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/