Year: 2021

03 Apr 2021

Miller feared Doha MotoGP FP2 top time would be “cancelled”

Miller monstered the field in second practice for the Doha Grand Prix on Friday when he posted a 1m53.145s lap in the closing stages. However, he did so having been following Nakagami when the Japanese rider fell from his Honda at Turn 7. MotoGP rules stipulate a rider’s lap will be automatically cancelled if they […]

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03 Apr 2021

Switch to high-rake concept would write off F1 2021 campaign

The German manufacturer suspects that F1’s new aero rules have hurt the low-rake cars much more than their high-rake rivals. Customer team Aston Martin, which also runs a low-rake car, thinks that the performance swing due to the floor changes is as much as one-second per lap. While there is some scope for both Mercedes […]

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02 Apr 2021

MotoGP Doha Grand Prix qualifying

After a disappointing showing in the Qatar GP, Jack Miller has replicated his place in the second practice times from seven days ago by going fastest on Friday, leading a Ducati 1-2-3 ahead of factory team-mate Francesco Bagnaia and Pramac’s Johann Zarco. Fabio Quartararo was the closest contender against the Ducati domination with fourth place […]

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02 Apr 2021

Does Aston Martin’s low-rake pain mean 2021 is a write off?

It’s a question that even the team itself can’t yet answer, despite the example of Mercedes providing some encouragement. This was supposed to be the year when, boosted by extra financial resources and the arrival of Sebastian Vettel, the Silverstone team broke away from the midfield pack. Instead, the team has found itself towards the… […]

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02 Apr 2021

Miller leads Ducati charge in second practice

Having unsealed a third engine from his allocation for the season following issues in FP1, Petronas SRT’s Franco Morbidelli set the benchmark lap at the start of the evening session with a 1m55.750s. This would be beaten by Qatar GP poleman Francesco Bagnaia with a 1m55.407s on the factory Ducati, before championship leader Maverick Vinales […]

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02 Apr 2021

Honda F1 engine “very, very close” to Mercedes now

The Japanese manufacturer introduced a new engine for this year ahead of its departure from F1 at the end of the season, before Red Bull takes over its development from 2022. The new engine is smaller and more powerful, and both Red Bull and AlphaTauri have taken a step forward judging by their performances in […]

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02 Apr 2021

Aprilia’s Espargaro tops FP1 as Morbidelli suffers technical woes

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing the Argentine and US GPs to be postponed, MotoGP remains in Qatar for a second week for the first ever Doha GP. Morbidelli’s Qatar GP last Sunday was wrecked by a technical issue that he admitted on Thursday hasn’t fully been diagnosed by Petronas SRT and Yamaha. He set the […]

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02 Apr 2021

Mazepin “beating himself up” over Bahrain woes, says Steiner

Mazepin’s F1 debut weekend went from bad to worse when he lost control on the Turn 2 kerbs at the start, veering into the barriers and ending his first race after less than a mile. Mazepin took full responsibility for his mistake, saying his team “deserved better”. Team principal Steiner said Mazepin was “pretty beat […]

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02 Apr 2021

Vinales “pissed off” over Yamaha’s starts to MotoGP races

Vinales qualified second for last weekend’s season-opener at Losail, but dropped to sixth at the end of the first lap after four Ducatis and Yamaha team-mate Fabio Quartararo jumped him. Race starts were a prominent feature of Vinales’ Qatar test and practice programme, and though his launch wasn’t bad it simply wasn’t enough to counteract […]

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02 Apr 2021

F1 podium still far away despite Bahrain GP progress

After a disastrous 2020 season in which Ferrari dropped down to sixth in the constructors’ championship, Charles Leclerc qualified an impressive fourth and finished sixth in the season opener. Team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr also qualified in the top 10 and wound up eighth in the race to give Ferrari its first double points finish since […]

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