F3 driver Luke Browning joins Williams Driver Academy

The 2022 Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year winner has become the latest member of the Formula 1 team’s junior line-up, alongside 2021 Award winner Zak O’Sullivan.Browning currently competes for Hitech Pulse-Eight in Formula 3, and sits 10th in the drivers’ standings with 14 points and a best finish of fifth in Bahrain.His rookie F3 season follows a hugely …Keep reading

Ferrari’s Mekies to replace Tost as AlphaTauri F1 team principal at end of 2023

AlphaTauri has announced that Tost will step down as team principal at the end of the 2023 season, with Mekies due to return to the Italian squad in his place – and will join the team at an undisclosed date.In addition, former FIA executive director Peter Bayer will join AlphaTauri later this season as its CEO, with his remit to oversee the strategic direction of the team across both its …Keep reading

Why Aston Martin Red Bull copy claims are wrong

Indeed, even F1’s pacesetting team itself joined in the fun when its motorsport director Helmut Marko joked earlier this year that it has been nice to see ‘three Red Bulls’ on the podium.While such comments are easy to make, and have certainly been fuelled by the team’s technical director Dan Fallows having previously worked at Red Bull, the reality of the Aston Martin AMR23 shows it …Keep reading

AlphaTauri: De Vries has delivered on F1 development expectations

De Vries was brought in for the 2023 F1 season alongside Yuki Tsunoda to replace the experienced Pierre Gasly, who was tapped up by Alpine.De Vries is an F1 rookie, with just one previous grand prix start to his name, when he stood in for the injured Alex Albon at last year’s Italian Grand Prix.Tsunoda, now in his third season, is the team’s more experienced driver in F1 terms, but the …Keep reading

The rule details that will define F1’s new sprint format plans

So, with F1 having approved plans on Tuesday for an overhaul of its sprint race weekend format, teams will be studying the revised regulations to ensure that they are on the front foot and ready to go into battle in Baku this weekend.While the FIA has announced outlines for the revised sprint weekend format – which includes the new Sprint Shootout qualifying session – it is the formal …Keep reading

F1 abandons LED wheel cover plan for 2024

The idea of cars running LED wheel covers to display extra information to fans has been considered for several years, and the option was even there in the rules for them to be introduced for racing if the technology was ready.As long ago as the 2021 post-season test in Abu Dhabi, McLaren trialled the LED light system on its cars, amid hopes that they could be used to help fans better …Keep reading

Podcast: Mercedes’ F1 tech rethink, Aston Martin success & Baku sprint changes”

Mercedes’ ongoing troubles in F1’s new ground-effect era are the subject of GP Racing’s cover story this month, written by Pat Symonds – formerly Michael Schumacher’s race engineer and one of the consultants responsible for F1’s new ruleset.When Mercedes talks about its development direction being “a dead end” and that “a new concept” is required, what does that actually …Keep reading

F1 agrees to allow teams extra power unit elements without penalty in 2023

The change, which comes part way into a record-breaking season of 23 races, is set to reduce the number of grid penalties applied for the use of extra PU elements in the latter part of the campaign.With immediate effect, each driver is allowed to use four rather than three examples of the internal combustion engine, turbo, MGU-H and MGU-K within this season before penalties kick in.The …Keep reading

F1 reveals rules for new ‘sprint shootout’ qualifying session

The new format will be used for the first time this weekend in Azerbaijan, the first of the six sprint weekends on the 2023 schedule, with the Austrian, Belgian, Qatar, USA and Sao Paulo events to follow.The changes have been designed to create a standalone Saturday event that doesn’t impact the grid for Sunday’s main race in an attempt to encourage drivers to push harder, as a mistake will be …Keep reading

Melbourne crash won’t delay Alpine’s Baku F1 upgrade

Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly made heavy contact with the wall after they touched following the final grid restart in Melbourne.The incident caused extensive damage to both cars, but the Alpine factory started immediately replenishing its stock of spares, taking advantage of the three-week break between races.Szafnauer admits that there was a risk that the extra work might delay the Baku …Keep reading