July 24, 2025 · 5:25 pm

Verstappen says Horner’s Red Bull ousting is to “steer ship in a different direction”

Verstappen is keen to downplay the impact of the ousting of Christian Horner

Inevitably the recent management changes at the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team provided the big talking point at Spa on Thursday, and of course the man we wanted to hear from was Max Verstappen.

Many observers suspect Christian Horner was ousted at least in part as an attempt to keep the Verstappen camp onside, and to help ensure that the Dutchman remains at the team into 2026 and beyond.

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

If that’s the case it was something of a roll of the dice, because any such commitment is far from set in stone, it seems, despite his long-term contract.

When quizzed on Horner’s departure Verstappen was adamant that the decision to oust Horner was made by the parent company in order “to steer the ship in a different direction” – and that just like everyone else in the team he was informed that it has happened, and was obliged to accept it and move on.

“At the end of the day management and of course the shareholders decided that they wanted a change,” he said.

“And at the end of the day, they run the team. And I’m the driver, so whatever they decide, it’s fully in their right to do what they want. And that’s basically how it happened.

“And at the same time now sitting here, you look back at those 20 years of Red Bull, I think we’ve had a lot of great, great years, great, great results. Now, naturally, of course, are also years where it’s not going that well.

“And I think the last one and a half years have not gone how we would have liked, and management decided they wanted to steer the ship in a different direction, probably.

“And then everyone else, of course, has to, anyway, agree to that and look forward. And I am looking forward.

“Of course, I had already quite a few meetings with Laurent [Mekies] as well. The last two weeks have been quite intense for him to jump in.”

Verstappen paid tribute to his former boss.

“I’m equally also excited for the team now moving forward, because that’s what we have to do,” he said. “Looking back doesn’t make sense. It’s not going to make you faster.

“But at the same time you do appreciate of course those 20 years, and especially from my side the 10-11, years, I mean, part of Red Bull. Those things will be remembered.

“And the relationship between myself and Christian, for example, that doesn’t change. Of course, he’s not here now or during a race weekend, but it’s still like a second family to me.”

Asked if he was surprised by the Horner news he said: “At the end of the day, I think in this world things like that they can happen. And when they told me, it’s not like they just said this is what we just decided and then you hang up on the phone. You have a conversation about it.

“Now, I don’t need to go into the details of what they said. But it was okay, if you guys think that is the way forward, I’m the driver, you decide, and this is how we’re going to do it.”

Verstappen downplayed the part played in recent events by any conflict between Horner and father Jos, and insisted that the change wouldn’t impact any decision on his future.

“I think people can have a difference in opinion here and then. And I actually expect that to happen, because if everyone always agrees, there is a problem, you need to have difference in opinions. And yeah, that’s now something that we work with in a different direction.

“I’m excited about it. I don’t think it will matter at all, you know, for my decision in the future. At the end the only thing that matters is that we work on the car and make it as fast as we can make it, really, and like I said, the last one and a half years have not been where we want to be.

“Now, we try and be more competitive this year, a little bit, but for sure, also with the new regulations.”

That suggestion that there is indeed a decision to be made on his future was an intriguing one, given the debate over a potential move to Mercedes.

However when I asked if he there was a chance he would not be at RBR in 2026 and there was an option to go elsewhere he was keen to downplay the idea.

“There’s also a possibility I don’t wake up tomorrow, that there is no driving at all!,” he joked. “So life is unpredictable. But in general, I’m very happy where I’m at, and I hope and that was still the target that we set out when we signed a new deal, that I would drive here until the end of my career.”

Meanwhile Verstappen stressed that it was too early to form any opinions about a different approach from Mekies.

“Time will tell. I cannot say right now within two weeks with not even action on track, that suddenly everything is different or better, but we are trying to be better, and we are trying to work on that.”

He added: “It’s been good. I like Laurent, he’s a very nice guy first of all, very clever guy. He’s been in different areas of the F1 paddock as well, and I think that can be helpful.”

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , ,

July 15, 2025 · 11:13 am

Why Antonelli is frustrated by “too many zeroes” in his first half season

The Italian teenager admits that he expected more from his first 12 race weekends

Kimi Antonelli’s rookie season was always going to be an extended learning exercise, despite the thorough training he undertook with his Mercedes TPC programme last year.

However it’s perhaps been trickier than either he or team boss Toto Wolff expected. Indeed in the last six races he scored points on only one occasion, with his breakthrough first podium in Canada.

Technical issues in Imola and Spain were out of his control, but a frustrating Monaco GP resulted from a brush with the wall in qualifying, and in Austria he experienced the low point of his season to date when he took out Max Verstappen on the first lap.

He was hoping to bounce back at Silverstone. Instead having taken a three-place grid hit for the Red Bull Ring incident a lap one stop for slicks sent him down the order, and later he was struck in the gloom by an unsighted Isack Hadjar, contact that led to a retirement with floor damage.

It was one of those weekends where nothing worked in his favour, and it was even harder to take given it came so soon after the Verstappen collision.

“First of all, I don’t know what to say,” Antonelli noted when I asked him about his race. “Just seems like everything is going wrong at the moment, and hard to find some positives.

