Hello, and welcome to what would have been the Bahrain edition of This Grand Prix, but as the war in Iran continues, here’s your regular round-up of news.
Since our last edition in Japan, Ollie Bearman’s incident continues to be a talking point, with people on the move, including Max Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase; even in downtime, there is a shake-up underway.
But despite the reaction to the incident as well as criticism of these regulations, there is a warning from Haas itself against knee-jerk reactions.
General News
The FIA says teams are committed to tweaking some of the sport’s energy management regulations, following the first of a series of meetings with technical experts from the teams and power unit manufacturers. A review had always been scheduled for the commission meeting, which was due to take place in Bahrain this week.
But with a batch of fresh driver criticisms and Ollie Bearman’s crash in Suzuka, the discussions had received additional attention. The FIA confirmed a timeline for further meetings to take place later in April, with the potential tweaks set to be made ahead of the Miami Grand Prix at the start of May.
A statement said, “It was generally agreed that although the events to date have provided exciting racing, there was a commitment to making tweaks to some aspects of the regulations in the area of energy management,” the FIA said in a statement released on Thursday. There was constructive dialogue on difficult topics, especially when considering the competitive nature of the stakeholders.”
Further discussions over the technicalities will be held on 15 – 16 April, before a final meeting follows on 20th April, at which any proposed changes will need to be approved. The April period gave the perfect opportunity to do this, as the war between the US/Israel and Iran led to the cancellation of races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
McLaren
Max Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, also known as GP, has agreed to join the team as chief racing officer, reporting to team principal Andrea Stella.
A statement said: “The role of the chief racing officer already exists within the team’s structure with overall leadership of the race team. These duties are currently managed by Andrea Stella in addition to his role as team principal.”
The statement said Lambiase would join McLaren “when his contract ends, no later than 2028”. McLaren’s confirmation of Lambiase’s new role came several hours after the news broke.
Red Bull also put out a statement confirming that Lambiase would “leave the team in 2028, when his current contract expires”. Adding, “Until his planned departure, ‘GP’ continues in his role as head of racing and as race engineer to Max Verstappen.”
The move is aimed at strengthening McLaren’s race operations at a time when F1 is becoming increasingly complex. 2028 is also when Verstappen’s contract with Red Bull is due to end, and Lambiase is yet the latest significant departure from the team and the second to join McLaren.
The McLaren statement added: “Lambiase is the latest hire designed to strengthen and support the talent pool that exists at McLaren, while also reaffirming the team’s long-term commitment to confirming its position as a championship-winning team.”
Lambiase will join a McLaren race-operations support structure that already includes Will Courtenay, who joined as sporting director, and his boss, racing director Randy Singh.
The plan is for Lambiase’s new position to allow Stella more freedom to focus on the leadership aspects of his role. Stella is already doing two jobs – alongside being team principal, he is effectively also technical director.
But for Red Bull, it’s the sixth significant departure in just over two years; Courtenay, Marshall, Christian Horner, Johnathan Wheatley, Adrain Newey have all left the team. This latest departure and the lack of competitiveness unless things change mean Verstappen will be contractually free to leave Red Bull at the end of this season, based on performance clauses in his contract.
Oscar Piastri knows how quickly dominance can dissipate and is approaching his unexpected early-season furlough with some confidence that McLaren can challenge Mercedes when the racing resumes.
The Australian had a calamitous start to the season, crashing on his way to the grid in his home grand prix in Melbourne, then failing to start in China because of an electrical issue with his car. His start to the season was a continuation of 2025, where mistakes saw his teammate cut his once huge lead and take the championship.
He posted on social media, “Obviously, the off-season this year was very short, so it’s a nice little window for everyone to get some good training in,” he said in a video posted on social media this week.
“Just some more time to prepare, basically. I think we’ve learned a lot in the first few races and still plenty more to learn, so it just gives us more time to analyse stuff, sit down, digest it and try and come back stronger for Miami.”
Piastri, who is in his third season in Formula One, was on Wednesday named as Australia’s top-earning sportsperson by the Sydney Morning Herald with an estimated income of around £50m.
His marketability soared last year when he won seven of the first 15 races in the then-dominant McLaren and threatened to end Australia’s long wait for a world champion.
Mercedes
Kimi Antonelli has spent part of his Easter break at Valentino Rossi’s famed VR46 Motor Ranch in Tavullia, Italy. Antonelli’s strong start to the season makes him the youngest championship leader at the unplanned spring break; he was pictured alongside Moto GP championship leader Marco Bezzecchi and members of the VR46 Academy.
