Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

If there’s any Formula 1 car that’s had a huge amount of hype for its arrival, it’s the Ferrari F1-75. Scuderia Ferrari has hinted at how the car’s development has been going on since September last year, which has included some rather confident claims from the team’s top man Mattia Binotto. Now, several months later, the F1-75 has finally broken cover and it’s wowed the world with its unique take on the aesthetics and aerodynamics of the 2022 regulations. The car has a new red and black livery evocative of Ferraris of the early 1990s (featuring a brand new shade of red that was developed specially for the car by the Ferrari Style Centre) and an innovative design that Ferrari hopes will give its contender an advantage when it comes to aerodynamics and the packaging of the power unit. Perhaps one of the most talked about features of Ferrari’s design has been the unusual side pods, which are wide yet thin and have an odd depression on the top that’s presumably there for some kind of aerodynamic benefit.

As has already been confirmed, driving duties for Scuderia Ferrari will fall to Charles Leclerc (who is contracted until 2024) and Carlos Sainz (who has been rumoured to be negotiating a contract extension that could keep him at the Scuderia until 2023 or 2024). The team’s reserve drivers will be Antonio Giovinazzi (who is currently competing in Formula E for Dragon/Penske Autosport as well as acting as a reserve driver for Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN) and Mick Schumacher (who is currently a main driver for the Uralkali Haas F1 Team), whilst Robert Shwartzman will take on a test driver role and complete two free practice sessions on Fridays during the 2022 season.

“The F1-75 is the expression of the talent, commitment and passion of each and every one of us,“ said Scuderia Ferrari‘s Team Principal & Managing Director Mattia Binotto about the new car and what it means to Ferrari. “It is the end result of the work of a team that, like never before, has tackled the task with a new spirit and approach, pushing to the maximum in terms of innovation of every component, every detail, every solution. Striving to be innovative gave us an incredible boost in our daily work, on the way to producing this car. I am proud of the work that has gone into designing the F1-75. We know that expectations are high and we are ready to go up against our opponents. That’s the best part of this challenge and it’s what makes our work so fascinating.“

More than anything though, Binotto wants the F1-75 to be the car that takes Ferrari up to the top of the grid again. After several years of hanging around in the relative doldrums of the midfield, Ferrari feels like it needs to prove once again that it’s a team worthy of being in Formula 1. Whilst that might be a tall order to ask in 2022, it seems that Binotto is confident about achieving it. “I would like the F1-75 to be the car that allows our fans to once again be proud of Ferrari,” he said. “Our goal is to reignite the Prancing Horse legend and we can only do that by winning again. That will require a fast car and two great drivers and we have them.” Regardless of what happens, one thing is for sure and that thing is that it’s going to be a very special year for the Tifosi!

Scuderia AlphaTauri launched their 2022 car with an inventive digital launch titled “The Style of a New Era”, fusing a 3D CGI rendering of AT03 with scenes from the AlphaTauri Spring/Summer 2022 fashion show.

“We are excited about new beginnings this season and have explored a lot of interesting opportunities to add style aspects to F1. For Scuderia AlphaTauri, it is a new era in Formula 1, and for AlphaTauri it is a new era in style,” said AlphaTauri CEO Ahmet Mercan. 

The launch video showcases the unity of fashion and motorsport, beginning with a CGI world that represents the engineering and technology behind the car’s production. The video then shifted to footage from the runway show before revealing the drivers– Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly— and AT03 livery. Scuderia AlphaTauri Team Principal Franz Tost hopes that the AT03 will be a successful transition into the new era, and allow the team to build on the momentum of the 2021 season.

“I am excited to finally reveal what our 2022 Formula 1 car will look like. It is a completely new era for F1 and we hope that this package will be very strong, following last year’s success. Once again, we have worked closely with AlphaTauri to launch our new car and I think we’ve managed to deliver something very special.”

