21 September 2023 14:08
The French duo have been evenly matched in their first season as team-mates at Alpine, but amid a season where the Enstone outfit expected to consolidate on its fourth-place finish in last year's constructors' championship.Gasly admitted the season had not lived up to expectations in that regard, and added that he was not able to feel entirely at ease with the overall balance of the car.Asked ...
21 September 2023 13:08
Russell says he has adopted such an approach after changing his mindset this year from playing "the long game" and collecting points to going all out for the big results.In Singapore, Russell and team-mate Lewis Hamilton pitted for new tyres under a late safety car in an effort to have the firepower with which to attack race leader Carlos Sainz.In the event, Russell was still behind Lando Norris ...
21 September 2023 12:31
The four-time world champion is attending this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix to help launch his ‘Buzzin’ Corner’ project to raise awareness for biodiversity.All 20 current F1 drivers on Thursday attended a launch event for the new insect hotels that have been built on the inside of Turn 2 at Suzuka, where the kerbs have also been painted black and yellow in a nod to what Vettel has ...
21 September 2023 11:00
Formula One finally had a different look last weekend when Red Bull was finally defeated and Carlos Sainz won for Ferrari in a nose-to-tail three-team finish – but does that mean the reigning champions’ dominance is over? Probably not. Verstappen is still far and away the favourite for victory in Japan – his odds of winning are 29/100, barely any different to what they were last weekend ...
21 September 2023 10:55
Verstappen's and Red Bull's run of 10 consecutive victories ended in Singapore, when the team had an off weekend, and the Dutchman could finish only fifth.Prior to Carlos Sainz's victory there had been a lot of talk about Verstappen's run of success being bad for the sport and TV viewership, with Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei also expressing such sentiments. Asked by Motorsport.com in Suzuka if ...
21 September 2023 10:15
The Spaniard labelled his AMR23 as "undriveable" after the race at the Marina Bay circuit last weekend, as he struggled to find any performance throughout Sunday's GP.It was only after the grand prix, however, that Aston Martin realised the extent to which Alonso's performance had been hit by a damaged front suspension shroud, which had come loose on lap two and rotated side-on to disturb the ...
21 September 2023 09:10
Sainz took his second consecutive pole for 2023 in Singapore, and while the Ferraris still struggled to replicate their one-lap pace in the race, the Spaniard capitalised on Red Bull's off-weekend to break the latter's winning streak.But while taking the first non-Red Bull win of the season was a much-needed tonic for Ferrari, Sainz cautioned that its SF-23 hasn't actually changed and still ...
21 September 2023 08:28
Norris made the comment in the wake of a controversy after qualifying in Singapore, when Max Verstappen escaped lightly with just a pair of reprimands rather than grid penalties for impeding incidents in qualifying.One involved blocking Yuki Tsunoda on track, which the stewards determined was largely down to the Red Bull team not giving its driver enough information.The second resulted from ...
21 September 2023 08:27
Red Bull suffered a mysterious lack of performance at last weekend's Singapore race, which led to both drivers dropping out of qualifying in the second phase as neither Max Verstappen nor Sergio Perez could improve on their final Q2 laps.Perez had stated that Suzuka "should be one of the best circuits" for the RB19 package, which has been an exceptionally strong car in corners that require ...
21 September 2023 08:23
The Woking-based squad announced this week that it has extended Oscar Piastri’s deal until the end of 2026, which means attention has now shifted to the future of its other driver Norris, whose deal runs until 2025.But with Norris having already emerged as a potential target of Ferrari, Aston Martin and Red Bull, McLaren knows it will have a fight on its hands to keep the Briton.Speaking at the ...
21 September 2023 07:29
Lawson was drafted in halfway through the Zandvoort weekend to replace the injured Daniel Ricciardo, substituting for the Australian until this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.Following a last-minute call-up in the Netherlands, the New Zealander has gradually made progress and started impressing Red Bull chiefs, with a breakthrough ninth place and a Q3 berth in last weekend's Singapore GP as a ...
20 September 2023 17:53
The Woking-based squad produced another strong podium finish in last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, as Lando Norris came home in second place behind race winner Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari. The result was especially encouraging because it came at the high-downforce Marina Bay circuit that had not been expected to play to the strengths of its 2023 MCL60 package. But a raft of upgrades ...
20 September 2023 16:47
With team-mate George Russell crashing out on the final lap at Marina Bay last weekend, chasing team-mate Hamilton claimed the final spot on the podium after the duo's aggressive late switch to medium tyres in a bid to challenge for victory.But as Hamilton took to the podium alongside race winner Carlos Sainz and runner-up Lando Norris, the TV cameras picked out the celebrating Ferrari and McLaren ...
