Mercedes has confirmed that Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will continue as Mercedes’ driver line-up for at least the next two years. Both drivers have signed a new two-year contract until the end of 2025, before the next regulation change the following year.<\/p>\n
Hamilton has signed a new contract that will extend his period with the team to thirteen years and keep him in F1 well past his fortieth birthday and two years short of two decades with Mercedes in one form or another. Russell, who joined Mercedes in 2022, has also signed a two-year deal.<\/p>\n
Also, its confirms the line for months put out by Hamilton and CEO and team principal Toto Wolff that a new deal for the seven-time champion was only a matter of time this season.<\/p>\n
Hamilton will want to continue searching for his record-breaking eighth world title, as well as extending several others. Hamilton and Mercedes, as well as others, believe he was robbed of his eighth title in the way then-race director Michael Masi handled the closing stages of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix when Hamilton lost out to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n
Since then, Mercedes have fallen from competitiveness as Red Bull has dominated the sport.<\/p>\n
Hamilton, who has continually said he wants to stay in a relationship with Mercedes long after he retires from the cockpit, said: “We dream every day of being the best and we have dedicated the past decade together to achieving that goal. Being at the top does not happen overnight or over a short period of time, it takes commitment, hard work and dedication and it’s been an honour to earn our way into the history books with this incredible team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have never been hungrier to win. We have learnt from every success but also every setback. We continue to chase our dreams, we continue to fight no matter the challenge and we will win again. I’m grateful to the team who have supported me both on and off the track. Our story isn’t finished, we are determined to achieve more together and we won’t stop until we do.”<\/p>\n
Russell, added: “I have grown up with this team ever since joining as part of the junior programme back in 2017. It’s my home and it feels fantastic to extend our special relationship through 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter stepping up to the Mercedes race seat last year, I wanted to reward the trust and belief that Toto and the rest of the team placed in me. Taking my first pole position and race win last year was an unforgettable feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercedes I think are making a clear commitment that they are happy with both Hamilton and Russell, this partnership effectively goes back to 2016 when Russell joined Mercedes as simulator driver. We know the team likes commitment and they aren\u2019t hot-headed making changes like Red Bull and Ferrari.<\/p>\n
Felipe Massa\u2019s legal team anticipates filing UK High Court action as early as next week if the FIA and FOM delay responding further to its 2008 title claims. Lawyers for the Brazilian has sent a letter to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and FOM CEO Stefano Domenicali earlier this month with a Letter Before Claim setting out the details of the Brazilian driver\u2019s legal pursuit to rectify his losing the 2008 F1 world championship.<\/p>\n
Massa and his legal team alleged the Brazilian was “the victim of a conspiracy” over the Crashgate conspiracy at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. This follows then-F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone saying he and then-race director Charlie Whiting, knew of Renault’s plan to fix the race and Nelson Piquet Jr.’s deliberate Singapore crash at that year\u2019s Brazilian GP season finale.<\/p>\n
It was suggested that Massa losing the championship as the result of what happened in Singapore had cost him millions in income, as well as \u2018moral\u2019 and \u2018reputational\u2019 damages. At the time, Domenicali was Massa\u2019s team principal at Ferrari, Renault, and now Alpine, we were convicted over the scandal a year later.<\/p>\n
But fifteen years later, the facts remain the same: there was a deliberate crash executed by Nelson Piquet Jr, by driving into a wall after turn 17 during lap 14, to create an opportunity for teammate Fernando Alonso to win the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008.<\/p>\n
But we still don\u2019t know who came up with the plan and who sanctioned it. Also nothing changed in F1 as a result of what happened and still nobody wants to talk about it.<\/p>\n
Motorsport.com can reveal that Massa\u2019s legal team has now replied to both the FIA and FOM and told them that it does not consider a potential three-month delay for the matter to be dealt with as \u201creasonable\u201d.<\/p>\n