While others took to the track, it looked as though the Mercedes F1 driver kept his feet on solid ground to watch the action as the others tore up the dirt. Both championships are on a break due to the postponement of rounds in Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia due to the conflict in the region.
Reserve driver Leonardo Fornaroli has completed his first test for the team, using the team’s 2023 car. The current F2 champion, who is without a drive, completed a 560-mile race in Barcelona last month, completing two race distances.
Fornaroli then took to the track on 7 April at Silverstone, covering 68 laps (393km), with the squad describing his programme as ‘longer runs, lower fuel loads, and a mix of hard and soft tyres’. The youngster has therefore completed nearly three grand prix distances in F1 machinery.
Fornaroli said, “Another good day on track – it was amazing to be back in the MCL60. Silverstone is one of my favourite circuits, so I’m grateful to McLaren for the opportunity to get back behind the wheel of an F1 car there.”
“With it being my second test, the run plan was more advanced, so I got to try some different set-ups and run with different levels of fuel, which continues to support my understanding of driving a Formula 1 car.”
Red Bull
Team Principal Laurent Mekies says that Yuki Tsunoda deserves “another opportunity” to race full-time after losing his seat at the end of last season. The Japanese driver was demoted to reserve driver following poor results in his twenty-two races for Red Bull.
That was compared to second for team-mate Max Verstappen, so Tsunoda was replaced by Isack Hadjar, who impressed in his rookie season for Racing Bulls with a podium at Zandvoort. But Mekies thinks Tsunoda has still shown enough to warrant a full-time seat somewhere, having driven at Racing Bulls for four years before his Red Bull move.
He told Beyond The Grid, “Yuki is doing a great job with us, not only as a reserve driver, but also as a simulator driver. It’s great to have somebody who has such deep, recent experience of the car that can help us behind the scenes. Of course, we wish for him that there is an opportunity that comes soon because racing drivers are meant to race. And that’s what we wish for Yuki.”
This suggests that his second chance is unlikely to come from Red Bull, because Hadjar has shown promise during his three grands prix alongside Verstappen so far, despite a troublesome RB22. Highlighting in each of the three rounds, there has been strong performances by the Frenchman.
Verstappen’s father and former F1 driver Jos, says he expects his son to continue despite the recent announcement that his long-time race engineer, Lambiase. The departure of several key figures over the last two years and his criticism of these regulations led to him saying contract, which is due to expire at the end of 2028.
Quotes from 2021, in which Verstappen said he would not work with any other engineer other than Lambiase, have resurfaced in the past 24 hours, leading many to speculate that the four-time world champion is planning his own exit.
But speaking at a rally event this week, Jos Verstappen said his son’s future is not directly linked to Lambiase’s. He told Racexpress, “I think things have changed [since 2021]. Especially after four championships, you have achieved a lot together. The last one is up to Max, but I just think he will continue.”
Verstappen, who has been central to the management of Max’s career since he first started in go-karts, confirmed that Lambiase’s news had not come as a shock. He added, “We’ve known it for a while, and we also knew when it was going to happen.”
“So we have another year and a half, let’s say two years, to work with him. It is a huge opportunity for him, and we understand it. We also said, you have to do it, you have to seize it with both hands. And the rest is up to Red Bull to replace him.”
Verstappen has made no secret of his frustration with F1’s new regulations, which have put greater emphasis on power unit performance and diminished driver involvement. Jos believes the proposed changes to the rules aimed at reducing the emphasis on managing battery power could be enough to keep his son in F1.
He added, “As a driver, I find it less enjoyable too. Every now and then, I’m watching and I turn off the television, because it interests me less. It is not the Formula 1 that Formula 1 stands for. Where so much is demanded of the driver, now it is more of an engineering competition where the driver has to lift off a lot. Where they can no longer make a difference as a driver.”
Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton was in action this week during a Pirelli tyre test at Ferrari’s test track in Maranello. The test at the Fiorano test track for designated wet running.
Ferrari shared a picture of Hamilton taking to the circuit on Thursday morning before later releasing images of the seven-time world champion running on wet tyres. The test was due to take place with McLaren in Sakhir days after the conflict in Iran broke out, but was cancelled.
Red Bull and Racing Bull’s test was rescheduled and took place at Suzuka last week.
Williams
Carlos Sainz has named Williams’ targets for 2026 as the team tries to turn around their challenging start to the season. The team has had a difficult start to the season, starting with missing the Catlan test because of delays in getting the car together following the regulation changes.
The Spaniard finished ninth in Shanghai, a “mini victory” for Williams, while Alex Albon insists the team “will get there.” The team have acknowledged the FW48 is overweight, which is not helping either driver in their fight to regain some ground to the likes of Haas, Alpine, Audi and Racing Bulls in the midfield.
