F1 LIVE: Max Verstappen compares Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc battles as Ferrari rivalry heats up

Mercedes’ trackside engineer Andrew Shovlin says the cars performed as expected following upgrades for the Silverstone race – helping add pace and retain more control, as they seek to fix the porpoising issues which have plagued their season.

George Russell’s race was over after just seconds, caught up in the early incident which saw Zhou Guanyu flip over and crash into the barriers, but Lewis Hamilton went on to record a first podium spot since the opening week of the season.

“The key thing for us here was seeing they actually performed as expected and they did that – they were delivering a few tenths more downforce to the car and we think we saw that in terms of the performance on the weekend,” Shovlin explained in a video post.

“The other thing that was nice to see was that there was a bit less bouncing, the car was behaving a bit more normally, it was easier for the drivers to work with it to tune the balance.

“So overall, it was a pleasing result for us, not just to see Lewis on the podium but to see the update kit perform as we hoped.”

Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda came a little too close for comfort at the British GP, as the latter was at fault for a collision which saw them both spin out.

It was a race day to forget after a fine previous day’s work in qualifying, with the duo now hoping for better fortunes in Austria.

“I am glad that we can go racing again after just a few days to put the Silverstone race behind us. The only good moment of that weekend was on Saturday afternoon when we worked well in the wet conditions to qualify better than we had hoped, based on how Friday went,” Tsunoda said.

“I couldn’t do anything about the collision after the start and later unfortunately I had the incident with Pierre. We discussed it as a team and now we move forward.”

“This is a home race for Red Bull, so although there is no extra pressure, everyone in the team is very keen to do well,” added Gasly.

“I’ve finished in the points three times at the Red Bull Ring. It’s a very fast layout, especially the second and third sectors, and it’s the type of track that has been a bit complicated for us since the start of the year. On the other hand, we have learned a lot from the races so far and we can try and improve the car under these conditions and make some progress.”

Max Verstappen remains well-placed to defend his Formula One driver’s title this year despite a tricky outing at Silverstone, after he pipped Lewis Hamilton to triumph in last season’s dramatic ending to the season.

This time around, due to Mercedes struggling with their new car, it has been Charles Leclerc he is facing off with on a regular occurrence, with the revitalised Ferrari team tasting success in the British Grand Prix last time out as his teammate Carlos Sainz won.

For Verstappen, though, there’s a clear difference between how the tension has been building this year and how last term’s rivalry was played out and portrayed – and it’s nothing to do with the men behind the wheel.

Instead, he says there has aways been respect between himself and Hamilton, but rather than last year it was their respective teams who sometimes overstepped the mark, while matters have been far more cordial between Red Bull and Ferrari in 2022.

Michael Andretti acknowledged Tuesday that the meltdown of his IndyCar team at Mid-Ohio was unacceptable and said his four drivers will be expected to work together as teammates the remainder of the season.

Andretti led an emergency meeting after Sunday’s race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where a fracture in the Andretti Autosport lineup was fully revealed.

Romain Grosjean and Alexander Rossi played bumper cars in a race for position that turned personal. Rossi also hit rookie teammate Devlin DeFrancesco, Grosjean hit Colton Herta and IndyCar penalized both Rossi and Grosjean for avoidable contact.

After the race, team owner Andretti was seen having a heated conversation with Rossi’s father, and he pulled all four drivers inside to discuss the debacle.

“Our race results in Mid-Ohio did not go as planned. Sunday’s display was disappointing and unacceptable and not the way we operate — on or off the track,” Andretti said Tuesday in a statement provided to The Associated Press.

“Racing is a passionate sport and we have four highly competitive drivers; however we are one team at Andretti and our drivers need to remember that we expect them to work together for the betterment of the team. That’s the way it will be going forward.”

Grosjean raced for nearly a decade in Formula One before his time in the series ended in a 2020 crash from which he escaped from the burning wreckage of his car, earning the nickname “The Phoenix.” He switched to IndyCar the next season and overperformed while driving for Dale Coyne Racing, which helped the Frenchman land a better seat at front-runner Andretti Autosport.

Rossi decided earlier this year that his seventh season with Andretti would be his last. The winner of the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2016 has signed with Arrow McLaren SP for 2023.

Grosjean and Rossi raced against each other five times in F1 in 2015, when Rossi got a handful of starts driving for Manor Marussia. Grosjean finished 13th and Rossi was 14th in Rossi’s F1 debut. Rossi’s time in F1 ran out at the end of that season and he’s been with Andretti since.