“We took a gamble in lap one, which unfortunately didn’t work, because as well when I pitted, then the VSC came out, and I just couldn’t build any temperature into the tyre.

“And then when we went back on inters, obviously, the visibility was extremely poor. I don’t know why, but I could feel it coming, in the moment. And I was lucky to still keep it on track, because the hit was massive. And yeah, just a shame to finish with another zero.”

There was not much he could have done: “No one to blame. When they told me it was going to restart, I was a bit unsure about that, because the visibility was still very poor at lower speed. So at higher speed would have been even worse.

“I think also Isack was just a passenger. Obviously, I braked a bit earlier, but just because it was so hard to see where the corner was, and Isack couldn’t see me.

“I think I lost 100 points of downforce just because the whole diffuser was gone, and just extremely difficult to keep the car on track.”

It was certainly not the way that he wanted to follow the Austrian GP disappointment and head into the mini-break before Spa.

The bottom line is that with 12 weekends and thus half of his rookie season out of the way the Italian has 63 points – a decent total, but not where he wants or indeed needs to be compared to the 147 of team mate George Russell.

“I think I’m not super happy to be honest, too many zeroes scored,” he admitted at Silverstone.

“After Canada I’ve been struggling to find some positives, to be honest. It feels like nothing is really working on our way, and I just need to focus and reset and try to find again the light at the end of the tunnel. Because definitely, I’m not going through a nice mode.”

There have been positive signs, such as the Miami sprint pole and that solid run to third in Canada on a day when Russell proved that the W17 was capable of winning races in the right circumstances.

However, one could argue that Mercedes expected to see a few more flashes of the special quality that the likes of Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were able to demonstrate in their early races – something that indicates that he will one day be ranked alongside those greats.

It’s not easy to jump into a high profile team after missing F3 and a single year in F2, even with decent TPC and sim preparation, but that’s the choice Wolff made. There’s been much to learn about tyre behaviour, and while the W17 is less of a diva than its predecessors, it has its quirks when it comes to hot weather and tracks that put energy into its Pirellis.

Antonelli has also admitted to being too cautious as he finds his feet early in race weekends, a legacy of the impact of last year’s Monza FP1 crash.

As a result when it comes to qualifying he’s found the step from FP3 to Q1 and the progression to Q3 to be quite challenging. Latterly he’s tried to address that.

He concedes that it’s been something of a rollercoaster season thus far.

“It went by so quick, and I think I’ve had quite big highs and some lows as well. I think on my side, I did a bit too many mistakes. And I think my approach in especially starting this season, was not the best.

“But overall, I think nowadays in F1 it’s super tight, you look at qualifying the gaps are super close, and that explains and really tells you how much you have to be on it.

“You have to be on top of the game and looking for every detail, because as soon as you start a bit off, you’re immediately in the back foot, and then to recover is quite difficult. And I think we had some really good moments, and as I said before, some bad ones.

“But I think I’m understanding a lot more as well, and I’m more in control of the situation as well. And I think this will help as well for the second half of the season. Definitely, I’m not super happy, but at the same time, I’m not disappointed with this first half.”

Austria was clearly the low point, Antonelli misjudging his braking in the dash to Turn 3 in the middle of the pack. However he’d had some training in how to get over such disappointments.

“I think Monza was worse,” he said. “For me Monza was like the worst ever. But definitely I think after you go through difficult moments is also, they all help, in case you face them again, to overcome them in a better way.

“And I think the difficult triple header was a really good learning, and it really helped me as well, to face the down moment of Austria and to kind of reset and come back stronger.

“But definitely these are all episodes that obviously you don’t want to happen, because in some ways they kind of hurt you as well. But they also make you make it stronger and when, you get to the moment again, the difficult moment, you’re able to react in a much better way.”

All of this is playing out in the context of Wolff’s pursuit of Max Verstappen. The accepted wisdom is that if the Dutchman is signed he will replace Russell, despite the Englishman’s strong form and long-term ties to the team.

After all it’s hard to imagine Mercedes dropping or benching Antonelli given the investment that has been made him, and the fact that he’s supposed to represent the future.

However the driver market is fluid, to say the least, and some unexpected twists could yet happen.

One option for Wolff could be to place Antonelli at new Mercedes customer Alpine for a couple of years, but given the Enstone team already has three rookies of its own in Franco Colapinto, Jack Doohan and Paul Aron even by the standards of Flavio Briatore that would be an unusual bit of business. Meanwhile all Antonelli can do is state his case on track.

“Obviously there’s a lot going on, but I’m sure that the team is doing their best to provide the best for the future as well,” he noted at Silverstone.

“Because obviously they’re not looking only for next year, but they’re looking as well for the future. So obviously, there’s a lot going on, a lot of talks. But my goal is just to try and do my best, no matter what.

“I’m very happy where I am, and I’m also quite sure with the team, and also what they want from me. So I think now my in my case, I need to just do my best, minimise all the mistakes and then try to deliver the best as possible. I know the team has a lot trust in me, and so yeah, I’m not really worried.”

