The McLaren driver was only ninth in FP3, behind even the Williams of Alex Albon, and thus did not enter qualifying expecting to be fighting near the sharp end. However, in a display of impressive consistency, he was fifth in all three segments of qualifying, ending up between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell on the […]
The Monegasque driver had looked set to be forced to play second fiddle to main rival Red Bull after Max Verstappen had looked super strong in final free practice. But Leclerc’s Ferrari came alive in the later qualifying session as, thanks to a bit of assistance in getting a tow off teammate Carlos Sainz, he […]
Ferrari driver Sainz was forced to retire in the closing stages of the Austrian Grand Prix two weeks ago when an issue on his engine led to a fire, leaving the team braced for penalties in France. Ferrari confirmed ahead of opening practice at Paul Ricard on Friday that Sainz’s power unit had been fitted […]
Sainz currently has a 10-place grid penalty for taking a new control electronics on Friday, and he is expected to be consigned to the back of the grid after taking further new power unit elements before Saturday’s FP1 session. Ferrari has opted to take the hit in France because it’s so difficult to overtake at […]
The German car manufacturer had come into the Paul Ricard weekend tipped as one of the contenders for a race win, with the ultra-smooth circuit supposedly perfectly suited to its W13. But Hamilton and teammate George Russell could not get near the pace of the leading Ferrari and Red Bull cars, as they ended up […]
The 12th round of the 2022 F1 season kicked off on Friday with two one-hour long practice sessions run under scorching conditions at Paul Ricard. In the opening session, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc edged out championship leader Max Verstappen by 0.091 seconds to seal top spot as the Scuderia – along with a number of its […]
The FIA announced last week that it planned to introduce a raft of measures for next year aimed at eradicating the porpoising problems that some teams have suffered from. These included a raising of the floor edges and diffuser throat – something that will have a big impact on car designs. But its actions have […]
The Spaniard was forced onto the rider market when Suzuki made its shock decision to quit MotoGP at the end of the 2022 season. The three-time MotoGP race winner engaged in discussions with several teams, including KTM and Gresini Ducati, but elected to sign a two-year deal directly with Honda and join LCR. It was […]
Under the new technical regulations for the 2022 season, teams encountered a porpoising phenomenon with their cars due to the return of ground effect, which some raised as being a safety issue. The FIA began to take action to address the matter on safety grounds over the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, but a number of […]
McLaren has found itself fighting to lead the midfield teams so far this season despite its form tending to fluctuate from track to track. It currently sits fourth in the constructors’ championship, tied on points with Alpine in fifth. The team opted to debut its first major upgrade package of the season at the Spanish […]