Is It Conceivable That Mercedes Could Drop Russell For Verstappen?

British Grand Prix

Venue: Silverstone Dates: 4-6 July Race start: 15:00 BST connected Sunday

Coverage: Live commentary of believe and qualifying connected BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 pinch title connected BBC Radio 5 Live; unrecorded matter updates connected BBC Sport website and app

Lando Norris led location team-mate Oscar Piastri successful a 4th McLaren one-two this season, aft a race-long conflict successful Austria.

Formula 1 now heads to nan UK for information 12 astatine nan British Grand Prix this weekend.

BBC Sport F1 analogous Andrew Benson answers your latest questions earlier nan title astatine Silverstone.

Is it conceivable that Mercedes could ditch George Russell successful favour of Max Verstappen for 2026? Irrespective of Max's pedigree arsenic a aggregate world champion, bringing him successful to switch George would beryllium incredibly harsh connected a driver who has performed beautiful overmuch flawlessly truthful acold this year. - Ieuan

Yes, it's conceivable. We person summed up nan business pinch Mercedes successful an earlier piece.

It was already good known that Mercedes squad main Toto Wolff was apt to research his options pinch Verstappen this summertime - arsenic he did past year. And it was Russell who collapsed this business retired into nan unfastened earlier nan Austrian Grand Prix, by saying it was "only normal that conversations pinch nan likes of Verstappen are ongoing".

Russell has driven an exceptional play truthful far. But Verstappen is regarded arsenic nan champion driver successful nan world. Wolff is talking to him and his guidance to activity retired whether a woody is do-able and desired by some parties.

If nan reply to that is yes, Wolff past has to determine who would beryllium Verstappen's team-mate. It would apt beryllium Kimi Antonelli, successful nan interests of creating nan champion balanced team.

Relations betwixt Verstappen and Russell are tense, and it's difficult to ideate them moving arsenic team-mates.

Yes, that would beryllium harsh connected Russell - conscionable arsenic it was harsh connected Carlos Sainz erstwhile Ferrari decided they preferred to motion Lewis Hamilton for 2025. But it would besides beryllium understandable from Mercedes' constituent of view.

As for Red Bull, squad main Christian Horner has emphasised that Verstappen has a statement until 2028.

"The rest," arsenic Horner put it, "is each sound that's not coming from him."

Noise, perhaps. But it happens to beryllium true.

Will Lewis Hamilton person immoderate authority to alteration nan engineering building astir him astatine Ferrari? It seems for illustration he's overruled strategically successful almost each race, and very seldom (in his eyes astatine least) for nan better. - Alex

This is simply a taxable that keeps coming up a batch pinch respect to Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari - nan perceived hostility betwixt him and his technologist Riccardo Adami connected nan radio.

But whenever Hamilton is asked astir it, he dismisses it.

In Spain past month, Hamilton said: "Our narration is great, nary problems. We're perpetually learning much and much astir each other. We're perpetually adapting to nan measurement some of america for illustration to work.

"He's worked pinch tons of different drivers before. We don't person immoderate problems whatsoever."

Of course, you would expect him to opportunity that, but it is besides what is being said by Ferrari, and by insiders down nan scenes.

Team main Frederic Vasseur characterises what is sometimes broadcast from nan squad power arsenic nan modular to and fro betwixt driver and engineer.

And Hamilton feels his messages are regarded otherwise from those of different drivers - he has pointed retired really stroppy Max Verstappen sounds from clip to clip pinch Red Bull, for example, but that group don't respond nan aforesaid measurement to that.

As for nan circumstantial business successful Austria connected Sunday and Hamilton saying he wanted to enactment retired longer alternatively than pit erstwhile he was called, lawman squad main Jerome d'Ambrosio said location was nary basal disagreement complete strategy.

"It was much a matter of setting, truthful staying a fewer much laps," D'Ambrosio said. "It's thing retired of nan norm. What we tried to do was our optimal strategy. Try to optimise your title time. That's what we did pinch some drivers.

"There was nary inducement to do thing different because nan McLarens were intelligibly acold up and George rather acold behind. So we conscionable did nan modular optimum strategy and that was nan champion point to do.

"The drivers question, 'Is this nan best? Can we do thing else?' They're racers, they're F1 drivers. That's what they do. That's what they should do. And I conscionable saw Lewis correct now and he looked astatine nan numbers and said, 'Yeah, that's what made sense.'"

Do you deliberation Alex Dunne will get a spot successful F1 adjacent play and what imaginable does he have? – Ralph

Alex Dunne has surely put himself connected nan radar of F1, first pinch his beardown showing successful Formula 2 successful his debut season, and past pinch his accomplished capacity successful first believe successful Austria astatine nan play pinch McLaren.

Of that, squad main Andrea Stella said that nan Irishman had been "very precise" erstwhile doing nan information acquisition work, and connected capacity runs later "not short of impressive".

Dunne, 19, ended nan convention conscionable 0.069 seconds slower than title driver Oscar Piastri, though his clip was group later successful nan session, erstwhile nan way was quicker.

The mobility is, what do McLaren do pinch him next?

If Dunne doesn't triumph F2, he tin enactment location for different season. If he does triumph F2, he will person to move on. But wherever to?

McLaren don't person an disposable spot successful F1, and location are not galore he could take.

Farming him retired to different squad is an option, but that's ever analyzable because teams are not ever that keen to person a driver who is connected a portion of elastic to a rival.

McLaren do person different options - they person an Indycar team, for example. Dunne could perchance spell location for a mates of years. But if his eventual trajectory is F1, which it seems now it mightiness be, that mightiness not beryllium considered a desirable option.

But fixed Dunne's evident potential, this is what group successful F1 thin to picture arsenic "a bully problem to have".

What are Cadillac's chances of endurance successful F1? Especially considering they are starting from scratch alternatively than taking complete an existing squad for illustration Audi pinch Sauber. - Adam

Cadillac - nan luxury marque of US car elephantine General Motors - is entering F1 adjacent twelvemonth pinch a caller team, successful business pinch nan US finance group TWG.

They person group up a squad from scratch and will usage a Ferrari customer motor until a bespoke GM motor is ready. GM has been accepted by nan FIA arsenic a power-unit supplier from 2029.

The media was fixed a circuit of nan Cadillac mill tract astatine Silverstone past week by squad main Graeme Lowdon.

He said: "You will not spot this squad over-promising successful immoderate way. But we do want to convey nan truth that nan ambitions are really limitless, arsenic they should be."

Lowdon, who antecedently worked successful F1 pinch Manor/Marussia, said nan squad were realistic astir what they tin execute adjacent year.

He said: "Can you ideate if you've owned a Formula 1 squad for 10 years and past different squad rocks up and thumps you? You would beryllium apoplectic. You would beryllium truthful annoyed.

"And truthful you person to presume that immoderate caller squad coming successful is going to beryllium last, otherwise, you know, what's gone incorrect location else? We cognize really difficult it is."

The squad is presently dispersed complete six units astatine Silverstone. This will beryllium rationalised down to four, successful summation to nan main caller TWG guidelines being constructed successful Fishers, Indianapolis, and owed to beryllium vanished adjacent year, and nan GM motor works successful Charlotte, North Carolina.

To woody pinch this disparate set-up, Lowdon says they person developed a "very level guidance structure, highly modelled connected nan Apollo project. We're not putting a man connected nan moon, but it feels for illustration it sometimes."

He added: "Race teams are often described successful subject terms, organised successful a benignant of pyramid and you person 1 personification astatine nan top. And nan emblematic subject building is bid and control. So you rumor commands, group do things.

"When it's multi-site for illustration this, that becomes a monolithic challenge. So instead, it's a different building wherever it's ngo power alternatively of bid and control.

"Engineers are capable to talk straight to each other. And nan point that's heavy imparted connected them is nan ngo itself."

TWG and GM are monolithic companies and opportunity they are successful it for nan agelong haul. Survival is not really nan question. It's really successful they tin beryllium and successful what timeframe that is much nan unknown.