F1 Today: Windsor claims Verstappen is better than Hamilton, Domenicali reveals possible sprint changes

21:54, 11 Aug

Updated: 21:57, 11 Aug

bySavannah Lenz

Missed out on August 11th's Formula 1 news? Catch up here with the top stories today!

Windsor finds Verstappen better than Hamilton

Peter Windsor held a livestream on his Youtube Channel. It was there that he explained key differences between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. The key difference? Their cars.

He argues that Verstappen has had worse Formula 1 cars than Hamilton has had. This puts Verstappen above Hamilton, as he has had to work harder. He said, "Max had a year or two when the car wasn't capable of winning Grand Prix in Red Bull, engine-wise, and would often be driving beautiful races to finish fourth or fifth. I remember saying when Max gets a quick car, these are the races that are going to be the making of him."

"That's one of the reasons he is so good, because he does know what it's like to drive a car that is quite difficult, where you've got to take wing out of it in order to get some decent top speed."

More sprint races to come?

Speaking to The Race, Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali talked about the future of sprint races. Sprint races were introduced to Formula 1 in 2021. They add an extra edge to the already exciting weekend as they reduce the practice times for teams as well as add more points for the grabbing.

He said, "I do believe there are possibilities to extend two things, which we need to discuss, both with the drivers and the teams, and, of course, with the FIA."

Domenicali also questioned what else they could do, including a reversed grid.

"Can we apply that [sprint weekends] to more races? And is this the right formula to have the opportunity to have a reversed grid, like we do in F2 and F3? These are discussion points".

Villeneuve does not believe the Mercedes Power Unit rumour

With new regulations set to begin in 2026, many teams are working towards their next Formula 1 car. Earlier in the year, rumours came out that Mercedes' engine would be among the strongest after some teams shared concerns over the power unit regulations.

Villeneuve, however, does not buy into it. Speaking to a betting site, he said, "In 2014, Mercedes had a five-year advantage over its rivals and had more powerful engines ready in the garage by the time others started catching up with their power units."

"Because that happened then, many now expect the same to happen again in 2026. But I don’t believe the other manufacturers will be caught off guard this time."

He also pointed out that nothing is confirmed. "The rumors about Mercedes’ engine superiority are just that — rumors. Nobody really knows what’s happening behind the scenes in the various design departments."