Mutuality of obligation test case law

Lewis Hamilton described Saudi Arabia’s LGBTQ+ laws as “terrifying” and raised concerns over women’s rights in the country, which is holding its first Formula 1 race this weekend. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free F1 has been accused of facilitating ‘sportswashing’ by hold a race in a country which has been criticised for its human rights record. The Mercedes driver says he feels “comfortable” in Saudi Arabia but stated it is F1’s choice to go there and not his. Hamilton wore a new helmet with a ‘Progress Pride’ flag design at the last race in Qatar, drawing attention to a range of groups that are under-represented and discriminated against. He intends to continue wearing it this weekend and at the following round in Abu Dhabi. “As I said at the last race, I feel that the sport and we are duty bound to make sure that we try to help raise awareness for certain issues that we see, particularly human rights, in these countries that we’re going to,” said … [Read more...] about Hamilton criticises Saudi Arabia’s “terrifying” LGBTQ+ laws and stance on women’s rights

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

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 FIA has formally confirmed it has approved a bid from Andretti Formula Racing to enter a team in the Formula 1 world championship. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free In order to secure its place in the series, Andretti must now convinced Formula 1 Management to agree to expand the grid from 10 teams to 11. FOM swiftly issued a brief statement in response to the FIA’s announcement of Andretti’s approval. “We note the FIA’s conclusions in relation to the first and second phases of their process and will now conduct our own assessment of the merits of the remaining application,” it said. The FIA’s announcement concludes the application process it began in February . It said “numerous enquiries” were made in response to its initial call for expressions of interest, following which four progressed to the second phase of examination. Andretti’s rivals included Formula Equal , backed by former F1 team principal Craig Pollock, Formula 2 team Hitech GP, … [Read more...] about FIA approves Andretti’s bid to enter team, F1 will “conduct our own assessment”

The FIA has started an applications process for new teams to enter Formula 1 from 2025. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The governing body of motorsport announced “the official launch of an application process to identify prospective teams seeking to participate at a competitive level in the FIA Formula One world championship.” Successful new applicants may choose to enter in 2025, 2026 – when new technical regulations are due for introduction – or 2027. The FIA says it will determine which if any candidates are chosen based on “the overall long-term interests of the championship, together with the applicable regulations and governance arrangements.” Its criteria for judging which teams are permitted to enter will cover eight points. These include “the technical ability and resources of the team” and “the ability of the team to meet and comply with its obligations under the F1 Sporting, Technical, and Financial Regulations.” Applicants will also have … [Read more...] about FIA invites applications for up to two new teams to enter F1 from 2025

McLaren have started a Formula 1 season with victory on 13 occasions, and in a further seven seasons they managed to win by the second race. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free But after two grands prix in 2023, the team have finished no higher than 15th and sit last in the constructors’ standings. Have they ever started a season this badly before? 1966 Monaco GP: DNF, Belgian GP: DNS In McLaren’s first year as a manufacturer team in F1, founder Bruce McLaren raced a single M2B and did not even enter all of that season’s races. The team’s debut came in Monaco, where McLaren put his car tenth on the grid. He only went nine laps before an oil leak ended his day, but did briefly make it up to sixth place after some thrilling wheel-to-wheel action. His short time in the race was also recorded for the ‘Grand Prix’ film that was released in cinemas later that year. Later, points finishes at the British and United States grands prix meant McLaren finished … [Read more...] about Two races, no points: How 2023 compares to McLaren’s worst starts to a season

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

Just this past weekend, the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas held one of its biggest events on its annual calendar: the NASCAR Cup Series. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Featuring a handful of special guest drivers including F1 champions Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen and multiple IMSA champion and Daytona 24 Hours winner Jordan Taylor, it was one of several major international motorsport events being held at the now ten-year-old circuit in 2023 – including the United States Grand Prix, which will take place in October. After a decade of the US Grand Prix at COTA – interrupted only by Covid – Formula 1 appears to have finally found a solid footing in America. Rather than fizzle out like so many other attempts to establish a US race over the decades, attendance at COTA has grown over recent years to the point where it now boasts the largest crowd of the season in terms of total attendance over the race weekend. F1’s arrival at COTA in 2012 … [Read more...] about ‘We were built for racing, unlike Vegas’: COTA boss not concerned by new F1 rivals

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