Latest news with #SaudiGP
Daily Mirror
24-04-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
George Russell ‘pays price' as Mercedes chief makes key admission about unexpected issue
George Russell struggled badly in the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, only managing fifth place after raising concerns over whether he would even be able to finish the race Mercedes' deputy technical director Simone Resta pinned the blame for George Russell's struggles at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix on the driver himself. Russell could only manage fifth place in Jeddah and struggled badly for pace throughout the race. He had previously scored two third-place finishes and one second place in the opening four rounds of the season. But Mercedes ' performance suffered a nosedive on Sunday, with Russell's team-mate Kimi Antonelli also facing problems. Towards the end of the Saudi GP, which was won by McLaren's Oscar Piastri, Russell raised concerns over whether he would finish the race. The 27-year-old questioned the safety of his tyres amid high degredation. Russell had started on the medium tyre before switching to the hards 20 laps in. Mercedes' pit wall convinced the Englishman they had no concerns over the state of his tyres and he did complete the race. But he finished a massive 27 seconds behind leader Piastri, prompting concerns for the rest of the season. Resta, who recently arrived at the Silver Arrows from Ferrari, though believes that Russell's tyre issues were a problem all of his own making. "We believe it was mainly related to pace so he was pushing too hard to stay with Charles and also defend with Norris and essentially, he lost the edge of the tyres and he paid the price at the end of the stint," Resta told Mercedes' YouTube channel. "In reality in the race, we were a little bit less competitive than we thought and there is work to do ahead. We know that sometimes we've got margin to find in the conditions with the hot track where the tyres degrade too much thermally, so we need to focus on this one for going into Miami. "We'll have the same tyre compounds on a track that is expected to be quite hot so there will be potential similarities between Jeddah and Miami condition even if the speed is a bit less stronger in Miami. "It has been a very good start for this car. The car has been competitive everywhere so far. So we expect to be competitive, fight for podium like we have done in the initial races and try to improve from what we've seen in Jeddah." Russell has admitted the being caught off-guard by the high degredation that he suffered during the second stint of the race. He said: 'A real surprise, really struggling with tyre overheating. I was holding on to the front two at the beginning, just by a thread. "Then the second stint I was pushing so hard to stay with them and suddenly my tyres got way too hot and I dropped off the cliff and I was losing a second lap in the last seven, eight laps. "P5 is where we deserve to finish but the performance was pretty underwhelming today. This weekend was looking really strong, we did no laps in practice in the long run so I guess we couldn't really capture the fact that maybe we weren't on the pace. 'It is interesting, we didn't expect to be so good in Bahrain and we expected to be stronger here and it turned out to be the opposite, that's the nature of this sport and everyone is working hard to try and find more performance.'
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
JA on F1 Podcast: Is Lewis Hamilton's malaise set to last the whole season?
The first triple header of the season is done, some tired faces have headed back from the Gulf for a short Easter break before attacking the standalone Miami GP next week, then another triple header: Imola, Monaco and Spain. We get into why Max Verstappen is heaping praise on Oscar Piastri, despite their Turn 1 incident, Piastri's many father figures, Williams' best start for a decade. And with Lewis Hamilton describing his Jeddah race as 'horrible' and doubting his fortunes will change this year, we look in depth at what's going on at Ferrari in the company of editor-in-chief Ben Hunt and our top F1 writer from Italy, Roberto Chinchero. Advertisement Listen to this week's podcast HERE. James Allen on F1 Podcast James Allen on F1 Podcast Motorsport Network Motorsport Network Don't miss the chance to compete against our expert writers on hugely popular F1 Fantasy League. Join our new Race Center Live watchalong on at the upcoming Miami GP where Matt and Tommy from P1 will be joining the feed. Check out the Saudi GP edition here. Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@ To read more articles visit our website.
