F1 LIVE | Verstappen creates 'interesting' finale, Leclerc to leave Ferrari?

Speaking to a betting site, the former Italian driver said he was surprised by Red Bull’s resurgence in recent races.

The four-time world champion, after taking second place at home in Zandvoort following the summer break, went on to claim back-to-back victories in the last two races, taking advantage of Oscar Piastri’s retirement in Baku and Lando Norris’s in Zandvoort to significantly close the gap on both in the standings.

The Dutchman now trails Oscar Piastri by 69 points and Lando Norris by 44, with seven Grands Prix and three sprint races still to go on the calendar. The deficit remains considerable, but it led Fisichella to predict an “interesting” end to the season all the way to Abu Dhabi.

It's standard practice in Formula 1: every manager keeps tabs with all the F1 teams because it is impossible to know what's going to happen next. Raymond Vermeulen, Max Verstappen's manager, for instance, does exactly the same. Todt, the son of Ferrari icon Jean Todt, is therefore often engaging in talks with other F1 teams.

GPblog witnessed firsthand in Monza how Todt indeed chatted with various people in the paddock, in the same way everyone talks to everyone else, which is worlds apart from actually being on the market for a potential new team for Leclerc. 

Various media are now reporting that Todt spoke with McLaren's team principal Andrea Stella and Alessandro Alunni Bravi in Italy. The easy conclusion to jump to: the subject of the conversation was Leclerc. But was this really the case? Read the full story here!