F1 Daily round-up: Hamilton's deal, Russell reaches Q3 & F1 hacked?

It's been a very busy day in the world of Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton woke the Mercedes fans up early by confirming a new deal which will see him at the team until at least 2023. Max Verstappen stuck it on pole position with Lando Norris also sitting on the front-row whilst Mercedes had a weaker afternoon. The stewards were busy with plenty of discussions with drivers after the session and the Formula 1 app got hacked! Here's your daily Grand Prix round-up. 

Hamilton signs deal 

Lewis Hamilton will stay with Mercedes until at least the conclusion of the 2023 season. The British driver has won six of his seven titles with the German team and is currently locked in a Championship battle with Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing. Hamilton, who will turn 37 before the start of next season, signs this contract much earlier in the year than last time. Contract negotiations were delayed in 2020 and he only announced his stay at the team just before the start of the season. 

This contract signing means Hamilton will remain on the grid when the rule and regulation book gets a rewrite over the winter. In 2022 the cars will be radically different. The team are balancing this preparation with their current Championship fight with Red Bull. Click here to see Hamilton's reaction. 

Deal consequences

With the news that Lewis Hamilton will be driving for Mercedes for the next two seasons, it puts a lot more pressure on a number of other drivers on the Formula One grid. There have long been rumours that Valtteri Bottas and George Russell are the top candidates for a Mercedes seat and with the confirmation that Hamilton is going to get one of those seats, there is a lot more pressure on the other two drivers.

Mercedes will not prefer a partnership like Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. That is why Hamilton has already indicated that he would like to see Bottas sign-on, because after all with the Finn they won four world titles and Hamilton could also write four titles, but other talent is lurking. Read the rest of the story here. 

Honda factory remains open in 2022

Although Honda is formally leaving Formula 1 after this season, the engines will still be built in Japan. Red Bull Racing are already taking over many of the staff, but now it has also been announced that the engines will come from Japan next year. Read the full story here. 

No penalty for Bottas

Sebastian Vettel was handed a penalty for getting in the way of Fernando Alonso during qualifying. The German driver was docked three spaces and had one penalty point put on his license. Carlos Sainz also had to speak to the stewards but wasn't given a penatly. 

Race control has investigated Valtteri Bottas' alleged slow driving and has concluded that they will not penalise him for it. The Finn will therefore start the Austrian Grand Prix from fifth place. Click here for the full story and footage. 

Has Russell signed for Mercedes? 

With Lewis Hamilton announcing his contract extension on Saturday morning, more of the focus is shifted towards the second Mercedes seat. George Russell and Valtteri Bottas are in a straight fight for the second seat alongside the seven-time World Champion. The Ziggo Sport reporter senses that George Russell has already signed a contract with Mercedes next year. "I think your head is so clear, that you already have a good deal for the future," asked the Dutch reporter. A smile appeared on Russell's race and he said "we'll leave it there" as he walked away. Click here to see the reaction. 

Russell reached Q3 for the first time as a Williams driver. The British driver will start from ninth following Vettel's penalty, and crucially on the medium compound. 

Hot take: Lack of Mercedes power is nonsense 

To explain their arrears to one of the Red Bulls, Mercedes have been pursuing some rather strange theories in recent weeks. These theories focus on the top speed of the RB16B, even though there is little evidence of this on the track. 

In fact, based on the two weekends at the Red Bull Ring, you could even say that the Mercedes engine is still the best. Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris both topped the speed trap last weekend. In that same speed trap Verstappen was only 1.5 km/h faster than Hamilton and in the hands of Norris, it almost reached pole this weekend. From the entire top ten, six drivers drove a Mercedes engine. Nonsense. Click here for the full article. 

F1 hacked? 

People who have the Formula 1 app installed on their phones got two strange messages on Saturday night. The first one said 'I think I have to pay better attention to my security', the second one seems to be a typo. The 'hacker' seems to want to say that the security of the app is not in order. Or is it just an F1 employee playing a joke? Click here for the photo 

Reports

Max Verstappen was imperious around the Red Bull Ring as he finished half a second clear of the field in FP3. The Dutchman only completed 14 laps, in comparison to Charles Leclerc who did 34, and stayed in the garage for half the session, but it didn't matter. His time of 1:04.591 was 0.538 seconds quicker than Valtteri Bottas in P2, and 0.686 seconds quicker than Lewis Hamilton in P3. The Brit did have his best lap deleted for exceeding track limits however. Click here for the full report from FP3. 

Max Verstappen has qualified on pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix as he looks to build on his 18 point lead in the World Championship over rival Lewis Hamilton. The Dutchman achieves his third consecutive pole position for the first time in his career. Lando Norris was just 0.048 seconds away from setting pole position. The McLaren driver will start on the front row for the first time in his career. Click here to read the full qualifying report.