21 mins ago20: 40 Jack McEachen
Weeks away from new F1 teamFIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has admitted that a new team joining the F1 grid in 2025 could be confirmed in a matter of weeks.
The controversial decision to add more teams was delayed as the FIA wanted to conduct a thorough analysis of entries, with as many as four “serious” offers being considered as he opened up on the new timeline.
“We extended it because some of the teams requested some time, and you don’t want to exclude them,” Ben Sulayem told Motorsport.com.
“You have to be flexible. We are not yet over with it because we have to be very careful with making a decision.
“It’s a big process, and I don’t like to be rushed because the decision has to be very, very clear.”
Asked when a decision could be expected, he added: “Not far away. I think four to six weeks. We need to do it right. We are talking about big investment from people.
“We just have to wait now for the next six weeks to see what is the plan. I have no doubt that FOM will do the right decision. They know what’s better.”
1 hour ago19: 50 Jack McEachen
Gunther Steiner slammedHaas boss Gunther Steiner has been slammed by German racing icon Hans Stuck for his treatment of Mick Schumacher.
Schumacher left the team at the end of last season and after struggling to find a seat on the grid, joined Mercedes as a reserve driver.
He hopes to return and win a place back, though Stuck believes that it will be difficult – as he was critical of Steiner.
“He will certainly be learning a lot at Mercedes,” Stuck told Autoweek. “But how he gets a cockpit again remains to be seen.
“If you can’t show and prove yourself in the race, you’re unfortunately very quickly out of the public eye.
“He should be showing his skills in a car he deserves and with a decent team boss. Not someone like Gunther Steiner, who doesn’t know how to lead and help people.”
2 hours ago19: 13 Jack McEachen
Brundle suggests sprint changeSky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle has suggested that the Sprint format needs to be changed, although he has disagreed with the criticisms of the innovation.
While he believes that the viewing figures suggest that the Sprint weekends are a success, the gap between qualifying on a Friday and the race on Sunday needs to be altered.
“The sprint format undoubtedly makes for a relentless weekend of meaningful action in Formula 1,” Brundle wrote in his Sky Sports column.
“Whether you can have too much of a good thing only the fans will decide, but the audience numbers I see, having four of the five F1 track sessions generating a definitive and meaningful result, suggest that it’s popular.
“The disconnect of having qualifying on Friday afternoon for the race on Sunday doesn’t feel right to me, and likely precludes a good number of people who like to watch qualifying live from doing so.”
Martin Brundle has discussed changing the Sprint format. (Image: Getty)
2 hours ago18: 32 Jack McEachen
AlphaTauri name change hintRed Bull have hinted that AlphaTauri could be renamed to Hugo Boss following discussions with the fashion brand.
Motorsport.com have claimed that Red Bull are in negotiations with Hugo Boss regarding a title sponsorship next season, as AlphaTauri’s contract ends following the conclusion of the current season.
Red Bull hope that their sister team can become more competitive following the rebrand, though Polish oil company ORLEN, the team’s current main sponsor, is also said to be under consideration.
3 hours ago17: 58 Jack McEachen
Horner admits Perez dream overChristian Horner has confirmed that Red Bull driver Sergio Perez is aware that he will not be able to catch his team-mate Max Verstappen this season.
Team advisor Helmut Marko recently claimed that Perez had woken up from “his championship dream” as Horner reflected on those comments.
“We know that Helmut is fairly straightforward in some of his analysis,” Horner said.
“But look, I think Checo knows that, barring a disaster for Max, this championship is out of reach, so it’s about him maximising his own performance, not losing out to any of the drivers behind and trying to pick up a few wins between now and the end of the year.”
4 hours ago17: 27 Jack McEachen
F1 urged to modify carsYoung female racer Juju Noda recently won her first F3 race and has called for changes to be made to racing cars in order to accommodate more women.
“Being the first woman to win at this level feels amazing, although it’s never really been a goal in itself,” she told MotorSport Magazine after becoming the first female winner of a Euroformula Open race the previous weekend.
“But it’s a step forward and sometimes you need to reward yourself, so I think I can give myself a pat on the back this week. I hope that this result will also serve as a catalyst to change the environment for female drivers in the years to come.
“In the past, I have heard that women can’t win because they are women, or that they can’t withstand fast cars and g-forces because of their small size.
“It may be true that women have a physical disadvantage over men, but in sports that require a small amount of equipment, such as golf or tennis, specific equipment has been developed for women.
“I believe that racing vehicles should also be adapted and set up for women. I think that racing regulations should take this into account to create an environment where women can demonstrate their abilities in the future.”
4 hours ago16: 49 Jack McEachen
Aston Martin apologiseAston Martin team principal Mike Krack has apologised to both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll for not being able to maintain their early-season form.
A disappointing Belgian Grand Prix saw the team fall further down the pack as the likes of McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari have made improvements over Aston Martin – which Krack has said sorry for.
“The drivers, I have to say credit to both of them because it was a difficult situation when you are used to having a front-running car and then you start to slip back a little bit,” Krack told F1.
“It’s easy to get destructive and it happened exactly the opposite so I’m really happy with the way that this has evolved.
“I’m really sorry for our drivers that we have not maybe managed to keep up there but, rest assured, we will try everything to come back.”
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. (Image: Getty)
5 hours ago16: 09 Jack McEachen
Verstappen to create teamMax Verstappen has admitted that he is planning to create his own GT3 racing team in the future under his own website.
The Red Bull man could even have a team up and running by 2025 according to Dutch media, as he opened up on the possibility.
“This project energises me,” Verstappen said. “It is still in its infancy. At Verstappen.com Racing we already sponsor and support various racing activities of people close to me.
“It all started with Team Redline and with Verstappen.com Racing we are now also active with Thierry Vermeulen in DTM and GTWC Sprint and with my father in rallying.
“But the ultimate goal is to set up our own racing team. We will start in the GT3 class and then we will see where the ship goes. But when I do something, I want to do it well.
“It’s about creating a stepping stone from sim racing to GT3. So that you can end up in motorsport not only through karting, which costs a lot of money at the moment.”
AlphaTauri chief makes Schumacher admissionAlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost has revealed that he is frustrated that he did not replace Pierre Gasly with Mick Schumacher before Red Bull signed Nyck de Vries.
The Austrian explained: “I advocated for Mick at that time. It’s no secret. He had Formula 1 experience. He had already driven in Formula 1 for two years, and he was still young.
“That was not the case with Nyck. That’s why I supported Mick Schumacher back then.”
Yuki Tsunoda speaks out on Spa successYuki Tsunoda has revealed that he is pleased to be heading into the summer break on a positive note following his 10th-place finish at Spa Francorchamps.
The Japanese driver enjoyed a fruitful start to the season but his a bad run of form heading into last weekend’s race.
However, Tsunoda was pleased with his performance in Belgium and praised the work of his AlphaTuari team.
He said: “First of all, the team did a fantastic job. The car was flying, the pit stop was really, really quick. I think everyone did a good job, especially Bicester side in the factory in the UK, and also in Italy.
“Obviously for myself I’m happy to be back in the shape I had in the first half of the season, the beginning, I would say. Especially the last two times there was opportunity to score points but unfortunately I couldn’t score points.
“Since then I struggled a little bit, but yeah, I’m definitely happy, this is the way to finish [going into] the summer break.”
Yuki Tsunoda praised the work of his team (Image: Getty)
Alonso hits out at ex-Alpine bossFernando Alonso has called for former F1 boss Otmar Szafnauer to ‘be quiet’ in a scathing attack of the ex-Alpine chief.
Alonso was keen to remain with Alpine last year but has publicly blamed ‘long’ contract negotiations as the reason why he decided to jump ship and join Aston Martin.
He told the BBC: “It took longer than I thought when we started conversations – I think it was in Australia back in [April] 2022 – about renewing the contract.
“It was just on a very slow pace, and it was not from my side. I was just ready and happy. The 2022 car was a fast car so I was also happy with the performance and the possibilities into the future.
“So that slow pace of conversations and eventually not even putting on paper what we were writing and all these comments about the age and whatever, which they are still doing.
“It is the way they do things. Or the way Otmar does things. Because after this year, he should be quiet. He should not talk at all.”
Hamilton named as one of two drivers that can beat VerstappenRed Bull’s Helmut Marko has revealed that he believes Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are the only two drivers that are capable of challenging Max Verstappen.
The Red Bull star has been in unstoppable form this year, winning 25 of his last 34 races and writing himself into the history books as a result.
Many are questioning how to beat Verstappen, and Marko has revealed that he thinks there are only two drivers capable of putting it up to the two-time title winner.
He told DAZN: “I would perhaps say Alonso or Hamilton but in the same car it would be very difficult.”
11 hours ago09: 50 Jack McEachen
Lance Stroll tipped to leave F1Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft has predicted that Lance Stroll will leave Formula One at the end of the 2024 season.
Stroll broke onto the scene with Williams in 2017 but has struggled to be as dominant since joining Aston Martin, with Fernando Alonso continuing to thrive.
Thus, Croft believes that the 24-year-old could decide to retire from the sport early and pursue a different career.
He told the Sky Sports F1 podcast: “I think he’s lost his mojo, and whatever’s happened, Lance just doesn’t seem to be as motivated now as he was at the start of the season.
“I do wonder, he’s the one driver on the grid that you think: ‘You’re guaranteed a job as long as your dad is there’, and we’ve never actually talked about contracts for Lance Stroll.
“We’ve never looked at his future elsewhere, but I just have a little feeling that in about a year and a half’s time, Lance Stroll will race his last race in Formula 1 and go off and do something else.”
Lance Stroll has been tipped to quit next year (Image: Getty)
Norris admits to considering leaving McClarenLando Norris has admitted that leaving McClaren has been ‘in the back’ of his mind previously but recent performances have put his doubts to bed.
The 23-year-old has struggled with the team previously but an upturn in form has given the Brit a reason to be positive.
He told Sky Sports: “I want to achieve my success and I want to achieve my goals with McLaren. That’s been my target since I’ve come here, since I’ve entered Formula 1 with this team. I guess I’m a loyal guy from that point of view, that I’ve joined the team, they gave me a chance in Formula 1 and I want to deliver and achieve success for them.
“But in the back of my mind, there’s that impatient game of, ‘do I stick it out for another few years, or is it time to look at something different?’ But the more we achieve things like we have done over the past few weeks, the more I’m very confident with the decision I made to stay until 2025, and the more confident I am that we can achieve our goals together in the future.”
Sergio Perez ‘broken’ by Red Bull, claims ex-driverEx-Formula One star Karun Chandhok believes that Sergio Perez is another driver that has been ‘broken’ by Red Bull.
The dominance of Max Verstappen has seen Perez struggle, especially after a promising start to the season.
Chandhok believes that it is as a result of the pecking order in the team, telling the Sky Sports F1 podcast: ”Ever since he got overtaken on whatever it was, lap 41 [sic, 48] in Miami – it’s just gone away from him. And you know, I look at what happened even at the weekend at Spa. Max got ahead of him and he put 22 seconds on him in 27 laps.
“That’s a big chunk of performance to put around a track where they are spending a lot of time at full throttle driving around in a straight line, essentially. To me, that is the cause of concern, the only cause of concern, in the Red Bull camp. Is this the fourth teammate that Max has potentially broken? Who can they have alongside him?”
13 hours ago07: 52 Jack McEachen
Hamilton investigation updateMercedes chief technical director Mike Elliott has insisted that the bouncing experienced by Lewis Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix was not caused by their latest car upgrades.
Hamilton raised concerns after the race on Sunday in which he finished fourth and said that the team were porpoising like last year, which Toto Wolff said the team would ‘investigate’.
However, in the team’s official debrief, Elliott has revealed that he believes the issue was caused by the surface at the Spa rather than the vehicle.
He said: “The question we need to ask ourselves is, how much of it is just the circuit we were at in Spa and how much is to be found in setup? Because, obviously, it was a wet race weekend, a weekend where we had no dry running up until the point we were actually racing.
“We will also take a really good look at the upgrade kit and make sure that we’ve not introduced bouncing with that but, at the moment, our belief is it is probably a result of setup or the circuit itself.”
Be First to Comment