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

July 12, 2025 · 10:40 am

Why “warrior” Gasly believes P6 at Silverstone was as good as Interlagos podium

P6 might not sound like much for a works team but Gasly gave Alpine a timely boost

While Nico Hulkenberg’s drive to third place at Silverstone last weekend rightly grabbed the headlines it wasn’t the only impressive underdog performance.

For Pierre Gasly and his Alpine Formula 1 team sixth place was a welcome boost after a difficult run in recent weeks.

It might not like sound like much for what is a works organisation, and in the grand scheme of things it didn’t move the team out of P10 in the World Championship, given that all the midfield teams have been scoring well recently.

Nevertheless it was a useful score for a team that had previously logged only a seventh and eighth place in 2025, and in its way given the mediocre form of the A525 it was as unlikely as the remarkable two-three finish in the wet in Brazil last season.

“I think last year the overall performance relative to the others was in a much better place,” said Gasly when I asked him about that comparison.

“So considering the car was in a better place, we were on the podium. It was incredible.

“But this year, I feel we are in a worse place. The others have a better package. And yeah, that P6 is probably as good. So I think we all very happy, especially to do it here in Silverstone.

“I know a lot of guys are here from the factory, and we definitely need that boost, because we all have our eyes on next year.

“But for everybody to work as hard as ever, they also need a bit of extra energy and extra motivation, which I’m sure it will give them today.”

A feature of Gasly’s season this year is that at some tracks he’s been able to make it into Q3. However he’s then faded in the race, mainly due to tyre usage.

At Silverstone he qualified 10th, and then gained two places on the grid thanks to penalties for Oliver Bearman and Kimi Antonelli.

That was already a handy bonus, but more was to come – at the end of the formation lap George Russell and Charles Leclerc peeled into the pits, leaving Gasly in sixth place with a couple of empty spots ahead of him.

At the start he went one better, passing Fernando Alonso to put himself in fifth. Hulkenberg and Stroll got ahead on strategy, and after battling at various times with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, Gasly crossed the line in sixth.

“Honestly, I don’t really know where to start,” he said. “Because P6, at the start of the weekend, no one would have ever imagined that we’ll be in such a position. Fighting Fernando at the start of the race, I managed to get past him, on the wet I was feeling extremely good.

“And right behind Lewis, I eventually managed to get past him as well before the safety car. And battling with Max at the end, who was on pole yesterday. I mean, at some point I wondered what the heck was going on in my race!

“But yeah, we took the risk, but the right one, and all the calls were right, the strategy was great, the pit stops were good, and we made the best out of all these conditions. I managed to defend my position at the right time not to lose track position and too much time.”

Gasly was worried about losing performance after the switch to slicks, although in the end he managed to hang on to a decent result.

“In the dry I knew it will be tough for the reasons we obviously know around this track,” he said.

“And yeah, it was tricky. But I think all in all with evolving conditions, having to look after the tyre, having to push on the wet, on new tyres, on destroyed tyres, I think we really made the best out of these conditions.

“And it wasn’t easy. There were a lot of traps. We managed to avoid all of them, and in the end, it’s pretty much the perfect day for us…”

Good calls helped, but in the end it was Gasly himself who got the job done.

“The whole race every single lap was tricky,” he admitted. “You’ve got to stay on track. But at the same time, these are the moments where you know you have everything to lose, but you have everything to win, because you know the other guys are also going balance this type of risk they are taking.

“But these are the moments where, for me, I know I have a lot to gain and I just need to go for it, and be at the limit without going over that line. And I love this type of conditions.”

It might only be a P6, but the result was welcomed in an Enstone camp that has had little to shout about recently, aside from the recent confirmation that the experienced Steve Nielsen will come on board as managing director in September.

“I’m just very proud of all the team, because this year is very tricky for everyone,” said Gasly.

“We know the car is not in the place we like to be, but every single day we go out there we try our best, and today really showed that we are able to perform and make the best out of the opportunities when they when they come to us, so very proud of them, and very happy.”

Gasly meanwhile continues to show what he’s capable of. For the last couple of years he was in a tense situation with former team mate Esteban Ocon, but this season he’s been a clear team leader alongside rookies Jack Doohan and Franco Colapinto. It’s a role that he’s clearly enjoyed.

“I think it’s always difficult to gauge, but I know I’m performing at a very high level with the car that I have at the minute,” je noted last weekend. “And whether it’s my best or not, it’s always tricky. But I know at the moment, there’s nothing else we can get out of it.

“So I managed to do it many times in Q1, Q2 and also in Q3, and then same in the race, so I’m pleased. It’s not the first time I’m facing challenges in my career, and I need to put my best every single time out there and in difficult conditions and motivate all the guys.

“But that’s what I am. I am fighter and a warrior, and I’ll always keep pushing them.”

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , ,

July 10, 2025 · 12:50 pm

How a frustrated Leclerc “left points on the table” at Silverstone

After a troubled race Leclerc finished P14 at Silverstone for the second straight year

Silverstone hasn’t been kind to Charles Leclerc of late, and remarkably the Ferrari Formula 1 driver’s frustrating P14 in last weekend’s wet race replicated his result at the same venue in 2024.