Sainz explained, “Honestly, we have a lot of weight to lose, it’s no secret. Would it be a good car [if we got the weight down]? I think we can do better. Apart from the weight, I believe this team has the potential to design and produce a car that is much better than what we’ve done.
“For the start of the year, we had many issues on the production side that delayed the production of the car. It put the car overweight, more than we expected.” Williams were the only team to miss the Barcelona Shakedown in January, although they did manage plenty of running in pre-season testing in Bahrain – the third most of any team in terms of laps completed, behind only McLaren and Haas.
Going into this year, the team had high hopes, but they have fallen short of expectations, and the team are overweight as they lack downforce and balance. The break will allow them to resolve any of their issues.
Williams has announced the signing of Dan Milner as chief engineer, vehicle technology from Mercedes. Milner has been with the Brackley team for two decades, through its previous names, Honda and Brawn, where he progressed from simulation and design roles into senior leadership.
Milner played his part in multiple World Championship triumphs – including eight consecutive Constructors’ titles. After several years heading up powertrain integration and transmission design, Milner most recently served as Chief Engineer for R&D (Research & Development).
Outside F1, he has held senior design roles in the America’s Cup sailing competition with Ineos Britannia, and has also worked in the defence sector. Williams explained that Milner “will be accountable for Vehicle Technology, driving on- and off-car performance through complex, integrated technology programmes”.
He will also “champion first-principles engineering, accelerate development across hardware, simulation, test and quality, and embed strong links with car programmes to ensure rapid conversion of ideas into race performance”.
Milner said, “I’m thrilled to be joining Williams as Chief Engineer across Vehicle Technology. After twenty years of association with Brackley, it’s the right moment to take on a new challenge.”
“Williams has a clear, ambitious plan to move forward, and I’m looking forward to bringing my experience and knowledge to help accelerate that journey. I can’t wait to meet the team, learn the organisation and get to work converting ideas into performance on track.”
Racing Bulls
Daniel Ricciardo has opened up on the conclusion of his career, acknowledging that he is “grateful” for Red Bull calling time on his stint as an F1 driver. The Australian was let go following Singapore in 2024, bringing to an end a twelve-year career.
The “Honey Badger” was then promoted to Red Bull in 2014, where he scored seven Grand Prix victories, before spells at Renault (2019-20) and McLaren (2021-22) followed.
However, it was at McLaren that his career began to show signs of faltering, with Ricciardo unable to match the pace of Lando Norris. In the end, the team opted to part ways with Ricciardo at the end of 2022, with compatriot Oscar Piastri coming in as his replacement – leading to a first spell on the sidelines.
Returning to Red Bull in a reserve capacity initially, Ricciardo made his comeback to the F1 grid in 2023 with the then-named AlphaTauri team, replacing Nyck de Vries, but his racing return was halted in its tracks when the Australian broke his hand in a practice crash in Zandvoort.
Lawson made his own F1 debut as a substitute for the stricken Ricciardo, stepping in for five Grands Prix until the Australian recovered. However, while Ricciardo returned to the seat for the remainder of 2023 and kept it into 2024, the decision was ultimately made to call time on his F1 career after the Singapore Grand Prix, with Lawson given the opportunity instead.
He said, “I definitely had to try and understand a lot the last twelve months about the career coming to an end, and it is like timing. You know you aren’t really going to get it back – once it is gone, it’s gone for the most part.”
“So, ’22 I struggled a lot [in] my second year at McLaren, so they let me go. [In] ’23 I started without a seat, and that was like, ‘is this maybe it, do I call it now?’”
“But I knew there was still some burning desire in me… That’s where I really needed to try and look at myself in the mirror and say, ‘okay, forget what the people say. What do you want?’”
“I tried to make it as personal as possible, but there are still opinions, your parents or whatever, but ultimately I did my best to make sure there was still that fire inside my gut. So, I got back into the seat halfway through the [2023] season, I got a drive.”
“Second or third race in, I broke my hand, and it was such a nothing accident, but I missed however many races. [I] think I was out for ten weeks or something. I’ve never really hurt myself racing all these years and I have a silly crash, and is this a bit of a sign? Should I quit while I’m ahead, really?”
During his final season, as reports emerged about his future, with Red Bull known for making decisive and brutal moves when it comes to driver line-ups, that his career ended brutally and abruptly for a driver of his potential being dropped in the latter part of 2024.
Haas
Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has warned against making “knee-jerk reaction changes” to the sport’s 2026 regulations despite his driver Oliver Bearman being involved in a dangerous crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Bearman went onto the grass and spun at over 190mph before hitting the barriers when trying to avoid Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, with a 30mph speed differential between the two cars, leaving the Brit with limited time to react. The incident has become a major talking point because of the way the cars need slow down to harvest energy at the end of straights, making such incidents inevitable.
