The 2025 World Championship is finely poised heading into the Canadian Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen looking to avoid a disastrous race ban. If the Dutchman picks up a penalty point over the coming two race weekends, he will be suspended for the following event.
This would have disastrous consequences for his Drivers’ Championship title bid. The 27-year-old is chasing his fifth successive crown, but faces increasingly stiff competition from Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. The Australian leads the way by 10 points with five wins under his belt this season, while Verstappen is 49 points behind.
Lewis Hamilton is also under the spotlight heading into Sunday’s race in Montreal. The legendary Brit suffered another miserable weekend in Spain last time out, being overtaken by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg after a late safety car bunched up the pack.
Liam Lawson gets brutally honest
Liam Lawson has offered an honest assessment on his season, having been demoted to Racing Bulls from Red Bull.
The Kiwi has suffered since landing a permanent seat on the grid and accepted that mistakes have been made.
“You’re always learning, and we’re always making mistakes,” Lawson said. “So I’m not sitting here saying that I’ve done everything perfectly this year, because I haven’t. But, we understand as drivers that it takes a lot for a Formula 1 weekend to run smoothly.
“For a session to run smoothly, you’re relying on a lot of variables, and so for me, I’m just focused on making sure I’m doing everything I can.
“And it felt like on my side, we were working in a good way, and things more or less outside of our control were not clicking, let’s say. And in Monaco, they did, which is good.”
Max Verstappen backed for Le Mans 24 debut
Max Verstappen has been tipped to make his debut at Le Mans 24 Hours after admitting his interest.
Sebastien Buemi, who departed F1 and has enjoyed success in Le Mans, thinks that a switch would only be “a matter of time.”
He told RacingNews365: “I haven’t see him for quite a long time, but the last time we saw each other we discussed about everything,.
“He’s passionate. He asked me a lot about Formula E, we spoke about WEC. Obviously, I remember I used to talk about the weight between the drivers being a factor also for him to compete, which has been adjusted with the average of the three drivers.
“It’s not ideal yet. Obviously, if you are heavy, it’s still a bit of an issue. But that was something he wanted to be clear and amended before he would take part.
“But I’m sure, Formula 1 is extremely heavy. It’s a heavy schedule. It’s very difficult to commit to do Le Mans. But I know it’s just a matter of time until he actually does it.”
Adrian Newey triggers Aston Martin change
Aston Martin ambassador Pedro de la Rosa claims that Adrian Newey has brought new change to the team.
Newey is not working on the 2025 car, instead looking forward to the future, but promising verdicts are coming out of the team’s HQ.
“The change is tremendous,” he said. “Since the announcement that Newey was coming to us, there has been a total change.
“More people want to come and work at Aston Martin, from all the teams and especially from the universities. It’s something no one realised could happen, but it is happening because young engineers want to work with the big names to learn more quickly.”
Leclerc pledges future to Ferrari
Charles Leclerc has stated that there is ‘no chance’ he will leave Ferrari, despite a frustrating start to the 2025 season.
“Of course not, there is absolutely no chance,” he told L’Equipe. “I believe in the project and I believe in Fred. Clearly, it’s a complicated moment and in times like this it’s easy to have doubts.
“But I’m not thinking about leaving Ferrari, I want to win with Ferrari. And I will stay as long as I believe in this project. And I believe in it.
“I’ve always said I have total trust in Fred and I truly believe he is the right person to bring Ferrari back to the top. He really is the one who can make it win. I’ve always said it. I really hope that together we can bring Ferrari back to the top.”
Haas unveil beautiful one-off livery
To commemorate the team’s 200th Grand Prix weekend, Haas have unveiled a new livery for the Canadian Grand Prix, paying homage to the design that they donned in their debut back in 2015.
The new design, which will be represented by Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman in Montreal, features the return of the Haas grey, alongside the traditional red and black colours.
