Month: July 2023

28 Jul 2023

F1 Belgian GP sprint qualifying and race

F1 has turned its sprint race into a standalone Saturday event, with sprint qualifying deciding the starting grid followed by the sprint race later in the day. Here’s how the latest sprint race format changes will work.  During qualifying for Sunday’s grand prix, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the fastest lap time in Q3 but […]

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28 Jul 2023

Work on mixed condition weakness “paid off” at Spa F1

Leclerc took second in Friday qualifying for Sunday’s race, ceding eight tenths to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Q3 on a drying track. But as Verstappen was hit with a five-place grid penalty for taking his fifth gearbox of the season, one more than is allowed, Leclerc will line up first on Sunday. After recently […]

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28 Jul 2023

ITV pulls MotoGP British GP free-to-air live coverage

For the past two seasons, ITV has aired two MotoGP rounds live on free-to-air television, with the British GP at Silverstone included. It marked the first time UK viewers have been able to watch MotoGP live on terrestrial television following the broadcasting rights shifting from BBC to BT Sport (now TNT Sport) in 2014. This […]

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28 Jul 2023

Sainz heads rainy, red-flagged practice session

The prelude to the sole practice session featured rain, and a wet track greeted the drivers as they sought to cram their sprint weekend preparation into the hour-long running. Alex Albon was first to brave the conditions on the intermediate tyre, followed by team-mate Logan Sargeant, as Lewis Hamilton emerged on the wet tyre in […]

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28 Jul 2023

Pat Fry to join Williams F1 team in top technical role

It’s understood that the news of his move will be formally confirmed at Spa later today, and that he will be able to start in his new job at the end of this year. Williams has been without a technical leader since the departure of Francois-Xavier Demaison in December as part of the management shake-up […]

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28 Jul 2023

Sainz defends Ferrari F1 structure after after Mekies departure

On Thursday ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, Ferrari announced its sporting director Laurent Mekies – who has been at the team since 2018 – has now officially left the Scuderia. He is on gardening leave until 1 January, when he will replace Franz Tost as the team principal of AlphaTauri. Mekies’s role has been […]

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27 Jul 2023

How Hungary’s 2032 race deal reflects F1’s long-term ambitions

The fact that the news came a few weeks after neighbouring Austria agreed on a deal to run its race until 2030 was perhaps not a coincidence, as both announcements reflect a growing trend for circuits to secure long-term futures. In both cases, there was no big hurry to extend those contracts. As recently as […]

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27 Jul 2023

Stopping wet F1 races the only solution to visibility problems

The topic of safety has become a major talking point ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix in the wake of the recent fatal accident of youngster Dilano van ‘t Hoff in a wet Formula Regional European Championship at the track. Some have suggested that the incident requires the FIA to be extra cautious about the […]

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