Japan formula 1 grand prix

Listen to this article The Australian Grand Prix Corporation confirmed today that next year's event will run from March 30-April 2, with Formula 1 on track from March 31. That will make the race the third round of the Formula 1 world championship for the second year running. While having traditionally been the opening round throughout the Melbourne era, the event is now set to float in the first three rounds of each season as part of a recently-signed contract extension . As part of the new agreement Albert Park is only guaranteed five season-openers between now and 2035 . The AGP will open the 2024 and 2025 seasons with the other three opening slots to be spread across the decade that follows. The 2023 race, meanwhile, is shaping up as a significant one given the likelihood of there being a Melbourne-born driver on the grid for the first time. Oscar Piastri is widely expected to end up in a race seat next season with McLaren which, would make him the third … [Read more...] about Date set for 2023 Australian Grand Prix

Listen to this article Brabham made its last world championship Formula 1 start in the 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix. Future world champion Damon Hill scraped his BT60B onto the back row of the grid and finished last, four laps down, before financial issues forced the team into obscurity. The Brabham family, of course, raced on, but that seemed the end of the road for the constructor that Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac had founded three decades earlier. David Brabham, son of Jack, was busy carving out his own racing career in the 1990s, one that would yield two Le Mans 24 Hours class wins and outright success with Peugeot, plus titles in the All-Japan GT Championship and American Le Mans Series. But he never forgot about the team he had briefly raced for in F1 in 1990, a time he says brings "painful memories". "That's when it started to go wrong I think," says Brabham. "Middlebridge had bought Brabham and wanted me to drive in the F1 team. The year before, they had a great … [Read more...] about How one of F1’s greatest names was revived

Listen to this article Reflecting on his 2022 progress in an interview given ahead of the French Grand Prix before F1's summer break, Tsunoda rated himself higher than the five or a six at the same point in his rookie season, putting the uptick down to the confidence that comes with experience. "I think I've been able to use the experience from last year," he said. "I think knowing what I have to do, how I should approach every race weekend, is definitely an advantage compared to last year. "At the same time, I experienced pretty much everything last year, the worst things, but was able to come back from there. So yeah. Most situations, I've been able to keep calm, not like last year. That's the main difference. "Every race week, I know what I have to do. That's the main target, the main thing. Last year I didn't really know what to do, I just thought I had to perform well. But how? To perform well in FP1, every single session, it's like a different kind of testing. Those … [Read more...] about Tsunoda gives himself 7/10 for start to F1 2022 season

Listen to this article F1's switch to ground effect cars as part of its radical technical regulations overhaul for 2022 has seen the return of vertical oscillating – or porpoising – on straights. The bouncing has caused problems for a number of teams – chiefly Mercedes – sparking calls for changes on safety grounds, which has led to a stand-off for months between outfits over the issue. Having been previously discussed by the WMSC, those changes have now been approved. As previously reported , from the Belgian Grand Prix at the end of the month the FIA will monitor the phenomenon and will introduce changes to the stiffness requirements of the underfloor plank and skids. And from 2023, the edges of the car floors will be raised by 15mm, while the diffuser throat height will also be raised and its edges stiffened. Read Also: Brain damage risks shows FIA must act on F1 porpoising, says Wolff F1 cannot risk "NFL situation" by not acting on porpoising - … [Read more...] about F1 porpoising and roll hoop rules changes ratified by FIA

There’s always talk of which Formula 1 junior driver will be next in line for a promotion at their respective team, whether that be to a test, reverse or race driver role. And there is also plenty of attention drawn whenever juniors are dropped or part ways from their backers too. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Junior drivers don’t have to be realistic contenders for future F1 seats, they’re another tool in the marketing arsenal more than anything else (see Ferrari’s F1 struggles while their juniors swept everything before them). It’s only once you get to the highest level of junior single-seater racing when the expectation emerges to reward strong performances on track with F1 opportunities. Alpine have struggled in that regard with reigning Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri. His private F1 test programme initially happened only because a fellow junior driver’s finances enabled it, then his free practice debut was held back for so long that he’s now on his … [Read more...] about Academy outsiders – the best young drivers who lack F1 team backing · RaceFans

While the raw numbers show a wide gap between Zhou Guanyu – the only rookie on the grid this year – and team mate Valtteri Bottas, this is far from the whole story. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free While Zhou wasn’t able to match the one-lap pace of his considerably more experienced team mate at first, he’s shown improvements on Saturdays and his race day performances have been solid. Unfortunately, it’s his car which has proved the weak link. Zhou’s C42 let him down in Miami, Catalunya, Baku and Paul Ricard, giving him the worst retirement rate due to technical failures of all 20 drivers. His only other retirement came at Silverstone, in a spectacular and terrifying crash for which he was completely blameless. It was also unfortunately-timed, as it came after he achieved his best starting position to date and in the third consecutive race in which he out-qualified Bottas. He hasn’t been able to recapture that form since his shunt. Zhou vs Bottas … [Read more...] about Poor luck limiting Zhou’s points-scoring in his F1 debut so far · RaceFans

With Ferrari and Mercedes unwilling to give Netflix behind-the-scenes access to the championship battle, the programme makers had to look elsewhere for rivalries. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free In episode two they focused on F1’s two Spanish drivers in the 2018 season, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jnr. It makes for a study in contrasts, and the story of Sainz arriving in F1 in time to race against his childhood hero writes itself. Even so, you get the sense the pair don’t quite fit the bill of rivals in the way the authors hoped they might. “I really want payback” remarks Sainz in a voiceover following some confusingly-assembled footage of the Chinese grand Prix. Payback for what? It’s never made clear. As with Daniel Ricciardo in episode one , we follow Sainz to his home town and get some fascinating glimpses of his life with his double world rally champion father. Alonso and McLaren are introduced as former champions struggling to recapture … [Read more...] about F1 Netflix review: “Drive to Survive Episode 2: King of Spain” – RaceFans

Team boss Otmar Szafnauer has “absolutely no worries” about Fernando Alonso mentally checking out of Alpine before the end of the season. Alonso shocked many in the paddock when he announced, as he headed off for his summer break, he would be leaving the team to take Sebastian Vettel’s vacant seat at Aston Martin. His decision surprised Alpine too as the team thought they had been closing in on a one-year extension with the double former World Champion, Szafnauer previously revealing he had no warning. But despite the untimely announcement, at least on Alpine’s part, the team are confident Alonso will be fully committed through to his very last lap as an Alpine driver. “I have absolutely no worries about the rest of the season,” Szafnauer said, quoted by Autosport. “Our goals are pretty clear. We want to finish at least fourth in the Constructors’ Championship. I think third is a step too far. “ Fernando realises that too. He’s a professional. He’s a … [Read more...] about Otmar Szafnauer has ‘absolutely no worries’ about Fernando Alonso’s focus

Mercedes cannot “cry and sulk” about the performance of the W13 as that will not make it go any faster, George Russell points out. With all-new technical regulations on the horizon, Formula 1 managing director Ross Brawn warned last year one team could get it wrong. Nobody thought that team would be Mercedes. While their W13 is not exactly wrong per se, it is the car that bounced the most in the early part of the championship which forced Mercedes to sacrifice downforce in order to minimise the bouncing. The team reckon they are on top of that in the last few races, with trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin saying it is “no longer” an issue . The next task Mercedes face is recovering the lost downforce and finding a way to do that without re-igniting the porpoising. Russell has backed the Brackley squad to get it right. “You can’t cry and sulk about the overall performance,” he told the BBC . “That wouldn’t be productive and it wouldn’t go any … [Read more...] about George Russell: Crying and sulking won’t make the car go faster