Ferrari and Red Bull have made honest public assessments of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, respectively, as the fallout from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix continues. Both drivers endured frustrating weekends, with Verstappen losing pole position to finish second behind Oscar Piastri and Hamilton slipping to seventh, 39 seconds off the race winner.

Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix next weekend, both teams have come out in support of their headline stars as McLaren lead the way in their Constructors’ Championship defence. Meanwhile, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella credited Hamilton’s defensive driving as one of the reasons Lando Norris missed out on a podium spot in Saudi Arabia. The Brit’s Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc rounded off the top three after Hamilton held up Norris’ climb from P10 to P4.

 

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Red Bull have reportedly held ‘informal talks’ with George Russell over the potential of him replacing Max Verstappen.

Russell is out of contract at Mercedes at the end of the season, and is yet to agree an new deal.

Verstappen criticised over penalty

Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer has taken aim at Max Verstappen for his five-second penalty in Sunday’s Grand Prix.

“This is another incident of Verstappen refusing to be past and just going off the corner and staying ahead, if he possibly can,” he said.

“We’ve seen it so many times in the past. We’ve seen it here in Jeddah before, as well, back in 2021. Max always forces the stewards to make a decision rather than concede the place, and Oscar just got a great launch there, and that kind of seemed decisive.”

Sainz relieved after “nervous” DRS ploy

Carlos Sainz admitted he was “nervous” over the DRS ploy that brought Williams a double-points finish at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Sainz was eighth in Jeddah, and explained afterwards: “With 12 laps to go, the team asked me to give DRS to Alex (Albon) to make sure Hadjar didn’t have a chance at passing us.

“It was a tricky one because you always feel it exposes you, especially in a high-speed track where the DRS has a very big effect. You always get nervous about it because you cannot put a foot wrong. But in the end, it worked.”

Marko makes huge Red Bull statement

Helmut Marko has backed Red Bull to be superior in pace to McLaren by the San Marino Grand Prix on May 18.

Sspeaking on Saudi Arabia, he said: “Compared to Bahrain, we made big progress. But also this circuit suits us better, faster corners.

“We are moving forward and getting a car which is more predictable and is also working in a wider range. We will have small steps, and I think by Imola we should be in a position that we also have the speed to beat the McLarens.”

Wolff scathing over Mercedes display

Toto Wolff hasn’t held back on how Mercedes performed in Miami.

George Russell was fifth and Kimi Antonelli sixth, and Wolff said: “Clearly our worst performance so far this year. The pace dropped away with a blistering tyre and overheating tyres, and so far we haven’t got the explanations.

“Today we saw a gap to Ferrari and Max Verstappen also. That was an additional negative that when you manage your expectations by being second quickest, and then this race pans out like it did, it just adds to the frustration.”

Alpine in chaos ahead of Miami

Jack Doohan is reportedly fighting for his place at Alpine. The Aussie was 18th in Jeddah, with Pierre Gasly also crashing out early on.

Doohan is under pressure from reserve driver Franco Colapinto, and is speculated to only have a six-race deal. Saudi Arabia was the sixth Grand Prix of the season.

Alpine are now said to be weighing up whether Colapinto will replace Doohan, who has yet to score a point this season, in Miami.

Fears raised over “seriously unhappy” Alonso

Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle thinks Fernando Alonso is growing frustrated at Aston Martin losing “serious pace” this season.

“Fernando Alonso was seriously unhappy post-race (in Saudi), saying it’s the worst he’d experienced in 25 years,” he wrote in his Sky column.

“He finished 11th after Liam Lawson was penalised 10 seconds for passing off track, but remember that just two years ago in his Aston Martin he was the only driver who could keep Red Bull in sight. They’ve lost serious relative pace meanwhile.”

Red Bull rule out Verstappen appeal

Red Bull have confirmed they won’t be appealing Max Verstappen‘s five second time penalty at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

After the race on Sunday, team principal Christian Horner said: “We spoke to the stewards after the race. They think it was a slam dunk. The problem is, if we’re to protest it, then they’re going to most likely hold their line. We’ll ask them to have a look at the onboard footage that wasn’t available at the time.”

Teams have 96 hours to submit a protest after a race. That time period has now expired.

Fernando Alonso fears for Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso fears a long season ahead of Aston Martin as the team continues to struggle to score points.

The Spaniard hasn’t scored a single point yet across the first five races of the year, with Lance Stroll not doing much better.

“I gave everything on track. It was hard to keep up the pace with the cars in front. We were just not quick enough,” Alonso said after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

“P11 is the worst position, probably you can finish, and we need to get used to it. It’s going to be difficult to score points this year.

“Today, we are P11 also because Yuki [Tsunoda] and Gasly had contact on lap one, and Liam [Lawson] had a 10-second penalty.

“If not, we were P14. But there’s still a long way to go.”

Max Verstappen hails Oscar Piastri

Max Verstappen has taken time to highlight just how impress Oscar Piastri’s start to life in F1 has been.

The four-time reigning world champion has reminded everyone that Piastri is in his third season and is showing the signs of greatness.

“People forget a little bit – last year was his second year. Now he’s in his third year, and he’s very solid,” Verstappen said.

“He’s very calm in his approach, and I like that. It shows on track. He delivers when he has to, barely makes mistakes – and that’s what you need when you want to fight for a championship.”