The livery’s color scheme has stayed consistent with 2020 and 2021, featuring a deep blue and white design. The familiar design language of AlphaTauri’s standard livery evolved to fit the lines and unique features of the new era F1 car. AT03 will make it’s F1 debut in Barcelona for testing next week.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team has announced its junior programme line-up for 2022, ahead of the Mercedes-AMG F1 W13 launch. Created in 2016, the academy has produced talents such as Pascal Wehrlein, Esteban Ocon and the latest Mercedes F1 works driver, George Russell.

Russell’s promotion as a full-time Mercedes F1 driver marks the first graduate to take a seat in the senior team, and the 2022 line-up features seven talented young drivers with two new additions. The current class includes Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Paul Aron, Alex Powell, Frederik Vesti and Yuanpu Cui with the latest signings being Daniel Guinchard and Luna Fluxa Cross.

“It’s going to be a really exciting year for our junior drivers, and we’re delighted to welcome them to our W13 launch on Friday as part of our motorsport family,” said Team Principal and CEO of Mercedes F1, Toto Wolff.

“There are some familiar faces in the programme from previous years, looking to build on their strong progress, and there are also several new members of the programme who have joined us this year. It will be great to see how they develop in their first season with us.”

Joining the programme in 2018, Antonelli has been part of the Mercedes family for the longest out of all the juniors. He will take part in both UAE and Italian Formula 4 championships this year after a decorated karting career.

Following a break of nine years, Charles Bateman will make his return to motorsport with Team Parker Racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB.

Bateman last raced with the team thirteen years ago, and before then enjoyed a relationship with Team Parker Racing since 2005 when he raced Caterhams for two years. He moved up to Porsche Carrera Cup GB, spending three more years with the team in the championship.

In 2010 he switched to Motorbase Performance for another season in Carrera Cup GB before spending two years in British GT, taking third place in the championship in 2012. His last full season would be in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup before taking some time away from motorsport.

Bateman will join Will Aspin and reigning champion Ryan Ratcliffe in the Pro-Am class and is looking forward to getting back in to the highly competitive one-make series.

“I’ve been out of racing for far too long. I’d been thinking about what championship to do and, considering I wanted to get back into the Carrera Cup, I would only race with Stuart and Team Parker Racing,” said Bateman.

Tamara Molinaro will make her Extreme E début in the 2022 season-opening Desert X Prix, though not in the circumstances that anyone would have wanted. Due to Klara Andersson testing positive for COVID-19 prior to heading to Neom, Saudi Arabia for the X Prix, Molinaro will invoke her title as a Championship Driver to fill in as a substitute in the XITE Energy Racing entry.

Andersson, a Swedish Rallycross Championship driver, was set for her first season in Extreme E as team-mate to XITE Energy owner Oliver Bennett. However, the positive test means her first series race will have to wait until at least the Island X Prix on 7/8 May.

“I’m so, so disappointed about this. I’m devastated,” Andersson said in a release. “This was such a huge opportunity for me. Last week, I told you it was a dream come true and that’s exactly what it was. It’s become a nightmare to be honest. I’m so sorry for Oli and the team. I’ll be watching and cheering them on from the side, but feeling very, very frustrated.”

Molinaro is a Championship Driver, who is not employed by any team but rather works for Extreme E as an advisor and reserve driver in the event that a regular is unable to race. She inherited the position midseason in 2021 from Jutta Kleinschmidt, who became ABT CUPRA XE‘s permanent driver at the Island X Prix after replacing an unwell Claudia Hürtgen. While Molinaro takes over for female drivers, Timo Scheider does so for males. Romain Dumas and Hedda Hosås are also on hand as guest Championship Drivers for the Desert X Prix if further driver changes are necessary.

The 24-year-old Molinaro arrived in Extreme E with experience in rallying and rallycross, having competed in divisions like WRC2, Titans-RX, and the Italian Gravel Championship. She is the 2017 Ladies European Rally Champion, the second youngest to achieve the feat behind Andretti United XE‘s Catie Munnings, and 2020 Italian Gravel Ladies Champion.

BWT Alpine F1 Team announced its Alpine Academy drivers on Monday (14 February). Two new faces have arrived and two drivers continue within the programme for their fourth year; all four competed in the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2021.

