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Daily Mirror
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Christian Horner slams Nico Rosberg after Max Verstappen disqualification demand
Nico Rosberg had suggested Max Verstappen should have been disqualified from the Spanish Grand Prix after the Red Bull Racing driver appeared to deliberately ram George Russell's Mercedes Christian Horner has snapped back at "sensationalist" Nico Rosberg after the Sky Sports pundit called for Max Verstappen to be disqualified. That request came shortly after the Spanish Grand Prix which ended in acrimony after Verstappen lost his head in the latter stages. Furious after contact with first Charles Leclerc and then Russell, the Dutchman believing the other driver had caused both, he then completely lost his temper when his Red Bull team, fearing that they were going to get a penalty for that first skirmish with Russell, asked him to cede a place to the Brit. Verstappen shouted furiously over the radio and then slowed down, appearing to comply despite his protests. But then, as Russell went around the outside of his Red Bull, the Dutchman appeared to deliberately turn to bang wheels with the Mercedes. Rosberg felt he had done it deliberately and said Verstappen should have been disqualified. The German said on Sky: "The first one, it was George's fault because he only complied with two out of those three things you have to comply with when you overtake, so Max could have stayed in front – he didn't have to give up that place. Sign up to our free weekly F1 newsletter, Pit Lane Chronicle, by entering your email address below so that every new edition lands straight in your inbox! "But then Red Bull told him to give up the place and that then caused his blood to boil over even more. And then it looked like a very intentional retaliation – wait for the opponent and then ramming into him, just like you felt he did to you. "And that is something that is extremely unacceptable, I think. The rules then would be a black flag, yes. If you wait for your opponent just to then ram into him, crash into him, that's a black flag." Asked about those comments, Red Bull chief Horner wouldn't be drawn into giving a full response, but made it clear what he felt of Rosberg's punditry style. The 51-year-old said: "Nico is quite sensationalist in the way that he commentates, so I'll leave it at that." Verstappen's moment of madness saw him slapped with a 10-second time penalty which dropped him to 10th place in the final classification. That meant he scored just one single point while his drivers' title rivals Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris accumulated maximum points by finishing first and second respectively. And the Dutchman is now also on the brink of a race ban. He now has 11 penalty points on his racing licence, having earned an extra three for his clash with Russell, meaning he will be forced to sit out one race if he picked up just one more point in the next two races. Two penalty points will then expire at the end of June, but the other nine he currently has won't begin to disappear until October, meaning Verstappen will had to tread a very fine line if he is to avoid that race ban.
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
Max Verstappen F1 title comment says it all after damaging Spanish GP headloss
The Spanish Grand Prix saw McLaren drive home their title advantage with Oscar Piastri on top and Lando Norris close behind while Max Verstappen lost significant ground Was this the day that the Formula 1 title battle became truly a two-horse race? Max Verstappen had done an excellent job of keeping Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri honest, but his title defence is in real trouble after he lost his head and slammed into George Russell. That sparked a 10-second penalty which saw Verstappen leave Barcelona with one single point. He is also on the verge of a race ban having now collected 11 penalty points on his racing licence – if he adds another in the next two races, the Red Bull racer will become just the second F1 driver ever to trigger that sanction. McLaren, meanwhile, were flawless and produced their third one-two finish of the season, and their first in Spain for 25 years. Piastri started on pole and stayed there, while team-mate and title rival Norris was content with the next best result. The Brit said: "Oscar drove a very good race today – I didn't quite have the pace to match him. We gave it our best shot. It was a good, fun race and for us as a team to finish one-two is even better." Sign up to our free weekly F1 newsletter, Pit Lane Chronicle, by entering your email address below so that every new edition lands straight in your inbox! Piastri now has five victories from nine this year and said: "It's a lot of fun winning races at the moment. Hard to complain, it has been a great year and this weekend has been exactly the kind of weekend I was looking for. We executed everything we needed to when it counted and that's all we could ask for." Piastri leads Norris by 10 points in the championship with Verstappen now 49 off top spot. It's hardly an unassailable lead with 15 rounds still to go, including four Sprint races, but Verstappen knows his hopes of five titles in a row are fading. He said: "We are way too slow anyway to fight for the title, that was clear again today." Charles Leclerc joined the McLarens on the podium having sacrificed the chance to compete for a better qualifying position to save an extra set of soft tyres for the race. The gamble worked as he roared through from seventh on the grid, helped by the late safety car period caused by Kimi Antonelli when his Mercedes engine blew up. Leclerc said: "I didn't know whether it would pay off – at the end it did. I think P4 in a normal race would have been our position. With a safety car we got lucky and a podium, so I'm really happy with that." Lewis Hamilton had also targeted the top three but his wait for a first Grand Prix podium with Ferrari goes on. He endured a miserable afternoon, struggling for pace throughout while team-mate Leclerc thrived. The seven-time F1 champion produced a post-race interview which former Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg said was "hard to watch". Hamilton stared mostly into the middle-distance as he muttered: "It was just not a great day. Strategy was good, the team did a great job." He went on to doubt Ferrari's chances of fixing his problems and glumly stated: "It's probably just me."
