Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

It was a mixed Spanish Grand Prix for the McLaren F1 Team, after an ill Lando Norris recovered an excellent points finish, whereas Daniel Ricciardo ended up disappointingly outside the points.

Ricciardo complained of no grip all race, something he definitely won’t want to suffer from at this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, where there is “very little margin of error”. Norris is in a race against time to be fully fit for the race, which requires maximum concentration, after being diagnosed with tonsillitis.

Both drivers live close to the historic Circuit de Monaco, so will be wanting a strong haul of points this weekend.

McLaren Team Principal Andreas Seidl, is very much looking forward to Monaco, where he’s interested to see how the new cars will get along with the bumpy venue.

“I’m looking forward to this weekend! Monaco is such a historic race and one the drivers and the team love so it’s shaping up to be a good weekend. Our upgrades worked as expected in Spain and the team at track and back at the factory continue to work incredibly hard to optimise the car. It will be interesting to see how the new regulation cars run on the tight streets.

Lando Norris produced an incredible race under the circumstances at the Spanish Grand Prix, after being ill throughout the weekend. Norris finished in the points places and was then diagnosed with tonsillitis shortly after the race.

Norris will be hoping to take some of that grit and determination from Spain into this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, which for many drivers including Norris and Daniel Ricciardo is effectively a home race.

The Brit lives near the circuit and is excited to be able to stay in his own home, as he prepares to “rest up” ahead of the famous race.

“I always look forward to the Monaco weekend. It will be nice to be racing so close to home, particularly as I can wake up in my own bed! Last year it was a fantastic race for me and whilst we’re not back at that level just yet, I’m hoping we can pick up some good points here. Qualifying on Saturday is going to be key but it will be interesting to see how the race plays out on Sunday with these new cars. 

“I’m taking these few days to rest up and to focus on getting better before diving into Monaco. Spain was incredibly tough, but I was very pleased to get some points for the team. Let’s keep moving forward and ensure we’re ready for the busy weekend ahead!” 

Williams Racing had a disappointing Spanish Grand Prix last weekend, with both drivers struggling for pace and finishing well outside of the points places at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona.

This weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix presents the famous side with a new challenge, of dealing with the “bumps and kerbs” of the Circuit de Monaco. Whilst Monaco is normally a race with minimal overtaking, this year’s new cars may throw some surprises into the mix. A number of teams have suffered from reliability issues already this season, meaning that if Williams keep it clean, a strong result could be on the cards.

Williams Head of Vehicle Performance Dave Robson, discussed all the challenges that the historic circuit present the team.

“Monaco is always a challenging circuit that requires a specific approach to setup and car management. With the new 2022 cars, this is going to be an even greater challenge as it will be necessary to move the car away from the aerodynamic optimum in order to be able to deal with the bumps and kerbs of the Monte Carlo streets.

“Apart from some additional brake cooling and steering options, we have no test items or upgrades for this event and so we will be free to spend the practice sessions exploring the car setup and helping the drivers to get maximum confidence in the car.

“The tyres are the softest of the Pirelli range, including the C5 compound, which we last used in Melbourne. This very soft compound worked well at Albert Park and so it may require a different approach to get it into the best window in Monaco.

“Although normally warm and dry, there is always a risk that the cloud cover on the mountains can quickly move over the circuit, completely changing the character of the track. We will need to be mindful of this and look to capitalise on it if it happens.”

Nicholas Latifi enjoyed one of his better races of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix, after managing to finish ahead of his team-mate at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Whilst still a long way from the points, Latifi showed improvement last weekend. The Canadian will be hoping for further improvements this weekend at the challenging Monaco Grand Prix, with his career in Formula 1 at risk.

Latifi is excited for his second visit to Monaco in Formula 1, a venue which “has such a special feeling”.

“It’s always exciting to go back to Monaco. It’s a track with so much history and has such a special feeling, more so than any other street circuit we race at. It’ll be my second-year racing there in a Formula One car, and I’m expecting it to be more of a challenge in these new regulation cars. I’m looking forward to that challenge though, so hopefully we’ll have a good weekend.”

“I live about a three-minute walk from the paddock” – Alex Albon

Alex Albon had a poor weekend in Spain, having made such a strong start to the season. The Thai driver was well off the pace all weekend in the scorching Spanish sun, resulting in a painful race.

The Spanish Grand Prix was one which held so much promise for the Haas F1 Team, especially after Qualifying. Both Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher started in the top ten, however, neither finished in the points.

Magnussen was caught up in a first lap incident, whereas Schumacher ended up being on the wrong strategy.

Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner, reflected on what was a disappointing Sunday afternoon in Spain.

“Obviously we took away some disappointment. We did a few things which weren’t perfect, but we have a lot of work to do. We can’t do anything about Kevin’s Turn 4 incident, you can’t learn a lot there and what we tried was something hoping that the safety car would come out. With Mick, we need to see why we ended up with the strategy we chose and what we can do to make it better for the future.

