F1 LIVE: Red Bull boss Christian Horner insists insists FIA were ‘overtly biased’ towards Mercedes

Sports Staff

28 June 2022 at 4:43 am·5-min read

F1 is back at Silverstone this for the British Grand Prix after a weekend off following Montreal, where Max Verstappen tightened his grip on the championship.

Verstappen is now 46 points clear of his nearest challenger, his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, who is a further three points up on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc after nine races. The Dutch world champion already has six race wins to his name this season and victory at Silverstone would only cement his place as a repeat champion-in-waiting. But Verstappen has bad memories from Silverstone lingering in his mind after a controversial collision with Lewis Hamilton last year sent him flying into the barriers at high speed.

Hamilton has won seven of the past eight British Grands Prix but the chances of him repeating the trick appear slim after such a difficult season, with Mercedes lagging well behind the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull. “I think there are lots of learnings from this weekend and improvements that we can make moving forwards,” he said after Canada. “I really hope, moving to Silverstone… It’s such an important race for us and for me, and so I just want to be in a battle with these guy. I think we’re better in medium and high-speed corners probably than we are in the low-speed corners, but we have bouncing, so I don’t know how it’s going to be through Copse and all those places.”

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F1 news live

F1 returns with the British Grand Prix this weekend
Max Verstappen leads the drivers’ standings by 46 points
Lewis Hamilton hoping for Mercedes improvements at Silverstone
McLaren boss comments on relationship with Daniel Ricciardo
Christian Horner insists FIA were ‘overtly biased’ towards Mercedes

Christian Horner backs Mercedes to be “strong” at Silverstone

11:17 , Kieran Jackson

Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes Mercedes will be strong at this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The constructors champions have struggled in the first nine races of this season, with the porpoising of the 2022 cars hampering the performance of both seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and new kid on the block George Russell.

Yet Horner - whose Red Bull team lead the constructors championship by 76 points - believes the Silver Arrows will bounce back and backed Ferrari to challenge too.

Asked by Autosport if he thought Mercedes would be a factor at Silverstone, Horner replied: “Definitely, I think they’ll be strong at Silverstone.

“I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t be. Paul Ricard, the same. I think Ferrari will be quick at Silverstone as well. It could be a more of a challenging circuit for us just due to the nature of this layout. It’s incredible that we’ve put a run of six race victories together [but] Silverstone could well be the most challenging.”

Christian Horner believes Mercedes will be strong this weekend at Silverstone (Getty Images)

Lewis Hamilton: Nelson Piquet condemned for racist slur about Mercedes F1 driver

10:38 , Kieran Jackson

Formula 1 and Mercedes have condemned racist language used by three-time world champion Nelson Piquet to describe Lewis Hamilton.

The interview, which took place in Portuguese back in November, discusses Hamilton’s win at last year’s British Grand Prix, when the seven-time champion collided with then-Championship leader Max Verstappen on the opening lap.

The Dutchman spun out and crashed into the barrier, causing uproar at Red Bull as Hamilton sprung back into the Championship race.

Yet Piquet, 69, believed Hamilton crashed into Verstappen on purpose and twice used the term “neguinho” to describe the Mercedes star.

Nelson Piquet condemned for racist slur about Lewis Hamilton

Formula One “racing towards” its target of making the sport net-zero carbon by 2030

10:15 , Kieran Jackson

Formula One says it is “racing towards” its target of making the sport net-zero carbon by 2030 following the announcement of new branding to promote the environmental drive from the British Grand Prix onwards.

It was announced in 2019 that F1 was aiming for net-zero as efforts to improve sustainability were ramped up.

That also includes a plan to have a 100 per cent sustainable fuel by 2026, when the next era of hybrid engines will be introduced.

The development of the fuel is likely to have an impact on the transportation sector, while F1 has also revealed other ambitions ahead of the sport’s return to Silverstone this weekend.

F1 ‘racing towards’ 2030 net-zero carbon target

Lewis Hamilton insists Silverstone is ‘so important’ for Mercedes

09:50 , Kieran Jackson

Lewis Hamilton has won seven of the past eight British Grands Prix but the chances of him repeating the trick appear slim after such a difficult season, with Mercedes lagging well behind the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull.

“I think there are lots of learnings from this weekend and improvements that we can make moving forwards,” he said after Canada.

“I really hope, moving to Silverstone… It’s such an important race for us and for me, and so I just want to be in a battle with these guy. I think we’re better in medium and high-speed corners probably than we are in the low-speed corners, but we have bouncing, so I don’t know how it’s going to be through Copse and all those places.”

F1 news LIVE

09:40 , Kieran Jackson