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Sauber, who will rebrand to Audi in 2026, recently announced the signing of Nico Hulkenberg on a multi-year deal which will see the German driver join them next season. Now, they set their sights on Esteban Ocon, which will be concerning news for their reported long-time target, Carlos Sainz.

As per F1 Insider, Sauber is evaluating Ocon as a possible candidate should Sainz choose to side with Red Bull or Mercedes. Considering the woeful situation at Ocon’s current team Alpine, the Frenchman choosing to join Sauber shouldn’t be a surprise.

However, having Ocon in the team isn’t the only option Sauber/Audi is evaluating. They could sign someone else or retain one of their existing stars- Zhou Guanyu or Valtteri Bottas. Should that happen, Sainz will be left with even fewer options for 2025 as he will have to leave Ferrari after the culmination of the 2024 season, owing to Lewis Hamilton’s arrival in Maranello.

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Sainz is linked to both Red Bull and Mercedes in addition to Audi. However, neither team has guaranteed Sainz a place to date. Sergio Perez seems to be doing what Red Bull is asking of him, making his contract extension more likely by the day. On the other hand, with Mercedes, Sainz is reportedly finding it difficult to agree on the length of the contract offered by the Silver Arrows.

Sauber, although interested in Sainz, won’t be waiting too long. The Hinwil-based team wants its future sorted before it is too late. As such, the Spaniard has to make a decision soon if he is to avoid letting this opportunity fall into the hands of someone like Ocon.

Carlos Sainz’s links to Audi

Audi enters F1 by taking over Sauber completely, a move that will come into effect in 2026. The German manufacturers have high ambitions and are putting together every piece of the puzzle starting with selecting the right drivers for their project.

Audi and Sainz share a strong link, thanks to his father Carlos Sainz Sr.’s ties to the team. Hence, as soon as Hamilton’s move to Ferrari for 2025 was official, Audi became one of the teams most interested in Sainz.

Audi wanted Hulkenberg, a German driver in the team who will race under the Sauber banner in 2025 before they make their official entry into the sport. Now, they want a driver with race-winning experience to join Hulkenberg. Sainz remains the prime candidate for the same.

The problem with this move lies with the fact that Sainz wants to drive for a top team. Sauber, currently, are languishing at the bottom of the pack and there is no surety that they will make strides next year or even after Audi’s arrival. As such, the Spanish star is taking his time to see if Red Bull and Mercedes have a spot for him.

Ferrari will ditch their traditional red livery for ‘fresh and unexpected colours’ at the Miami Grand Prix next month.

The Scuderia cars will be decked in blue for the race weekend to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Ferrari’s presence in North America.

The design change will be a one-off and will feature two shades of blue – Azzurro La Plata and Azzurro Dino – in place of the traditional Rosso Corsa, the red livery synonymous with the Scuderia.

Azzurro La Plata – a lighter shade of blue, similar to that featured on Argentina’s national flag – is a nod to the colour worn by the legendary Alberto Ascari.

The Italian, Ferrari’s first Formula One world champion, wore a blue racing suit and a blue helmet as he stormed to the title in 1952 and 1953.

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Ferrari will ditch its traditional red livery for the Miami Grand Prix next month

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Carlos Sainz (left) and Charles Leclerc (right) will not wear their traditional red racing suits

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Ferrari last raced in blue and white at the US and Mexican Grand Prix at the end of the 1964 season, in which John Surtees won the title

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A rare sports car once owned by F1 legend Ayrton Senna has gone up for sale for a whopping £500,000.

Senna raced in Formula One between 1984 and and 1994, winning three world championships with McLaren in 1988, 1990 and 1991.

The Honda NSX, of which only a handful of models are currently in existence, goes up for sale nearly 30 years after Senna tragically lost his life at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at the Imola Circuit.

The car, which has 39,100 miles on the clock, is available to buy on UK auto marketplace Auto Trader.

The current owner of the car is Robert McFagan from East Sussex.

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F1 legend Ayrton Senna won three world championships with McLaren in 1988, 1990 and 1991

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The Honda NSX, which has 39,100 miles on the clock, is available to buy on Auto Trader

Credits: IMAGO / PanoramiC

Red Bull could have easily made minimal changes to their 2024 car, given they won 21 of the 22 races last season. However, the Milton Keynes outfit were bold enough to change their highly successful concept entirely. On seeing this radical change in the design of the RB20, Honda felt “very surprised”.

