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Formula 1 legends Sir Jackie Stewart and David Coulthard have urged Lewis Hamilton to ‘step aside’ and ‘retire’ from the sport to avoid the ‘pain’ of not being able to compete as he used to behind the wheel. Hamilton has struggled to adapt to Mercedes new W13 car in 2022 only finishing on the podium twice in nine races and has repeatedly been out-driven by teammate George Russell. He sits almost 100 points behind rival Max Verstappen in the standings and the Silver Arrows are still coming to terms with their car being the third-fastest on the grid.
Stewart explained that he feels Hamilton is finding it difficult to handle the skill of his new teammate and doesn’t believe the seven-time wolrd champion can make it back to the top level of the sport saying: “He’s now struggling a little bit because he’s had a new teammate who’s been quicker than him in qualifying so far, which is gonna be difficult for him to handle. It’s a pity he wasn’t resigning at the top but I don’t think that’s gonna happen now.”
Ex-Formula driver Coulthard believes that Hamilton still has more to offer Mercedes but should focus on getting to grips with the car instead of voicing his concerns over the physical toll it’s taking on his body. “You take the pain, whether it’s through your lower back. What I would say is if any driver feels uncomfortable, if any driver feels like he’s doing himself long-term damage – step aside.”
Follow all the latest F1 news and build-up to the British Grand Prix below.
Valtteri Bottas has revealed he almost quit Formula One following two seasons of racing alongside Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes after losing his enjoyment for the sport.
Bottas replaced Nico Rosberg at Mercedes following the 2016 season but admitted that he struggled to cope with the pressure of competing against Hamilton for race wins.
Hamilton was the clear lead driver at Mercedes and won the world championship in four of the five seasons in which he and Bottas were team-mates.
And the Finnish driver, who left the team to join Alfa Romeo at the end of last season, said he was at his lowest point at the end of the 2018 season, when Hamilton won the title but Bottas finished fifth in the standings and without a race win.
Bottas admitted he almost walked away from Formula One after his first two seasons of racing alongside Hamilton
Ferrari boss, Mattia Binotto spoke about the performance of Charles Leclerc in the Canadian Grand Prix and how the decision to take penalties for changes to his power unit was taken early in the week.
Leclerc started at the back of the grid in P19 but a battling race on Sunday sawy him fight through the pack to claim a P5 finish to limit the damage of taking on board the new equipment.
Binotto hopes the new gear on the car can allow Leclerc to “attack” over the next few races and help Ferrari claw back some of the 76-point deficit on Red Bull who have won the last six races on the bounce.
“It was something we decided very soon after Baku [to take the power unit penalty],” said Binotto. “So, it is something he has been aware of for many days, to adjust and prepare for the race weekend, he knew he would be starting from the back of the grid today on the race.
“So even his Friday, Saturday programme was focussed on the high-fuel runs to make sure he was prepared for the race itself. It is certainly a frustrating situation for a driver… The race would have required a lot of patience, which was certainly the case; you would like certainly to overtake but you cannot because there is a DRS train or because your tyres are worn.
“But finally, limiting the damage, starting from the back, finishing fifth is still a good race result and I know he’s got fresh power units for the next races certainly. We’ve got four races until the summer break – that will be important to him where he can attack, and let’s try to somehow recover some points if we can.”
McLaren CEO Zak Brown recently revealed that the Andretti family’s attempts to enter Formula 1 are meeting lot of resistance but that he hopes in their bid may be accepted by the time the next set of new regulations comes into effect.
The Andretti team has made it very clear that they want to be a part of F1 as soon as possible with both Michael and Mario Andretti confident about the team’s resources and feel they can become a competitive force in F1.
The sport’s recent expansion and growth make the addition of an 11th team seem a reasonable next step, and Stefano Domenicali has already revealed that several parties are interested in joining F1.
But, with the newly implemented Concorde Agreement and entry fee (requiring new teams to pay an estimated $200 million), Domenicali has downplayed the importance of another team joining F1.
