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      F1 chiefs confirm new qualifying format for 2023 in shock shake up leaving Max Verstappen furious

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      FORMULA ONE bosses have confirmed a new qualifying for 2023 – but reigning world champion Max Verstappen has been left unhappy with the changes. Fans can expect Saturdays to run differently on two occasions this season as the usual method is shaken up.
      Verstappen enjoyed a comfortable win in the opening race of the 2023 seasonCredit: Getty
      Normally qualifying sees teams have a free choice of tyre compound – soft, medium or hard – as they look to set the fastest lap times possible across three sessions to set the grid for the Grand Prix.
      But in the new trial teams will have to run the hard tyre in the first qualifying session, the medium tyre in the second qualifying session and the soft tyre in the third qualifying session.
      It is not clear how this might affect the usual order but it is possible some teams may excel or struggle on certain tyre compounds on certain tracks, potentially leading to some surprise scenarios in qualifying.
      It is not confirmed when the new system will be trialled but it is speculated that the first race weekend when fans will see it will be at Imola in May.
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      Two-times world champion Verstappen – who began the new campaign in dominant fashion yesterday – is not a fan.
      The 25-year-old said: “I hope it’s not going to be cold in Imola, otherwise it’s going to be quite tricky.
      “It’s the same for everyone but I don’t think we need to actually do these kinds of things in qualifying. I don’t really see the benefit of it.
      “It’s better if we make sure that all the cars are close to each other and more competitive instead of spicing things up in that way, which I think is probably for the show.”
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      Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, 33, was in agreement.
      He said: “We do not really need to change anything. We’ll see once we try it but I don’t think there’s a need to change something that is working well.”

      This is far from the first time F1 bosses have introduced new concepts to try and improve race weekends.
      Among the more successful are the Saturday sprint races, which divide fans but have seen exciting track action across the last few seasons.
      Other ideas have fallen apart almost immediately.
      The decision to award double points in the final race of 2014 was met with widespread derision, while a new elimination qualifying format in 2016 was binned after only one session. More

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      Jeremy Clarkson collared by Martin Brundle as he attends F1 despite being infuriated by it ‘for years and years’

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      JEREMEY CLARKSON was giddy with excitement ahead of the new Formula One season.This was despite his admission of it “infuriating” him for “years and years”.
      Jeremy Clarkson couldn’t contain his excitement attending an F1 raceCredit: SKY SPORTS F1
      But the ex-Top Gear host admitted he had infuriated by the sport in previous yearsCredit: SKY SPORTS F1
      Ahead of the season opener in Bahrain, Sky Sports presenter Martin Brundle resumed the tradition of his grid walk.
      His walk normally allows him to rub shoulders and grab a quick word from the host of celebrities and team members on the grid – sometimes to great comedic effect.
      And his walk in Bahrain was no different, as he spoke to Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Red Bull chief Christian Horner before speaking to Clarkson.
      After asking the ex-Top Gear host whether he should be “planting turnips” Clarkson spoke of his excitement to be back at an F1 race.
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      He said: “[The] First F1 race I’ve been to for years. It’s just so fantastic to be back. I adore Formula 1.
      “It was infuriating for years and years and now it’s back because they can follow one another and the aerodynamics are so much better.
      “My daughter is now a really big fan so I can talk to her about it. I can’t believe how big [the cars] have got! I’m just fizzing with excitement over it all.”
      The race would go on to be won by Max Verstappen, who produced a dominant display.
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      Sergio Perez came in second, while Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso claimed his 99th career podium after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc retired.
      Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton could only muster a fifth-placed finish following Toto Wolff’s admission the Mercedes design concept may need to be scrapped.
      Team-mate George Russell came in seventh, while it was a day to forget for McLaren and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
      Lando Norris was forced to pit SIX times throughout the race due to engine issues, while F1 debutant Oscar Piastri was forced to retire early on.
      Ocon was handed a raft of penalties after twice incorrectly serving previous offences, compromising his race beyond repair.
      His first penalty came after he incorrectly slotted into his grid position at the start of the race before he failed to serve the penalty properly at a pit stop.
      The third offence came as he was found to be speeding in the pit lane.
      It saw the Frenchman equal Pastor Maldonado’s unenviable record for most race penalties in a single race, set at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2015.

