Tag Archives: McLaren

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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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July 4, 2025 · 6:17 am

How Austrian radio debate signalled Hamilton’s desire to do something different

After contesting a strategy call in Austria Hamilton wants to improve comms

Lewis Hamilton’s radio communications with Ferrari engineer Riccardo Adami have been a regular talking point this year, and there was another example in Austria last weekend.

Told to pit Hamilton argued that his tyres felt good and that he wanted to stay out longer. However, despite his initial protests he followed the instruction and came in.

Questioned about that chat after the race he downplayed the incident, and said that the team knew the bigger picture better than he did.

However on Thursday at Silverstone he gave a more detailed insight, and in essence made it clear that he wants to try more ambitious strategies – and if possible do something different relative to his team mate Charles Leclerc.

“Even just probably an hour ago I brought it up,” he said. “I mentioned it after the race, and then we’ve had time to reflect on it.

“And I think the team’s first view was they just wanted to make sure they secured third and fourth, which is totally fine.

“But I said, look, I’m not here to start fourth and finish fourth. I’m racing for every little bit that we can gain. And in a scenario like that, for example, both of us were on the same strategy – they had us exactly on the same strategy.

“I think we both went medium/hard/medium. I said I would have done medium/medium/hard, so at least I was offset at the end. I’d never want to do the same thing as my team mate, ever.

“And in that last stint, for example, we were not under pressure from the cars behind.

“So they said, yeah, but you would have got overtaken by Charles towards the end. I said well, there could have been a safety car. And in that point there was no risk in taking the gamble.

“And I said, I don’t want to get to a point where I’m ignoring you. So what we’re doing is working on our communication. And we’re still getting to know each other, how we like to operate, and that’s understood.”

Hamilton also gave further insight into how he’s trying to steer the 2026 car in a direction that suits him, with the help of new Ferrari technical director and former Mercedes colleague Loic Serra.

As noted here earlier this week Hamilton says that Leclerc prefers an oversteering car, and he hasn’t been able to drive with his team mate’s set-up. However in Austria he (somewhat reluctantly) moved closer to it, and made it work.

“This year with this car we have lots of different tools and things, the ways in which we can set the car up,” he said.

“Obviously, Charles has been here for a long time, and he’s been a part of evolving, developing this car. He’s very accustomed to it, and they’ve found, and he’s found, one way in which the car works.

“And I’ve tried all the other directions that should work, but they just don’t, for whatever reasons. And I’ve slowly migrated to the place where Charles does run the car, and last week was the closest, and our pace was the closest it has ever been. So it is still tough.

“It’s a tough balance to drive, and it’s not a comfortable one. It’s not one that I want to have in future.

“So I’m working with Loic and with all the guys at the factory to make sure that the next car will have naturally, some of my DNA in it, and hopefully we’ll be able to get some of the characteristics that I’m hoping to have in it for next year.”

We’ll know in late January how well that works out. In the mean time Hamilton is back at the track where he has enjoyed so much success, and where in 2024 he scored an emotional win – his only success in his last three seasons with Mercedes.

When I asked if he was hoping that help from the weather and a little Silverstone magic might propel him to the podium he agreed that was the case.

“I’m hoping and praying, yes,” he said. “There’s always magic here in Silverstone. So don’t really have to hope for that in the sense of the crowd is incredible. It’s a very, very, very special place, and it always provides a special race, one way or the other.

“But I’m hoping that the weather, all sorts of things can help us, because we’re obviously naturally not as quick as McLaren. If it just stays dry, then they will just walk the race.”

On the plus side the new floor introduced in Austria seemed to be effective.

“I think we did take a step, and I’m really hopeful that that continues. I think we still need to try and extract more from this car.

“There are still a few teething problems that we’re trying to work through, some short term and some long term. So we’re trying to make the best with what we have.”

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July 2, 2025 · 3:39 pm

Can Williams reboot its 2025 F1 season after enduring a nightmare month?

Sainz is adamant that the team has to regroup after recent struggles

For the Williams Racing Formula 1 team the month of June turned into something of a recurring nightmare.

Having logged an impressive 54 points in the first eight races of the 2025 season Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz earned just a single further point between them in the three events held last month since their double score in Monaco in May.

Sometimes luck just seems to go against you, and much as Sauber enjoyed a near perfect run over those same three races while logging 20 points, so Williams has been facing an ongoing scenario of what can go wrong going wrong.

Indeed Albon posted a remarkable three retirements in a row, with accident damage in Spain followed by PU overheating issues in both Canada and Austria.

Meanwhile Sainz failed even to start last weekend after an issue with the brakes, something of a recurrent problem for him in recent weekends.

The frustration is that despite the team struggling to fully optimise the FW47 on qualifying on soft tyres good points have still been on offer.