The difference is that at this stage last year he’d had a much better season, winning in Monaco and lying third in the championship on 150 points, whereas this year he’s fifth on only 119 and has yet to secure a victory.

To be fair he has logged four podium finishes whereas team mate Lewis Hamilton has yet to make the top three.

Nevertheless it’s not been the year that he was expecting given the momentum that the team had at the end of 2024.

“It’s a bit of a shame, because until now, I kept saying that we were maximising the package that we had,” he said after Silverstone when I asked him to sum up the year so far.

“But clearly today I did not maximise the package that I had, at least on the Sunday. Very often on the Saturday, I think we felt like we left something on the table.

“Very often coming the Sunday, we always put everything together and since the beginning of the season. I don’t have much more to say, but today, clearly, I left points on the table, and that’s not nice.”

The reality is that Sunday at Silverstone was a complete nightmare for Leclerc. He was one of several drivers who followed George Russell into the pits for slicks at the end of the formation lap, a call that didn’t pay off.

“For sure, this did not help,” he said. “However, we were kind of nowhere the whole race. And when I say nowhere, it’s like, really nowhere. I was a second off and on top of that, I was doing lots of mistakes. I was really struggling to keep the car on track.

“So it was an incredibly difficult day. I need to analyse what was going on, what did I do in terms of tools, in terms of setup, in terms of driving that made everything worse, because today was extremely difficult.”

Pressed on the call for slicks he said: “That was my decision. I thought the first and second sector was kind of for slicks third sector was wet, but this I expected it. I had seen it, but I expected the track to dry up a lot quicker. It did not.

“And I think we were quite a few to have done that, mistakes of thinking that it will dry out quickly. This is part of the reason why we had a bad race.

“But I would say that the biggest part is the lack of pace today, and on that, I want the answers before going back home. So I’ll work hard to try and understand what was going on there.”

In his desperation to make up ground he became embroiled in a fraught battle with his old team mate Carlos Sainz that left the Spaniard frustrated.

“I did speak to him. I mean, Turn 4, it was aggressive, but I don’t regret that. That’s the way I had to do it. It was the only place on track that I could overtake.

“The one in Turn 15 was a mistake from my side, and that was clearly my fault. And I went to see Carlos for that, because that I know cost him points, and I’m sorry for that.”

At the end of the day the main issue was an overall lack of speed relative to Hamilton, who was himself disappointed to be only fourth at the flag.

“I didn’t see Lewis’s pace, but for sure, he was much, much stronger than me,” said Leclerc. “So the only positive I’ll say is that whenever you’ve got Lewis in the same car and being much faster than me today, there are definitely some things that I will learn from a day like this.

“When you struggle as a team and the two drivers are struggling, it’s a lot more difficult to know what’s going wrong. There we’ve got an example extreme in both ways.”

Leclerc is in no doubt about what he needs from the car in the second half of the year, and the hope is that a upgrade package scheduled for Spa will help.

“Eventually, it’s the performance that we need. We’ve got some upgrades coming, which will cure some particular weaknesses of the car, which I think will help us in some phases of the corner.

“I won’t go too much into detail, but again, I think there are some weaknesses. We’ve identified them, and we’ll try and fix them as soon as possible.”

Regarding the upgrades he added: “It’s still early days, but we’ll see how it goes. It’s still two weeks.

“I know that everybody’s pushing very hard production-wise, to try and give us upgrades as soon as possible. If they are here, I hope it can help us to do a significant step.”

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , ,

July 9, 2025 · 7:49 pm

Horner leaving Red Bull Racing with “immense pride in what we’ve achieved”

Horner is out of RBR after 21 years in charge

Christian Horner has taken to social media with his first public reaction to his sudden departure from Red Bull Racing.

The news was confirmed today after Horner was relieved of his duties by Red Bull’s top management on Tuesday.

He has been replaced as CEO and team principal by erstwhile Racing Bulls boss Laurent Mekies.

In a short statement on Instagram Horner gave no details of the circumstances surrounding his departure, and instead paid tribute to the team and the people he has worked with over the years.

“After an incredible journey of twenty years together, it is with a heavy heart that today I say goodbye to the team I have absolutely loved,” he said. “Every one of you, the amazing people at the factory, have been the heart and soul of everything that we have achieved.

“Win and lose, every step of the way, we have stood by each other as one and I will never forget that. It’s been a privilege being part of and leading this epic team, and I am so proud of our collective accomplishments and you all.”

He continued: “Thanks to the amazing partners and fans who enabled us to go racing. Your support has helped grow the team from its humble beginnings to an F1 powerhouse that laid claim to six Constructors’ Championships and eight Drivers’ Championships.

“Equally, thank you to our rivals, with whom there would be no racing at all. You’ve pushed us, challenged us, and enabled us to achieve accolades we never dreamed possible. The competition has made every victory sweeter and every setback an opportunity to develop and grow.

“Formula 1 is a sport built on relentless ambition, passion, and respect. The rivalries have been fierce, but the mutual drive to innovate and raise the bar is what has made this journey so special.

“It’s been an honour to be part of this incredible era of motorsport. I leave with immense pride in what we’ve achieved and also with what’s in the pipeline for 2026 — and huge respect for everyone who’s made F1 the pinnacle it is today.”

