F1 NEWS: Max Verstappen could make surprise move as Red Bull trigger contract clause

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We're approaching the business end of the Formula One season with just seven races remaining.

Remaining F1 races this year:

Singapore GP - 22 September

United States GP - 20 October

Mexico City GP - 27 September

Sao Paulo GP - 3 November

Las Vegas GP - 23 November

Qatar GP - 1 December

Abu Dhabi GP - 8 December

Charles Leclerc has revealed he's looking for an explanation from his Ferrari team following the weekend race.

Speaking after Baku, the Ferrari man said: “We expected the undercut today to be a very difficult thing to do, just because we thought that the warm-up on the hard would be extremely difficult for some reason.

“I don’t really have the explanation yet because I haven’t gone into details. I just jumped out of the car, but we’ve got to look into how the gap went from six seconds to one and a half, because that is definitely not what we expected. And that is a lot.

“Even on a track where undercuts are big, it’s still four seconds and a half or four seconds – a lot of lap time loss, which I don’t exactly know why and where we’ve lost this lap time. So this will be an analysis.

“But when we speak about that amount of lap time, I think it will be straightforward. And we’ll see very quickly whether they just had a much better warm-up with the hard than us or whether we’ve lost it anywhere else.”

Damon Hill has backed McLaren to continue competing with Red Bull and possibly even eclipse them.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Hill said: "They've [Red Bull] hit the ceiling with regards to wind tunnel time and computer fluid dynamics and all the rest of it that they're limited on.

"I think, is showing itself to be bringing up the teams that can catch up and giving us some fantastic racing. In some ways the regs have proved their success more quickly, perhaps, than we expected.

"It's been a few years, but it's slowly starting to take effect, which is good. Obviously, that will mean the more successful McLaren are now, the more they're going to be handicapped next year."

Helmut Marko has revealed Sergio Perez's crash in the final lap of Sunday's race could cause Red Bull problems for the Singapore GP.

Commenting after Baku, Marko told Sky Germany: “It’s a massive setback for us. We’ll certainly be able to get the car ready, but not in the form we planned.

"The test period we had planned for Singapore is now not possible. It’s a massive setback.”

George Russell was the unlikely beneficiary of the Sainz-Perez crash in the final lap of Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but the Brit admitted Mercedes weren't good enough in Baku.

On the Silver Arrows' performance, he said: "We need to understand what happened in the race because the last stint, we had a car that was comfortably capable of winning this race.

"In the first stint we had a car that probably didn't deserve to be in the top 10, and the only difference is the tyres."

Former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde has issued his verdict on who he believes the superior McLaren driver is.

On the Lando Norris vs Oscar Piastri debate, Van der Garde commented: "This guy [Piastri] basically has everything. Only if you look at one-lap speed, Norris is just a little bit faster.

"That's because of experience, but also just maybe because Norris has just a bit more talent. Just in everything else, Piastri is just better."

Christian Horner has praised the genius of Adrian Newey following the engineer's departure from Red Bull.

On the soon-to-be Aston Martin man, Horner commented: "Adrian is obviously a very creative guy and he's not your average designer. I think he's the only person still in Formula One working on a drawing board.

"So inevitably there will be a process of having to get to know each other, how each other work and so on. But yeah, he's unique in many respects and I think that Aston will obviously look to draw upon his huge experience.

"It was obviously a large announcement by Aston. And, you know, Adrian has always tended to do his own thing. So, you know, obviously it was a big moment for that team.

"They chose to celebrate it perhaps potentially slightly prematurely before he's finished his contract with Red Bull Racing. But obviously it was a big moment for that team."

A fourth DRS zone has been added to the Marina Bay Street Circuit ahead of this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.

The new zone has been introduced between turns 14 and 16 in an attempt to make overtaking easier.

It means drivers will need to tackle the flat-out left-hand kink at Turn 15 with their rear wings open.

Last year, four corners were cut from that section of the circuit due to construction work on the harbour front.

