The a team car

The TDS-entered ORECA-Gibson 07 entered under the Tower Motorsports banner suffered heavy damage when Thomas clouted the TF Sport-run D'station Aston Martin Vantage GTE that Casper Stevenson had spun into the barriers at the fast sweeper before Tertre Rouge. Several cars avoided the stranded machine before bronze driver Thomas, who was a late replacement for the original entrant John Farano following the Canadian's IMSA SportsCar Championship crash at Laguna Seca, locked up and hit British rookie Stevenson. The stewards found that Thomas had failed to slow sufficiently before the impact, and will have to serve his penalty within four laps of it being formally announced by the race director when the 24 Hours gets underway. TDS and D'station both missed qualifying on Wednesday afternoon while replacement chassis were sourced, and so will start from the back of the grid. TDS driver Rene Rast told Motorsport.com: "We're going to lose probably one and a half laps within the … [Read more...] about TDS LMP2 car gets three-minute penalty for Le Mans FP1 crash

At last week's Spanish Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell scored a double podium after the Brackley team's comprehensive upgrade package delivered a solid step forward. While Hamilton still finished 24 seconds behind dominant winner Max Verstappen , Mercedes' W14 was the second-strongest car on the high-downforce circuit, providing the team with a solid baseline to continue its recovery. The double podium also elevated Mercedes above Aston Martin to second place in the constructors' standings. But Shovlin, the team's trackside engineering director, expects the Canadian Grand Prix to be a more difficult weekend for the Silver Arrows due to the low-downforce nature of Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which is the polar opposite of the Barcelona circuit that its revamped 2023 car was competitive at. "The fact is that the update kit works very well around circuits like Barcelona with a lot of high-speed performance," Shovlin said in Mercedes' post-race … [Read more...] about Mercedes: Canada a “bigger challenge” than Barcelona for upgraded F1 car

The floor was exposed after Logan Sargeant crashed at the final corner in FP3 in Barcelona and his car was loaded onto a truck. That came just a week after the undersides of the Red Bull RB19 and Mercedes W14 were both captured after accidents in Monaco led to them being craned away. The apparent simplicity of the Williams floor in comparison to those of other cars – especially the Red Bull – was hard for observers to miss. Vowles says the rear angle of the pictures didn't flatter the Williams, but he conceded that the floor is not as complex as those of other cars. "There are photos taken of our floor this weekend after Logan went off in FP3," he said in a team video. "And obviously those have been compared to photography taken of our competitors just a few weeks ago. "I think one thing to point out is they're a little bit deceptive. What's happened here is it's very focused on that rear diffuser ramp, unlike the other photos that perhaps focus more on the front of … [Read more...] about Vowles admits Williams F1 car floor is “lacking detail”

Ferrari secured a front row lock-out in hyperpole qualifying for the Le Mans 24 Hours, claiming their first pole in the famous race in half a century. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The number 50 Ferrari shared by Antonio Fuoco – who drove the pole-winning lap – Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen will start famous 24-hour endurance race from the front of the field, ahead of their team mates in the number 51 car. Toyota will start third on the grid with the number eight car, ahead of the number 75 Porsche Penske. The half-hour hyperpole session, unlike other rounds of the World Endurance Championship, saw all classes on the track at the same time. After Wednesday’s qualifying session, the eight hypercars participating included both Toyotas, both Ferraris, two Cadillacs – the number two and number three – and two Porsche Penskes, the number five car and number 75. The Toyotas were the first cars over the line to begin their first flying laps of the session … [Read more...] about Ferrari locks out front row on its return to the top flight at Le Mans · RaceFans

