F1 news LIVE: Red Bull ‘facing difficult times’ as Lewis Hamilton questions Mercedes’ hunger

Formula 1 latest news, rumours and updates plus all the reaction from Melbourne

Hamilton Admits To Struggling Mentally

Follow all the latest news and reaction from the world of F1 as teams attempt to improve their cars once again before heading to Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen was left bitterly disappointed after being forced to retire during the Australian Grand Prix when his car suffered further issues with its fueling system. It was the second time the Dutchman has failed to cross the line in the space of three weeks, already leaving him a huge 46 points behind Charles Leclerc. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has admitted there are in fact “two or three” different problems with the car that need still need solving if they are not to cede more ground to Ferrari.

Their situation is still not quite as bleak as the one at Mercedes, though, who appear hardly any closer to finding a solution to their lack of pace. George Russell did manage to snatch the final place on the podium in Melbourne but Lewis Hamilton is planning talks with engineers to “make sure the hunger is really there” before his hopes of winning an eighth world title are completely dashed this season. “I will be chasing the people in the wind tunnel, the aerodynamic guys, and just looking at every single area,” he said.

Follow all the latest F1 news and reaction after a thrilling start to the 2022 season.

F1 latest news

• Red Bull have ‘two or three’ problems
• Max Verstappen has ‘no reason to believe’ he can defend his F1 title
• Lewis Hamilton urges Mercedes to make improvements
• Charles Leclerc dominates Australian GP
• Charles Leclerc: Ferrari’s unassuming F1 star shaped by tragedy

[12 April 2022 13:09 · Luke Baker]

Charles Leclerc dominates Australian Grand Prix to extend his F1 championship lead

Charles Leclerc won the Australian Grand Prix in style to extend his lead in the F1 World Championship.

Leclerc completed an impressive lights-to-flag victory with Sergio Perez runner-up, 20.5 seconds back, and George Russell third. Lewis Hamilton finished fourth.

World champion Max Verstappen failed to reach the chequered flag for the second time in three races after his Red Bull expired with 19 laps remaining.

Leclerc, a two-time winner this season, is now 34 points clear of second-placed Russell in the standings. Hamilton is fifth, 43 points adrift.

[12 April 2022 12:57 · Luke Baker]

Lewis Hamilton ‘uncomfortable’ as FIA members fail to wear masks at briefing

Lewis Hamilton said he felt uncomfortable after members of Formula One’s ruling body failed to wear face masks during a drivers’ briefing for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.

F1’s new race director Niels Wittich chaired a two-hour meeting at Melbourne’s Albert Park on Friday night where he announced a clampdown on jewellery and insisted on fireproof underwear.

Under local law, it is not mandatory to wear a face mask in an enclosed space.

Hamilton, speaking after he qualified fifth for the third round of the new season, said: “No-one in the drivers’ briefing were wearing masks. Some of the drivers were but most of the FIA were not, which for me was uncomfortable.

[12 April 2022 12:44 · Luke Baker]

When are the F1 sprint races in 2022?

Formula 1’s introduction of the sprint races were a new innovation brought in at the start of the 2021 season.

A handful of races were given the go-ahead so that qualifying would take place on the Friday rather than the Saturday.

The sprint race would then replace qualifying on the Saturday, before the race took place as usual on the Sunday.

Last season the sprint races were at the British Grand Prix, the Italian Grand Prix, and the Brazilian Grand Prix. Here is all you need to know about the sprint races for 2022.

[12 April 2022 12:29 · Luke Baker]

Pierre Gasly says scenes for Netflix’s Drive to Survive are ‘made up’

Pierre Gasly has criticised Netflix documentary Drive to Survive for “making up” scenes for entertainment.

The AlphaTauri driver wasn’t featured as much in the latest instalment, with focus being on teammate Yuki Tsunoda, but he has had episodes about him previously.

While he admits he hasn’t watched it all, he has said the drivers just want to be portrayed as they are in reality.

“I haven’t seen the whole series, so I haven’t seen like [more than] pretty much the first two episodes,” Gasly told GPFans. “You can clearly see that some scenes are kind of made up for the show.

[12 April 2022 12:16 · Luke Baker]

Red Bull have ‘two or three’ problems, says Marko

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has admitted Red Bull have “two or three” problems to solve before F1 heads to Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen was forced to retire for the second time in three races after a suspected problem with his fueling system in Melbourne, already leaving the world champion a huge 46 points behind leader Charles Leclerc.

“There are two or maybe three different things at play,” Marko told Servus TV. “Firstly, the reliability problems, which we hardly had last year, but the lag behind Ferrari was also alarming.