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
Lewis Hamilton slams 'waste of money' after unexpected outcome at Spanish GP
Formula 1 chiefs forced teams to develop new front wings ahead of Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix but Lewis Hamilton believes that the money would've been better off going to charity A bemused Lewis Hamilton claims that it was a 'waste of money' to force the teams to develop new front wings ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. It was hoped that the eagerly-anticipated changes might help the likes of Hamilton's Ferrari move closer to reigning Constructors' champions and runaway leaders McLaren. But it became evident after the first practice session on Friday that the changes hadn't made much of an impact. Then in qualifying, McLaren completed a front-row lockout, as Oscar Piastri grabbed pole with team-mate British star Lando Norris right behind him. Towards the end of last season, McLaren's so-called flexi front wing prompted rivals Red Bull and Ferrari to seek clarification from Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, over its design. In response, a 5mm reduction of permissible flex in the wings when tested by FIA chiefs has now been introduced ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix in Barcelona. But Hamilton, who went fifth fastest in qualifying, hasn't seen the benefit. It has not made a difference," the Ferrari star bemoaned. "It's been a waste of money. It's just wasted everyone's money. "Everyone's wings still bend, it's just half the bending, and everyone's had to make new wings and spend more money to make these. It doesn't make sense... I would have given that money to charity." McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained that his team never feared that the stricter tests flex tests would a 'game-changer', with Piastri and Norris also leading the Drivers' Championship race. "The technical directive was a big talking point," Stella told Sky Sports at the Circuit de Catalunya. "It was quite immaterial. It was always going to be minor when you look at the numbers. It entertained to have this kind of debate but our simulations said everything was very small. We weren't concerned from this point of view." Who'll win the Spanish Grand Prix? Give us your prediction in the comments section. Hamilton was still happy with his own performance on Saturday, out-qualifying team-mate Charles Leclerc for only the second time this year. The seven-time world champion is now eyeing his first Grand Prix podium in the red of Ferrari after a frustrating first few months with his new team. "Friday started off fun, but we had some problem with the floor in FP2 and I was losing a lot of downforce. But we fixed it for today and the car was much more drive-able, much more enjoyable," Hamilton said. "We clearly have made an improvement going into qualifying to get into Q3 when it's so close and to be in the top five, I'm really happy with that." Sign up to our free weekly F1 newsletter, Pit Lane Chronicle, by entering your email address below so that every new edition lands straight in your inbox! The 40-year-old added: "I did get a bit of a long run yesterday [in practice] and it's definitely going to be close between everybody. It's amazing how close everybody is in qualifying and how half a tenth can put you from sixth down to 11th. That's pretty mad. "The long run is going to be challenging tomorrow for everybody. I think most people have mostly softs and one medium, Charles and a couple of other people have two mediums. "Which tyres are the best? Which strategy is the best? We'll see. They key is going to be getting a good start. My goal is to get a podium - I haven't had a podium in God knows how long, so that's my target for tomorrow."
