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New York Times
08-07-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Where else will Verstappen threaten McLaren? Plus, F1 reacts to incredible Hülkenberg
Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic's twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday. Welcome back to Prime Tire, where I'm still drying out after being caught in a downpour walking into the Silverstone paddock on Sunday morning. The warm glow from seeing Nico Hülkenberg take a first Formula One podium in 239 attempts is helping, however. I'm Alex, and Madeline Coleman will be along later. Patrick Iversen has just flown back home to Texas, and while I've stayed steady on London time all week, I'm back as Tuesday host with Pat again taking my slot on Friday. Normal service will resume next week. I fully agree with Madeline saying 'a case of 'what could've been'' about Oscar Piastri's 2025 British Grand Prix. One can make the same case for Lando Norris taking his trophy to celebrate with fans gathered on the Silverstone pit straight before a photographer essentially fell on his nose. But the same really applies to Max Verstappen's result last Sunday too. Advertisement The Dutchman delivered another epic lap to claim pole — running adrift of the Q3 pack and being all inevitably Thanos in sealing a fourth such grid-heading result of 2025. It was Suzuka-esque, and afterwards I asked him how he feels when showing such searing speed at tracks that really show an F1 driver's class. 'I think it's natural. (These are) tracks that I just enjoy more,' Max replied. 'I don't like street circuits in general. I just like the high speeds, where you have to be committed. It's more flowing. That's really where an F1 car comes alive. Naturally, the car has to work with you, right? And we know that on this kind of track the car just comes alive a bit more.' And this got me thinking: What other tracks have these Red Bull-boosting characteristics for the rest of the F1 calendar? Because, at these, Verstappen is surely going to be more than just a thorn in orange sidepods. Now, as discussed last week, you can never count Max out of anything in F1. He's good enough to be in the fight at upcoming tracks where McLaren should dominate — in Hungary, the Netherlands and Singapore. But four tracks out of the remaining 12 where Red Bull could really nick more wins along the lines of Suzuka and Imola for Verstappen earlier this year isn't enough to overturn the now 69-point deficit he faces in the drivers' standings. So, what happened to Verstappen's Silverstone potential? In a word: rain. The Sunday morning and early afternoon showers at Silverstone meant Red Bull's skinny wing choice was exposed — and it was notable that Verstappen was fast in the drier start and end to the race. In the soaking middle he was nowhere and furious about it. Red Bull had fitted its Monza wing to eradicate the understeer Verstappen hates that had held him back on single lap pace in practice. The weather forecast changing dramatically overnight on Saturday-Sunday left it stranded, as when it rains, bigger rear wings help drivers keep control of their cars with extra downforce effect. Advertisement Of course, Verstappen also made a second major error in this season — after his Spain red mist moment. He spun out of second at the safety car restart and had also been off the road in front of Norris before the first pitstops for the leaders. It was an rare poor mistake from the world champion, which he didn't feel was down to Piastri's penalty-earning safety car restart braking. 'I just got on throttle and the car was gone,' Verstappen said of his spin. Another team off the road and spinning around at Silverstone was Ferrari. Over to Madeline to explain what went wrong for Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and co. last weekend. Ferrari's British GP was complicated. It'd shown signs of strong competitive pace, and with Hamilton starting the race fifth, you couldn't rule him out of podium contention. After all, the seven-time world champion had previously secured 12 consecutive podium finishes at Silverstone, and he excels in wet conditions. The Ferrari drivers immediately diverged on strategy in the mixed-conditions race, where knowing when to swap intermediate tires for slicks (and which compound at that) was the key. Leclerc made the call to go from inters to slicks on the race's formation lap — giving up his sixth place to start from pit lane. He then had several off-track moments on the way to a bruising 14th. 'It's easy to say at the end that it was not the right call,' Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur said afterwards. 'But I think Charles (quickly) understood that it was not the right call because he was already five seconds slower than the guy in front of him (on the first lap).' Hamilton's strategy, though, was the right one — inters, inters and softs. But because others such as Hülkenberg and Lance Stroll pitted before him, they were able to jump ahead, though Hamilton later caught and passed Stroll Advertisement It's fair to wonder whether Hamilton's pit stop to finally take softs came too early. He pitted a lap before Hülkenberg (who went on to secure his maiden F1 podium). But Hamilton's out lap wasn't clean, as he skidded off the track just after the pit lane exit and lost several seconds (with Leclerc also off in the background). The off aided Hülkenberg in holding that coveted podium result, as Hamilton is still waiting for his first silverware in Ferrari red. 