Formula 1

The 2021 technical regulations have introduced an interesting side-plot into Formula 1, especially with the way it has affected the teams running low-rake aero concepts. In particular, the rules seem to have hindered the likes of Mercedes and Aston Martin, while teams like Red Bull – running higher-rake designs – have been able to capitalise

Ferrari struggled through its worst F1 season for 40 years in 2020 as it slumped to sixth place in the constructors’ championship, scoring just three podium finishes. The team was hampered by a lack of straight-line speed and a draggy car concept, issues it sought to remedy with the updated SF21 car for this year.

Ilott, who is racing in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for the Iron Lynx team, will step into the Alfa Romeo C41 for the opening practice session at Portimao – although it has yet to be disclosed whether he will replace Kimi Raikkonen or Antonio Giovinazzi in the session.  The British driver will

The American-owned outfit is facing a difficult remainder of the season following its decision to not develop its car, which means it has fallen to the back of the field. Both Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin have endured tough times in the opening two races as they adapt to F1 machinery, and Steiner is well

Team principal Otmar Szafnauer is keen to hold talks with the FIA to understand the procedures of its legislature – and although the political saga will continue to rumble on in the background, the team has had to introduce developments in a bid to catch up with the opposition. Having already changed its floor design for the

Two-time F1 world champion Alonso made his comeback to grand prix racing last month after a two-year absence, linking up with Alpine for a third stint with the Enstone-based squad. Alonso has carved out a reputation for being particularly dominant against team-mates through his F1 career, notably seen in 2018 when he beat Stoffel Vandoorne

AlphaTauri finished seventh in last year’s constructors’ championship, but looks to be in contention to break into the top five in 2021 after showing impressive pace in Bahrain and Imola. Pierre Gasly qualified fifth for both races, and although the team only scored eight points across the two rounds, it appears to have a pace

Speaking exclusively to Autosport, 1978 F1 World Champion Andretti – whose family team ran Californian Herta to his fourth career IndyCar Series victory at St Petersburg on Sunday – says the news that a second grand prix in Miami will join Austin’s United States GP on the 2022 F1 schedule is the perfect time for

Brivio left his position running Suzuki’s MotoGP squad off the back of last year’s world championship victory to take up a senior F1 role with Alpine. The Italian serves as the racing director for Alpine, jointly running the outfit alongside executive director Marcin Budkowski following its restructuring of its management team. Discussing his first two

Allison announced recently that he will move in to a new position as chief technical officer in July, with technology director Mike Elliott stepping up to replace him. While Allison has played an important role in helping Mercedes stay on top of F1 since he joined the outfit at the start of 2017, he has

After a fraught Emilia Romagna GP for Mercedes, one of team boss Toto Wolff’s main frustrations was the potential consequences of the huge accident suffered by Valtteri Bottas. It was not the lost points that he was worried about, for Bottas was enduring a difficult race prior to being harpooned by the Williams of George Russell that was attempting to overtake the Finn,

Tsunoda starred for AlphaTauri on debut in Bahrain last month as he fought through to ninth place, but endured a more challenging second race weekend at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Tsunoda crashed heavily early in Q1 at Imola, losing the rear of the car at the exit of the Variante Alta chicane. It meant

Rightly or wrongly, overtaking is often used by fans as the measure of a good grand prix. More overtaking means more action and therefore more excitement, right? Not necessarily. Who could argue that watching Daniel Ricciardo cling on to win the Monaco Grand Prix in 2018 despite losing a chunk of power wasn’t compelling? The

Last weekend, as Max Verstappen limped along the main straight with a broken driveshaft during Friday’s second free practice session at Imola, little did he know that his Red Bull would end up on a magical mystery tour of the city as it was returned to the garage. Having run over a kerb late in

Honda’s 2021 engine, the RA621H, is viewed by many in the F1 paddock as the strongest PU on the grid, with Pierre Gasly’s qualifying form for AlphaTauri backing up the pace advantage of Red Bull Racing. Verstappen took Red Bull and Honda’s first victory of the season in last weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, and

With the Milton Keynes-based team ramping up its efforts ahead of the takeover of Honda engines, long-time Mercedes employee Ben Hodgkinson will join the programme. Hodgkinson has been head of mechanical engineering at Mercedes’ High Performance Powertrains since 2017, having worked at the German manufacturer’s Brixworth headquarters for 20 years. No date has yet been

Norris was the quicker of the two McLaren drivers over the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend but started behind Ricciardo after his best qualifying time was deleted for track limits. During the opening stages Ricciardo and Norris were running line astern in fifth and sixth when Norris informed his team over the radio that he

Alpine looked to bounce back from a disappointing opening race of the year in Bahrain by debuting a number of car updates at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The team once again struggled to keep up with midfield leaders McLaren and Ferrari at Imola, with Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso only qualifying ninth and 15th,

The team has broken ground on construction of a new facility that will become the centrepiece of its Red Bull Powertrains division. As the team prepares to take over the Honda engine project from next year, team boss and powertrain CEO Christian Horner has outlined its plans to ensure its reputation for engine development is

Williams endured a disastrous Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with both its drivers suffering sizeable accidents in a chaotic wet-dry race. On the opening lap Nicholas Latifi thumped the wall after colliding with Haas driver Nikita Mazepin. Halfway through the race George Russell crashed into Valtteri Bottas after attempting to overtake the Mercedes driver. Despite a

Bottas and Russell collided while battling for ninth place in Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with the severity of their crash resulting in a red flag. Both drivers were quick to blame each other for causing the crash that left Bottas’ Mercedes car with a significant amount of damage that could limit the team’s upgrade

At the beginning of the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix in particular, Verstappen and then team-mate Alex Albon made shocking starts and dropped several places. But at the start of last weekend’s race at Imola, the Dutchman was able to jump from third on the grid to take first on the run to the race’s opening

The two teams have taken a victory apiece so far this year, with Lewis Hamilton winning the season opener in Bahrain and Max Verstappen triumphing at Imola last weekend. With very little to choose in performance terms between the two cars, both teams are continuing to push hard to improve their packages as much as

Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez have found the process of adaptation to be perhaps even harder than they expected, and thus far all five men have struggled to match the form of their teammates. That was made more complicated by the presence of Imola as the second venue on

Verstappen was preparing to take the pack back up to racing speed after the Emilia Romagna event had been suspended to clear up the wreckage from George Russell and Valtteri Bottas crashing heavily, when the Red Bull driver lost control at the final corners. He speared left over the kerbs of the first Rivazza turn,

Norris took his second F1 podium with McLaren after battling from seventh on the grid to third, holding off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc behind F1’s leading duo Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Norris benefited from Sergio Perez’ spin behind the safety car and McLaren team orders to release him past team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. But Norris backed

The Williams driver was left furious with Bottas after believing that the Mercedes driver had deliberately squeezed him off the track as they battled for position at Imola and came together in a 200mph accident. In the wake of their incident, Russell angrily marched to Bottas’ car to let his feelings be known. He later

The Mexican had qualified on the front row at Imola, but his hopes of a good finish were wrecked by a spate of incidents in the tricky conditions. He spun early on behind the safety car, and was then handed a 10-second stop/go penalty for overtaking rivals as he regained his original position. Later on in the

The Aston Martin driver endured an eventful race at Imola while making the most of favourable damp conditions to finish seventh at the chequered flag. However, Stroll was judged to have breached regulations when overtaking AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly following a post-race investigation, resulting in a five-second penalty. It was deemed Stroll left the track at

Stewards determined the Alfa Romeo driver breached regulations having failed to enter the pitlane for the restart of the race after the red-flag period caused by the clash between Valtteri Bottas and George Russell. On the lap prior to the restart following the race suspension, Raikkonen spun his Alfa Romeo at Turn 3. Sporting regulations