Category: Formula-1 Racing

McLaren misery continues in Barcelona testing

McLaren’s woeful pre-season continued on the final day of the Barcelona test as Fernando Alonso’s MCL32 twice ground to a halt at the Circuit de Catalunya. The former world champion’s team and engine suppliers Honda have been plagued by problems which showed no signs of improving, with the first race of the season in Australia just over two weeks away.

Vettel sets fastest preseason lap for Ferrari

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel recorded the fastest preseason time during the second-to-last day of Formula One testing on Thursday. Vettel pushed his Ferrari to a lap of 1 minute, 19.024 seconds, bettering his mark from earlier in the day that already was faster than that clocked by Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas on Wednesday.

MOTORSPORT: Felipe Massa’s on song for Williams in testing

FELIPE Massa made it two encouraging days in a row for Williams in the final Formula 1 pre-season test in Barcelona. The Brazilian clocked the quickest lap on Tuesday and the Grove-based team were further boosted as he was second fastest yesterday morning, when he was only edged out by Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes.

Palmer hails “very driveable” and “compliant” 2017 Renault

Renault has made a significant step with its 2017 Formula 1 car according to Jolyon Palmer, who has described the RS17 as “very driveable” and “compliant”. Based on its late takeover of Lotus, Renault’s first season back in F1 was run with a scarcely-updated version of the Enstone outfit’s Mercedes-powered 2015 car, and it struggled throughout the season.

Ferrari has made “amazing” engine progress, says Haas

‘s own works team showed impressive pace with its new car over the four days of Barcelona testing this week, its revamped power unit also ran without major drama. And for Haas, which suffered a spate of reliability issues throughout 2016 testing and racing, the steps that its Maranello partner have made over the winter have left it impressed.

F1 ACCESS03 Mar 2017 Food for thought – Eric Boullier on McLaren’s start to 2017

With Honda’s 2017 power unit featuring fundamental changes over its predecessor, it was perhaps inevitable that McLaren would experience a few teething problems with their MCL32 car at this week’s first pre-season test in Spain. We caught up with racing director Eric Boullier for an exclusive chat about what went wrong, what went right, and where they go from here Q: Eric, keeping expectations in check, the McLaren Technology Group’s Executive Director Zak Brown previously indicated that wins are pretty much out of the question this season.

Formula One: Russia extends Sochi GP to 2025

Russia has extended the contract for hosting the country’s Formula One Grand Prix in Sochi for four years to 2025, the race promoter said on Tuesday. “The financial details of the deal are confidential but I can assure that we’re completely satisfied with the conditions,” Sergei Vorobiev, Russian Grand Prix promoter, told AFP.

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes set blistering pace during testing in Barcelona

Lewis Hamilton started the new Formula One season where he left off as Mercedes set a blistering pace on the opening day of testing in Barcelona on Monday. Hamilton – winner of the final four grands prix of last year, but who finished runner-up to the now retired Nico Rosberg – had to wait until after lunch to get his first real taste of the car which he hopes will fire him to a fourth world championship.

Mercedes shows no let up to start Formula One preseason

Mercedes dominated the first day of Formula One preseason testing on Monday, sending a message that the overhaul of regulations may not derail the three-time defending champion. Mercedes shows no let up to start Formula One preseason Mercedes dominated the first day of Formula One preseason testing on Monday, sending a message that the overhaul of regulations may not derail the three-time defending champion.

Sainz says lap count, not laptime the focus for Toro Rosso

Carlos Sainz Jr. says his focus will be Toro Rosso’s lap count during the opening Formula 1 pre-season testing, after a Renault engine problem halted its filming day. The Italian outfit was running at Misano but did not manage to complete the 100 kilometres of running permitted by the FIA when it encountered an issue with the energy recovery system on the Renault unit.

Red Bull unveil Daniel Ricciardo’s car to take on Mercedes

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Mercedes-AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+ for 2017 season

Mercedes-AMG Petronas has unveiled its title defender for the 2017 season, the W08 EQ Power+ – the latter suffix to the racer’s name a new tag that will find its way on to future road-going , AMG performance hybrid models, according to Autocar . As with the other 2017 cars launched thus far, the W08 is wider, lower and equipped with wider tyres, featuring ultra-slim sidepods atop a larger floor.

Why his engineers have Lewis Hamilton worried

… coming in and I hope they do something new. “Formula One is a bit outdated in the sense of, if you look at other sports, they are further ahead in the entertainment factor. Formula One is really catching up and they have a lot of catching up to do.” …

Hulkenberg has no “appetite” for Le Mans return in 2017

Renault F1 signing Nico Hulkenberg has rubbished suggestions that he could return to the Le Mans 24 Hours this year, saying he’s totally committed to his new team. Hulkenberg won Le Mans at his first attempt in 2015 for Porsche alongside Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber – both of whom have been elevated to full-time drives with Porsche’s LMP1 team in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

F1: James Allison joins Mercedes

Allison is one of the most highly-rated technical figures in Formula 1, following successful spells at both Renault and Ferrari. During his time with both outfits, Allison won multiple world championships, including as part of the team with which Michael Schumacher won five consecutive drivers’ titles.

