F1 LIVE – Hamilton ignores Damon Hill advice, Verstappen health latest

Lewis Hamilton on difficult season for Mercedes in November

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With the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix fast approaching, Max Verstappen will hope to pick up where he left off after notching a convincing win in Bahrain last time out. Sergio Perez will also hope to be in the mix after completing a Red Bull one-two in the season’s curtain-raiser.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner has, however, warned that other teams should close the gap in Jeddah. The team’s preparation may also have been hampered by Verstappen’s late arrival in Saudi Arabia after coming down with a stomach bug.

With speculation swirling, Lewis Hamilton finally addressed his future on Thursday amid claims that he could leave Mercedes unless they pick up the pace. The Brit is in the final year of his Silver Arrows contract and hope is all but gone that they can challenge for the top prizes this season. 

Lando Norris, meanwhile, claimed that McLaren were not in crisis despite their desperately poor start to the year. With all this to delve into and more, follow Express Sport‘s live F1 updates below…

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Max Verstappen absent from first day of Saudi Arabian Grand Prix [REACTION]

Max Verstappen health scare latest

Max Verstappen caused a stir on Thursday by skipping his media duties after coming down with a stomach bug. 

The Dutchman delayed his flight out to Saudi Arabia by a day while he recovered, telling fans that he ‘will not be on track until Friday’. 

However, he claimed to be ‘feeling fine again’ after recovering from the illness so prospects of him missing the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix entirely appear slim. 

If all goes to plan, Verstappen will be back in action for FP1 and FP2 on Friday.

Hamilton ignores Damon Hill advice

Lewis Hamilton has snubbed advice from former world champion Damon Hill, who instructed his countryman to ‘make it clear’ to Mercedes that he would jump ship unless performances improved. 

Instead, the seven-time world champion admitted that he ‘does not plan on leaving’ during his media duties on Thursday, while reiterating that the team need to get to work. 

“This is my family and I’ve been here a long time, so I don’t plan on going anywhere else,” said Hamilton. “

“But we all need a kick, we all need to get on – the proof is in the pudding, we’ve seen where the performance is and how people are extracting the performance, and we’ve got to now start making some bold decisions, some big moves in order to close the gap to these guys.”

Good morning!

Hello and welcome to Friday’s edition of F1 LIVE!

The long wait for the next race weekend to roll around is finally over as drivers prepare to take to the track in Jeddah for two Friday practice sessions. 

Stay tuned right here throughout the day to be kept up to date…

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