Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Chief Technical Officer of the BWT Alpine F1 Team, Pat Fry has offered a positive outlook on his team’s potential at this weekend’s Belgium Grand Prix despite numerous setbacks across the Friday running for the Enstone-based team.

A driveshaft issue for Esteban Ocon in Free Practice One saw the Frenchmen limited to just five laps while in Free Practice Two, rain throughout the session saw Ocon unable to complete his run plan for the session. During this morning’s session it was announced that Ocon would be starting Sunday’s race from the back of the grid as Fry revealed that a completely new power unit has been brought in for the twenty-five-year old this weekend.

Meanwhile, despite a slow start in Free Practice one for Fernando Alonso, a seventh-place finish in Free Practice two has left the Alpine team hopeful of a positive result this weekend in Belgium.

Encouragingly for the Alpine team, Fry spoke positively on the teams upgrade package delivered for this weekend’s action as Alpine look to claim the upper hand in the tightly contested battle for fourth in the constructors’ standings.

“Both of today’s sessions have been affected by the weather, which made it difficult for everyone across the field to get through their programmes,” said Fry. “As far as we can tell in these conditions, our upgrades are performing as expected and our times look promising.

“In the morning Esteban had an issue, which we investigated and fully understand, and it should not affect us for the rest of the weekend. We are also taking a complete Power Unit change on Esteban’s car, as a number of other teams are: the length of the track and its configuration minimises the impact. With little rain predicted for the rest of the weekend we can look forward to a cleaner Saturday and Sunday.”

After a positive first day of running at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso believes that his BWT Alpine F1 team are once again set for ‘another competitive weekend’.

With Both Esteban Ocon and Lando Norris set to start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid, the fate of both Alpine and the McLaren F1 Team this weekend could very well lie with Daniel Ricciardo and Alonso as both team’s to continue to fight for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.

A slow start in Free Practice One saw Alonso post the fourteenth fastest time of the session, over three seconds behind the fastest time set by fellow Spaniard, Carlos Sainz Jr.

However, the Enstone-based team started to show their hand in Free Practice two as Alonso managed to go seventh fastest in the afternoon session. Alpine are likely to take great confidence from Alonso managing to finish ahead of Ricciardo in the session two by over three tenths of a second.

Speaking after the day’s action, Alonso touched on what he described as a ‘fun Friday’ around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

Andrew Shovlin says the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team have the opportunity to make gains thanks to the multitude of grid penalties around them this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, but they need to find performance in their W13 if they are to make this happen.

Six drivers already have grid penalties thanks to engine changes this weekend in Belgium, and these include Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren F1 Team’s Lando Norris, all of whom looked quick on Friday.

However, Mercedes’ pace during Friday’s running in Belgium was not that strong, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell ending only sixth and eighth fastest in the afternoon session.

Shovlin, the Track Engineering Director at Mercedes, says the team have a good idea which direction they need to go with set-up overnight, but they will need to find significant single lap pace if they are to challenge for a place at the very front of the grid for the second race weekend in a row on Saturday.

“Quite a messy day with a bit of a rain and a red flag but we were able to get a read on the main issues to work on overnight,” said Shovlin.  “Our single lap performance clearly needs a bit of focus, neither driver had a good feel for the Soft tyre and probably we’re not getting it into the right window.

Lewis Hamilton admitted it was not the best of Fridays for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team at Spa-Francorchamps, with the pace of the W13 ‘a long way off’ compared to those at the front of the field.

The seven-time World Champion was only ninth fastest in the opening session in Belgium, and although he improved to sixth in the second, he was more than 1.3 seconds behind the fastest time of the day set by Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.

Hamilton admits the car does not feel as good as it did during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend prior to the summer break, but he hopes Mercedes can find some more pace and challenge at the front of the field on Saturday.

“We just weren’t very quick today and I’m not sure why – it could be tyre temps, wing levels, a multitude of things,” said Hamilton.  “It doesn’t feel disastrous out there, we’re just a long way off.

“We’ve experienced that a few times this season on a Friday and then things improve on the Saturday, I hope that’s the case this weekend. We’ve just got to work hard tonight, analyse the data to try and figure out how we get this car in a better place.

Lance Stroll said his lap times around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit looked and felt good on Friday, and the Canadian goes into the rest of the weekend with confidence.

The Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team driver placed inside the top five in both sessions in Belgium on Friday, ending fifth in the opening session and fourth in the second.

Stroll felt confident on all three of Pirelli’s tyre compound choices for this weekend and hopes the form he showed on Friday can translate into a strong performance on both Saturday and Sunday to hopefully bring him a decent haul of points.

