Mike esposito

David Coulthard said it looked as if Carlos Sainz has “been doing workouts with Mike Tyson” such was the Spaniard’s feistiness of late. Sainz is like a man reborn having secured two poles in the last two races and a victory in Singapore, moving from a possible second driver at Ferrari to the leading star. Away from the track, Coulthard took note of the demeanour of Sainz who he commented was arriving at the track in a no nonsense manner. Carlos Sainz poses an intimidating presence says David Coulthard For any driver, confidence is a huge factor in their performance and can often be the difference between a qualifying lap that gets you in the top 10 and one that gets you pole position. Sainz may not have always seemed the most confident driver, one that is perhaps swayed by emotions, but in the last few races he has approached the track with a single mindedness to be at his best and it has been picked up on by Coutlhard. “He’s studied hard and he’s had one of the best … [Read more...] about Carlos Sainz ‘looks like he’s been doing workouts with Mike Tyson’ as pace improves

Following the Italian Grand Prix, the 14th round of the Formula 1 season, Lance Stroll trailed team mate Fernando Alonso by 123 points in the standings. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free That weekend Aston Martin slipped behind Ferrari to fourth in the constructors’ standings. They would comfortably occupy that position without Stroll’s lesser contribution of just 47 points. The team wanted to bounce back at last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, but Stroll crashed his car heavily in Q1 which led to him missing the race. Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack said Stroll’s crash proved he was fully committed in the car . Unusually this was a difficult weekend for both drivers. Alonso called his car “undriveable” at one point during the race, and though he qualified seventh but a frustrating Sunday left him 15th and, for the first time this year, point-less. Aston Martin’s decline has in part been down to rivals such as McLaren becoming more frequent … [Read more...] about Analysis: Is Stroll’s deficit to Alonso really a question of ‘points, not performance’?

The automotive industry is headed for an electric future, though it's moving faster in some places versus others. It seems Ford is all-in for a sooner-rather-than-later transition, at least in the United Kingdom where rumors of a delay on a 2030 ICE ban have become reality. Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the UK would postpone the combustion ban for new passenger cars by five years, matching the European Union's timeframe of 2035. This prompted Ford UK Chair and Managing Director Lisa Brankin to take what some might consider a surprising stance, voicing opposition to the delay. "The auto industry is investing to meet that challenge," stated Brankin in a Ford press release. "This is the biggest industry transformation in over a century and the UK 2030 target is a vital catalyst to accelerate Ford into a cleaner future. Our business needs three things from the UK government: ambition, commitment, and consistency. A relaxation of 2030 would undermine all three." … [Read more...] about Ford Doesn’t Want UK To Delay 2030 Combustion Engine Ban For New Vehicles

Aston Martin boss Mike Krack says the responsibility is on them to give Lance Stroll the tools to improve his results, which they have “failed to do lately”. Minus a rare horror show for Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin last time out in Singapore, generally across the F1 2023 campaign this has been an extremely effective team and driver partnership in the first season together. With seven podium finishes overall, his most recent coming via a P2 at the Dutch GP, Alonso has been spearheading Aston Martin’s bid to secure P2 in the Constructors’ Championship, but it is Stroll’s struggles to contend with Alonso’s performances which are hurting Aston Martin in that mission. Aston Martin must improve for Lance Stroll While Alonso has put 170 points on the board so far this season, Stroll has added only 47 to Aston Martin’s total, with the Singapore Grand Prix proving to be a traumatic affair for Stroll as he suffered a huge Q1 crash, which while he thankfully walked away from without … [Read more...] about Aston Martin boss reveals where team must help Lance Stroll match Fernando Alonso

