RaceFans Round-up: ‘Amazing to spend whole career at one team’

In the round-up: Max Verstappen indicates he intends to stay at Red Bull.

In brief

Staying at Red Bull would be “amazing” – Verstappen

Verstappen made his Formula 1 debut with Red Bull’s second team, Toro Rosso (now RB) in 2015. He joined their senior team the following year and after scoring his first championship win signed a long-term contract extension which will keep him there until 2028.

Now a four-times world champion, despite being courted by Mercedes this year, Verstappen says he is attracted to the idea of staying where he is. “My desire, and honestly this is how I saw it when I signed my new deal, is it will be an amazing story if basically I did my whole F1 career with one team,” he told the BBC. “I think that is pretty special, because I do value my time also at Toro Rosso, but I was already part of the whole Red Bull family.

“But again, ’26 for me is also a big question mark where it’s not only performance wise, but how is the car, is it fun to drive, is it going to be nice? Is it what I like to dedicate 24 weekends a year for and all the work of course next to it, that is something that is very difficult to judge at the moment. I also know that I want to do other stuff in life and I definitely don’t want to be racing in F1 until I’m 40 years old.”

McLaren anthem comment wasn’t serious – Lawson

Liam Lawson said he was not being serious when he complained in a recent interview about McLaren playing the British national anthem instead of that of its New Zealander founder Bruce McLaren. “McLaren’s based in the UK, but it’s a New Zealand team,” he said. “It’s completely bullshit.”

Asked about his comments last week Lawson said: “This is stuff that I’m learning in Formula 1… stuff gets taken out of context.”

“It’s ironic, I was laughing when I mentioned this comment in a podcast, and it was more of a joke, but obviously it got taken very literally.”

F1 practice debut for Browning

Williams junior driver Luke Browning will drive for the team in the opening practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next week. Browning moved up to Formula 2 in September after finishing third in Formula 3 behind Leonardo Fornaroli and Gabriele Mini.

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Links

Formula 1’s leading steward is sacked by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem (Daily Mail)

‘Tim Mayer, son of McLaren co-founder Teddy Mayer, and one of the most respected figures in the sport, has not been called up to officiate as chairman of the stewards since his last outing in Austin, Texas, last month.’

Andretti on F1 team’s approval (Indy Star)

Mario Andretti: ‘The ultimate objective was to get a true, all-American team going.’

Italy tax police search legal firms in Agnelli inheritance probe (Reuters)

‘The investigation, opened earlier this year, alleges Elkann and his siblings Lapo and Ginevra did not pay taxes in Italy on assets they inherited after the death in 2019 of their grandmother Marella Caracciolo, the wife of late Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli.’

Tim Gerhards joins Sainteloc Racing for 2025 (Formula Regional by Alpine)

‘Gerhards began his single-seater career in 2024, participating in the Formula Winter Series and the Spanish F4 Championship. His notable performances include a sixth-place finish at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, marking his best result of the season.’

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