Oscar Piastri's agent Mark Webber has been speaking with McLaren bosses about the 23-year-old's role within the team.

It was revealed last week that McLaren would be prioritising Lando Norris over Piastri with the aim of supporting his title bid.

Speaking after Sunday's race in Baku, Piastri said: "He [Webber] has been in this kind of situation before and knows how it plays out.

"He’s been involved in the discussions with me and the team about what we are happy to do or what we are not happy to do and stuff like that.

"I guess he’s given advice but not like: 'Don’t do this, don’t do that'."

Helmut Marko has suggested that Liam Lawson could replace Daniel Ricciardo at VCARB from this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.

Discussing their plans for their driver line-up after Sunday's race in Baku, Marko said: "We have an idea, but we have to wait until Singapore.

"It is still September, but from Singapore, we will have a precise idea. It will be quite clear as to what will happen with the second seat."

Christian Horner will lead a 'post-mortem' into Max Verstappen's struggles after he failed to get himself on the podium in Baku.

Speaking after the race, Horner said: "I think there'll be a big post-mortem to see what the variances between the two cars are, which are obviously reasonably subtle.

"He was not as comfortable as Checo was today, so obviously we need to get into that to understand why.

"I think Max, obviously, we need to look at the variances and set up. He wasn't as happy with his car as Checo was.

"But I think if you take Checo as the baseline here, I think that we have made improvements. We just need to understand the differences and, again, improve further."

Daniel Ricciardo is the subject of a new short film offering a glimpse into his life away from the track.

The film shows Ricciardo embarking on a once-in-a-lifetime trip in his home state of Western Australia, going from vineyards to coasts.

He takes part in an indigenous experience, goes surfing and mountain biking and reconnects with his best friend on a new adventure.

The film is available to watch for free on YouTube and can be found here.

Red Bull have triggered a clause in Liam Lawson's contract to guarantee him a race seat in the future, according to Formu1a.uno.

It is said that Red Bull had a deadline to make a decision on his future, which passed during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend.

They decided to activate the clause, obliging them to formally put together a 'future F1 race programme' for Lawson.

Max Verstappen could reportedly leave Red Bull next year and join a new team due to a clause in his contract.

According to Sky Sport Italia, he will be entitled to leave if he is not in the top three in the standings after the 'first Grands Prix' in 2025.

Mercedes are known to have an interest in Verstappen but their driver line-up appears to be set in stone with Kimi Antonelli partnering George Russell.

Meanwhile, Adrian Newey's move to Aston Martin has fuelled speculation that Verstappen could follow him to the Silverstone-based outfit.

Sky Sports commentator David Croft has insisted that he does not take a one-sided approach when running the rule over Grand Prix weekends.

Sky’s coverage has recently come under fire amid claims of overt bias towards British drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris.

Responding to those accusations, Croft told Speedweek: "I will try and follow the story, it’s as simple as that.

"You try and follow the story wherever that story might be, and Formula One is unique in that there are many different stories that happen during the course of the race.

"You’ve also got to talk to the pictures, which we have no control over on Sky at all.

"They’re all from a world feed, so you’re reacting to what that director wants to put out there."

Jacques Villeneuve has accused Max Verstappen of lacking fight after he slumped to a fifth-placed finish in Baku.

Speaking after the race, Villeneuve told Sky Sports F1: "Max, for the last few races, sounds very downbeat, like he's not even feisty in the race.

"He doesn't fight that hard. Even on the radio we barely hear him, so something has changed.

"It's as if he knows he hasn't won [for a while], he knows it [the car] is not driving like he wants.

"Now his team-mate was a lot quicker than him. That's a very strange situation."

Sergio Perez's father Antonio was rushed to hospital after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, according to Mexician outlet El Heraldo.

It is said that he was found unconscious in the bathroom of his house and immediately taken to hospital for treatment.

He is thought to be recovering after being tended to by doctors, but it is not known if he is still in hospital or already at home.

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