Category: Formula 1

Newey has agreed a long-rumoured exit from Red Bull in early 2025, resulting in speculation over his next destination should the 65-year-old wish to remain in F1.

The Briton joined Red Bull in 2006 after championship wins with Williams and McLaren, and his influence helped Red Bull climb out of F1’s midfield and into the thick of title battles in the succeeding years.

He will continue in his role as chief technical officer at Red Bull for this season, where he will also complete his work on its RB17 hypercar project.

Pierre Gasly hailed him as a “unique genius” – and noted that his best memory of his half-season at Red Bull was getting the chance to work with Newey at the team.

“A unique genius I’ll say; extremely talented, most successful engineer in the history of our sport,” the Frenchman crooned.

“Very particular approach – I still remember going to Milton Keynes and him like drawing all sorts of stuff on his board, and I thought like, is that how we draw F1 car like these days?

“And it’s just very impressive and actually, probably my best memory from Red Bull was working with such a special individual. I had a very good relationship with Adrian. Very humble guy and down to earth.

Adrian Newey, Chief Technology Officer, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Alex Albon replaced Gasly at the team midway through 2019 and continued to work with Newey in 2020 as a race driver before his demotion to reserve driver the following year.

The Anglo-Thai felt that it was “inspiring” to have worked with Newey, explaining that the two worked closer together in 2021 when Albon’s role encompassed simulator duties at the team’s Milton Keynes base.

“He’s a very nice person and everyone who knows him, he is very popular and very open-minded, I got on very well with him,” Albon said.

“It’ll be interesting to see his next move. I’m sure every team is chasing him down, to try and get a hold of him, but whatever he chooses, if it’s retirement or racing, I wish him all the best. And obviously, our door is always open as well!

“He was very connected to the driving side. He really wanted to know how it felt. I think in some ways, he still understood that the car needs to be set up a certain way to get the most out of it.

“His office is opposite Christian’s, so I’d always go to see him. I was more involved with that kind of stuff speaking with Adrian during 2021, when I was more of a sim guy, trying to fix some of the issues we had in 2020, the same kind of things understanding philosophies and what areas he needs to focus on.

“If it was something that he felt was important, he’d always come and speak to me after a Sunday and want my opinion about it, which was nice to have that relationship with someone who’s obviously so influential.”

Daniel Ricciardo, who drove for Red Bull between 2014 to 2018 and returned for a spell as third driver at the start of 2023, said it was a “privilege” to have driven Newey-influenced cars at the team.

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, celebrates victory alongside Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing, Helmut Markko, Consultant, Red Bull Racing and Adrian Newey, Chief Technical Officer, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Andrew Hone / Motorsport Images

He admitted that seeing Newey’s drawing board in the office could be “kind of intimidating”, but outlined how much of a fan of racing that Newey is in noting his driving efforts in classic cars at Goodwood.

“[It was] a privilege to work with him, privilege to drive several of his race cars,” Ricciardo said.

“Obviously a bit of a fan of the sport and even you know, my dad, when I signed with Red Bull, was like, ‘Oh, you’re gonna get to work with Adrian.’ That was exciting for him as well.

“Yeah, it’s cool. A privilege. We’ll see what he does. But obviously, I wish him well and yeah, we’ll see where he lands.

“Walking into his office is kind of intimidating because of the big design board, he’s probably going to ask me things I have no idea what he’s talking about.

“I hoped ‘don’t ask me too many questions, let’s just keep this fairly basic for my own good’ but also he’s a fan of motorsport – he gets involved, whether it’s Goodwood, the Revival or things like this. He’s just a fan deep down like all of us.

“And you know, obviously for him to still be heavily involved and invested in the sport. I think that also speaks to how much he loves it.”

Additional reporting by Filip Cleeren and Charles Bradley

Just over five months on from a frantic – but highly successful – inaugural Vegas street race, a third Miami GP might have felt a little old hat for America’s recently acquired passion for F1. Had Miami been trumped?

But fears that Sin City had stolen all the limelight were allayed by a sell-out 275,000 Miami GP weekend crowd and a plethora of global celebrities, musicians and sports stars and even a former US President (and future candidate).

