Changing regulations, particularly in Formula 1, can be expensive. Invariably they come with cries of being unnecessary and sometimes the reasons for them can be debated. Lewis Hamilton has already suggested that the tweaks for 2021 were made to “peg us back” in the wake of Red Bull’s renewed challenge to Mercedes. But rule changes
Month: April 2021
Suzuka has held the Japanese Grand Prix in all but two years since its first staged an F1 race in 1987, but its existing contract was due to expire after the 2021 race scheduled for 8-10 October. In an announcement made on Saturday morning, F1 revealed that it had agreed a three-year extension to the
After several minutes were lost when the data system went down, the session got underway with rookie trio Scott McLaughlin, Jimmie Johnson and Romain Grosjean heading out first. But it was Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi who was first to break into the 60-second bracket with a 60.865s. Rossi’s team-mate Colton Herta responded by snipping just
The seven-time WRC champion made history by chalking up his 600th at Rally Croatia this afternoon, arriving at the milestone by negotiating the ‘Jaškovo to Mali Modruš Potok’ test three-tenths of a second quicker than Thierry Neuville, who provisionally leads the Zagreb-based event overall by 7.7s. Ogier continued his purple patch into Friday’s closing stage,
The series will follow Wallace in his first season with the newly formed 23XI Racing team, co-owned by NBA icon Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin. Wallace, 27, became an outspoken voice against racial injustice in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd. He also successfully advocated for the banning of the
The young Finn crashed out heavily around three miles into the asphalt event’s ‘Plesivica’ test – the shortest of the weekend at 4.31-miles. As Rovanpera approached a tightening right hander, his Toyota Yaris ran wide and was sucked off the road. Both he and co-driver Jonne Halttunen managed to walk away unhurt, although their car
According to a bulletin from the FIA, NIO 333 did not report the positive result straight away to the COVID-19 delegate and “made no declaration about possible unfit attendees”. Instead, the stewards concluded that initial contact with the hygiene board came “several hours” after the Li Sheng Racing-owned outfit was first made aware of the
The Scot, who has been out of the BTCC for three seasons, whisked his Team Dynamics Honda Civic Type R around a gargantuan 0.194 seconds clear of his closest opposition on the four-cornered circuit with a couple of late runs. Out of five fliers, three of Shedden’s laps were quicker than anyone else’s best, and
The 41-year-old, who won the World Touring Car Championship title in 2012, has been a stalwart on the global scene since making his touring car bow with SEAT in the 2004 British Touring Car Championship, winning 31 races in the WTCC and WTCR series. After landing the title in the final year of Chevrolet’s WTCC
The plan for the Sunday, May 30 race at the world’s largest sporting facility was developed “in close consultation with state and local health officials and has been approved by the Marion County Public Health Department.” In addition to limited attendance, further key health and safety measures at the 2.5-mile track will include face coverings
Bottas and Russell collided while battling for ninth place in Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with the severity of their crash resulting in a red flag. Both drivers were quick to blame each other for causing the crash that left Bottas’ Mercedes car with a significant amount of damage that could limit the team’s upgrade
The MP Motorsport driver and Alpine Academy member, who won last year’s Formula Renault Eurocup championship, topped the time sheets with a 1m31.743s set during the afternoon session. He led from Doohan, with ART GP driver and Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti in third. Trident’s Clement Novalak came fourth, followed by Hitech’s Jak Crawford and Charouz
Williams endured a disastrous Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with both its drivers suffering sizeable accidents in a chaotic wet-dry race. On the opening lap Nicholas Latifi thumped the wall after colliding with Haas driver Nikita Mazepin. Halfway through the race George Russell crashed into Valtteri Bottas after attempting to overtake the Mercedes driver. Despite a
The team signed former Chip Ganassi Racing ace Felix Rosenqvist to partner incumbent Pato O’Ward this season after dispensing with the services of 2019 Indy Lights champion Oliver Askew, and will expand to run a third car at the Indianapolis 500 for for two-time winner Juan Pablo Montoya. It brings the team closer into line
Made up of 12 founding clubs, including Premier League ‘big six’ Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, the ESL’s plans have caused consternation from fans and pundits concerned that it will tear apart the fabric of ‘the beautiful game’. Regardless of how its plans proceed, with staunch opposition building from all
A round in Mexico City at the usual Circuit Hermanos Rodriguez venue was initially scheduled for 13 February this season, the second round of the calendar, before it was then postponed in October. In a bid to achieve a record 15-race schedule, championship organisers have since been assessing a return to Mexico as part of
Palou converted a two-stop strategy into a maiden IndyCar victory on his first racing appearance at Ganassi – having joined the team from Dale Coyne Racing to replace the McLaren SP-bound Felix Rosenqvist. His pace in the opening stint caught the attention of a number of drivers as Palou opened a large gap up to
Johnson, who retired from NASCAR last season after a distinguished career with Hendrick Motorsports, is running all the non-oval races this year for Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda. After qualifying 21st for his first start in America’s premier open-wheel series, he was almost taken out in the opening lap chaos caused in the aftermath of spinning frontrunner
On Monday, NASCAR confirmed that Cobb has not been approved to compete on superspeedway tracks in the Cup Series thus would not be making her planned debut in Rick Ware Racing’s #15 Chevrolet. While Cobb, 47, has made a combined 247 starts in the Xfinity and Truck series, a NASCAR spokesman told Autosport that Cobb
Corberi, 23, was involved in an incident at Lonato during the world finals of the KZ category in which he crossed the track and threw the front fairing of his kart at another driver while the race was still ongoing. Corberi faced widespread condemnation through motorsport for his behaviour towards Paolo Ippolito, having also sparked
The accident was triggered by Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden in eighth place slipping slightly wide on the exit of Turn 4, on the climb to Turn 5. The two-time champion’s left rear tire caught the grass and spun him broadside across the track. Colton Herta’s Andretti Autosport car, which had started ninth, struck the Penske
The Williams driver was left furious with Bottas after believing that the Mercedes driver had deliberately squeezed him off the track as they battled for position at Imola and came together in a 200mph accident. In the wake of their incident, Russell angrily marched to Bottas’ car to let his feelings be known. He later
The 2014 IndyCar champion’s Team Penske-Chevrolet finished just 0.4s adrift of the Spaniard, who notched his maiden series victory on his first start for Chip Ganassi Racing, after the pair had completed a two-stop race. However, in the first stint Palou had been able to keep pace with the three-stopping leaders, Pato O’Ward and Alexander
Formula 1’s second race at Imola in the space of six months offered a vastly different affair to the inaugural Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in November. A pre-race rain shower left some drivers and teams battling to make it to the grid at all, while the greasy track made mistakes all the most costly once
In a race dominated by Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports driver Bowman pounced on a late restart to charge past Joey Logano and leader Denny Hamlin to assume control of the race in the dying stages. He had little trouble from that point hanging on for the win, finishing 0.381 seconds ahead of Hamlin to
Team Penske driver Newgarden lost control on the exit of Turn 4, touched the grass and spun in front of the pack on the opening lap and was subsequently hit by the Andretti Autosport cars of Herta and then Hunter-Reay. Felix Rosenqvist also flew into the air after further contact with Max Chilton as the
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver produced a masterful performance in the lead, but with Power bearing down on him, Palou hit the trigger on his remaining push-to-pass on the penultimate lap to build enough of a buffer to keep the Penske driver behind. Palou began the race from third on the grid, and began the
Verstappen was leading the pack around for a rolling start following the race’s suspension after the massive accident that eliminated Valtteri Bottas and George Russell, but lost control of his Red Bull at the first Rivazza turn just before he was due to resume racing speed. The Red Bull speared left over the kerbs on
The Australian has had a challenging Imola weekend so far, with teammate Lando Norris quicker than him over the two days of action. And although Ricciardo outqualified Norris, that was only because his teammate had his best time deleted due to a small track limits infringement at Turn 9. Ricciardo has confessed to needing more
Although he was only 21st and 17th fastest in the practice sessions on Saturday, Grosjean progressed through the first round of qualifying. He looked set to make the Fast Six session, but was knocked out by Will Power in the closing seconds. Grosjean, who scored 10 podiums in his nine-year F1 career, is making the