F1 LIVE: Mercedes upgrades confirmed with Fernando Alonso ‘open’ to joining top team

Mercedes‘ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has said there are “new parts in the pipeline” after an impressive showing at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Mercedes have grown into the new F1 season after a slow start, and although they remain off the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull, there were signs in Barcelona that George Russell and Lewis Hamilton could be getting back into contention.

Russell battled to a third-place finish while Hamilton fought from the back of the pack after a disatrous start to finish fifth, and Mercedes now plan to improve the car further before the next race in Monaco.

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Canadian rapper Drake was left particularly disappointed by Charles Leclerc’s retirement from the Spanish Grand Prix, revealing that he had bet £185,000 on the Ferrari driver to win the race in Barcelona.

Drake claimed ahead of the race that he had placed a bet on F1 for the first time, placing a wager of CA$300,000 (£185,000) with a potential return of CA$750,000 (£467,000) if Leclerc claimed victory.

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Hamilton delivered his best performance of the season at Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix after fighting back from an opening-lap collision with Kevin Magnussen to finish fifth.

Hamilton might be 64 points behind new championship leader Max Verstappen following the Dutchman’s third triumph in as many rounds at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.

Sebastian Vettel has been subjected to a robbery after a bag belonging to the four-time Formula One world champion was taken in Barcelona on Monday morning.

Vettel, who was unharmed in the incident, set off in pursuit of the stolen property by using the Find My iPhone application connected to his AirPods.

But although the 34-year-old German managed to track down his earphones, the bag and other items inside have not been found.

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Toto Wolff admits Mercedes secured a “morale boost” after the Spanish Grand Prix.

“The relationship, the dynamic between the driver and the team is something that is so important,” Wolff said.

“It’s clear, in having an accident in the early stage of the race, you are saying to yourself ‘Not again!’ and you are not featuring.

“He was 38 seconds or so behind the last cars after his stop and that’s basically game over but him then showing his very good pace was important for not only his morale but also our morale.

“Who would have thought he would climb all the way to fourth before the problem came up. It looked like a world championship-winning race car he was driving. That was not possible in the previous races.

“It reminded me of last year and the years before when the car and driver are on top of their game.”

Fernando Alonso is open to taking a seat at a top team next season, even if he has to compete against a consensus No 1 driver, such as Max Verstappen at Red Bull.

The Spaniard’s contract with Alpine expires at the end of this season, with talks due to begin over an extension in July.

“I think so,” Alonso told Sky Sports F1 when asked if he could land a third World Championship. “That’s why I keep racing, you know?

“There is still always the hope that one year you will have the package and you will have the, you know, all things together to fight for the championship. I still feel competitive and I’m fast.

“Yeah, sure,” he added when pushed on the possibility of joining a top team where he may have to be the No 2 behind a top driver, such as Red Bull, with Sergio Perez’s contract up for renewal at the end of the season.

“I think at the end of the day there are not many number one, two drivers in any team right now.

“All the teams need both drivers to work together and to improve the car, especially with the new regulations.

“You still learn every lap you do and you have to work towards a better car, a better package. So let’s see what are the possibilities into the next few years.”

The Red Bull driver took advantage of Charles Leclerc’s mechanical failure on lap 27 of 66 before performing out of his skin to deliver his third win in as many races.

Sergio Perez completed a one-two finish for Red Bull, as George Russell secured third, following another fine performance from the young Briton, with Carlos Sainz fourth.

Lewis Hamilton dropped from sixth to last but one after an opening-lap collision with Kevin Magnussen.

But the seven-time world champion delivered an impressive comeback to charge his way through the field to fifth – robbed of fourth when he was told to “lift and coast”, presumably to save fuel in the closing stages, and Sainz made his way back past.

If you’ve become a fan of Formula 1 in recent years, you will probably be familiar with the term ‘DRS’ – the system which effectively allows for more overtaking.

Following its introduction in 2011, DRS has become a vital part of the sport. It stands for Drag Reduction System and is an adjustable part of the rear wing which, when opened, improves speed by 10-12 kmph.

That doesn’t sound like a lot when cars already travel at around 300kmph, but it can make all the difference along a long straight.

Lando Norris underwent medical checks after finishing the Spanish Grand Prix in eighth for McLaren with the Briton suffering from tonsillitis throughout the race.

It was no secret that Norris had been unwell across the Spanish weekend, and the signs were not good when TV pictures showed him looking rather nauseous at the side of the track ahead of the race start.

“Today was tough,” said Norris afterwards. “I was feeling really unwell before the race as I’m suffering with tonsillitis, and that, in combination with the high temperatures, made this one of the hardest races I’ve ever done.

“I’ve been a bit on the backfoot this weekend as most of my energy has been spent fighting off this illness. I’ve had to miss a lot of engineering sessions, which has compromised my weekend, and I definitely wasn’t as prepared for the Grand Prix as I could have been. With that in mind, I’m really pleased to have come out of the race with decent points for the team.”

Max Verstappen earned his third win of the season as part of a one-two finish for Red Bull in the Spanish Grand Prix and broke down his race after the chequered flag touching on his DRS issues and how he was left frustrated trying to get past Mercedes’ George Russell.

“A bit of a race with two halves,” said Verstappen, “because the first 30 laps were very frustrating for me after I went off in Turn 4, first of all, which really caught me by surprise because I didn’t feel like I was actually braking later or throwing more speed into the corner. But it was very gusty out there today… that caught me out by surprise, that was not ideal of course.

“Of course I was a bit frustrated at the time because I couldn’t get [Russell] because of DRS issues, but the fight itself was really cool also. I think that lap where I did go down the outside and George went around the outside and I was around the outside of Turn 3 again, I think that was a really cool fight.

“I look back at it and I’ll smile now; at the time of course I was a little bit frustrated. But it was a really good and tough battle, I think.”