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.
Russian F1 driver Mazepin has £88m properties seized in Italy
Italy has seized €105million (£88m) worth of property owned by Russian former Formula One driver Nikita Mazepin and his oligarch father.
The operation targeted a villa – known as Rocky Ram – located in the north of the island of Sardinia.
It is part of broader efforts aimed at penalizing wealthy Russians linked to president Vladimir Putin after the invasion of Ukraine.
Mazepin- who was fired by Haas in March – has been included in an EU sanctions list along with his father, Dmitry, who the European Union’s official journal described as a member of Putin’s closest circle.
Tom Kershaw12 April 2022 08:19
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.”
Tom Kershaw12 April 2022 08:11
www.independent.co.uk
George Holan is chief editor at Plainsmen Post and has articles published in many notable publications in the last decade.