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , ,

July 7, 2025 · 10:33 am

The crucial tyre call that put Hulkenberg on course for Silverstone podium

Hulkenberg and Sauber got everything right as they converted P19 in qualifying to third place

After qualifying at Silverstone on Saturday Nico Hulkenberg was a little frustrated to be down in P19 on the grid after his session didn’t really come together.

However in Austria just the previous weekend he had started from 20th and finished ninth to log points for the third race in a row.

When I asked him after qualifying if he thought he could make similar progress at Silverstone he conceded that it wasn’t necessarily a track where it was possible to do so.

“If you don’t have the speed, if you don’t have the pace, obviously, that’s the key ingredient to make progress,” he said.

“And it doesn’t seem so far even from the long runs that we that we’re outstanding there, or as good as in the last couple. So let’s see.

“Obviously, we’ll keep fighting, we’ll try our best. I suspect we’re going to need some outside help….”

Some 24 hours later and that assistance had arrived, and then some. A great performance from both Nico and the team, perfect calls and a little misfortune for others saw him charge to an incredible third place, his first ever podium and the first for Sauber since 2012.

It was further proof that the team is making good progress towards its new Audi era under the management duo of Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley.

“I think he was almost in a state of shock when I saw him under the podium and chatted to him,” Wheatley said after the race when I asked for his reaction.

“I’m just trying to stay in the moment and enjoy it, rather than this relentless sort of merry-go-round that we’re on to the next race and next race.

“Nico drove an outstanding race today, one of the best I’ve seen at Silverstone, one of the best I’ve seen of any driver ever. And it seems incredible to me that we’re all celebrating a podium as it feels to me like he should have been getting them all his career.

“It seems to be the longest awaited podium ever. He showed his class today, didn’t put a wheel wrong, and the team made all the right decisions in terms of strategy. We stayed out when we needed to stay out, and then switched to the medium at the right time, and I’m just very, very proud of everyone.”

P19 to the podium may have looked unlikely on Saturday, but Hulkenberg was given a huge helping hand when five cars were absent from the grid – including his own team mate – due to diving into the pits to change to slicks.

Then on the first lap he gained three places, two from the Ocon/Lawson tangle and another from Lance Stroll, before Kimi Antonelli went for slicks at the end of the lap.

Suddenly in P10, he was now in the fight. And the absolutely crucial move came just as the rain began to intensify.

Concerned by how his already worn intermediates would perform as the heavens opened, Hulkenberg pitted for new ones on lap nine, before any of the cars ahead.

“We had an eye on the weather that was coming, which I think is what everyone did,” said Wheatley.

“And then I think Nico just felt like his intermediate had just had it, so we boxed him at that point. It was absolutely the right decision.”

“Obviously, it was drying out,” said Hulkenberg. “The inter was wearing down, the first set from the start, but the team said there’s some rain about. It actually changed within one or two laps from a pretty bright sky to dark clouds and I was just dropping back.

“I was really struggling with that first set. They said the rain is coming, so I just dived into the pits, to be honest, without thinking too much at the time, and then went out and the rain started. It was really good timing.”

By the time everyone else had pitted he’d jumped to P5, behind only Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Lance Stroll, the latter gaining from a brief but spectacular stint on soft tyres.

Verstappen’s restart spin put him in P4, after that it was a matter of hunting down Stroll and passing him with DRS, and then later in staying clear of Lewis Hamilton.

Pitting for slicks later than the Ferrari driver, even with a slightly slow stop, gave him enough of a buffer to hang on to third.

“We waited, we kept our powder dry,” said Wheatley. “We weren’t the first to go. We were watching very carefully what the other drivers did, and I think we got the timing right on that.

“It was very important to get onto the dry tyre at the right time, and not a bit too soon. And Lewis put us under pressure by boxing first, but we’re just having a nice, calm conversation about what the right time to do it was. And I think that one lap made a difference.

“Honestly, some of us wanted to stay on another lap. I think the feeling on the pit wall was it was too soon. and that’s why I’m so proud of the team today, the strategists and race engineers, Gabriel’s race engineer was working with the team as well.

“It’s not like he just folded his laptop down and went away. He was offering valuable advice. This team spirit here is building and building, and getting stronger and stronger.”

Regarding the choice of mediums rather than softs Wheatley added: “We were talking to Nico about the right tyre, and honestly, we were thinking whether it was the hard or the medium to go for. We weren’t really considering the soft unless it was a bit later in the race.”

It all sounds pretty straightforward, but on a day when so many others got it badly wrong driver and team deserved the rewards they reaped.

“All the stops we made today, they could not have been better,” said Hulkenberg. “We pitted at the perfect time every single time, which is very rare and difficult to do. But it’s just how it happened today, and we really hit that one on the head. Behind Lance, he was quick.

“We had very similar pace, but then on that set of Intermediates, he eventually was just degging off a bit more than me when the track dried out. So, it just took a while to find a way through.

“But I wasn’t even really thinking about the podium there. We were running P5, I think P4 at the time, so it was already pretty good. I was just about keeping it going and making no mistakes.”

