle on a set-up early and only make minor tweaks thereafter.

“Charles has obviously driven this car for a long time,” he said. “The driving style he has works perfectly with the car. He loves sliding the rears, loves a really oversteery car, which is really impressive to see. Also, from the moment we get there at the weekend, he doesn’t really change the car a huge amount. I’ve tried pretty much everything now with the car, so I’ve learnt what does and doesn’t work. Then in terms of the inputs I put into the car, I’m adjusting those, to hopefully start to extract more performance from it.”

‘Settle on a set-up early and only make minor tweaks thereafter’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/lew...an-grand-prix/


George Russell pinpoints ‘decisive weekend’ to upset McLaren dominance
19 Apr 2025
Dan Lawrence
Motorsport Week

George Russell has pinpointed the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix as a “decisive weekend” that has the potential to upset McLaren’s current dominance. McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella admitted to Sky Sports F1 before the season began, “There will be a small adjustment required from race nine.”

Speaking to the media ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP, Russell said (via Autosport) front wing flexibility is, “obviously where McLaren have excelled, so until that race I don’t really see the pecking order shifting. That will be a decisive weekend to see whether they take a step backwards and the pack closes up,” he added.

Until then, Russell, who has starred so far this campaign as one of McLaren’s troublemakers, scoring three podiums, hopes to keep himself in the mix through Round 9. “We are finding ourselves in a position that we’re 40 points behind McLaren in the championship through probably mistakes of theirs, as opposed to pure car performance,” he said.

‘Decisive weekend’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/...ren-dominance/


‘Getting most out of the tyres’ the deciding factor in Saudi Arabia as Russell pushes to catch McLaren
19 Apr 2025
Formula One - Official Site

George Russell believes that the deciding factor in this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be about “getting the most out of the tyres” as Mercedes look to challenge pacesetters McLaren. “It always comes down to the same, which is getting the most out of the tyres,” he said. “I think we tried some things, me and Kimi [Antonelli] did some different things which was valuable to try and learn. I think we got a bit of a direction from that.”

“I was intrigued to see the long-run pace but unfortunately with the red flag [after Yuki Tsunoda’s crash] at the end we didn’t manage to see that. I think it’ll be a close battle again for the next best team and hopefully we can try and sneak up there, but McLaren are very good again.”

‘Getting most out of the tyres’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...JObm7eZJXdCWXT


Prime suspect identified in new Tsunoda crash discovery at Saudi GP
19 Apr 2025
Jamie Woodhouse

An incident which has been analysed in greater detail by three-time IndyCar race winner Kyle Kirkwood, who has uncovered a design quirk of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit wall whacked by Tsunoda which he believes instigates the crash.

An incident which played out in the blink of an eye after that small misjudgement, Kirkwood analysed the footage in greater depth and discovered ‘many sharp joists’ in the construction of that wall, believing he has found the answer therefore to what halted Tsunoda.

Writing on X, Kirkwood posted: “Would like to point out, If you look closely, you can tell the corner is made up of 10ft(ish) flat walls that have many sharp joints where they connect. He [Tsunoda] happened to hit one of the joints perfectly. If this was a smooth wall or hits in a flat portion, this likely isn’t a crash.”

‘Prime suspect’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/kyle-k...-tsunoda-crash


Max Verstappen Offered 'Deal of the Century' to Leave Red Bull
19 Apr 2025
Give Me Sport

Max Verstappen could be on his way out of Red Bull Racing with a record-breaking deal in place to tempt him away to a rival team, according to recent reports. And according to this latest report by Italian media outfit La Gazzetta dello Sport, Verstappen could be set to earn, by far, the most lucrative driver contract in F1 history to leave the Red Bull family and join Aston Martin on a three-year contract worth €264m (yes, you read that correctly).

The Italian newspaper's claims are based on interest from the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia to take over the ownership of Aston Martin, with their strong financial power being the key to the €264m dangled in front of Verstappen's face. The Saudi Arabian giants were already a key part of the team as the title sponsor under the name of oil company Aramco.

‘€264m (yes, you read that correctly)’;

https://www.givemesport.com/max-vers...e-red-bull-f1/

Saudi Arabian GP: Norris aces FP3 as Verstappen blasts ‘ridiculous’ Hamilton.
Oscar Piastri was the only driver to get close to Norris, forced to settle for P2 in the sister McLaren, while Max Verstappen found himself strangely irked by Lewis Hamilton in the run-off.
19 Apr 2025
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

The Ferraris were the first of the big-hitters to join the leaderboard, but with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc seven-tenths off new leader Jack Doohan, there was more time to come. As the session ticked past halfway, Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Leclerc and Tsunoda was the top five. Behind the McLarens the order continued to shift, but Piastri’s 1:28.470 was keeping him out of reach, with Norris maintaining a grasp on P2.

Verstappen meanwhile reported “weird engine braking” as he fell nine-tenths shy of Piastri, and took issue with a “ridiculous” Ferrari driven by Hamilton who had taken to the run-off as Verstappen approached. “Jeez” meanwhile was Hamilton’s word for the day on team radio, as he was told the eye-watering deficits he had to make up. He was 1.7 seconds off Piastri’s pace and eight-tenths off Leclerc. He reduced that to 1.3s off Piastri.

But there was a late sting in the tail as Norris snatched top spot from his team-mate, a 1:27.489 enough to see off Piastri by two-hundredths. Russell, Verstappen and Leclerc completed the new and final top five, while Piastri survived a late whack of the wall at Turn 4/5.

‘Norris aces FP3’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/saudi-...025-fp3-report


Saudi Arabian GP : Free Practice 3 Results
Full results from Free Practice 3 for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian GP from Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
20 Apr 2025
Mat Coch
Speedcafe

Pos Num Driver Team Laps Diff Best
1 4 Lando Norris McLaren – Mercedes 16 1:27.489s
2 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren – Mercedes 17 0.024s 1:27.513s
3 63 George Russell Mercedes 15 0.627s 1:28.116s
4 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull – Honda 12 0.845s 1:28.334s
5 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 20 0.883s 1:28.372s
6 23 Alex Albon Williams – Mercedes 14 0.900s 1:28.389s
7 55 Carlos Sainz Williams – Mercedes 13 1.081s 1:28.570s
8 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine – Renault 15 1.136s 1:28.625s
9 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull – Honda 12 1.181s 1:28.670s
10 12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 16 1.190s 1:28.679s

‘Free Practice 3 Results’;

https://speedcafe.com/f1-news-2025-s...niche-circuit/


FP3: Norris pips McLaren team mate Piastri in final practice at the Saudi Arabian GP
19 April 2025
Formula One - Official Site

Lando Norris ended the third and final practice session of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend fastest of all, leading his McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri by 0.024s while George Russell was best of the rest in third. Setting up an intriguing Qualifying session, drivers were finding time on their second timed efforts on the soft tyres following one or two cooldown laps. This process also highlighted how traffic could be an issue later on Saturday, with Isack Hadjar one driver caught out by a slower driver when on a timed effort.

Cautious of the threat of yellow or red flags, drivers were sent out onto the track for their second runs on fresh soft tyres with 17 minutes remaining. George Russell revealed Mercedes’ hand with a 1m 28.214s to move briefly to the top, before Piastri bettered this by 0.701s with a 1m 27.513s, an effort that Norris fell 0.158s short of. But in the closing stages, Norris found time and reversed these positions, with his session-best 1m 27.489s clear of Piastri by 0.024s.

Having found an extra tenth, Russell improved to third while Verstappen benefitted from a tow to go fourth, although 0.845s off the pace. Hamilton’s struggles continued in the second runs as he ended the session four tenths and seven places behind fifth placed Leclerc. In 12th, Hamilton’s gloomy Friday feeling that he was simply trying to reach the top 10 and make Q3 looked like an ever-increasingly difficult task.

‘Norris pips McLaren team mate Piastri’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...ZrB949evTW1ywo


‘No wonder’: Martin Brundle is not surprised Lewis Hamilton was ‘shocked’ by one thing Ferrari told him at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
19 Apr 2025
Kyle Archer
F1 Oversteer

Hamilton has been off Leclerc’s speed at the Saudi Arabian GP all weekend after taking P8 in FP1 and P13 in FP2 with 0.506s and 0.622s gaps to the Monegasque in P3 and P4. He goes into qualifying with a big deficit as Hamilton tries to be Ferrari’s lead driver for the first time.

Ferrari race engineer Riccardo Adami also surprised Hamilton as he told the 105-time Grand Prix winner how much time he was losing per sector in FP3 at the Saudi Arabian GP. The 40-year-old has struggled for pace all year, with his average Grand Prix qualifying position P7.5. Hamilton asked his race engineer, ‘How far am I down on the sectors?’ during FP3. To which, Adami replied: “Seven-tenths first sector, four-tenths second sector and we aborted the last sector.” Adami’s astonishing information stunned Hamilton, who simply responded: “Jeez…”

Brundle said on Sky Sports F1 (19/04, 16:04): “There’s been entire Grand Prix events where he wouldn’t have lost seven-tenths to anybody, let alone in one sector. No wonder he was shocked by it. I think he’s going the wrong way with the set-up of the car for him. He’s clearly got to find his way with the car and his engineer. But Lewis is not seven-tenths off in the first sector of this track and the car’s just not with him. He’s just not comfortable in it. It’s not working and it’s almost uncomfortable viewing and listening.”

‘No wonder’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/mar...an-grand-prix/


Verstappen fourth in third free practice in Jeddah
19 April 2025
Misha van der Kroon
Verstappen.nl

With just under twenty minutes to go, Max is back on track. The McLarens raise the pace, with Piastri setting a 1:27.513. Although Max improves again with a 1:28.413, it only placed him P5, nine-tenths off Piastri’s benchmark.

After a brief return to the pits, Verstappen heads out once more in the final moments of the session. He manages one last improvement, setting a 1:28.334 to end the session in P4, 0.8 seconds off the fastest man, Lando Norris. McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri is just 0.024 seconds behind in P2, while George Russell follows six-tenths behind the McLarens in his Mercedes.

‘Verstappen fourth’;

https://news.verstappen.com/en/article/5781/


2025 Saudi Arabian GP FP3: Hadjar has ‘water flying around his helmet’
19 April 2025
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Isack Hadjar was struggling with his onboard drinks system in final practice for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

‘Water flying around’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/20...44045509003047


Red Bull hand Yuki Tsunoda boost with private test planned after Saudi Arabian GP
19 Apr 2025
Oliver Harden
PlanetF1.com

Yuki Tsunoda is to driver Red Bull’s title-winning RB19 car from 2023 in a private test at Silverstone next week, the team have confirmed to PlanetF1.com. Tsunoda has acquitted himself well since replacing Liam Lawson at Red Bull’s senior team after the first two races of the F1 2025 season, showing encouraging pace in the tricky RB21 car in Japan and Bahrain.

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com in Jeddah on Thursday, Tsunoda issued a progress update on his start to life at Red Bull, revealing that he is “getting there” with the RB21. He said: “I wouldn’t say 100 per cent [confident] yet, but it’s definitely more than for sure Suzuka and more than how I started in Bahrain, so it’s getting there.”

“These things won’t go straight away. Especially in Saudi you need to build up anyway throughout the week, but definitely more confidence than last week. In terms of confidence level, I’m quite happy with the level I am considering [I have only done] two races. I’m sure it will come more. But I’m just trying to understand how this car operates, how this car performs well.”

‘Red Bull hand Yuki Tsunoda boost’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/red-bu...st-silverstone

Lando Norris misery continues with shock Saudi Arabian qualifying crash.
That is a complete disaster for Lando Norris.
19 Apr 2025
Samuel Coop
RacingNews365

Lando Norris crashed in the final section of qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, bringing out the red flag. The McLaren driver will now start the race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in P10 after hitting the wall in the first sector, on the exit of Turn 5.

The five-time grand prix winner called himself a "fucking idiot" over team radio after confirming to the Woking squad that he was okay. Team-mate Oscar Piastri appeared to just get his first Q3 push lap in before the red flag was flown. The clock has stopped with 8:32 left to run in the session.

‘Lando Norris misery continues’;

https://racingnews365.com/lando-norr...alifying-crash


Verstappen mugs McLaren as Norris crashes in Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying
A brilliant lap from Max Verstappen has seen the Red Bull driver steal pole position away from McLaren at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
20 Apr 2025
Mat Coch
Speedcafe

McLaren was favourite for top spot heading into the session but ended it with Lando Norris in the wall and Oscar Piastri only second fastest. Norris crashed out in the opening moments of Qualifying 3 while his teammate missed out on a third career pole by just a tenth of a second. Without a time to his name, championship-leader Norris will start Sunday’s race from 10th.

With just over a minute remaining, Russell moved onto provisional pole, completing his lap as Piastri was beginning his. It was marginally faster, but behind the Australian, Verstappen was flying. The McLaren driver managed a 1:27.304s to bump Russell off provisional pole, but it didn’t last. An incredible lap from Verstappen saw the Red Bull driver steal pole once again, as he’d done in Japan, with a 1:27.294s.

‘Verstappen mugs McLaren’;

https://speedcafe.com/f1-news-2025-s...details-times/


Must see: Norris dramatically crashes out of Q3 in Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying
20 Apr 2025
Formula One - Official Site

McLaren's Lando Norris dramatically crashed out of Qualifying in Q3, relegating him to 10th on the grid for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in what could be a pivotal moment in the championship battle. Norris' session came to an end when he stamped on the throttle too quickly, hopping across the exit kerb, before smashing into the concrete wall at Turn 5 and sliding to a halt. Offering an immediate assessment via team radio, Norris called himself an "idiot".

Only McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri had set a time in that phase of Qualifying, with the Australian having tapped a wall himself, while George Russell had also reported an impact with his floor over a kerb.

With Piastri eventually having to settle for P2 on the grid, after Max Verstappen's storming pole lap, the incident could have a pivotal impact on the Drivers' Championship – the McLaren pair separated by three points with the Red Bull driver himself only eight points behind the standings leader.

‘Norris called himself an "idiot"!’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...M8oTeVIuL2edHd


Saudi Arabian GP: Qualifying Results
Full results from Qualifying for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian GP from Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
20 Apr 2025
Mat Coch
Speedcafe

Pos Num Driver Team Laps Diff Q1 Q2 Q3
1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull – Honda 19 1:27.778s 1:27.529s 1:27.294s
2 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren – Mercedes 18 0.010s 1:27.901s 1:27.545s 1:27.304s
3 63 George Russell Mercedes 16 0.113s 1:28.282s 1:27.599s 1:27.407s
4 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 19 0.376s 1:28.552s 1:27.866s 1:27.670s
5 12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 17 0.572s 1:28.128s 1:27.798s 1:27.866s
6 55 Carlos Sainz Williams – Mercedes 23 0.870s 1:28.354s 1:28.024s 1:28.164s
7 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 20 0.907s 1:28.372s 1:28.102s 1:28.201s
8 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull – Honda 16 0.910s 1:28.226s 1:27.990s 1:28.204s
9 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine – Renault 22 1.073s 1:28.421s 1:28.025s 1:28.367s
10 4 Lando Norris McLaren – Mercedes 11 1:27.805s 1:27.481s

‘Qualifying Results’;

https://speedcafe.com/f1-news-2025-s...niche-circuit/


Verstappen denies Piastri for pole after heavy crash for Norris in qualifying
19th April 2025
Keith Collantine
RaceFans

Max Verstappen will start the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from pole position after narrowly beating Oscar Piastri in qualifying. Red Bull claimed pole position for the fourth year in a row at Jeddah. However championship leader Lando Norris will start down in 10th after crashing in the final phase of qualifying. Q3 was only running long enough for Piastri to set the fastest time when it was red-flagged – and the cause was his team mate.

While Piastri was approaching the final corner, Norris had run too deep into turn four, thumped across the kerb and slid into the barrier. He reported he was unhurt, but the left-hand side of his MCL39 was extensively damaged and his qualifying session was over. “Fecking idiot,” he cursed.

By the time Verstappen came back around to finish his final lap, he was down to third place. Russell had produced another strong lap to lay his claim to pole position, only to see Piastri beat it. Verstappen lost a little time in the middle of the lap but claimed it back at the end, snatching pole away from Piastri by just a hundredth of a second.

“Fecking idiot,” Lando Norris cursed’;

https://www.racefans.net/2025/04/19/...in-qualifying/


‘He’s struggling’: Sam Bird saw one sign that ‘shows’ Lewis Hamilton is ‘struggling’ in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
19 Apr 2025
Kyle Archer
F1 Oversteer

Lewis Hamilton is enduring another difficult weekend with Ferrari at the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after only managing to qualify in P7 for Sunday’s race in Jeddah. The 40-year-old has struggled for pace in every session at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit and is now set to start the Saudi Arabian GP on the fourth row of the grid. Hamilton could only do a 1:28.201 lap in Q3, whilst Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc posted a 1:27.670 to claim P4.

It has been far from the weekend that Hamilton would have hoped for after also only setting the eighth, 13th and 12th-quickest lap times in FP1, FP2 and FP3. Ferrari surprised Hamilton with the speed he lost each sector in FP3, as well, and he struggled to improve in qualifying. Seven-time F1 champion Hamilton found himself on the back foot from the off in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian GP on Saturday.

He would advance to Q2 with the ninth-best lap time in the opening part yet needed two bites of the cherry to avoid a shock early exit in Jeddah. Hamilton dropped to the cusp of the elimination zone after only posting a 1:28.642 lap with his first attempt in Q1. So, Ferrari resorted to pitting the Briton to fit another new set of the soft compound Pirelli tyres, with which Hamilton would improve to a 1:28.372 to secure P9.

‘He’s struggling’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/sam...an-grand-prix/

Piastri has no regrets: Final flyer in Q3 ‘the best I could have done’.
In a heart-stopping qualifying session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri came tantalizingly close to pole position, missing out by a mere 0.01 seconds to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
20/04/2025
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Piastri was straightforward about the quality of his final lap, describing it as the best he could have delivered. “There wasn’t much more left in that lap,” commented the Aussie, quoted by Speedcafe. “I’m happy with the job I did. I think it was playing catch-up a little bit through the first part of qualifying and then that last lap felt more or less like the best I could have done.”

‘No regrets’;

https://f1i.com/news/536521-piastri-...have-done.html


Will Lando Norris mistakes cost him F1 drivers' title?
Lando Norris made perhaps his biggest mistake of the season yet in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, can he keep getting away with it?
20 Apr 2025
RacingNews365 Staff
RacingNews365

Norris has been incredibly hard on himself in recent weeks, outlining his mistakes and how he must stop making them. Despite this, he is yet to stop making unnecessary mistakes, opening the door to Piastri and Verstappen. Suzuka is the only circuit Norris has not made a genuine mistake at this season, raising a crucial question. Will Norris' mistakes cost him a first drivers' championship come the end of the campaign?

‘Lando Norris mistakes’;

https://racingnews365.com/will-lando...-drivers-title


McLaren forced to delete ill-judged post about Lando Norris after Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying crash
19 Apr 2025
David Comerford
F1 Oversteer

McLaren delete poorly-worded Lando Norris post after he said he was ‘okay’ on the radio. “Lando is okay,” they wrote, “not what any team wants to see.” Clearly, they were referring to the accident, but one can see how that post would be misconstrued. Realising their misjudgement, McLaren deleted and revised the post. “Red Flag,” the second draft read. “Lando has had an incident on track. He is okay and out of the car.”

‘Ill-judged post’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/mcl...nd-prix-crash/


Furious Charles Leclerc delivers shock verdict on Ferrari upgrades
Ferrari's upgrades have not had the desired effect, as an unhappy Charles Leclerc explains.
20 Apr 2025
Jake Nichol & Ian Parkes
RacingNews365

"I'm not happy, I am really not happy," Leclerc told media, including RacingNews365. "I mean, I finished P4 and I put everything out there, but for now, the performance of the car is just not there. I either have massive oversteer or massive understeer, but the end result is that I don't have enough grip to reproduce what the guys in front are doing.”

"At the moment, I feel good in the car, I've found the sweet spot of the car and matched my driving style, and in the last three qualifying sessions, I've managed to maximise the potential of the car - but the potential is just not yet at the level I want."

‘Shock verdict’;

https://racingnews365.com/furious-ch...rrari-upgrades


Lewis Hamilton needs a ‘brain transplant’ with Ferrari ‘bosses not happy’
20 Apr 2025
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

When asked after qualifying what he needs in order to gel with the SF-25, Hamilton simply replied: “A brain transplant.” The responses got more concerning still, when Hamilton hinted that patience is wearing thin with the Ferrari higher-ups over his performances with the team so far.

‘Brain transplant’

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-...-happy-results


Italy Already Losing Faith In Lewis Hamilton
Apr 20, 2025
Media
F1 Chronicle

After all of the pre-season hype, Lewis Hamilton’s red adventure at Ferrari is already turning grey. “From promises to doubts,” the headline at Corriere della Sera reads, referring to the “more complicated than expected” transition for the seven-time world champion from Mercedes to Maranello.

Some are wondering if 40-year-old Hamilton’s Ferrari adventure could end as soon as December. Former high-profile Ferrari engineer Luigi Mazzola told Sky Italia that Hamilton’s 2025 season reminds him of Sebastian Vettel’s ill-fated last couple of seasons in red.

‘Losing Faith’;

https://f1chronicle.com/italy-alread.../?nowprocket=1


George Russell rues not mimicking Max Verstappen qualifying strategy in Saudi Arabia
19 Apr 2025
Dan Lawrence
Motorsport Week

George Russell rued not following polesitter Max Verstappen’s two-lap run plan during qualifying for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. “I have a little bit of mixed feelings right now because I felt there was a bit more on the table,” Russell told select media, including Motorsport Week.

“There was a lot of pressure going into that last lap because Oscar had a lap on the board. I think the run plan that Max did for two laps was a really good one and one we didn’t really consider.”

‘Mixed feelings’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/...-saudi-arabia/


Antonelli left ‘a bit disappointed’ despite top five qualifying result
19 Apr 2025
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli reckons he lost three or four tenths of a second on his final run in Q3, and could have been even higher on the grid than his P5 result.

‘A bit disappointed’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/an...57402635011462


Max Verstappen thanks surprise figure for critical Red Bull call
Max Verstappen deployed a different strategy in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
20 Apr 2025
Jake Nichol
RacingNews365

Max Verstappen has hailed race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase for deciding upon a different strategy, which allowed him to claim pole position in Saudi Arabia. Following Lando Norris's crash early in Q3, most of the field elected to just complete a single run on their new sets of soft tyres, but Verstappen did not.

He aborted his first flying lap before actually starting, thanks to the Norris red flag, meaning he could use these tyres for another run before switching over to his second, brand-new set. To achieve this strategy in the time frame left, Verstappen had to carry three laps more of fuel - an entire run - and complete a race-style pit stop, with the Dutchman 0.001s up on Oscar Piastri after the first lap.

"At the end of the day, GP said: 'Let’s fuel it for two laps. So you do the first lap on the used out-lap tyre, then pit and go onto the new. You carry more fuel, so you’re a bit slower on the first time.’ But it was the right call. It was definitely the right thing to do for me in terms of feeling with the car and building up to the limit."