He and Grosjean don’t care for each other, and Grosjean didn’t back down following the Mid-Ohio postrace lecture from the boss. Grosjean called Rossi “an absolute idiot” afterward.

Rossi stressed that he was committed to working as part of the Andretti organization through the remaining seven races but declined to comment further.

The Andretti organization has just one win so far this season — Herta on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — and Rossi at eighth is the highest-ranked Andretti driver in the standings. Grosjean has one podium finish and is ranked 14th.

The organization also wasn’t all that competitive at the Indy 500, the one race the team owner cares most about winning. Rossi in fifth was the highest-finishing Andretti driver and the three late laps led by Marco Andretti were the only laps that an Andretti car paced the field.

Carlos Sainz celebrated his maiden Formula One victory at the British Grand Prix on Sunday, as he raced to first place in the last 10 laps following a Safety Car being deployed and a quick tyre switch.

The Ferrari man moved to soft compounds for the closing stages – as did a host of challengers behind him – but teammate Charles Leclerc, leading the race at the time, was unable to follow suit and ultimately finished fourth.

While there were widespread celebrations at Sainz’s first win, coming on his 150th F1 start, it has been suggested by a former Ferrari employee that not everybody within the team felt quite the same way.

Each driver has their team behind the scenes and the suggestion is that Leclerc’s were so unhappy at the way the race finale panned out that they baulked at having to partake in the overall team celebrations after the chequered flag.

Lando Norris has labelled people speculating over his long-term future at McLaren as “clueless”.

The 22-year-old signed a new deal that keeps him with the British team until 2025 earlier this year but that has failed to dampen talk about him moving on at some point.

Former world champion Jenson Button is one of those to question the decision describing himself as “surprised” given McLaren’s struggles on track of late.

Norris, though, is more than happy where he is.

“They’re clueless,” he told Sky Sports. “I don’t know why… everyone thinks they know, he definitely could have gone here, he could have done that.

“But most of the time they know absolutely nothing, all these people coming up with these conclusions.”

Zhou Guanyu is set to return to his Alfa Romeo cockpit at next weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix – just five days after he was involved in one of the most spectacular crashes in recent memory.

The 23-year-old Chinese rookie revealed he is “keener than ever” to get back behind the wheel of his Formula One machine after he emerged unscathed from a horrendous opening-corner accident at Silverstone.

Zhou ended up trapped between a steel barrier and metal catch fencing after he was flipped upside down and out of control at 160mph.

But after he was extracted from his wrecked car, and taken to the on-track medical centre, Zhou was declared medically fit by the FIA. It is not anticipated that he will have to undergo any additional tests to prove he is ready to race next weekend.

Red Bull’s Verstappen memorable crashed into Copse corner on the opening lap of last year’s race after tangling with Hamilton, who went on to win the race despite a 10-second time penalty.

Yet in Sunday’s dramatic Grand Prix at Silverstone, Leclerc and Hamilton battled superbly and fairly through the same corner and seven-time world champion Hamilton couldn’t help but make reference to last year as he praised the Monegasque driver.

“Charles did a great job. What a great battle,” Hamilton told Sky F1.

“Very sensible driver and clearly a lot different to what we experienced last year. In Copse for example, two of us went through there no problem. What a battle.”

The Formula One season is in full swing as the drivers prepare for the 11th race of the most extensive calendar in the sport’s history.

Lewis Hamilton looked good for the win – in what would have been his first of the season – before a slow pit stop and late safety car curtailed his chances, but he did take third place and a spot on the podium after some teriffic wheel-to-wheel racing late on.

Sergio Perez finished second while Charles Leclerc was fourth; Championship leader Max Verstappen had to settle for seventh place after being hampered early on by a puncture and subsequent bodywork damage.

However, Red Bull return to their home track in Spielberg, Austria, this week for the second sprint weekend of the 2022 season.

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Six people have appeared in court charged over the track invasion at the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Protesters stormed the Wellington Straight, the fastest point of the Northamptonshire track, before sitting down during the opening lap of Sunday’s race.

David Baldwin, 46, of Stonesfield, Witney, Oxfordshire; Emily Brocklebank, 23, of Yeadon, Leeds; Alasdair Gibson, 21, of Aberdeen; Louis McKechnie, 21, of Manchester; Bethany Mogie, 40, of St Albans, Hertfordshire; and Joshua Smith, 28, of Manchester, have all been charged with conspiracy to cause public nuisance.

Northampton Magistrates’ Court heard on Tuesday afternoon the protesters are said to have entered the track wearing orange tracksuits bearing the message “Just Stop Oil”.