Following a majority freeze in the technical regulations for 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the performance gap between the leading teams and the rest of the grid has dropped this year. Less than half a second covered the top eight drivers in qualifying for last weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, […]
Changing regulations, particularly in Formula 1, can be expensive. Invariably they come with cries of being unnecessary and sometimes the reasons for them can be debated. Lewis Hamilton has already suggested that the tweaks for 2021 were made to “peg us back” in the wake of Red Bull’s renewed challenge to Mercedes. But rule changes… […]
Tsunoda starred for AlphaTauri on debut in Bahrain last month as he fought through to ninth place, but endured a more challenging second race weekend at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Tsunoda crashed heavily early in Q1 at Imola, losing the rear of the car at the exit of the Variante Alta chicane. It meant […]
Rightly or wrongly, overtaking is often used by fans as the measure of a good grand prix. More overtaking means more action and therefore more excitement, right? Not necessarily. Who could argue that watching Daniel Ricciardo cling on to win the Monaco Grand Prix in 2018 despite losing a chunk of power wasn’t compelling? The […]
After a fraught Emilia Romagna GP for Mercedes, one of team boss Toto Wolff’s main frustrations was the potential consequences of the huge accident suffered by Valtteri Bottas. It was not the lost points that he was worried about, for Bottas was enduring a difficult race prior to being harpooned by the Williams of George Russell… Continue Reading on Autosport
For cost reasons, teams agreed to have just a single three-day session in Bahrain in 2021, shared between their two drivers. That put extra pressure on any teams that suffered mechanical problems at the test and lost track running, and it also made life difficult for drivers settling into new teams, including McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. […]
KTM had a torrid time in the Qatar double-header, with Binder and team-mate Miguel Oliveira languishing outside the top 10 in 14th and 13th in the Qatar GP. Although Binder improved to eighth in the Doha round, Oliveira struggled to 15th. At Portimao, where Oliveira dominated on the RC16 in 2020, Binder emerged best of […]
Suzuka has held the Japanese Grand Prix in all but two years since its first staged an F1 race in 1987, but its existing contract was due to expire after the 2021 race scheduled for 8-10 October. In an announcement made on Saturday morning, F1 revealed that it had agreed a three-year extension to the […]
Last weekend, as Max Verstappen limped along the main straight with a broken driveshaft during Friday’s second free practice session at Imola, little did he know that his Red Bull would end up on a magical mystery tour of the city as it was returned to the garage. Having run over a kerb late in […]
Honda’s 2021 engine, the RA621H, is viewed by many in the F1 paddock as the strongest PU on the grid, with Pierre Gasly’s qualifying form for AlphaTauri backing up the pace advantage of Red Bull Racing. Verstappen took Red Bull and Honda’s first victory of the season in last weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, and […]