The letters, copies of which have been seen by Motorsport.com, argue that: \u201cWork on a response should have begun promptly upon receipt of the Letter Before Claim and summer absences should not have prevented that.\u201d<\/p>\n
It further states that it does not view any potential delay in dealing with Massa\u2019s request for answers as acceptable. The letters go on to state that, if a formal response is not made by next Friday (8 September), then it expects the matter to go to the UK High Court to force the answers required.<\/p>\n
It added \u201cAn open-ended timeframe for a response is not consistent with the Pre-Action Protocol. Please provide your response by 4 pm on 8 September 2023, failing which we anticipate being instructed to file claims in the UK High Court.\u201d<\/p>\n
Massa\u2019s legal team want a fast response from both the FIA and FOM because it is poised to launch legal action in other jurisdictions – but feels it better to do so only once it has got the answers to its questions from the FIA and FOM.<\/p>\n
With the matter going legal, neither FOM nor the FIA wished to make a formal comment on the situation when approached by Motorsport.com. An FIA spokesman said: \u201cThe FIA acknowledges receipt of correspondence from representatives of Mr. Felipe Massa. The matter is under review, and we will not be providing comment at this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Max Verstappen says he and Lando Norris have “talked about” becoming teammates later in their careers. Norris is widely considered to be the best driver on the grid without a race win, and has previously been linked with a move to Verstappen’s dominant Red Bull team.<\/p>\n
The British-Belgian driver is currently contracted to McLaren until the end of 2025, while McLaren\u2019s early season struggles prompted discussion about him leaving the team sooner, the teams mid-season bounce back has quietened talk that he could seek an early exit from his deal.<\/p>\n
Verstappen who \u00a0currently drives alongside Sergio Perez, whose Red Bull contract expires at the end of the 2024 season. He has previously described Norris as his “best friend” on the grid, in an interview with Sky Sports Italian, said, \u201cWe talk about it. But he’s contracted to McLaren for a long time. We’ll see what happens in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked who his dream team-mate would be, Verstappen opted for a sentimental approach, choosing his father, Jos, who drove in F1 from 1994-2003. He told the English Sky Sports last weekend, \u201cFor me personally, dream team, if I could choose and could bring people back, it would be with my dad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not too dissimilar to his son, Jos Verstappen arrived in F1 as a young driver with a promising reputation in the mid-1990s. His first chance came at a title-chasing Benetton team as teammate to Michael Schumacher for ten races in the 1994 season.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Charles Leclerc has at times had a difficult time at Ferrari, and with his contract up for renewal next year he has been speaking to BBC News ahead of this weekend’s race. The Monacan future is under a lot of speculation as his contract ends in 2024, with some believing he would need to leave Ferrari to become a champion.<\/p>\n
But he remains insistent, he wants nothing more than to stay with the team which has been his life for the past decade and more. Leclerc told BBC News, \u201cI have always loved Ferrari and I would love to stay. I’ve always made it very clear that my goal is to try to be a world champion, but firstly with Ferrari. I know how difficult it is. We are not in the easiest situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a big gap to fill to get to Red Bull’s level but Ferrari has helped me before I got into F1, believed in me and put me into the Ferrari seat very early on, and it’s always a team that I’ve loved. My priority is to win with Ferrari and it is not my worry whether I won’t achieve it or whatever. We just need to work on the team and try to improve it as much as possible, and I hope that I can achieve that one day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leclerc has since joining Ferrari six years ago established himself as one of the very top drivers in the sport, so it is inevitable that there would be speculation about his future, and genuine suitors. The fact is Ferrari hasn\u2019t won a drivers championship since 2007 and the constructors since 2008, the longest title drought in their history.<\/p>\n
A name from history resonates, Gilles Villeneuve. Leclerc shares many of the qualities of the great Canadian. Not only is he incredibly fast, and capable of producing qualifying laps that leave onlookers gasping in disbelief, but he’s also a disarmingly straightforward and honest person. Villeneuve death also shares similarity with friend Anthoine Hubert, both at the Belgian Grand Prix, a race in 2019 Leclerc won.<\/p>\n
