Max Verstappen‘s recent retirement threats have got the whole of the Formula 1 world talking.
At last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, Verstappen cut a more fed up figure than ever this year, telling the BBC that pushing himself to give 100 per cent whilst racing machinery he strongly dislikes is ‘not very healthy’.
After the first three races of the year, the 28-year-old has labelled his new RB22 ‘undriveable’, summarising his experience of being at the wheel of the new car as ’emotionally draining’, with reigning champion Lando Norris even suggesting he should retire if the new regulations are not to his liking.
From pundits to fans and even family members, suggestions that the four-time champion should throw in the towel have not gone down well, with none other than Sylvia Tamsma, the mother of Verstappen’s partner, Kelly Piquet, biting back over the topic.
“I mean if he’s saying this in order to get some leverage on the way things are at the moment, I don’t think that will work, I think that approach where people will just say, ‘well Max, go away and come back when you’ve had a think about it’.
“You can’t always get what you want but the point is there are a lot of people talking about these regulations, from a driving point of view, as being not what they signed up for, not what people thought Formula 1 should be about.
Hill then weighed in on the controversial energy management required to handle the new cars, saying: “Of course I don’t drive the cars anymore, but I can see from the onboard footage that it’s a little bit weird when they’re slowing down at the end of a long straight going into a braking point.
“That seems to be something we’re going to have have to get used to or we’ll never get used to, maybe that will be worked out through a regulation change or something first.”
The former Sky Sports pundit then suggested Verstappen should retire if he isn’t onboard with the new sport’s new rules, adding: “He doesn’t have to do this. He’s earned an awful lot of money. He’s a new dad as well, he’s been doing it for a long time and I think maybe he needs a break.”
It was this final comment that appeared to rile up Tamsma, with Piquet’s mother taking to the comments of the BBC’s Instagram post featuring Hill to make her dislike of the Brit’s retirement suggestion blatantly clear.
The mother of Verstappen’s partner and the ex-wife of three-time champion Nelson Piquet wrote underneath the BBC post: “O Damon , people need a break from your ‘opinion’. Seems you’re too old to understand that not only Max but all drivers are complaining. Singeling (sic) out Max is quite nasty don’t you think?”
How long have Max Verstappen and Kelly Piquet been together?
Max Verstappen and Kelly Piquet have been together since 2020, with their relationship becoming official in January 2021.
The couple often publicly share insights into their life together via their own Instagram accounts, with Piquet also frequently attending a grand prix weekend in support of her F1 champion partner.
Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.
McRae claimed that at one stage Norris told him he ‘was not the boss’, and that he had allegedly been sent a message beforehand, specifically asking him not to ask questions about Norris’ friendship and rivalry with Max Verstappen and George Russell, or about the new 2026 regulations.
When McRae did bring up these topics, Norris’ management company apparently stepped in and said ‘we’re done with time’.
McRae also alleged that the management team gave a generic quote to be used in a line about Verstappen on behalf of Norris: “He’s an amazing guy, Max is the best person ever and we love him. Quote.”
Now, former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has defended Norris and his management following the exchange, and claimed the interview was designed to catch the champion out.
Speaking on the AS Columbia podcast, Montoya said: “Of course, but Lando handled it very well and pretended he was going to answer, even though he knew he wasn’t allowed to and that they would stop him.
“But the journalist did indeed handle it poorly.”
“If you are told: we have an exclusive interview with Lando, but you are not allowed to ask this, and you do it anyway, then I will never speak to you again. Do you know what happens?
“Journalists never ask those questions with good intentions, there is never a good purpose behind it, they try to trip the person up or get them to say something wrong to use it as a headline, and they attack someone with those questions.”
A former McLaren F1 chief who worked closely with James Hunt has slammed the blockbuster film Rush, despite starring in it himself.
Rush was released in 2013, and depicted the fierce on-track rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt during the late 1970s.
Lauda went into the 1976 season as the F1 champion having claimed the 1975 title with Ferrari.
But 1976 saw the emergence of a familiar foe, with his rival from the junior series Hunt having joined McLaren after performing well with Hesketh in 1975.
Lauda almost lost his life in the days following the incident having suffered some serious burns, but remarkably made a full recovery, and was back racing in F1 by the 1976 Italian GP, before claiming the title in 1977.
Now, Hunt’s former technical director at McLaren – Alastair Caldwell – has described the Rush film depicting their rivalry as a ‘joke’, claiming that the pair always remained good friends away from the track.
Caldwell actually starred in the film back in 2013, having a cameo role as a race official.
“Well, if you watch the film Rush, which is a bit of a joke, really, because it doesn’t actually tell the story, but it’s ‘a story’,” Caldwell told Goodwood’s YouTube channel.
“You’ll see that they crash at Brands Hatch in their early days, in their Formula 3 days, and they shout at each other and blah blah. And this is true, but they came to Brands Hatch in James’s Mini, and they went home in James’s Mini, and they lived together in a Knightsbridge flat. So they were the best of friends, and they always were.
“On the racetrack, they gave no quarter, because that’s the way it was. But in real life, the opposite of the film Rush was true. James and Niki were the best of friends.”
The 1976 German Grand Prix is one of the most infamous events in F1 history, and Lauda was fortunate to survive the incident.
Lauda lost control of his Ferrari before the right-hand Bergwerk curve at the Nurburgring track, and crashed into an earth bank, before the car bounced back onto the track, engulfed in flames.
Brett Lunger hit Lauda’s stricken car, while Harald Ertl then hit into the back of Lunger’s car. Lauda’s rivals stopped and helped him out of his burning Ferrari car, but Lauda had suffered serious burns and was rushed by helicopter to the Bundeswehr hospital in Koblenz.
The Austrian racer was left scarred for the rest of his life, but didn’t let it stop him, going on to claim two more championships in 1977 and 1984 and go down in history as one of the greatest ever F1 racers.
Lauda retired in 1985, and in later years worked as a non-executive chairman for Mercedes during their dominant period in the sport led by Lewis Hamilton.
The F1 legend unfortunately passed away in 2019 aged 70 after suffering kidney issues following a lung transplant.
When McLaren announced Lambiase would be joining the team, their press release immediately dispelled these rumours by confirming the race engineer would become their chief racing officer to assist Stella in his current role.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Brown also ended any speculation Stella would be moving to Ferrari, by offering a twist to the Lambiase signing tale.
Rather than Lambiase being Brown’s decision, it was Stella who decided to hire the Red Bull man.
“I can confirm that’s total nonsense. And you know, a team or two stirring… great part of our sport is everyone likes to maybe destabilise teams, but that doesn’t work here,” Brown explained.
“Andrea is very committed to McLaren. We’re very committed to Andrea. Couldn’t be happier. And you’re going to see him for the McLaren outfit. Zero chance [of him leaving].
“They’ll work together. Andrea at the end of the day is the one who hired GP [Gianpiero Lambiase].”
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