‘Max Verstappen: The right call’;

https://racingnews365.com/max-versta...-red-bull-call


Yuki Tsunoda airs frustration after latest Red Bull mishap
20 Apr 2025
Fergal Walsh
RacingNews365

“I had a massive snap in Turn 4,” Tsunoda told media including RacingNews365. “When I push more, [this] unpredictable snap keeps happening and it’s just really hard to reach the limit.”

“That’s why when it comes to Q3, when it all counts, you push hard. In VCARB, you know where the limit is and I can squeeze out the last few milliseconds. Currently, it’s hard to find the limit and I’m getting messy laps all the time. I’m really frustrated [about] that.”

‘Frustration’;

https://racingnews365.com/yuki-tsuno...ed-bull-mishap

Verstappen Pole Full Team Radio - Saudi Arabia Qualifying 2025.
Team Radio: Max Verstappen Saudi Arabia Qualifying 2025 I added tire info and subtitles to explain. Also I cleaned up the sound but sometimes a word got lost in the engine sound.
Apr 19, 2025
RAWE CEEK

Please remember the voice-overs are my opinion only. I am just a fan like most of you. If you have any major corrections for the translation let them know in the comments, it will help other viewers. Be respectful please.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwtxp99eEss


Tsunoda Full Team Radio - Saudi Arabia Qualifying 2025
Apr 20, 2025
RAWE CEEK

Team Radio: Yuki Tsunoda Saudi Arabia Qualifying 2025 I added subtitles to explain, sound effects for entertainment. Also I cleaned up the sound but sometimes a word got lost in the engine sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXwoErVKHA0


Max Verstappen: Saudi weekend ‘the story of Red Bull RB21 car’
20 Apr 2025
Dan Lawrence
Motorsport Week

Even through practice in Saudi Arabia, Verstappen wasn’t confident pole position was on the cards.
“I think one standout is, of course, again McLaren being very competitive, but from our side there’s still quite a bit of work to do and things to understand,” the Dutchman said on Friday, having finished third to the papaya machines and a tenth behind.

That margin grew to over eight tenths in FP3 and had Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner worried. “I think we all came out of FP3, almost slightly depressed thinking ‘christ, it’s a battle to be on the second row here,’” Horner told Sky Sports F1 after qualifying.

Verstappen, meanwhile, told select media, including Motorsport Week, “I felt immediately more confident when I headed into qualifying. “We made some minor changes to the car, but they were clearly big enough to feel, and I think that’s a bit the story of our car,” he added. “It can be really hit and miss. When we get it right, I think it’s competitive, of course.”

‘The story of Red Bull RB21 car’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/...bull-rb21-car/


‘McLaren sandbagging?’ – Horner reveals surprise over Max Verstappen pole
20 Apr 2025
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

Christian Horner explained how Red Bull pondering over possible “McLaren sandbagging” turned to elation when Max Verstappen claimed Saudi Arabian Grand Prix pole. “Coming into that qualy off FP3, it was all about who was going to be third,” Horner told Sky F1. “And suddenly, Q1, Max went quickest, and you think, ‘hang on, are McLaren sandbagging here?’”

“And then Q2, we were right there again. And then the unfortunate accident for Lando in Q3, there were only four cars with two new sets [of tyres], which were the two McLarens, George [Russell] and Max. Thankfully, Lando was okay, but it left it right on the cusp of doing two times, for which there was 25 seconds of margin, or do you just hang in there and do one? We elected to do the two times, which puts you under pressure because if there’s any issue at all, you’ve lost that margin.”

“What was super impressive for me was that, because you take the pit stop, you’ve got to carry the fuel. So he had six or seven kilograms more fuel on that first lap, which he went quickest, put the pressure then on the other guys. And then again, his last lap was outstanding. To get that pole, our second in the last three races, is really rewarding. A phenomenal performance by Max and the team, and good to have Yuki [Tsunoda] up there in Q3 as well.”

‘McLaren sandbagging?’

https://www.planetf1.com/news/mclare...udi-arabian-gp


How Max Verstappen shocked McLaren to claim Saudi Arabian GP pole
Max Verstappen stormed to pole position in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but just how exactly did the Red Bull driver defy the odds yet again?
20 Apr 2025
Pepijn van der Hulst & Nick Golding
RacingNews365

Red Bull made crucial setup changes ahead of qualifying which made a big difference to the RB21, as did a clever Q3 strategy after Lando Norris crashed out. The Austrian outfit opted to run Verstappen twice despite just eight minutes on the clock, with a normal pit stop having been conducted between the Dutchman's two hot laps.

It was a qualifying session of fine margins, with a different driver and car having been fastest in each sector. Verstappen was quickest in sector one, George Russell in sector two and Piastri in the final sector. Verstappen had a one-tenth advantage over Piastri and Russell through the first sector, courtesy of Red Bull's RB21 boasting remarkable top speed over its rivals.

‘How Max Verstappen shocked McLaren’;

https://racingnews365.com/how-max-ve...rabian-gp-pole


Verstappen set to start with fresh engine as Honda equips its four cars with new PU components in Jeddah
20 Apr 2025
Balazs Szabo
F1 Technical

Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen will race with a fresh power unit at today's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after Honda has elected to equip its four cars with new PU components.

Honda has equipped its four cars - the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen, Yuki Tsunoda and the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson - with a fresh internal combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU-K, MGU-H and exhaust system. For the Kiwi, it is already his third ICE which means that he will only have one more fresh unit to use for the remainder of the 24-race season.

‘Fresh engine’;

https://www.f1technical.net/news/26641

Piastri: 'I wasn't coming out of Turn 1 in 2nd'.
Oscar Piastri expressed delight at winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, revealing that he had no intention of making Max Verstappen's life easy at Turn 1 after the start.
20/04/2025
James Fiorucci
F1i.com

It was a hard-fought victory for the Australian driver, as the fast and twisty nature of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit took a visible physical toll on the drivers out on track.

Piastri, who started the Grand Prix from second on the starting grid after setting a time just 0.010 seconds slower than Verstappen in Qualifying, pulled alongside the Dutchman in the run up to the first corner.

The 24-year-old was ahead of Verstappen when the latter cut the second corner and re-joined the track back in the lead of the race. Stewards deemed this a violation of the regulations, and handed Verstappen a five-second penalty for the infringement.

‘Hard-fought victory’;

https://f1i.com/news/536557-piastri-...-1-in-2nd.html


Saudi Arabian GP: Race Results
Full results from the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian GP from Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
21 Apr 2025
Mat Coch
Speedcafe

Pos Num Driver Team Laps/Diff
1 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren – Mercedes 50 Laps
2 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull – Honda + 2.843s
3 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari + 8.104s
4 4 Lando Norris McLaren – Mercedes + 9.196s
5 63 George Russell Mercedes + 27.236s
6 12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes + 34.688s
7 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari + 39.073s
8 55 Carlos Sainz Williams – Mercedes + 64.63s
9 23 Alex Albon Williams – Mercedes + 66.515s
10 6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls – Honda + 67.091s

‘Race Results’;

https://speedcafe.com/f1-news-2025-s...niche-circuit/


Oscar Piastri storms to Saudi Arabian GP victory after early Max Verstappen penalty
Oscar Piastri takes control of the championship battle by winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the expense of Max Verstappen.
20 April 2025
Euan Burns
Total Motorsport

“Looking for a couch! It was a pretty tough race,” Piastri said after the race. “Very happy to have won. Made my case into Turn 1, it was tricky to follow – I couldn’t stay with Max at the end of the first stint, I chewed up my tyres.”

“We still need a bit more, Max was a little bit too close for my liking. Once I got on the inside, I was not coming out of Turn 1 in second. In the end that is what got me the race, so very happy with the work we do on the starts.”

‘Oscar Piastri takes control of the championship battle’;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/f1-...appen-penalty/


Max Verstappen cuts short awkward Saudi Arabian GP interview after Oscar Piastri question
Max Verstappen was not feeling talkative after climbing out of the car.
Apr 20, 2025
Harry Smith
Daily and Sunday Express

Max Verstappen was caught up in an awkward interview with David Coulthard after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Dutchman told the former Red Bull driver that he was going to 'keep it short' after being asked about his lap-one incident with Oscar Piastri. Verstappen started the race from pole position, but got a difficult launch on the outside lane. Piastri, meanwhile, was strong out of the blocks and pipped the four-time world champion to the apex on the approach to Turn One.

After climbing out of the cockpit, Verstappen faced Coulthard for the customary post-race interview. However, when he was asked about the Turn One incident, he was visibly unimpressed. "I'm going to keep it quite short," Verstappen stated. "I just want to say a big thank you to the fans here in Jeddah. It's been a great weekend. I love the track. The rest, it is what it is. I'm looking forward to Miami, so I will see you there."

"I'm going to keep it quite short";

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...ian-Grand-Prix


Max Verstappen cuts interview short after FIA issue Saudi Arabian GP penalty
20 Apr 2025
Sam Cooper
PlanetF1.com

Max Verstappen had little to say in the immediate aftermath of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as he ignored a question about the opening lap incident between him and Oscar Piastri.

Pole sitter Verstappen was handed a five-second penalty for gaining an advantage off track but despite calling it “f**king lovely” during the race, afterwards he chose not to say anything.

Asked for his reaction, Verstappen said just 46 words before handing the microphone back to David
Coulthard.

‘46 words’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/max-ve...ian-gp-penalty


Max second in Saudi Arabian GP: 'It is what it is'
20 April 2025
Stefan Meens
Verstappen.nl

On the in-lap after the chequered flag, Max said: “We did everything right, thanks guys. I gave it everything and it is what it is.” The Oracle Red Bull Racing added whilst speaking to the FOM world feed after the race: “I want to keep it brief. I want to thank the fans here in Jeddah. It was a great weekend, and I love this track. I’m looking forward to Miami.”

'It is what it is';

https://news.verstappen.com/en/article/5784/

“You can’t be critical in any form”: Verstappen explains silence over Jeddah penalty.
“It has to do with social media in general and how the world is,” said Verstappen. “I prefer not to talk a lot because sometimes your words can be twisted or people interpret it in a different way. It’s honestly better not to say too much. So that’s what I’m trying to do.”
20th April 2025
Keith Collantine
RaceFans

Max Verstappen refused to give his view on the penalty which potentially cost him victory today, and offered several reasons why. “It’s just the world we live in,” he added when asked to elaborate. “You can’t share your opinion because it’s not appreciated, apparently, or people can’t handle the full truth. Honestly, it’s better if I don’t say too much. It also saves my time because we already have to do so much.”

“It’s honestly just how everything is becoming. Everyone is super-sensitive about everything. And what we have currently, we cannot be critical anyway. So less talking [is] even better for me.” During the off-season the FIA broadened its definition of what constitutes “misconduct” by drivers. It also introduced a new regime of fines and, for multiple offences, suspensions and points deductions.

Verstappen said this is another reason why he was reluctant to discuss the incident. I know I cannot swear in here,” he said, “but at the same time, you also can’t be critical in any form that might ‘harm’ or ‘[en]danger’… let me get the sheet out. There’s a lot of lines, you know. So that’s why it’s better not to talk about it – you can put yourself in trouble, and I don’t think anyone wants that.”

‘Max Verstappen refused to give his view on the penalty’;

https://www.racefans.net/2025/04/20/...eddah-penalty/


'I cannot share my opinion': Max Verstappen stays tight-lipped on race-deciding penalty
20 Apr 2025
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MailOnline

Verstappen told his Red Bull team over the radio during the race that he felt Piastri had forced him off the track. The four-time champion repeatedly refused to go into any more detail in a televised interview and a later news conference.

"The start happened, turn one happened and suddenly it was lap 50 (the last lap). It just all went super fast," Verstappen said in response to one question. "The problem is that I cannot share my opinion about it because I might get penalized also, you know, so it´s better not to speak about it."

'I cannot share my opinion';

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap...g-penalty.html


'People can't handle the truth' - Max Verstappen refuses to explain frustration at Saudi Arabian GP penalty for incident with Oscar Piastri
Max Verstappen finished second in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after receiving a crucial five-second penalty; Verstappen started from pole but was penalised following a first-corner battle with race winner Oscar Piastri
20 Apr 2025
Sky Sports

Max Verstappen has claimed people not being able to "handle the full truth" was part of the reason he couldn't explain his discontent at receiving a crucial penalty during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Asked if he was frustrated at having to bite his tongue, Verstappen added: "I think it's just the world we live in. You can't share fully your opinion because it's not appreciated, apparently, or people can't handle the full truth.”

‘People not being able to "handle the full truth"’;

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12...-oscar-piastri


Max Verstappen gives blunt 13-second answer after penalty in Saudi Arabia GP
The Red Bull driver was unhappy with the five-second penalty for a clash with Oscar Piastri
20 Apr 2025
Kieran Jackson
The Independent

Max Verstappen refused to discuss the five-second penalty which changed the course of the Saudi Arabian GP – as the reigning F1 world champion finished behind winner Oscar Piastri.

Red Bull driver Verstappen, who started on pole, reacted slower at lights out with second-placed Piastri surging down the inside heading into turn one.

Verstappen left the racetrack, failing to make the corner, but maintained the lead from the McLaren driver – who appealed for the Dutchman to give the place back.

‘Blunt 13-second answer’;

https://www.independent.co.uk/f1/max...-b2736446.html


Christian Horner disputes Max Verstappen penalty with 'photo evidence'
The Red Bull boss has defended his driver after a Saudi Arabian Grand Prix penalty.
20 Apr 2025
Jake Nichol & Aaron Deckers
RacingNews365

"I thought it was very harsh, we didn't concede the position because we didn't believe that he'd done anything wrong," Horner told media including RacingNews365. "You can quite clearly see at the apex of the corner, we believe Max is ahead and under the rules of engagement they discussed previously, it was a very harsh decision.

"If we'd given it up, the problem is then that you run into the dirty air and drop back and then risk problems with George [Russell, in third place]. So the best thing was at that point, to take the penalty, get your head down and keep going. What was a shame was that our pace versus the McLaren in the first stint was in good shape, and we had to serve the penalty on the same stint as Oscar.”

"He finished 2.6s ahead, and without the penalty, it would have been a win, but there was always going to a difference of opinion over a very marginal decision like that. I can't see how they got to that conclusion, they both got in at the same speed, Oscar runs deep into the corner and Max can't just disappear. So perhaps these rules need a relook, and I just don't know what has happened to 'let them race on the first lap,' that just seems to have been abandoned."

'Photo evidence';

https://racingnews365.com/christian-...photo-evidence


Horner insists Verstappen was wrongly penalised in Saudi Arabia
Red Bull boss Christian Horner insists Max Verstappen was unjustly penalised during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
21 Apr 2025
Mat Coch
Speedcafe

Speaking with the media in the wake of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Horner armed himself with a image taken from Verstappen’s onboard camera. It showed the Dutchman’s front wheels ahead of Piastri’s as they negotiated the first left-hander.

“When you look at that, I can’t see how they got to that conclusion,” Horner argued. “They’ve both gone in at the same speed. Oscar ran deep into the corner; Max can’t just disappear at this point in time. Perhaps these rules need a re-look at. I don’t know what’s happened to ‘let them race’ on the first lap. That seems to have been abandoned.”

‘Wrongly penalised’;

https://speedcafe.com/f1-news-2025-s...ment-response/

Norris issues ‘I’m the best’ verdict after Piastri takes championship lead.
“I have the confidence that the pace is there, and I feel like I’m the best at the minute, but I make my life too tough on Saturday.” Lando Norris.
20 Apr 2025
Elizabeth Blackstock
PlanetF1.com

When asked how he felt about seeing his teammate take over the championship lead, Norris said, “I’m not surprised because of all the mistakes I’ve made over the last few Saturdays. My Sundays, I think I’m pretty happy with — they’ve been pretty strong. All of my Sundays, the pace has been good.”

“I have the confidence that the pace is there, and I feel like I’m the best at the minute, but I make my life too tough on Saturday. I’m making myself work for it; it makes my Sundays a little bit more fun at times. I gotta work on my Saturdays, and if I can work on my Saturdays, I’m confident I can get back to where I was.”

‘Norris issues ‘I’m the best’ verdict’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lando-...udi-arabian-gp


The extraordinary truth behind Piastri’s stunning title surge... and why it’s only bad news for Norris
April 22nd, 2025
Michael Lamonato from Fox Sports
Fox Sports (Australia)

There’s one clear winner from F1’s five-race opening stanza of 2025. His name is Oscar Piastri. The season’s only repeat winner and the only driver to start from the front row more than twice, Piastri finds himself 10 points clear at the top of the championship standings with just over 20 per cent of the campaign completed. He’s now the undisputed favourite to claim the 2025 drivers title in just his third year as a Formula 1 driver.

Of course it’s early days yet. A lead of 10 points is nothing with 19 grands prix remaining. But the Australian will enter the next phase of the season with all the momentum and riding a wave of considerable confidence after having outscored teammate Lando Norris by 33 points since his bruising ninth-place finish at the Australian Grand Prix back in March.

‘The extraordinary truth’;

https://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsp...1c95d5c181e07b


Lando Norris to miss 'one of the best days of my life' as Brit gets serious in title fight
Lando Norris is making big sacrifices in his World Championship fight.
Apr 21, 2025
Harry Smith
Daily and Sunday Express

Lando Norris will not be in attendance at the King’s Day festivities in the Netherlands as the Brit gets serious about his World Championship fight. The McLaren racer will spend his weekend off training as he looks to take the battle to Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen. The 25-year-old partied with celebrity DJ and close friend Martin Garrix on Koningsdag in 2024, which celebrates the birth of King Willem-Alexander on 27 April each year.

Norris was even spotted with bandages across his face after cutting his nose on another partygoer’s glass during the festivities. However, there will be no repeat of such an incident this time around. With a fortnight’s break leading into the Miami Grand Prix - where Norris claimed his first career victory in 2024 - the Bristol-born racer will be training hard in the gym and poring over data at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking.

‘Brit gets serious’;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...sdag-Amsterdam


Norris or Piastri? Right now, there is only one driver McLaren should be backing
One keeps making costly errors while the other is a doubt-free zone
April 21, 2025
Kevin Garside
i News

This was supposed to be the year of Lando Norris, yet five races in, the championship lead has passed to a McLaren teammate who has won three times to his once. Fastest in every session in Saudi Arabia until he hit the wall at turn five in the final qualifying session, Norris is once again ruing costly errors that are taking the stress out of Oscar Piastri’s weekends.

McLaren’s winter overhaul has made the car quicker, but the price for that is a more nervous disposition and a sweet spot that is harder to navigate, particularly, in the case of Norris, through the slower corners. For Piastri, the 2025 model has effectively come to him, the balance of the car more suited to his characteristics when it is on the limit. In other words, the car behaves as he expects it to. Norris, on the other hand, is constantly on edge, the car stubbornly refusing to bend to his will as it did last year.

‘Norris or Piastri?’;

https://inews.co.uk/sport/formula-on...85?ITO=newsnow


Piastri vs. Norris: Which One Is McLaren F1’s Favorite Kid?
Equal wins, a championship lead and a contract extension: McLaren F1 faces a double-edged sword with two title-contending drivers.
Apr 21, 2025
OLIVIA HICKS
The Drive

A month before Formula 1 hit the track for the first time in 2025, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri already held a quiet kind of confidence: “I can become World Champion this year,” the Australian driver stated bluntly in February. The self-assurance was inspired, if not a bit premature. The pair of McLarens hadn’t even commenced a test lap. And if one of the two was likely to end up on top it was Lando Norris’ No. 4.

But the championship leader, as calm and collected as ever, brushed off any comparisons or needling questions about team dynamics after he sped to victory in Jeddah: “I’m not that bothered by the fact that I’m leading the championship, but I’m proud of the work and the reasons behind why we’re leading the championship.”

‘McLaren F1 faces a double-edged sword’;

https://www.thedrive.com/news/piastr...laren-f1-favor


Oscar Piastri leads the F1 drivers’ championship. Here’s why he can win it this year
April 21, 2025
Russell Bennett
The Age

Until Piastri’s race win on Monday, the last Australian to lead the F1 world championship was Mark Webber – now Piastri’s manager – for Red Bull in 2010. McLaren’s “papaya rules” are set to allow Piastri the best shot at what no Australian has achieved since Alan Jones with Williams 45 years ago – winning the F1 drivers’ title.

In a nutshell, papaya rules mean that Piastri and teammate Lando Norris can go head-to-head – no one driver is prioritised over the other. McLaren are backing both drivers in equally. And this season, it looks like Piastri, not Norris, will come out on top.

“Papaya rules”’

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/moto...21-p5lt33.html


Oscar Piastri has secret 'Lando Norris clause' in new McLaren deal as contract details 'leaked'
Published 16:10 21 Apr 2025 GMT+1
Nasir Jabbar
SPORTbible

Oscar Piastri has a 'Lando Norris clause' in his new McLaren deal as details of his contract have emerged. Piastri is 'protected' from teammate Norris in his challenge for the 2025 F1 world championship. That's according to Jacques Villeneuve, who claims a clause in the 24-year-old's deal forbids McLaren from giving priority in a race to the 25-year-old Brit.

Villeneuve, who won the 1997 F1 title, revealed: "They cannot give Lando priority over Oscar because of the contract. He has a contract that protects him. As long as both drivers can win the championship, there won't be team orders unless there's something significantly big for the constructors' title or if one of them is having an issue in a race like last year."

‘Secret 'Lando Norris clause'’;

https://www.sportbible.com/f1/oscar-...91594-20250421


‘You’re the effective leader’: Full radio from Piastri and Verstappen’s Jeddah tussle
22nd April 2025
Keith Collantine
RaceFans

Lap: 4/50 PIA: 1’34.247, VER: 1’33.831
Stallard He accelerates out of the final corner as the race restarts
Verstappen has a five-second penalty.
Stallard Oscar, Verstappen five-second penalty. That means you’re the effective race leader at the moment. We just want to build a gap to Russell. DRS enabled.

Lambiase Exit turn 18
Gap behind 1.1. Information, you have been given a five-second time penalty for the incident at turn one. Head down.
Verstappen Oh, that is…
Lambiase Yeah, Max…
Verstappen …really lovely!
Lambiase Yep. Yep. No comment.
Verstappen Oh don’t worry, I don’t care
Lambiase Mode nine

“You’re the effective leader”;

https://www.racefans.net/2025/04/22/...jeddah-tussle/


‘He is confirming’: Oscar Piastri ‘forcefully’ makes big change at McLaren after winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix for Gian Carlo Minardi
22 Apr 2025
Kyle Archer
F1 Oversteer

Minardi wrote on the former F1 team owner’s website: “In Saudi Arabia we saw a weekend under the banner of McLaren – but especially under the name Oscar Piastri, who forcefully took the number one spot within the team led by Andrea Stella, as well as the lead in the ladder by taking his third win of the season. He is confirming that he is a complete driver.”

“Forcefully took the number one spot”;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/osc...carlo-minardi/

Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur defends driver's form in X-rated rant after Saudi Arabian GP.
"But this is f****** b******t. At the end of the day, we are in competition. You have ups and downs.” Fred Vasseur.
22 Apr 2025


Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has defended Lewis Hamilton's early-season form in an X-rated rant following another disappointing weekend for the seven-time world champion at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Vasseur was further probed on Hamilton's performance by the journalists in attendance at his post-race briefing, and eventually snapped back. Asked how Hamilton's form had fallen off so "dramatically", Vasseur replied: "It's not dramatically. We did five races so far. I know that you want to have the big headlines tomorrow that 'Fred said this'.

