01/05/2026

SPORTS FRIDAY | MAY 1, 2026

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‘Absolutely not’

MCLAREN showed off their Formula One heri tage with a deafening display of title-winning cars driven by champions past and present on the streets of Miami yesterday. Reigning champion Lando Norris and team mate Oscar Piastri joined double champions Mika Hakkinen and Emerson Fittipaldi in thrilling the fans ahead of what would have been a 1,000th grand prix celebration but for conflict in the Middle East. The cancellation of April races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as a result of the Iran war means the milestone, achieved previously only by Ferrari, will now be marked officially in Monaco in June – the race where the team founded by New Zealander Bruce McLaren debuted in 1966. “We were meant, obviously, to celebrate it here,”Norris told Reuters before taking his 2025 car for a spin – literally – at Regatta Harbour in the Florida city’s historic Coconut Grove area. “It’s nice that I’ve played a small part in that but today is also a day where you get to see all the cars, the history, the drivers that have driven for McLaren,” added the Briton. “It’s a big milestone and I’m very proud of it.”Brazilian Fittipaldi, McLaren’s first cham pion in 1974 and now 79-years-old, drove a V8-engined McLaren M23 similar to the one that took the late James Hunt to the 1976 crown. “I was the first one, I made a small part of McLaren history but then McLaren has a huge history and I’m very proud to be here,” Fittipaldi, who won his first title with Lotus in 1972, told Reuters . Hakkinen, the 1998 and 1999 champion, shook the ground with his V10-powered MP4-14 while Bruno Senna, nephew of Brazil’s late triple champion Ayrton, drove his uncle’s MP4/6 with its ear-splitting V12. Brazilian Tony Kanaan, the McLaren 1,000th race looms

Red Bull F1 chief pours cold water on Verstappen exit talk from the team

Ű BY KIERAN JACKSON

offer at McLaren to work alongside team prin cipal Andrea Stella as chief racing officer from 2028 onwards. As well as the British-Italian engineer, in the last two years Red Bull have lost the likes of: star designer Adrian Newey, long-term adviser Helmut Marko, chief designer Craig Skinner, sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, strategy guru Will Courtenay and team principal Christian Horner, who was sacked last sum mer. “I don’t think we should be defensive about the losing talents aspect,” Mekies added. “I think it’s something that has been there for three, four, five years. That big names have been leaving. It’s facts. “And you guys are right to highlight it. “But I think one thing that is true is that as a management team, our No. 1 priority is to make sure that we develop and create the best working environment, so that our people have the best conditions to want to stay and to want the job. “Does it come in a linear, smooth way? No. Super happy for GP (Lambiase). You know, he has an amazing opportunity. He has been with us for 10 years. “He’s going to be with us for the next two years. Fair enough. But the global context is, it’s a team that creates talent.” Red Bull will be looking to make progress this weekend at the Miami Grand Prix, which will also host the second sprint race of the sea son. – The Independent

Furthermore, after the last race in Japan which left him a distant ninth in the world championship, Verstappen admitted he is considering quitting Formula 1 at the end of the season. However, despite the new rules and the long list of Red Bull departures, Mekies insists Verstappen is “living and breathing the team” as F1 returns after an enforced spring break with the Miami Grand Prix this weekend. “Absolutely not,” said Mekies, when asked if Lambiase’s departure, alongside other exits, would hasten his own star driver’s departure. “That’s my direct answer to you. “Obviously, we speak with Max every day. And Max knows motorsport upside-down. He’s living and breathing this team. “The team has been extremely successful and you can’t promote everyone. And some people make some decisions. “In the big scheme of things, Max also knows (this) very well, it represents such a tiny part, which we accept you guys (media) focus on, compared to the reality.” It is understood that Verstappen can trigger an exit from his contract if he is outside the top two in the championship standings by the summer break. Currently, with Red Bull struggling amid their new powertrain partnership with Ford, the four-time world champion trails second placed George Russell by 51 points. Meanwhile, Lambiase has taken up what is thought to be a lucrative

R ED BULL team principal Laurent Mekies insists the exit of key person nel will not accelerate Max Verstappen’s departure from the team. It was announced a fortnight ago that Verstappen’s long-term race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, will join McLaren, not before 2028, in the latest of a long line of Red Bull staff who have left in the last few years. The future of Verstappen himself,

despite his £50 mil lion-a-year (RM260m) con tract until the

end of 2028, has been the subject of much debate. T h e Dut chman has made no bones in voic ing his disap proval of F1’s new regula tions.

Red Bull F1 driver Max Verstappen (left) and team principal Laurent Mekies. – REUTERSPIC

2013 Indianapolis 500 winner, also drove an Arrow McLaren IndyCar. “To just be alongside them, even just to be able to talk to them is really cool,” said Piastri. Norris and Piastri, driv ing Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 title-winner, then took to the track together to salute the cheering throng before interviews on a stage. “It was nice to see so

many people and it was just good to have a bit of fun,” said Norris. McLaren have won the last two Miami Grands

Prix – Piastri last year and Norris in 2024 – and Monday could complete a hattrick although Mercedes have been dominant since the start of a new engine and rules era. – Reuters

Hamilton backed for victories with Ferrari – with one caveat

MARTIN BRUNDLE has backed Lewis Hamilton to win F1 races this season – provided Ferrari make a “big step” at the Miami Grand Prix this weekend. With Mercedes leading the way after the open ing three rounds, the enforced spring break has given teams time to try and close the gap, with tweaks to the regulations announced last week also threatening to reel in Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. Ferrari have been Mercedes’s closest rivals, with Hamilton picking up his first podium in Ferrari red at round two in China. Hamilton is currently fourth in the drivers’ standings, eight points behind team

ship, including the pairings from McLaren (Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri) and Red Bull (Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar). “This is going to ebb and flow. I see teams leap frogging others with some upgrades because there is so much upside potential with these cars,” he added. “I think it’s totally wide open. We have got a sprint weekend in Miami, so there are sprint points to be won, grand prix points to be won. “Anybody, I would say, in the top four teams, any of those eight drivers, could win this year’s world championship.” – The Independent

were smashing against the ground and were quite brutal things, it didn’t seem to suit his style. “But just his mood and just the way he’s going about it, he just seems a lot happier because Ferrari is more competitive. “He’s got to beat Charles Leclerc if he’s going to win the world championship in the other Ferrari, and others. “Let’s see if he can sustain that. If there’s a sniff of a victory, I think Lewis is still very much capable of taking that.” Brundle added that he still believes as many as eight drivers can win this year’s world champion

mate Charles Leclerc and 31 behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli. Hamilton, 41, has voiced his approval of this new generation of cars – in contrast to the ground effect era of 2022-2025 – and Brundle believes the seven-time world champion can win races if pro vided with a “sniff” of an opportunity. “Lewis clearly enjoys these cars much more,” Brundle told Sky Sports’ F1 Show podcast. “Ferrari is more competitive and I think again will make a big step for Miami. “Lewis obviously prefers this type of car to the seasons we had with the ground-effect cars that