Lewis Hamilton jilted, Leclerc engaged and Verstappen claps back - GPFans F1 Recap

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in front of the Dutch flag — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Recap

Lewis Hamilton jilted, Leclerc engaged and Verstappen claps back - GPFans F1 Recap

All the big news on another wild day in the world of F1.

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Monday 3 November 2025 23:35 Updated: 00:43

Lewis Hamilton has been jilted for a 20-year-old Australian rookie as a key Ferrari team member makes the surprise decision to exit F1.

A performance engineer from Hamilton’s side of the garage in Maranello has left the sport for the Supercars Championship in Australia.

According to news.com.au, Ferrari engineer Riccardo Corte will leave the world of F1 behind after 11 years and will work with V8 rookie Kai Allen at Grove Racing in Supercars.

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Corte took on a variety of roles at Ferrari, starting out as a power unit control strategy and simulation engineer, going on to work as Charles Leclerc’s driver coach before becoming Carlos Sainz’s performance engineer prior to his switch to Williams.

His most recent appointment in 2025 saw him work alongside the seven-time world champion before shifting into a development role, with Corte initially tasked with helping Hamilton to get to grips with his new cockpit after spending 12 seasons at Mercedes.

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Charles Leclerc is officially engaged to be married

Ferrari F1 superstar Charles Leclerc has officially announced his engagement to French art student and now global social media star Alexandra Saint Mleux.

The 28-year-old Monegasque, team-mate of Lewis Hamilton at Maranello, confirmed the wonderful news in an adorable social media post.

Leclerc and the 22-year-old Saint Mleux have been an item since 2023, with the F1 power couple wowing paddock watchers regularly with their effortless style on race weekends.

Charles did have a major assist from the couple's adorable little dog Leo, who wore a collar sporting the message: "Dad wants to marry you".

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Max Verstappen claps back after Hamilton accusation

Max Verstappen sent a clear response to anyone who believes Lewis Hamilton’s penalty at the Mexican Grand Prix was evidence of a ‘double standard’ from the F1 stewards.

The seven-time world champion’s chance of a first podium with Ferrari was batted away after he was slammed with a 10-second time penalty last time out for leaving the track at Turn 4 and gaining a lasting advantage ahead of Verstappen.

As a result of his penalty, Hamilton finished a disappointed eighth, but the champion was left annoyed by the stewards lack of action at the start of the main event in Mexico City.

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Martin Brundle has the most extreme solution to Red Bull problem

There isn’t an easy answer to Red Bull’s second F1 seat problem but Martin Brundle has offered an extreme solution to the team’s driver predicament.

Red Bull backed themselves into a corner with the signing of Max Verstappen. On the one hand, they possess a talent who can still fight for the world title in a sub-par car and boast one of the best drivers to ever grace the sport.

The downside of securing the services of such a talent however, is that any other driver in the same car pales in comparison.

During an appearance on the Sky Sports F1 podcast after the Mexican GP, Brundle weighed in on Red Bull’s driver conundrum and offered an interesting, if impossible, solution.

“I think if regulations allow, Red Bull should run a one-car team and have three drivers in the Racing Bulls because anybody who sits alongside Max gets their head scrambled pretty rapidly for a number of reasons, basically because he’s so fast and so good,” Brundle explained.

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George Russell sacrifice: No birthday parties and 'a lonely childhood'

Behind the shine and veneer of F1 is often hard work and sacrifice for drivers to even make it to the top of the sport, let alone succeed.

On the surface, George Russell appears to be in the form of his career. A new contract with Mercedes after a standout season in 2025, and the Brit is being lauded as a champion of the future with dominant wins such as his victory in Singapore.

To get to this stage of his career however, Russell and his family have had to sacrifice a lot, with the Mercedes star not afraid of honesty in regards to his personal life.

Writing in a personal essay for the Players’ Tribune, Russell delivered a frank and astonishing recollection of his childhood, recounting all the things he had to give up to further his racing career.

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Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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F1 Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Charles Leclerc George Russell Martin Brundle