Caio Collet and Victor Martins remain with the Academy and remain in F3 for their second seasons, with Collet staying at MP Motorsport and Martins moving to ART Grand Prix, with whom he won the 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup.

Martins won Race 2 in Zandvoort, while both took podiums at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in the first meeting of the season. Martins finished on the podium twice on home soil at Circuit Paul Ricard, with Collet taking third in Race 3. Further podiums came for the Frenchman at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and Sochi.

Jack Doohan and Olli Caldwell competed in FIA F3 in 2021, taking four wins and one win with Trident and PREMA Racing respectively.

Doohan missed out on the title to PREMA FIA Formula 2 Championship recruit Dennis Hauger, but helped Trident to the Teams’ Championship alongside Clement Novalak and David Schumacher.

Williams Racing unveiled their 2022 challenger, FW44, on tuesday. The brand-new livery is a big departure from last season, featuring a deep blue color scheme with a diamond pattern and red accents. Williams CEO and Team Principal Jost Capito said the new styling represents the legacy and future of the team.

“Over its history as an iconic Formula One team, Williams Racing has shown great strength and sophistication. The new visual identity of the 2022 car perfectly encapsulates these characteristics that the staff, drivers and fans have demonstrated time and time again.”

The car features all the hallmarks of the new era, including 18-inch wheels, over-wheel winglets, and redesigned aerodynamics. After several years as a backmarker team, 2021 was a step forward for Williams, Capito hopes that the new era will allow the team to build on this momentum. 

“As we move into the new era of our sport, the FW44 highlights the transition to the future, as well as acknowledging the timeless qualities that make us who we are. Last season we were thrilled and proud to make such strong advancements as a team, with a number of well-earned points-scoring results in addition to a podium.

“Looking forward, we want to build on this success, and the FW44 perfectly embodies these ambitions to return to the front of the grid. I look forward to witnessing this progression with Nicholas and Alex at the helm.”

French racing driver Charles Pic has come to an agreement with Co-Team Principals Olivier and Grégory Driot to take over the French junior single-seater outfit, DAMS. The Driot brothers assumed control of the Le Mans based team in 2019, following the death of their father and team founder Jean-Paul Driot.

With over 30 years’ experience since the team’s inception in 1988, DAMS have become one of the leading teams in the single-seater ladder boasting 15 drivers’ championships, 16 teams’ championships and have celebrated 168 race victories across several categories.

Pic initially approached the brothers with the interest of taking over the French team and they quickly learnt that they have a similar vision for how they want DAMS to move forward following Jean-Paul’s death. He is also known well by the Driot family with a relationship that goes back almost three decades with Charles’ younger brother Arthur racing for them in the 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 Series.

“We want the best for DAMS and Charles has a deep knowledge of motorsport. Under his watch the team’s legacy will continue and flourish,” Said Olivier and Grégory Driot. “We feel our father would have been proud of this next step. When Charles approached us, we thought this was a great opportunity, not only for the staff, but also the legacy of the Driot family. It is a great honour for us to hand over DAMS to another great French motorsport name.”

Charles Pic is a former Formula 1 driver who started 39 Grand Prix across two years for Marussia F1 Team and Caterham F1 Team, respectively. The Frenchman enjoyed success throughout his junior career and was a multiple winner in GP2 Series and Formula Renault 3.5, taking victories on the streets of Monaco in both championships.

If something happens to any drivers in the Extreme E season opener at the Desert X Prix in Saudi Arabia, Romain Dumas and Hedda Hosås will be there to help out.

The series announced Thursday that Dumas and Hosås have been tasked as guest Championship Drivers for the Desert X Prix, meaning they will be advisors and reserve drivers in the event that a team needs to make a driver switch. The duo will work alongside Timo Scheider and Tamara Molinaro, who serve in the same capacity for the entire season and have been in the positions since 2021. Jutta Kleinschmidt is the only Championship Driver to have needed to step in when she took over for an ill Claudia Hürtgen at ABT CUPRA XE at the 2021 Island X Prix and eventually the rest of the season, which led to Molinaro succeeding Kleinschmidt.

