Formula 1 returns to the heart of Europe for the ninth event of the 2017 Formula 1 World Championship this weekend, July 7-9. The theater for the Austrian GP is the Red Bull Ring, inaugurated in May 2011 and situated near Spielberg.Although being more or less the same length as the Budapest and Montreal circuits (all 2.6-miles) the Austrian circuit is the only one on the schedule where a lap takes less than 70 seconds. Last year, Lewis Hamilton took pole position with his Mercedes in only 1:07.922. This year's pole, set Saturday by Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas, was a blisteing 1:04.251.This is thanks to the high speeds achieved but also to the small number of bends, only three of which require the use of brakes for more than one second. The many undulations of the track complicate the drivers' choice of timing braking: from the highest to the lowest point there is a 213 feet difference in level.According to Brembo technicians, who have classified the 20 World … [Read more...]

Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen believe the threat of heavy rain for Sunday's race in Austria could play into Red Bull's hands. The duo qualified in their usual third-row spots, but will move up to P4 and P5 respectively due to Lewis Hamilton's gearbox penalty. Ricciardo, though, reckons an unpredictable race is in store and wants to take full advantage of it. "Starting fourth is as good as we could expect," Ricciardo said. "We looked pretty close to Kimi. It's nice to be in that hunt. It's my equal best start of the year. "I'm pretty happy with how the session went. It would have been nice to round off the session but there were a few yellow flags about. "The track is quick, grip is high, lap times are pretty quick. It will be an interesting race, I don't think it will be that straightforward. Lewis will be coming through from eighth as well." Verstappen, meanwhile, spun out quite violently toward the end of the Q3 session, but a yellow flag would have ruined his final hot lap … [Read more...]

Fernando Alonso feels McLaren-Honda are heading in the right direction as he narrowly missed out on a place in Q3. Alonso is due to line up in P12 for the Austrian Grand Prix and was only 0.052s shy off 10th-placed Esteban Ocon in Q2. The Spaniard was also using an older, less powerful engine compared to Stoffel Vandoorne's 'Spec-3' power unit, with the Belgian a position behind in P13. And Alonso believes there have been a lot of positives for the team already this weekend. “It was good,” said Alonso. “I’m happy with the laps and the performance today. “I think the car felt good all weekend, and I think this position is the maximum we could achieve today. “The team is working very hard to improve the situation, we bring I don’t know how many updates every race, new specs on the engine every time we can. “Now we are touching Q3 in normal circumstances, so that’s a positive note. But we still need to improve the reliability and we … [Read more...]

Now that former champion Matt Kenseth has officially kicked over the first domino, NASCAR’s annual “silly season” can begin in earnest.On Friday, at Kentucky Speedway, the 2003 NASCAR champion said he wouldn’t return for a sixth season in the No. 20 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing. It’s unclear whether the 45-year-old Wisconsin native was told to make the announcement, or whether he did it without asking permission. In either case, he’s leaving JGR after five seasons that produced 11 poles, 14 victories, and three top-10 points seasons, including being the championship runner-up in his seven-victory season of 2013.Kenseth’s resume will help him find another ride. He was successful (19 poles, 38 victories and the 2003 title) in 13 full seasons with Roush Fenway Racing, then proved himself again at JGR. Except for his rare meltdown at Martinsville in the fall of 2015 –remember how he intentionally wrecked Joey Logano as … [Read more...]

Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll were at a loss to explain Williams' issues after the team came down from the highs of Baku with a big bump. Stroll clinched a shock podium finish in Azerbaijan, but will line up P18 in Austria with Massa one place further up. The result is also a far cry from Williams' front-row lock-out in Spielberg three years ago. “It’s just tough for us this weekend,” said Stroll. “We’ve been trying to work on the balance and improve the car, but we’re simply losing time in the high-speed corners compared to some of the other cars. “On the positive side I think our long runs were better than our qually runs – that gives us some hope going into tomorrow. But this was a hard day for the team.” Massa believes a better understanding of the tyres is needed if the team are to improve come Sunday. “We struggled the whole weekend to make these tyres work when they are new,” said Massa. “Just struggling … [Read more...]

