Espargaro has shown strong race pace on the RC213V in the first three rounds of 2021, but has only managed a best of eighth in the Qatar GP and was forced out of the Portugal race due to a rear brake failure. But so far Espargaro has not been able to match his qualifying form […]
Year: 2021
Is Miami the breakthrough deal that F1 needs in the USA?
Some tracks among the list of 10, like Sebring, Watkins Glen and Long Beach, were rather successful in their era – but fell away from use as the sport expanded and moved on. Others like Las Vegas, Detroit, Dallas, Phoenix and Indianapolis had their moments, but ultimately failed to deliver the huge impact in the […]
Wolff expects “totally disjointed” F1 field again in 2022
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, […]
In defence of making necessary improvements
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’s Imola F1 qualifying crash ‘part of the rookie journey’
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 […]
most overtakes in a race, by a driver and more
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 […]
How a million pound crash highlighted F1’s money squeeze
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
McLaren wants return to extra F1 testing in 2022
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 “not in a terrible place” despite MotoGP struggles
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 […]
F1 announces three-year contract extension for Japanese GP at Suzuka
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 […]