Bagnaia comes into this weekend’s Mugello race second in the championship and just a point off the lead having scored three podiums in 2021’s first five races. Ducati has won the Italian GP at Mugello for the event’s last three editions and is favourite to continue that run following back-to-back victories for Jack Miller at […]
Month: May 2021
“Childish” to get into war of words in F1 title battle
Hamilton lost the lead of the F1 drivers’ championship for the first time this season after finishing seventh in Monaco last Sunday, while Verstappen claimed victory for Red Bull. The result came at the end of a week that had seen Hamilton say on Wednesday that Verstappen “feels perhaps he has a lot to prove” […]
Alex Marquez “not enjoying” 2021 Honda MotoGP bike
Having scored Honda’s only podiums in 2020 when he was a rookie, much was expected of the younger Marquez brother in 2021 on his switch to LCR with full factory backing from HRC. However, Marquez has so far failed to make it out of Q1 in qualifying and has crashed out of three of the […]
Why Red Bull needs Perez to overcome his F1 qualifying inconsistency
It was a superb performance from the Mexican, who managed his tyres in the opening laps and, after going long, was able to deploy sufficient pace to jump three cars after his pitstop. However, it was also a question of what might have been had he qualified closer to teammate Max Verstappen, rather than seven […]
Pramac signs new MotoGP deal with Ducati through to 2024
Pramac first became a Ducati customer squad back in 2005 and in recent years has effectively become the Italian manufacturer’s junior squad. The current factory Ducati line-up of Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia were promoted from Pramac for this season, while the likes of double race winner Danilo Petrucci and one-time grand prix victor Andrea […]
Leclerc “not too harsh on myself” over Q3 Monaco crash
Last weekend Leclerc took provisional pole in Q3 before thumping the barriers at the swimming pool section, severely damaging the right-hand side of his Ferrari in the process. The ensuing red flag meant no other drivers were able to improve their laptimes, meaning Leclerc would take pole despite his off. Ferrari decided it would be […]
Mugello start of “very important” run for MotoGP future
The nine-time world champion returns home to Mugello following its coronavirus-forced 2020 cancellation in the throes of his worst-ever grand prix season, having scored just nine points from the first five races. A seven-time winner at Mugello in MotoGP, Rossi also holds seven premier class wins at next week’s Catalan GP venue Barcelona and eight […]
The day Ron Dennis told Enrique Bernoldi his F1 fortune
Bernoldi is perhaps best remembered these days as the man Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz favoured when Peter Sauber decided instead to take a punt on Kimi Raikkonen. Mateschitz subsequently bought his man a seat at Arrows, and the Brazilian duly made his Grand Prix debut in Australia in 2001 on the very same day as […]
Yamaha duo not viewing Mugello MotoGP as damage limitation race
The M1 was one of the slowest bikes in terms of top speed in 2020, with that fact remaining in 2021 owing to a freeze on engine development in the winter as a result of COVID cost-saving measures. Ducati has been the conquering force at Mugello for the last three Italian GPs, with the latest […]
Painful Monaco GP “a glitch” in Alpine’s F1 progression
The team struggled for most of the weekend to get its tyres to work. Esteban Ocon started 11th and took advantage of two retirements ahead to salvage two points for ninth, while Fernando Alonso qualified only 17th, and moved up to 13th at the flag. The result meant Alpine lose two places in the constructors’ […]