Author: quyen1

Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.

Red Bull may have the advantage in the F1 2024 standings, but the last few races have shown Formula 1 is in a “rat race” with big swings predicted.

McLaren kicked off the F1 2024 development war in Miami when they put a ‘2.0’ MCL38 on the track, handing Lando Norris his maiden grand prix win and by a comfortable margin of seven seconds ahead of Max Verstappen.

F1 2024 will just be a rat race with upgrades’

The reigning World Champion was back on the top step of the podium at the next race in Imola – but only just, Norris having hounded him to the line with the gap less than a second.

One race later it was Ferrari who sprayed the victory champagne after Charles Leclerc raced his upgraded SF-24 to the victory ahead of Norris and Carlos Sainz.

Verstappen was, by his standards, a lowly P6 as his RB20 and its stiff suspension struggled on the street circuit’s kerbs and bumps.

The Monaco result marked Red Bull’s third defeat of this season, a sharp contrast to last year’s one in 22 races, while Ferrari are up to two wins with Leclerc just 31 points behind Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship.

But while NOS F1 pundit Louis Dekker believes “something is changing” in Formula 1, he’s all but ruled out a Ferrari title fight.

“I don’t think so, but never say never,” Dekker said. “You could also turn it around: Red Bull has already lost three this year, that didn’t happen last year. So something is changing.

“But from now on it will just be a rat race with upgrades. From now on, every update can change a P5 into a P1.

“However, they [Red Bull’s rivals] are still afraid that Red Bull have a few circuits where the RB20 will go well. Barcelona, ​​for example, a one-two [result] will be a piece of cake.”

‘The picture of competitiveness for Red Bull is not entirely clear’

But while Red Bull’s rivals are hoping this year’s results are a sign that the tables are turning, they’re not ready to clear space on the mantel for more trophies.

“I think the picture of competitiveness for Red Bull is not entirely clear to me,” said McLaren team boss Andrea Stella.

“Exactly what is going on with Red Bull, I’m not so sure. I think we need a few more races to find out.

“Obviously, we go to the next one in Canada, which is another one which is very demanding on kerbs and bumps. And then I think some tracks after Canada will tell us more about the competitiveness situation.”

 

However, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur told the media including PlanetF1.com that Red Bull’s pace advantage has clearly been slashed by both Ferrari and McLaren.

“I think last year they had a very decent gap,” he said. “Sometimes we are able to fight with them in qualy but in the race it was four or five tenths.

“That means that when you are four or five tenths off you are not really at risk. Even if you miss in qualy, like in Jeddah Max started P9 but after three laps he was leading.

“But this season, it’s not the case anymore. It’s not the case with just us, but it’s not the case between Red Bull and McLaren because McLaren are even closer.”

Max Verstappen endured his most difficult weekend for some time in Monaco

Max Verstappen has defended his performance at the Monaco Grand Prix, claiming nobody in the paddock would have been able to drive the Red Bull RB20 “faster than me” last weekend.

Verstappen has established himself as the dominant force of modern F1, winning 49 of the last 74 races to claim three consecutive World Championships.

Max Verstappen challenges whole F1 2024 field to drive Red Bull RB20

A fourth title had looked inevitable after Verstappen started the F1 2024 season by winning four of the first five races – including three one-two finishes for Red Bull – to establish a clear lead in the Drivers’ and Constructors’ standings.

However, with McLaren and Ferrari improving quickly Red Bull have looked increasingly vulnerable over recent weeks with Verstappen winning one of the last three rounds as Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc triumphed in Miami and Monaco respectively.

Verstappen could only manage sixth on the grid in Monaco as team-mate Sergio Perez failed to reach Q3 for the second race in succession.

Verstappen’s lead over Monaco winner Charles Lelcerc in the World Championship has been cut to 31 points, with Red Bull now just 24 ahead of Ferrari.

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com after qualifying, Verstappen admitted Red Bull got “found out” in Monaco for not addressing a weakness of the car which had been present since the first year of F1’s ground effect rules in 2022.

