Madrid expresses interest in hosting future F1 race

Speaking about being Lewis Hamilton's teammate, George Russell said: "Obviously [I'm] in a really privileged position being team mates with Lewis and learning so much from him – how he works, how he goes about his business with his engineers, how he gets sort of the whole team motivated – it's quite inspiring to see.

“Also on the technical side, he's pretty impressive, which a lot of people probably won't recognise or appreciate."

What a race we had at Silverstone last year

Relive an epic weekend in our Race Rewind! pic.twitter.com/LEDjf9FFRh

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 23, 2022

Valtteri Bottas reveals that he almost quit F1 in 2018 pic.twitter.com/OSq8pUqHuQ

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 23, 2022

Mercedes have solved their porpoising problem 

Toto Wolff says Mercedes managed to solve their issues with porpoising thanks to upgrades introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix in May. 

“In a way we have dissected what we define as porpoising or bouncing,” Wolff said. “The porpoising - which is the aerodynamic movement of the car - I think that’s solved and we got on top of this around Barcelona.

"It is more that the ride of the car is really what’s causing the comments of the drivers that the cars are simply all too stiff. The curb-riding is bad, the bump-riding is bad, and I would say that now we’ve dissected the problem you can tackle it better."

No radio, no problem! @Max33Verstappen might have been unable to talk to his race engineer in the latter stages of the Montreal race but the @redbullracing team made sure their racer had all the info he needed to hold on to P1! #CanadianGP#F1pic.twitter.com/Ra4mcSMmKk

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 23, 2022

Jacques Villeneuve has criticised George Russell for gambling on slick tyres during a wet qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix, believing it cost him a podium finish in Montreal. 

The 1997 world champion told the F1 Nation podcast: "There was nothing brave about it, nothing brave about it - because on paper there was no way it was going to work.

"It was freezing cold, it was still humid, it was hard for the drivers to get their fronts working even on intermediates, how could you get the temperature into your slick tyres?

"Now when you're in a Williams, like he did in Russia, where you're either last or you make a good call and you're in front - fantastic.

"But when your car can be P4 or P5, that was really not a good call to make. and it cost him qualifying in front of his team-mate and it cost him the podium. He had the pace, he definitely had the pace."

Has Sainz made a breakthrough with Ferrari’s 2022 F1 car?

Carlos Sainz said he finally felt like he could push his Ferrari “without any fear of losing the car” at F1's Canadian Grand Prix. 

Is this the start of a key breakthrough for the Spaniard and will we see him competing for wins more regularly in 2022 from now on? 

Full story here 

Damon Hill is reunited with his 1996 Championship winning car at Silverstone pic.twitter.com/SUHqEgf1GA

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 23, 2022

A Madrid Grand Prix? 

Madrid has thrown its hat into the ring to host an F1 race in the future.  

Enrique Lopez, the minister of the presidency, justice and interior of the community of Madrid, has sent a letter to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali expressing the city’s interest in holding a grand prix. 

La Comunidad de Madrid se ofrece para albergar un próximo Gran Premio de @F1.

El consejero @Enrique_L_Lopez ha enviado una carta a Stéfano Domenicali, destacando el interés del Gobierno autonómico y el prestigio de las pruebas deportivas que se desarrollan en la región. pic.twitter.com/qEE1KmvQbp

— Comunidad de Madrid (@ComunidadMadrid) June 23, 2022

Verstappen calls on Red Bull to improve 

Despite winning six of the nine grands prix this season and opening up a commanding championship lead, Max Verstappen has urged his Red Bull team to find more pace. 

"It was a tough race," Verstappen said after his win in Canada. "I mean, I expected to have a little bit more pace. But we seemed to lack a little bit compared to Carlos."

The reigning world champion added: "It’s still a very long way and I know the gap of course is quite big, but I also know that it can switch around very quickly.

"So we just need to stay calm, we need to focus, we need to improve, because today we're not the quickest.

"It swings a bit, like last weekend it looked good in the race, now it didn't look as good but we still managed to win and that I think is also a quality. 

"We just have to work together with the whole team you know to try and just find little improvements in the car."

Rosberg back behind the wheel! 

Nico Rosberg has got back behind the wheel of a racing car. 

The 2016 F1 world champion took his Rosberg X Racing Extreme E team's car out for a spin on the Nurburgring Offroad Park near the team's base in Germany. 

"Even though I have not been behind the wheel for a long time, I immediately was in my element," said Rosberg.

"The muscle memory came back instantly and I simply enjoyed myself. Rally driving is an entirely different beast from circuit racing." 

2023 F1 driver market latest 

And if you prefer to have a read, take a look over here...

Video: How is the 2023 F1 driver market shaping up?

Check out our video below on the latest updates in the F1 driver market for next season. 

Stat: Hamilton equals longest win-less streak 

It has now been 10 races since Lewis Hamilton's last victory in F1 - a streak which began after the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. It equals the longest win-less run of his career. 

The seven-time world champion has gone through a similar dry patch on three previous occassions in his career. 

Will he prevent an unwanted record 11th consecutive race without a victory by winning on home turf next time out at Silverstone?

Stewart urges Hamilton to 'resign' from F1 

Three-times world champion Jackie Stewart has urged Lewis Hamilton to resign from F1 to avoid risking the “pain” of his career ending in decline.

Hamilton is facing the toughest season of his F1 career with his Mercedes team well off the pace and not in the fight for the world championship amid an uncompetitive start to the 2022 season. 

"I would like to see him resigning now," Stewart said. 

“It’s a pity he wasn’t resigning at the top but I don’t think that’s gonna happen now.

“But nevertheless it’s wiser to stop than go through all the pain of not being able to do what you did before.”

FULL STORY 

Space Man is coming to Silverstone! 

Silverstone has announced that Eurovision star Sam Ryder will open this year's British Grand Prix by singing the national anthem. 

Ryder, who claimed runner-up spot in the Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom, will also appear on the Main Stage in the F1 fanzone as part of the post-race concert. 

Space Man is heading to Silverstone

We are thrilled to announce @SamRyderMusic will be singing the National Anthem ahead of the F1 British Grand Prix on July 3!#F1#BritishGPpic.twitter.com/YoFn1eNZBM

— Silverstone (@SilverstoneUK) June 22, 2022

That time Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix with three wheels #F1#BritishGPpic.twitter.com/CwlijgNgJ1

— Crash F1 (@CRASH_NET_F1) June 23, 2022

Home boost for Hamilton and Russell

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are set to be boosted at the British Grand Prix, with Mercedes planning to bring new parts to their F1 car for the next race at Silverstone. 

Mercedes technical director Mike Elliott confirmed the team will be introducing updates at Silverstone as the reigning world champions look to bolster their competitiveness. 

"One thing you can be sure of is we will push as hard as we can," said Elliott. "We will be bringing new bits to Silverstone, we will be trying to push the car forward, trying to get some pace from the car we've got or from the package we've got as well as the new bits we are going to add to it."

However, Elliott stressed Mercedes is keeping expectations in check heading into the event, having been unable to challenge for wins so far this season. 

"I think at the same time though we have to be honest with ourselves and say that at the moment we are just a little bit behind those front runners in Ferrari and Red Bull," he added. 

"And in a normal race I think it is going to be tough. I think Silverstone will be a circuit that suits us a little bit better, like Barcelona did, but maybe it will be just a little difficult [to compete for the win]." 

Hello and welcome to Crash.net's live blog for Thursday 23 June 2022.