No team has entered F1 post-Concorde Agreement, there is no fixed timeline on when there will be a response to Andretti’s advances but Brown hopes the bid ‘isn’t dead’.
“I hope it’s not dead, but it certainly seems like it’s meeting a lot of resistance.” He told Sports Business Journal.
“I wouldn’t want to comment on what I think the right number is [for the entry fee] but what I would say is the value of an F1 franchise – from when the Concorde Agreement was signed to now – it’s grown rapidly.
“Ultimately, it’s up to F1 to decide what the right number to buy in is.”
Perhaps the biggest losers at the Canadian Grand Prix who the duo from Haas. Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher qualified P5 and P6 respectively on Saturday and hopes of a double-points finish were high for the American team.
They were quickly dashed as Magnussen was forced into an early stop due to his front wing making contact with Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes on the opening lap and he could only recover to come home 17th.
Haas’ hopes of points then rested with Schumacher but his race ended early due to a power unit issue on lap 18. The German driver, who is still chasing his first points in Formula 1, described his retirement as “unfortunate,” while believing there are still positives for his team to take forward.
“We had a PU issue which was very unfortunate,” said Schumacher. “I think we were having a good race up to that point. Our feeling in the car was great and I think that the pace was looking not too bad either. Quite upsetting but hey, we still have a few more races to go.
“In terms of pace, yesterday but also today it looked very strong. It’s a good thing, we can take it away from here and, you know, put it into play for Silverstone.”
Kevin Magnussen admitted that Haas’s form of late is a concern – they have gone five races without picking up points.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating [how the race finished], four races or something we haven’t scored points so we want to try to get in the points soon,” admitted Magnussen.
“The FIA thought we had to pit [after the collision with Hamilton] with that. You know it was nothing, this was normal. You’ve got to be able to finish the race with a little bit of scratches on your car, you can’t have it in one piece. I get it if the whole front wing is hanging by one stay or whatever, but it was nothing, so I don’t get it.”
No one ever asks Lando Norris what it’s like to be a man at McLaren.
Sisters Leena and Teena Gade, on the other hand, are always ready to rattle off their respective stock answers. The British engineers boast decades of experience between them, from F1 to rally, endurance and IndyCar, yet people often seem more interested in their gender than their expertise.
Thursday marks International Women in Engineering Day but Leena, Senior Principal Race Engineer for McLaren’s Extreme E team, is frank when it comes to the incessant enquiry.
“It’s so annoying,” said the elder Gade, who in 2011 became the first female race engineer to win 24 Hours of Le Mans, with repeat success in 2012 and 2014.
On International Women in Engineering Day, the sisters discuss how their mere presence in the paddock could be a life-changing picture for a budding engineer
Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has struggled with his Mercedes car this season due to the severe bouncing problems with the W13. He has suffered lower back issues and has been quite vocal in how much pain the car’s troubles are putting him through.
Ex-Formula 1 driver David Coulthard says that such issues are par for the course at the elite level and Hamilton should ‘suck up the pain or give up his seat’ with the team.
“Those that are struggling more are of course going to be more vocal than those that are getting results. Everyone got the same set of technical regulations handed to them. I’ve been in the situation where I’ve had the advantage of my team doing a better job and I’ve been on the other side where the team hasn’t done such a good job,” Coulthard said.
“You take the pain, whether it’s through your lower back. What I would say is if any driver feels uncomfortable, if any driver feels like he’s doing himself long-term damage – step aside. There’s a whole bunch of guys and girls that would very happily step into your car if you feel uncomfortable.
“I think we have to keep in perspective that sport doesn’t come with princess in the pea mattresses. If you’re a boxer, you have to accept someone’s going to punch you in the face, if you’re a footballer someone’s going to drag their studs down the back of your legs. So I think we have to keep in perspective a little bit that this is where certain teams are and there will be evolution, but for the most part, just get on with it.”
