FORMULA 1 MEME | FERRARI 😂

 

MAX VERSTAPPEN MEME | HILARIOUS VERSTAPPEN RADIO AT ITALIAN GRAND PRIX 2026

 

MAX VERSTAPPEN SPEAKS OUT ON CHRISTIAN HORNER'S F1 PADDOCK RETURN

Max Verstappen has revealed he and Christian Horner remain in contact after his ousting from the Red Bull Team Principal role

Max Verstappen has revealed he speaks to former Red Bull Formula 1 CEO and Team Principal Christian Horner “almost every week”.

Horner had lead the Milton-Keynes-based squad to eight Drivers’ and six Constructors’ titles during his 20-year tenure at the team.

Four out of those titles came with Verstappen, between 2021 and 2024. But since then, Red Bull’s form had deteriorated, eventually leading to a falling out between Horner and the upper echelons of Red Bull’s management.

12 months on, with Horner still looking for a permanent way back into the paddock, he made a return cameo at Silverstone.

At the time of Horner’s departure, a lot of speculation was surrounding the role Verstappen, and his father Jos had had in orchestrating the Briton’s removal.

But the 28-year-old revealed something completely contrary to the speculative record.

“I speak to Christian almost every week,” he told media including Motorsport Week when asked if he had spoken to Horner in the paddock at Silverstone.

“I saw him on the camera walking around, but I haven’t had time to meet anyone to be honest. It’s been busy.”

When prodded if he had been discussing something in particular with Horner, Verstappen simply replied, “Like you do with your friends or people that you’ve known for a long time.”

Max Verstappen opens up on “painful” 12 months after Horner’s Red Bull F1 departure

Hot on the heels of Horner’s ousting, Red Bull GmbH promoted Laurent Mekies as the CEO and Team Principal of the main team, after a year of service leading Racing Bulls in 2024 for the Frenchman.

And immediately after his arrival, the team did see an uptick in performance.

Verstappen launched an audacious bid to reclaim his F1 title, with a 100+ points deficit to Lando Norris, after the Dutch GP, reduced to just two points after the chequered flag fell at the Abu Dhabi GP.

But Red Bull’s first season as a works outfit, with a RBPT-Ford power unit collaboration, has turned out to be a pretty underwhelming reality for the Dutchman.

Heading into the Belgian GP weekend, the race where Mekies succeeded Horner at Red Bull last year, Verstappen is a staggering 103 points off of championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli, in seventh.

Looking back on these 12 months, Verstappen conceded that it has been “painful” but erred on the side of caution before pinning the blame solely on Mekies.

“Everyone is trying their best. I’m not blaming one person or whatever. It’s just painful for everyone that this is happening,” Verstappen explained.

At Silverstone, Verstappen suffered his second rear-wing related incident, after his Q1 crash at Austria, DNFing out of P3 with only a handful of laps remaining.

“He [Mekies] came straight in my room, of course, to discuss the problems that we had in the race, to let me know what happened out there,” he concluded.

“But that’s normal. We always do that, good or bad.”

With Horner’s F1 return imminent, the last couple of race weekends has also exposed the fragility of the relationship between Verstappen and Red Bull, with the four-time F1 Champion reportedly on his way out at the end of 2026.

- Anirban Aly Mandal

WHY MAX VERSTAPPEN DIDN'T SPEAK TO CRISTIAN HORNER AT THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX

Max Verstappen speaks "weekly" with former boss Christian Horner, but the pair did not meet ahead of the British Grand Prix

Verstappen and Horner had their differences at Red Bull

Max Verstappen has revealed why he didn't speak with Christian Horner ahead of the British Grand Prix, despite the former Red Bull boss making his long-awaited return to the Formula 1 paddock.

The four-time champion has previously spoken of his continued relationship with his former boss since Horner was relieved of his duties at Red Bull one year ago, but this did not extend to a meeting at Silverstone this weekend. 

However, this was not due to any underlying or underplayed animosity between the pair, but was more an issue of timing across what is always a busy weekend. 

Asked if he had spoken to Horner on Sunday, Verstappen said: “I speak to Christian almost every week. I saw him on the camera walking around, but I haven't had time to meet anyone, to be honest. It’s just been busy.”

Asked if he was willing to share what the pair discuss in their weekly chats, and if it was just 'normal stuff', Verstappen added: “Yeah. Like you do with your friends, or people that you've known for a long time.”

One year on from Horner's removal, and Verstappen appears to be at his lowest point with Red Bull, as he labelled the rear wing of his car "super-dangerous" following a second crash in as many weeks. 

