F1 latest news LIVE: Red Bull question George Russell as Lewis Hamilton’s new team-mate joins Mercedes

LIVE – Updated at 10:19

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:

Valtteri Bottas has revealed that Mercedes gave him a huge and personal gift as a leaving present at the end of last season - the actual W08 car he won his first-ever F1 victory in, at the 2017 Russian Grand Prix.

“It was a little surprise but a nice gift. Now I just don’t have anywhere to put it!” he said on his podcast on supla.fi.

“I was stunned myself when I saw what kind of send-off they had organised for me – a parade, fireworks and music. I realised they also appreciated what I had done for the team.”

He also revealed that Lewis Hamilton being pipped to the title by Max Verstappen in the final race of last season meant he missed out on a hefty payment - though notes