F1 news: Lewis Hamilton may have last laugh over Max Verstappen as Red Bull admit concerns

That's all for today's coverage of everything F1.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow where there will be more fallout from Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix.

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Teams will take another two-week break following Max Verstappen's victory in China.

Drivers are desperate to devise a plan to topple the dominance of Red Bull, who have now won all but one race this season.

Teams will reconvene in Miami in early May, with the Grand Prix taking place on May 5.

Karun Chandhok believes Max Verstappen will become a Formula One great once he drives for another team.

Verstappen has dominated over the last few years and, barring a huge upturn in form for another team, the Dutchman will be a five-time world champion by the end of 2025.

bu t Chandhok say that for Verstappen to become an iconic figure in the sport, he will need to follow in the footsteps of Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton by driving for two teams.

“More and more I’d like to see him drive for somebody else,” Chandhok said.

“I’d like to see if he just at one with this car, could someone else jump in and do it if he went to Mercedes or he’s not going to go to Ferrari they’re locked in, but it would be fun to see, wouldn’t it?

“How much of it is Max vs the car?

“I think the all-time greats when you look back are the ones who have won in more than one team.

“[Michael] Schumacher, [Juan Manuel] Fangio, [Alain] Prost, Lewis [Hamilton] as well of course.”

Formula One figures regard Lando Norris in an ‘elite’ group of drivers, the BBC report.

Norris came second in China on Sunday, preventing Sergio Perez from securing a one-two finish for Red Bull behind Max Verstappen.

Norris has at times been criticised for making too many errors and is yet to win a Grand Prix.

In fact, his 691 career points make him the highest-scoring driver without a race win.

But it is claimed that the 24-year-old is still held in the highest regard by his colleagues. The exclusive group is made up of F1’s three world championship winners and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Lando Norris is making team-mate Oscar Piastri look “ordinary”, according to racing driver Bradley Philpot.

Speaking on the Missed Apex Podcast, Philpot said of the McLaren duo: “I think [Lando] Norris is absolutely mega. I’m not a fan of Norris yet because I’m a fan of drivers because of moments that I see on track and I don’t necessarily mean being the fastest, just things that I can’t even put my finger on it.

“But mainly off-track attitudes and general persona.

“I think he [Norris] is extremely high quality, I think he is one of those drivers who given the machinery is going to do the job and he seems to have in the short-term fended off the [Oscar] Piastri challenge.

“It looked like Piastri was maybe the person who was going to come and make Norris look a bit more ordinary but despite all the additional races that Piastri has now had to find his feet and get into a Formula One driver mentality, rather than reserve driver or Formula Two champion.

“Norris is making him genuinely quite ordinary, Piastri is still kind of surviving on the good credit that he’s built up until this point, but that won’t go on forever.

“If Norris continues to be the person that tends to always be in front, even if it’s by just a couple of tenths, or tends to always be the person getting the podiums, then Norris is going to resume this role of one of the very next big things, one of the absolute top talents everyone is after.”

Max Verstappen joked that he has not heard God Save The Queen in a long time during a live stream.

The likes of Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Lando Norris have all struggled to compete with the dominant Dutchman.

While playing with friends on a Twitch stream, the British national anthem was heard playing over the top.

Verstappen quipped: "I've not heard that one in a while!"

READ MORE HERE

James Vowles has been backed to do a ‘brilliant job’ at Williams after overhauling the team behind the scenes over the last 18 months.

Vowles took over at the start of 2023, moving from Mercedes where he had worked under Toto Wolff.

The 44-year-old has overseen a positive improvement at Williams.

Speaking about a damaged chassis issue at the team, former driver Nico Rosberg said: “Yeah, that’s horrible because it also costs you in terms of development.

“You only have a certain amount of resources and if you have to keep producing new wings and new bodywork for the car, it slows down your progress in terms of development.

“It’s all a tough situation but James Vowles who used to be our strategy engineer at Mercedes, he’s so smart, he’s a great guy.

“I’m confident that he’s going to do a brilliant job over at Williams.”

Johnny Herbert believes Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll should do the unthinkable by getting rid of his son Lance next season.

The former Sky Sports pundit is adamant that Carlos Sainz would be a better fit alongside Fernando Alonso in 2025.

Speaking to Fastest Payout Online Casino, Herbert said: "There will be this point where Lawrence has to make a decision.

"For me, if Aston are going to make this a success and move things forward, there is a guy out there who would fit the bill perfectly, Carlos Sainz.

"Carlos is doing a brilliant job at Ferrari in a situation where he knows he has not got a job next year. This is the best I have seen of Carlos.

"It would be a sad state of affairs if Aston missed out on Carlos."

Lando Norris says that McLaren's performance at the Chinese Grand Prix has given him renewed hope that he could finally win his first F1 race this year.

"I have already said it, I don't need any more confidence," the Brit told Sky Sports.

"There's more evidence [from China]. I said it at the beginning of the year that I think we can fight against Red Bull and we'll be able to get a win this year.

"It's not going to come easy. I don't think it will come for a while, but right day, right time, good conditions, things which suit our car a little bit more.

"I have the faith in the team and I have the faith in my ability to be able to pull it off."

Christian Horner has suggested that Red Bull will be at a 'disadvantage' to Ferrari when Lewis Hamilton joins the Italian team.

Hamilton has lagged behind Max Verstappen over the last three seasons but Horner believes the tide could turn when Red Bull start running their own power units in 2026.

"We're on a steep learning curve where we've got about 70 years of disadvantage to Ferrari," said Horner.

"We've got a great group of people, we're applying the same philosophy as we have on the chassis to the engine. It is a different challenge.

"There are no guarantees and there is no knowledge of where anybody else is. With these new regulations, it is a clean sheet of paper and we don't have the benefit of an existing engine to learn from."

Johnny Herbert has revealed that he was subjected to online abuse and death threats after Fernando Alonso was given a penalty at last month's Australian Grand Prix.

The former Sky Sports pundit was on the stewarding team which found Alonso guilty of contributing to George Russell's final-lap crash.

"I got a torrent of death threats via social media," Herbert told Fastest Payout Online Casino.

"I am lucky I have got broad shoulders. I find it pathetic that I was the one thrown under the bus.

"There were messages with dagger emojis at the bottom of the screen, people saying we know where you live, we will come for you. Most of them were Spanish.

"They should have understood because it was so clear how and the decision was arrived at in the statement that was put out.

"People were also saying because I had never been a world champion I was not qualified to have a say in it."

George Russell believes that Mercedes can improve their dire situation by simply adding some more downforce to their car.

"I think we've understood enough so far that we just need to add downforce," said Russell after the Chinese Grand Prix.

"We've changed philosophies, we've changed concepts quite a few times now over the last two years.

"My personal view is it doesn’t matter what concept you're on, you just need to have enough downforce as possible and deal with the limitations thereafter.

"Let's see in Miami, we've got some upgrades coming to the car. Let's see what we can do. I think there is no silver bullet.

"We just need to keep on adding performance and focusing on the basics, which is in the wind tunnel and the CFD, just adding downforce. Maybe sometimes it's as simple as that."

Srettha Thavisin, the prime minister of Thailand, has revealed that he wants the country to host a Grand Prix in the not-too-distant future.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he revealed that he discussed the possibility of a race being staged in Thailand with Stefano Domenicali on Monday.

"Thailand has the potential to host Formula One in Bangkok," wrote Thavisin.

"If it is successful, I am confident that our country will be one of the hosts of the competition.

"Today I had a discussion with Stefano Domenicali, chairman of the executive board of Formula One Group, who was honoured to visit Thailand at the invitation of the government.

"I sincerely hope that this trip shows Thailand’s potential to host a Formula One competition. The Thai government is ready to fully facilitate."

Nico Rosberg has suggested that Carlos Sainz may be trying to get more money out of Red Bull following a 'stingy' offer from Christian Horner.

The Spaniard has been linked with a move to Red Bull ahead of next season and Rosberg believes he may be trying to drive up his potential new salary.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Rosberg said: "You know that they have an offer out to Carlos Sainz and I saw daddy Sainz speaking to Christian Horner yesterday.

"Christian Horner has apparently been a bit stingy on the offer, so they’re trying to get a couple more million out of him."

Max Verstappen has missed out on being crowned Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for the second time in a row.

The Dutchman was nominated for the prestigious award after his record-breaking season in 2023 but was pipped by Novak Djokovic.

The tennis icon scooped the prize for the fifth time after winning three of the four available Grand Slam titles last year.

Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland were among the other nominees, as well as pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis and sprinter Noah Lyles.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner has urged Toto Wolff to focus on 'other elements' and not Max Verstappen with Mercedes lagging behind two of their customer teams at the moment.

The Silver Arrows were slower than McLaren and Aston Martin at the Chinese Grand Prix, prompting Horner to take aim at Wolff after the race.

Wolff spoke about the 'ambitious' targets Mercedes have set for 2026 but admitted that if he was Verstappen, he would choose to stay at Red Bull for the 2025 season.

"But I’m not Max," he added. "It’s the quickest car but there are still other factors."

Quizzed on Wolff's comments, Horner said: "I think he’s probably got other elements that he needs to be focusing on rather than focusing on drivers that are unavailable.

"I don’t know how many more times he needs to say this, he’s said it numerous times. I’m not going to get drawn into this, I think sometimes it’s just designed to create noise.

"We’ve moved today ahead of the amount of races that Mercedes have won in the modern era. The team is in form. Why on earth would you want to leave this team?

"Mercedes are the third team behind their customers at the moment, so I would think his [Wolff’s] time would be better spent perhaps focusing on the team rather than the driver market."

Toto Wolff has refuted Lewis Hamilton's suggestion that tyre pressure was to blame for Mercedes' poor showing at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Asked for his thoughts on his car's handling after the race, Hamilton said: "I mean, I think one of it is that the tyre pressures are so high. These are the worst I think we’ve had."

Wolff, however, was adamant the team's performance was behind their race results and not the tyre pressures as Hamilton suggested.

"I think, on paper, starting with the soft gave him… the theory said he should have a strong start with softer rubber and the grip just wasn’t there on the soft," explained Wolff.

"I would more put it down to our own performance that we couldn’t really make the steps that we expected and, obviously, then it becomes very difficult."

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