F1 LIVE as Hamilton fumes at snub, Verstappen rubbishes Russell theory
Lewis Hamilton on difficult season for Mercedes in November
Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton finally came to the party on Sunday as the Brit took second place at the Australian Grand Prix, behind Max Verstappen. Despite an upturn in fortunes for the Silver Arrows, the Dutchman once again laid down a gauntlet to the rest of the field with a comfortable victory.
At least as comfortable as it could have been, given that the race was red-flagged an unprecedented three times. Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate, Sergio Perez, coming home in fifth after starting from the back of the pack means that there is now daylight between the top two in the Drivers’ Championship.
It was a terrific day for Aston Martin as their red-hot start to the season continues, with Fernando Alonso keeping up his 100 per cent success rate at getting on the podium, with a third in succession since joining the team.
After an exciting Grand Prix that got fans talking, and with plenty more to delve into besides, follow Express Sport’s live updates below…
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Brundle casts doubt on Verstappen threat
F1 legend Martin Brundle has called Max Verstappen’s bluff after the Red Bull star threatened to quit F1 over proposed rule changes.
Verstappen claims that racing will ‘not be worth it for him’ if bosses add more sprint races to what is already a packed calendar.
When pushed on whether the Dutchman was being serious, Brundle told Sky Sports: “Ah, I’ll be surprised.
“But if he doesn’t want to drive it there will be a million other people who do want to drive that Red Bull. I think what he’s trying to say is don’t mess around too much, Let’s just evolve and message this along. Don’t keep changing the ground rules. I get his point on that but I don’t see why that would make him stop.”
Verstappen rubbishes Russell theory
Max Verstappen has slapped down George Russell’s claims that Red Bull are holding back from showing their true pace in case the FIA look to curb their dominance.
The Dutchman appeared to coast at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, despite three red flags putting his victory under threat, but the reigning double world champion claims that it was merely an effort to manage tyres and avoid taking unnecessary risks.
“I mean, we just try to do the best we can with the development of the car, but it’s also about pace management, because we didn’t really know – I think no-one really knew – how long that hard tyre would last,” he told the BBC Chequered Flag podcast.
“So it’s about just bringing it home because we had a bit of pace I think over the others, and there’s no need to try and gain half a second a lap and destroy your tyres to the end because you never know, a Safety Car can happen, red flags, like we had today. So yeah, it’s not necessary to risk all that.”
Hamilton fumes at Mercedes snub
Lewis Hamilton was left less than pleased after taking second place at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday – not because he finished behind Max Verstappen, but because much of his Mercedes team were not there to greet him after clinching the team’s best result of the season.
Captured on surfing star Kelly Slater’s Instagram story, Hamilton exited his car to muted congtratulations in Parc Ferme before looking bemused and asking: “Where is everybody? Where the f*** is my team?”
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