The Dutchman went to liken the RB20 to a go-kart around the principality, claiming the car was “jumping around a lot” and “not absorbing any kerb strikes or bumps or camber changes.”

And Verstappen believes no other driver would have salvaged a sixth-place finish in Monaco with the car so recalcitrant.

Asked if he made his first mistakes of F1 2024 in Monaco, he replied: “I would say no. And I would be happy to invite anyone in the paddock to drive this car faster than me.”

Red Bull’s performance last weekend prompted Verstappen’s father Jos to declare that the team’s dominance of F1 is now over, with Verstappen Sr urging the Milton Keynes-based outfit to respond in the face of a renewed threat from Ferrari and McLaren.

He told Dutch publication De Telegraaf: “For sure there will be other tracks where Red Bull will do well again, but I am very curious [to see] how they will solve these problems.

“They will have to do something about it, understand where certain difficulties come from. Meanwhile, it is clear that McLaren and Ferrari are getting closer and closer.

“Max has been good at hiding some of the problems, but you can see how big the difference is between him and his team-mate.

“It seems to me that Red Bull’s period of dominance has come to an end.”

Max Verstappen thumbs up

Formula 1 2024 could see a title fight unfold as Max Verstappen will not win even half of this remaining 16 Grands Prix, says Robert Doornbos.

Although Max Verstappen won five of the opening eight races, Red Bull have already been beaten to the top step in the first third of this season than they were all of last year.

Max Verstappen has already lost three races this season

In 2023, they won 21 of 22 races as they cruised to the championship double with Verstappen’s 575 points being enough to win the Constructors’ title alone.

It had rivals fearing another season of misery this year.

Instead, Red Bull have found themselves with a fight on their hands with Ferrari winning two races to sit 24 points behind in the teams’ standings while Charles Leclerc is 31 points down in the Drivers’ standings. McLaren have also won a Grand Prix.

The team’s latest defeat at the hands of Leclerc in Monaco had Verstappen declaring they’ve been “found out” with a weakness that’s been around since 2022 now evident given Red Bull no longer have a huge pace advantage over the chasing pack.

It has former F1 driver Doornbos predicting he won’t even win half of the remaining 16 races.

“You said that Max was going to win 22 races this year,” Doornbos reminded his fellow Ziggo Sport pundit Rob Kamphues. “So that’s not going to happen.

“He will win another six or seven.”

Red Bull and Ferrari weigh in on potential title fight

Although it’s clear Red Bull won’t have it all their own way this season, the team having already lost more races they did last season, Christian Horner is not hitting the panic button.

“Ferrari, McLaren, they’re quick,” he told the media including PlanetF1.com. “It was always going to happen that there was going to be convergence.

“I think McLaren made a big step, Ferrari’s step was very subtle. So let’s see over the next two or three races.

“We’re now getting into the meat of the championship so let’s see. Montreal, Barcelona, Austria, Silverstone, let’s see over the next few circuits how things pan out.

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

A marathon that Fred Vasseur believes could yet go either way.

“First, I never said that Red Bull was champion after six races,” said the Ferrari team boss in the wake of Charles Leclerc’s Monaco win. “And I won’t say today that it won’t be the case. We have still 16 races to go.

“Probably you can still score 500 points until the end. It means that nothing is done in one direction or the other.

“But I’m sure that Red Bull and Max never considered that they were already champions.

“It’s part of the game that you need always to do more, to push more. I’m convinced that Red Bull are not in the control zone.”

He added: “For sure, depending from track to track, we’ll have perhaps Red Bull with an advantage, or Ferrari, or McLaren and we’ll have to be opportunistic. But the fight will be tight.”

Is Max Versatppen looking over his shoulder in the face of a renewed threat from Ferrari and McLaren?

Max Verstappen is convinced that the advantage between the top teams will continue to “swing a bit” as Ferrari and McLaren hone in on Red Bull.

Having eased to a third consecutive World Championship in F1 2023 with a record 19 victories, Verstappen had been widely expected to remain as the sport’s dominant force this season.

