Formula 1

Alfa Romeo Formula 1 boss Fred Vasseur says there is “no need to panic”, despite the team’s struggles to find race pace compared to its strong qualifying form. At Suzuka Antonio Giovinazzi just missed out on a spot in Q3 with 11th place, but in the race both he and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen lacked pace

Sebastian Vettel believes only a real chequered flag should end a Formula 1 race after the Japanese Grand Prix result was rolled back one lap because of a system error. The result of the 53-lap race at Suzuka, where Vettel withstood a last-lap attack from Lewis Hamilton to finish second, was instead taken at the

Alfa Romeo’s Formula 1 drivers were left baffled by being “nowhere” in the Japanese Grand Prix, a race Kimi Raikkonen labelled “far from normal”. The two Alfas qualified 11th and 13th after narrowly missing out on a spot in the top-10 shootout, with Giovinazzi ahead of Raikkonen on the grid, but they slumped to 14th

Red Bull Formula 1 team boss Christian Horner respects McLaren driver Lando Norris for being pleased Alex Albon escaped punishment for ‘forcing him off’ in the Japanese Grand Prix. Albon dropped behind both McLarens after a poor start and re-passed Norris with an aggressive move into the final chicane that made Norris go off-track to

Formula 1 race director Michael Masi says a “system error” was to blame for the chequered flag light panel being displayed too early at the Japanese Grand Prix. Race winner Valtteri Bottas was shown the light panel after 52 of the 53 scheduled laps at Suzuka. Under F1’s rules, this meant the race had to

Sebastian Vettel says there are no changes to explain his “step in performance” at the Japanese Grand Prix, where he ended Ferrari Formula 1 team-mate Charles Leclerc’s qualifying superiority. Leclerc had qualified on pole for the previous four grands prix, a run that stretched his dominant run over Vettel in qualifying to nine races. Suzuka

Haas boss Gunther Steiner says the FIA and Liberty must protect the essential DNA of Formula 1 when the 2021 technical regulations are refined in Wednesday’s crunch meeting in Paris. Haas, along with engine partner Ferrari and its leading F1 counterparts Mercedes and Red Bull, wants to stay closer to the current regulations and continue

Lando Norris was pleased Formula 1 rival Alex Albon was not penalised in the Japanese Grand Prix for the lunge that caused contact and “kind of forced me off”. Red Bull driver Albon dropped behind both McLarens on the opening lap and on lap four launched a move on Norris into the chicane from a

Lewis Hamilton believes he could have won the Japanese Grand Prix with “better guidance”, but Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff said the strategy always leaned towards Valtteri Bottas triumphing. In the latter stages of the Suzuka race it appeared that Hamilton might have a chance of beating Bottas to the win had he stayed

Max Verstappen retired from the Japanese Grand Prix because his first-lap clash with Charles Leclerc cost him almost 25% downforce on his Red Bull Formula 1 car. Verstappen had passed Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton on the run to the first corner and kept to the outside as the track tightened into Turn 2, but Leclerc

The FIA has launched an investigation into why the chequered flag light display panel was shown a lap early at the Japanese Grand Prix. The Suzuka race was supposed to run to 53 laps, but it is understood the chequered light was displayed on lap 52. Formula 1’s regulations strictly dictate that the race is

Ferrari Formula 1 team boss Mattia Binotto expects to have to manage Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc on-track again despite resolving their Sochi “misunderstanding”. Russian Grand Prix poleman Leclerc gave Vettel a tow at the start of the race and did not defend into the second corner, allowing Vettel to pass the Mercedes of Lewis

Paul Ricard, Spa and Sochi have emerged as possible venues for Formula 1’s Saturday qualifying race experiments in 2020 – provided all the teams agree the idea can go ahead. A change to next year’s FIA Sporting Regulations at this stage requires unanimity, and Autosport understands that more than one team remains opposed to the

Officially, 164 drivers have made just one grand prix start – a statistic slightly skewed by the anomalous Indianapolis 500s on the 1950s ‘Formula 1’ calendars. We’ve selected eight of the most intriguing tales for this video rundown. Jake Boxall-Legge explains the stories behind the man whose F1 career lasted just 800 metres, the one-hit

Toro Rosso drivers Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly believe Formula 1 rookie Naoki Yamamoto did “really well” and a “very good job” on his debut in Japanese Grand Prix practice. Reigning Super GT and Super Formula champion Yamamoto, a Honda-backed driver, stepped into Gasly’s car for FP1 at Suzuka. Yamamoto lapped 17th-fastest, 3.2s off the

Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg have explained why they ended up 17th and 18th at Suzuka in an FP2 session that could decide Formula 1’s Japanese Grand Prix grid. While the team has been on a strong run of getting its cars into Q3 since the summer break, it is still 33 points behind

Valtteri Bottas recovered from spinning on the run to Suzuka’s start/finish straight to continue setting the pace as Mercedes dominated second practice for Formula 1’s Japanese Grand Prix. Bottas was preparing to start the first flying lap of his qualifying simulation runs when he looped his W10 through the kink that follows the final chicane.

The top four in Autosport readers’ Formula 1 driver ratings have broken away from the chasing pack ahead of the final five races of the season. Mercedes’ reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton continues to lead the way and now has an average rating of 8.28, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, midfield star Carlos Sainz Jr

Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari is “ramping up” Charles Leclerc to be its new number one driver at Sebastian Vettel’s expense. Vettel started the season as Ferrari’s “priority” driver, but Leclerc has challenged that perception by outqualifying Vettel at the last nine races and claiming back-to-back wins in Belgium and Italy. Vettel

Kevin Magnussen says he remains perplexed by the “trigger happy” Formula 1 stewards’ actions in the Russian Grand Prix two weeks on. The Haas driver was given a five-second penalty at Sochi for not passing to the left of two cones in the run off area for Turn 2, after he ran off the track

It was almost inevitable that Max Verstappen’s arrival in to Formula 1 was going to be followed by attempts to get the Dutch Grand Prix back on the calendar. After years of speculation about possible street races or a move to Assen, it was the race’s original home of Zandvoort that finally got a deal

The Lotus 88 was a truly unique Formula 1 car, pioneering a twin-chassis design concept which aimed to take ground-effect aerodynamics to the next level. Developed by Colin Chapman, Peter Wright, Tony Rudd and Martin Ogilvie, the Lotus 88 debuted in practice at Long Beach for the 1981 season opening round, but was heavily protested

Formula 1 is bracing itself for potential disruption over the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, with it looking increasingly likely that Suzuka will be affected by super typhoon Hagibis. The Japanese Meteorology Agency says its latest forecast are for the typhoon to hit Japan on Saturday and Sunday – bringing with it violent winds and heavy

Pirelli says it is now in a position to nominate the 2020 specification of its Formula 1 tyres following a two-day test in Barcelona. Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes took part in the test, which was the final chance for Pirelli to trial its 2020 constructions. The contentious test had to be approved by the

Ferrari says it would only regret its failed 2019 Formula 1 title bid if it had not learned from the errors that caused it to miss opportunities this season. Charles Leclerc has risen to third in the championship during a stellar run of form that has included four consecutive pole positions, two wins, a second

Naoki Yamamoto will make his Formula 1 weekend debut driving for Toro Rosso in the Japanese Grand Prix’s first Friday practice session, as predicted by Autosport. Yamamoto will replace Pierre Gasly in FP1 at Suzuka this Friday, fulfilling Honda’s desire for a local driver to take part in the event the company supports financially. The

Formula 1 teams have been “pushed and pulled in many directions” as they develop next year’s cars while also beginning “limited” work on the major design change planned for 2021. While full technical regulations for 2021 will not be published until the end of October, teams have a rough idea of what the new designs

Haas Formula 1 team principal Gunther Steiner admits he will need his “thinking hat” to tackle the likely substantial drop in constructors’ championship prize money following his squad’s 2019 slump. Having taken a breakthrough fifth in the teams’ standings last season, Haas has endured a painful campaign this year and is currently down in ninth.

The McLaren Formula 1 team received plenty of mockery during its Honda years, and then when it switched to Renault but continued to flounder. But this year it’s regaining respectability and heading the midfield, and its recent announcement that it’s reuniting with Mercedes in 2021 was another statement of intent. Ben Anderson and Glenn Freeman

Five-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton says he has seen the data from simulations of how it will be easier for cars to follow in 2021 and it looks “great”. Hamilton has been a vocal critic of the process to establish F1’s new rules for 2021 and not held back in raising his concerns, which