Lewis Hamilton believes other Formula 1 drivers would celebrate an inherited victory more than he did in Azerbaijan on Sunday, because he is “wired differently”. Hamilton took the lead in the closing laps after Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas suffered a right rear puncture, and he delayed the podium ceremony to seek out the Finn to
Kalle Rovanpera was hospitalised for checks after crashing out of the Rally Argentina WRC2 lead at more than 100mph. The Skoda factory driver was leading his class and holding 10th overall when he crashed off the road on the second stage on Sunday morning. His Fabia R5 got out of shape on a fast left-right
Jorge Lorenzo has accused former MotoGP team-mate Valentino Rossi of copying him when the Italian returned to Yamaha in 2013. In his new book, titled What I Learned Before 30, Lorenzo recalls his experiences when he was reunited with Rossi at Yamaha after the latter’s dismal two-year stint with Ducati in 2011-12. Lorenzo, who joined
A significantly different route for Rally GB 2018, Britain’s World Rally Championship round, is set to be revealed at the event launch in Llandudno on Monday. The rally’s main base will remain the Deeside service park, but the organisers have used road-closing powers to produce an itinerary they feel addressing points raised by WRC teams
Joey Logano ended a year-long winless NASCAR Cup drought with victory at Talladega, edging Kurt Busch at the finish. Logano spent the majority of the race towards the front of the pack and finished second in first two stages before charging to the lead on lap 139 of the 188-lap race. From then on, he
Force India Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez has kept his third-place finish in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, having escaped punishment following a stewards’ investigation into a possible DRS irregularity. Perez delivered his and Force India’s first F1 podium since the same event in 2016, recovering from an opening-lap hit from Sergey Sirotkin to bring the
Ott Tanak secured his first World Rally Championship victory since joining Toyota with a commanding Rally Argentina performance. Clipping a rock on Friday’s first stage sent Tanak into a spin and gave him steering damage, temporarily dropping him to ninth. But after that, he was unstoppable. He won 10 of the next 12 stages –
Red Bull Formula 1 drivers Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo have both been given a reprimand by the FIA for their part in the collision that put them out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The team-mates were summoned to see the race stewards immediately after the race in Baku to examine whether either of them
Lewis Hamilton stole Azerbaijan Grand Prix victory from Valtteri Bottas after a safety car caused by the Red Bull Formula 1 drivers colliding set up a dramatic Baku finish. Sebastian Vettel was on course to score a comfortable win before the race was changed when Daniel Ricciardo rear-ended team-mate Max Verstappen at Turn 1 in
Sunday’s Talladega NASCAR Cup race could be “nuts” given the rule changes made following practice, say leading drivers. The restrictor plates fitted to limit horsepower and control speeds at superspeedways already mean cars run in large drafting packs and big accidents are common. This year NASCAR lifted its minimum ride height rule for Daytona and
Ott Tanak will carry a 46.5-second lead into the final day of Rally Argentina despite a few worries about his Toyota on Saturday’s last stage. Tanak continued his streak of stage wins on the first two parts of the loop, but was only fourth quickest on the long Cuchilla Nevada stage. He briefly lost power
The Williams Formula 1 team is not under the illusion it has made the progress its Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying performance suggests, according to chief technical officer Paddy Lowe. Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin were 11th and 12th fastest in qualifying and will both gain a position from Nico Hulkenberg’s five-place gearbox penalty. Stroll ended
Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff has described Bernie Ecclestone’s comments questioning Lewis Hamilton’s desire as nothing more than a “hand grenade” from the ex-F1 supremo. Ecclestone told Sky Sports he feels Hamilton is “not the racer he was”, suggesting he could be “getting a little bit tired of travelling and he’s fed up with
Ott Tanak took a step closer to his first World Rally Championship win with Toyota after extending his lead over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville on Rally Argentina’s Saturday opening loop. Estonian driver Tanak – formerly of M-Sport Ford – extended his streak of stage wins on a foggy loop of tests to six in a row
Claire Williams has denied speculation Williams would consider forging a closer relationship with Formula 1 engine supplier Mercedes and share components in the way Haas does with Ferrari. Reports have suggested that Lance Stroll’s father Lawrence is pushing for Williams to have a Haas-style ‘B team’ deal with Mercedes that would give it access to
The only thing that can beat runaway Rally Argentina leader Ott Tanak is the weather according to the Toyota star’s nearest rival, Kris Meeke. Tanak won all but one of Friday’s gravel stages, only losing the opener after hitting a rock and damaging the steering on his Yaris WRC. Former Argentina winner Meeke, who is
NASCAR has made a change to the aerodynamic rules package for this weekend’s Cup Series race at Talladega on safety grounds following Jamie McMurray’s huge accident. Following a meeting between NASCAR and the Cup teams, the restrictor-plate size on the engines will be reduced from 7/8ths of an inch to 55/64ths of an inch. The
Toyota’s Ott Tanak stormed into a 22.7-second Rally Argentina lead with a dominant performance on Friday afternoon. Having spent the morning charging from ninth to second following an early mistake, Tanak quickly deposed Andreas Mikkelsen from first place on the superspecial that preceded the lunchtime service. Tanak then went quickest on all three of the
Ganassi Chevrolet driver Jamie McMurray escaped unhurt from a multiple roll in final practice for this weekend’s Talladega NASCAR Cup race. Within the first five minutes of the session, McMurray appeared to suffer a left-rear puncture in the middle of the back straight – turning him across the front of Ryan Newman’s Chevrolet. McMurray’s car
Toro Rosso Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly said he avoided a “spectacular” accident in Azerbaijan Grand Prix practice after an estimated 340km/h near-miss with Kevin Magnussen. Gasly was passed by Magnussen through the flat-out kinks of Turns 17, 18 and 19 in the opening practice session but drafted his rival back on the blast towards
Sebastian Vettel says his lack of pace in Friday practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was down to him not his Ferrari Formula 1 car. The F1 world championship leader was 10th and 11th fastest in the two practice sessions in Baku, prompting suggestions that his team had gone the wrong way with its car.
Jari-Matti Latvala is hopeful he can return to Rally Argentina after his early exit from the opening day of this weekend’s World Rally Championship round. The Finn’s Toyota Yaris WRC will be inspected for engine damage following his retirement on Friday’s Amboy stage when running third and closing on the leaders. Latvala hit a rock
Andreas Mikkelsen moved into the Rally Argentina lead on Friday morning, but only by one second over a flying Ott Tanak. An impact with a rock on the day’s opening Las Bajadas stage caused Tanak to spin and left his Toyota with minor steering damage, leaving him running ninth. Despite the steering not being right
Force India has told Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez to avoid first lap incidents with each other – and advised them to compromise a rival instead, if they find themselves with a choice. Memories of last year’s controversial collisions between the pair were revived in China when Perez went off on the first lap after
Jack Roush delayed calling Matt Kenseth about a NASCAR Cup series comeback with Roush Fenway Racing because he was still “raw” about Kenseth’s first exit. Kenseth’s only top-tier NASCAR title came with the team in 2003 when it was known as Roush Racing, and he departed at the end of ’12 to move to Joe
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon says he and the team are “struggling” to break the slump of a “rough” start to the 2018 IndyCar season. Dixon has won just three races since his 2015 IndyCar title but was in contention to win the championship last year in the season finale at Fontana. The four-time champion
Hyundai World Rally Championship driver Andreas Mikkelsen is hoping Hyundai’s latest engine update will be enough to turn his fortunes around this season. The Norwegian, who came close to scoring his maiden win in an i20 Coupe WRC at last year’s season-closing Rally Australia, has struggled to replicate that form in 2018, with just one
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville leads Rally Argentina overnight following Thursday evening’s Villa Carlos Paz superspecial. Neuville’s time of 1m54.4s around the 1.1-mile mostly asphalt stage put him three tenths of a second clear of Ott Tanak’s Toyota in second place. For much of the evening the lead changed hands with every new car through the flying
Jari-Matti Latvala has ditched his World Rally Championship title challenge and will now focus on winning individual events in 2018. The Toyota driver made a good start to his new plan with the fastest time in Thursday’s shakedown stage for this weekend’s Rally Argentina. It is now 15 rallies since the Latvala’s last victory (Rally
McLaren is set for a major revamp of its technical operations on the back of its disappointing start to the 2018 Formula 1 season, with chassis chief Tim Goss understood to have already left his position. Although the Woking-based team has declined to confirm the departure of chief technical officer (chassis) Goss, it is understood