But ask whether Leclerc has any concerns that his career could go the same way, and he says: “Absolutely not. Because at the end, being a Ferrari driver is a dream for everybody.”<\/p>\n
The word is Ferrari are as committed to Leclerc as he is to them, and that behind the scenes both parties are already talking as if their future together will go well beyond 2024, and that a new contract is only a matter of time. But naturally, there are rumours and Leclerc says its not a priority to get the deal done.<\/p>\n
Not only is Villeneuve and Hubert, the death of Jules Bianchi in 2015 following a crash at Suzuka the previous year. Bianchi his close friend and godfather, was once seen as the future of Ferrari. Also, his father who died days before Baku in 2017.<\/p>\n
When he ran out of money Bianchi\u2019s family, Ferrari and his manager Nicholas Todt to support him. Leclerc’s subsequent performances have fully justified their faith, but it is that backing that forms the foundation for his attachment to the team.<\/p>\n
He says, \u201cIt’s my whole family and environment. Being so close to Jules so early on and seeing him part of the Ferrari driver academy and then helping him reach his goal, and obviously they helped me in 2015. There is just a special connection. I have always been a fan of this team. My dad [who died in 2017] also was a huge fan of Ferrari and all of this makes it special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joining Ferrari after one season is almost unheard of, he soon showed his speed with several poles and two wins, including Monza in 2019 the first driver since Lewis Hamilton to take his debut win and second win on back-to-back weekends.<\/p>\n
But it would come crashing down in 2020, Ferrari was revealed to have reached a confidential agreement with the governing body the FIA, which said it believed the team’s engine had not at all times been run within the rules, even if it could not prove it. Ferrari has denied wrong doing but he drop in engine performance that followed that ruling led to the team’s worst season for 40 years.<\/p>\n
2022 and new regulations saw Leclerc won three of the first four races to emerge as Max Verstappen’s closest title rival. But it imploded specular a combination of strategic errors and reliability failures that cost Leclerc three potential victories.<\/p>\n
Under new management this year, Ferrari has started to show signs of progress however Red Bull had moved the goalposts again and they were even further adrift. The Ferrari has been respectably quick over one lap in qualifying – along with Lewis Hamilton, Leclerc is the only driver not in a Red Bull to set a pole position – but its handling has been vicious at times, and in races it tends to fall backwards.<\/p>\n
Asked what\u2019s gone wrong, he says Ferrari was simply not ambitious enough with what they were seeking from the new car. He said, \u201cIf we look on the technical side. whenever we put the car on the track at the first test, it was doing what we expected. So we expected it to be a good step forward.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Round fourteen sees the end of the European season at Monza, a high-speed and downforce circuit which should favour Red Bull. Max Verstappen is looking to win his tenth race in a row and the first driver to win every race in the European season, considering his Red Bull car\u2019s straight-line advantage at a track where speed is king, that looks very likely indeed.<\/p>\n
Monza holds the record for the fastest-ever F1 race and it rewards any car with efficient downforce and a strong engine. That is exactly what Red Bull has, so a 1-2 here, is more likely than anywhere. However, look further down the order and there could be some opportunities to be had with the knowledge of which cars should suit the circuit best.<\/p>\n
Although Verstappen has dominated the races since Miami, he has only been on pole six times out of nine, with Sergio Perez, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Leclerc\u2019s race pole at Spa is perhaps the most significant as Monza has similar characteristics.<\/p>\n
Last weekend, Ferrari struggled at the twisty track whereas this circuit plays on its straight-line strengths and Leclerc was on pole here last year with Sainz in third. It could do with pleasing its home fans, so team orders could also seek to use the extra benefit of slipstreaming to secure what would be a popular pole.<\/p>\n
Recent history however is not on Red Bull’s side, the last six Grand Prix have had six different winners Hamilton won in 2018, Leclerc in 2019, Pierre Gasly in 2020 and Daniel Ricciardo in 2021 and Verstappen last year. Also, Valtteri Bottas won the sprint in 2021.<\/p>\n
