Kubica f1 test

Alexander Rossi sees benefits in the McLaren’s unique combination of Formula 1 and IndyCar programmes, having joined the latter operation for 2023. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free He arrives at McLaren after seven years at Andretti Autosport, which is seeking to emulate its rival team by adding an F1 entry alongside its existing IndyCar squad . McLaren go into their fourth season in IndyCar since their full-time return to the series this year. In that time they have won four races, all with Rossi’s team mate Pato O’Ward, and have also expanded to race in Extreme E and now Formula E. They added a third full-time IndyCar entry in order to field Rossi this year. “It’s been very cool to kind of watch them evolve and expand over the past couple of months,” their new driver said. “Obviously I don’t have a benchmark of what they were before, but certainly the commitment to kind of performance and results goes without saying. It’s apparent throughout every … [Read more...] about Rossi sees advantage for McLaren over rivals in unique F1-IndyCar team set-up

The 73rd season in the Formula 1 world championship was a record-setting one in a variety of ways with new all-time benchmarks set and some long-running sequences coming to an end. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free A 15-year continuous run ended for Lewis Hamilton , as did a peculiar record held by Daniel Ricciardo. And something happened in 2022 that has not occurred in Formula 1 since the 1979 season. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but these are some of the most outstanding records that were either set, broken or ended in the 2022 season… Record breakers Max Verstappen soared to unparalleled heights in 2022. As well as successfully defending his world championship title from 2021, he set a new all-time record for most wins in a single season with 15, breaking clear of Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher’s previous record of 13. Despite the incredible achievement, Verstappen’s season win percentage (68.18%) was actually lower than both … [Read more...] about Records smashed and winning runs wrecked: The 2022 F1 season in stats

Andretti have received the FIA’s approval to join the F1 grid but will now have to convince FOM to also allow their entry. The American outfit submitted their Expression of Interest application to the FIA earlier this year and have passed that test although a harder task is now ahead of them. Having convinced the governing body, Andretti must do the same with the sport’s commercial wing who have shown more reluctance to the idea. Andretti Formula Racing the only prospective F1 bidders to receive FIA approval Andretti have been searching for a place on the grid since 2021 and have announced a partnership with General Motors to run as Andretti-Cadillac, bringing a value many of the existing teams had wanted to see. In their statement, the FIA said Andretti was the only candidate to meet the criteria after four teams lodged their application. The process assessed the team’s sporting and technical ability, the ability of the team to raise and maintain sufficient funding to … [Read more...] about Breaking: Andretti receive official FIA approval in huge 11th F1 team milestone

The Silverstone-based outfit began 2023 as Red Bull’s main challenger, with Fernando Alonso rolling off five podium finishes from the first six races. He also had a shot at winning the Monaco Grand Prix. But since the midpoint of the season, Aston Martin’s form has fallen back, and Alonso has had just one podium – second place in the Dutch GP – in the last eight races. It has also slipped back to fourth in the constructors’ championship and now runs the risk of falling to fifth, behind the resurgent McLaren squad, if it does not lift its performance over the rest of the year. Team principal Mike Krack is aware of the need for things to improve, as he acknowledged it would be bad for morale if the team ended the year on the back foot. Asked if it was critical Aston Martin did not see out 2023 drifting backwards, Krack said: “Yeah, I 100% agree. This is very important. It's a bit of the opposite of last year. “If you have a good start, and then others are overtaking … [Read more...] about Aston Martin admits it must turn around trend of F1 season

The 2022 Formula 1 season was full of drama on track and in the paddock, some of it leftover from the previous year’s controversies. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free With all that going on, it was easy to overlook some of the strange and surprising stories of the last 12 months. Red Bull ‘launched’ a show car Formula 1 car launches always attract huge interest as they can give the first indication of how the teams will compare against each other for the season ahead with any innovative designs. That was especially the case this year as teams produced their first designs for radically new regulations. Preferring not to give the opposition an early peek at their real RB18, Red Bull instead presented a repainted show car at their launch on February 9th. The real thing, which appeared in testing two weeks later, looked very different. Red Bull presents first images of new car for 2022 F1 season Magnussen’s F1 return has big repercussions After … [Read more...] about Helmet rows, hot mics and more forgotten motorsport stories from 2022

The curse of sport is that unless you are number one, you are condemned to live under a cloud of failure. For no matter how many races you win, poles you take or points you score, there can only be one champion. The rest all fall short. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Red Bull know this only too well. After being deposed from F1’s Mount Olympus with the onset of the V6 turbo hybrids, their journey back to the top was as frustrating as it was humbling. But that decade of discontent reached its end over the past two seasons, and Red Bull head into a new year as undisputedly and unequivocally the best team in their sport. Emerging bruised, bloodied but victorious from their brutal year-long battle against Mercedes in 2021, Red Bull knew they were vulnerable going into Max Verstappen’s first year sporting the coveted number one on his car. But when Mercedes faltered, Ferrari faced up to Red Bull in their place. However, Ferrari’s implosion as the season … [Read more...] about Will Red Bull dominate again as their development handicap bites in 2023?

Sebastian Vettel has removed the image of a disputed flag from the special helmet he is wearing at testing in Bahrain after a complaint was made to the FIA. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The Aston Martin driver drew the ire of the Cyprus Automobile Association after featuring the flag of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on his helmet. The territory, formed after the annexation of part of northern Cyprus, adopted the flag after declaring its independence in 1983. However its identity is only recognised by Turkey. Vettel revealed a special helmet design at the start of testing in Bahrain yesterday. It features the message “No War” and draws attention to the conflict in Ukraine using the country’s blue and yellow colours. The base of the helmet also features representations of many different flags. Among them is the flag of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Its white background and red details resembles a Turkish flag with … [Read more...] about Vettel removes image of disputed flag from “No War” helmet after complaint to FIA

Few records in Formula 1 are truly unbeatable. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Ayrton Senna’s haul of 65 pole positions was once thought likely to stand the test of time, but Michael Schumacher beat it. And though Schumacher’s tally of 91 wins may seem insurmountable , the same was once said of Alain Prost’s 51 victories. As the saying goes, records are there to be broken. But there are some records which won’t be under threat any time soon. From geriatrics on the podium to sharing a single point between seven, here are ten F1 records that are in it for the long haul. Narrowest pole position winning margin 1997 European Grand Prix: 0.000s between first, second and third The 1997 European Grand Prix at Jerez is chiefly remembered for Michael Schumacher’s unsuccessful attempt to eliminate his title rival , Jacques Villeneuve , from the race. But F1 anoraks also recall the astonishing events of the previous day’s qualifying session. It saw … [Read more...] about Top ten: Unbeatable Formula One records

McLaren have released behind-the-scenes images of their new wind tunnel as their aerodynamics team moves back in-house for the first time since 2010. With the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) having first opened its doors in 2003, the team soon found some of their equipment was quickly becoming out of date. The most prominent of those was the wind tunnel with McLaren deciding to close it down in 2010 and instead rent Toyota’s in Germany, but have always longed to bring everything back on site. McLaren hope to start new era with launch of wind tunnel That dream became a reality recently when McLaren unveiled their state-of-the-art wind tunnel on the site of where the previous one once was. The project began in 2019 but the COVID pandemic saw the completion date pushed back with the wind tunnel now up and running. The benefits of having an in-house wind tunnel are obvious. For starters, you save money by not having to ship parts over to Germany but also the turnaround of … [Read more...] about McLaren unveil ‘biggest investment’ in decades with launch of new wind tunnel