“We were negatively surprised by the speed of Ferrari. They had almost no graining and we already had after a few laps. Ferrari can find a good balance with the car more easily.”

“We are clearly heavier than the Ferrari. I think we have a weight handicap of about 10 kilograms. Converted to lap time, that equates to about three tenths per lap. But lowering the weight is expensive. It’s, to start with, a financial issue and secondly it is also related to reliability, so it is a difficult split due to the budget ceiling. We are facing difficult times.”

[12 April 2022 11:44 · Tom Kershaw]

Leclerc not thinking about F1 world championship despite ‘incredible’ win

Charles Leclerc says he is not thinking about winning the F1 World Championship just yet after taking a second victory in the opening three races of the 2022 season at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

The Ferrari driver led from start-to-finish around the revamped Albert Park circuit as he stretched his lead at the top of the standings to 34 points from Mercedes’ George Russell, who took third behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.

Leclerc tussled for the lead in thrilling fashion with rival Max Verstappen at the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix earlier in the campaign, but here he comfortably kept the Dutchman at bay with strong pace and consistent lap times before Verstappen was forced to retire from the race with a mechanical failure.

In the aftermath of his victory, Leclerc was quick to praise and his car and team but avoided talk of a sustained title challenge across the course of the whole campaign.

[12 April 2022 11:25 · Tom Kershaw]

Hamilton demands improvements from Mercedes in bid to save his season

Lewis Hamilton has demanded Mercedes act now to salvage his dwindling F1 title dreams.

The seven-time world champion departs Australia 43 points behind Charles Leclerc following the Ferrari driver’s one-sided victory at Melbourne’s Albert Park on Sunday.

Hamilton started fifth and finished fourth – one place behind George Russell who claimed his first podium in Mercedes colours.

Hamilton heads to Kuala Lumpur for a sponsor event on Monday, before the next round in Imola on April 24.

“I will be on Zoom calls with our bosses, and really trying to rally them up,” said Hamilton.

[12 April 2022 10:57 · Tom Kershaw]

Pristine poise of Leclerc provides championship platform amid F1 chaos

The 2022 Formula 1 season was supposed to bring with it a new era of unpredictability. In plenty of ways, it has, writes Dan Austin.

The biggest regulation change the sport has undergone in a generation has changed things forever, dramatically altering the ways cars race one another, shaking up the establishing running order, rendering old masters also-rans, and characters who were previously mere extras into show stopping leads.

The racing in the first three rounds of the season has been ceaseless and breathless, with drivers unable to take progress through the field for granted anymore. Once an overtake is done, ground effect aerodynamics mean the man who has dropped down a place is able to stake a claim to take his position back once again almost instantly.

Formula 1 will be delighted with the entertainment value its new-age form of structured chaos is providing fans and sponsors, as it looks to take advantage of its booming popularity among young people around the world.

How strange, then, that this brave new world is being so overwhelmingly defined by one far less anarchic constant thus far – the pristine poise of Charles Leclerc’s driving.

[12 April 2022 10:35 · Tom Kershaw]

Wolff questions F1’s new race boss as Hamilton defies jewellery ban

Toto Wolff has questioned new Formula One race boss Niels Wittich’s jewellery ban by asking: “Is that a battle he needs to have?”

Lewis Hamilton defied the FIA’s clampdown as he competed with piercings in both ears and a nose stud at the Australian Grand Prix – and said afterwards that he has no plans to remove them in future outings.

Wittich was hired by the FIA following Michael Masi’s dismissal for breaking the rules at last season’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – an event which denied Hamilton a record eighth championship.

“How he has run the first few races has been respectful, solid and he hasn’t put a single foot wrong,” Mercedes team principal Wolff said of Wittich.

“But is that [jewellery ban] a battle he needs to have at this stage? However, if it turns out to be the biggest unfortunate misstep of a race director, I would take it a thousand times over.”

[12 April 2022 10:17 · Tom Kershaw]

Verstappen fumes at speed of ‘turtle’ Aston Martin safety car

Max Verstappen complained that Formula 1’s safety car was “like a turtle” during the Australian Grand Prix after it caused Charles Leclerc to understeer at the final corner moments before the restart.

The mistake gave Verstappen the opportunity to snatch the lead from Leclerc but the Red Bull was unable to rival the Ferrari’s raw pace and the reigning world champion was later forced to retire from the race due to reliability issues with his car.

Asked about the restart, Verstappen criticised the speed of the Aston Martin Vantage safety car and said he preferred the Mercedes version.