Newly-crowned GP3 champion George Russell will make his Formula 1 grand prix weekend debut in Friday’s opening practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Russell, a Mercedes F1 protege, will drive the Force India VJM10 of team regular Sergio Perez in FP1 at Interlagos. He will then get a second Force India FP1 run-out ahead
Month: November 2017
Marseille will host a live Formula 1 street event in 2018 to promote the returning French Grand Prix. The event will be similar to the one held in London earlier this year ahead of the British GP at Silverstone. French GP organisers said the Marseille event will be a “big show” organised by Formula One
Pol Espargaro believes KTM will make “another big step” in 2018, having become a regular top 10 presence in its rookie MotoGP campaign. KTM has had at least one bike in the top 10 in six of the last eight races, with Espargaro now 16th in the points, between Suzuki pair Andrea Iannone and Alex
Reigning Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg says he found the internal dynamic with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes “very positive” in 2016 and hints to the contrary are “a compliment”. Rosberg and Hamilton engaged in three consecutive internal fights for the F1 world championship between 2014 and ’16, which created a difficult relationship between them,
Volkswagen Motorsport has offered a first glimpse of its all-new Polo GTI R5 with which it will return to the World Rally Championship in WRC2. Unlike its Volkswagen Group stablemate Skoda, VW does not intend to run a factory team in WRC2 but it will provide technical support and back up to its customers. The
Kevin Harvick’s Texas victory marks him out as a “dangerous” opponent for his NASCAR Cup title rivals in the Homestead decider, says his Stewart-Haas team boss Tony Stewart. Sunday’s win made Harvick the third driver confirmed for the four-way championship shootout in the finale, alongside last week’s Martinsville winner Kyle Busch and runaway playoff points
Haas Formula 1 team principal Gunther Steiner says the 2021 engine parameters announced by F1 and the FIA are “a good concept”, but acknowledges they will need substantial refinement. Manufacturers Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault all expressed their disappointment with the plans, which focus on less technology and more standardisation of parts. Steiner, who is keen
Jacques Villeneuve believes 2017 Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton initially “fell asleep” this season and woke up when he realised just how strong the challenge from Sebastian Vettel was. Villeneuve, who won his sole F1 title 20 years ago, says that Hamilton relaxed too much when Valtteri Bottas arrived as replacement for his previous
Andrea Dovizioso’s hopes of clinching a first MotoGP title this weekend at Valencia are slim, but Oriol Puigdemont argues the Ducati rider will leave Spain as a winner regardless Many parallels have been made between this MotoGP season and 2006, when Nicky Hayden defied the odds to beat Valentino Rossi to a premier class title
The Strakka Racing GT squad will switch from McLaren to Mercedes machinery for the 2018 season, and will contest the Intercontinental GT Challenge for the first time. After quitting the LMP2 division of the World Endurance Championship at the end of 2016, Strakka turned its focus towards the Blancpain Endurance and Sprint categories, contesting both
Kevin Harvick sealed his place in the last round of the NASCAR Cup playoffs with victory in Texas, beating championship leader Martin Truex Jr to victory. Harvick capitalised on a rare mistake from Truex, who suffered a small slide on the exit from the second turn and lost the lead late on as a result.
Red Bull thinks it now has a car that can win the final two Formula 1 races of the year. The RB13 has made big progress in recent races, and Max Verstappen added to his Malaysian Grand Prix victory with a dominant win in Mexico last time out. But Red Bull is mindful that engine
IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden believes Penske’s recent dominance of the championship can continue in 2018 and that it could make the new aerokit its advantage by adapting quickly. The championship will have a radically different new universal aerokit next year, replacing the engine manufacturer designed builds, and drivers believe it will reset the playing field.
