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    Lewis Hamilton boost ahead of Saudi Arabian GP with rival set to receive TEN-PLACE grid penalty after Bahrain incident

    CHARLES LECLERC has been slapped with a ten-place grid penalty for this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.The Ferrari star was forced to retire in Bahrain due to issues with his car’s electronic control unit [ECU].
    Charles Leclerc will face a ten-place grid penalty this weekendCredit: AFP
    Leclerc, 25, had been in third place before being forced to quit.
    Ferrari experienced issues with Leclerc’s ECU on the morning of the race, before similar problems with its replacement forced their star man out of the opening GP of the season.
    Competition rules dictate that teams can only go through two ECUs in the space of an entire campaign.
    With Ferrari already requiring a third, Leclerc will have to start Sunday’s Saudi GP with a ten-place penalty.
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    Speaking about the issue, Prancing Horse team principal Frederic Vasseur said: “It is something we have never experienced in the past and I hope now it is under control.
    “But unfortunately we will have to take the penalty in Jeddah because we only have a pool of two ECUs for the season.”
    Despite being on track for a place on the podium, Leclerc had been way off the pace set by Red Bulls Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
    After the Monegasque’s retirement, veteran Fernando Alonso pounced to grab the third spot on the podium, with Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz coming fourth.
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    Leclerc’s Ferrari was forced to retire from the Bahrain GP a fortnight agoCredit: Getty
    Lewis Hamilton came fifth, with his Mercedes team-mate George Russell in seventh and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll between them in sixth.
    On his team’s prospects this weekend, Vasseur added: “I can’t be satisfied with the situation and I want to do a step forward.
    “The characteristics of Jeddah are completely different compared to Bahrain and already it will swing a little more to what we have today and we will also bring some updates to Jeddah and I hope we will do a step forward.”
    Mercedes, meanwhile, reportedly held an emergency meeting following their underwhelming start to the season.
    Hamilton, who has been linked with a sensational move to Ferrari, aired his frustrations with his current team after the Bahrain GP.
    I’ve driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs, I know what a car doesn’t needLewis Hamilton
    He said: “Last year, there were things I told them, I said the issues that are with the car.
    “I’ve driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs, I know what a car doesn’t need. And I think it’s really about accountability.
    “It’s about owning up and saying, ‘Yeah, you know what? We didn’t listen to you. It’s not where it used to be and we’ve got to work’.
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    “We’ve got to look into the balance through the corners, look at all the weak points and just huddle up as a team, that’s what we do.
    “We’re still multi world champions you know, it’s just they haven’t got it right this time, they didn’t get it right last year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get it right moving forwards.”
    Lewis Hamilton has been linked with a stunning move to FerrariCredit: Reuters More

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    I’m Lewis Hamilton’s ex-team-mate… he won’t quit Mercedes and I reckon he may turn things around and win eighth title

    LEWIS HAMILTON will not quit Mercedes and could turn his woes around to win his eighth world title, according to a former team-mate.The British racing legend, 38, wrapped up his seventh world title in 2020.
    Lewis Hamilton suffered a nightmare start to the 2023 seasonCredit: PA
    But a heartbreaking rule gaffe in 2021 denied him on the final lap of the Formula One crown, and that was followed by a nightmare car in 2022 that left him well off the pace set by back-to-back champion Max Verstappen.
    The 2023 season started in nightmare fashion for Hamilton, with another car that appears well below the standards set by Red Bull and Ferrari – and even Aston Martin.
    The Stevenage star is desperate to be world champ for a record-breaking eighth time – and reports suggest he could be tempted to switch to a rival team in order to reach his goal.
    But Heikki Kovalainen believes his pal Hamilton will not make the switch and instead predicts him to stay put with the Silver Arrows despite the problems.
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    The Finn, who drove alongside Hamilton at McLaren in 2008 and 2009, told the Mirror: “Personally, I don’t see that coming – to me, he’s committed to Mercedes.
    “I met him in Hungary last year and we had a good chat there.
    “Without going into detail of what was said in a private conversation, the body language and the feel I got from him, I just felt that this is something that he wants to turn around.”
    Kovalainen, 41, continued: “He wants to turn things around for Mercedes and that’s going to tick another box on his resume – to show that it’s not that he’s only been driving good cars and making the most of the good cars, but that he can actually turn a struggling team around and lead that team.
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    “That’s the reason why I’m thinking he’s not going to change. I feel he wants to turn this thing around with Mercedes and then he can show the world that he can turn a struggling team into a winning team again.
    “It’s going to be exciting to watch and I 100 per cent believe he has the skill and the will.
    “If anyone, he can probably do it.”
    Hamilton is back in action at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix this weekend.
    The race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit gets underway at 5pm UK time on Sunday.
    Hamilton was team-mates with Heikki Kovalainen in 2008 and 2009Credit: Getty More