Dumas primarily competes in sports cars and was a longtime factory driver for Porsche. He is a two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, scoring the overall with Audi and Porsche in 2010 and 2016, and has also raced in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona with three podium finishes in his class. In 2016, he and Porsche won the LMP1 title in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

While his pavement achievements are certainly vast, he is also more than familiar with off-road and mixed-surface competition. Dumas won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb four times in 2014 and from 2016 to 2018, with his last victory seeing him become the first driver to complete the 20-km hillclimb in under eight minutes as he did so in an electric Volkswagen ID R. The Frenchman also dabbled as a privateer in the World Rally Championship between 2012 and 2017, while his rally raid experience includes the Baja 1000 and Dakar Rally.

“I am very happy to be here and to discover the Championship for real,” commented Dumas. “I followed it last year and was hoping to get to an X Prix as well, but I wasn’t able to unfortunately. I do like to get involved in different types of racing, so this is a great fit.

When Extreme E was running its inaugural season in 2021, some changes to the race format were made midseason to accommodate developments that may not have been anticipated prior to the first round. Now that there is a year of experience under its belt, the series has revealed a modified system for qualifying and points ahead of the 2022 kickoff.

Perhaps the most notable change comes to Saturday qualifying, where single-car qualifying has formally been dropped in favour of two heat races of five cars each. Qualifying is split into two rounds.

A random draw determines which heat a team will be placed within. The first-, third-, and fifth-place finishers in Heat #1 and second and fourth in Heat #2 are then put in the first heat in the second round, while the same setup but inverted takes place for the other.

The winner of each heat gets five points, second gets four, and so on which go towards a cumulative heat points total called the “Intermediate Classification”. The total points from the two heats set the grids for the semi-finals and Crazy Race for Sunday. First, fourth, and fifth in the Classification are placed in Semi-Final #1; second, third, and sixth in Semi-Final #2; and seventh to tenth are in the Crazy Race. If there is a tie, whoever sets the fastest time in the Continental Traction Challenge has the advantage. The top two in each Semi-Final and the Crazy Race winner move on to the Final.

The points payout is slightly tweaked from 2021: while the winner still receives twenty-five points, second gets eighteen instead of nineteen while third’s is reduced from eighteen to fifteen. Fourth and fifth respectively get twelve and ten (previously fifteen and twelve). Among the entries who did not make the Final, sixth place is the third-place finisher in either Semi-Final with the better Traction Challenge time and gets eight points (from ten). The adjusted points scale means seven through ninth go from eight, six, and four points to six, four, and two. Tenth place, which was not required in 2021 as there were only nine teams (every team from last season returns while McLaren XE is a new addition), is given one point.

The 2022 Extreme E season is set to begin with the Desert X Prix in Saudi Arabia, as was the case during the inaugural year in 2021. Unlike last year, a new location in Neom means a different course from the one used in Al-‘Ula.

The Neom circuit is 6.9 km in length and runs through, true to the event name, red sandy desert with rock formations; the distance is shorter than the Al-‘Ula track, which was 8.8 km. Besides the length difference, Neom begins with the cars barreling towards an uphill incline while Al-‘Ula was generally flat through the first few waypoints.

Cars will then head to the valley floor nicknamed “Speed Valley”, which is wide enough to allow drivers free lateral movement, especially in the event that their vision is clouded by dust. A terrain change and another uprise follow, which leads towards a sharp right turn along a rock formation’s edge.

From the rock is a downhill through a canyon and the second valley floor. The Continental Traction Challenge, also known as the Super Sector which gives out five points to the team with the fastest time in that region, precedes an especially steep climb through sand that will likely require drivers to use full power to ascend. This “Extreme Hill” is the most technical portion of the course as drivers have to navigate a pair of tight corners. The final run features a sharp drop into “The Summit” before reaching the start/finish line.

Neom is a planned city that is expected to complete construction in 2025.

Campos Racing will have two Spanish drivers in its FIA Formula 3 Championship roster in 2022, as the team announced David Vidales on Thursday (17 February).

He joins 2020 US Formula 4 champion Hunter Yeany and Josep Maria Marti at the Spanish team, Marti having finished third in the Spanish F4 Championship in 2021.