      Complete F1 2023 race calendar – details on every Grand Prix this year More

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      Toto Wolff claims Bahrain GP ‘one of my worst days in racing’ after Lewis Hamilton finishes 50 SECONDS behind Verstappen

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      TOTO WOLFF labelled the Bahrain Grand Prix one of his “worst days of racing” after watching Max Verstappen blitz his way to victory.The Red Bull ace crossed the line a staggering 50 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Merc – with team boss Wolff admitting he is “not bulls******g” when he says his team are THAT bad.
      Mercedes chief Toto Wolff admitted Red Bull were ‘on a different planet’Credit: Getty
      Lewis Hamilton came a distant 18th as Mercedes struggledCredit: PA
      Wolff had earlier confessed Merc will be forced to scrap this year’s car due to its poor performance after only ONE qualifying session.
      The staggering revelation comes after a winter of development and, despite initially feeling confident coming into the season, they are again trailing in Red Bull’s dust.
      He said: “One of the worst days in racing. Really not good at all, we were just lacking pace front, right and centre. Red Bull is just on a different planet.
      “I’m not bulls*****g myself and I’m not bulls*****g the media. I have always been transparent and honest.
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      “What I’m saying here is how I feel right now. I’m not overreacting; the gap is very big and in order to catch up we need to make big steps. Not conventional ones.
      “When you look at where we were at the end of last season, where it looked like we caught up a lot but, we have almost doubled, if not tripled, the gap to Red Bull.
      “For us, everything is bad and in the race you saw the consequences and we were going backwards.”
      Hamilton went winless for the first time in his F1 career last season while team-mate George Russell scored one victory for the team in Brazil.
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      But despite the prospect of another year of struggle, Wolff does not expect that to prevent Hamilton from agreeing new terms.
      Hamilton, 38, has a contract until the end of the year and both Jenson Button and Damon Hill have questioned whether he will re-sign now he’s not winning.
      Hamilton said he IS committed to the team and Wolff has also dismissed the idea he will walk away now he has a battle on his hands.
      Wolff added: “The drivers are fully aware. We’re speaking about it openly in the whole team. It is a matter of serious performance we need to find.
      “Lewis is an integral part of the team. You could hear on the radio he was picking the team up.
      “We are all sticking together and I don’t think that’s going to change just because we had another start that was really bad.
      “We have won eight constructors championships and six driver championships with him and that relationship holds.
      “It would be much too easy to lose a driver and throw in the towel but we have to dig deeper than we have ever done.” More

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      Russell predicts Red Bull have F1 title sewn up after ONE race and believes Verstappen’s car will win EVERY GP

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      GEORGE RUSSELL is in no doubt who will win this year’s F1 title.In fact, he thinks Max Verstappen’s Red Bull will win ALL 23-races such is the superiority of the Dutchman’s car.
      George Russell finished P7 in BahrainCredit: PA
      Russell has predicted Max Verstappen to win EVERY Grand Prix this seasonCredit: PA
      “Red Bull have got this championship sewn up,” said the Mercedes man after Verstappen won in Bahrain and he finished seventh.
      “I don’t think anyone will be fighting with them this year. They should win every single race this year, is my bet.
      “With the performance they’ve got. Their pace seemed weaker this weekend than it was in testing, but they’ve got it easy at the moment.
      “They can do what they like. They might not be on pole all the time because we know Ferrari are very competitive in qualifying, but when it comes to race pace they’re in a very strong position.”
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      Let’s take nothing away from Christian Horner’s team who, thanks to the pen of designer Adrian Newey, have an absolute rocketship of a car.
      It is an improvement on last year’s model – which the cynics are suggesting is remarkably like this year’s Aston Martin, which propelled Fernando Alonso to third-place at the Sakhir Circuit.
      But the reality for F1 fans tuning into this season’s opening race with such expectation is that it could turn into a long, hard watch.
      That could prove to be a problem for Formula One, who until last year at least had been treated to some pulsating battles to keep things interesting.
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      F1 does have a history of seeing a team dominate.
      Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes have dominated for spells in the modern era.
      However, the difference is now the sport is enjoying a booming spell of popularity and the question is whether this new generation of fans, converted by the Netflix series, will remain suitably entertained.
      If Verstappen is winning week after week by a considerable margin, and Ferrari and Aston Martin are alternating for third place, the novelty will soon wear off.
      Make no mistake, Red Bull’s advantage is huge.
      Not even a cost-cap penalty of a £7million fine and a reduction in wind tunnel testing has slowed them down.
      If anything, they are quicker by virtue of Mercedes’ dreadful design that has been produced after pigheadedly sticking with a failed concept, which has now been consigned to the bin.
      And while Ferrari looked to offer some hope they could put Red Bull under a bit of pressure, their old Achillies heel proved to be their weakness when Charles Leclerc pulled over with an engine issue and failed to finish the race.
      There were rare moments of excitement.
      Two-time world champion Alonso battled with Lewis Hamilton on lap 38 with the Spaniard getting past the Brit with an excellent piece of driving through turns nine and ten.
      In truth, Hamilton, who was fifth, was a sitting duck as he delivered his assessment after the opening race of the year.
      He said: “We’re miles away. There was a Ferrari that would’ve been ahead of Alonso so we would’ve really been sixth, the podium was nowhere near.
      “We’ve just got a lot of work to do, we’ve just got to add downforce to the car, we’re just lacking a lot of downforce.”
      Alonso then swooped past Carlos Sainz on lap 45, to take a place on the podium for the first time since the 2021 Qatar GP.
      Esteban Ocon provided some light relief with a shocking performance that at least made us laugh.
      He was penalised for being out of position on the startline.
      He then failed to serve the five-second time penalty correctly, triggering another sanction.
      And in making his pitstop, he was penalised for speeding in the pitlane before eventually retiring from the race.
      Other than that, it was all fairly routine for the rest, apart from McLaren who are in a crisis.
      Oscar Piastri was forced to retire on his debut GP with a gearbox problem and team-mate Lando Norris came last after stopping SIX TIMES.
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      The saving grace is the stat that since 2016, no driver who has won the first race of the season has then gone on to lift the title.
      That is likely to change this year.
      Lewis Hamilton finished the season opener in P5Credit: PA More

