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Daniel Ricciardo believes Visa Cash App RB had top ten pace after failing to reach Q3 at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix.

Ricciardo was showing signs of good pace throughout Q1 and Q2 – going ninth in the first part of qualifying and being sixth at one point before being knocked out. The Australian driver could be set for a move back to Oracle Red Bull Racing so he needs a strong weekend for that possibility to rise, and his performance throughout qualifying certainly showed he’s been improving after a tricky start to the 2024 season.

Speaking to F1TV, Ricciardo spoke about his qualifying: “I reflect quite fondly on the session. I don’t love thirteenth – I do feel like we were better than that. It was a call we made, it didn’t seem like a silly one but it just didn’t work out for us. 

“Q2 in the first run, we were in the top ten but rain started to come so we wanted to set the time now incase the rain got heavier and the track got slower, do everything we can, we improved a little bit but the rain stayed light enough that everyone was able to improve. We were back in the garage and that’s when we got knocked out.

“For sure, it’s frustrating but I don’t argue with our train of thought up to the moment. If it rains heavier then we look like the good guys so it just didn’t work out for us. I’m happy with the pace we had; I feel like every time we set a representative time, we were a top ten car. We didn’t get rewarded with it but I felt like we did a good job.”

Niclas Grönholm has taken a sensational victory in the third round of the 2024 FIA World Rallycross Championship. The Finnish driver secured a hard-fought victory at the “Red Cauldron” of Nyirád, taking the first victory for the electric powered cars in the “Battle of Technologies.”

The battle between internal combustion engine (ICE) and electric cars provided scintillating racing throughout the day in Hungary. Following Grönholm in the final in second was the first ICE car across the line with Ole Christian Veiby at the wheel. Local hero Jankó Wieszt survived the carnage of the final to secure a superb podium finish on his world rallycross debut.

The drama in the final started at the first corner. Kevin Hansen got a superb start in his Peugeot 208 RX1e, sending it up the inside of reigning champion Johan Kristoffersson. Unfortunately, he was sending it into a gap that was never really there. Kristoffersson defended his position in the VW Polo KMS 601 RX, and, with neither driver giving an inch, both cars ended up in the barrier. Both Kristoffersson and Hansen were out with terminal damage, with Hansen later disqualified for causing the collision.

Meanwhile, at the next corner, Timmy Hansen came to grief with eventual race winner Grönholm. Hansen was in the lead with Grönholm tucked in behind. There was minor contact between the two, with Grönholm backing out of the move before the corner itself. However, the momentum of the touch was enough to spin Hansen round, blocking Kristoffersson and further impeding his progress, while Grönholm, Veiby and Wieszt were free to disappear into the distance.

Kevin Hansen will be disappointed in how his day came to an end, especially because he had been on blinding form until then, having won both of his heats and his semi-final. Kristoffersson too had overcome difficulties earlier in the day, registering as a DNF in his second heat race due to mechanical problems.

Yuki Tsunoda is set to help Daniel Ricciardo in qualifying after it was confirmed that the Japanese driver would take a grid penalty at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix that will see him start at the back of the grid.

Visa Cash App RB haven’t quite been top of the midfield this weekend – both drivers have been very promising in both Sector One and Sector Three, but their times have been compromised by RB being the worst performing car in Sector Two. Tsunoda hasn’t been particularly quick this weekend so far, and was six tenths behind Ricciardo in Free Practice One and over four tenths behind the Australian in Free Practice Two.

Tsunoda is hoping for rain on Saturday in qualifying, but has admitted whatever happens, he’ll be trying to help Ricciardo try and get into a good position for the race on Sunday with the team concentrating on staying in sixth in the Constructors Championship.

Speaking to Will Buxton (quotes via PlanetF1) Tsunoda said: “Normally we perform well in the rain. For now, I prefer rain, but any condition, I’ll just focus on what I can help for Daniel — slipstreaming or whatever.”

