Suffer not a witch to live

Dangerous heatwaves are blasting large areas of Europe this week bringing temperatures in the high 40s. But the Hungarian Grand Prix will be spared those brutal highs. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free F1 could instead see another rain-affected event. If so, that may complicate F1’s planned test of its new ‘Alternative Tyre Allocation’ rules. The strongest chance of drivers facing a wet track is on Friday, with thundery showers expected at the Hungaroring in the afternoon and at the end of the day. With an 80% chance of rain in the afternoon, both first and second practice could be affected. On Saturday the threat of rain will drop to just 20%, which may come as a relief to drivers after a string of rain-affected qualifying sessions. Qualifying in Spain began on a wet track and Canada saw another soggy session. More rain complicated matters in Austria and qualifying started wet and finished dry last time out at Silverstone . That means the F1 has had … [Read more...] about F1 will be spared European heatwave but may get more rain in Hungary

After it made its race debut at the San Marino GP with wildcard Dani Pedrosa, KTM has brought its new carbon fibre chassis to Japan for factory riders Binder and Jack Miller. With the new chassis offering better rear grip on the RC16, Binder used this to maximum effect on the soft rear tyre at the end the second practice to go fastest of all with a 1m43.489s, beating the eight-year-old lap record set by Jorge Lorenzo. Binder headed championship leader Francesco Bagnaia by 0.029 seconds, while Aleix Espargaro completed the top three for Aprilia, the top three all surpassing Lorenzo's 2015 benchmark. The Q1 session in qualifying will feature all three previous champions prior to Bagnaia in 2022, as crashes for Yamaha’s Quartararo and Honda’s Marquez left both outside of the top 10. Joan Mir will also join that trio having been unable to replicate his top five form from FP1 in the afternoon. The early pace was set by the sister factory Aprilia of Maverick Vinales, who got … [Read more...] about MotoGP Japanese GP: Binder tops FP2, Marquez and Quartararo crash

While Red Bull boss Christian Horner has tipped Liam Lawson to push his way onto the Formula 1 grid, there is “no guarantee” that happens for F1 2025. Lawson found himself going from Red Bull and AlphaTauri reserve to AlphaTauri driver in the blink of an eye back at the Dutch Grand Prix. With Daniel Ricciardo suffering a broken hand in an FP2 shunt at Zandvoort, Lawson was given the nod to take over from the Aussie while he recovered, and it is safe to say that Lawson has not let the opportunity slip through his fingers. Liam Lawson not guaranteed F1 2025 seat The Kiwi has more than held his own against team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, yet to be defeated in race trim by the driver now in his third full season with AlphaTauri, leading to increasingly loud calls for Lawson to be given a full-time seat with the team for F1 2024. That did not come to pass, with Red Bull opting to field Tsunoda and Ricciardo at their junior team next season, though Horner had said it is “only a matter of … [Read more...] about Liam Lawson handed warning on chances of full-time Formula 1 drive

Honda boss Koji Watanabe says the power unit in the back of the Red Bull cars will be improved for 2024, despite the engine freeze. F1 may be in the middle of an engine freeze, which prevents any performance-related development from taking place between now and the change in engine formula for 2026, but that doesn’t mean the power units can’t be improved. Through targeting reliability fixes, which are permitted under the rules, subsequent gains in efficiency and power can be achieved – and Watanabe believes the durability of the Honda power unit can still be improved for next season. Honda targeting durability improvements for 2024 As a power unit ages with mileage, its performance can suffer through degradation. Given that teams are permitted to use just three power units and related hybrid ancillaries in 2023, ensuring the power output it can deliver doesn’t degrade over the miles is key to ensuring competitiveness throughout the season. “In terms of power and … [Read more...] about Honda’s ominous message for rivals over 2024 Red Bull engine