Drivers terrified as shocking Aus GP near-miss you didn\u2019t see exposes clear F1 problem <\/a><\/p>\nStella turns heat on Mercedes in bold claim <\/p>\n
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has suggested that his team has been partially frozen out by its power unit supplier, Mercedes, with its works team emerging as a clear world championship favourite. <\/p>\n
Mercedes blew McLaren out of the water in Melbourne, with both cars dominating qualifying before George Russell won the race ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli.<\/p>\n
McLaren\u2019s world champion driver, Lando Norris, qualified sixth, and finished a distant fifth, with the only position he gained being that of Oscar Piastri, who didn\u2019t make it to the starting grid.<\/p>\n
Though Mercedes was expected to benefit heading into a new era of regulations being a works outfit, Stella claimed that the information gap has been larger than ever before. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe discussion with HPP (Mercedes High Performance Powertrains) about having more information has been going on for weeks,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Stella went on to give an explanation that McLaren wasn\u2019t able to predict the behaviour of its car as well as Mercedes due to a lack of information. <\/p>\n
\u201cI have to say, since we are a customer team (of Mercedes), this is the first time that we feel we are on the back foot even when it comes to the ability to predict how the car will behave and the ability to anticipate how we can improve the car,\u201d Stella said. <\/p>\n
Adding weight to the claim is the fact Piastri was caught by surprise on a recon lap in Melbourne when his power unit delivered \u201c100kW more power than expected\u201d, causing him to crash.<\/p>\n
Australian Formula 1 McLaren driver Oscar Piastri crashes out of the Australian Grand Prix on the warm-up lap Picture F1 TV.Source: Supplied Source Known<\/p>\n
Another key factor at play is this year\u2019s technical regulations, in which cars run on a 50-50 split of engine and battery power. The need for the engine to play a role in charging the battery causes unusual car behaviours for the drivers to manage. <\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly, these power units can be quite aggressive when they release all the power,\u201d Stella said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe talk about 1000 horsepower coming all together, and when the tyres may be a little on the cold side, or if this power comes in an unpredictable way, like it happened to Oscar, then it can become very tricky.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to be here and saying I have an easy solution \u2013 I don\u2019t \u2013 but I\u2019m here saying we should look into the regulations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe accidents (in Melbourne), they are kind of not a near miss, they are very material indication that there\u2019s work to do, so we should do this work as an F1 community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Verstappen news to raise eyebrows <\/p>\n
Max Verstappen will tick a bucket list item off this year when he competes in the Nurburgring 24 Hours between the Miami and Canadian Grands Prix.<\/p>\n
It was confirmed on Monday that Verstappen would take to the Nordschleife in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 with a Red Bull livery. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nurburgring Nordschleife is a special place,\u201d Verstappen said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no other track like it. The 24h N\u00fcrburgring is a race that\u2019s been on my bucket list for a long time, so I\u2019m really thrilled we can make it happen now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The confirmation is notable for two main reasons. <\/p>\n
Firstly, though not unheard of, it\u2019s unusual for a star F1 driver to take leave mid-season to compete in a different category of racing. <\/p>\n
Such arrangements are normally reserved for situations in which a team is trying to meet the needs of a big-name driver to maintain harmony. For example, McLaren allowed Fernando Alonso to race in the Indy500 and Le Mans 24 Hours as he attempted to claim motorsport\u2019s Triple Crown, and while the team was languishing in F1\u2019s midfield. <\/p>\n
