Motorsport

GEORGE RUSSELL has hit back at Lewis Hamilton’s claim that he had luck on his side during the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. Russell outperformed Hamilton in qualifying before finishing P4, a place above his team-mate, in the race.
George Russell has hit back at Lewis Hamilton’s claim his P4 finish in Saudi Arabia was luckyCredit: Rex
But Hamilton insisted there was an element of good fortune about Russell’s pace, given they had opted for different set-ups around the Jeddah circuit.
Following the race the 38-year-old said Russell’s strategy would “more often than not” be the “wrong one”, and consequently he “could only match his pace rather than be quicker”.
However, Russell rubbished this claim while firing a sly dig towards Hamilton’s approach to the race while in Melbourne, Australia.
He said: “I don’t think there’s any luck in it at all.
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“I think it’s down to the preparation you put in before the event.
“The changes we made overnight, I knew that was going to be the right direction with the work we did with the team.
“And I believed it was going to be better than the set-up that Lewis opted for.
“I think everybody’s got different preferences, I was happy with the direction I took and the work I’m doing with the engineers.”
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Shortly after Russell’s rebuttal, seven-time champion Hamilton clarified his comments.
He said: “I think people probably, from my choice of words at the weekend… I want to reiterate how great a job George did on the weekend.
“I think the thing I was commenting on is that there’s one specific thing that you can change in the suspension that you have to do over Friday night.
“And when you make that change, once you start P3 (final practice), you can’t change it for the rest of the weekend, so when you make that change, you’re basically rolling the dice – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
“I’ve done it in the past, sometimes it hasn’t worked, sometimes it has, and it worked great for George and he did a great job.
“And the thing that I was lacking in the race was a lot of front end, which that setup gives you, so, in hindsight, that would’ve been great.”
The pair will be hoping for better fortunes at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.
Although Hamilton’s preparation may not have been helped following a run-in with a SHARK while he was out surfing.

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LEWIS HAMILTON reckons it could take his Mercedes team A YEAR to catch Max Verstappen’s speedy Red Bull.Mercedes have decided to cut their losses and plan on redesigning their car for this season after being thumped by Red Bull in the opening two races.
Lewis Hamilton has admitted he is facing another difficult seasonCredit: Rex
Boss Toto Wolff says there are positive signs that they are improving but Hamilton, who went winless last season for the first time in his F1 career, warns it could take them months.
He said: “It’s going to take us the rest of the year to potentially close that gap. If you look at the Red Bull, it is just going to continue to evolve most likely.
“Some cars do plateau in terms of performance. It can’t just keep going – but maybe it can, they have a great team around them and I am sure they will continue to add downforce.
“We have shown in the past that we can develop quickly and hope that is the case that, as the potential of the car opens up, we will full steam ahead in that direction.
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“There’s lots of work going on. I’m just trying to make sure I stay consistent and I’m training quite a lot between races, and I’m the fittest I can be so that at some stage I do get the car that we’ve all been hoping for.
“If that happens, whether that’s two or 10 or 20 races away, I want to make sure I’m ready for that day.”
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Australian GP, Hamilton, who was fifth last out in Saudi Arabia and behind team-mate George Russell says he’s “praying for rain”.
He added: “This weekend I’m just hoping for rain if I’m honest because that’ll make it a little more exciting from our point of view.
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“But I’m just hoping the gap isn’t a second and we can hit the ground running with the set-up.”
Meanwhile, the seven-time world champion has praised the decision to fine Nelson Piquet for his racist and homophobic language.
Last week the Brazilian courts hit Piquet, 70, with a £780,000 fine for making the comments about Hamilton in an interview.
The three-time world champion initially apologised for the comments, which related to a crash between Hamilton and Max Verstappen, who is in a long-term relationship with his daughter, Kelly.
However, he then tried to make an excuse for the racial slurs, saying they were colloquial terms.
But after pressure from groups in Brazil, including the country’s National LGBT+ Alliance, they successfully sued Piquet.
Hamilton was quizzed on Piquet’s punishment and said: “Back when it happened I made comments on it.
“I still believe that we shouldn’t be giving people that are just full of hate a platform.
“I’d like to acknowledge the Brazil government; I think it’s pretty amazing what they’ve done in holding someone accountable, showing people that that is not tolerated.
“Racism and homophobia is not acceptable, and there is no place for it within our society. So I love that they’ve shown that they stand for something.
“I wish that more governments out there would do that, such as you’ve just seen in Uganda [who passed a bill to impose a death penalty for homosexuality].
“Obviously, there are over 30 countries in Africa and the Middle East [where homosexuality is illegal]. There’s a lot of that can be learned from that.”
Hamilton says he will not speak to Michael Masi – the sacked Formula One race boss who cost him a record eighth world title.
Masi, 44, is back at an F1 paddock for the first time since he bungled the outcome of the Abu Dhabi GP in 2021 which gifted Verstappen the win and the title.