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      Fernando Alonso’s hilarious reaction caught on Aston Martin team radio after passing Carlos Sainz in F1 Bahrain GP

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      FORMULA 1 fans were left in hysterics after Fernando Alonso’s hilarious reaction to overtaking Carlos Sainz.The two-time world champion, 41, moved up to fourth with 18 laps left of the season-opener in Bahrain after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was forced to retire with reliability issues.
      Fernando Alonso secured his first podium since 2021Credit: Reuters

      Carlos Sainz watched Alonso overtake him in the battle for third placeCredit: Getty
      It left the Spaniard right behind the other Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, as he eyed a podium spot.
      And just a few minutes later, after nearly touching Sainz earlier in the lap, Alonso passed his countryman to move into third place.
      Following the overtake, he could be heard on the Aston Martin team radio saying: “Bye bye”.
      Reacting to the comment, one fan said: “He’s back!!!”
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      While another added: “Fernando Alonso hype train”.
      And a third responded: “HE DON’T MISS”.
      Alonso thoroughly enjoyed his afternoon in Bahrain as his new team showed they are set to be the surprise package of the 2023 season.
      In the closing stages of the Grand Prix, the legendary driver even took the time to praise the car.
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      Heading towards his first podium finish since 2021, he told the team radio: “This is a lovely car to drive”.
      Reigning world champion Max Verstappen cruised to victory in the first race of the season as he seeks a third successive title.

      The Dutchman’s team-mate Sergio Perez came home in second to clinch a Red Bull one-two.
      And Alonso rounded off the podium ahead of Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and fellow Aston Martin man Lance Stroll. More

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      Max Verstappen strolls to Bahrain Grand Prix win and looks cert to retain title after ONE race as Alonso gets third

