1. “He’s taken it too far now”: George Russell slams Max Verstappen’s response to Qatar penalty

George Russell did not hold back on his criticism of Max Verstappen’s character following their row in Qatar, giving insight into his account of the weekend’s events. Max Verstappen was handed a one-place grid drop, losing pole position in Qatar to George Russell after what appears to have been a heated stewards meeting, based on their accounts. The following day in the grand prix however, Verstappen reclaimed the top spot into turn 1 on lap 1 and converted it to the victory over the 57 laps, with Russell ending the race in P4.

In the post-race press conference after Qatar, Max was questioned on his feelings towards how his penalty had been handled and the “role George played in the whole process”. He said, “I’ve been in that meeting room many times in my life, in my career with people that have raced and I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard. And that for me… I lost all respect.”

George Russell replied to this to media in Abu Dhabi, launching into a detailed account of what happened in his eyes, “I find it all quite ironic considering Saturday night he said he’s going to purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and, quote, ‘Put me on my f***ing head in the wall’,” he said.

“For me, those comments on Saturday night and Sunday were totally disrespectful and unnecessary because what happens on track – we fight hard – it’s part of racing. What happens in the stewards room, you fight hard, but it’s never personal.

“But he’s taken it too far now.”

When asked if he had plans to resolve the situation with Verstappen, Russell replied, “I’ve got no interest in talking to him about it because I don’t have any interest in making amends because I think it’s his problem to deal with and I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.”

Later, giving more context to his remarks, Russell said he felt now was the time to raise his concerns because Verstappen had “disrespected him in the media” and that he wants to “set the record straight”, “to be honest, because it’s just a total double standard that he has for the regulations and just thinking that he is above everybody else.”

Though Max declined to respond in earlier media sessions, he later spoke on the matter, specifically in reference to Russell’s claims of what had been said in or after the stewards meeting.

“That’s not true; I didn’t say it like that,” Verstappen said. “He’s exaggerating again.

“Do you know what I can’t stand? The way he attacks me unacceptably with the stewards and then acts like nothing happened the next day, patting me on the shoulder.

“I think, ‘Stay away from me.’ He invents all sorts of nonsense. With me, you always get the same: here, at home, with the stewards – I don’t change.

“You can’t say the same about everyone. But I’m not surprised by him.”

2. Sergio Perez maintains “I will be driving for Red Bull next year”

Amidst rumours that Sergio Perez would be out of the Red Bull squad at the end of the year, he has maintained that this is not the case and that he will be driving for them next season.

It’s no secret that he’s had a difficult season, with his points gap to Max Verstappen of 277 points being bigger than the combined difference of every other teammate pairing on the grid (251 points). His best result in the second half the year came at the Dutch Grand Prix, with a P6 finish.

While questions have floated around all season about his future with the team, as they look set to place third in the constructors’ standings this year, speculation grew following comments from Christian Horner after Qatar:

“I think he’s old enough and wise enough to come to his own conclusions but there is still a race to go so let’s get to the end of Abu Dhabi and see where we are at,” he said, perhaps pointing to the team’s intention to allow Perez to back out on his own terms.

This is complicated by the fact that Perez has some form of contract with the Red Bull family in place for 2025, although what this looks like in terms of the race seat versus commercial balance is unknown.

Come media day in Abu Dhabi, Perez was as firm as ever in his intention to race in 2025, “Nothing has changed since before in terms of what I’ve said for the entire year,” he said. “I got a contract for next year and I will be driving for Red Bull next year.”

It’s understood that Red Bull’s chiefs will hold a meeting in Abu Dhabi on Monday to decide on their lineup into next season, and when asked about this, Sergio said there’s “nothing different” to the situation from the “last couple of months”.

“In that regard nothing further to add. I already said it in the last six months, that I’m here. I renewed with the team earlier in the year and I’m here to be the driver for the team next year and it’s where my full focus is.”

3. Ferrari and McLaren gear up for final constructors’ battle

This weekend will see the constructors’ title for 2024 decided with McLaren currently holding the lead by 21 points, and Ferrari on their heels.

The permutations for McLaren to secure the title are fairly simple, given that there are 44 points in play this weekend: if McLaren score 24 points or more, the title is theirs regardless of how Ferrari finish. In other words, a race win for Norris or Piastri would secure McLaren their first constructors’ title since 1998.

Heading into his final race with Ferrari, Carlos Sainz feels that wrapping it up with a championship for the team would “mean everything” to him.

“It’s, I think, the best way to say goodbye to my home these last four years and to the team that I’ve given my absolute best to for the last four years and I’ve enjoyed every single moment with them. And to say goodbye with a Constructors’ title, I think, would be the perfect sign off, the perfect goodbye,” he said.