Valtteri Bottas will start the Austrian Grand Prix from pole position having edged title rivals Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton in qualifying. Going into qualifying aware that he is facing a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change, Hamilton put his race strategy into play as he used the supersofts in Q2. He was the only driver to do so and will start Sunday’s Austrian GP on the red-marked tyres. Title rival Sebastian Vettel, as well as Bottas, used the ultras. With the protagonists into Q3, the pole position shoot-out, Bottas held the advantage ahead of Vettel and Hamilton. The Finn posted a 1:04.251 to edge Vettel by 0.042s with Hamilton a further tenth off the pace. Yellows brought out for the stranded Romain Grosjean, as well as an off for Max Verstappen, meant none of the drivers were able to improve in the final minute of qualifying and Bottas grabbed pole. Although third, Hamilton will start P8 because of his penalty. Kimi Raikkonen was fourth fastest … [Read more...]

Helmut Marko says Carlos Sainz shouldn’t “bite the hand” that feeds him, adamant that the Spaniard will remain with the Red Bull family next season. In the build-up to this weekend’s Austrian GP, Sainz told journalists that it is “unlikely” he would remain at Toro Rosso for a fourth year. However, the team says he doesn’t have an option after Red Bull exercised their option on him for next season. And while Christian Horner has already put Sainz in his place, saying he wouldn’t be in F1 “without Red Bull”, Marko has now added his opinion. “I think he is a little bit confused,” the Red Bull advisor told Sky F1. “I see it in his driving, he came off today and has done other mistakes already this season. “The contract is crystal clear. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you. “It was Mr Mateschitz and I who pushed Sainz into Toro Rosso, nobody else would give him a chance. “We sent him a … [Read more...]

Magic wands don’t exist, at least not outside Hogwarts. Progress has to be fought for and won. This is especially true in the field of automotive engineering. But what if there was one thing you could do that just made everything better for cars – one act that instantly conferred superior acceleration, higher cornering speeds, better handling, improved braking, lower fuel consumption and fewer emissions of every single kind? And what if, as it did so, it also used far less of the world’s finite natural resources? Would that not be as close to a wand fit for a wizard as can exist? Well, it does exist and it has been known about for as long as people have been making cars. It can be defined in three simple words: make it lighter. Lotus founder Colin Chapman was by no means the first to understand the concept, but he pursued it with greater vigour than anyone up until that time. His maxims such as ‘Simplify, then add lightness’ and ‘Adding power … [Read more...]

Sebastian Vettel posted a new lap record as he set the pace in final practice at the Red Bull Ring, edging Lewis Hamilton who suffered a right front brake failure.  With 60 minutes of play available on Saturday morning, the drivers were quickly out with the purple-marked ultrasoft Pirellis the tyre of choice from the get-go. While Red Bull held the early advantage, the session became a battle between title rivals Hamilton and Vettel for P1. The duo traded blows – and lap records – as they took turns to top the charts with X quickest of all at the end of the hour with a 1:05.092. Hamilton was second, 0.269 seconds down. The Brit had an issue in the final ten minutes as his W08 suffered a right front brake failure that sent him flying off the track. He was able to recover and work his way back to the pits but that was his session over. Valtteri Bottas was third ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, who both spent some time in the pits with damaged … [Read more...]

Renault is making a teapot to commemorate a terrible Formula 1 car. That doesn't make a lot of sense on the surface, but with a little background info, it's actually a clever tribute to the company's F1 history. You see, that awful F1 car, called the RS01, was the company's very first foray into Formula 1. The car started its racing career in 1977, and, according to Renault, it was the first to use a turbocharged engine. The new powerplant didn't work well, though, and it often came back to the pits pouring smoke, which led the team's boss to call it the "Yellow Teapot." You can see the car for yourself below. As such, this is actually a sweet commemoration of a pivotal car in Renault's history, and the 40th anniversary of the car and the company's F1 participation is the perfect time to release it. It is clearly F1 inspired, too, with the same color scheme as the RS01, with a little roll hoop and cowl at the top, and a spout shaped like the nose cone of a modern F1 car. The … [Read more...]

