MAX VERSTAPPEN TO START F1 BRAZIL GP FROM PIT LANE AFTER MAJOR RED BULL CHANGES

Max Verstappen laboured to 16th in qualifying at Interlagos

Max Verstappen will start the Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix from the pit lane after receiving an engine change as well as set-up changes under parc ferme.

The Dutchman qualified a dismal 16th at the Interlagos circuit, completing Red Bull’s first double Q1 exit since 2006.

Verstappen struggled to find grip during the session, and despite valiant attempts to get himself into Q2, the RB21 did not have the performance to free him, nor team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, from the elmination zone.

The seismic nature of Verstappen’s downfall in qualifying has left the Milton Keynes-based squad feeling there is little choice except to make drastic changes.

Not only has Verstappen been handed a new Honda power unit for the race, but also a raft of different parts.

It is believed that the RB21 had been using the United States Grand Prix iteration of the revised floor, and with Verstappen complaining of “sliding around a lot” and being unable to push, it appears that the Mexico version has now be fitted to the car.

After qualifying on Saturday, Verstappen said that “nothing really seems to work” when it came to improving the car, and said he could “forget about” his outside chances of retaining the Drivers’ Championship.

- Jack Oliver Smith

TIMO GLOCK TELLS LANDO NORRIS AND OSCAR PIASTRI THE 'TEO' TEASONS WHY MAX VERSTAPPEN WILL WIN TITLE

Max Verstappen can win the F1 drivers’ championship for a fifth season in a row if the Red Bull star overturns his 36 and 35-point deficits to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Only Michael Schumacher has ever won the F1 drivers’ championship five years on the spin, having won the title each term with Ferrari from 2000 to 2004. Verstappen can now join the iconic German in the record books, having won the title each year with Red Bull since 2021.

Verstappen currently sits third in the standings with four rounds of the 2025 F1 season now remaining. But the 28-year-old reduced his deficit to first place during each of the past five rounds, having outscored Piastri in all five and only dropped points to Norris in Mexico City.

Red Bull star Verstappen had trailed Piastri by as much as 104 points following the McLaren man’s victory in the Dutch Grand Prix during round 15/24 in August. But the Dutchman won in Italy, Azerbaijan and the United States, plus he secured P2 in Singapore and P3 in Mexico.

Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images

Timo Glock backs Max Verstappen’s mental strength and ability in ‘all conditions’ to win him the 2025 F1 title

Verstappen utilised Red Bull’s floor upgrade to win the Italian Grand Prix in round 16, and he has continued to benefit from his team’s subsequent front wing updates and revisions to the floor. McLaren stopped bringing updates a while ago to focus fully on F1’s 2026 regulations.

Now, with 116 points on offer over the Grands Prix in Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, plus the F1 Sprint events in Sao Paulo and Lusail, Timo Glock feels the title is Verstappen’s to lose. Verstappen is mentally stronger and better than Norris and Piastri in any circumstance.

Glock has told Sky Germany: “My tip for the drivers’ championship is Max Verstappen. Why? Because he is the strongest mentally and in all conditions.”

Ralf Schumacher also feels Verstappen may go on to deny Norris and Piastri the title, but he is less certain about the Red Bull ace’s chances. The former Williams man feels there will be a clearer picture of the title fight following the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and the Sprint in Brazil.

“It’s harder than ever to predict,” Schumacher said. “I think Brazil could be decisive. If Max can strike back there, then it will be incredibly exciting. I almost don’t dare say anything right now. Norris is in really good form, but Verstappen is waiting for his opportunity.”

Max Verstappen cannot win the 2025 F1 drivers’ title without Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri hitting trouble

While Verstappen may have Glock’s support, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc expects Norris or Piastri to win the 2025 F1 title. Leclerc had previously backed Piastri to win the title, but he is less convinced that the 24-year-old Australian will deny the 25-year-old Briton the crown.

Verstappen could need a lot to go in his favour to win the title this term, despite having now outscored Piastri by 69 points and Norris by 34 over the past five rounds. Norris can win the 2025 F1 drivers’ title if he finishes second to Verstappen in every remaining race this season.

Were Verstappen to win all four of the final Grands Prix and the two remaining Sprints, with Norris finishing second each time, the Red Bull racer would only reduce his current 36-point deficit to the McLaren ace to six points. Norris would win the title with 443 points over 437.

Similarly, Piastri can win the title by finishing second to Verstappen in each of the remaining Grands Prix and Sprints, to end the year on 442 points. So, Verstappen may need Norris and Piastri to take points out of each other, or for another driver to get involved, to win the title.