In Austria Albon appeared to have fortune on his side as he jumped from 12th to seventh at the start, and had he not hit trouble he would have had a good chance of finishing sixth.

It didn’t happen however, and this week the team has faced some soul-searching as it tries to put things right for Silverstone.

For Sainz not even starting at the Red Bull Ring was a painful if familiar experience, given that he’s had similar experiences previously at both McLaren and Ferrari.

This time the rear brakes stuck on, which triggered an aborted start as he was not able to get away on the formation lap. When he did get round to the pits the brakes were cooked, and that was that.

“I don’t know why this happens to me as a driver so often,” he said when I asked him about not getting a chance to race. “It happened a few times that I don’t even get to start the race and yeah, today just a different issue.

“We couldn’t change the brakes [before the race]. We had a pretty big issue yesterday in quali, but we managed to correct it. So laps to the grid, the car was fine. I was ready to race, but then suddenly, on the lap to grid, I found we had another issue.

“The first gear didn’t go in because the rear brakes were stuck. And then I understood, and I power cycled the car and tried to get going, but in the end the issue came back, I got fire, and that was it.”

Sainz was adamant that there was performance in the car, despite his lowly P19 on the grid.

“Again today we I think we would have been quickest midfield car on the race run, but we struggled with soft tyres, for sure. Since I was P1 in Q2 in Imola, I don’t know what has happened, what’s changed in the car, but something in qualifying on soft tyres doesn’t seem to click, so we need to keep working on that.

“Then we are still very quick on Sundays, like we saw in Canada, we saw today, we saw in Monaco even, we can have good race pace. So we have a strong car, strong package. We just need to execute weekends, and stop having issues.”

Any retirement is costly when the midfield battle is so close, especially in an era when a lot of teams are showing bulletproof reliability.

Williams sits in fifth place and still has a decent advantage over the rest of the midfield, but that gap could disappear.

“Clearly, too many issues yesterday, too many issues today,” said Sainz as he reflected on recent form. “We’re having a tough run as a team, very scrappy first half of the season.

“And I must say, even if we are very quick as a team, and I think I’ve adapted quickly to the car, we seem to have too many problems when it counts and when it matters.

“Doesn’t matter if it’s reliability, strategy or weekend execution. So time to regroup. It’s true, we don’t have much time, but Silverstone, it’s our home Grand Prix, and we need to regroup to see what we can do better.”

Expanding on the theme he added: “It just shows we are going through a tough period in a tough time for the team, and we need to understand why, because clearly it’s costing us a lot of points.

“We have a decent car. We haven’t upgraded it much, but we have an upgrade coming soon.

“We just need to get better at executing weekends. People were asking me before if it’s related to focusing on next year, and it’s not, it should be completely unrelated.

“The way you execute a race weekend, and reliability-wise, has nothing to do with putting the focus on next year.

“So we should use these issues we’re having this year, and all of these problems, to learn as a team to execute better weekends.”

Sainz admitted that he and Albon both have to play their part in trying to improve things.

“All of the big leaders of the team, we need to take responsibility and leadership,” he said. “We all need to take also accountability in what we are doing wrong as a team.

“This is one aspect of the team that I fully back, and I fully trust that we are capable of doing that.

“Now we need to test ourselves to see how quick as a team we can respond to these issues, and come back stronger, because I’m sure there’s going to be responsibility and leadership. I’m sure there’s going to be. So it’s just a matter of in testing times, how quick you can recover from all these issues, and it will put us to test.”

For Albon the Austrian retirement was particularly frustrating as he’d taken advantage of the Antonelli/Verstappen clash to jump up the order, and it all seemed to be going his way.

“Obviously a little bit fortunate,” said the Thai/British driver. “The waves parted a little bit, but we were in the right place at the right time, and we had a good car, had a nice overtake on Pierre, and were pulling away from the cars behind.

“I was actually catching George towards the end of my stint. And then we covered off Gasly, I think, and then we ran into the issues.

“Maybe something after the pit stop just picked up. It looks similar to Canada, if anything. Yeah, we need to review it. Obviously, we’ve had three DNFs a row now, so we’re lacking the mileage at the moment.

“I don’t know. It’s the same car as it was at the beginning of the year, and it was a lot more reliable at the beginning of the year. So I’m not sure if it’s temperatures that we’re running at that’s making us struggle.”

Albon noted before the weekend started that after getting too hot the Montreal PU would be tested on Friday, and it seemed to be healthy: “We did long running in traffic as well, just a double check, triple check, and then we come to the race, and it’s still an issue.”

He agrees that the team has to get its act together this weekend, not least because it’s a circuit that should suit the car.

“I’m a little bit worried. I don’t know what we can do. We can’t afford it to happen in Silverstone, because I think that’s a good track for us.