The last constructor to win consecutively was Mercedes with Hamilton in 2017-18. The Mercedes driver is looking for a sixth win at Monza making him the most successful driver at the circuit.<\/p>\n
key to Monza success is top speed and Red Bull was the fastest at the other high-speed track of Spa. Mercedes and Ferrari were both close, but DRS gained Red Bull 12.7mph, putting it significantly ahead. Ferrari and Mercedes are comparable on top speeds, but at Spa, the Italian team enjoyed similar gains to Red Bull with the wing open, so that should help it in the battle.<\/p>\n
McLaren has been up and down this season, and much of that is down to circuit suitability. It was around 5mph slower than Ferrari or Mercedes at Spa and with a less effective DRS, it could be a sitting duck in the battle for points. Rain could be to its benefit, but in dry conditions Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin are likely better bets for the top six places.<\/p>\n
This weekend sees a second trail run of the alternative tyre allocation during qualifying replacing the cancelled race across the border in Emilia-Romagna. As we know Imola was abandoned back in May due to flooding.<\/p>\n
The alternative tyre allocation (ATA) was added to the sporting regulations for 2023. It allows this modified allocation to be used at up to two races this season. The format means there is one extra set of each of the hards and mediums compared to a standard weekend but with the number of soft sets available halved from the usual eight.<\/p>\n
For Q1, hards must be used, then mediums in Q2 before softs are used for the Q3 top-10 shootout. There are no restrictions on practice or the race, but in the race assuming its dry teams must as usual use two different compounds of tyre, as normal.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack insists that there are no doubts about the future of Lance Stroll and that he will race for the team in 2024. The Canadian has struggled to match teammate Fernando Alonso all season, although circumstances have also often hampered his weekends, such as the team’s decision to keep him out on slicks during the wet early laps in Zandvoort.<\/p>\n
There had also been rumours that Alonso\u2019s mind games had made Stroll consider switching to tennis, although he has laughed off the idea that he might move into tennis.<\/p>\n
It is understood that Aston Martin Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh has been sounding out frontrunning drivers, adding to question marks over Stroll’s longer-term future in the camp, although it would be logical for any team to be looking at the driver market for 2025 and beyond.<\/p>\n
Asked by Motorsport.com about Stroll’s commitment, he said: “I think we have seen over the last week a very hard-working driver, trying to analyse every little detail where he can improve, being in the simulator, driving a lot, so I think there’s nothing that goes in that direction.”<\/p>\n
Krack stressed that the margin between Alonso and Stroll is not as big as their results might suggest. Adding \u201cThere is not a marked gap in performance, there is a marked gap in points. And then it’s important to separate between the two. We as a team are analysing the season, from both perspectives, from both drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says the team needed to do a much better job on reliably and strategy, saying the latter had an impact on Stroll\u2019s race and until that point, he had a good weekend. Krack says the team needed to improve and stop making the Canadian\u2019s life difficult.<\/p>\n
Asked if there was a characteristic of the AMR23 that Stroll doesn’t like, he said: “I think when you look at the last qualifying sessions, Q1 in Zandvoort for example, there was nothing in between them. So I don’t think that there is any particular characteristic that will be different for him than for Fernando.”<\/p>\n
Krack said that the team doesn’t regard Alonso differently because he’s a world champion.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Drugovich replaces Stroll for FP1<\/strong><\/p>\n Felipe Drugovich will replace Lance Stroll for tomorrow’s first practice session as Aston Martin fulfils one of its requirements to run a rookie in two practice sessions. The Brazilian F2 Champion has been the teams reserve driver for a year, and it was this weekend last year he took the title.<\/p>\n The Brazilian driver has previous experience of driving the AMR23 as he stood in for Stroll during several sessions of the Bahrain pre-season test the Canadian missed following his cycling crash and subsequent injuries.<\/p>\n Drugovich said, \u201cI can\u2019t wait to get back behind the wheel of the AMR23. The car felt great when I drove it in pre-season testing and it will be fascinating to feel how it has improved since then.