20 September 2023 16:09
The FIA has received several entry requests to expand the grid beyond the current 10 teams.Michael Andretti's high-profile bid is believed to be close to being approved by the governing body. But Andretti is still facing fierce resistance from F1, which will also have to approve any entry, and the majority of the teams due to concerns over their prize fund being diluted.Speaking to Motorsport.com ...
20 September 2023 15:30
The new bodywork continues to employ the downwash ramp concept that it has been using since the start of this regulatory era. However, it also blends some concepts seen elsewhere on the grid along with a few of its own tricks. The high and shallow bodywork that leads off from the rearward swept inlet already had a swage line and drop off section on the upper surface, but this has become more ...
20 September 2023 13:55
European F3 and FIA F2 champion Schumacher was dropped by the Haas F1 team at the end of 2022 owing to a brace of seven-figure car-splitting crashes that forced the team to abandon upgrades to meet its budgets.The German subsequently rekindled his Mercedes relationship, the manufacturer having backed his junior career, for 2023 with Schumacher serving as reserve driver. But Schumacher is now ...
20 September 2023 12:53
A raised ride height for the bumpy Marina Bay street circuit put the RB19 out of its comfort zone last weekend. Max Verstappen recovered from 11th to fifth as Sergio Perez scrapped to eighth.That left the door open for Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz to lead Lando Norris to score an expertly controlled victory. In doing so, he ended Red Bull’s 100% win record so far this season.But the grid believes ...
20 September 2023 12:17
The Australian had originally been committed to McLaren until the end of 2024, having been lured away from an Alpine reserve role last year with the promise of a race seat.But after a strong debut season as team-mate to Lando Norris, McLaren announced on Wednesday that the Australian would stay on board for at least an extra two years.Speaking about his new deal, Piastri said: “I am thrilled to ...
20 September 2023 11:48
The four-time world champion has flown to Japan to help launch his ‘Buzzin’ Corner’ campaign, which is part of his ongoing effort to raise awareness for biodiversity. As well as Suzuka repainting the Turn 2 kerbs in bee colours to show its support for Vettel’s plan, it also helped erect 11 insect hotels which will sit in an area on the inside of the long opening section of the ...
20 September 2023 11:12
Sainz ended Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s record winning streak in Singapore to back up his consecutive pole positions, while a delayed pitstop last weekend left Leclerc to finish fourth.While the bumpy Marina Bay street circuit and its aggressive kerbs that forced a ride height rise means the Red Bull dip is thought to be only temporary, Ferrari does appear to have taken a stride ...
20 September 2023 09:52
The German car manufacturer came close to delivering a victory in Singapore last weekend as a strategy masterstroke gave George Russell and Lewis Hamilton a shot at grabbing the win. Although it ultimately missed out, the potential shown around the Marina Bay circuit showed that the team has made good progress in improving its 2023 car after a difficult start to the season. Twelve months ago ...
20 September 2023 09:00
Red Bull's winning streak came to an end in Singapore last weekend, with Carlos Sainz scoring an emphatic victory for Ferrari from pole position. However, all signs point to the status quo returning at Suzuka, with the Honda-powered Red Bull squad favourite to take top honors in front of Japanese fans. Max Verstappen won last time out at Suzuka, leading a 1-2 for Red Bull ahead of Sergio Perez ...
19 September 2023 17:04
Gasly accused Magnussen of pushing him off the track and compared the Haas driver’s escape from any sanction with the reprimands that Max Verstappen received for two impeding incidents in qualifying.Those verdicts came as a surprise to drivers and teams who are used to seeing grid penalties for such offences and led to questions about the consistency of stewards’ decisions.Gasly, who faced a ...
19 September 2023 16:33
A pitstop for medium Pirellis gave Russell and team-mate Lewis Hamilton the tyre advantage in the closing stages at Marina Bay as they piled the pressure on leader Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris for victory.While it became increasingly clear that Ferrari driver Sainz would seal his second F1 win, Russell continued after the McLaren before Norris clipped the outside wall on approach to Turn 10 on ...
19 September 2023 14:06
Magnussen had a strong qualifying, earning fifth, fourth and sixth places across the three sessions, but he acknowledged that the race was likely to be tough, thanks to the tyre temperature issue that have stymied Haas all season.The Dane lost a couple of places on the first lap but hung on in the points for the first part of the race, enjoying a fraught battle with Pierre Gasly at one stage.He ...