Assembling the ‘best’ cars on sale, then. This, on a website where opinion is not in short supply, is obviously as far from a breeze as you’d think it would be. It works like this: an Autocar writer distributes a list of what he is absolutely sure are the best 50 cars on sale; the 50 cars that must be on the list. It is approximately 68 cars long. He asks for feedback, and it is widely given, and so the ‘best 50 cars on sale’ list gains another 10 cars and then loses a few through immediate howled derision. And so begins a short series of exchanges and revisions until we have something we mostly agree on, based on our extensive testing experience, objective measurement and analysis, and, naturally, blind prejudice – because sometimes only the latter will do. But then a curious thing happens, from around 15th position up to the top. From that point, there is less argument, more consensus. And when placings for the top 10 are being decided, and when … [Read more...]

Don’t expect any rivalry to emerge from Kimi Raikkonen’s ongoing clashes with Valtteri Bottas, he reckons they’re only interesting because they’re both Finnish. The Ferrari and Mercedes driver once again clashed in Baku, adding to their growing tally of collisions. The pair tangled at Sochi in 2015 and put in a repeat performance later that same year in Mexico. This season they’ve had contact in Spain and again in Azerbaijan. Raikkonen, though, says the only interesting part of it all is that they’re both Finns, otherwise there’s nothing to it. “We don’t know each other very well, it’s pretty much the same as with the other drivers, even if we’re Finns,” he said. “Because he’s quite a bit younger we never raced each other until Formula One, but it’s a bigger story because we’re Finns. “If one was a Finn and the other wasn’t, it wouldn’t be made such a big thing out of it … [Read more...]

Aston Martin is going for glory in something a bit smaller than you might expect: a soap box racer. Tomorrow, a team from Aston’s development and racing driver cohort will compete in the Red Bull Soap Box Race at London’s Alexandra Palace, where teams of ambitious and not always rubbish crews try to wow the judges with their gravity-fed speed. Aston Martin’s Prototype Operations Senior Engineer, Alex Summers, will take the wheel of a miniature V8 Vantage GTE while Le Mans class winners Darren Turner and Jonny Adam will be part of the points-scoring show at the top of the course, helping to give the mini-Vantage a strong start. … [Read more...]

Claire Williams says Felipe Massa would remain at Williams come 2018 having “more than delivered” for the team this season. Although Massa retired from F1 at the end of last season, he was back in action this year after being called up to replace Valtteri Bottas. His experience has not only helped the team with the sport’s new aerodynamic rules but he has also assisted rookie driver Lance Stroll. As such, Williams says the Brazilian could stay on in 2018. “I don’t see why not [Massa to stay], he’s done such a great job this year,” she said. “We were very fortunate that he decided to come out of retirement – the shortest retirement ever – and help us out. “We were really lucky with that and he has more than delivered this year on so many levels for us. “Whether that be delivering the points haul that he has, supporting the other side of the garage and helping Lance, being a really strong team player and working with … [Read more...]

Although Sebastian Vettel is flirting with a race ban in light of his penalty points, the Ferrari driver is adamant he won’t change the way his races in Austria. Following the three penalty points handed to him for his collision with Lewis Hamilton in Baku, Vettel is up to nine points over a 12-month period. And with 12 earning the driver a one-race ban, the German needs to keep it clean in Austria. He, however, says he just wants a “normal” Sunday, one that ends without any additional penalties. “Not really,” he told the official F1 website when asked if he was worried that the penalty points could impact on his title changes. “Certainly it is not a record I am proud of. “I think we [drivers] all have some points and I happen to be the one with the most. I am for sure not planning to get any more of these points. “Of course I will learn from this and make sure it will not happen again. Should I be in a situation like this again I will … [Read more...]

