F1 news: Max Verstappen stirs pot at Red Bull as Sainz's Hamilton comments speak volumes

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Max Verstappen remains widely expected to win a fourth consecutive world drivers' title come the end of the season.

But Lando Norris is enjoying a huge bounce and is driving one of the fastest cars on the grid at McLaren.

McLaren's one-two finish in Hungary has boosted Norris's outside chances of winning the F1 title for the first time in his career.

The Brit sits on 189 points, thanks to his maiden victory at the Miami Grand Prix and eight podiums.

Verstappen is still on 265 points and will take some beating, particulary while he continues to accumulate points despite a dip in form.

But Norris will believe that the opportunity is there to really take the challenge to the Red Bull star in the second half of the year.

Max Verstappen allowed his frustrations to get the better of him at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman is starting to lose grip of his place at the top of the drivers’ rankings.

Verstappen collided with Lewis Hamilton on his way to finishing fifth in Hungary. His race featured several expletive-ridden radio messages to his team.

He said of his race: "I don't think we need to apologise. We just need to do a better job.

"I don't know why people think you can't be vocal on the radio. This is a sport. If some people don't like that, stay home."

Asked about some of his critics, Verstappen responded by saying they should “f*** off”.

Formula One's points system will remain unchanged in 2025 after each team unanimously voted against amending the rules during Tuesday's FIA F1 Commission meeting.

Earlier this year, some teams began discussing whether the rules around awarding points to the top 10 finishers would be worth changing.

However, the points system is now set to remain in place for next season, at least.

McLaren are on a high following their one-two finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Oscar Piastri finished ahead of team-mate Lando Norris, although there was controversy over messages dished out to the drivers during the race.

Max Verstappen is hoping to end his Grand Prix drought this weekend.

Teams return to the Formula One grid at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo has questioned RB’s strategy at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Australian had made a promising start to the race but was pitted early so that RB could swap his medium tyres to new hards.

Ricciardo emerged back onto the track into traffic and ultimately finished P12.

When asked whether pitting so early impacted his race, Ricciardo bluntly responded: “You wondered right, I thought the same thing honestly as soon as I… you don’t want to pull into the pits – you get the call and you know this isn’t the thing to do.

“But you get the call late and there’s no time to question it, because then if you miss a lap, it’s even worse. But as soon as I pulled in, the cars on softs had pulled in, I was on a medium – [we should have thought] let’s go, let’s use our clear air we’ve got.

“And then we come out in traffic and it’s just a DRS train and for what, we are all then on the same tyre and that’s… That’s one of the worst ones I’ve had in 250-something races. That was a long old frustrating race where I had a lot of anger.”

McLaren chief Andrea Stella insists he will make “good use” of advice from Nico Rosberg after the former Mercedes driver questioned the team’s communication to their drivers at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

“I will allow myself to make a statement first before a question,” Rosberg said on Sky F1 while interviewing Stella.

“I strongly recommend that you guys in managing this intra-team battle between the two drivers, you need to be extremely clear and firm.

“Today there was the word ‘your convenience Lando.’ That for a driver leaves the door very wide open to use all the kinds of grey areas so that would be my strong recommendation going forward.

“Very clear, strong instructions from the pit wall to the drivers, otherwise you end up with a whole bunch of difficulties between the drivers and I talk from experience.”

Stella took the criticism onboard and responded that McLaren “will make good use of it”.

Martin Brundle has revealed that he ‘wishes Max Verstappen would treat his team better’ after the Dutchman’s rage was targeted at the Red Bull pit wall during the Hungarian Grand Prix.

He wrote on his Sky Sports column: “Cue much angst and beeping required for Max's radio calls as he berated his long-suffering engineer and friend Gianpiero Lambiase, and the team who've given him every one of his race victories and three, probably soon-to-be four, world championships.

