F1 Austrian Grand Prix LIVE: Qualifying results and times with Max Verstappen on pole

Formula One heads to the Red Bull Ring for round 11 of the 2024 season as Spielberg hosts the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend.

Max Verstappen won for the third time in four races to win last time out in Spain, holding off a late charge from Lando Norris to extend his lead in the F1 world championship standings. He now leads Norris, up to second ahead of Charles Leclerc, by 69 points.

Norris was frustrated with second place in a quick McLaren car in Barcelona, while Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton picked up his first podium of the season with a third-place finish.

Austria will host the third sprint race of the season this weekend. Verstappen won both races last year and is a four-time winner of Red Bull’s home race.

Follow live updates from the Austrian Grand Prix with The Independent

F1 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX – LATEST UPDATES

• Max Verstappen is on pole position in Austria; Norris 2nd; Russell 3rd

• Click HERE for the top-10 in qualifying

• Daniel Ricciardo out in Q2, also out: Magnussen, Gasly, Tsunoda, Alonso

• Lance Stroll out in Q1, also out: Albon, Bottas, Sargeant, Zhou

• Max Verstappen won sprint race in Austria; Piastri 2nd; Norris 3rd

• Click HERE for the top-eight in the sprint race

Lewis Hamilton optimistic ahead of tomorrow’s grand prix

17:44 , Kieran Jackson

Here’s how close Piastri was!

17:17 , Kieran Jackson

Oscar Piastri on deleted lap time:

17:04 , Kieran Jackson

“For me, it’s embarrassing. We do all this work for track limits and I didn’t even go off the track, probably my best turn 6 and it gets deleted. I don’t know why they’ve spent millions on the final two corners and there’s still somewhere you can go off with track limits.

“I was right on the limit of the track, we’ve had so much effort trying to get rid of these problems, there’s no reason this corner should be an issue with track limit when you stay on the track, which I did.”

“Max looked to be on another level, we’ll try our best. We saw in the sprint the tyres were overheating quickly, makes life tough but we’ll try our best.”

Here’s Charles Leclerc’s moment at the end of Q3!

16:55 , Kieran Jackson

George Russell after qualifying third:

16:43 , Kieran Jackson

“The car feels really good, we’ve got a fight on our hands with Ferrari, McLaren bit ahead, but good progress with us.

“Happy to be in P3, we compromised qualifying a little bit to help the race tomorrow, McLaren have the edge of us. Third race in a row for top three in qualifying.

“Verstappen and Norris were pretty dicey in the sprint race so hopefully I can sneak through on the inside but I think our race will be behind us unfortunately.”

Lando Norris after qualifying second:

16:31 , Kieran Jackson

“It’s as much as we could do today, Max in a league of his own today. It’s good enough, I’ll take it.

“When you look at the pace today, we’re going to have to give it a lot and something to go our way. I’ll do a better job this morning for sure, usually we’re better in the races than for qualifying.”

Max Verstappen on pole:

16:22 , Kieran Jackson

“The car felt a lot better today, every run was on point, it was very good out there.

“It’s been a while since we were on pole, the car have been working really hard to make the car more competitive, hopefully we can have a good race.

“It’s always nice to race, hopefully will be a good battle tomorrow but very happy with how the car was performing today.”

TOP-10 IN AUSTRIAN GP QUALIFYING:

16:11 , Kieran Jackson

1. Max Verstappen

2. Lando Norris

3. George Russell

4. Carlos Sainz

5. Lewis Hamilton

6. Charles Leclerc

7. Oscar Piastri

8. Sergio Perez

9. Nico Hulkenberg

10. Esteban Ocon

Oscar Piastri loses third place!

16:04 , Kieran Jackson

Track limits violation from Oscar Piastri and he loses third place!

That puts Russell up to third and Piastri drops to seventh!

Max Verstappen on pole for the Austrian Grand Prix!

16:03 , Kieran Jackson

Verstappen goes even quicker and is on pole position by four-tenths to Lando Norris, who pips Oscar Piastri!