Haas livery
Haas will use a special livery in Canada this weekend (Image: Haas)
6 hours ago14:37 Harry Smith
Newey reveals Aston Martin move alternative
Adrian Newey has revealed that he considered moving towards the America’s Cup sailing competition when his exit from Red Bull was confirmed, before ultimately deciding to remain in F1 with Aston Martin.
“America’s Cup is very interesting, very much a parallel universe,” he told Sky Sports F1. “Technologies are all very similar. The only thing I don’t like about America’s Cup is there’s no right of reply. You’ve got a competition once every four years.
“And from when the boat goes in the water to when you’re competing is two months at most. So if you haven’t got the design quite right to start with, you really haven’t got time to sort it out.
“Whereas in Formula 1, even if you don’t start the season well, if you’ve got the fundamental architecture of the car right, you’ve got the right power unit, great drivers, then you can turn it around. And McLaren’s a very good current example of that.”
Indy 500 winner Palou rules out F1 move
Indy 500 winner and reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou has ruled out a switch to F1, suggesting that he would only swap his Chip Ganassi Racing ride for a spot on the grid in Europe if it was with a team capable of winning races.
“Don’t get me wrong: I love Formula 1 and it was my dream, of course. But the timing just isn’t right at the moment,” he said.
“Why should I waste three or four years with a team that can’t win? That’s not my idea of racing. I want to fight for victories – especially at the Indy 500 – and for championships. That’s the only way I’m happy.”
109th Running Of The Indianapolis 500
Max Verstappen is ‘talking to every team’ on the grid about his F1 future, according to FIA steward Derek Warwick. Red Bull have been unable to give him a car worthy of fighting McLaren this season.
“Well obviously he’s talking to every team, but when you say every team, that’s only really McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, and maybe Aston Martin,” Warwick told Plejmo.
“Aston would be a big gamble, but they do have Adrian Newey there. Mercedes will always be there or thereabouts, although they’ve had a lean period for them these last three years.
“If I was Mercedes, would I want to get rid of George or Kimi? I think the answer to that is no, but the trouble is when you’ve got arguably the fastest driver in Formula One knocking on your door, I think he can open most doors. I think the big, big paycheck would come from Aston Martin if that’s what he’s interested in. I think at the end of the day he’ll stay at Red Bull.”
Red Bull tipped for surprise driver promotion
Christian Horner could make a surprise promotion to Red Bull, according to Johnny Herbert. The former FIA steward believes that Arvid Lindblad could receive a dream promotion if he wins the Formula Two championship this season.
“Isack Hadjar has been very impressive, and rightly so,” he told YaySweepstakes. “The nice thing that he’s doing is just consistency, he’s not been up and down. He’s pretty good every time he’s on the track. He might not have the perfect weekend all the time, but no one has so far this season.
“Hadjar is making people and teams think, he’s put himself in a very good position. Of course, there’s always the new promising rookies coming through, I was one of those before I had my accident, then it was Jean Alesi.
“Even if you’re in the RB seat and doing a good job, but Arvid Lindblad wins the F2 championship, Red Bull, I would think, will want the champion in their second seat, especially with how quickly Lindblad has progressed.
“I think Hadjar is making that decision for Red Bull difficult, even if he never won F2. Red Bull now have potentially two young talents, and if Max Verstappen leaves Red Bull, according to the rumours, the team has two great talents that can drive for them.”
Hamilton move questioned by ex-Ferrari boss
Audi F1 chief Mattia Binotto has questioned whether or not Lewis Hamilton is past his prime. The legendary Brit has endured a challenging start to his Ferrari career with a tough result last time out in Barcelona.
“Hamilton is of a certain age,” Binotto said. “Ferrari got him when he was already at the end of his career. Ideally, they would have been able to get him a few years earlier.”
Looking at Ferrari’s overall struggles, the former team principal said: “As an outsider, perhaps one shouldn’t even judge. It’s clear that the performance on the track and the results are not good right now.
“But I know every single member of that team very well and I know that they are good, strong and capable. They will know how to improve the car and do well in the future. And I think Ferrari can take some satisfaction for this year.”
Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Scuderia Ferrari seen…