That was easier said that done, but Hulkenberg really showed his class. He’s spent his whole career in midfield team, so it’s easy to forget that he was a star on his way up the ranks, winning in A1 GP, F3 and GP2.

His one-off winning appearance with Porsche at Le Mans in 2015 was a rare chance for him to really showcase what he can do.

The relationship he established with then Porsche WEC boss Andreas Seidl led directly to him being signed by Audi, although Seidl himself was ousted before Nico arrived.

“I’ve considered him to be an extraordinary talent for a very long time,” said Wheatley. “And I think I’ve been consistent in saying that to everyone here. It seemed incredible to me that he’s never achieved a podium in his career.

“I think he showed today what he’s capable of, and I think also for him, it’s a milestone. The monkey is off his back.”

Thirty five points in four races is quite a hit rate for a midfield team, and it’s propelled Sauber into P6 in the championship.

Williams still has a handy advantage in fifth, but the Grove team presents a obvious target over the second half of the season.

Given how difficult 2026 will be with the brand new Audi PU package ending the Sauber era on a high will help to propel the team through tough times ahead.

“I’ve talked about how important momentum is in a team,” said Wheatley. “And so really, for me, what I take it from today is people start believing in us. I can say the words. I can say we’re gaining momentum. I can say we’re putting performance on the car.

“I can say that Mattia and all the hard work he’s been putting in before I came here is coming to light.

“But we’ve got a very long journey towards where we need to be as a team, and it’s a great step on that journey.”

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

July 6, 2025 · 7:44 am

How chilled out Russell got his timing right in Silverstone qualifying

Russell saved his best session of the weekend for when it mattered in Q3

Given that he qualified on pole for the British GP 12 months ago you might think that George Russell would be disappointed to be starting only fourth this year.

In fact the Mercedes driver was more than happy with the final outcome after what had been a tricky weekend for the team – until with perfect timing he pulled off a great lap at the end of Q3.

Lower temperatures at Silverstone were expected to play to the strengths of the W16, but that didn’t really happen.

Eighth fastest on Friday and in the same position in FP3, Russell had a tricky Q1 that saw him asking his engineer to “stay calm” as they discussed the evolving run plan.

He got through in 11th and was ninth in Q2 – cutting it a bit fine, but job done nevertheless.

Then in Q3 he logged his best lap of the weekend to outpace the Ferraris and put himself in fourth, behind Max Verstappen and the two McLaren drivers.

“Really pleased with that last lap,” he said when I asked him about the session. “Every lap until that point, we were anywhere from five-tenths to eight-tenths off the pace, and we were scratching our heads a little bit today, because we thought with the cooler conditions, things would come more towards us.

“And it was only about last lap in Q3 when, when it did. So it’s always good when your best lap of the weekend is the last one.”

When I asked about the “stay calm” comment he noted that it’s not easy to get everything right as you try to progress through the sessions in the most efficient way.

“Q1 is a really challenging session for probably all the teams other than McLaren, because you want to try and get to Q3 on two sets of tyres,” he said.

“And to do that, you need to get through Q1 on one set of tyres, and also get through Q2 on one set of tyres as well.

“I think it’s always a bit frantic on the pit wall sometimes, and from my side in the car, I’ve got no visibility of what’s going on. So I was just like, ‘Let’s just chill out a bit.’ Tell me what you’re thinking, and we can discuss.”

He had no doubts about what conditions he wanted on Sunday.

“Cold and dry, to be honest. It’s clear whenever it’s warm, we struggle. Whenever it’s cooler, it’s better.

“So as I said yesterday, we’re working so hard to improve this, we have been fortunate that we’re racing here this weekend, because two weekends ago in England, it was 34 degrees. So that’s not how we should be racing.”

P4 was a decent outcome, but Russell conceded that the team was hoping for me before the start of the weekend given the cooler weather.

However it’s not just about ambient and track temperatures, but also the loads that the loads that the corners put through the tyres.

“I do think today was probably, on the whole, less competitive than we were potentially expecting,” he said.

“I think the likes of Ferrari have been very competitive this weekend, which was a bit of a surprise. I know McLaren have brought some little upgrades. We didn’t really bring anything, but we haven’t brought anything for a while now. So we just need to try and understand that.

“It is cool, but of course, still this circuit is so quick. You’re putting so much energy in the tyre, so much temperature of the tyres.

“The tyres are running hotter here compared to what they’re running in Canada. And Canada was 50 degrees track, here is 25 degrees track, but just because of the layout, so that gives it some perspective.”

Meanwhile it was a solid if unspectacular session for Russell’s team mate Kimi Antonelli, who earned seventh place behind the two Ferrari drivers before his Austrian GP crash penalty dropped him to 10th.

“I think was was okay,” said the Italian. “The lap was not amazing, but I’ve been struggling the whole qualifying in high-speed, just struggling with stability, and that killed a bit of confidence throughout the session.

“And I just think it was tough on that side, and especially Sector 2, and start of Sector 3 was always a bit of a struggle because of that. And obviously not super happy, because I have the penalty tomorrow, but we’ll try to build from there.”