Scottish Sun
21-04-2025
- Automotive
- Scottish Sun
Ferrari boss blasts ‘f****** bull***' Lewis Hamilton claim as F1 star predicts ‘painful' first year with team
FERRARI boss Fred Vasseur blasted the 'f***ing bull****' claims that Lewis Hamilton's form has fallen off a cliff. Seven-time world champion Hamilton had another weekend to forget at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix after his slow start to the season continued with a seventh-place finish. Advertisement 5 Lewis Hamilton had another weekend to forgot in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Credit: Rex 5 Hamilton finished 30 seconds behind team-mate Charles Leclerc Credit: Rex 5 Hamilton sits seventh in the drivers' championship Credit: Rex 5 ButFerrari team principal Fred Vasseur defended Hamilton's form in a X-rated interview Credit: Getty The Brit, 40, described his performance in Jeddah as 'horrible' and predicted a 'painful' first year with Ferrari — even just five races in. He finished a massive 30 seconds behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, who provided a glimmer of hope for the Italian team with their first podium of the season. Hamilton won last month's sprint race in China but has since been out-qualified by Leclerc in Japan, Bahrain and Saudi. Asked why Hamilton's form has dropped dramatically in the last month, Vasseur said: 'Dramatically?! We did five races so far. Advertisement READ MORE F1 NEWS Pic perfect Horner brings picture evidence against 'harsh' Verstappen penalty at Saudi GP 'I know you want a big headline saying Fred said this but this is f***ing bull****. 'We are in a competition. You have ups and downs. When we are up, we are not world champions and when we are down, we are not nowhere.' Hamilton is desperately looking for answers on how to turn things around in his first year since joining from Mercedes. He sits seventh in the drivers' championship, with his best result of the season fifth place in Bahrain just over a week ago. Advertisement CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS To make matters worse, Leclerc drove exceptionally in Jeddah, looking at ease in the car and overtaking Hamilton's former team-mate George Russell to claim third. Vasseur added on Hamilton: 'I will be 2,000 per cent behind him and give him support here. We'll start to find solutions. Sun F1 reporter Isabelle Barker tries Lewis Hamilton's favourite spaghetti cooked by three Michelin star chef at Bahrain Grand Prix 'I am not worried. Look at what he did in China or in the race in Bahrain last week or even in the first part of the session this weekend, the potential is there.' Advertisement The Frenchman added: 'For sure he is down because when you finish in seventh and your team-mate is on the podium. 'I take it as a positive Lewis is down because if he was happy with this, it wouldn't be normal. 'He's a racer and a competitor. He wants to get the best from what he has and he is disappointed. 'Now we have to work together and it will be the only way to move forward.' Advertisement Oscar Piastri claimed consecutive Grand Prix wins, while Max Verstappen finished second, after being handed a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Both Russell and Hamilton's replacement at Mercedes Kimi Antonelli are above the legendary Brit in the standings.
Scottish Sun
21-04-2025
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
‘People can't handle the truth' – Verstappen FUMES after being given five-second penalty and takes swipe at F1 bosses
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) MAX VERSTAPPEN feels the FIA is gagging him as the four-time world champion says 'people cannot handle the truth'. The Dutch Red Bull driver was left frustrated after being slapped with a five-second penalty for illegally going off the track in a battle with Oscar Piastri on the first lap. 3 Max VErstappen hit out at his penalty during the Saudi GP Credit: Getty 3 He also confronted FIA President Mohammed ben Sulayem Credit: Getty This cost Verstappen, who finished in second, and he slammed the punishment as 'f***ing lovely' on his team radio and walked off after a blunt post-race interview. When asked about the penalty he said: 'I can't share my opinion otherwise I might get penalised so better not to speak about it. 'The world we live in, you can't share your opinion fully, apparently, or people can't handle the full truth. 'For me it's better. I don't need to say too much, it also saves my time. READ MORE ON F1 'UNCOMFORTABLE' Women travelling to Saudi Grand Prix have vibrators confiscated at airport 'We already have to do too much, it's how everything is becoming. 'Everyone is super sensitive about everything. 