"But this is f****** b******t. At the end of the day, we are in competition. You have ups and downs. When we have up, we are not world champions. When we have down, we are not nowhere. It's just a competition."

"But this is f****** b******”;

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12...udi-arabian-gp


‘Not one second’ – Lewis Hamilton causes more alarm in SF-25 assessment
21 Apr 2025
Elizabeth Blackstock
PlanetF1.com

Asked if he was comfortable behind the wheel of the SF-25 during the race, Hamilton responded, “No. There was not one second [where I was comfortable].” The brief response encouraged a deeper line of questioning from Sky F1, particularly regarding the capabilities of the car.

“Well, clearly the car is capable of being P3, so Charles did a great job today — so I can’t blame it on the car,” he replied. Asked if he could pinpoint any reasons behind his own struggles, he could only respond, “No.”

“There’s nothing to say, ‘Hey, this is the issue,’” the seven-time World Champion admitted. “At the moment there’s no fix,” he said. “This is how it’s going to be for the rest of the year. It’s just going to be painful.”

‘Not one second’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-...udi-arabian-gp


Foul-Mouthed Vasseur Slams Hamilton Critic
Apr 22, 2025
F1Chronicle

Frederic Vasseur could not hold back the expletives as he slammed recent reporting about Lewis Hamilton’s struggle to get up to speed at Ferrari. There is no doubt that the seven-time world champion is yet to live up to the pre-season hype of his move from Mercedes, with Ferrari boss Vasseur even admitting as he departed Jeddah: “He’s having too many ups and downs.”

The partisan Italian media agrees, with La Gazzetta dello Sport declaring that Hamilton has so far fallen “well short of expectations”. But Vasseur was particularly triggered by a reporter who asked the Frenchman why he thinks 40-year-old Hamilton’s personal performance has dropped so “dramatically” in 2025.

“Dramatically?” Vasseur exclaimed. “We did five races so far! I know you want a big headline saying ‘Fred said this’ but this is f—–g b——t.”

‘Frederic Vasseur could not hold back the expletives’;

https://f1chronicle.com/foul-mouthed.../?nowprocket=1


Martin Brundle shares how Ferrari now privately ‘feel’ about Lewis Hamilton’s start to the 2025 F1 season
21 Apr 2025
Ben Evans
F1 Oversteer

Brundle was speaking on Sky Sports F1 (20/4 4:53 pm) ahead of the race in Saudi Arabia with Hamilton lining up three positions behind his teammate. He explained what he’d been told by the team in a private meeting ahead of the Grand Prix and shared,

“Ferrari used an analogy today to say to us when Crofty and I were having our race day briefing, that it’s like putting on someone else’s skis or ice skates, or something like that. It takes a bit of time to get used to them, and that’s how they feel about it.” Brundle was then asked how Hamilton managed to win the Sprint Race in China if he’s struggling so much and elaborated,

“Different tracks, the Sprint is a much shorter race of course, much less fuel onboard, he got out front and he stayed out front. It looked like, I think I described it on the day as vintage Lewis Hamilton, and that’s how it seemed. And you’re thinking, ‘Wow, he’s back in business, he’s back in the game!’, but sadly, it’s not turned out to be that way since then with the longer Grand Prix format.”

‘An analogy’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/mar...025-f1-season/


Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur launches into expletive-laden rant after Lewis Hamilton’s ‘horrible’ race
April 23rd, 2025
Nic Savage from Fox Sports
Fox Sports (Australia)

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has leapt to Lewis Hamilton’s defence, rubbishing any suggestion the seven-time world champion’s form has declined since his off-season switch. Despite the underwhelming results, Vasseur told reporters in Jeddah he remained “2000 per cent behind” Hamilton.

“I will give him support and we will start from tomorrow morning to try to find solutions and reasons and to work on it early in the morning,” Vasseur said on Sunday. “But honestly, I am not too worried. If you have a look on what he did in China or what he did in the race in Bahrain last week, or even on the first part of the session in this weekend, the potential is there for sure.”

“We just have to adjust the balance because we are, collectively, Lewis and us, we are struggling with the balance of his car and (how) he is working the tyres. It’s a kind of negative spot but I think the potential of the car is there and we will try to solve that.” Vasseur also took issue to a reporter’s claim that Hamilton’s form has dropped off dramatically since he joined Ferrari.” “I know that you want to have the big headlines tomorrow that, ‘Fred said this.’ But this is f***ing bull***t.”

‘Fred Vasseur has leapt to Lewis Hamilton’s defence’;

https://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsp...bd92a5cbd68e4f


‘Inexplicable’: Minardi slams Hamilton for Ferrari star’s issue that ‘did not line up’ with a seven-time F1 champion
22 Apr 2025
Kyle Archer
F1 Oversteer

Lewis Hamilton had to watch Charles Leclerc gift Ferrari their first Grand Prix podium of the 2025 F1 season in Saudi Arabia, while he could only get a seventh-place finish. A whopping 30.969 seconds even split the Scuderia duo at the chequered flag on Sunday as Hamilton finished the Saudi Arabian GP in the same position the 40-year-old started. Leclerc had qualified in P4, but was able to pass Mercedes’ George Russell with a different strategy.

“Leclerc’s Grand Prix is also to be applauded,” Minardi said on his website. “Not only did he give Ferrari their first podium of the season in a GP, but he hid and lessened the car’s real problems, which were instead very evident with Hamilton, who had a pace that did not line up with a seven-time world champion. At the present time, it is rather inexplicable.”

‘Inexplicable’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/lew...e-f1-champion/

Mintzlaff shuts down Verstappen rumors: ‘He owes a lot to Red Bull’.
Mintzlaff painted a picture of calm resolve – and above all, loyalty. “No. I'm convinced that he will continue to take the long road he has taken with Red Bull so far.”
24/04/2025
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

In the heat of swirling speculation surrounding the future of Max Verstappen, Red Bull GmbH managing director Oliver Mintzlaff stepped into the spotlight in Saudi Arabia last weekend, issuing a strong and unambiguous message: Verstappen will be racing with Red Bull in 2026.

Despite rumors linking Verstappen to Aston Martin, Mercedes, and even a speculative sabbatical in 2026, Mintzlaff pointed to the binding agreement already in place and Verstappen’s own prior sentiments. “On the one hand, he has signed until the end of 2028 for a reason, and on the other hand, he has recently positioned himself clearly,” Mintzlaff continued.

“Max once told me that he started his career at Red Bull – and would like to end it there. As far as I know, nothing has changed in this regard.” Still, Mintzlaff didn’t shy away from framing the loyalty as a two-way street. “We benefited a lot from Max, the best driver in the world. But the truth is that he owes a lot to Red Bull,” he emphasized.

‘Calm resolve’;

https://f1i.com/news/536882-mintzlaf...-red-bull.html


George Russell and Red Bull reportedly held “informal” talks
Apr 22, 2025
Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
Last Word On Sports

When speaking to the media last weekend, George Russell was relatively nonchalant about his contractual situation. He made some curious comments about F1 contracts as a whole: “From my side, there is literally no stress, no worries whatsoever,” he told Sky Sports.

“I think when it comes to contracts, everyone gets so excited about it. And the fact is, drivers have had contracts – and if they don’t perform they get booted out. For drivers, performance is our currency, that’s what you’ve got. If you perform, everything’s good. So I’m just excited to go racing this weekend, focus on performance, and the future sorts itself out.”

“Informal talks;

https://lastwordonsports.com/motorsp...nformal-talks/


George Russell holds Christian Horner talks in shock Red Bull driver twist – report
23 Apr 2025
Oliver Harden
PlanetF1.com

Mercedes driver George Russell has held talks with Christian Horner over a potential switch to Red Bull Racing for the F1 2026 season, it has been claimed. It is said that talks have not yet progressed to serious negotiations over a contract for the F1 2026 season.

The suggestion of talks with Horner has raised the possibility of a sensational seat swap between Russell and Verstappen, with the latter becoming Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s new team-mate at Mercedes and Russell heading in the opposite direction.

Speaking at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, Horner hinted that Russell could emerge as a target for Red Bull for F1 2026, remarking that “it would be foolish not to take that into consideration” with Russell nearing the conclusion of his Mercedes contract.

‘A target for Red Bull’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/george...6-driver-talks


Red Bull ‘informal talks’ add twist to Russell’s 2026 F1 future
23/04/2025
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Alongside Oscar Piastri, he’s been one of the standout drivers of the year – and it’s no surprise that he’s catching the eye elsewhere. But despite his performances, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has yet to ink a new deal with the Brit. That said, he’s made it clear that Russell is still firmly in the team’s future plans.

But for Russell, a move to Red Bull could be a risky bet. The team’s ambitious 2026 engine program, developed in-house for the first time in partnership with Ford, is reportedly grappling with development hiccups. Unlike Mercedes, whose power unit prowess is expected to shine under the new rules, Red Bull’s unproven engine could leave them playing catch-up.

For Russell, swapping Mercedes’ proven pedigree for Red Bull’s uncertain future might feel like trading a sure thing for a roll of the dice – especially if Verstappen’s exit leaves the team in flux.

‘Informal talks’;

https://f1i.com/news/536858-red-bull...f1-future.html


Russell-Red Bull rumour turns spotlight back on Verstappen in simmering F1 silly season
Apr 24th, 2025
Michael Lamonato from Fox Sports
Fox Sports (Australia)

George Russell has held informal talks with Red Bull Racing principal Christian Horner about a possible blockbuster team switch, according to reports. The Race has reported Red Bull Racing has sounded out Russell on his 2026 availability as a precaution should Max Verstappen abandon the team at the end of the season. Russell is out of contract at the end of the season.

Russell’s reported informal talks with Red Bull Racing follows a report from Autosport that Russell is close to signing a two-year contract extension valued at around US$30 million (A$47.2 million) per season. The three-time grand prix winner has been in sparkling form this season, collecting three podium finishes and two front-row starts to put himself fourth in the championship standings.

The Briton was asked in Saudi Arabia whether the report of an imminent new deal was true. Alternative rumours were also put to him, including that he hadn’t started negotiations with Mercedes yet and that his strong start to the year was frustrating Verstappen’s negotiating position. Russell appeared to suggest the latter two rumours were valid. “A few of them are reasonably close,” he told Sky Sports. “At the end of the day, we’ve never discussed a contract prior to May or June in a season.”

‘Russell-Red Bull rumour’;

https://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsp...770fc8599495fd

Albon and Sainz praise teamwork as Saudi Arabia double points finish puts Williams fifth in standings.
Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon both scored for Williams in Saudi Arabia to lift their team back above Haas into fifth in the standings. Sainz recorded his strongest finish of the season with eighth as he came home ‘best of the rest’ while Albon was hot on his heels in ninth.
21 Apr 2025
Formula One - Official Site

“I think today, honestly, we managed to nail a very good race and on top of that managed to help Alex to make sure he was getting in the points,” said Sainz. “So, very happy we managed to execute a very good race, even though the pit stop for the first time in the year [was] a bit compromised, a bit slow. We managed to push on, push forward and I did a very quick last lap showing the pace I had today was very good.”

It seems Sainz has turned a corner since his early struggles to get on top of the FW47, in Bahrain showing good pace until a collision ended his race while here he was able to hold his own in the top 10. “It was definitely a challenging start to the season, but it was always going to be with the adaption process,” he added. “I always warned it was not going to be easy, and I took it step by step, to be in race five at the level that I am… if I keep the philosophy I’m taking, I think we are going in the right direction.”

‘Teamwork’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...mYt01zJoWPAlwx


Carlos Sainz's proved his worth to Williams in the Saudi Arabian GP
Four-time race winner Carlos Sainz was one of the most enticing free-agents ahead of the 2025 season, and his race to eighth in Jeddah showed exactly why Williams fought for him
Apr 22, 2025
Jake Boxall-Legge
Motorsport.com

"The team asked me to give the DRS to Alex to make sure Hadjar didn't have a chance of passing us," Sainz recalled. "It's a tricky one because you always feel like it exposes you, especially in a high speed track where the DRS has a very big effect. You always get a bit nervous about it because you know from there on, you cannot put a foot wrong if you do a mistake or hit a wall or whatever.”

"But in the end it worked, and I could show my pace in in the last lap; I had a lot of pace, which is really good sign. It's not the same when it comes from your idea, because you know you're 100% sure – when it comes from the team, you always struggle a bit more to commit to it because it doesn't come natural for you. But I think we did the right call in the end.”

‘DRS to Alex’;

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/c...-him/10715907/


Williams F1 2025 Resurgence: A comeback in the making
Apr 22, 2025
Scott Gulbransen
Sportsnaut

Williams’ transformation extends beyond its drivers and leadership to its bold development strategy. In a move that underscores their forward-thinking approach, Vowles revealed that Williams was among the first teams to halt wind tunnel development on the current FW47, redirecting efforts to the 2026 car, the FW48, designed for the sport’s upcoming regulatory overhaul. This decision carries risks—rival teams may continue to refine their 2025 cars, potentially gaining an edge in the short term.

Yet, it reflects Williams’ commitment to building a championship-contending future, much like an NFL team investing in young talent while still competing for the playoffs. Sainz emphasizes the importance of the ongoing development of the FW47, as understanding its full potential will inform the design of the 2026 car, ensuring no opportunity for learning is missed.

‘Resurgence’;

https://sportsnaut.com/f1/formula-1-...ack-in-making/


Ocon admits Haas ‘struggled’ in Jeddah after P14 finish
20 Apr 2025
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Esteban Ocon is already looking ahead to the next race in Miami after a difficult run to 14th place in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

‘Struggled’’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/oc...49609893267247


‘I wasn’t able to do much today out there’ admits Bearman after P13 finish in Saudi
20 April 2025
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Ollie Bearman says Haas have work to do to find more pace after he finished 13th in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

‘Work to do’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/i-...50021328366449


‘If I would have been there’: Guenter Steiner claims he could have tempted a ‘very good’ driver to race for Haas in 2025 instead of Esteban Ocon
24 Apr 2025
Kyle Archer
F1 Oversteer

Haas secured an all-new driver line-up for the 2025 F1 season, but Guenther Steiner would not have signed Esteban Ocon to join Oliver Bearman if he were still in charge. Guenther Steiner would have kept Nico Hulkenberg at Haas over signing Esteban Ocon. Steiner feels he might have been able to tempt Hulkenberg to stay at Haas instead of the 37-year-old moving to Sauber as a factory Audi driver if the Italian-American was still at their helm.

Hulkenberg signed a three-year, £16.5m Audi contract before Haas hired a successor. “I think I would have signed Ollie Bearman,” Steiner told the BBC’s Chequered Flag podcast. “And what I always say is I would have tried to keep Nico because I think Nico is a very good driver. And I think, maybe, if I would have been there, maybe he would have stayed.”

‘If I would have been there’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/gue...-esteban-ocon/


Unheard Fernando Alonso radio message from Saudi GP emerges and it's completely damning
23 Apr 2025
tom jenkins
Yahoo! Sport

During last week's race, Alonso was in constant dialogue with his race engineer, and the Spaniard was clearly baffled by the machine he had under him. "I can't do it. If I lose the DRS [of the car in front of him] I'm dead," he said. "I don't know how I could have lost the DRS having had DRS on the previous lap. I can't maintain this pace. It's crazy. The level of risk... is incredible. Pushing at this level is not sustainable," he added.

"We need three or four cars to finish out of the race to score a point," he claimed. “I gave everything on track and it was hard to keep up the pace with the cars in front – we were just not quick enough," he said via F1.com “P11 is the worst position probably, but we need to get used to it. It’s going to be difficult to score points this year.”

‘Damning’;

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/unh...163801962.html


Aston Martin reels from poor start, holds crisis meeting
23/04/2025
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

The team has slipped further from the sharp end of the grid, prompting what team principal Andy Cowell described as a crisis meeting following another underwhelming race weekend in Saudi Arabia. “We’re getting together to have a think about what we’ve learned over this triple-header, and [ask] what do we do going forward?” Cowell revealed post-race. “Can we get more out of the car? Yes, I think we can.”

“100% of Adrian’s designing time is focused on ’26,” Cowell confirmed ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP. Alonso, ever the pragmatist, supports that approach despite the current struggles. “I think ultimately it’s his decision,” he said when asked if Newey should get involved with the AMR25. “He has enough experience, knowledge and background to know what is best. And I think he’s working only on 2026, so if he’s deciding that, I totally support that.”

‘Crisis meeting’;

https://f1i.com/news/536844-aston-ma...s-meeting.html


Adrian Newey ‘doesn’t go to meetings’ or ‘answer emails’ in Aston Martin progress update
25 Apr 2025
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

Aston Martin team principal Andy Cowell lifted the lid on what Adrian Newey has been up to since arriving at the team in March. “From day one we made sure we prepared his working environment, he came in and went to meetings about the new rules, about the concepts we had worked on. We explained the countdown to the first test and the first race. And we pointed out all the deadlines for submitting information for the production of this [2026] car.”

“He went straight to work with engineers to do sketches on his drawing board. He’s in that design cycle to design fundamental parts of the car. Ninety per cent of the creation of a car is in the factory and that’s where we want Adrian. He has his office, everyone who walks past says that whenever they see him he’s always drawing on the whiteboard. Sure, he doesn’t go to meetings, he doesn’t answer emails, he’s just putting together a fast car – and we all support that process.”

“One-hundred per cent of Adrian’s designing time is focused on ’26,” said Cowell. “He joined in March, so there was a period of him getting up to speed with the regulations, up to speed with the concept work that we’ve been doing in the preceding couple of months. And there are some tough deadlines to meet for releasing monopod details, transmission details, and the cars are running earlier for the ’26 season.”

‘He’s always drawing on the whiteboard’;

‘Progress update’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/adrian...plies-approach

Racing Bulls surprised by performance as they find "sweet spot".
Racing Bulls have found a “sweet spot” with their 2025 contender, delivering mostly consistent performance while Red Bull struggles.
Apr 18, 2025
Alex Harrington
Motorsport.com

Racing Bulls have started their 2025 Formula 1 season with huge success. The team, split between Milton Keynes and Faenza, has created a package that allows its drivers to extract consistent performance while its parent team Red Bull struggles with its operating window. According to racing director Alan Permane, the team has found a "sweet spot" that they're eager to fully utilise this weekend in Saudi Arabia.

"We knew after Bahrain that the car was decent, that's for sure," Permane explained to Motorsport.com and other media. "We didn't quite know it was as good as it turned out to be in Melbourne and certainly Shanghai and Suzuka were all good races, and then we went back to Bahrain and struggled last week." When asked if their car could be described as 'benign,' Permane was quick to agree.

"Sweet spot";

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/r...spot/10714574/


Lawson a different person after Red Bull stint
Racing Bulls boss Peter Bayer says Liam Lawson's tenure with the senior Red Bull team had a visible impact on the Kiwi..
25 Apr 2025
Mat Coch
Speedcafe

In the days that followed, the call was made to swap Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, with Red Bull boss Christian Horner insisting he had a duty of care to the 23-year-old. It’s proved a positive move for the Kiwi, who has bounced back well in the three events he had with the squad, though a result to show for it has still eluded him. “Honestly, I think it took a moment for him to digest,” Bayer said of Lawson’s return to Racing Bulls.

“First time I saw him when he came to Italy, he looked a bit sad. Honestly, that’s how I perceived him. He was a bit puzzled with everything that happened very quickly. But also, at the same time, he knew the people, the tools, the set-up. I really felt that very quickly he was returning to being the old Liam. He’s a great racer, somebody that has great humour, and that’s what we see now again.”

‘Different person’;

https://speedcafe.com/lawson-a-diffe...ed-bull-stint/


Helmut Marko thinks Isack Hadjar is impressed in one area that ‘newcomers struggle with’ in F1
23 Apr 2025
Rory Mitchell
F1 Oversteer

Isack Hadjar suffered a tough start to his Formula 1 career in Melbourne when he crashed on the formation lap. It was an embarrassing moment for Hadjar, however, he would end up being consoled by the father of Lewis Hamilton in the F1 paddock. Since the crash, the 20-year-old has gone from strength to strength, having scored points at both the Japanese and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix. Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen said he has been ‘incredibly impressed’ by Hadjar, having come back from his tough start and impressed in the races and qualifying sessions.

Discussing his progress in his latest Speedweek column, Helmut Marko has praised Hadjar for doing one thing F1 rookies often struggle to achieve in their first years. “In my view, Hadjar is the discovery of this first World Cup phase. The young Parisian did not know most courses, but was always immediately fast and made few mistakes, apart from the blunders in Australia,” said Helmut Marko. “Isack manages in the races what many Formula 1 newcomers struggle with – he shows consistently good lap times, while he handles the tyres very well. He delivers all this relatively unexcited.”

‘Incredibly impressed’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/hel...le-with-in-f1/


F1 EXPLAINS: Ask an F1 Team Principal with Alpine boss Oliver Oakes
25 Apr 2025
Formula One - Official Site

“You've got to balance what everybody wants, but also you’ve got to make the right choices for the team. You're never going to make everyone happy all the time.” Oakes leads drivers Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan, as well as the 900 people who work for the team at the racetrack and the factory in the UK.

“I don't see it as pressure,” he tells F1 Explains podcast presenter Christian Hewgill when asked about his role. “Obviously you have a big responsibility because you represent a lot of people, a brand, a team. I think I probably put more pressure on myself that I'm quite grumpy if I have a bad day or a bad result. I just want to do well anyway because that's who I am.”

“You never get the same feedback from both drivers,” says Oakes. “You need to delve into that – where are they both coming from? Sometimes they are both feeling the same thing, but it's coming from different ways. One could be feeling the tyres aren't working because of balance in the car. The other driver has the same feeling, but it's actually because of his tyre warm-up.
“I think a lot of it is almost letting them get it off their chest and then taking a bit of a breather and having a look into it.”

“You never get the same feedback from both drivers”;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...VHph93ZDehaqYz


Gasly explains ‘unfortunate’ Lap 1 clash with Tsunoda in Jeddah as chance for Alpine to score ‘good points’ goes begging
21 Apr 2025
Formula One - Official Site

Pierre Gasly has conceded that incidents such as his first-lap clash with Yuki Tsunoda at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix “should not happen”. Former team mates Gasly and Tsunoda retired in the opening moments at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, with the pair colliding as they fought over eighth place.

“I was aware he was on the inside, so I left as much space as I could on the exit of the corner – I had already two wheels off the track. I had to keep my inside wheels obviously inside the white line to make the move past, but unfortunately there was this touch and it sent my car spinning.” Speaking before the stewards deemed it a racing incident, an assessment Tsunoda agreed with, Gasly was reluctant to expand on whether he thought one driver might be more to blame than the other.

‘Unfortunate’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...62ejeiEwV5b746


Doohan praises Alpine for removing pressure around his future with the team
24 Apr 2025
Formula One - Official Site

“To be honest, I haven’t really struggled with the pressure at all," Doohan said in the build-up to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. “For sure, there have been a couple of instances like in Australia and Japan which you could potentially say that they could be pressure-related, but in all honesty, being fully open, they both were not. And the team have done a great and amazing job as well to really take that away, especially internally, which has been nice. For me, I know the raw pace has been there since the start, so that’s also an inner confidence that I can take with me, to know that as much as there is always going to be pressure and presence, to know that it wasn’t getting to me.”