“We’ve missed out on good points today, with all the DNFs happening to the top teams. So yeah, very frustrating. I’m not sure the next track being a home track, if that helps us a bit, just with efficiency in getting things to the car. But we’ll deep dive, and try to find a solution.”

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July 2, 2025 · 9:54 am

Can Lawson really put himself in the frame for an RBR return?

A great run to sixth place in Austria has put Liam Lawson back on the Red Bull map

It’s not been easy for Liam Lawson to bounce back from the blow of being demoted from Red Bull to Racing Bulls just two races into the 2025 Formula 1 season.

However, the subsequent struggle of Yuki Tsunoda to come to terms with the same car has given food for thought not just to the Red Bull camp, but the rest of the world as well.

In Austria the Kiwi was able to further swing opinion in his favour with a superb performance that saw him start and finish sixth as he logged the best result of his career to date.

There have been positive signs before, notably in Monaco, where he started ninth and finished eighth. However for the most part he’s been overshadowed by the less experienced Isack Hadjar, who has been consistently quick.

In Austria it didn’t work out for the Frenchman, who had to contend with an understeering car in Q2, and he was consigned to P13.

Lawson meanwhile was third in Q1 and ninth in Q2 before securing sixth. He was helped by the fact that others (notably Max Verstappen) didn’t get their final laps in due to a yellow flag, but that’s part of the game.

After qualifying Lawson admitted that the strategy choice wasn’t clear. In the end the team opted for a bold one-stop, which was matched only by Fernando Alonso.

It worked out well as they finished sixth and seventh, with Alonso helpfully protecting Lawson from a potential late attack by Gabriel Bortoleto on fresh tyres. Hadjar was in the points at one stage, but he faded after sustaining floor damage, putting even more of a focus on Lawson’s great performance.

“With today’s temperatures, I was quite concerned, honestly,” he said when I asked about the one-stop.

“But the team knew, and I’m just very proud of their efforts. Not just this weekend, but the last few races, the car has been very quick, and we haven’t been able to convert. So to do that this weekend is pretty cool.”

Lawson found keeping his tyres in good shape over two long stints easier than expected: “Honestly, not too bad. It’s been a weird one this year with tyres, trying to get on top of them sometimes.

“On paper we came here this weekend pretty certain it was going to be a clear two-stop. And I think most people thought that as well.

“And after our numbers on Friday, we looked at the temperature today, and I was pretty concerned, honestly, with a one-stop, but the team knew, I don’t know how, but very happy that they did.”

He was also grateful to have Alonso riding shotgun and keeping Bortoleto out of range.

“Gabriel was there with fresh tyres,” he noted. “Basically I could keep Fernando there just, but with somebody coming on quick on new tyres, I was quite concerned. So got a bit lucky that they finished a lap behind when I got a clean final lap to just cruise around.”

Luck doesn’t begin to describe his escape at Turn 3 on the first lap. Kimi Antonelli lost control while trying to avoid running into Lawson, and then missed him after hitting Verstappen.

Pictures show that the VCARB snuck through by the slenderest of margins – it really was a weekend when what could go wrong for Lawson went right instead.

“Obviously he was trying to avoid us all slowing down. But lap one at a hairpin like that everyone backs up a lot, and I know obviously it wasn’t on purpose. So we were very lucky to survive.

“I thought I got hit, to be honest. I thought we were probably going to have damage, and the car was fine. So yeah, got lucky.”

Lawson certainly deserves a bit of good fortune. At a time when rumours are swirling about Verstappen’s future and with Tsunoda struggling it’s a good time for him to be getting attention, with an opportunity to return to RBR potentially opening up – something that seemed unlikely just a couple of months ago.

Logic suggests that if he no longer fits at Mercedes then George Russell will go to Red Bull, but if Tsunoda is out and a second seat is available, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko will look to Racing Bulls.

It’s now up to Lawson to show what he can do against Hadjar, who clearly has momentum on his side.

We are currently going through a run of tracks where neither driver has raced an F1 car before, and in theory Lawson should have an advantage from Zandvoort onwards, as he has sampled every venue except Azerbaijan. He really needs to make that count, and it’s in his hands.

“It’s been an incredibly tough year, a very tough year with a lot of potential,” he noted. “I came into F1 last year and had a few races, and most of them converted very well.

“And sometimes you can have all the confidence and speed in the world, and they don’t, and it’s felt like that this year. So to finally have a result is amazing, but we need to obviously keep doing this as well.”

“I think Canada, we had really good speed in practice. Barcelona had good speed in practice, Monaco as well, and the result didn’t convert.

“We’ve been pushing a lot with the car, and especially with our side of the garage, they’ve been doing a lot of work to make me comfortable, and we made some changes this weekend, and they’ve worked really, really well.

“We need to obviously keep pushing. But it’s sometimes like that in F1, sometimes the speed and everything can be there, but there’s a lot of variables in the sport, and they’ve worked for us this weekend.”