4-10: Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Leclerc, Perez, Hulkenberg, Ocon

Leclerc had a pretty big off on his final lap and heads into the gravel at turn six!

Verstappen: “On fire in qualifying, car was really strong!”

Lewis Hamilton under investigation after the session

15:58 , Kieran Jackson

The Mercedes driver ran over a car jack as he left the garage prior to his first lap – and the Brit has been noted for an unsafe release.

Anyway, three minutes to go – fresh tyres everywhere ahead of the final laps of quaifying!

Max Verstappen quickest out of first set of laps!

15:55 , Kieran Jackson

It’ll take some beating this! Verstappen top with a 1:04:426, three-tenths quicker than Lando Norris in second and over half-a-second faster than George Russell in third!

4-10: Leclerc, Piastri, Hamilton, Sainz, Perez, Ocon, Hulkenberg

5:00 to go…

Q3 underway!

15:51 , Kieran Jackson

Here we go then!

10 drivers involved: Verstappen, Perez, Norris, Piastri, Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton, Russell, Hulkenberg, Ocon

Verstappen the huge favourite – can anyone topple him?!

Gravel at turn six resulting in delay to Q3!

15:46 , Kieran Jackson

The marshals just using a hoover to blow away the gravel off turn six – that was caused by Pierre Gasly going wide!

Daniel Ricciardo out in Q2!

15:43 , Kieran Jackson

So close but so far for Ricciardo – he’s out in P11 and misses out on Q3 by 0.010 seconds!

Bottom-five and out in Q2 (11-15): Ricciardo, Magnussen, Gasly, Tsunoda, Alonso

Hulkenberg and Ocon sneak through to Q3…

Top-3: Verstappen, Sainz, Russell

Max Verstappen up top by some distance!

15:37 , Kieran Jackson

Verstappen sets the stopwatch alight with a 1:04:557, 0.439 secs ahead of Carlos Sainz in second!

Hamilton in a slight spot of bother in P8…

Current bottom-five (11-15): Gasly, Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, Magnussen, Alonso

Three minutes to go…

Charles Leclerc top early on in Q2!

15:30 , Kieran Jackson

Only four cars out there from the green light but that includes both Ferraris – and Charles Leclerc is first with a 1:05:532, while Ocon and Gasly separate Leclerc from his team-mate Carlos Sainz.

Sainz: “I picked up a lot of bouncing on that lap.”

Q2 underway!

15:27 , Kieran Jackson

So we’ve lost both Williams cars, both Sauber cars and the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll as we head into the second part of qualifying.

You feel like there’s work to do here for both Mercedes cars as well as the Red Bull of Sergio Perez… but we shall see!

Lance Stroll out!

15:20 , Kieran Jackson

Fernando Alonso escapes by the skin of his teeth but his team-mate Lance Stroll doesn’t – he’s out!

Bottom-five and out in Q1 (16-20): Albon, Stroll, Bottas, Sargeant, Zhou

Hamilton ended up in P7, on new tyres; “Ah, I’m just slow mate.”

Lewis Hamilton in trouble!

15:15 , Kieran Jackson

Much like sprint qualifying yesterday, Hamilton in trouble in the first stage of qualifying!

He is now P16 – 0.017 secs off Yuki Tsunoda in 15th.

Current bottom-five (16-20): Hamilton, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Sargeant, Zhou

Hamilton has only done one lap, whereas most of the grid have done two. He’ll have to use their new batch of soft tyres..

George Russell goes fastest!

15:10 , Kieran Jackson

Mercedes impressing early on!

Russell, who qualified fourth for the sprint, goes top halfway through Q1 with a time of 1:05:614, two tenths clear of Charles Leclerc in second.

As for Lewis Hamilton? P7

Current bottom-five (16-20): Bottas, Sargeant, Alonso, Gasly, Stroll

Max Verstappen down in P6

15:07 , Kieran Jackson

Pole-sitter in sprint qualifying and the winner of the sprint race earlier, but not top dog after the first laps in Q1.

