Lewis Hamilton is sticking with Mercedes’ latest upgrade for Formula 1’s Mexican Grand Prix, despite the troubles he faced with it in Austin.

The seven-time world champion spun out of last weekend’s United States GP early on, in an incident he suspected had been triggered by balance problems from new developments.

His view seemed to be supported by the fact that team-mate George Russell had had a near identical crash at the same Turn 19 in qualifying.

With Russell’s accident damaging his own new parts, which have been flown back to the team factory for repairs and should be ready for Brazil, Mercedes had to make a choice for Mexico as to which of its two drivers would have the upgrades.

The squad has agreed that Hamilton will stick with the latest parts, with Russell running the previous specification which should provide some valuable back-to-back data on whether or not the new upgrade is working as hoped.

Having now looked more closely at the data, Hamilton thinks that the Austin difficulties were likely the result of the track being so bumpy, rather than there being a fault with the upgrades.

“We can see in the data that we have three wheeling, so the left wheel starts moving,” said Hamilton. “The car is jacking, basically.

“We can see on the rear, the right height oscillating a lot, so 12 to 15mm difference going into the corner. And you can see a 40 kilometre [per hour] tail wind.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, retires from the race in the gravel after a spin

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“So you can imagine, there’s a small window where the downforce is perfect, and then it gets too high. Then you fall off the peak, so I think it was a combination of all those things.

“If you watch the video, the car is bouncing, the left wheel starts bouncing, and then I think we just lose load, and I think the floor is probably a little bit more sensitive maybe than the previous floor.

“But I’ve kept it on this weekend because it’s a much less bouncy circuit, and it’s good because we need to get more data on it.”

Russell echoed Hamilton’s view that having packages split across both Mercedes should help fast track the team’s learnings on where it sits with its latest upgrade package.

His suspicion is that Austin was much more about the team having been too bold with its set-up, rather than it being a fault of new parts.

“Having had a few days to review everything from Austin, I think it’s fair to say we were sailing a bit too close to the wind with how we set our car up,” he said.

“We were setting up really aggressive, really close to the ground, and it clearly bit Lewis and I over the course of Saturday and Sunday. But when we could get around the lap, we showed real signs of strong performance.

“I think this weekend in Mexico is going to be a good opportunity to see across the two cars. Obviously, we’ve only got one upgrade this weekend and, as I was the one who damaged it last week, Lewis got the choice and elected to use the new one.”

Antonelli factor

Hamilton is sitting out opening practice for the Mexico, with rookie driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli having another run for the squad ahead of his debut in place of Ferrari-bound Hamilton next year.

But, after the Italian’s debut FP1 appearance in Italy ended with a high-speed crash into the barriers after 10 minutes aboard Russell’s car, Hamilton says he has advised the 18-year-old to not feel the need to impress so early on this time out.

Asked if he had any concerns about handing over his upgraded car to Antonelli, Hamilton said: “I don’t really personally feel that. Again, going into Monza, we didn’t approach it in that way.

“Kimi is young, and he’s learned from his first outing in Monza. We did our briefing together, because obviously he’s working with Bono next year, and obviously I’m here to support in any way I can.

“I think what’s key is, and as I spoke to him, he doesn’t have to set the world alight on the first lap. Just build into it, enjoy it. I told him the track is really, really dirty early on.”

Watch: McLaren and Red Bull Summoned by the Stewards – F1 Mexican GP Media Day Reaction

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Ford will be represented in the DTM for the first time in over three decades, with the American marque inking a new partnership with long-time Mercedes customer HRT for 2025.

The outfit run by businessman and gentleman driver Hubert Haupt will field a pair of Ford Mustang GT3s in the DTM next year, run under the Ford Performance HRT banner.

It will be a part of a larger collaboration between Ford and HRT that will see the German squad enter the GT3 version of the popular muscle car in other European championships, including the NLS, GT Masters and GT World Challenge Europe.

The tie-up with HRT marks the next stage in the expansion of the Mustang GT3 programme after Ford introduced the car in limited capacity at the beginning of 2024.