When asked by an American journalist if he thought Miami’s race had been diminished by the arrival of Vegas, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton replied: “Diminished? No, I think the sport’s got bigger here.

“It’s got a lot more awareness. Every city that I go to, people are excited. It’s now a sport here in the States. Before, it was just an event that arrived once a year. Now, we’re kind of a part of the culture here, which is really, really cool.

“It’s been amazing, and I think all of us are super grateful for the US finally embracing this sport and having the love and passion for it that we all have grown up with.”

Hard Rock Stadium president and CEO Tom Garfinkel, who is the managing partner of the Formula 1 event and the boss of the Miami Dolphins NFL team, explained to selected media including Autosport that he felt his event is proving out F1’s continued growth in the States.

“We are sold out; we’re over 275,000 tickets, he confirmed. “The grandstands, suites and hospitality mostly sold out last week.

“We sort of plan things to sell out right before the race, that’s how we like to do it. And we had some last-minute campus pass sales just over the last few days, but most of the tickets were already sold.

Tom Garfinkel meets Michael Andretti in the paddock

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“We’re still kind of trying to limit capacity a bit to make sure we can deliver the experience. I think if we put 125,000 people a day in here, traffic would get worse, concessions and bathroom [queues] and everything would get worse.

“We anticipate growing the attendance in the future, but right now we’re trying to just keep delivering this great experience hopefully and grow it slowly.”

As well as a packed house, celebs like Ed Sheeran, Kendall Jenner, Luis Suarez, Danny Ramirez, Tom Brady, Alexandra Daddario, Camilla Cabello and Patrick Mahomes strolled the paddock.

There was clearly no reduction in star names wanting to be seen here, and it seems that fan interest continues to be boosted by having celebrity attendees on site.

“I think the people that didn’t come in year one had FOMO [fear of missing out] and wanted to come in year two,” said Garfinkel of the event’s celebrity pulling power. “And then the people that maybe missed the first two years wanted to come this year.

“I got so much good feedback from some of those folks. One very, very famous athlete told me it was his favourite event he’d ever attended because he could be with his friends, he got in and out easily. He wasn’t being bothered for pictures and selfies and stuff. Then he ran into other friends of his that he didn’t expect to see.

“He was like, ‘this is the best event I’ve ever attended and I wanna come every year’. So, from that standpoint, I’m not surprised they’re coming back and that more people are coming that haven’t been here before.”

For RB’s sprint race hero Daniel Ricciardo, whose popularity in the US exploded thanks to Netflix’s Drive To Survive, he believes that the spectacle only continues to increase.

Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri VCARB01

Photo by: Erik Junius

“I love when you mix sports and the States, I think it’s always a lot of fun,” he said. “I’m enjoying having three races here.

“I didn’t compete here last year, but I was here at the event. It felt like it was much kind of I’d say better, let’s say grander than year one, which is expected.

“It’s like a whole week of things now. And I feel that you know, our weeks have built out now not to the extent of a Super Bowl week but it’s getting there with events and people are interested.

“There’s kind of high from a Wednesday onwards, it’s not just the Sunday that they’re excited for the race. We had a really good crowd, a lot of young people, and I feel like a lot of a new audience coming in so it’s good to grow the sport for sure.”

In his role, which is second only to the Miami Dolphins billionaire owner Stephen Ross, Garfinkel gets the peruse the entire campus and is all about the details, listening to feedback and fine-tuning the experience for his patrons.

Of course, he spends most of his time in the exclusive suites and that gives him insight into what’s making them the hottest ticket in town.

“I think Miami attracts so many people because it’s culturally relevant,” he said. “When you combine Miami with what Formula 1 is, I think that combination creates a lot of great things.

“We have an area called the Palm Club, and just looking around who was in that room and then going to Carbone Beach [an exclusive off-site supper club that attracted Taylor Swift’s NFL boyfriend Travis Kelce, LeBron James and Ivanka Trump] and seeing who was in that…

“I was with people, you know, they are some of the wealthiest people in the world. There are CEOs of some of the biggest companies in the world. There are NFL players, NBA stars, music stars and they’re all converging and hanging out, spending time together and we’re all kind of looking at each other.

