Latest news with #KimiAntonelli
Malay Mail
11 hours ago
- Automotive
- Malay Mail
Hamilton's struggles continue with third warning of F1 season after blocking rookie Antonelli in Austrian GP practice
SPIELBERG BEI KNITTELFELD (Austria), June 28 — Lewis Hamilton's difficult start to life at Ferrari continued yesterday as he was handed a warning by the race stewards after winding up 10th in second practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. The seven-time champion was alleged to have impeded his successor at Mercedes, Italian teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli, at turn four of the fast and technical Red Bull Ring circuit in the Styrian Alps. Hamilton apologised immediately and explained that he had not seen Antonelli approaching behind him as he descended over the crest of a hill on a slow lap and drifted into the racing line. Hamilton raised his hand to signal his apology to Antonelli as he passed him. After speaking to Hamilton, the stewards decided to give the Briton a formal warning — the usual sanction for such a misdemeanour in practice. It is the third time this season that Hamilton has been warned. 'The driver of car 44 (Hamilton), although constantly checking his mirrors after being informed by the team about car 12 (Antonelli) closing in, slowly moved on to the racing line on the approach to turn four and thereby unnecessarily impeded car 12 which had to take evasive action,' said the stewards in a statement. Hamilton was given a three-place grid drop at the Monaco Grand Prix where he impeded four-time champion Max Verstappen in qualifying when his race engineer Riccardo Adami wrongly informed him that the Dutchman was not on a flying lap. Hamilton struggled with gearbox problems on Friday as he evaluated a new floor design on his Ferrari car. His team-mate Charles Leclerc was fifth, six-tenths off the pace of McLaren's Lando Norris. — AFP
Malay Mail
11 hours ago
- Automotive
- Malay Mail
Verstappen to Mercedes? Wolff admits interest as Russell shrugs off speculation over 2026 line-up
SPIELBERG BEI KNITTELFELD (Austria), June 28 — Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff on Friday suggested he was interested in signing Max Verstappen to partner George Russell in a potentially explosive driver line-up for the 2026 season. During a series of interviews, it emerged that he had made contract with the four-time world champion and that this had affected contract talks with Russell who has been in outstanding form this year. Russell told Sky Sports F1 that it was entirely 'normal that conversations with the likes of Verstappen are ongoing', adding that a team that aims to win the championship has to go for the best drivers, engineers and pit-crews to succeed. 'But from my side, if I'm performing as I'm doing, what have I got to be concerned about? There are two seats in every Formula 1 team.' Wolff has flirted with the idea of recruiting Verstappen for some time, but also expressed satisfaction with the current partnership of Russell and teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli — a precocious talent, but not yet an experienced or metronomic points-scorer. It may be, as many seasoned observers believe, that Wolff feels he can manage the testy rivalry between Russell and Verstappen, who have clashed several times in the last year both on and off the track. But, he conceded, it remains much more likely that Russell will stay at Mercedes next year — his contract ends this season — than that Verstappen, who is contracted to Red Bull until 2028, will arrive. 'He has been part of our programme for 10 years,' Wolff said. 'He's always performed to the expectations and he's continuing to do so. These are normal business contract discussions as I have been doing for 30 years... And contract discussions are not held in Town Halls.' He added in a separate interview: 'At the moment, clearly you need to explore what's happening in the future, but it doesn't change anything of what I said before about George, about Kimi, about the line-up that I'm extremely happy having'. Verstappen declined to comment on the speculation when asked in a news conference on Thursday, but he is known to be frustrated with his Red Bull car this year. 'I don't think we need to talk about that,' the 27-year-old said. 'It's not really on my mind. Just driving well, trying to push the performance and then we focus on next year.' Much may depend on events at Red Bull where long-serving team consultant Helmut Marko is a key part of Verstappen's inner circle, but may be considering his own future amid reports that four-time champion Sebastian Vettel has been approached to replace him. In the wake of the departures of F1's most successful designer Adrian Newey to Aston Martin and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley to Sauber-Audi, it could be that Verstappen is also ready to leave. Next year will see F1 move into a new era with major rule changes requiring new engines and new cars — an opportunity that may favour a Mercedes revival. — AFP
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Hamilton given formal warning as difficult Ferrari start continues
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton was 10th in second practice at the Austrian Grand Prix (Andrej ISAKOVIC) Lewis Hamilton's difficult start to life at Ferrari continued on Friday as he was handed a warning by the race stewards after winding up 10th in second practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. The seven-time champion was alleged to have impeded his successor at Mercedes, Italian teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli, at turn four of the fast and technical Red Bull Ring circuit in the Styrian Alps. Advertisement Hamilton apologised immediately and explained that he had not seen Antonelli approaching behind him as he descended over the crest of a hill on a slow lap and drifted into the racing line. Hamilton raised his hand to signal his apology to Antonelli as he passed him. After speaking to Hamilton, the stewards decided to give the Briton a formal warning -- the usual sanction for such a misdemeanour in practice. It is the third time this season that Hamilton has been warned. "The driver of car 44 (Hamilton), although constantly checking his mirrors after being informed by the team about car 12 (Antonelli) closing in, slowly moved on to the racing line on the approach to turn four and thereby unnecessarily impeded car 12 which had to take evasive action," said the stewards in a statement. Advertisement Hamilton was given a three-place grid drop at the Monaco Grand Prix where he impeded four-time champion Max Verstappen in qualifying when his race engineer Riccardo Adami wrongly informed him that the Dutchman was not on a flying lap. Hamilton struggled with gearbox problems on Friday as he evaluated a new floor design on his Ferrari car. His team-mate Charles Leclerc was fifth, six-tenths off the pace of McLaren's Lando Norris. str/nf
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff refuses to rule out poaching Max Verstappen as a partner for fierce rival George Russell
Toto Wolff is trying to piece together the potentially explosive partnership of Max Verstappen and George Russell driving for Mercedes. If he pulled it off, Wolff would probably see it as a two-finger salute to his own paddock nemesis Christian Horner, boss of Verstappen's Red Bull team. And on Friday in Austria ahead of this weekend's race, Wolff publicly left open the possibility of a Verstappen-Russell pairing despite their collision in Spain earlier in the month, saying: 'I can imagine every line-up. I had Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton fighting for a world championship, so everything afterwards is easy.' Wolff could have ruled out poaching Verstappen but deliberately chose not to do so. He is keeping several plates spinning, one of which concerns Russell signing a contract extension at Mercedes beyond this year. If the Briton finally re-signs, and that seems likely despite a process curiously protracted, it would leave Wolff needing to relocate his protégé driver, 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli, to make space for Verstappen – for I am told it would be Antonelli, not Russell, who would go. True, Antonelli has impressed in his debut season and claimed his first podium in Canada a fortnight ago, but he has been dwarfed by Russell's achievements as the driver of the season – consistent, fast and pushing himself to the edge of the title frame, 62 points behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri. As for Mercedes' interest in Verstappen, it clearly continues. Russell said as much this week – 'ongoing' was his understanding of a courtship that started after last year's Red Bull scandal involving Horner, who was cleared by two internal inquiries of coercive behaviour towards a female employee. Verstappen's father Jos is particularly keen on the quadruple world champion leaving his existing team. Max is in less of a rush and may stick at Red Bull for another season to assess how next year's new regulations alter the pecking order. Wolff is stalling on Russell's new deal for reasons that are not obvious, though perhaps to keep him keen. But might the delay not undermine his star driver's confidence? 'Our sport is pressure, constant pressure,' countered Wolff. As Wolff knows, this race in Austria is a particularly sensitive one for his nemesis Horner. Red Bull's top brass are in the paddock, and wafting up uncertainty over the future of their star driver, and thus destabilising Horner, is another ingredient in the mix.
Asharq Al-Awsat
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Russell Suggests Mercedes Are Still After Verstappen
George Russell has suggested his contract renewal talks with Mercedes are being held up because the team are still keen to sign Formula One champion Max Verstappen. The 27-year-old Briton, winner in Canada two weeks ago, is out of contract at the end of the season while four-times champion Verstappen has a deal with Red Bull until 2028, subject to get-out clauses. Russell told Sky Sports television at the Austrian Grand Prix that Mercedes, constructors' champions eight years in a row from 2014-2021 and currently second to McLaren, wanted to return to the top. "If you're going to be back on top, you need to make sure you've got the best drivers, the best engineers, the best pit crew, and that's what Mercedes are chasing," he said. "So, it's only normal that conversations with the likes of Verstappen are ongoing. But from my side, if I'm performing as I'm doing, what have I got to be concerned about? There are two seats in every Formula One team." Mercedes boss Toto Wolff made his interest in Verstappen clear last year as he sought a replacement for seven-times champion Lewis Hamilton. In the end 18-year-old Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli was handed the opportunity and has been setting a string of age records, drawing strong support from fans. Verstappen and Russell have had a series of headline clashes on and off the track over the past 12 months, with Mercedes likely to have concerns about pairing them together should the opportunity arise. Russell told reporters separately that team boss Toto Wolff has assured him he was performing as well as anybody on the starting grid. "I think there's only one driver that you can debate in terms of performance -- these are his words, these are not my words -- so that's why I have no concern about the future," he said. "But there's two seats at every team and I guess he needs to think, who are those two drivers going to be for those two seats, and I guess that's what the delay is." Verstappen, appearing in the main FIA press conference, was reluctant to talk about his future when asked if he would be driving for Red Bull next year. "Do you want me to repeat what I said last year?... it's not really on my mind. Just driving well, trying to push the performance, and then we focus on next year."
