F1 news LIVE: Lewis Hamilton piercings row could get ‘very nasty’ as Max Verstappen’s Red Bull ‘hit and miss’

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says his team have been “flying in the fog” since the start of the season due to their difficulties with Formula One’s new car regulations.

The team haven’t performed as most would have expected, only grabbing two podiums this campaign so far with no race wins.

“We have been [struggling] straight from the beginning, flying in the fog a little bit,” explained Wolff, per GP Fans. “And it is clear that there is potential in the car and she is fast but we just don’t understand how to unlock the potential.”

McLaren had an awful start to the season but they have gradually built into the campaign. They still aren’t at the heights they will be aiming for and the British driver has been realistic about where he believes his team are.

“I think we are behind Mercedes [in terms of pace],” said the 22-year-old as per Motorsport-total.com. “We are also behind Alfa Romeo but are well in the running with Alpine and AlphaTauri. Haas are somewhere in that region as well. So I think it’s quite simple – it’s tight.

“In the race, we have decent pace. It’s just going to take a bit more for us to take on Mercedes and the guys in front. If we can do that, we can be happy.”

“I am delighted, I think it is a victory for us,” he told Motorsport.com. “There was clearly a mountain to climb for all of us, but I think from the strategy to the radio calls, the tyre management, everything was perfect today.

“And to end up in the points being 50% physically as well, for me it’s like a win.”

Ferrari “now need to respond” according to team boss Mattia Binotto after Max Verstappen’s victory at the Miami Grand Prix narrowed the gap to Driver’s Championship leader Charles Leclerc.

The Scuderia have enjoyed a fine start to the season, but the world champion’s win last weekend pushes the Red Bull to within six points of Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship, while narrowing the gap to Leclerc to just 19 points.

Binotto is philosophical about his team’s performance, with both Leclerc and Carlos Sainz on the podium, though he concedes the team “can’t be completely happy”.

“We can’t be completely happy with today’s race because, although the F1-75 was competitive, our rivals were a few tenths per lap quicker than us,” Binotto said. “If you consider how many points we are taking home from here, we can’t be too disappointed, given that we are leading both championships, but it’s clear we now need to respond. We are keen to get the job done and there are still a lot of races to go.

Vettel and Schumacher are close off the track, with Vettel’s motoring hero being Schumacher’s father Michael, but they came to blows at the Miami Grand Prix.

“Those guys are good friends and I think that Seb’s trying to guide Mick a little bit into his Formula 1 career,” Coulthard told Channel 4. “He definitely needs to give him some overtaking advice.

“And I loved how Mick was on the radio going ‘I had the…corner’. He doubted himself as he said it. And I think when he reflects on it, he made a mistake, that door was always going to close.”

Lando Norris has claimed the Miami Grand Prix track surface was “turning into crap” during the race.

The Miami International Autodrome held the inaugural Miami Grand Prix as F1 expands its reach, with Max Verstappen edging out Charles Leclerc for his third victory of the year, while also trimming the Monegasque’s lead in the drivers’ championship to 19 points.

Norris picked up his first DNF of the season, with his McLaren coming into contact with the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly.

The track required special attention at turns seven and 17 ahead of the weekend with a resurfacing between Friday and Saturday.

The AlphaTauri driver couldn’t finish the race due to the collision and he was in point-winning contention when it happened. It also sparked another collision as Gasly was limping back to the pits when he clipped Lando Norris, causing him to spin out and triggering a late safety car.

Alonso went on to finish the race but in 11th following a post-race time penalty, so he did not pick up any points. Gasly shared his frustration of being taken out of the race and for Alonso damaging his car.

“Fernando just divebombed into me, crashed into me and broke the rear-right corner,” Gasly said per GP Fans. “After that, we tried to do one more lap to see if we could continue and the car was too damaged. I could not even stay on track or turn left anymore.”

“I don’t think the car is particularly fragile,” he insisted. “I think there have been niggly things that you would normally have seen in pre-season testing that have only reared their head as we have got into the season so that has been frustrating.

“We are working closely with HRC and they are giving us great support so I think we will get those ironed out.”

George Russell has called the Mercedes car a “killer” to drive and says Toto Wolff’s assessment of the car being a “diva” is an understatement.

Wolff has described the Mercedes car as being on an “edge” as Russell and Lewis Hamilton has struggled to come to grips with it this season.

Mercedes are yet to crack Formula One’s new car regulations and have been left behind by Red Bull and Ferrari due to their problems with ‘porpoising’.

“Toto is throwing the word ‘diva’ around a lot about the car – but that is an understatement because it is so unpredictable,” Russell said after finishing fifth in Miami. “There is a fast car in there but when the thing starts bouncing, going into corners, it is a killer to drive.”

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is confident Lewis Hamilton’s row with the FIA over its jewellery ban will come to a “good resolution”.

Hamilton held talks with the FIA’s new president Mohammed ben Sulayem at the Miami Grand Prix this past weekend after the seven-time world champion said he would be prepared to boycott the race over the governing body’s clampdown.

It led to Hamilton agreeing to take out his earrings for the race for safety reasons while he was given a two-race exemption for his nose piercing, which cannot be taken out easily.

It means Hamilton will need to remove the piercing by the Monaco Grand Prix at the end of the month, after the FIA wrote to drivers at the start of the season reminding them that jewellery is not allowed to be worn in cars during races.