LAS VEGAS --- In order to get a Nitro Funny Car from the starting line to the finish line under power it is estimated that over a million things have to go right. To ruin a perfectly good run only one thing has to go wrong. Today Mike Neff, driver and crew chief of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, was on the wrong side of that equation in his second round match-up with Full Throttle point leader Jack Beckman. With the chance to knock out the point leader Neff’s Ford Mustang broke a $5 part, a clutch hydraulic fitting, and the result was tire smoke and round win for Beckman at the 12th annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals. Mike Neff Photo by: NHRA “Losing that round was devastating. You hate to lose a championship that way. I will never make excuses and I will congratulate the champion but I am not giving up. We are going to head to Pomona and give it our best,” said Neff. “My Castrol GTX Ford Mustang has been running awesome since Reading. It was just a mechanical deal … [Read more...] about Early Vegas exit makes for tough road to championship

POMONA, CA – Even though rookie sensation Courtney Force could not hold off the 4.025 second pass by Jack Beckman in the second round of qualifying at the 48th annual Auto Club NHRA Nationals, she managed to make a second noteworthy pass in her Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car in addition to the career best 4.032 second run that she opened with on Thursday. “We came out today hoping to hang on to the No. 1 spot, but Beckman took it away from us in that last round. We were only bumped down one to the No. 2 spot. We still made a great pass with a 4.05 so we’ve got a great race car. It blew the burst panel off right at the end; right at the finish line, so who knows if it would have run a little better than that .05,” said Force. Courtney Force Photo by: Michael C. Johnson Today the 24-year-old posted a 4.056 ET which was the second-quickest of the session behind Beckman’s 4.025. Jim Head also ran a 4.056 ET, but was ousted from the second-best spot based on speed; his … [Read more...] about Rookie Force still impressing at Auto Club finals

As time ticks down until the Japanese Grand Prix, there was still plenty of news to come out of Formula 1 today. From contract extensions to a corner renamed in honour of bees, there was plenty to get stuck into on Wednesday, September 20. Here are all the headlines from the day: Oscar Piastri commits to McLaren While there is plenty of talk about the future of his team-mate, Oscar Piastri took another step on his F1 journey as he signed an extension to his McLaren deal. Despite only joining this year and with another season to run, McLaren have acted on Piastri’s impressive performances in his rookie season and tied him down until the end of the 2026 season. Piastri said: “I am thrilled to be extending my partnership with McLaren for many years. I want to be fighting it out at the front of the grid with this team and I am excited by the vision and foundations that are already being laid to get us there. “The welcome that I have received and the relationships that I have … [Read more...] about Oscar Piastri extends McLaren stay and Mercedes deny Lewis Hamilton claims – F1 news round up

Lotus finally confirmed the news that we've expected for ages, that they will use Renault engines for the next two seasons. We already knew that they would be using Red Bull gearboxes and hydraulics. It marks a significant step forward for the team. It was also announced that Red Bull has renewed its deal with Renault for two more years. The team will run KERS next year, Christian Horner has confirmed. Less clear is what happens next with the name of the team and with the arrival of Group Lotus, the car company, into F1 in partnership with the current Renault team. Currently Tony Fernandes' team, Lotus Racing, is operating under a licence from Group Lotus, but that licence is being withdrawn for next year because Group Lotus want to go F1 racing themselves. There is a great deal of activity behind the scenes with Group Lotus looking at getting involved with the Renault team, possibly being called Lotus Renault next season. "Next year that will be a very different … [Read more...] about Lotus, Renault and some changes afoot

Reigning world champion Jenson Button and his entourage have just arrived at the Interlagos circuit to tell the story of how they escaped machine gun wielding bandits last night. Button, his father John, manager Richard Goddard and trainer Mike Collyer left the circuit at around 7pm last night in an armoured Mercedes and were attacked at the bottom of the hill which leads away from Interlagos and back towards the city of Sao Paulo. There is a favella all the way down the hill on the right hand side of the road, the side which is next to the lane leading back to town. Six men ran out of the favella and approached the car, "We saw six men, all of them brandishing machine guns, " said Button. "My driver was a legend. He bounced off about five cars. We were driving over the top of them. It was very scary." It seems that the driver, who was trained in evasion techniques, bounced off quite a few cars, which followed the party back to the hotel where they are staying, there … [Read more...] about Button tells of his great escape