Together with Multimatic, which co-developed the Mustang GT3, Ford entered the car on a factory-basis in the GTD Pro class of IMSA SportsCar Championship this year, while Proton secured additional customer entries in the pro-am GTD class and its LMGT3 equivalent in the World Endurance Championship.

Proton also entered the GTWCE Endurance Cup with an all-Pro entry after plans for Dinamic Motorsport to switch from Porsche fell through.

“Having a team like HRT join the Ford Performance global family is a significant moment for us,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsports.

“Haupt Racing Team’s proven success in DTM and other race series is a strong endorsement of the Mustang GT3, and we’re thrilled to see them take on the legendary ADAC RAVENOL Nurburgring 24 Hours as well as many of the other iconic circuits of Europe.

Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang GT3

Photo by: Ford Performance

“This also means that along with our partners at Multimatic and Proton Competition, the Ford Mustang GT3 will now be competing at most of the iconic, 24-hour races at circuits such as Le Mans, Daytona and Spa.

“This collaboration strengthens our global position in GT3 racing and opens up new series and audiences for us around the world as we continue to grow the Mustang racing program in 2025.”

HRT had been a major customer of Mercedes since it was formed in 2020, but its contract with the German manufacturer was due to expire at the end of the year.

In the five years it has spent racing the Mercedes-AMG GT3, HRT won the DTM title at its first attempt with Maximilian Gotz when the championship switched to GT3 rules for 2021, plus the Silver Cup title in the Sprint leg of GTWCE with Jordan Love in 2023.

HRT managing director Ulrich Fritz said: “HRT has continuously developed and improved over the past few years.

“We have built up a high level of expertise in the use and development of race cars. We are therefore very excited about this new project.

“The fact that Ford has chosen HRT as its spearhead in Europe is a great honour. Ford is a real power brand with a great motorsport tradition and high motivation.

“The Ford Mustang GT3 is a latest-generation race car that we will certainly be able to take to the next level together.

“We will be well prepared for the upcoming season and are very much looking forward to working with Ford.”

Ludwig, pictured in Tourist Trophy action in 1988, won that year’s DTM title in a Sierra RS 500

Photo by: LAT Photographic

Ford has a history of competing in the original iteration of the DTM. A previous version of the Mustang GT had a cult following in the series, with Gerd Ruch last racing the car in 1994.

Moreover, Le Mans 24 Hours legend Klaus Ludwig clinched his first DTM title while driving a Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth in 1988, the only championship success for Ford in the series to date.

Ludwig went on to score two more titles with Mercedes in 1992 and 1994.

Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang GT3

Photo by: Ford Performance

McLaren’s petition to seek a right of review over Lando Norris’s penalty for overtaking Max Verstappen off track in Austin shows it remains deeply unhappy over what happened last weekend.

And while few would argue against the fact that overtaking off track is not allowed in F1, a deeper understanding of what played out at Turn 12 has opened up a much more complex scenario.

While the focus of the debate in recent days has been on what F1’s Driving Standards Guidelines do and do not allow when it comes to attacking and defending, there is perhaps a fresh element of the Norris/Verstappen incident that has moved into the spotlight.

And it is, that when it comes to determining what Verstappen and Norris were duty bound by the regulations to do, which of them was attacking and which of them was defending.

It is this interpretation that alone can change perceptions of the incidents and decide who was right and who was wrong. After all, if Norris was officially ahead before the braking zone, then how can he have overtaken off track? He would have been simply holding on to his position after being forced wide by an attacker down the inside.

The original stewards’ verdict in Austin was clear that it did not see things that way, as it felt Norris “was overtaking Car 1 on the outside, but was not level with Car 1 at the apex.”

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, battles with Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

This meant that having not been where he needed to be as the cars turned through the corner, Norris had lost the right to be given room on the exit.

So, by being behind him as they went into the corner, then it was obvious it would be a rules breach to overtake him after running wide.

But it was interesting to hear Norris suggest on Thursday in Mexico that the situation is not as clear as that, and that in his view it was actually Verstappen doing the overtaking.

