‘Ridiculous’ Bottas penalty criticised as Brundle’s Hamilton comments resurface – roundup

Oliver Harden 18 Jan 2026 8:00 PM

Valtteri Bottas eyes the camera while wearing black Mercedes race overalls and a grey cap

Valtteri Bottas spent the 2025 season in a Mercedes reserve role

Sunday’s fast-paced F1 news includes Damon Hill criticising Cadillac driver Valtteri Bottas’s “ridiculous” Australian Grand Prix penalty as Martin Brundle’s comments on Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari situation resurface.

Let’s blast through the day’s main headlines at breakneck speed…

Damon Hill critical of ridiculous’ Valtteri Bottas penalty for Australian Grand Prix

Damon Hill, the 1996 world champion, says it is “ridiculous” that Valtteri Bottas must serve a grid penalty upon his return to F1 with Cadillac at the Australian Grand Prix.

Bottas was given a five-place grid penalty for an incident in his final race for the Sauber team in 2024.

Having sat out last season, Bottas will finally serve his punishment on his Cadillac debut in Australia.

Martin Brundle comments resurface as Lewis Hamilton race engineer moved

Martin Brundle claimed that Lewis Hamilton “terribly missed” a trusted voice by his side during his first season with Ferrari in 2025.

The Sky F1 pundit’s comments have resurfaced after Hamilton’s 2025 race engineer, Riccardo Adami, was moved to a new role by the team earlier this week.

Hamilton and Adami had a number of awkward exchanges over team radio in 2025, a season in which the seven-time world champion failed to record a podium finish.

Red Bull suspects Mercedes started F1 2026 ‘favourites’ rumour

Ben Hodgkinson, the head of Red Bull Powertrains, believes rumours that Mercedes hold the advantage for F1 2026 were started by the Silver Arrows.

F1’s regulations are to be overhauled for 2026 as the sport embraces 50 per cent electrification, fully sustainable fuels and active aerodynamics.

Rumours have persisted for some time that Mercedes’ preparations are more advanced than its competitors, but Hodgkinson is not convinced.

Sky F1 pundit expects F1 2026 development to change McLaren policy

Sky F1 pundit Karun Chandhok believes the high rate of car development in F1 2026 could force McLaren to change it policy of total fairness between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

McLaren was at pains to keep things fair between Norris and Piastri in 2025 as the former was crowned world champion for the first time.

Chandhok reckons an intense rate of development could force the team to bring upgrades to just one car at some races in 2026.

Max Verstappen: ‘I haven’t even done that many laps in the simulator’ for F1 2026

Max Verstappen has admitted that he hasn’t done “that many laps” in the Red Bull simulator ahead of the F1 2026 season.

Verstappen will compete with the number three as his race number this year after the world championship, and the right to use the number one, went to Lando Norris in 2025.

Verstappen will be joined by a new teammate at Red Bull in the form of new recruit Isack Hadjar.

Red Bull Martin Brundle Sky F1 Valtteri Bottas