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
George Russell left with Spanish GP concern despite Mercedes return to form
George Russell matched Max Verstappen's time in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying and Kimi Antonelli also returned to form after difficult weekends for Mercedes in Imola and Monaco George Russell was left worried about whether Mercedes have actually improved their race pace after a return to qualifying form. The Brit will start the Spanish Grand Prix fourth on the grid and was unlucky not to be one place higher. He set the exact same time as Max Verstappen but, because the Red Bull racer got his lap in first, Russell was classified one place below. They will share the second row behind the two McLaren cars of pole-sitter Oscar Piastri and his drivers' title rival Lando Norris. It was a welcome return to form in the final qualifying session of this European triple header of races that have been tough for Mercedes. Russell slipped from third to seventh at Imola while both he and team-mate Kimi Antonelli finished pointless in Monaco. But it remains to be seen whether the Silver Arrows will have the race pace to compete in Barcelona. They have been working hard to improve that aspect of their car but Russell worries his strong qualifying performance may indicate that his car is still geared too much towards one-lap pace. Sign up to our free weekly F1 newsletter, Pit Lane Chronicle, by entering your email address below so that every new edition lands straight in your inbox! He said: "We know that on a Saturday our car is anywhere between P2 and P5. That's where it's been all season and again today. It's good we managed to get into Q3 on only two sets of tyres so we have a new soft tyre for tomorrow which is a valid race tyre – that's a positive. We know that the car isn't quick on Sundays. "We also made a lot of changes to the car this weekend to try to improve the race pace, so to see that we haven't really hindered qualifying pace is a positive – but then also it may mean it's not going to improve the race pace. Mercedes have struggled in high temperatures and the track is set to be blistering hot in the Spanish sun on Sunday. "Tomorrow's going to be an interesting one for us," Russell added. "We struggled a lot when it was the soft compound of tyres when it was hot but when it was the hard compound of tyres in Bahrain and it was hot we finished second there." After back-to-back failures to reach Q3 in Imola and Monaco, Antonelli seemed a relieved man to put his car further up the grid for the Spain race. The 18-year-old split the two Ferrari cars in sixth, despite being at a tyre disadvantage. He said: "I struggled a little bit to get into a rhythm at the start of the session, and it put me in a position where I only had one new set for Q3 which was not really ideal, because the difference from used to new [tyres] was quite big. Overall, I think I'm decently happy with the performance. "There was a bit of time here and there, but tomorrow is going to be a lot about race pace. We're going to race at the hottest time of the day so degradation is going to be something to look at. It's not going to be easy but, overall, we've been doing a lot of long runs so we have quite decent data. We're also aware that the others are very fast, so let's see. I'm ready to do my best."
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
Lando Norris makes confident Spanish GP comment despite losing to Oscar Piastri
Oscar Piastri took pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix as Lando Norris had to settle for second place on the grid ahead of Max Verstappen and George Russell on the second row Lando Norris confidently declared McLaren have the best race car after dominating qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. For the first time in 27 years, the Woking-based team have locked out the front row at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Oscar Piastri is the man starting on pole on Sunday. He lived up to his strong performance in practice by getting the better of Norris on their final runs, nailing that last lap while Nico Rosberg in commentary for Sky Sports thought the Brit was over-driving. Just three points separate the two McLaren drivers at the top of the championship and they look set for a tight and tense title tussle. But despite losing starting advantage in Barcelona to his rival, Norris said he was pleased with his performance. He said: "Oscar drove very well. I think the pace was definitely there, I just [made] a couple of little mistakes. Yep, I didn't do it and Oscar was driving very well all weekend, so a good result for the team, a nice one-two and an interesting start for tomorrow. Sign up to our free weekly F1 newsletter, Pit Lane Chronicle, by entering your email address below so that every new edition lands straight in your inbox! "It's a long run down to turn one which is always interesting, and we've got a lot of quick guys behind us – we won't count them out. But a good result for today, I'm happy." Norris went on to make it clear he is very confident that those behind won't be able to trouble him too much, though, as when he was asked if he felt he had a good race car for Sunday he replied: "We do, we have the best one." Piastri had been ominously quick in final practice a few hours before qualifying and paid tribute to the progress made in his side of the garage over the course of the weekend. "Yeah, very happy, it's been a good weekend so far. It didn't start off in the best way and we were struggling a little bit, but last night we found some pace and today the car has been mega," he said. "I feel like I've been able to put in some good laps as well, so thank you to the team for all the hard work. This was a pretty miserable scene 12 months ago, so to have turned it around in the best way is a great result. "I improved quite a lot in turn one, actually, the there were another couple of points on the lap where I've been struggling all day. I don't know if I necessarily did better, but it all just came to me mainly in the first half of the lap, and then the second half I could just about hang on. "It wasn't the perfect lap but around here, with the tyres going off so much through the lap, it's very tough to do that so I'm very happy with all the work I've put in."