“I was with one CEO of a huge bank and he’s like, ‘I can’t believe this room’ – and he’s been in a lot of rooms, you know what I mean?! So, it’s really amazing to see people of different ages, backgrounds, skin colour, all kinds.

Camila Cabello, singer

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“You’ve got hip-hop stars hanging out with CEOs of banks, hanging out with some billionaire, hanging out with an actress. You’re just standing there like ‘this is bizarre’ – but that’s a lot of fun.”

Garfinkel doesn’t see a risk of dilution with having three events in the US, and points to his group’s close ties with Vegas in particular, as they are both effectively partnered with F1 owners Liberty, rather than Austin’s ‘legacy’ United States GP event.

“I think Miami, Austin and Las Vegas are all three very different cities with three very different cultures,” he added. “And we’re trying to be uniquely Miami here, and Vegas does what Vegas does and Austin does what Austin does.

“I think those differences are all positive because it means that fans can choose which one they enjoy the most. Or choose to go to all three and have different experiences at all three.

“We’re just being Miami, and trying to do things a little differently, do some things that are fun across the spectrum from people that are spending $150 a day for a campus pass to people that might spend $15,000 a day for really high-end luxury experience.

“We’d love for this event to become like the Super Bowl or Wimbledon or the Masters or something where it’s an event you need to attend and you need to go to.

“And I think it’s got the potential to become that.”

The Faenza-based team enjoyed its most competitive outing of the year in Miami last weekend, with Tsunoda scoring twice thanks to an eighth-place finish in Saturday’s sprint followed by a strong drive to seventh in Sunday’s race.

The results left Tsunoda encouraged about his team’s form going forward, hailing the speed of its progress.

“It shows how much we’re pushing, you know, especially the people who work in the background,” Tsunoda told F1.com after the race. “The progress we’re having throughout the year so far is very fast.

“Every race so far we were always at least driving around the P10 and most of the races we’re scoring points, and recently it’s not even just P10, but P8, P9, P7, P4.

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team VCARB 01, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“So obviously, if we continue like this, maybe we at some point catch up the [top five] teams. We never know and that’s what we aim for for now.”

“I kind of peed in my pants when I slid at Turn seven,” he said of the incident.”I kind of had a half-spin there. It was my biggest mistake and it was unnecessary for me.

“But after that, the pace was there. I also enjoyed the battle with Lewis. In the end, he overtook me like yesterday, so kind of deja vu.”

Former Ferrari performance engineer Steven Petrik was installed as a replacement for Bottas’ engineer Alex Chan, whom the Finn had worked with since joining the team in 2022.

Bottas noted that the decision was “not in my hands”, suggesting that this was part of Audi’s “reconstruction” of the Sauber team ahead of the German brand’s entry as a full works outfit in 2026.

Sauber representative Alunni Bravi revealed that this was largely the case, and that CEO Andreas Seidl had been making changes that would move the team towards its final structure when the rebrand is completed at the end of 2025.

“Andreas Seidl decided to anticipate certain decisions, and start implementing the changes that will bring the current structure towards the final structure that we will have in place in ’26,” Alunni Bravi explained.

“But we needed to start implementing those changes. This is not the final structure of the race team. As in Hinwil, there is not the final structure of what will be the Audi F1 team and the organisational chart.

“We wanted to start, and Andreas Seidl decided to do it immediately. Because we think that we need to bring a bit more experience, but also to bring people that can have know-how from other teams, from top teams and help us to develop our processes, our analysis.”

Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, on the grid

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Alunni Bravi added Petrik’s introduction as race engineer to Bottas had started at the Pirelli test following the Japanese Grand Prix, and that the team had let Bottas know the decision after China.

He added that, although the addition of Petrik arrived in the same week as the team’s announcement that Nico Hulkenberg would join the team in 2025, the two signings had “no connection”.