Max Verstappen expects F1 2024 ‘swings’ between Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren

Additional reporting by Sam Cooper

Yet despite winning four of the first five races, Red Bull have come under threat from McLaren and Ferrari in recent weeks with Verstappen winning just one of the last three rounds.

After losing out to Lando Norris in Miami, Verstappen held off the McLaren driver to win by just 0.725 seconds at the next race at Imola before Red Bull suffered their most challenging weekend for some time at the Monaco Grand Prix, where the Dutchman could only finish sixth as Charles Leclerc triumphed for Ferrari.

Verstappen and Red Bull have both seen their leads in the World Championship reduced, with the Verstappen now just 31 points ahead of Leclerc and Red Bull leading Ferrari by 24 ahead of next weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, round nine of a record 24-race campaign.

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com, Verstappen has admitted he was braced for a more competitive season in F1 2024 after his record-breaking 2023 campaign.

And he believes the battle between the three leading teams will continue to evolve from circuit to circuit, with the cars “a lot closer” this season.

He said: “I knew that it was never going to be like last year.

“To have a season like that is quite rare, so I always knew that of course this year was going to be a little bit different.

“But also I don’t really think about championship position or whatever. There are so many races left.

“Some races are a bit better for us, some are probably a bit worse for us and at the end of the day, it all works out.

“The cars are a lot closer. Some cars work better on street circuits, some work better in fast corners and low speed corners, so it will swing a bit.”

Verstappen likened the RB20 to a go-kart over the course of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend as the car struggled to absorb bumps, kerb strikes and camber changes.

With bumps and kerbs also a feature of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the Dutchman is bracing himself for another challenging weekend in Montreal.

“We have to wait and see,” he said.

“A new surface as well, I think, – that might always give you some surprises. It’s probably also not going to be our strongest weekend because of that, but probably a little bit better than here.”

Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso.

While Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton were the best F1 drivers he raced against, Sebastian Vettel named Fernando Alonso as his “hardest” competitor.

Vettel, who made his Formula 1 debut back in 2007, grew to become a veteran figure of the grid alongside Hamilton and Alonso, the trio all multi-time World Champions. He also got to share the Formula 1 track with his childhood hero Michael Schumacher, who returned for a three-season spell with Mercedes between 2010-12.

Lewis Hamilton the ‘G.O.A.T’ but Fernando Alonso ‘hardest’

Partaking in a round of quickfire questions for talkSPORT, Vettel first would reveal a word that came to mind for various drivers of past and present.

Hamilton received the “G.O.A.T” [greatest of all time] tag, while Vettel went for “hero” with Schumacher, “hunger” for Alonso and “skill” for the reigning three-time World Champion Max Verstappen, who is chasing his fourth successive title in F1 2024.

As for former Ferrari team-mates Charles Leclerc and Kimi Raikkonen, Vettel’s word for Leclerc was “talent”, while for Raikkonen it was “badminton”. An Iceman of many skills.

With the one-word section done, Vettel was free to expand a little more, as he was first asked to name the best driver he raced against and why?

“I would say Michael and Lewis,” he replied. “Why? Because numbers speak for themselves.

“But Michael was my hero and Lewis is the best in terms of statistics.”

So while the numbers do not lie for the pair of seven-time World Champions, when it came to being asked to reveal his “toughest competitor”, Vettel went with Alonso, the pair having battled it out over the 2010 and 2012 titles, where Vettel won out by four and three points respectively over the Spaniard.

“Fernando,” Vettel declared as his toughest competitor, “I had close championships and close calls with him throughout my career and generally he’s the sort of driver that’s always there, very competitive.

“And yeah, I think he was the hardest competitor I faced.”

As for which driver “surprised” Vettel the most, that went to Verstappen, due to the skills he had when debuting in F1 as a 17-year-old, before going on to become the dominant force of the sport that he is today.

“Hard to remember all of them, but I think Max,” said Vettel, “just the sheer skill when he rocked up and how he was able to polish it and driving at the level that he is today.”