Speaking exclusively to Autosport.com, Honda Racing Corporation’s president Koji Watanabe gave his perspective on how they had to adapt the engine as per Red Bull’s modified concept of the RB20.

Watanabe said, “Last year we won 21 out of the 22 races together, but they still changed the concept. It is unbelievable! They made a lot of requests to adapt our engine to the new concept for the RB20. After we saw the RB20 in real life we were so surprised by all the changes that they made.”

The HRC boss also shed light on how Red Bull requested them to adapt the engine as per the new aerodynamic design. Honda did so and it gave the Austrian team the freedom to seamlessly fit the engine and their redesigned chassis parts.

Watanabe also mentioned that they changed the positions of the oil coolers and radiators to make it in line with the RB20’s cooling solutions. Last season, they had some reliability issues with the engine, so Honda also had to improve the same.

Overall, the Red Bull car is working wonders again despite the radical shift in its concept. The Milton Keynes outfit has again dominated races this year with Max Verstappen winning four of the five Grands Prix so far. Even Sergio Perez is looking at ease with the RB20, backing up his teammate’s performances with regular P2 finishes.

Red Bull head into unknown territory without Honda in 2026

Honda can take considerable credit for Red Bull’s rise in recent times. The Japanese manufacturer joined hands with them in 2019 and have supplied them with the fastest engine lately which is a huge factor in Red Bull’s current dominance. However, Honda is only supplying the Austrian team till 2025.

Honda will then begin to partner with Aston Martin from 2026 onwards, the year F1 introduces new regulations. Meanwhile, Red Bull have started their indigenous engine program under the Red Bull Powertrains (RBPT) entity.

However, they have also signed a deal with Ford to collaborate on this 2026 power unit. Ford will assist the Austrian team with the electric and hybrid elements of the new power unit.

Still, the RBPT-Ford engine project is a big risk for Red Bull. They have raised concerns about the new regulations and how the 2026 cars and engines may have some flaws. However, given their inexperience as an engine manufacturer relative to OEM rivals like Mercedes and Ferrari, the Milton Keynes outfit may struggle with their own engine.

LEWIS HAMILTON has joined celeb dating app Raya after splitting from Brazilian model Juliana Nalu.

The seven-times F1 champ, 39, who competes in today’s Australian Grand Prix, set his profile to “visiting Melbourne from Monaco” while he’s in Oz.

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Lewis Hamilton and supermodel Juliana Nalu are no longer datingCredit: Twitter/@fastpitstop

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Juliana Nalu dated Kanye West before being linked romantically to HamiltonCredit: Instagram
Lewis, who previously dated Shakira and Nicole Scherzinger, also set his profile song to Drake’s Search & Rescue and his occupation as “travel”.

He and Juliana were spotted partying in Brazil for a pre-New Year’s Eve bash.

Hamilton became an honorary citizen of Brazil in November last year.

Rio de Janeiro-born Juliana previously dated Kanye West for two months before splitting in December 2022.

Lance Stroll has responded to strong criticism from Daniel Ricciardo for the on-track incident that led to the Aussie retiring from the Chinese Grand Prix, as an F1 expert calls for the Aston Martin driver to be sacked.

One of the biggest talking points from the Chinese GP was the collision between Ricciardo and Stroll at the Turn 14 hairpin during a Safety Car restart.

The back of Ricciardo’s RB car was struck by Stroll, causing significant damage to the Australian’s rear wing.

Ricciardo, 34, was on track to compete for a points finish, but instead had to retire as a result of the collision.

The Aussie was visibly annoyed about Stroll blaming him for the incident when interviewed after the race.

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Daniel Ricciardo wasn’t happy with Lance Stroll after a collision in the Chinese Grand Prix

Bernie Ecclestone has revealed he was told Formula One would be cancelled in the wake of Ayrton Senna’s death.

Senna was F1’s brightest star, a sporting giant and an icon in his native Brazil but on lap seven of the ill-fated San Marino Grand Prix – a weekend that had already claimed the life of Austrian Roland Ratzenberger – he ran off the road at 190mph and hit a concrete wall. He died instantly, aged 34.

Wednesday will mark the 30th anniversary of Senna’s death in Imola and Ecclestone, who ruled the sport for four decades, told the PA news agency: ‘It was just a disastrous weekend.

‘If you think about all the things that happened, with Roland crashing and never getting out of his car, and then Senna, I really don’t think it would be possible for it to happen again.

‘Max (Mosley – FIA president at the time) said to me afterwards that he believed it would be the end of Formula One. I said, “I think you are wrong and we will have to see.”