“I was completely ahead of Max,” he said. “I was over a car length ahead of him so I was no longer the attacking car. He was.

“I was ahead of Max, I was having to defend, he was the one attacking me and effectively he has gone in too hard and overtaken off the track. I just maintained my position so it is something I am sure we will discuss, as it has been a big talking point since last weekend.”

New video released

The viewpoint of Norris being ahead has most likely crystallised over the past few days with more detailed video onboard footage of the incident being released by F1 Management.

As part of the way that footage is captured, each car during the race is only able to broadcast a single feed. In Norris’s car, it was the forward-facing onboard, while Verstappen’s live camera was looking back towards the rear wing.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, battles with Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

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This meant judging the relative position of the two cars against each other from the drivers’ perspective was pretty hard. Plus the only other camera angles that the international feed showed of the build-up to the incident were a helicopter cam view and a camera inside Turn 12, neither of which made the relative position of the two cars crystal clear.

On Tuesday this week, however, downloaded footage from onboard cameras did offer some fresh perspective of the incident.

And while there is still no sign of Verstappen’s forward-facing onboard, 360-degree camera views from both cars showed the McLaren did get well in front of the Red Bull on the straight – before they entered the braking zone.

So from Norris’s perspective, the verdict should be based on Verstappen attacking him down the inside under braking, rather than him being viewed as the one trying to go around the outside.

The Driving Guidelines do not make reference to at what point one car is deemed to be ahead of another, but if it is ruled that Norris was actually ahead then Verstappen would have needed to fulfil some key criteria for the pass to be allowed.

They are that his car must:

• Have its front axle AT LEAST ALONGSIDE of the mirror of the other car no later than the apex of the corner
• Be driven in a safe and controlled manner throughout the manoeuvre (entry, apex and exit).
• Without (deliberately) forcing the other car off the track at the exit. This includes leaving an acceptable width for the car being overtaken from the apex to the exit of the corner
• Be able to make the corner within the track limits.

Based on how the incident played out, Verstappen fulfilled the first point, and he would argue that he ticked off point two. However, he would fail on the third and fourth elements.

The new evidence issue

Should McLaren be pursuing this route that the Norris penalty was wrong because he was not the overtaking car, then before it can even plead its case on that front it first of all has to convince the stewards that it has found a new, relevant and significant element.

With the stewards having had access to telemetry, the live television feeds and GPS car positioning data on Sunday afternoon in Austin, it is likely that the fresh evidence will include the new video camera angles – and potentially the testimony of the drivers.

The use of a fresh video feed is similar to what happened after the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix when Mercedes lodged a right of review request over Verstappen’s defensive driving against Lewis Hamilton in that race.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, battles with Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

This footage was of Verstappen’s onboard camera, which offered a better insight into his viewpoint and steering input during a Turn 4 incident.

At the time, the stewards who were reconvened to look at the matter accepted that the onboard angle was new and that it was relevant as it “allowed the overall position of the cars, the steering inputs of the driver of Car 33, the heading of the cars and the proximity of the cars to be analysed together”

However, they denied that the new onboard footage passed the “significant’ test as it showed “nothing exceptional that is particularly different from the other angles that were available to them at the time, or that particularly changes their decision that was based on the originally available footage.”

If McLaren is indeed submitting fresh video footage to try to help its case, then it too may struggle to convince the stewards that the 360-degree cameras do tell a different story of the incident.

However, one notable difference between the Brazil 2021 case and the current matter is that back then, there was no hard decision to review, as the stewards had let Verstappen’s antics go.

They said at the time this was “the motor racing equivalent of  ‘Play-On’ in other sports.”

In a statement where they rejected the Mercedes request, they said they did not feel that the Right of Review element of the International Sporting Code should be used for “such discretionary decisions that do not follow on from a formal inquiry by the Stewards and do not result in a published document.”

This time around, there was a formal inquiry over Norris’ driving and a published document that can be reviewed.

The key now though is whether the Right of Review hearing will even get that far, or will be thrown out at the first hurdle because the new evidence is not good enough.