'When you have to take the decision on the pit wall, it's a very tricky one because you always have to be in anticipation,' Vasseur said. 'And on top, we lost the Lewis' GPS all the race. It meant that were completely blind and we didn't know where the car was.' Hülkenberg ending his 238-race long F1 podium drought went down tremendously well in the paddock. As Luke Smith explained, Mercedes and Aston Martin — where the veteran made several super-sub appearances across its various guises at the start of this decade — were on hand to help Sauber with extra champagne for its surprise celebrations. Here's what a selection of Hülkenberg's peers had to say about his result, with the German a popular figure amongst the F1 driver pack: Hülk's result really enhanced the feel-good factor as the paddock was packing down at Silverstone. It's a huge achievement for a driver who was effectively shown the door on full-time F1 racing after the 2019 season. But he refused to accept his fate. He used his position as Racing Point/Aston reserve driver (and occasional pundit on German TV) to badger Guenther Steiner into a full-time return with Haas for 2023. And Hülkenberg used his time off in the meantime to think about how he could improve with rear tire sliding, which had held him back for years of sensitive Pirelli tires to such movement. Ever since, he's consistently lit up the midfield with magic results. Advertisement Hülk mark two is arguably better than his trophy-laden junior career and early F1 record showed. Now, he's got headline result (and plenty of Lego) to prove it. Congrats, Nico. 🚨 Very much not deserving of points this, but Northamptonshire Police are appealing for assistance in catching a man wanted in connection with the theft of a steering wheel from a classic F1 car on display at Silverstone. Other cars were sadly damaged too, with several YouTubers arrested over one incident. 🏆 In much more uplifting news — as Norris, Piastri and Hülkenberg did on Sunday — here's the full story on those intricate Lego trophies handed out on the Silverstone podium via Luke. 👨👩👧👧 And also at Silverstone, Madeline told the story of Williams at the formerly family-run team's home event. Albon brought home a handful of handy points in eighth, while Sainz was in the wars with the wayward Leclerc. 📫 Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
New York Times
02-05-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Why Formula One loves Miami. Plus, the data behind Hamilton's struggles
Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic's twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday. Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we're just watching this video of Charles Leclerc's dog Leo entering the Miami Grand Prix paddock on repeat. More. Leo. Content! It's the first American race of 2025. I'm Patrick, and Luke Smith will be along shortly from Miami. Let's get to it. To celebrate the one-year anniversary of its partnership with HP, Ferrari is running this special livery in Miami this weekend. The people hate it. Here's how I feel: There's a solution here. We wrote about it last year, when Ferrari debuted some blue for the Miami GP: Bring back the all-blue, Ferrari! You did it in Watkins Glen in 1964. You can avoid the Frankenblue monstrosities and just … go all-in. ESPN's Ryan McGee made the case this week that the Miami Grand Prix has become 'America's Monaco.' The Monaco race is renowned for its glamorous celebrity scene, exclusive party atmosphere and unmistakable local personality — all qualities that also define the Miami GP weekend. I found that argument compelling, and it's a sentiment many in the F1 paddock have shared in the last couple of years. So the news today should come as no surprise: F1 has extended its contract with the Miami GP until 2041. That makes it the first confirmed F1 race into the 2040s. Advertisement So, why ensure the Miami GP is around for at least 16 more years? Luke's analysis goes into this in more detail, but here are the basics you can infer: Good revenue, good viewership, good business-making environment, and the drivers love the place. An F1 naturalist would look at this race and declare the habitat incredibly healthy, even if the racing isn't the most thrilling. With more on how the Miami GP has grown, here's Luke. I remember coming to Miami for the first time in 2022, how novel and exciting it all felt. That was pre-Las Vegas, and marked the next major step in F1's American expansion. Now into its fourth year, there's not quite the same spark. But that's a good thing. In the nicest possible way, Miami now feels like just another race, established and mature. The fact the F1 paddock is literally in the middle of the Hard Rock Stadium still fills me with a lot of joy. The grand prix has become one of the biggest events in a year filled with big moments for Miami's sporting scene, and it's wonderful to see how the Dolphins have embraced that, right down to the custom driver jerseys in the locker room that is host to the press conferences this weekend. It's a slickly run event, meaning that when I say it's just another race, from an