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The Abt Audi driver recorded his first triumph since 2021, finishing almost two seconds clear of Laurin Heinrich , who led the first phase of the race from pole position. Van der Linde's team-mate Ricardo Feller prevailed in a thrilling late scrap with Rene Rast to take the final podium spot, while championship leader Mirko Bortolotti came home in ninth. The race started on a damp track, with most of the field opting for wet-weather tyres. Team 75 Motorsport Porsche driver Heinrich converted a maiden pole into the lead at turn one, but then was challenged on the climb to turn three by van der Linde. Heinrich managed to prevail in that battle, with van der Linde slipping to fifth after running wide and then getting swamped on the run to turn four by Heinrich's team-mate Ayhancan Guven, Mercedes-AMG driver Maro Engel and championship contender Thomas Preining . Heinrich pulled out a three-second advantage over Engel in the early stages, while van der Linde recovered … [Read more...] about DTM Red Bull Ring: Van der Linde takes first win of 2023 in wet-dry contest

Reports of Red Bull’s reign of dominance over the 2023 season coming to an end have been greatly exaggerated. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free In a year when competition between their rivals behind has been as unpredictable as it has been gripping, Red Bull have routinely rocked up to paddocks across the globe only to crush all opposition with near-militaristic execution. Then, in Singapore, a rare stumble from the world champions offered hope that the Red Bull giant could indeed be toppled. Yet six days later, Red Bull and Max Verstappen reminded everyone just how powerful a combination they are when they stormed to pole position in Suzuka by one of the biggest margins of the season – and the largest for nearly 20 years at the famous Japanese circuit. Not that it was of any surprise to their opposition. “Our internal messaging was ‘expect them to be back out front when we get back to Suzuka’,” admitted Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Andrew … [Read more...] about Verstappen sitting pretty but unexpectedly hot track could cook up drama

As Red Bull’s junior team, it’s unusual for AlphaTauri to give a new driver four consecutive seasons to prove themselves. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Whether in their current guise or previously as Toro Rosso, drivers either found themselves propelled upwards to Red Bull within a few seasons – as in the case of Max Verstappen , Sebastian Vettel and others – or quickly replaced, as Nyck de Vries discovered after less than half a season this year. The team has kept the faith with Yuki Tsunoda , however. This is despite a downward trend in his points-scoring which, of course, has more to do with the team’s decline in competitiveness than the quality of his efforts. Having scored 32 points on his debut in 2021 he took just 12 last year as the team fell behind several of its rivals in the first year knew technical regulations were introduced. That downward trajectory has continued so far this season, and Tsunoda has only scored three points from the … [Read more...] about The “big step” AlphaTauri saw from Tsunoda which earned him a new deal

Marquez’s existing deal with Honda covers the 2024 season, but in recent weeks has he become heavily linked to a shock switch to Gresini to ride a year-old Ducati amid ongoing difficulties with the RC213V in 2023. Following a difficult test at Misano earlier this month where the 2024 Honda prototype failed to perform as per his expectations, Marquez openly said he has three options at his disposal, without naming what exactly there are. Ducati sporting boss Paolo Ciabatti fuelled the Gresini rumour on Saturday at the Indian Grand Prix when the stated in a TV interview that the way is open for Marquez to join the Ducati satellite squad next year. Responding to comments from Ciabatti, Marquez said that doesn’t want to share his thought process as he finalises his plans for next year, but made it clear that he will take into account how his decision could impact others - including Honda. “Obviously, I heard about those comments,” he said following the Indian GP sprint race on … [Read more...] about Marquez will take Honda’s interests into account while finalising MotoGP future

Following a long delay to help dry up the starting grid, the 11-lap sprint got underway just after 5pm local time at the Buddh International Circuit, with VR46's Marco Bezzecchi starting from pole ahead of Pramac's Martin and team-mate Luca Marini . Martin got the best launch of the trio and immediately grabbed the lead, while Bezzecchi was trying to consolidate second when his team-mate Marini got the braking wrong for the tricky Turn 1, slamming into the back of his Ducati and sending him off the track. This gave Martin some clear air as he navigated the opening right-hander, with championship leader Francesco Bagnaia moving to second on the factory Ducati ahead of factory Honda duo Joan Mir and Marc Marquez . Martin was already a second clear of the chasing pack by the end of lap 2, with his Pramac-run Ducati clearly quicker than the works-entered GP22 of Bagnaia. Martin would pull out a lead of nearly three seconds by the middle part of the race but eased off … [Read more...] about MotoGP Indian GP: Martin dominates chaotic sprint, Marquez third

