Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake moves into the British Grand Prix after an unfortunate sprint weekend for the team in Austria, which saw them come away with no points to add to the tally. 

With Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas finishing twelfth and fifteenth respectively after each being promoted spots due to post-race track limits sanctions, Alfa Romeo Team Representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi felt that their performance in Austria was not to par with earlier rounds.

Bravi is optimistic, however, about their chances at Silverstone Circuit, where they will be bringing an “important” upgrade that he hopes can boost the team back into points contention.

“We head to Britain this week, after a challenging weekend in Austria, where our performances didn’t quite match what we had shown in previous races. 

“Still, we must keep our spirits up: we are bringing a new, important package to Silverstone, on which the team back at base in Hinwil has been working hard over the past months, and it’ll hopefully help us make our way back to the top ten.” 

Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake’s Valtteri Bottas said that the team was disappointed with the outcome of the Austrian Grand Prix overall, claiming zero points at the sprint weekend after finding solid results at previous rounds. The Finnish driver finished the sprint in last place, and crossed the line in sixteenth on race day. 

Starting from fourteenth place on Sunday, he took on the alternative tyre strategy by starting on hards. His race had a tumultuous start, however, with a first lap tangle that lost him crucial positions. 

The Virtual Safety Car played well to the advantage of the medium-runners as well, only adding to the misfortune of Bottas’ campaign at the Red Bull Ring. Bottas felt that these factors hindered him from making a recovery and “compromised” his race overall. 

“Undoubtedly, we expected more from Austria, as we were coming from a couple of decent results in a row. It was a tough one for the team, as we struggled throughout the whole weekend – and on top of that, also saw the Sunday race being compromised and thus our chances to recover through the field.”

Now turning his attention to the British Grand Prix, Bottas hopes that the new developments being introduced for their C43 can help the team rebuild some of the momentum they had prior to Austria. 

Max Verstappen’s superb 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season continued last weekend at the Red Bull Ring with his seventh victory of the year, and he will be aiming for number eight – and the sixth in a row – this weekend at Silverstone.

The Oracle Red Bull Racing driver has been in a class of his own for much of the season so far, and he already holds a substantial eighty-one point advantage at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.

Verstappen says he is curious to see how his RB19 will perform at Silverstone, which is the home event for Red Bull, and he is looking for another solid and clean performance in order to maintain his amazing form.

“Heading into another home race for us as a Team this weekend in Silverstone,” said Verstappen.  “It’s a great track to go to and I’m also curious to see how the RB19 will perform there.

“There’s always a good atmosphere with a lot of passionate racing fans around the whole track. Austria was an incredible weekend for us and hopefully we can have a strong weekend again in Silverstone, with a solid and clean performance.”

Andrea Stella insists the McLaren F1 Team will keep their feet on the ground despite Lando Norris’ excellent fourth place finish last weekend in Austria, the first event where the British racer ran with an upgraded MCL60 car.

McLaren had started the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season in mediocre fashion, and Technical Director James Key was released from his position within the team earlier in the year.

However, the updates to the car in Austria last weekend saw Norris challenge all day long within the top five, and the same updates will be made available this weekend at Silverstone for his team-mate Oscar Piastri.

Stella, the Team Principal at McLaren who is overseeing a big overhaul of the design team this year, hopes the form they showed in Austria can continue into the teams’ home race, but everyone within the team is remaining calm about their potential.

“The whole team is looking forward to McLaren’s home race and to get out on track in front of our home fans and many of our people,” said Stella.  “For many it is the only time they will have the opportunity to see our cars live on track.

Lando Norris heads to his home race at Silverstone this weekend on the back of his strongest performance of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season so far in Austria, and he hopes to build on that momentum with another good result.

The McLaren F1 Team driver ran inside the top five all afternoon at the Red Bull Ring and ended up fourth, Norris gaining a position post-race after a time penalty for Scuderia Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr.

McLaren will run a special Google Chrome livery this weekend as part of the team’s sixtieth anniversary, something Norris is excited about, and he is keen to put in another positive performance in front of his home fans.

“Silverstone, let’s go! It’s my home race, the team’s home race, and one of my favourite weekends of the whole year,” exclaimed Norris.  “The fans are amazing, and I can’t wait to see all the papaya in the crowd, particularly with the amazing Google Chrome livery we have on the car.

“The P4 in Austria was such a feel-good moment for everyone. The car felt good, and I enjoyed racing some of the front running cars. I want to thank the team back at the factory once again for working hard on this upgrade package.

Toto Wolff says it is pleasing for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team to get back on track this weekend at Silverstone so soon after their ‘bruising’ weekend in Austria.

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished only seventh and eighth at the Red Bull Ring last weekend, the pace of the W14 not as strong as it had appeared in the previous two race weekends in Spain and Canada.

Wolff, the Team Principal at Mercedes, says the battle behind Oracle Red Bull Racing, which also includes Scuderia Ferrari and the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team this season, appears to fluctuate from race to race, and it is up to them to improve to ensure it is them who come out on top.

“We’re pleased to get back racing after a bruising weekend in Austria,” said Wolff.  “We scored a handful of points, but we didn’t have the pace for much more.

“The field behind Red Bull is incredibly close and also fluctuating each weekend. Some of this is circuit-specific, and some the upgrade cycle across the grid. We fell on the wrong side of this equation in Spielberg, but we’ve got a chance to bounce back immediately.

The Porsche 917 is a legendary race car that left an indelible mark on the motorsport world. Here are some key details about the Porsche 917:

1. Racing Dominance: The Porsche 917 achieved great success in endurance racing, most notably at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It made its debut in 1969 and went on to secure consecutive victories at Le Mans in 1970 and 1971. These victories cemented its place as one of the most iconic race cars in history.

2. Power and Performance: The Porsche 917 was renowned for its exceptional power and performance. It featured a range of engines, including a flat-12 configuration, with displacements ranging from 4.5 to 6.6 liters. Some versions of the 917 produced over 1,000 horsepower, allowing it to reach incredible speeds on the race track.

3. Innovative Design: The design of the Porsche 917 was revolutionary for its time. It had a low-slung profile, a distinctive aerodynamic shape, and a sleek tail design that varied between short and long versions. These design elements were aimed at optimizing speed, stability, and handling on the track.

4. Technical Challenges: The Porsche 917 presented significant technical challenges due to its immense power and aerodynamics. It required skilled drivers and meticulous engineering to harness its potential. Over time, Porsche worked to refine and improve the car's handling characteristics, resulting in even greater success on the race track.

After running a pair of Dakar Rallies on two wheels, Olaf Harmsen will be on four wheels for the 2024 edition. On Wednesday, Gaia Motorsports announced Harmsen has joined the team as the co-driver to Jeffrey Otten.

Harmsen made his Dakar début in 2020, but crashed out after three stages while trying to pass another rider. Later in the year, he entered the Andalucía Rally in the top level RallyGP class and finished twenty-sixth, which set up a return to Dakar in 2021. Riding for BAS World KTM, Harmsen successfully completed the race in fifty-seventh overall and forty-sixth in the G2 category (predecessor to the current Rally2). Plans to race the 2023 Dakar Rally were dropped due to a lingering shoulder injury from a serious motorcycle accident in 2008, which also forced him to abandon the 2022 Rallye du Maroc after two days of racing.

He started his career in motorcycle road racing from 2001 to 2007 before switching to motocross and supermoto with some speedway, while he entered rally in 2018. Outside of motorsport, he works in real estate.

“Looking forward to this new challenge as a navigator instead of a motorcyclist,” said Harmsen.

Otten hailed from a rally bike background like Harmsen before suffering severe injuries in a 2018 crash that prompted a transition to cars. He ran his first Dakar in 2022 in a Can-Am and finished twenty-seventh among SSVs (categorised today under T4). At the 2023 race, Otten broke his wrist in Stage #13 but reached the finish twenty-second overall in T4 with a best daily run of twentieth in Stage #9. Otten put his Can-Am up for sale after the rally as he plans to move up to T3 for 2024.

Ott Tänak will be showing off the Ford Puma Rally1 machine for his home crowd this Saturday as he enters the Louna-Eesti Ralli to prepare and test for the upcoming Rally Estonia two weeks later.

Louna-Eesti Ralli or as it is named in English, the South Estonian Rally will be featuring three special stages Ruusmae, Kundja, and Riidmae that will be run three times covering about 70 kilometers in total throughout the day, the rally has one of the go-to in preparation for the FIA World Rally Championship round and you can see that it´s popular as there are two Rally1 cars on the entries.

Tänak drove the event last time in 2020 when it was one of the first rallies to be hosted after the massive COVID-19 pandemic outbreak that year. and won the event in a Hyundai i20 WRC fielded by Hyundai Motorsport. That year there was also a huge entry of WRC cars by Toyota Gazoo Racing and M-Sport Ford as well, with Kalle Rovanperä, Elfyn Evans, and Sebastien Ogier were entered for Toyota while Esapekka Lappi was the sole M-Sport entry, Theirry Neuville was also presented there in a second Hyundai and local driver Georg Gross was entered in a private Ford Fiesta WRC machine, becoming one of the strongest WRC fields in a national level event in a long time.

Tänak will not be the only one going there to prepare for the upcoming round. Hyundai Motorsport has entered Teemu Suninen who will test ahead of his Rally1 debut in a Hyundai i20 N Rally1 in Rally Estonia Another familiar name from Estonia to enter is Robert Virves in a Ford Fiesta Rally2 fielded by the former Hyundai WRC2 factory team RedGrey Racing, Raul Jeets in a Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo and former FIA European Rallycross Championship regular Andri Oun in a Subaru Impreza.

Besides the rally this weekend, it is also a busy week for the teams as both Toyota and M-Sport have been spotted testing the cars in South Estonia while Hyundai is told to do their testing around the home base in Finland.

Sami Pajari from Finland was about to make his drifting debut in the Drift Masters European Championship at Mika Salo Circuit, Power Park in Finland this weekend but unfortunately, he announced earlier today that he has been forced to retire from the event before it even started.

The 2021 Junior WRC champion was about to become the next FIA World Rally Championship star from Finland to be joining drifting after the success of the reigning WRC champion Kalle Rovanperä who made his DMEC debut in Mondello Park, Ireland last year but the dream was halted due an unexpected circumstance.

In an announcement on social media, Pajari said the car he was going to rent for the event had suffered some technical issues and will not be solved in time for the weekend but was happy to receive an invitation and do hope for more opportunities like this in the future.

Heading to the weekend as a leader is the Irishman Duane McKeever who has stood on the podium twice this season, he took the third spot in his home event followed up by a second place in Sweden last time out. For the Finnish fans, there is much to cheer on for the weekend as the fan favorite Lauri Heinonen with the Dodge V8 NASCAR-powered Nissan is currently in second followed by Juha Rintanen who won last time out in Sweden.

Rovanperä is currently in 29th overall after only competing in one round so far this season in Sweden where he lost out in the Top 32 run.

Gregoire Munster from Luxembourg is rumored to be joining the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team in the Rally1 category for Rally Chile when the FIA World Rally Championship is returning to the South American country after a four-year hiatus.

According to the Belgian publication Autosport Wereld, Munster will be entering a Ford Puma Rally1 for the British outfit in Chile at the end of September. Earlier it was known there might come such opportunities because Munster is supported by the Greek/Belgian driver Jourdan Serderidis.

Serderidis got himself his own Rally1 car at the beginning of last year which he used last time during Safari Rally Kenya about two weeks ago. Now the Greek born businessman has decided it is time to let younger drivers get the chance as he most recently announced he will retire from WRC at the end of this season. Same as Munster, Serderidis is also living in Luxembourg and knows the Munster family very well.

The performance of Munster in the WRC has been poor so far this year. The best result is seventh place in the WRC2 class in Rally Italia Sardegna at the beginning of June. Last season, however, Munster celebrated a class win in WRC2 in Rally Japan with his private run Hyundai i20 N Rally2 and was a respectable seventh in the overall standing as well before joining M-Sport this year for a mixed program of WRC2 and Junior WRC outings.

Earlier it was also confirmed that the local hero Alberto Heller will also be going for a shot in the Rally1 category within the team, so the team will be fielding four cars if Munster is coming. Ott Tänak and Pierre-Louis Loubet are the only full-time drivers this season.

McLaren Racing, in partnership with Google, has announced a special Chrome livery for the McLaren MCL60 F1 cars, set to debut at the upcoming 2023 British Grand Prix. This unique livery pays homage to McLaren’s beloved chrome design, which adorned their cars from 2006 to 2014, during a period that saw Lewis Hamilton clinch the Driver’s World Championship in 2008, coinciding with the launch of Google’s revolutionary Chrome browser.

This special Chrome livery forms part of McLaren’s ongoing 60th-anniversary celebrations, which have seen the team revisit various heritage liveries, including a tribute to the iconic Triple Crown achievement. Throughout the entire British Grand Prix race weekend, both MCL60 race cars will proudly display the Chrome livery. McLaren F1 Team driver Lando Norris will also embrace the occasion with a specially designed helmet and bespoke boots, while both Lando and teammate Oscar Piastri will sport unique race suits.

The grand unveiling of the livery took place on 3 July at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, with Norris, Piastri, and McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown in attendance.

Commenting on the collaboration, Brown expressed his excitement, saying, “It’s no secret that racing fans love McLaren’s classic chrome livery. Google Chrome wanted to bring back elements of this iconic livery to celebrate our team’s history at the British Grand Prix, and we’re excited to be able to give our fans what they want.”

Nick Drake, VP Global Marketing at Google, also shared his enthusiasm for the project, stating, “It’s been a privilege for the Google Chrome team to work with McLaren on bringing back elements of an iconic livery to inspire this takeover. We were delighted with the fans’ reaction to the branded wheel covers that introduced our partnership, and now Google Chrome is putting chrome back on the McLaren for its home race. We’re looking forward to Silverstone and hope all McLaren fans enjoy what promises to be a really exciting weekend of racing.”

The iconic 1991 Le Mans-winning Mazda 787B will make a thrilling comeback at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, enthralling spectators with its unmatched performance. Driven by Johnny Herbert, the famous ‘Renown’-liveried Mazda will take on the hill on Saturday, 15 July, and Sunday, 16 July.

Fresh from recent demonstrations at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Le Mans Classic, the Mazda 787B is set to make its first appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed since 2015. As part of the centenary celebration of the world’s most famous endurance race, the Mazda 787B will join other renowned Le Mans contenders and winners.

The 1991 Le Mans victory was a defining moment in Mazda’s history, as it became the first Japanese manufacturer to conquer the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Mazda 787B’s distinctive ‘Renown’ livery will grace the Festival of Speed, captivating spectators with its performance. Johnny Herbert, alongside former Grand Prix driver Karun Chandhok and ex-Mazda IMSA factory driver Harry Tincknell, will take turns behind the wheel.

The Mazda rotary engine played a pivotal role in the 1991 Le Mans triumph, exemplifying Mazda’s relentless pursuit of innovation. With its four-rotor R26B engine’s unforgettable roar, the Mazda 787B completed 362 laps, making only 28 pit stops for minimal maintenance. This victory showcased the reliability, efficiency, and performance of Mazda’s rotary engine technology.

Driven by Herbert, Volker Weidler, and Bertrand Gachot, the Mazda 787B steadily climbed the ranks from twenty-third place on the grid. By the halfway point of the race, it secured third place, ultimately inheriting the lead following the retirement of the leading Mercedes-Benz. The victory marked a monumental achievement, as it was the last opportunity for a rotary engine to win at Le Mans before it was banned in 1992.

Renowned actor and singer-songwriter Damian Lewis has been announced as the performer of the National Anthem at the upcoming Formula 1 Aramco 2023 British Grand Prix. Lewis, who recently released his debut album ‘Mission Creep,’ will perform on Sunday, 9 July, at Silverstone.

Having garnered acclaim for his soulful and eclectic compositions, Damian Lewis has quickly made a name for himself in the music industry. With sold-out shows in London and appearances at renowned festivals, his talent has been widely recognized.

Fans attending the British Grand Prix will have the opportunity to witness Lewis on Saturday, 8 July, where he will also entertain the crowd with a live performance alongside his band in the paddock after qualifying.

Damian Lewis expressed his gratitude and excitement, saying, “Never in a million years did I think I’d be singing the National Anthem or playing a gig with my band at the British Grand Prix. It’s so special, with a unique festival atmosphere, and I’m honoured to have been asked.”

The British Grand Prix, a sporting calendar highlight, has already sold out with an estimated 480,000 fans expected to attend throughout the weekend. Lewis’s performance of the National Anthem on race day will further enhance the electric atmosphere at Silverstone, captivating millions of viewers worldwide.

BBR Motorsport fields Can-Ams in the World Rally-Raid Championship, but will now add an MCE-5 T3M. During the 2024 Dakar Rally presentation at Château de Lastours in France, the team revealed a new partnership with MCE-5 Development that will begin at the Rallye du Maroc on 13–18 October. The Moroccan rally is frequently used as a final test before the Dakar Rally.

The French outfit, operating under the full name Team BBR / Pole Position 77 (the latter an automotive parts store in Vert-Saint-Denis), runs Can-Am Mavericks in the W2RC’s T3 and T4 classes. At the 2023 season-opening Dakar Rally, the team fielded T3 cars for Claude Fournier and husband and wife Enio and Pâmela Bozzano, along with a T4 for Eric Abel. Fournier finished eighteenth overall whereas Pâmela was thirty-second and Enio two spots back, while Abel placed thirteenth in T4.

Although in his seventies, making him the oldest male driver in the championship, Fournier has run all three W2RC rounds so far in 2023 and was the lone BBR driver at the two post-Dakar races. He finished ninth in T3 at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and eleventh at the Sonora Rally.

While Fournier was competing at Sonora, the team fielded nine Can-Ams at the concurrent Morocco Desert Challenge. Gunter Hinkelmann led the group by finishing fourth overall in the SSV class ahead of Davy Huguet (thirteenth), Rodrigo Varela (sixteenth), Anthony Erard (thirty-ninth), Ulrich Caradot (fifty-first), Stéphane Cuttat (fifty-second), and Franck Thomas (fifty-ninth); Christophe Ghidinelli and Frédéric Murat retired from the event.

MCE-5’s T3M was designed by Cyrille Constensou, who previously developed the Dakar Rally-winning Peugeot 3008 and Volkswagen Touareg. The company specialises in environmentally friendly powertrain technology and has an alliance with Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team; through this deal, Mitch Guthrie races a T3M in the W2RC’s T3 category, where he won the Sonora Rally. Like BBR, Red Bull is still primarily a Can-Am team despite the T3M.