19 September 2023 12:47
Alonso, who once famously described his Honda power unit as a "GP2 engine", made the remark in the course of a fraught race that saw him finish 11th.He received a five-second penalty after he made a mistake and crossed the pit entry, suffered a lengthy delay in the pits, and struggled for much of the race with a car that had an issue with a dislodged aero part.Singapore was the first time in 2023 ...
19 September 2023 12:02
The 28-year-old, who was reserve driver for Toyota in 2022, is poised to take the race seat originally earmarked for him this season, according to Motorsport.com/Autosport sources.De Vries had signed to race the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar in 2023, but had a get-out clause that enabled him to take up an F1 seat. The likelihood is that he will take the place of Jose Maria Lopez ...
19 September 2023 11:04
Massa has begun a challenge against the FIA and FOM over their handling of the investigation into the 'Crashgate' controversy from the 2008 Singapore GP, which ultimately cost him the world title to Lewis Hamilton that year.The Brazilian believes that there was a conspiracy that prevented the Crashgate affair from being probed until after the world title was settled, with the FIA having become ...
19 September 2023 09:47
So, it was little wonder that Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, whose team has been dominant in F1 2023 up until now, found himself having to repeatedly dismiss any suggestions that his squad’s struggles were related to new FIA stipulations over the wings.Backing up his argument is the fact that, with a flexi-wing estimated to be only worth about one-tenth of a second around Singapore, the ...
18 September 2023 22:31
Sainz's charge to a brilliant victory in Singapore on Sunday was helped by some clever driving, which included ensuring second-placed Norris was within DRS range in the closing stages so the McLaren driver could help keep the charging Mercedes cars at bay.At one stage, as Norris had lost ground after driving defensively against George Russell, Sainz even had to back off dramatically to get the ...
18 September 2023 22:28
Red Bull was finally toppled in the 2023 Formula 1 season, as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz brilliantly won this year’s Singapore Grand Prix.He did so with a clever and calm approach, which also boosted McLaren’s Lando Norris and thwarted Mercedes’ bid to scoop the victory with a late roll of the dice on strategy around the race’s virtual safety car period.Elsewhere, the FIA’s flexi-wing ...
18 September 2023 20:28
For the Singapore weekend, the Woking team brought a raft of new parts which have been fitted only to Norris's car, and there wasn't time to prepare enough for Oscar Piastri.Revised sidepods are the biggest visible change, along with new front and rear wing endplates.Norris qualified fourth at the Marina Bay track, just 0.286s behind the Ferrari pole winner Carlos Sainz and then had a superb run ...
18 September 2023 17:51
The Marina Bay track wasn't expected to suit Williams but Albon had a solid race, and a stop for new tyres under the Virtual Safety Car, mirroring the strategy used by Mercedes, gave him extra pace in the latter stages of the race.Albon was in 10th and closing on Liam Lawson when Perez made contact as he tried to overtake in a late-race incident that wasn't shown on TV.The Red Bull driver ...
18 September 2023 13:21
The Red Bull driver knew that Sunday would be a struggle after he qualified only 11th on the grid, insisting afterwards that he could "forget" challenging for victory.In the race, he could only climb to fifth after a strategy gamble that saw him start on the hard tyres failed to pay off, and a safety car emerged at just the wrong time."I knew that this day would come so for me it is absolutely ...
18 September 2023 12:08
Alpine driver Esteban Ocon breaking down at the pit exit triggered a virtual safety car on lap 44 of 62 at Marina Bay. This created a window for both Mercedes drivers to pit for medium tyres.This gave them a late-pace advantage in a bid to close and overtake eventual winner Carlos Sainz and runner-up Lando Norris, who were nursing aging hard Pirellis.But Ferrari racer Sainz was confident to ease ...
18 September 2023 10:52
Stroll felt as though his final flying lap in Q1 had been heavily disrupted by poor tyre preparation, traffic and dirty air. That prompted the Canadian to 'send it' into the final corners at Marina Bay.But from running over the exit kerb, the rear of his AMR23 stepped out and he speared into the outside wall before the wreckage slid back across the circuit to trigger a red flag stoppage.While ...
18 September 2023 09:11
Having dominated the 2023 season so far by winning every race, Red Bull found itself unable to get one of its cars in to Q3 for the first time since the 2018 Russian Grand Prix. While its pace was better in the race, it failed to finish on the podium.That surprise change of form came on the same weekend that two separate rules clarifications from the FIA came into force regarding flexible body ...
17 September 2023 21:58
Sainz led from the start, with team-mate Charles Leclerc passing George Russell’s Mercedes for an early Ferrari 1-2.A safety car for Logan Sargeant nudging his Williams into the barrier sent most of the field into the pits, with Leclerc suffering a delay that dropped him behind Russell and Lando Norris (McLaren). He later lost a further spot to Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) when he ran wide after ...
17 September 2023 19:02
Norris had been running third in the lead train of cars during the second stint of the Marina Bay race, as polesitter Carlos Sainz controlled the pace at the front to bunch the field up.But Norris found himself promoted to second when George Russell ahead of him, and Lewis Hamilton behind him, were switched to medium tyres under a virtual safety car on lap 44.With the medium compound proving to be ...
17 September 2023 18:38
Perez crossed the line in eighth place after appearing to lunge up the inside of the Williams driver into the sharp Turn 13 left-hander.The pair made contact at the apex and Albon, who was deflected off-line, had to hit the brakes and lock up his tyres to avoid the outside wall.Both drivers were summoned in front of the FIA race stewards, who reasoned that 11th-placed finisher Albon had attempted ...
17 September 2023 18:28
The latter phases of the grand prix at Marina Bay kicked into life when Esteban Ocon's stranded Alpine produced a virtual safety car, prompting the two Mercedes drivers to stop for a set of fresh medium tyres.As George Russell and Lewis Hamilton hacked away at the leaders' advantage to bring themselves into winning contention, Sainz asked to be kept abreast of the gap to Norris so that he could ...
17 September 2023 18:25
The Red Bull driver's charge from 11th to fifth was hampered by the full safety car after Logan Sargeant's crash, handing a cheap pitstop to the medium tyre starters.His alternative strategy to start on the hards meant he couldn't take advantage of it with too long left in the race to make a switch to mediums last.Verstappen also felt the virtual safety car that came later when Esteban Ocon ...
17 September 2023 18:03
Both Mercedes drivers made a late pitstop for medium Pirelli tyres as they sought to challenge eventual race winner Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris on their aging hards.But as Russell sat on the rear of the second-placed McLaren on the 62nd and final lap, Norris clipped the outside wall. The chasing Russell did similar, only he made much heavier contact to damage his W14 and then spear head-first ...
17 September 2023 16:44
Norris finished second to Ferrari's Carlos Sainz at the Marina Bay circuit after a tense end to the 62-lap race, as fresher medium tyres brought Russell and Lewis Hamilton onto the tail of the two leaders struggling on older hard compound rubber.In his efforts to keep Russell at bay on the final tour, Norris grazed the wall with his right-rear tyre at the Turn 10 left-hander but was able to ...
17 September 2023 16:27
The Spaniard led all 62 laps under the lights at the Marina Bay track, producing an inch-perfect tactical drive to convert pole position into his second F1 win by 0.812s.On aged hard tyres, Sainz kept fellow one-stopper Norris at bay in the closing laps as George Russell and Lewis Hamilton closed them down with fresher medium tyres on their Mercedes to form a four-car train.But despite the intense ...
17 September 2023 16:03
The Spaniard led every lap of a slow-burning race from pole position, and delivered a tactical masterclass to ward off a rapidly approaching Mercedes duo in the race's second half by employing Norris as a bodyguard.Mercedes had forecasted a potential strategic advantage after qualifying on Saturday, with Russell stating that he had saved an extra set of medium tyres available for the race should ...
17 September 2023 12:57
Sainz collected his second consecutive F1 pole having managed to head qualifying in Monza, and starts alongside George Russell on the front row of the grid.The rest of the top five include Sainz's Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, McLaren's Lando Norris, and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.Verstappen meanwhile was eliminated in Q2 during a miserable qualifying session, in which he was handed a trio of ...
17 September 2023 11:56
As he spoke to the TV cameras immediately after grabbing a front-row slot, he reckoned that a tyre offset that Mercedes had locked in was a great thing to have.“We've got an extra set of medium tyres tomorrow, which nobody around us has,” he said.“So, to get to Q3 and be on the front row with a strategic advantage tomorrow, is an exciting place to be.”Both Russell and team-mate Lewis ...
17 September 2023 11:44
The saga was related to the verdict issued after the stewards investigated Max Verstappen for impeding Yuki Tsunoda in Q2 which saw the Dutchman escape with a reprimand.An intriguing note at the bottom of the stewards' decision said that "it was noted that the representative of car 22 chose not to attend the hearing".The statement led to speculation that AlphaTauri had skipped the hearing in order ...
17 September 2023 11:18
Stroll speared into the barriers on the exit of the final turn at the end of Q1 on Saturday, after trying to correct a rear-end slide that had been induced by running across the kerb.Aston Martin has announced that the "sore" Canadian driver will sit out the grand prix as a result.Norris, who was right behind Stroll as he bounced back on to the track, believes that the characteristics of the kerb ...
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