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    Watch F1 drivers Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsuonda butcher Adele song ‘Hello’ in hilarious karaoke session

    FORMULA ONE drivers are not exactly known for their singing voices, but Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda gave it their best shot with a hilarious karaoke session. Following last weekend’s race in Singapore, the drivers have jetted off to Japan where the next race will be commencing.
    Yuki Tsunoda poured his heart and soul into the karaoke session
    He was joined by AlphaTauri team-mate Pierre Gasly
    The pair share a great relationship off-trackCredit: Getty
    Japanese driver Tsunoda was showing AlphaTauri team-mate Gasly the sights of Tokyo – 187miles away from the Suzuka circuit.
    The pair then hit a Karaoke bar, where they duetted Adele’s 2015 hit Hello.
    The duo gave it their all but singing was clearly not their best attribute on the night as they hilariously butchered the iconic record.
    And to say their best work is done behind the wheel of an F1 car might be an understatement.
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    At the last race, Gasly managed to squeeze a point out with a P10 finish, while Tsunoda was forced to retire.
    The Red Bull sister team have struggled at times this season, and consequently sit in P9 in the Constructors standings.
    Sergio Perez went on to win the race despite being given a five-second time penalty for an infringement under the safety car.
    Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz completed the podium spots while Max Verstappen failed to wrap up the championship with a P7 finish.
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    However, he remains firmly in control of the outcome of the title and is tipped to win his second successive championship when the lights go out for the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.
    But this week has been marred by reports suggesting Red Bull and Aston Martin broke F1’s new cost cap, which could have major ramifications for last season’s controversial title race.
    F1 regulator, the FIA, announced earlier today their financial audit would not be concluded until October 10 despite an initial promise of results being published today.
    They said: “The analysis of financial submissions is a long and complex process that is ongoing and will be concluded to enable the release of the Certificates on Monday, 10 October.”
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    Lewis Hamilton, who was the unfortunate party to miss out in 2021, revealed he was “happier than ever” despite being on course for his worst ever season in the sport.
    This came amid rumours he could sign a new five-year deal with Mercedes after hints were dropped by team principal Toto Wolff. More

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    Lewis Hamilton ‘happier than ever’ despite Mercedes star on course for WORST F1 season of his career

    LEWIS HAMILTON has insisted he is happy at Mercedes despite being on track to produce his WORST-ever season in Formula One. The seven-time World Champion is yet to win a race this year, with Mercedes struggling to produce a car near the pace of Red Bull or Ferrari.
    Lewis Hamilton has insisted he is happy in F1 despite his struggles this seasonCredit: Getty
    Hamilton laboured to a P9 finish in SingaporeCredit: Getty
    And Hamilton, 37, has also struggled himself and currently sits 6th in the driver standings – 32 points behind Carlos Sainz and 33 behind team-mate George Russell.
    But Hamilton has reaffirmed his happiness in F1 amid rumours of him signing a new five-year contract.
    Hamilton told Sky Sports: “I definitely feel I’m happier than I’ve ever been, which is really strange because I’m not winning in racing, and that’s really been my go-to thing.
    “Having success there would bring me so much happiness, but I’m finding more happiness in my personal life now, just being more comfortable in who I am, and my surroundings and my intentions.”
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    Despite being in cars which were arguably less competitive than this year’s W13, Hamilton has always managed to wrestle a race win out of every season he has competed in F1.
    Furthermore, he has never finished below fifth place in the driver standings.

    Hamilton went on a run of winning five podiums in a row – with back-to-back runner-up medals – prior to the mid-season break but has failed to replicate that form in the four races since.
    He failed to finish the Belgium Grand Prix after taking damage from Fernando Alonso, and then came 4th and 5th in the next two races before a P9 result in a turbulent Singapore Grand Prix.
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    Next up for the drivers is Suzuka, Japan, a circuit which has not been raced at in F1 since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
    The race this weekend could Max Verstappen finally wrap up the title after failing to do so in Singapore.
    Following his trip around Africa during the break, Hamilton revealed he feels more at peace with himself.
    He added: “We live in such a bubble, there’s so much happening around the world and so many people are struggling with so much.
    “It’s sad to see if you really sit and watch the news because it feels like it’s worse than ever.
    “That experience of going to Africa, seeing people with so little – I say so little but they also have everything, they’re so happy – but just seeing a different way of living.
    “We accumulate too much stuff, we eat too much food, the things that we take for granted, people don’t have that luxury and I think it’s really great to have that experience to put things into perspective.
    “There, it was just when I was most at peace.”
    There had been fears Hamilton would quit the sport after the controversial way he lost the title to Max Verstappen last year.
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    And despite being more than half a season beyond those events, they have returned to the spotlight once again with reports indicating Red Bull – along with Aston Martin – may have exceeded F1’s new budget cap.
    Depending on how bad the transgression is, it may even lead to Hamilton being awarded the 2021 title.
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    F1 Japanese Grand Prix: Live stream, TV channel, schedule for practice and qualifying before HUGE Suzuka Circuit race