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    Lewis Hamilton and F1 rivals have ‘out of control’ WhatsApp group with one driver the leader

    LEWIS HAMILTON and his Formula 1 rivals have an “out of control” WhatsApp group chat.When not fighting tooth and nail around a circuit, F1 drivers share messages with each other via WhatsApp.
    Formula 1 drivers have their own group chatCredit: AFP
    The existence of the group chat came to light last year, when Nikita Mazepin revealed he’d been booted out of it on the same day as his Haas axing.
    Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell is a chat admin, and lifted the lid on what goes on while appearing on The Fast and the Curious podcast.
    He said: “There is a WhatsApp group.
    “I mean it’s not like we’re sending banter in there day after day but there are occasions where something may have happened on track and suddenly people are sending memes in and whatever and it gets a bit out of control.”
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    McLaren star Lando Norris then revealed what the group chat icon is.
    Giggling, he said: “James Hunt as the group photo.”
    He then revealed: “It’s true [the group exists].
    “It’s not so much like ‘hey, we’re all mates’. It’s a lot more for talking about things that can help us as drivers in terms of rules, regulations, it’s more like how can we represent ourselves?
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    Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell is a key figure in the chatCredit: Splash
    “I don’t know how much [George] revealed, he’s like the head of it.”
    Norris, 23, then went on: “It’s a little bit of everyone.
    “We are all kind of chatting and working together to come up with different ideas.
    “We’ve got Esteban [Ocon], we got Zhou [Guanyu], we’ve got Alex [Albon]. Everyone chats in it [but] I can’t find any memes.”
    All members of the Grand Prix Drivers Association [GPDA] are part of the chat.
    Sebastian Vettel, who retired at the end of last season, played a key role.
    While Hamilton has been a member of the GPDA since 2009.
    Lando Norris lifted the lid on the group chatCredit: Getty
    James Hunt is the group chat iconCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd More

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    F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Date, UK start time, schedule, TV channel and live stream for massive race week ahead

    THE Formula 1 season returned with Max Verstappen winning the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 5.Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished in first 12 seconds in front of teammate Sergio Pérez as Red Bull look to dominate the 2023 F1 season.
    Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2023 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand PrixCredit: THE MEGA AGENCY
    Sergio Perez during the 2023 F1 Bahrain Grand PrixCredit: GETTY
    Lewis Hamilton finished in 5th, and rumours surrounding him leaving Mercedes at the end of the season started as he is desperate for an eighth world championship.
    Last year’s Saudi Arabia GP was a thriller, with Verstappen just piping Charles Leclerc to the top of the podium by 0.549s.
    When is the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?

    F1 Saudi Arabia GP will take place on Sunday, March 19.
    The race is scheduled to begin at 5pm UK time.
    Jeddah Corniche Circut is the track.

    When is practice and qualifying for the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?

    Practice 1 is on Friday, March 17, from 1:30pm UK time.
    Practice 2 is on Friday, March 17, from 5pm UK time.
    Practice 3 is on Saturday, Match 18, from 1:30pm UK time.
    Qualifying is on Saturday, March 18, from 5pm UK time.

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    What TV channel is the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on?

    The F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be shown live on Sky Sports F1.
    Coverage will begin at 3pm UK time.

    Can I live stream the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?

    Sky Sports customers can live stream all the action via the NOW app or on Sky Go.
    Non-Sky Sports subscribers can purchase a Sky Sports Day Pass via the NOW app for £11.99, which gives you access to all eleven Sky Sports channels for 24 hours.
    Alternatively, you can follow SunSport’s FREE live blog to stay up to day with all the action from Saudi Arabia.

