Italian taxi drivers issue Toto Wolff retort after 'road rage' comment.
"We drive like a Mercedes since it only goes 30 miles an hour, just like us.” Nicola Di Giacobbe from Filt-Cgil (Taxis).
4 Jun 2025
Jake Nichol
RacingNews365

Speaking to Sky Italia in the aftermath of Max Verstappen ramming into George Russell at Turn 5 in the closing stages of the Barcelona race, Wolff claimed that: "this is road rage, like the taxi drivers in Rome or Naples, there is a lot of aggression in the centre of Rome and Naples, without rules." He later expanded on his comments to media, including RacingNews365, calling the move for which Verstappen earned a 10-second time penalty and three penalty points as "incomprehensible."

Whilst Naples appeared to brush off Wolff's comment, the same could not be said for their colleagues from the Eternal City. "Maybe it would be better if Wolff focused on [the performance] of his own team," the president of Rome's largest taxi association, Loreno Bittarelli told Corriere della Sera.

A driver, Alessandro compared Rome to a "jungle" as drivers navigate their way around the sights of a modern capital city. "We are the ones who are first in not having accidents, otherwise we would lose our working day," he explained. "I would like to see Formula 1 drivers manoeuvring around construction sites, scooters and golf carts the way we do. Rome is now a jungle, not a Formula 1 track."

‘Taxi drivers in Rome or Naples’;

https://racingnews365.com/italian-ta...d-rage-comment


Toto Wolff faces backlash from Rome taxi drivers after Verstappen comments
3 Jun 2025
Norberto Mujica
GPblog.com

After the Spanish Grand Prix, the talk of the town was nothing but the clash between Max Verstappen and George Russell. Toto Wolff also had his say, refusing to believe that Verstappen intentionally crashed into Russell. In an interview with the Italian press, he compared Verstappen's action to that of an enraged taxi driver. Taxi drivers from Rome have reacted to Wolff's remarks.

Speaking to Austrian outlet OE24, Loreno Bittarelli, president of a taxi association in Rome, joked: '"We are better than Formula 1 drivers, who wouldn't last an hour in Rome's city traffic. We drive among construction sites, motorcycles, e-scooters, and tourist buses. Rome is a jungle, far worse than a Formula 1 circuit." According to Bittarelli, Roman taxi drivers are actually more cautious about aggressive driving: "We are the last people who would want an accident, otherwise we would lose our job."

‘Backlash from Rome taxi drivers’;

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/toto-...max-verstappen


George Russell will be delighted by Toto Wolff’s ‘old form’ Spanish Grand Prix claim after recent Mercedes struggles
3 June 2025
Shay Rogers
F1 Oversteer

George Russell will be delighted by Toto Wolff’s ‘old form’ comments after the Spanish Grand Prix. Russell hit out at ‘nonsense’ Mercedes 2026 engine claims and doesn’t expect the team to burst out of the blocks next season with a dominant power unit compared to their rivals.

While they will have been investing resources in the future, there’s still prize money to fight for in the present. Although they didn’t have blistering pace at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, one aspect of their weekend stood out to team boss Wolff. “The qualifying lap was good,” he said, according to Auto Motor und Sport. “We found our old form there. But we can’t be satisfied with the race result. Fourth place was also handed to us by Verstappen’s penalty.”

Mercedes are in a ‘mess’ after making ‘mistakes’ and feared that they might overheat their tyres in Spain, which didn’t appear to be too much of an issue. They gathered plenty of long run data on Friday, which served them well during the race.

‘Toto Wolff’s ‘old form’ Spanish Grand Prix claim’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/geo...des-struggles/


Verstappen did have an extra soft tyre left: Why Red Bull opted for the hard tyre
4 Jun 2025
Tim Kraaij
GPblog.com

The incident between Max Verstappen and George Russell marked a dramatic end to Verstappen's strong race until then. How a daring strategy from Red Bull Racing ultimately turned to their disadvantage when fate struck. Red Bull Racing laid their cards on the table early during the Spanish Grand Prix. The Austrian team had devised a three-stop strategy for the race. On paper, not the fastest strategy, but the team wanted to try something with Max Verstappen to put pressure on the McLarens.

Verstappen was the first of the frontrunners to dive into the pits for a new set of soft tyres. After a used set of soft tyres, Verstappen switched to his only remaining new set of soft tyres. It was on these tyres that Verstappen managed to get ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on the track. On lap 29, Verstappen came from the lead back to the pits for new medium tyres. These tyres were seven and eight laps fresher than the tyres Piastri and Norris were on. Verstappen then flew past the competition on the track, causing Norris to be asked over the team radio to push harder: "We think Max is now 'in our race’," came the alarming request over the team radio.

For Max Verstappen, the safety car came at a very bad time. The Dutchman had, after all, already used up four sets of tyres through Red Bull Racing's daring strategy. In total, the Dutchman, like all other drivers, started the race with six sets of tyres, but the two remaining sets were both far from ideal. According to the Pirelli overview, there was indeed still a used soft tyre available for Verstappen. The Dutchman had, after all, three used sets and one new set of tires for the race. That used set had already been utilised for four laps during qualifying and the three warm-up laps to the track before the Grand Prix. The tyre was thus as used as the tyre Verstappen was already on.

‘Daring strategy from Red Bull Racing’;

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/verst...-the-hard-tire


The real reason behind Verstappen's crash with Russell – More than just a tyre choice
3 Jun 2025
Ludo van Denderen
GPblog.com

A year full of frustrations: It wasn't the hard tyres or the call to let Russell pass that led to frustrations overtaking Verstappen and him crashing into the Mercedes driver. No, the core of everything is much deeper and goes far beyond a decision in the closing stages of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Verstappen is a true winner, one who has become accustomed to dominating Formula 1 from the front of the field. But that's no longer possible, since McLaren have the upper hand and Red Bull have no idea how to solve the many technical challenges. For over a year, Verstappen has been calling for change, but - though his concerns are certainly being listened to - nothing seems to improve the situation. And yes, on a day when you see a podium place disappear and you think about everything that has happened over the past year, a person can reach their limit. Nothing human is alien to Max Verstappen.

Why did Red Bull responded calmly? That Red Bull subsequently did not publicly reprimand their driver is also understandable. After all, Verstappen is the man who currently still brings some success to the Austrian team. Red Bull cannot afford Verstappen to have had enough at some point that he walks out the door in Milton Keynes. And yes, Red Bull surely also realises what the underlying cause of Verstappen's outburst is. Eventually, a night's sleep was needed, but Verstappen has apologised for his action during the Spanish Grand Prix. That's how Max is; emotional at times, but also honest enough to say 'sorry' when he's done something wrong.

‘More than just a tyre choice’;

https://www.gpblog.com/en/general/th...-a-tire-choice