    STRAP on your seatbelts Formula One lovers as the Japanese Grand Prix is up next for the racers – and the title could be clinched this weekend.F1 chiefs were forced into making the difficult decision last year to axe the GP at the iconic Suzuka Circuit due to Covid-19.
    Sergio Perez stormed to an incredible Singapore GP winCredit: Rex
    But to the delight of Max Verstappen, organisers have been given the greenlight for it to go ahead with him closing in on a second successive championship win.
    The Red Bull driver blew his chances of wrapping up the title in Singapore by disappointingly finishing seventh on the leaderboards while watching teammate Sergio Perez top the charts.
    However, Verstappen has a huge opportunity to secure silverware as long as he can outrace Charles Leclerc.
    Someone who Verstappen won’t have to worry about is Lewis Hamilton as his dreams of a record winning eighth championship were wiped out last weekend.
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    When is the Japanese Grand Prix?

    The Japanese Grand Prix is scheduled to take place on Sunday, October 9.
    It is expected to get underway from 6am UK time – 2pm local time.
    Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan will be the allocated track for this mouth-watering race and it can host a whopping 155,000 spectators.
    Valterri Bottas secured first place on the podium when the race last happened in 2019.

    Valterri Bottas celebrated an outstanding Japanese GP victory in 2019Credit: Reuters
    Is the Japanese Grand Prix on TV and can I live stream it?

    The Japanese Grand Prix will be broadcasted LIVE on Sky Sports F1 in the UK.
    Subscription members of Sky Sports can stream the entire action on the Sky Sports website or Sky Go app.
    Alternatively, head to NOW TV where the race will also be available on all devices and tablets so long as you are subscribed.

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    Can Max Verstappen win the title this weekend?
    Mathematically, Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez still have outside chances to snatch the title from Verstappen.
    However, a win for Verstappen in Japan would completely wipe out any chances of Perez winning the championship no matter where he finishes.
    And should Leclerc chart lower than second, a Verstappen victory would seal the title.
    What is the Japanese Grand Prix FULL schedule?
    Friday October 7

    Practice 1 – 4am UK
    Practice 2 – 7am UK

    Saturday October 8

    Practice 3 – 4am UK
    Qualifying – 7am UK

    Sunday October 9

    Race – 6am UK More

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    F1 legend Sir Frank Williams left £14million in his will to his three children

    F1 legend Sir Frank Williams left £14.4million in his will, records reveal.The 79-year-old, who died last November, was founder of the Williams team which he sold for £136million in 2020.
    F1 legend and founder of the Williams team Sir Frank left £14m to his three children
    Williams dominated F1 in the early 1980s and the 1990s with drivers including Damon Hill, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna.
    Sir Frank, from Ascot, Berks, was involved in a car crash in 1986 which left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
    Sir Frank of Ascot, Surrey, became co-founder of Frank Williams Racing Cars in 1966, using money he made from selling car parts to other motor teams.
    But his team suffered after his brewing heir driver Piers Courage died in a crash in 1970, and he ended up borrowing money from Bernie Ecclestone.
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    Sir Frank’s success was said to be in the wheeling and dealing of running a team, hiring and firing of drivers, and nurturing engineering talent.
    He was a familiar sight at grand prix races in his wheelchair, but stepped back and handed over much of the day-to-day control of the Williams team to his daughter Claire.
    He was a made a CBE in 1987 and knighted in 1999.
    Probate records reveal £14,465,456 was left to his three children after debts and funeral expenses.
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    His wife, Virginia, died of cancer in 2013.
    His will requested that he be buried near to his former team’s premises at Grove, Oxfordshire.
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    Red Bull will argue they overspent on SANDWICHES as Mercedes boss Toto Wolff prepares to miss Japan GP to argue