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    Lewis Hamilton’s boss Toto Wolff slammed as ‘disingenuous’ and ‘crass’ after criticising F1 2023 Mercedes car

    TOTO WOLFF has been labelled “disingenuous” and “crass” for openly criticising this year’s Mercedes.Wolff took the unusual step of writing off this year’s new design after just 60 minutes of qualifying in Bahrain.
    Mercedes struggled on the opening weekend in BahrainCredit: AP
    Lewis Hamilton, left, alongside Wolff, centre, and George RussellCredit: AFP
    He claimed that the team had made an error by producing this year’s car, which lacked the pace of the Red Bulls, Ferraris and Aston Martins.
    The Austrian promised to “sit down with the engineers and be totally non-dogmatic” as they aim to get back to winning ways.
    But former F1 boss Eddie Jordan is adamant that Wolff should take the blame – not his team of designers.
    He said: “He’s the CEO, he’s the boss. The buck stops with him. This is happening under his watch.
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    “To blame or criticise anybody in his design team is actually disingenuous. It’s really crass.
    “I hate to hear that, because he must be a man, stand up and take it on the chin and say, ‘my team, my people, we have failed to get the job successfully done at this moment. However, there are times ahead that we’re looking forward to and we will be there much stronger than we were in 2022’.
    “I think that Toto is strong enough, big enough and man enough to front this up and actually sort it out.”
    Meanwhile, F1 chiefs are not in talks to hold a race in London – despite contradictory claims from a property developer.
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    Plans have been drawn up to show a vast sports, leisure and entertainment complex in the Docklands area on the east side of London.
    The developers have used F1 logos and associated brands in their images, however an F1 spokesman says they have not been sent any proposals or had any discussions with the developers who are trying to gain publicity.
    The ambitious plans suggest the proposed track had 22 corners and had floating grandstands on the Thames that could cater for 95,000 spectators.
    Silverstone is the only UK venue on the F1 calendar and has a contract in place until 2024. More

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    Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes planning radical changes to 2023 F1 car after just ONE race to keep pace with Red Bull

    LEWIS HAMILTON’S Mercedes are planning radical changes to their car after just ONE race in the Formula One season.Seven-time F1 world champion Hamilton started the campaign in disappointing fashion nine days ago.
    Mercedes are planning changes to their car after just one F1 raceCredit: AP
    Lewis Hamilton started the season in disappointing fashion in Bahrain for MercCredit: PA
    The 38-year-old could only finish sixth in Bahrain as rival Max Verstappen romped to victory for Red Bull.
    Mercedes already had concerns about their W14 design, which is an evolved version of their “no-sidepod” one from last season which caused numerous issues as the team missed out on an eighth-consecutive constructors’ championships. 
    Mercedes boss Toto Wolff wants his development team to reproduce a “radical” new design following the “worst weekend of racing” at the Sakhir Circuit.
    And he added that they needed to be bold with future updates, amid questions over their “zero sidepod” design.
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    Now Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin opened up about what’s next during an interview Formula1.com.
    He said: “People have tended to use the word ‘concept’ when they mean the sidepod design, and Toto had said recently that we are looking at a revision that is going to come along in the next few races anyway.
    “Given the gap to the front, of course we are going to look at bigger departures and more radical changes. But those changes take time to turn into a faster solution in the wind tunnel – you can’t do them overnight.
    “There is quite a lot of development that you’ve got to do around any sort of big change in geometry in that area.
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    “Of course, we are looking at where we can improve the car, we are looking for potential to develop and you will see visible changes coming on the car over the next few races.”
    Shovlin also highlighted significant tyre degradation as a major concern after Bahrain as well as the car’s general lack pace.
    He added: “Ultimately, we’ve got a lot of work to do. That gap in qualifying was quite large; we were over half a second to the front. In the race that was even bigger.
    “That was compounded by the fact that when you get the tyre degradation, you get a bit more sliding, the tyres run hotter, and you end up finding it very difficult to keep them under any kind of control.
    “There is a lot that we need to understand but the key things are really getting on top of that long run degradation, which last year was a strong point for us.
    “Clearly, we’ve got something that’s not in the right place that we need to work on, but ultimately the other thing is that performance gap to the front. The raw pace of the car is not good enough.
    “We are working very hard at the moment to understand what we can do in the short-term future and in the mid-term future to try and get ourselves in a better place.” More

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    ‘I wouldn’t rule it out’ – Lewis Hamilton tipped to make sensational F1 transfer to Mercedes’ rivals