Williams driver, who is also director of Carlos Sainz, was particularly forthright as he urged the FIA to make racing “safer”, while the sport’s governing body said it would hold meetings during the five-week gap before the Miami Grand Prix to discuss possible changes.
Komatsu told Sky Sports, “We’re looking at it from all dimensions because, when we make changes, we’ve got to make the correct ones. We cannot be making knee-jerk reaction changes and then a few races later be saying, ‘that was the wrong option’.”
“The good thing is that the F1 community, all the teams, the FIA, F1, we’re all working together in a really open and transparent manner, which I don’t think I’ve seen to this extent before. I’m pretty confident that F1, as a community, we’ll find the right solution to whatever things we need to improve.”
He is right, but you need to find a balance between the two. Safety is always above ‘party politics’, it has been for three decades, and Komatsu confirmed that the teams, FOM and the FIA are all working together.
Despite the strong start, Komatsu has warned that it would be unrealistic for his team to target holding on to fourth. Adding, “This year is going to be a very tough development war, and as a small team, it’s going to be very challenging. But we’ve started this year very well. This kind of result doesn’t come along every single year.”
“If somebody told me we were going to be P4 in the constructors’ standings after three races, I would have laughed. We are in a very good position but it’s not about protecting that position, it’s not about really keeping that position, it’s about maximising our capability, looking at our process and forecasts, and then getting the best out of car, our team and our drivers, so we’re going to be focused on that.”
Later in the week Komatsu says there was “no point worrying” about potentially losing Ollie Bearman to Ferrari in future. The Ferrari junior driver had built on the strong second half of his first full season and his three starts in 2024, with seventh and fifth in the first two Grands Prix, following on from a best result of fourth in Mexico City.
Those early results mean Bearman is in the traditional ‘best of the rest’ seventh behind the top three teams and also ahead of both Red Bull’s and Pierre Gasly. Komatsu told Beyond The Grid when asked about his driver. “I haven’t seen [his] limit yet. I’m really looking forward to this year. He’s got huge, huge potential.”
As Bearman continues to shine for Haas, he has always been linked to a race seat with Ferrari, who he made his debut in Jeddah 2024, when he stood in for Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard was forced to withdraw due to appendicitis.
But such has been Bearman’s rise, it remains to be seen if or when the Scuderia might start thinking about a promotion for the youngster. Komatsu added “It’s no point worrying about it. I’m a strong believer in controlling what you can control. Ferrari has been investing in him for many, many years.”
“So, we’ve got him for last year and this year, so we’ve got to focus on what we can control. If we’ve done a great job with Ollie, and Ollie performed so well that Ferrari really wants to take him the following year, we have to be happy that we’ve done our job.”
Alpine
Alpine have released a 1200-word letter which dismisses claims that Franco Colapinto’s car has been sabotaged. Argentinian supporters on social media suggested there was a difference in specification between Colapinto’s car and his Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly’s at last month’s Chinese Grand Prix.
Colapinto finished the race tenth, his only points finish so car, but was fourteen seconds behind Gasly in seventh. Meanwhile at the following race and his involvement in Ollie Bearman’s crash, laid to his fans, claiming that Colapinto had been “sabotaged.”
The team confirmed Gasly and Colapinto have been “running with the same equipment, barring some small low-performance impacting parts in China due to switching gearbox components”.
The letter continued: “Franco is our driver and the team has placed its trust in him, just as he has with the team. That is an indication of the commitment we have to Franco and his place in the team with equal footing alongside Pierre. Any questions about sabotage or not giving Franco the same car are completely unfounded, which is why the team felt the need to speak out.
“There might be times this year when pushing in the development race, that upgrades come to one car first, which the team will communicate and be completely transparent about. That being said, the aim will always remain to bring upgrades to both cars where possible.”
Alpine insisted that it was not in the team’s interests to self-sabotage and the team finds itself in a strong position and the team is not counting on its laurels and is staying grounded.
Alpine also addressed a collision between Colapinto and Haas’ Esteban Ocon when battling during the Chinese Grand Prix. Ocon accepted blame for the collision but received abuse online for the incident which Alpine “condemn”.
But it added that “The resulting abuse that followed was not in the spirit of the sport and was an oversight not to call it out sooner. Abuse of any kind to all drivers is unacceptable, and it was especially disappointing that it comes from a minority of fans of the team towards a driver who has given so much to the team in the past and is a Grand Prix winner for Alpine.”