The good news is that the VCARB 02 has been pretty competitive everywhere while rivals have shown rollercoaster form, and thus it should be in the mix at Silverstone.

“It’s another high-speed circuit,” he said. “And to be honest, it’s felt pretty good this weekend, but it’s just very close at the moment in F1.

“And you can start the weekend quite good, and within one session, other people make a small step, and you’ve lost your edge.

“So it’s really about basically pushing every session and trying to improve the car, because half a tenth makes such a difference sometimes.”

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July 1, 2025 · 2:14 pm

What went wrong for Russell and Mercedes in Austrian “perfect storm”

A combination of factors cost Russell performance in Austria – however he still finished fifth

After qualifying in P5 in Austria George Russell admitted that his best hope for the race was simply to hang on to his grid position.

Helped by an instant retirement for Max Verstappen – who would probably have had the pace to get in front and stay ahead – Russell achieved his modest target.

Fifth wasn’t much for a guy who won last time out, but nevertheless 10 points was another useful score in a season that has seen Russell consistently at the sharp end.

He’s also now only nine points shy of third placed Verstappen, and beating the Dutchman over the balance of the season is a challenge worth pursuing.

Nevertheless Austria was not a weekend that Russell or Mercedes could be happy with, as high temperatures, the nature of the track and a setup call that backfired conspired to cost him performance.

“I was expecting a bad race, and it was worse than I even could imagine,” he said when I asked him about his afternoon. “The problem was so clear, coming off the back of Canada with the win – with no tyre overheating, we’re the quickest.

“But as soon as you get to a track where there’s a bit of overheating, we drop off so much. The team has been working so hard for six months now to try and solve this issue. We’ve got ideas, but we’re not really making major headway right now.”

Russell agreed that it could have been a lot worse as he once again logged the best result achievable on the day.

“For sure, damage limitation,” he said. “I still take pride in the fact that almost every race this year, we’re maximising the result.

“Today, we definitely could not have achieved anything higher than P5, the same way as last week, the win was the potential, and we got the win. So fingers crossed, it stays cloudy for the rest of the season…

“This was a bit of a perfect storm. The tarmac is one of the roughest of the season, obviously, high-speed circuit, you’re going around the track many times, the most number of laps in the season, and then 50 degrees track temperature. So it was sort of that perfect storm.

“Silverstone is a higher-speed circuit, but the tarmac is actually quite new, which is good news. If the track temperature is the same like last year, it was like 20 degrees, I think last year, it was quite cool, we were on pole. But two weeks ago, it was 31 degrees in England. So if it’s 31 degrees, we won’t be on pole this year.”

The good news for him is that lower temperatures are indeed predicted for the coming weekend, and that could give the W16 a boost.

Mercedes will certainly try to learn lessons from the Red Bull Ring, as team principal Toto Wolff acknowledged.

“When you look at our performance, last year we won the race here, and we were, I don’t remember, 10-15 seconds behind the leaders,” the Austrian said of his home race.

“It was a very solid performance. And this year we are minute behind the leaders. So that is clearly out of the ordinary. What happened today? We do experiment at the moment a little bit how to put the car on track, where we put the balance.

“And clearly, this one we got wrong, and we know that. So I think it’s not only down to those factors, asphalt, long corners and heat. Clearly, that’s not our sweet spot, but it doesn’t explain the gap, and I think we know why. But in hindsight you always know.”

Wolff admitted that the team had taken a setup route that while successful in Canada hadn’t worked out in Austria.

“We need to understand what creates those oscillations, and now is the moment,” he said. “We are not racing for the championship. P2/P3 whatever it is, at the end, only the winning counts.

“And the only positive I take from this race weekend is that we tried something extreme, which was good in Montreal, and it was a complete shot in the knee here.

“Because we could have gone to the setup that we had last year, and that would have put us, I don’t know, on the podium, maybe. But that is not what we tried.”

He continued: “In a way I’m getting fed up with my own explanations of we learn and then next time we understand better. That has been the constant Groundhog Day. But there was something which we tried to take from Barcelona and from Montreal in terms of how we set the car up and where we put the aero and mechanical balance.

“And that was that was clearly wrong. Now we have ticked this box. It would be dramatic if we were racing for a victory, if we were racing for a championship, which we do not. So analyse, dig deep, what was it? And go to Silverstone.”

Asked to expand on that setup choice He added: “We felt that there’s a certain direction we wanted to pursue, which is perfectly logical for Canada, and a bit counter intuitive for Austria.

“And our long runs looked very good. So we thought Kimi’s long run was maybe, second, third, fastest was really good. We can stick to that. And then obviously the temperatures got hotter, the grip ramped up.

“And then we kind of come to the conclusion that we should have maybe stuck to what we knew from last year here.”

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