Mercedes chief Andrew Shovlin admits the team won’t be “nipping at the heels” of Red Bull at the Canadian Grand Prix - with the Montreal circuit offering a “bigger challenge” than last time out in Spain. The Silver Arrows brought highly-anticipated upgrades to the Monaco Grand Prix last month, with their full impact seen at the traditional testing circuit in Barcelona last time out. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished second and third respectively, securing Mercedes’ first double podium of the season. Yet Toto Wolff has moved to downplay suggestions Mercedes can compete with runaway leaders Red Bull and trackside engineering director Shovlin echoed those thoughts when speaking in the team’s debrief video. “The fact is that the update kit works very well around circuits like Barcelona with a lot of high-speed performance,” Shovlin said. “The car itself would have still been okay there because we’ve been better at the fast circuits and the front-limited tracks. We ended up with a really good balance and really good race pace. “Now, where we are going to go next, Montreal, it’s a very different circuit. There are more low-speed corners, quite a lot of straight-line full throttle and we would expect more of a challenge there. “We are not thinking that we are going in nipping at the heels of Red Bull. We are going in there prepared for a battle with Ferrari, Aston Martin, and maybe even Alpine.” Hamilton finished on the podium last year in Canada, behind Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, and Shovlin added that behind Red Bull the performance gap is close with other teams this season. “It will be good fun and we are certainly going to be fighting to find every little bit of performance we can,” he added. “Because the way the grid stacks up now you can be P2 or you can be P10, and there are only a few tenths in it,” he added. “We are looking forward to more exciting racing but certainly we are aware that Canada is likely to be a bigger challenge than the Sunday we just had in Barcelona.” Verstappen currently has a 59-point lead in the championship from Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez and has won the last three races in Miami, Monaco and Barcelona. Read More Lewis Hamilton contract update provided by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff Christian Horner reveals how close Fernando Alonso was to joining Red Bull Lewis Hamilton, an 18-month drought and an eighth world title further away than ever