“I think we just have to focus on our strengths and if we put everything together on one lap, we can be there in Quali," said Doohan post-race. "I think then that will make everything a little bit easier, will make our strategy a bit more simple and would not pressure us into having to do such adventurous things to try to make up for it. Here, there was a lot more going on and some more difficulties, but we’ve got to keep our heads down and chins up.”

‘Inner confidence’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...iZEXvzPIVhYOH6


New F1 team boss signs key motorsport advisor
Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley has made a crucial appointment to his backroom team.
20 Apr 2025
Ian Parkes
RacingNews365

This year is a learning one for Wheatley ahead of the transition of a team, currently known as Stake, into a full-works outfit when Audi joins F1 for the first time next season. To aid him on his journey, Wheatley has appointed renowned motorsport figure Simon Sproule as a senior advisor. Recently explaining his early vision for the team ahead of its Audi transformation, Wheatley said: "It’s a small team that’s in the transition phase to becoming a fully-fledged works Formula 1 team.”

"There’s a myriad of projects that we need to get right. And one of those is meshing the people together. As a team, we need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, because change is coming. We have to be at the forefront of that, and we need to have a clear road map as to where we’re headed – and I believe we’re on that road map at the moment."

‘Crucial appointment’;

https://racingnews365.com/new-f1-tea...rsport-advisor

Wheatley vows to lead Kick Sauber ‘in my own way’ as he explains challenge ahead of Audi’s arrival.
“There’s an energy in the company in this transition from Sauber to the Audi Formula 1 project,” he said when asked how he was settling in during the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend. “I feel like I’m in absolutely the right place, to be honest.”
16 Apr 2025
Formula One - Official Site

For Wheatley, the project sees him complete another step up in his career as he takes on the role of a Team Principal for the first time, having started as a mechanic with Benetton back in 1991. And for much of his F1 career, the Briton has worked with some high-profile team bosses – most notably the sport’s current longest-serving Team Principal in Red Bull’s Christian Horner.

When asked what he had learned from Horner – who has been at the Red Bull helm since 2005 – Wheatley responded: “I think I’ve learned from everybody that I’ve worked with in this business over the last 34 years. I wouldn’t focus particularly on one individual, because there’s a learning exercise in this job every single day. I’ve been open to learning, open to listening, watching how people react.”

“People that you respect, people you’ve worked with for a long time – I worked at the last team for 19 years. I want to be my own Team Principal. I want to lead the team, along with Mattia, in my own way. I’ve always been pretty sure of my own thoughts and my own views. I have a plan for how we can start this transformation journey and carry the momentum through. And I’ll keep referring to it but it’s about the people – the people in the team. That’s my focus.”

“Energy in the company”;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...CaSEiXiV3WFXEf


New F1 team boss signs key motorsport advisor
Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley has made a crucial appointment to his backroom team.
20 Apr 2025
Ian Parkes
RacingNews365

Jonathan Wheatley has made a key signing following his recent appointment as the new team principal at Sauber. To aid him on his journey, Wheatley has appointed renowned motorsport figure Simon Sproule as a senior advisor. Recently explaining his early vision for the team ahead of its Audi transformation, Wheatley said: "It’s a small team that’s in the transition phase to becoming a fully-fledged works Formula 1 team.”

"There’s a myriad of projects that we need to get right. And one of those is meshing the people together. As a team, we need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, because change is coming. We have to be at the forefront of that, and we need to have a clear road map as to where we’re headed – and I believe we’re on that road map at the moment."

‘Crucial appointment’;

https://racingnews365.com/new-f1-tea...rsport-advisor


Sauber urged ‘to get comfortable with being uncomfortable’ as Audi F1 switch looms
11 Apr 2025
Taylor Powling
Motorsport Week

Sauber boss Jonathan Wheatley has pushed the team “to get comfortable with being uncomfortable” as it prepares to assume the Audi moniker in Formula 1 in 2026. “Actually, I was just saying to the guys before we came in here, it’s exciting; I’m re-energised,” Wheatley told media including Motorsport Week in Bahrain.

“I feel like I’m in absolutely the right place, to be honest. My family and I, we’ve moved to Switzerland. It’s an amazing country, which I’ve kind of driven through but never stayed in, and honestly, we’re making it home for ourselves, and I feel very, very at home at Sauber.” Wheatley revealed that his gardening leave period has allowed him to approach the role with a clear, long-term vision in mind as he bids to overturn Sauber’s fortunes.

“Well, I think I’m about two weeks into the job,” he highlighted. “I’m trying to use my eyes, ears, and mouth in proportion, which is unusual for me. I’m just taking on as much information as I can. I have a plan, and I need to keep referring to that and remember what my views were when I came in. There’s a myriad of projects that we need to get right and one of those is meshing the people together, you know and as a team we need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, because change is coming and we have to be at the forefront of that and we need to have a clear roadmap as to where we’re headed and I believe we’re on that roadmap at the moment.”

‘Re-energised’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/...-switch-looms/


Hulkenberg sums up his race: ‘Not enough speed, too much tyre deg’
20 Apr 2025
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Nico Hulkenberg finished 15th in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and said his Kick Sauber car simply didn’t have the pace for any more.

‘Hulkenberg sums up’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/hu...48819989516581


It's all about patience’ – Bortoleto admits transition from F2 title winner to F1 backmarker is ‘not easy’
25 Apr 2025
Formula One - Official Site

Gabriel Bortoleto has admitted that making the transition from winning championships in F2 and F3 to running near the back of the field in Formula 1 has been challenging, with the Kick Sauber driver acknowledging that “it's all about having patience” as he looks to continuously improve.

During the drivers’ press conference on media day at the recent Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Bortoleto was quizzed on how he is coping with a season that is proving to be very different to his past two years in F2 and F3. “It's not easy, if I'm honest,” the rookie responded. “It's not easy. You come from two championships – you’re used to being in this room but actually after a race, because you win or you are on the podium. Now for us it's already a mega job if you're going to Q2 or fighting for Q3.”

“There's always going to be someone paying this price at the beginning,” Bortoleto explained. “If you see George Russell at the beginning of his Formula 1 career, I don't think he scored a point in his first season, or something like this. And now he's one of the best drivers on the grid and doing such a great job, I wouldn’t say fighting for the championship right now, but he's constantly on the podium or fighting for things. So it's all about having patience.”

‘It's all about patience’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...N9XnicxR694Tmp


'He reminds us': F1 team have privately compared their rookie to a young Charles Leclerc -…
‘Wild’ F1 rookie is already reminding his team of a young Charles Leclerc behind the scenes
16 Apr 2025
David Comerford
F1 Oversteer

Charles Leclerc made his Formula 1 debut with Alfa Romeo – now known as Sauber – in 2018. Ferrari’s engine supply deal paved the way for their academy driver to jump into the midfield seat after winning the F2 title. Ferrari weren’t convinced by Leclerc at first, Kevin Magnussen has claimed. Teammate to the more experienced Marcus Ericsson, his first three results were 13th, 12th and 19th.

Sauber engineers say Gabriel Bortoleto has a similar work ethic to Charles Leclerc. According to Brazilian journalist Julianne Cerasoli, Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto is exhibiting some of Leclerc’s hallmarks. He’s currently bottom of the standings without a point on the board.

However, last year’s F2 champion impressively beat the highly-rated Nico Hulkenberg in his first-ever qualifying session in Australia. He would crash out of the race, but the treacherous conditions also caught out some of the most experienced drivers on the grid. Bortoleto out-raced Hulkenberg in China too, so while the German is on top overall, he potentially didn’t expect to face such a strong challenge. After the Bahrain GP, some Sauber engineers likened Bortoleto’s work ethic to their former driver Leclerc.

'He reminds us';

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/wil...nd-the-scenes/


Gabriel Bortoleto’s Secret Weapon? Max Verstappen’s Mentorship Behind the Scenes
Apr 13, 2025
Samriddhi Jaiswal
The Tribune, California

The Red Bull star has become an off-track coach, helping the Brazilian deal with the mental and strategic demands of F1. "We do a lot of simulators together," Bortoleto added. "He advises me to do the best I can in this championship. Make sure you finish the races, make sure you do well[...]He's still helping me a lot with my future."

With a no-nonsense approach and competitive edge, Verstappen has confirmed his active involvement in shaping Bortoleto's career. "I helped Gabi with certain decisions in his career," Max said. "He asked me for advice like ‘What would you do?' or "What should I sign?' You have a honest conversation about it, and ultimately I told him: ‘The most important thing you gotta do is step on the gas, then everyone will approach you.'"

‘Secret Weapon’;

https://www.sanluisobispo.com/sports...mainstage_lead

Aston Martin reveals Adrian Newey’s extreme focus on F1 2026.
“He has his office, everyone who walks past says that whenever they see him he’s always drawing on the whiteboard.” Andy Cowell.
26 Apr 2025
Dan Lawrence
Motorsport Week

Newey joined Aston Martin in early March as Managing Technical Partner, and after making his introductions, began working in earnest on the team’s 2026 car. The Silverstone-based squad is making no secret its plan is to capitalise one of the biggest rules shifts in F1 history, where changes are coming to the power units, chassis, aerodynamics and tyres.

Aston is taking a big step to become a works team next season, and the 2026 testing is approximately nine months away. “We have to work hard, the targets are complicated,” Cowell said. “The timescales are complicated. e are pushing, growing, implementing new tools and a very big organisation. But we are fighting very hard to have a fast car in 2026.”

Newey’s focus won’t be affected by 2025 form. Having Newey in its stable of course represents a huge opportunity for 2026, but Aston Martin’s start to the current campaign has been dismal, with just 10 points scored across five rounds. “100 per cent of Adrian’s designing time is focused on ’26,” said Cowell. “The test is at the end of January, so getting a car ready for that point requires a slightly earlier decision point. And clearly, everything’s new. There’s zero carryover. So there’s lots of work there, and Adrian has just been focused on that.”

“100 per cent of Adrian’s designing time is focused on ’26’ ”;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/...us-on-f1-2026/


The alleged Adrian Newey clue that Aston Martin have ‘checked out’ from F1 2025
23 Apr 2025
Michelle Foster
PlanetF1.com

Opting not to use Adrian Newey to develop the AMR25, Alex Brundle reckons Aston Martin have already “checked out” from the F1 2025 championship. Although Aston Martin scored points in the opening two races of the season, Lance Stroll sixth and ninth in Australia and China, they haven’t added to that tally since, with Fernando Alonso yet to get off the mark. Such has been their struggles, Stroll was asked by PlanetF1.com in Saudi Arabia what strengths the AMR25 has, if any. He replied: “I don’t think so.”

Prompted with a further ‘any at all’, he said: “I don’t think there’s any real strengths. We’re not the quickest car in a high-speed corner, we’re not the best car in low-speed traction. Maybe in straight-line braking, we’re quite okay.” It had commentator Alex Brundle pondering whether Aston Martin had given up on 2025, the Briton citing the team’s decision not to pull Adrian Newey away from the 2026 car to help develop this year’s AMR25.

“I get the sense that they’ve checked out from the season already,” he said. “You look at it and you’ve got Adrian Newey standing in Silverstone, penning a 2026 car. Remember they are one of the teams that will have an engine change into next year as well, so they move to a Honda engine. It’s a massive job. Making a new gearbox, and I don’t know.”

‘Checked out’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/adrian...t-from-f1-2025


Newey, Stroll Relationship Already Tense Says Doornbos
23 Apr 2025
GrandPrix.com

Former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos was at Jeddah, and he said the atmosphere around Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll is palpably tense. “Lawrence Stroll has a huge aura around him, but it's not so nice to be around him at the moment”, he told Ziggo Sport.

“The story is going around now that he's furious that Adrian Newey doesn't want to get involved with the 2025 car”, Doornbos added. Not just that, despite huge investments made by Stroll, he may currently be under pressure to sell the team to Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. There are talks going on about that, Doornbos insisted, explaining that Aston Martin's woeful pace may be driving down the value. "Newey is saying 'I'm only working on 2026', while Stroll is thinking 'I already pay you 33 million a year!

“I'm noticing that there is a lot of friction there.” Doornbos even thinks Newey will not be minding Aston Martin's performance crisis at all, because there will be no carry-over of components or design philosophy from 2025 to 2026. There is also a bit of strategy in it, the Dutchman continued. Newey won't mind if Aston Martin finishes second-to-last in the constructors, because then he will get a lot more time in the wind tunnel.

“I'm noticing that there is a lot of friction there”;

https://www.grandprix.com/news/newey...-doornbos.html


Aston Martin reveal Adrian Newey focus on 2026 development
Apr 22, 2025
Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
Last Word On Sports

Team principal Andy Cowell has been quick to emphasise that Aston’s star engineer is not working on the AMR25. “He has his office, everyone who passes by says he’s always drawing on his board. Of course, he doesn’t go to reunions, he doesn’t respond to emails – he is simply preparing a fast car. And all of us support that process.”

2025 to be a year of damage limitation. It would be a stretch to say that Aston Martin can simply discard this season. They still have to calibrate their new wind tunnel and development facilities – which requires bringing updates and ensuring accurate correlation between the track and factory.

With that said, the Silverstone outfit are unlikely to bother the front-runners in any meaningful way this season. Their inability to recover from their 2023 mid-season slump has resigned them to the midfield – at least until 2026. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll would have both expected slightly more of the AMR25, but they are equally aware that Aston’s transformation is calibrated towards 2026.

‘2025 to be a year of damage limitation’;

https://lastwordonsports.com/motorsp...6-development/


Fernando Alonso addresses crucial Adrian Newey choice: 'It's his decision'
Adrian Newey is continuing to embed himself into the Aston Martin F1 team but will have no impact on the current challenger.
27 Apr 2025
Fergal Walsh
RacingNews365

Fernando Alonso has asserted he has no concerns with Adrian Newey placing his focus on the 2026 Aston Martin car rather than developing fixes for its existing woes. Alonso downplayed the importance of building momentum throughout the year as he places one eye on the 2026 regulations, which threaten to shake up the F1 pecking order.

“[It is] less important than last year, because this year’s cars are a continuation of last year’s,” Alonso said. “The last race in Abu Dhabi… I don’t think that the results that we are seeing now are very different compared to Abu Dhabi. So I think next year is a completely new set of regulations that completely reset what you learn this year. Maybe it’s not super useful for next year in terms of aerodynamics on the car.”

“Obviously you always want to finish the season on a high and keep the motivation high for everybody. The motivation in the team is super high anyway because, as we said many times, we have our wind tunnel now working since a few weeks ago, we have Adrian in the team, we have Honda coming, new regulations, so the motivation is really high.”

'It's his decision';

https://racingnews365.com/fernando-a...s-his-decision


Aston Martin won’t divert Adrian Newey focus from F1 2026 despite poor 2025 start
18 Apr 2025
Taylor Powling
Motorsport Week

Aston Martin has insisted the team’s initial struggles in 2025 will not prompt it to divert Adrian Newey’s focus from work on Formula 1‘s upcoming regulation change. Aston Martin boss Andy Cowell, “[His thoughts] are focused largely on the tools that we’re using rather than any direct performance aspects of the 25 car,” he explained.

“But there is value in Adrian understanding the tools that we’ve got, the fidelity of those tools, and the precision with which they predict what’s going to happen on the racetrack.” Cowell also highlighted that Newey has been quick to commend the facilities at Aston Martin’s renovated Silverstone headquarters, which comprise a new wind tunnel.

“Adrian’s been hugely complimentary about the campus and has been positive about the tunnel that we’ve got and the way that everything’s been set up,” Cowell said. “He is, of course, pushing for us to improve the way we operate in the tunnel. He’s got thoughts on how to improve pretty much everything, and that’s the great thing about Adrian’s competitive drive.”

‘Aston Martin won’t divert Adrian Newey focus’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/...or-2025-start/

F1 NATION: Piastri to push on? Norris to bounce back? Verstappen the underdog? It’s our Miami Grand Prix preview.
After a week off, Formula 1 bursts back into action with the Miami Grand Prix. But who’s looking hot and who has work to do heading to Florida? Our F1 Nation crew are here to preview all the action…

Formula One - Official Site

After five races, Oscar Piastri is 10 points clear of his McLaren team mate Lando Norris at the top of the World Championship standings. So, what has Piastri got right so far this year? And where can Norris improve?

What advantage does Piastri have that could help his championship campaign? And will returning to the scene of his first Grand Prix victory last year help Norris get his title challenge back on track?

‘F1 NATION: Piastri to push on? Norris to bounce back? Verstappen the underdog? It’s our Miami Grand Prix preview’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...pu8JXzsnOpVp6p


Script flipped in McLaren battle; why Hamilton switch has Ricciardo vibes — F1 lessons learned so far
April 28th, 2025
Michael Lamonato from Fox Sports
Fox Sports (Australia)

You’d have found very few people who’d have picked Oscar Piastri to be the dominant McLaren driver and even fewer still who’d have thought he’d be leading the drivers championship after five rounds. But that’s exactly the position in which the Australian finds himself, his three wins making him the only multiple winner of the year to date.

His victory in Saudi Arabia was the first of the season not to have been claimed from pole. It all amounts to the realisation of Piastri’s off-season goal to fill in the gaps in his game that left him a step behind Norris in 2024. He’s flipped his qualifying deficit to the Briton into a healthy advantage, and his race-to-race consistency is practically flawless, finishing off the podium only once, thanks to Melbourne’s treacherous conditions.

In fact you can reasonably argue he’s been the faster McLaren driver in every race, even when Norris has finished ahead of him. Ironically the most credible exception is Saudi Arabia, which Piastri won anyway despite Norris having looked quicker until he crashed out of Q3. Five races don’t make a season, and it’s on Piastri to perpetuate his momentum, but it’s been a mighty opening serve from the Melburnian in his first title-contending campaign.

‘Three wins making him the only multiple winner of the year to date’;

https://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsp...69d497ef9f58f9


Lando Norris sacrifices are a warning shot to Oscar Piastri as McLaren scrap steps up
COMMENT: Oscar Piastri is currently Lando Norris' most threatening title rival.
Apr 27, 2025
Harry Smith
Daily and Sunday Express

Piastri now leads the World Championship by 10 points and is widely touted as the favourite to land the trophy this year after winning three of the last four races. The bookies certainly believe as much. Norris, meanwhile, is one slip-up short of entering crisis mode. The 25-year-old’s confidence is low, and he is facing mounting pressure, both from fans and the form of his two closest title rivals.

However, the Brit’s interviews after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix should serve as a warning sign to his team-mate that he won’t go down without a fight. While other drivers expressed their glee about having a weekend to relax before round six of the season, Norris explained that he will be back at home, training and building his fitness as he looks to reignite the title fight.

The Bristol-born driver will even miss out on a trip to Amsterdam for the Koningsdag festivities with his friends. “No, sadly not,” he told a Viaplay reporter when asked if he would be in attendance. “I wish because it was one of the best days of my life, and I won Miami! I mean, I know… I miss all my friends. I had a great week with Martin [Garrix] and the whole gang in Amsterdam last year, but I'm fighting for a championship, I can’t afford to do these things.

‘One slip-up short of entering crisis mode’;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...iastri-McLaren


Lewis Hamilton set for more doom and gloom in Miami GP ‘struggle’
28 Apr 2025
Thomas Maher
PlanetF1.com

Having finished 30 seconds behind Charles Leclerc in Saudi Arabia, Lewis Hamilton is expecting more disappointments this weekend in Miami. “I think I’ll struggle also in Miami,” Hamilton told media, including PlanetF1.com, in Saudi Arabia. “I don’t know how much longer I’ll struggle for, but it’s definitely painful. At the moment there’s no fix. So, this is how it’s going to be for the rest of the year. It’s going to be painful.”

“He’s (Charles Leclerc )been driving this car for a long time, so he definitely knows it really well. There’s plenty in the data, for sure,” Hamilton explained. “I mean, honestly, like, it doesn’t look massively different in the data. Just… I go slower through the corners. We do have slightly different setups, I have to look and see whether that setup is the way the car likes to be. Yeah, him and his side are definitely obviously doing a better job.”

“It was horrible. It was horrible. Not enjoyable at all. I was just sliding around,” he said of a race in which there was “nothing positive” to take anything away from. First stint, massive understeer, car not turning. And then massive deg. And then the second stint, slightly better balance, but still just no pace. Yeah, pretty bad. I’m struggling to feel the car underneath me. But there’s no particular thing. There’s nothing to say ‘Hey, this is the issue’. In qualifying, it’s me extracting performance. In the race, I tried everything, and the car just didn’t want to go quicker.”

‘More doom and gloom’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-...ainful-verdict


Max Verstappen braced for more Red Bull frustration after Miami Grand Prix update
Max Verstappen and Red Bull have been on a rollercoaster ride this season.
Apr 28, 2025
Harry Smith
Daily and Sunday Express

Helmut Marko believes that the higher temperatures expected at the Miami Grand Prix this weekend will swing the race in favour of McLaren. Max Verstappen missed out on a win in Jeddah last time out and is losing ground in the Drivers’ Championship fight. Verstappen went into the 2025 season with aspirations of recording a fifth consecutive Drivers’ Championship crown, which would have levelled Michael Schumacher’s record. “What do the findings from the first five races mean for the upcoming race in Miami?” Marko penned in his Speedweek column.

“Once again, we’re talking about a completely different track, but above all, we’re expecting higher temperatures. On paper, that’s not an advantage for us. In Jeddah, we were eight-tenths behind McLaren in the third practice session, in significantly warmer conditions than later in qualifying. We and the other opponents expected McLaren to drive away from everyone. But that didn’t happen.”

“In Miami, we still expect the conditions to be more in McLaren’s favour. Our task at the moment is to develop a broader working window for our race car, and also to reduce certain weaknesses of the car before the races in Europe and thus improve the basic speed of the car.”

‘More Red Bull frustration’;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...ami-Grand-Prix


One F1 team are in a state of chaos before Miami Grand Prix with driver line-up still uncertain
22 Apr 2025
Tyler Rowlinson
F1 Oversteer

Alpine are in a state of chaos as Jack Doohan’s future is still uncertain. Jack Doohan has been fighting to stay in F1 since joining Alpine at the end of 2024. The Aussie has been under pressure from Franco Colapinto since Flavio Briatore signed the Argentine as the team’s reserve driver.

While Colapinto has a long-term contract, Doohan is alleged to have a six-race deal. In theory, after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, those races are up. Journalist Nate Saunders has a ‘hunch’ that Colapinto will replace Doohan in Miami, with his performances to date leaving something to be desired. The 22-year-old has yet to score in 2025 and has suffered two costly accidents in Australia and Japan.

After Doohan finished 17th in Jeddah while teammate Pierre Gasly crashed after a few corners, Alpine had ‘long faces’ in the hospitality. It has heightened rumours that Colapinto could be brought in for Miami, but journalist Leonardo Regueira says the Argentine has been given ‘radio silence’ on the matter.

‘State of chaos’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/one...ill-uncertain/

Norris has a big Piastri problem. A landmark McLaren moment one year ago hinted it was coming.
Rather than shadowing his championship challenge, as many has predicted after last season, Piastri is overshadowing Norris’s title hopes.
Apr 29th, 2025
Michael Lamonato from Fox Sports
Fox Sports (Australia)

Lando Norris has an Oscar Piastri problem. The Australian has just taken the championship lead from his teammate with a 10-point advantage. He’s on a two-race victory streak and has three wins from five races as the only multiple winner of the season to date. In Miami last year, where Norris received the full upgrade package but Piastri, lower in the drivers championship at the time, had to make do with only a partial update. The team calculated the difference between the two specifications was around 0.2 seconds.