“I always say that you can't cherry-pick the bits you like about world-class sports people, they come as a package which adds up to their success. I'm such a fan of Max as a driver and a person, in awe of his talent, but I wish he didn't treat the team like that.

“His legacy should be more sporting, but we now know the two words, consisting of only seven letters, he would reply to that statement.”

Indeed, when Verstappen was asked out his critics in Hungary, he replied bluntly: “They can all f*** off.”

Martin Brundle believes that Lando Norris should have let Oscar Piastri through immediately and then tried to overtake his team-mate before the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Writing in his Sky Sports F1 column, he penned: “I wonder what Oscar would have done if the roles had been reversed. His manager Mark Webber was on the receiving end of the infamous Red Bull Multi-21 team orders in Malaysia 2013 when Sebastian Vettel ignored pre-race agreements and in-race instructions.

“What Lando should have done is let Oscar through immediately when requested, and then given himself the maximum opportunity to overtake, if he could, to take victory that way.”

Stoffel Vandoorne will get behind the wheel of the AMR24 for the first time after the Belgian Grand Prix, taking part in a Pirelli tyre test.

“I’m really looking forward to driving the AMR24 for the first-time next week in Spa,” he noted. “It always feels special to be back behind the wheel of a Formula One car, and even more special to be doing it at my home circuit.

“As an official test, we’ll be running different tyre compounds and constructions to provide Pirelli with feedback. With some high and low-speed corners it provides a useful range of data points and there’s usually a high chance of some wet weather running too.”

Audi have announced that former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has signed to lead the project forward with Andreas Seidl and Oliver Hoffmann departing.

Discussing his new appointment, CEO Gernot Doellner said: “I am delighted that we have been able to recruit Mattia Binotto for our ambitious Formula 1 project. With his extensive experience of more than 25 years in Formula 1, he will undoubtedly be able to make a decisive contribution for Audi.“

He added: “Our aim is to bring the entire Formula 1 project up to F1 speed by means of clear management structures, defined responsibilities, reduced interfaces, and efficient decision-making processes. For this purpose, the team must be able to act independently and quickly.”

Oscar Piastri has praised the impact that manager Mark Webber has had on his motorsport career after claiming his first Grand Prix victory on Sunday.

"The fact that he'd had such a similar pathway [has helped]," Piastri told Autosport "I've read his book, so it's kind of endearing that he's done it and that he was able to guide me.

“Especially when I got to Formula 2, I needed to get through that pretty quickly if I wanted to get to F1. But not to the same extreme as Mark, who had a very convoluted pathway to F1 to say the least.

"Knowing what it takes to stay in F1, that's really been the key part of our relationship. Instead of 30, you've now got a team of 1,000 people developing the car.

"You're racing against guys that have got 5, 10 or 20 years of experience versus two or three. There's a lot more things going on. And that's where he's really helped out a lot.”

Toto Wolff has described Kimi Antonelli’s feature race victory at the Hungaroring as a ‘statement’ as the teenager continues to be linked with the Mercedes seat for next season.

The 17-year-old ended his wait for a Formula Two win with a sprint race triumph in wet weather at Silverstone the race weekend prior, and followed that up with an even more impressive display on Sunday.

"Kimi did a good job,” he said. That was a dominant win on two different tyre compounds. He was really strong and it was deserved, but we have never doubted his pace. The speed is about learning in such a fast development, and it's about learning tyre management and all these things - and that's why [his victory] was a statement."

Nico Rosberg has criticised Max Verstappen’s pre-race routine after the Dutchman stayed up late sim racing the night before the Hungarian Grand Prix.

“I spoke to Lando last night and I was impressed actually, because he has learned how to become a more professional athlete,” Rosberg said on Sky Sports F1. “Like when he started F1, especially against Daniel Ricciardo, he wasn’t really trying to be perfect as an athlete.

“And yet now this weekend, for example, so last night, his bedtime was 1105, not 1100, 05, wake up was 0805, breakfast was already set, like exactly what to eat, so hyper professional, which was nice to know.