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      MAX VERSTAPPEN kicked off his F1 title defence with a routine win here in Bahrain.The Red Bull man cruised to victory ahead of his team-mate Sergio Perez, who was second, as the 2023 season got off to a familiar start.
      Max Verstappen carried on how he left off in 2022 as he cruised to victoryCredit: Getty
      Verstappen won by an almost 12 second gapCredit: Getty
      Fernando Alonso’s pace in the Aston Martin proved too much for Lewis HamiltonCredit: AP
      The podium was littered by familiar namesCredit: Getty
      Verstappen has now won five of the last six F1 racesCredit: PA
      Alonso enjoyed his time on the podiumCredit: PA
      Bahrain Grand Prix organisers made sure the spotlight was on the winner
      Red Bull looked supreme once again while Ferrari suffered reliability problems that forced Charles Leclerc to retire. And Mercedes were again off the pace.
      It had an all-too familiar feel as Lewis Hamilton was fifth – the only new element being an impressive performance from Aston Martin duo Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
      Two-time world champion Alonso battled with Hamilton on lap 38 with the Spaniard getting past the Brit with an excellent piece of driving through turns nine and 10.
      Alonso then swooped past Carlos Sainz on lap 45, to take a place on the podium for the first time since the 2021 Qatar GP.
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      It was vintage from Alonso, who had looked impressive over the whole weekend while Stroll, who had broken his wrist only two weeks earlier, was sixth.
      The Aston form will pile the woe on Mercedes, as they were beaten by their customer team.
      Merc boss Toto Wolff bizarrely admitted the team had made a mistake for the second year running with the design of their racecar – a huge error that could have serious ramifications if Hamilton decided not to re-sign with the team.
      But while Mercedes were off the pace, Ferrari will be concerned by Leclerc’s engine failure that cost him a place on the podium.
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      The situation is even more bleak for McLaren. Oscar Piastri was forced to retire on his debut GP with a gearbox problem.
      After all the build up for the Australian he was told to pull into the pits after only 13 laps.
      Team-mate Lando Norris did not do much better. Despite finishing the race, he came home in last place after stopping SIX TIMES.
      It is a worrying start to the season for the Woking-based team, who had warned that they had failed to hit the targets they had set themselves over the winter.
      Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon had a shocker. He was penalised for being out of position on the startline.
      He then failed to serve the five-second time penalty correctly, triggering another sanction.
      And in making his pitstop, he was penalised for speeding in the pitlane before eventually retiring from the race.
      Charles Leclerc was forced to retire from the raceCredit: Getty

      Complete F1 2023 race calendar – details on every Grand Prix this year More

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      F1 fans fears 2023 season title is over after just ONE lap of Bahrain Grand Prix after Max Verstappen’s dominance

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      FORMULA ONE fans believe the battle to win the 2023 title is over after just one lap as Max Verstappen continued his dominance. The new season got underway in Bahrain with the Red Bull driver winning the opening race of the season as he aims to make it three world championship victories in a row.
      Max Verstappen raced into a huge early leadCredit: Getty
      Fans believe there could be a lack of competition at the top this seasonCredit: Getty
      And Verstappen got off to a great start, racing into an early lead, picking up from where he left off in the previous campaign.
      The 25-year-old started on poll with his team-mate Sergio Perez in second and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in third.
      After the first lap of the track, Verstappen was already 1.2 seconds ahead of Leclerc, who had jumped ahead of Perez.
      Four laps in, the Dutchman further extended his lead to 3.4 seconds.
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      By the eighth time around the track, he was an incredible 6.3 seconds ahead of his closest rival.
      Verstappen did pit and was briefly behind Perez before regaining his lead to 13.7 seconds by lap 29.
      He ended up winning the first race of the season 12 seconds ahead of his Mexican team-mate and a remarkable 38.6 seconds in front of third place Fernando Alonso.
      Fans were left in disbelief by his start and feared the new season could soon become a procession.
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      One supporter said: “The championship is finished after one race.”
      Another suggested his dominance will last until the final race of the year: “Verstappen is basically getting ready to take the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi he’s that far ahead.”
      A third reacted: “Red Bull seemingly on a different level at the moment.”
      More called him “unbeatable”, claiming it is a “sign of the season ahead.” More

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      Lewis Hamilton drops huge hint when he will retire as Mercedes’ British star looks to win eighth world title

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      LEWIS HAMILTON has revealed he will NOT retire until he wins an eighth world title.The Mercedes star, 38, begins his 17th successive Formula 1 season on Sunday as the 2023 campaign gets underway in Bahrain.
      Lewis Hamilton wants to continue until he wins a record-breaking eighth titleCredit: Reuters

      And Hamilton’s team are continuing to play catch up to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull following a disappointing 2022.
      The Brit went the entire year without claiming a Grand Prix victory for the first time since his F1 debut way back in 2007.
      The underwhelming season came after a record-breaking eighth world title was dramatically snatched away from him in 2021 when Verstappen overtook him on the last lap of the final race.
      It means Hamilton remains locked together with Michael Schumacher on seven world championship triumphs.
      READ MORE ON LEWIS HAMILTON
      And Mercedes’ struggles over the past 12 months have left many speculating whether the Stevenage-born racer will retire on seven wins.
      But Hamilton has now attempted to quash any talk of that being the case.
      He undertook a lie detector test for Sky Sports’ F1 coverage and was asked by presenter Simon Lazenby: “Are you going to keep going until you get your eighth title?”.
      To which he simply replied: “Yes”.
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      And the polygraph was unwavering following Hamilton’s response.
      It comes after Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff confidently insisted he will keep leading the team until Hamilton gets his historic eighth win.
      He said: “Even if I need to push him around to win the eighth. We’re going to do everything that’s needed.” More