Aston Martin to release its most extreme road car yet but potential buyers must be rich and LUCKY

A prototype of the car has been seen in the British factory where it is being built and between 99 and 150 are expected to go on sale next year. The AM-RB 001 is the product of a collaboration between it and the Red Bull Grand Prix team and especially its legendary aerodynamicist, Adrian Newey, who used his experience in designing multiple championship winning F1 cars in the Aston.

Williams appoints former Ferrari man as aero chief

The Williams Formula 1 team has appointed Dirk de Beer as its new head of aerodynamics, it was announced on Thursday. Last year he was moved to a different role after a reshuffle of the Italian squad’s aero department before leaving the Maranello team before the end of the year.

Tost calls for Mercedes F1 engine to be frozen

Formula 1’s bosses should freeze the Mercedes team’s engine development until its rivals catch up, says Toro Rosso chief Franz Tost. Mercedes has led the way in the V6 hybrid turbo era, which began in 2014, with its power unit ahead of As part of an agreement between manufacturers and the FIA last year for engine regulations, some elements of the F1 power unit have been frozen already for 2017 in a bid to converge performance.

Lance Stroll is so much more than just another F1 pay driver

Canadian Lance Stroll turned 18 years old on Oct. 29. Five days later, he signed to race for Williams F1 in 2017. Stroll is the youngest FIA European Formula 3 champion, but word is that the Stroll family is paying Williams at least $25 million for the drive in 2017 — in addition to around $15 million spent this year to fund a discreet eight-circuit testing program for Stroll, using an unliveried 2014 Williams-Mercedes, to make sure that he knows the cars and the circuits before he makes his F1 debut.

Capito and McLaren officially part ways

McLaren has now officially parted ways with its CEO Jost Capito, just months after he joined the Formula 1 team. His first official race was at last year’s Italian Grand Prix and he was regularly seen in a prominent position in the team garage.

Ferrari call Liberty’s hand on future of F1

We spoke yesterday concerning the news that some teams are still considering the offer to invest in Liberty Media’s Formula One Group and how McLaren’s Zak Brown felt there needed to be more time to vet the opportunity. Today, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has, unsurprisingly, offered his thoughts on investing as well as Ferrari’s CEO, Sergio Marchionne.

GP2 on track for F2 rebranding following Liberty takeover

The GP2 Series is on track to be rebranded as the FIA’s new Formula 2 championship in time for the start of the 2017 season. With Liberty Media having taken control of F1 from CVC, which had controlled the GP2 and GP3 Series since 2007, it now possesses the two F1 support series as part of its portfolio.

Formula One team Manor reach end of the road as administrators close the doors

The team, which employed more than 200 staff and operated out of Banbury in Oxfordshire, fell into administration at the beginning of January. It was hoped that new investment would be found ahead of the upcoming campaign which gets under way in Melbourne on March 26. But Manor’s employees were sent home on Friday and will be redundant as of next week after Just Racing Services – the team’s operating company – closed its doors.

Formula One team Manor reach end of the road as administrators close the doors

The team, which employed more than 200 staff and operated out of Banbury in Oxfordshire, fell into administration at the beginning of January. It was hoped that new investment would be found ahead of the upcoming campaign which gets under way in Melbourne on March 26. But Manor’s employees were sent home on Friday and will be redundant as of next week after Just Racing Services – the team’s operating company – closed its doors.

Formula One takeover Q&A

Liberty Media is set to usher in a new era for Formula One after the American company completed its A 6.4billion purchase of the sport on Monday night. Yes. After 40 years of rule, Ecclestone has been moved aside as Formula One’s top dog.

Pirelli fear processional racing in 2017

How are Pirelli’s amazing powers of prediction? Judging by last year’s predictions during the season of how the tires would be used and the fastest strategy around each track, I would say they are there or thereabouts if I’m honest. They do a really good job of predicting how their tires will perform and what teams will do with that performance.

Will Ferrari lose its $100m F1 bonus?

With the questions lingering on what changes Liberty Media will make to Formula 1 once it’s controlling interest has been officially acquired later this month, perhaps two lingering big rocks are the hottest topics for the Colorado company-Bernie Ecclestone and Ferrari. Reports suggest that long-time F1 boss Ecclestone could be show the door as early as late January and with that decision comes serious organizational changes-namely, who’s running things and how challenging will it be to dislodge the venerable ring leader of F1 who still owns significant shares in the business? The other rock is the question of Ferrari who have enjoyed a $100 million off-the-top payment as the longest-running team in F1.

2017 F1: Wolff unsure Bottas can beat Hamilton

Toto Wolff has admitted it is possible Valtteri Bottas could be replaced at Mercedes by a bigger name for 2018. Some expressed surprise when it emerged that, despite being prised out of his Williams contract, Finn Bottas has signed only a one-year deal for 2017.