    SIR LEWIS HAMILTON could move to a rival Formula One team at the end of the 2022-23 season, according to Sky Sports presenter Simon Lazenby.The seven-time world champion is currently enjoying his 10th year with Mercedes.
    Hamilton could join Ferrari at the end of the season, according to LazenbyCredit: Getty
    But it could be his last with the Brackley-based team as his contract expires at the end of the season.
    While Mercedes principal Toto Wolff remains optimistic that an extension agreement will be made, F1 expert Lazenby has suggested that Hamilton could decide to seek a new challenge – especially if he fails to compete for the title again this year.
    The Sky Sports presenter even hinted that he could switch to Ferrari.
    He told Express Sport: “It’s the desire of all drivers to drive for Ferrari.
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    “In the past, Lewis has been quoted as saying he would like to drive for Ferrari.
    “If Ferrari moves comfortably ahead of Mercedes I wouldn’t rule it out.”
    Ferrari and Red Bull have dominated F1 for the past year while Mercedes have struggled to get up to speed – literally.
    Hamilton, who finished fifth at the Bahrain Grand Prix earlier this month, has grown increasingly frustrated as a result.
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    He recently told the BBC: “Last year, I told them the issues that are with the car.
    “Like, I’ve driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs, I know what a car doesn’t need.
    “And I think it’s really about accountability, it’s about owning up and saying ‘yeah, you know what, we didn’t listen to you, it’s not where it needs to be and we’ve got to work’.
    “We’ve got to look into the balance through the corners, look at all the weak points and just huddle up as a team, that’s what we do.”
    If Hamilton were to make the switch to Ferarri, Charles Leclerc could move the other way.
    The Monaco-born driver reportedly wrote to the team’s chief executive, John Elkann, last week to request an emergency meeting following his disastrous start to the season. More

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    Disgraced F1 legend ‘faces £1.6million fine’ over racist abuse of Lewis Hamilton two years ago

    DISGRACED Formula One great Nelson Piquet is reportedly facing a massive lawsuit over his racist comments about Sir Lewis Hamilton.Video footage emerged last February of the three-time world champion using the N-word to describe Hamilton and making homophobic comments about the Mercedes ace after the 2021 British Grand Prix
    Nelson Piquet used racist and homophobic language to describe Sir Lewis HamiltonCredit: AFP
    Piquet issued an apology for his description of Hamilton but is facing a civil lawsuit in his native BrazilCredit: PA
    Piquet is being sued for a whopping £1.6millionCredit: GETTY
    Piquet made the disgraceful jibe during an appearance on a podcast in Brazil, where he’s facing a civil suit.
    According to O Globo, the former Williams ace – the father of reigning champion Max Verstappen’s girlfriend Kelly – is facing a £1.6million lawsuit from the National LGBT+ Alliance and other groups.
    Brazil’s Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Federal District has also joined the campaign to have the 70-year-old reprimanded.
    Their petition read: “During the ill-fated interview in which the defendant comments on an accident that occurred at the Silverstone Grand Prix, in England, in July 2021, he refers multiple times to Lewis Hamilton with contempt, without even mentioning the name of the English pilot, referring to him only as ‘n*****’, and also incurring homophobia.
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    “In the case under discussion, violations of the rights of the victim and the black and LGBTQIA+ population were configured, considering both the plan of international and national regulations.”
    Piquet issued a grovelling apology for his comments, which he insisted weren’t racist.
    He said: “I would like to clear the stories circulating in the media about a comment I made in an interview last year.
    “What I said was ill thought out, and I make no defence for it, but I will clarify that the term used is one that has widely and historically been used in Brazilian Portuguese for a synonym for ‘guy’ or ‘person’ and was never intended to offend.
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    Piquet’s daughter Kelly is the girlfriend of reigning F1 Chmp Max VerstappenCredit: GETTY
    “I would never use the word I have been accused of in some translations.
    “I strongly condemn any suggestion that the word was used by me with the aim of belittling a driver because of his skin colour.
    “I apologise wholeheartedly to anyone that was affected, including Lewis, who is an incredible driver, but the translation in some media that is now circulating on social media is not correct.
    “Discrimination has no place in F1 or society and I am happy to clarify my thoughts in that respect.”
    But his apology wasn’t enough to stop him from being banned from the F1 paddock.
    Sir Lewis said of Piquet’s comments: “Let’s focus on changing the mindset.
    “It’s more than language. These archaic mindsets need to change and have no place in our sport.
    “I’ve been surrounded by these attitudes and targeted my whole life. There has been plenty of time to learn. Time has come for action.”
    The F1 season will resume a week on Sunday with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. More