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve spent a lot of time in the simulator helping to develop the car, so understanding how that correlates to the real thing will be super valuable for me too. It\u2019s also a fantastic opportunity for me to demonstrate what I\u2019ve learnt through my testing programme.\u201d<\/p>\n He has been also testing old Aston Martin\/Racing Point cars under F1\u2019s TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) rules that permit testing with a car that is at least two years old. Drugovich has been testing at the Silverstone, Barcelona and Red Bull Ring circuits as part of his Aston junior deal in 2023.<\/p>\n Aston\u2019s decision to hand Drugovich his FP1 outing at Monza is additionally significant because it is occurring on the second ATA (alternative tyre allocation) weekend experiment of 2023, following the first taking place in Hungary after the initial Imola trial was canned along with the rest of that cancelled event.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Their appears and I think for a while the question has been, can anyone beat Max Verstappen? I think that\u2019s hard to see given the fact Monza on paper should favour Red Bull being a high-speed and downforce circuit. However, I think we need to bare in mind this races recent history in throwing up odd results and the fact no team has won every race in a season.<\/p>\n Monza is the home of Ferrari and they need a good result, in recent races they have looked to fall backwards and have been overtaken by Mercedes. This would also look to quite the rumours about Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz’s future, the latter being linked to Sauber\/Audi in 2026. I think they are always under pressure here.<\/p>\n Mercedes today confirmed two-year extensions for both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, this weekend is a bit of an unknown though the pressure over contracts will be lifted. Monza and Singapore are often the races where things fall into place, now the top three teams are locked into drivers others will, but that\u2019s this year the back end of the grid.<\/p>\n In qualifying the FIA are likely to introduce given the fact we have a short lap and the chaos we see drivers trying to get a tow has lead to all kinds of shambles. The tow and DRS are so powerful around Monza it can see drivers jostle for track position during qualifying and that can be bad towards the end of the sessions. The track also tends to get faster and faster, in dry conditions, we saw last weekend that hundredths can make the difference.<\/p>\n The battle I think we need to watch is behind Red Bull, Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari all looked close in Zandvoort qualifying. But they will know they will need to be on it as this is a race where anything can happen and this is the shortest race in terms of time unless we get several safety cars.<\/p>\n Its very hard to read that group at the moment as it is really competitive and changes on a weekly basis, but McLaren are the most improved team at the moment so don\u2019t discount them joining that group.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The latest news and analysis behind the headlines ahead of this weekend\u2019s Dutch Grand Prix, looking at the biggest talking points going into this race at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12470,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2214,2215,53,2217,198,199,2218,220,277,390,468,572,664,698,699,707,709,754,814,980,981,1130,1131,1283,1287,1290,1298,1341,1370,1637,1642,1843,2216,2210,2211],"class_list":["post-12495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-analysis","tag-2008-singapore-gp","tag-2008-singapore-grand-prix","tag-53","tag-alternative-tyre-allocation","tag-aston-martin","tag-aston-martin-mercedes","tag-ata","tag-autodromo-nazionale-di-monza","tag-bernie-ecclestone","tag-charles-leclerc","tag-crashgate","tag-driver-line-up","tag-f1","tag-felipe-drugovich","tag-felipe-massa","tag-fernando-alonso","tag-ferrari","tag-formula-one","tag-george-russell","tag-italian-gp","tag-italian-grand-prix","tag-lance-stroll","tag-lando-norris","tag-max-verstappen","tag-mclaren","tag-mclaren-mercedes","tag-mercedes","tag-mike-krack","tag-monza","tag-red-bull","tag-red-bull-racing","tag-lewis-hamilton","tag-uk-high-court","tag-welcome-to-the-grand-prix","tag-wttgp"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12495"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12501,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12495\/revisions\/12501"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Weekend Ahead<\/h2>\n
You can join us for coverage of this weekend\u2019s Italian Grand Prix with reports and analysis on our website. FP1 starts Friday 13:30 CEST \/ 12:30 BST Qualifying Saturday 16:00 \/ 15:00 and the race Sunday 15:00 \/ 14:00<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"