F1 2025 Saudi Arabian GP LIVE: Race start time today and schedule as lando Norris resets after crash – UK Times

On McLaren being at the top: “Things can swing, you are talking about a few tenths, you can catch them.”

On Russell: “He’s going a top job. He’s such a stoic person, people talked about Lewis and Max, now you can see how he’s delivering. He’s performing in that car to the maximum. He’s getting better, better and better.”

On Antonelli: “It’s important to tackle it actively, he’s learning. I don’t want him to take any risks in the high speed.”

On potential of signing Verstappen: “I wouldn’t say that, I don’t flirt if I’m happy in the relationship in a professional way. I am super happy with the line-up we have, Max is at Red Bull, we haven’t had a conversation.”

Lewis Hamilton admits he’s finding it “very difficult” to bond with the Ferrari F1 car after another difficult qualifying session in Saudi Arabia.

Hamilton has been short of speed all weekend at the high-speed Jeddah street circuit and only narrowly managed to make the top-10 shootout in qualifying.

“It was challenging as always, qualifying for me,” Hamilton reflected afterwards. The 40-year-old has not qualified in the top three so far in 2025, aside from his sprint race win in China.

Four-time F1 world champion Verstappen, who has a contract worth £50m-a-year at Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season, is being heavily linked with Aston and Mercedes given Red Bull’s recent downturn in form and new regulations being enforced in 2026.

Aston have also recently recruited former Red Bull designer Adrian Newey, who is fully focused on next year’s car. Newey designed all four of Verstappen’s championship-winning cars at Red Bull.

1. Lando Norris – 77 points

2. Oscar Piastri – 74 points

3. Max Verstappen – 69 points

4. George Russell – 63 points

5. Charles Leclerc – 35 points

6. Kimi Antonelli – 30 points

7. Lewis Hamilton – 25 points

8. Alex Albon – 18 points

9. Esteban Ocon – 14 points

10. Lance Stroll – 10 points

11. Pierre Gasly – 6 points

12. Nico Hulkenberg – 6 points

13. Ollie Bearman – 6 points

14. Isack Hadjar – 4 points

15. Yuki Tsunoda – 5 points

16. Carlos Sainz – 1 point

17. Liam Lawson – 0 points

18. Jack Doohan – 0 points

19. Gabriel Bortoleto – 0 points

20. Fernando Alonso – 0 points

“Why wouldn’t they want to sign Max? It’s totally understandable,” Russell said.

“He’s the best at the moment. He’s a four-time world champion. That’s not anything against me or Kimi. There’s two drivers for every team and he is one person.

“So that doesn’t concern me one bit because the performance is my currency and right now I think I am performing as good as anyone on this grid.”

In fact, fans online have likened the renderings of Qiddiya Speed Park, due for completion in 2027 at a cost of $480m (£360m), to Rainbow Road in the video game Mario Kart. And with a 70m incline at turn one, nicknamed “The Blade”, it’s not actually as outlandish a comparison as it might seem.

Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko poured fuel on the fire when he stated post-Bahrain that the team has “great concern” over Verstappen’s future, given their current struggles.

“I don’t know, to be honest,” Verstappen said, in Thursday’s press conference at the Saudi Arabian GP, when asked why Marko made those comments.

“I just keep working, trying to improve the car. Naturally, Bahrain was not a great weekend for us. I think we were all pretty disappointed with that.

“We keep trying to come up with new ideas to try on the car, the competition is tough, that’s how i go about my weeks. Just trying to improve my situation.