Last season was a positive one for Vidales. In only his second year in car racing, he won one race and took three podiums with PREMA Powerteam in Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine.

That season followed a race-winning debut year in the Formula Renault Eurocup, winning once and taking six podiums to finish sixth in the standings as Victor Martins took the title.

He impressed during the post-season test at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, finishing in the top ten twice on the second day with Campos.

The FIA has replaced Michael Masi as Formula 1 Race Director and will be offering him an alternative role in the midst of organizational changes.

Masi’s removal from the role has been speculated since the controversial decisions made by race control at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, particularly surrounding safety car procedure, which became a deciding factor in the result of the Drivers’ Championship. Masi’s exit, after three years as Race Director, is one of several changes following the FIA’s analysis of the contentious season finale.

Filling the role of Race Director will be Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas, who will alternate throughout the season. Wittich previously worked with WEC, and Freitas with DTM. Herbie Blash, formerly a deputy to previous Race Director Charlie Whiting, will be returning as a senior advisor to the new race directors. 

Aside from personnel changes, the FIA will be adding a virtual race control room to assist with race direction. According to Formula1.com, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said it will assist the race directors by implementing technology to enforce sporting rules and regulations. 

“Alike the Video Assistance Referee (VAR) in football, it will be positioned in one of the FIA Offices as a backup outside the circuit. In real-time connection with the FIA F1 race director, it will help to apply the sporting regulations using the most modern technological tools.”

Ty Gibbs will run the full 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season in the #54 Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing with Monster Energy sponsorship.

What, this doesn’t surprise you?

Gibbs being elevated to a full-time Xfinity schedule is perhaps one of the biggest no-brainers in recent memory. As an 18-year-old in 2021, Gibbs crushed the series in his eighteen-race schedule with four wins: his series début at the Daytona Road Course, Charlotte, Watkins Glen, and Kansas. He is one of just five drivers to win in their maiden Xfinity start, but the first to do so with no Cup Series experience whatsoever.

As he was not running every Xfinity race in 2021 due to age restrictions and the obvious assumption that nobody would have expected him to dominate so easily even if in superior equipment, he was instead racing for the ARCA Menards Series championship. Battling with Corey Heim, Gibbs once again destroyed the field with ten wins and top fives in all but one race en route to the championship. In forty-seven career ARCA starts since 2019, he has a whopping eighteen wins and forty-two top tens.

“I’m excited to get going on the 2022 season,” said Gibbs. “[…] Chris Gayle and the crew guys from the #54 were great last year and hopefully we can have even more success this year. Of course, I can’t thank everyone at Toyota and TRD (Toyota Racing Development) enough for all their support as well.”

Death, taxes, and a Chevrolet winning the Daytona 500 pole.

For the tenth straight year, a Chevrolet topped the qualifying charts for the NASCAR Cup Series‘ season opener on Wednesday. This time, it was defending champion Kyle Larson who got to claim the first pole award of the 2022 season while Hendrick Motorsports team-mate Alex Bowman was on the front row for the fifth consecutive 500.

All four Hendrick cars led the first round of qualifying with 2019 500 pole sitter William Byron in front. The top ten—from Byron to Daniel Suárez—advanced to the second and final round, where Larson set the fastest time of 49.680 seconds at 181.159 mph. Larson is the fifth reigning champion to win the pole for the following season’s 500 after Cale Yarborough (1978), Dale Jarrett (2000), Jeff Gordon (1999), and Jimmie Johnson (2008). Poetically and perhaps owing to the team’s dominance over the years, Gordon and Johnson were also Hendrick drivers while the former is currently its vice chairman.

Despite Larson enjoying a highly successful 2021 season and an overall solid Cup career, superspeedways have been a kryptonite for him. Prior to 2022, his best 500 starting position was eighth, his average finish at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway are a mediocre 21.1 and 24.5, respectively, and he has more retirements than top tens at Daytona (six to five). However, he has scored top tens in his last three Daytona 500s.

Larson described the pole as feeling like his “proudest pole because you’re proud of everybody who had an impact in doing it.”