F1 gossip: Sainz, Vandoorne, Horner, Hamilton, Russell

Force India had its points reset to zero over the summer break owing to a technicality with the team's change of ownership

Sunday, 23 September

Renault's Carlos Sainz believes Force India are still a threat for fourth place in the constructors' championship despite having had their points reset to zero after being rescued from administration last month. (Planet F1)

Stoffel Vandoorne is confident he can follow in the footsteps of Kevin Magnussen and have a "fresh start" after being dropped by McLaren. (Autosport)

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner believes next month's Mexican Grand Prix is "realistically" their only chance of winning again in 2018. (Planet F1)

Lewis Hamilton is "pushing" Mercedes to bring forward their 2019 developments to benefit the 2018 campaign. (Crash.net)

Mercedes' British Formula 2 championship leader George Russell believes the current driver market shows F1 is lacking "at least two teams". (Autosport)

British 18-year-old Lando Norris is continuing his preparations for his debut F1 season in 2019

Saturday, 22 September

Mercedes are at a "crossroads" with their junior driver programme, but boss Toto Wolff still believes Esteban Ocon and George Russell both have bright Formula One futures. (Sky Sports)

But Haas team boss Guenther Steiner is not a fan of Wolff's idea of adding a third car to each team on the grid, which would offer options for young drivers like Ocon, who could be without a Formula 1 drive for the 2019 season. (Planet F1)

Stoffel Vandoorne has been offered a chance to drive for Dale Coyne Racing in IndyCar next season after being dropped by McLaren in favour of Lando Norris for 2019. (F1 Today)

Renault driver Carlos Sainz beat the likes of Sergio Perez, Ocon and Norris to sign a two-year deal with McLaren after he "showed well" against his Formula 1 team-mates. (Planet F1)

Daniel Ricciardo returned to Australia to watch the West Coast Eagles beat Melbourne to reach the AFL Grand final next week, but the Red Bull driver might have conflicting plans with the Russian Grand Prix next weekend...

Friday, 21 September

Mick Schumacher trails Red Bull junior Dan Ticktum by three points at the top of the European Formula 3 standings

Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene admits it would be difficult for the team to turn down the chance to sign Mick Schumacher - the son of Ferrari's former seven-time world champion Michael - if the 19-year-old delivers on the promise shown in Formula 3 this season. (Formula 1)

Red Bull's Max Verstappen says his team were never interested in recruiting Fernando Alonso as his team-mate for 2019, despite the Spaniard's claims otherwise. (Motorsport)

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg's Mercedes 2016 rivalry was "a little bit like a volcano" poised to erupt, according to team boss Toto Wolff. "At times you like one [driver] more than the other - and that is completely normal," he added. (Beyond the Grid via Planet F1)

Rumours that Daniil Kvyat is set to return to Formula 1 with Toro Rosso have gathered pace after he signed up with manager Nicolas Todt and started winding down his simulator work for Ferrari. (Autosport)

Haas team boss Gunther Steiner opposes a move to teams putting three cars each on the F1 grid, believing it would be confusing for fans. (Autosport)

Charles Leclerc got hold of a Ferrari F1 car for the first time at testing in France. The 20-year-old Sauber driver will drive for Ferrari in 2019

Thursday, 20 September

Lewis Hamilton won the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday

Lewis Hamilton wants Mercedes to bring forward developments planned for the 2019 season so he can "feel it on a race weekend". (Autosport)

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says "not in a million years" will Esteban Ocon be released from the team's junior programme. (Crash.net)

Williams' test and development driver Robert Kubica says he is keeping his options open regarding 2019 and believes the team have "different priorities" to him. (Turun Sanomat, via F1.com)

Formula E will soon replace Formula 1 as motorsport's most popular category, according to Jaguar Racing chairman Gerd Mauser. (Crash.net)

Brazilian Nelson Piquet junior says he would welcome former Renault team-mate Fernando Alonso in Formula E. (Reuters)

Wednesday, 19 September

Ross Brawn has been F1 technical director since January 2017

Formula 1 technical director Ross Brawn says that Ferrari's "spell has been broken" by Mercedes' dominance in Singapore. (Crash.net)

Former Sauber driver Pascal Wehrlein could be set to move to Toro Rosso after it was announced that his long-standing association with Mercedes will come to an end at the end of the season. (L'Equipe - in French)

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says drivers at the back of the race need to have a "more global perspective" when being lapped by the leaders after Lewis Hamilton was held up by Romain Grosjean and Sergey Sirotkin on his way to victory in Singapore on Sunday. (Autosport)

Governing body the FIA plans to inspect Ferrari's latest camera device in a bid to check that it has not been designed to block the onboard television view. (Motorsport.com)

Members of the McLaren pit crew visited Royal Navy cruiser HMS Albion while they were in Singapore

Tuesday, 18 September

Lance Stroll is expected to swap Williams to join Force India, which is now owned by a consortium led by his father

Williams are "in limbo" over who will drive for them next season, with Lance Stroll expected to move to Force India. (Planet F1)

Red Bull is bracing itself to take engine grid penalties at the next race in Russia, as it considers a surprise move back to a Spec-B Renault. (Motorsport.com)

Lewis Hamilton is in "invincible" form after shifting into "overdrive" in the past five races, says former F1 driver Martin Brundle. (Sky Sports)

McLaren's Fernando Alonso has shown fans a glimpse of life inside a Toyota hybrid racing car as he took part in a simulator day. (Twitter)

Monday, 17 September

Toto Wolff (right) says races should also be shortened to 80 minutes to appeal to younger people

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says the F1 race calendar should be cut from 21 to 16 races in order to "generate more revenue in the long term". (Der Spiegel - in German)

Britain's George Russell is the favourite in the race to drive for Williams for the 2019 F1 season. The 20-year-old F2 championship leader is a product of the Williams development system. (Wheels24)

Force India has banned team-mates Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon from racing each other after the pair made contact on turn three during Sunday's race in Singapore. (Autosport)

Red Bull's Max Verstappen has thanked his team after finishing second on the podium in Singapore, despite "technical difficulties" during the race. (Instagram)