Welcome to TJ13’s daily rolling F1 news and comment. Here you’ll find the latest stories, rumours, and paddock whispers, all served with our usual splash of satire. We’ll be updating this page all day as the news breaks and the drama unfolds, so be sure to check back regularly for the latest updates straight from the F1 circus, and please leave a comment at the bottom of the page.
Red Bull disastrous 20 year record in Sao Paulo – updated 20:50
Red Bull Racing under Laurent Mekies have been praised for turning their [Max Verstappen’s] season around. Although one of the key elements was the Monza floor upgrade which Mekies admits was authorised under Christian Horner.
Verstappen had roared back from 104 point behind the McLaren leading the drivers title race, to just 36 after the Mexican Grand Prix. Having arrived in Brazil the Red Bull team failed to get the RB21 in its operating window from their pre-race weekend simulations and with just one practice session the car was slow for Max during Sprint qualifying.
During the Sprint Max was at times the fastest driver on track after the restart, but the team made a decision to completely change the set direction rather than tweak the current settings, something which proved disastrous come Grand Prix qualifying.
Verstappen was just fifteenth after the first runs in Q1 and on a fresh set of tyres he went out to deliver for a second time. Yet the car just had no pace, despite the mercurial skills of the world champion and for just the 7th time in his F1 career he was out during the first qualifying session.
The previous six times were due to mechanical issues, but this is a first for Max who had no grip or pace in the car. Yuki too was out in Q1 and this was the first time neither Red Bull have made it to Q2 since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix.
Golden boy Laurent Mekies has been humbled by the team’s performance in Brazil and unless the rains arrive in Interlagos, Verstappen’s title hopes are all but gone.
Tsunoda and Sainz have been relegated to pit-lane starts for the São Paulo sprint – Updated 13:35 UK
The two cars will not take their places on the Interlagos grid for the 24-lap sprint after Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz were both handed pit-lane starts due to setup changes made outside parc fermé.
Tsunoda’s weekend got off to a bad start when he spun and hit both barriers during practice, losing nearly half the session while mechanics rebuilt his RB21. Qualifying didn’t improve his mood — the Japanese driver could only manage 18th place, far behind his teammate Verstappen. With Red Bull opting for a rear wing change and suspension tweaks overnight, Tsunoda will now launch from the pit lane instead.
Sainz joins him after Williams took the same approach, reworking his suspension setup following a messy SQ1 that left him in last place. For both drivers, this decision prioritises handling over grid position — a gamble that could pay off if the predicted rain arrives, but which could lead to a long afternoon if the race stays dry.
F1 considering Qatar GP-only two-stop mandate – Updated 10:35 UK
Formula 1 and Pirelli are quietly discussing a one-off rule change that would make the upcoming Qatar Grand Prix a mandatory two-stop race. Born from lingering safety concerns, the move would see stint lengths capped to prevent teams from using tyres for too long on the abrasive Losail circuit. Pirelli’s Simone Berra confirmed that the idea is “on the table”, and a final decision is expected soon.
This follows last year’s tyre wear fiasco, when drivers pushed their medium compounds beyond their limits, resulting in carcass damage and two front left punctures — one to Hamilton and one to Sainz — which were initially attributed to debris. Despite tweaks to the kerbs and no major change to the tyre structure, the Italian supplier fears that history could repeat itself. Their solution is to legislate safety into strategy.
It’s a curious twist. Formula 1’s quest for unpredictability may end up producing the worst kind of predictability: a pre-ordained pit stop dance masquerading as drama. Safety is important, of course, but if every race turns into a pre-scripted tyre ballet, even Toto’s coffee machine will start to nod off.
Hamilton avoids grid penalty for yellow-flag breach – 08:17 UK
Despite being found guilty of failing to slow sufficiently for double-waved yellows during sprint qualifying, Lewis Hamilton has avoided a grid drop at the Brazilian Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver received only a reprimand, as the stewards decided that the light panels had been illuminated for ‘a fraction of a second’ when he arrived at Charles Leclerc’s spun car at Turn 10. Technically guilty, yes, but apparently not guilty enough to be punished.
Given that Hamilton’s penalty in Mexico a week earlier was considered excessive by some, there are those in the paddock who are suggesting that this was the FIA’s way of evening things up. His throttle trace showed hesitation rather than a true lift, yet the verdict cited ‘consistency with previous cases’, which — ironically — made it look like the officials were compensating for their own inconsistency. Only in F1 can fairness look so much like correction.