“I’m not jumping to conclusions, it wasn’t completely wrong as there were a lot of unknowns, especially in his first stint with the new tyres where we lost a lot of positions there, so we have to analyse that before coming to a conclusion.” 

Mick Schumacher heads into this weekend still searching for his first-ever Formula 1 point, after dropping outside the top ten yet again last weekend at the Spanish Grand Prix.

This weekend’s historic Monaco Grand Prix could be the young German’s best chance yet of points, if he can qualify well. With this year’s cars being as big and heavy as they are, overtaking will be near impossible around the Circuit de Monaco. If Schumacher can qualify in the top ten like he did in Spain, then he may well leave the famous venue as a points scorer.

Schumacher knows overtaking won’t happen around the streets of Monte-Carlo, so is aware that he’ll need to approach the weekend differently.

“Yes, the cars are easier to follow but Monaco is still a track where you can’t overtake and these cars are heavier. They’re mainly made for high-speed with the ground effect that we have so it will be interesting to see. There will definitely be new ways of approaching this weekend but it’s the same for everyone so we’ll just go for it and try our best, and hopefully have a good qualifying.”

Rumours have begun to circulate over recent weeks that Monaco may be losing it’s spot on the calendar, Schumacher is one of a number of drivers firmly against this move.

Honda‘s company colours have long been red and white/silver, and this is reflected on the liveries of the Japanese manufacturer’s factory motorsport programmes. Beginning with the SCORE International Baja 500 in June, however, Honda Talon Factory Racing will buck that trend by adding some blue.

The off-road team unveiled a new, uniform paint scheme for its trio of Talon UTVs on Tuesday, replacing much of the white on the sides with two tones of blue. Previously, the Talons had predominantly white sides with grey accents that created a checkered flag-style pattern.

The red Honda Racing logo on the side is ditched in favour of the Honda Talon name in white. The Talon’s dual clutch transmission, which uses metal gears instead of a belt like a traditional continuously variable transmission, is also emphasised. Outside of the aesthetic change, the Talon will also sport new forged wheels from KMC.

With all three cars running the same design, the team breaks away from having differing looks. The new livery is modelled after the former ones on the flagship UTVs driven by Zach Sizelove (#1925) and Elias Hanna (#1920), which featured red along the rear and hood. Development driver Ethan Ebert‘s #1999 was exclusively white save for red and silver stripes on the hood.

The reveal also comes in conjunction with Honda débuting the Talon 1000 Sport lineup for consumers.

The FIA Girls on Track UK is an initiative between the FIA and Motorsport UK which unites Susie Wolff’s ‘Dare to be Different’ campaign with the FIA’s ‘Girls on Track’ programme to encourage and inspire females into believing that can achieve success and deserve to have a place in the motorsport industry.

The Berlin event took place on 13 May 2022 ahead of the Berlin E-Prix race weekend and welcomed 100 young females to experience motorsport and its career options. Those taking part in the event had the opportunity to discover the wide range of careers that lie within the motorsport industry.

There were nine engaging and educational activities throughout the day with workshops run by women who work in the industry, dedicated to the programmes global partners DHL and ABB.

The activities included Electric Karting with experience looking at the virtual world behind a stimulator wheel whilst picking up some valuable driving techniques. In support of Formula E’s sustainable racing, the workshops also helped to raise awareness of the environmental issues within motorsport and promote more sustainable racing.

Michaela Watts who is the CFO of Mercedes, Sarah Morrow who is the Commercial Project Manager at Jaguar Racing, Siobhan Filsell who is the Senior Communications Manager at Andretti Autosport and a former Girls on Track member took time to present and discuss their motorsport journeys with the girls in different tents throughout the day.

Ever want to see your favourite non-American racing driver in the NASCAR Cup Series? That’s what Trackhouse Racing Team is aiming to bring to life.

On Tuesday, the team announced the launch of PROJECT91 which intends to help bring international drivers into NASCAR. Such drivers will compete in the #91 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and serve as a team-mate to Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez.

According to team owner Justin Marks, the Next Gen car provides the best chance for drivers outside of stock car racing to break in. The seventh-generation vehicle, introduced for 2022, takes inspiration from touring car and sports car divisions like the Supercars of Australia and IMSA, meaning they are more responsive on road courses that have defined motorsport since the beginning. Road courses have also seen an increase in recent years after long having just two.

“PROJECT91’s mission is to activate the intersection point of NASCAR racing and global motorsport culture,” said Marks “I truly believe the NexGen car represents an opportunity for NASCAR to enter the global professional motorsport conversation. We now have a race vehicle with international technological relevance where world-class drivers from other disciplines can compete at NASCAR’s highest level without the steep learning curve that the previous generation cars required.

“Vehicle advancements used in other forms of motorsports, such as, diffusers, independent rear suspension, the sequential gearbox, and other more common components, have resulted in a platform much less reliant on intimate proprietary stock car knowledge, which has historically made any transition to NASCAR difficult.

The FIA Formula 3 Championship has reached one-third distance after two thrilling races at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The weekend brought the fifth different winner from six races so far this season, and the first repeat winner.