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , ,

July 6, 2025 · 6:32 am

Why Alonso and Aston Martin have “nothing to lose” from P7 at Silverstone

Alonso continues to wring performance out of the difficult AMR25

With his 44th birthday now just a few weeks away Fernando Alonso’s 2025 Formula 1 season continues to gather momentum, and at Silverstone – helped by a little misfortune ahead – he starts an impressive P7.

Bad luck and a tricky car saw the Aston Martin driver fail to score any points in the first eight races, but he’s made up for that with ninth, seventh and seventh over the last three events.

Upgrades first seen at Imola helped, and there was a further round of new parts for Alonso at Silverstone on Friday. Not able to do a personal back-to-back – Lance Stroll still had the old bits for FP1 – he wasn’t quite sure of what direction to take for Saturday.

The team eventually stuck with the new package for both cars, but its true potential was unclear in FP3 as neither driver got in a lap on soft tyres, and they were unrepresentative 17th and 19th.

However from the start of qualifying Alonso was on it, taking P5 in Q1, P7 in Q2 and then P9 in Q3. He had a bit of good fortune in that the two cars immediately ahead were penalised, gifting him two places, but getting it right and avoiding sanctions is all part of the game.

“Upgrades were tested yesterday with a slight advantage to the new package, but small,” he said when I asked him about the choice to stick with the new parts.

“So it took a little bit of time to really analyse the data and see the differences. So yeah, obviously, a small step into the right direction, we take it for sure. But we thought the upgrades that everyone brought here seems that you level yourself, you don’t, you don’t make a bigger step forward. And yeah, in qualifying it’s what we saw.

“A Haas in Q3 quite strong in front of us, even Alpine into Q3, so we still need to work hard every weekend.

“But happy with today. To be in Q3 was not that straightforward, especially after FP3 we missed the soft run with a red flag at the end, and we went into qualifying a little bit into the unknown in terms of setup, front flap etc, with the red tyre, because we didn’t manage to test this morning.

“So all in all, I think we executed well qualifying. And let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

He added: “A very unique circuit, a lot of high-speed here. The car feels good in the high-speed. So I don’t know if it’s the updated package – I only tested the new package. It was only Lance testing the old car yesterday, so I felt good the car all weekend. So it’s a positive step, for sure.”

The AMR25 has been a difficult car, seemingly unresponsive to setup changes at times. The good news is that upgrades have worked, which hasn’t always been the case in the recent past.

“Absolutely,” said Alonso. “I think what we brought so far to the track seems to work and deliver the expectations, even sometimes a little bit more than expected, sometimes a little bit less than expected.”

“Maybe the Imola upgrade was more than expected, and this one, at the moment less, but still to be optimised the setup. And always, when you bring a package, there is always a different ride height window where the package operates.

“There are always maybe some tweaks in the suspension, going softer, stiffer and things like that. So I think the next races we will see a more performing package.”

Alonso has a Mercedes and a Red Bull behind him, so hanging on to seventh over a race distance is not realistic, and he may have others to fend off as well. However there could be some rain, and then it will be about making the right calls at the right time.

“Let’s see. I think Williams are fast, faster than what they show lately. So I think they will be a threat. Tsunoda starting P11, I think he’s going to be a threat as well. And Kimi.

“I think it’s going to be a long race. We cannot underestimate the challenges that we will face tomorrow, but yesterday in the long run, car felt good, tyres felt good as well. So no concerns there. And let’s see if we can score points.”

Regarding the uncertain weather he said: “I would prefer rain, probably, drops of rain in the middle of the race that will spice things in the race. We know that on a dry, normal race, we will finish eighth, ninth or 10th.

“At the best, with some drop of rain, you can be in the top five, or you can be P15, but I think we take that risk at the moment. We have nothing to lose…”

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , ,

July 5, 2025 · 6:57 pm

Honest Leclerc admits he’s “not doing the job” in qualifying

Ferrari looked to be in the fight for pole at Silverstone – however the red cars start P5 and P6

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has always been known for his honesty about his own performances, and after qualifying at Silverstone he was quick to admit that he had not got the job done when it mattered in Q3.

The SF-25 looked good from the start of practice, seemingly well-suited to the smooth Silverstone track.

Leclerc was second fastest on Friday and then quickest in Saturday’s FP3. The Maranello team really caught the attention when the red cars were one-two in Q2, with Lewis Hamilton fastest.

Hamilton again had the edge in Q3, but this time they slipped to P5 and P6 – and Leclerc was left frustrated at an opportunity missed.

“I’m not doing the job,” he said when I asked about his session. “And I think since the beginning of the season, I’ve been performing very well in the races.

“And looking back at races, there are actually not many races where I will go back to change something that I’ve done inside the car.

“Unfortunately, when I look back at qualifying, which used to be my strength, there are many qualifyings where I would like to go back and to change something, because every time I get to Q3 for some reason, it’s not clicking at the moment. We’ve had good qualifyings, but we didn’t have great qualifyings.

“And again, this used to be my strength, so I’m not happy with the level that I’m showing in qualifying. We’ve got issues for sure, particularly today.

“From Q2 onwards, we a bit fighting with something inside the car. But it’s not an excuse. I need to be better.”