In other words, all things being equal, Piastri should have been around 0.2 seconds slower than Norris every lap. In sprint qualifying Piastri beat Norris by 0.311 seconds — a net advantage of 0.511 seconds. In qualifying for the grand prix Norris beat Piastri by just 0.081 seconds, putting Piastri a net 0.119 seconds ahead.

“We knew already how fast he is on a single lap,” McLaren boss Andrea Stella said, per Autosport, at the end of the weekend. “Considering that he didn’t have the full package, let me pay proper credit to Oscar. The gap he had to Lando in qualifying is smaller than the difference of the package he had. He was really pulling off strong performance over a single lap in very difficult conditions.”

‘Norris has a big Piastri problem’;

https://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsp...0ffb8567159b59


Time for Piastri to get upgrade priority instead of Norris? Seven Miami GP talking points
Apr 29th, 2025
Keith Collantine
RaceFans

At last year’s Miami Grand Prix, only Norris received McLaren’s upgrade in full. The revisions propelled McLaren from occasional podium finishers to regular contenders for victory. Despite a poor result in qualifying, and thanks to strong race pace and a fortuitously-timed Safety Car appearance, Norris finally claimed the first victory of his career.

But 12 months on the situation is rather different. Norris may have added four more wins, but Piastri tied him on five career grand prix victories last time out. What’s more, Piastri claimed the lead in the drivers’ championship, where he leads his team mate by 10 points. There may still be occasions where McLaren can only bring one example of its latest upgrade to a race weekend. With Piastri now leading the way, surely it should now be him and not Norris who gets first call on the latest hardware?

‘Time for Piastri to get upgrade priority’;

https://www.racefans.net/2025/04/29/...alking-points/


Oscar Piastri told he now possesses one ‘quality’ Lando Norris doesn’t have that could win him the F1 world championship
29 Apr 2025
Ben Evans
F1 Oversteer

McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris will be preparing to do battle again at the Miami Grand Prix as the race to win the 2025 Formula 1 world championship continues on Sunday. Jolyon Palmer lauds ‘unflappable’ Oscar Piastri over Lando Norris. Palmer was speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast in the build-up to the next race in Miami.

Piastri has warned his team he won’t be making the same mistake as Norris, and Palmer explained the difference he’s seen in the two drivers in 2025 by saying, “You can look at the Saudi race, and Max getting the penalty, which definitely decided the race. “But Oscar forced the penalty by executing the perfect start, and it’s not many times a driver can beat Max off the line into turn one.”

“And then have the wherewithal to brake late to make sure Max can’t go around the outside, but not make the mistake yourself and go off the road. So, he just measured it perfectly and that won him the race. And I just think this unflappable quality that we’ve seen from him, it gives him a bit of an edge at the moment, which is not what we’ve seen from Lando.”

‘Unflappable’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/osc...-championship/


Red Bull warned over double disadvantage in Miami McLaren showdown
Former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde sat down with RacingNews365 to explain the twin hurdles facing Max Verstappen and Red Bull at the Miami Grand Prix.
29 Apr 2025
Jan van der Burgt & Samuel Coop
RacingNews365

In the paddock, the consensus is that Max Verstappen is out-performing the RB21, as he did last season with the RB20. However, Van der Garde feels that given the high rate of tyre wear expected at the Miami International Autodrome, the four-time F1 drivers' champion could struggle if Red Bull does not quickly get on top of its set up.

"As a driver, you can make a difference everywhere, but Miami is a track with a fairly high tyre wear, so that will be a thing," the former Caterham driver said. "However, if they [Red Bull] can find a good setup for that, then he [Verstappen] can definitely compete. The disadvantage is that this weekend is a sprint race weekend. The last couple of times Red Bull was always a bit searching [for answers on sprint weekends].”

"In Jeddah, we saw that after Friday, which was not quite right initially. Red Bull managed to turn things around with a good setup. That opportunity is not there now. The first free practice is immediately followed by sprint qualifying. And that makes a sprint weekend always a bit of a disadvantage for Red Bull. On the other hand, Verstappen will compete for the podium, but I do think the McLaren will be very fast [in Miami] again."

‘Sprint race weekend disadvantage’;

https://racingnews365.com/red-bull-w...laren-showdown


Red Bull’s grim Miami Grand Prix prediction as Honda stake Verstappen claim – round-up
28 Apr 2025
Elizabeth Blackstock
PlanetF1.com

While the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix brought with it a better than expected result for the Red Bull Racing crew, things aren’t looking so good for Miami.

The RB21’s narrow operating window is even more troublesome in hot conditions, and Helmut Marko expects the race in Florida to be difficult.

‘Red Bull’s grim Miami Grand Prix prediction’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/f1-new...nda-verstappen


What Ferrari insiders are now saying about fixing their car’s ‘fundamental issues’ ruining Lewis Hamilton’s 2025 season
29 Apr 2025
Ben Evans
F1 Oversteer

Ferrari insiders ‘addressing’ issue with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s car. A report from The Race has shared more information about the work currently going on at Ferrari’s headquarters in Maranello. They report that while the floor update has improved the car, it’s not solved the SF-25’s ‘fundamental weaknesses’.

There are issues with both the mechanical aspects of the car, and its aerodynamics, meaning Hamilton and Leclerc are at a constant disadvantage to the McLaren drivers among others on the grid. It’s believed that Loic Serra and Diego Tondi are now ‘focusing their efforts’ on fixing this, including the underfloor design of the car which has already been updated once this year.

Ferrari’s car needs to be driven with the least possible ground clearance, but as Hamilton’s disqualification demonstrated in Shanghai, running too low is also a major issue. There may be a temptation for Ferrari to shift focus to 2026 given that they’re already more than 100 points behind McLaren in the constructors’ championship. However, it’s been suggested that Ferrari insiders think that ‘targeted updates’ alongside the use of the team’s wind tunnel and CFD simulations can improve the car’s handling.

‘Fundamental issues’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/wha...s-2025-season/


Lewis Hamilton setback as Ferrari SF-25 ‘crisis’ scenario uncovered – report
29 Apr 2025
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

Hamilton has said he is struggling to gel with a Ferrari SF-25 which feels “alien” to him after 12 seasons with Mercedes, but reportedly, a critical flaw to the Ferrari challenger has been uncovered, one which would certainly not be helping his cause.

Only once so far in F1 2025 has a Ferrari made the top three in qualifying, and La Gazzetta dello Sport are reporting that when the SF-25 runs with minimal fuel, the slow-speed sections of a track become a major problem, as the car “goes into crisis” when it is looking for mechanical grip in such conditions, as would be the case in qualifying. The report adds that the Ferrari SF-25 is ‘particularly sensitive’ to changes in ride height.

‘Setback’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-...corners-crisis

George Russell has decided which F1 team he wants to drive for in 2026 after doubts over Mercedes future.
Russell could join Red Bull which would be an incredible story, ending an eight-year partnership with his current team.
27 Apr 2025
Shay Rogers
F1 Oversteer

Doubt around George Russell’s Formula 1 future continues to grow as the season progresses, with the Brit yet to sign a deal for 2026. The 27-year-old’s current Mercedes deal expires at the end of the campaign, with the team currently having no drivers under contract beyond the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

His next move is a crucial one, with the 2026 F1 regulations set to shake the grid up and completely change the running order of the field. In other words, success is no guarantee with any team for Russell, including Mercedes. He’s probably always slightly better off at a factory team, though. Mercedes have decided Russell is ‘secondary’ in the race for a seat against Max Verstappen this year, which is harsh considering how well he has performed.

‘Doubt’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/geo...rcedes-future/


Toto Wolff is now unlikely to respect George Russell’s Lando Norris request to secure new Mercedes contract
29 Apr 2025
Kyle Archer
F1 Oversteer

George Russell is out of contract with Mercedes after the 2025 Formula 1 season and faces a potential fight to remain at the Silver Arrows with Max Verstappen an option. The 27-year-old has been in Brackley since the 2022 term after Mercedes promoted Russell from Williams to replace Valtteri Bottas. It marked the culmination of his journey that began in 2017 when the Briton joined the Silver Arrows’ academy and yielded his F1 debut in 2019.

Toto Wolff is unlikely to give George Russell a Mercedes pay rise close to Lando Norris’ McLaren wage. That is according to Auto Action, which notes that Wolff knows Mercedes have time on their hands to decide on their driver line-up for 2026 and they are under no pressure to give in to Russell’s demands as he does not have any other option to race for a top team next season.

Verstappen leaving Red Bull would open a vacancy and their team principal Christian Horner believes it would be ‘foolish’ not to consider Russell. But Red Bull will run their own engines for the first time under the 2026 F1 regulations and are not expected to remain a top team. McLaren and Ferrari also have their driver line-ups locked in for at least 2026. It is even said that there is no chance of Russell joining Aston Martin as they become Honda’s works team in 2026 as his camp and Lawrence Stroll have not recovered from a massive fallout in 2016.

‘Mercedes pay rise unlikely’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/tot...edes-contract/


Natalie Pinkham has spotted a George Russell change that highlights exactly which F1 team he should be driving for in 2026
28 Apr 2025
Shay Rogers
F1 Oversteer

There are eight Formula 1 seats currently up for grabs in 2026 and Mercedes have two of them as silly season arrives. It means that George Russell finds himself out of contract at the end of the current campaign, unless he can negotiate a new deal before then.

Mercedes have decided Russell is secondary to Max Verstappen, with Ted Kravitz suggesting that signing the reigning champion may be their priority. It comes just weeks after Russell ‘struggled massively’ at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and managed fifth place, equalling his worst result of the campaign.

Natalie Pinkham thinks that the young Italian’s arrival has brought about a change for Russell. “I think he’s really enjoying himself as well. He seems much more relaxed somehow and I think you’re right. Antonelli is a different type of pressure for him,” she said. “He’s being a generous teammate, he publicly acknowledges how talented Kimi is. But he is just getting on with it and I just love the energy that the team are giving off at the moment.”

‘Really enjoying himself’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/features...g-for-in-2026/


FIA ignore George Russell as Brit flags Saudi Arabian GP issue for third year running
George Russell has made the same complaint to the FIA for three years.
Apr 21, 2025
Sam Smith
Daily and Sunday Express

George Russell has accused the FIA of ignoring his complaints about the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix circuit for three years. The Mercedes star has raised the issue of poor lighting on the right-hand side of the track.

Russell pointed out one part of the track where lights only shine on the left, with the right-hand side appearing much darker for drivers. He claimed to have communicated the problem to the FIA for the last three years, but nothing has been done to mitigate the issue. The 27-year-old made his feelings clear in a post-race interview with Sky Sports after finishing fifth in Jeddah.

Russell, who was excited to use the broadcaster’s SkyPad to annotate the track, said: “As you come into the corner, it gets really dark on the right-hand side. You see how bright it is [on the left side].” Asked if he will feed back the comments to the FIA, Russell said: “I mean, I’ve mentioned it for about three years now. Nothing’s really changed.”

‘Same complaint to the FIA for three years’;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...ian-grand-prix


George Russell casts unfortunate Mercedes F1 title admission
29 Apr 2025
Taylor Powling
Motorsport Week

George Russell has claimed his record against Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes could have delivered him two Formula 1 titles had he been with the team in an earlier era. The Briton highlighted that eclipsing Hamilton on two occasions would have pocketed him at least one championship had it coincided with Mercedes’ dominant spell.

“Everybody is in Lewis’s shadow, being team-mates with a seven-time World Champion for three years is not straightforward,” Russell told The Athletic. “There was once a time that if you finished ahead of Lewis Hamilton in a championship or in a race, you’d win the race. Or, if you finish ahead of the championship, you’d win the championship. If my time was five years prior, you could argue I’d have two championships to my name.”

“Everybody is in Lewis’s shadow”;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/...tle-admission/


George Russell Is Using Sleep, Mental Fitness and Novak Djokovic’s Advice to Build a Long F1 Career
Apr 29, 2025
Samriddhi Jaiswal
The Kansas City Star

George Russell isn't just racing rivals-he's racing time. As Formula 1 evolves into a sport defined by fine margins and relentless youth, Russell is going all-in on something most fans never see: optimizing his life outside the cockpit to stay sharp, fast, and relevant for the next 10 to 15 years. "When you travel around the world, it's not smooth on the body, it's not clean on the stomach," Russell explained to The Athletic. "It doesn't matter if you're flying first class or whatever, it's still food from an airplane that is not your home food."

He's worked with a psychologist for five years, but this season, that relationship has become more integral than ever. "I personally think in five years' time, this will be the norm - the same way as every driver's got their own fitness coach," he said. Importantly, his journey with mental health wasn't prompted by a crisis. "I wasn't in a bad place," Russell said. "I just thought, ‘People are talking about it, there's awareness, I want to give it a go.' And it gave me more than I thought. Not only did it make me feel better, it started aiding my performances."

This work has helped the Briton deal with the emotional highs and lows of F1-particularly the losses. He no longer tries to outwork every problem. "Everyone thinks more is better-'I'm going to do more hours in the gym, more with the team, more simulator time'-but there comes a point where it's just inefficient and counterproductive," he said. Instead, he's embraced mindfulness. After every track session, he now takes 15 quiet minutes to scooter a lap of the circuit-not to analyze, but to reset. "It might not work for everyone, but it works for me," he said.

‘Isn't just racing rivals-he's racing time’;

https://www.kansascity.com/sports/ar...mainstage_card

Red Bull have done ‘one of the worst things’ an F1 team can do to their driver and Max Verstappen is suffering.
Oliver Oakes says ‘one of the worst things’ an F1 team can do is ignore their drivers – Red Bull have done that to Max Verstappen.
25 Apr 2025
Tyler Rowlinson
F1 Oversteer

The 2025 Formula 1 season was always going to be a difficult title defence for Max Verstappen. Red Bull have clearly fallen behind McLaren in development. This was made apparent midway through 2024, when the Woking outfit emerged with the fastest car. Despite this, Verstappen had built enough of an advantage to win the title by 63 points over Lando Norris.

Verstappen is ‘most frustrated’ Red Bull ignored him and his concerns about the car. According to Oliver Oakes, this is ‘one of the worst things’ an F1 team can do to their drivers. Speaking via F1 Explains, the Alpine team principal discussed how he deals with his drivers’ feedback: “That’s a tricky one. You never get the same feedback from both. “You need to delve into that. Where are they both coming from? Because sometimes they are feeling the same thing but it’s coming from different ways.

‘Red Bull ignored him’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/red...-is-suffering/


‘They already knew’: Christian Danner hints Red Bull ‘fact’ now proves Sergio Perez ‘had to take the fall’ for bigger problem
16 Apr 2025
Kyle Archer
F1 Oversteer

Red Bull’s 2025 problems show Sergio Perez ‘took the fall’ for their inability to improve. Verstappen has had to fight the RB21’s through-corner balance issues all year. He is sat third in the F1 drivers’ standings more through his talent than Red Bull having a car that can fight, resulting in Verstappen’s manager having a heated exchange with Helmut Marko in Bahrain.

Sakir saw the RB21 at arguably its worst, despite Tsunoda being the first Red Bull driver not named Verstappen in the points since Perez. And Christian Danner hints Verstappen’s P6 at the Bahrain GP shows Perez took the fall for Red Bull not refining a car they knew was bad. Danner told Motorsport-Magazin: “Sergio Perez had to take the fall because he always said it couldn’t go on like this. That meant that last year, they already knew there was real work to be done… The team sees and hears the problems, but aren’t able to solve them.”

“If there was a ‘quick fix’, it would have been implemented long ago. The car has been poor since the middle of last year. It’s no longer good enough to dominate and give Verstappen what he needs.” Danner continued: “The car is equipped with tons of sensors by the best data engineers and the best data engineers are analysing this information. The fact that it’s taking so long shows either the wrong people are involved or the error hasn’t even been properly analysed yet.”

‘They already knew’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/chr...igger-problem/


Wheatley: Perez ‘more than capable’ of coming back to F1
29/04/2025
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Jonathan Wheatley, the former Red Bull sporting director and newly appointed Sauber team principal, has thrown his weight behind Perez, insisting the 34-year-old has the talent and experience to make a successful return to the grid in 2026. Wheatley, who worked closely with the six-time Grand Prix winner during his four-year stint at Red Bull, believes Perez could thrive with a new team like Cadillac, which will enter the sport F1 in 2026.

Speaking to Formula.Hu, Wheatley highlighted Perez’s mental fortitude, technical acumen, and ability to rebound from setbacks as key factors that make him a prime candidate for a comeback. "I think he's more than capable of coming back and very quickly getting up to speed in a new team," Wheatley told Formula.Hu. "Checo was in one of the toughest seats in Formula 1 last year, next to Max, and when you're up against somebody like him, you have to keep looking in the mirror and asking more questions of yourself.”

"I think if we look back, he struggled a little bit more with the car than Max did, and that seems to be consistent this year as well. I was always surprised how he could rebuild himself and come back stronger from each setback. He seems to have an incredible ability to rebuild, and I think also he's just got a great way with him, with the team, and the team naturally responds well to him."

More than capable’;

https://f1i.com/news/537087-wheatley...ack-to-f1.html


Revealed: The Max Verstappen quality equal to ‘€10 million of car development’
29 Apr 2025
Thomas Maher
PlanetF1.com

Max Verstappen’s speed is the equivalent of €10 million worth of car development, believes one of his former F1 bosses. Where the RB21 is lacking, Tost said, Verstappen can compensate due to him being “simply three-tenths faster per lap than anyone else.” This advantage, Tost told Germany’s F1-Insider.com, means that Verstappen can win races even “with a tractor”, and explained, “Last year, Max did a test with a Ferrari GT racing car. He was immediately two seconds faster than the rest.”

“Max has a feel for speed, an incredible overview, unbelievable vehicle contr,ol and an incredible feel for a car – no matter which one. He would therefore get to grips with any Formula 1 car straight away. Of course, he will then fine-tune the car to best suit his driving style.” The three-tenths that Verstappen brings to a team, Tost believes, is equivalent to millions of euros of worth of car development, and far in excess of what a team can achieve with any single update.

“You can’t normally make a step like that with an update,” he said. “Unless you find a miracle part by chance. It normally takes a very long time to make your car 0.3 seconds faster per lap. Extrapolated over a year, that costs ten million. At least.”

‘Max Verstappen: €10 million worth of car development’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/max-ve...ent-franz-tost


Yuki Tsunoda unlocks ‘huge step forward’ at Red Bull in Helmut Marko report
29 Apr 2025
Sam Cooper
PlanetF1.com

Helmut Marko has been pleased with Yuki Tsunoda’s performances so far at Red Bull after the Japanese driver replaced Liam Lawson. “His speed is right, as is his approach,” Marko told Speedweek. “When things get serious in qualifying, he loses time to Max, but the normal margin is two or three tenths. Tsunoda goes his own way.

“A crash like the one with Gasly on the first lap of the Saudi Arabia GP, that can happen, from our calculations he could have finished sixth. And that’s a huge step forward, because before him, our second car rarely came close to the top ten.”

However, Marko’s praise for Tsunoda paled in comparison to the Austrian’s comments on Isack Hadjar with Marko saying the rookie was “the revelation of this first phase of the World Championship.”

‘Huge step forward’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/yuki-t...t-marko-report


Max Verstappen has made a change behind the scenes at Red Bull that’s reminded people of Michael Schumacher at Ferrari
29 Apr 2025
Ben Evans
F1 Oversteer

Max Verstappen setting up Red Bull the same way Michael Schumacher led Ferrari. Journalist Tom Clarkson was speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast in the build-up to the Miami Grand Prix. Clarkson was speaking about Verstappen’s influence at Red Bull and explained: “He is the glue that’s keeping that whole outfit together. You just walk into the Red Bull hospitality area. If he’s there, there is an energy about the place. He’s the driving force. I really believe he is.”

“Teams are set up around Max in the way they were around Michael Schumacher. I see so many parallels between Schumacher and Max Verstappen. And I’ve said it before, I’m going to say it again now, but I do think if or when Max Verstappen leaves Red Bull, it’s going to have a similar effect on that team as when Michael left Benetton in the mid-90s. It’ll take the team a while to rebuild because it is such a massive hole to fill.”

“He is the glue”;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/max...er-at-ferrari/


Yuki Tsunoda opens up on learning curve alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull
Tsunoda adjusting to the RB21’s demands as he works to close the gap to Verstappen and master Red Bull’s tyre sensitivity challenges
29 Apr 2025
John Smith
Total Motorsport

Despite his growing confidence behind the wheel, Yuki Tsunoda acknowledges that he’s still learning how to prepare the Pirelli tyres optimally during qualifying sessions, an area where Verstappen excels.

“Max senses more things in the car than I do, like for example the tyre temperature when you leave the garage,” Tsunoda said. “When the temperature drops, he can adapt the warm-up lap, he knows how to warm up the tyres in each corner, maybe increase the pace or things like that.”

“I personally didn’t feel it that way. I couldn’t feel what I felt with the Racing Bulls. I still can’t feel it with this car, maybe just because I’m not driving completely relaxed.”

‘Red Bull’s tyre sensitivity challenges’;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/yuk...-bull-f1-2025/

Lando Norris's long list of mistakes that makes Piastri the new F1 title favourite.
Norris has gone from championship favourite at the start of the year to lagging behind the Australian, both in terms of momentum and, since Saudi Arabia, also in the standings, which Piastri now leads with a 10-point gap to the British driver.
May 1st 2025
Pablo Elizalde
Motor Sport Magazine

Since scoring his maiden Formula 1 win in Miami a year ago, Lando Norris has enjoyed several highs, but also many lows which threaten to relegate him to second fiddle to Oscar Piastri if he doesn't bounce back quickly.

Piastri’s advantage is the result of having been the more consistent of the team-mates, as Norris is having a lot more difficulty getting on top of the Woking team’s 2025 car.

‘Long list of mistakes’;

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/a...?nowprocket=1#


‘Papaya rules will become papaya wrecks’ as McLaren ‘meltdown’ looms
1 May 2025
Michelle Foster
PlanetF1.com

Martin Brundle says it is “smart” that McLaren are preparing for the inevitable “meltdown” when Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have the big one on the track. Team CEO Zak Brown reckons it’s only a matter of time before they have the big one on the track, the one that could define the championship fight.

He is, however, hoping that when it does happen, it’s nothing more than a “racing incident”. “I think it’s definitely a matter of when, rather than if,” said the American. “You have two racing drivers, whether in the same team or different team, that are next to each other for 24 races, someone’s going to lock a brake…”

“So I’m kind of looking forward to getting it over with because I don’t think it’s going to be anywhere near as exciting as everybody thinks. I think it will be a racing incident when that day comes. I think it’s inevitable. They’re two great characters. Neither of them are hotheads, so we’re not worried about it, and to a certain extent, kind of looking forward to just getting it out of the way.”