2025 Drivers’ Championship

In case you need a refresher, here is how the 2025 Drivers’ Championship is shaping up after five races…

1) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 99

5) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 47

6) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 38

8) Alexander Albon (Williams) – 20

9) Esteban Ocon (Haas) – 14

10) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – 10

Red Bull confident in race pace

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is confident the team will have the pace to beat the McLarens by the time the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix rolls around in mid-March.

Max Verstappen couldn’t make the podium in Bahrain, but the RB21 showed huge signs of improvement in Saudi Arabia.

That was because Red Bull changed the beam wing for the lower-downforce circuit and reprofiled the engine cover to allow for additional cooling in the Jeddah heat.

Marko said: “Compared to Bahrain, we made a big progress. But also this circuit suits us better – faster corners and so on.

“We are moving forward and getting a car which is more predictable and is also working in a wider range.”

“We will have small steps, and I think by Imola, we should be in a position where we also have the speed to beat the McLarens.”

Lewis Hamilton ‘hard to watch’

Martin Brundle is finding it difficult to watch Lewis Hamilton after races this season amid his early struggles at Ferrari.

Hamilton is seventh in the Drivers’ Championship after five races, 68 points behind leader Oscar Piastri.

And Brundle isn’t enjoying seeing the seven-time world champion endure so much trouble since his blockbuster move from Mercedes.

“Hamilton would finish half a minute behind his team-mate Leclerc in seventh, albeit showing strong pace from time to time,” Brundle wrote in his Sky Sports column.

“The pace is in there somewhere, but it’s a very hard watch when Lewis is doing post-race interviews at the moment. He’s not happy with his performances and is clearly more than a little perplexed and disappointed.”

Christian Horner rues Yuki Tsunoda crash

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has rued Yuki Tsunoda‘s first-lap crash in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly were taken out of the race at the start, hitting the barrier on turn four.

The Japanese driver has earned Red Bull just two points since replacing Liam Lawson, but Horner has shown him sympathy.

He said: “It was a shame for Yuki. His Q2 time, if he had repeated that in Q3, it would have put him sixth on the grid.

“It was a racing incident with Pierre; he was up against the wall, and they went into the stewards’ meeting, and both drivers accepted it was a racing incident.

“So it was annoying for him, because he would have been right in the battle for decent points.”

Max Verstappen surprised by RB21

Max Verstappen has admitted the RB21 caught him by surprise at the weekend after turning a concerning practice into matching McLaren for race pace in qualifying and the Saudi Arabia GP.

“Yeah, I was very positively surprised, to be honest, because on Friday, it was very, very tough,” said Verstappen.

“And it didn’t matter what I was doing in terms of driving, management, the tyres would just fall off. The car was a lot nicer [in the race]. Still limitations, but it was much more promising.

“And actually, at one point when I started to pull away again, I was quite surprised, positively surprised.

“We have to stay a little bit calm because this track doesn’t have a lot of deg, and we know that when we go to tracks where there’s higher deg, we just struggle more.

“We still need to work on that. But the changes that we made already [on Saturday] also worked. So I’m very pleased with that.”

Lewis Hamilton praised for Lando Norris battle

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has credited Lewis Hamilton‘s defensive driving as one of the reasons Lando Norris missed out on a podium in Saudi Arabia.

Norris finished one second behind third-placed Charles Leclerc in P4 after battling from P10 but losing time while trying to overtake Hamilton.

And Stella has given Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate his flowers for his racing strategy.

“I think for a podium finish today, we would have needed not to lose the time with Hamilton,” Stella explained.

“Obviously, Hamilton is Lewis Hamilton. He knows very well how to race, and for a couple of laps, he managed to pass Lando.

“I think this cost us the time that ultimately meant that we could not give it a go at trying to overtake Leclerc.”

Max Verstappen ‘wants Red Bull retirement’

Red Bull sporting director Oliver Mintzlaff has joined Christian Horner in sharing confidence that Max Verstappen will remain with the team.

The four-time world champion is being linked with an exit, with Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin, and Alpine touted as suitors.

However, Mintzlaff has gone as far as to say that he believes Verstappen plans to retire at Red Bull.

“I am convinced that Max will continue with us the long journey he has made so far with Red Bull,” he told De Telegraaf at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

“Max will also drive for us in 2026. It is not without reason that he previously signed a contract until 2028, and he has also recently made his position clear.

“Max once told me that he started his career at Red Bull and that he would like to finish it there. As far as I know, nothing has changed in that regard.”

Ferrari launch Lewis Hamilton defence

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has launched a passionate defence of Lewis Hamilton amid the Brit’s tough start to life with the team.

Hamilton has admitted that no one is happy with his early results, predicting a rough 2025 season.

However, Vasseur believes in the potential of Ferrari‘s car, calling a claim that Hamilton’s form had dropped off “f***ing bulls***”.

The Scuderia boss said: “I will be 2,000 per cent behind him.

“I will give him support, and we will start from tomorrow morning to try to find solutions and reasons, and to work on it early in the morning. But honestly, I am not too worried.

“If you have a look at what he did in China or what he did in the race in Bahrain last week, or even on the first part of the session this weekend, the potential is there for sure.

“We just have to adjust the balance because we are, collectively, Lewis and us, we are struggling with the balance of his car and how he is working the tyres.

“It’s a kind of negative spot, but I think the potential of the car is there, and we will try to solve that.”