Ferrari will lead the grid for the 100th anniversary Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend with its pair of 499P prototypes. Here is the full grid following the qualifying and hyperpole sessions. Pos No. Class Team Car Drivers Time 1 50 Hypercar (H) Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P Antonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen 3’22.982 2 51 Hypercar (H) Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P Alessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/ Antonio Giovinazzi 3’23.755 3 8 Hypercar (H) Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Sebastien Buemi / Brendon Hartley /Ryo Hirakawa 3’24.451 4 75 Hypercar (H) Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 Felipe Nasr /Mathieu Jaminet/Nicholas Tandy 3’24.531 5 7 Hypercar (H) Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Mike Conway/ Kamui Kobayashi /Jose Maria Lopez 3’24.933 6 2 Hypercar (H) Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R Earl Bamber/Alex Lynn/Richard Westbrook 3’25.170 7 5 … [Read more...] about WEC 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours starting grid · RaceFans

Ryan Hunter-Reay will return to IndyCar as the replacement for ousted Ed Carpenter Racing driver Conor Daly, the team has confirmed. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Daly’s departure from the team was announced yesterday , three days after he finished his last race for them in Detroit in 15th place. Hunter-Reay, the 2012 IndyCar champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner, brings experience of well over 200 IndyCar starts to the team. His most recent appearance came at this year’s Indy 500, where he finished 11th in a one-off start for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. The 42-year-old admitted he was “surprised” to receive a call from team owner Ed Carpenter about Daly’s seat. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realise its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help. Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve … [Read more...] about Hunter-Reay confirmed as Daly’s replacement in Carpenter IndyCar squad · RaceFans

The team which has dominated the 2023 Formula 1 season so far introduced an update to its car last weekend which drew inspiration from a design used by the team currently at the bottom of the standings. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Red Bull’s chief engineer of car engineering Paul Monaghan said the latest revision to the RB19’s diffuser follows a trend adopted by Williams, among other teams. The team increased the curvature of the edges of its diffuser in an update introduced at last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in order to increase the downforce it generates. In the information it supplied to the FIA, Red Bull made a point of stating the change “took inspiration from competitor designs.” “You can’t assume that you have the best solution in all areas of the car when you first put your car on the ground,” Monaghan told media including RaceFans. “Our currency is lap time, isn’t it? “If you look that piece of floor design, that was out early 2022. I … [Read more...] about Red Bull’s Spanish GP diffuser update was ‘inspired by rivals’ including Williams · RaceFans

IndyCar points leader Alex Palou is testing for McLaren at the home of the Hungarian Grand Prix today. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free McLaren is holding a three-day test at the Hungaroring which will hold the 11th round of this year’s world championship next month. It is running its 2021 chassis, the MCL35M, in a sponsor-free livery. Race driver Oscar Piastri began the test yesterday before Palou took over. Test and development driver Oliver Turvey will drive the car on Friday. Palou drives for McLaren’s rivals Ganassi in IndyCar. The two teams were involved in a legal dispute over his services last year which was resolved with Palou remaining at Ganassi this season while joining McLaren’s new junior driver programme and becoming the team’s F1 reserve driver. McLaren revealed on social media it is testing at the Hungaroring , which will hold the 11th round of this year’s world championship next month. The team is running its 2021 chassis, the … [Read more...] about Palou takes over from Piastri in three-day McLaren test at Hungaroring · RaceFans

Mercedes have shed further light on the bizarre collision between its two drivers which occured during qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free George Russell was given a formal warning by the stewards after making contact with his team mate Lewis Hamilton on the pit straight. The pair were overtaking Carlos Sainz Jnr’s Ferrari at the time. The team’s head of trackside engineering Andrew Shovlin said the incident occured because both drivers were trying to use Sainz’s car to get a slipstream to improve their lap times. “The drivers were trying to find a car finishing a lap in order to get a slingshot starting the lap themselves,” said Shovlin in a video released by the team . “So that will give them more straight-line speed. “You can find around a tenth, maybe a little bit more on the straight. That car that was finishing then peels in and they can then conduct the rest of the lap in clear air.” However the two … [Read more...] about Hamilton and Russell were seeking tow from Sainz when they collided – Mercedes · RaceFans