It won’t be easy for Ferrari to undo McLaren’s lead but their focus is on “perfection” to ensure they can capitalise on a “not optimal or a bad weekend” on McLaren’s side, should it arise, in Carlos’ words.

On the other side of the battle, Oscar Piastri sees the threat the other two top teams in Red Bull and Mercedes can pose to their title battle as real: “I think it’s going to be a very tightly fought weekend between probably the top four teams, not just us and Ferrari, which means that some of the other teams can potentially play a role in deciding the championship.”

Lando Norris reflected that “none of them” of these top teams have “been through the pain that we have in the last six years” so he thinks it will mean “more to us than to anyone else.”

“It always means a lot to everyone [the title], but we’ve had to come from a lot lower down than they have,” he said.

4. Lando Norris responds to his severe Qatar penalty – “I understand why”

Lando Norris was handed a 10 second stop and go penalty in Qatar for failing to slow under double waved yellow flags, and has since reacted to the severity of this penalty in Abu Dhabi.

“I understand why there is such a high penalty for it,” said Norris. But he also added that “no one was in danger.”

A double waved yellow flag indicates that there is a hazard or marshal on track and so drivers should be prepared to slow down or stop at any point. To indicate to race control and the stewards that they’ve acknowledged these flags and haven’t attempted to set any meaningful lap time under the yellow flags, drivers are expected to lift off the throttle and reduce their speed.

Telemetry and on board video from Norris in Qatar indicated to the stewards that he hadn’t made an attempt at slowing, and so he was hit with one of F1’s most severe penalties – the 10 second stop and go, which equates to a loss of around 35 seconds in Qatar.

As a result of this, Lando was put out of contention for the win or a podium finish and instead drove to a P10 finish, meaning McLaren’s first chance to clinch the title last weekend has now rolled over to Abu Dhabi.

Lando’s words on media day in Abu Dhabi echoed the sentiment put forward by his team principal, Andrea Stella post-race in Qatar: “Can we look specifically at the infringement, at the level of danger associated to the situation and in fact the yellow flag was removed, and then judge using these kinds of elements – proportion and specificity – rather than taking a look at any kind of rulebook probably full of dust on top of it, and then apply it without any sense of critical approach?”

The rulebook Stella may have referred to is a set of guidelines for penalties agreed circulated to the teams on 19 February 2024, according to the FIA in their post-race explanation for decisions made in Qatar. These guidelines, while not publicly available, may lay out more severe penalties than have been seen in previous years on the request of the drivers. Though, it is important to note that Lando’s penalty followed a precedent set for the offence in the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix.

5. A new driver in the battle for 6th

Aside from the battle at the top of the standings, further down the order the fight between Alpine, Haas and Visa Cash App RB for P6 is closer than ever. Alpine are currently holding P6 after a 10 point haul in Qatar from Pierre Gasly, but Haas are just 5 points behind and VCARB are just 8 points behind them.

Nico Hulkenberg, who will drive for Haas one last time this weekend before moving to Sauber into 2025, said “the whole midfield is very tight, like we saw over the last few weekends. Small things can make a big difference.”

Hulkenberg also reflected on how Haas’ race in Qatar, where they finished P9 with Magnussen but with a DNF for Hulkenberg, hasn’t set them up in the best way to carry momentum into this final weekend.

“I think it is going to be very difficult this weekend to turn it around after what happened last Sunday and them [Alpine] scoring a lot of points again,” he said. “But our package is competitive. We’re quick on merit. Personally, all I want to achieve is to maximise and optimise this final weekend together and enjoy it.”

For Alpine, turbulence on the driver side has seen Esteban Ocon dropped ahead of this weekend with Jack Doohan stepping up and making an early debut. Much of the points scoring in the last few rounds has come from the side of Pierre Gasly, with Ocon’s run of luck being poorer, finishing his time with Alpine with a first lap DNF in Qatar. As such, Doohan’s task is less about aiding the fight for P6 and more about working through a full race weekend for the first time.

“There’s no real expectation. It’s to build it up over Friday, FP2 is new territory for me, so really just to progress through Friday and continue that progression. To finish the race and just to learn as much as possible before 2025,” he said.

Asked whether the fight for P6 is adding pressure to his debut, Doohan said, “No, definitely not. I think that my objective is to go fast when I’m in the car. I’m going to try and do that as much as possible and support the team as well to hopefully secure sixth and meet our objectives.”

On the side of VCARB, there’s a bigger task ahead of them to claim P6 given a poor run of form in recent races. But perhaps the real task ahead of Tsunoda and Lawson is putting themselves in the running for a shot at the top team seat, should it become available over the winter.

