F1 news as Christian Horner shuts down Max Verstappen claim and Lewis Hamilton makes admission

McLaren continued their tear at the F1 summit after Oscar Piastri led a one-two finish at the Spanish Grand Prix, but Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton won’t look back on the race with joy

A fifth win of the season in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix saw McLaren’s Oscar Piastri extend his lead in the Formula 1 standings. But Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton had days at the office they would sooner forget.

Reigning world champion Verstappen crossed the line in fifth after a late safety car caused complications to his three-stop strategy. However, he dropped to 10th after suffering a 10-second penalty for colliding with George Russell’s car when the Mercedes driver sought to overtake him on Lap 64.

That incident now leaves the four-time world champion at risk of a potential race ban. However, Red Bull boss Christian Horner doesn’t agree with one former world champion, who believes his race should have been called to an early stop.

Meanwhile, Hamilton pulled no punches in labelling Sunday’s race the “worst” of his career. Mirror Sport breaks down all that and more as the 2025 F1 season nears its midway mark.

Horner rubbishes Rosberg’s Verstappen ban claims

Nico Rosberg continues to gain traction as a pundit and was unabashed in his criticism of Verstappen’s actions in Catalonia. And the former Silver Arrows star came to the defence of current Mercedes star Russell following their contentious clash towards the climax of Sunday’s race.

Red Bull’s engineers sought to save Verstappen from himself when they instructed the Dutchman to let Russell pass after the safety car. But his frustrated response in attempting to hold a position he was fated to lose resulted in a hefty penalty and three more points from the race stewards after the race.

“He needs to get black flagged,” said the 2016 world champion while commentating for Sky Sports F1. “He just crashed into Russell on purpose just to prove a point.

“That was horrible. That did not look good. That’s bad, bad, bad. That is seriously bad. He just rams him, full on. You need to black flag that. There’s no other way.”

Rosberg later underlined his opinion the manoeuvre was “very intentional retaliation” and “extremely unacceptable” from the reigning titleholder. But Red Bull team principal Horner was, perhaps unsurprisingly, more ambivalent in his assessment on the matter.

“Nico’s quite sensational in the way he commentates, so we’ll leave it there,” said the Red Bull boss while addressing the media post-race. He went on to acknowledge his driver was frustrated and would discuss the situation internally before commenting further on Rosberg’s reaction.

“Yeah, that’s his opinion. He can have his opinion,” said Horner. When pressed on whether Verstappen had “deliberately turned” into Russell, Horner replied: “No. I think it was a misjudgement.”

Verstappen facing race ban

Verstappen’s three-point penalty as a result of that incident brings him up to 11 over the past 12 months. And that means he’s now just a single point away from a race ban, which would only further enhance McLaren’s title prospects.

The stewards’ report explained: “From the radio communications, it was clear that the driver of Car 1 [Verstappen] was asked by his team to give the position back to Car 63 [Russell] for what they perceived to be an earlier breach by Car 1 for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage.

“In fact, we had later determined that we would take no further action in relation to that incident. The driver of Car 1 was clearly unhappy with his team’s request to give the position back.

“At the approach to turn five, Car 1 significantly reduced its speed thereby appearing to allow Car 63 to overtake. However, after Car 63 got ahead of Car 1 at the entry of turn five, Car 1 suddenly accelerated and collided with Car 63. The collision was undoubtedly caused by the actions of Car 1. We therefore imposed a 10-second time penalty on Car 1.”

The only F1 driver to date who has hit the 12-point threshold is Kevin Magnussen, who missed last year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix shortly before leaving the sport. And it means Verstappen is under more pressure than ever to keep his infamous temper in check.

He’ll have no choice but to keep his nose clean at the upcoming Canadian (June 15) and Austrian Grands Prix (June 29). That’s because the oldest of his 11 penalty points aren’t due to expire until June 30, which will then grant him at least some relief.

Hamilton calls Spanish GP his “worst race”

Hamilton was in no mood to break down the intricacies of his performance in Barcelona, which he dubbed “the worst” he has had to endure. And the Briton made no secret of his frustrations while speaking to reporters in the media pen.

The 40-year-old made a positive start when he overtook former team-mate Russell to move up to fourth. However, struggles for pace along the straights saw him ultimately cross the line in seventh, though he moved up one position thanks to Verstappen’s 10-second penalty.

Sky Sports commentators highlighted the disappointment Hamilton will have inevitably felt after being instructed to allow faster team-mate Leclerc to pass on Lap 10. And he had short fuse when asked if the car “felt better” in the second half of the race when he appeared more able to sustain a gap over his pursuers.

“That was the worst race I’ve experienced,” said the seven-time world champion in agitated fashion. “Ever.”

Even if Hamilton had maintained his original finishing position of seventh, it would have only equalled his fourth-worst result of the year to date. His Ferrari debut ended with him in 10th in Australia, also finish eighth in Miami, as well as being disqualified in Beijing.

Hamilton sits sixth in the drivers’ standings, while Leclerc is sixth and 23 points better off after his late podium. While undoubtedly pleased for his team-mate after Leclerc’s back-to-back podium finishes, it will also serve as a reminder tothe competitor in Hamilton that he’s capable of far more.

Norris admission and driver standings

Piastri continued to pull clear of team-mate Lando Norris and now sits a more comfortable 10 pits ahead in the championship stakes. Titleholder Verstappen, meanwhile, is now 49 points off the pace in third, while podium finisher Leclerc made a marginal gain on Russell directly above him in fourth.

Norris credited his colleague by acknowledging he “lost out to the better guy” on the day. He blamed the “dirty air” for preventing him from closing in on his team-mate and being able to challenge for first himself but was on the whole complimentary.

“I did, yes. Oscar drove a very good race today,” he said post-race. “[I] didn’t quite have the pace to match him, but we gave it our best shot.

“It’s a long race, anything could have happened at the end. We both got pretty sideways with the safety car restart. It was a good, fun race, and for us as a team to finish one-two is even better.”

Away from the title chase, Fernando Alonso earned his first points of the campaign following a valiant ninth on home soil. That result was all the more impressive given Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll missed the race due to injury and was not replaced.

Racing Bulls prospect Isack Hadjar also continued his impressive run of form by placing seventh, his third straight top-10 finish. Meanwhile, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg had arguably the most impressive drive of the day after a season’s best fifth moved him up to 11th in the standings.

2025 F1 drivers’ standings top five (points)

1. Oscar Piastri – McLaren (186)
2. Lando Norris – McLaren (176)
3. Max Verstappen – Red Bull (137)
4. George Russell – Mercedes (111)
5. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari (94)
6. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari (71)