F1 news LIVE: Mercedes unveil 2025 car as Verstappen speaks out after British boos

The four-day event, taking place from Thursday 3rd to Sunday 6th July, sees high-profile acts on the main stage in the evening.

BRIT award-winning artist Sam Fender opens proceedings on Thursday night, followed by multi-award-winning singer RAYE on Friday.

DJ icon Fatboy Slim takes to the stage on Saturday night, after qualifying on track, before Becky Hill concludes proceedings on Sunday night after the grand prix earlier in the day.

Haas are undertaking a filming day in Bahrain with full-time rookie Bearman in the cockpit!

When asked between reigning world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Sainz replied: “I think it will be between those first three you have said.

“If Mercedes make a good car, I would put [George] Russell in too. I think he is at a very good level. Any of those can beat each other this year.”

A group of Ferrari fans who were recorded cutting down trees for a better view of Lewis Hamilton on track on Wednesday have been labelled as “idiots” by users on social media.

Hundreds of fans gathered on the bridge and banks overlooking the 3km circuit, with Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc emerging throughout the day to meet the famous ‘tifosi’ fanbase.

The prize pot for the teams at the end of the season is usually around 50% of F1’s commercial rights profit.

Figures are approximate and currently based on 2024 sums

Carlos Sainz has been named as a director of F1’s drivers’ body, the GPDA, for the 2025 season and beyond.

The Spaniard, who has moved to Williams from Ferrari this year, has replaced four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, with the German stepping down last year following his retirement in 2022.

Sainz joins Mercedes driver George Russell as an active driver in a leadership role with the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association.

Fernando Alonso backed Aston Martin to “catch up pretty soon” to the front of the F1 pack this year.

Alonso was speaking as Aston unveiled their 2025 car, the AMR25, on Sunday.

“We did learn a lot last year, the second part of the season [there were] a lot of experiments going on in the way of learning more things in the 2025 car,” Alonso said.

“We have new tools, new organisation, new people in place to tackle some of the weaknesses we identified last year, so we start in a much better place.”