“I know the championship now is a bit more complicated than the last few races, but anything can happen, we’re not giving up for sure”, said Yuki Tsunoda. But ahead of his first test in the Red Bull car next week, Tsunoda feels it’s more important for him to “focus on [his] performance” than worry about a chance at the Red Bull seat – not surprising given how he has been overlooked by their management for this chance year on year.

“I’m sure, partly, the last race here is quite important, but for me, I feel like every race so far has been a very important race,” he said.

6. Kevin Magnussen announces post-F1 future, as one of four drivers saying farewell this weekend.

Today was the last media day in F1, at least for now, for four drivers who will bid farewell to the sport on Sunday. One of these is Kevin Magnussen, who has announced his post-F1 plans to join BMW as a LMDh driver. Speaking to this, Magnussen said, “After 10 years in Formula 1, I am embarking on a new and exciting chapter, and I look forward to taking on the challenge in the most innovative and advanced sportscars in the history of endurance racing.”

The future is less clear for another departing driver, Valtteri Bottas, whose “What’s next?” motif will brand his final Formula 1 helmet this weekend. But even so, Bottas has hinted that he feels that this may not be his last race in Formula 1, amid rumours of him being considered for a seat at F1’s 11th team, Cadillac, who will join the grid in 2026.

“This week I’ve started to realise it’s getting towards the end – for now. I still don’t think it’s guaranteed that it’s my last race – that’s my, my feeling. 

“It should be an interesting weekend. Let’s see if there are any emotions or if it’s business as usual. And then we see afterward.”

There have been ongoing discussions between Bottas and his old team Mercedes about a possible reserve driver role for 2025, but Bottas insisted today that he’s in “no rush” to clarify this possibility with the team: “I want to see all the opportunities out there, but we’re still in regular touch and we did agree that we’re going to catch up after the last race. It’s been a busy three weeks for everyone, so it’s going to be easier next week, because there’s no hurdles and such.”

The future for other departing drivers, Zhou Guanyu and Franco Colapinto, seems unclear at the moment. While Colapinto was understood to have been under consideration for a position at Red Bull, this may have closed up, and instead Alpine have shown interest in the young driver’s talents.

Zhou Guanyu scored Sauber’s first points of the year last time out in Qatar, which he reflected on as being an “amazing night”. “The entire team have been working so hard for that, for a single point, but we got points so it was a good one.” He also admitted that the team had begun to feel that earning points this year would be “impossible”, but since an upturn in performance since Las Vegas it began to look more possible.

Zhou is going into his final grand prix weekend looking to enjoy it; “I’m just going into this weekend looking to enjoy it as much as I could for myself, I want to be just to go through the weekend with the best way I would imagine myself with and then to see if we come out with some great decent results again or not.”

“I wanted to leave F1 in the best way I could imagine” he said, what the future holds remains to be seen but Zhou admitted today that he’s looking to “be there” in the paddock with the aim of making a “comeback” into 2026. 

7. Hamilton will remember “the smiles” at Mercedes

It’s the end of an era for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes this weekend, as his 12 seasons with the team come to a close.

Asked today what would be his abiding memory of these 12 years, Lewis said “the smiles, when we’ve had the success.”

“Like I remember one particular engineer, for example, I remember our first win in Australia in 2014, I think it was Australia, and I just remember him being in tears when we were on the podium. It’s those moments that I take with me. It’s the emotions that we had in Silverstone this year. It’s all the good bits. Naturally, you mostly remember the good bits.”

The team are acknowledging Lewis’ departure with a special livery on his W15, bearing the names of fans who entered the team’s draw to have their name on Hamilton’s last Mercedes. 

While he is of course remaining in the paddock, Lewis’ departure from Mercedes feels like a retirement of sorts as this iconic partnership and team-driver pairing comes to an end. Speaking to this, he said: “You’re going through these journeys with these people. So it’s a really beautiful journey you go on together. And being that it was so long, the emotions run so deep.”

The move to Ferrari for Lewis comes as his performances have taken a dip in recent races, reaching perhaps a season-low in terms of emotion and on track performance last time out in Qatar. 

Asked whether the change of team will re-motivate him moving into the next phase of his career, Lewis said: “It really sparks motivation and it’s a dream scenario for any driver to have an opportunity like this.

“Coming into next year with that same focus, that same might that I had when I joined Mercedes and with ultimately that leap of faith, I think is exciting and exhilarating.”

With media day concluded, all that’s left to do in Abu Dhabi is get on track. The action begins at 9:30 GMT on Friday, with the Grand Prix scheduled for 13:00 GMT on Sunday.