operational standpoint and as something to look forward to, it does rank highly. Fernando Alonso said yesterday he thought it was one of the best events on the calendar, and I'm inclined to agree. This is a race people relish going to rather than dread (which is the case for some other races.) So no, there isn't the same unknown in Miami there once was. But that's only a good thing. Thanks, Luke. As a reminder, we've got FP1 right now, followed by sprint qualifying at 4:30 p.m. ET. Full schedule | Live Blog Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari dream is becoming a painful reality as he falls significantly behind teammate Charles Leclerc in the opening races in 2025. Hamilton is already 16 points back, mired in seventh place. (If he had the same number of points as Leclerc, Ferrari would be in third instead of fourth.) Advertisement Luke broke down how dire Hamilton's situation has become and explores potential reasons behind his disappointing Ferrari debut. 😲 This stood out: Hamilton's struggles are worse than those experienced by Leclerc's previous teammates. But Leclerc's previous teammates all struggled to keep up early in the season: It's another reminder that we tend to take so-called second drivers for granted when they team up with more popular or more successful drivers. Carlos Sainz with Leclerc. Sergio Pérez with Max Verstappen (for a bit). Lance Stroll with Fernando Alonso. George Russell with Lewis Hamilton. Getting beat by Leclerc in the first five races is basically a Ferrari tradition at this point. For more on this dynamic, read on. Verstappen missed media day yesterday for the birth of his first child, Lily. He made it to the paddock this morning, ready for practice. Racing Bulls and Sauber also have special liveries this weekend. Sauber went with a splattered paint vibe (6/10 from me) and Racing Bulls went all pink. (10/10) Cadillac F1 is teasing … something tomorrow at the Miami GP for its debut in 2026. Meanwhile, rumors continue to swirl around Sergio Pérez and the team … F1 Academy's docuseries lands on Netflix in May! The FIA President is considering improvements to the swearing rules. And, finally, F1 extended its Mexico City Grand Prix deal through 2028. 📫 Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
New York Times
22-04-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Lewis Hamilton and lost time. Plus: Meet your new F1 points leader
Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic's twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday. Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we're afraid to put on those shiny Mercedes jackets lest we get attacked by a flock of magpies. We're through five races of the 2025 Formula One season. I'm Patrick, and Madeline Coleman will be along shortly. Let's dive in. There's a new name atop the drivers' standings after a win at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last weekend: Oscar Piastri. You may be thinking: 'Yeah? So?' Yeah, so: I'm not saying we're seeing the initial ascension of an all-time F1 driver, but I'm also not not saying that. My first draft of this section was a whole trying-to-be-fun thing about the implausible situations necessary for Lewis Hamilton to rally from 68 points behind Piastri to win the championship this year. Scrapped it. Hamilton won't win the title (and it doesn't feel fun!). Even the most die-hard Lewis fans must have accepted it by now — too many points to make up over too many races. Advertisement And it turns out I'm less interested in that fact than I am with the mindset of a 40-year-old athlete who must know his final years in the sport are upon him. After coming up just short of his eighth world championship in 2021, he's centered the end of his career on finally reaching that goal. He's jumped to what he thought was a team on the upswing for the final three or four years of his career and now knows after just five races that one of those remaining race years has already been squandered. I'm curious about the frame of mind of someone at the top of their game — an icon — looking across the garage of their new team and seeing a younger, more established driver adapting to the car faster. Early in the season, it was easy to dismiss it as, 'Hey, look, they're both struggling; something's wrong with the car.' But what if this trend continues? What if Leclerc's first podium of the year, after finishing 2024 with seven podiums in the last 10 races, is just the beginning of a strong run for him while Hamilton continues to struggle adapting to the Ferrari? It's a fascinating psychological scenario for Hamilton, who has been the benchmark in F1 for so long. At what point does an athlete at this stage of their career, having put so much pressure on this chapter, start questioning if they still have it? I'm not ready to say Hamilton is there yet, it's too early. It's impossible for those who aren't peak athletes to fully understand an athlete's headspace, especially someone as private as Lewis. I've never covered an athlete who more fiercely guards their inner life. And I'm certain Hamilton would scoff at this and tell me I'm overthinking it. He's probably right — after all, he dominated the sprint in China and showed flashes of brilliance defending Norris on Sunday. This newsletter could look silly a month from now. Advertisement But I do