Verstappen down in sixth, 0.153 secs off Leclerc up top.

Charles Leclerc quickest out of early laps!

15:05 , Kieran Jackson

Leclerc first, 0.009 secs ahead of Norris, with Piastri P3 and Tsunoda P4!

Around six cars yet to set a lap – both Mercedes cars have opted not to leave the garage early on.

Q1 underway!

15:02 , Kieran Jackson

We’re underway with the first qualifying session under the summer sun in the Styrian mountains!

Max Verstappen the favourite ahead of the McLarens…

Here are the Driver Standings heading into qualifying!

14:53 , Kieran Jackson

1. Max Verstappen – 227 points

2. Lando Norris – 156 points

3. Charles Leclerc – 150 points

4. Carlos Sainz – 120 points

5. Sergio Perez – 112 points

6. Oscar Piastri – 94 points

7. George Russell – 86 points

8. Lewis Hamilton – 73 points

9. Fernando Alonso – 41 points

10. Yuki Tsunoda – 19 points

11. Lance Stroll – 17 points

12. Daniel Ricciardo – 9 points

13. Oliver Bearman – 6 points

14. Nico Hulkenberg – 6 points

15. Pierre Gasly – 5 points

16. Esteban Ocon – 3 points

17. Alex Albon – 2 points

18. Kevin Magnussen – 1 point

19. Zhou Guanyu – 0 points

20. Valtteri Bottas – 0 points

21. Logan Sargeant – 0 points

Red Bull boss Christian Horner on Daniel Ricciardo’s future:

14:47 , Kieran Jackson

“I think anything regarding drivers are going to be dealt with in-house before we talk to the media about it,” he said.

“They’re all Red Bull racing drivers and every Red Bull driver knows that there’s always a pressure, that there’s always a scrutiny but Daniel is in the seat and it’s down to him to make the most of that and then it’s always, as we see in Formula 1, things are always fluid.”

Can Ferrari improve in qualifying?

14:39 , Kieran Jackson

And here are the Constructors’ Standings after the sprint race:

14:27 , Kieran Jackson

1. Red Bull – 339 points

2. Ferrari – 276 points

3. McLaren – 250 points

4. Mercedes – 159 points

5. Aston Martin – 58 points

6. RB – 28 points

7. Alpine – 8 points

8. Haas – 7 points

9. Williams – 2 points

10. Sauber – 0 points

Mercedes told no criminal offence committed over Lewis Hamilton ‘sabotage’ email

14:11 , Kieran Jackson

Mercedes have been told no criminal offences were committed after the British-based Formula One team called on police to investigate an anonymous email which claimed Lewis Hamilton’s car was being “sabotaged”.

Speaking at the recent Spanish Grand Prix, team principal Toto Wolff vowed to go “full force” in response to the correspondence – said to be sent by a disgruntled Mercedes staff member – titled “a potential death warrant for Lewis”.

The email, addressed to Wolff, F1 boss Stefano Domenicali, FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem, as well as other major players in the paddock, arrived on June 10, a day after the Canadian Grand Prix – a race where Hamilton was overtaken by team-mate George Russell on the penultimate lap.

Mercedes reported the note to authorities 48 hours later.

Full story below:

Mercedes told no criminal offence committed over Lewis Hamilton ‘sabotage’ email

Start times this weekend in Austria:

13:58 , Kieran Jackson

(All times BST)

Saturday 29 June

• Qualifying: 3pm

Sunday 30 June

Here are the Driver Standings heading into qualifying!

13:46 , Kieran Jackson

1. Max Verstappen – 227 points

2. Lando Norris – 156 points

3. Charles Leclerc – 150 points

4. Carlos Sainz – 120 points

5. Sergio Perez – 112 points

6. Oscar Piastri – 94 points

7. George Russell – 86 points

8. Lewis Hamilton – 73 points

9. Fernando Alonso – 41 points

10. Yuki Tsunoda – 19 points

11. Lance Stroll – 17 points

12. Daniel Ricciardo – 9 points

13. Oliver Bearman – 6 points

14. Nico Hulkenberg – 6 points

15. Pierre Gasly – 5 points

16. Esteban Ocon – 3 points

17. Alex Albon – 2 points

18. Kevin Magnussen – 1 point

19. Zhou Guanyu – 0 points

20. Valtteri Bottas – 0 points

21. Logan Sargeant – 0 points

Max Verstappen fires back at British Grand Prix chief: ‘It’s not my fault’

13:32 , Kieran Jackson

Max Verstappen insists the promoters of the British Grand Prix need to “look at themselves” and not blame Red Bull for the slow uptake of tickets to this year’s race at Silverstone.

Verstappen won last year’s race – his first British GP triumph – and in total won 19 out of 22 grands prix in 2023, a record amount.

Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle stated last week that Red Bull’s ultra-domination in 2023 has contributed to tickets not yet selling out for this year’s event on 5-7 July.

Max Verstappen fires back at British Grand Prix chief: ‘It’s not my fault’

Sprint race report: Max Verstappen holds off McLaren challenge to win Austrian GP sprint race

13:17 , Kieran Jackson

Max Verstappen produced an impressive defensive display to hold off Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris and win Saturday’s sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Norris briefly wrested the lead off Verstappen on the fifth of 23 laps at a sun-cooked Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.

But Verstappen swatted Norris aside at the next corner before crossing the line 4.6 seconds clear of Piastri with Norris having to settle for third.

George Russell finished fourth for Mercedes, one place ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Lewis Hamilton started sixth and finished in the same position.

Max Verstappen holds off McLaren challenge to win Austrian GP sprint race

Lewis Hamilton after sixth place in the sprint:

12:58 , Kieran Jackson

Christian Horner has said the following about Toto Wolff’s pursuit of Max Verstappen

12:44 , Kieran Jackson

Asked why Wolff continues to speak about Verstappen, Horner replied: “That’s a question you would have to ask Toto. Max was pretty resolute in what he said in this conference [on Thursday].

“He’s always been absolutely consistent with that with the team. I think it’s purely a tactic of distraction.

“If he does want a Verstappen for next year then I guess Jos is potentially available.”

Nico Hulkenberg receives a penalty!

12:37 , Kieran Jackson

A 10-second time penalty and two penalty points for this incident in the sprint!

George Russell after securing P4 in the sprint:

12:29 , Kieran Jackson

Max Verstappen after his win:

12:20 , Kieran Jackson

“Good first lap but once DRS opens, it’s very hard to get out of it. Once out of it, I could do my own race. We had to work for it, few things we can do better for tomorrow especially, longer races, harder on the tyres, interesting to see how it will evolve.

“I need to have a look at the whole race, we’ll see where we can do better.”

Oscar Piastri after finshing second:

12:08 , Kieran Jackson

“Finished higher than I started but didn’t have the pace in the second-half. We’ll take the points, good haul compared to those around us.

“The move was quite late, knew there would be an opportunity. I had one opportunity to get Max the lap after but didn’t have the pace after that.”

Lando Norris after finishing third:

11:57 , Kieran Jackson

“A good race between us, especially with Max at the beginning. Definitely some things I should have done better in my battle, I understand that, had a good battle trying to get past Oscar – the speed you lose in the dirty air.

“It was too difficult to get past, Max was too quick. Made the move and then left the door open like an amateur.”

TOP-8 IN THE AUSTRIA GP SPRINT:

11:47 , Kieran Jackson

1. Max Verstappen (+8 points)

2. Oscar Piastri (+7)

3. Lando Norris (+6)

4. George Russell (+5)

5. Carlos Sainz (+4)

6. Lewis Hamilton (+3)

7. Charles Leclerc (+2)

8. Sergio Perez (+1)

Max Verstappen on team radio:

11:39 , Kieran Jackson

“That was spicy, good result!”

Max Verstappen wins the sprint in Austria!

11:34 , Kieran Jackson

A sublime morning dash for the reigning world champion – he wins the 23-lap sprint race in Austria!

Oscar Piastri takes a superb second place ahead of McLaren team-mate Lando Norris!

4-8: Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Leclerc, Perez

That was fun at the start!

FInal lap! (Lap 23/23)

11:31 , Kieran Jackson

One final lap for the pack then, with the top-eight more or less set in place now.

Piastri set to keep second (Lap 22/23)

11:30 , Kieran Jackson

The Australian has maintained his pace and placed the car well – and with two laps to go looks likely to keep second place now!

Verstappen’s lead now four seconds – the Red Bull pace superb as per usual!

Lando Norris closing in on Oscar Piastri (Lap 18/23)

11:27 , Kieran Jackson

Norris now just 0.6 secs behind Piastri, with DRS on all the straights!

Can the Brit overtake his team-mate with five laps left?

Out ahead, Verstappen’s lead is now three seconds.

Oscar Piastri drops off (lap 13/23)

11:24 , Kieran Jackson

Piastri’s pace has dropped off – he’s now 2.3 secs behind Verstappen, now coasting out in front.

But McLaren team-mate Norris is right on his tail behind now!

4-8: Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Leclerc, Perez

Perez, incidentally, has a six-second lead to Kevin Magnussen in ninth – so the point-scoring positions look fairly set in stone at this point!

Max Verstappen still leads then (Lap 8/23)

11:17 , Kieran Jackson

Piastri just about still within DRS of Verstappen out in front but the Red Bull has just stretched his lead slightly to 0.9 secs.

Further back, George Russell overtakes Carlos Sainz for fourth place!

Top-8: Verstappen, Piastri, Norris, Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Leclerc, Perez

Lando Norris leads and then loses the lead! (Lap 5/23)

11:13 , Kieran Jackson

Brilliant racing!

Norris surges down the inside at turn 3 but Verstappen takes the lead back at turn 4 down the inside – and then Piastri takes second from his team-mate!

So Norris, up to first briefly, now down to third!

Wow!

Max Verstappen under pressure (Lap 3/23)

11:10 , Kieran Jackson

Strong early pace from Lando Norris with a fastest lap and he’s just 0.2 secs off Verstappen now!

It’s very tight up at the front!

Piastri right on the tail of Verstappen too!

Top-8: Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, Sainz, Russell, Hamilton, Leclerc, Perez

Lights out!

11:08 , Kieran Jackson

We get away this time and Max Verstappen gets a good start – he maintains the lead around the first lap rather comfortably!

Oscar Piastri was right on the tail of team-mate Lando Norris, but Norris keeps second, but Carlos Sainz overtakes George Russell beautifully around the outside of turn four!

They’re all away smoothly…

Aborted start!

11:06 , Kieran Jackson

The speculation is that a bunch of photographers at turn 1 posed a safety risk, hence the delayed start…

Let’s hope that’s all sorted now then.

Aborted start!

11:04 , Kieran Jackson

Interesting!

The drivers are going to go around again with an extra formation lap!

No car seems to be having a problem, so not sure what the issue is!

Maybe the start lights are faulty…

Formation lap!

11:01 , Kieran Jackson

A 24-lap dash then to the chequered flag – all 20 cars will start on the medium tyre!

A reminder that there is no mandatory pit-stop in the sprint race, so you have to do the overtaking on track!

Here we go then!

What is the starting grid for the sprint?

10:58 , Kieran Jackson

1. Max Verstappen

2. Lando Norris

3. Oscar Piastri

4. George Russell

5. Carlos Sainz

6. Lewis Hamilton

7. Sergio Perez

8. Esteban Ocon

9. Pierre Gasly

10. Charles Leclerc

11. Kevin Magnussen

12. Lance Stroll

13. Fernando Alonso

14. Yuki Tsunoda

15. Logan Sargeant

16. Daniel Ricciardo

17. Nico Hulkenberg

18. Valtteri Bottas

19. Zhou Guanyu

Pit lane. Alex Albon

F1 sprint in Austria!

10:56 , Kieran Jackson

Here we go then – we’re just a few minutes away from the third sprint race of the season.

Max Verstappen won the last two sprints in China and Miami but can Lando Norris perhaps steal a march on the Red Bull at the start here?

We’re about to find out!

How many points are on offer in the sprint race?

10:52 , Kieran Jackson

P1 – Eight points

P2 – Seven points

P3 – Six points

P4 – Five points

P5 – four points

P6 – three points

P7 – two points

P8 – one point

Red Bull boss Christian Horner on Daniel Ricciardo’s future:

10:41 , Kieran Jackson

“I think anything regarding drivers are going to be dealt with in-house before we talk to the media about it,” he said.

“They’re all Red Bull racing drivers and every Red Bull driver knows that there’s always a pressure, that there’s always a scrutiny but Daniel is in the seat and it’s down to him to make the most of that and then it’s always, as we see in Formula 1, things are always fluid.”

And here are the Constructors’ Standings before the sprint race:

10:31 , Kieran Jackson

1. Red Bull – 330 points

2. Ferrari – 270 points

3. McLaren – 237 points

4. Mercedes – 151 points

5. Aston Martin – 58 points

6. RB – 28 points

7. Alpine – 8 points

8. Haas – 7 points

9. Williams – 2 points

10. Sauber – 0 points

Sprint qualifying report: Max Verstappen puts row between father and Christian Horner aside to claim Austria sprint race pole

10:23 , Kieran Jackson

Max Verstappen put his father Jos’ row with Christian Horner to one side to take pole position for Saturday’s sprint race in Austria.

Verstappen beat McLaren’s Lando Norris to top spot by just 0.093 seconds at the Red Bull Ring, with Oscar Piastri third.

George Russell qualified fourth for Mercedes, two places and two tenths clear of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Full report below:

Verstappen puts row between father and Horner aside to claim sprint race pole

Lewis Hamilton after qualifying sixth for the sprint race:

10:12 , Kieran Jackson

“I wasn’t in the mix at all, the whole session was pretty disastrous. Practice was good, car felt good, not in a position for pole but yeah, some very bad laps.”

“I don’t think overtaking is mega here, we’ll give it our best. It’s usually not such an eventful race, the focus is on a better qualifying tomorrow.”

Max Verstappen reveals plans for next season amid Mercedes interest

09:59 , Kieran Jackson

Max Verstappen has dealt a major blow to Mercedes’ hopes of capturing his signature after he insisted he will remain at Red Bull next season.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has called Verstappen his primary target to replace Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton, while the Austrian’s co-shareholder, and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Ola Kallenius, this week said Verstappen “would look good in silver”.

But asked directly if he will be staying put next year, Verstappen – under contract with Red Bull until 2028 – said: “OK, yes. And that’s what I’ve already said. We’re working on next year’s car. When you’re very focused on that it means that you’re also driving for the team.

Full story below:

Max Verstappen reveals plans for next season amid Mercedes interest

Here are the Driver Standings heading into Austria!

09:52 , Kieran Jackson

1. Max Verstappen – 219 points

2. Lando Norris – 150 points

3. Charles Leclerc – 148 points

4. Carlos Sainz – 116 points

5. Sergio Perez – 111 points

6. Oscar Piastri – 87 points

7. George Russell – 81 points

8. Lewis Hamilton – 70 points

9. Fernando Alonso – 41 points

10. Yuki Tsunoda – 19 points

11. Lance Stroll – 17 points

12. Daniel Ricciardo – 9 points

13. Oliver Bearman – 6 points

14. Nico Hulkenberg – 6 points

15. Pierre Gasly – 5 points

16. Esteban Ocon – 3 points

17. Alex Albon – 2 points

18. Kevin Magnussen – 1 point

19. Zhou Guanyu – 0 points

20. Valtteri Bottas – 0 points

21. Logan Sargeant – 0 points

How does the sprint race weekend work?

09:48 , Kieran Jackson

The F1 Commission and the FIA approved another modification to the sprint format this year.

The new order of play sees the ‘sprint qualifying’ take place on Friday afternoon instead of a second practice session, with traditional qualifying in its usual spot on Saturday afternoon.

It means there will be just one practice session over the course of the weekend, while Saturday is no longer designated as a ‘sprint day’.

The result of the Saturday morning sprint – a 100km dash, roughly a third of the distance of the grand prix – will not impact the grid for Sunday Points will be awarded to the top-eight, as was the case in 2023.

The sprint race result will not have any impact on the grand prix qualifying on Saturday nor the grand prix on Sunday.

Start times this weekend in Austria:

09:45 , Kieran Jackson

(All times BST)

Saturday 29 June

• Sprint race: 11am

• Qualifying: 3pm

Sunday 30 June

F1 SPRINT RACE IN AUSTRIA!

09:45 , Kieran Jackson

Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the Austrian Grand Prix with The Independent!

Max Verstappen starts on pole for the sprint at Red Bull’s home track with Lando Norris alongside him on the front row and Oscar Piastri in third.

Following the sprint at 11am, we have qualifying for tomorrow’s grand prix at 3pm – so a busy day in store at the Red Bull Ring!

Christian Horner has said the following about Toto Wolff’s pursuit of Max Verstappen

Friday 28 June 2024 15:20 , Kieran Jackson

Asked why Wolff continues to speak about Verstappen, Horner replied: “That’s a question you would have to ask Toto. Max was pretty resolute in what he said in this conference [on Thursday].

“He’s always been absolutely consistent with that with the team. I think it’s purely a tactic of distraction.

“If he does want a Verstappen for next year then I guess Jos is potentially available.”

Red Bull boss Christian Horner on Daniel Ricciardo’s future:

Friday 28 June 2024 15:03 , Kieran Jackson

“I think anything regarding drivers are going to be dealt with in-house before we talk to the media about it,” he said.

“They’re all Red Bull racing drivers and every Red Bull driver knows that there’s always a pressure, that there’s always a scrutiny but Daniel is in the seat and it’s down to him to make the most of that and then it’s always, as we see in Formula 1, things are always fluid.”

Mercedes told no criminal offence committed over Lewis Hamilton ‘sabotage’ email

Friday 28 June 2024 13:52 , Kieran Jackson

Mercedes have been told no criminal offences were committed after the British-based Formula One team called on police to investigate an anonymous email which claimed Lewis Hamilton’s car was being “sabotaged”.

Speaking at the recent Spanish Grand Prix, team principal Toto Wolff vowed to go “full force” in response to the correspondence – said to be sent by a disgruntled Mercedes staff member – titled “a potential death warrant for Lewis”.

The email, addressed to Wolff, F1 boss Stefano Domenicali, FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem, as well as other major players in the paddock, arrived on June 10, a day after the Canadian Grand Prix – a race where Hamilton was overtaken by team-mate George Russell on the penultimate lap.

Mercedes reported the note to authorities 48 hours later.

Full story below:

Mercedes told no criminal offence committed over Lewis Hamilton ‘sabotage’ email

Max Verstappen fires back at British Grand Prix chief: ‘It’s not my fault’

Friday 28 June 2024 13:08 , Kieran Jackson

Max Verstappen insists the promoters of the British Grand Prix need to “look at themselves” and not blame Red Bull for the slow uptake of tickets to this year’s race at Silverstone.

Verstappen won last year’s race – his first British GP triumph – and in total won 19 out of 22 grands prix in 2023, a record amount.

Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle stated last week that Red Bull’s ultra-domination in 2023 has contributed to tickets not yet selling out for this year’s event on 5-7 July.

Max Verstappen fires back at British Grand Prix chief: ‘It’s not my fault’

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