“Of course, it’s now up to us to integrate the new engineer, and also, of course, to create, to establish a good working relationship, but also personal relationship between Valtteri and race engineer.

“We discussed this with Valtteri after China. There was a meeting immediately after the race. Steven Petrik was already race engineer of Valtteri in Suzuka during the two Pirelli test days.

“And we decided to anticipate this change. Of course, when you take a decision, you can always take a good or a bad decision – and only time will prove if we have been good in taking this one.

“But this… there was no link between the change of the race engineer and the announcement of Nico [Hulkenberg]. It was just one of the first steps that we wanted to implement, to have a new organisation also in the race team coming into place as soon as possible.”

Former Ferrari performance engineer Steven Petrik was installed as a replacement for Bottas’ engineer Alex Chan, whom the Finn had worked with since joining the team in 2022.

Bottas noted that the decision was “not in my hands”, suggesting that this was part of Audi’s “reconstruction” of the Sauber team ahead of the German brand’s entry as a full works outfit in 2026.

Sauber representative Alunni Bravi revealed that this was largely the case, and that CEO Andreas Seidl had been making changes that would move the team towards its final structure when the rebrand is completed at the end of 2025.

“Andreas Seidl decided to anticipate certain decisions, and start implementing the changes that will bring the current structure towards the final structure that we will have in place in ’26,” Alunni Bravi explained.

“But we needed to start implementing those changes. This is not the final structure of the race team. As in Hinwil, there is not the final structure of what will be the Audi F1 team and the organisational chart.

“We wanted to start, and Andreas Seidl decided to do it immediately. Because we think that we need to bring a bit more experience, but also to bring people that can have know-how from other teams, from top teams and help us to develop our processes, our analysis.”

Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, on the grid

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Alunni Bravi added Petrik’s introduction as race engineer to Bottas had started at the Pirelli test following the Japanese Grand Prix, and that the team had let Bottas know the decision after China.

He added that, although the addition of Petrik arrived in the same week as the team’s announcement that Nico Hulkenberg would join the team in 2025, the two signings had “no connection”.

“Of course, it’s now up to us to integrate the new engineer, and also, of course, to create, to establish a good working relationship, but also personal relationship between Valtteri and race engineer.

“We discussed this with Valtteri after China. There was a meeting immediately after the race. Steven Petrik was already race engineer of Valtteri in Suzuka during the two Pirelli test days.

“And we decided to anticipate this change. Of course, when you take a decision, you can always take a good or a bad decision – and only time will prove if we have been good in taking this one.

“But this… there was no link between the change of the race engineer and the announcement of Nico [Hulkenberg]. It was just one of the first steps that we wanted to implement, to have a new organisation also in the race team coming into place as soon as possible.”

But speculation that Antonelli could replace Sargeant this season gathered pace during the Miami Grand Prix weekend after the FIA received a request to waive the superlicence minimum age requirement, given the Italian is yet to turn 18.

“I feel like, I mean, jumping in FP1 this weekend the most comfortable I felt all year and I feel like I was straightaway on it.

“If I look since Australia, I feel like it’s been going relatively well, from a pace front. Japan, getting almost everything out of it. Of course, China was disappointing, but again here [Saturday at Miami], I feel like I did a good job. So… just looking for that last tenth. But nonetheless, just enjoying it, being home and keep delivering the best I can.”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli drives Mercedes W12

Asked if there had been discussions with Williams team principal James Vowles over the security of his seat, Sargeant replied: “No, I wouldn’t say. I wouldn’t say so, no. I talked to James internally. I talked to my managers.

Pressed on whether he was given assurances from Vowles, the American added: “That’s all internal talk. I’m not gonna say anything.”

But even before his lucky break Norris displayed searing pace on the medium tyres, and on the hard-tyred restart he comfortably held his lead and drove away from Verstappen to win by seven seconds, with the Dutchman admitting McLaren’s pace looked “insane”.

And while emotions ran high at McLaren following Norris’ breakthrough win, Stella said he wasn’t too sure that Miami’s Sunday picture was representative for the races to come.