For TJ13’s jury, this feels less like a fair decision and more like a quiet admission of error from race control. Hamilton keeps his 11^(th)-place start, Ferrari breathe easier, and the stewards convince nobody that their scales are perfectly balanced.
Hamilton to face stewards over yellow-flag drama after Leclerc’s spin – 00:05 UK
Hamilton’s luck and timing deserted him again in São Paulo, with the Ferrari driver coming under investigation for allegedly failing to slow down for the double-waved yellows triggered by Leclerc’s spin during Sprint Qualifying. Leclerc locked up at Turn 9, pirouetted neatly across the dirty line and stopped for long enough to ruin Hamilton’s lap. The resulting yellow flags invalidated Hamilton’s time — and, in a twist of irony, the invalid lap would only have been good enough for 14^(th) place anyway.
Hamilton’s radio summed up his mood with a weary “Yeah, every time, mate”. However, the stewards weren’t satisfied with mere bad luck; telemetry suggested that Hamilton might not have lifted his foot off the accelerator enough when passing the scene. His mini-sector through Leclerc’s spin was actually a personal best — the sort of data point that makes stewards reach for a magnifying glass and a fresh cup of coffee.
This reinforces Ferrari’s season-long pattern: one car spins and the other suffers. Whether Hamilton backed off late or simply misjudged the flags, the optics are grim: two Ferraris, one incident, and another Friday evening spent explaining to the FIA what ‘I did slow down, honest’ really means.
Verstappen shakes his head as Red Bull’s grip vanishes in São Paulo – 00:15 UK
Max Verstappen’s sprint qualifying in Brazil did not end with fireworks, but with a slow-motion grimace inside the cockpit – the kind of shake of the head that says, ‘Even I can’t drive around this.’ The world champion could do no better than sixth place, having battled what he described as ‘poor grip’ and ‘ride problems’ with the RB21. He labelled the car ‘completely broken’ and ‘undriveable’ over the radio. For a man accustomed to perfection, seeing both McLarens and even a Mercedes ahead of him was enough to sour the Brazilian air.
According to Verstappen, the problem lies everywhere at once: there is no front bite or rear trust, and the middle sector is so off-song that he might as well be running on intermediates. Helmut Marko admitted that Red Bull “can’t cure it for the sprint”, conceding that the car is short on downforce — a rare admission from the Austrian camp. Trying to sound reassuring, Laurent Mekies said Verstappen was simply “very unhappy with what the car does right now”. Translation: the data looks as bad as his mood.
For TJ13’s jury, this is the most human Verstappen has been in a while: frustrated, baffled and out of rhythm. It’s an unusual setback for both driver and team, turning Saturday’s sprint into a test of patience rather than pace. If Red Bull’s new structure cannot provide him with a reliable car, the next head-shake might not be confined to the cockpit.
COMMENT BELOW & CHECK BACK ON THIS PAGE THROUGHOUT THE DAY FOR UPDATED NEWS
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
As the right honorable Judge has mentioned, the golden boy Christian Horner was able to design, build, test, then install Red Bull’s amazing Monza floor.
Some may scoff, because Horner was fired 2 months prior to Monza, and it takes a top team between 2 to 3 months to design & test a new floor. However we should only credit the “Monza floor” to the amazing Mr. Christian Horner, and never ever credit the horrible, evil Mr. Mekies, (he is French after all). Nor should we ever credit the technical team at Red Bull Racing, (who remain unchanged this season) for any of floor or other technical updates this season. Because Mr. Christian Horner (CBE) is … amazing, (and British)!
While Red Bull Racing did bring a slight update to this floor to Mexico, this new updated “Mexico floor” wasn’t as competitive as this car was with the “Monza floor” …
However, the very good news for Christian Horner fans, is that the Dutch journalist, Erik van Haren mentioned about three hours ago, that Red Bull removed the “Mexico floor” after the sprint race this morning, and then installed the “Monza floor” on Max’s car for qualifying this afternoon …
Now that I think about it, today’s qualifying performance does remind me a little bit of Red Bull Racing’s performance that we regularly saw during the first half of this year when the team was under the direction of the amazing Mr. Christian Horner (CBE).
😉 Cheers!
Thank you VM for your astute commentary on this