Shaun van der linde

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

Schubert Motorsport locked out the front row in qualifying, with Rast securing a record-breaking 26th pole position ahead of reigning champion van der Linde. Rast led away at the start and resisted a challenge from van der Linde into turn three, while Manthey Porsche driver Thomas Preining moved up to third and Jack Aitken slipped back four places to seventh in his Emil Frey Ferrari. Preining’s chief rival Bortolotti ran ninth, but then slowed with a right-rear puncture before the opening lap was completed and headed for the pitlane. Rast edged clear of van der Linde in the race’s opening third to lead by two seconds. The gap was pegged back to 1.5s during a light rain shower, which was not heavy enough to necessitate a switch to wet-weather tyres. Preining was the first of the front three to make his mandatory pitstop with 25 minutes of the race remaining, with van der Linde and Rast making their stops over the next two laps. Rast emerged still in front, and he … [Read more...] about DTM Red Bull Ring: Rast leads Schubert 1-2 as Preining snatches points lead

The dramatic sight of Damon Hill’s Bridgestone-shod Arrows overtaking the Goodyear-rubbered Ferrari of old rival Michael Schumacher for the lead in the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix is one of the enduring images of the decade in Formula 1. For a different reason, so was the sight of Schumacher, now with Bridgestones on his Prancing Horse, leading away a grid of six cars at Indianapolis in 2005 after the withdrawal of Michelin’s runners on safety grounds. Tyre wars have been missing from F1 since Michelin’s departure at the end of 2006. Long-serving Bridgestone engineer Kees van der Grint regards it as a seminal moment in recent motorsport history because, in the years since, competition between tyre companies has been slowly disappearing from categories around the world. “Some team bosses complained – and were obviously not the team bosses on Bridgestone – that they had the best car but, because they had no control over the tyre, they could not win,” the Dutchman recalls. “The … [Read more...] about Why tyre wars have largely become a thing of the past in motorsport

Drawing the pit wall into their Suzuka battle, former Bridgestone engineer Kees van der Grint reckons George Russell and Lewis Hamilton’s radio messages are a “sign of weakness” as they’re asking for help. The Mercedes team-mates had a few notable incidents during the Japanese Grand Prix when Russell briefly overtook Hamilton into the chicane at the end of lap five only for Hamilton to repass him down the straight. Hamilton later had a moment out of Degnar 2 that saw the seven-time World Champion run wide allowing Russell to close up on his rear wing and have a look around the outside at Spoon. Mercedes team-mates ‘calling on others for help’ Hamilton ran wide, forcing Russell even further off the track with the former Williams driver asking over the radio: “Who do we want to fight here? Each other or the others?” They were again at it late in the race as Hamilton, on a two-stop strategy and with Carlos Sainz chasing him down, closed in on the one-stopping Russell. He … [Read more...] about Mercedes team-mate radio messages ‘actually a sign of weakness’

Redding will join Garrett Gerloff at BMW’s secondary WSBK squad in 2024, with the announcement coinciding with the news that Michael van der Mark will remain at the works outfit alongside new recruit Toprak Razgatlioglu. Redding’s future at BMW had been in doubt ever since the German marque lured away 2021 champion Razgatlioglu to lead the development of its bike, having not found the kind of success it had hoped to achieve with the British rider. Redding’s contract with BMW was due to expire at the end of the 2023 season and his constant criticism of the M1000RR bike is understood to have irked the company’s senior management. However, the 30-year-old has now got a reprieve, with BMW electing to keep him within its fold for a third season, albeit by moving him to the Bonovo squad to make way for Razgatlioglu. However, BMW will strengthen its alliance with what was previously a satellite team, promising Bonovo that it will receive “equal support in terms of material … [Read more...] about Redding joins Bonovo in WSBK 2024 as BMW retains him as factory rider

Sebastian Vettel remained the driver to beat in Singapore but Red Bull’s rivals narrowed the gap during the final practice session. Vettel improved on his quickest time from yesterday by a tenth of a second but Romain Grosjean was within two tenths of a second of Vettel’s benchmark time. However at the end of the session Grosjean warned his team he was concerned the braking problem he’d experienced yesterday still hadn’t been completely cured. Nico Rosberg was third-fastest for Mercedes but over half a second slower than Vettel. As in yesterday’s second practice session drivers found the super-soft tyre was in the region of two seconds per lap faster than the medium. Mark Webber was the quickest driver on the track before the drivers began using the super-soft tyre, edging team mate Vettel by less than a tenth of a second. He ended the session fourth. The Ferrari remained the fourth-quickest car in Fernando Alonso’s hands, behind Lewis Hamilton and a full second … [Read more...] about Vettel stays on top in Singapore as Grosjean gains

It has been another busy day in the world of Formula 1, so it is time to bring you up speed with the major talking points. Red Bull’s design guru Adrian Newey has revealed his “huge regret” from the year Ayrton Senna was tragically killed when at Williams with Newey, while another familiar multi-champion of Newey’s career, Sebastian Vettel, is being eyed-up for a racing return. Let us then head into the thick of the action… Adrian Newey “completely messed up” on Williams 1994 suspension That season in Formula 1 will always be tied to the tragedy of Senna’s death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, while at the wheel of the Newey-designed Williams. And almost 30 years on from that dark weekend, Newey revealed that while Senna had a “quite extraordinary” control of the FW16, it was an “aerodynamically unstable” challenger as Newey to his mind struggled to master the switch from active back to passive suspension that year. “The ‘94 cars, one of my huge regrets, regardless of … [Read more...] about Adrian Newey’s ‘huge regret’ revealed as Sebastian Vettel 2024 talks take place – F1 news round-up

A surprisingly sedate 16-lap Moto3 grand prix kicked off the race action on Sunday, which saw Leopard Honda’s Jaume Masia emerge as the runaway victor. Getting off the line from pole the strongest, Masia and Intact GP Husqvarna’s Ayumu Sasaki quickly broke away from the rest of the pack as the anticipated massive slipstream group battle never emerged on the Buddh International Circuit. Masia continued to hold firm as the race reached its closing stages, with Sasaki eventually dropping back into the clutches of team-mate Collin Veijer and the SIC58 Honda of Kaito Toba . A tight scrap emerged between that trio over the final podium places and ended in disaster as the Intact GP duo collided. Having passed Toba earlier on the final lap, Veijer launched a successful raid on Sasaki for second. Sasaki outbraked Veijer on the way into Turn 12 but ran wide doing so and connected with his team-mate. Veijer crashed out while Toba was able to take second from Sasaki. … [Read more...] about MotoGP Indian GP: Full Moto2 and Moto3 race results

Sebastian Vettel coolly claimed his fifth pole position of the season after sitting out the final moments of the top ten shoot-out. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Vettel told his team he could find a tenth of a second at most following his first run in Q3, so they kept him back in the garage while his rivals tried in vain to beat his time. Nico Rosberg almost managed to do it – falling short by less than a tenth of a second – while Romain Grosjean claimed third for Lotus. Q1 With the super-soft tyres offering a performance gain of around two seconds over the mediums there were few teams who believed they could get through to Q2 without using them. Mercedes, who’ve had their fingers burnt in qualifying already this year, chose not to risk it, giving Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton runs on the super-soft tyres. Hamilton set the pace with a 1’44.196. But Red Bull committed to the medium tyre and both their drivers made it through – Webber … [Read more...] about Vettel wins pole in the pits ahead of Rosberg and Grosjean