The Verstappen announcement comes with the four-time world champion fuming over the state of F1\u2019s rules in 2026, while he has on multiple occasions suggested he would quit the category altogether if unsatisfied. <\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe it\u2019s then better to drive Formula E, because that\u2019s all about energy, efficiency and management\u201d he said earlier this year. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still racing in Formula 1 and that\u2019s great, but once you\u2019ve already won and achieved everything, then it\u2019s not really necessary [to stay around] anymore.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of other nice things you can do, and I\u2019m definitely going to do those \u2014 maybe already this year and also in the coming years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis certainly doesn\u2019t help to keep going for a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the fact he\u2019ll be racing in a Mercedes is sure to raise eyebrows.<\/p>\n
Mercedes boss Wolff has made no secret of his admiration of Verstappen, who is widely believed to have an exit clause in his Red Bull contract should the team no longer be competing for world championships. <\/p>\n
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies was in Melbourne forced to answer questions about Verstappen\u2019s level of satisfaction as doubts over his future bubble away. <\/p>\n
He insisted he wasn\u2019t concerned about Verstappen losing motivation to complete in F1 with the Dutchman still contracted at Red Bull until after the 2028 season. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no. When he\u2019s with us, as far as the relationship with the team is concerned, there is absolutely no difference compared to last year in terms of how hard he\u2019s pushing on every single detail and how precise he is in his feedback on every single thing,\u201d Mekies said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, he\u2019s able to put his personal preferences on the side when he debriefs with us and when we are chasing the performance together.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Max cares about the sport and he\u2019s giving us a lot of input on what he thinks could be improvements.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018He f***ing sucks, dude\u2019: Fiery F1 clash you didn\u2019t see as bad blood reignites<\/p>\n
The F1 feud between Liam Lawson and Sergio Perez is back with a heated run-in between the pair at the Australian Grand Prix coming to light.<\/p>\n
Scrapping for 16th at Melbourne\u2019s Albert Park, Lawson eventually passed Cadillac driver Perez, but not before some robust defensive moves that saw his Racing Bulls rival squeezed off the track. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no love lost between those two ever, is there?\u201d David Croft noted in commentary on Sky Sports. <\/p>\n
Lawson won the battle and declared over team radio afterward: \u201cThat guy f***ing sucks, dude.\u201d<\/p>\n
The heated rivalry between the pair stems back to the 2024 season, in which Perez was on the brink of being sacked by Red Bull with Lawson his prime replacement candidate. <\/p>\n
They came together at Perez\u2019s home Mexican Grand Prix, in which Lawson gave the veteran the middle finger. <\/p>\n
\u201cTwo years later he\u2019s not over it,\u201d Lawson told media in Melbourne on Sunday. \u201cHe\u2019s fighting me like it\u2019s for the world championship and we\u2019re P16 – so, yeah.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously I don\u2019t really care too much. My race was already over at that point, so we\u2019ll just move on from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about if he felt Perez should\u2019ve been penalised, he said: \u201cIt wasn\u2019t anything illegal, he was just aggressive. Honestly, I don\u2019t care. It was for P16.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perez, meanwhile, insisted there was nothing untoward with his defensive tactics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just trying to race him,\u201d Perez said. \u201cIt was a bit of fun racing, and that\u2019s really it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in a much slower car, so I think it\u2019s just fine to race.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scary near miss at the back of the grid! | 00:42<\/p>\n
\u2018Not again\u2019 <\/p>\n
For all the changes in F1 this year, one thing remains constant \u2014 Ferrari coming under fire for a strategy bungle. <\/p>\n
Ferrari took the fight to Mercedes in Melbourne but have ultimately been forced to answer questions over why they pitted neither Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton under an early Virtual Safety Car. <\/p>\n
After a closely-fought opening 10 laps, the move put the race in the hands of Mercedes\u2019 George Russell, who won comfortably in the end. <\/p>\n