The Australian left the FIA last summer and has since been appointed chairman of the V8 Supercars Commission in his homeland.
Massi was clearly not hiding in the paddock but when asked if he plans to speak to the ex FIA Race Director to seek an explanation for what happened in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton replied: “I don’t. I am just focused on my future. I am focused on trying to get back to winning. There is nothing to say.” More

LEWIS HAMILTON said he will not speak to Michael Masi – the sacked Formula One race director – because “there is nothing to say”.Michael Masi will make his first return to the Formula 1 paddock at the Australian Grand Prix this weekend.
Masi’s presence at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix could evoke bad memories for HamiltonCredit: Getty
Verstappen controversially overtook Hamilton to win the dramatic title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand PrixCredit: AFP
According to The Mail, the seven-time world champion will refuse the opportunity to receive an explanation from Masi for his mishandling of the 2021 season decider.
Masi was the man in charge when Hamilton and Max Verstappen took their fight for the 2021 world title to the last race of the season.
The Mercedes driver looked to be cruising towards Championship number eight until Nicholas Latifi’s crash brought out a safety car.
In an astonishing turn of events, Masi appeared to incorrectly interpret the regulations regarding a safety car restart.
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One swift decision wiped out Hamilton’s lead as the group of lapped drivers between him and Verstappen was ordered to pass through.
When the safety car was pulled in with one lap remaining, Verstappen overtook Hamilton on fresher tyres to seal his maiden title.
The subsequent FIA report blamed “human error”, but did not alter the result.
The investigation also saw the race director relieved of his duties, and he has been absent from F1 race weekends ever since. 
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Masi left the FIA last summer before moving home to Australia and being appointed chairman of the V8 Supercars Commission.
When asked by reporters whether he would seek out an explanation from Masi, Hamilton replied: “I don’t [plan to]. I am just focused on my future. I am focused on trying to get back to winning. There is nothing to say”.
The 38-year-old is facing up to the prospect of another challenging year, with his Mercedes unable to compete against Verstappen’s superior Red Bull.
Hamilton finished fifth in the opening two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. More

LEWIS HAMILTON has praised the decision to fine Nelson Piquet for his racist and homophobic language.It was confirmed earlier this week that three-time F1 world champion Piquet, 70, has been slapped with a £780,000 fine after footage emerged of his remarks about Hamilton in a 2021 interview.
Lewis Hamilton has commented on the Nelson Piquet fineCredit: Reuters
Piquet’s horrid racist and homophobic language has seen him receive a fineCredit: Getty
Piquet was commenting on Hamilton’s British Grand Prix crash with Max Verstappen, who is dating Piquet’s daughter, Kelly.
The decision was made by a Brazilian court after charges were brought against Piquet by four human rights groups.
Now Hamilton, who became an honorary citizen of Brazil last year, has given his response to the punishment.
Speaking in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open Grand Prix this weekend, he said: “Back when it happened I made comments on it – I still believe that we generally shouldn’t be giving people that are just full of hate a platform.
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“I’d like to acknowledge the Brazil government. I think it’s pretty amazing what they have done in holding someone accountable, showing people that it’s not tolerated.”
Piquet, who was also seen using racist and homophobic language when discussing Hamilton’s 2016 title loss to Nico Rosberg, has apologised to the Mercedes driver, but also insisted his words were mistranslated.
Hamilton is the only black driver in F1.
He went on to add: “Racism and homophobia is not acceptable and there is no place for it within our society.
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“I love that they (the Brazilian government) have shown that they stand for something.
“I wish that more governments out there would do that, such as you’ve just seen in Uganda, and there are other countries in Africa and the Middle East – there’s a lot of that can be learned from that.”
In his decision, Judge Pedro Matos de Arrudo said the amount of compensation was given “in the sense that one should not only appreciate the reparative function of civil liability but also (and perhaps mainly) the punitive function so that, as a society, we can someday be free from the pernicious acts that are racism and homophobia”.
Meanwhile, Hamilton is preparing for the third race of the 2023 season in Australia this weekend.
He has managed back-to-back fifth places in the opening two Grands Prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
But Mercedes are still a long way off the pace set by Red Bull. More

TOTO WOLFF says Mercedes “won’t get carried away” by their “promising” result in Saudi Arabia.George Russell was fourth while Lewis Hamilton came home in fifth place in Jeddah.
Merc boss Toto Wolff isn’t getting carried awayCredit: Rex
But despite the solid result, it is not enough to convince Wolff from ditching this season’s car in favour of some sweeping design changes.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Australian GP, Wolff said: “The progress we saw in Saudi Arabia was encouraging.
“We maximised the package we had and scored some solid points.
“More importantly, we continued to learn and understand more about our development direction.
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“Everyone back at base has been hard at work to turn these learnings into performance.
“The signs we are seeing back at the factory are promising.
“We have got to take it step by step, though, and won’t get carried away until we see performance translated into lap time on track.
“The competitive order behind Red Bull is tight, with small margins having a big effect on points scored.
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“There remains a significant gap to the front and that is ultimately what we are interested in closing.”
Wolff, 51, previously warned that Mercedes remain half a year away from competing back at the top of the order.
He said: “I think the lag is probably between six and 12 months, because that’s the time it really took for us to figure out what was actually happening with the [2022] car.
“That means we just need to double the development speed, a stronger development slope which the logic and rationale speaks for it, that we could have [it].” More