    RED BULL will argue they overspent their Formula One budget on SANDWICHES. But Mercedes chief Toto Wolff is preparing to miss the Japanese Grand Prix to argue against his rival team.
    Christian Horner and Toto Wolff’s latest public row regards Red Bull’s spendingCredit: Getty
    Wolff and rival Christian Horner are at loggerheads over the rule that limited teams’ spending last season to £114million amid allegations that Red Bull broke the cost-cap budget.
    SunSport understands the final figure could now tip over the threshold following an assessment by the FIA to a sum that amounts to under £2m.
    It is expected Red Bull will argue that the extra money spent was not directly related to the production of their car and was for other items such as canteen food at the factory, sick pay or wages for staff placed on gardening leave.
    Merc are likely to counter that should have been included from the start.
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    After all, every pound spent on sandwiches could have been cut from the cost of development on a rear wing.
    Wolff is now considering skipping this weekend’s race at Suzuka so he can lobby his point.
    The £2m overspending would qualify as a ‘minor’ breach of the rules and result in the FIA coming up with a suitable punishment, which Red Bull will either accept or appeal.
    Should they accept, they’d be awarded their compliance certificate with the stipulation they accepted a breach agreement with the FIA.
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    However, it is now looking unlikely that it will change the outcome of last year’s championship and that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen keeps his crown.
    Horner was left in a rage that Wolff had publicly commented on Red Bull’s financial submission, calling foul play on how the Austrian was privy to the confidential document filed to the FIA.
    Despite accusations of the opposite, Horner has maintained his F1 team filed their audited report with their costs actually LOWER than the cap.
    On Sunday night after Sergio Perez’s win in Singapore, the Brit repeated his claim and said: “I’m absolutely confident in our submission.
    “It’s been through a process. It went in in March, in terms of being signed off fully by our auditors, and we believe that we are comfortably within the cap.”
    Red Bull are expected to argue they spent extra on sandwiches and not car researchCredit: AFP More

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    Lewis Hamilton could still be awarded LAST year’s F1 world title as Max Verstappen and Red Bull involved in cheat storm

    LEWIS HAMILTON could be sensationally handed LAST year’s world title after rival Max Verstappen’s Red Bull team were engulfed in a cheat storm.Red Bull, who were hoping to celebrate Verstappen’s second title win at the Singapore Grand Prix – where he finished seventh – have been accused of breaking F1’s cost-cap rules.
    Lewis Hamilton could be given last year’s world title after all to make up for his Abu Dhabi heartbreakCredit: AP
    Verstappen and his Red Bull team are caught up in a cheat stormCredit: AFP
    Mercedes chief Toto Wolff claimed it would be a “massively heavyweight” issue if Red Bull broke last year’s budget, which was set at £114million.
    If they are found guilty, potential penalties include points deductions or even “exclusion from the championship”.
    That could see Verstappen stripped of the title he won last year in Abu Dhabi and Hamilton installed as winner for a record eighth time.
    Wolff, Hamilton’s boss at Mercedes, was asked if it was serious or just usual F1 politics.
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    He replied:  “That’s heavyweight, that’s massively heavyweight. It was a huge, mammoth project to make the cap.
    “I don’t know how many tens of millions we had to restructure processes to be below the cap.
    “We are using used parts, we are not running what we would want to run, and we are not developing what we could be developing.
    “We have made more than 40 people redundant.”

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    Red Bull are adamant that they submitted their accounts in March and are under the proposed cost cap.
    The FIA are due to reveal their findings on Wednesday. More

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    Lewis Hamilton, 37, wants to stay in F1 for FIVE more years with Brit in talks to extend £40m-a-season Mercedes deal

    LEWIS HAMILTON wants to race into his forties by signing a new bumper deal with Mercedes.The seven-time world champ, 37, told his team that he has another five years left in the sport.
    Lewis Hamilton is in talks with Mercedes over a new deal and wants to drive for another FIVE yearsCredit: Getty
    Hamilton’s £40million-a-year deal is up in 15 months but he is in talks with team boss Toto Wolff over an extension.
    Wolff, who lives in Monaco like Hamilton, said: “We speak a lot together.
    “Last week we sat down and he says, ‘Look, I have another five years in me how do you see that?’ Over time we have just grown together.
    “We are totally transparent with each other.
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    “Lewis will be the first one to say, ‘I can’t do this any more’ because I feel I haven’t got the reactions any more.
    “Or ‘I’ve just lost fun doing it’ and there is another generation growing up that is just very strong.
    “So I have no doubt that whatever we agree on a contract extension — which is going to happen — that we both are always going to discuss, very openly, what does the future hold.”
    If he signed for another five years, Hamilton would still be racing when he is 42 years old.
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    Hamilton could drive into his 40s, just like old team-mate Fernando AlonsoCredit: Instagram / @mercedesamgf1
    But Wolff does not see age as a limiting factor, with Brit Hamilton’s old rival Fernando Alonso, 41, still racing competitively.
    Wolff told Channel 4: “I don’t know if 40 is that age where you say that is not adequate any more for a racing driver.
    “If you look at where Fernando is with 41 years, he’s still very much there.
    “Now, is he the same Fernando that he was at 25? I don’t know but he’s still very competitive.”
    Wolff also held up NFL star Tom Brady, 45 — a seven-time Super Bowl champ — as an example.
    He added: “You look at Tom Brady, who is somebody I really admire for having the discipline in how he manages his life and his sport, and he’s on the pitch.
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    “So Lewis, with the way he leads his life.
    “With the full, ultra-narrow focus on his Formula One racing —   I think he can take it quite far.” More