Zane Maloney’s weekend started with disappointment, as after qualifying 12th for Sprint Race pole, he was ordered to start both races from the pitlane.

That promoted Campos Racing’s David Vidales into pole position for Saturday morning, following up his third-place starting position for the season opener at the Bahrain International Circuit.

He managed to hold on for his first win in F3, also delivering a home win for himself and the team.

Scuderia Ferrari have concluded their investigation into what caused Charles Leclerc’s retirement from the Spanish Grand Prix, with issues with the turbo and MGU-H being blamed.

Leclerc was comfortably leading Sunday’s race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the Monegasque racer looking odds-on to win for the third time in 2022 and extend his advantage at the top of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship Drivers’ standings.

However, it was not to be, and Leclerc was forced to slow on lap twenty-seven and return to the pits to retire, and he then watched on as Max Verstappen took his fourth win of the year to overtake him at the top of the standings.

Ferrari also slide behind Oracle Red Bull Racing as a result of Verstappen’s win and Sergio Pérez finishing second, with Carlos Sainz Jr. the only scorer for the Maranello-based team in fourth.

The team sent the power unit back to their factory straight after the race to identify the cause of the problems, with two components of it being deemed responsible for Leclerc’s retirement.  And even more disappointing for the former championship leader, neither the turbo, nor the MGU-H will be able to be used again, meaning grid penalties are likely later in the season.

Guenther Steiner is already putting the Spanish Grand Prix behind him after watching both Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher slide out of points contention on Sunday afternoon.

Magnussen had started eighth and Schumacher tenth after the Haas F1 Team put both cars into Q3 for the first time since the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, but the formers race unravelled at turn four on the opening lap after wheel-to-wheel contact with Lewis Hamilton left him going through the gravel trap with a puncture. 

A pit stop put him at the back of the field, but with a lack of safety cars or drama, he was in for a lonely afternoon on his way to seventeenth, only managing to catch and pass the struggling Alexander Albon.

Schumacher fared a little better, particularly in the opening laps as he ran as high as sixth, but he dropped a few positions as others came charging through the field, and a gamble on pitting only twice backfired, meaning he ultimately ended fourteenth, well down on his target of the top ten.

Steiner, the Team Principal at Haas, admits the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya did not go the way they were hoping it would, with things going away from them early, so they will put the weekend behind them and focus on to this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.

Mick Schumacher’s bid for a first points finish of his FIA Formula 1 World Championship career go on after another tough afternoon in the Spanish Grand Prix, with the German going the wrong way with strategy.

The Haas F1 Team driver had gambled on making just two pit stops at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, a gamble that did not pay off as he slid out of points contention as those on fresher tyres came through the pack in the latter stages.

Despite another race of disappointment, Schumacher says there were positives to take away from Spain, such as his first appearance in Q3 on Saturday, and he hopes to build on this weekend when Formula 1 hits Monaco.

“It’s quite unfortunate,” said Schumacher.  “Obviously, we knew it was going to be tight with the two-stop and it didn’t quite pay off to stay out so it’s something to learn, something to understand and move on from here.

“It was a great Saturday, and we had a very clean Friday too which is very beneficial. We had a good start, a good first lap and that’s all you want from today.

Mike Krack, the Team Principal of the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team, admitted the Spanish Grand Prix was always going to be a difficult one for the team, particularly after both Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll were eliminated in Q1 during Saturday’s Qualifying session.

Vettel attempted a two-stop strategy in a bid to break into the points but came up just short in eleventh, while Stroll was forced into an earlier than scheduled pit stop after tangling with Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly at turn one on lap twenty-eight that left him down in fifteenth at the flag.

Despite missing out on points, Krack says there were good signs with the updated AMR22 after the team arrived at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with a heavily revised car compared to what they had in the opening five races of the season.

“From our starting positions of P16 for Sebastian and P17 for Lance, scoring points today was always going to be a challenge,” said Krack.  

“Nonetheless, both our drivers executed well their different tyre strategies – a Soft-Soft-Medium two-stopper for Sebastian and a Soft-Soft-Medium-Soft three-stopper for Lance – and the result was a P11 finish for Sebastian, whom we successfully managed to keep out of traffic wherever possible, and a P15 finish for Lance.

Sebastian Vettel was one of only a handful of drivers to go for a two-stop strategy during Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, but even with three stops like many of his rivals, he felt the result would not have been much different.

The Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team driver finished just outside the points in eleventh place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after being the last driver to make his first stop on lap twenty-one, and he only made one further stop on lap forty-two.

Vettel felt the team had to try something different to bring himself into contention for points having started outside the top fifteen, but they just did not have enough speed to make it happen.

“Today was all about managing the tyres and the grip – it was very slippery out there,” said Vettel. “Everyone’s tyres were falling to pieces and lots of drivers pitted fairly early, so we tried something different by opting for a two-stopper.

“In the end, I do not think it really made too much of a difference. Ultimately, we just lacked a bit too much pace to really be able to attack the points-scoring positions. But we tried something – P11 is not much of a reward, but we had a decent race.”