'Of course what we have currently we cannot be critical anyway, that's fine, less talking is even better for me. When asked if his anger was directed at the FIA's swearing rules, he said: 'I know I cannot swear in here but at the same time you can also not be critical. JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS 'Or any kind of form that might harm or danger, let me get the sheet out… 'There's a lot of lines, that's why it's better not to talk about it or you can get yourself in trouble and I don't think anyone wants that.' Max Verstappen snaps at Sky Sports broadcaster as he addresses Red Bull future 3 Oscar Piastri won the Saudi GP Credit: Getty Verstappen suggested that he could be hit with a fine if he were to speak out of line. And he wouldn't have been the first driver to have to pay up for an unusual reason. Carlos Sainz was hit with a £17,000 bill for breaching pre-race procedure despite suffering a medical issue at the Japanese Grand Prix. The punishment came after he was seconds late to the national anthem due to an upset stomach. He has then risked a £34,500 fine for his X-rated outburst following the original sanction. McLaren's Piastri powered home to win the Saudi GP and go top of the Drivers' Championship. After claiming victory, Piastri said: "I'm looking for a couch, it was a pretty tough race. "I'm very happy to have obviously won, I made the difference at the start and made my case into Turn One, and that was enough. "It was really tricky to follow out there, I couldn't really stay with Max Verstappen at the end of the first stint and I just chewed up my tyres. "The clean air was nice after the pit stop, it was a clean race and we did the parts we needed to right. "We still needed a bit more, Max [Verstappen] was a bit too close for our liking but a great race and a great weekend." There is now a two-week break before the next F1 race. Race six will come on May 4 in Miami as the first of three races in the United States this season. It is also the second Sprint Race of the season, following on from China.
The Sun
21-04-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
‘People can't handle the truth' – Verstappen FUMES after being given five-second penalty and takes swipe at F1 bosses
MAX VERSTAPPEN feels the FIA is gagging him as the four-time world champion says 'people cannot handle the truth'. The Dutch Red Bull driver was left frustrated after being slapped with a five-second penalty for illegally going off the track in a battle with Oscar Piastri on the first lap. 3 3 This cost Verstappen, who finished in second, and he slammed the punishment as 'f***ing lovely' on his team radio and walked off after a blunt post-race interview. When asked about the penalty he said: 'I can't share my opinion otherwise I might get penalised so better not to speak about it. 'The world we live in, you can't share your opinion fully, apparently, or people can't handle the full truth. 'For me it's better. I don't need to say too much, it also saves my time. 'We already have to do too much, it's how everything is becoming. 'Everyone is super sensitive about everything. 'Of course what we have currently we cannot be critical anyway, that's fine, less talking is even better for me. When asked if his anger was directed at the FIA's swearing rules, he said: 'I know I cannot swear in here but at the same time you can also not be critical. 'Or any kind of form that might harm or danger, let me get the sheet out… 'There's a lot of lines, that's why it's better not to talk about it or you can get yourself in trouble and I don't think anyone wants that.' Max Verstappen snaps at Sky Sports broadcaster as he addresses Red Bull future 3 Verstappen suggested that he could be hit with a fine if he were to speak out of line. And he wouldn't have been the first driver to have to pay up for an unusual reason. Carlos Sainz was hit with a £17,000 bill for breaching pre-race procedure despite suffering a medical issue at the Japanese Grand Prix. The punishment came after he was seconds late to the national anthem due to an upset stomach. He has then risked a £34,500 fine for his X-rated outburst following the original sanction. McLaren 's Piastri powered home to win the Saudi GP and go top of the Drivers' Championship. After claiming victory, Piastri said: "I'm looking for a couch, it was a pretty tough race. "I'm very happy to have obviously won, I made the difference at the start and made my case into Turn One, and that was enough. "It was really tricky to follow out there, I couldn't really stay with Max Verstappen at the end of the first stint and I just chewed up my tyres. "The clean air was nice after the pit stop, it was a clean race and we did the parts we needed to right. "We still needed a bit more, Max [Verstappen] was a bit too close for our liking but a great race and a great weekend." There is now a two-week break before the next F1 race. Race six will come on May 4 in Miami as the first of three races in the United States this season. It is also the second Sprint Race of the season, following on from China.