Tsunoda also revealed he had some issues with his VCARB01, which might be the reason for the deficit to Ricciardo in both Free Practice sessions. Luckily the team will be able to find the issue in the final hour of practice on Saturday morning.

Max Verstappen says that Oracle Red Bull Racing will focus on the race rather than qualifying at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix.

Verstappen had a dream start to his weekend, dominating Free Practice One by over half a second and setting the pace on both tyre compounds – softs and the hards. However, the tide turned in the second practice session of the day as McLaren F1 Team found pace and pushed the Dutchman down to third. With a ten-place grid penalty looming on race day for taking his fifth Internal Combustion Engine of the season, Verstappen faces an uphill battle to convert strong pace into a race win or podium, despite having overcome a similar penalty to win here previously.

The pressure is on Verstappen – he hasn’t won since Spain. The three-time world champion’s lead in the Drivers Championship has been cut down by Lando Norris in the last few races and the grid penalty could see his lead cut even shorter this weekend.

Verstappen said: “We tried quite a few things because it’s typically Spa where you have sector one and sector three where you want the top speed but it’s still a very long middle sector where you want cornering speed and it’s still very tricky to find the right balance,” he said afterwards.

“So, we are trying a few things to see what is better and we’ll look at it of course now in the data and analyse. We started out quite positive today, second practice was perhaps not quite as good. 

Lewis Hamilton is hoping for a wet qualifying at Spa Francorchamps as he believes the W15 performs better in difficult conditions.

Hamilton wasn’t too pleased after Free Practice One and Free Practice Two with how the car was performing. The seven time world champion was fifth in the first hour of practice, tenth in the second and also found himself behind his teammate, George Russell, in both sessions.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team have been looking much improved lately, winning two of the last three races at Silverstone and the Red Bull Ring, but their pace at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix so far isn’t looking likely to challenge Oracle Red Bull Racing and McLaren F1 Team.

Speaking to F1TV, Hamilton said: “It’s a pretty bad day, I don’t really know what to say! It’s been feeling great in the past couple of races, it just felt completely different today. 

“We worked on it , the first session was not great but then in the second session, it started off great but when we got onto the soft tyre it just didn’t improve. There was a bunch of balance issues we had through the lap but it was better in FP2 but everyone else just went better. To be 1.2 seconds behind isn’t great.”

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri set the pace in Free Practice Two for the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix, ahead of Max Verstappen, who dominated the first session earlier in the day.

The drivers got onto track for a second hour of running at Circuit de Spa Francochamps and the weekend is set to get even better with rain expected on Saturday and Championship leader Verstappen set to take a 10-place grid penalty, potentially giving Norris and McLaren F1 Team the chance to move closer to Verstappen in both Championships. 

Norris, Piastri and Verstappen rounded out the top three and it was Scuderia Ferrari that looked like the third quickest team, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. rounding out the top five. George Russell was the lead Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team driver in sixth, ahead of Esteban Ocon, who recently announced he’ll be driving for MoneyGram Haas F1 Team in 2025 after his departure BWT Alpine F1 Team at the end of 2024.

Kevin Magnussen, who is without a race seat in 2025 as it stands, popped up in eight for Haas, ahead of Sergio Pérez. The Mexican has almost a second off Verstappen in Free Practice One and it was the same story in the second practice session on a weekend where he needs to perform or he may potentially be replaced in the second half of the 2024 season.

Lewis Hamilton was the last driver inside the top ten, ahead of Lance Stroll, who was just +0.006s quicker than his teammate, Fernando Alonso.

Nani Roma will get a swan song in the Ford Ranger T1+ before taking over the Ford Raptor T1+ for good starting in August. Due to an injury sustained by his friend Daniel Alonso, Roma was a last-second addition to the Baja España Aragón that began Friday.

