Lewis Hamilton spearheads F1 driver ‘power seat’ push at Miami GP

Crash.net's Lewis Larkam recaps some of the biggest stories, updates and tidbits of information to emerge from the F1 paddock during media day at the Miami Grand Prix…

Lewis Hamilton leads calls for more F1 driver power 

It is fair to say that Lewis Hamilton was not in a hugely talkative mood as he addressed media in Thursday’s press conference in Miami.

While he remained tight-lipped about his ongoing struggles at Ferrari, the seven-time world champion was happy to elaborate slightly more when it came to the topic of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s leadership.

In response to Ben Sulayem’s recent Instagram statement revealing he is considering changes to the controversial swearing rules introduced ahead of the 2025 season, Hamilton stated his belief that drivers need to hold “a power seat at the table” in regards to how F1 is governed.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton led calls questioning the current power structure in F1, saying: “Ultimately, the GPDA is very unified. We are working to ultimately be able to work closely with the FIA.

“All of us want to make the sport work together and make the sport better. Of course we've faced a bit of an uphill challenge in that communication over time.

“Ultimately, we don't hold a power seat at the table, and that needs to change in my opinion. If you look at other sports that have unions, that may be something that comes into play at some stage. We don't we don't want to control things. We just want to collaborate with them and have our voices heard.

“People are making decisions for others that have never been in that position so it is good to have a the point of view from the drivers’ perspective, and that’s all we try to give.”

Former Mercedes teammate and GPDA director George Russell insisted: "The words don't mean anything until the change has been made."

Oscar Piastri not expecting Max Verstappen to change

Oscar Piastri does not expect Max Verstappen to race him “any differently” as a result of the Turn 1 incident between the pair at the start of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Piastri moved into the lead of the world championship after beating Verstappen last time out in Jeddah to claim his third win in five races.

The victory was ultimately sealed thanks to a penalty issued to the four-time world champion when he left the track and gained an advantage to retain position over the McLaren driver at the first corner.

But Piastri anticipates that Verstappen will continue to “push things right to the limit” despite being on the receiving end of punishment.

“I don't expect Max to race me any differently because of last week,” Piastri stated. “I always know it's going to be a tough fight with Max, he's going to push things right to the limit. That's what we're all here to do.

"I didn't feel like I had anything to prove or anything to go out and do. That's just how I would race, regardless of who it is. But I think I was just proud of the fact that I stayed on the track, managed to pull it up, and I didn't make the move, but put myself in the position to win the race. And that was the biggest thing for me."

Yuki Tsunoda's unfruitful Red Bull test

Yuki Tsunoda was given a test in a 2023 Red Bull F1 car last week at Silverstone in a bid to accelerate his learning and understanding following his dramatic promotion just two races into the season, but things didn’t quite go to plan.

The Japanese driver was left to lament “classic British weather” which interrupted the test, while an issue with the car also restricted the already-limited dry running he was able to complete.

“I experienced the classic British weather,” Tsunoda said. “It started damp and we didn't bring any wet tyres because we didn't want to waste any mileage. So we waited quite a long time to get dry. And also, unfortunately, we had a bit of an issue in the end of the day as well, so we didn't drive much.

“But still a cool experience. To be honest, it's hard to feel the difference because it's completely different conditions and it's completely different characteristic corners compared to previous races.

“So also, I didn't want to really say something, [or give] stupid feedback to make confusion. So I told the difference I felt clearly, but other than that it was still a good test for me to get mileage.”

Jack Doohan feels ‘immune’ from seat rumours

Jack Doohan stressed he has felt “immune” from the chatter regarding his F1 future which has surrounded him since before he even started his rookie season.

The Alpine driver is contesting his first full grand prix season but doubts emerged about how long he would retain his seat for before a wheel was even turned following the team’s decision to sign Franco Colapinto as a reserve.

Pre-season speculation suggested that Doohan could be swapped out for Colapinto as early as this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix if he underwhelmed during the opening rounds of the campaign.

Despite being outperformed by teammate Pierre Gasly across the first five races, Doohan’s seat appears safe until at least the summer.

The Australian credited Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore’s “no BS” approach in helping him ignore the noise.

"He's [someone] that I've looked up to for a very, very long time," Doohan said. "And I love him being brutal and very to the point where there's no BS, there's no mucking around. You find out what's going on very, very quickly. I prefer that much more than Chinese whispers.

"Things were clear in what was happening. And he was just wanting me to do well, and the best would happen. And [saying] forget about the noise, forget about what's going on.

"Just do the best that I possibly can. And things are always out there for a reason. Nothing gets out by mistake. So I think it was just keeping my head down and doing my job, and knowing what's real and what's not."

F1 movie gets official soundtrack

The sound-track for Brad Pitt’s upcoming F1 movie has been released by Atlantic Records.

Music from some of the largest artists in the world including Ed Sheeran, Doja Cat, Rose and Tate McRae will feature on the 17-track album.

Grammy Award-winning Doja Cat’s Lose My Mind has been released as the lead single.

The highly-anticipated ‘F1’ movie, which has been co-produced by Hamilton, will hit the big screens globally on 27 June 2025.