Fernando Alonso is “completely fit” and will be ready to drive in Formula 1 pre-season testing next week after recovering from a cycling accident, according to Alpine’s CEO. Two-time world champion Alonso is set to make his F1 comeback this year with Alpine, having not made a grand prix start since his final appearance for
Hyundai boss Andrea Adamo has congratulated the manner in which his team bounced back from its round one World Rally Championship disappointment to win last weekend’s Arctic Rally. Adamo demanded better from his colleagues in Finland after the defence of their manufacturers’ title kicked off in poor fashion at January’s Rallye Monte-Carlo, which the Italian
10:40 AM ET Lewis Hamilton insists his future in Formula One will not rest on securing an eighth title this year, saying championship success is no longer his key motivation. 1 Related The seven-time world champion chose to commit to a single-year contract with his Mercedes team for 2021, meaning his future in F1 beyond
Mercedes has no intention of “flirting” with other drivers over potential future race seats until it knows what is happening with its current Formula 1 line-up. With both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas only signing one-year contract extensions with the team, the German manufacturer could find itself exposed for 2022 if either of them move
Ex-Formula 1 racer Romain Grosjean says he’s made “good progress” in becoming accustomed to the driving style necessary for IndyCar, after a solid day of testing at Laguna Seca. Over the course of 106 laps, Dale Coyne Racing’s Grosjean ran five sets of tyres, with the team having the rookie practice going fast while fuel
MotoGP 2020 runner-up Franco Morbidelli says “nothing will change” between himself and Valentino Rossi as Petronas SRT team-mates as “nothing is as big as friendship”. Morbidelli’s mentor and nine-time grand prix world champion Rossi will continue his MotoGP career into a 26th season in 2021 with SRT after losing his factory Yamaha place to Fabio
5:46 AM ET Mercedes has launched the car Lewis Hamilton will attempt to defend his Formula One world title with this year. The first images of the new W12 were released by Mercedes on Tuesday morning ahead of a launch event streamed live from the team’s new race bays at its factory in Brackley. The
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto is hopeful Formula 1 can finalise the details for its sprint race plan in 2021, calling the proposal “promising”. F1 is planning to stage sprint races on the Saturday of three grands prix in 2021, identifying Canada, Italy and Brazil as the trial events. The proposal would see a 100km
Ott Tanak has extended his lead in the Arctic Rally, round 2 of the World Rally Championship, after claiming two wins out of the three stages on the morning loop. The Estonian, driving Hyundai’s i20 WRC car, now holds a 23.6-second advantage over the Toyota of Kalle Rovanpera, who has passed the Hyundai of Craig
Petronas SRT team principal Razlan Razali admits his squad appeared “more upset” at losing the 2020 MotoGP title than Yamaha was, but stresses this situation has been “addressed”. Fabio Quartararo was Yamaha’s leading rider for much of the 2020 season, with his three victories keeping him in the lead of the championship until the Aragon
As the series draws closer to ‘The Big Finale’, the makers of Tooned fill us in on where they found inspiration for this unique 50th anniversary series, and give us a peek into the recording studio to reveal the voices behind the characters. Find out more here: http://www.mclaren.com/tooned Subscribe to our channel and never miss
Haas boss Gunther Steiner says the team has abandoned development of its 2021 Formula 1 car in a move it says carries some “risk” of dropping it down the order. The American-owned team has made an early call on how to use its restricted aero testing resources, switching its focus fully to its 2022 car
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville says he is sure the language barrier that surfaced with co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe at Arctic Rally Finland can be resolved before the Croatian World Rally Championship round. Wydaeghe’s pronunciation of instructions at the snow event were hampered by intercom issues on Saturday morning’s opening loop of stages, with this leading Neuville to
Petronas SRT team director Johan Stigefelt doesn’t believe nine-time grand prix world champion Valentino Rossi will have less pressure on him as a satellite MotoGP rider in 2021. For the first time in his career, Rossi will not race a Yamaha in its factory colours after agreeing a one-year deal with SRT for 2021, but
12:23 PM ET Formula One rookie Nikita Mazepin believes he has done enough to move on from the controversy surrounding his name and, in his first interview since the incident in December, insisted he has learned from what happened. 1 Related Haas driver Mazepin, 21, posted a video to his Instagram on Dec. 9 which
Former W Series champion Jamie Chadwick will remain at the Williams Formula 1 team for a third year as development driver. The young Briton, who originally joined the Grove-based outfit in the position in 2019, will have an expanded simulator programme alongside her work at the factory and experience being with the team at grands
William Byron dominated the NASCAR Cup race at Homestead for Hendrick Motorsports to record his first victory of the season and ensure a playoff place. Byron, who started the first 1.5-mile oval race of the 2021 season 31st in a field of 38 runners, quickly moved up through the pack to run consistently within the
Hyundai’s Ott Tanak claimed victory on the Arctic Rally to kickstart his 2021 World Rally Championship campaign, beating Kalle Rovanpera who becomes the youngest-ever leader of the drivers’ championship. The final day consisted of two passes through the 22.47km Aittajarvi stage and Toyota managed a 1-2 result on its morning run as Elfyn Evans claimed
Petronas SRT has become the latest MotoGP team to unveil the livery its 2021 challengers will race in the new season with revised line-up of Franco Morbidelli and Valentino Rossi. The 2021 season will be SRT’s third in the premier class, with the Yamaha satellite team in its short tenure already a six-time race winner.
5:07 AM ET Inaugural W Series champion Jamie Chadwick will remain a development driver for Williams for the 2021 season with an increased simulator programme, the Formula One team said on Monday. Williams said the 22-year-old, whose success in the all-female series boosted her profile in 2019, would “continue to be fully immersed within the
Sergio Perez believes his chance at Red Bull this season will help “open many doors” for him in Formula 1 in the future. The Mexican had faced the risk of being left on the F1 sidelines this year after his former Racing Point team elected to terminate his contract and replace him with Sebastian Vettel.
Ott Tanak has revealed he had to push his engineers to deliver a winning car for the Arctic Rally in Finland. Tanak bounced back from his Rallye Monte-Carlo misdemeanours by taking a comprehensive victory around Rovaniemi. Despite easing off slightly in the closing stages, the Hyundai i20 Coupe driver finished with a 17.5s cushion over
Bahrain has announced that it is planning to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to those travelling for Formula 1 testing and the grand prix in March. Bahrain is set to host F1’s sole pre-season test from 12-14 March before the season-opening race at the Bahrain International Circuit from 26-28 March. Bahrain currently has one of the highest
AJ Foyt Racing’s technical director Mike Colliver says Sebastien Bourdais’ talent, experience and attitude, and the engineering group “pulling in the same direction”, has resulted in the IndyCar team’s improvements. Bourdais, who joined AJ Foyt Racing part-time for 2020 and is a full-timer for ’21, topped this week’s 12-car test at Barber Motorsports Park when
Kalle Rovanpera believes Toyota need to be “clever” in the build-up to the next WRC round after losing out due to numerous issues at Arctic Rally Finland. Rovanpera said the Toyota team had learned a valuable lesson on the newest addition to the WRC calendar, having tested extensively for the Rovaniemi-based event, but struggled to
Valentino Rossi begins the next chapter of his illustrious MotoGP career as he makes his first public appearance with Petronas SRT at its team launch ahead of the 2021 season. Remarkably, 2021 will be Rossi’s 26th season in the grand prix racing – having made his full-time 125cc debut in 1996 – and his 22nd
11:23 AM ET Associated Press HELSINKI — Hannu Mikkola, the 1983 rally world champion and one of Finland’s rally greats who earned the nickname the “Flying Finn” and international renown in a driving career spanning more than 30 years, has died. He was 78. Mikkola’s son Vesa Mikkola, a former rally driver, tweeted Saturday that
Charles Leclerc says he would love to enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Ferrari if an opportunity were to arise with its newly-announced Hypercar programme. Ferrari announced on Wednesday that it would be returning to the premier class of sportscar racing in 2023 by entering the Le Mans Hypercar class of the World
Thierry Neuville has struggled with his Hyundai’s intercom system during the World Rally Championship stages at Arctic Rally Finland, also citing communication issues with his co-driver. The electrical glitch contributed to Neuville surrendering a significant chunk of time to Evans on this morning’s opening loop, with the Belgian’s stronghold over fourth place trimmed from 12.5
Pol Espargaro admits the pressure to learn how to ride the Honda MotoGP bike in the Qatar test will be “high” without Marc Marquez present to use as a reference. The six-time MotoGP podium finisher joins the factory Honda squad from KTM in 2021, but will have just five days to get to know the