Charles Leclerc took a surprise pole for Ferrari in Monaco last month as the SF21 car’s slow-speed strength lifted the team into contention with Red Bull and Mercedes at the front. Ferrari scotched suggestions it would be able to take pole once again in the lead up to qualifying in Baku, only for Leclerc to […]
Month: June 2021
Red Bull mustn’t throw away title chance like BMW
His view has echoes of a strategic mistake made by BMW Sauber in 2008. That year the Swiss-based team had a competitive car, and after scoring his first grand prix win in Canada, Robert Kubica led the world championship by four points from Lewis Hamilton. However, BMW opted early on to switch its focus to […]
Alpine’s F1 rivals flattered by street circuit run
With Ferrari in particular having leapfrogged from a best-of-the-rest contender to grabbing pole position in Monaco and Baku, Alonso senses that the competitive order has been shaken up by the nature of recent circuits. That is why he is convinced that when F1 gets back to regular layouts, like the next race at Paul Ricard in France,… […]
Mazepin clarifies rumours about Russian military service
Mazepin made his F1 debut at the start of the year with Haas after graduating from F2, recording his best result to date by finishing 14th in Azerbaijan last weekend. But reports emerged online last week suggesting that Mazepin may be required to complete military service in his native Russia after comments attributed to his father,… Continue Reading […]
Zero points for Williams wouldn’t make 2021 F1 season a failure
Williams has not scored a point since the 2019 German Grand Prix, where it only ended up 10th with Robert Kubica after the Alfa Romeo cars were given post-race time addition penalties for clutch setting offences detected during the race start. That year marked the lowest ebb of Williams’ slide to the very back of […]
Perez “ahead of expectation”, but no rush for new deal
The Mexican was signed by the Milton Keynes-based team as replacement for Alex Albon this year, with the outfit believing it needed a stronger line-up to bolster its world championship chances. Although Perez had some difficulty early on in adapting to the characteristics of the Red Bull car, especially in qualifying, he has made great… […]
Two bad weekends won’t make Mercedes adjust 2022 F1 plans
The Brackley-based outfit has endured two difficult weekends in Monaco and Baku, with team boss Toto Wolff saying its recent performances have been “unacceptable” if it wants to beat Red Bull to the F1 titles. But while the tricky situation means Mercedes will have to focus more deeply on its current troubles than it would […]
The unknown driving force behind McLaren
While it was widely known that he had experienced health issues, having undergone two lung transplants in 2013, few knew that his situation had recently become more serious. Ojjeh was a fixture in the sport for 43 years, known first as a sponsor of Williams, then as the backer of the TAG Turbo engine that […]
Wolff’s workload puts me off wanting to be F1 team boss
The 2016 F1 world champion, who retired from driving after prevailing in an intense fight with then-Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, has returned to motorsport competition through his Rosberg X Racing team that has won both X-Prix held so far in the new-for-2021 Extreme E series. But while Rosberg has good experience of what’s needed to… […]
Perez impressed by Albon’s openness since taking his Red Bull seat
Red Bull opted to drop Albon after just one full season with the team following a difficult 2020 campaign, moving him into a test and reserve role as Perez took his seat. The Mexican scored his maiden victory for Red Bull in last Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, becoming the team’s first new winner since Max […]