F1 team boss in BRUTAL swipe at rivals over sponsorship deal

Monaco Grand Prix

F1 team boss in BRUTAL swipe at rivals over sponsorship deal

A team boss has taken a cheeky swipe at a rival F1 team

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Saturday 25 May 2024 15:58

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A F1 team boss has taken a brutal swipe at a rival team’s sponsorship deal during FP1 in Monaco.

FP1 provided a glimpse of a Mercedes resurgence, with Lewis Hamilton setting the fastest time of the session, and George Russell in P3.

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The two Mercedes were split by Oscar Piastri in the McLaren, who are running a tribute livery to Ayrton Senna this weekend to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the champion's death.

Red Bull, however, struggled in the first session around Monaco, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez finishing P11 and P12 respectively.

McLaren run a special tribute livery to Ayrton Senna

Williams team boss jokes at rival’s expense

Off-track in FP1 Williams team principal James Vowles had an interesting conversation with the Sky Sports’ commentary team.

Recent reports from Autosport state that Carlos Sainz has been in talks with Williams about a drive at the team for 2025, with the Sky team grilling him on the rumours.

Reports initially speculated that the Spaniard would move to Mercedes in a straight swap with Hamilton, who will replace Sainz at Ferrari.

However, Mercedes appear committed to promoting their junior driver Kimi Andrea Antonelli to the team to replace Hamilton, despite his youth and inexperience in the sport.

When Sky Sports asked Vowles about their talks with Sainz, he remained cryptic, revealing very little.

James Vowles teases Carlos Sainz Williams talks

However, the team boss did have time to take a jab at a rival F1 team when discussing tyre choices in FP1 with the commentary team.

“The two - don’t ask me what they’re called - AlphaTauri, Visa Cash App buy one get one free, went on the medium earlier, everyone else was on the hard,” Vowels said.

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Red Bull Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton McLaren George Russell Oscar Piastri