Marc Marquez believes he is not the fastest MotoGP rider in this weekend’s Thailand Grand Prix despite topping Friday practice with a new lap record.

Returning to the scene of his sixth and most recent MotoGP World Championship title victory in 2019, Marquez was in slick form throughout the day en route to the overall top spot in Friday afternoon’s P2 session.

Stopping the clock at 1m29.165s on the Gresini Ducati, his effort was enough for him to edge out championship Jorge Martin by just over a tenth of a second and lower the erstwhile lap record.

Coming after he notched up his third victory of the season in Phillip Island less than a week ago, a buoyant Marquez is keen to make that precursor to achieving his objective of improving his qualifying performances.

However, Marquez suggested that practice results did not provide a true picture of the pecking order, insisting that riders like Pramac’s Martin again hesitated from showing their true pace on Friday.

“I’m happy to have started the weekend in this way, which is important,” he said. “It’s true that the pace is good, it’s not the fastest one like in Australia.

“I think Martin is faster than us and [Enea] Bastianini, when he is fast on Friday it means that he will be super fast all weekend, but let’s see what we can do.”

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

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The positive opener leaves Marquez optimistic of a similar challenge towards the sharp end in qualifying, an area where the Spaniard has struggled for consistency in his first season racing Ducati machinery.

The 31-year-old has qualified on the front row only three time since the summer break, with an average starting position of 6.25 during this period.

“I have the potential that from the initial moment I am riding very fast,” he added. “In the first part of the season I was always struggling on the Friday and I’d improve a lot over the weekend.

“Now I am starting Friday with a good pace so the way to improve is safe. Already the lap record, so if I can do a 1m 29.1s [in qualifying] I will sign up for it.”

Marquez is keeping a lid on his expectations for Saturday’s qualifying session, saying he will be happy as long as he is able to qualify inside the first two rows on the grid.

“Here everyone is pushing and trying to get the maximum,” he said. “Both Martín and Pecco Bagnaia are raising the bar very high, but we also have our personal battle between me and Enea Bastianini and that, for my part at least, leads me to take quite a few risks to try to be there with them.

“I had a very good lap and it’s really positive to start a Friday like this. But tomorrow is the day we have to set a clear and realistic goal, which is to try to be on the second row.”

Marquez remains the only rider to score a grand prix victory on last year’s Ducati GP23 bike in a season that has been dominated by the latest iteration of the Desmosedici.

While a fouth victory would make 2024 his most successful season his last title-winning campaign in 2019, he reiterated that his goal is to build on his recent results and put himself in the best possible position for his year with the factory Ducati team.

“Obviously the more victories the better, but it is an irrelevant fact, which you remember now because I am there, but otherwise nobody remembers [in the future],” he said.

“Obviously if I can win four races it is better than three, but the important thing is to continue with this consistency that I am showing, since Austria I have taken a small step and I am confirming it in all the circuits I go to.”

Aprilia Racing has revealed new technical director Fabiano Sterlacchini will make his first appearance with the team at the penultimate round of the 2024 MotoGP season in Malaysia.

The Italian manufacturer confirmed Sterlacchini’s appointment earlier this month following the news that its current technical chief Romano Albesiano will exit in favour of a move to Honda next season.

Though Albesiano will remain with Aprilia to see out the 2024 MotoGP before departing for pastures new, Aprilia told Motorsport.com that he has agreed to step aside from his role to allow Sterlacchini to get up to speed in Sepang and then the Valencia finale.

“Fabiano will be with us in Malaysia in an observer role, to take notes and start working for the future, [Albesiano] will remain in the Aprilia garage until Sunday in Valencia,” a spokesperson exclusively told Motorsport.com.

The confirmation comes following a decision for Albesiano to not join Aprilia in making the trip to Buriram for this weekend’s Thailand Grand Prix. Despite his absence, Aprilia Racing rider Maverick Vinales says it is business as usual all the same.

“The truth is that I haven’t noticed anything strange,” he responded when asked about Albesiano’s absence. “We are always looking for every last screw to make the bike work at 120 per cent. 

Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing, Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“Albesiano continues working as always. I don’t know when Sterlacchini will come, I can only say that since it was announced in Japan that he will leave next year, Romano’s commitment has remained intact. He hasn’t gone any further with the bike, but everything is normal.” 

Sterlacchini’s arrival for Sepang gives him the opportunity to set the groundwork for a fresh era at the factory Aprilia team next season when it welcomes an all-new line-up comprising current MotoGP championship leader Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi, both of whom join from the Ducati stable.

Vinales will switch to the Tech3 KTM squad, with current team-mate Aleix Espargaro due to join Honda as a test rider following his retirement from racing.

Sterlacchini moves to Aprilia after a short stint with KTM, having joined the Austrian marque in June 2021 to lead its engineering department.

In July this year, the Austrian marque announced it had been unable to reach an agreement to renew Sterlacchini’s contract and he will leave the brand this year.

Prior to KTM, he spent 17 years at Ducati, rising to the role of MotoGP technical director.

Formula 1 drivers are set to review the United States Grand Prix battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in Mexico’s driver briefing amid questions over how the FIA’s racing rules are applied.

Verstappen and Norris fought a hard battle for third position in Austin until they both went off at Austin’s Turn 12 with four laps to go. Norris passed his title rival off the track, which netted him a five-second penalty, while Verstappen went unpunished for pushing his colleague off.

According to the racing standards guidelines as they are written, Verstappen was in the right as the defending car and did not have to leave Norris racing room. McLaren launched a right of review petition on Thursday to revisit the case, with Norris arguing that because he was already ahead of Verstappen he was the defending party rather than the Dutchman.

While the stewards appeared to apply the rules as they stand correctly, several leading drivers have taken issue with the practice of drivers being able to launch up the inside with no regard of whether or not they are able to make the corner, as long as they are ahead of their rival at the apex.

“It’s always been a grey area,” said Lewis Hamilton. “They probably need to make some adjustments for sure. Also we do have inconsistencies through rulings depending on which stewards are there. And as a sport, we do need to level up on all areas.

“I experienced it many times with Max. You shouldn’t be able to just launch the car up the inside and then go off and still hold the position.”

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell says he’s interested in learning how the FIA looks at the incident now, and whether their interpretation means Verstappen was totally in the right or was exploiting an unintended loophole in the current guidelines – or “taking the piss” as Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas described it.

“I don’t think you can write a set of regulations that covers every single possible scenario, it is a very fine line,” drivers’ association director Russell said.

“I’m really interested to see if the FIA believe, having reviewed everything again, if Max should have been penalised for what he did or not. In my view, he should have been penalised. Therefore, there isn’t really a loophole. If they say: ‘Based on our regulations, he should not have been penalised’, then he is exploring a loophole.”

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz said he also had questions over how aggressive a defending car can be.

“That is a very good question that I need to ask the stewards, because obviously it changes the way we go racing,” he said. “It means the guy defending on the inside can brake as late as they want and they can fake the fact that you are trying to hit the apex when you are maybe not.

“It needs to be clarified because in that case they were both to blame; Max for running wide and Lando for gaining a position off the track. That is why that specific scenario is a very complicated one on how to rule on it.”

Russell and Sainz both agreed that a gravel strip on the outside of Turn 12 would largely fix the underlying issue, and few drivers are expecting similar issues this weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.

“The root cause of the problem is having a circuit that allows you to run wide,” Russell said. “And if we take Austria last year as an example, you had, I don’t know, 300 track limit problems. They put gravel in, and there’s no problems.

“If you put gravel on that corner, Lando doesn’t go off and overtake, and Max doesn’t brake that late and go off as well.”

Sainz added making circuit changes would be much more straightforward than endless discussions about racing rules.

“If you think about it, the solution might be solved by itself by circuit standards or modifications. We keep going around in circles with guidelines that might be easier to solve with certain, slight changes to the track, which some tracks have already performed.”

Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, which also hosts MotoGP that has different run-off requirements, is understood to be in discussions with the FIA over potential changes for 2025.

Additional reporting by Alex Kalinauckas and Erwin Jaeggi