“Yes, we improved the car. We know in the numbers how much we improved it and its material, you should see it in laptime,” Stella said.

“But for Red Bull, this race was a little bit of a struggle. Is the pace we saw a representation of the future? I’m not going to put my signature on this statement.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Erik Junius

“In Japan, we were six-tenths away in qualifying off Red Bull. In China again we were a few tenths away, so it would be completely unrealistic to think that what we have seen here is the updated picture of competitiveness. 

“I think here Red Bull didn’t get the most out of their package.”

With Piastri also getting the full spec in Imola, which includes a revised floor, Stella says the team’s Miami success should be seen as a sign that its work in the factory is paying off.

It will now start pulling together its next upgrade package for later this year, which Stella believes is necessary to pose a consistent challenge to Red Bull.

“We take this positive, we take this encouragement,” he added. “If anything it’s even more energy to develop possibly even faster than what we are doing.

“But in my view, if you want to fight consistently Red Bull, we need to deliver another package like the one we have delivered here.”

Centred around a change in philosophy for the sidepod and engine cover bodywork, the rest of the SF-24 will also undergo a transformation, as the team looks for ways to apply pressure on Red Bull and stem the flow of the threat now posed by a resurgent McLaren package.

Ferrari, having moved to the underbite sidepod inlet at the start of the season, is now sporting an overbite arrangement, similar to the layout we’ve seen Red Bull pursue in 2024. However, while Red Bull has been able to minimise the size of their horizontal inlet, Ferrari’s solution is a little more expansive.

Meanwhile, the vertical bypass duct beside the chassis has been merged with the main inlet to form one larger inlet, similar to the arrangement seen on this year’s Alpine and Mercedes.

The upshot of this is the removal of the bypass duct’s outlet beside the rear leg of the halo and a change to the layout of the winglet housed here, as a cobra-shaped vane now presides over the region.

The outboard wing mirror stalk has also been extended to help condition the airflow along the upper surface of the sidepod bodywork.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Davide Cavazza

The overall shape of the sidepod’s bodywork has also been reprofiled, with a more generous undercut now present that has allowed Ferrari’s designers to rework the shape of the sidepod’s flank and adjust its waistline cut to better work with the floor alongside.

The sheer magnitude of these external changes will have undoubtedly required the team to have repackaged the SF-24’s internals too, with the radiators, coolers and other power unit ancillaries being moved and/or entirely redesigned to fit their new home.

As a consequence, the engine cover has also been fettled, with the louvred panel previously situated on the shelf-like section of bodywork exchanged for a larger, single outlet in the middle of the assembly, while the rear section is pinched in to create room for the heat to be rejected.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Davide Cavazza

Ferrari might well have been able to drip-feed some of these components onto the car in China and Miami but the team knows that brings with it the risk of the sprint weekend format and the limited testing that can be done during those events.

Opting to deliver this entire update package at Imola should therefore represent a much larger step forward for Ferrari, as it will have more time to assess and understand its impact.

This should also set the team in good stead for the next phase of the season, providing it has a good correlation between the real-world behaviour of these new parts and what was predicted by its simulation tools.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Davide Cavazza

The win came during Norris’ sixth year in the series after being one of F1’s highest-rated drivers for several seasons and coming close to victory numerous times. 

So when Norris finally made that trip to the top step of the podium, it meant he entered the top 10 for the most grand prix starts before a driver’s maiden victory in F1. 

Where does Norris rank as a result and who else is on that list? 

Sergio Perez, Racing Point, 1st position, on the podium with a Mexican flag

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

• Grand prix starts before first win: 190 

• First win: 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix 

• Years in F1: 2011 – present  

• Career wins: 6 

• Career starts: 263 

• Championships: 0 

It meant Perez finally won a grand prix at his 190th attempt, which set a record for the longest wait as his whole career up to then had been spent in midfield machinery. Since, however, the floodgates have pretty much opened as Perez moved to Red Bull in 2021 where he has won five grands prix. 

