F1 news LIVE: Hamilton future still ‘unclear’ with Vettel tipped for Red Bull return

Bernie Ecclestone claims that Kimi Raikkonen was the last Formula 1 driver that didn’t act like a robot.

“Kimi, as a person, is a super guy,” the Brit told sport1.de.

“As a driver, he’s a race driver. He’s what you want: he races [and] doesn’t take an awful lot of notice of people. In fact, he gives them his opinion.”

In the 91-year-old’s opinion, there aren’t any other drivers quite like ‘The Iceman’ around today which he feels is a problem for the sport.

“There aren’t any Kimis today really, I don’t think. That’s the problem,” he continued.

“They’ve all become very, very much [like] a robot, listening and doing what they’re told, rather than doing what they think is the right thing to do.”

Lewis Hamilton’s future and involvement in the 2022 F1 season is still unclear.

That’s according to Sky Sports’ Craig Slater, with the Mercedes star still reportedly stewing over his crushing defeat for weeks.

“As we speak right now, I can tell you it is still unclear,” he said on Sky Sports News.

“69 days to go to the first Grand Prix in Bahrain, I have heard from senior sources close to Lewis that whether or not he will be on the grid for the first race of the season is still unclear at this point.

“I’ve spoken to various individuals since who have had some contact with him. By and large they told me that they expected Lewis to be back to try and win an eighth world title in 2022.

“What they explained to me though was that even if he seemed to take it well on the night, it hit him very hard in subsequent days, what went on.”

Sebastian Vettel should return to Red Bull to show how fast he is, according to Bernie Ecclestone.

“When he feels like it,” Ecclestone told Sport1.de while discussing Vettel’s future in the sport. “He shouldn’t be told he’s got to retire.

“We don’t know how quick he is any more because he’s not in a competitive car – so it’s not easy to say he’s not as quick as he used to be.

“He needs to be back in Red Bull, actually.”

Mick Schumacher has revealed optimism among Haas ahead of the 2022 season.

The German struggled during his rookie campaign with Haas failing to score a point all season, as they concentrated on the upcoming campaign and the change of regulations in the sport.

“The car looks to be very positive, from what I see and hear,” Schumacher told Autosport.

“So I have great expectations. Hopefully they’ll meet my expectations next year on-track.”

Charles Leclerc has revealed what it is like to drive the 2022 Formula One car, ahead of the biggest change in regulations in the sport since 2014.

The Ferrari driver said: “It’s quite a bit different. It makes it quite tricky, I mean, it’s challenging for us drivers and I think it will be more challenging… to drive those cars overall.

“It has probably a bit of a bigger window to work in and in cold conditions it feels quite good, but it’s quite tricky when you use the car in the high-speed, especially.”

The excitement around Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has been “debunked” following Carlos Sainz’s arrival at the team.

That’s according to Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, who was giving an assessment of rival teams ahead of the new season.

Sainz was a hit at Ferrari following his move from McLaren and finished ahead of Leclerc in the standings.

“Mercedes and [Red Bull] have the potential, the people and the continuity. That again speaks for a duel at the highest level,” Marko said. Especially as with Hamilton and Verstappen, no other driver is coming along.

“The closest to them is [Lando] Norris. Leclerc was, so to speak, debunked by Sainz.”

McLaren team boss Zak Brown hopes the introduction of new regulations in Formula One ahead of the 2022 season will make the fight for the drivers’ championship a more open competition this year.

Changes to promote closer racing and increase overtaking opportunities will come into force ahead of the start of the new campaign in March, in the first major shake up of F1’s rules since 2014.

“My hopes are that we go into Abu Dhabi next year with three or four cars who can compete for the championship, I think that’s the ultimate goal,” Brown said.

“I think this year has been spectacular, up and down the grid, and I hope with what has been put in place and the new car designs, and the intent of the new aerodynamic package, that what we’re seeing now is just a taste of the future.”

Pierre Gasly is frustrated he isn’t being recognised by big teams after an impressive 2021 season.

He had a brief spell with Red Bull in 2019 but hasn’t been welcomed back as he thought he may be with Sergio Perez favoured. Gasly will drive for AlphaTauri in 2022.

“My desire, my will to fight for World Championships is very strong. I’m in Formula 1 to fight at the top,” he told Auto Motor und Sport. “That motivates me to keep improving.

“I won’t lie, it’s hard to deliver a season like that. And then when I compare myself to those who got the opportunity for a Red Bull seat, it’s disappointing. Based on the numbers and results, I have delivered a better performance than anyone else in this team.

“But at the end of the day, I don’t get the recognition and reward for that. That’s hard to swallow. It disappoints me, of course.

Max Verstappen has admitted that luck turned in his favour at exactly the right time after he clinched his maiden Formula 1 world championship in such controversial circumstances.

He overtook Hamilton in the last lap in the final race of the season.

“It’s always difficult to really use the right word for it but you need a bit of luck in your life, and I think up until that point I didn’t really have a lot of luck in the season – otherwise I think the championship would have been decided way earlier,” Verstappen told Sky.

“Luck came at the right time for me and then of course you still have to take the opportunity, which we did as a team.”