F1 latest news LIVE: Lewis Hamilton’s future questioned by former champion as Red Bull doubt George Russell

LIVE – Updated at 11:34

Lewis Hamilton’s return to social media for the first time since the 2021 F1 season finale, in a team promo video for the Chinese New Year, has fans speculating that the British racer will also return to the grid for next season - calming some fears of retirement. Now it’s the turn of his new team-mate to be in the spotlight, with George Russell joining Mercedes for this year - and Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko questioning whether he really has the race pace to cope at the highest level.

For Red Bull themselves, their No1 driver and reigning world champion Max Verstappen faced rumours of an exit earlier in the week, amid claims he could jump ship to rivals Mercedes. Red Bull of course denied as much, suggesting too much had happened between the teams for that to be feasible. All teams are now gearing up for the new campaign in their new cars, with more testing to come in the weeks ahead.

Here’s the very latest news as the new season prepares for the opening weekend in Bahrain on 20 March. Follow all the F1 news updates below:

Lewis Hamilton has been accused of wanting to force Michael Masi out of Formula 1 and turn the sport “upside down”.

The seven-time world champion has not commented publicly on the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which saw Masi’s controversial intervention set up Max Verstappen to pass Hamilton and deny the Mercedes driver a record eighth title.

It has since been suggested that Hamilton is considering retirement as he awaits the FIA’s report on events at the Yas Marina Circuit, which could see Masi stripped of his race director role.

Dutch racing driver Jeroen Bleekemolen believes that Hamilton will be back on the grid when the 2022 season starts in Bahrain in March.

However