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 1st position

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

• Grand prix starts before first win: 150 

• First win: 2022 British Grand Prix 

• Years in F1: 2015 – present 

• Career wins: 3 

• Career starts: 188 

• Championships: 0 

Ferrari then told him to let a quicker Leclerc overtake on lap 31, but Sainz was faster on the lap 43 restart where he regained the lead down Wellington Straight for his maiden victory after 150 grand prix starts.   

Podium: Race winner Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing second place Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing, third place Felipe Massa, Ferrari

Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch / Motorsport Images

But Webber was significantly faster than anybody that day, as an impressive recovery drive saw him retake the lead during the second pitstop window before winning in a Red Bull 1-2 by nine seconds.  

4. Rubens Barrichello  

Podium: Race winner Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari F1 2000, second place Mika Hakkinen, Mclaren MP4-15, third place David Coulthard, Mclaren MP4-15

Photo by: Sutton Images

Barrichello spent seven years in the midfield until an impressive 1999, where he scored three podiums for Stewart, caught the eye of Ferrari boss Jean Todt who signed him for 2000. 

Race winner Jarno Trulli, Renault F1 Team

Photo by: Sutton Images

Jarno Trulli spent the entirety of his 14-year F1 career racing in the midfield, which makes it no surprise that he only won one grand prix. That came for Renault at the 2004 Monaco GP, where Trulli never lost position to win from pole on his 117th race start. 

It had been a long wait for his win because Trulli spent the previous seven seasons racing for Minardi, Prost, Jordan and Renault so two podiums during that spell was the best he could hope for.   

Jenson Button

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

• Grand prix starts before first win: 113 

• First win: 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix 

• Years in F1: 2000-17 

• Career wins: 15 

• Career starts: 306 

• Championships: 1 (2009) 

Jenson Button had a rocky start to his F1 career by driving for three teams in his opening four seasons. It all finally clicked for him in 2004 when Button scored the first 10 podiums of his career and finished third in the standings, although victory still eluded him. 

He was forced to wait even longer when his British American Racing team regressed in 2005 due to the regulation changes. But things gradually improved when BAR partnered with Honda for 2006, leading to Button’s maiden victory at that season’s 13th round. 

Although he had qualified in fourth, an engine penalty dropped him to 14th. But it was wet and Button shone in those conditions as he stayed on-track while others spun out. Not pitting during the lap 25 safety car then promoted Button to second, before claiming the lead on lap 51 when Alonso spun off due to a driveshaft failure. Button’s lead was left unchallenged as he finally won after 113 grand prix starts – although he waited another two-and-a-half years for his next victory.  

Race winner Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 W03 celebrates in parc ferme

Photo by: Sutton Images

• Grand prix starts before first win: 111 

• First win: 2012 Chinese Grand Prix 

• Years in F1: 2006-16 

• Career wins: 23 

• Career starts: 206 

• Championships: 1 (2016) 

Nico Rosberg’s maiden victory came during his seventh year in F1, but he was always highly-rated. He spent his first four years at Williams, where he beat his team-mates – Alexander Wurz and then Kazuki Nakajima – in the final three of those seasons while scoring two podiums in midfield machinery.  

It led to his Mercedes move in 2010 where he beat team-mate Schumacher in the 2010 and 2011 standings, but only scored three podiums as the Silver Arrows was not yet the force it later became. 

Mercedes’ pace remained pretty much the same for 2012, but a lap of the gods gave Rosberg his first pole by half-a-second at that season’s Chinese GP. Rosberg carried that pace into Sunday, where he controlled the race throughout to give Mercedes its first win since 1955 and his first after 111 grand prix starts. 

=8. Lando Norris 

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Erik Junius

• Grand prix starts before first win: 110 

• First win: 2024 Miami Grand Prix 

• Years in F1: 2019 – present 

• Career wins: 1 

• Career starts: 110 

• Championships: 0 

Norris’ victory followed several missed opportunities, seeing him also obtain F1’s record for the most podiums (15) without a victory. He made his McLaren and F1 debut in 2019, but it wasn’t until 2021 that Norris was in a position to win races. 