‘Papaya wrecks’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/papaya...martin-brundle


Lewis Hamilton given ‘final chance’ title warning with his ‘prime’ now ‘past’
30 Apr 2025
Sam Cooper
PlanetF1.com

“I think 2026 is Lewis Hamilton‘s final chance at getting the eighth championship,” Herbert told AceOdds. “He’s 40 years old now, is he in his prime? No. Has that prime past? Yes. Is he still really good? Yes. But, Charles Leclerc is better than Hamilton at the moment, so even if the Ferrari improves, he needs to beat his teammate.”

Herbert said that Hamilton needed the change of scenery that came with the move to Ferrari, suggesting that it looked like he was losing motivation at Mercedes. “Last season, the Mercedes was so inconsistent, sometimes it could win races, then struggle to get anywhere near the podium. Lewis Hamilton, I felt, was also losing motivation at the team and was frustrated.”

‘Final chance’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-...w-past-ferrari


Ferrari have now set a ‘day of resurrection’ that could transform Lewis Hamilton’s season after FIA announcement
30 Apr 2025
David Comerford
F1 Oversteer

Ferrari believe the Spanish Grand Prix rule changes can resurrect their 2025 season. According to Motorsport Italy, Ferrari are still holding out of hope of a ‘day of resurrection’. But it won’t come from any updates. Instead, they’re banking on the FIA’s front-wing clampdown at the Spanish Grand Prix (30 May – 1 June). The permitted flexibility will be significantly reduced.

The belief at Maranello is that McLaren and Mercedes, currently the top two in the constructors’ championship, are exploiting the existing loopholes. By contrast, Leclerc is confident that Ferrari won’t lose much performance. A third of the season will already be in the books when F1 rolls into Barcelona (round nine). Thus, it could be too late to enter the title conversation, but a shift in the pecking order may at least lift the sunken mood at Ferrari.

‘Day of resurrection’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/fer...-announcement/


Mercedes wary of threat as vital weakness learnings gained
Mercedes sit second in the F1 constructors' title following the opening five grands prix, can it continue its strong start in the Miami Grand Prix?
29 Apr 2025
Nick Golding
RacingNews365

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has urged his outfit to "build on" from its positive start to the season, but has stressed it will not succumb to the threat of becoming entitled or complacent. "We have had a good start to the season but we have no sense of entitlement or complacency," said Wolff.

"We want to continue, and build on, the positive trajectory we have established so far in the first five races. Saudi Arabia was a more challenging Grand Prix but, with temperatures high and the same tyre compound range as in Jeddah, we have plenty of learnings we can take into this weekend. "We are therefore hopeful of a more competitive showing."

‘Mercedes sit second’;

https://racingnews365.com/mercedes-w...arnings-gained


George Russell believes he’s equal to Max Verstappen
The Brit is fourth in the standings, 26 points behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri
1 May 2025
Brandon Sutton
Total Motorsport

“I feel absolutely ready to win the world championship, to be honest,” George Russell told The Athletic. “Every time we’ve had half a chance to win or pole, we’ve been the ones to take it.”

“I feel that I am getting stronger and stronger every season. I feel ready and have confidence in myself. I believe I am equal to any driver on the grid.”

“I will never say that my performance is the best, because I think if you believe you are at the top it is the beginning of the decline. You always have to believe you can give more.”

‘Equal to Max’;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/geo...2025-miami-gp/


Miami heat could spell trouble for Red Bull, says Marko
01/05/2025
Michael Delaney
F1i.com

“What do the findings from the first five races mean for the upcoming race in Miami?” Marko wrote. “Once again, we’re talking about a completely different track, but above all we’re expecting higher temperatures.”

“On paper, that’s not an advantage for us. In Jeddah, we were eight-tenths behind McLaren in the third practice session, in significantly warmer conditions than later in qualifying. We and the other opponents expected McLaren to drive away from everyone. But that didn’t happen. In Miami, we still expect the conditions to be more in McLaren’s favour.”

“Our task at the moment is to develop a broader working window for our race car; and also to reduce certain weaknesses of the car before the races in Europe and thus improve the basic speed of the car,” Marko concluded.

“On paper, that’s not an advantage for us”;

https://f1i.com/news/537149-miami-he...ays-marko.html


Max Verstappen’s engineer just took an ‘unusual’ step inspired by Ross Brawn to help Red Bull before the Miami Grand Prix
30 Apr 2025
Ben Evans
Oversteer

Gianpiero Lambiase makes ‘unusual’ Red Bull factory visit ahead of the Miami Grand Prix. A report from the Italian outlet Autoracer has shared more details about how Red Bull are planning to make up the deficit to McLaren. Lambiase, according to the report, took the ‘unusual’ step of returning to Red Bull’s factory ahead of the race in Saudi Arabia to ‘personally contribute’ to technical discussions going on about the car.

Presumably, he was passing on the information that Verstappen had given him, but interestingly, the report compares him to former Ferrari and Brawn GP chief Ross Brawn. Brawn, who was notorious for getting heavily involved in the ongoings at every team he worked for, is one of the figures any team would most like their staff to try and emulate given his dedication and success.

Lambiase, known to many as GP, has been working for Red Bull for over a decade having started his F1 career with Jordan. Among the shake-up of senior staff at Red Bull, Lambiase was promoted when Jonathan Wheatley announced he was taking over as Sauber team principal. However, he hasn’t given up any of his race engineer duties for Verstappen, and while he’s sometimes one of the more frosty characters over the team radio, Lambiase deals with him well.

‘Passing on the information that Verstappen had given him’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/max...mi-grand-prix/

I plan to do it again – Lando Norris targeting another Miami Grand Prix victory.
Lando Norris has vowed to follow up his maiden Formula One victory in Miami by winning again a year on and reigniting his stalling world championship challenge.
1 May 2025,
philip duncan
Yahoo! Sport

The British driver ended his winless run in F1 by taking victory at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium last year. And Norris said: “It is a place that brings good memories. I dreamt as a kid to win in F1 and standing on the top step and I was able to do it here. There are a lot of things that have brought a smile to my face since I have returned, and I plan to do it again.”

‘Reigniting his stalling world championship challenge’;

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/pla...180637380.html


Norris explains why he isn’t worried about Piastri form
The Australian star has won three races in a row and has taken the lead of the championship away from Norris.
1 May 2025
Brandon Sutton
Total Motorsport

“No worries at all,” Norris told members of the media, including Total-Motorsport.com, of his teammate’s success. “He’s doing a good job, and he deserves it, nothing more than that. I don’t believe so much in the momentum stuff; just my opinion, but I’m doing what I can. Clearly, I’ve made some mistakes and I’m not where I need to be, but I believe I can be at the level soon enough. So, [I’ve] no reason to be worried. It’s Round 6 of 24.”

“I’m not going to say that forever, and I know I need to get a move on, and I need to get into gear a little bit. I’m doing the best I can every weekend at the minute and trying to improve. But the speed is there, the pace is there, the race pace is definitely there. It’s just one thing I need to tidy up, and it’s a difficult thing; but I’m confident that I’ll get it.”

‘Isn’t worried’;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/nor...2025-miami-gp/


‘He must demonstrate that’: Lando Norris told he ‘must’ now show Oscar Piastri two things at the Miami Grand Prix
1 May 2025
Kyle Archer
F1 Oversteer

Gian Carlo Minardi tells Lando Norris to show Oscar Piastri the ‘coldness’ to win an F1 title. Minardi wrote on his website: “The leitmotif of the weekend will be the internal struggle at McLaren, who will try to widen the gap from their direct rivals Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, but above all the battle between Piastri and Norris.”

“On the one hand, the Australian will try to consolidate his leadership, both within the team as well as in the championship, while Norris will be called to respond to the mistakes made in Bahrain [and Saudi Arabia]. He must demonstrate that he has regained the confidence and coldness necessary to fight for the drivers’ championship.”

‘He must demonstrate that’

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/lan...mi-grand-prix/


OFFICIAL: Max Verstappen becomes a father as he announces birth of daughter
The Red Bull star had skipped Thursday's media day at the F1 2025 Miami GP to be with his long-time partner, Kelly Piquet.
2 May 2025
Brandon Sutton
Total Motorsport

“Welcome to the world, sweet Lily,” Verstappen said in a post to Instagram, in an official announcement as he becomes a father. “Our hearts are fuller than ever. You are our greatest gift. We love you so much.”

The post quickly gained traction online and attracted over a million likes in under one hour as fans rushed to congratulate the 2025 Japanese GP winner and his partner, who is also the mother to Daniil Kvyat’s child. “Congratulations,” wrote the official Formula 1 account.

“Can’t wait to meet,” said Verstappen’s sister, Victoria.
“Congratulations @maxverstappen1 @kellypiquet,” added Heineken, Europe’s largest beer brewer and a long-time sponsor of F1.
“Congrats with your beautiful little princess Lily,” added Robert Doornbos, ex-F1 driver for Minardi and Red Bull, who now works for Ziggo Sport.

“We love you so much”;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/max...-kelly-piquet/


Max Verstappen gets big Red Bull upgrade for Miami Grand Prix but Yuki Tsunoda snubbed
The reigning world champion has received a major boost ahead of the race in America.
May 2, 2025
Fraser Watson
Daily and Sunday Express

Red Bull will prioritise Max Verstappen over team-mate Yuko Tsunoda in Miami as the Dutchman bids to close the gap between him and championship leader Oscar Piastri. Verstappen is 12 points off the McLaren man after five races in 2025, and just two behind the Australian’s partner, Lando Norris.

That’s despite the British team appearing superior in pace this season. However, Verstappen, 27, has a formidable record at the Miami International Autodrome, having won the inaugural race there in 2022. He took the chequered flag again a year later before finishing second to Norris in 2024.

‘Max Verstappen gets big Red Bull upgrade’;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...ami-Grand-Prix


'Just not into it': Jennie Gow says Lewis Hamilton interview at Miami Grand Prix was a nightmare for her producer, ‘just not into it’
2 May 2025
David Comerford
F1 Oversteer

Speaking on the BBC’s Chequered Flag podcast, journalist Jennie Gow said it was difficult for her producer to ‘cobble together’ a meaningful clip from Hamilton’s appearance. “He spoke in the press conference today, but I think the word ‘speak’ is going over the top,” Gow said. “Single-word answers, it’s hard for our producer to cobble something together that made any sense. He was just not into it.”

Hamilton appeared in the FIA press conference alongside former teammate George Russell and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg. When asked by host Tom Clarkson what was stopping him from unlocking the car’s full potential, he gave a short reply. “Many things,” he said. “Lots of different things. There’s not one particular.”

Sky Sports’ David Croft then asked whether a new driver can expect to be quicker than their teammate at the outset. Again, the response was anything but detailed. “I mean, there are elements of that that are true,” Hamilton said. “But it’s different for everyone.”

‘Single-word answers’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/jen...t-not-into-it/


Leclerc assesses where Ferrari stack up in Miami as he has 'one goal in mind’
2 May 2025
Formula One - Official Site

Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, Leclerc admitted that it hasn’t been the start to the season the team wished for but he feels steps have been taken in the right direction to bring the squad closer to the front of the grid.

“It’s not been the first part of the season we wished we had, but it’s the first part of the season we had – so now we need to focus on what’s ahead and try to improve just like we have in the last three races,” said Leclerc. “I think we’ve done good steps in the right direction and now it’s all about building on that and hopefully having the first victory as soon as possible.”

“I don’t feel we quite have the potential on paper to fight the McLaren, and the Red Bull on good days, yet but we’ve got to take the points that are available and then whenever we will have the car to fight for wins we’ve got to be there to win. Having said all that I still go into this weekend with one goal in mind, which is to win on Sunday and we will do our best.”

'One goal in mind’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...oCE8XIM7JzPGkA

Oscar Piastri tops red-flagged Miami GP practice as Lando Norris faces two trips to the stewards.
Piastri comfortably led the way with a time of 1:27.128s, more than three-tenths of a second faster than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, with new father Max Verstappen, following the birth of daughter Lily early this week, 0.430s down in his Red Bull.
2 May 2025
Ian Parkes
RacingNews365

It was a lively one hour of practice for the Miami GP, and eventful for different reasons for the McLaren boys. On-song Oscar Piastri topped the shortened sole practice session for the Miami Grand Prix that proved eventful for McLaren team-mate Lando Norris.

Within minutes of the session starting, Norris radioed in that he could feel tools inside his cockpit. "You left so many tools in the cockpit. Everything is just falling apart," he said. On returning immediately to his pit box, the Briton removed two items.

With five minutes remaining, however, a spin from Haas' Oliver Bearman out of Turn 11 before sliding into a wall at Turn 12 brought out the red flags and an effective halt to the session. It prevented Norris from mounting a challenge to Piastri. The Briton had just purpled the middle sector only to abort in the final sector when the session was halted.

‘Piastri comfortably led the way’;

https://racingnews365.com/oscar-pias...o-the-stewards


Miami GP: Free Practice 1 Results
Full results from Free Practice 1 for the Formula 1 Miami GP from Miami International Autodrome.
3 May 2025
Mat Coch
Speedcafe

Pos Num Driver Team Laps Diff Best
1 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren – Mercedes 22 1:27.128s
2 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 22 0.356s 1:27.484s
3 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull – Honda 20 0.430s 1:27.558s
4 55 Carlos Sainz Williams – Mercedes 23 0.550s 1:27.678s
5 23 Alex Albon Williams – Mercedes 25 0.827s 1:27.955s
6 6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls – Honda 23 0.840s 1:27.968s
7 63 George Russell Mercedes 26 0.930s 1:28.058s
8 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull – Honda 21 1.027s 1:28.155s
9 12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 28 1.099s 1:28.227s
10 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin – Mercedes 24 1.115s 1:28.243s

‘Free Practice 1 Results’;

https://speedcafe.com/f1-news-2025-m...nal-autodrome/


What happened in sole F1 Miami GP practice session
May 2, 2025
Josh Suttill
The Race

Formula 1’s first and only practice session at the Miami Grand Prix was prematurely ended by a crash for Haas driver Ollie Bearman. Of those who were able to complete their soft tyre runs McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was fastest with a 1m27.128s, over three tenths quicker than Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. Max Verstappen, who missed Miami media day on Thursday as partner Kelly Piquet gave birth to their daughter Lily, was third quickest for Red Bull, four tenths slower than Piastri.

The Williams duo of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were fourth and fifth ahead of the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar. On mediums Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli led a one-two before the soft tyre running commenced. Their best medium efforts left them seventh and ninth at the flag with a soft-tyre shod Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda splitting them.

Norris will be involved in two post-session stewards investigations. The first is for his McLaren team releasing his car in an unsafe condition at the start of FP1, with a torch seemingly having been left in the car during his first trip out of the garage. The second will be centred on whether Esteban Ocon’s Haas impeded Norris, with the duo almost coming to blows into Turn 17.

‘What happened’;

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/w...ctice-session/


2025 Miami GP FP1: Norris forced to pit after McLaren leave tools in his cockpit
May 2, 2025
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Lando Norris had to return to the pits immediately in first practice after he discovered his mechanics had left some tools inside his cockpit before sending him out on track.

‘Tools in his cockpit’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/20...28579584912349


Why Red Bull sees ‘little risk’ introducing floor upgrade at F1 Miami GP
May 2, 2025
Dan Lawrence
Motorsport Week

Red Bull Chief Engineer Paul Monaghan said the team sees little risk in introducing a floor upgrade to the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix Sprint weekend. The Miami International Autodrome, as has become custom, hosts a Sprint, meaning Red Bull has only one practice session to bed in the floor alterations, but Monaghan doesn’t see that being an issue. Moreover, the alterations should aid Red Bull in its attempts to improve through corner balance.

“That’s why we brought it,” he told select media, including Motorsport Week on Friday. “It’s reasonably stable. We can bring it at relatively low risk because it’s a Sprint race. And it’s an opportunity to do it, we were able to do it. People work really hard in the factories, put it on the car and enjoy the benefits.”

After a difficult Bahrain GP weekend, Red Bull worked hard to bring upgrades to Miami and Monaghan said, “the complaints we had, we’ve addressed some,” before adding, “Have we done it wholly? Probably not. Will we continue? Yes. It won’t be a sort of turnkey solution to unlock if you like, it’s going to be incremental improvements on the car,” Monaghan continued.

‘Attempts to improve through corner balance’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/...t-f1-miami-gp/

Kimi Antonelli takes SHOCK pole for Miami GP sprint race - as Mercedes rookie, 18, edges out Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri after superb display.
Teenager Kimi Antonelli snatched a surprise pole for Saturday’s sprint race in Miami.
• Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, 18, took pole for Saturday's sprint race in Miami
• The Italian was in superb form and edged out Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
2 May 2025
JONATHAN MCEVOY
MailOnline

Teenager Kimi Antonelli snatched a surprise pole for Saturday’s sprint race in Miami. Nobody younger has taken a pole, albeit this was not for the grand prix itself on Sunday. Still, the Italian was mightily impressive in seeing off championship leader Oscar Piastri by 0.045sec at a sunlit Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins.


‘It was a very intense qualifying, and I have felt really good since this morning's practice session,’ said Antonelli, having set the fastest time ever around the circuit – 1min 26.482sec – on the fourth staging of the Floridian event. The last lap was mighty. I pulled it all together, and I am delighted to get my first pole. It will be a different feeling to start on the front row tomorrow, and I cannot wait to see how we do in the sprint race, and in qualifying for the grand prix, too.’

‘SHOCK pole’;

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...r-Piastri.html


Miami GP: Sprint Qualifying Results
Full results from Sprint Qualifying for the Formula 1 Miami GP from Miami International Autodrome.
3 May 2025
Mat Coch
Speedcafe

Pos Num Driver Team Laps SQ1 SQ2 SQ3
1 12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 15 1:27.858s 1:27.384s 1:26.482s
2 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren – Mercedes 12 1:27.951s 1:27.354s 1:26.527s
3 4 Lando Norris McLaren – Mercedes 14 1:27.890s 1:27.109s 1:26.582s
4 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull – Honda 16 1:27.953s 1:27.245s 1:26.737s
5 63 George Russell Mercedes 15 1:27.688s 1:27.666s 1:26.791s
6 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 16 1:28.325s 1:27.467s 1:26.808s
7 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 15 1:28.231s 1:27.546s 1:27.030s
8 23 Alex Albon Williams – Mercedes 15 1:27.859s 1:27.697s 1:27.193s
9 6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls – Honda 12 1:28.394s 1:27.773s 1:27.543s
10 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin – Mercedes 13 1:28.455s 1:27.766s 1:27.790s

‘Sprint Qualifying Results’;

https://speedcafe.com/f1-news-2025-m...order-details/


2025 Miami GP Sprint Qualifying: Antonelli shows his inexperience after grabbing Sprint pole in Miami
3 May 2025
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Rookie Kimi Antonelli had to be called back by FIA officials to take part in the media interviews for the top three drivers in Sprint Qualifying after he took pole in the session.

‘Called back’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/20...49105314352531


George Russell reveals cause of deficit to Kimi Antonelli
George Russell went from comfortably out-qualifying Kimi Antonelli to being three-tenths of a second slower in Miami.
3 May 2025
Samuel Coop
RacingNews365

Reflecting on his day, George Russell contextualised the gap, which amounted to a considerable swing in performance between the pair. "Firstly, massive congrats to Kimi," he said of his team-mate. "Really pleased to see. He did an amazing job. He's been really quick all day, really impressive.”

"I've been struggling a little bit, little bit off the pace, not been so comfortable, and we just wanted to go on the early side, because ultimately I didn't quite have that confidence. And we thought maybe if there's a yellow or red at the end of a session, it will come our way. But yeah, P5, not great, more to improve, but amazing for Kimi and the team."

‘Contextualised the gap’;

https://racingnews365.com/george-rus...kimi-antonelli


Winners and losers from the 2025 Miami Grand Prix sprint qualifying
3 May 2025
Uros Radovanovic
PlanetF1.com

Winner: Kimi Antonelli - Undoubtedly the biggest winner of the session. Kimi delivered a phenomenal lap, clocking in 0.045s quicker than Piastri and 0.100s ahead of Norris. Making this achievement even more impressive – this was his first-ever drive at the Miami circuit.
Loser: Yuki Tsunoda - The biggest disappointment of the session was Yuki Tsunoda, who, due to a breakdown in team coordination, failed to start his second flying lap in time and ended the session P18.

Winner: McLaren - Both McLaren drivers were slightly off Antonelli’s pole lap, but the session was still a net positive. The time gaps were minimal, and there’s a strong chance McLaren will show superior race pace in the sprint.
Loser: Ferrari - Ferrari continues to struggle. At the beginning of the season, they already looked like the weakest of the top four teams – and nothing seems to have changed.

Winner: Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin’s performance decline is no secret – they appear to be shifting focus to 2026 and the new regulations. The team hasn’t scored a point in the last three race weekends and currently sits seventh in the Constructors’ standings.
Loser: Jack Doohan - Jack Doohan experienced a situation strikingly similar to Yuki Tsunoda’s – ending sprint qualifying in 17th place without even getting a chance to improve his time at the end of SQ1.

‘Winners and losers’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/winner...int-qualifying


Piastri reveals where pole ‘went away’ from him during Miami Sprint Qualifying as Norris pleased to be back ‘in a good ballpark’
3 May 2025
Formula One - Official Site

Oscar Piastri believes he would have secured pole position for the Miami Grand Prix Sprint race without a small mistake on his final SQ3 run, but the McLaren driver still described himself as “pretty happy” with P2 on the grid. Piastri arrived at the Miami International Autodrome as F1’s new championship leader and was one of several drivers in the mix for Sprint pole – ultimately being pipped by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli by just under half a tenth of a second.

Reflecting on his session, Piastri said: “It wasn’t the best lap ever... I had a lock-up into the last corner, which I think was probably where pole went away, but P2 is still a good result. “We can still fight from there in the Sprint tomorrow, so all in all, I’m pretty happy.”

Pushed on whether he feels in the mix for the 100-kilometre Sprint and the Qualifying and Grand Prix sessions to follow, the Australian added: “Yeah, definitely. I think we’ve got a bit more pace to unlock, hopefully. I’m feeling positive still. We’ll try and make up a spot tomorrow in the Sprint before we get stuck into where the big points are.”

‘Small mistake on his final SQ3 run’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...joE6PAnS4oUfAk


Scenes from the first on-track day of Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix weekend
May 2, 2025
David J. Neal
Miami Herald

Friday was the first day of on-track activity for this year’s FIA Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix with practice in the early afternoon and qualifying for Saturday’s F1 Sprint race in the late afternoon.

In addition to racing in Saturday’s Sprint, McLaren’s Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Red Bell’s Max Verstappen, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will be qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix later Saturday.

Check out some of the top photos from the event by Miami Herald photojournalists Carl Juste and Matias J. Ocner:

‘Scenes from the first on-track day’;

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/n...mainstage_card

Safety Car helps Norris to another Miami win as Verstappen fails to score.
Lando Norris won the sprint race in Miami by jumping ahead of his team mate Oscar Piastri through the pits.
3rd May 2025
Keith Collantine
RaceFans

The pair pitted on consecutive laps to swap their intermediate tyres for slicks as the track dried out. Norris, who had been pressuring Piastri hard, was the second to come in, but benefited from the appearance of the Safety Car after Fernando Alonso crashed. He won the Miami Grand Prix last year thanks to another fortuitously-timed Safety Car.

