Clarkson’s Farm star and former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has hailed Max Verstappen as one of the nicest people both inside and outside of the F1 paddock.

The TV icon revealed this while a guest at Silverstone with the Alpine F1 team.

Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm is a stone’s throw from Alpine’s base in Enstone and they teamed up for the British Grand Prix weekend.

While heading off from Silverstone on the Sunday – 20 laps early to avoid the traffic – Clarkson revealed a particularly pleasant encounter he had with Verstappen.

The Dutchman has long been Public Enemy No. 1 for British fans, largely due to the 2021 season and how it ended. The Red Bull star of course had no say in how the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix finished, I (sadly) feel obliged to point out.

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Clarkson: Verstappen one of the good guys

Thankfully there are many Brits who even if they don’t support Verstappen and his antics on the race track, can separate the driver from the person.

But if there are some who still aren’t sure about the man, perhaps Clarkson’s words can help convince them.

“Last year, I was locked in a small room with Max Verstappen for two hours,” Clarkson recalled while leaving the British Grand Prix. “He’s a lovely guy, he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.”

The remarkable situation Clarkson refers to took place during last year’s race. At the time, both men had to wait until the traffic jams around the circuit had cleared – hence the 66-year-old’s decision to leave early.

To be fair to Jeremy, he did insist that he was turning off all social media to go and enjoy the race at home. Not that there was any doubting the man’s passion and love for all things F1, especially Silverstone.

Alpine and Clarkson’s Farm Silverstone partnership

Alpine enjoyed a double-points finish on Sunday, with Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly securing P9 and P10 respectively.

The pair were fuelled by some of Clarkson’s produce and it appears the partnership is growing from strength to strength.

Steve Nielsen, Alpine’s managing director, said of the partnership: “We are delighted to rely on Diddly Squat Farm to supply us with local farm food this weekend at Silverstone.

“As a team, we have enjoyed an excellent relationship with Jeremy Clarkson who has been very supportive of us for several years. It’s great that we are able to help promote British farming and highlight the importance of farming to the local area.

“Our base at Enstone is surrounded by farms so we are well aware and full of admiration for what farmers do in bringing food to our tables. It’s a special occasion to bring local food to Silverstone to keep our team and drivers well fed this weekend so thanks to Jeremy and the team at Diddly Squat Farm for their ongoing support.”

Meanwhile, Clarkson’s partner and co-founder of Diddly Squat Farm Lisa Hogan said: “It is with great pleasure to team up with our local F1 team at Silverstone this weekend.

“The British Grand Prix is one of the highlights on the British sporting calendar so to have Diddly Squat Farm Shop associated, and to play a small role, with the team this weekend is certainly quite special.

“We hope the team and its drivers enjoy some of our local produce and wish them a successful weekend on track.”

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F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has finally confirmed that the sport is looking to restore at least one of the 2026 season’s two cancelled races to the calendar, with the summer break a key date.

April was unexpectedly empty of F1 this year after conflict in the Middle East caused the Saudi Arabian and Bahrain grands prix to be cancelled for safety and logistical reasons.

There have been murmurings this summer, though, that at least one of the races could be reinstated, likely as part of a new autumn triple-header. Domenicali’s comments to Sky Sports this week are the closest F1 has come to confirming that will be the case.

In slightly roundabout comments, in which he refused to outright commit to a 23rd race (likely the Bahrain Grand Prix, not Saudi), he appeared to suggest that an official announcement could be forthcoming before the summer break at the end of the month.

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Domenicali sort of says something about the Bahrain Grand Prix, ish

“If there is something that we can announce also related to the possibility of seeing if there is any space for what has not been done so far, we’re going to do it, in the right moment and the right conditions,” he said.

“That is really the hope, because if all the conditions are right, we’re going to go ahead with our plan. If there is a chance, why not?”

He added: “I think that the gap to do the eventual possibility of doing one of the races that we have not done, we need to do it before the summer break.”

Got that?

He also hailed the ‘political message’ that the reinstatement of the race would send, saying that the race running would be a sign that the conflict which caused the original cancellation ‘is something we can say is behind us’.

“Our duty is to make sure we are ready to run our calendar as it is planned,” he said.

“And we are monitoring the situation because it would be an incredibly positive message for sport, and also politically, that we are moving in this direction, because if this is happening, it is something we can say is behind us.”

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Lewis Hamilton has once again hailed his home crowd at Silverstone after a brilliant afternoon at one of F1’s greatest tracks.

The seven-time world champion took pole for Saturday’s sprint race after dominating Friday’s sprint qualifying session, setting the fastest time in each of the three segments to leave fans in no doubt as to who the race favourite should be.

The much-lauded ‘Landostand’ may have been slightly disappointed to see their man qualify just sixth after a tough day on the track – with fellow Brits George Russell (fifth) and Avrid Lindblad (tenth) also in the top 10 for the Saturday morning sprint race start.

They hid that disappointment well though, roaring on Hamilton on a weekend where he could become the first driver in F1 history to win ten grands prix at a single circuit.

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Hamilton: I love this place

Speaking after the sprint qualifying session, the 41-year-old said: “I love this place, I love this crowd, and I can’t express to you how big a dream it is, and still to this day, when you’re building up to this race and you think about every corner and the flow you can get into at this track if you get the setup right and if you’ve got the right team behind you.

“The car’s felt great today thanks to everyone back at the factory, just continuing to push. We brought tiny little bits here. Every single weekend we’re showing up with something. Everyone’s pushing to the max.

“I’m really grateful to get that pole. I was quick through all the session but still, it was only 10 milliseconds, so it was very close to these guys. The team really deserves it, so a big, big thank you to everyone here.” 

Hamilton’s record at his home track is one of the most astonishing in the sport’s history, with his fourth place finish last year representing the first time since 2013 that he failed to stand on the podium at a race at Silverstone – a 12-race run, including the bonus 70th Anniversary race in the Covid season of 2020.

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