F1 news LIVE: Spanish GP build-up with George Russell ‘coping better’ than Lewis Hamilton

Martin Brundle has revealed that he is not a fan of having to do the grid walks that the popular broadcaster has become famous for.

Brundle, who started 158 races in Formula 1 in the 1980s and 1990s, again drew the delight of fans for several strange interactions during Sunday’s inaugural Miami Grand Prix.

The Sky Sports pundit and presenter misidentified Paolo Banchero, likely to be a top pick in the upcoming 2022 NBA Draft, as Patrick Mahomes – quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL and seven years Banchero’s senior.

Brundle also appeared to be ignored by David Beckham and sidelined by a monologue from DJ Khaled during his pre-race wander amid the massed personalities keen to get close to the pre-race action.

While the 62-year-old has been asked to perform grid walk duties for a succession of broadcasters since his exit from F1 in 1997, Brundle has now admitted that he refuses to watch his interviews back, revealing his “dislike” for the role.

The defending world champion secured his third win of the season with an excellent performance at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, surviving significant pressure from Leclerc in the final ten laps.

Verstappen’s second successive victory cuts the Ferrari driver’s lead at the top of the drivers’ championship standings to 19 points.

The Monegasque believes it is “pretty clear” that work must be done to make improvements and ensure that Ferrari can remain in the title mix.

Max Verstappen moved into the top ten of all-time F1 podium finishes by winning the Miami Grand Prix last weekend for his 63rd top-three placing, displacing David Coulthard.

At the age of just 24, the Dutchman will likely move much higher on the list and Valtteri Bottas and Rubens Barrichello will be in his sights in the coming weeks.

The seven-time world champion appeared to adhere to the FIA’s jewellery cockpit clampdown by taking out his earrings for the Miami Grand Prix ten days ago – hours after wearing a plethora of jewellery during a pre-race press conference. He even suggested he could withdraw from the grand prix in protest.

The 37-year-old said he would remove his earrings and was handed a two-race medical exemption for his nose stud which cannot be easily taken out.

However, after Miami qualifying on the Saturday, Hamilton said he was not satisfied with the compromise and insisted he would not remove the nose piercing when his exemption expires at the Monaco Grand Prix on May 29.

W Series racing driver Abbie Eaton believes it could be five to seven years before there is a woman F1 driver.

The 2022 W Series season opener formed part of a doubleheader alongside Formula One’s inaugural Miami Grand Prix over the weekend, with reigning two-time champion Jamie Chadwick taking a dramatic victory after overtaking Emma Kimilainen on the final lap.

The W Series will race at eight Grand Prix weekends during the 2022 season, including five new venues, but Eaton – who was the official driver for Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May’s Grand Tour – believes there could be a protracted wait for a woman F1 driver.

She said: “Five to seven years. I think probably there are obviously a lot of young talented people coming through in our championship and we’ve got a few young drivers as well but I think probably the ones that will actually make it are probably still in karts at the moment.

“I think given their development time, and if they’re picked up at the right moment then I think probably seven years or so.

“It’s got to be the first person that gets into F1 for a full drive, before that I think there will be opportunities for girls to do FP1 or whatever but I think for a full-time female F1 driver it will be that length of time.”

Here’s the schedule for the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona this weekend. It promises to be another round of fascinating F1 action – timings are below so you can keep an eye on everything that is going on.

Free Practice 1 – 1pm-2pm BST

Free Practice 2 – 4pm-5pm BST

Free Practice 3 – 12pm-1pm BST

The F1 juggernaut is heading to Spain this week, with Barcelona the destination for the latest race this weekend.

Here’s the latest F1 drivers’ standings as Charles Leclerc still leads the way despite Max Verstappen’s victory in Miami last time out.

1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 104

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 85

3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) – 66

4. George Russell (Mercedes) – 59

5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – 53

6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 36

7. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 35

8. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) – 30

9. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) – 24

10. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) – 15

11. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) – 11

12. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) – 10

13. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) – 6

14. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) – 4

15. Alexander Albon (Williams) – 3

16. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) – 2

17. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – 2

18. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) – 1

19. Mick Schumacher (Haas) – 0

20. Nico Hulkenberg (Aston Martin) – 0

21. Nicholas Latifi (Williams) – 0

When Kevin Magnussen first entered Formula 1 back in 2014, realising a dream he’d held practically since birth, his overriding emotion wasn’t always elation but often fear, writes Tom Kershaw in an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with the Dane.

It wasn’t the inherent physical danger of driving at breakneck speeds but the sense of dread that seemed to shadow him at the wheel, that a single mistake might cost him everything he’d worked towards.

It is one of life’s great contradictions that sometimes the only way to liberate yourself of those fears is for them to come to fruition. At the end of 2020, after four consecutive seasons with Haas, the team’s principal, Guenther Steiner, told Magnussen that his contract wasn’t being renewed.

“I would put too much pressure on myself when I was young, I think,” Magnussen says. “F1 meant too much to me. Succeeding meant too much to me and it stopped me from being able to perform to the best of my ability. I’d say it held me back quite a few years. I was scared of losing my drive all the time and I would think about it a lot, like what would happen to me, it’s not like I had much to fall back on. The fear distracted me. I don’t carry that now.”

The next installment in the official Formula 1 racing game series is on its way with a release date of 1 July on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox series X/S and PC.

Developed by Codemasters and now published by EA, F1 22 is the latest entry and will be based on the current season of the Formula 1 World Championship.

F1 21 made some changes to the franchise when it released last year. Notably, it introduced a new story mode titled “Braking Point” so there is a chance we might also see a similar campaign being introduced in this follow-up.

Now that a release date has been confirmed for F1 22, it’s a good time to check out some pre-order deals so you can get the copy that’s right for you at a reasonable price. If you have been struggling to get your hands on a PS5 or an Xbox series X but want to upgrade your last-gen copy once you make the switch, then the “Champions Edition” of the game will give you dual entitlement as well as additional content.

To find out where to buy F1 22 and what the Champions Edition will include, read the article below.