Michael van der Mark will reprise his role as Jonas Folger’s replacement at Tech3 Yamaha for next weekend’s MotoGP season finale at Valencia. World Superbike regular van der Mark was handed his premier class debut at Sepang on October 29, with Folger forced to miss the race due to illness. The Dutchman qualified 22nd and
Michael van der Mark will reprise his role as Jonas Folger’s replacement at Tech 3 Yamaha for next weekend’s MotoGP season finale at Valencia. World Superbike regular van der Mark was handed his premier class debut at Sepang on October 29, with Folger forced to miss the race due to illness. The Dutchman qualified 22nd
Valtteri Bottas admits he did not realise how hard four-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton works until he partnered him for the first time at Mercedes this year. Bottas joined Hamilton at the title-winning F1 team for 2017 after the shock retirement of last year’s world champion Nico Rosberg. The pair have built a
Former NASCAR Cup champion Matt Kenseth will step away from the series next year after failing to secure a drive for 2018. In July, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Erik Jones would be driving its No. 20 Toyota Cup car next season, replacing current driver Kenseth. At the time, 2003 champion Kenseth, 45, was tipped
McLaren says it is “giggling” with excitement about what it can achieve in Formula 1 next year, on the back of its engine switch and progress with its chassis. After securing a Renault customer supply to replace its Honda engine deal, the Woking-based team has been buoyed by the step forward in pace a new
World Rally Championship teams have backed the inclusion of Rally Turkey on the 2018 schedule after observing the country’s candidate event last month. WRC Promoter confirmed Turkey’s return to the calendar after an eight-year absence – which had been dependent on the success and safety of last week’s two-day preparation event – last Thursday. M-Sport’s
Williams driver Felipe Massa will retire from Formula 1 at the end of the 2017 season. Massa, a veteran of 267 grand prix starts, had announced that he would quit F1 at the end of last year, but was enticed back by Williams to replace Mercedes-bound Valtteri Bottas ahead of the current campaign. The Brazilian
The true scale of the 2017 Formula 1 world championship winning Mercedes W08 is revealed in this video from Motorsport.tv’s weekly show The Flying Lap. The world premiere from our 3D team makes the F1 car appear in Motorsport Network’s UK office in Richmond-upon-Thames, allowing Peter Windsor and Craig Scarborough to take a close look
Fernando Alonso says he plans to continue to explore life beyond the “small world of Formula 1” by sampling different racing series. The Spaniard, who will follow up his Indianapolis 500 adventure by contesting the 2018 Daytona 24 Hours with McLaren chief Zak Brown’s United Autosports team, reiterated his desire to demonstrate his driving talent
Formula 1 made its first step towards its future earlier this week when the FIA and F1’s owner revealed its ideas for the post-2021 engine formula. But if there had been any hopes of a smooth introduction for what initially sounded like a subtle change to the current power units, they were quickly dashed. Less
Formula 1 design legend Gordon Murray could return to motorsport with a new sportscar. The multiple title-winning ex-Brabham and McLaren designer revealed plans for the car at an exhibition at Dunsfold Park marking his 50 years of vehicle design. The as-yet unnamed project will be the first produced by Gordon Murray Automotive under the IGM
Renault says it is working on a “completely new car” for the 2018 Formula 1 season, despite the relative stability in the technical regulations. Aside from the introduction of the halo cockpit protection device, there are only subtle changes to the aerodynamic rules following the 2017 overhaul. But as Renault bids to accelerate its push
Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne says the way his team lost the Formula 1 championship this year was “painful”, but believes it has delivered valuable lessons in exposing its shortcomings. Ferrari started the season strongly and led the standings for much of the year, but its campaign went into freefall after Sebastian Vettel’s crash in Singapore
Two-time World Rally champion Marcus Gronholm tested Proton’s new Iriz R5 car for WRC2 in Wales late last month. Gronholm had already driven Skoda’s factory Fabia R5, which Pontus Tidemand used to win WRC2 this season, and is understood to be Volkswagen’s test driver of choice when its Polo R5 arrives. Gronholm declined to offer
The final round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge at Sepang next month has been cancelled. The Sepang 12 Hours, the fourth event on the IGTC schedule set for December 10 at the outgoing home of the Malaysian Grand Prix, has been axed after organiser the Stephane Ratel Organisation failed to achieve its 20-car entry target.
Moto2 regular Jesko Raffin has been denied a slot on the series’ 2018 grid due to a “consistent lack of good results”, Autosport has learned. Swiss rider Raffin is in his third full campaign in the MotoGP support series, riding for the CGBM Evolution squad under the Garage Plus Interwetten banner. The former CEV Moto2
Ferrari has become the latest manufacturer to question Liberty Media’s plans for Formula 1 by warning it is prepared to walk away from grand prix racing after 2020. Mercedes and Renault expressed concern on Wednesday that engine proposals for 2021 would start a needless arms race that could damage F1, but Ferrari has gone a