“It felt good out there today and the lap-times looked good as well,” said Stroll.  “We tried all the tyre compounds, and the performance felt decent across all three.

“We do not know what the weather will bring tomorrow, so it is really tricky to figure out where we will be when qualifying comes around, but I am hopeful we will be in the mix for some good points this weekend.”

Charles Leclerc admitted it was good to be back driving after the summer break, although he knows he will have a tough Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday thanks to grid penalties for unscheduled engine component changes.

The Scuderia Ferrari driver is one of six drivers that will go into Saturday’s Qualifying session knowing they will fall to the back of the grid thanks to the penalties, although another one of those is his main rival for the World Championship, Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.

Leclerc felt he had a solid Friday at Spa-Francorchamps, finishing second in both sessions, although he knows Saturday will see him focusing on race pace knowing where he will be starting.

“It feels good to be back in the car after the break,” said Leclerc.  “We completed a solid number of laps while running in variable conditions, with rain coming and going in different parts of the track.

“It’s still difficult to determine the pecking order for this weekend, as all teams ran completely different programmes.

Max Verstappen goes into the rest of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend knowing he will be starting from the back of the field following multiple engine component changes and penalties, but he did not let this faze him across the two practice sessions on Friday.

The Oracle Red Bull Racing driver finished third in the first session at Spa-Francorchamps on Friday before leading the way in the second, and the reigning World Champion was in high spirits as it appeared the car was working well across all conditions.

Verstappen admitted he did not push as hard as he could have done when it began to rain, but he hopes the weather stays away from Belgium on Saturday and Sunday as he knows he has a lot of work to do to break into the top ten.

“From the first laps we did today I could feel that the car was working well, so that’s positive,” said Verstappen, who goes into the weekend with an eighty point lead in the Drivers’ Championship.

“Not much really changed throughout the sessions, we just looked at how we could set up the car in the best possible way and I think as soon as we went out, the car was looking pretty good.  Of course, there are always things that we want to fine tune, like the balance, but we can work on that.

Yuki Tsunoda says there is room for improvement for Scuderia AlphaTauri this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps after the Japanese racer ended thirteenth fastest in second practice on Friday.

Having ended eighth in the first session that was disrupted by cold temperatures and a red flag, Tsunoda was unable to improve enough to remain inside the top ten in the afternoon, although the weather also did not help there as rain fell across part of the Spa track.

Tsunoda says there are areas where AlphaTauri can focus on to improve overnight, and he hopes he can turn his ‘okay’ Friday into a much better Saturday.

“It’s been an okay day, the conditions weren’t great, but still I think we’ve managed to gather a lot of good data,” said Tsunoda.  “We’ve had some traditional Spa weather here today, with rain in only one section of the track, so it’s been quite tricky, but I like this circuit and I’ve really enjoyed the day.

“After the summer break it was great to just be back out in the car, having fun driving and getting back into the rhythm. In FP2 we made a good step forward, but it wasn’t enough.

Liam Lawson enjoyed his time behind the wheel of Scuderia AlphaTauri’s AT-03 during opening practice for the Belgian Grand Prix on Friday as the team utilised one of its mandatory young driver sessions with the New Zealander.

Lawson was handed the chance to take part in place of regular driver Pierre Gasly, and despite a mixed session that included cold temperatures, rain and a red flag, he kept his composure well, although he ended up nineteenth fastest of the twenty cars on track.

The New Zealander, highly rated within the Red Bull Junior Team, says an opportunity to drive in a Formula 1 car around such an iconic track as Spa-Francorchamps was ‘crazy’, and he admitted the step up in performance compared to his usual ride in FIA Formula 2 was huge.

“I’ve enjoyed getting to drive the car around such an iconic track, it’s been a crazy experience,” said Lawson.  “The car was great to drive, the limit is so much further than I was ready for, it took a bit of time to get used to that, but I think I built up the pace steadily on the Hards and was ready to push on the Softs at the end, so it’s a bit of a shame I didn’t get the opportunity to really go for it.

“I want to say a big thank you to Scuderia AlphaTauri and Red Bull for giving me this opportunity. It’s been really cool spending the weekend with the team, it’s a crazy step up from F2.

Otmar Szafnauer feels Oscar Piastri should have had ‘a bit more integrity’ after the Australian opted not to honour his contract with the BWT Alpine F1 Team in 2023 in favour of a move to the McLaren F1 Team.

Piastri was announced as Fernando Alonso’s replacement at Alpine after the Spaniard opted to move to the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team next season, only for the Australian to deny the move mere hours later.

The whole affair is heading to the Contract Recognition Board (CRB) next week, with both Alpine and McLaren laying claim to a legal contract with the 2021 FIA Formula 2 Champion.

But Szafnauer, the Team Principal at Alpine, says he wished Piastri would honour the contract he signed with them last year and take up his place alongside Esteban Ocon in 2023.

“He’s a promising young driver,” Szafnauer said to Sky Sports F1. “He hasn’t driven in F1 yet. And my wish for Oscar was that he had a bit more integrity.

Max Verstappen dominated the second free practice session of the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.

The Dutchman was 0.862 seconds faster than Charles Leclerc in second position. Lando Norris finished in third position in the cool and overcast conditions in the session.

The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C2), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C3), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C4), the middle range of compounds in the Pirelli tyre range.

Carlos Sainz who topped the morning session set the early pace. Verstappen was soon on top with a lap time of 1:47.699s. Leclerc then slotted into second position ahead of Sainz.

Sainz and Verstappen exchanged positions at the top of the time charts. The cool conditions made it difficult for the drivers to get heat into the tyres.

Championship leader Max Verstappen and his closest rival in the standings, Charles Leclerc, will both start towards the back of the grid for the Belgian Grand Prix after taking penalties for unscheduled engine component changes.

Oracle Red Bull Racing have opted to change multiple components on Verstappen’s power unit, with a fresh Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), turbocharger, MGU-H, MGU-K, energy store and control electronics.  The team had hinted of impending changes during the summer break and have opted to introduce the new elements in Belgium rather than in his home event at Zandvoort the following week.

Scuderia Ferrari have also opted to change the power unit on Leclerc’s F1-75, meaning the Monegasque driver will also be at the back on Sunday afternoon at Spa-Francorchamps.  Ferrari have had multiple issues with their power units throughout the season, with Leclerc twice retiring from the lead due to his engine failing.

Also set to take penalties for fresh engine components are McLaren F1 Team’s Lando Norris, Alfa Romeo F1 Team’s Valtteri Bottas, BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon and Haas F1 Team’s Mick Schumacher.

Norris and Ocon have both taken fresh ICE’s, turbochargers, control electronics and MGU-Hs, while Ocon also has a new MGU-K and energy store.  Bottas has a fresh ICE, MGU-H and turbocharger, as well as a new gearbox, while Schumacher has a new control electronics and gearbox.

The Alfa Romeo name will split with Sauber Motorsport at the end of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, it was announced on Friday.

The Italian marque has been part of Sauber since 2018 and recently committed to an additional year for next season, but that will be the final season of the partnership – the team is currently known as Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN but is likely to revert back to the Sauber F1 Team in 2024.

Since they’ve been a part of the sport, they have seen Charles Leclerc, Marcus Ericsson, Kimi Räikkönen, Antonio Giovinazzi, Robert Kubica, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu race for them, but the final two may be the last to compete for Alfa Romeo in Formula 1, at least in this stint.

They have yet to take a podium finish in that time, with a fourth place for Räikkönen in the Brazilian Grand Prix of 2019 the best result, although their form in 2022 has been a lot stronger than it had been in the two years prior.

“Alfa Romeo communicates that its partnership with Sauber Motorsport will end within the end of 2023,” read a statement on Friday ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.

After months of speculation and the recent finalisation of the engine regulations for the 2026 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, Audi Sport have announced they will join the grid as an engine supplier.

No announcement has been made regarding who the German manufacturer will pair up with, but it will mark the first time in more than a decade that a Formula 1 power unit will be manufactured in Germany, with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team making their engines in Great Britain.

Formula 1 recently announced their updated engine regulations that will come into play in 2026, and Audi say that the changes revealed were sufficient for them to commit to joining the grid.

“Motorsport is an integral part of Audi’s DNA,” said Markus Duesmann, the Chairman of the Board of Management at Audi AG. “Formula 1 is both a global stage for our brand and a highly challenging development laboratory.

“The combination of high performance and competition is always a driver of innovation and technology transfer in our industry. With the new rules, now is the right time for us to get involved. After all, Formula 1 and Audi both pursue clear sustainability goals.”

Carlos Sainz led the first free practice session of the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.

Charles Leclerc finished in second position, just 0.069 seconds slower than his team-mate Sainz. Max Verstappen finished in third position at the end of the session.

The 2022 FIA Formula 1 season resumed after the three-week summer break with nine races left in the second–half of the season.

A slew of drivers including Leclerc and Verstappen will be taking engine penalties and will start the race from the back of the grid.

Liam Lawson drove in place of Pierre Gasly for the Scuderia AlphaTauri team. Every team has to run a young driver for atleast two practice sessions this season.