F1 team-mates’ qualifying battles: Australian GP
After every F1 qualifying session, Autosport assesses each squad’s qualifying record in terms of team-mate duels.This record is based exclusively on qualifying results so that grid penalties don’t alter the statistics.When a driver can’t put in a representative lap time due to a technical issue or an incident, this willContinue Reading
F1 Australian GP: Verstappen takes pole ahead of Sainz, Perez
Verstappen had not headlined a single session across the weekend so far, but dialled in his pace throughout the qualifying sessions and found a quarter-second advantage at the very end to deny Ferrari a chance at pole.Sainz had been fastest in both Q1 and Q2 and looked set to challengeContinue Reading
F2 Australia: Hadjar dominant in crash-strewn sprint race
Hadjar took the second victory of his F2 career with a dominant drive at Albert Park as he skilfully navigated two safety car restarts to win by over six seconds.But the result carries a significant asterisk, with the stewards set to investigate a start-line incident that resulted in Pepe MartiContinue Reading
F1 Australian GP: Leclerc keeps Ferrari in front in final practice
Only moments before, Verstappen had pipped Carlos Sainz by 0.057s as the Ferrari driver spent much of the hour on top owing to his performance on the medium tyre earlier on in the session.An interesting thread within FP3 concerned the rapid degradation of the soft tyres over a single lap,Continue Reading
Why Williams F1 team is racing to repair Albon’s crashed car for Suzuka
The team does not currently have a spare chassis, so following the Thai driver’s huge crash in FP1 in Australia on Friday the decision was taken to switch him to Logan Sargeant’s car, leaving the American on the sidelines.Team principal James Vowles has confirmed that the third chassis is stillContinue Reading
Bahrain sovereign wealth fund buys out McLaren
In December, McLaren shareholders unanimously approved a full recapitalisation of the business ostensibly to allow for a “simplified” and “streamlined” governance process.However, the finances of the supercar maker have long been under scrutiny.During the COVID-19 pandemic, it took out a £150million loan with the National Bank of Bahrain, sold aContinue Reading
Vowles: “Very difficult” to rebuild Sargeant’s F1 confidence after Australian GP benching
An FP1 crash for Alex Albon damaged his chassis beyond immediate repair. With Williams not having built up a spare tub, the team has opted to sacrifice Sargeant to enter Albon.Team principal James Vowles concedes the decision to bench the American is “one of the hardest” he has had toContinue Reading
F3 Australia: Stenshorne wins sprint thriller
The first quarter of the race featured a thrilling duel between polesitter Laurens Van Hoepen and Hitech’s Martinius Stenshorne, with Christian Mansell also keeping himself in the mix in the second ART.On lap three, Stenshorne launched his attack on Van Hoepen, making a pass on the Dutchman at Turn 11,Continue Reading
Kyle Larson beats Shane van Gisbergen to COTA Xfinity pole
The 34-year-old and three-time Supercars champion was fastest in Xfinity Series practice on Friday but came up one spot short in qualifying for Saturday’s race at Circuit of the Americas.Cup Series regular Kyle Larson, in a part-time Hendrick Motorsports entry, put up a solid average lap speed of 92.946 mphContinue Reading
Zilisch smashes track record twice to win COTA Truck pole on debut
The 17-year-old Trackhouse Racing development driver put on an impressive display in Friday’s Truck Series qualifying session at the Circuit of the Americas.Making the first of what is expected to be three series starts this year with Spire Motorsports, Zilisch advanced to the final round of qualifying with a trackContinue Reading