Volvo is going all-electric, France is banning gasoline cars, and everybody has been freaking out about a certain electric carmaker in California lately. But amidst all the hullabaloo about electric cars, Zero motorcycles has quietly been plugging away (get it?) making perfectly wonderful electric motorcycles. A couple years ago we rode the Zero SR sport bike and fell in mechanical love with its smooth and seamless torque delivery, its smooth and seamless regenerative braking, its quiet operation, its inexpensive fueling needs, and its aggressive looks. If it hadn’t stickered for somewhere around $20,000 we might have bought one. But we couldn’t have bought one even if we’d wanted to because they were selling as many as they could make. They were what is known in manufacturing as “capacity constrained.”Well we’ve just spent a few weeks on another model of Zero, the adventure-bikish Zero DSR. While Zero makes a full-on dirt bike in … [Read more...]

He’s a 45-year-old former champion with absolutely nothing to prove to anyone. He’s struggling in the final year of a multiyear contract, running so poorly at times that he knows he’ll need to find a new ride for 2018 even as he tries to salvage the 2017 season.So, Matt Kenseth, how are things looking for another season at Joe Gibbs Racing?“I’m not really worried about it,” the 2003 champion said in that dry, humorless tone that often hides his delightful sense of humor. “Ás of today (Friday at Kentucky Speedway) I do not have a job for next year. I certainly hope to still be racing. I think I’ve some wins left in me, and hopefully I can race for championships. Right now, my focus is on finishing this year. As we’ve talked about, it’s been kind of a slow start (for Joe Gibbs Racing, a combined 0-for-68 among four teams)."It hasn’t been a good year at all; not nearly up to my standards or my … [Read more...]

Well, it could finally be happening ... a Ferrari SUV/crossover thing. That is, according to a report in Car magazine citing unnamed sources within Ferrari.The Italian supercar maker isn’t calling it an SUV, but it supposedly goes by the codename F16X and will be built alongside a replacement for the GTC4Lusso. Car is reporting that the vehicle will have a raised ride height and feature a coupe-like shape. In a more exotic move, the crossover could get suicide rear doors with no B-pillars to allow easy access to the back seats.  Next Gallery: Report Lawsuit claims Ferrari odometers can be rolled back to zero » Gallery: Ferrari GTC4Lusso T debuts at the Paris motor show with a turbo V8 and rear-wheel … [Read more...]

Patent drawings of the upcoming 2018 BMW X2 submitted to the patent office in Japan have found their way into the hands of auto spies, as BMW readies a production version of the concept seen at the 2016 Paris motor show. Based on the X1, the X2 is expected to adopt a more rakish, hatch-like profile, offering the versatility of a tall four-door wagon rather than a tallish SUV. This means it's expected to take on the likes of the Range Rover Evoque and other small but not pocket-sized utes, to avoid stealing UKL platform sibling Mini sales.The patent drawings suggest that the X2 will offer more muted styling than its knife-edged concept version, but other spy photos seen recently show the scale will be a bit larger than the Mercedes GLA-Class styling suggests. In fact, this is one area in which BMW will seek to compete with the not-particularly-roomy GLA 250; the end product may not be as tall as the Evoque.We expect the X2 to be offered with front-wheel drive or … [Read more...]

Autoweek in review is where we bring you the biggest stories in the car world that you might have missed this week. Whether you were actually getting some work done or you stepped away from your computer for a moment, here's your chance to catch up and have something cool to talk about over the weekend. 2017 BMW 530i review: Redesign or big refresh? After spending the weekend tooling around in the new, seventh-gen BMW 5-Series, I really don’t know if I like it. I need to think about it more. According to BMW, compared to the outgoing model, ... Here's the first 'Top Gear America' trailer "Top Gear America" is just a month away from airing, no small feat given the demise of "Top Gear USA" exactly a year ago, and the BBC has just released the first brief teaser ... … [Read more...]