The Latest Breaking News from Laurent Mekies

On a weekend where Red Bull had to adjust its ride height set-ups considerably to cope with the RB20's ongoing dislike for kerbs, Perez's crash late in FP3 meant Max Verstappen went into qualifying without any flying lap preparation on the soft tyres.

The Faenza-based squad has found itself locked in an intense fight with Haas for supremacy of the five-squad chasing pack that is behind F1's top teams of Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Aston Martin.

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The early races have suggested that Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Aston Martin are set to dominate the top 10 in both qualifying and races, leaving everyone else to challenge for rare opportunities to break into the points.

The RB team is fielding an all-Japanese line-up in first free practice with Iwasa joining regular driver Yuki Tsunoda in the VCARB 01 in their home round.

RB man Tsunoda broke through the apparent barrier between F1's top and bottom five teams by beating both Aston Martins in Melbourne qualifying. He also outqualified Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton by claiming eighth on the starting grid, just narrowly behind Mercedes' George Russell. The Japanese driver couldn't keep the faster Astons…

The team’s headquarters will remain in Faenza, Italy, where it has been based since Minardi was founded in the late 1970s, but it will vacate the diminutive aerodynamics site in Bicester.

The team’s headquarters will remain in Faenza, Italy, where it has been based since Minardi was founded in the late 1970s, but it will vacate the diminutive aerodynamics site in Bicester.

Issues over the partnership with Red Bull and RB, the former AlphaTauri team, have rumbled on in recent months, with McLaren's Zak Brown particularly vocal over the potential issues arising from one entity owning two F1 teams.