Alpine hid its true potential in testing at Sakhir by not running soft tyres or low fuel, but Gasly picked up the pace in second practice, when he was an encouraging seventh. However, while team-mate Esteban Ocon progressed to Q3 and earned ninth place on the grid, Gasly fought understeer and traction issues and was […]
Month: March 2023
We can take the fight to Red Bull in Bahrain GP
Red Bull swept the front row at Sakhir with Max Verstappen on pole and his team-mate Sergio Perez alongside. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are behind in third and fourth, but rather than focusing on consolidating those positions and defending from Aston Martin and Mercedes that line up behind, Clear is adamant Ferrari is looking […]
F1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Start time, starting grid, how to watch, & more
After Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso paced two of the three practice sessions, Red Bull fought back in qualifying as reigning world champion Verstappen led a 1-2 ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez. Alonso dropped to fifth in Q3 of qualifying, falling behind both Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, while the Monegasque driver opted against […]
Mercedes must change car concept to return to top in F1
After a disappointing qualifying for the season-opener in Bahrain, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton qualifying sixth and seventh, Wolff said the reality of his team’s lack of performance had hit home. With the squad having pushed on with the same car concept as last year, while many rivals had gone down the Red Bull […]
Alonso bigger F1 Bahrain GP ‘dark horse than Ferrari’
After setting the fastest times in second and third practice, Alonso was in the hunt for pole position in Bahrain but ran early to set his final Q3 lap and duly qualified in fifth. The Aston Martin driver ran 0.628s adrift of polesitter Max Verstappen to also fall behind Sergio Perez and an all-Ferrari second […]
Tech3 unveils new-look GasGas MotoGP livery
Herve Poncharal’s veteran squad continues its partnership with KTM in 2023, having linked up with the Austrian manufacturer in 2019 after 20 years as a Yamaha customer. Tech3 originally ran with Red Bull Cola title sponsorship backing in 2019 and 2020, before it was entered as KTM Tech3 Factory Racing from 2021 without a notable […]
Why Red Bull is unconcerned by Ferrari’s surprise Bahrain GP tyre tactics
Ferrari driver Leclerc looked to have the potential to beat Perez and possibly even threaten eventual pole winner Verstappen for top spot, but surprisingly climbed out of his SF-23 ahead of the second and final runs. This, he and Ferrari claimed, was a tactic to save a set of brand-new soft tyres to use at […]
What Stroll can learn from past cases
Motorsport is dangerous. It’s an exploit to be taken seriously, and nothing less than peak physical fitness is expected of drivers to reach peak performance. But motorsport is also a highly competitive business, and the stakes are high. When money has been invested, taking the decision to prioritise health over competition isn’t easily made and […]
What Stroll can learn from past cases
Motorsport is dangerous. It’s an exploit to be taken seriously, and nothing less than peak physical fitness is expected of drivers to reach peak performance. But motorsport is also a highly competitive business, and the stakes are high. When money has been invested, taking the decision to prioritise health over competition isn’t easily made and […]
Imola earmarked for first F1 qualifying experiment
As part of an effort to reduce the number of tyres that are brought to grands prix, at two races this year an experiment will take place for a new qualifying format. The number of tyre sets available to each driver for the weekend will be reduced from 13 to 11, and there will be […]