F1 news LIVE: Mercedes wait on Lewis Hamilton decision with Carlos Sainz tipped to become ‘top-tier driver’

Yuki Tsunoda started 2021 well but found consistency hard to come by – and he knows he must improve to retain his spot with AlphaTauri.

The Japanese racer has moved country and embarked on a better pre-season regime in a bid to maximise his chances of success.

“[This year] is going to be a really important year for me,” he told GPFans.

“I don’t know how the pace is going to be for the car in the team, but you need to perform well and, of course, you need to beat the team-mate and you need a more consistent race.

“But now I know the details of what I have to improve and, if I improve this one, I can beat him, beat my team-mate, or have a consistent race.

“These are all of the things, all of the ingredients I saw to go forward. In terms of that, it was a really good preparation year I would say.”

Lewis Hamilton has sold his personalised Pagani Zonda 760LH, Quattroruote report, netting himself a profit of over £7million in the process.

While the British racer has not made any comment publicly since the end of last season, the move is believed to be related to his “increased environmental awareness”.

“The reasons are in-line with the attitude that the Mercedes champion is taking in terms of ethics: in fact, his cars will be, at a minimum, hybrids,” the report states.

Otmar Szafnauer has left the Aston Martin Formula One team, where he was chief executive officer and principal but recently fended off speculation he could be heading to Renault-owned rivals Alpine.

Silverstone-based Aston Martin, owned by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, said in a statement that a leadership team would take over until a replacement was appointed.

There was no immediate comment from Alpine.

“We would like to thank him for the service provided to the team over the past 12 years and wish him well for the future as he will undoubtedly take on new challenges,” Mercedes-powered Aston Martin said.

“Fortunately, we are led and managed by a strong group of individuals, and we are comfortable to take a little time to explore options before announcing a new team structure.

“The focus of the team is currently on preparing the most competitive car possible for the start of the 2022 season.”

The season is due to start in Bahrain on March 20.

Williams have been awarded $35.7 million (£26.3m) in an arbitration case after a dispute with former title sponsor ROKiT.

The case in the United States comes after the pair joined forces in 2019 on a three-year contract, while quickly extending the partnership to 2023 later that year.

But after the 2020 season was delayed due to the Covid pandemic, the pair split.

As reported by MotorsportWeek.com, Williams won the case against ROKiT at a London Court of International Arbitration tribunal in 2021, ordering ROKiT to stump up “roughly £26.2m in missed payments, as well as a $1m in bonus payment.”

Arbitrator Klaus Reichert SC has now ruled in favour of Williams, stating that ROKiT did not pay the money owed to Williams, meaning the matter is now settled and the Grove outfit can concentrate on the 2022 season, with the outstanding sponsorship money now due soon.

David Coulthard has likened Lewis Hamilton’s role in last season’s dramatic F1 title fight with Max Verstappen to “fighting fire”.

“The way he [Verstappen] drives, the thing that I find most impressive…[if] there’s a gap, he goes for it, it’s not even a doubt,” Coulthard told Channel 4.

“I used to weigh up ‘should I risk it now, should I not risk it’, he just goes ‘I can see the biscuit’ he risks it for the biscuit, he just goes, it really is quite special.

“And when you actually see how Lewis is defending against that, Lewis is an exceptional racing driver, but he’s had to open the door on more than one occasion because he’s come up against, if he’s fire, he’s come up against fire, and how do you fight fire?”

Former Formula 1 driver Stefan Johansson has told Michael Masi his decisions at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix lacked “common sense”,

“I guess it’s positive for F1 that everyone is chiming in, that there’s so much passion for either side, Lewis or Max,” Johansson told F1i.com. “Whether it’s intentional or not, the entertainment value of this controversy has gone through the roof.

Lando Norris expects a surge from Ferrari in 2022 with more podium contention and even a few victories.

Norris believes the power unit will help the Scuderia after a year battling with McLaren for third place.

The British driver finished between the Ferrari drivers, ahead of Charles Leclerc in P6 and behind Carlos Sainz in P5.

“The progress they’ve made in the latter part of the season has had nothing to do with the car,” Norris said, as quoted by Marca.

“They have only improved their power units. I don’t think they’ve ever had a terrible car.

“Even in the last few years, I don’t think they’ve had a terrible car. They just lacked on the engine side.”

Esteban Ocon claims the state of Formula 1 right now is “fantastic”.

The Alpine driver is thrilled at how the sport has transcended the hardcore fan market to gain in popularity.

“There are things being tried, the races were interesting and there are definitely opportunities these days.

“It’s just crazy until the last lap. This last lap [of 2021] actually sums up the entire season well.

“Everyone is talking about Formula 1. Friends of mine weren’t really interested and are now fully involved. It’s great.”

Aston Martin have announced the shock departure of team boss Otmar Szafnauer.

In a statement, Aston Martin said: “Otmar Szafnauer has left the company and his role at Aston Martin will be managed within the leadership team until a replacement is appointed.

“We would like to thank him for the service provided to the team over the past 12 years and wish him well for the future as he will undoubtedly take on new challenges.

“Fortunately, we are led and managed by a strong group of individuals, and we are comfortable to take a little time to explore options before announcing a new team structure.

“The focus of the team is currently on preparing the most competitive car possible for the start of the 2022 season.”

While Szafnauer has not announced his next move, he denied reports last season linking him with Alpine.

Ex-F1 racer Jolyon Palmer has highlighted Carlos Sainz as a potential star moving forward.

Sainz finished P6 in the both his seasons with McLaren in the 2019 and 2020 Drivers’ Championships, before linking up with Ferrari alongside Charles Leclerc.

After four podium finishes helped him land P5 in the standings, Sainz has elevated himself from understudy to equal with Leclerc and now has the potential to go beyond.

“A tough call for most-improved given Sainz has been in the top six in the standings for the last three years now,” Palmer told the F1 website. “On the face of it, the fact that Sainz and Norris would both jump out as improved drivers this year demonstrates that they were probably underrated as McLaren team-mates, at least by me.

“But I do think Sainz has stepped up at Ferrari wonderfully, with the culmination being his podium in Abu Dhabi to take him to ‘best of the rest’ in the standings, and become the first driver to outscore Charles Leclerc as a team-mate in any car racing series.

“Like many drivers who changed teams, he started slowly, but finished fast and improved well throughout 2021 as well. When Ferrari signed him early in 2020, it seemed he would be a great second fiddle to Leclerc, but perhaps they might just be re-evaluating that assessment now. I think this year he has shown the potential to be an absolute top tier driver.”