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    Ben Hunt: Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s budget scandal D-day may end up being a damp squib but row will rumble on

    MERCEDES are preparing to be left disappointed by the results of the FIA’s cost-cap investigation due on Wednesday.Merc boss Toto Wolff and Red Bull chief Christian Horner are at loggerheads over the rule that limited teams’ spending last season to £114million.
    Christian Horner was raging at Merc rival Toto WolffCredit: Rex
    Horner was left in a rage that Wolff had publicly commented on Red Bull’s financial submission, calling foul play on how the Austrian was privy to the confidential document filed to the FIA.
    Despite accusations of the opposite, Horner has maintained his team filed their audited report with their costs actually LOWER than the cap.
    On Sunday night, the Brit repeated his claim and said: “I’m absolutely confident in our submission.
    “It’s been through a process. It went in in March, in terms of being signed off fully by our auditors, and we believe that we are comfortably within the cap.”
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    However, I understand the final figure could now tip over the threshold following an assessment by the FIA to a sum that amounts to under £2m.
    That would then qualify as a ‘minor’ breach of the rules and result in the FIA coming up with a suitable punishment, which Red Bull will either accept or appeal.
    Should they accept, they’d be awarded their compliance certificate with the stipulation they accepted a breach agreement with the FIA.
    However, it is now looking unlikely that it will change the outcome of last year’s championship and that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen keeps his crown.
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    That was the explosive prospect for a ‘material breach’ of the cost cap, which seems will be avoided.
    However, that might still not be the end of the matter.
    It is expected Red Bull will argue that the extra money spent was not directly related to the production of their car and was for other items such as canteen food at the factory, sick pay or wages for staff placed on gardening leave.
    Merc are likely to counter that should have been included from the start. After all, every pound spent on sandwiches could have been cut from the cost of development on a rear wing.
    Wolff is now considering skipping this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix so he can lobby his point.
    It is an incredibly messy situation for the FIA to navigate and there is a growing debate as to how you police identifying how much of last year’s budget was spent on developing this year’s car.
    Tomorrow’s cost-cap D-day may prove to be a damp squib. But the row will rumble on.

    ALIPINE GO WITH GAS
    PIERRE GASLY is expected to be confirmed as an Alpine driver for 2023  this weekend.
    Alpine must stump up for his services as he is under contract with  AlphaTauri, Red Bull’s B-team.
    AlphaTauri are then expected to sign Nyck de Vries, 27, from under the noses of Williams.
    And Nico Hulkenberg is now the leading candidate to replace Mick Schumacher at Haas should they decide not to re-sign the German or the 23-year-old goes to Williams.

    MAX JUST A SHI GUY
    RED BULL are planning yet another marketing stunt — this time at Tokyo’s famous Shibuya Crossing.
    Dubbed the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing with as many as 500,000 people using it  a day, the F1 team have permission to film Max Verstappen driving there.
    Yet, ironically, Sunday’s race winner, Sergio Perez, might not be able to take part as the Japanese authorities have a problem with his  Mexico-issued driver’s licence.
    Sergio Perez might not be able to take part in a Red Bull stunt at Shibuya CrossingCredit: Rex
    HAVING been in the spotlight for most of the season, new FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, was conspicuous by his absence in Singapore.
    I understand he will miss the Japanese GP, too.
    Curious given Max Verstappen is likely to win the title AND the teams are tangled up in a cost-cap row.

    THE all-female racing championship W Series will make a decision this week on whether to finish the season amid a cash crisis.
    W Series is due to feature at the F1 GPs in Texas and Mexico and has been trying to find a new backer after a lucrative deal collapsed at the 11th hour.
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    A PAIR of Moto3 mechanics who deliberately blocked a rival rider in the pitlane at Aragon have been sacked by the Max Racing Team.
    The staff members were also fined just under £2,000 each for obstructing Tech3 KTM’s Adrian Fernandez during qualifying a fortnight ago. More