While Verstappen was expected to stroll to a fourth title in a row in F1 2024, which would see him equal Vettel’s record also set with Red Bull between 2010-13, recent victories for McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc threaten to complicate Verstappen’s path.

However, when asked which driver – not named Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton – he believes will be the next World Champion, neither Leclerc nor Norris got the nod from Vettel.

“George Russell,” was the Vettel verdict, the Brit faced with a golden opportunity to lead the Mercedes team into the future as Hamilton prepares to join Ferrari for 2025.

Lewis Hamilton to retire after F1 2024? “Completely absurd” says Ralf Schumacher.

Six-time F1 race winner Ralf Schumacher was having none of it when presented with an “absurd” rumour about how Lewis Hamilton would end his career after the F1 2024 campaign.

Hamilton is set to realise a “childhood dream” when he races in the iconic Ferrari red from F1 2025, but before then, he has an important final season with Mercedes to navigate, the team with which he has won six of his seven World Championship titles.

Lewis Hamilton retirement claim ‘completely absurd’

But Hamilton finds himself with a serious challenge on his hands in F1 2024 in the form of Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who currently boasts a 7-1 lead over Hamilton in the qualifying head-to-head, while Russell has scored 54 points to Hamilton’s 42.

And when speaking to Formel1.de, it was put to Schumacher that there are rumours floating around that Hamilton could retire at the end of F1 2024, rather than make that move to Ferrari, thus giving him a ‘face-saving exit’ from his Ferrari deal.

“Completely absurd,” was the response from Schumacher.

He added: “Because of course the contract is far too big, far too much money is involved.”

Another layer to this rumour – that Ferrari are questioning whether they made the right call in signing Hamilton to replace Carlos Sainz – was also rubbished by Schumacher, who branded Hamilton’s signature a “super clever” move from the Scuderia, as he stressed that Hamilton is “still a first-class driver.”

Speculation continues to mount that Hamilton could be joined in taking the Ferrari plunge by departing Red Bull F1 design guru Adrian Newey, who has knocked back multiple approaches from the team in the past.

And Hamilton has already made it clear that he would “very much” like to join forces with Newey for the first time in his F1 career at Ferrari.

Asked by media at the Miami GP how much he would like Newey to join him at Ferrari, Hamilton replied:

“Adrian’s got such a great history, track record and has just done an amazing job through his career in engaging with teams and the knowledge that he has and I think he would be an amazing addition.

“I think they’ve already got a great team. They’re already making huge progress, strides forwards. Their car is quicker this year. But yeah, it would be a privilege to work with him.

“If I was to do a list of people that I’d love to work with, he would absolutely be at the top of it.”

Hamilton will find Monaco Grand Prix winner Charles Leclerc on the other side of the garage upon joining Ferrari.

F1’s class of 2024

While there was zero driver movement between the last race of F1 2023 and the first of F1 2024, expect the next 12 months to be carnage on the driver market…

Astonishingly, not a single driver left their seat after the final race of 2023, with every team remaining faithful to the driver line-ups that took part in the final Grand Prix of 2023. It’s the first time it’s ever happened in Formula 1 but, with plenty of contracts up for negotiation going into 2024, here are the drivers who will all be eager to get their contracts renewed to stay on the grid for F1 in 2025…

Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

With Max Verstappen locked into a deal that takes him close to the end of the decade at Red Bull, Sergio Perez has no such comfort. The Mexican driver, who signed a two-year extension around the 2022 Monaco GP to see him through to the end of 2024, is under significant pressure to keep his place with the team.

Despite his second-place finish in the 2023 Drivers’ Championship, Perez’s inconsistency and inability to exploit the RB19 to its full extent will be a huge concern for Red Bull if the competition is even a little bit closer.

But the good news for Perez is that his fate is in his hands, for now. With Daniel Ricciardo a threatening presence in the AlphaTauri, Perez has been given clear instructions on what Red Bull want to see from him in 2024.