Red Bull’s dominance over the next two years limited opportunities, but Norris’ day finally arrived at the 2024 Miami GP when he won from fifth. It came after running a long first stint, which ended when he pitted under a safety car causing Norris to lead the lap 33 restart. But it was not all luck, as Norris gained 7.6 seconds on Verstappen in the final 25 laps for his first F1 win. 

=8. Giancarlo Fisichella 

Podium: Giancarlo Fisichella, Jordan celebrates

Photo by: Sutton Images

But Fisichella’s chance finally came at the 2003 Brazilian GP when he, now back at Jordan, won from eighth on the grid. The key to that victory was a lap seven pitstop where Fisichella took on enough fuel to last until the end of a very wet race, which had half of the grid retire.  

Mika Hakkinen, Mclaren

Photo by: Motorsport Images

• Grand prix starts before first win: 96 

• First win: 1997 European Grand Prix 

• Years in F1: 1991-01 

• Career wins: 20 

• Career starts: 161 

• Championships: 2 (1998-99) 

It took seven seasons for Mika Hakkinen to drive a car that could fight for wins throughout a campaign, as Lotus and then McLaren both went through a difficult period. 

Mercedes dominated the series during the previous rules era, winning both the drivers’ and the constructors’ titles every year from 2014 to 2020.

But the rules overhaul in 2022 left the team on the back foot and has so far been unable to recover to mount a challenge for race wins on a regular basis.

A change to its car concept for 2024 appears to also have failed to help Mercedes lift its form, with George Russell saying after the Miami GP that the team needed to accept it was the fourth-fastest at the moment.

Lowe, who worked at Mercedes from 2013 to 2017, believes the team made some wrong decisions from an aerodynamic point of view when interpreting the current regulations.

The former McLaren and Williams technical director suggested it would take a long time for Mercedes to overcome those setbacks.

Speaking to Autosport/Motorsport.com in an interview, Lowe said: “I have a lot of sympathy and I think in fairness if you talk to teams that are doing well if they aren’t too arrogant and they will say ‘You should count on having good fortune in this sport when you have a good car and don’t assume it is always from your own brilliance’.

“That is a message that most of us have learned over the years.

“Mercedes have made some wrong turns aerodynamically. The tools that we use are incredibly sophisticated, wind tunnels and CFD and so on but nevertheless highly flawed and all teams will admit this.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1, Paddy Lowe, Mercedes AMG F1 Executive Director, race winner Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 and Valtteri Bottas, Williams celebrate on the podium

Photo by: Sutton Images

“Therefore, there is always risk you go down an avenue that doesn’t work in real life and then you have to recover, and you can see that has been the case with Mercedes.

“That is very difficult to recover simply over a matter of time.

“Your team has huge numbers of people and all of your machinery for testing and evaluating ideas should be churning out lap time on a daily basis, and if your competitors are doing that and you have, say, lost three, four, six months for whatever reason, even if you get back on track it is very difficult to produce lap time at a higher rate than they are, so you remain with this offset for a long time as you try and claw it back.

“When I look at Mercedes, this is the situation they are in,” added Lowe, the founder and current CEO of the carbon-neutral synthetic fuel concern Zero Petroleum.

Asked if he had the confidence Mercedes will recover, Lowe said: “You may or may not get there. It may get worse. This is the nature of the sport and why it is so fascinating to watch as champions come and go.

“Empires rise and fall, and I always thought Formula 1 was a bit like that a bit like the Romans and the Greeks. There are lots of components to that and complacency can be one of them by the way, and we saw that with the Romans.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“We were very happy in 1992 at Williams to beat McLaren, who had seen unbeatable for some years, and you come out and you beat them, and you can’t believe it to start with, but something has changed and lots of thing can contribute to it.”

Lowe reckons the next major rules overhaul in 2026 may offer Mercedes the opportunity it needs to return to its former glory.

“The 2026 regulations will be a disturbance that Mercedes are looking forward to see if they can disturb the status quo,” Lowe added.

“But unfortunately today’s formula is very much about optimisation at a micro level on top of some basic structures that you chose or copy or evolve to and then it is about optimisation, and it is very difficult to make step changes within that space.”