F1 news LIVE: Red Bull fear ‘dangerous’ Mercedes car potential ahead of Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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* Lewis Hamilton’s F1 Records

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is ​​fast approaching, with Formula One back on its worldwide travels after back-to-back races in Europe of late.

Red Bull and Ferrari still lead the way after Sergio Perez’s triumph in Monaco, but Max Verstappen now leads the driver standings after just one podium finish for Charles Leclerc since he won the Australian Grand Prix in April. Round 8 sees the usual format of FP1 and 2 on Friday, FP3 and qualifying on Saturday and the main race itself on Sunday.

Away from the top two in the constructors’ championship, Red Bull are concerned about the “dangerous” potential that Mercedes’ car has – but they have not yet managed to fix the issues they face and both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have already been warning about their performance in Baku. Meanwhile, former F1 driver Damon Hill says Daniel Ricciardo has been “ended” by Lando Norris, despite telling his younger teammate he would do that to him when the pair first joined up at McLaren.

Follow all the latest news, rumours and build-up to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix:

F1 newsShow latest update 1654779939 ‘Environmental sinner’ Sebastian Vettel told to quit F1 over climate change concerns

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has been told that he should quit Formula One after admitting he has been a “hypocrite” by continuing to race while questioning the sport’s impact on climate change.

Vettel said during an appearance on Question Time that he has considered retiring from Formula One after campaigning for action to protect the environment. “It is something I ask myself [whether I should be racing in Formula One] and traveling the world,” Vettel said.

“It is my passion to drive a car and I love it, and every time I step in a car I love it, but when I get out of the car I am thinking: ‘Is this something we should do, traveling the world and waste resources?’”

Vettel, 34, is out of contract at Aston Martin at the end of the season and Walter Rohrl, the two-time World Rally champion, has said the German should step down from the sport if he is so concerned about its environmental impact.

Michael Jones9 June 2022 14:05

1654779339 ‘Why should I stop?’: Lewis Hamilton not thinking about F1 retirement

Lewis Hamilton has again rejected suggestions he could walk away from Mercedes and retire during or after this season.

The seven-time world champion has been unable to recapture form and consistency to engage in another title fight with Max Verstappen, with his team not yet ensuring the new car design for the 2022 season is in perfect working order.

A series of finishes low down the leaderboard has Hamilton only sixth after seven races, with just 50 points accumulated so far – and teammate George Russell 34 ahead of him in fourth.

Michael Jones9 June 2022 13:55

1654778679Williams become first F1 team to be fined under new budget cap rules

Williams have been hit with a £20,000 fine after breaking financial regulations for the 2021 season.

Formula 1’s governing body, the FIA, brought in a cost cap which had been set at £115m and then lowered to £111m for the 2022 campaign, so aiming to limit how much any one team can spend.

As specified by the financial regulations, Williams had failed to submit full year accounts ahead of the deadline on March 31, 2022, thereby committing a ‘procedural breach’.

Williams had, the FIA ​​said, “voluntarily disclosed” the breach in advance of the deadline and “been fully cooperative in seeking to remedy the breach”.

Michael Jones9 June 2022 13:44

1654778139FIA president critics Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel for ‘imposing their beliefs’ on F1

Hamilton has been outspoken about driving in countries with track records of human rights abuses, while Vettel spoke just this week about the need for greater LGBT+ inclusivity in F1.

Ben Sulayem believes that the former world champions should simply focus on racing, however.

“Niki Lauda and Alain Prost only cared about driving,” he told Grand Prix 247. “Now Vettel drives a rainbow bicycle, Lewis is passionate about human rights, and [Lando] Norris addresses mental health.

“Everybody has the right to think. To me, it is about deciding whether we should impose our beliefs in something over the sport all the time.”

Michael Jones9 June 2022 13:35

1654777839Lewis Hamilton and George Russell warned over performance at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

As Formula One returns to the Baku street circuit for the eighth race of the season, it does so after Mercedes’ problems with ‘porpoising’ resurfaced at the Monaco Grand Prix last time out.

Hamilton and Russell had been lifted by their performance in Barcelona but the bouncing of the Mercedes car appeared to be worse than ever around the streets of Monte Carlo, with the surface of the circuit adding to their problems with the car’s aerodynamics.

