Latest news curated by JDC
Following an encouraging pre-season test, Verstappen continued to set the pace for Red Bull by going quickest in both free practice sessions on the opening day of the Bahrain Grand Prix. At the end of FP2, McLaren’s Lando Norris was the Dutch driver’s closest competitor, with the pair split by just 0.095s, while defending F1 […]
With an engine development freeze carrying over into the start of 2021 for all but Aprilia and KTM, Yamaha’s power deficit to its rivals – and Ducati in particular – remains substantial. This is accentuated in Qatar owing to Losail’s one kilometre long main straight, with the fastest Ducati clocking 354km/h during Friday practice, while […]
Ferrari is aiming to rebound from a dreadful 2020 season in which the Scuderia finished sixth in the constructors’ championship and it has appeared to make good progress during the off-season. Boosted by an improved power unit newcomer Sainz was fourth fastest in Friday’s second practice, using Pirelli’s soft tyres to come within three… Continue […]
Aleix Espargaro set the early pace as FP2 got underway with a 1m55.204s, before Francesco Bagnaia dropped into the 1m54s with a 1m54.625s to take over top spot moments later. This lap stood for just a few seconds, as his factory Ducati team-mate Miller edged ahead with a 1m54.571s before the session was red-flagged briefly […]
With growing indications that the lower-rake cars have come off worst with F1’s 2021 rule changes, it appears that those affected have been hard at work trying to mitigate the damage. While Mercedes has been the focus of the impact on the low rake cars, Aston Martin too appears to have suffered a step back […]
Aprilia announced earlier this week that 15-time MotoGP race winner Dovizioso will ride the RS-GP during a three-day private test at Jerez on 12-14 April. Dovizioso is currently on a sabbatical from MotoGP after losing his Ducati seat last season and turning down a race offer from Aprilia for 2021, as well as a role […]
Mercedes had a surprisingly difficult test at the Bahrain track earlier this month, finishing with the lowest lap count of any team after losing the opening morning to a gearbox issue and then Lewis Hamilton spinning off on the second day. Hamilton’s off was put down to a rear-handling weakness the Mercedes drivers encountered with […]
This year, F1 will again hold a pre-race moment for drivers to express their personal views following the ceremony’s introduction in 2020 in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests that followed the killing of George Floyd. A change has been made ahead of the 2021 season, with the moment no longer being held […]
Verstappen’s best lap of 1m31.294s is 2.334s slower than the 1m28.960s he set to top pre-season testing at the Sakhir track earlier this month, but that was set in much cooler conditions than the cars ran in the mid-afternoon sun in Bahrain on Friday afternoon. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso led the pack out of the pits […]
The former Mercedes reserve and test driver is starting his second season at the rebranded Alpine team, after an encouraging 2020 campaign as he got himself up to speed at the outfit. And with Renault introducing some upgrades to its power unit for this year, ahead of an all-new concept coming in 2022, Ocon says […]