F1 Gossip: Only the “racing Gods” can stop Verstappen from winning title - DC

- Ex-Red Bull Formula 1 driver David Coulthard believes only the “racing Gods” can prevent Max Verstappen from beating Lewis Hamilton to this year’s title.

Verstappen trails Hamilton by a single point going into this weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Coulthard said: “So the only thing that I think can stand in the way of Max and Red Bull Racing really taking this championship is the racing Gods maybe getting involved in a few things with reliability because he is definitely experienced enough, he is definitely mature enough, which at 23 seems incredible but he is ready. He is more than ready.”

Coulthard also thinks George Russell’s actions towards Valtteri Bottas at Imola are a clear indication the British driver is desperate to take his seat for 2022.

“I think George is the real deal. He’s great on track, great off track. What he experienced in Imola was the growing pains of going from being a young man into a more experienced man.

“What he did show was his hunger, his passion and I think there’s an underlying… he is looking at Valtteri and going “that’s my seat, I want that seat”. So if Valtteri had any doubts before, he now knows quite clearly that George wants that seat.”

- Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko has described Yuki Tsunoda as “completely cocky" after his error-strewn weekend at Imola (RTL).

- After signing Ben Hodgkinson from the reigning world champions, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has ruled out signing ex-Mercedes engine guru in Andy Cowell. (Sky Sports)

- Marko also suspects the mistakes Lewis Hamilton made at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix were a result of the pressure he was put under by Verstappen. (RTL).

- Daniel Ricciardo is confident he can win his maiden F1 title with McLaren.

“Yeah… I mean, if it’s a yes or no, then it’s yes. Is it this year? No,” Ricciardo told Australian publication EFTM, as quoted by F1.com.

“But already seeing the first couple of races and I look at even my lap at the weekend [at Imola] and I’m still pretty confident I’m not getting everything out of it, and I was four-tenths off pole or something. So even with that, the team’s closed the gap a bunch.”

- Paddy Lowe has revealed Mercedes deliberately ran its power unit in 2014 in “idle mode” to ensure it didn’t dominate races and thus avoid being pegged back by the FIA in terms of regulation changes. (RaceFans)