Hamilton’s struggles have left him sixth in the world championship standings and 34 points behind teammate George Russell whose first year at Mercedes has been exceptional so far. Yet Coulthard does not believe the current standings are reflective of the duo’s talents.
“In my mind’s eye and it remains to be seen as and when Mercedes deliver a championship the faster the car, the more difficult it is to drive. The further you are away from the peak of downforce then everything just isn’t running as close to the limit,” he added.
“So what tends to happen if you’re in a really fast car, the exceptional drivers get more out of it. And when you have an average car, it’s easier for everyone to get something out of it. I think George is a future world champion, is a fantastic driver and has earnt that place in the team.
Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto believes Carlos Sainz is “gaining confidence” in the team’s car, after the driver took second place at the Canadian Grand Prix after engaging in a late battle with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Earlier in the season Sainz himself admitted having trouble adapting to the new car but the result in Montreal is his fifth podium finish of the season and was a great comeback after a DNF in Baku.
Sainz started the race from P3 on the grid – behind Verstappen and Fernando Alonso – but quickly overtook his countryman and at times was the fastest man on the track. But despite failing to reign in Verstappen in the dying laps Binotto believes that Sainz is getting “faster and faster”.
“Honestly, it was not a surprise [that Sainz was the fastest man on track],” said Binotto. “If you look at the race sim on Friday, Carlos was very strong already and we were very close to the Red Bulls.
“So, we knew we could fight; how much closer it would have been after Friday, no idea, but we know that our car is competitive. Carlos is gaining confidence with the car, he is driving faster and faster and it’s good to see that… he was certainly as fast, if not slightly faster, than Max.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has warned Lewis Hamilton that “one swallow doesn’t make a summer” after the seven-time world champion secured his first podium in nearly three months at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Hamilton will head into his home race at the British Grand Prix a week on Sunday with renewed rigour after he recovered from a back injury in Azerbaijan to finish third in Montreal – his best result since the opening round in Bahrain on 27 March.
Max Verstappen took the chequered flag to claim his sixth win in nine appearances and the sixth in succession for the world champion’s in-form Red Bull team.
But Hamilton, already 98 points behind Verstappen in the standings, said he was “overwhelmed” to cross the line in third – a performance which provided the British driver with hope he could yet return to the winner’s circle this season.
Hamilton heads into his home race at the British Grand Prix a week on Sunday fresh from a first podium in nearly three months
Lewis Hamilton was left feeling “ecstatic” with his second podium of the season as he rolled back the years to take third place at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion has struggled with his Mercedes this season and only just made it to Montreal.
The design of this year’s cars has led to some teams suffering from bouncing – known as porpoising – at high speeds, with Mercedes among the worst.
Hamilton needed assistance to get out of his car following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix a week ago and required acupuncture and cryotherapy on his back to make it to the grid.
The seven-time world champion finished third behind Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz
Lewis Hamilton says his third place finish at the Canadian Grand Prix has given him hope that Mercedes can return to competitiveness this year.
The seven-time champion had not scored a podium since the first race of the season in Bahrain but his result in Montreal ended a run of difficult races.
Hamilton has repeatedly been out-driven by teammate George Russell this season but a decision to switch to soft tyres in qualifying ultimately worked against the 24-year-old this weekend giving Hamilton the edge in the race by starting four places ahead his teammate.
Russell has finished in the top five of every race this season including Canada where he came from eighth in qualifying to end just behind Hamilton in fourth. His highly impressive form this season has led to questions about Hamilton’s future in F1 but it remains to be seen who will prove the faster driver by the end of the year.
“It has given me a lot of hope there is more to come from this car, that the potential is truly there if we can get the set-up right,” Hamilton said. “We are just trying to progress as a team,
“Moving forwards, we will be a little more cautious on doing too many experiments as it really does hinder you through the weekend, especially if you only have first and second practice in the dry.
“There are lots of learnings from this weekend and improvements we can make going forwards but really great pace today. It is so nice to see. That has not always been the case with this car.”
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