The start of the race was delayed after heavy rain fell in the late morning ahead of the noon start. Charles Leclerc eliminated himself from contention before the race even started when he crashed at turn 10 on his reconnaissance lap when the rain worsened. After a half-hour delay the cars completed two formation laps behind the Safety Car and lined up on the grid for a standing start. Just as in Jeddah two weeks earlier, Piastri made a slightly better start from second on the grid than the pole-winner and dived for the inside.

‘Lando Norris won the sprint race in Miami’;

https://www.racefans.net/2025/05/03/...ails-to-score/


Miami GP: Sprint Results
Full results from the Formula 1 Miami GP Sprint from Miami International Autodrome.
4 May 2025
Mat Coch
Speedcafe

Pos Num Driver Team Laps
1 4 Lando Norris McLaren – Mercedes 18 Laps
2 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren – Mercedes 0.672
3 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1.073
4 23 Alex Albon Williams – Mercedes 2.522
5 63 George Russell Mercedes 3.127
6 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin – Mercedes 3.412
7 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls – Honda 4.024
8 87 Oliver Bearman Haas – Ferrari 4.218
9 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull – Honda 5.153
10 12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 5.635

‘Sprint Results’;

https://speedcafe.com/f1-news-2025-m...nal-autodrome/


2025 Miami GP sprint results - Norris benefits from safety car again to win
May 3rd 2025
Pablo Elizalde
Motor Sport Magazine

In a repeat of the 2024 race, Norris got lucky with the timing of a late safety car to win Miami's sprint race. Lando Norris won a delayed Miami Grand Prix sprint race after benefitting from a late safety to emerge in the lead, in a repeat of the 2024 Formula 1 race.

The McLaren driver was running behind team-mate Oscar Piastri with three laps to go when they both pitted for slicks after the rain had forced everybody to start on intermediates. But a lucky safety car period as Norris pitted helped him emerge in the lead after making his stop a lap later than Piastri, who had led the race from the start.

‘A repeat of the 2024 race’;

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/a...?nowprocket=1#


2025 Miami GP Sprint: Leclerc crashes out on wet track on his way to the grid
May 3rd 2025
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Charles Leclerc crashed out of the Saturday Sprint in Miami before it even began, as he lost control of his Ferrari on a sodden wet track as he was making his way to the grid on intermediate tyres.

‘Leclerc crashes on his way to the grid’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/20...15146049455907


2025 Miami GP Sprint: Piastri takes the lead as pole-sitter Antonelli drops to fourth on the start
May 3rd 2025
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Oscar Piastri got a superb start from P2 on the grid to go into Turn 1 side-by-side with pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli who ran wide and dropped down to fourth, behind Max Verstappen.

‘Piastri takes the lead’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/20...18502870500742


Formula 1: Liam Lawson scores first points of 2025, takes seventh-placed finish in Miami Grand Prix sprint race
3 May, 2025
Alex Powell
New Zealand Herald

After qualifying 14th, Lawson made up five places on the end of the first racing lap - delayed by rain over the Miami International Autodrome - and benefited from a chaotic affair to cross the line eighth, before he was upgraded one place after Max Verstappen was penalised for an unsafe pit release.

Seventh in the sprint nets Lawson two points, and betters his ninth-placings from grands prix in Singapore in 2023, and Austin and Brazil last year. However, the Kiwi will have to plead his case to the stewards, after an incident caused Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso to crash in the final laps of the race.

“With Fernando, I tried to get out of it, because he just pushed me so far off,” Lawson said to his race engineer after the chequered flag. Lawson could benefit from a number of cars being investigated post-race, giving the stewards little time to deliberate before Grand Prix qualifying on Sunday morning.

‘First points of 2025’;

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/mot...LFVYC5EDGVLVM/

Miami GP qualifying results: Max Verstappen on pole as Lewis Hamilton suffers disaster.
Max Verstappen stormed to an immense pole position at the Miami Grand Prix, fending off Lando Norris to secure a P1 grid slot for Sunday's race.
May 3, 2025
Harry Smith
Daily and Sunday Express

In Q3, Verstappen laid down the early marker, although the top three drivers were separated by less than two-hundredths of a second. Norris, Antonelli and Piastri all improved on their final attempts, but the reigning world champion did what he does best, and produced a stellar run worthy of pole position.

While the Scuderia struggled, Williams thrived as Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz sailed into Q3 with some breathing room. James Vowles’ squad have scored points in all but one of the race weekends so far in 2025.

Hamilton was joined in the bottom five by a quartet of rookies. Among them was Gabriel Bortoleto, who threatened to make an against-all-odds Q3 appearance following his immense first run, but was bumped down to 13th at the chequered flag.

‘Max Verstappen stormed to an immense pole position’;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...Lewis-Hamilton


F1 2025 Miami Grand Prix – Qualifying Results
May 3, 2025
Motorsport Week

Position Driver Team Time Gap
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:26.204
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:26.269 0.065
3 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:26.271 0.067
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:26.375 0.171
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:26.385 0.181
6 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:26.569 0.365
7 Alex Albon Williams 1:26.682 0.478
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:26.754 0.550
9 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:26.824 0.620
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:26.943 0.739

‘Qualifying Results’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/...fying-results/


Tomorrow’s F1 starting grid for the 2025 Miami Grand Prix
May 3rd 2025
Motor Sport Magazine

Max Verstappen is set to start on pole for the 2025 Miami Grand Prix. Here's how the starting grid looks for Sunday's race

Max Verstappen will be on pole for the 2025 Miami Grand Prix, heading the F1 starting grid alongside Lando Norris, who was six-hundredths of a second off his rival’s time. Scroll down to see how the full grid will look when it lines up for the fifth grand prix of the season, which starts at 9pm in the UK — 4pm local time in Miami.

‘F1 starting grid’;

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/a...?nowprocket=1#


Max Verstappen beats Lando Norris to masterful Miami pole position
May 3rd 2025
Dan Lawrence
Motorsport Week

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen showed the Formula 1 world who’s the daddy with a sensational pole position at the Miami Grand Prix. The Dutch ace pipped McLaren’s Lando Norris by the slender margin of 0.065s with Sprint polesitter Andrea Kimi Antonelli taking third.

Hamilton out in Q2. Russell, initially fearful, did enough to advance in third. The same couldn’t be said for his former Mercedes team-mate Hamilton, with a lock-up into Turn 17 proving costly and dumping him out of Q2 in 12th.

The Flying Dutchman. Verstappen was determined to do so, laying down provisional pole with a 1:26.492s time, three-thousandths faster than Norris, with Piastri only third. The Flying Dutchman was finding his advantage in the fast sweeping corners of Sector 1, and holding things together just enough around the rest of the lap. Verstappen headed back out ahead of the two McLarens for the final runs, with the trio poised for a three-way shootout for pole.

‘Masterful Miami pole position’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/...pole-position/


Miami GP: Max Verstappen on pole as Lewis Hamilton errors bite
3 May 2025
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

Max Verstappen delivered a qualifying masterclass to seal pole position for the Miami Grand Prix. McLaren looked like they potentially had the pole battle under control, but as Q3 arrived, could anyone emerge to spoil the party? How Antonelli would have loved to make it a pair of Miami poles. But, if anyone was going to do it, then Verstappen looked like the one.

With the first runs done, it was the Dutchman on provisional pole, but with just 0.017s covering the top three of Verstappen, Norris and Piastri, this one was not over. The Red Bull RB21 was not behaving into Turn 1 for Verstappen, but despite that rear slide, he still set a purple first sector, upping the pressure on McLaren.

He put three tenths between himself and the Papaya team, and within a tenth for Norris was the best McLaren could do, Norris taking far too much kerb in Turn 17, “terrible”, as he put it. Max Verstappen takes pole in Miami. Antonelli muscled his way into P3 in another stellar one-lap effort in Miami, leaving championship leader Piastri P4 on the grid.

‘Qualifying masterclass’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/2025-m...lifying-report


Qualifying Highlights: 2025 Miami Grand Prix
3 May 2025
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Watch highlights from qualifying ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix

‘Highlights’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/qu...36834621382346


'Just not the level of exeuction I needed' - Piastri on his poor qualifying
May 3, 2025
Jon Noble
The Race

"This afternoon was nothing to do with luck," he said. "It was just not the level of execution I needed to have in Q3. It's never a great qualifying session when your best lap is the first lap of Q2. There was quite a bit left on the table just through a few mistakes on both laps in Q3, which is a shame."

"In both Q3 laps I struggled in Turn 1," he said. "I think I lost pretty much two tenths in Turn 1 and then my first lap in Q3. I kind of gained it back a bit in the rest of sector one, but then fell away in the middle. On the last one, I eventually recovered some of it at the end, but it wasn't enough. So it was nothing to do with preparation. It was just execution of the driving unfortunately."

"It was just not the level of execution I needed to have in Q3”;

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/p...gp-qualifying/

Verstappen last to first on day of mayhem in Miami.
Max Verstappen finished last in the Miami Sprint after a huge 10-second time penalty, but immediately bounced back to claim pole position for the Miami Grand Prix.
RacingNews365

The Miami Sprint was a chaotic affair, as heavy rain triggered a disruption, several accidents and plenty of penalties. Qualifying was dry; however, McLaren had no answer for the reigning world champion. Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes and Nick Golding, as they discuss a remarkable Saturday.

‘Day of mayhem’;

https://racingnews365.com/verstappen...ayhem-in-miami


Max Verstappen demands Red Bull investigation after worrying Miami Grand Prix incident
The reigning world champion hit out at his own team following a controversial moment in Saturday's sprint race.
May 4, 2025
Fraser Watson

After the tyres were fitted, Verstappen was given the all clear to exit despite Antonelli approaching his pit box. The front-left wheel of Verstappen's car hit the right-rear of Antonelli's W15, shattering the wheel cover. The Italian was forced to abandon his stop, which ultimately cost him a chance of a points finish despite starting the race on pole.

It isn’t the first time this year that the 27-year-old has been hampered by a pit stop blunder, and after the race he called on his team to look into the incident. “This is something we need to investigate,” he demanded. "They've all been different (the pit stop problems). You can’t really compare these things. We all don’t want that to happen, but it happened."

After the pair collided, shards of carbon fibre came off Antonelli's car. Indeed, Verstappen admitted that he was relieved that neither he, the 18-year-old nor any team crew members had been hurt. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was later pressed on Verstappen’s words. However, he stopped short of promising an investigation, saying: “It was a human error. We’ll learn from it."

‘Max Verstappen demands Red Bull investigation’;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...ami-Grand-Prix


Red Bull pick up points in Miami Grand Prix sprint race despite and after penalties
May 4, 2025
Charles Crook
CitiBlog

Red Bull did pick up points in the sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix despite a penalty for Max Verstappen, with Yuki Tsunoda getting points after three other drivers also got penalties.
Tsunoda had finished 10th on the road, which became 9th after Verstappen’s penalty and thus seemingly looked set for no points in a race where only the top 8 finishers get points.

But after the race, Alex Albon, Liam Lawson and Ollie Bearman all received five second time penalties for various infringements, bumping Tsunoda to 6th and handing him 3 points. Tsunoda had started last after a set-up change meant a pit-lane start, which became back of grid as two formation laps meant the race was considered to have started, and he had stayed near the back in the first half of the 18-lap race.

As the race progressed, however, conditions began to brighten up and the track began to dry. Red Bull opted to pit Tsunoda onto dry weather tyres to get an early sign of whether the track was dry enough, with the fact it was allowing him to climb the order when others made the switch.

‘Bumping Tsunoda to 6th and handing him 3 points’;

https://citiblog.co.uk/2025/05/04/re...ter-penalties/


Verstappen vs Norris into Turn 1 and Antonelli after redemption – What To Watch For in the Miami Grand Prix
May 4, 2025
Formula One - Official Site

From Max Verstappen versus Lando Norris on the front row to Kimi Antonelli looking for redemption, and from Lewis Hamilton trying to fight through the field, to an even higher chance of rain than had been forecast for Saturday, here are five things to keep an eye out for when we go racing for the second time this weekend in Miami…
1. Max vs Lando into Turn 1

‘What To Watch For’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...RxzDKo4bRjh8SQ


Verstappen on slowing down as a parent: 'Don't listen to silly things'
04/05/2025
James Fiorucci
F1i.com

Max Verstappen has shut down the idea that he could become slower after becoming a father, stating that he doesn't "really listen to these kind of silly things". Speaking at the post-qualifying press conference, Verstappen stated that any notion that he would lose his speed as a father wouldn't affect his mentality.

He said: "I don't really listen to these kind of silly things. I just do my thing. I think there are enough racing drivers in the past that have been world champion even after having kids, you know. So honestly, I don't even know where that comes from," added the defending Champion. Nevertheless, as soon as Verstappen is off the track his newly born child is forefront in his mind.

He added: "It's been good to be able to spend a few days at home before coming here. You know, when she's just born, you want to make sure everything is okay. Clearly, it didn't make me slower as well, being a dad. So that's a positive. We can throw that out of the window as well, for people mentioning it. And yeah, when I was here, honestly, just quite fluent.”

“I just do my thing”;

https://f1i.com/news/537591-verstapp...ly-things.html


Norris makes joke about Max Verstappen fatherhood after Miami pole defeat
3 May 2025
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

Norris joked that he hoped for what Marko had feared, but his luck was out. “Yeah, congrats to Max, especially being a dad. I was hoping it was going to slow him down a little bit, but he clearly didn’t!” Norris said with a smile after qualifying.

“I’m happy with today, happy with the progress I’ve been making with the car, with myself. Max did a Max lap once again, and I can’t fault him, so happy. And, yeah, excited for tomorrow.”

“Max did a Max lap once again”;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lando-...-joke-miami-gp


Winners and losers from the 2025 Miami Grand Prix qualifying
4 May 2025
Uros Radovanovic
PlanetF1.com

Max Verstappen has once again shown why he’s a World Champion – three pole positions in the last four race weekends, despite McLaren clearly being the fastest car on the grid.

Winner: Max Verstappen
Loser: Lewis Hamilton - Just hours after stepping onto the podium, a very poor result for the seven-time World Champion. For the first time this season, Hamilton failed to make it into Q3 although he always seemed on the bubble of being knocked out.

Winner: Kimi Antonelli - Kimi Antonelli clearly left the Sprint disappointment behind and once again showcased what kind of talent he possesses. On the Miami track, he managed to split the two McLaren drivers and will once again start ahead of Oscar Piastri for the main race.
Loser: Oscar Piastri - Currently leading the Drivers’ Championship, Oscar Piastri qualified in fourth place.

‘Winner: Williams, Loser: Ferrari, Winner: Esteban Ocon, Loser: Pierre Gasly’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/winner...rix-qualifying

Piastri wins from Norris and Russell as McLaren seal commanding 1-2 in Miami Grand Prix.
Oscar Piastri has strengthened his lead in the World Championship by clinching his fourth victory of the season at the Miami Grand Prix, the Australian leading home team mate Lando Norris to seal a dominant 1-2 for McLaren.
4 May 2025
Formula One - Official Site

While Max Verstappen initially led away from pole, a battle with Norris saw the Briton run wide and drop down the order – letting Kimi Antonelli and Piastri through in the process. But as the laps ticked down – and Piastri overtook the Mercedes – Verstappen soon found himself under increasing pressure from the championship leader.

After Piastri eventually found a way past into the lead, a recovering Norris subsequently followed through into second, allowing the papaya cars to build up a sizeable gap at the front.

And while plenty of action unfolded behind them across the 57-lap event, the papaya cars looked to be in a league of their own right to the chequered flag, where Piastri crossed the line by 4.63s from Norris.

‘Oscar Piastri has strengthened his lead in the World Championship’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...MOKmPHzHdkGdof


F1 2025 Miami Grand Prix – Race Results
4 May 2025
Motorsport Week

Position Driver Team Gap
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren
2 Lando Norris McLaren 4.630
3 George Russell Mercedes 37.644
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 39.956
5 Alex Albon Williams 48.067
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 55.502
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 57.036
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:00.186
9 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:00.577
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:14.434

‘Race Results’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/...-race-results/


Oscar Piastri wins at Miami for 3rd straight F1 victory, 4th win of season for championship leader
4 May 2025
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Formula One - Official Site

Oscar Piastri maintained his advantage in the Formula 1 championship fight by winning the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday for his fourth win through six races this season. Piastri has now won three consecutive F1 races for McLaren Racing, where he and teammate Lando Norris are trying to dethrone four-time defending champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

Piastri is the first McLaren driver to win three consecutive F1 races in 28 years; Mika Hakkinen did it with a win in the 1997 season finale and then victories in the first two races of 1998. Norris earned his first Grand Prix victory last year at Miami when he snapped Verstappen´s two-year winning streak at the course surrounding Hard Rock Stadium. Norris also won the sprint race on Saturday - Piastri dominated but a late safety car cost him the victory - but Verstappen won the pole in qualifying.

‘3rd straight F1 victory, 4th win of season for championship leader’;

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap...ip-leader.html


McLaren destroys F1 rivals in Miami GP as Piastri wins again
May 4, 2025
Valentin Khorounzhiy
The Race

McLaren utterly dominated Formula 1's 2025 Miami Grand Prix, with both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris working their way past poleman Max Verstappen.

Heavy threatened - and was even expected - but never materialised, so the two drivers' early battles with Verstappen proved decisive in Piastri romping away to a third successive grand prix win.

Piastri now leads Norris by 16 points in the standings, with Verstappen another 16 back, and George Russell a further six back.

‘McLaren destroys F1 rivals’;

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/m...ri-wins-again/


Oscar Piastri completes hat-trick of wins with F1 Miami GP victory
May 4, 2025
Dan Lawrence
Motorsport Week

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri made it three wins on the bounce with victory in the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix amid the backdrop of the Hard Rock Stadium. A Lap 1 confrontation between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris paved the way for the Australian to take victory, with his McLaren team-mate fighting back to claim second.

George Russell lucked out with a nicely timed Virtual Safety Car to leapfrog into podium contention, but such was McLaren’s advantage, he was half a minute behind. Hours before lights out, torrential rain aborted the second F1 Academy race, but conditions had dried out considerably in time for the GP.

‘Hat-trick of wins’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/...mi-gp-victory/


Lewis Hamilton Furious with Ferrari as Arguments Blaze at F1 Miami Grand Prix
May 4, 2025
Alex Harrington Newsweek
Macon.com

Lewis Hamilton was fuming over the radio to his Ferrari engineer Riccardo Adami as he found himself trapped behind teammate Charles Leclerc on higher performance tires at the 2025 Miami Grand Prix.

"How far are people ahead of Charles? I'm just burning up my tyres behind him," Hamilton questioned, clearly frustrated by his position on track.

‘Just burning up my tyres’;

https://www.macon.com/sports/article...mainstage_card

The overtake that shows why Piastri will be world champion.
If … whisper it, when … Oscar Piastri wins the 2025 Formula 1 world championship, a seven-lap snapshot of the Miami Grand Prix might best illustrate why.
May 5, 2025
Matthew Clayton
The Age

The 23-year-old Melburnian became the first Australian driver since Alan Jones in 1979 to win three grands prix in succession on Monday morning (AEST), extending his lead in the world championship over McLaren teammate Lando Norris to 16 points, victory in Miami his fourth from six starts this season.

After sliding off in the rain in the Albert Park season opener and turning second place into ninth, Piastri has outscored Norris by 39 points in five rounds, and has the largest lead by Australian in the world championship since Mark Webber – now Piastri’s manager – enjoyed a 14-point advantage after the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix.

But for Piastri, it was how he achieved the victory that spoke louder than what he achieved. For the second successive race, Piastri stared down Formula 1’s most intimidating wheel-to-wheel racer and didn’t blink. Once again, Norris wilted, and paid the price.

‘If … whisper it, when … Oscar Piastri wins the 2025 Formula 1 world championship’

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/moto...05-p5lwk6.html


Stella ‘surprised’ by McLaren advantage after 1-2 in Miami as he hails particular area of engineering 'excellence'
May 5, 2025
Formula One - Official Site

“I'm a little surprised that the gap we had today is as big as we saw,” McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella said after Sunday's Grand Prix. “I thought that we could have had an advantage from a tyre management point of view but I didn't think that the tyre management would lead to this level of gap throughout the race.”

“One of the matters that still in Formula 1 looks like it's a little bit of a black art, which is dealing with tyres. I would say especially when it's hot there's another characteristic which I think works very well with our car, which is the cooling system.”

“I think when it's hot our car, you can see that is relatively closed from a bodywork point of view because there's been also great engineering going into the cooling system. So, I think in these conditions we see the excellence of the engineering at McLaren has reached a point where it can make a difference to this kind of extent.”

‘Engineering excellence';

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...1Be0WsXXDpSc95


Miami GP conclusions: McLaren’s rocket ship, unstoppable Piastri and same old Ferrari
5 May 2025
Sam Cooper
PlanetF1.com

Whether it was a conscious effort or a mindset that subconsciously ensnared everyone at the MTC – McLaren have been on a mission to insist they do not have the outright best car. Oscar Piastri’s 40-second gap to the rest of the field means that approach is no longer realistic. It may be a tactic to take the pressure off their drivers but rarely has a team been so hesitant to admit they have built an absolute rocket-ship.

Piastri cut through Antonelli and then Verstappen with ease and even every inch of the four-time World Champion’s talent was not enough to keep him behind. Oscar Piastri is the only one that can stop Oscar Piastri winning the title. If the win in China was the first punch, a hattrick of successes may well be looked back as Piastri’s knockout blow to Lando Norris.

Meet the new Ferrari, same as the old Ferrari. Aside from an espresso served with a slice of thin-cut pizza, there are few things more Italian than a Ferrari embarrassment. In a display that will have been crucified in the Italian press, Ferrari were back to their most indecisive selves.

‘Absolute rocket-ship’;

https://www.planetf1.com/features/mi...milton-ferrari


‘We made it count when it mattered’ – Russell on his drive to the podium in Miami
5 May 2025
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

George Russell said he went “bold” on strategy in Miami, and then picked up a little luck with the timing of the Virtual Safety Car, but nonetheless leaves the circuit “really proud of the result” after finishing P3 for Mercedes.

‘Went “bold” on strategy’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/we...30627610854581


George Russell Misses Press Conference Due to Medical Reasons After F1 Miami GP
May 4, 2025
Alex Harrington Newsweek
The Wichita Eagle, Kansas City

According to reports from Sky Sports F1, Russell will not be attending the conference due to medical reasons. This is yet to be confirmed by the Brackley team and the medical conditions are yet to be disclosed. This writer would assume that it is due to the sheer temperature of Miami with track temperature hitting mid-40s today.

Following the race, he was pouring water over himself in an attempt to cool himself down. "The top three drivers' press conference has just taken place but George Russell was not there, we understand due to medical reasons," Sky Sports wrote.

‘Due to Medical Reasons’;

https://www.kansas.com/sports/articl...mainstage_card


Russell suspects breakfast to blame for “horrendous stomach cramp” in race
5th May 2025
Keith Collantine
RaceFans

George Russell revealed he was suffering from painful stomach cramps over the final laps of the Miami Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver scored his fourth podium finish of the season yesterday despite admitting he felt less comfortable with his car throughout the weekend at Miami International Autodrome.

But speaking immediately after the race Russell said he was still in considerable discomfort. “The last 15 laps I got this horrendous stomach cramp and I’m struggling a lot now,” he told the official F1 channel. “I can’t stand straight, my stomach’s really causing me grief. “I need to understand what went wrong there. I had a slightly bigger breakfast than normal so that might be the reason.” Mercedes confirmed after the race that Russell had recovered from his cramps.