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Within the Red Bull ecosystem, encompassing two teams on the Formula 1 grid and the junior team below, there is no doubting who the senior statesman is. When Dr Helmut Marko speaks, people listen. And for Nyck de Vries, the writing has been on the wall for a while now. Asked after the British Grand Prix whether Red Bull’s ‘third driver’ Daniel Ricciardo could replace De Vries at Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri, Marko grinned. A grin which told us everything we need to know. “We’ll have the tyre test next week and then we’ll see,” he stated. That test, with Ricciardo in the cockpit of Red Bull’s RB19 rocketship for the first time this season, took place on Tuesday morning at Silverstone. Hours later, the Australian’s return to F1 was confirmed. The first thing to note is, despite his obvious struggles, it is brutally harsh on Nyck de Vries. When the Dutchman made his splash last September in Monza – filling in for Alex Albon at Williams and securing points with an impressive ninth-place finish – it must have seemed like a dream. The former Formula 2 and Formula E champion had long been on the cusps of a grid spot, entwined in Mercedes’ junior programme, and now a 2023 place was inevitable. AlphaTauri, with Pierre Gasly departing for Alpine, moved swiftly for De Vries – a decision we have now learned that Christian Horner did not agree with. Yet this year, the pairing has always felt like an uncomfortable marriage. AlphaTauri have slumped to the worst team on the grid, with Williams showing signs of improvement under the leadership of James Vowles. And while Yuki Tsunoda – in his third season with the team, it should be said – has maximised any potential out of the AT04, De Vries has undeniably stumbled in his first full season. 10 races. Zero points. Out the door. De Vries may now look back with regret that he did not stick in Mercedes’ wider bubble and eye a spot with Williams. The chances are he would have been favoured over Logan Sargeant, the only other driver on the grid yet to score a point this season. But the stark reality is that De Vries is a sacrificial lamb in this situation. Because, as we have seen in the past with Red Bull’s ruthless revolving door, his axing and Ricciardo’s return is about something much bigger than the prospects of Red Bull’s sister team this season. As much as De Vries’ poor form looks the reason on paper, Sergio Perez’s struggles as Max Verstappen’s team-mate in the past two months is a factor equally important, if not more so. Since winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in April, Perez has endured a wretched run given he is, clearly, in the fastest car. While Verstappen is on a win streak of six, Perez has finished on the podium just twice and has not made the final qualifying session in his last five races. Three of those have been a humiliating exit in Q1. Thus, Perez has gone from a world championship contender to under pressure for his race seat in a matter of months. While Horner insists publicly that the Mexican’s spot is not shrouded in uncertainty – with a contract until the end of the 2024 season – there is no doubting that Ricciardo’s re-emergence heaps an extra crumb of pressure on that second Red Bull seat. For what its worth, simply assuming Ricciardo will snap up Perez’s seat as soon as next year is inadvisable. The 34-year-old was dropped by McLaren for a reason, after a chastening 2022 campaign, and has plenty to prove in the remaining 12 races of this season, starting next week in Hungary. But if the tyre test is anything to go by, the popular Aussie is champing at the bit. Speculation is rife that his best time would have been quick enough for the front row at the British Grand Prix on Sunday. Sure, it was just a tyre test, but nonetheless impressive after eight months out of the car. A similar set of statement performances throughout the season’s remainder, back where it all began with Red Bull’s sister team, could give Ricciardo the most unlikeliest of routes back into the sport permanently with Red Bull next year. At the very least, it will give Marko and Horner a decision to make. Read More Daniel Ricciardo returns to F1 as he replaces Nyck de Vries A fictional Drive to Survive? Daniel Ricciardo ‘full steam ahead’ with scripted F1 show Daniel Ricciardo shaped void will take some filling by Oscar Piastri at Australian GP Daniel Ricciardo returns to F1 as he replaces Nyck de Vries The moment Norris came of age in British Grand Prix – and it wasn’t his super start Max Verstappen storms to British Grand Prix victory with two Brits on the podium

Celebrity adventurer and chief scout Bear Grylls has said that children need to learn to “police” themselves and manage their own time on social media. Speaking on stage at the annual literature event Hay Festival in Wales, Grylls said that children should learn to self-regulate how much they use the internet, and how they use it. His comments were made after a child in the audience asked for his thoughts on the power of social media. “Social media can be brilliant, it really can,” he said, via The Times. “The brilliant side of it is that it connects us, and you can learn stuff so fast and you can have fun and it’s brilliant entertainment.” He continued: “The key, though, is not letting it control you. You control it. So you be in charge.” The celebrity adventurer warned the audience against permitting social media to “erode you”. He said: “If I’m on it all day, that’s going to erode your heart a bit.” Grylls added that he and his wife, Shara Grylls, did not set rules how long their three sons – Jesse, 19, Marmaduke, 17, and Huckleberry, 14 – are allowed to spend on social media. “I say ‘Set your rules’,” he said, adding: “You’re in charge because after you leave school nobody’s going to be policing it for you.” “You’ll have to police your own life. That might be eating healthy, or going to the gym, or if somebody treats you badly in a relationship then having some boundaries and saying: ‘No – I’m not going to let you’. You’ve got to police yourself with social media as well.” The Man Vs Wild star added that he is concerned that children are sometimes “lost” in the world of their smartphones, and encouraged parents to teach their children “practical skills” because they may not be equipped later in life. “I meet many big, strapping men who will say to me: ‘I really want to learn how to tie this simple knot – I feel a bit inadequate that I can’t tie the roof rack on properly,’” he explained. Read More Mother hit with deluge of abuse for taking toddler’s packed lunch to a restaurant Nick Cave says he was ‘extremely bored’ at King Charles’s coronation Ivy walls, gilded sofas and one very diva plaque: Inside Tina Turner’s ‘cartoon palace’ in Switzerland

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