The iconic figure-of-eight track has always been punishing on its rubber, but things could well be a bit more extreme this time around. Race day is expected to be another scorcher, and complaints that George Russell mentioned on Friday about a "strange" sliding have been caused by a track surface that has had a 15% drop in macro roughness (so effective grip) compared to 12 months ago. As Ferrari's Charles Leclerc said: "Especially with the very warm temperatures this year, the overheating is really, really bad. So, I expect that it [the race] will be all about the tyre management and the strategy." A two-stopper looks nailed on then, but it comes with not all teams having the luxury of what appears to be the ideal tyre allocation to get them through without much drama. F1 tyre supplier Pirelli thinks the best approach to the race is to start on the soft, run through until laps 12-18, and then split the rest of the grand prix up into two hard stints. But that is … [Read more...] about Are Red Bull and Ferrari on back foot for potential Japanese GP tyre wrecker?

Christian Horner believes it’s “unlikely” that Liam Lawson will head to Williams next season to replace the struggling Logan Sargeant. AlphaTauri confirmed Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda will drive for the team next season with Lawson as reserve driver, though the young New Zealander has impressed with his stand-in performances in Ricciardo’s injury-enforced absence, taking his first F1 points in Singapore last time out. He has performed to a degree that had put him in the conversation about whether he deserved a full-time drive at AlphaTauri next season, but the team opted for their known quantities in 2024. Christian Horner addresses Liam Lawson to Williams rumours Pundits such as Karun Chandhok believe Williams, now the only team with an uncontracted seat available for next year, would be a good fit for Lawson, given the problems Sargeant has had to match Alex Albon at the team this year. And when asked directly if a full-time drive at Williams could be on offer for … [Read more...] about Christian Horner quizzed on Liam Lawson Williams rumours as AlphaTauri duo confirmed

Former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is convinced that Max Verstappen has already established himself as the greatest driver in the history of the series. Statistically Lewis Hamilton sits atop the Formula 1 mountain with most race wins, podiums and pole positions among his records, while he and Michael Schumacher are the only seven-time World Champions, though these days it is Verstappen schooling the field. After defeating Hamilton in the Abu Dhabi 2021 World Championship decider, Verstappen went on to comfortably retain his title, while his level of domination in F1 2023 has re-written the record books as the Red Bull driver homes in on World title number three. Bernie Ecclestone crowns Max Verstappen F1 GOAT Verstappen embarked on a record-breaking 10 race winning streak between the 2023 Miami and Italian GPs, while Red Bull overall were on a run of 15 in a row, both streaks snapped by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in Singapore. Verstappen though has returned to form in … [Read more...] about Bernie Ecclestone snubs Lewis Hamilton to hand F1 GOAT title to former title rival

The legendary father of Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz believes Fernando Alonso has earned the right to decide when he retires from F1. Despite turning 42 in July, Alonso has enjoyed his most competitive season in years in 2023 by claiming seven podium finishes with the Aston Martin team. However, Sainz was the one flying the flag for Spain at last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix where the Ferrari star secured his second F1 victory with arguably the greatest drive of his career to date. Fernando Alonso praised by Carlos Sainz’s father Alonso, who became Spain’s first F1 World Champion in 2005, acted as something of a mentor to Sainz in his early career, though it has been claimed in 2023 that the relationship between them has suffered of late . Sainz’s father, Carlos Sainz Sr, is Spain’s original motorsport icon having won two World Rally Championships in the early 1990s. And having won the challenging Dakar Rally event as recently as 2020, the 61-year-old is in awe of … [Read more...] about Carlos Sainz’s father weighs in on Fernando Alonso F1 retirement debate