If he can achieve some consistency and keep his nose clean, he’ll have a chance at staying on as Verstappen’s teammate. If not, then time might just run out on his Red Bull career…

Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

The Spaniard is also heading into his last year with Ferrari and, while the same long-term deal hasn’t been mooted as a possibility for Sainz, team boss Fred Vasseur has also indicated a desire to see him stay on at the team beyond his current deal.

Speaking before Christmas at an event for sponsor Estrella Galicia, Sainz said the aim is to have a new deal with Ferrari confirmed before the 2024 season kicks off in Bahrain.

“We have to agree, and we have three months ahead of us to do it,” he said.

“Until the first race of the World Championship. Obviously, I want to renew and I would like to do it for more than a year. I feel perfectly valued by Fred and the entire Ferrari family and as a driver, that is your main priority.”

Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

Ocon signed a new three-year deal with Alpine in the middle of 2021, with the Enstone squad showing their faith in his abilities.

However that partnership will be coming to an end following the conclusion of the F1 2024 season. On Monday July 3, it was announced that the driver and team would be parting ways.

Esteban Ocon teased he will have news “very soon” on his future, so he may well have already secured himself a seat elsewhere. Watch this space.

Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

Gasly has just completed his first season with Alpine and, like Ocon, has to deal with a different management team when it comes to contract negotiation time – although Luca de Meo was part of the board that approved his signing in late ’22, and one of the people who pushed for him.

Gasly is also understood to have a contract option for 2025 meaning that, provided certain performance criteria are met by both sides, an extension is a legal formality.

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Logan Sargeant (Williams)

The American driver was fortunate to survive the winter, having had to wait until after the final race of 2023 to have a contract extension announced.

Having shown flashes of speed, Sargeant proved inconsistent and prone to mistakes – although these weren’t unforgivable in a rookie season.

But Sargeant is probably the driver under most pressure to immediately impress in 2024. Mistakes won’t be tolerated much anymore and, unless Sargeant is able to show promise and keep up with Albon to a far greater extent, Williams are likely to seek a fresh face…

Daniel Ricciardo (RB)

Ricciardo secured a fairytale return to the grid in 2023, having seemingly lost his career in ignominious fashion at the end of ’22 after two tough years at McLaren.

While a broken metacarpal threatened the comeback, he showed enough promise for Red Bull to give him a seat with the sister team for ’24 – a side effect of that being a looming presence to inspire Sergio Perez to pull up his socks.

Ricciardo now has a year in familiar surroundings to further rekindle the flames of a once red-hot career and has made it clear he wants to finish his career with Red Bull Racing. But will he show enough to secure that cockpit?

The main thing he has to worry about for now is doing enough simply to remain with RB (or whatever they will be called by then)…

Yuki Tsunoda (RB)

As with Ricciardo, Tsunoda has to worry about doing enough to convince Red Bull to keep the faith beyond 2024, as Liam Lawson showed immense promise during his few races as Ricciardo’s substitute.

If the gossip is to be believed, Tsunoda was only given the nod over Lawson for 2024 based on Honda’s intervention and insistence – meaning Red Bull already has their eye on the future.

While Tsunoda has shaken off a lot of the inconsistencies that made him unreliable in his first two years, heading into his fourth season with the ‘junior’ squad means it’s now or never for the Japanese youngster.

If Tsunoda fails to match or beat Ricciardo – whose own reputation is less than stellar at present – then the writing is on the wall for Tsunoda to depart F1.

Valtteri Bottas (Stake F1)

Bottas, like Kimi Raikkonen before him, landed on his feet with a lower-pressure gig in the midfield after stepping back from a front-running team.

But, while Raikkonen enjoyed a largely competitive car during his first two seasons with Sauber (then Alfa Romeo), Bottas can hardly say the same.

A smattering of points finishes aside, Bottas and Alfa Romeo (now Stake F1 Team) have had quite anonymous campaigns in the lower midfield, with Bottas hardly trouncing Zhou Guanyu to the extent one might have imagined.

As solid and reliable as ever, Bottas is eager to hang on long enough to get a chance to drive for Audi when they arrive in 2026, but will the Finn be able to do enough to reach that marker? Only a new two-year deal will do…

Zhou Guanyu (Stake F1)

Zhou is in basically the exact same position as Bottas, albeit with more youth on his side – giving rise to the possibility of a lot more potential still to be unlocked.

Zhou has proven a pleasant surprise in the midfield and, had he not had a disastrous start in Budapest in ’23, might have enjoyed a bit more buzz about him heading into the new season.

Having had to be content with the same level of midfield anonymity as Bottas, Zhou needs a strong result to perk things up as the end of his current contract looms.

Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

Having been dropped by Haas once before, before being brought back as the American squad needed a dependable driver behind the wheel after dropping Nikita Mazepin, the Danish driver has needed to prove Haas wrong as to why they axed him.

The glorious start to 2022 is long in the history books, as is the Brazil pole, as Magnussen struggled – and was open about said struggles – to adjust to the VF-23 to achieve the same results as Nico Hulkenberg.

While Hulkenberg was able to pop in some eye-opening qualifying sessions to underline his speed during ’23, Magnussen largely had a season to forget – he needs a big one in ’24 if he’s to get another chance beyond these 12 months.

Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 F1 World Champion, has warned Lewis Hamilton to expect “a very chaotic and political team” when he arrives at Ferrari from Mercedes in 2025.

Hamilton rocked the F1 world in February by announcing that he will join Ferrari on a multi-year contract from next season, bringing an end to his long and successful partnership with Mercedes.

The 39-year-old’s decision came just five months after he signed a new two-year deal with Mercedes, having activated a break clause to leave before the first season of his new contract had officially started.

Hamilton, who won six of his seven World Championships with Mercedes from the start of F1’s V6 hybrid era in 2014, will arrive at a Ferrari team still searching for their Drivers’ World Championship since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.

With Ferrari emerging as the biggest threat to the dominant Red Bull outfit at the start of the 2024 season, Hamilton claimed ahead of last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix that “there’s not been a moment” when he’s questioned his decision to leave Mercedes.

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Revealed: The remarkable 36-hour timeline behind Lewis Hamilton’s shock Ferrari move

Villeneuve, whose late father Gilles represented Ferrari with distinction in the late 1970s and early 1980s, reckons Hamilton must be braced for a political challenge at the famous Scuderia in 2025.

He said: “Lewis has seven Championships. He is the greatest of all time with his achievements. And he’s going to the biggest team in history that has the biggest image.

“But also a very chaotic team, a very political team, a very difficult team where the whole of Italy loves you or hates you in five seconds.”

Hamilton’s partnership with 2025 team-mate Charles Leclerc, widely regarded as the fastest driver in F1 today despite remaining on five career wins, is a mouthwatering prospect.

Villeneuve remains unconvinced by Leclerc, claiming Ferrari has tried to “build” the Monegasque into a World Champion whereas Hamilton will arrive with a proven track record.

He explained: “[Hamilton] hasn’t been built. He’s actually won his championships; he’s won his races; he’s achieved it all.

“Which is very, very different than other drivers that have been put in Ferrari without championships, without wins, but where Ferrari has tried to build their image as champions.

“For example, Charles has a built image, but he has not shown it yet. That will be interesting to see the two fight it off.

“How will the one that’s achieved it all compare to the one who’s said to be a champion but isn’t yet?”

He always stays up-to-date with the latest fashion trends.

And Lewis Hamilton, 36, stood out from the crowd in a purple outfit on Friday and rocked pigtails as she stepped out in Austria ahead of the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix.

The Formula One driver was experimenting with a new do – having previously just pulled his hair back – as he strolled through Spielberg in his colourful look.

Trendy: Lewis Hamilton , 36, stood out from the crowd in a purple outfit on Friday and rocked pigtails as she stepped out in Austria ahead of the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix

His longline shirt featured a neon orange badge above his left cuff and complemented his baggy shorts.

Lewis proved he has expensive taste as he sported Dior trainers which he teamed with spotless white socks.