- Kyle Archer

'WE CAN'T MAKE THE CAR WORSE' - LEWIS HAMILTON SEEKS CHANGES AMID MERCEDES STRUGGLES

Lewis Hamilton will look to make changes to his Mercedes F1 car ahead of qualifying at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton 

The seven-time world champion has endured a miserable weekend so far in Brazil. He failed to make the cut for the top-10 in sprint qualifying and was knocked out in SQ2, before a frustrating run to 11th in the sprint.

Hamilton lost ground on the opening lap and while he was able to recover to finish where he started, he admitted the 24-lap sprint race was “one of the worst of the year”.

"Probably one of the worst [races] of the year. The car was all over the place. It was a real, real struggle,” the outgoing Mercedes driver explained.

"Our car does not like this track. At least we have time now to make some changes going into qualifying. We definitely can’t make it worse."

Hamilton’s teammate, George Russell, fared better as he took sixth ahead of Alpine's Pierre Gasly. 

“It’s just how it is at the moment,” Russell commented. “Often those cars in the midfield are pushing in the beginning to be within the DRS.

“I think we finished the race six seconds behind Carlos [Sainz], six seconds ahead of Gasly, which is exactly what we thought would happen before the race.

“We will try to improve but we are not going to make a pole position, race-winning car from now until qualifying starts.”

Russell has closed to within nine points of sixth-placed Hamilton in the drivers’ standings.

Mercedes, meanwhile, remain fourth, 150 points adrift of Red Bull with four grands prix and one sprint race remaining this season. 

- Lewis Larkam

F1 ANNOUNCES SPRINT RACE CALENDAR FOR 2025, BELGIUM REPLACES AUSTRIA

 Brazil will host its fifth sprint race since F1 introduced the shortened-race format; Austria drops off schedule

XPBimages

Formula 1 has announced the six grand prix weekends that will feature sprint events in 2025, with Spa-Francorchamps reinstated as Austria drops off for the first time since 2021.

Five of the events on the sprint calendar remain the same from 2024's schedule; China and Miami will continue to host Saturday races, as will Austin, Brazil, and Qatar.

Belgium had previously held a sprint race in 2023, although this was omitted alongside the Azerbaijan sprint from this year's calendar as the returning Chinese Grand Prix and the Miami round were installed as new hosts.

The return of a sprint race to the Belgian Grand Prix weekend comes at the expense of the Austrian Grand Prix, which first hosted a sprint in 2022 and remained on the schedule for the next two seasons.

Having held a sprint in every season since the format was introduced in 2021, the Sao Paulo Grand Prix will continue to do so having produced a series of highly acclaimed shorter races.

Both Qatar and the United States Grand Prix were first introduced to the sprint calendar in 2023 when the number of 100km races was increased from three to six, and remain on the bill for both this season and next.

F1 has also revealed an increase in viewing figures for sprint weekends over 'normal' weekends featuring three practice sessions, underlining its decision to continue with the format.

It is expected that the current layout used in 2024, in which the sprint race takes place on Saturday prior to grand prix qualifying, will remain in place.

This had been changed for this season to allow parc ferme to open between the sprint race and qualifying proper, ensuring that teams could address any mistakes in set-up to account for the loss in practice time.

The changes ensured that the sprints became more of a standalone event, rather than directly affecting the full-length grand prix, and now does not penalise drivers for any set-up changes between the sprint race and the grand prix.

Due to the revisions to the 2025 calendar over 2024, this ensures that the China and Miami sprints are no longer in consecutive weekends, while all three sprint rounds following the summer break are also more spaced out.

2025 F1 sprint race calendar

Chinese GP - Shanghai International Circuit - 22 March

Miami GP - Miami International Autodrome - 3 May

Belgian GP - Spa-Francorchamps - 26 July

US GP - Circuit of the Americas - 18 October

Sao Paulo GP - Autodromo de Interlagos - 8 November

Qatar GP - Losail International Circuit - 29 November

- Jake Boxall-Legge

VERSTAPPEN NOW OFFICIALLY THE MOST DOMINANT IN A SINGLE SEASON

Reuters 

Max Verstappen's 17th win of the Formula One season rewrote the record book and established the triple world champion as the most dominant driver the sport has ever seen over the course of a campaign.

Until Sunday's Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos, the highest win percentage for a season was the 75% of late Italian champion Alberto Ascari who won six out of eight world championship races with Ferrari in 1952.

Verstappen's tally so far from 20 races puts his percentage at 85%, and even if he does not win the remaining two rounds of the season in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi, he will still finish above 77%.

Not that the Dutch 26-year-old was paying too much attention to the statistics when asked how much the numbers resonated and motivated him.