Horner's successor as Red Bull team principal, Laurent Mekies, has vowed to "leave no stone unturned" in searching for the root issue with the wing, and Verstappen said of the initial debrief of his crash: “He came straight into my room, of course, to discuss the problems that we had in the race, to let me know what happened out there, so yeah. But that's normal, we always do that.”

Dismissing this as nothing other than a normal post-race procedure, however, he added: “But we always do that, good or bad.”

- Sam Hall

RED BULL REVEALS SEVEN-PART UPGRADE FOR CRUCIAL HOME F1 RACE AT AUSTRIAN GP

Red Bull has revealed an extensive upgrade package for the F1 Austrian Grand Prix.

Red Bull has brought a major upgrade to Austria

Red Bull has unveiled a substantial upgrade package for its home Formula 1 race, the Austrian Grand Prix. 

After bringing its first upgrades of the season to Miami, Red Bull has now unleashed an extensive raft of updates in a bid to improve its RB22 following a difficult start to the 2026 campaign. 

In total, Red Bull has made seven changes to its car for its home event at Spielberg. Red Bull has introduced a revised sidepod inlet and engine cover for reliability reasons to improve cooling.

Red Bull's upgrades for the Austrian Grand Prix

In terms of performance-related updates, Red Bull has made changes to the surface of the RB22’s floor, floor board, as well as reprofiling the rear suspension layout and rear corner.

Red Bull has also introduced a new rear wing and exhaust tailpipe, which features a revised overlap between the tailpipe exit profile and the supporting tailpipe bracket. 

Red Bull is aiming to find more aerodynamic performance and continue its weight-saving programme, having started the season with a car that was 12kg overweight. That figure was halved thanks to its Miami package. 

All eyes will be on Red Bull at its home race, particularly regarding the future of Max Verstappen. 

When asked how crucial the impact of the Austria upgrade and coming races will be for his future at Red Bull, Verstappen replied: “I think it's just crucial for us as a team, we want to improve from where we started this season to where we want to end it.

“We know that we are lacking performance, so it's more about just trying to improve the car. I think that's what everyone wants.”

Verstappen in the Austria paddock

The four-time world champion added: “Those are, of course, also the easier steps to make when you're far behind. The hardest step is always the last one, to really fight for the win. 

“So let's see how we can do that, to be in that fight again. I'm not sure [if that can happen this weekend]. But for sure, the team is always giving it 100% and pushing flat out to make the car faster.

“But we know that other teams are also constantly bringing upgrades. So we just need to always try and find a little bit more to try and close that gap. It was quite clear in Barcelona that there was still a gap, so hopefully it can be a bit better this weekend.”

Other front-running teams have joined Red Bull in bringing updates this weekend. 

Mercedes has a new front suspension and engine cover to improve performance and cooling respectively. The German manufacturer has also brought a battery fix to Austria, following Andrea Kimi Antonelli's late retirement at Barcelona.

Ferrari has brought a total of four updates, including changes to the SF-26’s front wing endplate, RV tail, floor board and mirror stay, while McLaren has introduced an updated rear corner and an “experimental rear wing” that will be trialled by reigning world champion Lando Norris on Friday. 

- Lewis Larkam

MAX VERSTAPPEN BACKS GIANPIERO LAMBIASE MCLAREN F1 MOVE: 'HE’D BE STUPID NOT TO TAKE IT'

Verstappen issued his first comments on his long-time Red Bull Formula 1 race engineer inking a deal with McLaren for 2028

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen says he fully backs race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase's future move to McLaren and says Lambiase had discussed his Red Bull exit with him before agreeing to it.

Last week, McLaren announced it had snapped up Lambiase for the role of chief racing officer, supporting team principal Andrea Stella on race weekends. Lambiase is expected to make the move by the start of 2028 at the latest, pending any deal to pry the British engineer loose from Red Bull Racing before the end of his current contract.

That means that if Verstappen sees out his current Red Bull deal, which expires at the end of 2028, he is set to lose his long-time ally as his race engineer. But amid suggestions the prospect of losing Lambiase could further influence Verstappen's thinking on his F1 future, with the Dutchman disillusioned with the 2026 technical regulations, he says he fully backs Lambiase's promotion to a more senior role within the F1 paddock.

“We’ve spoken about it, and when he told me what the opportunity was, I said: you’d be stupid not to take it," Verstappen said at a Viaplay event in Amsterdam. “It’s an incredible opportunity for him, not just in terms of the role but also for his future. You have to think about your family and long-term security as well.”

Verstappen revealed Lambiase had first sought his approval before committing to the career move. “He told me he wanted to hear it from me,” Verstappen said. “I said: 100%, you should just go for it.”

The Dutchman insisted his strong bond with Lambiase wouldn't change over the remainder of their time together at Red Bull, forging a lasting friendship through the many high and lows of their partnership.

“We’ve already achieved everything together, and more than once. We’ve won a lot. That won’t change," he said. “We’re both still young. You never know what happens in the future. Maybe we’ll work together again.

“We’ll be friends for life. Everyone has their own goals and ambitions. You can’t hold someone back. In the end everybody needs to grow. Everyone has their own goals in life.”

- Mike Mulder

FORMULA 1 CONSTRUCTORS STANDINGS

 

U.S. CUSTOMS DERAILED RED BULL-FORD F1 ENGINE TEST BY SEIZING A TURBOCHARGER

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Red Bull Racing is taking a massive leap into the unknown this season by debuting its first in-house F1 power unit. As part of its new partnership, Ford contributed a significant amount of resources to the engine's development. However, it wasn't entirely smooth sailing for the fledgling program. A race to test a turbocharger before the 2022 summer break was derailed after the component was seized by US Customs and Border Protection. While most F1 teams are based in the United Kingdom, many have alliances that require collaborating across international borders.

For those unfamiliar with F1, the championship's governing body imposes a mandatory summer break to give team personnel a reprieve from the nearly year-round season. Christian Hertrich, Ford Racing's powertrain chief engineer, recounted an astonishing tale to The Drive indirectly caused by this regulatory deadline. Red Bull didn't have the facilities to test the turbo, so the program decided to stuff it into a briefcase and have an engineer hand-deliver it to Ford in Michigan. However, a customs agent decided to seize the component. Hertrich said:

So, I realized I was working in Formula 1 when I was at Customs and Border Patrol at 2 a.m., trying to recover this turbocharger because within 12 hours, we had to pull the plug for the summer shutdown, and after that, we couldn't do any more testing. We had to get data off of this to meet our deadlines. That was my opening experience, and it was legitimately sitting at the airport dealing with Border Patrol."

Crossing borders is as familiar to F1 teams as skirting the rules

Oracle Red Bull Racing / Red Bull Content Pool

Hertrich would note that Ford and Red Bull had yet to establish a proper procedure for moving parts across the Atlantic with the necessary paperwork. The situation is far different four years later. Ocean-spanning partnerships aren't new to Red Bull or F1 as a whole. The team previously partnered with Honda. The Japanese automaker is now paired with Aston Martin. Haas, an American team, splits its operations between Britain and North Carolina. Cadillac is poised to do the same with its stateside base outside of Indianapolis.

Rival F1 teams wish they could seize Red Bull's turbocharger. The new power unit is facing scrutiny over rumors that it could exceed the 16:1 compression ratio limit set by this year's technical regulations. The technical chiefs from every F1 team are set to convene at an FIA meeting next week, where the topic will be discussed. It's feared that Red Bull-Ford-powered cars could have a 13-horsepower advantage on the rest of the field, estimated to be worth four-tenths of a second per lap.

- RYAN ERIK KING

RED BULL RACING 🏎️ FINED AFTER TRYING TO REMOVE LANDO NORRIS' GRID TAPE

Red Bull has been fined €50k by the FIA for a pre-race rules breach, which involved a team member attempting to remove tape guiding McLaren's Lando Norris to his grid position 🆕

YUKI TSUNODA WON'T BE AROUND NEXT YEAR

 

MEKIES REVEALS SHOCK CALL THAT MADE HIM RED BULL TEAM BOSS

 

XPB

Laurent Mekies has revealed the exact moment he was informed he would replace Christian Horner as team principal and CEO of Red Bull Racing – describing it as a bolt from the blue that he had to "quickly digest" before embracing the challenge.

Red Bull stunned the Formula 1 paddock earlier this month when the energy drink company announced that Horner, who had led Red Bull Racing since its inception in 2005, was stepping down with immediate effect and replaced by Mekies, previously in charge of sister outfit Racing Bulls.

Speaking to F1.com ahead of his first race weekend in charge at Spa-Francorchamps, the Frenchman described the whirlwind moment when Red Bull GmbH managing director Oliver Mintzlaff and motorsport advisor Helmut Marko delivered the news.

"Obviously, it came out of the blue, as [it did] for you guys, so mine was probably quite similar to you," Mekies said.

"I received a call a few hours before everyone was made aware. And it was from Oliver and Helmut, and it took me by surprise.

"Initially, I asked them if you have to think about it and then you quickly realise... then try to digest and then you say, well, wait a second, it's Red Bull calling you to step in that role. How can it be anything else than an honour and a privilege?

“So, you get that Red Bull energy feeling there, and that's how it happened. Obviously, I called them back, and the rest is history."

From Shock to Strategy: Mekies Outlines His First Moves

While the appointment came with little time for preparation, Mekies quickly focused his attention on building relationships inside the team and understanding the internal dynamics of one of F1’s most successful operations.

"I think the biggest element was then how do you get into it. The first thing that pops into your mind is, you need to meet the people and that was really what was in my mind,” he explained

"How do you now use the time? To meet these incredible people, to meet the teams, to start to get to know each other, to start to interact, to understand the strengths, to understand the dynamics, to understand all of that."

He acknowledged the early days are still part of a long learning curve.

"And it's been only two weeks, and you are nowhere near where you want to be, but it's a completely different feeling once you start that process and you get to know more people every day, so it makes it quite an incredible journey."

Mekies now faces the immense task of leading Red Bull into its post-Horner era, with the team's on-track form under scrutiny and star driver Max Verstappen closely watching developments.

But for the 48-year-old engineer, the sudden opportunity is one he now fully embraces – with Red Bull’s signature energy already carrying him into a new chapter.

- Phillip van Osten

HOW MERCEDES NOW 'PRIVATELY FEEL ABOUT OFFERING GEORGE RUSSELL A NEW CONTRACT AFTER CRISTIAN HORNER'S SACKING

Christian Horner’s exit from Red Bull Racing could have wide-ranging implications for the Formula 1 driver market.

Max Verstappen went into the 2025 F1 season as the incumbent drivers’ championship winner, having won four titles on the bounce.

However, at the halfway stage of the campaign, it appears almost impossible for the Red Bull driver to add a fifth championship to his collection.

Oscar Piastri has a 69-point lead over Verstappen, and his dissatisfaction could have wide-ranging implications for the driver market.

Verstappen has a get-out clause in the Red Bull contract, and that has caught the attention of Mercedes.

Mercedes chiefs have reportedly greenlit a move for Verstappen, and this could have wide-ranging implications for George Russell.

Russell is out of contract at the end of the season, as is his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

However, Toto Wolff appears more likely to let the British driver go should Verstappen become available; however, the 27-year-old’s future might be settled sooner rather than later.

‘Privately’ felt in Formula 1 that George Russell will extend his Mercedes contract

Journalist Daniel Moxon was writing on his Substack in the aftermath of Horner being replaced by Laurent Mekies at Red Bull.

Explaining what was being discussed during the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone, Moxon suggested that he consulted sources from ‘both Mercedes and Red Bull’.

Moxon believes that ‘there wasn’t anything too serious there’ when asking about the idea of Verstappen moving on at the end of this season.

Wolff’s interest in Verstappen has been well known for some time, even before the Dutchman made his Formula 1 debut in 2015.

He believes that there is nothing ‘concrete’ to suggest that a move for Verstappen is impending, even if Wolff and Verstappen are holidaying in the same area ahead of the next race at Spa.

Russell is said to be ‘confident’ that he’ll be signing a new Mercedes deal, and ‘privately’ it’s believed that it could be struck potentially before the Belgian Grand Prix.

There are suggestions that Russell and Mercedes reached an impasse over the length of his contract.

It makes sense for Wolff to offer the four-time race winner a short-term deal to keep the opportunity of signing Verstappen open.

However, Russell is in such good form that he can be demanding in negotiations with the Silver Arrows.

How Mercedes driver George Russell was greeted by the British Grand Prix crowd

Russell had a nightmare home race at Silverstone on Sunday, finishing in the final points-paying position after a botched strategy.

He decided to change onto slick tyres on the formation lap, losing him track position and a lot of time as the track didn’t dry as fast as expected.

Fans at Silverstone appeared to forget Russell existed, with far more excitement surrounding Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.

From a commercial point of view, Verstappen would be a huge draw for Mercedes given his success, even if he’s not particularly willing to take part in many of the commercial activities that drivers are required to do.

Martin Brundle suggested Mercedes’ strategy defied common sense at Silverstone, and that might be why Russell didn’t get the support he might have expected.

His luck at the British Grand Prix has been woeful throughout his career, with a technical fault ending his hope of winning the race last season.

- Ben Evans

FORMULA 1 | MOST WINS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

 

VERSTAPPEN'S KID SAVED DADDY VERSTAPPEN FROM MEDIA 🤣

 

MAX VERSTAPPEN IN RESPONSE TO DAVID CROFT ON QUESTIONS ANOUT LEAVING RED BULL

 

FORMULA ONE: YUKI TSUNODA TARGETS PODIUM FINISH IN JAPAN. AFTER

Yuki Tsunoda has targeted a podium finish at his home Japanese Grand Prix this weekend after his “unreal” promotion to the Red Bull team in place of the axed Liam Lawson.

Tsunoda will race alongside four-time world champion Max Verstappen after Red Bull ruthlessly pulled the plug on underperforming New Zealander Lawson last week, just two races into the F1 season.

Tsunoda said it felt “unreal” to be driving for one of the top teams on the grid and set his sights on making an instant impact in front of the Japanese fans at Suzuka.

Tsunoda steps up from Red Bull’s junior team Racing Bulls (RB), with Lawson moving back down to RB, where he was last season.

Tsunoda said he did not expect to be racing for the team in Japan, after being passed over for Lawson when Mexico’s Sergio Perez left Red Bull at the end of last season.

“It has all fallen into place and now I’m standing here, and that’s thanks to the support of everyone.”

Tsunoda has never finished on the podium in four full seasons in F1 but he has shown pace on both race weekends this year.

He was 12th in the season opener at Melbourne and only finished out of the points at Shanghai because of RB’s flawed two-stop pit strategy.

Tsunoda urged Japanese fans to get behind him at Suzuka for his Red Bull grand prix debut.

“The thing that I’m looking forward to most is that there couldn’t be a more pressurised, challenging situation than this,” he said.

“It’s also my debut, so with all these things added up I think it’s going to be an unbelievably exciting race.”

Lawson was knocked out at the first stage of all three qualifying sessions this season and has yet to score a point.

The New Zealander struggled to control the Red Bull but Tsunoda said he “didn’t think it was that challenging a car to drive” after two days on a simulator.

“Everyone says the car is very responsive and I got that impression too, but it didn’t seem to act in a strange, tricky manner.”

- AFP

RED BULL 'NEVER CONSIDERED' DANIEL RICCIARDO APPROACH TO REPLACE LIAM LAWSON

Getty 

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is adamant that the team “never considered” approaching Daniel Ricciardo about a possible Formula 1 return to replace Liam Lawson

Earlier this week, Red Bull announced that Lawson’s stint with the senior team had been cut short two rounds into 2025 amid a disastrous beginning to the campaign.

Lawson’s demotion has seen Yuki Tsunoda become the fifth driver to partner Max Verstappen since 2019 in a spot that has become renowned as a poisoned chalice.

Red Bull’s strive to resolve the team’s ongoing second driver conundrum had even extended to granting Ricciardo a reprieve with the group’s sister squad in mid-2023.

However, the Australian was unable to produce the results to inspire a dream avenue back to Red Bull, prompting him to be dropped with six rounds to go last season.

But with Ricciardo remaining the most competitive team-mate Verstappen has had, Marko was asked whether Red Bull had contemplated getting in contact with him.

“No, that was never considered,” Marko, who allegedly wanted to curtail Ricciardo’s comeback with Racing Bulls even earlier in 2024, retorted to Motorsport.com.

“Daniel had his last race and has since completely distanced himself from Formula 1.

“He was briefly in Australia [for the Grand Prix], yes, but I think he left again on Thursday. It was never a topic.”

Ricciardo indicated F1 career was done

Ricciardo had indicated once the curtain came down on his last race in Singapore that his failure to reunite with Verstappen at Red Bull had spelt an end to his career.

“I think [I] acknowledge also why I came back into the sport, sometimes you see the big picture,” Ricciardo told media including Motorsport Week at the time.

“I always said I don’t want to be a guy who’s just here on the grid and fighting for a point every now and then which has kinda been how this year’s gone.

“Obviously this year the purpose was to try and do good enough to get back into Red Bull and fight for wins again, see if I’ve still got it.

“I felt like I came up short with that, so I think it’s then, ‘ok what else am I fighting for here, what else is going to give me fulfilment’.

“I’ve been a young driver as well and at some point I don’t just want to take up space also, obviously you have to be selfish.

“But for me if I’m not able to fight at the front with Red Bull I have to ask myself what am I staying on the grid for, that’s something I’ve also come to peace with.”

- Taylor Powling

YUKI TSUNODA IS OFFICIALLY WITH TEAN RED BULL RACING 🏎️

F1 2025 PRIZE POT

 

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