And now according to former F1 driver Marc Surer, Mercedes are set to experience the same issues in Azerbaijan. “You have to drive this stiff suspension to stop the ‘porpoising’,” Surer told Formel.de. “That means the car is sprung so hard that it doesn’t start bouncing on the straights.

“They obviously got that under control to some extent. But now, of course, they’re losing with this tough set-up in the corners. And Baku is just a street circuit – it also goes up and down a bit and there are bumps there. I can’t imagine that the Mercedes will do great there.”

Michael Jones9 June 2022 13:30

1654777299Zhou Guanyu echoes Bottas’ feelings

Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu agrees with his teammate Valtteri Bottas about the team’s practice issues on Fridays and hopes for a smoother run through the Azerbaijan GP this weekend.

The only rookie driver on the 2022 grid has failed to finish in the points since the first race in Bahrain and has also suffered from back-to-back retirements at Imola and Miami but his hopes remain high for Baku.

“I’m really looking forward to this weekend,” said Zhou. “Baku is an enjoyable track that offers a lot of opportunities and I’m aiming for a clean, good weekend in which we can really show what we can do as a team.

“The potential we have is obvious and I can see I’m progressing more and more each weekend: now it’s a matter of putting everything together and getting the result we deserve. If we have a clean Friday and a good qualifying, we will be in the position to bring home a good result in the race.”

A solid start to the 2022 season has seen Alfa Romeo score in all but one race as they occupy fifth in the standings before the eighth round.

(REUTERS)

Michael Jones9 June 2022 13:21

1654776819Bottas aims for ‘trouble-free weekend’ to unleash ‘full potential’ in Baku

Valtteri Bottas believes that his Alfa Romeo team can “fight towards the front” at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but only if they fix some of the Friday hiccups that have been hindering the team in recent races.

Bottas previously won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 201 and narrowly beat Lance Stroll to P2 here in a photo finish in 2017 and after a series of Friday practice issues this season Bottas is hoping for much smoother lead-up to the 2022 Azerbaijan GP.

“Baku is a place with both good and bad memories for me, so I definitely hope to add some more of the pleasant kind this weekend,” he said. “It’s crucial we can have a trouble-free weekend: we have been having some good results potential despite some Friday issues so far, and if we were to fix these, we could really see the full of our package.

“We know we can fight towards the front when we do it and it has to be the aim here as well. This is a track that can produce some chaotic races so we will need to be ready to make the most of any opportunity. It could be a lot of fun on Sunday.”

(Getty Images)

Michael Jones9 June 2022 13:13

1654776399Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton ‘insurance policy’ backed by Williams boss

Mercedes reserve driver Nyck De Vries has been praised by Williams chief Dave Robson following his outing at the Barcelona Grand Prix while talk that the Dutchman could be an “insurance policy” for Toto Wolff should Lewis Hamilton retire.

Former Formula E champion De Vries took Alex Albon’s Williams seat in FP1 at the Circuit de Catalunya and Robson was left impressed by his 27-year-old’s performance. De Vries has been on the books at Mercedes since 2020.

“His pace was there. His ability to understand the tire and do the out-lap correctly, was really impressive,” Williams head of performance Robson told the Formula One website.

Michael Jones9 June 2022 13:06

1654775799Max Verstappen excited to return to Baku

Michael Jones9 June 2022 12:56

1654775619Mick Schumacher could become a victim of ‘brutal and cold’ F1, says two-time World Rally champion

Mick Schumacher will be cast aside by “brutal and cold” F1 unless he reduces his number of crashes and starts to outperform Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen, warns two-time World Rally champion Walter Röhrl.

Schumacher is yet to score a point this season – with Nicholas Latifi of Williams the only other regular driver to suffer that ignominy – whereas his fellow Haas driver Magnussen has impressed to rack up 15 points.

The German has also suffered a number of crashes during practice sessions, qualifying and most recently during the Monaco Grand Prix when he plowed into the barrier at the swimming pool section after running wide.

Those high-speed and expensive crashes have left Haas with a hefty repair bill and all those factors mean Schumacher needs to quickly up his game, according to Röhrl.

Michael Jones9 June 2022 12:53

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