He added: “I honestly feel like we were quite strong today. What was lacking is a special lap and a lap where I put everything together, and unfortunately, that’s the difference from us to pole position.”

Leclerc would not elaborate on what was making his life so difficult at a crucial time.

“The issues are very specific, the ones we have. It’s not a balance issue, it’s not a grip issue, I don’t want to go into the detail, but it’s just something very weird that we’ve got to fight into the car, and especially when there are high-speed [corners], it makes it even more difficult.

“I hope we can resolve it. But the good thing, if we can say it’s a good thing, is that tomorrow, we won’t have any of this, and for sure, we won’t have any of problems of that sort.”

On the positive side the SF-25 has clearly been competitive thus far at Silverstone, with the new floor introduced in Austria last weekend potentially making a difference.

“I think we had a strong car this weekend, the high-speed, in terms of balance, in terms of grip, we’ve got quite a stable platform, also in the high-speed, if you look, compared to the McLaren especially.

“So think our car has some strengths this weekend. Again, this one issue that we are having at the moment is also making it a bit more difficult. So I think the car is good.

“We just need to put everything together, drivers and also maybe issues to challenge for more in quali.”

He remains confident that Ferrari has the pace with which to challenge the cars ahead, with George Russell and Mercedes the initial target.

“I hope so. But starting P6 again, it makes it so difficult, because every time we are starting the race by fighting to come back, and then once we are back at the front, people that have had a clean race, just have an advantage on us. So we need to be better in qualifying.”

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , ,

July 4, 2025 · 8:03 am

Why Piastri has steered clear of McLaren’s suspension update

Only Lando Norris is using the suspension tweak McLaren introduced in Montreal

One of the more intriguing aspects of the ongoing battle between McLaren Formula 1 team mates Lando Norris is that since Canada they have been driving subtly different cars.

In Montreal Norris ran a front suspension update that Piastri has opted not to use on the basis that it doesn’t bring performance, and that in effect he doesn’t want to mess with a successful recipe.

What it does do in theory is give Norris some of the feel that he felt was missing earlier in the season, although even he admits that he can’t be sure how much difference it makes given that every track has its own quirks.

You could argue that his strong performance in Austria was evidence that it’s boosted his confidence – although one could speculate that there’s something of a Placebo Effect in action.

“It’s even an answer I can’t give to the team that clearly, if you ask me now, is it better or not?,” he said on Thursday.

“I can’t give a definitive answer. It’s something that we believe might shift things in the right direction. That’s how small of a change it was. It wasn’t like, we know this is going to help, it’s going to do a better job.

“It’s also not a performance item. It’s not something that we’ve got and gone, now we’re going to be quicker. It’s something that might change how the feeling is to the steering and to the front suspension.

“But because you go track-to-track, it’s not something you can necessarily just change between sessions. It’s not where I can just go out and give a clean answer to the team.

“It’s one where I’ve just got to have the confidence and belief in the guys and girls who have put it together and thought of it believe it’s in the right direction to give me maybe some more feelings or a better feeling, or more of a contrast in feeling.

“And I’m happy enough that that’s a good enough answer, that they think it’s better, and I’m confident that it’s going to give me that feeling, but it’s not something I can go, ‘I’m feeling a lot more in the car.’

“I certainly felt more in Austria. Canada is a very separate one and the car is always all over the place in Canada, so it’s hard to judge things there.

“But certainly in Canada, I felt like we unlocked a little bit more, but I also don’t feel like I’m still back to the level necessarily that I was at last year with feeling, understanding, and things like that.”

Piastri meanwhile has preferred to stick with the original spec, and he has no interest in trying the new suspension.

“I’ve not used it ever yet,” said the Australian. “I think the thing is for me, it’s not an upgrade, it’s just something that is different. It makes some things potentially a bit better. It makes some things a bit worse.

“If it was just all benefits, I would be putting it on with no questions asked. But for me, I’ve not, not really struggled with that kind of particular feeling.

“The year’s been going pretty well, so I’m keener to just keep the car consistent, and worry about how we get the most out of the setup and the other upgrades we actually have than this change to the suspension.”

As the drivers suggest, it’s a subtle difference, but nevertheless it’s an interesting twist to what will be a very closely fought contest over the second half of the season.

Norris had the upper hand in Austria, although his team mate didn’t get his final Q3 run in due to yellow flags, and thus started only third.

“I think it is a very tight battle,” said Piastri. “I think it will be for the rest of the year. I think Canada I don’t was the best Sunday for me, definitely, in terms of pace, but I think last weekend was probably one of the better ones.

“I think qualifying ultimately, we’ll never know what was possible. But my first lap of Q3 or the only lap of Q3 was not great, even compared to some of my Q2 laps.

“So I think last weekend, I was happy with my pace, especially on Sunday. But I expect it to ebb and flow through the year. I think the weekends where either of us put our absolute best forward, it’s probably enough either of us to win.

“It’s just that doing that and finding 100% of your potential instead of 99 or 99 and a half is very, very difficult.

“So I think that’s been the difference so far this year. I think we’re very, very evenly matched. And on our good days, either of us is very hard to beat.”

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , ,