Formula 1 news

18 March 2024 16:38
Albon’s Bahrain GP was compromised by overheating issues on his way to an unrepresentative 15th, while in Saudi Arabia he just missed out on the points by finishing 11th.Despite being beaten in Jeddah only by the nine surviving cars from the top five teams – plus the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg, the Thai/British driver still feels that Williams has not yet shown what it can do.“Very simply ...
18 March 2024 14:51
Alpine was already braced for a low-key start to the season after a late concept change, which meant it had initially made a sideways step over the winter while its rival teams were full steam ahead with bringing improvements to their cars.But team principal Famin admitted the nature of its struggles in Bahrain were still a "shock", with Alpine effectively the slowest team on the 2024 grid, which ...
18 March 2024 13:33
Hulkenberg carried his strong qualifying form from 2023 into the season opener in Bahrain, lining up 10th before falling to 16th in the race owing to a poor launch and damaging his front wing in a Turn 1 collision with Aston Martin racer Lance Stroll.Then in Saudi Arabia, the German climbed from 15th to score a point in 10th by going against the grain and not pitting during a safety car period - ...
18 March 2024 12:19
With a long-term contract that in theory committed him to Red Bull until 2028, and another dominant car underneath him, there seemed no reason for the Dutchman to be tempted elsewhere.But amid the power battle that has erupted within Red Bull for control of the F1 team amid the fallout from the Christian Horner investigation, the situation has changed a lot.The fears of Verstappen’s father Jos ...
18 March 2024 11:06
The current aero package, introduced in 2022, was intended to make it easier to follow and hence overtake than under the previous regulations.That initially proved to be the case but in the third year of car development drivers are reporting dirty air is increasingly becoming an issue and following is becoming harder once more.Mercedes technical director James Allison has questioned the focus on ...
18 March 2024 09:40
The Milton Keynes-based team surprised rivals this year when, rather than going for a simple evolution of its dominant RB19 2023 challenger, it undertook a pretty aggressive overhaul.That work appears to have paid off, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez finishing 1-2 in the first two races of the season.Speaking about the motivation for the change, Red Bull’s chief engineer Paul Monaghan said ...
17 March 2024 16:35
Red Bull’s current advantage with its RB20 has opened up the prospect of it already looking certain to win the world championships this year, and potentially lock out every race victory.Off the back of a similarly dominant 2023 campaign, this has prompted fears that the popularity of F1 could suffer if a closer battle at the front of the field doesn't soon develop.While the inability of Red ...
17 March 2024 14:08
The return of ground-effect machinery in 2022, and the way that rear ride height is so critical to performance right now, means that teams are having to run cars very low and stiff.This means that conditions can get uncomfortable for drivers, and there have been regular complaints from a number of leading stars about the situation not being one that should be accepted for the long term.As the FIA ...
17 March 2024 13:02
Oliver Bearman became one of the youngest drivers to start an F1 race when he made his debut at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The 18-year-old stepped in for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz as he withdrew from the race weekend due to appendicitis.  It meant Bearman became the 13th teenager to start an F1 grand prix, so who are the other 12 and how did they fare? Max Verstappen (17 years and 165 ...
17 March 2024 12:13
While an eight-week long investigation into the matter regarding Horner’s behaviour with a female employee having concluded that there were no grounds to take action, the matter looks far from over.Multiple media reports have indicated that the female employee, who was suspended as a result of the findings of the investigation, has decided to go ahead and appeal the findings of the probe that ...
17 March 2024 10:36
Under stable regulations, the new season is bearing an awful lot of similarities to how 2023 finished. Behind the sovereign Red Bull, Ferrari appears second-quickest, retaining its qualifying pace but adding a huge step in race performance to leap clear of the chasing pack.After two rounds on vastly different circuits, the race between Mercedes and McLaren remains too close to call, with the ...
16 March 2024 15:59
The 42-year-old is in his second season with Aston, having replaced fellow world champion Sebastian Vettel at the start of 2023.Krack says that Alonso continues to push the team in all areas, on and off the track. “We've seen that last year already when he joined,” he noted.“It's not only what he brings in terms of proven talent and racecraft; that, I think, we don't have to discuss. He ...
16 March 2024 12:47
In 2021, Simon-Chautemps called time on a 14-year stint in F1. But, through his JSC7 consultancy, he's still heavily involved in racing. He's lending his services to French team Sainteloc on its switch to single-seaters, as well as German race data provider Paceteq. In addition, he is involved in motorsport engineering recruitment and in public-speaking gigs on leadership.He has also been ...
16 March 2024 10:43
While downforce remains an important factor, you will not get far these days if it comes with too much drag. The rewards are huge if you can deliver a car that is super strong in a straight line.Many of Max Verstappen’s successes have been built on the way in which either he is unpassable at the front or he can easily scythe his way through the pack, because of an inherent top speed ...
15 March 2024 18:18
The German manufacturer will arrive on the grid in 2026 with a works engine and chassis programme after initially buying a 25% stake in Sauber Motorsport early last year.There was speculation that Audi would stop at a 75% investment, which would be signed off much closer to 2026, but it has accelerated plans and voted for a full takeover.Read Also:


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15 March 2024 17:01
McLaren came out of the gates much stronger in 2024 than it did 12 months ago, fighting Mercedes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia for the status of third-fastest team behind Red Bull and Ferrari.However, a Ferrari resurgence has prevented it from scaling its podium-winning heights of the latter half of 2023.It has meanwhile become clear that some of its legacy weaknesses have carried over, like its ...
15 March 2024 15:10
Following a catastrophic 2023 season, which saw Haas finish bottom of the constructors' table, the team's American owner Gene Haas ran out of patience with the lack of progress and decided not to renew Steiner's contract.In his stead, Haas promoted former trackside engineering director Ayao Komatsu to the role as team principal, with Steiner returning to the paddock in the season opener in Bahrain ...
15 March 2024 15:00
F1 has teamed up with Puma to release its first ever collaborative brand clothing range, as the sport continues to build its ‘cool’ identity within a growing audience. Heavy on black with simplistic design, many garments boldly feature a very prominent modern F1 logo, but they were also developed to reflect some of the sport’s most iconic features.“We looked at a lot of different material ...
15 March 2024 14:02
Silverstone has featured many different guises down the years. But, in the eyes of Bertrand Gachot, who drove several of them while ascending the UK racing ladder, the British Grand Prix venue's core appeal has been successfully retained.A winner at the circuit in British Formula 3 in 1987, a Formula 3000 polesitter in 1988 and a points finisher in Formula 1, a key part of Gachot’s racing ...
15 March 2024 13:33
The smaller rim size was under consideration largely as part of ongoing efforts by the FIA to reduce the overall weight of the 2026 cars.However, the change was opposed by Pirelli both for reasons of practicality and because of the potential marketing impact.F1 switched from 13 to 18 inches in 2022, mirroring the trend of the wider car industry, and a reduction is seen as a backwards step in terms ...
15 March 2024 12:25
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.This follows a switch for 2022 when RB, then competing under the AlphaTauri moniker, moved to using sister team Red Bull’s larger-scale wind tunnel.It is hoped that the improved UK infrastructure will attract ...
15 March 2024 11:11
The car has been plagued by bouncing, especially with low fuel in qualifying, while its weakness in high-speed corners relative to rivals was very apparent in Saudi Arabia.Shovlin suggests that the team will try different approaches at the upcoming Australian GP as it continues to hone the car.“There's definitely data that we're picking through from Jeddah,” he said. “We're also looking at ...
15 March 2024 09:36
Leclerc opened his 2024 account with a first podium in last weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, one week on from team-mate Carlos Sainz also grabbing third in Bahrain.For Leclerc, who started from second behind polesitter and eventual winner Max Verstappen in both races, 2024 has gotten off to a much more auspicious start than last year, when he retired from the season opener and Ferrari's race ...
14 March 2024 17:57
Hulkenberg was one of several cars to stay out under an early safety car in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, a strategy which backfired for McLaren's Lando Norris and Mercedes man Lewis Hamilton as a necessary second safety car never materialised.Hulkenberg also needed to make a green flag pitstop, which would have normally dropped him out of points contention. But behind him, Haas colleague ...
14 March 2024 15:57
At the season-opener in Bahrain, Alonso qualified sixth but slipped to ninth behind the Mercedes and McLaren drivers in the race, finishing 74 seconds adrift of winner Max Verstappen.Alonso qualified fourth for the Saudi Arabian GP, but he soon lost a place to Oscar Piastri's McLaren.He then remained in fifth place for the duration of the race, successfully staying in front of the Mercedes of ...
14 March 2024 15:02
Concerns 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.Brown's concerns stem from much more than staff transferring between the two teams and thereby sharing IP, and also relate to areas including political influence and race ...
14 March 2024 12:12
With full-time Scuderia driver Carlos Sainz requiring surgery for appendicitis, team reserve driver and FIA F2 racer Bearman was called upon to partner Charles Leclerc from FP3 onwards.The two-time Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award finalist narrowly missed out on a Q3 appearance in qualifying before lining up in 11th. He finished the Jeddah contest in seventh – with Leclerc scoring ...
14 March 2024 10:34
With F1 looking like it is heading to its third year of single team dominance, there have been questions asked about whether the rules revamp that took place from 2022 has ultimately failed.The bold changes aimed at making the racing more exciting and closing the field up have not delivered all that had been hoped, with Red Bull remaining out front and overtaking getting more and more ...
14 March 2024 09:34
The Australian was classified 16th in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, one spot behind team-mate Yuki Tsunoda – who was tagged with a five-second penalty for an unsafe release.Ricciardo was stymied in Jeddah by a 41s pitstop due to an issue fitting the rear tyres as the team attempted a double stack during a safety car period. He also spun late on at the opening corner and struggled to catch ...
13 March 2024 18:50
The Frenchman says that the 18-year-old should concentrate on his F2 programme and make the most of the Haas FP1 running that he has lined up, after he successfully stood in for Carlos Sainz in Saudi Arabia.Read Also:


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13 March 2024 16:46
The opening two rounds of the season in Bahrain and Jeddah confirmed what pre-season testing had suggested, as Alpine struggled at the back of the field with the slowest car.In the latter race, from 17th on the grid, Ocon passed Sauber's Valtteri Bottas at the start and, after the safety car period, he ran in the group delayed by Kevin Magnussen, which also included Yuki Tsunoda and Alex ...
13 March 2024 15:31
The legendary F1 designer has been an integral part of Red Bull’s recent success, working in close collaboration with technical director Pierre Wache and his team on the progress with its new RB20 car.Although Newey does not work full-time on the F1 operation, with his chief technical officer role expanding to include other projects, he still devotes a lot of time to ensuring Red Bull hits its ...
13 March 2024 13:42
Just a few weeks ago, it seemed inconceivable that he would leave the dominant team of the ground-effect era and potentially hand a championship-winning car to someone else.However, the Christian Horner saga has turned the F1 world on its head and exposed tensions within the camp.The full details have yet to emerge, but the picture that is being painted is a simple one. Verstappen doesn’t want ...
13 March 2024 13:10
The Swiss outfit has twice been hit by expensive pitstop issues, with Bottas delayed in Bahrain and his team-mate Zhou Guanyu affected in Saudi Arabia.In addition the C44 is not putting enough energy into its tyres which has compromised one-lap performance in qualifying and also left Bottas struggling on the hard compound during the Jeddah race."I think it needs to be a wake-up call,” said ...
13 March 2024 12:12
Hulkenberg made a late pitstop work thanks to a defensive masterclass by Kevin Magnussen, who held up rivals to create a pit window for his team-mate.There was controversy over Magnussen, who already faced a 10-second penalty for clashing with Alex Albon, overtaking RB's Yuki Tsunoda off the track and picking up another 10s penalty.Read Also:


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13 March 2024 10:30
“As someone who loves the sport, it's definitely disappointing to see what's going on right now. It doesn't look good from the outside world. I think it's a really important time for the sport to really show and stick to its values, holding ourselves accountable for our actions.“And it's a really pivotal moment for the sport – in terms of what we project to the world. How it's handled. And ...
13 March 2024 09:50
The German manufacturer has had a challenging start to the 2024 season, with last weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix exposing a particular weakness that its new W15 has in high-speed corners.While the squad does not have answers right now as to what is causing the unexplained problem, Wolff has declared that he has total faith in the team getting on top of matters.And, although there is ...
12 March 2024 17:36
Valtteri Bottas lost almost 50 seconds at his second stop in the Bahrain GP with a cross-threading issue at the front axle. In last weekend’s Saudi Arabian race Zhou Guanyu was delayed by a similar problem for around 25 seconds when he pitted.The Chinese driver was one of only four drivers not to have stopped when the safety car came out, and despite having to deal with some cooling issues he ...
12 March 2024 17:00
Scrutineering plays a crucial role for any F1 grand prix, as it's the technical checking of cars to ensure all entrants are legal throughout a race weekend.It is something all cars and drivers must go through where one failed test could result in disqualification. So, the FIA - who carry out the checks - uses a rigorous process to ensure everything is as precise as possible.But, how does the ...
12 March 2024 13:39
Almost one year on from revealing that he was considering legal action over F1 and the FIA’s handling of the 2008 Singapore GP ‘crashgate’ controversy, Massa has put his money where his mouth is in seeking redress.The Brazilian has sprung into action after revelations last year from then F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone that grand prix racing’s chiefs were aware early on of Nelson Piquet Jr ...
12 March 2024 13:03
Norris was one of only four drivers who opted to gain track position by not stopping when Lance Stroll’s crash triggered a safety car period early in the Saudi Arabian GP.Having started sixth, Norris was left in the lead at the restart, and he managed to stay in front of Max Verstappen for two laps. Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc also subsequently got by him.As with fellow non-stoppers Lewis ...
12 March 2024 11:39
And while it lagged behind the super slippery Haas that topped the official speed trap in qualifying, the RB20 was best able to balance its straightline potential with brilliant downforce for cornering too.While wing levels are often a key factor in determining a team's downforce/drag levels, what was especially interesting in Saudi Arabia was how Red Bull managed to help its cause through ...
12 March 2024 10:55
Magnussen received a first 10-second penalty after contact with Albon following the safety car resumptions.With the Dane’s own race effectively ruined he then passed Yuki Tsunoda by going off track.He subsequently slowed down the following group – including Albon – in order to create a pitstop window for Haas team-mate Nico Hulkenberg up ahead.The strategy worked, as Hulkenberg was ...
12 March 2024 09:55
The Italian outfit has emerged as Red Bull’s main challenger so far this season, but it has found itself unable to stop Max Verstappen grabbing pole position and race wins at the first two races.And while it is clear that it needs to unlock a pretty big chunk of performance before it can think about racing wheel-to-wheel with the world champion squad, Ferrari reckons that delivering on that ...
11 March 2024 18:59
The South African driver won 10 world championship races from 111 starts during a topflight career that spanned from 1972 to 1980.Scheckter, 74, has entered 12 cars from his personal collection into RM Sotheby’s Monaco sale on 11 May.The headline lot is his ground-effect 1979 Ferrari 312 T4, the final car to help claim a drivers’ title during Enzo Ferrari’s lifetime.This particular example ...
11 March 2024 16:41
On Monday, representatives of Massa confirmed that action has been lodged in the High Court of Justice against the three parties as the Brazilian, who missed out on the 2008 F1 drivers' title to then-McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton by one point, believes that the result of the Marina Bay race should be voided.Infamously, Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr deliberately crashed to trigger a safety car ...
11 March 2024 15:44
Magnussen's own Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was ruined by incurring an initial 10-second penalty for contact with Alex Albon in the Williams.His focus then shifted to holding up others so team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, who hadn't stopped under an early safety car, could pull out a gap and claim 10th. Crucial to that strategy was overtaking the RB of Yuki Tsunoda on lap 17, which Magnussen did by leaving ...
11 March 2024 14:32
If Sainz is not able to race Oliver Bearman is once again scheduled to be the Maranello team’s reserve in Melbourne, alongside his F2 duties.Sainz felt unwell in the early part of the Jeddah event and on Friday morning it was confirmed that he had appendicitis and would have to miss the race, giving Bearman a chance to make his sensational F1 debut.Sainz had an operation immediately but still ...
11 March 2024 12:41
Bearman deputised for Carlos Sainz from third free practice onwards at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after the Spaniard required surgery for appendicitis.Despite getting only a single one-hour practice session on a high-speed circuit that is difficult to master, the 18-year-old was immediately on the pace and just missed out on reaching Q3.From his 11th grid slot, he battled the likes of Yuki ...
11 March 2024 11:40
Hamilton endured a frustrating weekend in Jeddah, qualifying eighth and then finishing ninth after a gamble to stay out and gain track position under the safety car failed to pay off.The track layout highlighted the car's below-par performance in fast corners, and Hamilton and his team-mate George Russell were both outpaced by at least one car from Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin ...