Carlos Sainz Jr has admitted he did not expect “to be so competitive” with Renault after switching Formula 1 teams in the final third of the season. The Spaniard replaced Jolyon Palmer from the United States Grand Prix and immediately outqualified Nico Hulkenberg, who had not been beaten by Palmer in qualifying all year, then
Citroen’s new C3 R5 for the World Rally Championship’s WRC2 class and the European Rally Championship will make its public debut at the Rallye du Var in late November. French champion Yoann Bonato will drive the car, which has completed more than 2500 miles of testing on gravel and asphalt since the start of September.
Aric Almirola has been confirmed as Danica Patrick’s replacement at Stewart-Haas Racing in the #10 Ford Fusion for the 2018 NASCAR Cup series, as predicted by Autosport. Almirola has spent six seasons with Richard Petty Motorsports and won one race, but missed seven rounds in 2017 after a sizable crash at Kansas in May. He
Red Bull’s ability to turn its fortunes around over the course of the 2017 Formula 1 season was the main reason Max Verstappen signed a contract extension with the team. Windtunnel correlation problems meant the team started the season off the pace with its RB13, after a strong end to last year and the change
Ferrari has questioned Formula 1’s future direction after Liberty Media’s revealed its plans with new engine proposals for the 2021 season. The team has threatened to quit in the past, but is committed to the championship until the end of 2020 under bilateral agreements. That has led to the return of the old debate over
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports has signed leading IndyCar race engineer Todd Malloy to be the team’s new technical director in its first year as an enhanced Honda partner for 2018. SPM had identified its reliance on James Hinchliffe as a weakness, targeting and signing Mercedes DTM driver Robert Wickens for the second car, two months after
The Charlotte Motor Speedway infield road course faces a potential track revision ahead of its NASCAR debut next autumn, following discussions between series organisers and tyre supplier Goodyear. Concerns were raised following a tyre test last month, where Cup regulars Martin Truex Jr, Jamie McMurray and Kurt Busch drove the track for the first time.
Casey Stoner believes he would have been able to beat Marc Marquez had he not chosen to retire from MotoGP before the Spaniard stepped up to the top class. Two-time world champion Stoner decided to hang up his helmet at the end of the 2012 season, aged just 27, with Marquez taking his place in
The Mercedes Formula 1 team will use the final two grands prix of 2017 to trial “new and interesting” concepts for next season. Mercedes has wrapped up its fourth consecutive constructors’ and drivers’ championship double early, despite an intense battle with Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel for the respective honours. This weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix and
Rally GB winner Elfyn Evans has urged World Rally champion team-mate Sebastien Ogier to stick with M-Sport for the 2018 season. Evans is set to move back into M-Sport’s ‘works’ squad next year from its DMACK-branded entry but the rest of the team’s line-up is unclear. Ott Tanak has already committed to leaving M-Sport for
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
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