“And at the same time, in contrast, you had Verstappen, who until 3am last night was sim racing. You know, that’s a bit disappointing, isn’t it? It just shows that he’s too used to his ease of domination.”

Fernando Alonso could have won eight Drivers’ Championship titles with more luck, according to Max Verstappen.

Speaking to Mundo Deportivo, the Dutchman said: "Alonso is among the top five in F1 history. I think so. The number of titles? Alonso could have had eight world championships if he had been a bit luckier in his career by making the right decisions at the right time. So no, titles don't matter.

"That's why I feel that Fernando Alonso is definitely one of the best drivers in history, because wherever he went, he was always very, very fast. But you need the material to be able to win races, and Alonso, unfortunately, didn't always have it."

Ralf Schumacher has labelled McLaren’s strategy as ‘stupid’ after the Woking-based outfit created drama between their two drivers by reacting to a non-existent Lewis Hamilton threat.

“Yes, it’s a learning process, no question about it, but the main mistake was once again the strategy," Schumacher told Sky Germany.

"There was no need to bring Lando in beforehand. If they could have done things differently, it wouldn't have happened at all. Quite the opposite, if Lando had started, you would have seen a race if they had wanted to. Otherwise, nothing. That's the temptation as a racing driver.

"It's clear, how stupid do you have to be? You put your foot on the gas, drive ahead and then you say, let him come. I'll wait anyway, I'll let him pass when he's there. So everyone would do that."

Anthony Davidson believes that Daniel Ricciardo’s VCARB future is in serious jeopardy after Helmut Marko stated that the team is going to focus on junior drivers moving forward.

“I think the comments from Helmut are genuine as well,” Davidson proclaimed. “That is the purpose of RB, the junior team to Red Bull, to be nurturing young talent and I think Daniel actually had a very good position in the team when Yuki was young, but he’s not an inexperienced driver anymore.

“And Daniel was there to help Yuki and the team I feel, to help guide them and increase performance in the team. But now that the performance isn’t really there for him, I think he’s on a bit of shaky ground and it’s true that the team’s purpose is to bring on younger talent.”

Toto Wolff has offered an update on the futures of reserve driver duo Frederik Vesti and Mick Schumacher as F1 silly season enters full force.

"When it comes to Fred, he's done the job, but there's just no opportunity in Formula One at the moment," Wolff explained. "And he will be a professional racing driver that drives on a high level, whether it's endurance or elsewhere - and he's a top guy on top of that.

"I couldn't say a bad word about Mick, either. Both of them are doing a great job for the team, keep supporting us in the simulator.

"They're a little bit the unsung heroes, also, because you don't see them, but they spent the nights from Friday to Saturday in the simulator doing that work. And Mick also deserves a seat, I really liked that we have him [as] part of the family."

Carlos Sainz has admitted that while he is devastated to be leaving Ferrari at the end of the 2025 campaign, there are no hard feelings given Lewis Hamilton’s stature and pedigree.

Speaking to GQ Spain, Sainz said: “I obviously understand Ferrari’s decision, the opportunity to sign a seven-time world champion and what it can entail and attract to a team.

“That's why, when I reflected on it, it didn’t hurt me that much. Because in the end, it’s not any other driver replacing you, but the best driver in history. And in the end, if one has to replace me, let it be [Lewis].”

Max Verstappen was far from happy after the Hungairian GP, criticising Red Bull's strategy as he finished down in fifth.

And he has stirred the pot by questioning whether everyone at Red Bull is working in the same direction.

He said in the aftermath: "Yeah, I already said that maybe some people are not on the same wavelength. It's as severe as it is."

Welcome everyone!

We're back with more of the same as the Hungarian Grand Prix fall-out continues after yet another thrilling weekend of F1 action.

We will provide you with the latest news from the F1 paddock as the travelling party now gears up for the Belgian GP...