The racing car driver shielded his eyes from the glorious sun with stylish shades and protected himself from the novel coronavirus with a face mask.

The Formula One campaign continues this weekend as the Styrian Grand Prix takes centre stage in the first of a double-header at the Red Bull Ring circuit in Austria.

Hairdo: The Formula One driver was experimenting with a new do – having previously just pulled his hair back – as he strolled through Spielberg in his colourful look

It comes just a week after the French Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen extended his lead to 12 points over Lewis in what was a thrilling race from start to finish.

Max started the race on pole but immediately handed Lewis the initiative with an uncharacteristic error.

Red Bull outfoxed their Mercedes counterpart with a brilliant two-stop strategy however, which saw the Dutchman overtake a helpless Lewis at the death to claim his third victory of the campaign.

With Red Bull winning three races in a row, they are creeping ahead in both the driver and constructor championships after seven races.

Streetstyle: His longline shirt featured a neon orange badge above his left cuff and complemented his baggy shorts

Nonetheless, the campaign goes on, and it was Mercedes who won both of the two races in Austria last year, an outcome which is less expected this time round.

The Styrian Grand Prix is set to take place on Sunday, June 27, with the race getting underway at 2pm BST.

The first and second practice sessions will take place on Friday, June 25, with each session lasting an hour.

The final practice session starts at 11am on Saturday morning, before qualifying gets underway on the same day at 2pm.

Back on the track: The Styrian Grand Prix is set to take place on Sunday, June 27, with the race getting underway at 2pm BST

Lewis Hamilton has been offered the chance to finish his career at Ferrari with the greatest car designer in history, after Adrian Newey plunged Red Bull into further chaos by apparently leaving the scandal-stricken team.

It remains unclear whether Newey, 65, will join Ferrari, the team Hamilton will move to from Mercedes next year.

But despite desperate moves at Red Bull as dusk fell to keep hold of Newey, the game there appears to be up — a massive blow to team principal Christian Horner as he clings to his job after accusations of sending 𝑠e𝑥ually explicit messages to a female member of staff.

Mail Sport understands Newey is disillusioned with the political upheaval at Red Bull. There is a power-play taking place behind the scandal that has convulsed the team in recent months.

It is also believed, though unconfirmed, that Newey and his wife Amanda have been looking to move to Italy.

Red Bull’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey has reportedly told the team that he wants to leave

It comes with the team’s season overshadowed by allegations made towards Christian Horner

If Newey jumped ship to Ferrari, he would link up with Lewis Hamilton for the 2025 season

Red Bull insist Newey is ‘under contract to the end of 2025’.

Newey is known as one of the greatest designers in Formula 1 history and holds the brains behind 13 World Championship titles – six constructors’ crowns and seven for drivers.

Horner was accused of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ by a female employee ahead of the 2024 season.

An internal investigation cleared him of ‘coercive behaviour’ but a bombshell email the next day purported to throw fresh light on the situation.

A day after the internal investigation cleared him, hundreds of messages allegedly from Horner – some 𝑠e𝑥ual – were spilled to the media and F1 powerhouses, but Red Bull affirmed he would not be sacked and his accuser was suspended.

The bombshell email contained 79 documents, including hundreds of messages, many of them of a 𝑠e𝑥ual nature.

The anonymous sender copied in leading people in the sport, such as FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali, as well as accredited media gathered in Bahrain for the scandal-ridden opening race of the season.

His accuser has since appealed the verdict of the investigation which exonerated him.

Newey has been with Red Bull since 2006 and helped them to win 13 titles with his expert designing skills

Horner – pictured with his wife, Geri Halliwell, a former Spice Girl – was accused of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ by a female employee but cleared by an internal investigation

As of March, Newey was reportedly in ‘advanced talks’ to join Ferrari. He is also understood to have an offer from Aston Martin, the team of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

Before joining Red Bull, he had success with both Williams and McLaren.

In total, Newey-designed cars have won twelve constructors’ and thirteen drivers’ championships.