Ferrari insisted it had no regrets with its call, but the scrutiny remains with Juan Pablo Montoya turning the blowtorch on the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cSurprised but not surprised at Ferrari with the strategy to be honest. I was kind of shocked. You should have at least divided the cars,\u201d he said on F1 TV.<\/p>\n
‘THIS IS A DISASTER!’: Piastri Crashes! | 01:42<\/p>\n
\u201cMercedes was very clear in what they were doing, and hats off again to Mercedes. They executed well, and Lewis did pretty good. I was impressed.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cNo, honestly, we always complained last year that Ferrari was never aggressive enough and they always missed a strategy, and in my opinion, they did again. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think maybe they didn\u2019t have a car to win, but they brought the fight to Mercedes. They got the start. They were holding position. I think Charles did an amazing job coming back to George over and over again, and he was looking really good.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then the [virtual] safety car comes out and it\u2019s like everybody but them [pitted]. It\u2019s like, \u2018not again\u2019. It\u2019s like, \u2018why?\u2019 At some point there\u2019s got to be somebody going, \u2018Are we really the odd man out?\u2019 We can\u2019t have 10 smart teams… You have 10 smart teams and one missing it and in their mind thinking everybody is getting it wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of F1\u2019s most explosive and longstanding rivalries is set to reignite over a $850m bidding war, while…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[2095,13273,8075,64,63,689,264155,239098,150140,84252,264165,117530,132137,2115,264152,264154,13275,264166,1199,264161,264170,16185,32372,140190,817,845,264163,10367,2755,813,816,20675,3875,2105,264168,264174,264153,42328,870,52609,10115,1737,264169,823,264159,264164,2082,264172,166733,825,647,5140,181777,264151,68581,2041,2067,677,264150,194404,228944,264173,262043,264158,264149,18255,155240,10694,264157,264167,2088,25598,851,2072,2643,85,181153,264160,264162,13773,30768,2069,46593,2614,264156,660,264171,16198,225879,264175,25247,9657],"class_list":{"0":"post-532098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-andrea-stella","10":"tag-anthony-joshua","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","14":"tag-australian-formula","15":"tag-battery-power","16":"tag-bidding-war","17":"tag-bitter-rivalry","18":"tag-blood-reignites","19":"tag-bucket-list","20":"tag-bucket-list-item","21":"tag-bull-racing-team","22":"tag-canadian-grands-prix","23":"tag-cars-run","24":"tag-charles-leclerc","25":"tag-chinese-grand","26":"tag-christian-horner","27":"tag-claims-statement","28":"tag-clear-world-championship","29":"tag-customer-team","30":"tag-david-croft","31":"tag-exit-clause","32":"tag-f1","33":"tag-fernando-alonso","34":"tag-feud-set","35":"tag-flavio-briatore","36":"tag-florida","37":"tag-formula-1","38":"tag-formula1","39":"tag-four-time-world-champion","40":"tag-george-russell","41":"tag-getty-images-inc","42":"tag-home-mexican","43":"tag-information-gap","44":"tag-ing-sucks","45":"tag-jacob-polychronis","46":"tag-juan-pablo-montoya","47":"tag-key-factor","48":"tag-kimi-antonelli","49":"tag-lando-norris","50":"tag-leave-mid-season","51":"tag-lewis-hamilton","52":"tag-longstanding-rivalries","53":"tag-majority-share","54":"tag-mark-thompson","55":"tag-material-indication","56":"tag-maurizio-arrivabene","57":"tag-max-verstappen","58":"tag-melbourne","59":"tag-miami","60":"tag-michael-b-jordan","61":"tag-mind-thinking","62":"tag-minority-stake","63":"tag-north-america","64":"tag-northern-america","65":"tag-oceania","66":"tag-pair-stems","67":"tag-power-unit-supplier","68":"tag-power-units","69":"tag-prime-replacement-candidate","70":"tag-race-vision","71":"tag-race-wrap","72":"tag-recon-lap","73":"tag-renault-s-a","74":"tag-rivalry-reignites","75":"tag-rob-mcelhenney","76":"tag-rule-furore","77":"tag-rules-verdict","78":"tag-ryan-reynolds","79":"tag-safety-car","80":"tag-sebastian-vettel","81":"tag-sergio-perez","82":"tag-sky-sports","83":"tag-sports","84":"tag-strategy-bungle","85":"tag-team-investors","86":"tag-team-ownership","87":"tag-team-principal","88":"tag-team-principal-christian","89":"tag-team-principals","90":"tag-trent-alexander-arnold","91":"tag-united-states-of-america","92":"tag-unusual-car-behaviours","93":"tag-victoria","94":"tag-works-outfit","95":"tag-works-team","96":"tag-world-champion-driver","97":"tag-world-championship-favourite","98":"tag-world-championships","99":"tag-zak-brown"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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