The nine-time grand prix motorcycle world champion made his on-track debut in SRT colours on Saturday at the Losail International Circuit as pre-season testing got underway, ending the day 14th with a best lap of 1m55.584s after 54 laps. Remaining on a factory Yamaha contract and riding a fully works-supported M1 in 2021, Rossi says
Month: March 2021
Saturday’s first of five test days at Losail marked Espargaro’s debut on the RC213V, with the six-time MotoGP podium finisher completing 68 laps across the day having been one of the first to take to the track in the seven-hour session. Espargaro ended the day 1.2 seconds off the pace of his Aprilia-mounted brother Aleix
Vettel was told before the delayed 2020 season start that his expiring Ferrari contract would not be renewed, as the Scuderia secured the services of McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr for 2021. During a disappointing year, Vettel often struggled to perform with a car that didn’t suit his driving style and he ended up being comfortably
Two-time world champion Alonso is coming out of retirement this year to replace McLaren-bound Daniel Ricciardo at the Enstone outfit. Despite Alonso’s credentials, Alpine has stated that the Spaniard will not get number one status in the team and that his team-mate Ocon will receive equal treatment. “The drivers have to be as fast as possible and
The eight-time MotoGP race winner endured a torrid 2020 campaign on his M1, with a sole victory at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix the highlight of a campaign of wild inconsistency. With the 2021 regulations staying frozen in regards to engine development for most as part of COVID-19 cost-saving measures, Yamaha has had to focus
Approaching his IndyCar debut at 45 years old, Jimmie Johnson is an old rookie. But he’s not just any old rookie. In a NASCAR Cup career that spanned 20 years and 686 races, he won seven championships and scored 83 race wins. Now he’s about to embark on an IndyCar career of currently indeterminate length,
The German impressed as a stand-in at Racing Point for both Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll last year when they were struck down by coronavirus. Although the outings did not lead to any full-time race seat for this season, his ability to quickly get up to speed and his current knowledge of F1 machinery looks
The Spa 6 Hours retains its original date of 1 May on the latest revision to the calendar following a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council on Friday, which follows Thursday’s shift of the Le Mans 24 Hours from its traditional mid-June slot to 21-22 August. Algarve’s eight-hour fixture will now take place
9:09 AM ET Williams was forced to abandon plans to reveal its 2021 Formula One car via an augmented reality app after it was hacked and images leaked online. Instead, Williams launched its new car by releasing images of the FW43B, its car for the upcoming F1 season. The team has opted for a brand
Speaking to media ahead of Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet’s 2021 livery reveal, each driver was full of praise for the other, and stated their goal was to ensure they pushed each other this year in order to earn the team race wins. However, Rosenqvist said that it’s too soon to assess how they’ll compare and contrast
Haas F1 driver Grosjean was involved in a huge accident on the opening lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix at the end of November when the chassis of his car was ripped in two, leaving the main monocoque lodged within a barrier. A huge fire was sparked during the accident, and Grosjean was able to
The Italian manufacturer’s latest deal covered the four seasons from 2020 to 2023, and only the first was to be with traditional 13-inch tyres before the originally planned switch to 18-inch in 2021. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year the new F1 regulations were postponed to 2022, which meant that Pirelli would have
Four rookies will start the 2021 campaign this month in Qatar (although Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori already has three races under his belt from last year), with a day of running at Losail ahead of the official test allowing them to experience their first laps on a MotoGP bike. Typically, Pramac’s Jorge Martin and Avintia duo
2:03 PM ET Romain Grosjean’s fiery crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix registered a peak force equivalent to 67Gs, the FIA’s investigation into the accident found. Motor racing’s governing body has published its full report on the accident and the areas of safety it must improve. Grosjean miraculously escaped after his Haas car hit a
This will mark Chilton’s sixth season in the IndyCar Series and his fourth with the Carlin team after spending the first two years of his American single-seater career with Chip Ganassi Racing. The former Formula 1 driver cutback his IndyCar schedule in 2019 after failing to qualify for the Indy 500, removing the remainder of
Ahead of the 2021 F1 season the former Renault team was rebranded to Alpine, the French manufacturer’s sportscar brand. As part of the rebrand, the management structure of the Enstone also received an overhaul under new Renault CEO Luca de Meo. PLUS: How Alpine’s cure to 2021 rules starts at the front Long-time Renault employee
After clinching the FIA Formula 2 title in 2020, Ferrari-backed Schumacher is graduating to F1 with Haas in 2021, 30 years after his father’s debut in 1991 with Jordan. Michael Schumacher went on to become the most successful driver in history with seven world titles, only recently matched by Lewis Hamilton, but Schumacher Jr. doesn’t
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all five days of MotoGP testing for 2021 have been confined to the Losail International Circuit in Qatar, while the opening two rounds of the campaign will also take place there. Yamaha has typically always gone well at both the Qatar test and grand prix in recent years, and
5:19 AM ET Sebastian Vettel completed his first laps for Aston Martin on Thursday, teasing a new race helmet in the process. Four-time world champion Vettel, who has joined after six years at Ferrari, drove at Silverstone during a filming day. The green car was unveiled in an online launch on Wednesday. Of note was
Bahrain has announced it will allow fans to attend the Formula 1 season opener if they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or have recovered from the virus. After running behind closed doors last year in November, the Bahrain Grand Prix is set to welcome fans back to the grandstands for the 2021 opening round on
Led by technical director Tom Fowler, Toyota Gazoo Racing is developing the all-new car for the 2022 hybrid regulations around the road-going GR Yaris architecture. It will go up against a new car from M-Sport Ford that team principal Richard Millener revealed has been in development since the end of 2019, while Hyundai Motorsport has
Aprilia runs its factory operation in conjunction with the Gresini Racing Team, having done so since its return to the premier class in 2015. But the Aprilia Gresini team will go forth in 2021 without its talisman leader Fausto Gresini, who tragically died last month following a lengthy battle with COVID-19. Aprilia is one of
6:00 AM ET Niamh Lewis For over 20 years, Claire Williams would pack a suitcase almost every other weekend and leave for a grand prix. But when she returned home from the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in September, she unpacked for the final time and unplugged from Formula One following her decision to step
Four-time world champion Vettel has joined the Aston Martin squad following its rebrand for the 2021 season, as the British manufacturer returns to F1 after over 60 years away. Vettel and team-mate Lance Stroll took part in the launch of the team’s new Aston Martin AMR21 F1 car on Wednesday before hitting the track on
The LMDh rules will take over from the current Daytona Prototype international regulations from 2023 and allow manufacturers to race the same car in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, including the Le Mans 24 Hours. While fellow DPi entrant Mazda has said it won’t continue beyond 2021, reigning IMSA manufacturers’ champion Acura pledged
As it is a concession manufacturer, Aprilia is one of only two manufacturers, after KTM, allowed to start the 2021 campaign with a completely new bike as COVID-19 cost-saving rules mean non-concession marques have to carry over their 2020 engines. Despite finishing last in the constructors’ table, Aleix Espargaro repeatedly stated the 2020 RS-GP was
12:57 PM ET Tickets have gone on sale for Formula One’s season opening Bahrain Grand Prix but are limited to individuals who have either been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have recovered from the virus. The race will take place on March 28 and kick off this year’s 23-race season. Formula One has always maintained
A two-year ban for Russian athletes at world championship sporting events was announced in December by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The ban related to state-sponsored doping and cover-ups at the 2014 Winter Olympics following investigations by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which had recommended a four-year ban. The Russian Automobile Federation confirmed in
Fittipaldi, who will also be continuing as Haas F1’s test driver this season, will be returning to the team with whom he made his IndyCar debut in 2018. That season was disrupted after just one race for the Miami-born Brazilian when a car failure in a World Endurance Championship event at Spa-Francorchamps pitched him into
Despite winning half of last year’s races, Yamaha failed to win any of the three championships on offer, with its 2020 M1 riders besieged by various issues with the bike, which led to wildly inconsistent form. After leading for much of the campaign, Fabio Quartararo faded to eighth in the standings over the final six