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Brnie Ecclestone revealed he was once told that Ayrton Senna’s death could be the ‘end of F1’ by Max Mosley

F1 legend Ayrton Senna died in 1994 when he crashed in the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola

‘We hoped it wouldn’t cause what Max had suggested might happen, but it was just a disaster. It wasn’t a good weekend, and it seems to me a lot longer than 30 years. He was just so unlucky to die in that accident.’

While leading the race, Senna lost control of his Williams at the notorious Tamburello corner. The right-front suspension of the triple world champion’s car penetrated his crash helmet.

However, the race restarted less than 40 minutes later with Michael Schumacher winning. Damon Hill, in the other Williams, crossed the line in sixth, two places ahead of Martin Brundle.

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Sergio Perez is standing firm on his commitment to F1, asserting that he’s ready to stay in the sport even if it’s without Red Bull. This is because he’s got bigger commitments at play.

His contract is set to expire at the end of the current season and the Mexican is engaged in negotiations with Red Bull, demanding a fresh deal for three years. However, his request doesn’t align with Red Bull’s plans, given the abundance of contenders eyeing the coveted spot beside Max Verstappen.

Perez’s demand, however, is reasonable. Besides being a Red Bull F1 driver, multiple race winner, and a veteran of the sport, the 34-year-old is also a father.

Perez spoke candidly about the challenges of balancing his racing career with family life with RN 365. “I don’t think that if you were to do this job, you cannot be at 95% for the sake of doing it, especially when you have a family back home,” explained Perez.

However, despite his dedication, Perez admitted to grappling with uncertainties regarding the sustainability of his motivation levels, particularly in light of his familial responsibilities. “It is important to do that for my family, but I just don’t know for how long I will be able to have this motivation,” Perez confessed. “At some point, there are some priorities out of here, and it is something at some point I will have to consider how long I want to [continue].”

Reflecting on his future with the team, Perez emphasized the importance of shared goals and mutual understanding. He acknowledges the importance of an aligned vision. “We’ve been together for four years, so I do expect everything will be quite easy going forward,” explained Perez.

Sergio Perez could stay in F1 for another decade

While Sergio Perez might have his limits in mind, his father believes he’ll be in F1 for at least another decade. Despite currently lacking a contract, Antonio Perez Garibay remains confident that deals will materialize for his son.

“At the moment, he is the most sought-after driver on the grid,” explained Garibay. Garibay attributes much of his son’s desirability to his sponsorship appeal.

Speaking of the same, Garibay stated, “The best promoter of anything in the world is Sergio Perez. There is never any merchandising left from him because it always sells out very quickly.” Antonio Perez Garibay’s unwavering confidence in Sergio Perez’s future in F1 underscored his son’s marketability and potential longevity in the sport.

LEWIS HAMILTON admits he is struggling to wring the most out of his Mercedes and claims he has been upstaged by his teammate George Russell.

Hamilton, 39, has decided to quit Mercedes at the end of this season to join Ferrari in a bid to help him win an eighth world championship.

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Lewis Hamilton admitted he is struggling with his Mercedes carCredit: Getty

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Hamilton claims he is being upstaged by Mercedes team-mate George RussellCredit: Getty
The British legend is without a win since the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP and could only qualify in 11th for the Australian GP while Russell was quick enough for seventh.

It is the third race in a row where Russell has been the fastest of the two teammates and Hamilton said: “I don’t know if I’m dealing with it that great. I mean, [I am] less consistent than George.

“George is doing a better job with our car, three qualifyings in a row that he’s out-qualified me. He just seems to get on a lot better than I do.

“I’m just trying to keep my head above water and just continue to realise how it could be way worse.

US Grand Prix organizers revealed Sting and Eminem will headline the 2024 Formula 1 race, after promising a Taylor Swift-caliber musical guest.

Fans theorized that Texas-born Beyoncé may return to her home state for the event, leaving many disappointed by the announcement of the English rocker and the ‘Lose Yourself’ rapper.

To make matters worse, the Circuit of the Americas attempted to buy back tickets from fans last week, believing the musical act they secured was so high-profile that they could turn a bigger profit by reselling tickets at a higher price.

‘WHERE is Beyoncé,’ one person commented on COTA’s Instagram post Monday.

‘Can’t believe this is what you wanted people to sell back tickets for. Absolutely laughable,’ another chimed in.

Eminem will headline the 2024 United States Grand Prix, organizers confirmed this week

English rocker Sting will also perform at the annual Formula 1 race in Austin, Texas