Drugovich: F2 champion should be allowed return if no available F1 seats

The MP Motorsport driver was crowned champion after the sprint race at Monza on Saturday, but has been unable to secure an F1 race seat for 2023.Instead, he has signed as Aston Martin’s reserve driver and the first member of its young driver development programme.Drugovich believes the series should follow Moto2 and Moto3’s footsteps and allow the winner to return if they are unable to …Keep reading

Vettel, Hakkinen among first names for 2023 Race of Champions in Sweden

The end-of-season event will again take place on a circuit of snow and ice laid out on the frozen Baltic Sea, with the date for ROC’s second visit to Sweden set at 28 and 29 January.Last winter ROC headed to the seaside resort of Pite Havsbad for the first time, with World Rally Championship legend Sebastien Loeb beating Aston Martin F1 driver Vettel to the individual trophy of Champion of …Keep reading

Gasly expecting “nightmares” about Ricciardo’s rear wing

The AlphaTauri driver finally got some relief when Ricciardo stopped with an engine issue in the closing laps, triggering the safety car period under which the race ended.Gasly had a difficult start to the Monza weekend as he didn’t feel well on Thursday. He bounced back to qualify ninth, before gaining four grid spots from penalties.He eventually finished the race in eighth, logging …Keep reading

Hamilton enjoys battles like Monza “a thousand times” more than easy wins

After starting from the back due to an engine penalty, Hamilton had a frustrating first lap in Monza and was still 19th at the end of it.However, the Mercedes driver worked his way up the order and was hoping to challenge Carlos Sainz for fourth when the late safety car neutralised the race.Hamilton made it clear after the flag that he had enjoyed his afternoon.“It’s a thousand times …Keep reading

F2 champion Drugovich joins Aston Martin as F1 reserve driver

Drugovich wrapped up the F2 title at Monza on Saturday with three races remaining, putting him on the radar for a possible role with an F1 team for next year amid links to Aston Martin.Aston Martin announced on Monday that Drugovich had joined its young driver programme, and that he would make his FP1 debut at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.Drugovich is also set for an extensive …Keep reading

FIA explains why F1 Italian GP ended under safety car

Red Bull driver Verstappen had been leading the race after Ferrari polesitter Charles Leclerc made a second pitstop to change back onto a set of soft tyres.He had been closing slowly on Verstappen, who was running a one-stop strategy on medium tyres, when Daniel Ricciardo stopped his McLaren between the two Lesmo corners with his car stuck in gear.The car could not be moved back behind the …Keep reading

FIA “won’t be pressured”, Herta F1 superlicence claim set to fail

Sources suggest that having reviewed the situation, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is keen to stick to the rules as laid down in the International Sporting Code, which do not provide a route to granting Herta a licence without implementing force majeure.It’s understood that Ben Sulayem is keen to stress that the FIA will follow the correct governance while at the same time stressing that …Keep reading

F1 Italian Grand Prix – Start time, starting grid, how to watch, & more

The Ferrari driver claimed his eighth pole position of the season to delight the tifosi at Monza, beating F1 world championship leader Max Verstappen by 0.145s in qualifying.Verstappen is set to drop to seventh place on the starting grid for the Italian GP due to his five-place grid penalty for an engine change, while a whole host of engine penalties for a total of nine drivers sees George …Keep reading

Mercedes rules out “high risk, high reward” F1 tow tactics in qualifying

Hamilton is to start from the back of the grid at Monza after his Mercedes team elected to switch to his fourth power unit of the season.While F1’s rules mean that his final position against fellow back-of-the-grid starters Carlos Sainz, Yuki Tsunoda and Valtteri Bottas will depend on his qualifying time against them, it will not be essential for him to maximise every tenth on track like …Keep reading

Tsunoda: F1 fans pushing conspiracy theories need ‘an MRI scan’

At Zandvoort, Tsunoda reported that his AlphaTauri AT03 felt as if one of the wheels was not attached properly, and pulled over – unfastening his seatbelts as he was ready to retire.But the Japanese driver was given the call to keep going and trundled back to the pits.There, he took on a different set of tyres and was seen having his seatbelts buckled up again before returning to the …Keep reading