The American has lodged a request with the FIA to join the F1 grid from 2024, and is hoping to get an answer by next month so he can start ramping up preparations.But while some current F1 teams believe Andretti’s presence in grand prix racing would be hugely positive, others are more sceptical.Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and Red Bull chief Christian Horner have both made it clear that …Keep reading
F1 teams were caught by surprise at last week’s pre-season Barcelona test by the way that their cars suffered some extreme bouncing down the straights, thanks to the aero properties of the 2022 challengers.The phenomenon, which also occurred the last time ground effect was in F1 in the early 1980’s, is trigged by downforce pushing the car further and further down on to the track at high …Keep reading
Alfa Romeo announced earlier this month that it would be formally launching its car after the first three-day test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, making it the last on the grid to hold an official unveiling.Drivers Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou took part in testing earlier this week using a black-and-white camouflage livery, but the final design for this year’s car has now been …Keep reading
Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon had a low-key week at the first Barcelona pre-season test, before running was cut short by an hydraulics problem on the final day.But even though the team never featured near the top of the timesheets, Alpine thinks a combination of factors meant its true potential was never going to be on display.One of the key contributors was a decision not to run DRS in …Keep reading
The organisation’s numbers took a massive hit in 2020 as the COVID pandemic hit and only 17 races were held – most of them without spectators. Overall revenues crashed from $2.022bn in 2019 to just $1.145bn in 2020.However, in 2021, despite the ongoing impact of COVID, 22 races took place, and with many of them seeing the return of …Keep reading
Ricciardo’s morning session-topping time, which was posted in the final 15 minutes of the session after a Sergio Perez-instigated red flag – the first stoppage of the test – was cleared, posting a 1m20.355s to deny Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr bragging rights.The Australian’s time stood strong through the first half of the afternoon’s running, remaining on top during the day’s …Keep reading
The Briton’s late improvements on the C4 soft tyre meant he jumped ahead of Wednesday morning pacesetter Charles Leclerc, to lead the day with a best time of 1m19.568s, which was 0.597 seconds faster than Leclerc managed during the opening four hours of running.Norris’s afternoon did feature one notable negative moment, where he stopped at the pitlane exit, which was briefly closed, just …Keep reading
During five seasons with Mercedes Bottas took 10 wins and 58 podiums while Hamilton won four world championships.With Mercedes opting to bring in protege George Russell as Hamilton’s new team-mate, Bottas headed to Alfa Romeo where he will be the team’s lead driver alongside Chinese rookie Guanyu Zhou.PLUS: The ‘underestimated’ 2022 rookie set to make F1 historyThe 32-year-old Finn …Keep reading
Leclerc and Sainz enjoyed a successful first season as team-mates at Ferrari in 2021, lifting the team from sixth in the standings the previous year to finish third with five podium finishes and two poles.The duo were evenly matched throughout the year, and enjoyed a handful of close on-track moments, most notably during their late battle in Saudi Arabia.The change in the technical …Keep reading
Team officials have discussed the removal of the rule for a number of years, which had been in place since 2014 and required all drivers who reached Q3 to start the race on their Q2 set of tyres.The rule aimed to create an extra layer of jeopardy as it would encourage some teams to try and make it through to Q3 on a harder set of tyres to gain an advantage of running a longer Read more…