wonder. Reading the comments from Lewis over the last few weeks … he warned last weekend of a 'painful' season ahead and said in Bahrain he's 'not doing a good enough job.' So, where's the tipping point? When does an athlete's confidence waver to the point of no return? How long does it take for frustration to become doubt? And as they get older, as time presses in, does it get harder to push that aside? So I'm wondering, and I'm watching, and I'm curious. There's a lot of time left in the season. Not for Hamilton to win the championship, but to see whether he finds himself again. And how that sets him up for 2026. Now let's throw it to Madeline Coleman for a surefire conversation starter. (She wrote about Ferrari's untapped potential today, by the way.) We received the following reader question for our post-Saudi Arabian GP mailbag: Who is the best British driver today: Norris, Russell or Hamilton? And it's a great question, Matt S, though it depends on how you define 'today.' When looking at the previous race, Russell arguably was the best British driver. Teammate comparison is a powerful tool here. He was ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli by seven seconds, while Hamilton was half a second off Leclerc and Norris was recovering from his qualifying crash and unable to crack the podium. The tire delta came into play for Russell's race, where he tried to cover off the undercut from Leclerc and couldn't hold back the Ferrari driver or Norris. When you look at the season thus far and take the car out of the equation, an argument can also be made for Russell considering how many mistakes Norris has made. His drive in Bahrain was stellar after the car endured a series of failures and he's secured three podium finishes in five races — and brought home fifth in the other two grands prix. Advertisement Both Norris and Russell are performing at a better level, while Hamilton has struggled with this new Ferrari chapter. The seven-time world champion is still among the greats in the sport, but he's not the best British driver today. Here's more from senior editor Alex Kalinauckas on Hamilton's struggles. Pat note: Look for our full mailbag tomorrow. Also, for nostalgia, check out our 2023 story on the sport's emerging battle of the Brits. Thanks, Madeline. Now it's time for … Verstappen got a five-second penalty during the race because he went off track at the first corner while racing with Piastri, kept the lead, and didn't give it back. The race officials decided Piastri had earned the right to that corner since he was alongside Verstappen. Were they right or was Verstappen unfairly punished? Here's the video. I paused it when Piastri could reasonably claim rights to the corner. The apex is the inner point of a corner where drivers aim to hit the perfect racing line. According to the rules, because Piastri had his front wheels at least alongside Verstappen's mirror at this crucial point in the corner, he had earned the right to the racing space. Red Bull and Verstappen disagreed. I do think team principal Christian Horner had a point when he said, 'I don't know where Max was supposed to go at that first corner.' Fighting for the lead into a first turn tighter than most on the calendar, collision or a penalty felt inevitable. The whole thing led to Verstappen not just being cross after the race, but claiming he was afraid to speak his mind for fear of further penalties. We wrote on Saturday that Norris' crash in qualifying would test his championship resolve. Well, he charged from P10 to P4 by the end. Test passed. And, finally, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff confirmed to The Athletic that there have been no conversations with Verstappen about a potential move from Red Bull for 2026. 📫 Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
New York Times
15-04-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
An F1 driver of the day quibble. Plus: Early championship standings takeaways
Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic's twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday. Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we're wondering for a friend how to say 'I have a great car' in French. That friend is Oscar Piastri. my multilingual king — نور (@81sprmanager) April 13, 2025 We've never met. Anyway, after another McLaren win in Bahrain, we have ourselves a three-way fight atop the standings. (Catch up with our race briefing.) I'm Patrick, and Madeline Coleman will be along shortly. Let's dive in. For my money, George Russell pulled off one of the coolest/most impressive drives by an F1 driver in some time in Bahrain. From Madeline's story: Russell admitted during the post-race news conference that he was pleased to see the checkered flag. The Briton had essentially driven in the dark (no pun intended, considering the Bahrain GP is a night race). Advertisement That's right — Russell's car was starting to shut down as he drove. As the race unfolded, Russell experienced a brake-by-wire failure, lost GPS functionality, and encountered DRS issues that required his race engineer to guide him via radio on when to use the system. And he still managed a defensive clinic, holding off Lando Norris for P2. Here's a video of the end of Russell's race: If it feels like Russell has hit his stride lately, you're not imagining things: He's finished in the top five in the last nine grands prix. For more on Russell's drive in the dark, read here. F1 fans voted Lewis Hamilton as Driver of the Day for the Bahrain GP, with the Ferrari driver receiving 29.6 percent of the vote. That surprised me. He may have secured his season-best finish after navigating from ninth to sixth, but his drive is not one of the ones that caught my eye on Sunday. I'd argue Pierre Gasly, Ollie Bearman or even George Russell deserved the acknowledgement more. Gasly did receive 6.5 percent of the vote after an impressive weekend, capping it off with scoring Alpine's first points of the season. The Frenchman qualified fifth and that turned into starting fourth after Kimi Antonelli's penalty. He battled largely in the main pack, and while Max Verstappen did take sixth from him on the last lap, the Alpine driver finished seventh. Bearman had a rough qualifying, but he pulled it together come race day, navigating from last place to a 10th-place finish as a rookie. The Haas driver had a solid start and navigated his way to his third consecutive points finish. But what was impressive was how he kept Mercedes' Antonelli behind him. (If you haven't yet, make sure to give his end-of-race radio a listen, as there is a special appearance from Bearman's father and brother.) Advertisement And then there's the case of Russell, who did everything right as his car experienced a series of failures. His one-place grid penalty was due to a team mistake, just like Antonelli's, and he jumped to second after nailing his start on Sunday. Second is realistically the maximum he could have achieved in a fully functioning Mercedes given McLaren driver Oscar Piastri's pace. We're only three races into the season and a pattern is emerging. The pole sitter has won each race, and the championship battle is much closer than in recent years, with Verstappen trailing Norris by just a point heading into Bahrain. But it would be too early to call this a three-way title fight. There are still 21 grands prix and five sprint races remaining, with the season lasting into December. As Verstappen said, 'A lot of things can happen, right?' Norris pointed out how Charles Leclerc 'was not that much slower,' noting that 'his second stint on the Hards was just as quick as mine,' and George Russell was also quick during the weekend. The Mercedes driver secured consecutive podium finishes in Australia and China before bringing home fifth in Japan. There may have been a notable gap between the top three finishers in Japan and Leclerc and Russell, as the Ferrari driver was 16 seconds off of Verstappen. But Piastri also isn't writing off Mercedes and Ferrari. 'Mercedes looked very threatening at times this weekend,' he said. 'Ferrari — people forget that Charles' race in China he did with, essentially, half a front wing. So if anyone else had tried to do the race he did in China, they would have had to box pretty quickly.' McLaren currently leads the constructors' standings with 111 points, while Mercedes has 75 and Red Bull 61 (entirely thanks to Verstappen). While McLaren is the most complete team right now, between the driver lineup and strong car, the margins are thin. 'We have a small advantage,' Piastri said Sunday, 'but this weekend has really shown that any small mistake and there's a lot of competition there to capitalize.' Thanks, Madeline. Now it's time for … It's been a minute since we glanced at both championships. Here is where things stand after four rounds and after McLaren's latest win on Sunday. Some thoughts: Verstappen said 'everything went wrong' for him in Bahrain after a sixth-place finish. It was something to see the F1 juggernaut get overtaken by rookie Kimi Antonelli early on and have to battle his way past a Haas for position. On Monday, Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko admitted that 'the concern is great' about Verstappen's future with Red Bull due to its current car struggles. It'll be the storyline to watch on Thursday when media day gets underway in Jeddah. 📚 Kimi Antonelli is making F1 history with Mercedes, while still trying to finish high school and prep for final exams. 🏎️ Hamilton is struggling to find his groove at Ferrari, qualifying ninth in Bahrain and admitting he's 'just not doing a good enough job' despite believing the car is capable of better results. Advertisement 🤦♂️The FIA admitted they 'got it wrong' in Bahrain qualifying when they sparked controversy about track limits enforcement. 🔥 And, finally, Oscar Piastri's flawless Bahrain GP win while teammate Lando Norris made several costly mistakes shifted momentum in the title battle 📫 Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters. (Top photo of Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty Images)
New York Times
08-04-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
The thorn in McLaren's side. Plus, Lewis Hamilton's interesting admission
Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic's twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday. Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we're wondering if you've seen the Mercedes video of Valtteri Bottas riding a rollercoaster at the Japanese Grand Prix? Because it's about to take over the newsletter. We've got some numbers and #takes to sift through before we shift to the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend. I'm Patrick Iversen, and Madeline Coleman will be along shortly. Let's dive in. Something on my mind today: Lewis Hamilton's comments after Japan. Three races into his Ferrari career, Hamilton's grand prix returns have been modest at best — a P7 in Japan and P10 in Australia, plus that painful disqualification in China. While his sprint win from pole in Shanghai offered a brief glimpse of potential, the SF-25's performance deficit appears more structural than circumstantial: Team boss Fred Vasseur has suggested Ferrari will need time to close the gap. Advertisement 'Through the first three races, there's been a bit of a deficit between both sides of the (Ferrari) garage on an element of the car, on my side, something underperforming,' Hamilton told reporters. He also admitted that Ferrari is 'clearly' the fourth-fastest team right now. That made me go, 'Huh.' Thanks to Formula Data Analysis, we can see drivers' race pace for last weekend's Japanese GP. Sure enough, Ferrari was fourth-fastest. (Graphic design is my passion.) Following a hunch, I pulled up the data for the 2024 Japanese GP — coincidentally, also Hamilton's third race of the season (he retired in Australia with engine problems). Lo and behold, look which team had the fourth-fastest pace this time last year: By this metric, it seems like Hamilton has swapped one fourth-best team for another. Ferrari trails McLaren by 76 points in the constructors' standings, so I think it's fair to say Hamilton's honeymoon period in red is over. Work to be done. The coming triple-header through Bahrain and Saudi Arabia could define whether Ferrari's 2025 season becomes a fight for podiums or merely damage limitation. Max Verstappen reminded everyone why he's a four-time world champion at Suzuka this weekend, delivering what Fernando Alonso called 'a magical moment' in qualifying and what his engineer described as 'perfection' during the race. Sure, McLaren still seems to have the faster car — but we learned again that if Verstappen's flawless at the front, beating him is a tall order. Did McLaren miss an opportunity, though? When Oscar Piastri radioed that he had the pace to catch Verstappen, team boss Andrea Stella faced an emerging McLaren conundrum: prioritize one driver or let them race equally. We wrote about this 'perfect problem' recently. Having two front-running drivers could become increasingly complicated as the season progresses, especially now that Lando Norris leads Verstappen by just one point in the championship while McLaren enjoys a comfortable lead in the constructors' standings. Advertisement As Madeline wrote today, as long as Verstappen remains a thorn in its side, McLaren's driver decision-making will remain difficult. For more on McLaren and Verstappen, here's Madeline. We're only three races into the season, and a pattern has begun to emerge. The pole sitter has won each race, and the championship battle is much closer than in recent years, with Max Verstappen trailing Lando Norris by just a point heading into Bahrain. But it would be too early to call this a three-way title fight. There are still 21 grands prix and five sprint races remaining, the season lasting into December. As Verstappen said, 'A lot of things can happen, right?' Norris pointed out how Charles Leclerc 'was not that much slower', noting that 'his second stint on the Hards was just as quick as mine,' and George Russell was also quick during the weekend. The Mercedes driver secured consecutive podium finishes in Australia and China before bringing home fifth in Japan. There may have been a notable gap between the top three finishers in Japan and Leclerc and Russell, as the Ferrari driver was 16 seconds off of Verstappen. But Oscar Piastri also isn't writing off Mercedes and Ferrari. 'Mercedes looked very threatening at times this weekend,' he said. 'Ferrari — I think people forget that Charles' race in China he did with, essentially, half a front wing. So I think if anyone else had tried to do the race he did in China, they would have had to box pretty quickly.' McLaren currently leads the constructors' standings with 111 points, while Mercedes has 75 and Red Bull 61 (entirely thanks to Verstappen so far). While McLaren is the most complete team right now, between the driver lineup and strong car, the margins are thin. 'I think we have a small advantage,' Piastri said Sunday, 'but I think this weekend has really shown that any small mistake and there's a lot of competition there to capitalize.' Thanks, Madeline. Now it's time for … After a few years of hosting the season opener, the Bahrain GP this weekend is instead the fourth race on the calendar. Here's what we're keeping an eye on this week: As for the weekend schedule: Friday Saturday Sunday Kimi Antonelli, 18, broke Max Verstappen's records for youngest driver to lead a race and to record the fastest lap. Not bad for a guy who just got his driver's license. Former F1 Academy champion Marta García is out of the hospital after a scary crash in a Le Mans Cup race at Barcelona. Luke Smith took a look at Yuki Tsunoda's disappointing first weekend at Red Bull, and managed to find some silver linings. And, finally, we'll have three reserve drivers running FP1 at Bahrain this week. And that's the end of the newsletter. 📫 Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