“Horrendous stomach cramp”;

https://www.racefans.net/2025/05/05/...cramp-in-race/


Verstappen: I had 'a bit of fun out there' with the McLarens
04/05/2025
James Fiorucci
F1i.com

Over and above his opening lap tussle with Norris, Verstappen staunchly defended against both McLarens later on in the race. Speaking after the Grand Prix, the Dutch driver commented on these on-track battles. He said: "I tried to do my best, we put ourselves in a good starting position and I tried to of course give it a good battle, have a bit of fun out there as well.”

"But we couldn't keep them behind and then the rest was just a little bit unlucky with the VSC. But at the end of the day it doesn't really matter a lot when you're P3 or P4, we are here of course to target a win and we were very far from that today," added Verstappen. When asked about his incident with Norris in the opening few corners of the race, Verstappen gave a short response. He simply stated: "All good, yeah, it's my view.”

"I tried to do my best”;

https://f1i.com/news/537737-verstapp...-mclarens.html


Max Verstappen perplexed by crucial McLaren advantage
Just how McLaren is able to prevent its rear tyres from overheating in hot conditions is a mystery to Max Verstappen and Red Bull.
5 May 2025
Ian Parkes
RacingNews365

Verstappen highlighted the fact that in the hot, humid conditions at the Miami International Autodrome, the fact that McLaren can prevent its rear tyres from overheating was again a major factor in its one-two dominance. "They were just miles up the road, miles faster than everyone else on a track where the thermal degradation is very high," said Verstappen, speaking to media, including RacingNews365, after the race. "They just have a massive advantage."

Asked by RacingNews365 as to why the difference in performance of the RB21 in qualifying trim compared to that in the race, Verstappen replied: "If you look at the onboard in qualifying, it's quite clear." That referenced the fact that Verstappen's steering through the corners is more pronounced than that of the McLarens.

Verstappen added: "And then in the race, you don't need to go flat out on the limit. If your tyres are running cooler, you have more grip. It's as simple as that." Suggested to Verstappen that his result must feel frustrating after starting from pole and finishing so far adrift, he said: "It's not frustrating at all. We are here to win, and we were miles off that, so it doesn't matter if you are P3 or P4."

‘Perplexed’;

https://racingnews365.com/max-versta...aren-advantage

'Dude, calm down' - Lewis Hamilton details being pulled aside by boss over radio tirade.
"Fred came to my room. I just put my hand on his shoulder and was like, 'Dude, calm down. Don't be so sensitive.'” Lewis Hamilton.
5 May 2025
Connor Andrews
talkSPORT

Explaining what happened, Hamilton then told the press: "Fred came to my room. I just put my hand on his shoulder and was like, 'Dude, calm down. Don't be so sensitive.' "I could have said way worse things on the radio. You hear some of the things others have said in the past.”

"Some of it was sarcasm. Look, you've got to understand we're under a huge amount of pressure within the car. You're never going to get the most peaceful messages coming through in the heat of the battle. It was fine.”

"It wasn't even anger. It wasn't like, effing and blinding and anything like that. It's like, 'make a decision!' You're sitting there on the chair, you've got the stuff in front of you, make the decision, quick. That's how I was. We're in a panic, we're trying to keep the car on the track. We're computing things fast.”

'Dude, calm down';

https://talksport.com/motorsport/317...grand-prix-f1/


Hamilton told Vasseur “don’t be so sensitive” after Miami radio
May 5, 2025
Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
Last Word On Sports

Ferrari disappointed on numerous fronts at the Miami GP. In terms of performance, the SF-25 was still several steps away from challenging McLaren. Fred Vasseur’s team are arguably fourth-fastest, which is an objective failure given their trajectory in 2024.

Since becoming Ferrari team principal in 2023, Fred Vasseur has generally been the recipient of significant praise. And for good reason, too. The Frenchman oversaw a substantial recovery of the team’s fortunes in 2024, narrowly missing out on the constructors title. Unfortunately for Vasseur, this optimism about Ferrari’s future has slowly faded.

As Ferrari fail to deliver a competitive enough car, this driver pairing only serves to highlight the team’s failures. For all the talks of crisis at Red Bull after Bahrain, the Milton Keynes outfit have already rebounded. Their floor upgrade, which only Verstappen had in Miami, seemed to deliver additional performance. When Tsunoda receives this component in Imola, it could further cement Ferrari’s place in the pecking order.

“Don’t be so sensitive”;

https://lastwordonsports.com/motorsp...r-miami-radio/


Lewis Hamilton's team radio messages to Ferrari are so savage they've gone viral after Miami GP
Lewis Hamilton's 'So Done' With Ferrari After Brutal Team Radio Messages at Miami GP
May 5, 2025
Alp Salfur
Give Me Sport

As has been the case over recent years, the decision-making of the Ferrari strategy group has once again caused grief for their drivers, with Hamilton on the receiving end as he was asking to swap positions part way through the race with Leclerc in order to take his shot at catching Mercedes rookie, and the man that replaced him, Kimi Antonelli.

Upon asking, Ferrari's team radio hesitated to give an answer before telling Hamilton to stay in position, commencing the first round of sarcastic replies from the seven-time world champion. Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari Team Radio Messages in Miami. He was not happy with his team.
LH: "You want me to sit here the whole race?"
RA (Riccardo Adami, Hamilton's engineer): "I'll come back to you."
RA: "Want to keep the DRS to Charles, go ahead like this."
LH: "Man, you guys..."
LH: "This is not good teamwork, that's all I'm gonna say."
LH: "In China, I go out of the way when you're on a different road."

‘Radio messages to Ferrari are so savage’;

https://www.givemesport.com/lewis-ha...i-miami-gp-f1/


‘Have a tea break while you’re at it’: Lewis Hamilton fumes at Ferrari’s indecisiveness
May 5th, 2025
Nic Savage from Fox Sports
Fox Sports (Australia)

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was less than impressed with Ferrari’s strategy during the Miami Grand Prix, fuming over the team radio after he became stuck behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

“You want me to just sit here the whole race?
“This is not good team work, that’s all I’m going to say.”
A couple of laps later, Hamilton continued: “In China I got out of the way when you were on a different strategy.
“Have a tea break while you’re at it, come on.”

‘Have a tea break while you’re at it’;

https://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsp...3e92e9c58b81a3


Lewis Hamilton won’t apologise for radio comments at Miami GP
The Brit became audibly frustrated with the Ferrari pit wall at the Miami International Autodrome.
5 May 2025
Brandon Sutton
Total Motorsport

Yet whilst he doesn’t feel as though he was rude, Hamilton feels he isn’t in the wrong and as a result won’t apologise to Ferrari for his radio comments at the F1 2025 Miami GP. Here’s why: “Honestly, I don’t feel it was,” Hamilton told members of the media, including Total-Motorsport.com of if he was being disrespectful. “I was just like, ‘Come on, guys, I just want to win.’”

“I still have that fire in my belly. I could feel it building up, and I’m not going to apologise for being a fighter. I’m not going to apologize for still wanting it, and I know everyone in the team does too. I truly believe that when we fix some of the problems with the car, we’ll be back in the fight with Mercedes and the Bulls.”

“It just can’t come quick enough, but we’ll try something different at the next race. We’ll keep working on our processes. I look forward to the time when maybe I can fight for a podium, that would be nice.”

‘Come on, guys, I just want to win’;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/lew...2025-miami-gp/


How Fred Vasseur immediately ‘diffused’ Lewis Hamilton situation after disappointing Miami Grand Prix
5 May 2025
Shay Rogers
F1 Oversteer

What Fred Vasseur did to Lewis Hamilton immediately after frustrating Miami Grand Prix -… Fred Vasseur immediately ‘diffused’ Lewis Hamilton at the Miami Grand Prix by greeting him. The whole exchange left Hamilton audibly annoyed over the radio, leading him to joke about letting Williams’ Carlos Sainz past at the end of the race when he had to allow Leclerc back through.

At one stage, the Brit criticised the lack of action when he was behind Leclerc by saying, “This is not good teamwork. That’s all I’m gonna say!” After his frustrations over the radio (including some from his teammate too), Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur knew exactly how to calm his driver down after the race. Journalist Adam Cooper noticed an interaction between the two after the race, taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) to explain the situation.

“Lewis Hamilton was in an upbeat and chatty mood when we talked to him, said he enjoyed the race, and especially the pace on mediums,” he said. “Fred Vasseur diffused any team order tension by going straight to him after the flag and putting an arm round his shoulders.”

‘Immediately diffused’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/how...mi-grand-prix/

‘It’s not going to be like this every weekend’ – Albon beaming after P5 in Miami.
Alex Albon was thrilled to finish fifth for Williams in the Miami Grand Prix – but cautioned the team wouldn’t be able to replicate that kind of result at every race this year.
4 May 2025
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

‘Albon beaming after P5’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/it...29245318179088


Carlos Sainz 'loses confidence' in Williams as star furious after Alex Albon drama
Carlos Sainz was left frustrated with his team at the Miami Grand Prix.
May 5, 2025
Harry Smith
Daily and Sunday Express

Williams left the Miami Grand Prix with a 12-point haul under their belts, but the mood in the camp was an unusual one as Carlos Sainz was left frustrated with his team-mate, Alex Albon. “Yeah, that's not... That's not how I go racing, guys,” he told race engineer Gaetan Jego. “I don't care. I've lost a lot of confidence here, on everything.” Sainz started the race from sixth on the grid, but the four-time Grand Prix winner was forced to take avoiding action after Lando Norris was run wide by Max Verstappen on the opening lap. In doing so, he made contact with team-mate Albon, giving the Madrid-born driver significant floor damage that he carried for the remainder of the race.

“Not happy after a frustrating race,” he explained after the chequered flag. “The operational misunderstanding of yesterday (in qualifying) put us on the back foot from the beginning, as I had to start the race on a used compound. Avoiding Lando in lap one when he rejoined the track unfortunately resulted in contact with Alex, which damaged my floor quite badly for the rest of the race. There was some miscommunication between our two sides of the garage that we will analyse internally.”

“I don't care. I've lost a lot of confidence here, on everything”;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...ami-Grand-Prix


Alex Albon Talks ‘Huge Progress’ for Williams F1 Team: ‘Everyone Is Hungry and Motivated’
May 5, 2025
Tim Chan
Rolling Stone

Tim Chan: James Vowles told me that Williams will be the team to watch this year because they’re making a big comeback — do you feel the same way?

Alex Albon: Yes, I do. I really believe in this team and the people within it. With the leadership and investment, I think we can achieve great things together and make huge progress. We have started this season strongly but we must not get carried away, and our ambitions are far greater than P5 in the Constructors’ Championship. The feeling in the team is good, everyone is hungry and motivated, it’s a great environment.

‘Huge Progress’;

https://www.rollingstone.com/product...uy-1235331694/


How Kimi Antonelli Landed the Best Seat in Formula 1
May 5, 2025
Damien Scott
Boardroom

Imagine it. You’re the son of a pretty successful Italian sports car driver. He wanted you to play soccer, but put you in a kart after seeing how much you loved race cars. You join some of the most competitive championships and start winning — a lot. You do well enough to catch the eye of Giovanni Minardi, son of the legendary team owner. He thinks you’re so good, he taps Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 team boss, Toto Wolff, who signs you to the championship-winning team’s junior squad. Fast forward a few years, and you’ve racked up trophies in any and every karting championship that matters before finally graduating to single-seater formula cars.

In three years, you go from the Italian F4 Championship, where you had a blockbuster debut and scored more points than any other rookie, to Formula 2 with a top squad in Prema. Your F2 season isn’t your best, but you’ve proven enough to Wolff to get you a proper test in F1 machinery with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 team.

You remain in F2 for the remainder of the season. And then one day, seemingly out of the blue, you’re told the Mercedes-AMG CEO wants to schedule a call with you. The day comes, and you get a WhatsApp notification telling you Toto Wolff wants to have a video call. You answer, and Wolff appears alongside his top lieutenants and your parents, saying they’ve chosen the person they’ve chosen to succeed seven-time world champion, Sir Lewis Hamilton — you.

‘Imagine it’;

https://boardroom.tv/kimi-antonelli-...app-interview/


Antonelli is eager to "work on his race management" after tough race in Miami
5 May 2025
Balazs Szabo
F1 Technical

Having delivered his maiden F1 pole position in the sprint qualifying on Friday and having displayed great speed in the main qualifying, Antonelli struggled for race pace in the 57-lap Miami race. "Unfortunately, we didn’t just have the pace today to fight for much more than what we achieved. I made a good start and was running P2, but the McLarens had too much pace for us, and we dropped behind them.”

“Our qualifying pace was strong, and it was nice to take my first Sprint pole position. I’m still gaining experience in terms of my race management, and I am sure that will continue to get better as the season progresses. I am now excited for the next race at Imola and my first ever home Grand Prix. I am sure the atmosphere and support will be incredible, so I am very much looking forward to the weekend there."

‘Still gaining experience in terms of my race management’;

https://www.f1technical.net/news/26771


Antonelli taking plenty of positives from Miami weekend despite struggles on way to P6 in the Grand Prix
5 May 2025
Formula One - Official Site

Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli had a topsy-turvy weekend in Miami as two outstanding qualifying performances were tempered with troubles in both the Sprint and then the Grand Prix.

“I need to check what went wrong in the race and check why the pace was not really good,” Antonelli added. "So, now we analyse and we move on to Imola. The single lap pace has been strong this weekend so that’s definitely a big positive and that was a point I was trying to work on and definitely this weekend that was a big improvement.”

‘Plenty of positives’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...NtLhu0KzHMRhdM


Leclerc doubtful Ferrari “have the solutions” to improve SF-25
May 5, 2025
Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
Last Word On Sports

Aside from a few highlights, such as the China Sprint, the SF-25 has failed to deliver any significant strengths. In both qualifying and race, low and high-speed corners, the Italian outfit are lacking compared to the other front-runners. “It’s every corner, really. It’s not like we are particularly weak in one type of corner,” Leclerc explained in Miami.

For a driver who typically shows optimism and unwavering faith in Ferrari, Leclerc’s post-race comments are telling: “Yeah, unfortunately it confirms a bit what I was saying yesterday. With a really good lap, with everything in the lap, the best we could do was P8. And that’s more or less where we deserved to finish today. It’s not good, we need to do better.”

Arguably the most concerning of Leclerc’s quotes concern his forecasts for the rest of 2025: “We are in a difficult situation in the moment, so I just hope we can turn that situation around as soon as possible. I think it’s very clear why we are struggling. I don’t know if we have the solutions just yet.”

‘SF-25 has failed to deliver any significant strengths’;

https://lastwordonsports.com/motorsp...improve-sf-25/


Revealed: Ferrari team radio exposes painful strategic chaos
Ferrari's Miami Grand Prix descended into strategic chaos over the final twenty laps - as evidenced by the team radio transcipts between Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and their engineers.
5 May 2025
Samuel Coop
RacingNews365

The hesitancy on Ferrari's part heavily contributed to Hamilton not being able to sufficiently close on Antonelli, but the indecision was not over for the Maranello-based squad. With the 105-time grand prix winner unable to get within two seconds of the W16 up the road, Ferrari felt it was time to reserve the positions - as had been promised to its Monegasque driver.

After that call had been made to switch the pair back, with Leclerc suffering in the same manner his team-mate had been, the Prancing Horse made a mess of communicating that change to Hamilton, who was not made aware of the orders in a timely fashion.

‘Strategic chaos’;

https://racingnews365.com/revealed-f...trategic-chaos


Lewis Hamilton orders 'tea break' as Ferrari frustration ramps up – International media reacts
Find out how the biggest publications from around the world have reacted to the 2025 F1 Miami Grand Prix.
5 May 2025
Nick Golding
RacingNews365

���� The Times - '"Have a tea break while you’re at it" — Hamilton fumes at shambolic Ferrari'.

���� Corriere della Sera -'Hamilton and the controversy with Ferrari at the Miami GP: "I don't have to apologise if I want to fight. I told Vasseur to calm down"'.

���� The Washington Post - 'Ferrari frustration mounts as Hamilton and Leclerc struggle at Miami Grand Prix'.

'Tea break';

https://racingnews365.com/lewis-hami...l-media-reacts

Briatore back with bang as Alpine axe Doohan for Colapinto after six races.
The Alpine Formula 1 team have announced that Argentinian Franco Colapinto will replace fellow youngster Jack Doohan for the next five races.
7 May 2025
Frank Dalleres
City AM

On Tuesday, it was revealed that British team principal Oliver Oakes had resigned as team principal after just nine months in the role, with executive director Flavio Briatore assuming his responsibilities. “Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races,” said Briatore.

“With the field being so closely matched this year, and with a competitive car, which the team has drastically improved in the past 12 months, we are in a position where we see the need to rotate our line-up. We also know the 2026 season will be an important one for the team and having a complete and fair assessment of the drivers this season is the right thing to do in order to maximise our ambitions next year.”

“We continue to support Jack at the team, as he has acted in a very professional manner in his role as a race driver so far this season. The next five races will give us an opportunity to try something different and after this time period we will assess our options.”

‘Briatore back with bang’;

https://www.cityam.com/briatore-back...ter-six-races/


Oliver Oakes resigned as team principal over what Alpine ‘leaked’ about Flavio Briatore after the Miami Grand Prix
7 May 2025
Kyle Archer
F1 Oversteer

Oliver Oakes quit as team principal after Alpine ‘leaked’ Flavio Briatore sacked Jack Doohan in Miami. Now, however, Auto Action has reported that Oakes quit as the Renault-owned crew’s team principal mere hours after Alpine ‘leaked’ that Briatore sacked Jack Doohan on Sunday night at the Miami Grand Prix. Reserve driver Franco Colapinto has now taken over the drive, too.

Oakes was ‘the loudest voice’ defending Doohan inside Enstone after Briatore put more and more pressure on the Australian to deliver in his rookie F1 season after Alpine paid Williams £8.5m to sign Colapinto. Briatore also overruled Oakes to get the Argentine over to Enstone. So, Alpine now leaking that Briatore sacked Doohan after his Miami GP retirement following his first lap crash with Racing Bulls racer Liam Lawson proved to be the final straw for Oakes. He is also ‘not a big fan’ of Colapinto and Oakes did not want the 21-year-old to be at Alpine.

‘Final straw for Oakes’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/oli...mi-grand-prix/


Our verdict on Alpine's team boss exit and driver swap mess
May 7, 2025
The Race

The months of uncertainty over Jack Doohan's position and then the abruptness of his exit already put the Alpine Formula 1 team in a negative light. And then - on the evening before Franco Colapinto's long-awaited arrival in Doohan's old seat was actually announced - team principal Oli Oakes quit. Here are our team's snap takes on the wild events at Alpine.

Jumping ship seems a wise move - Gary Anderson
Will the real architect of Alpine's chaos please stand up? - Scott-Mitchell Malm

What else did you expect? - Ben Anderson
Sympathy for Colapinto - Matt Beer

Proof Alpine is prioritising financial concerns over sporting - Edd Straw
Briatore's track record speaks for itself - Josh Suttill

‘Wild events at Alpine’;

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/o...ver-swap-mess/


Ocon’s efforts in Miami undone by missed VSC pitstop
06/05/2025
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Esteban Ocon cut a frustrated figure in Miami’s sultry evening air after last weekend’s race, the Haas driver left to rue a stroke of bad luck that turned a promising Grand Prix into a disappointing 12th-place finish. After a stellar Saturday in qualifying saw him storm into Q3 for the first time in 2025, and starting P9, Ocon had every reason to believe he could add to Haas’ points tally.

But as the checkered flag fell, it was a case of what might have been for the Frenchman, whose race was undone by an ill-timed pitstop and a car just shy of the pace needed to challenge the front-runners. The Miami Grand Prix was a chaotic affair, with three Virtual Safety Cars shaking up strategies. Ocon, however, missed the memo on fortune. While others capitalized on VSC periods to pit, his one and only stop came under full-speed conditions, costing him dearly

‘Frustrated figure in Miami’;

https://f1i.com/news/537955-ocons-ef...c-pitstop.html


‘It was a solid race but we lacked a bit of pace’ – Ocon sums up his P12 in Miami
4 May 2025
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Despite starting P9, Esteban Ocon was unable to hold on for a points finish in Miami and said Haas just need to bring “more performance to the car”.

“Lacked a bit of pace”;

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/it...29356936896696


Bearman still waiting for confirmation on cause of his DNF
4 May 2025
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Oliver Bearman’s Miami Grand Prix ended on Lap 28 when he lost drive on his Haas and was forced to pull off the track and retire.

‘Cause of his DNF unconfirmed’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/be...26377603377982


Alonso on P15 in Miami: ‘We expected a tough race – and it was’
4 May 2025
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Fernando Alonso said Aston Martin “need to regroup now” after a difficult race in Miami that saw him finish 15th, just one place ahead of his team mate Lance Stroll.

“Need to regroup now”;

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/al...28865869967970


Fernando Alonso relying on 'chaos' to avoid equalling unwanted record
Fernando Alonso had a relatively quiet weekend in Miami as his wait for points goes on at the start of the season.
6 May 2025
Jake Nichol & Ian Parkes
RacingNews365

The two-time world champion detailed some near-misses for his side of the Aston Martin garage, and felt the opportunities must be taken. "In Japan, I was P11, Jeddah was perfect and we have three or four opportunities in the year when chaos is happening to have the possibility to score points," Alonso told media, including RacingNews365.

"There have already been three this year in Australia, I had the mistake in the gravel and went off, in China, there were three cars disqualified, and I had a brake fire and [in the Sprint], the track was dry but we kept with the inters for too long. So we've missed out on three opportunities to score points, and there are going to be one or two more, I guess, in the season, so let's hope not to miss those.”

"I'm trying my best behind the wheel, but it is a good question for the managers, they know what is in the pipeline," he added when asked about any upgrades to turn the season around. They work really hard, and we support them, but we cannot talk about the technicalities of the car and upgrades because we are not in the loop every week."

‘Relying on chaos';

https://racingnews365.com/fernando-a...nwanted-record


Why one F1 team should write off 2025, go all-in for 2026 – and Max Verstappen
Aston Martin have had a difficult start to the 2025 Formula 1 season, and it might be in the team's best interests to write the current season off and focus all efforts on 2026.
May 3, 2025
James Reeve|
Beyond the Flag (Weblog)

Why Aston Martin should go all-in next year. The most obvious reason has been the recent arrival of legendary designer Adrian Newey after his nearly 20-year relationship with Red Bull. Newey is busy working away on designing Aston Martin's 2026 car and is not said to be involved with the 2025 car in any capacity.

Lawrence Stroll paid a lot of money to bring Newey from Milton Keynes to Silverstone and expects the team to take a significant leap forward with him as technical director. If the team is to take full advantage of having Newey on board, then putting all resources into the 2026 car could make a significant difference.

That's doubly important with Aston Martin changing over to Honda as their engine supplier, with whom Newey has had plenty of success over the past few years with Red Bull. As well as the new staff and partners that will play a key role in 2026, Aston Martin recently started working with a brand-new wind tunnel. It has reportedly opened the team's eyes to some of the issues with the 2025 car already.

‘Write off 2025, go all-in for 2026’;

https://beyondtheflag.com/why-one-f1...max-verstappen