Roma helped test the Ford Ranger in 2023, then a collaboration between M-Sport and Neil Woolridge Motorsport that had been in the works since 2022. The car then made its competition début at that year’s Baja Aragón with Roma and Gareth Woolridge, the former finishing ninth, followed by a third at the World Rally-Raid Championship’s Rallye du Maroc. At the Dakar Rally in January, Roma scored a best stage finish of ninth in Stage #11 but was at the bottom of the overall due to mechanical failures.

M-Sport and NWM ended their relationship afterwards as the former, whom Roma and Ford Performance are tied to, focused on developing the Raptor. NWM elected to continue with the Ranger, building an upgraded model for competition in the South African Rally-Raid Championship with Past-Racing as a global partner.

Unveiled in mid-July at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Raptor’s first race will be the Hungarian Baja on 8–11 August. As he’ll have to wait a fortnight until then, Roma was asked by Alonso and Past-Racing to fill in at Aragón. M-Sport gave their blessngs, allowing him and co-driver Alex Haro to return to their old confines.

“Daniel Alonso called me and asked me if I was willing to do the Baja, as he is not fully recovered from the injury he suffered a few days ago,” Roma explained. “The objective is to continue to develop the Ranger T1+, which I know very well as it is identical to the one I drove until the last Dakar. Matthew Wilson (M-Sport boss) authorised me to drive, and here we are. It will be a good preparation for both Alex and me ahead of the Hungarian Baja in two weeks’ time, where we will be using the Raptor T1+ for the first time.”

Michel Hardy, who was on hand for the first ever Dakar Rally in 1979, died on 10 July at the age of 68.

At the inaugural Paris–Dakar Rally, Hardy was the mechanic on the #137 Range Rover V8 piloted by Patrick Barbier with Jean-Louis Dieude as co-driver. However, they failed to reach the finish.

He did not compete at the race again until 1986, when he teamed up with Alain Piatek and Serge Samson to drive the #636 Tatra 815; it was imported in 1985, initially with a 300-horsepower V10 engine that was upgraded to a 550-hp V12 capable of 170 kilometres per hour. Although it was rapid assistance truck, the entry marked the first time a Tatra appeared at the Dakar as the Czech manufacturer began sale to foreign customers. Hardy continued in the role through the decade, working with competitors like a Bosset and Ragot.

Piatek wrote on social media Friday, “Michel Hardy, companion on Tatra and first Dakar, has gone ahead on his last journey…”

His service took place on 16 July in Vence.

Max Verstappen dominated Free Practice One at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix, as the Dutchman was half a second quicker than Oscar Piastri in second place. Alex Albon showed some surprising pace, going third quickest.

Esteban Ocon was told to pit after they spotted a water leak issue on his out-lap, and he failed to get back onto track for the rest of the session

Daniel Ricciardo had a spin at La Source after touching the kerb on the exit of the corner. The Australian managed to avoid the barrier and get going on the hard tyre. 

After ten minutes of the session, Max Verstappen was at the top of the timesheets ahead of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, with Lewis Hamilton just behind in fourth. The Scuderia Ferrari drivers then went fourth and fifth as they look to try and challenge at the front again after a difficult few race weekends. 

George Russell was the first soft tyre runner and went top of the times, before Verstappen moved back to the top. Pérez was the next driver to set a quick lap but the Mexican was almost a second behind his teammate. Ricciardo went seventh fastest, setting a purple sector one and almost seven tenths quicker than Yuki Tsunoda, who will start from the back of the grid on Sunday. 

Barring a sudden development on the frontlines in the coming months, 2025 will be the third year that the Dakar Rally does not feature Russian or Belarusian teams. Although Truck powerhouse KAMAZ-master is still barred from contending for a twentieth Dakar victory, team boss Eduard Nikolaev believes sentiment in Europe is leaning towards letting them back.

“We are not against returning (to Dakar),” Nikolaev told state-owned media outlet RIA Novosti. “The Europeans really want us to return. We are constantly in communication and talking with them. The team is in shape and ready to fight for the title.”

The FIA implemented restrictions on Russian teams following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a month after Dmitry Sotnikov led a KAMAZ podium sweep of the Truck class at Dakar. Under the policy, Russian and Belarusian racers must agree to condemn the invasion and to not sport their respective nation’s insignia; KAMAZ, whose parent company is partly owned by the Russian government and provides vehicles for the Russian military, unsurprisingly rejected the terms.

The team lost many of their foreign backers in the wake of the invasion, most notably Red Bull, prompting the switch to domestic suppliers. Since then, KAMAZ has focused exclusively on the Russian Rally-Raid Championship.

Earlier in July, Sotnikov won the Silk Way Rally, the premier rally raid in the country, in a 1–2 finish for KAMAZ with Nikolaev in tow. The latter held off 2023 winner Siarhei Viazovich of rival MAZ-SPORTauto, a Belarusian outfit also prohibited from racing the Dakar; the two had nearly collided head-on during the third stage. Nikolaev won four stages.

Esteban Ocon is delighted to be joining MoneyGram Haas F1 Team from the start of the 2025 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season after the news was confirmed on Thursday morning.

Ocon’s departure from BWT Alpine F1 Team was announced earlier in the season, and the announcement came after an incident with his teammate, Pierre Gasly, at the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix, which left team principal Bruno Famin unhappy with the Frenchman. 

Ocon will now move onto a new chapter in his Formula 1 career with Haas in a completely new lineup alongside Ollie Bearman. 

After confirmation of the move, Ocon said: “I am thrilled to embark on this new chapter in my Formula 1 career and join MoneyGram Haas F1 Team from the start of the 2025 season.” 

“I’ll be joining a very ambitious racing team, whose spirit, work ethic, and undeniable upward trajectory has really impressed me. I’d like to thank Gene Haas and Ayao Komatsu for their trust and support, and for our honest and fruitful discussions these last few months. 

Zhou Guanyu thinks the updates introduced by Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber are a step in the right direction despite the team still not getting off the mark in the Constructors Championship. 

Despite Valtteri Bottas being the only drive at Sauber to receive the upgrades, Zhou is pleased with the progress that the team have made after they introduced a new set of updates at the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix. Heading into the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix Sauber are set to introduce more upgrades and despite not receiving them, Zhou is hoping it’ll be another step in the right direction. 

Speaking to F1TV, Zhou said: “It was only Valtteri’s car [that had the upgrades] so I’ve had the same car from Silverstone. 

“He’s making another further upgrade this weekend, and we need to see if that makes another step because clearly it was a step in the right direction as we can see some gain throughout the entire weekend with everything in place.”

Zhou is under pressure to keep his place in Formula 1 with options on the 2025 grid continuing to fall away from him. Despite neither driver scoring points, Bottas has certainly got the better of the Chinese driver, and that’s the reason that its unlikely he’ll be kept on at Sauber in 2025 alongside Nico Hülkenberg.

Much like Nasser Al-Attiyah, Yasir Seaidan will race in the Challenger category for the first time at this weekend’s Baja España Aragón. In fact, Al-Attiyah’s crew will be with Seaidan every step of the way as his #357 Taurus T3 Max will be prepared by Nasser Racing Camp.

Seaidan is currently second in the World Rally-Raid Championship’s SSV standings with one race to go. He had led the points for much of the season before a Stage #1 retirement at the Desafío Ruta 40 in June dropped him behind Sebastián Guayasamín by six. The top three, with DR 40 winner Ricardo Ramilo in third, are separated by just twenty points.

Aragón will be his first FIA World Baja Cup start since 2021 when he finished second in the championship to fellow Saudi driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi. Afterwards, Seaidan turned his focus to the FIA’s Middle East Baja Cup, placing fourth in the 2023 standings, as well as the national Saudi Toyota Rally Championship. In January, he finished third in SSV at the Dakar Rally.

Seaidan will be one of twelve Taurus T3 Max cars entered at Aragón, including Al-Attiyah, and among fifty-eight Challengers; a Challenger car is a race-spec version of an SSV. By entering the class, Seaidan will have experience in four of five FIA categories as he previously competed in the premier Ultimate class (then T1) and Stock (T2). His 2021 vice-champion run came in a Mini JCW Rally T1.

Omar Allahim will be his co-driver. The two first worked together at the 2020 Andalucía Rally, also in Spain, where their Mini finished tenth.

For a group of college kids, the students at Chuoh Technical School sure know how to create a rally raid winner. The school has long been a partner of the Asia Cross Country Rally, which allows students to build vehicles for interested competitors as well as being crew members. For the 2024 edition, CTS General Automobile Maintenance Department students designed a Suzuki Jimny Sierra that Roslyn Shen and Nada Simaraks will pilot.

Although the Jimny Sierra is a legitimate SUV, the CTS version is instead a pickup-style truck created by taking a standard Sierra then modifying it. The body was cut at the B-pillar while the body-on-frame was sliced at the centre, allowing the creation of a “truck bed” that extended the vehicle length by thirty centimetres. The “bed” will be used to store spare tyres and tools; a bar was implemented to keep the parts inside when in motion. Over fenders have also been installed so that the Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003 tyres could be fitted on, while two hooks are attached at the rear fender. At the front is a new automatic transmission oil cooler.

Other aspects like the width and engine have been left untouched. The latter stems from the Sierra being a two-year development process, so CTS would like to gauge the stock engine’s capabilities in 2024 before making changes for 2025.

The car complies with T1 (Ultimate) regulation and will compete in the T1G subcategory. Satoshi Takeno and Tadamune Nakai are also racing Sierras in T1G, though theirs are still the production models.

Fourth-year students Ue Sugawara, Keigo Tanimoto, and Shun Yamamoto will work as mechanics for the Sierra. Sugawara was responsible for building the body-on-frame, Tanimoto previously worked at Rally Hokkaido. Yamamoto, who did not have much interest in cars prior to CTS, described the build as a “trial and error period” that was “intense.”

The 2024 FIA World Rallycross Championship heads to Hungary for the first time on 27/28 July. The third and fourth rounds of the “Battle of Technologies” will take place at the Nyirád Racing Centre, with the usual suspects competing for glory against a Hungarian home hero.

Nicknamed the “Red Cauldron” due do the distinctive colour of the unsealed surface sections of the track, Nyirád is often referred to as one of the most “old-school” circuits on the calendar. The technical curves and turns combined with dramatic elevation changes present an enticing challenge for drivers and guarantee a great spectacle for the fans.

The first weekend of world rallycross action in the new “Battle of Technologies” era saw victory head the way of internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. Indeed, six-time world rallycross champion Johan Kristoffersson asserted his dominance early on, throwing down the gauntlet by winning both events in Sweden. However, team principal Tommy Kristoffersson will not be easing off any time soon. “We know what we are good at, and I think the double victory was well-deserved” Kristoffersson Sr explained, before adding “there are still areas for improvement and it will get tougher. We will come to tracks where we cannot dominate, so we must continue to work on our development potential. We should celebrate this success, absolutely, but we must also stay humble.”

Kristoffersson may have been untouchable in the wet, but in the dry conditions on Saturday he was put under pressure by the chasing pack. Meanwhile teammate Ole Christian Veiby struggled with launching his car off the line, denying him the potential to attack at the very top.

Hoping to capitalise on this are the two CE Dealer Team drivers, Niclas Grönholm and Klara Andersson, who are tied on points in second in the championship. Both could have taken at least one victory in Sweden, with Grönholm showing excellent pace in his electric PWR RX1e before events out of his control snatched those chances away from him. Andersson came within a whisker of taking victory from Kristoffersson on the first day of action, and will be hoping to go one better than second in Hungary.