F1 Gossip: Marko apologises to Hamilton after blaming him for Verstappen crash

- Red Bull F1 consultant Helmut Marko has apologised for falsely accusing Lewis Hamilton of making a mistake when crashing into the back of Max Verstappen at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Marko originally claimed Hamilton “simply misjudged and drove into Max’s car”.

He told F1-Insider: “At the time of the television interview, I passed on exactly the information I had previously received from the engineers.

“They obviously weren’t right, so I’m sorry.”

- Current FIA president Jean Todt has been linked with a return to Ferrari when his tenure comes to an end. (Corriere)

Todt would return as a consultant - similar to the role Niki Lauda had during his time with Mercedes. 

- According to the Daily Mail, Mercedes has ended its controversial sponsorship deal with Kingspan.

- Channel 4 is in talks with Sky Sports of showing the title finale between Verstappen and Hamilton live. (Daily Mail)

- According to AMuS, Red Bull tried one final upgrade at the penultimate round in Jeddah in a bid to improve its straight-line speed.

It reported that: “This was a small adjustment to the underbody. The aim was to reduce drag on the straights and thus gain a few extra kilometres per hour. However, the change cost too much downforce in the corners. And the disadvantage outweighed the benefits. Red Bull cut back. The data will be studied again in detail.”

- Former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone believes Hamilton and Mercedes are not ‘playing fair’ with Verstappen in this year’s title race.

He told AFP: "They have been pushing down all the time on Max and then the race directors have been looking in because Toto goes to the race director. Max has more than a race to confront as he has them too on his back because they are bullying him and not playing fair. It is psychological game playing."