Verstappen ‘laughed’ at McLaren radio; Schumacher gets his next drive – round-up
Max Verstappen arrived on the podium in style in Las Vegas.
It has been a busy day in the world of F1 news, catch up with all the latest headlines following the Las Vegas GP right here!
There is much to get through as we head into another race week, so with a mixture of fallout from the weekend and new developments, here we go.
F1 news: Max Verstappen ‘laughed’ at Norris encouragement
Max Verstappen led the Las Vegas GP from Lando Norris heading into the closing stages, and as the McLaren driver was chasing George Russell, he was told to attack as the plan was to “go and catch Max.”
With pace in hand, however, the Red Bull driver was able to eke his advantage out further until Norris needed to slow towards the end of the race, seemingly to save fuel.
Hearing about that message, he said to Viaplay: “Yes, I heard that too, of course.
“I have to laugh about it. It only motivates me. It only works adversely. It only motivates me to defend even harder if he would have come.”
Read more: Why Verstappen ‘laughed’ at McLaren ‘come and get’ him message to Norris
Mick Schumacher gains full-time IndyCar seat
Congratulations are in order for former Haas driver Mick Schumacher, who was announced as a full-time IndyCar driver for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing on Monday.
He’ll be returning to single-seaters after his stint with Alpine’s endurance squad, and having held out hopes for a Cadillac F1 drive, the German will head to the United States for next season.
Who knows? We might even see him enter and possibly win the Indy 500.
Read more: Mick Schumacher lands 2026 race seat as future confirmed
Vasseur urges ‘calm’ after Hamilton comments
When Lewis Hamilton’s words about not looking forward to next season were put to Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur, he was quick to call for a “calm down” on the subject.
Vasseur said he supports his drivers in making their statements to the media, but what matters most to him is how they are working behind the scenes during the week to help the team moving forwards.
Read more: Ferrari boss responds to Hamilton’s brutal ‘next season’ complaint
Pirelli announces F1 2026 tyre selection
In the other piece of breaking news from Monday, F1 tyre supplier Pirelli confirmed it would be dropping the softest C6 compound from its 2026 range, with the performance difference between its next-softest tyre, the C5, not enough to justify it staying on the calendar.
2026 tyre testing started more than a year ago, and there will be one final group test in Abu Dhabi to run alongside the young driver test, before the tyre compounds are sent for homologation.
Read more: Pirelli drops tyre compound in major F1 2026 announcement
Toto Wolff speaks out after Mercedes share sale
Toto Wolff sold 15% of the holding company in which his Mercedes shares are held to CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz, giving the team’s new investor an effective 5% stake in the team overall.
These shares were thought to have been valued at $300m, valuing the team as a whole at a huge $6 billion.
Asked in Las Vegas if that means anything regarding Wolff’s own place at the team however, the team principal and CEO said he is not set to leave his role any time soon.
Read more: Toto Wolff gives Mercedes F1 future update after $300m share sale
